This Too Shall Pass

by Jettie Woodruff

  Cory slid right in beside her on the hard bench. Alexis turned her head toward the smirk with the most hateful look she could muster.

  “You’re in God’s house,” her dad reminded her with a nudge and a whisper.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Alexis questioned with a quiet, angry whisper.

  “Why didn’t you tell me Riki was an Angel?”

  “Get your own church.”

  “Oh you own the church now, too?”

  “Shhh,” someone called from behind, maybe Sam. Alexis shook her head, crossed her arms over her breasts, and watched Riki walk out to the middle of the stage.

  “Mary, you are the chosen one. Soon you will have a baby boy.” Riki looked up to Alexis with a nervous stare. She forgot her lines.

  “He will be very special,” she mouthed while cupping her mouth with her hands and leaning forward.

  “What?” Riki questioned. The church laughed and Alexis said it in audible words.

  “He will be…”

  “He will be very special. He will be the Son of God and you must call him Jesus,” Riki continued, remembering the forgotten lines. She made it all better. The anger toward her dad was instantly replaced with joy. Riki was the best angel on stage, even if she did forget her lines. Joy was short lived. Cory put his arm around Alexis during the Lord’s Prayer and pulled her to him. She moved his arm with a mean glance, wishing she could slap the smirk from his face. What the hell?

  The real show started once everyone was leaving. Cory insisted on carrying Kinley to the car. Once he had her fastened in her seat, he walked around to kiss Riki.

  “You be a good girl, Daddy will see you when you wake up in the morning.”

  “For Santa? You’re going to be there when I wake up?”

  “You bet. I love you. I’ll see you in the morning.” Cory closed the door and turned to pissed off Alexis.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re not coming to my house in the morning. Why would you tell her that?”

  “I’m not coming there in the morning. I’m coming tonight. What time will you be home from your parents’?”

  Alexis looked through the window to see Riki slapping Kinley’s hand off hers, singing Rudolf before lashing out. Her finger poked hard on his chest. “Stay the fuck out of my way. You wanted this. You fucking did this, now stay the fuck out of my life. This is my church. Not yours. Leave me alone!”

  Alexis hadn’t even realized she had an audience until her dad scolded, two cars down.

  “Alexis McKinley!”

  Alexis spun away from Cory and slid on the ice. Cory caught her and she lashed out again. “Don’t fucking touch me. Stop fucking touching me.” The door slammed hard and she breathed in long slow breaths, trying to calm the rage.

  “Are we going to the farm now?” Riki asked, oblivious to livid energy permeating the entire car.

  “Yeah, baby. We’re going. You hungry?”

  The party at the farm wasn’t what she’d planned. Alexis was annoyed, pissed that Cory thought he could do whatever the hell he wanted, show up wherever he wanted, and then think he was going to sleep in her house. She sat off to the side, watching the festivities, fuming mad, instead of enjoying the fun.

  “You okay?” Walt asked with a squeeze to her knee, sitting right beside her.

  “I’m fine, Dad.”

  “You don’t look fine. You really need to get ahold of that anger, Alexis. It’ll eat at you like gnawing rat.”

  “I wouldn’t have to get ahold of it if people would get ahold of their stupidity.”

  “A quick temper will make a fool out of you quicker than anything.”

  “Are you worried about me looking like a fool, or you?” Alexis retorted with the same irritated tone.

  Walt smiled warmly and patted her knee. “Merry Christmas, Alexis.”

  Guilt instantly flooded her when Walt walked away from her. He came to cheer her up and she was mean and bitter toward him. Basically he told her without words that he was happy, and she wasn’t going to rain on his joy. If she wanted to sulk in pity alone while the rest of the McKinley’s spread good will and cheer, then so be it. Stupid morals. Alexis sucked it up and tried to have fun with her family. Riki and Kinley didn’t seem to be having a problem. Emily got the new tap shoes, like Riki and Kinley. They danced and danced with Kinley, tapping right along with them.

  Alexis wore out first, and then Kinley. The younger crowd had started to get a little rowdy anyway. Alexis was ready to go. Explaining that they needed to get home for Santa was her tantrum-free ticket out of there. She was zipping Kinley’s coat when she got the text from Cory.

  Cory—Funny thing happened. I typed bitch into my GPS and now I’m sitting in your drive way. Where are you?

  Alexis—Did you get that from a bumper sticker? You’re not staying at my house. You can’t just do what you want.

  Cory—Actually, I got it from Stewie Griffin. You have two choices, Alexis. Either you can stop being a bitch and let me be there with my family on Christmas morning, or I can take Riki and go to my house. Your choice.

  Alexis didn’t reply. This man was going to cause her to commit murder. They said goodbye to the family, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and headed home for baths, hot chocolate, and The Night before Christmas. With Cory!

  The black truck was parked in her parking spot. Cory exited and helped with the packages and Kinley. Riki was over excited that her daddy was going to spend the night and be there for Santa. Alexis didn’t even look at him. She unlocked the door and petted Mr. Dog.

  “Come on, boy. Grandpa sent you a nice ham-bone for Christmas,” she said, speaking to her dog and ignoring Cory.

  “Is she ever going to take off these shoes?” Cory teased when he sat Kinley to the hardwood floor, feet instantly stomping, remembering the noise they made, every time her feet hit the floor.

  “Probably not,” Alexis smartly remarked. “Riki can you run up and get your Christmas jammies?”

  “And yours and Kinley’s too?”

  “No, I’ll shower up there. Just get yours and Kinley’s. I’m going to start your water.”

  Alexis moved around the kitchen, pouring water in Mr. Dog’s bowl, and starting water for the hot chocolate. Cory follow noisy Kinley, coming to find her mom. Her hands stilled on the counter when Cory moved behind her. Oh hell no. Not again. No way. Alexis moved his crotch, thrusting into her ass by thrusting back, and turning on him.

  “Whatever you think this is, you’re totally wrong. Keep your fucking hands off me.”

  “Bee, bee,” Kinley called bent at the waist.

  “That’s not a bee. It’s a raisin.”

  “Bee, bee,” she pointed again.

  “Can we please give the girls a good Christmas without all this animosity?”

  Alexis closed her eyes and pinched her nose, holding in an exasperated breath. Cory kept her pinned between him and the sink, lifting her chin with one finger. He forced her hand away from hers with his and stared down at her.

  “You’re mad. You’re a crazy person. You think it’s perfectly okay to do whatever the hell you want to do. You can’t, Cory.”

  “Are you going to kiss?” Riki giggled from the door, holding the red candy-cane covered pajamas.

  “Ew, gross. No way. He’s a boy. Boys have cooties,” Alexis chanted, getting the hell away from Cory. He really was a crazy person. What the hell was this? Who was this?

  “Kinley ate the bee,” he announced as his smile broadened, looking down at Kinley chewing with same adorable smile.

  Alexis scooped her up and carried her to the upstairs bathroom, stopping to let Riki go ahead of her. “You can’t eat raisin-bees left on the floor,” she teased while tickling her belly. Alexis dropped her to the floor and locked the gate behind her. Seconds later she heard the sound of a toy…on every step.

  “Come on, let’s get a bath,” Alexis coaxed from the bathroom door, waving her hand, and speaking in a high pitched excited sound
. The excitement wasn’t transferred. Kinley turned and tossed the stuffed animal down the stairs, too. Alexis went after her, dragging her by her hand, illuminating the sound of tapping with every step.

  Kinley screamed and threw herself to the bathroom floor when Alexis tried to take her shoes.

  “Give her something, Riki,” Alexis said while hiding the shoes from her sight in the towel closet. If she saw them, she would insist on them going back on her feet.

  “Here,” Riki said.

  Alexis frowned at the toilet brush and put it back. “Why would you give her the toilet brush? It’s dirty and gross.”

  “She likes it.” That she did. Kinley always went for the toilet brush. She knew exactly where it went, too.

  Cory took it upon himself to enter HER bathroom and help out. Alexis ignored him as best she could and started the water. Her inner dialogue consisted of asking why he thought it was okay to come upstairs, and the one about who the hell he thought he was again.

  “You got this? I’m going to shower downstairs,” she questioned when he just moved in and took over, playing with the girls like he belonged there.

  “Yes, go. We’re going to make more bubbles.” Cory didn’t turn around and Alexis didn’t protest the amount of pink bubbles he was dumping to the tub. Whatever. Idiot.

  The hot water rained over her body, doing little to calm the annoyance of Cory the nuisance. He was ruining everything. She had their holiday all planned out, right up until he picked them up in after dinner.

  Cory knew the plan. Her plan. He already had the fire stoked, the blanket on the floor, and both girls snuggled, ready to read the story. One little girl in each arm.

  “Come on, mom,” Cory smiled while tapping the floor beside Kinley.

  “I’ll listen from the couch.”

  “Where is your top like ours?” Riki complained. Alexis had bought the three pair of matching pajamas at the mall with Sam, thinking about how cute their Christmas photos would be.

  “It won’t button,” Alexis admitted. Riki giggled.

  “Come down here and read with us,” Cory suggested again.

  “Just read, Cory. I’m not getting on the floor. I’ll never get up.”

  “Get down here. I’ll help you. Won’t we, Riki?”

  “Yeah!” Riki called, tossing her hands into the air. Kinley did the same thing.

  As soon as Alexis was situated beside Kinley, Cory placed his hand on her leg. She moved it. Their expressions were like night and day, hers annoyed and scrunched, his happy and smiling.

  Kinley moved to Alexis’s lap and snuggled to her shoulder three minutes in. Alexis swayed lightly, left to right while rubbing her back. Riki listened to the last page, snuggled to her dad.

  “Next time we have Christmas, the baby will be here, huh, Daddy?” Riki quietly said, sounding sleeping.

  “Yes, maybe you’ll get a brother this time.”

  “No, we just want girls. Right, Lexis?”

  “Yes, boys are stupid, but if we get a brother he won’t be stupid.”

  “And not daddy either, right?”

  “No, you should throw rocks at him,” Alexis whispered to where only Cory could hear, agreeing with Riki with one word…right. Cory snickered and tried to place his hand on her leg. Again, she moved it. Did he want to be punched?

  “We’re going to name her Paisley.”

  “Paisley?” Cory questioned.

  “Yeah, we like it. Huh, Lexis.”

  “Yes, her name is going to be Paisley.”

  “Paisley what?” he wondered out loud.

  “We don’t know yet. Come on, Riki, we better get you to bed. Santa is probably waiting to come.”

  “Are you going to stay here, Daddy?”

  “Yeah, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Alexis didn’t even do anything, yet once again, Cory was the good guy and she was the one left feeling guilty.

  “You have to take Kinley,” Alexis requested. She would be lucky to get off the floor herself. There was no way she was getting up with Kinley.

  Cory stood and took her lifeless body from Alexis’s arms, trying to hold the poisonous stare. Alexis shifted her eyes. No way. Not going there. Cory offered his hand and she did take that, only because she needed it. She let go as soon as she was to her feet.

  Once both girls were down, Alexis went to her room and started retrieving gifts from the back of the closet. The closed door did absolutely nothing to keep Cory out.

  “What are you doing? I don’t even know what’s going on here. You can’t just waltz in and out of my life whenever it’s convenient for you. I don’t want you here. Can’t you see that?”

  “I see it, but I don’t feel it. Let’s take them downstairs and wrap them. I have some in my truck, too.”

  “I don’t want to wrap presents with you. Go get them and wrap them. I’m staying up here.”

  “I suck at wrapping presents, and I don’t have any wrapping paper. Let’s go downstairs. I can’t be alone with you in here.”

  Alexis snorted, shook her head, and ran both hands through her hair. She didn’t even ask what that was supposed to mean. She could only imagine. Angrily, she jerked bags from the bed, and led him out.

  The next three hours were spent in the living room, crackling fire, Christmas music, and a lot of silence. Alexis answered questions, but refused to carry on a conversation.

  “That’s a wrap,” Cory teased with a smile while trying to hold her gaze. Alexis wasn’t holding anything. She’d fallen for that, TWICE. It wasn’t happening again. This time was easy. This time there were no raging hormones, no static, searing between them, and no more weak moments.

  “Great, let’s get them under the tree and call it a night. You can have the couch.”

  “What’s wrong with the bed?” Cory asked confused with a frown toward the spare bedroom.

  “Oh, that’s for guests.”

  Cory laughed, and pulled her hand to him. “Will you stop being so mean? It doesn’t have to be this way.”

  “You made it this way.”

  “I didn’t sleep with Camille. You can ask everyone I was with. I actually think she left with my cousin, Barry.”

  “I don’t care who you sleep with. Let me go. Stop doing that.” Alexis tried to pull away but something caught his attention. Cory didn’t let her move. He held her to him and looked down at the rambunctious commotion going on between them.

  Cory looked into her eyes, but this was different. This wasn’t the, I’m a dick, I can do what I want, look. This was more like regret or remorse, or something like that. It was just different.

  “Can I?” he asked with both hands at the hem of her shirt. Alexis knew exactly what he was asking.

  “No!”

  Cory dropped to his knees and lifted her shirt anyway. Alexis cocked her hip and did the habitual thing she’d become accustomed to when he was around. She snorted and shook her head at the audacity.

  “Is everything okay? I mean, nothing to worry about?” His hands cupped her stomach and he smiled up at her when he felt the kick.

  “Everything is fine.”

  “Why aren’t you seeing Dr. Dalton? I thought you liked her.”

  “I like her just fine. Are you done?”

  “When are you due?”

  “Five, maybe six more weeks.”

  Cory looked up with a frown. “Five or six?”

  “I don’t know. Does it matter? You’re not going to be there.”

  “Do you know, Alexis? Do you know if it’s mine or his?”

  Alexis jerked her shirt down and started carrying presents to the tree. “Yes, I know, and don’t worry. You don’t have to be there.”

  “I don’t know if I believe you. If you don’t know, it’s fine. You can tell me. I’ve pretty much already figured it out anyway.”

  “Good for you. Are you going to help or not?”

  “I can finish. You can go to bed,” Cory replied, defeated.

  “Goodnight,” Alexis c
alled. She was getting the hell out of there while the getting was available.

  Once she’d checked on both girls, Alexis went to her room, feeling exhausted. Not only from the pregnancy and the late hour. She was exasperated at the man downstairs.

  Or upstairs.

  Her head did that shaking thing along with the grumble deep in her throat. She slid the pants that were well on their way of being a pile on the floor back over her hips and walked toward the, tapping on the door. Now what?

  “Hang on,” she called after getting a deviant premonition, stopping at her dresser first.

  “Lex?” Cory quietly said from behind the door.

  “What, Cory? I’m a little busy here.” Alexis held the door open with the magic wand. Cory’s eyes went right to the toy.

  “Um.”

  “What? What do you want? It’s late.”

  “I forget.”

  “Goodnight, Cory.”

  “Wa-wa-wait.”

  “What, you remember now?”

  “Well, no. Are you? You know?”

  “Yes, Cory. That’s exactly what I am about to do.”

  “I knew it.”

  “Knew what?”

  “That I got to you. You don’t have to do it that way. I can help. It’ll be a lot more intimate this way.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I use this thing at least four times a week. Not once do I think of you. I don’t want the intimacy. Sleep well.”

  Alexis closed the door, leaned against it with a smirk, and put the toy back. Top drawer, below the socks where Riki couldn’t find it again. That was the last thing on her mind. She was happy that she’d just made it the last thing on Cory’s, too. The pajama pants became a pile on the floor and Alexis laid down with a sigh. A tired sigh. She was sure she was asleep before the second hand made it around a whole turn on the ticking clock across the room.

  Riki was the one to wake Alexis the following morning. It was barely even daylight, seven-thirty. Alexis tried to get her to lay down with her for a while, but she wasn’t having it. Santa came and they had to open presents. NOW! Kinley was going to be so fussy. Alexis sat up, trying to join in the excitement.