“Well, I was going to make some popcorn and watch Elf if you would like to join. Will Dad be okay without you for a bit?
“Oh, please, get me away from him. He has been driving me crazy. He wants you to come home, Lucy. We raised you and Marco to know our door is always open.”
It was true. We grew up with the most amazing parents. We may not have been rich financially, but we were in other ways. I needed to stand on my own two feet now, though. Show them I could rise from this stronger, even if it meant staying with the guys for a bit.
“Momma, I can’t. This…I need to do it for myself,” I said, grabbing the popcorn from the microwave. The buttery smell lit up my nostrils as I poured it into the bowl and headed for the living room. “Bring the cookies, please.”
“You’re such a brat,” she laughed, hanging up her jacket before joining me.
“You created me.”
As the movie started, I curled into her, taking advantage of the one-on-one time we’d rarely had since I left home.
We got about halfway through the movie before I felt myselfdrifting, eyes fluttering shut as my mother ran a calming hand along my hair.
While I could never repay Sam for doing what he did today, this is what I needed. To be wrapped up in my blanket, warm, loved, belly full, and my mother humming ‘O Holy Night.’
Chapter 16
SAM
Ihurried across the threshold of the quiet house, stomping the snow from my boots, when a figure appeared. A tuft of grayed hair poked their head from around the kitchen.
“Shut the hell up, or you will wake her up. Oh, I brought your favorite cookies too. Eat and let her sleep. The military made you skinny.”
I chuckled, my gaze moving from her to Lucy’s curled-up form on the couch, the reindeer blanket over her shoulders, while her chestnut locks splayed across the pillow.
“She’s perfect, isn’t she?” Mrs. Coleman cooed.
“Yeesh, Momma. Don’t scare me like that.”
I grabbed at my chest, feigning hurt, and her eyes bore into mine. That woman should have been a serial killer rather than a doctor.
Her footsteps were quiet, and a major reason we couldn’t sneak around as teens when she was home. Sweet on the outside, but a stark protector of her family. Someday, maybe that would be me, putting our children to bed on Christmas Eve and wrapping presents.
“Take care of her, please. I feel so guilty. There was always a nagging feeling, but when I asked, she would brush it off. Iwouldn’t see her for a few weeks after. I never understood why I was being punished.”
I pulled her into an embrace. “It wasn’t your fault. Thank you for coming while I was gone.”
She grabbed my chin, running a wrinkled hand along my stubble. “You are a good man. If you get yourself straight, I can help you get into the hospital. Help me save lives instead of taking them.”
“I’d enjoy that. I will let you know when I am ready.”
We said our goodbyes, and I turned my attention to Lucy, tiptoeing over to her. I knelt next to her, caressing her face and placing a kiss against the corner of her mouth.
She stirred, eyes fluttering open and finding mine.
There she is.
“Hey, Snowflake. How are you?”
She gave a small squeak, bones cracking as she stretched from being in the same position for so long.
“Where’s my mom?” She asked, her throat raspy from the mix of crying and dehydration.
“She went home.”
I rose and headed toward the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When I came back, she was fully alert, staring straight ahead, and rubbing her shoulder.
