The Christmas House (9 page)

    
“Go call a cop if you don’t like it. I am just trying to get my family settled after the day from hell!”

     “Fine, I will call the cops. Welcome to the neighborhood!” responded the man as he walked away in a huff.

     “Yeah, same to you!” shouted back Michael.

     Michael was very upset and decided he would make as much noise as he wanted. He started to throw boxes around for the sole intention of making as much noise as he possibly could.

    
“Stupid people around here... I should go kick that guy’s ass... what a jerk!” As Michael looked around he noticed that quite a few of the neighbors within earshot were turning on lights inside their homes. He stopped for a moment and realized that he really was making quite a bit of noise. Now he felt like the jerk. He tried to work as quietly as he could. Having one neighbor mad at you was one thing; having them all hate you was another.

     Michael continued to unload the truck in a quiet and orderly fashion. As he
emptied the back end of the truck of the boxes, he came to the first major appliance; the refrigerator. Michael was exhausted and decided he better wake David to see if he could at least help him balance the load as he descended down the ramp.

     Unfortunately, David was sound asleep and Michael couldn’t wake him up. The poor kid was just as exhausted as his father. Michael refused to give up and decided to try to maneuver the refrigerator by himself.

     He slid the two-wheel cart under the base of the refrigerator and strapped the body of the huge appliance to the base of the upright cart. As Michael grabbed hold of the two-wheel cart, he pulled back and the refrigerator barely budged. Michael set it back down. He took a few deep breaths and tried again. Putting all of his strength behind the pull on the cart, he grunted as the refrigerator lifted off the ground about two inches, but then he lost it again.

     He couldn’t unload any of the other furnishings until he moved the refrigerator out of the way, so he had to try again. He waited for about a minute and then prepared himself for the biggest pull of his life. He put on a pair of gloves, grabbed hold of the cart handle and said to himself, “One, Two,
Three
... Lift!”

     The refrigerator came off the floor as if it weighed nothing at all. Michael nearly lost his balance because he was not prepared for the lift to be so easy. As the refrigerator leaned backward toward Michael, the top cleared his field of vision and there was the face of the neighbor who had yelled at him 30 minutes earlier.

     “Well, I figured if you were going to be out here making all this noise, I wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyway, so..., I thought you could use a hand,” said the man.

    
Smiling, Michael said, “Michael Carter.
Nice to meet you.”

     “Jack Stevens, I live next door,” the man now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt replied.

     As the two men walked the refrigerator down the ramp and into the garage, they set it down with a light thud on to the concrete sub floor. Michael walked over to Jack and extended his hand and said, “Thanks.”

     “Hey, I’m sorry about before. I was out of line.
Are your wife
and baby okay?” asked Jack.

     “Don’t
apologize
Jack. It was my fault. You were right. I was making far too much noise and wasn’t thinking about how it was
a
ffecting my neighbors. I didn’t realize how late it was,” replied Michael. “And yes, my wife and daughter are doing fine.”

     Suddenly from around the corner both men heard, “Dad?”

     David awakened from his nap and stumbled into the garage. “Why didn’t you wake me up to help you Dad?”

     “I did but you were too busy dreaming about your first garage rock band,” replied Michael.

   
“David, meet Mr. Stevens from next door. He is being nice enough to give us a hand moving this stuff.”

     Jack, who was a towering man next to Michael, much less to a 10-year-old, stepped up to David and shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you David!”

     “Wow, you’re a giant!” David responded.

    
“No, not really David.
I just look like I am at 4 in the morning,” Jack replied as he patted David on the head.

    
“Well new neighbors, what’d ya say? Shall we get this over with?”

     “Good idea Jack. Can you help me with the washing machine now?” asked Michael as he walked toward the truck.

     “I will get the washing machine myself Mike. You and David start getting these boxes transferred from the garage to inside the house,” replied Jack.

     With that, Michael and David started to sort out the boxes as to where they should be placed once inside the house. Arianna marked each box with a black marker so distribution of the boxes would be quick and easy. As they each grabbed a box, they stopped and looked up at the truck. Jack picked up the washing machine as if it were an empty box. Without the assistance of a dolly, he walked the washing machine down the ramp and right past Michael and David. As he approached the door that led from the garage into the kitchen area of the house, he asked “One of you lads wanna get that door for me? My hands are kind of full.”

     David was in awe of Jacks’ strength and ran to hold the door open for him.

     Michael smiled and thought to himself, “
Yeah,
and I was going to kick his ass.
Me and what army?”

     Michael and Jack moved the rest of the furniture into the house and placed it in the appropriate rooms. David continued to bring in the lighter boxes and placed them in the correct rooms as well. As they continued to move the items, Jack and Michael talked about their lives and immediately developed a friendship.

      Jack was in his early 40’s and owned a freight company that he started with his father about 15 years ago. He was truly a giant. 6’7” tall, he had to duck each time he entered the house. He was married to a woman he described as “kooky” and had no children.
Him
and his wife
had
lived in Lake Forest for the last 10 years.

     “So Jack, did you know Martha well?” asked Michael.

     “Just the usual hi and bye stuff. I was only inside the house once every year when it started to get cold. She would come over and ring the bell to ask me if I could light that monster of a furnace in the basement. She was a strange old bird, but a very nice lady,” replied Jack.

     “Yeah, she seemed the type that would tend to stay to herself,” Michael
said
.

     “Yes, she did, but let me tell you, she threw one hell of a Christmas party,” replied Jack.

     “Martha?
Really?
That surprises me,” replied Michael.

     “Yep, every Christmas for as long as we have lived here, she would have a house full of people. Lots of family I guess,” said Jack.

     “That’s strange. I could have sworn she said that she was the last branch of her family tree. Guess I was mistaken,” replied Michael.

     As Michael and Jack returned to the truck to get the last piece of furniture, the sun was rising over the trees to the east. Michael stared at the soft amber glow that set the trees a blaze and smiled. As he walked out of the garage and toward the truck, he was startled by a figure standing to his right.

     “Howdy! I thought you fellas might be hankering for a cup of
joe
,” said a woman.

    
She was a fairly large woman with bright red hair, which was set in oversized blue foam rollers. Wearing only a nightgown, her bare feet glared for her toenails were painted a bright red, as were her fingernails. She was wearing large eyeglasses with lenses that were pop bottle thick. Holding a thermos of coffee and two coffee cups she was quite a sight.

     “Uh, Jack... I think your wife is here,” said Michael.

     “Wanda, have you ever heard of a bathrobe?” yelled Jack as he saw his wife.

     “Oh, hush up and introduce me to our new neighbors,” she replied.

     “Wanda
meet
Michael Carter and his son David. Boys, meet the wife,” Jack announced.

    
“Very nice to meet you Wanda.
Coffee would be greatly appreciated right about now,” said Michael.

     “Well, I’ve been a watchin yas from the winder in the bedroom and I said to myself, “Wanda; you should get your butt down there and make them boys some nice hot coffee and some biscuits. Here’s the coffee and them biscuits are bakin up as we gossip,” replied Wanda.

     Wanda continued, “Why don’t you come with me David and you can help
auntie
Wanda get them biscuits all ready for your pappy.”

    
David was a little scared and looked at Michael.

     “Go ahead David. It’s okay, were almost done here anyway,” Michael said.

     As David walked next door with Wanda, Michael could overhear her talking his ear off in that sweet southern drawl.

    
“I take it your wife is from down south hey Jack?” Michael asked as he reached down to pick up one side of the couch.

    Jack picking up the other side responded, “Nope. She’s from New Jersey. I told you she was kooky.”

    Michael laughed, as the two men walked down the ramp, through the garage and into the house with the very last piece of furniture.

**************************************

     Across town at Good Samaritan Hospital, a nurse greeted Arianna with Nicole for her 7 a.m. feeding. As she took Nicole to her breast, she smiled and felt her warmth through the light pink baby blanket that engulfed the tiny frame of the infant.

     Arianna thought of Michael and David. She hoped that they were safe and sound,
fast asleep in their new house. She looked forward to seeing them later that morning after they rested. She was half expecting Michael to be there now, but knew that he must be exhausted.

     She held Nicole gently and said, “Your Daddy will be here soon and in a few days we will be going home my little miracle.”

    
She kissed Nicole softly on her head. Nicole whimpered as Arianna closed her eyes and dreamt of Michael.

Chapter Seven- Settling In at 148 Festive Lane

May 3rd

Good Samaritan Hospital

10:00 a.m.

     It was a glorious day for early May in Chicago. The sun shined brightly and warmed the air to a very pleasant 68 degrees as Michael and David drove to the hospital to bring Arianna and baby Nicole home for the first time.

     Having recovered nicely from the night of the move, Michael was well rested but still a bit fatigued nonetheless. For the last two days he had been placing the furniture where he felt it should go in each specific room. He was sure Arianna would walk into the house and say, “No, no, no.... that should go here and that should go there.” He couldn’t very well leave all of the furnishings in the garage, so he did the best he could. He realized he would have to move it all again when Arianna came home.

     Additionally, during these two days, Jack and Wanda were a Godsend. Jack was over everyday helping Michael clear out garbage and finish up a few minor repair projects at the house. Wanda cooked some wonderful meals for Michael and David since the only thing Michael knew how to make was a reservation at a restaurant. When Arianna was around, she did all of the cooking, except for barbecuing which Michael prided himself of being the master chef. With the kettle barbecue still packed away somewhere in the
garage
, Michael readily accepted the offers to dine with the Stevens next door.

    
Michael couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have met a good friend like Jack
, e
specially after the rocky start of their first encounter. He thought, “
it’s
funny how people that start off on the wrong foot often become best of friends”. He was very happy to have met Jack and Wanda.

    
Michael approached the hospital and turned the corner into the patient pick up
area of the hospital parking facility. David noticed a pregnant woman being pushed into the entrance in a wheel chair.

     “Hey Dad, that lady is as big as mom,” he said.

     “Not anymore David. Mom will be much smaller now since Nicole has been born,” replied Michael as he parked the car and shut off the engine.

    
“Dad?”
David asked, “How does that all happen? I mean how did Nicole get into mom’s stomach like that in the first place?”

     Michael opened the door to the car and stepped out as David did the same from the passengers’ side.

    
“Well, David
...(
he stopped and thought of how to answer David’s question) it’s like... well.... Maybe you should ask your mother.”