Page 71 of Endless Harmonies

“I feel like someone ran me over,” I giggle. “I’m fine, just sure to be sore tomorrow.”

“He’s bigger than you and you weren’t expecting him to throw you around,” Orion murmurs. “Give yourself a pass. Can we be done with the psychotic parents now?”

God I hope so. Usually I’d have a nightmare, but the guys keep the boogie men away.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Derek

Christmas Day

Ican’t believe today is Christmas. The house has been transformed, and Lennon looks lit up as she sings to holiday music on the radio. The guys and I made a pact not to ask her if she’s okay, because we are taking this day by day.

She’s been going to the therapist twice a week because she’s afraid of herself. Lennon will stare out the window, and I know it’s because both of her parents suffer from mental health issues. She’s worried one day her mind will fracture and she’ll lose herself. We just continue to show her that she’s stronger than they were.

I know that I planted that thought in her head. I have been since she was thirteen years old, and that’s a long time to have a mantra running through your head. I was wrong though. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with my beautiful girl.

“Lennon needs to take control,” Turner murmurs as he watches her now on the floor playing with the kids. Layla is watching her closely as well. She’s about to go spend some time with Tyler, but I know she’s worried about her after what happened with James. “She’s spiraling.”

Apparently he’s never been violent against women before.

“Let’s open some Christmas presents, shall we?” Jordan suggests with a smile. He’s wearing a festive vest and white button down underneath it with slacks that should look way more nerdy than it does. He mentioned that he has a date later and plans to change before he goes out.

I’m glad he’s living his life too, but he looks three seconds away from canceling those plans as he watches Lennon. I don’t know what Turner has planned, but we probably need a house cleared of family members for it to happen.

“Sounds good,” I agree, moving to the tree. Together, we ooh and ahh over presents.

Lennon opens a box with pretty notebooks and breaks into a smile. “These are gorgeous, and going to be well needed. I have some words bouncing around in my head. Thank you, Roark.”

He simply inclines his head. “You’ve been pretty quiet for a while, Lenny. It’s time to get those words out of your mind and onto paper. Sharing may help others.”

The smile she gives him loosens the knot in my chest. All I want is for Lennon O’Reilly to be happy.

“Alright. Orion, will you open your present from me next?” Lennon asks.

Orion looks at her for a moment before picking up the gift. He once told me that he hasn’t really received gifts since he was a kid and his mother was alive. His dad wasn’t really someone who did gifts. No birthday presents or holiday. O looks like he’s trying to process.

Slowly opening the gift, his lips part as he glimpses a part of it. Hurrying, he rips open the paper like one of our children inevitably will when they’re old enough to open their own presents. Inside lies charcoal, paint, and sketch paper.

“Lennon,” he breathes. “This is amazing, thank you.”

“You support my art, so I will of course support yours,” she says simply. “Merry Christmas, Orion.”

Blinking furiously, O gets up and kisses her hard. “Merry Christmas, Beautiful.”

As we finish up, I see that Lennon bought me a new lens for my camera, a keyboard for Layla, new planner for Jordan, a special guitar pic for Turner with roses on them, and a new Spanish cookbook and cast iron pan for Roark. We all bought Lennon presents as well, but she knocked ours out of the park. I feel as if we could do more.

Pulling Turner, Orion, and Roark to the side, I explain my plan.

“I want to make little I.O.U. ornaments for our tree,” I explain. “I want them to be meaningful and special for Lennon, but mine isn’t safe for family members so maybe we can give it to her after they leave? We have left over cardboard ornaments from earlier in the month.”

“Yeah, I like this idea. Lennon gave us such meaningful gifts, I got her some of her favorite lotion,” Turner sighs. “I feel like we fell down on the job here guys.”

“Not too late to fix it.” Roark shrugs. “We all in?”

“Aye,” we murmur. Together, we get things together and hide the ornaments until Layla and Jordan leave for their respective dates. The twins are napping in their swings, and Lennon is writing in her new notebook.

She’s so chill when it comes to gifts, and I could see the joy in her eyes when I gave her sweaters that I knew would look beautiful on her. Orion gave her a new blanket that was crocheted, gray and lavender, and perfect for snuggling out on the back porch, or the sofa. They were all bought with her in mind, but I know there’s experience gifts that we can give her that’ll mean more.

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