Jax fanned her face as she wrinkled her forehead. “You guys are going to make me cry!”
Sweets shook her head as she fanned her face as well. “If you cry then I’m going to cry. So don’t cry!” she ordered, pointing at Jax.
We all giggled. Except Alba. She had managed to sit through the whole very mushy-gushy public display of emotion like a statue. I wondered if the whole evening had taught her nothing.
“How are you feeling, Alba?” I finally asked her.
She sat stoically, chewing on the inside of her lip, for several long seconds, considering my question. Finally, she took a deep breath. “I’m feeling regretful,” she answered honestly. “I feel regretful at how I’ve lived my life so far. I saw my dad and my family in a different light today. I was a stranger looking in and I got to see him as a person and not just as my dad. I realized for the first time that the man I grew up with and tiptoed around my whole life is the person I’m becoming. I am becoming that person that other people tip toe around. And that’s not the person that I want to be.”
My heart tugged at the sound of Alba’s heartfelt words. I completely understood the feeling that she was having. Being on the outside of my life looking in, had given me a whole new appreciation for seeing my life for what it really was! And mine had been bogus! I’d been a phony. I hadn’t been living my life as the witch that I was. I’d been in hiding and I’d been scared to put the real me out there. It wasn’t until I’d gotten to the Paranormal Institute for Witches that I’d felt myself truly becoming the person I knew I really was. It wasn’t until I’d met Holly, Alba, Sweets, and Jax that I found myself becoming a real person and a real witch.
Alba took a deep breath and continued. “I came to college to improve my life. I can’t do that if I’m as emotionally stunted as my father. That’s not the kind of life that I want for myself. I want to experience happiness and joy and laughter too. I might not act like it, but I do. And the four of you have brought me the most happiness, joy, and laughter that I’ve ever had. It takes me a really long time to get to know someone, so I didn’t have a lot of childhood friends growing up. Meeting Tony was a big deal for me because he accepted me for who I was and I guess that’s why I was afraid of not going home for Christmas and why I got so angry when my plans fell through. But taking this step back and seeing how important the four of you really are to me, I see that it’s not just Tony that I should worry about losing. It’s the four of you. I’m sorry for the way that I’ve been towards you all this time. I’m going to try and be a nicer person. I’m going to try and be the person that I always wished that my dad was, but didn’t know how to be. I’m going to change and I hope you’ll let me try and become a better person and a better friend.”
Somewhere in the middle of Alba’s speech, my ability to fight back tears stopped working. By the end of the speech I was in full blown cry-baby mode, and it wasn’t just me. Holly was crying, Sweets was crying, and Jax was downright sobbing.
“Th-that was beautiful,” Jax bellowed through her blubbery tears. “I want to be a better f-friend too.” She pulled her napkin off her lap and blew her nose.
“We got a gift today, girls. A big one,” I said, as I wiped my eyes and nose with my napkin. “We got a wakeup call and we were all able to see how we were taking each other’s friendship for granted. We can’t do that anymore. No more fighting!”
Holly nodded in agreement. “No more fighting!
23
“Can we decorate for Christmas now?” Jax asked as the last of the dishes were washed, dried, and put back on the shelves properly.
I threw down my dish towel and took off my apron, tossing it onto the counter. Without a word, I ran in my stocking feet towards the set of swinging doors from the kitchen into the dining area and slid on the hardwood floors. “You bet we can!” I hollered happily.
I’d barely caught sight of Jax’s excitement before she followed me out into the dining room. The rest of the girls weren’t far behind.
“What do you want to decorate, Jax?” I asked her looking around. “The tree is already up. What else can we do?”
A smile covered Jax’s face. “I want to hang stockings.”
“We can do that,” Alba agreed with a genuine smile. “Is that all?”
Jax looked at Alba out of the corner of her eye, surprised. “Aaaand I want to play board games?”
Sweets nodded. “I’ll go get them.”
Jax’s eyes widened. “And I want to have cocoa and decorate the sugar cookies Sweets made.”
Holly smiled. “I love sugar cookies. I’m in.”
Jax clapped her hands excitedly. “And I want to sing Christmas carols while we do all of that!”
I laughed. “You’re not getting carried away now, are you?”
Alba put out a hand to shush me. “I happen to like Christmas carols. What’s your favorite?”
Jax was too excited to think. “Eee! I can’t think of any off the top of my head. My mom didn’t sing them in my house. Who knows a Christmas carol?”
Jax looked at me as I pulled some stockings out of a tote next to the tree. I shrugged. “Don’t look at me; I’ve got a horrible singing voice!” I looked at Sweets. “Sweets. You have to know some Christmas carols.”
Sweets screwed her mouth up and took the stocking I handed to her. “Hmm. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” she began in her lower register.
Jax’s eyes lit up. “Jack Frost nipping at your nose,” she sang.
They both looked at me. “Something, something, something, something, eskimooooos,” I stuttered.
The two of them giggled.
Holly struck up a chord next. “Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why…”
“Santa Claus is coming to town!” we all managed to finish in tune with her.
“He’s making a list and checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice,” Sweets continued.
“Santa Claus is coming to town!” we sang again.
We all looked at each other to see who could sing the next verse. Crickets.
Alba raised a finger up. She’d thought of one. “Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree. How lovely are your branches,” she began and then promptly stopped singing. She looked at the rest of us.
I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s all I can ever remember of that song.”
Jax looked at Holly, and Holly looked at Sweets.
Alba laughed. “Sorry, that’s all I know, too.”
Jax’s eyes widened. “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it.”
Sweets and Holly echoed after her. “Saw it,” they whispered.
“You would even say it glowed,” Jax continued.
“Like a lightbulb,” they echoed with a little giggle.
“Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say…”
Alba furrowed her eyebrows together. “I think you forgot a line...”
“Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight.”
“Tonight,” Sweets and Holly echoed again.
I laughed. “I’m pretty sure you left out a whole part in there.”
Jax stopped singing and laughed. “Ah well. We tried! How about I just put on some Christmas music instead?”
I put my arm around Jax’s shoulder and leaned my head on hers. “I think that sounds like a great idea, Cuz.”
If someone had asked me on Christmas Eve two years ago, as I sat in the back of that police cruiser, where I’d be today, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that I’d be spending Christmas Eve with a group of friends. Back then I didn’t know what the true meaning of the word was. I always thought people who had friends were fake and that friendships weren’t real.
What I hadn’t realized was that a true friendship could bring such happiness to a person’s life. But in this moment in time, I realized that there was nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with these girls.
They were becoming my family, and I was becoming theirs. Maybe a couple of years ago I would have told my older self that I was being stupid or naïve. But right now – in this moment – I knew the truth. Friends were everything.
Also by M.Z. Andrews
Other Books in
The Witch Squad Cozy Mystery Series:
Book #1: The Witch Squad
Book #2: Son of a Witch
Book #3: Witch Degrees of Separation
Book #4: Witch Pie (A Witch Squad Holiday Special)
Book #5: A Very Mercy Christmas (A Witch Squad Holiday Special)
Book #6: Where Witches Lie
Book #7: Witch School Dropout
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About the Author
Hello! I’m M. I live in the Midwest. I enjoy my house full of family, including my wonderfully amazing husband, four beautiful daughters, two handsome sons, and an amazing sidekick cat, who keeps me company all day while I dream up my crazy and exciting stories!
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XOXO - M
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A Very Mercy Christmas: A Witch Squad Holiday Special (A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 14
