New Beginnings (6 page)

“Neither am I.” Fern put her head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. “Being separated the better part of four years while he’s at Annapolis would put a strain on any relationship. Maybe she’s right to break it off now rather that drag things out for years and then have it end badly.”

Fern’s reaction surprised James. “You would have waited four years for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would have.” She stroked his cheek with her hand. “I was head over heels, helplessly in love with you the moment I met you.”

A quick grin lifted his lips. “The feeling was mutual, Mrs. Bell. Definitely mutual.”

He covered her hand with his and they shared a quiet moment, looking into each other’s eyes, remembering the years they’d had together and being grateful for every moment the Lord had given them.

Saturday afternoon, Elena stepped back from the Christmas tree she and Cesar had purchased that morning and inhaled the evergreen scent. The fresh smell swept through the room; and when she closed her eyes, she could imagine standing in a forest glade. Christmas music playing on the stereo supplied the sound track that could have been sung by birds in the treetops.

How wonderful it was to feel healthy again, with only an occasional zing reminding her of the surgery. Best of all, she had the threat of cancer well behind her, free to feel fully alive.

Cesar set up the tree in front of the living room windows. Rafael helped him string the lights, including the bubble lights, electric candles from the 1950s. Like so many things in her house, she loved the retro feel of her Christmas decorations.

Cesar’s job completed, he left to help a friend work on his transmission.

Now the ladies took over—she, Izzy, and Sarah, who’d come by to help. They would hang the ornaments, many of which had been handed down to Elena through her family or she’d picked them up at the Once Upon a Time store in Deerford.

Selecting a glass ball from the box of ornaments, Elena studied the best place to start.

Rafael sat on the couch, his legs stretched out, ready to supervise the action.

Elena pointed to a wooden ornament in the box for Izzy to hang. “Seems to me we are at least a week later than usual getting the tree up this year.”

“For pretty good reason,” Rafael said. “There have been just a few more important things going on, Mama.”

Elena gave a rueful grin. “True, true. I’ll be glad to get a vacation. Although I still have some shopping to do. I need a new pair of wool slacks and your dad needs some new clothes too. And I’ll need a new carry-on bag. Our old one has all but fallen apart.”

“Sounds like your trip will cost you a lot more than the airline tickets,” Rafael commented.

“I’m sure your parents think it will be worth every penny they spend.” Sarah hung a porcelain ballerina at eye level.

“Mommy, are you going to sleep in daddy’s bed when you stay here with me?” Izzy asked.

Rafael made a choking sound, and Sarah’s cheeks bloomed a bright pink.

When Elena turned toward her son, she caught a surprising gleam in his eyes and an amused smile on his lips. Oh dear…

“I think Sarah would be more comfortable staying in my room,” Elena said. “There’s more room in the closet for her things.”

Keeping her face averted, Sarah continued hanging ornaments on the tree.

“Mommy could sleep in my room. I’ve got a closet.”

“But your bed is too small for two people,” Elena pointed out.

“Then I could sleep with her in your big bed. Dorie and Bearbear would like to sleep with her too.”

Elena smiled. “We’ll let your mommy decide where you’ll sleep while she’s here. She’ll need her rest because she’ll have to go to work every morning while you’re at school. So you do whatever she says is best.”

“I can sleep real quiet. I wouldn’t wake her up.”

Elena knew that wasn’t entirely true. Some mornings she found Izzy sound asleep at the foot of her bed, the covers all in a jumble. And if she had a stuffy nose, Izzy’s snoring could be heard all over the house.

Sarah knelt beside her daughter and stroked her child’s dark hair, so unlike her own blonde coloring. “Why don’t we see how we both feel when I come over to stay?”

Izzy seemed moderately satisfied with that decision.

On the couch, however, Rafael’s expression appeared thoughtful, and he scratched his chin. Perhaps the idea of Sarah sleeping in the same house where he usually slept had some appeal.

It certainly seemed the ideal arrangement for Izzy’s child care.

J
AMES COULD HARDLY BELIEVE CHRISTMAS EVE
had already arrived.

As he drove home after work, he noticed that the bit of snow that had fallen a couple of days ago had already melted, leaving brown lawns and mud puddles. There’d been so little snowfall that his boys hadn’t been able to hire themselves out to clear the neighbors’ sidewalks, and it didn’t look like they’d get a white Christmas this year.

But the weatherman predicted a huge storm barreling south from Canada. Illinois and most of the Midwest would soon get all of the snow they could handle.

He hoped bad weather wouldn’t affect Elena’s trip to Spain. He knew how excited both she and Cesar were about their travel plans.

When James arrived home, the house smelled of hot apple cider and cranberry candles. He found Fern in the kitchen.

“You’re making dinner again.” Smiling, he kissed her on the cheek. Her current meds had her MS symptoms more under control than they had been in years, and he rejoiced in seeing his wife feeling so strong.

“Just getting the chicken breasts ready to put in the oven.” She turned her face to give him a kiss on the lips. “How was your day?”

“Quiet. One new gallbladder surgery patient and an elderly pneumonia case. Spent most of the time discharging patients so they could be home for Christmas.” He stepped out of Fern’s way so she could slide the chicken into the oven.

“It must be terrible to have to spend Christmas in the hospital.”

“Patients’ families visit, but it can get lonely.”

Using her cane for balance, Fern walked to the kitchen table and sat down.

“The boys around?” James asked.

“They’re both in their rooms. Gideon’s still in a blue funk. I think he called Jenni. Apparently she hasn’t changed her mind about dating other boys.”

“It’s been tough on him. A whole week, and he still hasn’t cheered up. I’ll go talk to him.”

“I tried this afternoon. He doesn’t seem ready to hear that his world hasn’t ended just yet. I think he’s going through the seven stages of grief.”

“I sure hope it doesn’t take him a year to get to the final stage. That’s no way to go into your senior year in high school.”

Fern nodded in agreement. “I hate that he’s hurting so much. I’m angry at the way Jenni handled the breakup, but there isn’t much I can do about that. What’s done is done.”

“After I talk to him, I’ll come back and fix the salad for dinner.”

James hung his jacket in the front closet, took a moment to admire the Christmas tree and all the brightly wrapped packages under it. Fern did her shopping via the Internet and had gotten quite skilled at discovering bargains for the boys.

Finding Gideon’s door closed, he knocked. The response sounded like a monosyllabic grunt, and he opened the door. Gideon was on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

“Can I come in?” James asked.

“Sure.”

He stepped inside and closed the door. “I guess Jenni hasn’t changed her mind, huh?”

“I don’t get it, Dad. One day we’re a couple, the next we’re not.”

“I know this has been hard on you, Son. But a woman has a right to chose who she dates.”

“I thought she was different. Special.”

“Look, your mom’s worried about you.” James was too, for that matter. “It’s Christmas Eve. Your mother’s roasting a nice chicken, we’ll play our traditional game of Monopoly and then we’ll go to church for the eleven o’clock service.”

Gideon scrubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t feel much like eating or playing a game or Christmas or anything.”

“Can you pretend? For your mother’s sake? She hates that you’re so down over a girl.”

Beneath lowered eyelids, the boy looked up at James. Gideon appeared as vulnerable as he had at age six when he’d gotten into trouble for accidentally breaking a ceramic lamp and had futilely tried to glue it back together. A jigsaw puzzle in three dimensions that was well beyond his skill level.

“I’ll try.”

“Good man. I’ll see you at dinner then.”

Two hours later, dinner was a quiet affair. That was followed by an equally quiet game of Monopoly. Nelson, bless his heart, tried to cheer up his brother.

“Hey, look at you,” Nelson said. “You already own half the property on the boardwalk. Miracle of miracles, I think you’re going to beat me this year.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gideon muttered.

“Sure it does. I wiped you out last year. Now you can get even.”

“I don’t want to get even.” Shoving his cash toward Nelson, Gideon stood and pushed his chair back under the card table. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe I should forget about going to Annapolis. Being stuck off in Maryland for four years would be the pits.” He jammed his fingers in the hip pockets of his jeans.

Fern’s mouth dropped open. “But that’s what I thought you wanted. To go to the academy.”

Waiting to see where this was going, James kept his mouth closed.

“It’s not that big a deal.” He paced across the room to stand in front of the natural rock fireplace. He leaned his elbow on the mantel in a phony lord-of-the-manor pose. “I could just as easily go to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They’ve got a Navy ROTC unit there. I’d still graduate and be commissioned as an ensign.”

“With a reserve commission,” James pointed out.

“So what? Later on, if I wanted to make the navy a career, I could switch to a regular commission.”

“Honey, are you thinking about this only because you want to be near Jenni?” Fern asked.

Trust his wife to get right to the crux of the problem, James thought.

“So what if I am?”

“Because that’s a dorky reason to change your mind.” Nelson slammed him as only a younger brother could.

“What would you know about it?” Gideon turned an angry glare on his brother. “You don’t even have a girlfriend, unless you count that girl in Australia you talk to on your ham radio.”

“I know what I want to do with my life, and no girl would ever cause me to change my mind.”

“So what are you going to do with your life, little brother? Spend it cooped up in some office doing calculus problems?” His voice cried out with condescension.

Nelson stood to challenge his brother, his hands clenched into fists. “I know I’m going to have a double major in physiology and chemistry so I can study multiple sclerosis and its causes. I’m going to get an advanced degree at a university that’s doing research in MS and looking for a cure. They’re doing some interesting research in Italy, so I’m taking Italian in college, and maybe I’ll get my PhD in Rome or Venice. And no stupid girl is ever going to change my mind about that.”

The room went completely silent except for the crackle of the fire and the sound of Nelson’s agitated breathing.

Fern looked mesmerized by Nelson’s announcement, her hand pressed against her heart. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

James felt pretty much the same way, except he was so proud of his son he wanted to give him a rib-cracking hug.

Unable to counter his brother’s declaration, Gideon stormed off down the hall toward his room.

Nelson hung his head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Gideon shouldn’t—”

“It’s okay, Son,” James said. “You’ve been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of research, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I have. You’ve always told me that my brain was a gift from God and I should use it wisely.” He glanced at his mother. “I think maybe you’re the reason God made me smart. So I could help find a cure for MS. If not in time to help you, then to help others like you.”

Fern held up her arms to him. Nelson walked over and bent down to receive her hug.

“I love you, Nelson. You wanting to do that…it’s the greatest gift I can imagine,” she said.

James had to look away from the tender scene of mother and son holding and comforting each other, or he’d start crying along with them.

What a strange Christmas Eve, filled with powerful emotions that seemed to both overwhelm and bolster his family. He prayed the Lord would help Gideon get past his loss and help Nelson to achieve his goal.

Little in the world was more important to James than the happiness and fulfillment of his sons.

Elena carried the last of the supper dishes to the kitchen counter. It was so good to feel strong again and free of the pain she’d experienced before her surgery.

“Rafael, why don’t you and Sarah get Izzy ready for bed and then read her a book?” They’d all gone to the five o’clock Christmas Eve service at Holy Trinity Church. Even Cesar had attended. Since her cancer fright, he’d returned to his faith, for which Elena would be eternally grateful.

But Izzy had been on an adrenaline high since the church service and was still singing “Joy to the World” in her loudest voice while spinning around to make her red velvet cape fly up. If someone didn’t get the child to bed soon, there would be no time for Santa to put in his appearance before Izzy was up again. Cesar had a complicated play stove to put together before he could go to bed tonight.

“All right,
mi bonita
.” Rafael scooped up Izzy and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “You heard what Buela said. Bedtime.”

Izzy giggled and bounced on her daddy’s shoulder. “But I’m not tired.”

“I bet Dorie is tired,” Sarah said. “Let’s get her and your other stuffed animals ready for bed too.”

“Dorie isn’t tired. She likes to stay up late, late, late!” Her childish voice echoed as Rafael carried the child down the hallway to bed.

Rolling her eyes, Elena rinsed the dishes and placed them into the dishwasher.

Cesar came up beside her and slid his arm around her waist. “Tired?”