16. Bryan
16
brYAN
I followed Nova back into the kitchen. “If we left now, how late would dinner be?”
Nova shrugged. “I’m just getting everything started. It all depends on whether Amelia finds exactly what she wants at the first stop. Maybe we could go after dinner?”
“But you said we could work on the gingerbread house,” Amelia whined.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Nova started.
“Why don’t we plan on going in the morning?” I suggested. “We can get any shopping that needs to be done before lunch. Then I know I have the afternoon for working, and you can get whatever cooking you need done.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Nova said.
“And we can do the gingerbread house tonight,” Amelia said enthusiastically.
I looked at my daughter. Guilt over my earlier reaction of being annoyed by her enthusiasm clenched my chest. “Yes, we can work on your gingerbread house tonight. I need to get some work done. You’ll let me know when dinner’s ready?”
The next morning, as I drank my coffee and waited for Nova to arrive and for Amelia to finish getting dressed and come downstairs, my phone buzzed.
Why don’t I meet you at the store? Nova texted. That way, when we are done, I can go to the grocery store while you take Amelia home .
I knew it made me sound like an old man, but I really didn’t understand why she couldn’t have just called.
That’s fine , I texted back. Meet you out front at ten thirty .
We were early. Amelia didn’t want to wait. She wanted to go into the store and begin her present hunt.
“I thought you needed to shop with Nova?” I asked.
I should have waited inside. My daughter was getting cold, but I wanted to be certain that Nova saw us and that Amelia didn’t get distracted by everything once we were inside.
“You weren’t waiting out here the whole time, were you?” Nova asked as she jogged up to greet us. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go in.”
Once inside, Nova helped Amelia off with her jacket but left her hat on top of her head.
“It won’t get lost that way,” Nova said when Amelia tried to take her hat off.
“What are we shopping for?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Amelia said.
“We need to get you a Christmas present,” Nova pointed out. “But she would also like to buy something for your mother. And we need to find the pet department, if they have one.”
“Humphrey needs a new collar,” Amelia announced.
“You’re getting a collar for the stuffed animal?”
“It’s for Humphrey, Daddy,” Amelia emphasized.
There were times I didn’t understand her obsession with that toy. This was definitely one of those times. “Why don’t we try to find something for your grandmother all together?” Nova started. “And if you see something you might like for your father, we can come back for it.”
Nova was very careful with her words, and her eyes were very expressive as she spoke. She moved her eyebrows up and wiggled them a bit before lowering them, but then lifting just one.
I interpreted her hidden eye brow message as ‘Please tell us if you see something that would be appropriate for Amelia to buy as a gift.’ I also took it as a plea for help in finding something that my mother would approve of receiving from a six-year-old.
Mother wasn’t particularly receptive when it came to gifts. She tended to announce what she expected, and if she did not receive precisely that, she would let everyone know the gift did not meet her expectations.
I didn’t want her potential brutal comments to dampen Amelia’s enthusiasm for Christmas any further than I had already done over the past few years. She was a child. She did not need to be jaded over the holidays the way some of us adults were.
Amelia stopped at a display dripping with silk scarves.
“These look pretty. Would something like this be appropriate for your grandmother?” Nova asked Amelia, but I knew the words were directed at me.
“I think this is something my mother might actually like,” I said as I reached out, touching the thin, decorative swaths of fabric.
“I don’t know,” Amelia said.
“Your grandmother always wears scarves,” I reminded her, not that I expected Amelia to pay that level of attention to what my mother may or may not have worn at any given point in time.
“What’s her favorite color?” Nova asked.
“Pink,” Amelia blurted out.
“Pink is your favorite color.” How did I tell my daughter her grandmother didn’t like pretty princess things and was more interested in colors that were bland and muted and dull? Colors my mother might call sophisticated but my enthusiastic princess of a daughter would call boring.
“Maybe something a little less bright?” I suggested.
“I’ve only met your mother once,” Nova started, “but I couldn’t help but notice how stunning her eyes are. Would she like something like this?” She held up a soft green scarf. It was a good color for Mother, but it had a little too much color.
“Maybe something not so colorful,” I said.
Nova rubbed the scarf through her fingers, studying it. “I don’t think I would say that this is a saturated color. Maybe something more like…” She sifted through the scarves and pulled out what could only be described as a faded olive drab.
“Now that looks like something your grandmother would really enjoy,” I said, reaching for the scarf and handing it to Amelia. “Why don’t you get her this?”
Amelia took the scarf and began wadding it up in an attempt at folding it.
“We need to take it over to the sales lady,” Nova pointed out.
Amelia ran the few steps with the scarf held out in her hands to the sales clerk who was approaching us. “I want to get this for my grandmother,” she announced.
With some coaxing and assistance, Amelia was allowed to hand over my credit card so that she got the full gift purchasing experience.
While we were looking for something for my mother, I tried to get an idea of what Nova might want or need. I thought it would be a good idea to get her something. She was only helping out for a few weeks, but I really did appreciate her assistance. Especially when it came to her willingness to work with Amelia. I felt like I owed it to her after my piss poor behavior the previous day. She was so focused on my daughter and meeting Amelia’s needs that I didn’t get a sense of what her Christmas wishes were.
“Okay, Daddy, go away now,” Amelia turned to me and said.
“Excuse me? I asked.
“That’s not—” Nova started.
“Let’s try that again,” I suggested. “What did you need, Amelia?”
“You need to go so I can shop for you now.” It was a little better. Sometimes, she could be quite direct.
“There’s a pet department in the basement,” Nova said. “Why don’t we meet down there in thirty minutes? That should give us enough time to get what we need.”
“And I can get Humphrey a collar,” Amelia pointed out.
I stayed by the counter, holding onto the package that Amelia had purchased for my mother. As she and Nova walked away, I turned to the sales clerk. “What do you get the woman who probably needs everything but won’t accept anything?”
The clerk’s gaze followed Amelia and Nova before returning to me. “That’s a tricky one. What does she need?”
“She needs a new car.”
“We don’t sell those here. How about a good pair of leather gloves? We have some very nice fleece lined leather gloves that will keep her warm.”
I asked her to show me the leather gloves and purchased a pair of bright red ones. Unlike my mother, I expected that Nova appreciated the occasional splash of color.
I wandered around the store, biding my time before heading down to the pet department where I found Nova helping Amelia pick out a collar studded in rhinestones.
“That’s a little flashy for Humphrey, don’t you think?” I teased.
“Humphrey likes to be fancy,” Amelia announced.
I laughed as she made her selection and finally decided on what to purchase.
“Is there any more shopping we need to do?” I asked.
“I have one last thing I would like to get, and then I should head out to the grocery store,” Nova said.
We headed back to the main entrance. Nova stopped in front of a Christmas tree that was not decorated with ornaments and tinsel, but rather covered in tags of various colors. She read a couple of the tags before selecting one and taking it over to the closest counter with a sales clerk.
“I’d like to take care of this, please,” she said, handing the clerk the tag and her credit card.
“Are you buying the tree?” Amelia asked.
“No, sweetie, I’m getting a Christmas present for someone.”
“For who?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t know. But they need knee socks for school sports.” Nova held up the tag for Amelia. “See, it’s on the tag.”
“But the tree is covered in tags.” Amelia ran back to the tree and began looking at the tags. “What are all of these?”
“Those are gifts that other kids need. I try to buy a gift every year. No matter how hard I think things are for me, I know I can help someone out with something. This year, it’s a few pairs of socks. Maybe next year, I can afford to buy someone some tennis shoes.”
“It’s called an Angel Tree,” the sales clerk said as she returned Nova’s credit card. “Thank you so much for your donation.”
“I don’t understand,” Amelia said. “There are no angels on the tree.”
“No, it’s called an Angel Tree. All those tags are for things that other boys and girls would like to get for Christmas or that they need. They fill out a card, and then they put them on the tree, and somebody buys that gift for them.”
“Do I have a present on the Angel Tree?”
“No, sweetheart, you don’t need an Angel Tree gift,” I said. “These are for boys and girls who might not have very much or might not get many presents this year.”
“Can we buy a present off the Angel Tree, Daddy?” She began picking tags out and held out a handful to me. “Do we have to wrap them?”
“The people who run the Angel Tree program will take care of wrapping and delivering the presents. We help them out by buying them.” I took the tags that Amelia had collected and handed them over to the clerk. I paused before handing over my credit card and switched to the black Amex card. “Actually, how much for the whole tree?”