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Previous Chapter: Well. . .Congratulations
Lacey sat in a corner deep behind the Christmas tree at the Campbell farm and let everything wash over her, every sense engaged. She was so close to the branches, surrounded by them, dazzled by the lights and the glitter, like she was looking at them through a bokeh effect filter. She squinted to send rays of light shooting between all the bulbs. Somewhere, a music box was playing. Paper crunched under her hand, sharply creased. There were voices everywhere. She smelled turkey and stuffing and butter and pie. Dave kept telling her to live in the moment, so she was. She loved this moment, stillness in the middle of a spinning, beautiful world. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall and just listened.
Two women were talking in low voices, one quavery, old sounding, the other one a bit brusque.
“Lilly’s with her mum today, Pam?” said the elderly woman.
“That’s what the court decided.”
“How you feeling about that?”
“Well, I hate it, Dottie, you know that.”
“But surely it’s good for her to spend some time with Mumma.”
“If she lets one tiny hair of our girl’s head come to harm . . .”
“Well, I know, but she won’t.”
“There were reasons she was with us . . .”
“But the courts decided . . .”
“Court’s jerking that baby around . . .”
“Bring her over to my house tomorrow, won’t you? I picked her up some things.” The older woman’s raspy voice was rough yet kind.
“Of course,” the woman’s tone softened a bit.
“How’s Austin taking it?” the older voice said after a pause.
“Broken up. Absolutely broken up. She’s his little pal, you know.”
“I know it, I know it. And after his problems with the service . . .”
The other woman snorted indignantly. “More like their problems with him . . .”
“Well, he’ll find his place, Pam, he’s a good boy.”
“Look, I’m his mother and I love him, but I know what he is.”
“He’s your son, Pam. He’s our Austin.”
“I know what he is.” The voices retreated towards the kitchen.
A hand touched her shoulder and Lacey opened her eyes. It was Dave with a piece of pie in each hand. “You want pumpkin or custard?”
“Some of each?” She smiled distantly.
“Sure, I’ll cut them in half.” He held out a bite of the custard pie to her on a fork and when she opened her mouth for it, crust crumbled all over and they laughed. She was happy at that moment, too.
The room grew more raucous as everyone came back into the room to gather around the tree. Isla saw her and smiled, but was carrying a huge basket of gifts and nodding as her mom gave her instructions. The adults “didn’t do presents,” but there were packets of cookies and loaves of homemade bread, and whenever such items were given out, there was one with Lacey’s name on it. It made her happier than anyone could guess. She and Dave had planned to spend the day with Dad, but an ice storm had intervened and they thought they’d better not drive so far. Lacey’s mum was with Maddie and her kids, and Lacey just didn’t want to face that on Christmas Day. She’d talk to her tonight, she told herself. So, at the last minute, she and Dave had accepted the Campbells’ invitation—it was getting to be a Christmas tradition with them.
A young man sat down on the nearby couch and stretched out his feet, warm in wool socks. A baby who was just learning to walk was pulling himself along the couch and grabbed the young man’s knee as if it was an extension of the furniture. The young man said, “Hey there!” The baby looked up, suddenly realizing that he was touching a living thing. Startled, he let go and started to fall, but the man grabbed his arms and helped him balance, smiling. “Hey, you. Hey, you.”
“Austin being good to you?” The baby’s mother, Austin’s cousin, sat down beside them, speaking in an unnatural nasal tone. The baby smiled and clapped, tottering over for real this time onto his diapered bottom. Austin and the woman laughed, and she started to give a brownie crumb to the baby.
“Hey, let me. Hey, fella,” Austin bent down to the baby’s face, a big smile on his freckled face as the baby held out his arms.
Lacey saw Austin smiling at the baby and she smiled, too.
Then Lacey saw Austin’s face and stopped smiling. “Oh!” She exclaimed softly, and Austin looked at her. He saw her and laughed, a little startled.
“Hey, there’s another present under the tree!” he said as a friendly gesture. But Lacey didn’t smile; she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them.
Austin was still smiling, but with a little less wattage. “Hey,” he said, still friendly, “hey, have we met?” Lacey looked at him with big eyes and didn’t answer. Finally, looking quizzical, Austin turned his attention away from her awkward silence and went back to playing with the baby, as if nothing had happened.
Next Chapter: The Greater Good
Copyright 2025 Jennie Robertson