Page 62 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
“Do you think Grandma Carm will find out?” John cringed.
“Not if your dad and uncles are convincing enough,” Mark looked out the window as the van pulled into the driveway. “SingingBlue Christmasmight help us, though,” he smiled at me. “That sassy vixen loves Elvis Presley.”
I grinned and rubbed my hands together, “Then, the plan is to stay the course and give these beautiful wives and children of ours the best Christmas Eve ever.”
“Santa might not come if welie to the people we loveon Christmas Eve,” Jim taunted.
I eyed my son, who stopped believing in Santa years ago because the idea of a man traversing the world in one night didn’t make sense to his logical brain. “Nice try, Uncle Jim,” I said. “John’s too old for those silly threats.”
“Uncle Jim is right, Dad,” John said. “If mom finds out you’re lying to her to save your butt, I’m pretty sure it’sreallygoing to be a Blue Christmas.”
“You listen to Uncle Jimmy too much, John,” I said. “He lives his life playing defense with paranoia, but your dad and Uncle Collin don’t think like that.”
“Well, we’re about to see ifUncle Jimmyis right or wrong because we’ve all decided to keep the truth from the ladies tonight, and they’re walking out of the house to greet us. Let’s hope this Christmas Carol nonsense saves Christmas,” Spencer said.
We steppedout of the van, and Collin and I instantly busted out in song while the people we hired to bring in the tree and set it up in the grand living room bustled around. From the looks ofthem, we even amplified their moods and Christmas Spirit with all our festiveness and singing.
I had no idea what they truly thought of us weirdos, but I’m sure we were making a statement.
“Jake,” Ash said with a smile before focusing on John. “Hi, sweetheart. Look at you,” she said, hugging our son, making me instantly feel guilty for having him lie to his mother. “Did you have fun?”
“I did,” John answered.
“And what’s the meaning behind you singingBlue Christmas?” Nat questioned.
Her calculating expression threw me off a bit, but Nat was never a match for me and my wit when it came to things like this.
“Simple,” I smiled cheerfully at her while Ash went with John to see our Christmas tree. “The fact that you ladies had to call the Christmas Tree Farm to check on us showed us that you were lonely andhaving a Blue Christmaswithout us. It played perfectly into the reasons why we were running late.”
“Which are?” Carmen questioned. Now I really was off step because I didn’t want to lie to her and have her delicious tamales taken away from me for the upcoming year.
“Huh?” I questioned, my moral compass beginning to spin out of control.
“Why are you late, Jacob?” she asked. “You just said there werereasons.”
I blinked, totally frozen by the thought of tamale deprivation of all things.
“The reasons are what he just told you,” Mark said, coming to my defense, “because we wanted to be able to sing your favorite Christmas song.”
Carmen eyed Mark as if searching his soul for the truth, and something told me that the women were onto us.
“Is that so?” she offered. “Well, I can’t say I’m upset about that part, but I am upset that you’re late.”
“We plan to make up for that, but let’s get into the house because I’m freezing my ass off,” Collin said, running interference because he’d also noticed that our ship might be sunk already.
“Question,”Avery said, turning to Jim where they sat. “What happened to all of us decorating the tree together?”
We’d only been in the house for twenty minutes, warming up in the large living room and listening to Christmas music, which was beefing up the Christmas vibe so much so that, fifteen minutes ago, I thought we were off the hook. Naturally, I should’ve known better. This was another hurdle we would have to jump, but we were prepared for it.
The only question now was whether Jim could hold his own against his wife. I looked at him, seeing his expression grow somber, and I knew my brother was going to stay the course.
“Ask Jake or Collin. That part was their idea,” he deflected immediately.
“So?” Avery eyed me.
The thing about lying to cover up being a jackass was that you had to stack one lie on top of another lie. Gone were the days when I was polished and actively practicing this art form. Since I’d become a happily married man, settling down and keeping no secrets from my beloved, I’d had no need for such skills. I had to dig deep into my old ways to keep up this façade and then pray the women got drunk on eggnog so the interrogation would end.
“The truth is,” I looked at Jim and then at Spencer. Everyone but the kids, who were helping the staff decorate the tree, was quietly waiting for me to speak. “Forget it. I hate to say it because I don’t want to ruin Christmas.”
