Mary and Alvin's Covid Christmas

"Portuguese, baby," Danni said, smiling.

"Anyway," Jennifer said, rolling her eyes, "Grandma used to tell us that at Christmas, kids were supposed to get presents if they were good, and switchings if they'd been bad."

Alvin chuckled. "She never struck a child in her life."

"And she's the woman that raised Uncle Tim," Jennifer said.

"Might be a policy she could have reconsidered," Alvin nodded.

Danni felt her phone buzz and took it out of her jacket pocket.

Unknown caller. Lakeland Florida.

She assumed it was a junk call, and was about to hit the decline button, but paused. It was Christmas Eve, a junk call didn't seem likely. She accepted the call.

"Hi, is this Deputy Ortega?" a man asked.

"Yes, it is."

There was a pause, and Danni was just about to ask if the caller was still there when he spoke again.

"My name is Robert Hollins. They...they told me you were the one who found my mother."

Danni's breath caught in her throat. She clicked off the baby monitor. "Yes, sir. I was."

"I called the sheriff's office, they said it would be okay to call you. I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry for your loss, Mister Hollins."

"Thank you." Danni could hear him softly sob as he said it. "If you weren't there...she would have died alone."

"I'm glad I could be there for her."

"Did she...did she say anything?"

"She did." Danni swallowed hard and said, "She said I should tell Bobby that she loves him."

She heard a long, low moan, and then silence. After a moment, he spoke, but she could not make out his words.

"I'm sorry, Mister Hollins, I couldn't hear you."

He was sobbing louder now. "I never done right by her...I should have been better..."

"Mister Hollins," Danni said softly, "Mister Hollins, please, listen to me."

He grew quiet.

"I lost my mother last year," she said, "And I had not spoken with her in ten years."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Robert said.

"Thank you. I can't change what happened. But what I can do, Mister Hollins, what I hope I have done, is to be as close as I can to those I love who are still here. To love them as hard as I can."

"My wife and I...we're in kind of a rough patch."

"Go talk to her. Tell her that you love her."

"I will. Thank you. Merry Christmas, Danielle."

"Merry Christmas, Robert."

She set down the phone and looked up to see Jennifer standing on the other side of the plastic barrier, looking at her with an expression of concern. She turned on the baby monitor.

"Are you alright?" Jennifer asked.

"I'm fine."

The high squeal of Bonita's laughter came through the monitor. Danni smiled and Jennifer smiled back at her.

"I'm totally fine," Danni said.

Mary came forward with two identically wrapped boxes, and knelt next to Hannah and Bonita.

"We know what those are!" Hannah exclaimed. It had become a tradition that every year, Mary gave the girls new pajamas on Christmas Eve. It only took a few seconds for them to rip the papers off the boxes and open them.

"Run upstairs and put them on," Mary told them, "Then come down and show us."

The girls charged up the stairs, Angus trailing close behind.

"Can we get you anything else?" Mary asked Danni.

"No, I'm okay," Danni replied.

Mary and Jennifer cleared the table. As they were finishing, the girls came back down in their new jammies. Hannah's were red, adorned with a pattern of puppies and kittens. Bonita's were blue, decorated with red and white sailboats.

"You guys are adorable!" Jennifer exclaimed.

Alvin pushed his chair back from the table and gestured for the girls to come to him. They both climbed into his lap.

"Now, I know you were worried because you didn't get to go see Santa this year to tell him what you want," he told them, "But I'm gonna let you in on a secret."

"What, Papa?" Hannah asked.

In a stage whisper, Alvin said, "He already knows anyway."

"Cause he's magic," Bonita said.

"That's right. And he knows if you're still awake, so you better get to bed, don't you think?"

"Okay Papa," they both said. They hopped down from his lap, kissed Mary and Jennifer, then stood, uncertainly, before the plastic barrier that separated them from Danni.

"Good night, sweethearts," she told them, "When we know I'm all right, I'm going to give you both extra hugs and kisses."

"Okay," Hannah said, "Come on, Nita!" She turned and ran up the stairs.

Bonita hesitated. She scowled, and said, "I hate corona."

Danni nodded. "I know, baby. But we will beat it, right?"

"Fuck corona," Bonita said.

Alvin nearly spit out a mouthful of egg nog.

"Okay, I think maybe you need to get to bed before Santa gets wind of that," Jennifer said.

When Bonita had marched upstairs, Alvin raised his mug. "A Christmas toast," he offered. The others raised their mugs as well, and he tapped his against first Mary's, then Jennifer's, then gestured toward Danni.

"Fuck corona," he said.

"Fuck corona," they all repeated, and drank.

Mary laughed. "I think maybe she's spending too much time down at the wharf with her grandpa," she said.

"Don't put that on me," Alvin said, tilting his head toward Jennifer, "And anyway, she's right."

Mary set down her glass and cleared her throat.

"You know, this has been such a tough year," she said, "and well, I just want to say, I don't know if I've responded very well. I'm sorry if I've been kind of bitchy."

Alvin squeezed her hand. "And I apologize if I've been pretty gloomy."

Jennifer sighed. "I think I've been too, I guess you'd say hysterical. I freak out over just about everything."

"I feel like I'm going to panic every time one of the girls coughs," Mary said.

"Or every time someone bumps into you in a store and you see they aren't wearing a mask," Jennifer replied.

Alvin nodded and said, "Every time the phone rings, I wonder if it's bad news. Mary's mom. Stanley down in that friggin' nursing home..." He looked at Danni, "Or, you, that what happened would happen."

Danni shook her head. "And when it did happen, Alvin, you didn't panic, you found a way to help."

Alvin's eyes moistened. "I love you," he told her. "I love all of you, and all this, well, it just makes that seem more important than ever."

Mary and Jennifer each took one of his hands. They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Mary said, "I haven't heard any giggling from upstairs for awhile. I think it's time for Santa to arrive."

Alvin folded up the card table and put the chairs back in the kitchen, while Mary and Jennifer fetched the Santa gifts from their hiding place in the hall closet.

"Hold on a second," he said as they got ready to arrange them under the tree. "Jen, give me a hand here."

He went to the tree and reached into it, grabbing hold of the trunk. "Get the other side," he told Jennifer, and together, moving slowly and carefully, they slid it across the room, into the archway between the living room and the hall.

"That Santa is a thoughtful guy," Mary said.

Mary and Jennifer set out the gifts.

"We will call you in the morning when the girls wake up," Mary told Danni. They said their goodnights and Alvin and Mary turned toward the stairs.

"Are you coming up?" Mary asked Jennifer.

Jennifer looked at Danni, then back at Mary. "I think maybe we'll sit together for a while."

Mary and Alvin both nodded in understanding and went up the stairs. Alvin peeked into Hannah's room, while Mary went into the bathroom to prepare for bed. The girls were fast asleep. I hope that all the rest of their Christmases are better than this one, he thought.

He went into the bedroom and sat down on the corner of the bed. Mary came in a few minutes later, in her pajamas and robe.

"Aren't you getting ready for bed?" she asked when she saw Alvin sitting there, his shoulders slumped. He looked up at her and nodded, but didn't move.

"Hey, sweetie," she said, crossing to him, "It's all going to be okay." She draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed his forehead. He hugged her around the waist and rested his head against her body.

Stroking his hair, she said, "Baby, we have been through so much together, me and you. And the family. We will get through this."

He looked up at her. "I don't think you've been bitchy."

"You don't?"

"Well, maybe just a wee bit."

He leaned back, pulling her down with him. "I told you this morning that I thought of what I really wanted for Christmas," he said, sliding his hands down to her ass.

Mary kissed him on the nose. "Didn't I give you that last year?"

"Some people eat fruit cake every year."

"I'm not sure I like that metaphor."

He flipped her robe back, and unbuttoned her pajama top.

"Do you know what I really need?" he asked.

Mary ran her hand along the crotch of his jeans. "I think I've got a good idea."

Alvin shook his head, and sat up, pulling his shirt and t-shirt over his head and tossing them aside.

"I mean, yes, I want to make love with you," he said, "But what I really want is just...well, the contact, skin to skin. To feel your heart beating."

"I understand, love," Mary said. She got up from the bed and dropped her robe to the floor. Alvin put his hands on her hips and slid her pajama pants down. She held his shoulders and stepped out of them.

Alvin pulled her close, and kissed her belly. She shook off her top, then gently pushed him back and bent down to unbuckle his belt. He raised his hips and she tugged his pants and undershorts off.

They reclined, side by side on the bed, their legs entwined, their arms around each other. They kissed, again and again, and stared lovingly into each others eyes. Mary understood what Alvin had meant, the importance of feeling skin against skin, flesh against flesh.

Alvin's hands wandered over Mary's back, while she gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"I can feel cold air coming from downstairs," Mary said.

Alvin tugged at the edges of the blanket and pulled it up around them. "I can seal up around the box, make it more draft proof."

Mary chuckled. "Don't worry about that tonight, sweetheart." She snuggled closer against him. "I'm nice and cozy now."

Their kisses grew more passionate, their hands more active. Mary lightly caressed Alvin's penis and his scrotum, while his hands roamed across her hips and over her thighs.

Mary closed her eyes as his lips skimmed over her cheek and left a trial of soft kisses along the edge of her jaw and in the hollow of her shoulder. She had never desired his touch more than at that moment.

She raised her leg up over his hip and felt the length of his cock slide along her labia. She squeezed tightly against him and held him trapped, allowing him only the slightest motion.

Opening her eyes and looking into his, she smiled, then bit her lip. He began to move more forcefully, and she felt her arousal swell. She pressed her mouth against his and shifted her hips. The head of his cock pressed between her labia. He shifted then, and slid inside her.

"I love you so much," Alvin murmured. Mary sighed in response and kissed him again. At first, there was more affection than lust in their coupling; it was comforting and reassuring. But as she felt him moving inside her, as she felt his warm breath on her throat, her arousal grew.

"Hold me," she panted, "Hold me as tight as you can."

As he squeezed her and pumped his hips faster, Mary rolled on to her back and he moved on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his hips, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. She began to cry silent tears, and when he came inside her, squeezing her hands and moaning her name, she felt a great wave of emotion wash over her. It contained joy and sorrow and relief all at once. It's impact made her shiver, and she wrapped her arms so firmly around Alvin's neck that he had to pry them lose to breathe.

He leaned back and looked down at her. "Are you alright, baby?" he asked.

Mary sniffled and nodded. "I'm okay, love, just...overcome by the emotions of the day."

"I think I understand," Alvin said after a moment's thought, "I feel so much grief and at the same time, so much joy to be alive. And, at last, I am starting to feel some hope. It's like when you start to realize that the days are starting to get longer again, and every extra minute of light seems so precious. But mostly, after all this, I feel like I have found that I love you, and the girls, the whole family, even more than I thought possible."

Mary kissed him, then got up and put on her pajamas. Alvin went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, then returned, and they crawled under the blankets together.

"Merry Christmas, my love," Mary said, snuggling against Alvin.

"Merry Christmas, baby."

Within minutes, they had both drifted into peaceful sleep.

***

Mary woke up and looked at the clock. It was almost four. She wondered how much longer it would be before the girls got up and rushed down the stairs to see what Santa had brought them. She slipped out of bed, being careful not to wake Alvin, and went to the bathroom. When she finished she padded quietly across the hall and looked into Hannah's room. Both girls were sound asleep, hugging the stuffed elephant, Mister Heffalump, between them. Angus was curled at their feet. He raised his head and squinted at Mary, then went back to sleep.

As she turned to go back to bed, Mary felt the cold draft coming from the stairway. She assumed that Jennifer had forgotten to close the front door before she went to bed, but when she walked over to the top of the stairs and looked down she could see, in the dim glow of the Christmas tree lights, something dark on the hallway floor. She tiptoed down the stairs for a better look.

Jennifer was lying on the hallway floor, wrapped in blankets. The front door was still open, and on the other side of the plastic barrier, she saw Danni, bundled in her sleeping bag. The two of them lay slumbering, turned toward each other, their faces inches apart. Each had extended one hand out from their covers, and their fingertips pressed together, separated only by the thin sheet of plastic.

There would be many more Christmases for all of them, and for their growing extended family. Every year, they would gather together, and stories of holidays past would be shared. But no one ever spoke of that dark covid Christmas. Mary always remembered it though, she thought of it every year. The memories of pain and fear faded, but in her heart she always held that image, of those two hands reaching for their most beloved. Alvin had been right, Mary thought. The darkness made the light shine brighter.