by Piper Dow
Kelly swatted again at Wayne's backside before escaping to her bedroom to change her shirt. She glanced in the mirror as she tugged her sweatshirt over her head. Great, shaving cream in her hair. She mumbled threats under her breath as she pulled on a sweater. Funny boy was going to pay. She would find a way to get back at him.
"MOM, HE TAPED A PLATE of shaving cream in the doorway!"
"Shaving cream is just fancy soap, Kel. I was looking out for your welfare, trying to make sure you're getting clean enough." Wayne grinned across the table at her.
"Wayne, you get to make sure the bathroom and hall are cleaned up, after supper." Mom speared a green bean on her fork. "Kelly, I've told you before, you started this war. You get to enjoy the consequences."
Kelly curled her lip and wrinkled her nose at her brother. He grinned again before stuffing a chunk of baked potato into his mouth.
Dad took a sip of water and put his glass down. He hadn't picked up his utensils yet. He cleared his throat and cocked his head at Mom expectantly.
She beamed.
"She accepted our offer!"
Dad slapped the table, grinning. "That's awesome! Honey, you are going to make the best owner of the Cranberry House that shop has ever seen!"
Kelly and Wayne joined in the congratulations. "Yay, Mom!" "Congrats, Mom!"
Mom took a sip of water. She looked happier than Kelly had seen her look in years. "Of course, her lawyer has to look over everything, and there are some finer details we'll have to negotiate, but she said she's been worrying for months about how she could manage keeping the shop going from Florida. She had thought of asking me to manage, but it doesn't really bring in the revenue she'd need for those kind of changes."
Wayne furrowed his brow. "Wait, I thought it was a good business? There's always customers in there whenever I go there."
Mom smiled. "It's going to be a perfect business for us. It is just busy enough, and I have ideas I want to turn into actions, but it would have been stretching it for Mrs. Gilbert to pull income from while living in Florida." She picked up her fork and began to eat with relish. "I've wanted to own my own shop like the Cranberry House for years, but I couldn't open one around here and take business away from Diane. She has been wonderful to me. She helped me to learn and grow to where I'm ready for this step."
Kelly listened to the happy chatter around her, smiling and enjoying the celebration meal her mother had put extra effort into. She was happy for her parents. They had talked about different ways to fulfill Mom's dream for years, but nothing had been the right fit at the right time. She couldn't help feel, though, that they were forging ahead right at a time when a little stability in life would be nice.
Chapter eight
Kelly spent time in the week leading up to Christmas hiding in the basement with her sewing machine. She'd toyed with various gift ideas in the past few months, but most of the money she had earned over the summer had gone toward her car repairs. Her father made sure she budgeted for oil changes and insurance, but she'd never expected to have to have all the hoses and wires inspected. It turned out that such a task took a lot of time, and therefore, money.
It didn't matter. Her family was going to love the handmade stockings she created. She'd had enough material left over from various costumes and stage settings to make matching burgundy stockings for her parents, and a nice chocolate brown one for Wayne.
She hesitated when choosing the fabric for Samantha's stocking. She wanted something special for Sam, something that would show Sam she was loved even with the changes she was going through. In the end, she chose an ivory brocade and added fur trim to the top. She hoped Sam would understand it for everything Kelly meant it to say.
CHRISTMAS EVE WAS FILLED with the delicious sounds and smells Kelly had learned to associate with the holiday. Dad went to pick Sam up from the Tricky Badger Inn, the group home where she was learning how to live as a Shade, right after lunch so they'd be home in time for Christmas Even service. Kelly smuggled the stockings into her room, then grabbed boxes and wrapping paper. She had a plan, but it wouldn't work unless she had packages under the tree to mislead everyone.
While Sam watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, Kelly staggered into the living room and put her wrapped boxes under the tree. She did have a few actual gifts among the faux presents, and she placed those auspiciously to obscure the fact that the others had no tags. Satisfied, she joined Sam on the couch for the Hark! The Herald Angel Sings finale of the movie.
"Aww, I forgot how cute that show is," she sighed contentedly as Charlie Brown saw the sad little tree all fixed up by his friends.
"Yeah, this is my favorite," Samantha smiled, stretching as the credits scrolled up the screen. She clicked the button on the remote to turn the television off. "Mom said to grab something to eat before we go. Want some banana bread?"
Kelly nodded, joining her in the kitchen. She pulled out the carton of eggnog and took down two glasses from the cupboard while Sam cut thick slices of banana bread. Kelly smiled as they both lifted their glasses and extended them to clink in a silent toast before taking a sip. They'd begun the mock salutes when Samantha was still in high school after watching a movie where the characters always did so before heading out on an adventure. The continuation of the inside joke warmed Kelly's heart.
Christmas Eve service was both intimately familiar and curiously different at the same time. It was a quiet affair, with the congregation singing familiar carols with just a simple acoustic guitar in place of the usual worship band and a quiet and direct sermon that concluded with a candle-lit rendition of Silent Night. Kelly squeezed between Sam and Wayne, moving toward the middle of the row to make room for more people. The church was filled to capacity and then some tonight.
As the service broke up and people began moving toward the exits, Kelly saw Rick and his family and went to say hi. She'd been friends with Rick since middle school. Last semester, after he'd been hurt at the zombie apocalypse party the night Sam had been attacked, his parents had made him move out of the dorms and turn into a commuter. Kelly hoped it would be enough to get Rick to pay more attention to his studies, but it was a feeble hope. She'd known him too long.
"Hey! Guess what my parents are giving me for Christmas!" Rick's enthusiasm had him practically vibrating.
Kelly shook her head, furrowing her brow and puffing her cheeks. "I don't know. A new stereo for your car?" she guessed.
He shook his head, a wide grin stretching from ear to ear. "Nope! You'll never guess. We're going to visit my aunt and uncle in Arizona! Three whole weeks in sunshine and sand instead of ice and snow, can you believe it?"
Kelly groaned. "Spare me at least a thought or two while your working on your tan." She gave him a hug and wished his parents a merry Christmas, then made her way through the crowd to find the others. They had a standing date with the neighbors for coffee and Christmas Pie every Christmas Eve, and she knew better than to keep her family waiting.
KELLY GROANED AS THE vibrations from the alarm on her watch woke her a few minutes after three. The neighbors had stayed, chatting and catching up with each other until nearly 11. It was fine for everyone else, but Kelly had a secret mission to carry out. She allowed herself a brief moment to feel her exhaustion before pushing herself out of bed.
She reached under her bed and pulled out the narrow box she'd hidden her Christmas presents in, then softly trod to the living room. She took each stocking down in turn, unloading its haul and filling the stockings she had made before hanging them on their respective hooks. Making her way to the kitchen, she quickly assembled the recipe she had found for a French toast casserole before storing the baking dish in the fridge. All that was needed for a tasty, relaxed Christmas morning was to stick the pan in the oven for an hour, which they could do while opening their stockings.
Kelly tiptoed back to her bedroom and glanced at her watch. If Sam followed tradition, Kelly would be lucky to get another hour and a half of sleep before she was woken fo
r an early morning raid on the stockings. She smiled as she tucked herself into bed, knowing it would be worth it.
THE MORNING OF UNWRAPPING presents and enjoying the deliciousness the casserole turned out to be continued into an afternoon of easy competition as they broke out the board games. Sam and Dad each won a round of Scrabble before Wayne broke out their homemade version of Headbandz. The day was over long before Kelly was ready for it to be.
Kelly followed Sam to her room as she prepared to catch a ride with David back to the inn. Sam toyed with the idea of whether to wear make-up, a sure sign that she wanted to make a good impression. The thought of Sam and David together gave Kelly a satisfied warmth. As she watched Sam piling some items together to take with her, she asked, "Is it as bad as you thought it would be?"
"Is what as bad, the inn? It's actually really nice there. I was nervous, but they've been so kind to me." She looked into the mirror over her dresser and caught Kelly's gaze. Sam smiled. "You mean the shifting, though. The first time, yes. It was excruciating. I thought I was dying. I begged Sarah, one of the women at the inn, to call the ambulance! And then I was afraid to shift back. But, I'm getting used to it now. It's better to do it regularly. The more I do it, the less it hurts." Her eyes lit up and her face glowed with joy. "Kel, being in Shadeform—it's incredible! The smells, the sounds—my senses are so different than when I'm human."
Kelly returned Sam's smile and carried a bag with a few of Sam's old books to the front door for her. Sam thought a couple of the neighbor's girls might get a kick out of the books, which had fold-out pages and pop-out pictures of fairies and castles.
"When do you think you might be home again?"
Sam hesitated. "I don't know. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, to be honest. I need to take some time and think about my future. I've been so focused on the changes I've been dealing with, I haven't even thought past the end of the year." She smiled to take any sting out of her words. "I'll give you a call in a couple of days, and we'll brainstorm."
Kelly nodded, leaning in to grab a hug. "I've got some things to tell you, too!"
Chapter nine
Kelly had brownies already cooling on the counter to have for dessert with the ice cream she'd picked up on her way home from Janet's house. She washed the mixing bowl and set it into the dish drainer to dry, then moved the rest of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. She glanced around the kitchen, second guessing herself. Maybe she should make the salad, too? No. She'd already filled a pitcher with water and added a few sticks of cinnamon and a cut up apple, plus the brownies and ice cream. She wanted to soften her parents so they would listen, not make them so suspicious they made their minds up before she opened her mouth.
The front door opened. Kelly heard her father shrugging off his coat and hanging it up.
"Deb?" He called up the stairs.
"She's not here, yet," Kelly called back. She walked to the top of the stairs and watched him toe off his shoes, kicking them into the boot tray under the coat rack. "She's got some chicken and stuff in a bag in the fridge. I think she was going to put it in the pressure cooker. Want me to start it?" She moved back to give him room as he climbed the stairs.
Dad glanced at the clock on the cable box. "That would be nice. What's in the bag with the chicken?"
"Let me check," Kelly said, hurrying to the fridge. "It's terriyaki sauce, chicken, and rice." She glanced up as he wandered into the kitchen and flashed him a grin. "That'll go great with the brownies and ice cream I planned for dessert!"
"Sounds good," he murmured. He headed for the cabinet with the snacks. "Still, we won't be eating right away."
Kelly laughed, knowing he had meant her to. Her "how was work?" was part of the familiar routine they'd developed over the years. Somehow the routine, as comfortable as her fuzzy slippers, brought with it a sense of safety and stability she hadn't felt in months.
She readied the pressure cooker and skimmed the recipe she knew her mother usually followed while her father ate a few handfuls of cheese crackers. Mom wasn't a chef, but she usually put together meals like this for days when she didn't have time to waste, so it couldn't be too complicated. It looked like she was just supposed to dump everything into the pot. Shrugging, Kelly opened the bag over the cooker and dumped the contents in.
Wayne and Mom came in the side door together.
"No, she said her mother didn't like the blue dress, she liked the pink one better, but Rachel isn't really a pink person. And yeah, the green one is nice, but come on, now I have to buy a green tie? I'm already sick of this dance." Wayne shook his head in disgust.
Mom rolled her eyes at Dad, grimacing. Kelly hid a smirk. Wayne had been crabbing about the Winterfest dance for the past two weeks, but Kelly had also seen him practicing dance moves in his room the other day.
"I think I have a green tie you could borrow," Dad offered.
Wayne didn't mask his revulsion at the idea in time. "I mean, no offense, Dad, but when was the last time you wore a green tie? I'm not borrowing a 30-year-old tie."
Everyone laughed.
"Oh, the one I'm thinking of is probably at least 40 years old, I think it was Grampa's." Dad said through chuckles.
Mom shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "I had to have donated those at least ten years ago, Eric. Looks like you're safe, Wayne."
"DINNER WAS GOOD, KEL. Thank you for getting it started," Mom said, leaning contentedly back in her seat.
Kelly smiled. She moved to get the ice cream from the freezer and handed it to Wayne with the scoop, then brought the pan of brownies to the table to begin dishing up dessert. Dad had passed on her apple and cinnamon infused water, but everyone else said they enjoyed it. The stage was as set as it was going to be.
"I went to a friend's house today," she started. She passed the plates with brownies to Wayne to add the ice cream to.
"I haven't heard you talk about Rick lately," Dad said.
"Well, I'm still not talking about Rick." Kelly grit her teeth together. She needed to do better. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. We can talk about Rick later, but I wanted to tell you about Janet." She took the plate Wayne handed her, but didn't take a bite yet.
Mom tilted her head, staring off toward a corner of the ceiling. "I don't think I've heard you mention Janet before." She refocused her alert gaze on Kelly. "Was she in one of your classes?"
Kelly shook her head. "No. I haven't mentioned her before. I met her at a meeting I went to a couple of weeks ago." She took a deep breath, sent up a quick mental prayer, and dove in. "I have been kind of testing the waters, I guess. David took me to this meeting—it's sort of a Shades and Lights support group, not that they call it that."
Her parents exchanged looks. Mom's hands flexed together where she held them folded at her waist. Dad fidgeted with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. Neither interrupted her. Even Wayne was quiet as she relayed some of the stories she'd heard and things she'd learned in the meeting she had attended.
"Okay," Dad said, finally picking up his spoon and scooping a bite of ice cream. "So, you went to see this Janet, who is a Shade, today. And you are telling us what you've been up to because of something she said?"
Kelly smiled ruefully. "Am I that transparent?"
Mom gave her a tight smile. "If we admit to recognizing a set-up, does that mean you'll start making supper more often? It might throw us off the scent if it wasn't so unusual." She picked up her spoon with a hand that shook slightly.
"Well, then yes, she was telling me about a school near here. It's not a real college, not like Yorke, but I could get credits that would transfer into Yorke. They offer intensives, like over the summer and during school breaks. I was thinking of seeing if I could sign up for one."
Dad wrinkled his brow in thought. "What kind of intensives? How does this fit in with your Theater Arts?"
Kelly gazed, unseeing, at her untouched dessert. "I don't know if it does." She glanced up and caught another exchange between her
parents. "They offer all kinds of courses. This session will start next week, and it only runs for three weeks. Janet suggested a couple of different ones to consider. I was thinking of the one that has a ropes course, because that sounds fun, but the main purpose of the program is to offer a safe place to interact with Shades. The intensive would end right before my classes at Yorke start up. It's about the same amount of money as a class at Yorke, so I'm not really asking for extra money." She rushed through her explanation, feeling the familiar tightening in her chest when she tried to talk about the Shadows.
Mom's scrutiny took in Kelly's stiff posture and beseeching eyes. She glanced at Dad before speaking. "I think it sounds like a good idea."
"You do?" Kelly couldn't keep the surprise from her voice. She turned to her father, hope blossoming into excitement. "Dad?"
Dad stared at Mom as though communing with her telepathically. He gave a slow nod. "We have been praying about how to move forward in this new world." He reached across the table to squeeze Mom's hand. "When you bring kids into the world, part of your job is to try to raise them to be healthy and happy adults. Learning about the Shadows the way we did made us react in fear and become overprotective. Your mom and I were talking about this last night, that we need to trust you, and trust God to take care of you."
Mom smiled tremulously. "It's easier to think you are trusting when there's no immediate danger." She took a deep breath and tipped her head to indicate Wayne, who was trying to get the last of his melted ice cream with his spoon. "Is there an age restriction on your support group?"
Wayne's head popped up. He met Kelly's gaze, his expression interested.
Kelly thought about the others she had met. Maria was younger than Kelly, and Alan had mentioned an English assignment Kelly was sure was from high school. "I don't think they would mind. I will text Chad and find out."
