Christmas All Around Us ; The Perfect Time for Love ; Playing for Keeps

by Carla Kincaid

  The joke brought another laugh from Rachel.

  "I think taking two cars is a good idea," she said with a smile.

  As she drove through the light snowfall to the Christmas tree lot, Julie couldn't ignore the amorous feelings this experience was stirring up. She'd always hoped one day she'd be able to replicate the kind of happy marriage her parents had but until now she'd never experienced a moment where her adult self felt what that might be like. Julie glanced into her rearview mirror at Rachel driving behind her. It looked like she was laughing as she talked to her tiny backseat passenger. The image made Julie wonder if she might not be the only one enjoying the time the three of them were spending together.

  "Spruce, Pine or Fir?" Julie asked a few minutes later as she and Rachel walked shoulder to shoulder down an aisle of trees at the Christmas tree lot. Rachel hadn't said much since they'd arrived and now she was eerily quiet.

  "I don't have a preference," she said shrugging her shoulders.

  There was something odd in Rachel's tone.

  "Are you okay?" Julie asked with concern wondering what could have happened in the past few minutes to change the attorney's mood.

  She watched as Rachel glanced down the aisle at Misty who was admiring a tree a few feet away.

  "I'm just not a big fan of the holiday," Rachel whispered not wanting the little girl to hear. "Christmas in the Samuels' household wasn't a very celebratory time of year. Especially after my Dad left."

  Julie curled her lips around her teeth. She didn't exactly know what to say. "I'm sorry," she finally responded. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

  "No worries," Rachel said. She was smiling but her eyes told a conflicting story. "Those thoughts are never very far from my mind," she confessed. "In fact, the memories aren't really even about Christmas. Things at my house were kind of crappy all year round. It's just that during the holidays the craziness seemed more extreme because it was a time when everyone said I was supposed to be happy."

  Julie's heart ached for Rachel. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like not to enjoy Christmas. For Julie -- and the rest of the Peterson family -- Christmas was the most fun time of the whole year. The Peterson house was always filled with out-of-town guests and there was always great smelling food cooking in the kitchen. "I'm really sorry," she said reaching out to touch Rachel's hand.

  "I know that's why Claire was so intentional about Gail doing all the celebratory stuff leading up to the holiday," Rachel continued. "She wants Misty to have nothing but happy Christmas memories."

  Julie nodded her head. It was a wonderful, loving, motherly thing for Claire to do. It was also a wonderful thing for Rachel to volunteer to help make it happen -- especially knowing her associations with the holiday weren't that great. All of this made Julie admire Rachel even more than she already did. Not only was she a really good attorney but she was also an incredibly kind friend.

  "Do you have a suggestion?" Rachel asked.

  Julie was perplexed about the question.

  "On which tree we should buy?" Rachel clarified. "You seem to know a lot about this Christmas stuff." Rachel's eyes were beginning to reflect their previous shine.

  "Well, in my experience fir trees hold their needles the longest," Julie said reaching over and running her hand over the spindly needles of a nearby tree. "I usually get a fir so I'm not having to vacuum needles off the floor every day."

  "Misty!" Rachel shouted out. "Come here!"

  The little girl ran back to where they were standing and Rachel cuddled her arms around the child. The affectionate move caused Julie's heart to warm.

  "What about this one?" Rachel asked her enthusiastically.

  Misty squinted her eyes and looked intentionally at the tree.

  "I think it will look pretty great in the front window," Julie chimed in.

  "Okay!" Misty said nodding her head up and down causing the pom-pom hanging from the top of her hat to bob up and down around her face.

  "We'll take this one," Rachel said to the nearby staff member dressed like a six-foot tall elf.

  All traces of her previous sullenness were gone and Julie watched as Rachel took Misty by the hand and headed back to the loading area where Julie's truck was parked.

  ❤️❤️❤️

  At some point Rachel would tell Julie more about her childhood -- after all, the woman certainly had a sensitivity Rachel felt she could trust -- but for right now if she was going to make it through this unexpected Christmas emersion Rachel was going to have to keep her focus on Misty and what the child needed to make her holiday great.

  Of course, there was one bit of personal information Rachel knew she was going to have to share with Julie sooner than later. She was going to have to tell Julie about her plans to move to California, otherwise, it might seem kind of odd to spend all this time together without saying anything about her trip. Plus, maybe sharing that news would keep Rachel from doing something she increasingly -- and dangerously -- wanted to do.

  There was no way getting involved with Julie romantically made sense, she kept telling herself. Even though she was beginning to realize how attracted she truly was to the woman, it was still a dangerous proposition. Julie didn't seem like the short-term fling kind of person and Rachel certainly didn't want to do anything to hurt her new friend.

  "What about Mommy?" Misty asked as she and Rachel watched Santa's tall helper load the tree in the back of the truck. "Shouldn't we get a tree for her room too?"

  Julie had gone inside to pay for their purchase so Rachel was left alone to field the question for herself.

  "They have a Christmas tree in the hospital lobby for everyone to enjoy," Rachel said hoping that would comfort the child's worries.

  "But she doesn't have one in her room," came the reply.

  Rachel looked down at Misty's disappointed expression. This was the kind of problem Rachel knew Julie would solve easily if she were there.

  "Misty, I don't think they allow patients to have trees in their rooms," Rachel said giving honesty a shot at soothing the little girl's worries. "But maybe Julie can help you make a card with a picture of a tree to take to your mommy when we visit her tomorrow?"

  The same pensive expression she'd had when Rachel and Julie's babysitting services were first proposed crossed Misty's face. After a minute, the little girl smiled. "I have color crayons at home I can draw with," she said seemingly satisfied with Rachel's suggestion.

  Rachel breathed a sigh of relief -- that is until Misty moved on to her next topic of conversation.

  "I like Julie," she announced matter-of-factly.

  Rachel's head was beginning to spin trying to keep up with the five-year-old's train of thought but this subject was one she had a pretty clear opinion about as well.

  "I like her too," Rachel replied.

  "Are you going to marry her?" Misty asked in the same tone someone might have used if they were asking if Rachel wanted cream in her coffee.

  In spite of the lighthearted delivery, the question hit Rachel like an avalanche.

  "What? I. Umm. No. Julie and I aren't getting married," Rachel sputtered. There was no sign of her usual courtroom eloquence in her answer.

  "My mommies are married," Misty continued as if the conversation was the most normal thing in the world. "I think everybody should be married," Misty continued. "People who are married are happy."

  So much for the vast childlike wisdom, Rachel thought but she certainly wasn't going to be the one to break the bad news to the kid.

  "I'm sure there are a lot of married people who are very happy," she assured Misty despite her doubts.

  "I think you and Julie are going to get married," Misty said once again reminding Rachel of the authoritarian judge who was six decades older than the little girl standing in front of her.

  Rachel knelt to Misty's level and looked at the child eye-to-eye.

  "I think Julie is very nice," Rachel said. "But I don't think I'm going to get married to any
one."

  "She makes good waffles," Misty said highlighting what she apparently deemed a noteworthy quality in a wife.

  She certainly had a point but why in the world was Rachel having this conversation with a child?

  "Alright, are we ready to go decorate the tree?" Julie asked as she approached the truck. She was totally unaware she was interrupting a conversation assessing her fitness as marriage material.

  "We sure are," Rachel answered quickly. "Come on, Misty. Let's get in my car." Rachel wanted to get the little girl strapped into her car seat before Misty had time to ask Julie about her views on matrimony.

  Once they got back to the house, Julie went inside to lock Simon in the laundry room before they unloaded the tree. Rachel remembered Gail sharing a story about Simon going on an unauthorized exploration of the neighborhood one day when she left the front door open while she checked the mailbox. It was enough handling a rambunctious five-year-old, Rachel certainly didn't want to add finding a lost dog to their list of activities.

  "Alright, time to decorate this tree!" Julie said as she walked toward the car to help Rachel unload it.

  The announcement sent Misty into another series of dance moves that Simon no doubt was glad he was missing. "Time to decorate the tree!" She sang as she spun around in the yard.

  Rachel grabbed the stump end of the tree while Julie grabbed the top and the two of them took it inside. Once they stood it upright and tightened it into the tree stand Rachel went into the kitchen to get a picture of water to pour over its roots.

  "I think I'm going to make some hot chocolate for us to sip on while we decorate the tree," Julie said. "Having hot chocolate is one of the things on the list."

  "With marsh mellows!" Misty chimed in.

  Rachel glanced over at the smiling child who seemed to be adding making hot chocolate with marshmallows to the list of Julie's great attributes -- or at least that's what Rachel imagined. It could have been her subconscious ganging up on her as thoughts of Julie whirled around in Rachel's mind.

  "You want some?" Julie asked.

  "No, I'll pass for now. I'm going to take Simon for a walk so he doesn't get in the way while you two are decorating the tree."

  The truth was, Rachel needed a break from all of the perfect family feelings rising inside of her -- even if it did mean traipsing out in the increasingly cold streets. No matter how well things were going she had to remind herself that this wasn't real. They were just three people who'd been thrown together in a situation that was going to end sooner than later and there was no need to make more of it than that.

  "Alright. Have fun," Julie said with a smile. "We'll be right here when you get back."

  Rachel let Simon pull her through the streets without paying much attention to where they were walking. Worst-case scenario she could GPS Gail's address to get back to the house. After they'd been out for about twenty minutes, Rachel figured it was probably best to head back. It wasn't like she was avoiding the whole Christmas thing while walking around the neighborhood, anyway. Almost every house was decorated with lights and many of them had decorations sprawled across the lawn too.

  "Nice out here isn't it," a voice called out.

  Rachel looked around trying to identify the speaker but there wasn't anyone in sight.

  "I just love this time of year!" the voice spoke again.

  That's when Rachel saw him. He must have been standing behind the six-foot snowman in the yard when he first spoke but now he was clearly visible. The man was covered in flashing lights from the top of his hat to the toes of his boots. Everything on him glowed. The bright costume blended right in with the sparkling yard he was standing in the middle of. Rachel couldn't even imagine what this man's electric bill was going to look like at the end of the month.

  "Have you sent Santa your Christmas list yet?" the friendly neighbor asked.

  If Simon had been a smaller dog, Rachel might not have engaged the stranger in conversation but she felt safe while holding a leash with ninety pounds at the end.

  "I'm not really into the list thing," Rachel confessed.

  "Oh, no?" the man replied without losing his smile. "Well, that's okay. Santa reads hearts as well as written lists and you can't keep what your heart truly wants a secret from Santa!"

  Rachel frowned at the declaration. She knew the man was just one of those people hyped up on the season but his statement irritated her none-the-less. If Santa really read hearts he certainly didn't respond to Rachel's list when she was a little girl.

  "Sometimes it just takes a while for our requests to be answered," the man continued as if he'd been eavesdropping on Rachel's internal conversation.

  Rachel didn't want to be rude but she'd had about enough of this. "Well, Happy Holidays," she said as she turned and walked away.

  "Merry Christmas, Rachel!" the man said in return.

  Rachel had almost made it back to Gail's house when she realized she didn't remember telling the man her name. She was still puzzling over that fact when she glanced into Gail's living room window. What she saw knocked thoughts of the Christmas fanatic out of her mind.

  Misty and Julie were inside laughing and tossing tinsel all over the tree. It didn't even seem to bother them that most of the shiny foil was landing in piles at their feet on the floor. Watching them Rachel realized that the tugging in her heart hadn't lessened in spite of her walk. She probably would have stayed outside -- hoping to freeze the feeling away -- if it weren't for Simon pulling on his leash begging to go inside and join the fun.

  As Rachel opened the front door, air infused with a subtle fragrance of chocolate wrapped around her like a warm blanket and the soft sound of Christmas music streaming from Julie's iPhone tickled her ears.

  "I can cut it off if it bothers you," Julie said nodding toward the wireless speaker when Rachel appeared at the door.

  Part of Rachel wanted to take her up on the offer but one glance at the smile on Misty's face and she knew she couldn't be that selfish.

  "No, it's okay. It's actually kind of nice," Rachel forced herself to confess.

  The comment made Julie's face light up with a festive glow.

  "I think we might need your help on the last part," Julie said nodding at Misty who was holding the angel shaped tree topper. "You've got a few inches on me," she said waving her hand above her head to indicate the height difference between the two women.

  Rachel pulled off her coat and walked over to the tree. "Alright, little Miss. Are you ready to put the angel on top?" Rachel asked as she lifted the squealing child into the air.

  "Yes!" Misty yelled.

  Rachel lifted Misty high enough to place the winged figure on top of the tree. As she began to lower her, Misty threw her arms around Rachel's neck and kissed her on the cheek.

  "It's perfect!" she said as her little hands sandwiched Rachel's face.

  Rachel's heart threatened to burst out of her body. Then she looked over at the woman standing beside them and suddenly the whole scene felt like something on the cover of a magazine -- or a family Christmas card. No matter how hard Rachel tried to resist the warm fuzzy feeling bubbling up inside her it was a losing battle. She liked this. She liked everything about this -- and she had to admit to herself that she wanted more!

  Chapter 6

  "Why don't we make some chocolate chip cookies to take with us to the senior center tomorrow?" Julie suggested after the three of them had eaten dinner. "They need some help serving the food at their Christmas party and that fits into the next thing on the list. Help someone in need."