“You never answered my question,” Roy said.
“What question?”
“Do you want to come over here for Christmas dinner?”
I paused before I answered. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” It sounded like he was eating.
“Because Mark’s going to be home.” The chewing stopped.
“Well, that’s good because we weren’t going to have enough food anyway.”
I laughed.
“Do you still have your little one?”
I told him I did and that we planned to keep her through Christmas. If Roy thought that was a bad idea he kept it to himself.
“I’m going to watch Jasmine tonight so my daughter and son-in-law can get some shopping done. Do you think your clan would be up for pizza?”
“I’ll need to ask Emily but she’s sleeping right now. It’d just be Emily and me tonight. Mark’s working.” If Emily was up for it, we agreed to meet after I took her to the hospital to visit Mia. I peeked in on Emily. She had to be exhausted. So much had happened in one day. Find a home for her, I prayed, watching her sleep. Please find a home where parents will love her. Mark was right. Everybody needed a break. I sat down in the den and picked up a magazine. I was asleep before I finished the first sentence.
An hour later I jumped awake. Emily and Girl were staring at me. “Girl was dreaming and she woke me up,” Emily said. “She was growling and whining because she was chasing another dog.”
“She was?”
“Yeah. She was chasing another dog because he was taking away her bone.”
I smiled at her. Her hair was a mess and her sweatshirt was bunched up over her belly button. Somewhere along the way her sweatpants had been lost and all that was left was her pink Winnie the Pooh panties.
I reached out and held her hand between both of mine. “Emily, would you like to stay with us through Christmas?”
“Can I?” Her voice sounded relieved.
“Yes.”
“Can Greta and Hal come, too?”
“That would be great.”
She lifted onto her toes and Girl nudged her with her nose. “Are we going to the hospital now?”
“Yes.”
She pulled on my hand and I got up from the chair. The doorbell rang.
It was Mom. I walked to the back door and heard her before I saw her. She was wearing a red cardigan covered with tiny bells so she jingled when she walked. “I tried calling several times but there wasn’t an answer,” Mom said, leading Dad inside. She saw Emily and raised her hand to wave. “Hi, there. I’m Charlotte. Patricia’s mom.” She leaned down toward Emily. “What’s your name?”
“Emily.”
Mom threw her head back. “Oh, what a pretty name! You know, Emily was one of the names I had picked out for Patricia. Isn’t that funny? And you know what? You’re just as pretty as your name. Isn’t she, Les?”
Dad moved in next to Mom and smiled. “Prettier,” he said. “How old are you?”
Emily held up five fingers.
“Five! That’s the best age of all.” Mom and Dad knew enough about my work not to ask Emily any personal questions beyond that.
“We took Mia to the hospital because she’s sick,” Emily said.
“Oh?” Mom looked at me.
“One of my cases,” I said.
“And we’re going to see her now,” she said, pulling on the pair of cotton sweatpants she had abandoned in the living room. She hoisted them over the sweatshirt and I smiled. She looked like a little old man.
“We won’t keep you,” Mom said. “I was just wondering if you’ve thought about going to see the living Nativity.” I didn’t do it but I wanted to roll my eyes. I thought I’d made it clear that Mark and I wouldn’t go to that.
“I don’t think we’ll do that,” I said.
“Can I go?” Emily asked.
I knew I’d been beaten. “Yes, you can go with us,” I said. I tried to usher Mom and Dad to the door.
“Do you want to see the tree?” Emily asked. Mom looked toward our backyard assuming the tree Emily spoke of was back there. Emily took her hand and led her to the living room. I could see by the look on Mom and Dad’s face that they were surprised, to say the least.
Emily ran to plug in the lights. “Now my mom can see it.”
Mom looked at me and understood why I had Emily. “What a beautiful tree,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Did you decorate it all by yourself?”
“Nope. Patricia helped and Mark did the branches way up high.”
Mom was even more surprised now that she knew Mark had helped us. She didn’t know what to think.