Author's Note: Hey all! I just wanted to thank everyone who has stuck with this story, and apologize for my not-so-frequent updates. Truth is, I've kinda lost touch with it because I don't get that excitement over writing this story the way I used to. I know it's not the best it could be, a little too boring & a little too 'fluffy' even for my own taste, but I just wanna get to the sequels, cuz they're REALLY GOOD. It's like when you try to finish your dinner to get to the dessert. Nevertheless, I'll try my hardest to improve things a bit, because I do want my work to have good quality.
Besides that, I wanted to mention something interesting about last night. I saw Frankie J. I saw Frankie J at ROBINSON'S MAY! I was walking through there at the Fashion Valley mall, when I see this guy walk beside me who looked familiar. He was not that tall, with a BIG SPARKLY watch, a wife beater that showed off his tatoos and baggy jeans, a tilted fedora over his short black hair. I got a closer look at him, but didn't say anything because well you know... what would he be doing at Robinson's May? I remembered that he came from SD so I was kinda curious to find out if it really was him. When I got home I looked for Frankie J pictures and noticed he has the same tattoos as the guy I saw. So i guess it's pretty safe to say that indeed was him. FORGIVE ME, Gigi! HAHA, mkay. Happy Holidays everyone, stay safe and take care. Onto the story...
Trotting down the stairs, Justin anticipated seeing what he always saw every Christmas morning; his family together smiling, the three of them wearing matching holiday sweaters, unwrapping presents and creating yet another cheerful holiday; the smell of gingerbread and pine meeting him as he anxiously awaited to see what Santa had brought him over night.
This Christmas however, was the exact opposite. Lynn, dressed in a faded blue robe was boiling water over the stove, a sad expression upon her face.
“Mom?” Justin called, approaching her.
“Hey baby, Merry Christmas,” she said, kissing his forehead. “I was thinking maybe you and I could have breakfast together before you open up your presents. There are plenty of them.”
He sat at the dining table, the chair lopsided from the fight his parents had the month before.
“Where is dad?” he asked, as Lynn looked through the drawers for a wooden spoon.
“He’ll be coming over, don’t worry,” she said quietly. “Baby you know, just because things aren’t so great between your father and me doesn’t mean we can’t spend time together. He knows how much you want to spend Christmas as a family.”
He watched television from the table, picking up a sugar cookie from the Snowman cookie jar when his mother wasn’t looking. And as always, Justin sprang to the door at the sound of the doorbell.
Randy walked in, a load of wrapped up boxes cradled in his arms. After setting them underneath the tree, he scooped up Justin, shaking him.
“Merry Christmas, son.”
“Merry Christmas dad. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, buddy,” he chuckled. “Hi Lynn, merry Christmas.”
She turned away from the stove, deciding to give him a hug. “You too, Randy. It’s nice to see you again. You’re just in time for breakfast.”
“Always am,” he laughed, pulling out a chair.
When the table was all set, the family gave their thanks and talked nicely amongst each other trying not to spoil the holiday cheer.
“The funny thing is I haven’t seen her since our high school days. And how weird is it,” Lynn said, “that we happened to reach for the exact same cucumber? I mean…” She focused her attention on a plate of steamed vegetables. “Sure I didn’t recognize her at first…”
Justin secretly reached into the cookie jar once more, passing one to his father underneath the table. Randy winked.
“… but could you blame me?”
“Wait. What are we talking about?” Randy laughed.
Lynn rolled her eyes, tossing a napkin at him. “I ran into Chrissy Bobberman at the grocery store the other day. Remember her?”
“Oh you mean that one girl with the fake uh…” Randy said knowing Justin was listening in on the conversation.
“Uh huh.”
“Oh! Yeah I remember her.”
“Turns out she married that one Terrance Fielding character.”
“The valedictorian? Whoa, that is creepy,” he laughed. “Well I guess if you find the right person, it always works out.”
By the look on his face, Lynn could tell that he didn’t mean to cause any tension. Still, a painful rush of sadness awoke within her.
“Dad, do you think you could stay today? Please?” Justin begged.
“I’d like to, if that okay with your mom,” Randy glanced at Lynn, who surprisingly nodded in approval. “Then it’s settled. We’ll spend Christmas together the way we should. Now, let’s get to them presents!”
Even Lynn followed the dash to the living room, the three of them collapsing on the furniture.
“Let’s start with this one,” Randy picked up a blue box, “to Justin, from Momma.” He picked up the next box, “to Justin, from Santa. Ooh, that one’s from Santa, buddy.”
One by one, Randy distributed the gifts out, majority of them of course belonging to Justin. The ones that weren’t, were presents actually exchanged by both Randy and Lynn. A couple of snow globes for her, some new shirts for him, nothing too extravagant but something that showed some appreciation for the other person. Justin had received all the toys he put on his list, but deep inside he knew he would trade them all to just have his family back to normal.
However, beneath the tree lay one more present. Lynn picked it up, reading aloud, “To Justin, from Cassidy.”
He held it in his hands for a moment, simply staring at the box, wrapped in shiny red paper tied with a white ribbon. Undoing the knot, he laid the lid aside anxious to discover the contents. At last, he pulled back the white tissue paper to reveal the gift.
He pulled it out, gawking at the object in his hands. A picture of the two of them the summer both their families vacationed at a lake the previous year. Randy had been trying to teach them how to fish when Simone snapped the photo. They were smiling, the sunshine glowing on their faces, Justin’s arm hung across Cassidy’s shoulders.
Looking at the picture made him think back to that day. The sour smell of the lake as it trickled across their tiny toes, the owls would hoot in the night, fluttering from tree to tree, or the way the juice from the watermelons would make their cheeks sticky. He remembered they would stay up late, telling spookier stories than the other until they both admitted how scared they were. He remembered how Cassidy told him one day they would be the prince and princess of the forest and teach all the animals and birds how to sing and they’d live that way for as long as they wanted. He always remembered.
Holding the picture was a strong metal frame, although you couldn’t tell much because it was covered in all sorts of trinkets Cassidy had collected from their friendship. A few bottle caps, yarn from when they tried to pull each others’ baby teeth out to see if the Tooth Fairy was real, her hair ribbons, his old shoe laces, a few Lego blocks, even locks of hair. It wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world but it sure had meant a lot to Justin.
“Isn’t that… interesting,” Randy said, taking a look at it.
“I remember that day,” Lynn smiled, “I had to rescue you that day from drowning Randy.”
“Hush. You did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
For whatever odd reason, seeing his parents argue like this made Justin sort of… happy. There were no objects soaring through the air, and no cuss words flying out of anyone’s mouth. So far, so good in his estimation.
“Hey, you got him the new Nintendo?” Randy asked Lynn, picking the box up.
“Yup, why?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll play ya.”
“Not if I play you first!”
For hours, the three of them bonded, rejoicing together in such happiness. They had left a mess in the kitchen, trails of food left everywhere, wadded up wrapping paper forming a mountain on the sofa; the place was a total pigsty.
Unfortunately, in the midst of it all, as they lay in a circle on the carpet, Randy realized it was time to go.
“I’ve gotta get going,” he said getting up, “work starts early tomorrow.”
“But it’s Christmas Day. They can’t expect you to be back so soon,” Lynn said, trying to make him stay.
“I know,” he stretched, “but I have to. I’m sorry.”
“We’ll walk you to your car,” she offered, helping him to carry the presents to his truck.
Justin watched as his parents made small conversation, neither knowing how to say goodbye.
“Well buddy, I’ll see you soon, okay?” Randy asked, ruffling Justin’s hair. “You be good for your mom. I love you, son.”
“I love you too dad. I’ll be good,” he promised.
“That’s my boy. Now why don’t you go thank your friend for her gift so you and Trace won’t have to sneak out of the house anymore to do it,” he laughed.
Justin smiled, running quickly to the Sullivan’s door. A giggling Simone answered.
“Oh, Justin! We weren’t expecting you. Merry Christmas!” she greeted, wrapping him up in a warm.
“Hi Granny Simone. Merry Christmas to you too. Can Cassidy come outside?”
“Sure. You two don’t stay long though, okay?” she said, “Cassidy, honey, Justin is here to see you!”
Within a matter of seconds, she appeared, dressed in a new pink sweater.
“Hi Justin.”
“Hey Cass. I just wanted to say thank you for my present. You didn’t have to but I like it very much,” he said.
“You’re welcome. I had to give you something back for the necklace, and I wanted to give you something anyway.”
“Was that really your band aid on there? From when you fell off my bike?”
“Yup. It’s still sorta red if you really look at it closely,” she smiled. “Hey… did your dad come over?”
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. He spent the whole day with us! It was so much fun. We did things soft of the way we used to on Christmas.”
“Things are getting better now, right?”
“I guess. They were today, at least,” he said, taking a seat on the steps. “So why’d you pick that picture?”
“The one of our vacation at the lake?” She crossed her arms, “I don’t know. Maybe just because I want to give you something you can always smile about… you’re so sad sometimes and I thought it would help.”
She was right… but he didn’t need a picture from her to make him smile.
“Do you wanna stay for a little bit?”
He shook his head, getting up. “Neh, I think I’m going to spend the rest of the night with my mom. I don’t want her to feel alone.”
“Oh, okay...”
“Merry Christmas, Cass,” he said, hugging her.
“Merry Christmas, Justin.”
Justin closed his eyes, the feeling of Cassidy’s arms around him better than any fire. He wasn’t sure where his life was going to take him. He didn’t know if everything would ever really be okay. He wasn’t even certain his family would be able to have a fresh new start. It was all a bunch of unanswerable questions to him. But if one thing was for sure, if there were anywhere he’d ever want to be, it was right there with Cassidy.
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