Page 124 of Done with You

“Ooh, I love it. Matching toques for Jordayma! Little Lassie, put on yours, too,” Rayma said, tugging the light gray toque over her caramel-colored hair. “And gloves, too. They’re so soft.” She fed her fingers into the gloves. “Bamboo?”

“Hemp,” Aiden said. “From that place downtown.”

Rayma’s eyes widened. “I love that store. Thank you so much, Big Lassie.”

Jordan had his toque on, too, and nodded. “Yeah, thanks, bro, I really like them.”

Aiden shrugged, then stood up from where he’d been sitting on the floor beside the Christmas tree. “So, French toast sound good?”

“French toast sounds fucking fantastic,” Rayma said, still in her toque and gloves. There was a knock at the door that had them all glancing at each other in confusion.

“Santa?” Rayma asked the room, heading to unlock the door. “Did he forget to leave my new Ferrari covered in bumper stickers or something?”

Jordan snorted a laugh from where he was tidying up the wrapping paper in the living room.

Rayma opened the door and even though her voice was low and Aiden was rummaging around in the fridge, he still heard her murmur, “Holy shit.”

“Mom! Dad!” Oona exclaimed, getting up from her spot on the couch. “Uh, Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” their father said, stepping into the apartment.

Their mother followed, carrying three small expertly wrapped gifts in her arms. “Good morning. Merry Christmas.”

Oona approached her parents and embraced them both awkwardly. Rayma did the same.

“Coffee?” Aiden asked.

“Please,” Mrs. Young said. Mr. Young nodded.

“Soooo, what brings you by?” Rayma asked. “You took off before the speeches, the bouquet toss, and everything last night. I wasn’t sure we’d see you guys again.”

“Yes, well, after Triss’s wedding, we realized that everyone probably would have more fun when we’re not there, anyway,” Mr. Young said. “That we’re cut from a different cloth than the people our daughters seem to like spending time with, and our idea of a good time is different from yours.”

“You could have stayed for the speeches at least,” Rayma said, her voice cracking a little. “Aren’t parents normally supposed to say something when their kid gets married?”

“We weren’t sure you would want us to,” Mrs. Young added. “After,” her gaze pivoted to Oona, “after everything that was said.”

Rayma dropped her gaze to the floor. “Right. Well,” she scuffed her slippers over to the tree and grabbed a small box from under it, then shoved it toward her parents. “This is for you.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Young said, accepting the gift and in return handing the three boxes to Rayma, Oona and Jordan.

She unwrapped the box and squinted at the certificate that was inside. “What is this?”

“I bought and registered a star for you,” Rayma said. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I thought this might be cool. It’s one you can see from your house all the time. I named it Forever Young.”

Oona opened up the box from her mother. It was also a toque, only, Aiden could tell from where he stood making coffee in the kitchen that it would be itchy. It was also a terrible beige-color. “Oh cool. Thanks, Mom.”

Rayma had the same toque, and Jordan’s was just a slightly darker shade. He and Rayma pulled off the ones Aiden gave them and tugged on the ones from her parents, but their smiles were fake and Aiden’s neck started to itch just thinking about the scratchy material against their skin.

“We came here to apologize,” Mr. Young started, which caused Oona and Rayma to both go slack-jawed. “For sending you to Pasha without talking to her first. And for making you feel like we gave up on you. That wasn’t the case. We just … we didn’t know what to do with you or how to help. We just knew we needed to get you out of Baltimore and away from that—”

“Gang,” Mrs. Young said.

Rayma nodded.

Even Aiden could tell that their apology wasn’t really an apology at all. They were simply justifying their behavior. What the fuck?

“You’ve all grown up to be successful young women and we’re very proud of you,” Mr. Young said. “We just … don’t really know you.”

---