25 - Brie
The Calm Before The Storm
~
Brie
For once, everything was settled. The wind had stopped, the tension was diffused, and no one needed me to play nurse.
I walked into the main room feeling light. Lexi sat reading the news out loud from Tobias’s laptop.
“Extreme weather conditions expected in the northeastern part of the US with snowfall predicted at 3ft and winds higher than 35 mph,” she read seriously. “What’s mph?”
“Miles per hour,” Gunner explained. “It means the wind will be blowing very hard and very fast.”
I looked out the window, and it was calm outside. Still a little cold, still a blanket of snow on the ground, on the roof, and on the trees, but no sign of a blizzard. Nothing as extreme as what Lexi had just read.
“Don’t let the calm fool you. This is where the saying ‘the calm before the storm’ comes from,” Gunner said, taking my coffee cup from Gideon and giving it to me.
I took a sip and warmed my hands against the mug.
The smell of cinnamon and warm spices that Gideon added to the oatmeal filled the kitchen and spread into the living room.
He was learning, no more bland breakfasts.
I was learning too. We used fewer ingredients and better seasonings.
The unpredictable weather made stocking up on food harder.
Another trip into town was not on the cards for a while, so we would have to make do with what we had.
“If we’re going to be locked in, then we need to get a jump on Christmas preparations,” I announced, digging through the drawer for place mats.
“Christmas?” Tobias asked, wide-eyed. “We haven’t done Christmas here before, and we didn’t do any Christmas shopping on our last trip.”
Of course he was panicking. Tobias had become more relaxed about things, but the thought of an extravagant spread still set him off.
“Relax, nothing major. I was thinking we could go outside and find a Christmas tree. I figure with all the pines growing out back, Lexi will have her pick of the very best. Picking a Christmas tree was a big deal when I was growing up,” I explained.
I finished laying the table just as Gideon brought steaming bowls of oatmeal and set them down in our places.
“Please, Daddy,” Lexi squealed. “We can make decorations and put them up and make cards!”
She rushed about the living room, already collecting all her art supplies. She grabbed colored paper from the bookshelf, then opened a drawer and brought out pots of paint and tubes of glitter. Everything was set up on the coffee table before Tobias could even answer her.
“Only after breakfast,” he relented.
Gideon and Gunner seemed relieved they didn’t have to add their two cents to Lexi’s pleading this time and sat down.
“We didn’t really do holidays when I was growing up, but we never missed a Christmas,” Gideon said.
The morning felt nostalgic. We traded stories of our best and worst Christmas gifts, the rush of leaving on vacation, or getting a Christmas tree too late and having to make do with sparse, scraggly little trees weighed down with decorations meant for something bigger.
“Well, I guess Lexi and I will have something else in common,” Gunner laughed. “Our parents planned far ahead for Christmas, and like me, princess, you have a whole forest of the best pines to choose from right in your backyard.”
Lexi nodded proudly. “Yes, and I know exactly what to look out for.”
Tobias looked from Lexi to me and smiled. “Then we‘ll have to get moving on breakfast and head out before the weather takes a turn.”
There was a harmony in how we all moved around the cabin, passing the dishes to the sink and packing them away. After tidying up, we passed coats from the hook to whoever they belonged to, and like a well-rehearsed chorus line, we headed out.
Gunner and Gideon led the way, already inspecting the surroundings, while I helped Lexi with her coat.
“Careful,” Tobias said, taking my hand as we walked out. “The ground is icy.”
Lexi ran to catch up with Gunner, who hoisted her onto his shoulders. As we walked deeper into the woods, she touched the trees, feeling the pine needles curiously.
The smell was familiar. It was the smell of Christmas all over America, but this was different.
In many ways, it was better. It was like living in a snow globe.
Real trees, growing sporadically instead of in perfectly straight rows.
Thick snow, a cold breeze; it was the white Christmas I would have wanted as a little girl.
And watching Lexi live it made me happy in an unexpected way.
I guess the whole situation made me happy in an unexpected way. I was far from home, with three men I loved and a little girl who had stolen my heart.
“What about this one?” Lexi said, pointing to a tall pine tree that was obviously much too big to fit inside the cabin.
“Maybe something smaller,” Gideon suggested.
“And easier to carry,” Tobias laughed.
“Worried you won’t manage it, old man?” Gunner laughed. “Don’t sweat it. I’m here. I’ll get it for you.”
The ribbing came easily and sometimes out of nowhere.
Small, insignificant tasks could turn into a competition: who was stronger, who was faster, and who had more endurance.
As entertaining as it was for them, it was also reassuring for me.
I hadn’t disturbed the balance. I had just become a part of it, and that felt good.
Gunner let Lexi down from his shoulders, and she ran ahead before stopping in front of a tree that was twice her height, had full, bristly branches, and a sturdy, thick trunk.
“I want this one!” she said proudly. “It’s perfect, and the perfect tree makes the perfect Christmas.”
Gunner walked around the tree, nodding his approval. “You’re sure? Because once we’ve cut it down, there’s no turning back.”
Lexi inspected the tree some more. She touched the branches and stroked the trunk, the wheels of indecision turning in her little head.
“Now, who’s worried?” Gideon laughed. “You think the trunk is too thick for you to cut through? Come on, Gunner, it’s not like you to back away from a challenge.”
It was enough to get Gunner going. He smiled as if he knew he was going to win, though there really wasn’t anything to win.
“A challenge?” He winked at me. “I was just thinking of Tobias’s back and your weak knee, but if you’re up for it, let’s get Lexi her tree.”
Tobias took off his coat, folded it carefully, and handed it to me. “My back has never felt better. Stand back, and we’ll see who the old man really is.”
Lexi squealed and circled back to me excitedly. She held my hand and led me to a rock far enough away to be safe, but close enough to watch the men bring down the tree.
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have a Christmas,” Lexi said, squeezing my hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was glad I had come too, but I had already said that many times before.
“Sometimes my dad forgets to have fun,” she continued.
I watched her little face grow serious. Some parts of her were much older than her years, and those parts were finally agreeing with the parts of her that were just a little girl.
“Sometimes he gets lonely, and I think he misses my mom. But it’s different since you came,” she smiled. “He’s not so worried all the time.”
I sat down on the rock and gestured for Lexi to sit down next to me, and we watched the men work quietly for a while.
“Your dad just needed someone to help him, that’s all. Now that I’m here, he has more time to think up fun adventures for the two of you,” I said.
Lexi twisted her lips in consideration. She weighed my response as she did with a tricky math problem.
“That’s not all,” she said. “I think my dad likes you.”
We shared a smile, and both turned to look at Tobias. He had undone the buttons of his shirt, sweat saturating the front of his vest as he chopped at the tree’s thick trunk with Gideon and Gunner watching and waiting for their turn. Gunner is counting out every swing.
“I’m glad he likes me. We can all be great friends,” I smiled.
We had crossed the perimeters of friendship; we were far more than that, even though I couldn’t find the right label for what we were. Friendship was the best way to describe it to Lexi.
“No,” she giggled. “Gunner and Gideon are my dad’s friends. I mean he likes you, likes you.”
I blushed; I couldn’t help it. My cheeks just flushed, and I felt them warming from the inside. Lexi didn’t skip a beat.
“I think you like him too,” she giggled. “I think you’d both be happy if you stayed. I’d be happy too.”
I hadn’t considered that I’d need Lexi’s approval, but I did, and knowing she approved was a big deal. Little girls read about evil step-mothers, instead of becoming fiercely protective of her father, she was open to letting me in.
“Does that mean you’ll stay?” Lexi looked up at me with her big brown eyes, waiting for an answer.