Page 81 of Ten Christmases Without You
They both stood there silently. Emmy hugged the bunch of bananas to her chest.
“I want to call Mitch to ask him some of these questions, but Dad says we should do a paternity test first.”
“That’s a sensible idea.”
The crease between her sister’s eyebrows made Emmy’s chest tighten. Did it really matter where her genetics came from? “Even if it came out that I’m Mitch’s daughter, the results won’t impact my life. I’m still the person I was before.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“Then why does it weigh on me so badly?” Emmy asked.
“There’s no use in worrying about any of it until we have a definitive answer.” Madison swiped her phone off the counter.“How do you even do paternity tests?” She tapped her screen a few times, that line between her eyebrows getting deeper. “This says if you only want one for personal use, you can get an at-home one. They’re available at pharmacies or online. It’s just a cheek swab and then you mail them to a lab. Who knew?”
“Right?”
Madison set her phone down and walked over to Emmy. Gently, she took the bananas from her arms and set them on the counter. With resolve, she said, “I’ll pick one up today on my way home from the hospital.”
Emmy nodded.Is this some kind of bad dream?
“We can do this together, and no matter what the outcome, it won’t change anything between us.”
“I said the same thing to Dad.”
With their father upand around, he was tired out by evening, and everyone went back to Madison’s house.
Jack turned on a rerun of last week’s Baltimore Ravens vs. Atlanta Falcons football game that he’d missed when Madison asked him to pack for their trip to New York. Charlie and the rest of the guys were in the family room hooting and hollering over it while Emmy and the other women were in the kitchen. Madison stirred meatballs in the Crock-Pot; Charlotte was on beverage duty, combining ginger ale, cranberry juice, and orange juice in a punch bowl; Elsie was making a charcuterie board; and Emmy took on the slice-and-bake sugar cookies.
Charlie poked his head in. “It smells delicious in here. Need any help?”
“Want to spoon the meatballs into the serving dish?” Madison said.
“Sure.” Charlie went over to the counter and spooned the meatballs from the Crock-Pot into a white porcelain serving bowl.
“How’s the game?” Emmy asked Charlie.
“Exciting. The Falcons made a forty-four-yard field goal, giving Atlanta a three and oh lead.”
“Sounds like the making of a nail-biter. Let’s get the food in there right away so you don’t miss the game.” Emmy wrinkled her nose at him playfully.
Charlie and the women took the dishes into the family room and set them on the coffee table. Madison added a stack of plates and a pile of silverware while Charlotte brought everyone cups of punch. Just then, the Ravens’ quarterback scored a thirteen-yard rushing touchdown, putting Baltimore ahead and sending the guys into fits of howls. A tiny hoot came from the laptop on the side table. Emmy went over to it.
“Dad?”
“Charlie put me on video chat so I could watch the game with you all,” he said. “I’m on my phone. The nurse helped me, but she said the monitor can’t show too much of an increased heart rate or she’s shutting me down.”
“I thought you were tired,” she said with a laugh.
“I slept for an hour, but if you all have football on, I’m up. I didn’t get to see this game.”
Emmy grinned at her dad. “It feels a little more normal knowing you’re with us. I wish you could be here.”
“The nurse thinks I should be able to get out of here in five to seven days.”
“That’s great news.” Emmy looked around at her family, the festive food on the table, and the glittering Christmas tree. “It almost feels like Christmas.”
“Thanks to Charlie, it’ll feel a lot like Christmas at halftime,” Uncle Stephen said.
Emmy faced Charlie to find out what her uncle was talking about.
