Evie nodded, relieved he had changed the subject. She hadn’t told him about Alex’s boundary-pushing tendencies, not wanting to influence Thorn’s opinion of him as an employee. That didn’t feel fair.
“Yeah, we figured it would be much better than celebrating at the Calvary. She’ll be transported here on the 23rd and taken back on the 26th. I spoke to Father Garrick, and he and Sister Mary Francis are going to stop by early on the 24th to pray with her and make sure she receives communion, since we won’t be able to attend Midnight Mass.”
She paused, listening to the quiet murmur of Tommy and Nissa talking in the living room, and decided to give them a few more minutes. “I will need some help, though. I want to make this the best Christmas I can for her.”
Thorn smiled and pulled her into a tight hug. Evie melted into it, feeling like he was absorbing all the stress and exhaustion she’d been carrying for weeks. “You know you only have to ask,” he said softly. “I’ll do anything I can to make it happen.”
**********
The weeks leading up to Christmas were spent decorating Tommy’s penthouse with Della in mind. The decorations were more traditional than usual and centered around the Bible, with Evie finding Della’s ceramic nativity scene among the boxes of things her mother had given her when she went into hospice. She filled the rest of the space with candles, holly wreaths, poinsettias, angels and stars.
Planning a menu for Christmas Day proved incredibly frustrating until Thorn gently reminded her that not everything had to revolve around her mother or be perfectly equal.
“Just because your mother can only handle broth does not mean the rest of us have to eat the same, nor do I think she would want us to miss out on turkey and everything else for her.” He sat beside her on the couch and handed her a mug of hot chocolate, glancing over her menu. “I will make Bela Corba for her. My grandmother and mother used to make it whenever someone was ill. It is very easy on the stomach and very nutritious. I can prepare it the day before in my apartment, so it will not take up time and space while we make dinner.”
Evie breathed a sigh of relief as she sipped her drink. “What would I do without you?”
“Spiral into a whirlpool of overthinking,” Thorn said with a faint smile. “And have to hire someone to move all the boxes I pulled out of storage for you.”
As Christmas drew closer, Tommy worked with the staff at the Calvary to arrange for a hospital bed and the rest of the medical equipment Della would need to be brought to the Tower on the twenty-second and returned on the twenty-seventh. Despite her frailty, she could still handle most of her daily needs, so they only needed a nurse to come in the morning and evening to help with what she could not manage alone.
Two weeks before Della’s scheduled visit, the Calvary sent nurses to do a walk-through and teach Tommy and Evie how to help her with the tasks she could no longer manage. They emphasized that Della wanted to stay as independent as possible and not to hover or fuss over her.
“She really doesn’t like that.” The look on the nurse’s face told Evie her mother had been firm, and probably rude, about it. “Sometimes you have to be firm and insist on helping, because she’ll hurt herself before she admits she can’t do it.”
“Sounds very on brand for her,” Tommy murmured to Evie with a grin as the nurse began to pull out some medical equipment to show them how to use it properly.
“No kidding.” She murmured back, giggling softly.
When her mother arrived on the twenty-third, she gushed over the decorations, tearing up a little when she saw that Evie had pulled out her old nativity scene and set it on top of the credenza by the tree. She thanked Evie quietly for thinking of it.
On Christmas Eve, after Father Garrick and Sister Mary Francis left and they had a light lunch, Tommy led them into the theatre room. Once everyone was settled, he announced his Christmas gift for Della.
“I know you and Mom used to love going to the Lincoln Center to watch the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker, and since we couldn’t bring you this year, I brought it to you.”
He turned on the TV, and Della let out a soft gasp as the stage at the Lincoln Center filled the screen. When the performance began, Evie leaned across Thorn to whisper to him.
“How did you pull this off?” The show was being livestreamed from what looked like the center row of the First Ring, the seats everyone considered the best in the house.
“I’m one of their biggest donors.” Tommy shrugged as he sipped his eggnog. “I made a phone call, explained why I wanted it, and they practically tripped over themselves to make it happen.”
Evie looked over at her mother, who was sitting next to Nissa with her hands clasped in front of her, watching the performance with shining eyes and a huge smile and felt a warmth wash over her at her mother’s obvious joy. She had to admit; this was probably the best thing Tommy could have given her.
“This is perfect, Tommy.” She didn’t know how she would ever begin to thank Tommy for everything he had done for her and her mother since finding out about her mother’s alcoholism. He’d done everything in his power to help Evie navigate logistics and make things go as smoothly as they possibly could, something she never would have been able to accomplish without him.
“I thought so.” He gave her a slightly smug smile and turned his attention back to the screen. “Although you were a much better sugar plum fairy, and we’re going to watch that next.”
Despite Evie’s protests, Tommy did put on her old dance recital afterward, and seeing her mother shed happy tears as she watched seven-year-old Evie perform as the sugar plum fairy made the embarrassment of watching her younger self dance on Tommy’s giant ninety-five-inch TV worth every second.
After dinner, to Evie’s surprise, Sister Mary Francis came back. As Evie helped her with her coat, she asked why she’d returned, and the nun gave her a surprised look.
“Didn’t your mother tell you?”
Evie shook her head, glancing toward the living room where her mother sat with Tommy.
“No, she didn’t mention anything.”
“She didn’t know what to get you for Christmas, so she arranged for tickets to the Carnegie Hall Holiday Concert this evening and asked me to come stay with her so you would leave.” Sister Mary Francis smiled gently and looked down at Evie’s pajama pants and oversized T-shirt. “You should probably go get changed.”
