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“This was nice tonight,” he said. “Maybe the start of a ritual?”
“I like the way you think. Your family never did much on Christmas Eve?”
“No,” he said. “We didn’t have school and might have gone to hang out with my cousins.”
“Which ones?” she asked, laughing.
“Mac, Jarrett and Alex. Those are my first cousins. Though others grew up on the island, I spent the most time with them it seems. But Christmas Eve we had at home. We’d watch TV or play games. Nothing different than any other night.”
“The same,” she said. “It was only my mother and me for so many years.”
“Tell me more about your childhood,” he said.
They never really talked much about it. “I don’t know. Not much to say.”
“I think there is, but you choose not to,” he said.
She sighed. “My father was around in presence but never did anything. He worked but didn’t support us. Not that I think a man should support his family.”
“Of course he should,” he said. “Just like a woman should too.”
“You’re right. It’s teamwork of sorts and my father was sadly lacking there. My parents split when I was in elementary school. She got fed up with working all day, coming home and doing it all. She was picking up and dealing with my father as if he were another child in the house. They fought a lot and she said if she was going to do it all like a single mother, she might as well be one.”
“Ouch,” he said.
“My father didn’t fight it. He left and they officially divorced a few years later. He was so lazy he didn’t even do anything to move it along. My mother is the one who finally wanted it over with.”
“Did you spend time with your father?”
“Yes,” she said. “But it’s not like we did anything together. I’d go to his house and hang out. It was boring. Most kids probably think that though. Thankfully I only saw him every other weekend. It was like a chore to him and I knew it.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said.
“Don’t be,” she said. She didn’t harbor any resentment. She learned to understand what her mother went through and then decided she’d be more like her mother. Life was easier.
“You stopped going after a while, didn’t you?”
“I did. He moved out of the area and didn’t ever really reach out to want to see me and I didn’t do it either. He paid his support because it was court-ordered, but I haven’t talked to him in probably ten years. I haven’t seen him in longer.”
“You wiped him from your life?”
“As best as you can. I know he’s there but more like a figure or shadow. I don’t even think much of him.”
“And your grandmother? What happened there?”
“She had a stroke years ago. My mother wouldn’t put her in a nursing home. I get it. She retired from her job and moved my grandmother into the house with her. Now she is caring for someone all over again and this time it’s much more work. I helped out a lot when I lived there. I feel bad she is on her own, but she finally has hired help so she can get out and do things. Even if it’s just running to the store and not worrying.”
“You’re like your mother,” he said, tugging on her hair. “Wanting to do it all.”
“It’s not wanting to,” she said. “It’s doing what has to be done and knowing if you do it, it’s done the way you want it.”
He nodded and pulled her closer. “I understand that. But you aren’t alone.”
“I know,” she said. “You’re getting me to accept that little by little.” She looked at her watch. “I’m going to get the gifts out of the hiding spot in my room at least. That will take me a few minutes and then I’ll check on Josie.”
“I’ll let the dogs out if you don’t mind and get them ready. You’re okay with them in the room tonight?” he asked. “I did bring Doc’s crate and can put her out here.”
“No,” she said. “Betty is on Josie’s bed now and holding it through the night. I wasn’t sure she’d go to bed with the other two dogs here, but I think she was happy to have Josie to herself.”
