Out of The Box Awakening

by Theriot, Jennifer

  “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

  I turn and see Todd. “Yes, sorry, it’s saved for our friend Bert.”

  He smiles and whispers, “Well, then, move your ass over and let me in!” Classic Todd. “Oh, and no worries, Olivia. I did the confession thing, so I’m good to go on communion.” He pats my knee.

  God is indeed good!

  Todd drove his mustang to church. My kids, who know nothing about it, see it in the parking lot after mass and there is a fight to see who gets to ride with him to the restaurant. “Little Mamma, you win, and you get shotgun!”

  Everyone else rides in the limo with us. Once we get to the restaurant, Ash has once again gotten us a private room. Great wine, superb service, wonderful food, wonderful family! Tonight, there is cause for celebration. Ash stands at the head of the table and motions for me to get up with him.

  “Lord knows, we’ve done our fair share of toasts lately, and frankly, I kinda like this! Tonight, though, we’re so happy that my other sons, Wesley and Hayden are here with us. This is a coming home of sorts and I’m feeling so darn lucky tonight. Our extended, blended family means so much to me, and I think Olivia shares in my happiness.” I nod my head yes. “So, let’s all raise our glasses and toast to family, good food, good drink and a very Merry Christmas!”

  We all raise our glasses. Dinner is wonderful. Stuffed and happy, we all head back to the house to have our Christmas. I have coffee and spirits ready when we go into the den by the tree.

  “Mom, so what’s this game we’re playing,” Lainey asks.

  “Well, at Thanksgiving, as you remember, we all did our thankful-fors. Tonight we’re gonna spice it up a bit! We’re doing naughty or nice!”

  The kids all laugh and their little brains are churning.

  “So, to kick this off properly, let’s start with Todd, and you all have to stand up while you’re saying.”

  Todd gets up. “Well, contrary to what you guys would think, I chose naughty, of course. It’s naughty what Ash and Olivia are probably thinking right now. They probably wish we’d all go to a club and leave them alone tonight. And naughty, because I got Lainey to ride in my Mustang. Just her and me! She’s freakin hot! Naughty Baby!”

  We all laugh. Next up is Wesley. At first, I didn’t think the twins would feel comfortable doing this, but he seems to be warming to it.

  “ Ahhemmm. Okay. Nice is what I’m going with. It’s nice that I made nice-nice with Olivia. Nice that she opened the door—she knows what I mean!—and she’s actually pretty cool!”

  Hayden, next, says, “I call naughty! We were pretty naughty to Olivia and I’m really sorry, but she can definitely hang, and throw some pretty damn naughty words back. Also glad she opened the door.” He laughs, and sits down again.

  Next are Bradley and Dalton as Bradley speaks for them both “We’re doin ours together. Nice, can you believe it? It’s nice that we’re all together. Sorry, don’t mean to sound metrosexual, but we’re really glad we’re having such a nice Christmas! Nice to have Dalton back in the old U.S. of A!”

  We all clap.

  Okay, Lainey is next. “Nice for me, too. It’s nice that I’m pregnant and can get away with so much. My husband is soooo nice and takes such good care of me!” She giggled as the two exchanged glances. “Nice to be with my extended family, nice that I got to be the one to ride in Todd’s car and y’all didn’t, and nice that I’ve only gained three pounds so far Whew! That’s it.”

  Kellan stands up and shakes his head. “Okay. I’m goin’ with naughty. I’m damn tired of being nice, so Lainey, let’s get naughty tonight!”

  I laugh and tell them, “Ewwww, TMI!”

  Tommy stands up. “I’m going with nice…what, did you guys think I’d be naughty? It’s nice to have my brothers here. Been way too long! And to have such a wonderful family and girlfriend is totally nice. And, did I mention we’re going on tour? Extra nice!”

  Emily’s turn. “Okay. I call naughty. I’m gonna promise to be naughty while the guys are on tour and skip out on classes to go see them! Totally not like me, but I think I can do the naughty thing a few times!”

  Tommy and Todd fist pump. “Oh hell yeah!” Todd says.

  That leaves Ash and me.

  “Olivia, call your poison,” Ash says.

  “Well, I’m calling nice. Predictable for me, huh? It’s so nice to have all of us together. And I agree, nice that we’ve made nice-nice…twins, you know what I mean, huh? And nice, so nice that I’m looking forward to many nice Christmases to come! Okay, Mr. Harper, your turn!”

  Ash stands up. “Callin’ naughty!” Everyone laughs. “Naughty, because…well, because it’s none of your damn business! Let’s open gifts!”

  Ash plays Santa and hands out the gifts. The kids all open their gifts from Ash and me. Yes, I say Ash and me because I realize that Ash wants to be part of this, and it means a lot that he be included. Time for me to just give in a little bit and not be so stubborn.

  Lainey is first to get hers open. “Mom, Ash, are you totally kidding? Oh, my God! This is amazing!” The rest of the kids are impressed as well. Wesley and Hayden totally weren’t expecting theirs.

  “Damn, Dad and Olivia! These are awesome! Thanks so much!”

  Tommy and Todd love their guitar straps. Todd gives me a hug. “No one has ever gotten me anything like this! Freakin’awesome!” He’s somewhat emotional. I know he’s missing his Grammy and that, with the loss of his parents, Christmases probably aren’t the best season for him. He brings a box from the entryway.

  “I forgot to put this under the tree. Olivia, here, it’s something from me and the guys.”

  I open the box, and in it is a beautiful Louis Vuitton Never Full large bag. “Wow! My first Louis Vuitton! This is really too much, guys. Way too much! I love it, though!”

  “We thought this would be good for you when you and Mr. H. travel. Lainey said you didn’t have one.”

  “I’m speechless!”

  Ash and I give Emily her gift from us. Well, from Ash, really, since he paid for it, but I’m trying to relinquish my stubbornness. It’s a very generous gift certificate to Nordstrom. Matter of fact, I’ve never gotten a gift certificate for this much.

  “Oh my! Mr. Harper, Olivia, this is way too much. I can’t accept this.”

  “You can and you absolutely will.” Ash says. “Merry Christmas dear!”

  Emily then opens her gift from Tommy. Inside a little black box, is a pendant specially made from her own signature. “My God babe! This is my handwriting. It’s exactly how I sign my name! How did you do it?”

  He tells us he had her write her name on a piece of paper. “She had no idea why I asked her to do it.”

  “So who made it,” she asks.

  “I have my sources, and I’m not giving out my secrets! Here, open the other one.”

  He’s also gotten her an iPhone, with a case that has the Avenue logo on it.

  “I’m blown away, babe! I’ve never even had a nice phone. You see what mine looks like.”

  “Well, I figured that since we’re going out on tour and everything that you definitely need a good phone to keep in touch. You can even Skype on it. And look, see the wallpaper?”

  Emily puts her hand over her mouth. She’s getting teary eyed. It’s the picture we took of them when we did the tree the first night they met.

  She’s gotten him a pair of Grado headphones, which I had never heard of, but apparently they are the world’s best headphones.

  “Em! What the hell? These are so tight! Damn, babe. I love them! Thank you so much!”

  They are both sitting on the floor by the tree. Tommy playfully pushes her over, gets on top of her and gives her a make-out worthy kiss.

  “Damn guys! Get a fuckin’ room, already! Geez!” Todd says.

  Kellan gives Lainey a diamond bracelet and she’s gotten him an expensive watch.

  Wesley and Hayden stand up. “Well, we did a family gift. Our gift to you all is a fami
ly portrait. One of our good friends is a photographer, and we thought we’d do a family portrait and we’ll get it framed to hang in the house. Since we’re all a newly blended family we might as well capture it in a picture! Maybe late summer we can get together and have it made. We talked about it and wanted to wait until after the baby comes. He or she needs to be in it too! Oh, and little brother, don’t worry about covering up those tats…display them proudly. It’s who you are and we accept it. Merry Christmas, everyone!”

  Tommy and the twins hug, and I’m so happy they’ve made amends. When all the presents are opened, Ash goes over to the tree.

  “I’ll bet you were all wondering if I got Olivia anything.” They all nod yes. “All righty!”

  He gets a little box off one of the tree branches and hands it to me. I never even noticed that it was on the tree. Pretty sneaky Mr. Harper!

  “Merry Christmas to the woman who has brought so much love back into this house. I love you with all my heart, honey!” I open the box; inside is an exquisite pendant. “It’s platinum. See, it’s your initial and mine. O and A.”

  I’m so emotional! The pendant is totally covered in diamonds. No telling how many carats it is. It is a beautifully scripted “O” with an intertwined “A.” On the back is engraved “mine and yours.”

  “I had it made especially for you!” Everyone claps.

  “Mom, oh, my God! Put it on!” Lainey says.

  Ash comes over and fastens it around my neck. “It’s beautiful on you Olivia. Beautiful just like you! Merry Christmas, honey!” Ash says.

  This gift is over-the-top gorgeous. The diamonds shine so bright and it is by far the most beautiful piece of jewelry I own. “Ash, this is really too much!”

  “Oh, I beg to differ with you. It’s not nearly enough compared with the happiness you’ve brought me!”

  The one gift left is mine to Ash.

  “Oh crap!” Tommy says. “I left dad’s gift from you in my car. Be right back!” He runs out to his car and gets my gift to Ash out of his trunk. “Sorry about that dad!”

  “Ash, your turn. Open!”

  He opens the huge box and falls down on the floor in surprise. “Shit! Are you kidding me? Liv! Oh. My God! I’ve always wanted a twelve-string! Wow! Martin is the best one made! Honey, it’s awesome! How in the world did you know what to get?”

  “Well, Tommy was nice enough to go with me. He played it for me so I could see what a beautiful sound it has.”

  “Well done, guys! I’m one happy man! Let’s try ‘Stairway to Heaven’ with this baby!”

  The sound is incredible. I am so happy that Ash is pleased with his gift. We all sit around having our coffee and everyone is happily talking about their gifts. Around midnight, Ash stands up and yawns. “Well, guys, it’s been real. I think we’re headed to bed. Been a long day. Time for us old timers to turn in. See you in the morning. Ho!Ho!Ho!” Ash takes my hand and winks at me “So, Mine, you like your gift?”

  “Yours, it’s amazing! Over the top, but amazing! Merry Christmas! Just pinch me and tell me this is real.”

  “Oh, honey, no doubt, this is real!”

  We don’t even make love tonight. No need to. We lie wrapped in each other’s arms, warm under the covers, listening to soft Christmas music.

  “Liv?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you more than Christmas.”

  “Ash?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you more than you love me more than Christmas.”

  “Liv?”

  “Yes?”

  “I believe you. Night-night!”

  We have an amazing Christmas dinner at Ellen’s. Her house is beautiful and she’s gone out of her way to make sure the day is perfect. The kids all get along, which makes me feel so good. Lainey, Ellen, Mellissa and I talk about Melissa’s upcoming wedding. Lainey tells Melissa about her fairytale wedding.

  “In addition to the Father-Daughter dance, Mom and I did a Mother-Daughter dance. It was so cool!”

  “Really? What did you dance to?” Melissa asks.

  “We did ‘Mama He’s Crazy’ by the Judd’s. It was the best dance ever. wasn’t it, Mom?”

  “Oh my God! It was the best! My favorite dance ever with my favorite girl!”

  I can tell Melissa’s thinking,

  “Hey, Mom, that’s a great idea! I think I wanna steal it! Lainey, Olivia, would you mind?”

  “Of course not!” we say.

  “Well, we don’t know how to country western dance. Think you could teach Mom and me how to dance to it?”

  “Sure thing! We’d love to.”

  “Well, let’s go download it. Want to try it today?”

  Ellen quickly interjects, “Melissa, it’s Christmas. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to do this today.”

  “Oh, no problem! Matter of fact, I’ve got it on my iTunes.” I say.

  Melissa takes Lainey’s hand. “Come on! Let’s go in Mom’s room!”

  We go into Ellen’s spacious bedroom.

  “This is going to be so cool! I can’t wait! Okay. Show us.”

  Lainey and I start dancing. Melissa is beaming.

  “Awww…Mom we’ve got to do it! That’s the perfect song, and I’ve never been to a wedding where the mom and daughter dance, too. Way cool!”

  Lainey and I teach Ellen and Melissa how to Country Western dance to it.

  Ash comes into the room. “What the heck?”

  “We’re teaching Ellen and Melissa a dance for the wedding.”

  “Uh, okay. Whatever. I’ll just go back out with the guys! I can take a hint.”

  He winks at me, smiles, and exits to go back out with the guys. We hear them all laughing and having a good time. Luckily, Tommy and the guys have the day off, so Tommy is able to be at Ellen’s with us. They’re playing tomorrow night, and Ash has made arrangements again for the car to come pick us all up to go watch them. Ellen, David, Melissa, and Trey said they would come too. Ash is sending the car for them first, and then it will pick us up.

  I have to admit that I’m really getting used to having Rocco drive us all to and from our destinations! Lifestyles of Ash Harper, I think to myself, as we all arrive at the club.

  “So, they’re pretty good huh?” Hayden asks.

  “Yes, very. You’ll see. They have a pretty big fan following. This upcoming tour is going to be huge for them.”

  Tommy comes over to the table and sits with his brothers. “Really cool that you guys could come. Preciatcha! And hope you enjoy it. After the show, if you want to hang around, we usually party here for a couple of hours. Dad usually feeds the jukebox at least fifty bucks. It’s pretty fun.”

  “Yeah, sure, we’re down! Besides, we’re all in one car, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah! I forgot.”

  Everyone has a great time. The whole family is here, and I can tell it means the world to Tommy.

  I go backstage before they start and give the rest of the guys their Christmas presents to open.

  “Damn! These are tight, Olivia!” Brady says.

  Tommy explains that I had them specially designed for each of them by a company in El Paso that makes custom guitar straps.

  “Ah, each one is different. I see now. I’m stoked!”

  Brian loves his drumsticks as well. “Olivia, no one has ever given me anything like this. These are freakin’ awesome! Thanks so much!”

  He gives me a kiss on the cheek and a hug. They all put their guitar straps on.

  “Olivia, you nailed it girl! Here, get a picture of all of us,” Todd says.

  “So, did you like your bag we got you?” Brian asks.

  “Boy did I! Can you believe that’s my very first Louis Vuitton bag?”

  “Seriously? Ha! We thought everyone from Texas had at least one of those!” Steve says. I can’t believe they all went in on it. Wonder who planted that idea in their heads?

  Hmmmm…someone with the initials AH?

  The guys put on one of the best
shows I’ve seen them do. I sense that it is because the whole family is here. Tommy is like I haven’t seen him before, and everyone is having a great time.

  Lainey gets a text, throws her head back, closes her eyes and shakes her head.

  “What? Who was that?” I ask.

  “That was dad. He and Kelly want to take Kel, the boys, and me to dinner tomorrow night. Geez! What should I say?”

  “Well, I think y’all should go. We talked about this. He’s still your father. Just go and get it over with. He won’t stop calling until you do, you know.”

  She talks to the boys, who are apprehensive, and they come to a consensus, agreeing that they will go.

  “We’re meeting them, though. I want to have a vehicle so that we can leave when we want to,” Dalton says.

  I’m really glad they decide to go. They are owed an explanation, and hopefully Alan will give them one.

  When the show is over, everyone leaves but our little extended family, and Ash goes to drop his wad in the jukebox. Bradley and Dalton follow him, and I’m sure they’ll pick some of their favorite songs as well. Ross comes out from behind the bar, goes back into the stock room, and brings out sunglasses for everyone to put on. How fun!

  “Here guys…these were left from a Blues Brothers party we had a few months ago. I’d totally forgotten about them, to be honest,” Ross says. He tosses a pair to each of us.

  Ash plays “Got to Give it Up,” by Marvin Gay, undoubtedly one of our family dance favorites. Everyone lines up. Stepping out of the box, I decide to be brave and get it started. I grab Wesley and Hayden and pull them behind me. I’m wondering if they’ll loosen up and have fun, or just walk off the dance floor. Part of me thinks they’ll be really uncomfortable and decline. I start off and sure enough, they’re in.

  Yeeessss! They do have rhythm and the ability to let loose and have fun. They have both stepped away from their reserved, military-type personalities and are comfortable with just being themselves, acting silly and totally uninhibited. Ash looks at me, shakes his head and just smiles. He blows me a kiss. Ellen, Melissa, Trey, and even David get in the line, along with my boys, Ash, Emily and the guys. This is absolutely the most fun dance!