by Alison Mello
I smile again. “Do you feel better now?”
“Yeah, but that didn’t help with what you’re stressing over. Is it Laney?”
I nod. “I have to tell Ethan she’s here and that he’s going to see her on Christmas for a bit.” I shake my head. “I hope he’s okay with it. I’m not a fan of forcing him to do something he doesn’t want to do, not at his age.”
“I’ll help you through it.” She runs her fingers through my beard.
“Thanks. Let’s get this over with. We have practice shortly.”
The two of us climb out of the car and head into the house, where Ethan is at the table finishing his homework. I have a strict rule about no phone until homework is done. He sends me a text when he gets here, and then he puts it down until he’s finished.
“Hey, Dad. Hi, Amber,” Ethan says, not lifting his head from his math. My son takes after me. Numbers are his thing. He can figure out any math problem with ease.
“Almost done with your homework, son?”
He writes a few more numbers and looks up. “Done.”
“Do you need me to look it over?”
“It’s math, Dad.” He gives me that look that says really.
“Fair enough.” I take a seat at the table as does Amber.
“Ethan, we need to talk with you a moment.”
“What’s up? You two aren’t breaking up, are you?” His eyes bounce between the two of us.
We both smile. “No, son. It’s about your mother.”
Ethan instantly shuts down as he usually does. He starts collecting his homework and is about to leave the table. “Ethan, please sit down and hear us out,” Amber encourages.
Ethan closes his eyes and sighs but sits down.
“Your mom came to my office today,” I explain
His eyes go wide. “She’s here?”
I nod. “She is, and she wants to see you for Christmas.” He shakes his head. “Listen, son. I know you’re angry, but you need to let it go. It’s for your own good.”
“So what am I supposed to do, pretend like she didn’t up and leave us?” He throws his hands up dramatically.
“No. I’m not saying that.” I hold my hands up defensively, trying to get him to calm down.
“Ethan, look at me.” He turns to Amber. “There is nothing more painful for a young boy than his mama leaving, but give her a chance to explain. Maybe she’s trying to say she’s sorry. Maybe she wants to right her wrong.” Amber leans in closer. “I know you’re hurt, but if you don’t let go of this, if you don’t give her this chance, you’ll never fully be able to rise up. You’ll live your life being bitter and angry. That’s no way to live. Live knowing you did all you could to have the best relationship you could with her.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Ethan asks, on the verge of tears.
“Then you forgive her and walk away.” He looks at her shocked. “It’s only once you forgive her will you be set free. I realized that when you told me to rise up.”
“How?” he asks, confused.
“When I lost my ring, I was devastated. But you said I would have to rise up, and I realized it meant I needed to forgive and move on.” She shrugs. “I wasn’t happy about it, but that day it came to me—I was going to need to forgive him, so I could rise up. It was a test, and I passed. I got my ring back, and I’m a stronger person now. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He’s not happy with the situation, and I can’t blame him. He’s too young to be dealing with stuff like this.
“Listen, son. You will have your phone. If anything happens that you’re uncomfortable with, you just call or text me, and I’ll be there in an instant to get you.”
He finally caves. “Okay. I’ll give her a chance.”
I hold my fist out, and Ethan bumps with me. “Go put your stuff away and get cleaned up for dinner.”
“Yes, sir.” He leaves the room.
“Well, that was interesting.” Amber expels a deep breath.
“You’re not kidding. Thank you for your help.”
“Like you said from the beginning. We’re a team.” She kisses me and then gets up to start warming the chili she made the other day. The entire house smelled like a wonderful Mexican feast. Ethan and I were begging her to let us try it, but she said it was better the second day and wouldn’t give us so much as a taste.
The microwave beeps and Ethan runs into the kitchen. “Is that the chili I smell?” He takes a seat.
“It is, son. We finally get to eat it.” He sprinkles some cheese on top and adds a blob of sour cream, mixing it all together.
Amber and I join him. She adds cheese, sour cream, and some avocado to hers. Ethan makes a funny face. “How can you eat avocado? It’s so weird looking.”
“It’s one of my favorite things. It’s healthy, and you can do a ton with it.”
“That explains why it’s weird looking.”
I laugh. “Because it’s healthy?”
“Yup. Anything healthy doesn’t look good.”
Amber looks at him like he’s crazy. “Is that chili good?”
“Yeah, it’s delicious.” He scoops the last bite into his mouth.
“Everything in that bowl is healthy. The beef is extremely lean, the beans are good for you, and so are the onions and peppers.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t look weird.” He laughs, causing Amber to roll her eyes.
“Rinse your bowl and put it in the dishwasher. We need to get to practice soon.”
“Yes, sir.” He jumps from the table looking a lot better than he did a few minutes ago.
As soon as Amber and I are done eating, we change and gather our things for practice. It’s going to be a quick night. Some folks have already taken off for Christmas break.
I’m sitting on the sofa waiting on Amber and Ethan who are still getting ready for tonight’s party at Misty and Briggs’ house. Amber I can somewhat understand. She’s meeting a lot of people for the first time. But Ethan knows everyone, so I have no idea what is taking him so long. He’s got this new thing about gelling his hair and using men’s body spray. The body spray is a blessing, these boys are brutal at this age, but I’m not sure what’s going on with all the hair gel.
Ethan finally comes out of his room. “I’m ready.” He’s wearing a pair of nice jeans with a button-down shirt folded at the cuffs and a sweater vest.
“Look at you, all fancy tonight. Looking good, son.”
My son actually blushes. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Not that I’m complaining, but is there a special reason you’re dressing like a stud?”
He smiles. “Mason’s cousin is going to be there. She goes to our school.”
“Ah, I see, and you like her.”
I have never seen my son so shy. It’s actually kind of funny to witness. “Yeah, she’s really pretty.” My son just turned thirteen. I’m thinking it’s time the two of us have ‘the talk’, but not tonight. We have a party to get to.
Amber comes out of our room looking absolutely amazing in a beautiful red sweater and some nice fitted jeans. She has calf-high black boots on to complete her Christmas Eve look. Her hair is curled to perfection, and she has on just a touch of makeup. “You look stunning.” She smiles. “I want to kiss you, but I won’t so I don’t smudge your lipstick.”
“It’s lip stain. It won’t smudge. I only wear it for events like this.” I press my lips to hers gently, checking her lipstick when I’m done. She’s right. It didn’t budge.
“I will buy you boat loads of this stuff. I love kissing you, and lipstick should never come between a man and his woman’s lips.” She giggles.
“Are we ready?” Ethan asks, anxious to get out the door.
Amber looks at Ethan, and her eyes pop. “What’s the rush, handsome?”
“He has a crush, and she will be there tonight,” I inform Amber.
Amber walks over to Ethan and whispers something in his ear. He nods his agreement and smiles. “Got it,” he
tells her and grabs his jacket.
“I guess we’re ready.” I grab the two gifts we got for the swap, and we take off for a night of fun.
When we pull up to Misty’s house, there are a few cars already here. I didn’t want to get here too late because I want Amber to have a chance to get comfortable before it gets crazy. Ethan rings the doorbell, and Briggs answers. “Hey, guys, come on in. Merry Christmas.” Briggs shakes my hand and then Ethan’s.
“Briggs, this is my girlfriend, Amber. Amber, this is Misty’s husband, Briggs.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having us over.”
“Welcome to the crew. It’s grown to be quite large, but we’re a good bunch. I’ll take your coats while Vincent introduces you around.” We hand him our jackets and are instantly attacked by a very excited Misty.
Misty is a one of a kind person. She’s fun, outgoing, loud and speaks her mind freely. And there’s not a soul in this town who doesn’t love her for it. “I heard you had a girlfriend.” She rushes over and squeezes Amber. “I’m Misty. Come on in. Let me get you a drink.” It makes me smile to see the girls all welcoming her. Amber could use some good friends.
We’re all standing around the kitchen picking at appetizers while the girls pepper Amber with questions about our relationship and how long we’ve been dating and so on. She looks over at me with a huge smile but continues talking with Misty, Stella, Lori and Stacy.
The doorbell rings again, and Briggs runs over to answer it knowing full well Misty won’t stop chatting to grab the door. Amber is now part of the crew, and when these ladies get together they can talk and talk and talk.
“Dude, you’ll be running for that door all night.” Trystan busts his balls.
“It’s all good. Misty does so much around here. I have no business complaining.”
“And if you did, she’d cut your nuts off,” Trystan says with laughter.
“Damn straight.” I crack up laughing. “I know my place, and I’m not afraid to admit it. The woman takes good care of me.”
I hold my beer bottle up. “To good women.” We all clink our bottles together.
“Speaking of good women.” Trystan points his bottle toward Amber. “Last time I met Amber she was introduced as your friend. Today you’re introducing her as your girlfriend.”
“You act like you didn’t know. She’s been at practice with me.”
“I know, but it’s fun busting your balls.” Trystan laughs.
“Is it serious?” Briggs asks.
“Getting there. You should have seen the look on Laney’s face when she found out.”
Trystan lowers his voice. “How does Laney know?”
We don’t discuss Laney much. She was friends with Trystan’s ex who pulled a gun on Stella. Thank God Trystan taught her how to shoot. Stella was able to take her down without killing her.
“She’s in town. She wanted me to force Ethan to fly to New York for Christmas. When I refused, she showed up in my office as Amber was bringing us lunch.”
I feel like the girls now. We’re gossiping just as bad as they are. “That woman has bigger balls than most men I know.” Trystan shakes his head.
“Yeah, well I kicked her in the balls when I called Amber beautiful in front of her. You should have seen Laney. Her jaw hit the floor.”
“What did she say?” Briggs asked.
“She freaked out. I kicked her out of my office and told her not to show up there again without an appointment set up through my attorney.”
“Good for you.”
“Guys, come eat,” Misty interrupts our conversation which is fine. I have no desire to discuss my ex all night long. “Kids!” Misty calls up the stairs. “It’s time to eat.” They all come down.
I note that DJ and Mason are talking and Ethan is talking to a young girl. I tap Amber on the arm and nod toward the kids. She smiles. I lean in close and whisper, “What did you tell him earlier?”
“Just that no matter what happens, he needs to be himself. That she needs to like him for who he truly is.”
“You are amazing.” I press my lips to hers.
“Thanks. You’re pretty awesome too.” She winks and heads toward the food line.
Ethan makes a plate and sits with the kids while the adults all stand around the kitchen and living room. There is laughter and joy filling the air. This is an amazing group of people.
The doorbell rings yet again. Briggs looks at Misty puzzled. “I thought everyone was here?” he says, confused.
She smiles. “I’ll get it.”
She hurries over to the door and opens it. In walks a tall guy in a military uniform. Misty escorts him in. He taps on Lori’s shoulder and she turns around, her eyes filling with tears of joy. It’s her husband, who we’ve all heard so much about but have never had the pleasure of meeting. “Merry Christmas, baby.” Her hands are shaking as she wipes away tears of joy.
“Dad?” Josh comes running into the room. He scoops his son up, and the three of them hug.
“Merry Christmas, son.” There is not a dry eye in the room.
We all leave the kitchen to give them a few minutes together. It’s been a really long time since they’ve seen him.
“How did you pull this off?” Briggs asks his wife.
“He called me at the restaurant. He told me he had just gotten off the phone with Lori, and she told him she would be here on Christmas Eve for the party. He wanted to surprise her and Josh and asked if he could show up.” She sips her wine. “I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to surprise her.”
“I can’t believe you kept it a secret,” Stella says, planting her hands on her hips.
“Me either,” Lori says, walking into the living room with her husband.
“Welcome home, Kyle.” Trystan and Kyle shake.
“Thanks, man. It’s good to be home.”
Josh is glued to his father’s side. He no longer cares about hanging with his friends. Kyle looks down at him. “Go hang with your friends. I promise we have some time together.”
“How long are you home for?” Stella asks.
Both Lori and Josh look up at Kyle with hope, hope that he will be here for a bit of time. “Forever,” he tells them with a smile, and they both start to cry again.
“Are you serious?” Lori asks him.
“Yup, I’m finishing my time right here. I may have to travel into Virginia for a couple days here and there, but I’m done with deployments.”
“Shit, I wouldn’t care if you had to spend the week in Virginia and come home on weekends. You’re here.”
He laughs. “Be careful what you wish for. That could happen.”
She kisses him again. “I’m so happy you’re home.”
Josh runs off shouting, “Guys, my dad is home for good.” They all scream and cheer for Josh from the other room.
“You must be starving. Let me make you a plate.” Lori runs off to the kitchen to get her husband some food.
When he’s done eating and we’ve had a chance to clean up, we start our swap. We decided instead of a secret Santa we would do a Yankee swap. Everyone has to pick a number. In number order you pick a gift from the table. They’re all wrapped so you don’t know what it is until you open it. You then have the choice of keeping your gift or swapping with another already open gift. Hence the name Yankee swap. It’s quite fun and gave us a ton of laughs.
People brought all kinds of things. Some were funny gag gifts, some were alcohol, some did scratch tickets disguised as other gifts. It was a fun way to spend the night. Amber got a bottle of wine with two wine glasses, and I got scratch tickets. Everyone thought it was a gag gift, but the only gag was the fake box. Inside was a bunch of scratch tickets.
The ladies are all heading toward the kitchen to help Misty clean up, but she stops Lori. “Your help is not welcome. You need to take that husband of yours home and give him a proper homecoming.” Misty winks at her.
The guys start busting Kyle’s balls. “
You still know how to fire that pistol, soldier?” Trystan slaps his friend on the back.
“I fire at an expert level, I’ll have you know.” Kyle shoves Trystan playfully.
The girls roll their eyes. Lori hugs Misty and thanks her for an amazing surprise. She grabs Josh, and the three of them leave while everyone else gets to work cleaning up. Us guys help Briggs put some extra chairs away, and the ladies take to the kitchen. These kids are all going to be up early tomorrow, eager to see what they got for Christmas.
“Ethan, let’s go buddy,” I call my son. He comes down looking less than thrilled. “It’s getting late, bud.”
“I know.”
Briggs hands us our coats. Ethan thanks both Misty and Briggs for having us. When we get out to the car, Ethan pulls out his phone, but I know something’s up. I glance over at Amber who shrugs. She sees it too. “What’s wrong, Ethan?”
“Lizzie told me she doesn’t like me like that.”
Amber smiles, but she’s facing forward so Ethan can’t see her. “You know when I was your age, that’s what I said when my mom told me I couldn’t have a boyfriend.”
“Really?” he asks, sounding a bit more hopefully.
“True story.” She turns to face him. “Now I’m not telling you that’s the case, but it’s possible that her mom doesn’t want her having a boyfriend. You guys are young still. You have plenty of time for relationships when you get older.”
He nods. “At least there’s hope.”
“Do you know what else there is?” I ask him.
“What’s that? Ethan asks, genuinely interested.
“A lot of fish in the sea. You will have a crush on many girls from now until you find the right one. Shoot, you may even have to marry the wrong one to realize the right one was standing right before you.”
Ethan laughs. “Dad, you’re crazy.”
“Crazy in love.”
Rolling onto my side, I watch Amber sleep. She’s got such a peaceful look to her. Too bad that’s going to change. It’s Christmas morning, and before Ethan attempts to wake us, I need to start her morning off with a little something special.
I crawl beneath the blankets to find her nightshirt has ridden up. Pulling her panties to one side, I lick at her folds. I peek up from under the blanket. She appears to still be sleeping, but I think she’s messing with me. I do it again, but this time I don’t let up. I lick and suck at her hard little nub until she finally lets out that gentle moan I love.