The children sat on the floor around the Christmas tree, Mitch in his plaid flannel pajamas and his new Back to the Future jacket, Cynthia in her Holly Hobby nightgown, and Jase in his Superman pajamas. All the gifts had been opened, and the cinnamon roll breakfast had been eaten. The tree lights shone, and the baubles and tinsel sparkled in the morning light. Christmas carols played softly on the stereo.
Granny Jo sat perched on the armchair, with Pinky asleep in her lap. She had already watched three of Cynthia’s Christmas “performances,” which included original songs and extensive monologues she had written herself. She had also looked at every rock in Jase’s collection, and read through his new Zoo Books magazine twice. Now she listened patiently as Mitch tried to explain the wonders of chess, using the new chess set Cynthia had made for him.
June had helped Cynthia paint a plank of wood to look like a chess board. Cynthia had struggled to figure out what to use as the chess pieces, until she found a bunch of Mitch’s old GI Joes in a box of old stuff headed to Goodwill. She painted each soldier and made little felt costumes for the rooks, kings, queens, and knights. Mitch loved it—as a present, it came in as a close second to his movie jacket.
“So, tell me something, Mitch,” Granny Jo said, during a lull in the chess lesson. “I heard you saw that Back in Time movie nine times. Why did you like it so much?”
June was very curious to hear his answer. It was a question she had never thought to ask.
Mitch shrugged. “It had really cool effects, and the characters were awesome. The science fiction part of it was really interesting. But I think mostly, I liked the idea of going back in time. It would be so rad to step back into the past, and see what your family was like. To get to know them as younger people, and understand what made them the way they are, you know?”
“What an interesting idea! I may have to see that movie sometime.”
“It's coming out on VHS next year,” said Mitch. “Maybe we can watch it next time you visit. If I can convince my parents to get a VCR before then.”
Granny Jo laughed. Then she looked up at Henry and June, her eyes shining. “I have to say, you two have raised some amazing children,” she said. “So bright, and thoughtful, and creative. You’ve given them structure, but you’ve also given them space to be who they are.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I think it’s wonderful.”
“Thanks, Mom,” said June, her throat swelling. “That means everything to me. And, you know, you didn’t do such a bad job yourself.”
Granny Jo sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. “So, tell me more about this game, Mitch,” she said quickly.
The doorbell rang, and June went to answer it. It was Ellie, and she had a gift bag in her hand.
“Merry Christmas!” she said brightly.
“Same to you! Come in.”
“What’s with the bag?” June asked. “We’ve already exchanged gifts.”
“I know. But I have one more thing I wanted to give Jase, if that’s okay.”
“Sure,” June said.
They went into the living room together. Ellie walked up Jase and smiled at him. “Here,” she said, holding out the bag. “This is for you.”
Jase furrowed his brow and took the bag. He opened it and pulled out Ellie’s Polaroid camera. “I got you more film. It’s at the bottom of the bag.”
June gasped. “You’re giving away your camera?”
“Yeah,” said Ellie. “Being incarcerated has changed my priorities." She looked at June with a serious expression.
“Oh?” June fought hard not to smile.
“I’m going to work more on living in the moment," said Ellie. "I want to be glad things are happening, instead of sad that they’ll come to an end. I can be content with a regular camera, and occasional photos. But you, Jase,” She tousled his hair. “You can do really cool things with this camera. You can document all the amazing stuff you see in nature and keep the photos to look at.”
Jase gave her a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Miss Ellie,”
Ten seconds later, he was out the door with the camera, and June had to chase him with his coat to keep him from freezing to death.
When she came back in, Ellie was looking at the tree. She glanced at June, then looked down at her hands. “I wanted to ask you,” she said. “The ornaments we bought—I didn’t see yours on your tree.”
June smiled at her. “That’s because I didn’t put it on the tree,” she said. She walked to the other side of the room and pointed to the little porcelain figurine. “It has a permanent place right here.”
Ellie sighed happily. “I’m so glad we’re friends.”
“Me, too, Ellie. Me, too.”
The kids were all in bed, and the house was mostly dark. June and Henry sat huddled together, watching TV in the living room.
“Well, this has been a memorable Christmas,” said June.
“To say the least,” said Henry.
June was quiet for a minute. Then she said, “I know I go off the rails a little sometimes.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
“So, if you had do it over again—marry me, live this life—would you?”
“In a heartbeat. I can’t imagine a life without you.”
June smiled and cuddled in closer.
“So, what about you?” Henry said. “Would you choose me? This life?”
“Marrying you was the smartest thing I ever did. And I’ve done a lot of smart things.”
Henry laughed. “I can’t argue with that, either.” He paused. “You know, Bee, there’s something we haven’t done in a long time.”
“What’s that?”
Henry got up and turned the TV off, and the stereo on. “White Christmas” began playing. Henry turned up the volume. Then he walked back over and held out his hand to her. “May I have this dance?”
June stood up and took his hand. “You may.”
They danced around the living room, falling into step with each other as though no time had passed since their last dance. When the song ended, June stood up on her toes and kissed him, tickly mustache and all.
“Merry Christmas, Henry.”
“Merry Christmas, Bee. May we have many more just as exciting and wonderful as this one.”
The End
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
These books are tremendous fun to write. But they also come from my heart. I was blessed with wonderful, quirky grandmothers, and think there is a special place in heaven for loving grandmas (and grandpas)!
If you loved Ellie and June, stay tuned—these ladies will get themselves into all kinds of trouble in the future, and they’ll take Pop-Pop and Grandpa Henry along for the ride! And if you haven’t already, follow the rest of the grannies’ adventures in Reluctantly Yours, Accidentally Yours, Surprisingly Yours, and Totally Yours.
To stay up-to-date on when the next book in the Granny Pact series is coming out, you can subscribe to my newsletter, join my Facebook author page, and/or join my Follow the Author Facebook group, where you can chat with me personally, get sneak peeks at my newest projects, and see a little of my writing process. As always, reviews are welcomed and much appreciated!
Happy reading!
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