We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 09

Don set a plate in front of Kim-ly and loaded it up with the casserole made from scrambled eggs, cheese, hashbrowns and sausage, and accompanied it with a pair of biscuits. "As always, your timing is impeccable, can I get you anything else?"

"Got any S.O.S?"

"Here you go," and placed a saucepan full of sausage gravy in front of her. Eyes wide with delight, Kim-ly proceeded to drown her casserole with the gravy.

"That's quite a bit, young lady," warned Sandy. Grandma Sandy was always on her daughters' collective case about proper nutrition and portion control, especially when pregnant. And this advice was extended to her Nguyen "daughters" also.

"I can't stand the stuff," Kim-ly lied, "But Danh loves it. I'm bribing him so maybe he won't raise a fuss over dinner tonight."

"Ah hear ya," chimed Karole, she's had several meals ruined by waves of nausea out of nowhere, and cravings for foods she's always hated. She blamed these occurrences on Krissy. "Ah can't wait until this one is born, as soon as ah kin stand ah'm walkin to the nearest pizza joint an gittin' me a dozen Buffalo Wings with bleu cheese an eatin' em all in front of her."

"Speaking of kids," said Lanh, "I'm being paged." She had heard Arlo fussing in the bedroom. "Be right back..." and she headed off to her suite to check on Arlo. While she was gone there was good natured discussion of Lanh's "Mom Ears." When Don had nearly finished breakfast she returned and said "Uncle Don? You're being paged."

"Why? What did I do?"

"Someone hates to take a bath alone." That was something Lanh could relate to, when she was a child, she was tiny, and she wasn't allowed to bathe alone. When they lived in Minneapolis Tam was always there for her because Bao and Kim-ly played with her like she was a toy and was way too rough with her. When she was able to bathe alone it was both a luxury and very, very lonely.

Behind her a naked two-year-old appeared and pleaded "Unka Dawn! You need bath."

"Tell him why," prodded Lanh with an innocent smile.

"You sinky from cows!" causing roars of laughter from those gathered around the table. Arlo grinned and basked in the laughter; a comedian was born. With a sigh, Don rose and allowed a naked little Arlo to lead him by the finger to the big bathtub that awaited, all the while Don tried to explain to Arlo that he didn't go milking, it was Aunty Lanh that was stinky from cows. "No, YOU stinky from cows!"

"I think Aunty Lanh should help us, what do you think?"

"Yeah!" Arlo was clearly happy with that idea.

Once Lanh and Don led Arlo to the bathtub, Sandy looked at Karole with a very serious expression, "I don't know how much you know about Don and Lanh, but this Christmas is their anniversary."

"Ah thought they got married in May," said a confused Karole.

Sandy shook her head. "How do I say this... Christmas is when they met, it's when they realized their feelings for each other... it's also when they lost their daughter..." She started to tear up then composed herself.

As she was collecting herself Ralph said, "Fifteen years ago we had a storm," looking at Karole he added, "a real storm, not flurries like today. Lanh, Kim-ly and Bao had come out to decorate the tree and were trapped here until Christmas evening when their family came out and joined us for dinner."

"My brother played a trick on Don," Kim-ly smiled. "Don asked Bao to teach him how to say 'I give you this gift with great affection' in Vietnamese. Being a wiseass Bao taught him how to say, 'I love you,' and the rest is history."

"What... what happened?" Karole was confused over the situation.

"Ok, picture this, you're sixteen and a guy you've only known for a couple of weeks, your study buddy, your first real friend outside of your family, very, very politely hands you a gift and says Karole I love you."

"And you did nothing to stop him, did you?" Karole demanded. Kim-ly responded with an innocent shrug. "What did Lanh do?" Karole's face was a mask of deep concern for her friend mixed with a bit of enjoyment of a good story.

"She looked scared as hell, and to make matters worse, thanks to Bao he was offering her a gift in a way that refusing the gift would be a grave insult. Of course, Don didn't know about that part either."

"No!" gasped Karole.

Kim-ly smiled, "Inside she's freaking out, she's 'OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD what do I do? What do I do? What Do I Do?' She's all 'YAAAAYYYY!' and 'I need to run away!' at the same time." Kim-ly provided her narration with appropriately energetic expressions and gestures. "But on the outside she accepted the gift calmly and ignored the I love you part, and they went into the kitchen and made a ton of lefsa." Kim-ly was now feeling shock realizing that it's been a decade and a half since that day. How could it be so long ago?

"I've known Don since he was Krissy's age," Sandy pointed at Karole's belly, "I was friends with his mother, and I met Lanh right after her family moved here. I love those two like they were my own, that's why I demand there will be no accidents or incidents while they're here." She glared at Kim-ly.

For her part Kim-ly looked guilty. She filled her mouth with the last bite of her breakfast and her eyes rolled side to side between Karole and Sandy. "Yes, I'm talking to you Miss Walking Down The Stairs in Heels, you could have lost the baby with a fall!"

"Sorry," she said softly around her mouthful of sausage gravy.

"And You!" she locked Ralph in her stare, "No cutting down a tree this year! This is not going to be the Christmas that someone cuts off a leg or an arm with a chainsaw! Go buy a tree at the hardware store from the boy scouts"

"Don isn't going to like that; it's traditional to head back to the woods on the tractor..." Ralph said. It was a weak argument, but it was all that he had.

Sandy sighed, "Tell him it's a new tradition."

By the time the children began arriving for "Aunt Lanh's Tree" the snow had slowed, and Lanh had plowed the driveway and plenty of parking on the front lawn with the old Ford tractor and the drag plow. The John Deere had been moved up into the hay loft, the wheel ruts in the snow that it left on the earthen ramp to the hay loft would eventually become parallel sled runs for the Nguyen grandkids and several of Sandy's grandchildren when they visited from Mankato.

For her part Karole was overwhelmed by the kids. The only child in her life was still curled up in her womb, so when a sea of little Asian faces studied her wordlessly, she felt overwhelmed. So far, the only Nguyen kiddos she has met were Arlo, the youngest, and Chau the oldest. Rosa's daughter Chau, a twelve-year-old that taught Karole how to run the cash register at the restaurant.

Now they gathered in a group and stared at Karole as the blond relaxed in "Grandpa Ralph's Recliner." If they spoke it was in hushed voices as they spoke in Vietnamese to each other. Finally, Kim-ly looked up from her magazine and addressed Karole's audience. Sophia (Rose's youngest daughter) and Chip (Tam's oldest son) were speaking in hushed voices, they said something that caused giggles and Kim-ly put her foot down. "Ok, that's just rude you guys! If you're going to talk about someone you could at least speak in a language she can understand!"

"But then she'll know what we're saying!" complained Chip.

"That's the point wise guy. If you're going to talk about someone, they need to know what you're saying so they can slap your sassy mouth when it needs a slap." This caused the seven kids to start giggling. Kim-ly continued, "If you're such a tough guy, then go ahead and ask her... go on!"

Chip stepped forward and after summoning up a lot of seven-year-old courage finally said, "Are you Aunty Angela's sister?" This caused a wave of giggles among his brothers and cousins.

"Well, ah don't rightly know. Ah don't think Aunty Angela and ah have been properly introduced. Is she from down south too?"

"Un huh!" nodded Sophia causing her ebony locks to wave. "She's from Fargo!"

"Fargo?" This produced laughter from Karole.

"Up here, Fargo is considered down south," said Aunt Kim-ly.

"Ah'm from 'way down south, 'way down where Mickey Mouse lives about a three-hour drive from my hometown." Karole was referring to Disney World, a reference that was not lost on the kids. From their expressions the kids now clearly believe that she grew up in the Promised Land of childhood.

"Do you know Minnie Mouse?" asked an astonished four-year-old Ahn, who is Bao and Ahnjong's daughter. Her twin brother Him-Chan was speechless with envy, this blond clone of their Aunt Angela had Been There! She's seen the Promised Land!

"Ah met Mickey and Minnie, and Goofy, and Pluto, and even Buzz Lightyear, but that was a long time ago, ah doubt they remember me."

"Ask her about snow," grinned Kim-ly who loved to stir the pot.

After much thought Liam asked, "Did you go sledding when you were little?"

"No, we didn't have no hills, an' we didn't have no snow," said Karole. "We prolly don't have a winter like you're used to down in Dixie."

"No snow?" gasped the children. This woman was obviously crazy, she might as well have said they have no water or no air. Snow is a fact of life to Minnesota children and to deny its existence is heresy of the highest order. "What do you do for Christmas?" gasped Sophia.

"We do what you people do in the summer, we have a barbeque, we play softball, and if it's warm we'll go down to the river an go fishin'. Before today, ah ain't never seen snow in my life."

The children gasped in horror and shock.

In the kitchen, Tam, Angela, Anhjong, and Rosa chatted with Don and Lanh while Ralph and Sandy fussed with sandwiches for the kid's lunch. Soon they had the big dining room table set for the youngsters who led their new friend "Aunty Karole" to the table. "Momma!" called Chau, "Aunt Karole says she never saw snow before!"

The rest of the children laughed. "She so funny!" chimed Arlo.

"She probably hasn't," said Rosa who was working hard to make sure that each child got the right sandwich. For small creatures that will gnaw through anything made with sugar like a chainsaw going through cardboard, they're surprisingly picky eaters.

"She talks funny," announced Liam.

"She probably thinks you talk funny too," he was gently chided by an older version of Lanh that appeared from the kitchen. Karole looked at the woman and wondered why she wasn't in the movies.

"You and me, let's talk later," smiled Tam. Her smile radiated a wisdom that was far too deep for a woman of her meager years. Karole's mouth went dry, she had an audience with the true matriarch of this gathering! She could barely nod her head in agreement.

Two more people entered, a striking large, busted blond and a tall Asian male, Kim-ly tugged Karole's shoulder. "Ok, everyone's here, time for introductions, stand up," said Kim-ly and coaxed Karole up out of her chair. She stood next to Karole and announced, "Everyone, this is my baby-buddy Karole!" and for emphasis she rubbed Karole's swelling tummy. "Let me introduce you to everyone," Then as quickly as a country auctioneer she said, "Karole, this is Tam and Jake with Chip, Liam and Arlo, Huy and Ahnjong with Ahn and Him-chan, Bao and Rosa with Chau and Sophia, and showing up dead-ass last is Trung and Angela. There'll be a quiz later, you're on your own," and she plopped down and started to eat half of a sandwich she took off of Liam's plate leaving Karole standing in stunned silence.

"Wait, what?" Karole looked confused but amused at the same time.

"Ohhhh sister!" squealed Angela. She ran with tiny steps around the table and threw her arms around Karole. "Finally! Another blond in this family! I've been so alone!" Like Karole, Trung's wife Angela had long flowing blond hair, although a couple shades darker, and also like Karole she was large busted, but unlike Karole she was five-foot five standing five inches shorter than her husband and eight inches shorter than Karole.

"Wait! Ah didn' marry nobody!" Karole exclaimed. "How did ah suddenly become a... a..."

"Go on, say it," grinned Don. "I dare ya."

"A... a..." Karole saw the glare that the matriarch, Tam, gave her which also said, "I dare ya" but not in a good way. She looked around the room in terror.

"Say it," said Angela who was still holding Karole, "we're all family here."

"A YANKEE!" she wailed in anguish causing the adults to roar with laughter.

"Just you wait, eh?" said Huy mimicking a Norwegian accent. "Ya sure, we soon haf you makin' lefsa and drinking Folgers in a Lootrin church, eh? Uff da!"

"Yankee?" shouted a shocked Chau, at twelve she was as big if not a bigger a sports fan than both of her sports crazy parents Rosa and Bao combined. In anger she exclaimed, "We're all Twins fans here!"

꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳~~꙳

Karole rode with Lanh and Don to the hardware store for the tree, and soon they were at the tree lot, a large tent was set up in the hardware store parking lot, live trees were sorted by type and height and the scent of the trees was nearly overwhelming to Karole. Lanh hung on her arm, and they wandered through the tent taking in the essence of the season. Chestnuts were being roasted, the choir from the Lutheran church was singing "Ding Dong Merrily on High" and kids lined up to see Santa who had a real reindeer in a paddock behind his throne.

Christmas in small town America, it was as real as you wanted it to be. Karole was sure they had things like this in Georgia when she was a child, she heard her friends talking about them, but her mother was too drunk and too broke to indulge Karole so for her Christmas was a poorly wrapped pair of socks and maybe a doll or two from the dollar store and something on TV while her mom and her current "paramour" nursed their hangovers.

Damn them.

The children were seriously played out when Don, Lanh, and Karole returned to Campbell's farm with a 71/2 Balsam fir in the back of the pickup truck. The kids had been sledding down the tractor ramp on the back of the barn so Don and Bao were able set up the tree in relative peace while the kids watched Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman on TV. Karole and Kim-ly were snuggled up on the couch with Lanh between them, they were wrapped in handmade quilts, and Karole's quilt weighed a ton! Sandy explained that instead of normal batting, this quilt was filled with old sheets. That made it so much heavier but considerably warmer too. Mai and Duong snuggled together in the love seat, Sandy and Ralph rested in their recliners after the evening milking that Trung and Huy helped with, and Karole watched them watching their children and grandchildren prepare the house for Christmas.

To Karole the whole day was a scene from a movie she could watch, but it reflected a completely alien experience for her. It was something she always hungered for - a huge loving family brought together in love and mutual respect, celebrating traditions that began organically because it felt good to do it, and no other reason. Traditions like the girls making lefse while the guys arrange the furniture and set up the tree, like hoisting the smallest grandchild up to put the angel on top of the tree, like adding one more piece to the train every year (this year was people for the station platform), like building Kim-ly's tunnel for Don's train, like watching Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman while eating popcorn with the kids.

As the darkness outside deepened and the tree became a work of art while Don and Bao carefully placed the old school tinsel on each branch of the tree, Karole realized Lanh was nudging her. "You ok?" Lanh asked.

Karole suddenly realized she was crying, again. "Um, yeah... I'm fine." She wiped her eyes with the tissue that Lanh gave her. "I guess it's just hormones," she lied.

"You're an awful liar. What's really wrong?" Karole just looked away but with surprising firmness Lanh put a soft little hand on Karole's chin and turned Karole's head, so they were eye to eye again. "Let's go," and she urged Karole up and led her to the parlor followed by most of the women in the family. They seated Karole in a comfortable chair and Sandy offered her a cup of tea, and Lanh continued, "This is a no judgement zone, anything you say is fair game and I won't think anything less of you. This is Vagas, what's said here stays her, now what's wrong?"

Karole looked like she was going to burst into a storm of tears. "This," she whispered. "All of this."

Lanh thought that Karole was either evading the question or that the Nguyen/Campbell mob felt like a threat to her. "Explain."

"All of this, the smiles, the kids, the... the... the love! Ah ain't never had nuttin' like this. Y'all so nice and considerate, sweet and lovin' to each other." Lanh had asked her to explain, now Karole couldn't hold back. Once the dam is breeched, you can't put the water back in the pond. The torrent started and she couldn't stop and soon Sandy and Mai were there handing her tissues and the tears flowed. Lanh, Sandy, Mai, and now Kim-Ly simply clustered around knowing that letting it out was the best thing she could do.

"An' ah seen some of the gifts you git each other, and it's not the gift, it's jes you talk to each other and find out what each other or each other's kids likes and does and wants to do... you care! Know what ah got for Christmas when ah was ten? Ignored. Mah momma and her new beau drove down to St. Augustine for three days and left me in a mobile home with a pantry full of canned soup and a box of pop-tarts."

She thought of the Norman Rockwell-esque scene she saw, the kids laying on the floor playing Candy Land, Jake sitting by the fire reading a Christmas story from a braille book to Arlo and Him-chan, Don, Bao and Huy decorating the tree, Ralph and Trung playing cribbage in the adjacent dining room, and Angela appeared behind Karole to gently rub her shoulders just because she looked stressed. "Ah ain't used to this!" Karole almost shouted. "Ain't no one threatened to punch no one, they ain't no stack a' empty Bud Lite cans nowhere, no hound peeing on the couch, ain't no kids with black eyes and bloody noses. I ain't sayin' that's the south, ah'm sayin that's the trash I grew up with, ah know fer sure you got the same kinda folk up here 'cause I almost married one."

Mai patted Karole's hand and said, "So what is the problem? Six words, boil it down to that."

Karole's tears had stopped as she vented, but now as she paused her eyes welled up with tears again. "Ah don't deserve none of this."

The women paused; how do you answer that? Sandy knew the answer. "It's ok to feel that way honey," she said as she gently stroked Karole's hand, "because you're absolutely right. None of us deserve this, and sometimes we forget that and think we're entitled to it."

"What... what do you mean?" Karole sniffed.

"Oh, without getting all 'churchy' on you, think of your life, how many times have you done or said something wrong, all those little somethings add up in our soul - or in the back of our mind, and we realize 'by gosh I'm awful!' that's just being honest with ourselves."

Karole shrugged and nodded while Lanh wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

Sandy continued, "so every now and then we have these occasions to get together and celebrate. Christmas, Independence Day, Halloween... and we do it to purge those nasty old feelings, but we also do it to make up for the reasons behind those feelings. It's a way to say 'I'm sorry for being a jerk to you' without actually having to say it. Does this make any sense to you?"

Karole nodded sadly then said, "ah guess ah'm jealous of all y'all having these perfect, sweet relationships, growin' up normal..."

Tam and Kim-ly looked at each other over the saddened Karole. "Should I tell her?" asked Kim-ly.