25. Eden
25
EDEN
E den couldn’t help but smile as she walked home from school the next day with Jack walking his bike beside her. Everything just felt good.
“Tomorrow is the last day of school before Christmas ,” Jack said happily. “And Grandma and Grandpa are coming.”
Eden bit her lip. It had been snowing a bit on and off for weeks, but something was different today. It was almost like she could taste it on the air.
“The weatherman said there might be snow,” she warned him gently. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
She didn’t want him to get his hopes up only to be disappointed by some uncooperative weather.
“Okay,” Jack said, but he didn’t seem worried about it.
The smile on his face made her feel good inside. Everything was going so well for them. Maybe he was right not to worry for once.
She still couldn’t believe that she and Axel were official, or that it was mainly thanks to Jack. Without their bond, and without what Axel had tried to do for him, she and Axel never would have confessed their real feelings.
Well, he confessed his, she reminded herself. I didn’t admit much myself.
She had a sense that Axel understood why she might be slow to make herself more vulnerable. But she knew she needed to open her heart to him as soon as she could.
“We’re having our movie night tonight,” Jack said, as if reading her mind. “Coach said he was bringing the best hot cocoa ever.”
“That will be so much fun,” Eden told him.
They’d stayed up past Jack’s bedtime last night talking about football camp, so movie night had been postponed until tonight.
“Can we decorate our tree before he comes?” Jack asked hopefully.
“Of course,” Eden told him.
They had certainly waited until the last minute for it, but the tree looked so pretty even without decorations, and it filled the house with a delicious fragrance. It felt like Christmas even without the baubles and lights.
When they reached the house, Jack carried his bike carefully onto the porch as Eden opened up, glad that the decorations were already down from the attic and ready to go.
“What movie should we watch?” Jack asked.
“I was thinking we should choose a Christmas one,” Eden said. “How about Home Alone ?”
“Really?” Jack asked.
He always wanted to choose that one, but until now she hadn’t thought he was ready. She told him that she didn’t like all the violence, but the real reason was that she was afraid the idea of being left home alone during the holidays would be a sad one for a kid who was only celebrating with one other family member.
“Sure,” she told him.
That earned her a whoop from him before he thundered upstairs to wash up and put on Christmas pajamas like he’d been planning all day.
She washed up at the kitchen sink and then pulled the lid off the bin of Christmas decorations and dug around in it to find the lights.
An hour later, she and Jack were standing back to admire their handiwork. First, they had wound the lights around the little evergreen, then they had added the family decorations—homemade items Jack had made in preschool, photo-ornaments, and individual balls they had chosen, plus trinkets they had picked up on vacations. There was still just enough room for a few of the shiny red and silver balls.
“What do we do with the rest?” Jack asked sadly.
“Why don’t we put them in a glass bowl on the coffee table?” Eden said. “That would look so festive.”
“And they won’t be sad that they didn’t get hung up this year,” Jack said as he ran off to the kitchen for the bowl.
Eden’s phone rang, and she got excited when she saw it was her dad .
“Hey,” she said. “Are you two ready to fly out in the morning?”
“I’m so sorry, honey,” her dad said sadly. “Our flight was canceled because of the weather headed your way.”
“Oh no,” she said. She had been prepared for that possibility, but it was still disappointing to hear it. “That’s too bad.”
“Who is it?” Jack asked, trotting back in with the bowl. “Is it Grandma?”
“Yes, it’s Grandma and Grandpa,” Eden said.
She could tell that Jack understood what was going on just by the tone of her voice. His shoulders sagged, but to his credit, there were no tears.
Her dad asked to talk to him, and she held out the phone.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Jack said bravely as he took it.
Eden watched as his frown turned into a smile. A moment later, he began chuckling.
“Okay, Grandpa,” Jack said. “Okay, I love you too. And I’ll see you as soon as you can.”
Eden smiled down at him, wondering what her dad had said.
“Hi, Grandma,” Jack said happily. “I miss you too.”
There was another pause.
“Okay,” Jack said, handing Eden back the phone.
“Hey, Mom,” Eden said. “I’m so sorry you can’t make it.”
“It’s better than getting caught in a snowstorm midair and having to redirect to who knows where,” her mother said cheerfully. “Now, I wanted you to have the heads-up that your father just told Jack that you already have the presents we sent for him, so I hope they’re well-hidden. And of course we’ll be out there just as soon as the weather allows, even if it’s New Year’s, okay?”
“Okay,” Eden said, feeling like everything was going to be just fine now that Jack was content again. “I love you. Can’t wait to see you.”
She ended the call, and then sat on the sofa next to Jack.
“I’m sorry they can’t make it,” she told him gently.
“They said they’re still coming,” he told her, leaning against her shoulder. “As soon as they’re allowed.”
“They sure are,” she said. “And Grandma said that you already know they mailed your presents ahead of time. So you’ll still be able to unwrap them, and maybe we can do it on a video call.”
He nodded against her shoulder and when she glanced down, he was smiling.
“We still get our movie night,” he said.
“That’s right,” she told him. “But let’s go fix dinner first.”
They had eaten their dinner and it was fully dark out when Eden’s phone buzzed again. She let herself hope for a moment that maybe her parents had booked another flight for the morning.
Then she saw it was Axel.
Axel
I’m so sorry to miss our movie night, but I got called in to drive a snowplow tonight. Please tell Jack how much I wanted to be there.
“ A snowplow? ” Eden said out loud, hopping up to take a peek out the window, where sure enough, a sheet of white was coming down fast and hard.
“Whoa,” Jack said from beside her. “I think I’m having a snow day tomorrow.”
“I think so too,” Eden told him, watching the snow slant down furiously.
“That means I can stay up extra late for movie night,” Jack said gleefully.
“You sure can,” Eden told him carefully. “But Coach can’t make it, because he has to drive a snowplow tonight.”
“He can’t make it?” Jack echoed, sounding immediately despondent.
“The town is relying on him,” Eden said. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and without the snowplows, no one would be able to see their families on Christmas. Coach is doing important work tonight.”
“That’s good,” Jack said quietly. But she could tell he was still disappointed. First her parents, and now Axel—it had been a tough night for the little guy.
“Well, in a way it is good,” Eden reminded him. “Because you haven’t finished that special Christmas present you’re making for him, and now you can work on it tonight if you want.”
“Will you help me?” he asked her, his eyes lighting up .
“Of course, I will,” she told him as she wrapped him up in a big hug.
He squeezed her tight and her heart ached that the little boy wasn’t seeing everyone he wanted to see tonight and tomorrow.
I’m still going to make sure he has the best Christmas ever, she promised herself.