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“You didn’t have it before then?” I ask.
“No, we did it for you. I wanted you to have your own tree. When Jenna was born, I decided we should all have one. Your father doesn’t like having a tree in our room, but I do.” She takes the ornament from me and shows Nova. “Easton was nine when he made this. He was so proud when he brought it home.”
My mom tells Nova all about it, then does the same for the next ornament. It ends up taking two hours to get all the ornaments on the tree, but when we’re done, my mom looks genuinely happy, not like she’s faking it. Nova seems happy too. Watching the two of them interact, they almost seemed like mother and daughter. I’m really shocked they’re getting along so well. I never in a million years would’ve thought my mom would accept Nova like this, not after trying to keep her away from me.
When we finish decorating. Nova and I go downstairs to watch a movie. I should be at the skating rink today, but with my family a mess and Nova threatening to leave, I didn’t want to go.
Just before six, my mom comes downstairs. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
“I think Nova and I will go out for dinner.”
She frowns. “Easton, we haven’t had family dinner since your father went on his trip. I’d really like you to be there.”
“Mom, you know I’ll just end up fighting with Dad.”
“You can’t avoid him forever. And I’ve already talked to him. He promised to behave himself.”
“Dad doesn’t make promises.”
“Yes, well, he assured me we would have a pleasant dinner.”
“We can eat here,” Nova says to me.
“Okay,” I say to my mom. “We’ll be up in a minute.”
She goes upstairs.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” I ask Nova. “Because I’m not. I don’t want to deal with my dad.”
“It’s just dinner. And we don’t have to say anything. Jenna talks enough for all of us. We’ll hurry up and eat, then come down here and finish our movie.”
“You can’t leave during family dinner. You have to wait until everyone’s finished. It’s a rule.”
“Then we’ll stay.” She gets up. “How bad could it be? It’s just dinner.”
“With people who are fighting with each other. This could be a disaster.”
When we get to the dining room, my dad and Jenna are already seated. My dad doesn’t even look at me as I sit down.
“Sit here,” I say to Nova, pointing to the seat next to mine, the one closest to my mom. My parents always sit at the end of the table and Jenna and I sit across from each other. The two extra chairs are usually pulled off to the side unless we have extra people, like tonight.
“It’s hot, so be careful,” my mom says, bringing in a pan of lasagna. She sets it on the table. “Stephen, do you want to start serving? I’ll get the salad and bread.”
He sighs as he pushes his chair out and stands up. He takes the metal spatula we use to serve the lasagna and works on getting out the first piece. “Jenna?”
She holds out her plate, smiling at me across the table, like having my dad serve her first means she’s my dad’s favorite kid. I’m sure she is, especially now that I’m back with Nova.
He serves himself next, then says to me, “Would you like to serve yourself?”
Instead of answering, I take the spatula from him.
“Here.” Nova hands me my plate, then hers and my mom’s.
I finish serving just as my mom comes back with a bowl of salad and a basket of bread.
She sits down and smiles at all of us. “Isn’t this nice? It’s been a while since we’ve had family dinner.”
Nobody says anything. My dad’s serving himself salad and Jenna’s picking through the bread to find the piece with the most cheese.
