There’s a rush to the mudroom for boots and coats, and then in one giant human tidal wave, we stampede out the door, including Wolf and Blitz, barking up a happy storm.
The SUV crunches on the plowed driveway.
Braden is out even before the vehicle is completely stopped. He’s wearing a Santa’s hat and a baggy red Santa suit.
“Sammie!” He lopes toward me in that adorable lanky way. “I’m innocent, and so are you. I stuck to my guns and believed you.”
“And I believed you too.” I hug him tight. Whispering in his ear, I tell him, “I slept in the same bed with you all night. Even though it was bunk.”
He laughs with a joy I’ve never seen in him before. “I never doubted you. I knew you wouldn’t throw me under the bus. Thank God you had Narcan. That was your gift to Grandpa.”
“Look, it’s Poppy. He’s okay. Thank God!” I point at the police officer who carries Poppy from the SUV, followed by Erica.
He brings Poppy up the porch steps, and a single snowflake drifts from the heavens above, landing on Poppy’s surprised nose.
He looks up, and his eyes sparkle. “That’s my Sally’s tear from heaven. I thought I’d be with her this Christmas.”
Sally must be Braden’s grandmother, and what is he saying, that he thought he’d die today?
Braden stays back, looking up at the sky after everyone else has gone into the house, and I know what he’s waiting for.
I’ll wait with him, and it doesn’t take long, because another snowflake flutters down, and it lands right between his eyes.
“Mom,” he says, making a kissing motion. “I miss you, but I know you’re watching me. I also know you’re proud of me, no matter what, but this year, I’ve learned the meaning of Christmas. It’s accepting and loving, giving and not expecting. It’s how you always treated me, no matter how many fights I got in or how bad my grades were. You always gave me love when I deserved a lump of coal.”
I squeeze Braden’s hand, and he squeezes mine back, a moment of silence and acknowledgment for the loved ones he lost.
I’m thankful that my mom is still around to love me and for me to love her back—in our own way.
It’s different, but it’s my family.
“Merry Christmas,” I say to Braden and his family in heaven. “This is truly my best Christmas ever, because my mom loves me too, and she wants me to come home.”
