22. Maggie
MAGGIE
“Holy Toledo! Look at all this stuff!”
Samantha’s eyes lit up with excitement as she looked around the dark, cold attic. It wasn’t a place she or her brother typically got to go, especially without me, so she was both curious and excited about all the Christmas treasures that were waiting for her in the various boxes.
It was a sight to see. I’d always loved Christmas. It was my absolute favorite holiday, and it tickled me that my children loved it just as much as I did. That being said, I didn’t want them to get carried away, so I warned, “You have to be careful. There’s a lot of breakable stuff up here.”
That was an understatement. Our attic was a treasure trove of holiday memories, and I cherished each one. They each held a story, a piece of our history, and I loved revisiting the memories with the kids. When Samantha found the box of glass ornaments, she gasped, “I found my snowman!”
“Great.” I stepped over and glanced into the box, making sure it was the right one. “Carry that one downstairs and put it on the table.”
“Okay, but what about the box with the fairies?”
“Um, that one’s at your father’s, remember?”
“Oh, man,” she pouted. “Why did he have to get those?”
“I don’t know, honey.” I was just as disappointed as she was.
I could still remember the day Mom and I bought them at a little shop in the mountains.
I loved them, and when I couldn’t find them last Christmas, I searched high and low for them—until I came across a picture of the kids on Chad’s Facebook and spotted them on Chad’s tree.
I feigned a smile as I told her, “I’m sure he just wanted his tree to be special and remind you of home. ”
“Well, it doesn’t. It just reminds me that he took something that didn’t belong to him.” She rolled her eyes and started downstairs. “I’m gonna get them back.”
“Just leave it, Samantha. We’ll get some more later.”
“They won’t be the same!”
I would’ve continued arguing with her, but she was already downstairs, and there was still so much that needed to be done. Nathan was pilfering around in some of his old sports boxes, so I asked, “Can you help me with the tree?”
“Yeah, just a sec.” He kept digging, then whipped out an old baseball glove that was at least two sizes too small. “I was wondering where this was!”
“I was saving it for you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I thought you could give it to your son or daughter one day.”
“They are not gonna want my dirty, old glove.”
“Well, I’m keeping it all the same.” I grabbed the end of the tree as I asked, “Now, are you gonna help me or not?”
“I’m coming!”
He rushed over and grabbed the other end of the tree, and together, we managed to get it down my death-trap set of stairs. We set it up in the corner of the living room, and the entire room lit up when we plugged in the lights. Samantha was beaming as she gasped, “Oh, Momma. It’s already pretty.”
“Well, it will look even better when we get the ornaments on it.”
“I’ll go grab the other boxes,” Nathan offered.
“I’ll come help.”
In no time, we had the rest of the totes down from the attic and circled them around the tree.
The air tingled with anticipation as we started putting various ornaments on the tree, and it wasn’t long before we had a real masterpiece on our hands.
I stood back and smiled as I told them, “Oh, my. It looks even better than it did last year.”
“Yeah, it looks pretty good.” Nathan took a step back, appraising it from a distance. “So, now what? Are we gonna put out the rest of the stuff?”
“I’ll do it. You guys can go do your own thing and...”
“No,” Samantha fussed. “I wanna help.”
“I don’t mind helping.” Nathan gave me a look. “As long as we can order pizza or some Chinese for dinner.”
“I think we can manage that.”
“Awesome.”
We dove back into the boxes and collected the rest of the decorations.
It took us a bit to figure out where to put all the Santas and snowmen, but after some careful consideration, we found the perfect spots.
I hung garland across my mantel and doorways, and with a little help from Nathan, I strung lights from the ceiling as you headed down the hall to the kids’ rooms, making it look like a Christmas tunnel.
The kids loved it all, and while it had been fun, they were quickly growing tired and hungry. “Are you guys ready for me to order dinner?”
“Yes!” they both cheered.
“Pizza?”
“I want pepperoni!” Nathan answered.
“And I want cheese!” Samantha called out as she headed to her room. “With extra cheese!”
“Okay, I’m ordering now... And just a heads up. Ronin is going to come by and eat with us.”
“Then, you better order two pepperonis because last time, he ate most of mine.”
“He does have a habit of that, doesn’t he?” I chuckled.
“Yeah, he does. And not just my pizza. He eats all the good snacks, too.”
“I’ll be sure to order extra pizza, and I’ll do the same with the snacks.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
He slipped off to his room, and I placed our order for pizza.
Within an hour, Ronin was there, and we were all sitting at the table eating pizza.
The kids were talking about all the snow we’d gotten and the snow we were expected to get overnight, and before I could stop him, Ronin was telling them all about the night he took me sledding.
“She flew down that hill like a pro!” Ronin glanced over at me with a smile. “And she climbed right back up and did it again.”
“No freaking way.”
“Yep, she did great until that last run.” He reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. “She took the dip a little too fast, and she went sailing into the air. She scared me. I thought she’d really done a number on herself, but she bounced right back up.”
Nathan turned to me, his eyes wide with disbelief. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“He’s exaggerating. It wasn’t that big of a hill.”
“Oh, don’t listen to her. It’s a beast,” Ronin teased. “I’ll take you guys sometime, and you can see for yourself.”
“When?” Nathan pushed.
“I don’t know.” Ronin shrugged. “We could go tonight if you guys are up for it.”
“Seriously?” Nathan quickly turned to me. “Can we go?”
The schools were closed for inclement weather, so I answered, “Um, yeah. I don’t see why not.”
“Yes!”
And just like that, the kids popped up from their seats and started gathering their cold-weather gear. Ronin chuckled as he stood and said, “I guess that means we’re going sledding.”
“It would appear so. Do you have the sleds with you?”
“No, but I can have one of the prospects carry them over.”
“Okay, great. I guess I’ll go get ready.”
After we cleared the table, I went to get ready.
It was pretty cold out, so I grabbed some extra gloves and put on an extra hoodie.
By the time I was dressed, the kids were ready and waiting by the door.
They were all bundled up in their thick winter coats, scarves, and waterproof mittens, and they couldn’t have looked more excited.
We headed outside, and the kids exchanged excited glances as they hopped into the backseat of Ronin’s truck. The snow-covered roads were a bit dicey, so he drove extra carefully up to the same spot he’d taken me on our first date.
As soon as we were parked, the kids jumped out and gasped as they looked over at the hill. I couldn’t blame them. It was pristine, untouched by any previous tracks, and the glistening snow seemed to beckon us all to be the first to glide down its stealthy slope.
A prospect had left four sleds over by the big tree. I grabbed them and brought them back over to the kids, and there was no missing the excitement in Nathan’s voice as he took his from my hand and announced, “This place is awesome!”
“Yeah, it is,” Ronin agreed. “I’ve been sledding down this hill since I was your age, and I can guarantee that it’s the best spot around.”
With sleds in hand, we started for the top of the hill, each step accompanied by the crunch of snow beneath our boots. Once we reached the edge, Ronin turned to Nathan with a twinkle in his eye. "Ready for a wild ride?"
“Heck yeah!”
The children's cheers echoed through the valley as they launched themselves down the hill, and I couldn’t help but cheer right along with them. They flew down that hill with big smiles on their faces, and when they reached the bottom, they jumped up and yelled, “That was awesome.”
Ronin chuckled as he said, “I think they like it.”
“They most certainly do!”
My heart swelled as I watched my sweet children hike back up the hill with big smiles on their faces. A memory was being made, and Ronin had given it to them. I stepped over to him and slipped my arm around his as I whispered, “Thank you for this. They are having such a great time.”
“No need to thank me, babe.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m enjoying it as much as they are.”
“I know.” I looked up at him, and I was overcome with emotion as I told him, “And that’s why I love you.”
“I finally did it.” He smiled proudly. “I wore you down.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, I got news for you. You wore me down, too.” He slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. “I love you, Maggie. I love everything about you, including your kids.”
He pressed his lips against mine, and I was putty in his hands.
His tongue drifted over my bottom lip, and with a slight whimper, I opened my mouth, giving him access to delve deeper.
Unconscious of my own movement, I leaned towards him, and in a matter of seconds, we were both lost in the moment.
It was like the world around us had just disappeared, and it was just him and me.
Until Nathan yelled, “Ewe, gross.”
“Sorry, man.” Ronin stepped back with a chuckle. “I just couldn’t help myself.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Nathan positioned his sled at the edge of the hill. “Just be good to her, and we’re good.”
“Planning on it.”
Nathan nodded, then jumped on his sled and flew down the hill.
He and Samantha went several more times, and then Ronin and I joined in.
Our laughter echoed through the night air as we both hurtled down the snowy hill.
Ronin was laughing like a kid on Christmas morning as he watched me fall off my sled for the second time.
We went down several more times, and it wasn’t long before a chill began to settle in.
I’d tried to bundle up, but it was colder than I’d expected it to be, and the cold was seeping through my layers.
I could tell by their rosy cheeks that the kids were cold as well.
I hated to put an end to our great time, but I didn’t want us to get sick, especially with the holidays coming.
“Okay, guys. I think it’s time to go,” I announced. “I’m about to turn into an ice cube over here.”
“Oh, man,” the kids complained.
“Your mom is right.” Ronin, noticing me shivering, nodded in agreement. “It’s pretty frigid, and it looks like the next round of snow is about to come in.”
The kids looked like they lost their best friend as they gathered their things and carried them back to the truck. Amused by their pouting, Ronin glanced over to me and said, “I don’t know about you, but I could go for some hot chocolate.”
“Yeah, hot cocoa sounds good.” I turned back to look at the kids. “How about you guys? You want some, too?”
“With marshmallows?” Samantha asked.
“Absolutely.”
As soon as we got back home, I made us all some hot cocoa and turned on the fire. I wrapped myself in a cozy blanket and curled up next to Ronin as we watched TV. I couldn’t imagine a better ending to a perfect night. I’d feared that this day would never come, but I was happy—truly, utterly happy.