A Linda Christmas

It was as if a damn broke. Linda cried and cried and cried. I let her.

Chapter Six

Linda must have cried for a good half hour before she started settling down. Shortly thereafter her breathing changed and I could tell she was asleep. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was almost 5:00. The next thing I knew it was dark. There was no way to get out from under her without waking her. I started rubbing her back.

"Hey. Linda. Wakey, wakey."

She groaned and pulled herself tighter to me.

I started playing with her hair, then I stuck my little finger in her ear. That finally got her attention.

"Leave me alone." She tried to swat my hand away and hit her ear instead.

"No. It's Christmas eve and we have one chance to see my family. They're all meeting at Gloria's tonight."

Well, she was interested in my family even if they weren't interested in me. It's a long story and I'm definitely to blame for some of it. I was low man on the totem pole for all three kids, so I was lucky to see any of them, much less the grandkids at Christmas. I just sat back and watched the other grandparents play their games. I'm pretty sure the purpose of the game was to keep your child and his family away from any other relatives for as long as possible. This proved how much you loved them, I think.

It was 7:30 by the time I had the box of presents and Linda in the Aerostar. It was starting to cool down so she had on one of my old jackets that hadn't fit me for the last 10 years. She was able to roll the sleeves up so her hands stuck out.

Gloria and I were married about 11 years when we discovered we couldn't live with each other. She more so than me. We still liked each other, in fact I think we still loved each other. I'd sobered up in the last 8 years but there was no way we were going to get back together.

We parked on the street and started walking toward the house. Gloria rented the back house on a two-house lot. About halfway back my daughter's two oldest girls ran out the front door screaming "Grandpa Pete! Grandpa Pete!" At 5 and 9 they were still young enough to find the simplest thing exciting.

"Girls. This is your Aunt Linda."

"Aunt Linda! Aunt Linda!"

"Linda, this is Angel and this is Suzette. Goober and Squirt."

I got a "Granpaaaah" from both of them. Linda dropped down to their level, said hello and gave each of them a hug. They hugged back as if they'd known her forever.

Suzette was looking in the box of presents. "Which ones are for me?"

"Can't you read the names on them?"

"No."

"I guess we won't know which are for you, then."

"I'll read them for you Zetters." Angel.

We went in the house proceeded by two whirlwinds. As soon as we went in the front door both girls yelled "Nana. Our Aunt Linda came with Grandpa Pete!"

That caused everyone to turn around. I think my kids and Gloria's brother were all wondering what kind of "Aunt" this was and how did I have the balls to bring her to my ex wife's Christmas party.

Gloria said "Oh, my God. I'd recognize you anywhere. Your hair is so beautiful." She gave Linda a hug and started taking her around the room, introducing her to everybody. Everybody in the house gave Linda a hug. By the time the intros were over, Linda had a big smile on her face and tears coming down her cheeks.

Linda got me alone later and asked how Gloria knew what she looked like when they'd never seen each other. I explained that there was a picture of her as a teenager that really didn't look that much different and that Mom and Grandma had always talked about her. I think she'd been the favorite of both of them, too.

We opened presents and ate Christmas junk and drank sodas and generally had a good time. Linda disappeared out to the garage a few times with one or more of my kids and "snuck" a cigarette. She acted embarrassed when Gloria and I went out there while she was smoking. Gloria lit up her own while I got some fresh air outside the garage door, away from the smoke.

The party broke up around 11. Gloria asked Linda if she was going to be around after New Years. Linda wasn't sure, she said it depended a lot on me. I said we'd see how good she was at washing dishes, mopping floors, cooking meals when Linda poked me in the stomach. Gloria owns her own business maintaining plants in businesses. Most of them put up Christmas trees, many also had other decorations that Gloria provided. She had the week between Christmas and New Years to take them all down, so it was a busy week for her. Anyway, if Linda was still around they'd get together.

Linda held my arm and leaned up against me as we walked down the driveway. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Merry Christmas, Linda."

We drove home. "Linda. There's one thing I don't understand. Why did you stay with Jim for so long after he started beating you?"

"I don't know. It's impossible to believe it's been 15 years. The man had a way of holding on to me so that I couldn't even think of breaking away. He constantly threatened that he'd kill me if I ever tried it. I'm glad I finally got the nerve to run. It was the realization that we'd been married for 20 years that finally convinced me to do it. Do you mind if we don't talk about it for a while?"

"No, that's fine. You know I'm here if you need me."

"Yeah. I guess I knew that all along but I didn't believe it. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't around. Thanks for helping me out."

We pulled into the driveway. Linda had some Tupperware containers with leftovers Gloria sent home with her and she put them in the refrigerator. I went into the bathroom, washed my face and started brushing my teeth. As soon as I got my toothbrush in my mouth Linda shoved me out of the way so she could get to the sink. After I finished we wrestled until I was allowed to rinse my mouth and toothbrush.

I stayed in the bathroom to use the toilet. When I came out Linda was down to her bra and panties. She held up the work shirt she'd worn to bed the night before. "I don't see any reason I need to wear this to bed, do you?"

"I guess not." I started to get out of my clothes.

"And I don't think you need to wear those shorts, either."

She dropped the bra on the floor, worked her panties down her legs and onto the pile, then climbed in the bed. She scooted over toward my side. I finished undressing and got under the covers. I reached up and turned off the light.

I don't know if Santa was around or not. Neither of us heard anything.