a Beautiful Christmas: A Pride and Honor Christmas

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “Kate,” I growled, wanting to argue with her, but with the look of sheer determination in her eyes, I finally caved. “Fine, but if anything happens we’re coming straight back and you’re going to the hospital.”

  She smiled triumphantly, as if knowing I could deny her nothing. I had felt so guilty about how I’d spoken to her on the phone, hanging up, not even telling her I loved her. After getting up from bed and sitting in the kitchen with multiple cups of coffee, I realized the pressure she was under to give us, our new family, everything we needed. She hadn’t been doing it to prove she was the best of the best, she’d done it as she said, to provide a roof over our heads and food on the table. I’d called her for hours to apologize, but got no response and couldn’t stop thinking the worse. That it was over. “Can we go home and get the kids?” she said with a tired smile.

  The EMT came over and after signing off that she refused to go to the hospital, we were free to go.

  “Okay beautiful, let’s get you in the car.”

  “Wait, my bag. I had presents for the kids in there.” She looked back at the cab.

  “You get in the car, and I will see if the police will let me get it.”

  I walked over to the police who were kind enough to get her bags out of the trunk for me, and I carried them back over to the car. I noticed the officers looking at me with questioning eyes and each one of them shook my hand. It wasn’t until I got back in the car that I realized that I left the house in a pair of basketball shorts.

  “Shit,” I said and Kate looked at me concerned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I just left in a hurry and forgot I was wearing shorts. Everyone there saw my… limitations.”

  “Adam?” She placed her hand over my uninjured leg, squeezing it tight. “Seriously there is nothing wrong with it, or you. Those officers, I bet they know and understand what happened.”

  “The kids will be home and see it.” He bit out. “I know they know, but I’ve tried to hide them really looking at it.”

  “Those kids love you. They don’t care about your “limitations,” as you call it.”

  “You’re right. I guess I’m not as healed as I thought. Maybe I should give Marcy a call and schedule an appointment.” I sighed, not really wanting to go back to therapy, but realizing I probably needed to.

  “Who’s Marcy?” she asked and her tone dropped with a note of jealousy. I chuckled and looked at her in my peripheral vision.

  “She’s my counselor and six-months pregnant. Are you jealous?” I goaded.

  “No.”

  “Liar,” I teased and she stuck her tongue out at me. “I can think of a better use for that tongue.”

  She put her tongue back in her mouth and snapped her mouth shut. The big belly laugh that left me felt good. I felt like I hadn’t laughed like that since she left.

  When we got to the house, I saw little Jax sitting on the front porch waiting for us. I had a feeling that this incident was going to set them all back a bit.

  “Auntie Kate,” he yelled excitedly when she stepped out of the car. The rest of the kids and Casey came running out the door then.

  “I’m all right.” She smiled as they all bombarded her with a million questions.

  “Hey guys? Go get your stuff ready,” I said and they all looked at me in shock.

  “We’re still going? Aunt Kate could have died today.” April looked angry.

  “She wants to go still.” I shrugged, but April didn’t look convinced, so I said to her specifically, letting my tone dictate. “I told her we could stay home and she said no that you guys needed this trip and that if she flew all the way back from Italy, we are going on this trip. So, April, go get your stuff now and put it in the car.” Being with the kids as much as I had, realizing that I’d become the stay-at-home dad, April was going to have her moment of reckoning that her surly behavior was coming to a swift end.

  The kids all looked over at Kate, who nodded with an encouraging smile, and finally they went to get their stuff. Kate looked relieved when they finally went inside. “They’re gonna be even more scared now, you know. And, ummm, the take charge thing with April? Kinda bossy; I like it.”

  I laughed at her outrageousness. “Yes, well, little Miss is going to be okay. They’re all strong, you’re still here, we are both committed to this family. They will deal. Even April, if I have anything to say about it.”

  She looked me over and I couldn’t help but stand a little taller. Pecking me on the cheek, she asked out of nowhere. “Did you get the first presents packed? What about the elf? Did you pack it?”

  “Calm down,” I laughed. “Yes, I got everything packed, including the elf. I even packed some clothes and stuff for you just in case you made it back in time.” I could feel my face beating up in embarrassment.

  “Really?” She smiled at me. “I was worried I wouldn’t make it.”

  “What happened?” Casey asked, startling us both.

  “Geez Casey,” I said. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “Did you forget you called me frantically asking me to get the kids?”

  “Now that you mention it, yeah. Kinda forgot that part.”

  Casey turned from me to ask Kate, “So? How’s the biatch? Sunshine and roses?”

  Kate nearly fell over laughing. “Yeah, sure, if you take into consideration she tried to make me stay, for her own stupid power trip. She didn’t actually need me, she was just hording her ego over me and our firm. Quite frankly, if they fire me for it, I don’t care. The kids and Adam need me and I wouldn’t let her ruin our trip.”

  “The senior partners were in a seriously bad mood this morning. You don’t think they’d really fire you, do you?” Casey asked with a good dose of fear in her voice.

  “This is a multimillion dollar company we’re talking about here. I guess they would be stupid not to if she demanded it, but I’m holding out hope, they’ll see reason.”

  “Shit. What are we gonna do?” Casey asked.

  “What do mean, we? You still have a job there.”

  Casey shook her head, disagreeing. “I’m not staying without you. Those assholes are constantly leering at me in the hall. Could you imagine if one of them became my boss?” She shuddered with distaste.

  “Let’s not jump the gun until we know for sure, okay?” Kate tried to calm her down. Casey nodded then hugged her.

  “I’m glad you’re all right; I just had to see for myself. I’ll see you on Monday,” she said and finger waved at us as she walked over to her car.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  KATE

  The drive to Arrowhead was quiet. The kids all had their various electronic devices going. My body was sore and I sagged back into the seat. I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew, Adam was nudging me.

  “We’re here beautiful.” He smiled at my large yawn, then helped me get out of the car.

  The cabin was amazing and the kids had instantly gone in to investigate. The air was crisp and clean with the scent of pine everywhere. It was breathtaking. Taking a deep breath, I smiled feeling more relaxed already.

  Adam looked at me funny when I went to grab my bag from the back of the car. “What are you doing?”

  “Grabbing my bag?” I asked slowly.

  He shook his head. “Nope, I’ll get it. You just go inside and see what the kids are up to. I’ll get the car unpacked. You, beautiful, need to rest up.” He winked and I shuddered at the implication.

  **

  That night the kids were more excited than I had seen them in weeks. They were animatedly talking about what they wanted to do the next day, and I loved watching their happy faces.

  “So, we have a mission for you tomorrow when you wake,” Adam said cryptically.

  All heads turned in his direction. “We have an elf hidden somewhere in the cabin. We aren’t telling you where. Your job is to find the elf. Whoever finds it gets five bucks. The
n we hide it again and someone else gets a chance to find it.”

  The excitement grew and I think I even saw a small smile on April’s face. I remembered Beth talking about the elf on a shelf. She used to do the same thing with the kids, but they would get candy if they found it. I liked the idea of giving them a bigger reward for finding the elf; it also helped set a new precedent with the kids. It was similar enough to what their parents did, but just a little different that it was now the “new” six of us.

  “You can only win once until everyone has a chance to win. Then we start all over, to a new prize,” I said looking at the girls who nodded.

  “All right. We have all had a long day and we have to get up early, so maybe you all should go get some sleep,” Adam said looking around.

  “But, I’m not tired,” Jax said with a yawn. I chuckled quietly.

  “You sure about that?” I asked him ruffling his hair. He nodded but Peyton stood up and held out her hand to him.

  “Come on, buddy. Let’s do what they said.”

  After the kids went to bed, we looked for a place to hide the elf and then set the little presents on the table for them. I was feeling better as the night went on. This big elaborate Christmas may just be what they needed to heal.

  I woke up the next morning wrapped in Adam’s arms and completely excited about what the day would bring. Turning to face him, I kissed him softly and he woke up startled. He jumped up, looking around but not seeming to see what was really there. I touched his chest and he shook his head to clear it.

  “Hey where were you just then?” I asked, concerned.

  “Afghanistan.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “It’s okay, not your fault. Just don’t do that, okay? I would hate to hurt you because I had a bad dream and lash out.”

  “Okay,” I said softly.

  “Hey, it’s all right. I’ll be fine. Let’s go start breakfast. I can’t wait to see the kids’ faces when they sit down to eat.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ADAM

  I was a little uneasy as we got out of bed. I hated the fucking nightmares, and I had never had anyone wake me from one so abruptly before. Fear tore through me as I thought about what could have happened if I hadn’t come out of it quickly. I could have seriously hurt her in that state.

  I shook my head to clear it and went about making breakfast for the kids. It wasn’t long before they started coming in from the rooms they had chosen bleary-eyed and yawning.

  “What’s that?” Jace asked, picking up one of the perfectly wrapped packages. “It has my name on it?”

  “Why don’t you open it and see?” Kate said smiling.

  He looked curious, but opened the present carefully. His eyes lit up when he found one of those green army men inside. “What’s this for?”

  “Remember the advent calendars your mom used to buy and each day you opened a little window and got a piece of candy?” Kate asked and they all nodded. “It’s just like that except with presents instead of candy.”

  “So, we’ll get presents like this every day?” Jax asked looking at the little army guy in his hand.

  “Yup,” I said and watched as a beaming smile crossed his face. It was so amazing to see the boys both smiling again after everything they had been through. “All right, breakfast is ready. Let’s eat and then go up to the snow.”

  The rest of the day was spent sledding and tubing. I hadn’t seen the kids have that much fun in months. They were all excitedly running up to the lifts so they could tube back down. They didn’t even seem to notice the cold as Peyton threw a snowball and hit me in the back of the head with it. I heard a giggle and turned to see both Kate and Peyton standing there laughing. Joining their fun, I bent over to grab some snow in each hand. They took off running, but were unable to get away from the throw. I hit Kate in the back of the head and Peyton in the back. I laughed loudly at their disgruntled looks, but froze when they started running back towards me. Kate tackled me to the ground and I landed on my back with her on top of me while April showed up, shocked us both by grabbing huge handfuls of snow and dumping them on us. Peyton ran up beside her sister and joined in.

  “Hey, ya little traitor. I thought you were on my side.” Kate laughed as she rolled off me.

  The boys were snickering nearby and I picked some snow up and flung it at them. It wasn’t long after that that we went back to the cabin and had a nice family dinner. I was starting to think more and more that they were my family. Something I hadn’t had in a long time.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  KATE

  The weekend was great and it was over entirely too quickly. Monday morning I was back in my office when Grant, one of the senior partners walked in. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m cleaning out my office.” I looked at him curiously. Knowing Alexis well enough that she would have placed that call, demanding they fire me, I figured I’d go easy on the partners and begin packing my stuff before they even got around to telling me. Best case scenario, I could just unpack it all.

  Grant looked at me as though he wanted to be sick. “I’m sorry Kate. I need to have security come in and help with that. Just so you don’t take any client files.”

  “So, I really am fired then, huh?” I confirmed.

  “There’s nothing I can do. You didn’t keep a huge client happy. What am I supposed to do? She called us all in this weekend. Threatened.”

  “I don’t know,” I said sarcastically, “tell her to go to hell? I’m the best you’ve got and she is a cranky old woman.” It really didn’t matter what I said at that point. I was fired no matter what. Figured, I may as well tell it like it was.

  “So you’re not even going to apologize?” He moved back toward the door, indignant.

  “Why should I? She was using me as a personal assistant, not the marketing executive you pay me to be. I had a family trip to get home to. You know those kids are important to me. They have had rough time and I wasn’t about to abandon them, so no I will not apologize for doing the right thing.”

  His mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. I picked up my little cardboard box and headed for the door. “I’ll make sure I let security search me before I leave. Wouldn’t want to steal any client information.”

  I walked out of my office and headed for the elevator. Casey caught up to me with her purse in hand. “Casey, I can’t let you quit with me. I have no idea what I’m going to do now.”

  “I told you, I can’t work for these misogynistic pricks.” She huffed and I rolled my eyes, trying to hold back my laughter. “The look Grant gave me as he walked to your office, I wanted to punch him in the nuts.”

  I laughed out loud at that and shook my head. “Fine. I’ll try to find us something to do quickly so we’re not sitting on our asses.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” she said and looked at me. “There is a whole community of indie and self-published authors that could use help with marketing and graphics. Maybe we can do something with that?”

  “That’s a really good idea. I’ll look into it.” I told her and then left the office I had worked at since college, for the last time.

  **

  The next couple weeks were some of the best weeks of my life. Adam and I got closer every day and the kids woke up every morning with excitement in their eyes.

  One afternoon, I was walking down the hallway to my room and passed by the boys’ room. Jax was sitting on his bed singing softly, “On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four calling birds…”

  I walked away quickly before he noticed me and got embarrassed. It was such a change from the kid that wouldn’t even talk only a month ago. It really seemed like Adam’s idea was helping them. I noticed April’s clothes had become brighter, though her hair was still pasty black. That couldn’t be helped, though. She would have to wait until the blonde gr
ew out before we could fix it. It felt good to help them cope with what had happened. Jace had stopped getting in so many fights now that his brother was talking again, which was a huge relief.

  It was three days before Christmas and we had decided on something a little different for our family outing. We were taking the kids shopping and they were each going to pick out one present for a child in need, and then we were all volunteering at the soup kitchen for the evening. We were hoping it would help them see what they had and maybe be grateful instead of scared. They were amazing kids and we just needed to remind them that giving was just as fun as receiving.

  After a morning of shopping and wrapping presents the kids had picked out, we made it to the soup kitchen in time to help set up for dinner. There was a line around the building and Jax and Jace were looking a little sad. There were mostly women and children in line.

  “You said that we were feeding the homeless,” Jax said to me sniffling.

  “We are, buddy.” Adam bent as best he could so he was eye-level with him.

  “But, there are kids out there,” Jace said, shocked.

  “Yeah, that’s why we went and bought presents, and we are helping out here today. Not everyone has a home or food or presents. It’s important to be grateful for what we have and help others whenever we’re able.” Adam smiled at the boys, who both had little determined looks on their faces now.

  “Okay Uncle Adam,” they said in unison and walked off to the end of the line where they would be handing out the rolls.

  “I think we did a good thing here, Adam.” I smiled.

  “Yeah, maybe we should make this a Christmas tradition.” He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my cheek.

  “Definitely.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ADAM

  The soup kitchen had been a success and all the kids had asked when we could go back. I was so proud of them for being so selfless. I told them we could go back anytime they wanted, and we signed up for another shift right after the New Year. The fact that they would willingly give up their weekends to help people in need made both Kate and me so proud.