I got comfortable on the edge of the couch as my friends gathered around and I started to play 3 Wishes by Dave Thomas Junior.
I watched Maggie as I played, keeping my eyes on her, while she kept her eyes on me. Slowly, her lips curled up on the sides as she listened to the words. She looked down at her feet once, and smiled at the floor. When she glanced back up her whole face was lit up like the sun. And I… well, I felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have this beautiful creature look at me like that. I wanted to throw the guitar on the ground and do a fucking back flip. When the song was over everyone clapped and whistled.
I stood and did an exaggerated bow. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“Sing another song!” Beth shouted.
“Hon, we’re inside,” Hayden laughed. “Use your inside voice.”
“Sorry,” Beth said softer while covering her mouth and giggling. “Sing another song,” she whisper-shouted.
I glanced around the room. I noticed Maggie watching me. We didn’t make eye contact because she wasn’t staring at my eyes. She was staring at my mouth. She was locked in and I’m not even sure she was blinking. I grinned at her. Her eyes drifted up. She grinned back at me, embarrassed she’d gotten caught. Her cheeks turned a nice shade of red. She turned abruptly and walked into the kitchen. I set down Cooper’s guitar and excused myself, telling everyone I needed a drink and I snuck in behind Maggie.
“What are you doing?” I said.
She startled and spun around. “Oh sweet mother of pearl! You scared the crap outta me.”
“Sorry,” I said, still grinning like fool. I cocked my head to the side and asked, “What were you staring at?”
“What do you mean?” She cleared her throat and crossed her arms in front of her hugging herself.
I moved in closer and bent down to whisper in her ear. “What were you thinking about, when you were staring at my mouth?”
She didn’t move. “I was thinking about…”
I kissed behind her ear and gently brushed the hair off her neck. “Hmm? Tell me.”
Her skin broke out in goose bumps and her breathing got heavier. “Ummmmm, I was thinking about you,” she said.
“Mmmm, and what was I doing?” I kissed her neck painfully slowly as I gently backed her up against the refrigerator. “Tell me.”
She moaned softly. “Oh God,” she said between deep breaths.
I stopped and pulled back looking directly into her eyes, “Maggie, I–”
“Dude, where’d y’all…” Cooper stopped as he walked in and saw us. “Sorry,” he said trying not to laugh. Beth and Lily wanted another song. I can tell them–”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, backing away from Maggie, grabbing her hand.
“I’ll do another song.” I looked at Maggie, and swallowed. I almost told her I loved her and I would have if Cooper hadn’t walked in on us. “Just give us a sec.”
Cooper nodded and turned around. I cupped Maggie’s face and looked down at her. She was a tiny little thing and all I could think about was how I wanted to shield her from every bad thing in the world.
“What were you going to say?” Maggie asked breathlessly.
“I was gonna say that you're kinda, sorta, basically, pretty much always on my mind,” I said with a small chuckle.
“You’re kinda, sorta, basically, pretty much always on my mind too.”
I kept my eyes glued to one red-headed, green-eyed beauty that was looking back at me. Only me.
“Dude! You coming back or what?” Hayden yelled from the other room.
I wrapped my arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “Come on, love. I have fans that need my attention.”
Maggie chuckled. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting then.”
Maggie
“Tonight was fun,” I said, smiling over at Joe as we headed back to his house. “This has been the best Christmas vacation I’ve ever had.”
Joe reached over and held my hand. “Really?”
“Well, so far,” I said with a smirk.
“I told my parents I would come visit them tomorrow.” He glanced over at me. “I was hoping you would want to come with me.”
“To meet your parents?”
“Yes. I sort of already told them I was bringing you.”
Joe grinned at me, the shyest grin he had ever given me. He looked hopeful and adorable. So even though the thought of meeting his parents made me a little nervous, I couldn’t tell him no.
“I would love to meet them.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
He grinned again, only this time it wasn’t shy. “Wait until…” Joe’s voice trailed off as we pulled into his driveway. Right away we both noticed a car parked where his car usually would be and three people sitting on his porch.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
Joe pulled up beside the black Camry and turned off the engine. “That’s my sister’s car. I wonder what she is doing here with the girls this late?” He unbuckled his seatbelt and proceeded to get out. As we approached, his sister and the little girls she had with her, made no attempt to move. The girls were curled up on either side of Joe’s sister, who was leaning against one of the porch columns.
“Kate?”
She looked up at us. “Joe.”
They had to be cold, even though they were all bundled up in coats, and gloves, huddled together to keep warm.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Max?”
“We left. I mean, I left. Him, I mean. Your place was closer than Mom and Dad’s, so I drove us here. The girls… they wanted to see you.”
“Jesus, Kate. It’s freezing out here. How long have y’all been out here like this?”
“Not long. I figured you would be home soon and the girls were sick of being in the car.” Her eyes wandered over to me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would have company.”
Joe took my hand and pulled me closer to him. “This is Maggie.” Joe smiled at his sister and then turned to me. “Maggie, this is my sister, Kate. And those two little rug rats are my nieces, Lexie and Mandy.”
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” Kate answered back.
“Come on, let’s get y’all inside.” Joe bent down and scooped up the smallest girl in his arms. She was still asleep. Our voices had not woken her. She nuzzled herself under Joe’s neck while he unlocked the door and carried her inside, throwing his keys down on the kitchen counter as he passed by. Kate woke the other little girl and they trailed behind Joe, while I followed closely behind them, securing the lock after I closed the door.
“Where is everyone going to sleep?” Kate asked.
Joe had already started down the hallway and then stopped, as if he only then realized the shortage of rooms. “Oh, umm, I guess…” he paused and looked directly at me. “Maggie, do you mind sleeping in my room tonight? I’ll take the couch. Kate and the girls can sleep in the guest room. That is, if you don’t mind?”
I waved him off. “Of course. I’m fine, yes, they can sleep in the guestroom.”
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
Glancing over at Kate, I finally got a good look at her. Even though her eyes looked tired, red, and swollen, most likely from crying, she was beautiful. I knew it was none of my business, though I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She lifted her other daughter into her arms to go tuck her in bed. “I will be,” she said.
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. “Do you need help with anything?”
“No, thank you for asking. We’re only here for the night. I…” a tear slid down her cheek, “…I couldn’t drive all the way to our parents’ house tonight”
Joe had mentioned that his parents’ house was about an hour away, and by the looks of Kate, she most assuredly would have never made it tonight. She carried princess number two to bed while I set up the coffee maker to brew in the morning. After completing that task I looked d
own the hallway and noticed a doll lying face down on the floor. One of the girls must have dropped it. I went to pick it up about the time Kate came out of the guest bedroom.
“I left my phone in the car,” Kate said quietly. “I need to run out and get it.”
“Okay.”
Kate saw the doll in my hand. “That’s Mandy’s.” Her face fell like she was recalling a memory. “If she wakes up and she doesn’t have it she’ll be upset.”
“I can take it to her. You go get your phone.”
“Thank you.”
I made my way into the bedroom where Joe was tucking in his nieces for the night. “Uncle Joe,” the oldest one said, “do you think you can talk to Daddy and make him stop being mean to Mommy?”
I had walked only two steps in the room when those words fell from that little girl’s lips and I froze, unable to take the next few steps to the bedside.
“Butterbean,” Joe said, brushing her hair off her face with a light touch of his fingers, “everything will be alright. I’ll make sure of it.” He kissed her softly on the head. “Get some sleep, Lexie. Tomorrow we’ll have some fun, okay?”
She nodded and very sleepily said, “Okay.”
Joe stood and turned around. For the first time since I had met him, he looked sad. When his eyes found mine, I saw so many emotions swimming beneath the surface. Anger was one, but it was softened with love for the little girls that were snuggled warm in the bed under his roof. The love he had for them was swirling with the sorrow he felt. That was evident.
I held up the doll. “Mandy dropped this. I wanted to bring it to her.”
He reached out, and instead of taking the doll like I thought, he reached for my empty hand and pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me fully.
“Thank you,” he said.
I wanted to cry. His ‘thank you’ was so… sad.
I hugged him back, holding him just as close. Then he pulled away, took the doll, and tucked it securely next to Mandy. She shifted and opened her eyes slightly.
“Uncle Joe, why are you at my house?”
Joe chuckled. “I wanted to give you a big hug goodnight.” He bent down and she wrapped her little arms around his neck. He kissed her forehead and she drifted back off to sleep holding Joe’s hand. It was the most precious thing I’d ever seen and it brought about an unexpected feeling of emptiness that I didn’t fully understand.
When Joe and I ventured back into the living room Kate was sitting on the couch, elbows on her knees, and her face was buried in her hands. She was choking on the sobs that she was obviously trying to muffle. Joe’s body turned rigid watching his sister cry, though his eyes were soft as he made his way over to the couch and knelt down in front of her. He stroked her hair, trying to ease her pain, speaking softly to her. Though I couldn’t hear everything he was saying to her, her sobs subsided, and she nodded her head at something he’d said.
I felt like I was intruding on a private moment. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, so I headed back down the hallway to the bathroom where I proceeded to get ready for bed. My heart ached for all of them. It was Christmastime after all, and this felt so wrong. Little girls should be giggling and laughing at the anticipation of Christmas morning, not leaving their home and traveling late at night, falling to sleep with worry about their mother.
I finished brushing my teeth and exited the bathroom prepared to head straight to Joe’s room without saying goodnight to give him and his sister some privacy. When I entered his room, Joe was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Come here,” he said.
I walked over and sat down next to him. “Is Kate all right?”
He took my hand and made lazy circles with his thumb inside my palm. “She will be. Tomorrow I want to make the girls forget, for a little while, so let’s me and you make that happen.” He looked up at me with hope in his eyes, although, I sensed his unease.
“Of course, Joe. Whatever you need me to do, I want to help however I can. I just met them, and I already want to squeeze ‘em to death. They’re so adorable.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them,” Joe said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed those rug rats until I saw their little faces tonight.”
“Well, tomorrow, we’ll figure out a way to make them smile. All of them.”
Joe squeezed my hand. He locked his eyes on mine, not saying anything. He didn’t have to. He was thanking me again with the warm tender expression that moved across his face.
He leaned in, closing his eyes, and touched his forehead to mine. His breath kissed my lips and I felt his hands move up to the back of my head, as if he needed to hold me there. Little did he know I wouldn’t have moved an inch from him if my life literally depended on it. I would have died happily right there in that spot.
A moment later he moved barely a fraction to place a tiny kiss on my cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” I said sincerely.
“Do you think she’s alive?”
“Yeah. I can feel air coming out of her nose. Plus dead people don’t snore.”
“She’s pretty. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Except her hair looks really funny.”
“Girls, I told you not to wake her up,” a masculine voice said in a quiet tone. “Breakfast is ready. Go wash up.”
“But Uncle Joe –”
“Out. Maggie is not exactly a morning person,” Joe said with a chuckle.
Where am I? And why are there people watching me sleep? I rolled over and opened one eye. A little girl with blue eyes was staring back at me.
“Hey, are you awake now?”
“Lexie, I told you not to wake her up.”
“I didn’t, Uncle Joe. Honest.”
“Did too,” the other little girl said.
I blinked and tried to gain some sort of awareness. Another blue eyed girl was standing beside my bed. “You totally woke her up.”
“Alright. Out. Now.” Joe was standing at the foot of the bed smiling.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “What time is it?”
“Seven-thirty.”
I sat up in the bed and pulled the covers up with me, feeling exposed since I had an audience around me. Tiny bits of information from last night attempted to gather into cohesive thoughts.
“I’m sorry they came in here. They thought the pretty red-headed lady might be hungry though.”
It was coming back to me now. It’s not my fault I need a shot of caffeine in the mornings to communicate properly with the living or recall things like last night…or my middle name. I did remember telling Joe I would help him make today fun for the girls.
“See, Uncle Joe. I told you she would be hungry!”
“Scram,” Joe laughed. “Let Maggie get up, okay?”
The little girls ran out of the room and down the hallway. Hearing their giggles this morning made me happy, even through my sleep induced haze. “You need to scram too, mister, so I can get dressed and we can get this day started.”
The corners of Joe’s mouth tipped up. “You, uh, might want to do something with that hair too.”
I reached behind me, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at him. “Shut up.”
Undeterred, he laughed again and turned towards the door. “We’ll be in the kitchen.”
Joe
“You should make toast for Mandy, Uncle Joe,” Lexie stated.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“‘Cause Mom said she lacks toast and tolerant,” Lexie said, shrugging her shoulders. “I think we need to feed her more toast.”
I blasted out a laugh so loud I was certain it could have been heard across the street. “Oh my god…I’ve missed you so much.” I wiped at my eyes and bent over to hug my niece. “Toast coming right up.”
Kate came up behind me while I was putting bread into the toaster. I handed her the cup of coffee I had made for her. “You doing okay, sis?”
She nodded. “Better.”
<
br /> I looked over at Lexie and Mandy and my heart did this weird thing, like a fist was squeezing it from the inside. The toaster heating elements turned red, and I felt like the exact same thing was happening somewhere inside me. I wanted to punch Max in the damn throat for putting these girls through this. And at Christmastime at that! The bastard did not want to see my face anytime soon. The last time he saw me I broke his nose. He had been drinking, something he did quite a bit, and called my sister a bitch right in front of me. So yeah, I broke his nose. Luckily the girls had been playing outside so they didn’t see me hit their father, which I was grateful for. He didn’t want me coming around after that, so I hadn’t seen my sister or my nieces in six months. I’d be damned if I would keep my distance from them anymore. She was my sister, and I was not going to stand by quietly and watch him hurt her any longer.
“Kate, you know if you need a place to stay, you and the girls can stay here.”
“I know. We’re going to stay at Mom and Dad’s for a while. I’ll put them in school up there after Christmas break and…” she stared down into her coffee mug like it held all the answers. “…and we’ll be alright.”
I reached for her and wrapped my arms around her. “I know you will. I have no doubt about that.”
“Uncle Joe, are you going to come with us to Grammy and Poppy’s house today?” Lexie asked.
“Yep. Is it okay if Maggie comes with us?”
“Sure. We think she’s pretty,” Mandy said.
I felt the corners of my mouth quirk up. “I think she’s pretty too.”
“Do you have a crush on her?” Lexie asked.
“Sort of, but don’t tell her. Okay?”
Lexie and Mandy both giggled. “I think she already knows, Uncle Joe.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Why do you think that?”
“‘Cause she’s standing right behind you.” Mandy giggled with her hand cupped over her mouth.
I turned around and sure enough Maggie was standing right there. She had a smirk on her face. I glanced over my shoulder at the girls and whispered with a look of concern, “How long has she been standing there?”
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