Shattered Dreams (20 page)

“
Raelynn is actually
spending Christmas Eve with her grandparents this
year.”  

“
Then you should come. You
know Donovan and Vincent already.” 

“
Ok, text me the time and
the address. I may be able to stop over. Thanks.” 

“
All right, I’ll do that.
See you next week.” 

The next week goes by with me spending the
weekend at work and Raelynn spending the weekend with Molly’s
parents. I haven’t seen or spoken to Emma; they haven’t been at
taekwondo since James became ill. Her friend Brooke and Brooke’s
two sons have been there. I did ask how James was feeling and she
said much better. She also added they should both be returning to
class after the holidays.  

It’s Christmas Eve and I am debating on going
to Mason and Angel’s Christmas Eve party. I always miss Molly this
time of year. I miss her all the time, but the holidays are always
the hardest. I dress in a black suit with a red tie, which seems
festive enough. I also stop by and grab an expensive bottle of
white wine to take with me. I have no idea what to bring, Molly
always took care of that.  

I pull up at Mason and Angel’s house; their
gate has been left open. I pull into the large driveway. I consider
turning around when I see all the cars parked in the driveway. Some
of the cars I know, and some I don’t.  

I get out of the car,
straighten my tie, button my jacket, and stand tall. I am greeted
at the door by Vincent’s wife, Brea. I walk into the house and
automatically see Emma and James off to the side of the room. I
also see Donovan and Sara standing near Vincent.
Great, a
couples’
party,
I think to myself. I walk further
into the house, thinking this is a huge mistake. I’ll make an
excuse and leave early. Angel walks up and hugs
me. 

“
Hi, Alec, so glad you could
make it. Please make yourself at home.” 

“
Here, Angel,” I say handing
her the bottle of wine. “Thank you for inviting
me.” 

“
Thank you, I’m glad you
could make it. I really never had a chance to thank you for
everything you did for me when I was in the
hospital.” 

“
No thanks needed. I’m just
glad it all worked out.” I smile. Mason must have told her I was
her doctor while she was in critical care.  

“
Well, thank you and thank
you for the wine. Mason is setting up the bar if you want to head
out there. Do you already know Vincent and
Donovan?” 

“
I do; we are racquetball
buddies.”  

“
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Let
me introduce you to my aunt and uncle.” 

“
We already met in the
hospital. I’ll go find Mason. Do you want me to take this with me?”
I ask, pointing at the gifted bottle of wine. 

“
Yes, please, and help
yourself to drinks and appetizers.” 

I walk in and see that Mason is refilling the
ice and adding more drinks to the bar.  

“
Nice
party.” 

Mason looks up and smiles. “Glad you could
make it.” 

“
Thank you for inviting me.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to stay.” 

“
Why, are you on call?” he
asks, picking up the empty boxes. 

“
No, it looks like a
couples’ party, that’s all.” 

“
Alec, it’s not. But I must
warn you now, I think Angel has something up her sleeve for you and
her friend Emma.” 

We both laugh and Angel walks up to us.
“Mason, would you pour me a glass of wine? And Alec, would you mind
helping Donovan and Vincent put the train set together for
James?”  

“
No, Angel, I don’t mind.” I
look over and smile at Mason, who is
laughing.  

“
Alec, take this with you
and give it to Emma.” 

 “
What are you
drinking?” Mason asks.  

“
I’ll have a Bud Light,
please.” 

“
I’m going to go and give
Arturo his gift. See ya,” Angel says as she walks
away. 

“
See, man, I told ya. If
Angel gets too pushy, let me know.” Mason says, handing me my beer
and Emma’s glass of wine. 

“
I will, this should be
interesting.” 

“
To say the least.” Mason
laughs.  

I walk over and hand Emma her glass of wine.
Donovan and Vincent are sitting on the floor with train tracks
scattered around them.  

“
Thank you, Alec,” Emma
says, taking the wine glass from me.  

“
You’re welcome. James is
feeling better, I see.” 

“
Much better, thank
you.” 

I take a drink of my beer
and sit down on the floor
next to James. He
looks over at me and smiles. “Feeling better?” 

“
I am, thank you for the
balloons and the stuffed ninja.” 

“
You’re welcome. Raelynn
picked those out for your son.” Emma stands and walks over to be
near Angel. 

“
Is she here?” James asks,
looking around the room.  

“
No, James, she is with her
grandparents tonight. Will you be back at taekwondo next
week?” 

“
Yes, sir, momma wanted to
make sure I was all better first.” 

I look around the room and
Angel and Emma are standing in the other room
.
Emma has her eyes on James and is
watching him closely. “Well, that’s good, we miss you
there.” 

“
Thank you,” James says,
trying to attach the train tracks. 

Once everything is put together, we put the
batteries in the train and watch it go around the track. Emma is
sitting beside James and Angel is kneeling down near
James.  

“
Look, Miss Angel, look how
fast it goes.” 

“
Wow, James, that is very
fast. I’m so glad you like it.” Angel
smiles.  

“
Momma said my Daddy loved
trains when he was my age. I think he would like this
train.”  

I look at James; he has a sad look on his
face.  

“
Buddy, I think your Daddy
wishes he was here to play with you right now,” Angel says with
tears in her eyes. 

Emma is hugging her son, and I am amazed at
how well they both are adjusting. Emma is 26 and raising a
four-year-old son alone. Angel stands and walks out of the room. I
turn my attention back to the train set and try to lift the somber
mood. 

“
Look, James, it has a
whistle,” I say. James watches me push the button and the whistle
sounds. We both smile and he comes over to me and sits
down. 

“
May I try?” he
asks.  

“
Sure, it’s this button
right here.”  

I look over at Emma and she
is smiling at James. She has a stray tear on her cheeks that she
wipes away. James and I play a few more minutes before someone
announces that the food is ready. James turns off the train set and
walks over to his mother. I stand up from the floor and Emma walks
over to me. “Thank you,” Emma says, looking over at
James.
 
 

Emma

Alec, James, and I walk into the formal
dining room where a large spread of food is on the table. I
expected Alec to walk away from James and me, but I am pleasantly
surprised when he stays with us. We gather into a circle to say a
prayer when James walks over and squeezes in between Mason and
Angel. I smile at the way Angel and James have bonded. I watch as
Mason and Angel both hold hands with James. I reach my hand out for
Alec and he readily accepts it.

Once the grace is said, we begin to eat.
Angel brings me over another glass of white wine and asks James if
he would like to be her ring bearer in her wedding. I smile and he
looks confused. She explains what it means and the importance of
the job of the ring bearer, and James soon realizes this is a big
deal and agrees.

After dinner and dessert, we help with the
clean-up and Alec and Mason puts James’ train set back into the
large box it came in. We say our goodbyes and Alec carries the
train set out to the car for us. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” I
say, as Alec maneuvers the large box into my trunk.

“
I’ll follow you home,” Alec
states.

“
No really, that’s ok, I’m
fine.” I finish buckling James into his booster seat.

“
Do you have someone to help
you with this when you get home?” he asks, looking at the trunk of
the car where the large box is.

“
No,” I say as Alec holds my
car door open for me to get in. “I can manage that
myself.”

“
I’ll follow you there. Do
you have everything you need?” he asks, still holding the car door
open for me.

“
Yes” is all I can
say.

He closes my car door and walks back to get
into his car. I watch him with my mouth open. I find him very
attractive and his demeanor is very sexy. I think I like his
in-control, do-what-I-say tone. He flashes his headlights to alert
me he is ready. I look back at James; he is already falling
asleep.

I drive home in silence, looking back
periodically at James and the car following closely behind us.
Although I can’t see Alec because of the darkness, I get goose
bumps thinking about him following us. I pull up into the driveway,
and before I can get out of the car Alec is opening my car door for
me.

“
I’ll get James while you
unlock the door,” he says.

I look in the back seat; James is sound
asleep. I reach for my purse and the unopened gift Angel sent home
with me. I stand there and watch as Alec gingerly removes James
from his booster seat and holds him close to his chest. James
automatically wraps his arms around Alec’s neck and I smile. He is
the first man to hold James like that since Max died.

I walk up the few steps
leading to the porch, unlock the door, and turn on the lights. Alec
is right behind me. He follows me down the hall and into James’
bedroom. He stops at the doorway and waits for me to turn the
covers down. I lean up from
the bed and see
Alec staring at the wall-mounted train that goes around the
perimeter of the room. I just smile because I already know this
train is impressive.

Alec finally looks at me and smiles. He walks
over to the bed and lays James on it. I reach into the dresser and
get a pair of pajamas out to change James into.

“
I’ll get the train set from
the car,” Alec says.

“
Ok, thank you. I’ll be out
in a few minutes,” I say, holding out the pair of Christmas pajamas
for James to wear.

When I walk out into the living room, Alec is
sitting on the floor with the train set out of the box and
scattered around the floor. His suit jacket and tie are off and
laid over the arm of the chair. I clear my throat and he looks up.
“What are you doing?” I ask, although I know the answer.

He laughs, “Putting this together, unless you
want to.” I look down at all the small pieces and decide I would
rather have him do it.

“
Coffee, beer, or
wine?”

“
Beer.” He
smiles.

“
Beer it is. I’m going to
change first, just give me a minute.”

“
Good idea, this may be an
all-nighter.”

“
Really?” I ask,
concerned.

He smiles and winks at me. “No, relax, I’m
just kidding.”

“
You’re not funny.” I walk
out of the room and realize I am still smiling. This is the first
Christmas Eve without Max that I am not crying. I change into a
pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I usually wear Max’s
sweatshirts, but I decide to wear my own tonight.

I walk out of the bedroom and peek into the
living room. Alec is still sitting on the floor working diligently
putting the train set together. I pour a glass of wine for myself
and get a bottle of beer for Alec. After putting some grapes, cubed
cheese, and crackers on a plate, I carry the tray of food and
drinks into the living room and place it on the coffee table.

I sit on the floor and hand Alec his unopened
bottle of beer. “Here ya go.”

“
Thank you,” he says, taking
the beer from me and opening it. He looks at the tray of food and
then at the glass of wine.

“
How’s the train coming
along?” I ask, looking at the partially put-together
train.

“
Not too bad,” he says,
taking a long drink of his beer.

I look around the floor and I don’t see the
instruction booklet anywhere. I smile because I already know he is
looking at the picture on the box as his guide. I look inside the
box and pull out the instruction booklet and wave it at him.

“
What?” He
smiles.

“
Do you need
these?”

Alec smiles and proudly looks at the train
set on the floor. “Does it look like I need instructions?”

I smile, too. I look at the train, the box,
and then the instructions.

He laughs, “No, Emma, the
answer is no. I
do not
need instructions to put this together.”

“
I was just checking,” I
say, taking a drink of my wine.

We sit on the floor together and when the
train set is almost done, I get up and get Alec another cold beer.
I walk into the spare bedroom and start to get James’ wrapped
Christmas gifts from the closet. I put the larger wrapped gifts in
the back of the Christmas tree and then the smaller ones towards
the front. I bring out a bag with other gifts and place it on the
floor. I empty the bag of toys and batteries and set them neatly
together. I want to make sure all the gifts have batteries already
in them when James opens them.