Page 5 of A Grinchmas Delight

Jane rushes everyone to finish eating because the game is coming on and Mom lingers to clean up the table. I’m the last one in the dining room and begin helping my mother pick up half-empty trays of food from the table.

“You don’t have to do that, baby. Go watch the game with your brother and sister and nieces and nephews.”

“It’ll still be on in a few minutes. It’s just starting. Besides, you always clean up behind the family.”

“That’s what mothers do.”

“Well, today you get a helping hand. I’m not allowed to look at my phone anyway, so may as well make myself useful,” I joke, carrying three trays to the kitchen.

“Oh, stop. I didn’t say you weren’t allowed. You’re grown and you pay the bill. I simply don’t want it out at my dinner table, especially on Thanksgiving Day.”

I shake my head at her and grab a spray bottle of cleaner and a washcloth. I wipe down the table and toss the cloth into the hamper in the laundry room.

“How did I get so lucky to have such a great kid?” Mom asks, pulling me to her side.

I press a kiss to the top of her head. “You taught me how to be a good man.”

She smiles a gentle smile and lingers with her head leaned into my chest for a moment before she returns to cleaning up the kitchen. Cheering erupts from the living room and I know that the Bears have scored.

“Go on, you’re missing the game.”

I laugh and duck out of the kitchen. In the living room, Jane, Johnny, both of Jane’s sons, her husband Derek, and Johnny’s wife Isabel are all sitting around the tv, yelling.

“‘Bout time you decided to join us!” Johnny shouts, throwing his hands up at the tv.

“Someone had to help Mom clean up.”

Jane rolls her eyes. “Oh yeah, Momma’s golden boy to the rescue.”

Mom hollers from the kitchen, “I heard that!”

The room erupts in laughter as Mom enters from the doorway. Thanksgiving Day has been the same in this house every year, for as long as I can remember. My dad was a huge Bears fan and my mother has instilled it into the three of us that we are also huge Bears fans.

Jane took it the most serious, attending every game she could as a teenager and watching every single game on tv. The day is filled with so much joy that I almost forgot that I hate the holidays. Almost.

When the game is over, Johnny and I retrieve the Christmas tree and decorations from the attic and we all spend the evening putting up the tree and decorating while drinking eggnog. Well, they drink eggnog. I drink rum with a splash of eggnog. It’s killing me not to check my phone. Not that I expect a text or anything. Hell, I never even responded to Dayra earlier. Which is fitting for the way that I treat her. I’ll admit, I’ve treated her not so well for the entirety that I’ve known her.

There was something about her the first day she arrived at Harper & Harper Associates. Mark hired her without my input and from that moment, I felt like she tried to slip under the radar. To get in without my approval. Then when I met her, she was so smug and she was actually good at her job and that made me despise her even more. Because she was supposed to be terrible and I was going to fire her, but instead she’s amazing at what she does and our numbers went up immediately once she started managing our social media and all the rest of our advertising. She’s a fucking genius and that gets under my skin like you wouldn’t believe.

I did feel two feet tall when she busted her ass in her office yesterday because of me. Then I drank too much and let that guilt weigh on me and when she wouldn’t answer to let me know if she was okay, I had to see her to make sure she wasn’t hurt. And when she opened that door wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts, it short-circuited my brain. I’ve never seen her in that little clothing and I was outraged at how it made me feel. I almost forgot that I can’t stand her and her smug little fucking face with her dimples and those perfect hips.

I shouldn’t have even been driving but I was an obsessive, crazed man and I needed answers. Was it illegal to locate an employee’s address from the company files? Probably. Did I give a fuck? Not a single one.

“Are you partaking in Black Friday shopping?” Johnny asks, quirking a brow in my direction.

“As soon as you do,” I counter. He flips me the bird and I laugh as Mom smacks him upside his head.

“Ow!” He rubs his head and ducks away from her.

I stifle a laugh as Mom plops on the couch between us. Her greying hair and the fine lines by her eyes remind me that time is passing quickly. She still has so much life and spunk that it’s hard to imagine she’s gone through an entire season of fighting breast cancer two years ago. She’s so strong and resilient and I find myself clinging to the moments I get with her a little more-so than I would have before her diagnosis. She’s been in remission for a year and says she feels great, but I still worry.

“It’s getting late and I’m about to go get ready for my bed. This old gal is exhausted from cooking and cleaning up after you heathens all day.”

“Hey, I helped clean!” I shout.

“And I helped cook!” Johnny interjects.

Mom laughs and shakes her head. “Yes. You did. Now go on, get. I’m done with you today.”

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