The Christmas Quilts

by Olivia Gaines

  “My mother’s hair was a mane of dark luxurious glory. My dad often teased her that it was her hair which made her Miss South Carolina, but she woke up one morning after a chemo treatment to find it all on her pillow. From there, our home descended into chaos. The treatments made her weak and incontinent, and the whole house smelled like a senior’s nursing facility. Butch and Cassidy turned into holy terrors, Jane cried from the moment she woke to the moment she went to bed, and my dad, who is a doctor, was treating my mom like a patient instead of his wife. It was bad, Bisa. I called Nana and said, ‘Help us,’” Cody said.

  “What did she do?”

  “She pulled up in that Buick of hers with a rolling suitcase and she moved in. Nana said it would just be for a while until everything got settled. She lived with us for a year, taking care of my mom, feeding, bathing, and taking Mom to her appointments, and she put everyone in the family on a schedule,” he said, smiling.

  “This is an amazing story. Please tell me more. Keep going,” Bisa encouraged him.

  “On Sundays, she would go home to attend church with Pop-Pop. She cooked enough food for him for the week, and Sunday night she came back to our house. My Uncle Dirk, and aunts Amanda and Druscilla, as well as my Dad, each had a night at the house to have dinner with Pop-Pop. Wednesdays were his golf day, so he would have dinner at the club. Friday nights was my Dad’s night, which got him out of the house with us and he got to talk patient care with his father. Pop-Pop was also a doctor,” he said.

  “Your Nana sounds amazing, but you haven’t told me how you came to live with her,” Bisa stated.

  “A year later, I came home from school to find my Mom up, in the kitchen cooking dinner and just like that, Nana packed her suitcase and headed home. Not one complaint, gripe, or yelling at any of us the whole year. She taught me the meaning of family. Kaylie, that was my girlfriend, had lied. She wasn’t expecting after all and Nana brought her to dinner and laid down the law to her about how a young woman should conduct herself. From that point on, my grandmother was my hero,” he said, finishing off his tea.

  His fingers toyed with the rim of the tea cup as he looked at the delicate saucer it sat on. She wanted to know how he came to live with Nana. He wanted to ease her into the why.

  “The day my grandfather passed, my grandmother called everyone in the family. My aunts were squabbling over who she would live with, and my Uncle Dirk wanted to put her in a retirement home where she would get her own golf cart. She didn’t argue with any of them because she was tired. I knew she was tired, but at Pop-Pop’s funeral, she sat with her back rigid, not shedding one tear. I understood she was hurting, and her children were thinking of ways to divide up the assets and who would get what from the sale of her home. It really pissed me off that after she had raised and taken care of all of them that they would want her to spend her final days in a senior home. Bisa, she took care of my mom like she was her own child, and in return her children planned to put her away. So, I packed a suitcase and showed up on her doorstep. I told her it would just be for a little while until everything got settled,” he said. “That was eight years ago. I have been there ever since.”

  “I know her kids were mad at you,” Bisa said.

  “Didn’t matter. I put them all on a schedule. They rotate dinner on Sunday nights, coming to Nana’s and cooking. Each week one of her children shows up with their families and we have dinner on the same table they ate at when they were kids. This Sunday is my parent’s day. My brother’s Butch and Cassidy will be there with their wives and Jane will be there with that thing she reproduced with,” Cody said.

  “I take it you don’t like him much,” Bisa said with a smile.

  “You will see why,” he said, looking up at her. Bisa’s facial expression showed confusion.

  Bisa clutched the tea cup. “Huh?”

  “My grandmother has invited you to dinner on Sunday. We eat at six,” he said.

  “You want me...to come to dinner with your family?” Bisa said.

  “If you have no plans,” he said.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she replied, looking at him with her eyes cut to the side.

  “Whatever you say, just don’t mention the quilts. Those are a surprise for the Christmas presents if I can ever get to them,” he told her.

  “Cody, I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she said, stepping back, looking for an escape.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea either because my mom is on a new mission which is simply insane. My Dad talks to everyone as if he is giving them a prognosis of liver cancer and my brothers, who are twins, are quite possibly the most annoying two people on the planet. Then there is Jane and that thing she drags behind her who fathered their son Gideon. But...Mom is making her flourless chocolate cake which in itself is worth the trip,” he told her.

  “Meeting your family is ...,” she started to say.

  “Worse than you think. Mom’s friend has a bi-racial grandbaby. Which she now wants one of her own,” Cody said, smiling.

  “Say what now?”

  “Yeah, it will be fun watching you interact with her. She is about as subtle as a festering boil on the end of a big nose. After dinner, we play a board game at which Butch and Cassidy are going to cheat and get into an argument, and Nana will put them out,” he said. “Fun times.”

  “You seriously want me to come and have dinner with your family?”

  “I can persuade you if need be,” he said.

  “How are you going to do...,” she started to say, but her words were halted by him taking her in his arms, sitting her on his lap and kissing her until her toes curled in her shoes.

  He pulled away, his lips still pursed as he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Dinner is promptly at six. Don’t be late.”

  “Okay,” she said, almost transfixed.

  He scribbled the address on a piece of paper with his free hand.

  “I know where this is. This is on that same street as the beautiful Antebellum red brick home with a wraparound porch with gingerbread trim. I love that house,” she said. “The first time I saw it, I said if it ever came on the market, I didn’t care about the cost, I was going to buy it. I think that house would be the perfect place to raise a family.”

  “So did my Nana,” he said.

  “That is your Nana’s house!”

  “I look forward to giving you a tour of it on Sunday,” he said, kissing her again, not wanting to let go, his fingers pressing into her skin trying to bring her closer. Cody’s heart thudded in his chest as he held such a lovely creature against his body.

  “Cody, if you keep kissing me like that, you are going to persuade me to do a lot of things against my better judgement,” Bisa said, dragging her lips away.

  “Bisa, I’m just warming up,” he told her, hugging her tightly, reluctantly standing while letting go at the same time before heading out the side door. “Lock up and be safe.”

  What in the Ides of March have I gotten myself into with this man?

  Chapter Ten – Assembling the Blocks

  Bisa parked across the street from the Richardson family home, trying to find her courage to enter a house full of Southern gentility. The evening would be bad and someone, she didn’t know who, would want to touch her hair or tell her about their black friend. Inevitably, and she would keep a timer, she knew at least one person was going to ask if she knew a random black person who had the same last name. Gripping the steering wheel, she looked at the house.

  You can do this. It will be just like the company Christmas party. Smile, shake hands, and get through dinner. Please don’t curse anyone out. This is Cody’s family. A better question is why am I meeting his family?

  The quilts, stupid.

  He wants you to see who is getting the quilts.

  Someone is waving at me from that window. Bisa waved back.

  Inside the home, Rona checked the window every few minutes to see if Bisa had arrived. A mid-sized black SUV stopped in front of the
house and parked. The woman in the car looked at the window, Rona waved at her. The lady in the car waved back.

  “Oh my!! She’s here. Cody, is this your lady?” Rona yelled at the top of her voice.

  Coy peered out the window, answering, “Yes, that’s her, but Mom can you calm down, please?”

  “No, this is so exciting. Butch, Cassidy, Ti, you guys get in here. Cody’s lady friend is joining us for dinner and you all will be on your best behavior or I swear I will twist your baby makers off,” Rona said.

  “So what? He finally got someone to date him. How many arms does she have?” Cassidy asked, going to the window. He spotted Bisa and turned around with his mouth wide open. This of course prompted Jane and Butch to run to the window.

  “Holy smokes! Cody is down with the swirl,” Butch said, patting him on the back.

  “Maybe that’s why he never brings anybody home with him. He likes his women well-tanned,” Jane said.

  “Heck, I thought he was gay like your cousin Amos,” Ti said.

  Cody moved across the room quickly to stand toe to toe with the father of his nephew Gideon. He didn’t like the man and thought he was a freeloader who would drag his sister to the depths of hell. “Listen to me, if you do anything to embarrass me or this family, you will regret it,” Cody threatened.

  “I didn’t do nuthin’,” Ti said, frowning.

  Cody’s father, Bart Jr, or Doc, as everyone called him, stepped forward. “Tiberius,” he said to Ti, “it is important that we make a good impression. My son has an interest in this woman and we want her to feel welcomed in this house and our family.”

  “Jeez Doc, you should be worried about Frick and Frack over there, not me. I don’t care none about what Cody is doing,” Ti said.

  “Stop acting like a bunch of Yahoos. You act as if you have never seen a black woman before,” Lily Rose said.

  “This was a mistake. You all are going to scare her off,” Cody said.

  “No, we won’t,” everyone said in unison.

  “Let’s hope for the best,” Cody responded, opening the front door to a beautifully dressed Bisa in a pink silk dress with matching sandals and her hair loose and free on her head. That stupid warm feeling had returned to his toes.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said, opening the front door. He planted a light kiss on her cheek as he turned her to face his family. “Bisa Washington, this is my family.”

  They were lined up like a group photo on Thanksgiving before the overly indulgent meal. Cody started at the left of the line.

  “My father Dr. Bart Richardson, my mother Rona,” he said. “This is my brother Butch, his wife Tilda, his twin Cassidy and his wife Marie, my sister Jane and that’s Tiberius, we call him Ti.”

  “Your parents are either Trekkies or a fan of historical figures I take it,” she said to Ti.

  “Star Trek, not the Roman general. You are the first person to get that, so that makes you my new best friend,” Ti said, coming forward to shake her hand. The rest of the family did as well with Lily Rose coming from the dining room.

  “Dinner is ready everyone,” Lily Rose said looking up to spot Bisa. “Oh my, you look so lovely. It is an honor to have you in my home.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Richardson, it is a pleasure to be here. I have admired this house for many years,” Bisa said.

  “After dinner, I will give you a tour. My husband purchased this house for me because I told him it would be the perfect place to raise a family. Cody has worked diligently on the upkeep and restoration of the wood and I am hoping that this is where he shall raise his family,” Lily Rose said.

  Two children materialized from the back room to stare at Bisa.

  “Hello you two,” she said.

  “Hi,” Kit a cherub faced little girl with a pink bow said. The bow looked as if it had seen better days, hanging on a single strand of hair.

  “You bow is falling off,” Bisa said.

  “Will you fix it for me? My Mama gets mad when I don’t look like a little lady,” Kit said.

  “Sure, let me get this for you,” Bisa said, twisting the hair a bit to make the braid thicker so the bowed barrette would hold. “There you go.”

  “Thanks,” Kit said. “Are you Cody’s girlfriend?”

  Everyone in the room looked over to her, including Cody, who had one eyebrow arched. Bisa’s cheeks warmed.

  “I am his friend and I am a girl, so I guess that would be a yes,” she said, arching her eyebrow back at him.

  “Oh, stop with the coyness,” Rona said. “I want to know when you two are going to start making me some pretty brown angelic grandbabies.”

  “Wow. You are a direct one,” Bisa replied, adding a smile.

  “Please excuse my wife,” Doc interjected. “Her best friend has a bi-racial grandchild and now she has color envy.”

  Bisa’s eyes were on the table. The place setting was gorgeous and the meal simple with grilled chicken drumsticks and broccoli spears with wild rice. For once, she would be able to eat everything at the table.

  Jane spoke softly to Bisa, “Cody says that you have a gluten sensitivity. I have Crohn’s Disease, so I have a limited diet as well.”

  “It’s nice to be invited to dinner and actually be able to eat the food,” Bisa said with a smile.

  “And it’s nice to see my big brother happy,” she said.

  “Well, I don’t know if I am the cause of that,” Bisa confessed.

  “The last month or so, he’s been different. A nice different. I like him like this. I like him with you,” Jane said.

  Bisa didn’t respond as everyone took their seats and Doc blessed the food. The family laughed, joked, and shared their week as the meal progressed. The flourless chocolate cake arrived along with a teapot filled with hot water for Bisa and coffee for the remaining family. Thoughtful. He knew I would bring my own tea bags.

  Doc was smiling as be bit into the cake, almost happy to have a chunk of it in his mouth. “Bisa, I have you to thank for this cake,” he said, grinning.

  “I must thank you, Ms. Rona. This cake is amazing,” she replied.

  “And I must thank you for being the woman to give me beautiful brown angelic grandbabies,” Rona said.

  “Mom!” Cody said.

  Bisa held up her hand. “It’s okay, Cody, but she may as well hear it from me. Ms. Rona, I can’t have children. I hope this will not deter you from my relationship with your son.”

  Cody’s mouth dropped open.

  Rona clutched her pearls.

  Everyone at the table got quiet.

  Bisa burst into laughter.

  “That slowed you down for a minute, didn’t it?” Bisa said chuckling.

  “I find no humor in your jokes, young lady,” Rona said with reddened cheeks.

  “Imagine how I feel. You don’t know my medical history, or if Cody and I have had a discussion on having a family, or if we are even intimate at this point. Children come after a relationship is established and he and I are working towards our friendship first. Honestly, discussing such an intimate detail that he and I have yet to have is a bit off-putting,” Bisa said.

  “She’s an attorney ain’t she?” Ti said.

  “I am.”

  “I knew it with all that fancy talk and words,” Ti said, slapping his knee. Cody looked at him with squinted eyes, wanting to throw something at the moron.

  “Well, excuse the panties off of me,” Rona said.

  “Ms. Rona, I hope you are not getting indignant over invading our privacy?” Bisa asked.

  “No. I was just hoping that you two were further along in this relationship. He is the last one to get married and I knew he was waiting on someone special. I simply assumed it was you,” Rona said.

  Bisa changed the whole vibe for the evening as well as Cody’s view on life.

  “It is me, Ms. Rona, but we need an opportunity to allow what is blossoming between us to bloom. Please give us room to grow before you mentally will Cody to start planting his seeds
,” Bisa said, touching her hand. “Can you do that for us?”

  “I guess I have to be patient,” Rona said.

  “When the time is right for everything, I will make sure to keep you in the loop,” Bisa said.

  “So you can have babies?” Cassidy asked.

  “Cassidy!” Cody said.

  “I was just wondering ‘cause if she can’t, what are ya’ll going to do?” Cassidy said.

  “Okay then, this evening has been a blast. Can I help clear the table, wash the dishes, what can I do to lend a hand for you preparing such a wonderful meal?” Bisa asked.

  “You are my guest! You will do no such thing, and Cassidy, hush your fat lip,” Lily Rose told him. She turned to Bisa. “Well, can you have babies or not?”

  Bisa’s mouth was open and nothing was coming out but a squeak.

  “Do you need me to examine her, Cody?” Doc said to his son.

  Cody began to laugh.

  He leaned back in the chair, held his stomach and howled. Bisa laughed with him. He was right, his family was something else.

  “Yes, I can have children as far as I know. No, Dr. Richardson, you do not need to examine me ever, and Ms. Rona, I want a slice of this cake to go,” she said laughing. “I wasn’t nearly ready for this.”

  “Bisa, you aren’t even close to being ready to meet the rest of the family,” Cody said. “Come on, I will give you a tour of the house.”

  SIDE BY SIDE, THEY walked through the airy, spacious house. The tour started in the front of the home with the nook which fed into the family room where everyone had retired to have coffee and after dinner drinks and pull up the football game. The family room led into the center of the house with a rotunda leading up to a spiral staircase.

  “In the rear of the house is Nana’s room, which has a foyer with an opening to the side porch. Next to the foyer, it comes around to the formal living room that leads into the dining room where we ate dinner,” he told her.

  “I take it we are not going to discuss that hour long dinner laced with awkwardness and discomfort,” Bisa said, eyeing the detail on the wood trim in the house.