The Gravity of Love (22 page)

"You got the car packed and ready, including
Jake?" Molly asked weakly.

"I do. All it needs is us. You need
some help?" Without awaiting her reply, he wrapped his arms around her and
helped her walk down the long airport halls and in to the parking lot.

"From one hell to another."
Harrison whispered once they were driving down the street.

"You love mom and dad. And Aiden will
be there." She countered, staring suspiciously at him.

He just shrugged and looked straight ahead.
"I'm not quite in to the Christmassy spirit of late, that's all."

"I'm sure Candy could have helped you
with that." She winced, not meaning to say that. But it was ignored, and
instead, he kept his peace and sped up.

_______________________________________________________________________

Night had well fallen and blanketed the
little town, nestled in the foothills of nowhere, Vermont, by the time Harrison
and Molly finally pulled in to the drive way that was in between the two
houses. Molly's was on the left, Harrison's was on the right, but both of their
families were mingled together in waiting.

"You ready?" Harrison asked with
a smirk.

"To be out of the car with you? Yes.
Perhaps this year we could stick to our family homes and that might create
less...frustration for me."

"In other words," Harrison said
with a roll of his eyes, "You don't want to see me anymore than you
already have coming here and you think if your parents don't see me, they won't
ask. Well, my friend, your wish is my command...as usual."

Molly nodded, grabbing her suitcase and
backpack that carried her essentials and stood up in the cold winter air. She
walked over to her Mother, who looked anxious to get back inside.

"You're late, Molly! You're always
late. Your father has been up for an hour later than he usually is and you know
how bad his health is. Can't you two ever make it on time? Think of your
father!"

Harrison was right behind her, heading
towards his house when her mother started the ranting. It was Molly's plan to
steer clear of him as he had agreed, but his memory wasn't too good at times.
He stopped, looking over her shoulder at Mother Dearest.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Radcliffe, it was my
fault. Jake," He shook the leash that was connected to his dog's collar,
"he gets a loose bladder when he flies. We had to stop quite a few times
for him."

Actually, that wasn't true. They had to
stop for her because she threw up again on the way and not long after that, she
grew pale and very dizzy, so Harrison pulled in to a quick mart to buy her
something to settle her stomach. Jake had been a perfect dog since they left
the airport. As much as she didn't want to admit it at the time, this was
classic

Harrison getting her out of scrapes.

"Oh, okay then. I know that old dog
must have a few problems with such." Her mother excused, then took Molly's
arm and led her in to her childhood home.

It hadn't changed a bit. Still clean and
pristine, looking like age could never touch a single thing in it. Except it's
people, however. Her father sat with his eyes fluttering in a wheelchair by the
side of the sofa. He was trying to stay awake, just for her.

Dropping her luggage, she ran to him,
throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "Hi Daddy!"
She whispered in his ear.

He softly patted her back, leaning his head
against hers. "Welcome home, Girlie. I've missed you so." His voice
was full of warmth and meaning it's what always made her yearn for home. His
genuine love and sadness over her absence.

Her mother clapped her hands together,
signaling love time over.

"So Molly, how is everything going in
Nevada? Still a public school teacher?" Before Molly could confirm or
deny, her mother went on. "And how about where you live? Did you get out
of that little hole of an apartment yet? And how are you doing with Harrison?
Obviously I see you're still friends anything closer?"

Molly rubbed her forehead that was starting
to throb already. "Still a teacher. Still in the same apartment. And still
just friends with Harry."

"Things don't change much with you, do
they? I thought after two and a half years of being there that surely you would
have moved up a little. Been a bit more successful. Can't you ask Harrison for
a raise so you can get out of that apartment? It's so small no man shall ever
marry you if he sees that thing. It shows that you have no money at all."

Molly walked over to her luggage, picking
it up again and heading towards the stairs. "I don't have any money at
all. And I don't need to showcase false wealth. I'm not looking for a husband
at the moment. And no, Harrison cannot give me a raise just because he's my
friend." And with that, she walked up to her old room. There was plenty of
time for her mother to continue on about how she was a failure and that her
life was quite meaningless and void.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly's parents were asleep by eleven. The
whole house was dark and silent while Molly was wide awake. With the urge to
see Momma Redford and sleepless from jet lag, she snuck down the stairs in her
comfy white pajama bottoms, a little red spaghetti strap night shirt and bare
feet.

Bare feet was a problem. She wrapped her
winter coat around her to keep at least most of her skin from freezing off, but
her toes cried in anger of her stupidity. She ran across the lawn, up to the
neighboring porch and pounded upon the door.

It was answered by Mrs. Redford, who
quickly ushered her in before enwrapping Molly in a bear hug.

The aging woman was of a plump size, warmth
radiating off of her. "That goodness you made it. Harrison was telling me
you probably wouldn't make it over but I refused to believe him. Such a silly
boy as if my Molly wouldn't make it over to see me!"

Molly smiled, giving the woman a kiss on
the cheek before falling to the floor in surprise.

"Sam Swayze, come here boy!" She
gushed when she spotted the black cat that her friend so despised. Even with
two years gone, the old cat still remembered her, dragging his limbs across the
carpet and purring once he managed to climb in to her lap.

"Yep, that cat missed you crazy when
you went away. Has a good memory too. Wouldn't dream of forgetting who you
are."

Molly looked up and smiled. "I'm
glad."

"So, Harrison has been catching me up
on a few things that have been going on. Is it true that you started dating
again?"

Molly rolled her eyes with a laugh.
"Harrison has been here for little over an hour and you already covered
the romance portion of my life?"

"Well, from what it seems, it's a very
small portion."

"Not exactly my fault when said
boyfriend goes back to wonderful, beautiful exfiancé."

Mrs. Redford made a sour face. "Tough
break, sweetie. But come, we'll talk more on that later. I have a fresh apple
pie I made today. Harrison is in the kitchen eating some now."

Her hand being tugged from its socket,
Molly was forced to follow in the kitchen to find Harrison seated upon one of
the red stools, digging in to about half the pie.

"Big appetite." Molly mumbled.

"Hmm? Oh yes, my boy sure does love my
home cooked foods. Especially the pies and cakes. Honey, I have a double
chocolate oreo cake in the refrigerator if you still have room."

Molly looked at Harrison accusingly. Why
was he so unwilling to come here when he was treated like a king?

"God, get that horrid cat out of here.
Damn thing scared Jake so badly the poor pup won't come out of my room."
Harrison grumbled, looking at both Molly and the cat with an accusing look.

"You two are such pampered princes!
Sam is a sweet cat that loves everything." Molly replied, picking up the
black cat and holding it close to her. It started purring again and rubbing the
top of its head against her jaw as if he knew he was being slighted.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her.
Turning around, Molly saw a sight for sore eyes it was Harrison's little
brother Aiden, now all of twenty four years old. He was still very thin and
weak looking, but as handsome as ever.

She walked over and gave him a careful hug.
"Hey Aiden, I missed you!" She said, plopping a quick kiss on his cheek.
She knew better than to ask him how he was it only sprouted bad things.

"Molly! I was hoping you'd come home.
I wanted to show you these. Prove to you I could one day beat up my big
brother." He smirked, then slid his sleeves up to reveal a slight bulge of
muscle in his upper arms. It was less than what a normal woman had, but it was
great improvement to Aiden.

"Wow, that is impressive! One of these
days I'm going to hog tie Harrison and ship him up here just for you to deal
with. It's not quite polite to beat up boys myself. Ladies are to be more
dignified than that." She winked.

Harrison snorted. "Please! You're the
furthest thing from a lady I ever saw!"

"You say that only because you
remember a few times my temper slipped and you got the receiving end of
it."

Aiden's eyes lit up. "Slapped or
punched?"

"A little of both." Molly
giggled.

Despite Aiden's interest in beating on his
brother, the two really were very close. Harrison had already proved that if
anything happened to Aiden, he'd drop his whole life to help him out. She
always thought Aiden would die if anything happened to his idol. "I think
Dad is dismayed you didn't come see him yet." She said to Harrison, who
had gone back to eating. Somehow, his mother had managed to get the pie plate away
from him long enough to cut a slice for Molly, which was now thrust in her
hands.

"I didn't get a chance. As your mother
pointed out, we arrived a good deal later than what was planned. I'll visit him
in the morning."

"Of course you will." Mrs.
Redford said with jolly. "We're all having breakfast over there. Your
mother hired a team of cooks to help out with Christmas Eve. But tomorrow night
is my turn for dinner. It'll be nice to have the two families whole again.
First time in four years." She gave a hinted glare over to Harrison, who
hadn't visited since he moved away. It wasn't really his fault, it just never
occurred to him to visit with all the women he was seeing each year invited him
to their family's homes. Molly shook her head and took a bite of pie. As
always, it was great tasting. Momma Redford knew how to bake her way around the
kitchen.

Aiden took Molly's hand and spun her around
in a circle. "Damn girl, you keep getting better by the year. You sure are
droolworthy by now. I can't understand how those Nevada men can keep their
hands off of you...or how my brother hasn't snatched you up and married you by
now. Isn't the age of your pact coming up soon?" Aiden hinted.

Molly's eyes grew wide. "I'll be
seeing someone before it does." She said confidently with a smirk of
defiance cast towards Harrison's way as Aiden led her in to the living room.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly awoke with a big yawn and the sun
shining in her eyes on Christmas Eve. Vaguely, she remembered falling asleep in
the Redford house and Harrison carrying her back here.

A slight blush rose on her cheeks as her
feet hit the floor. According to tradition, today would be the day that they'd
pick out the Redford Christmas tree.

She pulled on a pair of jeans, a heavy
sweater, wool socks and black boots, suitable for stomping in the snow.

Hurrying down the stairs, she saw her
mother was coming up.

"I was just about to come get you.
What on earth possessed you to sleep so late?"

She checked her watch and saw it was ten
o'clock. If her mother thought this was 'so late', she didn't want to see Molly
on a Saturday morning. "Sorry, I guess I just overslept."

"Well everyone is downstairs waiting.
And good Lord, what are you wearing?"

"Clothes. To go Christmas tree hunting
in."

Her mother's nose wrinkled. "Well
couldn't you have worn something nicer for breakfast?"

It was a question not to be answered, so
she didn't and just peacefully followed her mother in to the dining room, where
indeed, everyone already was.

"Overslept again." Her mother
announced to everyone before taking her seat.

Harrison laughed. "As usual. You
should try being her boss."

"Hey!" She exclaimed, sending him
a glare. "You're supposed to make me look good in front of my parents,
remember?"

"Slipped my mind?" He replied
with a sly look.

She sat down to her plate of eggs, bacon,
toast and orange juice on the side. Her mouth watered even before she saw the
stacks of pancakes and English muffins in the middle of the table. "Wow
Mom, this looks really great." She said, taking a piece of bacon in to her
mouth.