A Trip Back to Snowy Pines (Book II in the Christmas Village Trilogy) (5 page)

“
Hmmm...A man doesn't get in a situation
like this every day”… George Bailey

Lola rolled over with her eyes still tightly
closed. She opened one slowly and then the other and exhaled
deeply. Kellany was right. If she had all the answers, what was she
still doing here?

“So what are we going to do today beautiful?”
Chris asked, curling her next to his side.

“I’m up for anything.”

“I vote, I run across the street to that
bakery and see what I can find in the way of donuts and we stay in
bed all day and watch old Christmas movies, and make out and then
tonight we’ll go to that carnival everyone raves about and drink
hot lemonade… which sounds gross but everyone says is great.”

“I’m absolutely up for that.” She said,
kissing his unshaven jaw affectionately.

“Can I ask you something Lo?”

“Anything.”

“When you woke up in the hospital… you really
thought you were pregnant, didn’t you?”

She nodded and buried her face against his
shoulder, afraid if she looked at him she’d tell him
everything.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugged, still afraid to speak.

“Okay, let’s have a baby. You know I’m ready…
past ready. Let’s make one right now!” He said, kissing her
shoulder.

“No…” She said stopping him. “I mean... I
want a baby, but can we talk about it just a little more and be
sure we’re ready? That’s why I didn’t tell you; because I wanted to
be sure I wanted it, not that I wouldn’t have it regardless, but I
just needed to be happy before I could tell you.”

“I get that. But things aren’t supposed to
happen to you that don’t happen to me. So, if you’re happy about it
I’m happy about it and if you’re not then I’m not and if we’re not
then we would have figured out how to get happy about it. That’s
what we do. We figure it out together. That’s the best part about
us growing up together. So tell me the truth… when you realized you
weren’t… you realized you wanted to be right?”

The tears that had been threatening would no
longer stay at bay. She fell against his shoulders and let them
flow freely.

“It sounds to me, like you’re ready.” He
whispered, smoothing her hair and kissing her forehead.

She nodded. “I think you might be right.”

***

So many memories from your childhood don’t
stand the test of time and the adult reality of them pale by
comparison. That couldn’t have been less true when it came to her
memories of the Christmas Carnival. It was even brighter and more
magical than she remembered.

“They weren’t kidding. This place is great.
We have to bring the kids back here someday.”

“What?” Lola said, looking at him
bewildered.

“Kids? The ones we’ve been talking about
having all day? Earth to Lola?”

She shook her head. “It was just the way you
said it.”

He kissed her lightly and said, “So where do
we want to start?”

“Start with the swings. They’re my
favorite.”

Lola looked at the sound of Kellany’s voice
as she and Josh approached them smiling. Lola felt guilty about
their disagreement yesterday, but Kellany was obviously not holding
it against her.

“I’ve always loved the swings myself.” Lola
agreed.

“I wanted you to meet my kids, but they’ve
all skipped off to play with the cousins.”

“I’m sure they love that. And I know the
grandparents love having them all together.” Lola added.

“Well my sister and her family live here and
we have a cabin.” Josh answered. “I love my parents too much to
descend on them with our brood.”

“How old are your children?” Chris asked.

“Our daughter Lola is 13, our son Paxton is 8
and our son Crawford is 5. He’s actually with his grandpa who plays
Santa. I’m not sure if he secretly thinks Josh’s dad is Santa Claus
or if he just gets a kick out of knowing who’s in the suit, but he
loves to hang out in the gazebo with him.”

“Come on, you promised me a ride on the
Ferris wheel while the kids are all busy.” Josh teased, pulling her
arm.

“I hope we catch up later?” She said
hopefully.

Lola nodded and Chris said, “So start with
the swings?”

“As long as you promise later we’ll ride the
Ferris wheel and you’ll kiss me when we’re on the top.”

***

Lola knew no two adults should have this much
fun at a Christmas carnival, but she’d sincerely loved every minute
of it… even though every child made her long for Ethan.

There were so many things she and Chris had
never done even though they met when they were eleven and fourteen.
Chris had gotten his first job the next year and she’d been
babysitting since she was ten, but their money never went for
things like carnivals and CD’s. It put clothes on their backs, paid
for fees at school and lunches and in hard times helped keep the
lights on. Then once they’d married, their money was incredibly
tight and then came Ethan. Trips to the carnival were now about
kiddy rides and cotton candy. She wouldn’t trade that for anything,
but kissing on top of the Ferris wheel, having their picture made
in a photo booth and Chris shooting basketballs to win her a
stuffed Elf was something they’d never done before, and something
she never expected they’d get to try.

“Why don’t you go find a good spot for us to
enjoy the caroling and I’ll get us some lemonade?” Chris said as it
began to get late in the evening.

She walked over to the clearing by the tree
and wasn’t surprised to find Kellany seated in the same spot they’d
sat together when she was little.

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I was a little
irrational.” Lola said, when she joined her.

“You’re in an alternate reality. I think
irrational is allowed.”

“What’s this place like in real life? Is it…
like this?”

Kellany shook her head. “In real life, the
chocolate has calories and the cold is colder and occasionally a
light burns out at the top of this fifteen ft tree and they have to
haul out the fire truck and send someone up the utility ladder to
fix it, but for the most part… It’s better, because it’s real. The
people don’t love you and welcome you into their lives because it’s
a dream. They do it because that’s how they are.”

“You said when you were here before that you
had things to figure out and so did I. I didn’t ask you, but do you
have things to figure out this time?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Josh and I have foster
children. We have since Lola was a baby. It’s always broken my
heart when they leave, but it’s worth it. To have an impact on
someone’s life is always worth it. But we’ve had a little girl…
she’s not little anymore. She’s 16. We’ve had her off and on since
she was 10. We love her and we want to adopt her but she’s fought
us every step of the way. She came to us at Christmas six years ago
and we fell in love with her immediately, but she went back to her
father. Then he passed away about a year later and we petitioned to
get her back because we’d kept up with her through our case worker.
She came for a few months and then went with some family friends
for another year. We’ve been through this back and forth all along.
Right now she’s spending Christmas with some distant, distant
cousin that she found on the internet and convinced to apply for
temporary guardianship. I’m afraid that if we don’t get her back
this time I’m going to have to give up the fight and it’ll break
me. It’ll break my kids’ hearts… especially Lola. She’s a good kid.
She loves us and she really loves the kids. But it’s like… she’s a
16 year old commitmentphobe. Which, sadly enough I can relate to
completely because I was like that. I thought I was unlovable
because my mother didn’t love me. That’s the other great lesson I
learned here. For all her faults, my mother did love me. She loved
drugs and herself more, but she did love me. That gave me the
courage to love everyone in my life now. I just want her to have
that same chance, but I’m so afraid I’m going to lose her.”

“You’re brave to put yourself out there like
that… knowing you’ll more than likely get hurt.”

“I learned it from you. I figured if I could
love you as much as I did after a few days, that I could be a
foster mom. I’ve never regretted it. Maybe that’s what I’m supposed
to learn this time around. Ever since she left I’ve been
questioning whether or not it’s worth it. I know now, after seeing
you again, that it is.” She looked up and smiled as a blonde
pre-teen and two little dark haired boys came their way. “There’s
my bunch.”

“They’re beautiful. Lola looks like you. She
looks like me too.” She said with a laugh. “I wish you could meet
Ethan.”

“Maybe someday I will. I’ll meet both of
them. You know – Ford was a surprise. I was almost 40 and I had a
boy and a girl and kids coming and going and a thriving business. I
was done.”

“So what happened?” Lola asked.

Kellany reached down to help the chubby five
year old climb the bleachers. “Well, here’s that story…”

***

“It’s almost midnight… Christmas Eve.” Lola
said when she and Chris walked hand and hand back to the B&B,
with her elf tucked under her arm, and a shopping bag with some
crafts they’d picked up in Chris’s free hand.

“Do you remember our first Christmas
Eve?”

“In our crummy apartment?”

“No… our very first Christmas Eve. Your mom
was at a party…”

“Translate - out with a man.”

“Exactly. And my Granny was working the night
shift at the Waffle House and you came over to my house and you
were appalled because Granny and I hadn’t put up a tree. So we went
out and cut down a tree, which was really someone’s shrub, but we
brought it back and decorated it with popcorn and construction
paper and aluminum foil. You said you learned how to do it in that
dream… where you learned to make the cookies.”

Lola laughed ruefully and shook her head, “I
wasn’t sure if you even remembered that story.”

“That was the first thing you ever told me.
Of course I remembered it.”

I was mortified that I told you that. I
thought you were being polite but that you’d really thought I was a
freak and you’d never speak to me again.”

“No way. You told me something serious about
yourself… something you’d never told anyone else. And you did it
after you saw me crying.” He teased, kissing her lightly. “I was
fourteen, but I knew what it meant to be in love and I was in love
with you that first day. Come on. Let’s get a tree and take it back
to the room with us!”

“Where are we going to find a tree at this
time of night?” Lola asked, running along behind him.

“This place looks like a Christmas Shop threw
up on it! Surely we can find a Christmas tree that no one would
miss.”

“Christopher Ethan McCauley, you’re an
officer of the court! You can’t steal a tree.” Lola scolded, even
though she could hardly contain her laughter.

“I might be an officer of the court now, but
once upon a time you and I both were grubby little project kids
who’ve ‘five-fingered’ more than a few things in our lives in the
name of survival. I think a Christmas tree in our room on Christmas
Eve is matter of survival.”

“No.” She said firmly, before looking both
ways and then running across the street and between two
buildings.

“Where are you going?” He whispered,
following her to the edge of some woods behind the town square. She
found a well-worn path and was pretty sure that if they kept going
they’d wind up at Josh and Kellany’s cabin, but she didn’t plan to
go that far. She stopped just to the side and saw it, a grove of
beautiful fir trees each standing taller and more majestic, than
the one next to it.

“I love the Christmas Vacation movie as much
as the next guy, but I’m not digging that tree up by its roots.”
Josh teased.

“Do you have a pocket knife?”

“Of course.” He answered producing one from
his jeans.

“Right there.” Kellany said, pointing to one
of the lower branches. “That one will make a perfect little potted
tree for us.”

Josh nodded and used his knife to cut it
loose. They carried it home and Lola stood lookout while he ran
upstairs with it, just in case Mrs. Appleby was opposed to them
bringing in their own tree. Upstairs in their room they stood the
tree in a coffee mug and decorated it with ornaments they’d bought
at the carnival, as well as some items from around their room and
most of Lola’s earrings and necklaces.

“I love it.” Lola said, as they put the Elf
beside it along with the gifts they’d brought in from the Range
Rover as well as some that had mysteriously accumulated since
they’d arrived.

Later in bed, with all the lights off except
the fire place and her rhinestone earrings sparkling against the
tree, Chris pulled her closer to him and said. “You know I knew
that night, after we decorated the tree together, I knew I’d never
love anyone more than you in my whole life. Whatever else I ever
had to figure out about growing up and becoming a man, I never
questioned from that moment on that life with you is the only life
that I’m supposed to have.”