A Christmas Prayer

by Kimberla Lawson Roby

  “Well, I really have to run,” Charlotte said, “but Alexis, why don’t we plan on having lunch after the holidays? Of course, I’ll definitely be here for your ceremony as well.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Charlotte said her good-byes, and Pastor Black, Alexis, and Chase sat down.

  Pastor Black leaned his elbows onto his desk and crossed his arms. “So, Chase, how did the visit with your mother go?”

  Chase shook his head and relaxed farther into his chair. “It was a disaster. She was worse than ever, and she said so many awful things to Alexis that I didn’t even recognize her.”

  “I was so hoping that talking to her together might help, but it sounds like she’s not going to budge on this.”

  “She just doesn’t like me,” Alexis said. “And when a woman doesn’t like another woman…”

  “Well,” Pastor Black said, “let’s hope she won’t feel this way forever.”

  “I don’t know, Pastor,” Chase said. “I was a lot more optimistic before today, but now I have to agree with my Lexi here. I’m not sure she’ll ever be okay with this.”

  “As you know, I counsel with a lot of married couples, and sadly, the whole mother-in-law-not-liking-the-future-daughter-in-law thing tends to come up a lot more often than I would like. There are plenty of mothers-in-law who love their daughters-in-law like biological children, but there are also those who just can’t stand the idea of another woman being with their son.”

  “It doesn’t make sense to me, though,” Chase said. “Especially when it comes to Alexis, because she’s always tried to be nice to Mother. She’s also good for me, and she makes me happy, and I would think my mother would be thrilled about that.”

  “Yeah, you would think so, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always turn out like that. Still, I’m going to pray for Sister Dupont’s heart.”

  Alexis would never say it out loud, but it seemed to her that Geneva didn’t even have one. She certainly didn’t have any compassion or empathy for anyone, and she only cared about her money, worldly possessions, and status. She also didn’t have very many friends, except for a few women she called from time to time to boast about some hoity-toity item she’d just purchased or some country club event she’d been asked to chair. Other than that, she didn’t seem to have much use for other human beings. She was a cold woman with very little emotion, and to some degree, Alexis felt sorry for her.

  “I know this must be very tough for you, Chase,” Pastor Black said, “but you can still love and honor your mother and also love the woman you’re going to marry. No one, not even family members, should try to dictate who their loved ones end up with, and my advice to you is to move forward as planned. Your mother might not like it, but she’s going to have to live with your decision to be with Alexis.”

  “I just wish she could see how much I love Chase,” Alexis said. “I wish she knew that even though Chase loves me, it won’t change the way he feels about her.”

  Pastor Black smiled. “Maybe someday she will. But if not, the two of you have to go on with your lives. I think you should still invite her to the ceremony, and you should also invite her to holiday dinners and anything else you’re doing that’s family-related. She might not join you, but at least you will have done the right thing.”

  “I won’t stop trying,” Chase said, “but after today I can’t help but see her in a different light. I’ve always known she had a standoffish personality and sometimes looked down on certain people, but I never knew she was this bad.”

  Pastor Black slightly chuckled. “Well, that’s because until now you’ve never asked someone to marry you. She feels like Alexis is taking something from her, and she can’t see beyond that. No matter how illogical it is, she believes Alexis is the enemy.”

  Alexis grabbed Chase’s hand. “I’m really sorry about this. I never meant to cause problems between you and your mother.”

  “Baby, it’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault, and I’m just going to pray to move on.”

  “Well, on a lighter note,” Pastor Black said, changing the subject, “are you planning to invite a lot of people to your ceremony or only a few?”

  “We’ve decided to keep it very small,” Chase said. “For me it’ll be my best friend from childhood and his wife, two of my VPs and their wives, and my executive assistant and her husband. My father’s family lives too far away, and of course, my mother doesn’t have any family. She was an only child just like me.”

  “What about you, Alexis?”

  “Two of my aunts and their husbands will be there; my best friend, Paula, and her boyfriend; my assistant and her husband; and I’m hoping my sister and my niece will come.”

  “Sounds good, and along with Charlotte and me, I’m sure Miss Lana will want to attend, if that’s okay. She’s so happy for both of you.”

  “Absolutely,” Chase said. “We would love to have her.”

  “We’ll be honored,” Alexis added.

  “And although I don’t want to keep bringing your mother up, Chase, you are going to invite her, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess. I do want her there, but I also don’t want her to try to stop the wedding or turn the entire day into a nightmare.”

  “We’ll all just be prayerful about it. We’ll let go and let God. Then, unless the two of you have questions, I do want to leave you with a few pieces of advice. In our first two sessions, we talked about the sanctity of marriage, what marriage means, and how you should keep God at the center of your marriage at all times. But there are also five practical lessons to live by. One, never allow others inside your circle. That means family members, friends, and acquaintances. Keep any problems or disagreements to yourselves and work them out as a couple. Two, never, ever stop dating. Always continue to work at keeping your marriage fun and fresh. Don’t ever stop joking around and making each other laugh. Most of all, don’t ever stop going places together and hanging out as best friends. Three, don’t ever stop communicating. You should never take each other for granted, never go to bed angry, and never stop growing together as a couple. Four, don’t ever forget that marriage is what you make it. Marriage requires a lot of hard work, a lot of give-and-take, and lots of understanding and forgiveness. And five, don’t ever forget why you fell in love in the first place. Always remember that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Remember that love never fails,” Pastor Black said.

  Alexis locked her fingers inside Chase’s and thanked God for giving her a man who was full of so much unconditional love, kindness, and integrity. For weeks she’d been feeling depressed, but now she had every reason to hold her head up and be happy. She had a reason to be grateful and to simply live the incredible life she’d been blessed with.

  Everything seemed almost perfect—actually, a little too perfect, because no matter how much Alexis wanted to believe that all was well and that nothing would destroy her and Chase’s wedding plans, she couldn’t get Geneva out of her mind. Chase had explained to his mother that he loved Alexis and that he was marrying her this month, but Alexis wasn’t naïve. Women like Geneva just didn’t give up that easily, and Alexis wondered when a bomb was going to drop. She had a feeling it might be any day now—or any second.

  Chapter 20

  As Chase drove his Mercedes S550 away from the church, Alexis read the text message she’d just received from her sister’s phone. She was shocked to be hearing from Sabrina.

  Aunt Lexi it’s an emergency. I just got home. Pls come get us.

  Alexis sighed loudly. “Now what?”

  Chase looked over at her but quickly focused back on driving. “Honey, what is it?”

  “I thought my sister was texting me, but it’s from Courtney. She says she needs me to come get them, and that it’s an emergency.”

  “Where do they live?”

  “Not far. Just two blocks down this way,” she said pointing. “And then to your right.”

  Thank God they�
��d just been leaving the church and that Sabrina and Courtney lived near there. Alexis was worried sick, because there was no telling what was going on. She couldn’t stop thinking about Courtney and hoped she was okay. She also wondered why Courtney had said to come get “them” and not just her, so she hoped Melvin hadn’t done anything stupid. For all Alexis knew he was drugged up and threatening their lives.

  Chase turned down the street, and as soon as Alexis spotted her sister’s house, her heart sank. Men were carrying out one piece of furniture after another, along with several large boxes. First it had been the electricity that needed to be paid, then the gas had been shut off, and now they were being evicted?

  Chase parked across from Sabrina’s house, and he and Alexis got out. Sabrina and Melvin stood in the middle of the front lawn, screaming at each other like enemies. Alexis knew Chase didn’t act high and mighty like his mother, but she also knew he wasn’t used to this kind of drama, and she was so embarrassed.

  “How did you let this happen?” Melvin shouted. “This is all your fault!”

  “Maybe if you stopped changing jobs, it wouldn’t be happening!” Sabrina shot back.

  Melvin frowned and flipped his hand at her. “Just shut up, Sabrina.”

  “No, you shut up!”

  Alexis saw Courtney rushing toward her. Courtney reached her arms out, lay her head on her aunt’s chest, and sobbed. It must have been twenty degrees outside, so she was also shivering. Thankfully, she at least had on a scarf and gloves, and so did Chase and Alexis.

  “I’m so sorry, honey,” Alexis told her.

  “What are we gonna do now, Aunt Lexi? Where are we gonna live?”

  “We’ll figure something out. So don’t you worry about that.”

  Chase rubbed Courtney’s back. “Your aunt is right, sweetheart. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  Melvin looked over at them with bloodshot eyes. “And what are you doin’ here? Both you and your big-time CEO. He’s probably never even been on this side of town before.”

  Alexis took a step forward, but Chase pulled her back.

  “Just let him talk, baby. It’s not even worth it.”

  “You better listen to ya boy,” he told Alexis. “Comin’ over here actin’ all tough. Like you really gon’ do somethin’. Sabrina, you better check your sister before she get hurt.”

  All this time, Sabrina hadn’t looked at Alexis, and she didn’t look now. She was humiliated, and of course, she didn’t want to hear anything Alexis had to say.

  “Can we come live with you, Aunt Lexi?” Courtney whispered. “I’ll beg my dad not to be any trouble. He and my mom can sleep in your other bedroom, and I can sleep on the sofa in your den.”

  Alexis felt sorry for her niece, and although she and her mother were welcome to stay with her anytime, Melvin would never be allowed there again.

  “I’ll have to see what your mom wants to do” was all she said.

  “Man, that’s my stereo you’re tossin’ around like that!” Melvin yelled at one of the stockier men. “I oughta knock you dead in your face.”

  Sabrina grabbed Melvin’s arm. “Why don’t you just leave them alone before you get into trouble. They’re just doin’ their jobs.”

  Melvin yanked away from her and stuck his finger in her face. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me.”

  Alexis loosened Courtney’s arms from around her and moved closer to her sister. “Sabrina, come here.”

  “What?”

  “Come here, now!”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes but finally walked over. “What is it, Alexis? And please don’t ask me what’s wrong or how this happened, because I’m not in the mood for that.”

  “Well, I already know how it happened, but what I don’t know is where you’re planning to stay tonight.”

  “I don’t know, but we’ll be fine.”

  “That’s not good enough. I need to know that you have somewhere to go. Especially Courtney.”

  “Didn’t you hear me when I said we’d be fine? And who asked you to come by here, anyway?”

  “What matters is that I’m here. You need help, Sabrina, so why don’t you and Courtney just stay with me tonight?”

  “And what about Melvin? What do you expect me to do about him? Leave him to fend for himself?”

  “I think you and I both know that Melvin isn’t invited. My concern is only about you and my niece.”

  “Why don’t you go home, Alexis? Just leave us alone,” she said, walking back across the lawn and over toward Melvin. As soon as he saw her approaching him, though, he walked away and kept talking on his cell phone. Sabrina followed him.

  “Who are you talkin’ to, Melvin?”

  Melvin ignored her and walked out into the street.

  “I know one thing, it better not be that skank-trick.”

  Melvin walked back onto the grass, and Sabrina rushed toward him, trying to yank his phone from him.

  “Stop it, Sabrina. I’m not playin’ with you,” he said.

  “Give me the phone!” she yelled, still reaching for it.

  Melvin held her at arm’s length with his other hand and told whoever he was talking to “I’ll see you in a few.”

  “Who was that, Melvin?”

  “Don’t worry about it. You just figure out where we’re gonna live. Because I’m not goin’ to no shelter, and I’m definitely not sleepin’ in no car.”

  “The first thing we have to do is find somewhere to store our stuff. We can’t just leave it out here like this.”

  “They can set a match to every piece of this crap for all I care,” he said. “It’s nothin’ but a bunch of cheap junk, anyway. We can get new furniture in a month or so when you file your taxes.”

  Alexis wanted to slap that idiot. She also wanted to slap some sense into her sister for putting up with this kind of madness. Melvin had never meant her any good, and he was proving it loudly and clearly right now.

  Chase wrapped his arm around Courtney and told Alexis, “Baby, why don’t we get back in the car and turn the heat on? Courtney is freezing, and so am I.”

  “Let’s go,” she said, but as soon as they turned and started toward the street, Melvin rushed across the yard.

  “Where do you think you’re takin’ my daughter? Courtney, get back over here.”

  “But Dad, I’m cold.”

  “Then you go get in your mother’s car.”

  “I asked her if I could when I first got home from school. But she said she didn’t want me turning on the car because she doesn’t have much gas.”

  “Well, you’re still not gettin’ in the car with these snooty buffoons.”

  Alexis pulled her cell phone from her coat pocket. She was done trying to be nice. “If you don’t let this child go warm up in that car, I’m calling CPS right now.”

  “Call whoever you want.”

  “No,” Sabrina said, walking out to the street. “Go ahead, Courtney.”

  Chase unlocked the doors, and he and Courtney got inside. Alexis was glad he’d left the car running.

  Melvin was hot, though. “Didn’t you hear me tell her no?”

  “You and I have to start loading up our car,” Sabrina said.

  Melvin raised his eyebrows. “Did you say our car? Because I don’t have a car. You let those people pick it up, remember?”

  “I didn’t let them do anything. They picked it up because there was no payment.”

  “Well, if you’d made the payments like I asked you, I’d still have a way to work and I wouldn’t have gotten fired.”

  Alexis was dumbfounded. The more Sabrina and Melvin argued, the more the plot thickened. So now he didn’t have a job or a car? Well then, what did he have? And why was Sabrina still hanging on to this hopeless ingrate? Why wouldn’t she just dump him and try to make a better life for her and Courtney?

  Alexis wasn’t sure how this was going to play out, so she decided to go get in the car herself and wait. But just as two of the movers set the living r
oom sofa onto the curb, some woman drove up in an SUV.

  Melvin spotted her immediately. “Sabrina, just call me when you find a place. I’m outta here.”

  Sabrina gazed into the vehicle and recognized the woman. “You’re not goin’ anywhere with that skank, Melvin. If you leave here, don’t ever come back. If you leave, that’s it for us.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, steadily strolling toward his other woman. “That’s what you always say.”

  Sabrina rushed toward him, but he jumped in the SUV, and the woman sped away.

  Alexis was speechless. She had no experience with this kind of thing, and her sister’s life reminded her of some terrible reality show. Alexis also wondered why Sabrina had chosen to live so differently from the way they’d been raised.

  Sabrina turned around, scanning everything sitting on the curb, then gazed over at Alexis. She stared at her for a few seconds and then dropped to her knees in tears. Alexis rushed over and kneeled down next to her. Sabrina wept hysterically.

  Chapter 21

  It had taken a few hours, but Sabrina and Courtney’s personal belongings—and Melvin’s, too—were now in storage. Alexis hadn’t known exactly how they were going to get it done, but what she did know was that there was no way she was going to let Sabrina lose everything she owned. But thank God for Chase, because he’d made a few calls and in about an hour, some guys from Three Men and a Truck had shown up. They’d loaded everything from the street and inside the house and taken it to a storage facility not far from Alexis’s home. Alexis had quickly offered to pay for everything, but Chase had insisted he would take care of it.

  Sabrina and Courtney were in the guest bedroom getting settled, and Alexis had just walked Chase to the front door. He leaned against it and pulled her toward him.

  “You really didn’t have to do all this,” she said.

  “No, but I wanted to.”

  “That’s fine, but I really wish you’d let me pay you back.”

  Chase touched her lips with his forefinger. “I don’t wanna hear another word about it. Your sister needed help, and I’m just glad I was there to do it.”