A Hero's Reward

by Morrel, Amy

  “Sure, I can do that. Give me a minute.”

  Greg hurried to get dressed appropriately for the weather and the two walked out to the bus stop. The bus was more than a few minutes late and Margaret was worrying out loud when they finally saw it come around the corner. The children got off of the bus and everyone headed back inside.

  “Wow, it's really nasty out there” said Ellen, “I saw at least three accidents on the way home.”

  Christine nodded vigorously in agreement.

  Jack looked at Greg:

  “You don't have to work tomorrow either, do you?”

  “No I don't, why do you ask kiddo?”

  “I'm hoping they call off school and we can build a snowman!”

  “Well, if they cancel school I'll take you out in the front yard and we'll build a snowman that everyone can see.”

  “Thanks Uncle Greg! Mom, can I have hot chocolate?”

  Christine chimed in with a “Me too?”

  Ellen looked at her sister and Jack, sighed dramatically and added her own:

  “I'd like one also if it's okay.”

  The five of them entered the house and Margaret headed to the kitchen to make the kids their hot treat. The children took their hot chocolates down into the basement. They'd do their homework there and if they finished before dinner they could watch a movie when they finished eating and helping clean up the dishes.

  Margaret settled in with Greg in the living room, the two of them staring out the window at the snow falling and accumulating.

  Trying to forget his failure at being able to organize his thoughts earlier in the day Greg stepped back to the subject they had been talking about before Margaret left for work.

  “Margaret, you don't have to pay for groceries, I can do that. When I was shopping for just myself I typically spent nearly as much each week as you do to feed the five of us, plus the food is better now. Let me pay for them, you can save your money or use it for things for you and Jack.”

  “Greg, it isn't fair that you pay to feed all of us. I'm pretty sure that the remodel of the basement put a dent in your own savings, you ought to let me chip in.”

  “You do chip in, you provide the skill to get what we need for a lot less than I'd spend getting the same stuff.”

  “That's not what I meant and you know it.”

  “I understand what you're saying Margaret but you do the shopping and all the cooking, that ought to count for at least as much as me paying for the groceries.”

  Margaret sighed, willing to let the matter drop for the moment. The two of them sat close together, thighs touching. They held hands as they watched the snow fall. The heater chose that moment to kick in and they were grateful for the warm air slowly filling the room. There was a cold breeze coming off the window but neither of them was willing to close the curtains and lose their view as the snow turned dead grass, leafless trees, and man-made objects into a soft-looking white vista.

  It wasn't very long until Margaret had to get up to start dinner. When she did, Greg gave in and finally closed the curtains. He set the table while she cooked. Setting the table wasn't something he had bothered with when he was by himself, but it was something he had come to associate with having the house full with his children, Margaret, and Jack. So he found himself enjoying the process as a symbol of how his life had changed, in his opinion, much to the better. He still wasn't very good at it though and he frequently caught Margaret straightening things or rearranging things just before she served the meal.

  Ellen complained when dinner was ready, she hadn't quite finished her homework yet. The extra fifteen minutes the bus took to get home would have allowed her to finish before dinner so Greg told her not to worry. If she finished quickly after dinner they could still watch a short movie.

  They sat down together and ate as a family, despite the fact that they were two separate families. The line between the two families had quickly blurred between the children and Greg frequently found himself thinking of Margaret as more of a wife than Emily had ever been, despite the lack of an actual ceremony. He nearly managed to get over his fear of asking Margaret at that thought. Only the presence of the children kept him from proposing on the spot when the thought finished running through his mind.

  The rest of the evening passed peacefully until bedtime when they had another episode of the ongoing argument over Ellen going to bed at eight o'clock. The argument kept her up until eight thirty and Greg used that to get her to bed.

  “See, it's eight thirty, you got to stay up a half hour late already. So go to bed now.”

  He used the tone of voice that Ellen knew meant he was done with the discussion and would shortly be upset enough to hold firmly to all the rules they had established for the house for the next week or two so she gave in and went to bed. She knew that he frequently bent the rules for the kids and didn't want to lose that slack.

  Greg woke shortly before six o'clock to his alarm clock, which he had set to a local news channel the night before. As he lay in bed the words the announcer was saying penetrated his sleep fogged brain:

  “Due to the heavy snowfall overnight, many local schools have been closed. Visit our website to see the list of school closures and delays by school name.”

  Greg dragged himself out of bed, dressed, and headed downstairs to boot up his computer. When he finally had it running he found that Ellen's school was closed for the day as was the school that both Jack and Christine attended.

  He walked into the kitchen and found Margaret listening to the little portable radio he sometimes took to job sites.

  “I guess you heard then, that the kids are off of school today?”

  “Yes I did, I'm making french toast and sausage so when they drag you out to build a snowman you all have a hot meal in your stomach already.”

  “Thank you.”

  Greg plopped into his chair before noticing that Margaret had already brewed a pot of coffee. He stood back up and went to get some. Margaret blocked his way though:

  “Pay the toll first.” she said, pursing her lips.

  Greg gave her a hasty kiss and reached for the coffee mug. Halfway through his first cup he apologized for his lack of attention with his first kiss and made it up to her with another kiss that had the slices of french toast on the stove at the time slightly darker brown on one side than they should have been.

  Margaret served Greg's breakfast to him and sat down with a plate of food herself. Before they had finished, the sound of running steps rang out from the stairs as the children, or at least two of them, came charging down.

  “Uncle Greg, I heard they called off school. So we can make our snowman!”

  “I wanna help too.” added in Christine.

  “Sure you can help Christine.” said Greg, “Where's your sister?”

  “When we told her there was no school she said that she was going back to bed.”

  Margaret and Greg looked at each other and shared a chuckle. The concept of the child who insisted on having a later bedtime deciding on getting more sleep in the morning was amusing to both of them.

  “Well, that's fine. She can sleep in if she wants to since there's no school.”

  The two children present sat down to their breakfast. When they had finished Greg got them up and moving to get dressed for being out in the snow. As they began to bundle up, Ellen came downstairs and into the kitchen. She grabbed herself a light breakfast from what was left and started eating, shooting wistful glances at Greg and the other two children. Greg didn't see this but Margaret did and she kept an eye on Ellen. Greg took the younger two children out into the front yard and they started working on a snowman.

  When Ellen had finished eating, she put her dishes in the sink and went into the living room. Several minutes later Margaret came out to see her staring out through the window.

  “You know, you could go out and join them if you wanted to.”

  “No I can't, I'm too old for that silly stuff.”

  �
�Your dad is out there, he looks like he's enjoying himself, and he's plenty older than you. You're only too old for it if you think you are.”

  “But he's a dad, that's the kind of thing he's supposed to do.”

  “How many dads do what they're supposed to, did you ever think of that? Your dad is something special.”

  “Then why'd he leave my mom and leave us stuck with her?”

  “From the way I heard the story, she left him to marry a politician. When he tried to get custody, your mom's new husband rigged the hearings so that he couldn't.”

  “What? That's not what my mom told us.”

  “Maybe you should ask your dad about it. I don't know the whole story. But look at what we both saw ourselves, did he hesitate at all when your mom just ditched you here? Or did he jump right in to make his custody official and keep you from having to go back to your mom if she changes her mind again?”

  “Umm, I never thought about it that way. Mom did remarry awfully quickly, didn't she? Dad still hasn't remarried.”

  Margaret smiled a small, sad, smile:

  “No, he hasn't remarried yet. Not for lack of opportunity though, I know that for a fact.”

  Ellen looked at Margaret curiously:

  “He hasn't asked you? I was sure that he had and you'd said no.”

  “You're a little young to go through all the details with but if he asked me, I'd accept in a heartbeat.”

  “Why do you think he hasn't?”

  “Because he's scared, because he got hurt so badly the first time he was married that he's scared to try again. At least that's what I think. I'll wait for quite a while longer if I have to. I might even work up enough courage to ask him myself eventually although that would take lots more guts than I have right now.”

  “Do you think you could help me find my snow gear? Maybe I will go out there, even if it's only to get a good snowball shot at dad.”

  “Sure Ellen, let's get you set to go outside.”

  Margaret sat on the couch, watching Greg and the children play in the front yard. Ellen did indeed get her snowball shot at Greg, and she hit him too. Ellen immediately found herself under counter fire from snowballs thrown by Greg and the other two children since she had interrupted them while rolling the head for the third snowman they were building.

  Margaret was smiling and softly laughing as she watched the four of them playing in the snow. She momentarily regretted the fact that she didn't have any clothes suitable to go out and join them herself. She teared up for a moment when she realized that they were building five snowmen. One very large, one just large, one much smaller than the other two, and the final two growing smaller still from the third. She was pretty sure it was supposed to be the five of them. Her suspicions were confirmed when Jack stood next to the smallest snowman and trimmed a couple inches off the top so it was his own height exactly.

  When they finally came in, Margaret had water hot and ready to make hot chocolates all around, including for Greg and herself.

  “I figure you got to play with the kids in the snow, you should get the same treat that they did.”

  Greg mocked looking indignant and pointed at Margaret's cup.

  “Hey, I should get some reward for making it, shouldn't I?”

  Greg grinned and gave Margaret a huge, wet, snowy hug.

  “Greg!” she exclaimed.

  “Well, I figured you told us we deserved hot chocolate because we were playing in the snow. Now you deserve it also since you got to play with some snow.”

  Margaret laughed out loud at him before pushing him towards the living room.

  “All of you, out there now. Take your snowy stuff off out near the front door and let it dry out.”

  Greg returned to the kitchen after he divested himself of coat and boots. The children were with him and they claimed their hot chocolates and headed to the basement. Greg remained, sipping his own cocoa.

  “It's stopped snowing so after the plows go by the kids and I are going to go to the hardware store and pick out their paneling. I've got the next four days off so I'll have plenty of time to get it put in. I may even be done by Friday night and we could have another date Saturday if you'd like.”

  “I'd like that a lot.”

  “Anyhow I thought I'd ask you if you wanted to join us.”

  “No thank you, but I will use that time to change the sheets in all the bedrooms without the children being here. Anytime I try to clean anything in their rooms they're right there saying 'don't touch that' or 'where'd you put this?'. I'll try to be in and out of their rooms before you get home.”

  “Are you sure? I hate the idea of you working in the house all day while the rest of us are out having fun.”

  “Greg, if you've ever sounded more like a stereotypical male, I haven't heard it. Sorry, but going to the hardware store isn't my idea of fun.”

  “Okay then, is there anything you'd like to do today that isn't work?”

  “How about you and I watch a movie together this evening when the kids go downstairs to watch something of their own? That would be fun for me.”

  “We can certainly do that, is there any type you'd prefer to watch? I can stop by the Redbox while I'm out.”

  “No, we'll pick something from your collection. I might actually be in the mood for one of your action adventure movies tonight.”

  “Alright then, it's a date. Well, not really but you know what I mean.”

  Margaret sighed:

  “Oh you. Go on, get out of here and make sure the children haven't gotten snow all over everything out in the living room. I'll start some soup so you all have a warm lunch.”

  “Your wish is my command.” Greg tossed back over his shoulder as he headed into the living room.

  “If only.” Margaret sighed under her breath.

  In the middle of lunch Greg heard the plows going by out on the street. The unmistakeable noise of the plow grinding on the pavement went by twice so he thought they must have fully cleared the street in both directions. After lunch he went outside and checked. He found that the street was clear of most of the snow and had been sanded as well.

  As soon as he was back inside he called out:

  “Okay kids, who wants to help pick out the paneling for the basement?”

  All three children showed up within moments. Greg had them grab their coats and they all headed out for the truck. He got the three children buckled in and started up the engine.

  “Alright, while we're at the store, you're all staying right near me, right?”

  “Yes dad.” Ellen said in a slightly aggravated tone.

  “Yes daddy.” Christine pipe up.

  “You got it Uncle Greg.” Jack chimed in.

  Greg put the truck in gear and cautiously drove to the hardware store. The children took what seemed like forever to agree on a single style of paneling but after they did Greg got it purchased and loaded quickly. He buckled everyone back in the truck and they headed home.

  When Greg turned onto his own street he started getting nervous. There was an unfamiliar car in his driveway. As he approached closer he saw that the two largest snowmen in the front yard had been destroyed and the front door to the house was hanging open.

  He whipped the truck into the end of the driveway:

  “Kids, stay in the car. I think there's something wrong.” he said, throwing his door open.

  Greg jumped out of the truck and sprinted into the house. He didn't look behind him or he would've seen the children ignoring his order and piling out of the truck to chase after him.

  As soon as he entered the house, Greg heard loud voices upstairs.

  “You tried to kick me in the balls you bitch! I was just going to kill you but now I'm going to fuck you first. Wearing those fancy ass clothes makes you look like a slut so I'm going to treat you like one.”

  Margaret's voice was as shrill as Greg had ever heard it:

  “You're not going to touch me Freddy. If you're smart you'll leave right now.
When I heard you break into the house I called those FBI agents you met. If you try to touch me, I'll kick you again in the same place, only I'll aim better and kick harder this time.”

  A torrent of curses rang out through the house as Greg was charging up the stairs. He ran down the hallway and found that the voices were coming from inside his bedroom.

  He skidded to a stop and looked inside. Freddy was trying to corner Margaret in the room. It looked like a struggle had taken place all the way through the room already. Some of the furniture was overturned, other pieces looked as though they'd been thrown. The mattress was half off of the bed and Margaret was just scrambling off of it on the far side from Freddy. Freddy was trying to follow her across the mattress but as he tried to climb up the side that had fallen off the bed, the unsupported mattress buckled under him, dumping him on his ass.

  “Freddy!” Greg's voice roared out, filling the small room.

  Freddy turned to look and snarled at Greg:

  “Oh mister high and mighty arm grabber. Mister you aren't a real human being. Let's see how you like this.”

  Freddy stood and pulled a knife from inside his coat. Then he started advancing on Greg. Greg pulled his coat off of his right arm and torso, wrapping it around his left arm as Freddy approached him. When Freddy slashed at him with the knife, Greg blocked with his left arm. The knife cut the coat open but didn't reach his skin. Greg feinted a lunge at Freddy, who stepped back a couple of steps. Greg stepped into the bedroom. Now he could move, which he couldn't have done while he was still in the doorway.

  Freddy started trying to circle Greg before realizing that there wasn't enough room to get all the way around him. He slashed again and once more Greg blocked with his protected arm. This time, Greg stepped in and swung his right fist at Freddy's arm. Freddy tried to back off again but he discovered that there was a wall behind him, stopping his retreat. Greg stepped in to keep Freddy trapped against the wall and Freddy started repeatedly lunging with the knife, trying to drive Greg back a step. Greg stayed just out of reach and moved to block when Freddy tried to step out into an area that would give him more space.

  Greg thought that Freddy was now accustomed to him just blocking with his left arm and it was time to try something different that might end the fight. Eventually Freddy stopped lunging and tried to step in and slash. This time Greg took the slash on his coat but then he opened his left hand, letting the coat hang free, and grabbed Freddy's wrist on the side holding the knife. Greg squeezed as hard as he could and when Freddy still didn't drop the knife Greg twisted, hard. The knife dropped to the floor and Greg gave it a kick. It ended up lying in front of a window, well out of reach of the combatants.