24. Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas Without The One You Love
CHRISTMAS JUST AIN’T CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THE ONE YOU LOVE
K ayn
“So, what say you now, sir? Are holidays still overrated?”
“Baby, I promise you, if I’d known all that I was missing out on through the years, I would have celebrated sooner.”
“Well, I’m glad that I could be a part of helping you find the magic of Christmas again.”
“You’re a vital part of that. I’ve heard that when women are sick with a fever or pregnant, that’s the best pussy ever. I think they lied.”
“Excuse me?” Kandi started coughing as she choked in disbelief at my statement as we departed my private plane and walked toward the waiting limo.
Rather than fly back to Cherokee Springs, I decided to fly into Mistletoe Falls first. I wanted to surprise my aunt and uncle and thank them for their hospitality.
“I’m just saying. Holiday pussy has got to be the best. Women are happy, anticipating gifts, and full of the spirit and joy of the season. Y’all will give it to a man in any position at any time and as much as he wants, especially when your eggnog is spiked and you’re feeling good.”
“Emmanuel Kayn.” She chuckled.
“You know I’m telling the truth. Girl, the way you backed that ass up in the shower this morning, and then how you rolled it in the back of the limo in New York on the way to the airport, and then let’s not talk about last night in bed the way you rode this dick.
Your ass showed me all the appreciation.
Got me over here wondering what I need to gift you next. ”
Kandi giggled her ass off. I knew what I said wasn’t that funny, so it only told me that I’d hit the nail on the head. She was ready to work it out in bed for another present.
I took her hand and helped her into the waiting car.
The ride to my aunt and uncle’s place only took twenty minutes.
I knew that my cousins would all be there, too, celebrating the holidays.
I hadn’t told anyone that I was coming, so it would be a surprise.
But they deserved to see me in a good space since they had as much to do with Kandi and me coming together as our lie did.
When we arrived, the house was lit up, and I could hear the music coming from within. I knew that my aunt had opened the windows as she usually did when she was cooking for a lot of people. I could smell the delicious aroma of the food from the sidewalk, and my stomach growled.
“Watch your step,” I warned Kandi as we made our way up the freshly shoveled steps. Most of the snow had been cleared away from the main paths, but you had to watch out for that ice that inevitably popped up and made surfaces more dangerous than the snow.
When we got to the top of the steps, I knocked twice and then pushed the door open. No one ever locked their doors in Mistletoe Falls. Camden was the first to spot us as we walked through the door. He smiled and shouted, “Uncle E’s back!”
Though technically I was their big cousin, his parents had told them to call us aunt and uncle since we were their elders. Byron and Libby said it was much more respectful.
Cayden came running from the kitchen with a large smile on his face. “Hey, Uncle E.”
“Hey, buddy.”
I rubbed both the twins’ heads, and they ducked from underneath my touch. I chuckled.
“Thought you were in New York,” Camden stated.
“We were. We’re on our way home and thought we’d drop in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas,” I explained.
“You got more gifts?” Cayden asked.
We had all exchanged gifts prior to Kandi and me leaving town.
“Stop being rude, boy,” Byron stated, walking into the room. He appeared to be upset and about to say something, but Myra ran into the room with a loud greeting.
“Hey,” Myra greeted, running into the living room and hugging Kandi and me.
Olivia and then Chauncey arrived next, and I noticed an odd look on Chauncey’s face. Aunt Frances and Uncle JR came next.
“What are you doing here?” My uncle’s tone was far different than it had been when I left. If anything, it sounded like it had the day that I left eighteen years ago and vowed never to return. I knew from a phone call that I made that my mother was still alive, so it couldn’t be that.
“Uhm, . . . I dropped by to wish y’all a Merry Christmas again before we headed home. I finished everything in New York, and it went well.”
My uncle was still scowling at me.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when he remained silent.
“No, it’s not. I welcomed you into our home, glad to see you after all these years, and you stood in my face for a week and lied to me.”
“Uncle JR, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t you dare play stupid with me!” His words and tone hurt and made me feel the rejection of my childhood all over again.
“Honey, calm down,” Aunt Frances warned.
“Twins, go to the theater room,” Olivia stated.
When they left, my uncle looked at me and asked, “Why did you lie to us? You didn’t have to lie and say that girl was your wife, knowing that she wasn’t.”
I felt a panic rising within me, and my heart ached at the look of betrayal my uncle showed. I hadn’t meant to hurt him, and I wondered how he knew.
“I didn’t mean to lie to you, Unc?—”
“You disrespected me! I never lied to you about anything, no matter how hard it was to tell you things.”
“But Uncle JR, I only?—”
“I don’t want to hear it! No matter how hard I try to do right by you, you shove it in my face how little you could care.”
He spun away from me and refused to let me say anything.
I felt the familiar rage of my youth rising within me again.
I was tired of everyone writing me off, and it really hurt that Uncle JR was doing it.
He was the one who always stood by my side, only making demands when he felt it was imperative to my survival. But I knew that I deserved this.
“JR,” Kandi called out as my uncle crossed the threshold.
His hands were bunched into fists at his side, and his posture was rigid but upright. He didn’t turn to acknowledge her, but he didn’t continue leaving either.
“You have every right to be upset with Kayn. What he did was wrong, but he only did it because I encouraged him to. It wasn’t his plan to come to Mistletoe.
We were on our way to Atlanta when the car broke down, but you know that.
We tried finding another place to stay. When we stopped at the diner, the waitress told us to come here.
“Kayn didn’t want to, and he didn’t tell me why at first. When he finally did, I encouraged him to come. But . . .” She swallowed and looked at me. Tears shone brightly in her eyes.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me. “You ain’t gotta do that, baby. It’s all good.”
“No. I told you that I’d always have your back, and that’s what I meant.
” She turned away from me and back to him.
“Kayn has worked hard to build his business to prove to you all that your hard work for him wasn’t in vain.
He did it so that you would see that he wasn’t a lost cause.
The only thing he’s ever wanted was to be loved and accepted, especially by you two, since his parents couldn’t love or accept him.
When you told him that he would never have love, he believed that.
He’s worked hard to prove to you all that he isn’t a failure.
Just because he didn’t get it right in his personal life doesn’t make him a failure.
That’s why he didn’t return home. I came up with the idea to pretend to be Kayn’s wife so that you all wouldn’t judge him or he wouldn’t feel less than. ”
“Honey, we never judged you,” Aunt Frances stated as Uncle JR turned around to face us.
“Is that how you felt, boy?” Uncle JR demanded.
Kayn nodded.
“I’ve never looked at you as being less than.
You were equal to all the other kids around here, even if you had a chip the size of Texas on your shoulders.
Frances and I loved you just the same. I felt you would never have love, not because you didn’t deserve it but because you were afraid of it,” he continued.
I nodded again. “I didn’t have love, Uncle JR.”
“You’ve got it right there, son,” he stated in a weary voice as he pointed at Kandi.
I knew that he was right. She was everything that I ever needed, but I wasn’t certain how long she could hang around with all the baggage I needed to unpack.
Uncle JR walked up to me, hugged me, and stated, “Don’t you ever lie to me again. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir. Unc, how did you find out?”
“It was my fault,” Chauncey spoke up. “But I didn’t intend for him to find out,” he rushed to say when I frowned.
“Nah, he was asking about our conversation on the sidewalk that day. He heard more than we knew, and he was asking if it was true. He was saying it was hard to believe because it seemed real and saying how y’all must have loved each other anyway, when Daddy walked in,” Byron explained.
“And you know Daddy ain’t no joke. When he hears something, he’s like a dog with a bone and won’t let go until you tell him,” Myra explained.
“It’s all good. I shouldn’t have lied,” I admitted.
“Now, come on and get some Christmas breakfast.”
“I’d rather not. I really need to get her home to her family,” I stated and nodded at Kandi, whose hand I held.
“Well, I’m fixing to-go plates. Come on, Myra and Libby, and help me,” Aunt Frances stated.
Within ten minutes, she had plates wrapped and ready to go for us.
Everyone surrounded us, hugged and kissed us, and wished us a Merry Christmas again.
I made sure to say goodbye to the twins again and gave them five hundred bucks a piece before we headed back out.
Forty minutes after our arrival, we were back on the plane again and headed to Cherokee Springs.
An hour after that, we departed the plane again and stood at the private airport. I walked her to the car that I hired for her as the driver loaded her luggage into the trunk.
Placing a hand on each shoulder, I stared into her eyes.
“Thank you for being here with me. I needed you, and I appreciate all that you’ve done for me. Go be with your family and enjoy, sweet baby.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“No. This is your time. I’ll be fine.”
I kissed her lips softly, and Kandi threw her arms around me. She held me tightly and pressed her face into my chest. Slowly, I lifted my arms and held her close. I didn’t want to let her go.
“Thank you for sharing your Christmas with me, Kayn.”
I smiled, kissed her forehead, and released her. I watched her get into the car before I closed the door on her. When the driver pulled away, I remained in my spot as I watched them until they disappeared.
I had nowhere to be and no one to spend the day with. It had quickly become just another day. Christmas was only Christmas with Kandi in my life.