Chapter Five
Neva
With their household well on track for the holidays, this hadn’t been the evening Neva had expected. To her relief, Angie seemed back to her old self the next morning when they had breakfast together before the twins woke up, going over the to-do list for the day.
Speaking to Christina had apparently helped her, and Angie didn’t mention the mysterious missing pets any longer.
Neva thought back to how long it had taken them to decide to get Brad…never mind two of them, and a kitten. With a couple of colleagues on her project out sick, Angie had taken on a lot more work. She clearly hadn’t gotten enough sleep or rest, and Neva was determined to make up for it.
Baking cookies? She shook her head at the thought. Why go to the trouble when you could just buy a delicious bag at the bakery? They had decided early on to be careful with sweets around the kids. Christmas was an exception, sure, but they still didn’t want to overdo it.
Angie was going over her lists, looking both surprised and delighted that there was nothing left to do.
“When did we get all of this done?” she asked, meeting Neva’s gaze with a smile. “This is good. Now we only have to get the rooms ready for our parents.”
The relief she’d felt since waking up this morning was about to vanish again.
“What do you mean, love?”
“They’re still coming for Christmas, right? To celebrate our anniversary and the girls’ birthdays with us? Not to mention, Christmas?”
“Where did you get that idea? We’ll do lunch with your parents on Christmas Eve as usual. Why did you think my parents would come? It’s just too far. We said we might try for Spring Break next year, remember?”
At this point, Neva wasn’t sure what Angie remembered.
She didn’t want to be impatient with her wife, especially not now, but how had she come up with that elaborate story?
Angie was too kind, and too much into her perfect Christmas to joke around with any of it.
Neva couldn’t help feeling melancholic. She hadn’t seen her parents in months, and the girls were growing up so fast. It would be nice to have everyone over sometime.
“Spring Break,” Angie repeated. She took a sip of coffee, winced, and got up to refill both their cups. “Okay. And we do this every year on Christmas Eve.”
Since she had returned from work last night, almost every sentence directed at Neva had been a question. This time, her voice went up only a tiny bit, as if she was resigning to her fate.
“We do. The five of us go out for brunch on Christmas Day and have a quiet holiday while the kids are off from school. Just like we always dreamed. Right?” It was starting to feel like she was the one whose story didn’t make sense, her tone bordering on desperate.
Beyond bizarre, having to explain their familiar routines.
But whatever happened to Angie, they would be able to fix it.
Because they could fix everything if they stuck together and always told each other the truth.
At least it was what had made them get through many challenges, and into this beautiful home with their family.
It was what they instilled in their children.
“Right,” Angie said though she didn’t sound convinced. “These are all done,” she said with regard to the lists. “What is the plan for today?”
“I checked with the babysitter, and they’re free tonight. We could go out, and maybe see a movie?”
“Yes. That would be nice.”
Once again, Angie picked up the sheets of paper filled with items in her immaculate handwriting.
“I can’t believe…When did we have the time?” she wondered out loud, again.
“Your time management is excellent. That is why. And I hear someone else is ready for breakfast.”
Neva got up to put the twins’ breakfast on the table. She wasn’t sure what to make of the surprise in Angie’s expression, though no comment followed. Elsa and Fiona walked in, all smiles, and took their seats at the table.
“Hey. Mandy is coming for your piano lessons today. Are you excited?”
“Yay!” they echoed.
Angie choked on her sip of coffee.
***
Later, she caught Angie listening in awe as the twins practiced We wish you a Merry Christmas with Mandy. The woman had her work cut out for her, but she was good with children, and Neva had to admit they had made a lot of progress since the beginning.
They wanted to give them as many options as possible, even if it required a lot of crunching numbers and overtime work.
Neva was lucky to be able to work from home, so she could watch the twins.
They were starting to ask a lot of questions about Caron, but in Neva’s opinion, it was too early for them.
Having Christina away for the semester was still hard.
She frowned as she remembered Angie’s bizarre reaction the other night.
Had she really forgotten that their daughter was in boarding school? Everyone had reassured them…To be on the safe side, she would make sure Angie saw their family doctor after all. Before Christmas, so they could all enjoy the holidays without worrying.
Angie had become aware of Neva’s scrutiny and came over to her. Up close, she looked more troubled than Neva would have liked.
“I know they’re not quite there yet, but I promise, they will get better.”
“That’s not it. If they are never great at it, but enjoy it, we’ll be okay. They know that, right?”
“Of course, they do. What kind of question is that?”
Angie didn’t elaborate.
“I don’t think I feel like a movie tonight. Would it be okay if we just went to dinner later?”
“I don’t mind. Whatever you prefer.” She didn’t want to sound like a broken record, but she had reason for concern, didn’t she?
“Thank you. By the way, what did you think of Nadine?”
The question caught her off guard.
“I…I don’t know, why? She seems nice. And if Mrs. Gabriel gave her the house, she must be.”
“Yeah.” Angie seemed to be far away.
“In any case, you must have talked to her more than I have.” Neva had seen her move into the house the previous week, and she knew the jewelry store Nadine ran in the small shopping center close by. They hardly went though, too many crowds for Angie.
“Maybe. There was something she said…Never mind. What else is on the agenda for today?”
“I have a bit of work left, after that, perhaps a walk with Brad, and then we get ready for dinner?”
“Sounds nice,” Angie said, though the wistful tone of her voice didn’t quite fit. What was going on? “Why don’t you go finish up, and I’ll find something to wear for dinner?”
“I’ll do that.”
Neva was even more worried when she came back downstairs an hour later and couldn’t find Angie. She didn’t want to scare Fiona and Elsa who had finished their lesson and were playing in their room.
She didn’t want to leave them alone either.
Before she could talk herself into a full-blown panic, she saw Angie through the window, striding purposefully towards their neighbor’s house.
In equal parts curious and concerned, Neva remained behind the window and watched her ring the doorbell and wait.
Nothing happened. Angie rang again, her posture radiating impatience.
She knocked on the door. Neva winced when she realized Angie wasn’t wearing gloves.
After a few more minutes and a couple of more attempts later, she turned around.
Neva retreated from the window so it wouldn’t look like she was spying on her, which was exactly what she was doing.
Angie returned to the house with an expression of frustration and resignation. Neva waited a few heartbeats before she met her in the hallway.
“Where did you go?”
“Just outside, getting a bit of fresh air.” Angie shrugged. “Is there anything you need?”
Yes. I need you to be all right. Neva stepped forward and embraced her.
“Nothing in particular. I missed you.”
She expected Angie to laugh, after all she’d been only a few footsteps away, but instead she remained tense in Neva’s arms.
“I know the feeling,” she said. “It’s nice outside though. Let’s go walk Bert…Brad.”
“Yes, let’s do that. I’ll get the twins.”
After spending almost an hour in the winter wonderland created by three days of almost constant snowfall, Neva could almost convince herself that everything was back to normal.
Brad enjoyed the snow, making the twins laugh. They admired the decorations in the neighborhood. Nothing was too overdone or weird, everything tasteful and cozy. Just like they liked it.
“I know it’s close to dinner, but how about a hot chocolate for everyone?” Angie suggested, startling her.
What was it with all these new habits? Maybe they were old habits, but they had to stick to the plan, didn’t they?
“We could do it tomorrow,” Neva suggested. “This close to dinner we’ll just spoil our appetites.”
“Sure.” Angie looked more disappointed than the girls who kept walking between them. “Tomorrow.”
She had never mentioned why she had gone over to Nadine’s.