Page 27 of Almost Christmas in Paradise

Last year’s had Priya, but she was in Nia’s arms, and we couldn’t see her face. This year’s picture is very candid. I remember taking this selfie last summer on a beach in San Juan. It was a rare trip with just the four of us. Nia’s on my lap, Carter is on Nia’s, and Priya is on her brother. The picture captures the essence of our family. We’re all happy, but that had been a long day, and we were all tired. When we returned to our resort, the kids were both cranky. It was a relief when they both went to bed early, and I got to spend the rest of that night with my wife.

“It’s beautiful,” I say looking down at it.

“It is,” she agrees. She hands it to me, and I put it on the coffee table. Once the tree is perfect, we’ll let Carter find the perfect space for it.

Chapter 23

Drake

“Carter, be careful. Don’t fall on your sister,” I warn, and he runs in the other direction. Of course, she follows him. Langley picks her up and they chase Carter together. Both kids scream while my grown-ass brother causes nothing but mayhem. My mom sits on a chaise and smiles happily at the chaos around her. Pixie sits at her feet, and every few seconds, she rubs behind her ears.

Hannah walks around with a tray of eggnog. Nia makes a face. Her appetite has disappeared. She wasn’t like this with Priya. Her appetite increased with each stage of her pregnancy, but she assures me she was like this with Carter. It was another reminder of what I missed, but I stuff it down. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not like I have the option of getting in a time machine to get back what I’ve lost.

“This is why I think it’s another boy,” she whispers so that only I can hear.

We’re not finding out the gender this time. We want to be surprised, but Nia is convinced it’s a boy.

I kiss her cheek and say, “I’m going into the kitchen for some ginger ale for you.”

“And some crackers, please,” she whispers back. “Salty ones.” I walk out of the room and go toward the back of the house to the kitchen. This is one of the rare days that my mother doesn’t have any staff around. They were gone by the time we arrived, and the food was laid out on the table for us. There was no formal dinner today. Just the family together in preparation for Christmas. There’s no ginger ale in the fridge, but I find some small cans in the pantry. By the time I pour it into a glass filled with ice, I hear loud voices in the living room. One is male and it’s not Langley.

“Howard,” my mother says. She’s standing now, running a hand through her hair while she looks into the eyes of my father’s former lawyer. The man who helped facilitate this deception. Nia is standing as far away from him as possible, and Hannah is holding Priya while Carter is on Langley’s back.

Pixie runs to Howard, and he puts his hand to her nose. She sniffs, licks his hands, whines, and runs out of the room. Priya notices the stranger too and starts to whine, prompting Hannah to bounce her to calm her down.

“Hello,” Howard says. He takes off his hat and looks around the room. I put my arm around my wife’s waist and hold her close. Doing this is the only thing keeping me from punching this old man in his face in front of my kids and family. “I didn’t realize you’d have the family here today,” he says.

“Well, it is officially the holidays, Howard,” Mom says. “Maybe you should go be with yours.” That’s my polite mother’s way of telling him he’s not welcome here.

“If I can have a word with you alone, Maggie,” he says. “You haven’t returned my calls.”

“That’s because we have nothing to say to each other. The only link we had was Donald, and he’s gone. Please, leave. My kids and grandkids are here and you’re making them uncomfortable.”

Instead of leaving, he takes another step further into the living room.

“My mother asked you to leave,” Langley says. His voice is even, and I know it’s only because Carter is close by. He slides Carter off his back, and Hannah takes my son's hand.

“Come with Auntie Hannah. Let’s go have some cookies in the kitchen,” she says as she escorts the kids out of the room. We all remain quiet until I can no longer hear their footsteps or Priya’s loud babbling. I drop my arm from around Nia’s waist with every intention of physically putting Howard out, but she grabs my wrist and I stop.

“Listen, Maggie, I need to talk to you about Scarlett.” Nia goes stiff next to me, and I wish I could punch Howard because that’s the last damn person I want to talk about. Scarlett is no longer a blight on my life or my marriage, but any mention of her upsets my wife. And with good reason.

“What could you possibly want to talk to my mother about with regards to her?” I hiss.

“She was attacked in prison, and her family is going to petition the court for her release. Her attorney is going to ask that she be placed under house arrest for the remainder of her sentence.”

Nia looks up at me as if she’s asking if that’s possible.

“I’m here on behalf of the Foley family. They are requesting that you don’t—”

“I promise you that we will,” I say, cutting off the rest of the nonsense he was about to spew. I take a step closer, but Nia won’t let me go, so I can’t shove him like I want. “But I find it funny that you’re here on their behalf considering your phony apology. Whose side are you on, Howard?”

He raises both hands. “Iamsorry,” he says, this time looking at Nia.

“I don’t accept your apology,” Nia says.

“Don’t look at or speak to my wife. If you do, you’ll leave here a blind man.”

“I’m here because I’m partly to blame for her being in prison. I should have done more. I should have spoken up, but I didn’t. Now Scarlett is behind bars for several more years.”

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