by Sara Miller
“Good to be here. Sorry we’re late, someone got off to a rough start today.”
Lily was staring at her expectantly. That voice. She knew that voice. Leah’s heart started to pound so hard she could no longer hear, aside from the whooshing in her ears. Leah found herself on her feet.
“Hey!” Allison hollered indignantly from the couch where she’d fallen over when Leah rose so quickly.
Leah made her way to the door, not believing her own two eyes. Cade and Liam stood in the entryway handing Robert their coats. Sky was pulling the door shut behind them.
“Sorry we’re late, hun,” Cade leaned in and kissed her cheek. His lips were cold from just coming in from outdoors. “Someone got off to a rough start today,” he repeated.
“Don’t believe him. Liam and I were ready on time. The ‘someone’ to blame changed his shirt three times and then forgot the pumpkin roll so we had to turn around and go back for it.” Sky handed Leah the desert, then removed her coat. “How much did we miss?!” Liam rushed to follow.
After hanging up all the coats, Robert took the pumpkin roll from her. He gave her another wink and left her alone with Cade.
Cade seized the opportunity to greet her more properly. Up against the hall closet, he kissed her thoroughly. Leah could not think like this. She pulled back. This could not be real.
“Cade?”
“Leah?”
“What are you doing here?” she asked in confusion.
“You don’t remember? You invited us, after we saw your sister on Halloween.” He gave her one more kiss.
The mention of Halloween made everything click. She hadn’t realized she was currently dreaming because the dreams had always taken her to him. To the coffee shop, to his house; always to wherever he was. But this time, he had come to her. And into Lily and Robert’s home.
No wonder dream-Lily had wanted her to answer the door. She knew Cade had been invited. Leah’s initial confusion at this dream shift vanished into pleasure. She grinned and pulled him off to the living room to spend the day with all her favorite people.
After the parade, the little kids scampered off to play. For only having met briefly once before, Liam got on quite well with her nieces. Cade and Robert commandeered the TV for football. Sky, a sports nut like her dad, chose to hang out with the guys while Leah and Lily headed to the kitchen to put the final touches on lunch.
They ate mid-afternoon. The food was delicious and the company was great. Everyone got along and the chatter around the table was happy and loud. Before desert, they all went outside to walk off the meal and to enjoy the crisp fall air.
“Ugh, I think I ate too much,” Lily complained happily.
“Me too,” Leah agreed.
“Me three,” Allison giggled.
“Me four,” Emmie chimed in.
“Me five!” Liam whooped.
The younger kids’ antics had the whole group laughing, even Sky. It was turning out to be the best Thanksgiving ever. Too bad it was not real life, Leah sighed.
“Don’t think about it,” Cade whispered in her ear. “I’m just enjoying being with you.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’m enjoying it too,” she whispered back. Cade kissed her as they walked and she heard giggles behind her.
“You got something to say back there?” Leah’s tone was teasing. Liam, Allison, and Emmie rushed past them laughing.
“I’m ready for dessert!” Cade called as he chased after them. He quickly caught Liam up into his arms and pretended to eat him up. The girls squealed playfully.
By the time they made it back to the house, everyone was ready for pie and the other sweet treats. After a large slice of pumpkin pie and a piece of pumpkin roll, Leah was stuffed and sleepy.
They collectively ignored the piles of dishes and went back to the living room. Robert had Home Alone queued up and ready. He pulled Lily down beside him and they shared the couch with their daughters. Sky sat in the armchair with an exhausted Liam on her lap, which left Leah to snuggle in with Cade on the love seat.
No one was complaining. Especially Leah. She had her family. She had Cade. It was perfect. She sighed contentedly and Cade squeezed her close and kissed her.
Leah caught her sister eyeing them and smiled. Lily smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. Robert caught the exchange and winked again. Leah’s heart swelled with their approval. She tried to focus on the movie but her vision got blurry and she let sleep claim her.
♦
“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Leah was being shaken and the bed was bouncing. Her nieces giggled loudly as they tormented her.
“You’re going to miss the parade!”
“Hey, what’s all the racket in here?” Lily stood in the doorway, Robert right behind her.
“Who knew two little girls could be so noisy?” he winked and kissed his wife.
Leah flopped back on to the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was like that old Groundhog Day movie. Yet she knew today would not be the same. This time Cade would not show up. She groaned.
“Okay, everybody out!” this time it was Lily who shooed them out. Although she did still hear Robert tease about watching sports all day and the girls shriek about the parade.
“You okay?” Lily asked with concern.
“Yeah,” she answered blandly, not bothering to move. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be down in a few.”
“I’ve got coffee ready.”
“I’m up, I’m up!” Leah threw back the covers. Lily laughed and closed the door behind her.
Fifteen minutes later, Leah was tucked in the corner of the couch with her nieces at her side. She had her family and a steaming mug of coffee. Lily always had the best coffee creamers and Leah was enjoying herself. Mostly. She kept reminding herself not to compare days, determined to enjoy this one as well.
About halfway through the parade and her coffee long gone, the day was not progressing quite so peacefully. Having the girls sit next to each other was not working.
“Emmie, what are you doing?” Allison was annoyed that her sister was not sitting still. “Mom!” she tattled, “Emmie keeps bumping me!”
Emmie had climbed up and was looking out the window. As she bounced back down to her seat, Leah had Allison switch spots with her. Now if Emmie bumped someone, it would be her, not Allison. Both girls pouted.
Leah exchanged looks with Lily and they both shrugged. Emmie stayed firmly in her seat for the rest of the parade.
When it was over, Allison scampered off to play. Emmie was not so quick. She sat for a while while her dad flipped through the cable channels locating the game he wanted to watch.
“I guess this means we’ve got work to do,” Lily sighed, getting up reluctantly.
“We?” Leah pretended to not understand. “Oh! You mean you and Emmie! Okay you two have fun!” she poked Emmie’s side and the little girl laughed.
“Not me, Aunt Leah, you! I’m just a kid!”
Leah sighed over-dramatically, then spoke slowly, as if her words took a lot of effort. “Oooookay. I guess I can go help out.”
She slowly raised herself off the couch. Emmie helped push her to her feet. They were having a good laugh when Robert shushed them, which caused more laughter.
A little while later, Robert popped into the kitchen for something to drink.
“Mmm. Smells good in here,” he nuzzled his wife’s neck, sniffing playfully at her hair. Leah loved seeing them still sweet on each other after all these years. They had dated in high school and again after college before getting married.
“Is Emmie still in there with you?” Lily inquired, her brow slightly furrowed.
“Nah, she ran off somewhere not too long after your noisy exit,” he gave Leah a teasing look. “But . . .” Robert instantly had both of their attention.
“But what?” Lily asked.
“She looked out the window again. That makes three times that I noticed,” he shrugged and stole a deviled egg off the platter Leah had j
ust arranged.
“Are you expecting anyone else?” Leah asked.
Lily and Robert exchanged glances and both shook their heads.
“No one from your side, Robert? Lily, you didn’t invite Mom—”
“No and no, Leah,” Robert cut her off. “Especially not now that we know she pressured you to marry Eric.”
Leah shot her sister a glare.
“Yes, I told him,” Lily’s chin went up. “We’re your family.”
Robert gave Leah an awkward side hug before retreating. But she wasn’t mad, just surprised.
“He caught me crying last night. He’s my husband, I had to tell him.”
“It’s okay, Lily. Really. I just hadn’t thought.”
“He’s mad by the way. Not at you at all. But just how everything went down and well, where you are now—” she waved a hand vaguely, “with things with Eric.”
“Emmie wouldn’t have been looking for Eric, would she?” Leah asked, then laughed. Lily shook her head agreeing to the absurdity of the question.
“It was snowing during the parade. Did you notice? She’s been obsessed with snow right now ’cause of that darn Frozen movie,” Lily snapped her fingers and pointed upward. “I bet that’s it!”
Leah nodded but she wasn’t completely convinced. It was a good explanation though, so she went along with it.
Dinner was delicious and dessert was fantastic. She was always proud of the meal they could put on together. It was like having a piece of their childhood back: Thanksgiving at their grandmother’s house. Now making and eating the meal together felt like having Gigi with them.
Leah wiped at her eyes, glad the movie they had been watching was over and she had the living room to herself. Being so emotional was not like her but if it was going to happen, the holidays seemed an appropriate time.
Robert and Lily caught her grabbing a tissue. They had just put the girls to bed and returned just in time to catch the end of Leah’s waterworks. Robert cleared his throat and looked awkward. Lily sat beside her and took her hand.
“Oh my goodness, please tell me this is not an intervention!” Leah looked back and forth between the couple. She tried to laugh at her joke but it fell flat.
“It’s not—” Robert started and stopped. Leah looked to Lily and saw her nod to Robert encouraging him to continue. “But we do have something we want to say. To tell you.”
“You’re pregnant!” Leah guessed.
“Oh heck no!” Lily laughed. “Robert, stop dragging it out. You’re even freaking me out and I know what you’re gonna say!” She laughed again and squeezed her sister’s hand.
“About Eric. We’ve decided however this plays out, we’ll support you. One hundred percent.”
“I know,” Leah nodded, a bit confused. They had always been there for her.
“We mean that if you decide to stay with him, we’ll do better, be better, try to really connect with him. I’m afraid I never really tried very hard,” Robert shook his head. “It also means that if you don’t decide to stay with him . . . we got you.”
Leah tilted her head to the side and looked to her sister for an explanation.
“We got you,” Lily repeated. “As in, that room up stairs is yours. No. Matter. What.”
“For as long as you need it,” Robert added.
Leah could barely process all they were offering. They would befriend Eric on her behalf? Or let her live here if she left him? It was too much. Leah didn’t even realize she was crying again until she felt the tears splash on her hands. She looked down and saw Lily’s fingers were still intertwined with hers.
This was family. This was what real love was.
“Come on,” Lily pulled her up off the couch. “Let’s get you to bed. It’s been a long day.”
Leah nodded and let her sister guide her upstairs. Robert followed behind them turning off lights. At the guest room door, Leah finally found the most basic of words.
“Thank you,” she hugged Lily for several long moments.
After saying goodnight, Leah was left on her own. She readied for bed on autopilot. Snuggled under the safety of the covers, her tears returned. She was exhausted.
Leah closed her teary eyes and drifted off to sleep. She dreamed she was in Cade’s bed and he held her as she cried. Nothing more. Just held her. It was beautiful. When she woke, she felt puffy and tired but also oddly ready to face whatever was next.
Chapter 23
The next two weeks passed in a blur of excitement which would best be described as “shop ‘til you drop!” Leah felt that if she wasn’t working, she was shopping.
Leah did her own Christmas shopping first. She picked out perfect gifts for everyone on her list. Even Eric, although it was more of a goodbye gift than a true Christmas present. She had thought and prayed and felt sure in her heart that it was time to release him. They both should be allowed to have the life they wanted. Leah just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. So she waited.
Waited and shopped. Next was shopping with Lily. They did a massive trip and got everything Lily needed for the girls and Robert. She bought the big wow items, the more modest Santa gifts, stocking stuffers, and all the presents in between.
Meanwhile, she made mental notes of what Lily liked as they shopped. It came in handy when Robert called begging for her help. It wasn’t really a surprise because they did this every year. Leah loved it. She had known him since childhood and loved him like a brother.
Shopping with Robert made Leah feel special. It felt good to be helpful and involved. Plus, she always got a yummy meal out of it. She was also pretty sure Robert used his intel to report back to Lily on ideas for her. They had a great system.
Leah also shopped in her dreams. Shopping with Cade was like nothing she had never experienced before, especially with Liam and Sky along. It was chaotic and crazy and she loved it.
The dream started out simply enough. Leah had found herself at Cade’s kitchen table. She assumed it was morning because the air still smelled of bacon and syrup. Leah had a pen in her hand and a piece of paper in front of her. Sky was across from her, similarly decked out. She looked to be in deep thought. Liam sat on his dad’s lap. They each had a piece of paper. Cade’s already had writing on it.
“So . . .” Leah looked at Cade expectantly. “What are we doing?”
“Making our Christmas lists, of course!”
“Of course!” Liam repeated.
Leah looked down at her empty sheet of paper and her mind went blank as the page. She had no idea where to start. Leah peeked at Sky’s page and it too was empty.
“No ideas?” Leah asked her.
“I’m waiting,” Sky explained. “Dad hasn’t said what to do yet. I mean, I have an idea since we do this like every year but he usually changes it up or adds something new. It’s actually really cool but don’t tell him I said so.” She eyed her father with a smirk. “It’d like, totally ruin my street cred.”
Cade laughed and picked up his list.
“Okay, so here’s the backstory. For years I got the kids whatever they asked for or whatever was popular or whatever marketing I fell for. Needless to say, it was a waste of money for a whole lot of junk. A couple years ago, I started being more intentional about each item I bought. It started off with the Four Gifts idea. Are you familiar with that?”
Leah shook her head. She’d never heard of it, but was intrigued. Leah looked to Cade for more information but he nodded to Sky, giving her the go ahead to explain.
“Something you want. Something you need . . .” Sky started it.
“Something to wear. Something to . . . READ!” Liam chimed in proudly.
“Yes. Except I still kind of failed,” Cade confessed. “At least with Sky. I did better with you though, bud, didn’t I?”
Liam smiled broadly.
“I got a book on horses,” Sky cringed. “And hair bows to wear. Hair bows. Like big giant ones,” she shuddered then laughed.
“Needless to say, I lea
rned my lesson and I ask for suggestions. Are we all ready?”
“Ready!” Liam yelled.
“Oh, just a reminder: we don’t get everything we write down. We won’t always get one from every category. You can put multiple items in a category ’cause there are multiple people who will be gifting. This also gives options in case an item is too expensive or not available.” Cade waited until everyone nodded before continuing. “The first four are the standard ones: want, need, wear, read.”
Leah watched as Sky jotted down the four words, leaving plenty of space between. She tapped her cheek twice with her pen before beginning her list. Leah followed suit but also paid attention to Cade and Liam.
The boys worked on Liam’s list. Cade wrote down the categories and asked Liam what he wanted on the list. When it was words he knew, Liam took the pencil and wrote them himself. When it was something more complicated, Liam did his best and Cade jotted down helpful notes beside it.
Leah kept her list very simple and affordable. Christmas was really for the kids and she wanted them to be the focus.
“I’m ready for the next round, Dad,” Sky said.
“Something to do or make. So an activity, craft or outing.”
Cade also added “something to eat” and “something for the family” to their lists. The family gift, they explained to Leah, was usually a game or movie or something for all of them to share. Last year, for example, it was the bean bag chair in the living room.
“This is fantastic, Cade. What a great idea!” Leah was genuinely impressed. Cade smiled, clearly pleased, but played down her praise with a shrug.
“So what’s the new one?” Sky asked. “He’s always got one,” she informed Leah. They collectively focused on Cade, waiting.
“Last one. Now this is different. It’s not for us.”
“Huh?” Liam was stumped.
“I want us to think of ways we can give back and we’ll pick one and it will be from us all.”
“Huh?” Liam repeated.
“Give back? So like . . .” Sky thought hard. Leah watched her pretty face put in mental effort. “Like on TV when they adopt a family for Christmas?”