Chapter 19 - THE NEXT CHRISTMAS
The following Christmas, we stayed home.
Susan arrived two days early.
My father came on Christmas morning.
Margaret was not invited.
The decision hurt her.
We were not ready.
Emily cooked turkey.
I burned the rolls.
Lily wore the same red sweater from the previous year.
She had grown enough that the sleeves were short.
Susan noticed the mark had disappeared from Emily’s cheek months ago.
The deeper wounds were still healing.
My father brought an ornament shaped like a small house.
On the bottom, he had written:
HOME IS WHERE EVERYONE IS SAFE TO SPEAK.
We placed it near the center of the tree.
During dinner, no one commented on the cost of the food.
No one mocked Susan’s trailer.
No one asked Emily to remain polite while being insulted.
Lily raised her glass of apple juice.
“To the Christmas Dad took our coats.”
Everyone laughed gently.
I looked at Emily.
“Was that really the most important part?”
She smiled.
“It was the first action.”
“Not the last.”
After dinner, my phone rang.
Margaret.
I stepped into the hallway.
“Merry Christmas,” she said.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Are they there?”
“Yes.”
“Is Lily happy?”
“Yes.”
Margaret’s voice became quiet.
“I miss her.”
“I know.”
“I understand why I wasn’t invited.”
I waited.
The old Margaret would have followed the sentence with an accusation.
She did not.
“I hope next year I will have done enough work to be considered.”
“That depends on Emily and Lily too.”
May you like
“I know.”
It was the first time she accepted that my answer was not the only one that mattered.
