Thursday after work, Deana got comfortable and continued knitting, sitting on the couch watching her favorite nostalgic movies. Not long into the movie, her phone buzzed.
How was work? Justin asked.
It was good. I still feel bad I won’t make it tomorrow to see the kids.
What time do I need to be there?
Around 9:45, they’ll have recess indoors so it lets everything get set up. What did you get?
You’ll see. I’ll send you a picture once it’s all ready, hopefully before the kids tear into it.
Thanks again for doing this. I just thought it would be cute…
It’ll be great, I’m sure. If you’re home, you wanna talk for a while? he asked.
Sure. Can we get to know each other a little more?
Always…
Excluding romantic relationships, what is the biggest heartbreak you’ve ever experienced? Like, where things totally didn’t go how you expected, and left you really broken inside.
Justin thought for a minute. He had a couple answers based on relationships, but couldn’t really think of one. Until it came into his head, something he’d been repressing for years. Well, I was about 16 I think at the time. My dad had remarried, they had my first half brother. They were expecting a girl. We don’t know what happened, but the baby died. I was far away when it happened, so I didn't get to be there for any of it. I couldn’t hug my dad, step mom, while we all lost a new part of the family. I tried not to let it bother me on the outside, but it tore me up inside. There was other stuff going on at the time so I put all of my focus into that. But it still hurt for a long time. I guess I’ve healed from it, or forced myself to forget about it so it didn’t take me to a dark place. I used to think about her a lot, especially during the holidays. Where her stocking would be on their mantle, what toys I would’ve bought her for presents.
I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine losing a sibling, especially not getting to meet them, being so far away. Mine is similar, yet different. My Poppy, what we called my grandfather, had been diagnosed with cancer. They found all these problems with his body while doing the scans for cancer, or maybe they found the cancer while looking for these other issues, I don’t know. They found he needed a surgery to fix a ballooning of the main blood vessel going to his legs. He needed to undergo heart surgery to withstand the other, and a bunch of delays ensued. It was late September 2001, and we knew the surgery was coming. It got pushed back one more week because his surgeon caught a cold. We had all the family over for dinner the night before his surgery. I still remember the shaking in his voice when he told me he loved me. The next day, he came out of surgery, never woke up from the anesthesia. Even with the surgery to fix everything, it ended up bursting anyways. We were in the hospital waiting for news, and heard a call for a code blue. I knew it was him. He flatlined twice as they tried to save him. The best they could do was put him on two things that basically cancelled each other out. IF he had survived, he would’ve been a vegetable.
Deana…
I remember going into the closest bathroom and just crying, screaming to God to help save him. He was a second father to me. It didn’t feel real at first, like I was inside a TV show. It hit Gammy the hardest. She basically died when he did, it just took her another few years for her body to give up. She stopped going to church and believing in God and prayer, stopped doing the things she used to do, only left the house for doctor appointments. It was like I lost them both that night.
Did you get to say goodbye?
No, my dad wouldn’t let us. He didn’t look like himself, all bloated from the internal bleeding it caused. For a long time I dreamed that he came back, walking into their house and we acted like it was normal, even though we knew he’d died. I was glad I got to hug him and say I love you before he went, and to hear it in return, with hope. Not saying goodbye as the end. I feel bad, I stopped visiting their graves. It just got too hard. I’d go, but stay maybe 15 minutes, more like 5 the last time I went. No one else goes, so I figured I had to so I wouldn’t lose them.
The ones that love us never really leave us…
Deana smiled. Really? Quoting Harry Potter? I think I’m in love…
Justin laughed a little. Did it make you smile?
A little.
Then my job is done.
Speaking of jobs, any word yet on when you go back to work?
I’m guessing in the next couple weeks. Hard to say. They have more shows lined up, but they can be cancelled or rescheduled if they need more time. I’m getting restless not working like I’m used to, but I’m also terrified of leaving you behind while I work. If something bad happens to you, that I could’ve prevented by being there, I’d never forgive myself. Or if I’m not there to hold you, try to help you through it.
I’m sure I’ll be fine. I have my family here if anything happens. I’ll still text you, it’ll just be a long wait to hug you.I know I’m gonna miss you when you’re off working. It’s a tour, yeah?
Yeah, I’ll be all over the continent.
Any stops here in NYC?
Yeah, so I’ll see you then. Like a few weeks into everything, if all goes according to plan.
Well, that won’t be too bad. We’ll play it by ear, see how things go.
After that there’s a lot of tour dates, projects I’m working on, but we’ll see what we can do. I won’t know until we get the green light. I’ve got a couple doctor visits coming up, hopefully they’ll have some good news for me.
Fingers crossed.
So what does your family do for the holidays? That way I’m prepared for future holidays with them.
Well, we go to church for a candlelight service. I don’t live THAT far from my parents, but I still spend the night in my old room so we’re all there in the morning. We do stockings, then do breakfast. Cinnamon rolls, sausage, and a family tradition, creamed eggs. Gammy and Poppy grew up in Kansas, it’s a midwestern thing. People around here think it sounds gross, but I grew up with it, so it’s normal for me. I’ve never actually had any of my boyfriends over Christmas morning before, I’ve always gone to their families. After breakfast we open presents, then there’s a lull until we all have dinner together. Then we all go home.
Sounds kinda nice, spending the whole day together like that. Mine is similar, I guess, but no church. Not that I’m against it, I grew up singing in my parents’ church. I just... found a different way to live out my faith. More personal than corporate.
My dad’s the same way. He doesn’t like churches, the people can be so hypocritical, but it doesn’t change how he feels inside about God. They feel it’s important to go for the big holidays though, to reconnect in a way.
Sounds like I’d fit in well with your family. J already likes me, that’s a start.
Yeah, I think you would. How about me with your family?
My mom would love you. It’s been a while since I’ve brought a girl home. Makes me nervous, honestly.
With the pressure to get married and have kids? I can handle it.
You don’t know my mom…
My grandma told me she’d help support me if I got pregnant. I was 19 with my first ‘real’ boyfriend after high school. I’ve been getting pressure from my family for YEARS, I can handle a few hours of it from your mom every once in a while.
We’ll see. I’ll try to tell her to behave, when you two finally get to meet. Not sure when that will be, but I think you’d get along well with everyone. If I like you, they’ll like you, and I like you, a LOT.
Well good, because I like YOU, a LOT. Deana smiled.
I’ll let you get going, he said. I’ll see you tomorrow night. I’ll be sure to send lots of pictures and maybe even some video. The kids will have a great time, thanks to you.
…
Justin woke up early Friday morning, double and triple checking that he had everything he’d need. Bags were full, he had a couple boxes of things. Around 9:00 he called for his driver. Once the car came, he took a couple trips up and back down to get everything into the trunk. His driver had offered to help, but Justin waved him off. He had a large bag with him that went into the car with him.
“Where to, Mr. Timberlake?” his driver asked.
Justin texted his driver to go to a flower shop. Justin picked out a bouquet of yellow and pink roses. After he got the flowers, they headed towards the school. As they drove, Justin changed in the back seat. His driver had dealt with this before, but never expected what Justin changed into.
They arrived at the school. Justin and his driver went into the office. “Hello,” his driver said, “we have a special delivery for Ms. S…”
“Sign in here,” the secretary said, barely giving them a glance. Justin signed in under Bruce Wayne.
“We’ll need a cart or something…”
“What all are you delivering?” she asked in surprise, suddenly looking up. Her eyes widened.
“Stuff for the kids. Deana couldn’t be here, so we’re helping with the delivery.”
“Well, let me find you a cart and get you on your merry way. Sorry, it’s been chaos this morning…”
They got a cart and loaded everything out of the trunk of the car. They helped guide him to Ms. S’s room, his driver leaving Justin for a while. They opened the door to the classroom, and all the kids stopped what they were doing. Ms. S. and the kids all smiled as Justin came walking in. The kids cheered ‘Santa! Santa! Santa!”
He was dressed in a Santa costume, complete with a fake belly. Ms. S. calmed the kids down so she could see what Santa was there for.
“Are you Bruce?” she asked hesitantly. Justin nodded. It had been a long time since he’d had someone call him that out loud, he almost forgot until he signed in at the office. He knew putting Santa or even his real name would send up a red flag of one kind or another. He pulled out the roses for her. “You’re too kind. What is all this?” she asked, looking at the bags and boxes.
He took out his phone. Let me set it all up on the counter. I still can’t talk, so I’m afraid I’m not a very convincing Santa…
Ms. S. laughed. “You’ll do just fine. I’ll tell them you’re not feeling too well, resting before Christmas Eve while the elves finish everything up.”
He started setting things up. Ms. S. kept looking back, slowly seeing things come together. He took pictures of the process, sending them to Deana. He sent one last picture before signaling he was finished. Ms. S. couldn’t believe it.
“Boys and girls, Santa isn’t feeling very well, so he can’t talk and ‘ho, ho, ho’, but he wanted to bring you all a very special treat. Before we do that, can we thank Deana for tipping off Santa and send him to see us today?”
Justin got his phone ready and took video. “Thank you Miss Deana for having Santa visit us!” He then turned the camera around to show himself dressed as the big man himself, smiling to the camera.
“Boys and girls, be VERY careful, as it’s hot, but Santa brought us stuff to make hot cocoa and have special treats with it!” There were two large kettles to heat up water, two big boxes of hot cocoa mix, four cans of whipped cream, and sprinkles and little candies to put on top, along with a variety of cookies. The kids jumped and cheered, before being corralled into a more orderly line.
“Does Deana know you brought all of this?” she asked. Justin shook his head. “You are full of surprises, Mr. Wayne, if that’s your real name. You’re good to Deana, so that makes you good in my book. You’ve made her so happy, and she deserves that.” He nodded in agreement. Justin took pictures and video of the kids enjoying the goodies, then waved as he went to leave. The kids all waved and yelled goodbyes, giving him a big hug that almost made him fall in their excitement.
As he rode back to his place, he changed back into his normal clothes, sending a stream of pictures and video to Deana to see.
