Harriet was awoken from her slumber by someone pounding on her door. She groggily looked at her bedside clock to see that it was the early hours of the morning long before dawn. She tried to ignore the person at the door hoping that they would give up and leave, but the knocking continued.
Reluctantly, she got out of bed, grabbing an umbrella for defense as she made her way to the door. She cautiously peered out the window at her doorstep to see who was disturbing her sleep. When she saw her daughter and grandson outside, she breathed a sigh of relief and unlocked the door.
"Shayna! What are you doing here at this ungodly hour and dragging my grandbaby with you? Hello, sweetheart." She gave Julian a kiss on the cheek as she let the pair inside.
"We came to surprise you for Christmas," Shayna replied.
Harriet frowned, skeptical that this was a simple Christmas visit. "At this time of morning? You must have been driving all night! Julian, why don't you take a nap on the sofa?" she suggested when she saw that he looked as groggy as she felt. "Shayna, come with me while I get dressed."
As soon as they were alone in the bedroom and away from Julian, Harriet turned to Shayna and demanded the truth. "Now, what is really going on? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Shayna promised as she sat down at the foot of the bed. "I just need to know something. Did you lie to me about who my father is?"
"What brought that up?"
"I confronted Lucy Stuart about her father and a DNA test says we aren't related. So I have to know, which one of us is Clifford Stuart's daughter?
Harriet sighed and took a seat next to Shayna. "I lied," she admitted. "Clifford Stuart isn't your father. He was just a regular at the restaurant where I worked when you were little. We were never involved."
"Then why did he send us money?"
"He was a kind man. He liked to chat with people when he was at the restaurant and get to know them. He knew I was struggling with money as a single mother to a little girl and he offered to help us out. He was very generous with everyone he met."
"But why did you lie about it?"
"I never wanted you to feel like you were a charity case. I thought it would be easier to accept the money if you thought it came from your father instead of from a stranger. And maybe I could feel better about it too if I told myself that lie."
"I can't believe you lied to me about this for my entire life," Shayna cried. She felt like her entire view of herself and her life had been shattered. "If Clifford Stuart isn't my father, who is?"
Harriet shook her head and looked away. "He was a man that I was very much in love with, but he vanished after he found out I was pregnant. I had hoped if you had a man like Clifford Stuart to look to as a role model, you might make better choices than I did, but I couldn't stop you from making the same mistakes."
"Julian is not a mistake!" Shayna said offended.
"No, of course he's not and neither are you," Harriet insisted. "The only mistake is falling for the wrong man and then lying about it to try to make the situation better. I should have known that the truth always comes out."
Seeing that Shayna looked uncomfortable, Harriet tried to add something more positive. "At least you have a good man now in Andrew."
"Had. That may be over now."
* * * * *
Christmas morning started early at the Kitteridge's house. Doug was up with the sun and waking the rest of the family so the Christmas festivities could begin.
While the kids made quick work of unwrapping their gifts, Cassie tried to savor every moment. She was with her husband and their children together in their own home as a family and she never wanted it to end. She was glad that the kids had taken over Blaine's cell phone and were snapping lots of pictures and selfies to record memories of the day.
"Let's get a group pic," Brooke suggested.
"I'll take it," Zara offered. She snapped a picture of the rest of the family smiling in front of the Christmas tree and handed the phone back to Brooke.
"It's perfect," Cassie declared as she looked at the picture over Brooke's shoulder. "You need to send me copies of all of the pictures you've been taking."
"We need one with Aunt Zara too," Doug said.
"Not until Aunt Zara has a cup of coffee and a chance to run a comb through her hair," Zara said as she escaped from the living room to make that cup of coffee.
As Brooke started sending the photos to her mother, she noticed Natalie's name in her dad's text messages. As she scrolled through their friendly texts with laughing faces and "lols", she frowned. She had enjoyed this morning and last evening pretending that Natalie didn't exist.
"Merry Christmas," Blaine said as he presented Cassie with one last gift.
"You didn't have to get me anything. Just having you here is my gift."
He scoffed. "I couldn't show up empty handed."
"Yes, you could." She opened the box to find a cup that was an exact replica of the one Blaine had won on their honeymoon.
"It was one of the first things I remembered clearly about you after my accident," he explained.
"That makes it perfect. Thank you." When she hugged him, he tensed up, but didn't pull away. "I have just the place for it."
Cassie smiled at the cup as she put it on the kitchen shelf next to its match.
"I'm not used to these early Christmas mornings," Zara mumbled as she waited for her coffee to brew.
"They're mandatory when you have kids in the house," Cassie replied with a smile. She wouldn't trade these early Christmas mornings with her children for anything. "You were out late. How was the party?"
Zara groaned. "Ben was there."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"When I mentioned he had a girlfriend, I didn't tell you that the girlfriend is Amanda."
"Oh. And you were jealous?"
"I just hate seeing the way that she treats him, like he's a trophy she's trying to parade around or her pet that is supposed to pant after her. She doesn't act like she really respects him as a person. And I don't know what's going on with Alma and Edward, but things between them seemed very chilly. I have to hand it to Vanessa and Logan to be able to play hosts and hold it all together as well as they did."
"I'm surprised you didn't make an excuse to leave early."
"I might have, but I wanted to give you and Blaine some space. Tell me it was worth it."
"It was. Thank you," Cassie smiled. "I mean Blaine made it clear that staying the night did not mean he was ready to think about moving back home again and he slept on the couch, but otherwise everything was great. We watched movies and had cookies and hot chocolate. And I'm so glad that he was here to open presents as soon as the kids woke up."
"I think this is the first time I have seen you really look happy since I came back to town. That makes suffering through an awkward family gathering absolutely worth it."
"I was so afraid that I had lost the life I had forever, but now I have hope that things can go back to how they were. For the first time in a long time, everything just feels normal."
When there was a knock on the door, Cassie's smile instantly faded and her warm and happy feelings were inexplicably replaced with a sense of dread.
She hurried to the front door with Zara following behind her, but by the time they reached the foyer, Blaine had already answered the door.
Serena stood in the doorway bearing gifts. "Blaine, it's so good to see you up and about. And to see both of my beautiful daughters. Yuletide greetings!"
* * * * *
As Amanda, Ben, and Meghan pulled up to Andrew's house, Amanda was surprised that Ben was also getting out of the car.
"You don't have to come in with us if you don't want to, I'll only be a minute."
"Actually, I wanted to run across the street while you're dropping Meghan off. I have a book I wanted to give Zara's nephew."
Amanda frowned but held her tongue. "Well, don't take long. I'm not planning to stay."
As Ben turned and walked the other way, Amanda followed Meghan who was carrying her bags of Christmas gifts into the house. When Amanda opened the front door the house was surprisingly quiet.
"Hello? Is anybody home?" Amanda called out. She thought for sure Shayna would have had classic Christmas carols playing through the house and something cooking in the oven for a Christmas meal, but the lights on the Christmas tree hadn't even been turned on. She was starting to wonder if they had left for the day when Andrew came stumbling down the hallway still in his pajamas.
"I'm here. I was just sleeping in. Merry Christmas," he greeted Meghan with a hug. "What do you have there?"
"My Christmas presents," Meghan said as she set down her bags and started pulling out items. "Do you want to see what Mom got for me?"
As Meghan showed off her new outfits and gifts to her father, Amanda casually took in her surroundings looking for clues. Something was very off here.
"Where are Shayna and Julian?" Amanda asked as Meghan gathered her belongings to take back to her room.
"They decided to go visit her mother for Christmas."
"So you're all on your own?"
"I was. But now Meghan is here and we can spend the rest of the day together."
"If plans changed and you wanted to go with them, you could have let me know. I could have brought Meghan over when you got back."
"It was very last minute," he said simply. Amanda didn't need to know that Shayna had only stopped by the house briefly late last evening. She barely said two sentences to him and stayed just long enough to tell Julian to get ready and to pack a bag for herself before leaving again. He also didn't mention that he had not been invited to go with them. "I would rather spend my Christmas with Meghan anyway."
"And what are your plans for your Christmas Day?" Amanda asked skeptically.
Andrew shrugged. "Nothing special. I thought we could play it by ear."
Amanda sighed. He really had no clue. "Why don't you start by getting dressed?" she suggested as she looked for the plug-in for the Christmas lights. "And I'll see what I can do to get you started with some holiday cheer."
* * * * *
"Is everything alright?" Blaine asked Cassie when they had a moment alone away from the rest of the family. "Ever since your mother arrived, you've seemed tense."
Serena had been on her best behavior since she arrived and seemed genuinely interested in spending time with the family, but Cassie was anxious about what her mother's presence might mean.
"Do you remember anything about my mother?" she asked.
Blaine shook his head. "Is there something you think I need to know about her?"
As far as Cassie was concerned, the less Blaine remembered about her mother the better. She was terrified that her mother's presence would remind him about the fight they had before his accident and how her mother had known about Natalie years ago and never told them. If he remembered that, he would surely remember how she had tried to hide that she knew about Natalie too.
"My mother is . . .eccentric and not in a totally harmless way. We both agreed a long time ago that it would be better to keep contact with her to a minimum."
"Should we ask her to leave?"
Cassie shook her head. "She probably won't stay long and I don't want to start any drama on Christmas."
When there was a knock on the door, Cassie held her breath. She decided she needed to be more careful about what she said from now on.
Fortunately, this visitor was one that she was pleasantly surprised to see.
"Hello, Ben," she said, welcoming him into the house. She called for Zara before she made the introductions. "This is one of Zara's co-workers," she said to Blaine. "Ben, this is my husband, Blaine."
As the two men shook hands and a stunned Zara entered the foyer, Ben explained his reason for coming over. "I hope it's alright that I just dropped in. I had this children's book on sea creatures that I thought Doug might like and I brought some sea shells for Brooke. Is that okay?"
"That's very thoughtful of you," Cassie replied. "The kids are in the living room with my mother. Zara can show you the way."
Cassie grinned at her sister and motioned for them to go through. This Christmas was turning out even better than she had dared to expect.
"I think I'm going to take off now," Blaine said.
Suddenly, Cassie's perfect Christmas came to a screeching halt. "Oh. Are you sure you can't stay? Everyone was having such a good time."
"I wanted to stop by and wish Natalie a merry Christmas before I go back to the Spencer's. It's been really great though. Thanks for putting all of this together."
Cassie just nodded as Blaine went to get dressed before saying his goodbyes.
After Blaine left, Cassie tried to keep up a happy appearance, but it was clear to all of the women in the room that her mood had deflated.
"Cassandra, what refreshments do you have to offer Zara's guest?" Serena asked.
Before Cassie could answer, Ben spoke up. "That's not necessary. I can't stay. I just stopped by while Amanda was dropping Meghan off at her father's and I promised I wouldn't be long. She's probably waiting on me already."
"Nonsense," Serena objected as she rose from her seat. "We can't let you leave empty handed, especially after the thoughtful gifts you brought for the children. Surely, we can find something for you to take with you. Cassandra, help me in the kitchen. You too, Zara."
The sisters exchanged concerned looks as they followed Serena.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the living room, Zara confronted her mother. "What are you up to, Mother? If he wants to leave, let him go."
"Zara, that man is one of the good ones. You need to hold on to him."
Zara sighed. "He and I broke up a long time ago. He's not mine to hold on to."
"Oh, but he is if you want him," Serena insisted. "I see the way he acts around you and I saw the look you gave when he mentioned his other woman. If he wanted to be with her, he wouldn't be here with you right now. You need to put up a little fight, like your sister."
"Mother-" Zara started to object, but Serena interrupted.
"The two of you both have the same problem which requires the same solution. If you want your men back, you need to start over from the beginning and woo them."
"So help me, if you even try to suggest a love potion . . ."
"No, no potions or spells needed, just your own feminine magic. Make yourselves up, be seductive, get to know them all over again as if you were dating for the first time. It doesn't have to be complicated. Once you've won a man over once, you can do it again."
"Sorry, but I'm going to pass," Zara said as she grabbed a plate of cookies and headed back to the living room.
"She'll change her mind," Serena muttered. When she looked over at Cassie she could see her other daughter was already considering her advice. "You already know what you need to do, Cassandra."
No comments:
Post a Comment