Page 59 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
By the time we sat down to open the main gifts, it was past seven in the morning. This was always the main event for Asher. I made it a point to make sure he was patient and grateful. Only one person opened a gift at a time. That way, the giver could watch the receiver, and vice versa. It made the whole morning last longer, and it was fun for us adults too. Otherwise, the whole thing would be over in fifteen minutes as Asher tore through present after present like a little madman.
Lina was shocked that I had managed to get her a present at all. She opened the gift, lifted the box, and gasped at the contents: a red cashmere scarf lined with gold thread. It was quite beautiful, and when I saw it in the store, I knew she had to have it. She lifted it out of the box and rubbed the material between her thumb and forefinger before holding the scarf to her chest. “It’s beautiful, Cal. Thank you.”
My father was thrilled with his gift, too. In the fall, he had told me about an old toy airplane he used to have when he was a kid. It was a wooden plane attached to a long string. You had to spin it around you fast enough to create wind under the wings, and then you could fly it in a circle, old fashion style. No motors or engines or propellers or batteries. Just physics.
I had found an original online and ordered it immediately. He was overjoyed, and Asher asked if they could play with it later. I was sure my father was more excited about play time than Asher was.
I received a new handmade Christmas ornament from Asher, as was our annual tradition. I hung it on the tree and admired the bright colors and swirling patterns he had painted on the orb. My father gave me some new clothes, as well as some new tools he knew I was in need of.
All in all, it was a great Christmas morning.
After the second round of clean up, Asher fell asleep on the sofa surrounded by a bunch of his new toys. Lina was kneeling in front of the tree, reorganizing everything so that when Asher woke up, he could see all of his gifts.
My father pulled me into the kitchen.
“What’s up, Dad?”
He lowered his voice. “I think I’m going to take Asher to my house. Just for the afternoon. I have the tools I need there to build the plane, and he and I can do it together.”
“Uh, okay. Why?”
“You need to talk with Lina.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“You need to tell her the truth, Cal. This just… it doesn’t feel right to me anymore. She spent Christmas morning here with us. Doesn’t that seem odd? Not that I didn’t want her here, but if things were different, I think it’s very obvious that this isn’t where she would have chosen to spend the holidays. Am I wrong?”
I frowned. “No, but—”
“There’s no way you can spin this to make me think differently, Cal. You know what is right and what is wrong. You always have. And this is certainly not right. Not anymore. You need to come clean. Tell her who you are to her. Then and now.”
“Right now? On Christmas day? I want to spend the day with my son, Dad.”
“I was hoping you’d have told her before now, too. But you didn’t. So here we are. I’ll only be gone a couple hours. Tops.”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “All right, fine.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “It needs to be done.”
I shrugged him off but nodded. “I know.”
He gave me a tight-lipped smile before going into the living room. I followed him in and woke Asher, who blinked blurrily up at me and nodded when I told him he was going to Grandpa’s to play with the plane. Lina and I would clean up here, and then when they came home, turkey dinner would be cooking away.
Asher left without protest but insisted on taking some of his new presents. I put up no argument to that.
Once they had gone, Lina came and sat beside me on the couch. She tucked her legs up under herself and rested her elbow on the back of the couch. “So, what was that all about? I wasn’t expecting Asher to leave. Or your dad.”
I rubbed at my eyes. “Yeah, I know. Me neither. It’s sort of complicated.”
“We don’t have to talk about it.”
But we do.
She patted my knee. “I’m going to make us some morning mimosas. How about it?”
I nodded. She got up and went into the kitchen. I listened to her whip up the drinks. She came back within minutes with two champagne flutes full of bubbling orange liquid. When she handed me mine, I drank thankfully.
Lina sat cross-legged on the sofa and watched me as she drank hers, too. “Today must be hard without your wife here,” she said after a couple of minutes. “For you and for Asher. Do you miss her?”
