The creak of the cover revealed how little the album had been opened. As with Christmas, staring at Roslyn’s smiling face was just too painful at times.
“She was the best. I miss her.”
Over the space of an hour, Evelyn showed Bug her family pictures. The pup sat diligently by her side and even though she knew it wasn’t possible, Evelyn let herself believe he was looking at the photos, taking in everything she had to say. It felt good to talk about her mum. Sure, she wished she could do that with her dad, but Richard always shut the conversation down.
Hot tears streaked down Evelyn’s face as she combed through the photos for a second time. Bug sidled up and leaned against her chest. “I miss her so much.”
Bug abruptly got to his feet and dashed off toward Evelyn’s bedroom. Wiping her face, Evelyn stood to investigate. The silence was worrying. The jingle of bells stopped Evelyn in her tracks. Bug appeared moments later with a Christmas tree decoration in his mouth. Stunned, Evelyn watched him walk back to the living room and drop the decoration at her feet.
“No, buddy, this isn’t a toy,” Evelyn chided, scooping the offending article back up. Striding into her room, Evelyn saw the box of stored Christmas paraphernalia lying open.
How in the world did he know this was here?
Returning the bells to their rightful place, Evelyn made her way back to the living room, only to witness Bug running past her again. Out he came with a different Christmas decoration. Dropping it in the same place as before, he sat and stared at her. Huffing and growing frustrated, Evelyn returned the ornament.
“Stop it, Bug,” she whined when he repeated his breaking and entering of her Christmas stash.
Twenty minutes passed of them playing Bug’s game. Eventually, Evelyn slumped to the floor in the middle of the growing pile of Christmas decorations. Bug was quite content ferrying the items one by one from her room.
The doorbell rang, which caused Evelyn to frown. Who the hell was at her door at…nine-thirty in the evening? Grumbling the entire way to her front door, Evelyn ripped it open with a scowl.
“Whoa, what’s wrong with you?” a surprised-looking Alyssa asked.
“Alyssa?”
“That’s me. You okay?”
“What…why are you here?” The tone of her voice was snippy, causing Alyssa to raise her eyebrows.
“I just wanted to stop by and say hi. Sorry, I’ll go. See you tomorrow.”
Evelyn could have screamed at herself. Taking her frustration out on Alyssa wasn’t right. “No, Al, sorry wait. Come in.”
“Are you sure?
“Perfectly. Sorry, I’m just having a bit of an issue with Bug.”
“Bug? Is he okay?” Alyssa didn’t hesitate, stepping past Evelyn and heading to the living room. “Um…”
“Yeah.” Evelyn chuckled. Bug was sitting proudly in the middle of his Christmas decoration pile.
“I think I need some context.” Alyssa grinned.
Evelyn momentarily forgot how to breathe. That grin was a lesbian slayer. It had the power to render mere mortals incapable of thought and movement.
“Evie?”
Snapping her eyes away from Alyssa’s lips, Evelyn motioned them towards Bug. “He got all my decorations out. I tried to put them back, but he just kept going back to fetch them.”
“He’s a strange little guy.” Alyssa grinned, and then her face sobered. “Is that why you looked so pissed when you answered the door?”
Rubbing her forehead, Evelyn sighed. “I haven’t had any Christmas-related items on display in my house since my mum passed. I had a couple of glasses of red this evening and showed Bug my photo album. The next thing I know he’s toddled off and found all this. We played a game of chase before I gave up and let him win.”
“Ah, I see.” Alyssa wandered over to the open photo album, looking at Evelyn, silently asking for permission. Evelyn nodded, taking a seat next to Bug. “You look like her, you know.”
“Yeah, I take after her in nearly every way.” Evelyn smiled.
“Would she want you to shut out Christmas, Evie?”
