“Okay.”
Aunt Coral cleared her throat. “I think you should call and apologize to your mother.”
“I’m at work. I can’t get on the phone," I said. Funny how easily a kid could respect my boundaries and my aunt and mother couldn’t.
Aunt Coral scrolled through her text messages. “She says you told her to leave.”
“She harassed my boyfriend and told me my job wouldn’t miss me. I said if she was going to act like that, then she should leave.”
Scoffing, Aunt Coral stepped closer. “She was inviting him over, which is very considerate of her based on what the kids told me.”
I glanced at my little cousins, who kept playing. “What would they know about him? That he’s tall and has piercings? They met for two seconds. If you’re that nervous, you can chaperone your kids when we make cookies. But he’s great, and I think this family could be a little more charitable about everything, considering the season.”
She sighed and put her phone away. “We can talk later.”
That was as close as I’d get to winning an argument with her or my mother.
Not wanting to dwell in any resentment, I played a fun version of the ‘Reindeer Game’ with the kids: Dancer, show me your favorite dance move; Prancer, pirouette or stretch your legs; etc.Chestnut gave me a death glare any time I tried to rope him into it, so I let him stay on candy cane duty until it was my family’s turn to meet Santa.
As we arranged everyone on the sleigh, I turned to my aunt. “Doesn’t Mom want to be here for this?” I figured she’d return after blowing some steam.
Aunt Coral fussed with the kids’ clothes. “She’s on the phone, so she’s going to meet us after.”
“Oh, okay.” I bet she was talking to my dad or another church friend.
Maybe I should’ve yelled at her in private. Or not yelled at all. But I was sick of her pushing me. I wasn’t going to let her push Harvey too.
Frosty Santa had my littlest cousin on his lap. “What do you want for Christmas?” he asked.
May panicked and reached for me.
“Awww, me?” I reached for her, too, but then all the little cousins clamored to be held by or sit next to me in the photo.
Frosty Santa smirked. “Maybe I’ll have Sugarplum deliver your presents this year.”
“Does that mean I get to eat the cookies?” I did a little dance and wagged my eyebrows.
Hoynes snapped the photo right as everyone laughed. Perfect timing.
This could’ve been a great memory for our family. Now, part of me would always see it as a snapshot of my mom and my fight, forever preserved on my aunts’ refrigerators. At least everyone was smiling. However, I had no idea what or who would be home waiting for me.
29
Break My Back
It was so busy I barely had a chance to take another break. I wanted Hoynes to see that despite some hiccups today, I was there for the team, for Christmas, and for everybody.
So, time got away from me. I limped away from the station half an hour past my scheduled end time and checked my phone, half expecting passive aggressive texts from Mom about hosting the family. Instead, I got tagged in photos from Joon's mom, Aunt April, who raved about a magical experience for her kids. I liked her posts and kept shuffling towards my cubby for my coat. Another picture came in from her via my DMs. It was Harvey. Working.
“He’s cute,” Aunt April commented.
“STOP STALKING MY BF,” I texted back. This wasn’t high school. But I added, “And yes, he is” a and a heart emoji to appease her.
Harvey had texted me. “The rest of your family came to visit me at work. Can we talk after your shift?”
Oh my gosh, he was going to break up with me over them. Normally, I’d text, but this was an emergency, so I called him.
“Hey." He sighed. He sounded exhausted.
