by Frost, Scott
When Emma woke up and walked into the living room, her sleepy eyes quickly opened. She looked at the presents and then at us, sitting on the couch. We all smiled.
“Merry Christmas, sweetie.” I said. Katie and I sat next to each other, our hands together. She leaned on my shoulder and wished Emma a Merry Christmas. I felt her mouth move against my body when she spoke.
“Merry Christmas.” Emma said. “I didn’t get you guys anything.” Her smiled faded, but her eyes kept a spark of pure happiness; a happiness that most kids reserve for birthdays and Christmas.
“It’s okay sweetie. Today is all about you. I wish we could have got you more. Do you want a cup of hot chocolate before you open them?”
She shook her head and ran to the Christmas tree. She landed on her knees and picked up the first box and opened it. She unwrapped the box and took out its contents. It was the new Harry Potter book. I think the second book in the series or maybe the third. Her eyes went wide, as though not believing what she was looking at.
“How did you get this?” She said in complete bewilderment, as she flipped through the pages.
“I didn’t get it for you. It’s from Santa Claus.” I said, without laughing. She hadn’t believed in Santa Claus in years. I waited for her to say that he wasn’t real.
“Well, if you see Santa, tell him I said thank you for the book and that I love him.” She said in her mocking tone, a poor childish attempt at a mock. It was cute. She opened the next present and pulled out a purple sweater. And just like any other kid, she looked at it, smiled politely at us, said thanks, and quickly dropped it and picked her last present up. The newspaper wrapping came off without a fight. And as she opened the box and looked in, she was speechless. She slowly lifted her new Sony Headphones with a twelve pack of batteries out of the box. She set both of them aside and reached back into the box and pulled out a handful of CD’s.
“Sorry sweetie. I picked up everything I could find. I hope you like some of them.” I said, as I watched her read over the names.
“I love everything. Thank you so much.” She said as she ran and jumped on our laps. We wrapped our arms around her and tickled her until she begged us to stop. She jumped off the couch and walked back toward her presents. I opened the Sony Walkman for her and handed it to her. She picked up the first CD, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, and pressed play. She sat down, indian style, and opened her book. She stayed in that position for hours, changing CD’s and reading. Her smile never left her face.
Katie made breakfast. Three cups of hot chocolate, a can of spam, and a can of hash. It wasn’t a typical Christmas breakfast, but it was food. We had saved both of those cans for Christmas. Emma had two portions before she returned to her Walkman and book.
It was a perfect day. Katie and I made love that night after Emma fell asleep. We didn’t need to find presents for each other. Everything that we’d found we wanted Emma to have. It took me sixteen trips to find all of her presents. Every day I searched for supplies, I also searched for things for Emma. I was very happy with my find.
We celebrated Katie’s birthday last month. It didn’t matter that we didn’t know what month it was; all that mattered was that we celebrated her. Emma made her a birthday card, and I found her a bottle of perfume, and two pairs of jeans. I also found her the newest Nancy Reich book. She loved everything, especially Emma’s card.
Yes, we are a happy family. We love each other. Unconditionally. We watch out for each other. I have let my guard down and have learned how to relax, a little. I can even sleep through the night, a full eight hours some nights. I have a different look on life. I believe that God does exist, though; his actions completely confuse the hell out of me. I’ve struggled with my belief in God for a long time, even before the virus. But I realize that without God, who knows, maybe we wouldn’t be here right now. This isn’t the life I dreamed, but it’s not that bad. We live surrounded by nature. We live off the land. We are self sufficient and have learned to survive independent of what happens. We are happy most days.
I asked Katie to marry me tonight. She was speechless and as tears fell down her cheeks, she said yes. Emma was standing in her bedroom listening and as soon as Katie said yes, she ran out of the bedroom, tears in her eyes and ran to us. Katie picked her up and hugged her. I wrapped my arms around both of them.
“Yes, oh my God, yes, I will marry you. I love you so much.” She looked at me and back at Emma, who wore a big half smile, half grin.
“Did you know he was going to ask me?” She asked Emma.
Emma shook her head yes. Still smiling, and crying.
“Yes, I talked to her this morning about it.” I said.
“I’m sorry I don’t have an engagement ring for you, but I will soon enough.”
“Alex, I don’t need a ring. All I need is you and Emma. Both of you are what makes me happy. I know you love me with or without a ring. But if you must, a rings from Tiffany's would be great.” She said laughing.
“Tiffany's it is my dear.”
“Oh and one more thing, I’ve always dreamed of having a church wedding.”
“Your dream will come true. I promise you a church wedding. I promise you everything. It might take a while, but eventually I will find you a ring and we will be married in a church. I love you. And Emma I didn’t forget about the promise I made to you.”
Emma looked at me with a blank stare. And it was as though she was struck by lightening, her whole body shook, and she shook her head up and down.
“You mean we’re going to California?”
“Yes, I promised. It might take us a while, but eventually we will find a way to get there.”
“I love you so much daddy!”
I meant what I said and I’ve already begun to plan my next trip to find supplies. I think I have enough gas to drive to Champaign, which I hope is where I will find Katie’s engagement ring. Life might not be perfect, but it’s close enough. After all, love makes life perfect. I’m in love with two people, Katie and Emma. We have a nice home, food and water. We have everything we need to survive. Come spring we are going to start a garden, I found a box of seed packets in the basement a couple months ago. And as for the trip to California, I’ve begun to plan the trip.
I like this new world in a way. I know eventually the infected will find us again and maybe we will see another uninfected person. Or maybe we won’t. Maybe we will live here in this world of death, the three of us, and watch each other grow old. I hate to think Emma will watch Katie and I grow old and die, but that is how life goes. You can’t change the cycle of life, only bend it, here and there.
The world has been bent in many ways, but it still continues to move. The sun continues to rise and set. It still rains and snows. Emma is the future of this new world. And so I will watch over her and teach her everything I know. We have plenty of books and we slowly gather more. Emma is very smart at her age, both book smart and common sense smart. One day, Emma will join together with other survivors, if there are any, and create a new world. I hope I’m alive when the world is re-built. I promised her we would go to California, so we have a new plan. I’ve already begun planning our trip. It’s a foolish idea, but what can I say, I’ve broken enough promises in my life and I think it time we will need a change of scenery.
The End