Christmas All Around Us ; The Perfect Time for Love ; Playing for Keeps

by Carla Kincaid

  Lisa turned to the side and stuck out her hip so Julie could access the pocket of her coat.

  "Got it!" Julie said as she pulled her hand away like she'd just touched something -- or rather someone -- hot.

  "Great! Have a nice holiday. Hope to talk to you soon," Lisa said and then walked away.

  Julie just stared at the business card thinking about how she would have cut off her right arm to have Lisa's number back in college. Her brow furrowed as her mind flashed to the comment Lisa made a moment ago. What did Lisa mean by calling Julie a woman of mystery? Julie looked at the card again and shook her head. More than likely Lisa was confusing Julie with someone else they'd been in school with. That would make more sense than anyone -- especially a popular classmate like Lisa -- thinking there was anything mysterious about Julie.

  Julie tucked the card into the pocket of her jeans and finished dropping marshmallows into the hot chocolate. As she put the lid on the last cup, she couldn't help but think how strange it was to have run into two women she used to have a crush on in the same day.

  The thought of crushes made her glance in Rachel's direction and a nagging question surfaced from deep inside. Was Julie confident enough now to let this crush know how she felt about her? Or would a reunion with Rachel be the encounter that surprised her next Christmas?

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  Rachel tried to pretend that she hadn't noticed Julie talking to the woman near the hot chocolate stand but the subtly flirtatious vibe the woman was giving off caused the jealous monster who'd awakened inside Rachel at the senior center to rise up again.

  Rachel watched as Julie reached her hand into the woman's coat pocket. The woman could have put down the cups of hot cocoa and pulled out her business card herself, Rachel thought. But no, she'd done exactly what Rachel would have done if she was trying to get a woman's attention.

  Rachel could feel her jaw tense as she watched the two women interact but when she saw Julie heading in her direction, she forced herself to smooth her frown into a smile.

  "Who's ready for a sleigh ride?" Julie asked waving the thermos she was holding in the air.

  "Meeee!!" answered Misty.

  Julie took the little girl by the hand and then turned to Rachel.

  "Me too," she said with faked enthusiasm but Julie didn't seem to notice.

  The trio stepped up to their place in line prepared to board the next reindeer-drawn sleigh.

  "I just love this place!" Julie effused.

  Rachel forced the corners of her mouth upward in a smile. She didn't know what was irritating her more, the flirtation she'd witnessed or the fact that she was bothered by it. It's not like I'm going to do anything to block the attention Julie's getting, she thought to herself. Why shouldn't the attractive dancer enjoy the admiration of other women?

  "The little one can ride up here with me if she wants to," the sleigh driver said as they boarded the sleigh. "I may even let her drive," he said with a wink.

  Rachel watched Misty's eyes get as big as saucers. Seeing the little girl so happy momentarily silenced the green monster who was trying to take over Rachel's mood.

  "What do you think?" she asked Julie.

  "It's totally safe, I guarantee," the driver said. "I've got a seat belt right here to keep her in her secure."

  Julie nodded to Rachel, and they helped Misty scramble up next to the driver. Once she was safely fastened in, Rachel and Julie got into the seat behind them.

  The sleigh took off at a leisurely pace down the paved road. It hadn't snowed yet -- the white hills were the result of an artificial snow maker -- but the air was cold and there was definitely a breeze cutting through the open carriage. In spite of the hot chocolate, Julie seemed to be enjoying, Rachel noticed her shiver a little. She looked up at Misty but the little girl was bouncing up and down in her seat enough to keep her warm.

  "Are you still cold?" Rachel asked Julie.

  "A little," Julie confessed.

  Rachel dug unto her bag and pulled out the blanket she'd taken from the back seat of her car in case Misty needed more insulation from the cold.

  "Scoot over. We can share this," she said.

  Julie did as instructed and Rachel spread the blanket across both of their laps.

  "This is great!" Julie said smiling at Rachel. "Now we're all warm and toasty!"

  The sleigh driver road them around park but Misty reacted like they were riding in the North Pole.

  "So, you ran into a lot of old friends today," Rachel said trying to sound nonchalant. She'd told herself not to mention anything about the two women Julie ran into today but Rachel's curiosity got the best of her.

  "Yeah, I guess it's the holidays," Julie replied. "Everyone is home to see family."

  Rachel thought she noticed a particular kind of smile cross Julie's face but she didn't offer any more information about Maria or the woman with the business card. Unwilling to seem overly interested, Rachel just let the subject drop and tried to enjoy the rest of the sleigh ride.

  Chapter 7

  "Misty, maybe we can visit Santa at the mall?" Julie said the next day over breakfast. "There will be lots of other kids there and we can go shopping for a nice present for your mother after you take your Christmas photo."

  Misty shook her head as she swallowed another bite of raisin filled oatmeal. "Uh-uh," she objected. "I wanna see the Santa where Mommy is."

  Julie and Rachel had both tried to convince Misty to take a picture with the Santa at Christmas Village yesterday but she wouldn't hear of it. She wanted a picture with Santa and at least one of her mothers and she wouldn't stand for anything else.

  Julie let out a sigh. There was no use in arguing with the little girl.

  "She insists on going to see Santa at the hospital," Julie explained when Rachel finally appeared in the kitchen. Misty had finished her oatmeal and gone to her room to get her coat leaving the two women alone.

  "Is there a Santa at the hospital?" Rachel asked as she scrolled her finger down the to-do list on the refrigerator.

  "I have no idea," Julie confessed. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

  Rachel just shrugged. Julie couldn't tell if her lack of enthusiasm had to do with the Christmas related task or if there was something else bothering her. Either way, Rachel wasn't being of much help in figuring out a solution.

  When they walked into Gail's hospital room, there was a nurse standing next to Gail's bed taking her blood pressure.

  "Hey there!" Gail said smiling and waving for her daughter to climb up on the bed. "Misty, this is Diane. She's one of the nurses who's been taking care of mommy."

  "Do you give my mommy shots?" Misty inquired protectively. Folding her arms across her chest.

  The nurse smiled and focused all of her attention on the little girl. "I haven't had to give your mommy any shots today," she said softly. "Because she's getting better so fast that I didn't need to."

  Hearing that her mother didn't have to be prodded by a needle brought a big smile to Misty's face.

  "In fact," the nurse continued, "Your Mommy is getting better so fast that she's going to be able to go home on Saturday!"

  Misty snapped her head around to look at her mother. "You're coming home?" she asked with a big grin.

  "I sure am," Gail answered.

  Misty threw her arms around her mother's neck, but after just a moment of celebration, she sat up with a stoic expression on her face.

  "And Rachel and Julie will have to leave?" Misty asked sadly.

  "Yes, Sweetheart. I'm afraid so. Rachel and Julie have their own homes to live in."

  Julie watched as Misty's smile dimmed. She was no doubt happy about having her mother come home but it was probably exciting for the little girl to have company who focused all their attention on her.

  "That's another reason why we have to get a really good picture with you and Santa," Julie said trying to brighten the mood. "So both Rachel and I have a copy of your smiling face to take home wit
h us." Julie leaned over and tickled Misty until her full smile returned. "And speaking of Santa, I think it's time for me to go downstairs and see if he's around."

  "Why don't I help you with that," Diane said quickly.

  Julie didn't have a reason to object but it wasn't until the two of them stepped into the hall that she realized why the nurse had offered to come with her.

  "Julie, I'm afraid we don't have a Santa on duty right now. The volunteer who wears the costume for the patients in the children's ward doesn't come until later in the afternoon."

  "Oh no!" Julie exclaimed knowing Misty wasn't going to take this news well. "Wait a minute. Did you say you have a Santa costume here?"

  "Yeah," Diane answered. "It's in a storage closet down the hall.

  "Do you think the hospital would mind if I borrowed it? Just long enough to visit Misty in Gail's room."

  "I'm sure no one would have a problem with you trying to fulfill the wish of a little girl who's mommy is in the hospital," Diane said with a smile.

  "Great!" Julie replied and the two women headed to the storage closet to find the costume.

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  While Julie and Diane were off on their Santa finding exploration, Rachel waited in Gail's room with her and Misty.

  "Sweetheart, I think I've got some Doc McStuffins videos on my iPad. Do you want to watch one of them? Maybe you'll learn about something that will help Mommy heal faster when I get home."

  Rachel watched as Misty's eyes gleamed at the thought of helping her mother. She never ceased to be amazed at how Gail and Julie always knew just the right thing to say to comfort the little girl.

  Gail cued up the streaming video and then placed her headphones over Misty's ears conveniently blocking out any other noise in the room.

  "So, how are things going?" Gail asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "It's going great. I think Misty has been having a lot of fun."

  Gail's mouth twisted to the side. "I'm not talking about Misty," she said. "I can see that my daughter is having a great time with the two of you. I'm talking about what's going on between you and Julie?"

  Rachel hunched her shoulder to her ear trying to minimize the importance of Gail's inquiry.

  "Nothing's going on. We've just been hanging out with Misty."

  Gail's eyes narrowed and Rachel knew she wasn't going to avoid this conversation that easily. "Come on. I've known you long enough to know something is up. You keep looking at Julie like a lost puppy?"

  Rachel didn't want to revisit her experience with the green monster so she chose to answer Gail's question another way.

  "According to your daughter, Julie and I should get married," she said sarcastically. To her surprise, Gail didn't laugh at what Rachel thought was a joke.

  "Misty is pretty good at reading people," Gail began.

  Rachel opened her mouth to object but closed it without saying a word.

  "Rachel, even a blind man could see that you're attracted to Julie," Gail continued. "And I've never known you to be shy around women. So what gives? Why don't you talk to her and tell her you want to get to know her better?"

  "It's not that simple," Rachel said quickly. She hadn't told Gail about her plans to move to California. And she knew her friend would question yet another relocation such a short time after moving to Philly. "I'm just not sure that Julie is the type of woman for me."

  Gail's eyebrows knit together the same way Misty's did when she didn't like what she was hearing but before she could say anything Julie appeared in the doorway.

  "Hey Rachel, can you come out here for a minute? I need your help with something."

  "Sure," Rachel said, happy to get away from her current conversation even if it did mean being in the presence of the woman who was causing her so much confusion.

  Julie stepped back out into the hall and Gail shooed Rachel with a wave of her hand. "Go. And talk to her," she whispered.

  Rachel shrugged a shoulder again and followed Julie into the hallway.

  "I need you to come with me!" Julie announced as soon as Rachel walked out of Gail's room.

  She grabbed Rachel by the hand and practically drug her down the hall stopping abruptly in front of a door marked STORAGE. Julie opened the door and pulled Rachel inside.

  The action left Rachel's mind spinning. She didn't know what to think when she found herself standing in the small dark space with Julie.

  "What are you doing?" she asked, secretly hoping she was about to experience some kind of kinky nurse-in-the-closet fantasy.

  Julie clicked on a light by the door and the fantasy vanished. All there was to see was Julie standing in front of her holding up a large pair of red velvet pants. Julie then pointed to a curly white wig and another red piece of clothing sitting on the storage room shelf next to a pair of big black boots. It took a second for Rachel to realize what was being asked of her but once it clicked all she could do was shake her head.

  "No," she said emphatically. "You can't expect me to..."

  "The suit is way too big for me," Julie explained interrupting Rachel's protest. "I mean too tall," Julie clarified when Rachel's face crinkled into an even deeper frown. "There's padding to put on but I'm still too short to wear the pants and even with this," Julie held up a wide shiny black belt. "... the top part of the suit hangs down to my knees like a dress."

  Rachel ground her teeth together.

  "I know you don't like Christmas, but this is for Misty," Julie pleaded.

  Rachel wanted to object again but when she thought about Misty -- and looked into Julie's big brown eyes -- her heart melted.

  "Fine," she finally acquiesced with a sigh. She extended her hand to take the fuzzy Santa pants.

  "Thank you," Julie said with a smile.

  Their eyes locked and for a moment time seemed to stand still. Rachel couldn't help but think about what Gail said only moments ago. "Talk to her!" she heard her friend's voice saying in her head but before she could formulate any words Julie spoke.

  "Well, I'd better let you get dressed," she said and scurried out of the closet.

  Rachel just stood there staring at the Santa costume in her hands. "What have I gotten myself into?" she mumbled and then dutifully began her transformation.

  "You look incredible," Julie exclaimed when Rachel stepped out of the closet. She motioned for Rachel to spin around in a circle. "With the wig and the beard I can hardly tell who you are! Put these on," Julie said handing Rachel a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

  Rachel did as she was told eliciting thunderous applause from Julie.

  "Perfect!" Julie said with a confident smile.

  "Okay, let's get this over with," Rachel grumbled from underneath the white beard. "This suit is hot, and the beard itches like crazy."

  Julie burst out laughing. "You're not exactly Jolly Old St. Nick, but I think you'll be good enough for Misty."

  Julie grabbed Rachel's gloved hand and pulled her back down the hallway.

  "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Rachel bellowed in a deep voice as she stepped into Gail's hospital room.