Page 1 of Trusting Trey
Christmas Eve
Present Day
Someone was shaking me gently and I opened one eye to see my husband looking at me from the driver’s side of our SUV. “Hi, we’re at Sugar’s,” he said, pointing at the large log cabin lodge in front of me.
I stretched a little and looked around, trying to remember what we had been doing. “Did I fall asleep?”
Trey laughed. “You’ve been out since we left the tree farm. I didn’t wake you because we have a long evening ahead of us yet and I know you’ve been tired lately.”
He was right, I have been tired and it was probably because I couldn’t keep the leg cramps at bay at night. It was seriously cutting into my rest.
“I’ll be good now. Thanks for letting me catch a few winks on our anniversary.” I leaned over the console that separated us and kissed him, the hot chocolate we had at the tree farm still lingering on his lips.
“Mmmmm, I can’t wait to get you home so I can wish you a happy anniversary properly,” he moaned, holding my face to his.
“I think you covered that this morning already,” I laughed, but he brought his lips right back to mine.
“You can think what you like, but I’m looking forward to bedtime,” he teased.
There was a knock on the window and a voice came through the glass. “Hey, are you two lovebirds getting out anytime soon?”
We both looked over sheepishly to see Van, Sugar’s husband, standing by the car. I pushed the door open and grinned at him. “Cut us some slack; it’s our anniversary.”
He helped me out of the car and gave me a quick hug. “It may be your anniversary, but it’s also cold, so head into the lodge and Trey and I will tackle the tree.”
“You won’t hear me complaining about that,” I said as I headed up the stairs to the front door.
My husband Trey met Sugar when she came to him as a new amputee, he introduced us and we’ve been friends ever since. We’ve helped each other through difficult times right here in this lodge. Whenever I felt lost, Sugar was always there to bolster my spirit. Her ballroom was a safe place to go when I needed to forget about the world. Sometimes, when I was tired and sore, Trey would bring me here, stand me on my weakened legs and sway with me to the music. Those days were behind us now, but we keep coming every Christmas Eve and I can’t imagine spending our anniversary any other way.
Tonight would be a wonderful time of family and celebration. Every Christmas Eve Sugar throws an extravagant party for the family, even though most of us aren’t blood related. Sugar’s family died in a car accident thirteen years ago and since then she’s built her family from love rather than blood. When she met Van three years ago, she found her soulmate. His sister, Lillie, who he raised since she was a small child, moved to Duluth, too. A year later she married Max, one of Sugar’s students, and they started a family of their own.
There are plenty of parental figures, too. Max’s parents always come to celebrate with us as do Sugar’s surrogate mom and dad, Sharon and Lenny. Grant and Carla, friends from the hospital where Trey works, and their twins also spend the evening with us. Grant’s father is a pastor and he enjoys leading us in the telling of the Christmas story every year.
Tonight I knew the ballroom would overflow with the amount of love we shared. The chances were high that with all the babies here and the toddlers running around, my husband will yearn even more for a child of our own. A child we had yet to conceive, and not for lack of trying. Maybe that’s why for the first time in thirteen years, I couldn’t drum up much holiday spirit.
“Hi, Allie,” Sugar said, holding the screen door open for me. I stepped over the threshold and she pulled me into a hug immediately. “Happy anniversary,” she whispered into my ear.
I leaned back and took my coat off for her to hang in the closet. “Thanks. We found a superb tree for the ballroom. Trey and Van are bringing it in now.”
As it is tradition for Trey and I to go to the tree farm to cut our own tree, we started cutting one for Sugar each year, too. We all hang a wish on it for the coming year, either for ourselves or someone else, and she keeps them until the next year. We read them again on the next Christmas Eve and report if the wish had come true. I didn’t know what I was going to wish for this year. It seemed like the possibilities were endless.
“I can’t wait to see it! I have the stand all ready and waiting. Everyone is in the ballroom,” she said, motioning me through the door. She put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed me a few times. “Trey says you aren’t doing well right now. Do we need to talk?”
I stopped walking and looked at her, shaking my head a little. “I don’t know why he would say that. I’m fine.”
“He said you’re hardly sleeping and just seem off,” she answered.
“I guess that’s true, but we’ve changed the medications I’ve been on for many years, so we have to expect some trial and error. Don’t worry, really, I would tell you if it was something else,” I promised. That was a lie though. The truth is I wouldn’t tell her if it was something else. Tonight is a night to celebrate family and I wasn’t going to be the one to bring the party down.
She paused and looked deeply into my eyes, wondering if what I said was true. We could hear the noise from down the hall, but she leaned into my ear, her voice serious when she spoke. “If you think for a second I actually believe that, then you don’t know me as well as I thought you did. I’ll let it go for now, but after the holidays we’re going to talk. Got it?”
I nodded my head once, so she knew I appreciated that she was willing to back off on the interrogation tonight. When we walked into the ballroom, it was total pandemonium. There were little ones running everywhere around their parents’ legs and some were boogieing down on the dance floor to the Christmas music. Van and Trey were cutting the ropes on the tree and letting the branches fall open while Max and Lillie unwound the Christmas lights. This was going to be another Christmas Eve for the books.
I looked down and saw Faith at my feet, waiting for me to pick her up. I swooped her up into my arms and hugged her tightly, her pudgy little hands patting my back. “Merry Christmas, Faith Finnegan.”
She took my face in her hands and smiled a toothy smile. “Mew kissmas!”
I felt that little bit of sadness in my heart fall away, as I hugged Sugar’s little girl and joined in the fun. When I set her back down on the floor she ran to my husband, and I watched as he swung her up into his arms. He kissed her tiny cheek, tickled her belly, and then wrapped her up in a hug. When Faith’s little arms went around his neck, and she rested her head on his shoulder, I lowered my head. I didn’t want anyone to see the tears building in my eyes from the sweetness, and pain, that scene brought to my heart. I turned away from them and forced a smile to my face while I accepted anniversary wishes from everyone.
