A Merry Little Christmas

by Melanie Schuster

  “It started when we were on the plane going to Vegas. You were sitting with Matt and I was sitting with Nicole, who never shuts up, by the way. She talked and talked and told me all about you, about what you were like in school, what kind of friend you were, how wonderful you were and I had to agree with her because I knew it was true. I could look across the aisle where you were sound asleep and all I could think about was how pretty you looked, how much fun you were, how I looked forward to seeing you every day. When I came back to Detroit after being out on the road, all I wanted to do was see you, make you laugh, kiss you.” He kissed her then, a soft one on her forehead.

  “When I saw you all hugged up with Matt, I wanted to break his skull. I really did, I’m not proud of it, but I did. And on the plane, wow, you just looked so sweet and adorable, I couldn’t think of anything else but the possibility of not being with you. The flight attendant started bringing around drinks and you woke up and we all had champagne. We started drinking toasts to Matt and Nicole and I drank a toast to you, then another one ... I was pretty mellow when we got off the plane. When we got to the chapel, Matt and I kept drinking champagne while we waited for you and Nicole to find a dress. Well, I should say that I kept drinking, Matt kept pouring.

  “While they were getting married, I kept looking at you and I knew I wanted to be the man you married. I didn’t want to get on another plane and fly back here without making you mine. I kissed you and said that I wanted to take care of you forever. You kissed me back and said that we should take care of each other. I kissed you again and said you had to be mine, that no one else could have you. You kissed me back and said you wanted me, too. And we kept kissing, right there in the chapel and the justice of the peace said the next wedding had canceled and he had an opening if we wanted it. And we both said yes, yes, we wanted to be married right then and there, and we were. We weren’t sloppy falling-down drunk. We were pretty merry, but we weren’t passing out or anything.

  “We held hands and he said the vows and we kissed some more and we were really happy because we knew it was meant to be. It sounds corny and ridiculous, but that’s the way it happened, or the way I remember it. It wasn’t sordid at all, Angel, but it wasn’t right.”

  Angelique froze in his arms. His recollection mirrored hers, except for the part about her being asleep on the plane. She hadn’t been asleep, she’d been wishing she were on her way to her own wedding with Donnie. And now he was saying that it wasn’t right

  His arms tightened around her and he kept talking in his low, deep voice. “It wasn’t right because we should have had a beautiful ceremony like Warren and Lisette. We should have had flowers and candlelight and music and all of our nieces as flower girls. Your family should have been there with mine, and everybody should have seen how happy we are to be together. That’s what should have happened, Angel, and that’s what could have happened, but I couldn’t wait. I wasn’t man enough to wait until we got home and court you like you deserve. So I’m asking for a second chance, Angel. I want you to marry me all over again in front of God and everybody. Please say you will, say that you forgive me for not controlling myself and that you’ll allow me to make it up to you.”

  Angelique relaxed again in his embrace. She stroked his forearms with their coating of silky hair, and said so softly that he could barely hear her, “Yes, I will, Adonis. But not right away, let’s wait after the baby comes. We’ll have a real ceremony and everyone we love will be there and it will be beautiful and meaningful. And I love you very much for thinking of it. You’re a wonderful husband” she murmured and turned her face up for his kiss.

  “That’s because I have a wonderful wife. I love you, Angel,” he said before kissing her beloved face. “But I think you need to get into bed now, because your mom’s flight comes in early tomorrow. Are you excited about her coming?”

  Angelique yawned and said that she was. “I’m really looking forward to seeing her. I hope we have a good time,” she replied and then fell asleep on her husband’s shoulder. He continued to hold her for a long time before taking her to bed, just loving the fact that she was in his arms.

  ***

  Lillian wasn’t quite sure what to expect when she came to stay with Angelique and Donnie, but it wasn’t what she got. Their house was immaculately clean, and this was before the housekeeper’s visit on Tuesday. Angelique had cautioned her about Jordan and Pippen, but dogs, even big ones, didn’t bother her.

  “Didn’t I tell you that we’re now the proud owners of two black Pomeranians? Bill was so crazy about those little dogs of Vera’s that he went out and got two little ladies. He named them Ella and Sarah and he takes them everywhere. I think he plans on taking them to the golf course next,” she said, shaking her head.

  In any case, Jordan and Pippen had won her heart by giving her their winning smiles and holding up paws to shake when she got to the house. They were being perfect gentlemen and the fact that Angelique had taken them to the groomer also helped. Their coats gleamed like every other surface in the house. Lillian had to admire the way the house looked, especially the room they were fixing up as a nursery. Angelique showed her the wallpaper that had come out of the room; she’d kept a piece of the hideous burgundy stripes as a memento. Now the room was all peach and aqua and yellow, soft pastel shades that made it look fresh and pretty. Angelique’s bedroom furniture was going to be put into storage and they were going shopping for baby furniture soon.

  Angelique kept Lillian busy for the first few days, taking her to see the Cochran building and her studio, touring the new developments in downtown Detroit, shopping at the Somerset Town Center, lunching at a different restaurant every day, visiting Renee and Andrew and Big Benny and Martha; she practically ran her mother’s legs off. She was checking off things like a travel agent with an itinerary. The two women were now in the dining room, where they’d been looking at books of baby furniture.

  “Tomorrow I thought we could go to Windsor, Mama. They have some great shopping there, and some really good restaurants. Did you bring your passport with you? You have to have it just to cross the border these days,” Angelique reported.

  Lillian finally threw up her hands. “My goodness, Angel, we don’t need to go to another place. Let’s just stay home and talk tomorrow,” she said firmly. “I come up here to see my only daughter and I get Superwoman instead.” She laughed. “I want to know how you’re doing, my love. I want to go shopping for my grandchild, not for me. I want to talk about your wedding, even though it’s not until next Valentine’s Day. I just want to sit and relax with you, is that okay?”

  “It’s fine with me, Mama. Are you sure you’re comfortable in your room? Do you need anything?” she asked anxiously.

  Lillian assured her that she was fine. There had been fresh flowers in the room, a basket of current magazines and several novels and another basket with towels and toiletries. In addition there was a flat-screen television and an iPod dock.

  “No, darling, I don’t need another thing. You and Donnie have spoiled me shamelessly. In fact, I’m making breakfast tomorrow so you can get some rest. Expectant mothers need as much rest as they can get, you know.” She smiled at her only daughter and said truthfully, “I’m so looking forward to being a grandmother. This is so exciting, Angel.”

  “Mama, you have thirteen grandchildren already and another on the way, or did you forget that Vera is also expecting?”

  “Fourteen is a boring number, we need number fifteen. Besides, my daughter is having her very first child so that makes it a miraculous event,” her mother said fondly. “And sixteen has always been my lucky number,” she added with thinly veiled meaning.

  ***

  The next morning Donnie was surprised to find his mother-in-law in the kitchen when he got up to make Angelique’s herbal tea. He liked to get the water on so that when she arose she could have it right away. Instead, Lillian was bustling around the kitchen, making what looked to be an elaborate Southern feast. He was struck,
as always, by her startling resemblance to Nancy Wilson, with her deep, rich coloring and the distinctive blaze of white hair in the front.

  “Good morning, Lillian. Something smells wonderful.”

  “Good morning to you, Donnie, there’s coffee already made,” she said in a cheerful voice.

  “Thanks, but I’m not drinking coffee right now. Angel can’t have it so I drink herbal tea with her. I was just about to put the kettle on for the tea,” he explained.

  “Oh.” Lillian was nonplussed that she hadn’t thought of that herself, but she rallied quickly. “Well, I’m making her favorite breakfast, cheese grits, sausage, scrambled eggs and fresh biscuits,” she said proudly. She noticed a flicker on Donnie’s face and asked if there was a problem.

  “Well,” Donnie said reluctantly, “she really can’t tolerate too much grease right now. Sausage would really upset her stomach. She can handle a little ham, if it’s really lean. And for some reason she can’t stand butter right now, just the thought of it makes her sick. So she’s been eating a lot of dry toast. She usually has fruit, dry toast and oatmeal with no butter. The thing is, she’ll eat anything you give her, so you have to kinda watch what you put on her plate.”

  Lillian looked slightly chagrined as she looked up at her handsome son-in-law. “I should have thought of that,” she admitted. “I’ve been so busy trying to prove that I’m a good mother that I didn’t even ask if she had a restricted diet.”

  She sat down at the kitchen table, looking so crestfallen that Donnie sat down with her. She looked at him with a hint of tears in her eyes and confessed her fears. “I don’t think I’ve been a very good mother to Angelique,” she said quietly. “I’ve never known her as well as I should; we weren’t as close as a mother and daughter should be. I always felt like I failed her as a mother, that I should have been able to get through to her, to communicate with her better. But I never could.” Her sadness was so evident that Donnie felt compelled to give her an awkward hug.

  “Lillian, you have to know how much Angel admires you. She adores you; she thinks you’re the most perfect woman in the world. All she ever wanted to do was be like you, that’s what she told me. More than once, I might add. Despite what you think, you were a wonderful role model for her and you are the person she respects more than anyone else,” he told her.

  “I don’t see how, Donnie. I just wasn’t there for her when she needed me,” Lillian said sadly. Her smooth brown face puckered in distress. “When Angelique’s father died, I went a little bit crazy. I don’t think anyone knew how much his death affected me. I was pregnant, you see, and I lost the baby. It just seemed like the last straw, him dying the way he did and then me losing our baby, the last piece of him I would ever have.” She took a long, shuddering sigh and stopped for a moment to compose herself.

  “Poor Clay, he drove himself crazy trying to keep everything hushed up over the way his father died. It really wasn’t necessary; I knew what his father was like. I knew he had a roving eye, I knew that he had women in different places, so when he died in that hotel room in California, it wasn’t as big a shock to me as Clay believed it would be. I should have told him then, but I was too numb, too wrapped up in myself. I’m very ashamed of how I conducted myself back then.

  “I should have been stronger, been less selfish, especially when it came to my baby, my only little girl. By the time I was ready to act like a mature woman again, her brothers had taken over and she was an angry, confused little girl. I don’t think she’s ever gotten over it.” She sniffed. “I think I need a tissue.” Donnie obliged by handing her a fistful of paper towels. He flushed at the look of amusement on Lillian’s face.

  “I’m sorry, Lillian, let me get you some real tissue,” he said apologetically.

  Lillian waved her hand as thought it was of no importance. “Oh, don’t worry, this is fine. You’re a very sweet young man, aren’t you? You have good looks, good manners, and a good head on your shoulders, and you love my daughter. I was prepared to not like having you as a son-in-law. I had no idea what made you two go gallivanting off to Las Vegas, of all places, but I was prepared to be very angry with you. And I liked you, I always did. I liked all of Benita’s family, you’re lovely people. But I didn’t think you were what my baby deserved.”

  She reached over to touch his arm. “I was wrong. Very, very wrong. You love my daughter with all your heart; I can see it every time you look at her, every time you touch her. When you came galloping down the street to give her your coat because you thought she might be cold, I knew. That Vegas wedding may not have been my choice for my child, but she couldn’t have chosen a better man.”

  Wiping away the rest of her tears, she stood up with her usual aplomb. “Now that I’ve made a total fool of myself, I need to make a breakfast my child can actually eat.”

  “Umm, Lillian, I don’t have any restrictions, so I’ll be more than happy to take care of this delicious repast,” Donnie said innocently.

  They laughed and hugged each other tightly, a hug that lasted until they realized that Angelique was standing in the doorway watching.

  “So where’s this breakfast, Mama? I’m starving,” was all she said.

  Chapter Twenty

  The oppressive heat of summer began to fade away and the cool of fall was comforting to Angelique. She had decided that she was just hot-blooded by nature, because she found that she thrived on the cooler temperatures of Michigan. She and Donnie had been to Atlanta to visit her family and the damp heat had made her quite miserable. She had enjoyed being with her mother and her brothers but it was a relief when she could come back to lower temperatures. Everything seemed to annoy her, especially the heat. Her sisters-in-law tried to tell her that part of her sensitivity was due to her pregnancy, but she didn’t believe it.

  “None of you acted like this,” she said sadly. “I’m very happy and blessed to be having this baby and I should be in a good mood all the time, like you were,” she protested.

  Vera laughed out loud at that. “Oh, sweetie, nobody’s in a good mood for nine months. As thrilled as I was to be pregnant, as happy as I was to be giving birth to Marcus’s baby, there were times when I was a total shrew, believe me. Girl, I gave your poor brother hell, just ask him if you don’t believe me.”

  Selena confirmed what Vera told her. “Honey, your hormones are running amok right now. Nobody expects you to be little Mary Sunshine the whole nine months. With the last baby, I made poor Malcolm sleep in the guest room because I couldn’t stand the sound of his breathing,” she said with a laugh. “Of course, I was extra, extra sweet to him after the baby came and I’m still making it up to him, but I was a mean heifer for a few months.”

  Now in the cool breezes of October, Angelique still had trouble believing that her serene, sophisticated sisters-in-law were as petty and horrible as she was. There were days when everything seemed to irritate her from the way Donnie chewed to the way he walked. Jordan and Pippen escaped her wrath only because they were so adorable. They seemed to sense that something wonderful was happening to their mistress and they were always extra gentle with her.

  Andrew, Donnie’s oldest brother, also recognized her angst for what it was. “Look, cutie, don’t be so hard on yourself. No one can control these thing; it’s just part of being pregnant, part of your body getting ready to bring forth another life. That’s an awesome power, a huge responsibility. You can’t control your hormones. I’ll tell you a secret: my wife put a gun in my back after she delivered the triplets and said I was never getting in a bed with her again.”

  They were at Renee and Andrew’s house for dinner, and she and Andrew were chatting on the big deck that extended off the back of the Indian Village house. Angelique’s eyes were enormous when Andrew made his confession, but Renee heard him as she was bringing out vegetables on skewers to grill.

  “It was a blow-dryer, not a gun, as he is well aware. But at that point in time I meant every word. Sex with him was the last thing on my mind
, giving me three babies at once. Of course,” she said with a smile, “I got over it.” She gave her handsome husband a big kiss and went back into the house.

  In spite of Angelique’s mood swings and general hypersensitivity, Donnie was being the most attentive and caring husband he could be. He took an interest in every aspect of the birth, attended every doctor’s appointment with her, went to Lamaze classes with eager anticipation and did everything he could to make her comfortable. That night after they got home from Renee and Andrew’s, he ran a bubble bath for her and not only scrubbed her back, but when she emerged from the bathroom had her lie down on the bed on top of a big fluffy bath sheet.

  “I have a surprise for you,” he crooned.

  “What is it?” she asked sleepily. Those long bubble baths always made her sleepy.

  “Something you’ll like. Something we’ll both like, baby.” Suddenly her body was treated to a warm gush of sensation and his long, clever fingers were massaging her growing belly. He rubbed her gently and lovingly, talking to her as he did. “I love this belly. I love it. I love you for giving me this baby, Angel. This will help you relax and it will also keep that pretty belly from getting too many stretch marks,” he said softly. “Not that I care, I think they’re sexy. It makes a woman look like a real woman, in my opinion.”

  Angelique sighed with pleasure and the sighs turned into moans as he continued his massage to include her entire body, even her ultrasensitive breasts. Somehow, even though they were tender and easily irritated, Donnie always knew just how to touch them. They were so sensitive by this point in her pregnancy that the feel of the warm oil and his big hands caressing her brought her near orgasm in minutes. “Adonis ... Adonis,” she whispered.

  He continued to caress her, bringing his hands down her sides to stroke her hips and down her outer thighs and kissing her velvety inner thighs. “Adonis,” she cried with more urgency.

  “I’m right here, my love, what is it?”