Meet You There

Meet You There - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Christmas morning was exactly what I had hoped for. I woke up early and wandered out of my room, to see if Caleb and Fox were awake yet. The apartment was dark, besides the lights from the tiny Christmas tree in the corner of the main room. I put on some coffee and ripped open a package of store bought cookies. I pressed play on my Spotify Christmas playlist, then waited.

   We opened a few gifts, ate the cookies and reminisced. Caleb told a story about a Christmas when I was five. He was only a teenager, and he said he bought me a stuffed dog, because I wanted a real puppy but my mom said no.

   "Fluffy?" I asked him, confused. "I thought Santa brought that for me."

   "I let Santa take the credit," Caleb told me, then laughed.

   I still had that old stuffed dog on my bed until we moved away from Belport, to Harriston. I wasn't sure what had happened to him, but it was probably sent to the donation bin. I had really loved that dog. Knowing that he was from Caleb made it even more special.

   "My little sister got this Barbie Dreamhouse Mansion one year..." Fox began, sipping coffee. "It was so amazing. But a few months after Christmas our house flooded and it got destroyed."

   "That's so sad," I said, biting into another cookie.

   She nodded. "I was like ten. So I saved all my money from chores and babysitting and bought her a new one. It was way smaller - but she was so happy."

   "Ah, you miss your sister?" Caleb asked, looking at her.

   "Of course. But she chose the fancy life," Fox said, letting out a laugh. To me, she said, "She's an amazing violinist. Plays in orchestras in New York and all over."

   "Wow, that's really great."

   "Maybe we can see a show of hers, when we go visit the campus, Iris," Caleb suggested, tossing some wrapping paper across the room.

   I'd bought him a coffee mug that had music notes on it, and for Fox I'd found a really pretty scarf at Anita's. They had given me a gift card to the bookstore across town, and a necklace. They had a few gifts for each other, too. It was such a great, simple, Christmas morning.

   I called my dad that afternoon, still in my pajamas and some new Christmas socks that Caleb had tossed into my gift.

   "Merry Christmas, Iris," he answered after a few rings. "I was just thinking of you."

   "Merry Christmas," I repeated. "How's your morning?"

   "Good. Quiet. I'm having dinner in awhile, with some friends from work."

   "Oh, that's great. Thanks for the Starbucks gift card," I told him.

   He had sent an envelope with a card for Caleb and a gift card for me, earlier that week.

   "You're welcome, honey." He sounded a bit sad.

   "I miss you," I added, because I knew it would make him feel better.

   "Oh, I miss you too. Maybe we can arrange a visit, during your spring break?" he suggested.

   I swallowed hard. He and I both knew I would not be going back to San Diego, especially not for spring break. "Maybe," I said anyway.

   "Okay, well, I won't keep you. Tell Caleb I said Merry Christmas."

   I sighed. "Okay, I will."