Page 2 of First Christmas

Nat was already curled up in bed, burrowed under the blankets with her bathroom trash can beside her. Setting the sick basket on the bed, I grabbed the thermometer and moved her dark hair off her sweaty forehead. I scanned her temple and groaned at the one hundred and two degree temperature that greeted me.

“I think you’ve caught the flu.”

Her best friend’s family had been down with it the week before. It had made the rounds through the schools. My best friend Monica was the school receptionist and had warned me before it took her family out of commission. Lexi was Monica’s daughter, and Nat’s best friend.

I handed Nat some Tylenol and ducked into her bathroom to get her sink cup and fresh water. I ignored the toothpaste in the sink and hair ties strewn across the floor and vanity. Reaching over I shut off her hair straightener, noting to give her another safety lecture when she was feeling better. Walking back into her room I handed her the cup and gel caps she’d laid on the nightstand. Making sure she took them and was laying back down, I pulled my cell phone out and shot a text to my best friend.

Ah, the perks of being besties with the school receptionist meant I didn’t have to hold to speak to someone.

I smiled. My best friend was the absolute best. She’d had a rough time of it the past few months. Losing her husband of over a decade in a tragic situation. A tragic situation that I still felt like was all my fault. It was something I was struggling with daily even though she constantly assured me she didn’t hold it against me. I still woke up with night terrors about the entire situation. I couldn’t imagine how she was coping with things and being left alone with her two daughters. I wondered when Lucas was going to grow weary of being woken up to me thrashing around or screaming.

I didn't feel like I deserved that love. Sighing I glanced at my daughter and saw she’d drifted off to sleep. Tip-toeing out of the room, I left the door ajar and called my fiancé.

“Hey, gorgeous,” came his gravely, low voice as I held my phone to my ear.

“Hey, baby,” I vaguely remembered him kissing my forehead and whispering he loved me before leaving at four o'clock a.m, “Natasha has the bug.”

“Nooooo,” he groaned, “Is she okay? Does she need anything? Do you need anything? What do I do?”

Laughing softly, I stepped into the kitchen and over to the coffee pot, pushing start. This would be his first illness with Natasha. I often forgot how over the top he could be with her. It was like she was his newborn baby. I had to keep reminding him that as a teenager she could use that against him.

“It's probably just the flu, Lucas. I’ve given her Tylenol and she’s already back asleep. It kind of has to run its course, sweetheart. I was just letting you know I have to call in. I may have to make up the day I’m missing next week when I was supposed to be on vacation.”

“Oh. Well that’s okay.”

That’s okay?I thought to myself. He’d been on me for months to make sure I’d taken the week off for myself. I shook my head, brushing it off.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked, watching the coffee drip and willing it to go faster. Caffeine was very important to me.

“I feel fine. Right as rain. I don’t remember the last time I was sick,” he assured me. I could hear the buzz of the station in the background and my heart clenched. I still expected to hear Monica’s husband, Paul’s voice in the background making some smartass remark, or grabbing the phone to talk to me, just to irritate Lucas.

“Yeah. Me neither. I’ve been pretty good about not catching anything Nat has had. Just a couple of colds.”

I knocked on the wooden, cutting board counter of the kitchen bar, just in case I’d jinxed myself.

“I’ll see you around one o'clock this afternoon?” I asked.

“Yep. I’ll stop by the cafe and bring home some of their chicken noodle soup for all of us. I’ll get extra for Peanut.”

My heart melted hearing this man’s nickname for our daughter. He hadn’t had a hand in making her but you couldn’t tell she wasn’t his. She was meant for him, just like I was. I rubbed my hand over my chest glancing around the airy kitchen. It could use some straightening as well.

“That sounds great. I’m going to call work and let them know. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

I sighed, pouring some sugar into the bottom of my coffee mug. I usually drank iced coffee, but the weather outside was gray and the forecast finally called for snow. It felt like a morning for hot coffee.

As I called into work and waited for the coffee to finish, I cleaned and straightened the kitchen. I at least had a day to clean up and organize the house I felt was in chaos. Even if it was going to end up right back to its current condition within a week.

A couple of hours later, I tip-toed into Nat’s room to check on her. I’d managed to clean and organize the kitchen, the hall closet, and the bathroom I shared with Lucas. If Nat hadn’t been sick, I’d have tackled her room too. It was the only other spot in the house that really needed it.

Laying my hand on her forehead gently, I breathed a sigh of relief that she felt cooler, though still warm. This bug seemed to only last 24-48 hours. Monica had said Lacey and Lexi had only thrown up once or twice. It was the fever and exhaustion that had hit them all.

I sighed, thinking of my friend as I left the room again. Lucas and I had a very special Christmas present planned for her. It was our first Christmas as best friends, and her first holiday season without her husband. I winced as I thought about the past again. My therapist said to move on, but it was hard when there were so many reminders in my day to day life.

After thirteen years of running and fear, I’d met Lucas and Monica. They were the best things to ever happen to me outside of Natasha. Unfortunately, my ex-husband Clark, and his best friend, Larry had finally caught up with me. Things had gotten very dire and resulted in Paul losing his life.

Seeing me meet Lucas and starting to move on had been Clark’s last straw. He and Larry had gone as far as to kidnapand torture me. When Paul had been the one to find me at the old house on the abandoned farm, Larry had overtaken him, and he’d been killed in action.

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