Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (32 page)

Escape from
Reality

Christmas morning arrived but Calloway
didn’t want to wake up. The scent of the red velvet cupcakes
drifted under the crack of his door and filled the room, making
Calloway’s stomach growl by the smell alone, and he tried to stay
in bed and ignore the tasty odor, choosing to linger on his
depression a moment longer, but his resistance was becoming weaker.
He had a dream about his father last night but he couldn’t remember
the details—just that he was at the Grandiose Historian
Library.

There was a knock on the door.
“Christmas morning is here!” Aunt Grace said happily. “Come get
your breakfast.” She walked down the steps and returned to the
kitchen. Calloway listened to her receding feet as she moved down
the creaky stairs.

After a deep sigh, Calloway rolled out
of bed and dressed himself. Breccan rose a moment later and donned
on his afternoon clothes. Before Calloway walked downstairs, he
walked into the bathroom and tried to comb his hair like Aunt Grace
did on his formal night but the results weren’t comparable. It
still looked better than usual so he kept it.

When they came downstairs they sat at
the table and ate their red velvet pancakes, along with scrambled
eggs and crispy bacon. Christmas was Calloway’s favorite holiday
because Aunt Grace unleashed her magnificent cooking for every
meal, baking tasty holiday pies and homemade cookies. The house was
usually vacant of sweets but Aunt Grace served batches of cookies
for special occasions.

After breakfast, Calloway and Breccan
washed all the dishes and cleared the table. Breccan helped with no
argument because it was Christmas and he didn’t get his mother a
gift, so they placed all the plates in the dishwasher and started
the machine.

They moved to the living room and sat
by the roaring fire. Everyone was tired and sleepy from the large
breakfast. Uncle Scott had one eye open and the other was starting
to close by its own will. Calloway stared at the lights of the
Christmas tree and felt his body grow relaxed with non-existent
fatigue. He hoped Weston and Easton wouldn’t be too bored when they
arrived.

The knock on the door announced their
arrival and Aunt Grace answered the door. “Merry Christmas!” she
said as she hugged them both. “Please come inside and ignore the
slugs on the couch.”

Easton placed her jacket on the
coatrack and Weston removed hers as well. Both of the girls were
wearing warm winter boots over their pants. Weston was wearing
tight leggings and a loose fitting sweater with a golden scarf
wrapped around her neck.

“
Merry Christmas,” Easton
said as she sat on the couch next to Breccan.

All the chairs in the living room were
occupied, so Calloway stood up and offered his seat to Weston. She
smiled at him then sat on the floor by the blazing fire. “Happy
Christmas,” she said.

Calloway returned to his seat and
looked away from her.

Aunt Grace appeared from the kitchen.
“I’m almost finished with the mid-day dinner,” she said.

“
We
just
ate.” Breccan
moaned.

“
What’s your point?”
Easton smiled. “I’m surprised you still aren’t hungry.”

Aunt Grace looked at her husband. “Show
them the winter formal pictures that we printed.”

Uncle Scott opened his eyes and yawned.
“What?”

She placed her hands on her hips and
stared at him. “Show them the pictures, dear.”

“
Okay,” he said as he
grabbed the photo album on the table. “Here you are.” He leaned
back in his chair and closed on eye.

Aunt Grace shook her head and went back
into the kitchen.

“
Let me see,” Weston said
as she took the binder. She flipped through the pages and Easton
sat beside her so she could get a look. The boys already saw them
many times at their mother’s insistence, so they didn’t move from
the couch.

“
You look so nice,
Calloway,” Easton said. “Your hair was combed and
everything.”

“
Thanks.” Calloway smiled.
“It was a special occasion.”

“
How did I look?” Breccan
asked.

Easton didn’t look up from the binder.
“Yes.”

Breccan stared at her for a moment.
“What?”

“
You—look—yes,” she
said.

Calloway and Weston laughed at her
imitation of Breccan while Breccan glowered in his seat. Easton
looked at Breccan. “That’s the only compliment you’re getting from
me.”

Breccan rolled his eyes. “Get over
it.”

“
Lunch is ready,” Aunt
Grace announced from the kitchen.

Calloway moaned. “I don’t think I can
eat anymore,” he said. “How do you do it, Breccan?”

Breccan sighed. “Where did I get this
reputation as an empty garbage disposal?”

“
You’re like a cow with
four stomachs,” Easton said. “You just keep
going—constantly.”

“
That’s not true,” Breccan
snapped.

Easton stared at him. “What about those
two dozen Christmas cookies I made? What happened to
those?”

Breccan shrugged. “I thought we were
supposed to eat them.”

“
All of them?” Easton
asked incredulously.

“
Well, I don’t like to
waste food,” he said.

“
Come take a seat,” Aunt
Grace said from the kitchen.

They rose from the living room and sat
at the kitchen table. Breccan and Calloway sat across from the
girls while Uncle Scott and Aunt Grace sat at the opposite heads of
the table.

“
Dig in,” Aunt Grace
said.

Calloway spooned the mashed potatoes
onto his plate along with the honeyed ham and strips of asparagus.
Even though he was full he still ate because everything smelled so
delicious. After this large meal was over he knew he would be
lethargic and sleepy for the rest of the day. Weston and Easton ate
more than anyone else, and Aunt Grace smiled happily as she watched
them shovel the food onto their plates.

Aunt Grace turned to Weston. “So, do
you have a boyfriend, Weston?”

Calloway dropped his fork on his plate
and it clanged against the glass loudly, disrupting the quiet of
the room. Uncle Scott stared at him for a moment with an alarmed
look. The unexpected question made his heart race in his chest. The
food sitting in his belly wanted to come back up his throat and
splatter onto his plate. He was so uncomfortable by the
conversation, and he hoped Weston wasn’t offended by the personal
question.

“
No.” Weston smiled. “I’m
not seeing anyone.”

“
Is there anyone you’re
interested in?” Aunt Grace asked.

Calloway felt his cheeks redden. He
thought about dropping his plate on the floor so the conversation
would be halted immediately—he didn’t want this to continue. He
knew why his aunt was asking these questions and he hoped it wasn’t
obvious to Weston. He loved his Aunt Grace but he wished she would
shut her mouth and stop talking.

Easton caught his distressed look
across the table. “Thank you for inviting us to spend Christmas
with you,” she said to Aunt Grace. “Weston and I really appreciate
it. Your cooking is fantastic.”

Aunt Grace smiled. “Thank you,” she
said. “And thank you for being here.”

Calloway sighed, thankful the moment
was over, and returned to eating his mashed potatoes. The last
thing he wanted was to make Weston uncomfortable. She was a flight
risk that could be spooked off at any minute.

When they finished their lunch,
everyone helped clean the dishes and clear the table, eliminating
the work for Aunt Grace, and she smiled happily as she watched them
work.

“
That’s very sweet,” she
said. “But you don’t need to do that.”

“
You cooked,” Easton said.
“So we clean.”

“
I could get used to
this.” Aunt Grace smiled.

“
Don’t get too
comfortable, Mom,” Breccan said.

When everything was finished, they
moved into the living room and sat by the fire next to the
Christmas tree. Aunt Grace handed out mugs of homemade hot cocoa
with floating marshmallows and they drank their beverages by the
flames of the hearth.

“
How are you two not fat?”
Weston asked as she sipped her hot chocolate. “I’ve gained five
pounds in the last hour.”

Calloway laughed. “We’re just lucky, I
guess.” He turned his gaze away from Weston and concentrated his
look outside the window. If he didn’t force himself to look away he
would stare at Weston constantly, mesmerized by her smile and
unparalleled beauty. The winter mist was pressing against the
windows and fogging up the glass, hiding the houses in the
distance. The Christmas lights from the rooftops were twinkling
faintly in the background, making them appear like lost stars in
the night sky.

“
Let’s open presents,”
Aunt Grace said. She grabbed two gifts under the tree and handed
them to Calloway and Breccan. All the presents were covered in
newspaper because Aunt Grace couldn’t afford to spend money on
wrapping paper. Then she handed one to Uncle Scott and two for the
girls.

Easton took the gift apprehensively.
She was surprised she and her sister were included in this gift
exchange. “Thank you,” she said quietly. She ripped apart the
newspaper and pulled out a large knitted blanket that was imbedded
with pictures from their winter formal. The blanket was gray and
matched the black dress she wore to the dance, highlighting her
beauty that was captured in the picture. Every portrait on the
blanket included her and Breccan standing together and a few of
Easton and her sister. Weston opened her present and found a
similar blanket with a blue background that matched the dress she
wore on that evening. Pictures of her and Calloway were printed
across the material and she stared at it for a moment, mesmerized
by the pictures and the detailed sewing. Both of the girls held the
blankets in their hands for a long moment before they spoke. The
light in Weston’s eyes was absent, and Calloway knew she was very
touched by the unexpected gift.

“
It’s beautiful,” Weston
finally said. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

Aunt Grace clapped her hands together
happily. “I’m glad you like it.”

“
You made this?” Easton
asked incredulously.

“
Yes.” Aunt Grace
nodded.

“
Her forte isn’t just the
kitchen,” Uncle Scott said. “I’ve told her to be a home economics
teacher. I think she would be great at it.”

“
I agree,” Easton said.
She stood up and hugged Aunt Grace. “I love it.”

Weston hugged her as well and they held
each other for a moment. The smile on Aunt Grace’s face was enough
to touch everyone in the room. She was elated when she spread joy
to others—it was her purpose.

Calloway opened his gift and pulled out
his own blanket. Instead of pictures of the dance, a collage of
images of he and his cousin was sewn into the soft material—playing
baseball at the park or running around in their swim trunks at the
local pool. Most of the pictures were of their youth and the images
captured their growth over the years. When Breccan opened his gift
he found an identical blanket but he didn’t look touched or moved
by the present. He looked at it for a moment before he returned it
to the box.

“
Thank you,” Calloway said
to his aunt. “This must have taken you a long time.”

“
A little.” She smiled.
“I’m glad you like it.”

Calloway waited for Breccan to thank
his mother but his cousin never spoke. The silence in the room was
becoming louder, and Calloway was becoming more uncomfortable by
the moment. The obvious disrespect and lack of gratitude was making
everyone feel nauseated and tense. Calloway wished his cousin would
say something, even pretend that he liked it. It wasn’t Calloway’s
ideal gift but he was touched that his aunt had spent so much time
making a present that he could keep forever. Her love was implanted
in every inch of the stitching. Uncle Scott would berate his son if
Weston and Easton weren’t there, so Breccan was lucky they were
present. Calloway could see the anger and disappointment on his
uncle’s face.

Aunt Grace tried to dissipate the
tension in the room by handing Uncle Scott a present. “Open your
gift,” she said. “That one is from Calloway.”

He opened the box and found a case to
store his reading glasses. It was black and slim enough to fit in
his back pocket. Uncle Scott smiled. “Now I won’t break my glasses
all the time,” he said. “Thank you, Calloway.”

Calloway nodded. “You’re welcome, Uncle
Scott.”

Aunt Grace opened her gift from
Calloway and screamed when she saw the toaster inside. “Yes!” she
said. “Ours has been broken for months. Thank you, honey,” she said
as she kissed him on the cheek.

Easton opened her gift from Calloway,
which was a stationary set full of lined paper and colorful pens,
and she smiled at Calloway. “Thank you,” she said. “I know that I
can use these.”

“
I figured.” He smiled. He
handed a small box to Weston and she opened the container. She
pulled out a small blue ornament that was covered in glitter and
gems, sparkling in the light of the hearth, and she stared at it
for a moment. “It reminded me of you,” he explained.