West Coast Winter

Make The Yuletide Gay

Jaclyn
I wake up to the sound of mom yelling, "Get the door!"
I stumble out of bed in my black sweatpants and blue Nirvana t shirt. My hair is piled on top of my head, but I can tell I am a mess. I think maybe at this hour, it would be my sister Kristin coming off her shift at the hospital. Sometimes she comes by the house in the morning to have breakfast and chat with mom. I'm wiping sleep from my eyes as I grab my glasses and make my way out of my room and down the hall.
I open the door and I almost immediately shut it when I see Charlie and Henry there. I am horrified because I haven't  even looked in the mirror and I'm not wearing a bra under my t shirt.
"Oh God!", I say  as I partially shut the door and stick my head out.
"No, it's Charlie", Charlie greets me with a chuckle.
Henry follows suit, "Good morning, Jackie."
"Good morning. I'm not quite dressed for company. Uh, what's up?", I ask partially hiding my face behind the door.
"We were wondering if you and Nina wanted to go to breakfast with us this morning and then maybe go with us to buy Christmas decorations?", Charlie offers.
"Um... sure. I'm sure I look a mess right now. Could you give us a few minutes to get ourselves together? We slept in today", I say with a blush of embarrassment creeping up to my cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I should have called first. Yeah, we can wait in the car. Come on, Henry", Charlie says as they start to walk over towards his silver Lexus.
"No, come in. I'll make some coffee", I say opening the door wider and crossing my arms over my chest.
"Are you sure?", Charlie asks.
"Yeah. Come on. Henry, do you want some orange juice or milk?", I offer.
"Milk, please", says Henry as he shuffles past me into the dining area.
I think Charlie can tell I'm a little frazzled. I'm trying to cover my chest and pour milk into one of Nina's tumblers without spilling anything. Charlie takes the milk from me and says, "I got this. You go ahead and get Nina up and get dressed."
"Thanks. This is so embarrassing. I'm sure I look scary right now", I say backing up towards the hallway.
"I like this look on you. Nirvana was a great band", Charlie says with a smile and gesturing with his beautiful fingers at my raggedy band t-shirt and sweatpants before handing Henry the cup of milk.
Those God damned dimples.
"Um...help yourself to the coffeemaker if you want. Everything is right there. Spoons in that drawer. Creamer in the fridge. Mugs galore in the cabinet above", I say pointing out everything as I back up and turn to race down the hall.
I go into my room and strip down as quickly as I can. I throw on new underwear and a fresh bra. I grab my red Buffalo check blouse and distressed skinny jeans. I dress as quickly as I can. I pull on my no show socks and short brown boots. I go into Nina's room to wake her.
"Nina! Wake up! Henry and Charlie are here!"
At the mention of that last bit, Nina springs from her bed. I turn with an outfit for her in my hands. I quickly help her get dressed in a long sleeve Disney Princess t shirt and blue leggings. I shove her soft brown boots on and push her into the bathroom to do her hair. I glimpse myself in the mirror and I am horrified. My hair is sticking out along the edges of my hair line and my bangs are sticking up too.
I hurriedly pull Nina's hair into a top knot with a blue bow in front of it. I do the same for myself and straighten out my bangs. We both brush our teeth and I hurriedly put on a quick coat of make up, eyeliner and lip gloss. There's no time for mascara and perfect lipstick and liner. Nina had already taken off into the living room and I can hear her, Henry, and Charlie talking about school.
I grab my purse and phone before going into mom's room to tell her we're going out.
I walk into the living room to see Charlie fully engaged in a conversation with the kids about the upcoming school play.
"What character are you playing Nina?", Charlie asks over my Dia De Los Muertos coffee mug.
Nina excitedly answers, "I'm Tinkerbell."
"That sounds exciting! Do you get to wear fairy wings?", Charlie inquires further.
Nina says matter-of-factly and gesturing with her dainty little hand, "Of course. And I get to wear a cute green tutu. The best part is the pixie dust."
"Well of course. You have the power to make everyone fly, right?", Charlie keeps going and I don't have the heart to interrupt this conversation.
"You also have to think happy thoughts. It doesn't work without happy thoughts. Of course, this is all pretend", Nina says as if she's teaching Charlie something.
"Are you sure it's pretend? Because I happen to have real pixie dust", Charlie says.
"No you don't. You're too big to be a fairy", Nina giggles.
"Says who?", Charlie laughs and pretends to sprinkle pixie dust on Nina's head. "Now close your eyes and think a happy thought."
Nina obeys and Charlie says, "Have you got it? Do you have your happy thought?"
Nina is giggling with her eyes closed, "Uh huh."
Charlie scoops Nina up and flies her around the living room. Her laughter is infectious and Henry is watching this with wide eyes.
"See? You think happy thoughts and they lift you up into the air!", Charlie says the Peter Pan line and my heart feels like it's going to explode.
He sets Nina down slowly and she clings to his pant leg to steady herself.
"That was fun. Again! Again!", Nina giggles uncontrollably.
"We'd better get going if we're gonna beat the Sunday morning crowd", Charlie says as he looks up and notices me sipping my coffee at the counter.
He looks so good in his red and black striped sweater and dark blue jeans. Here we are, matching again. I break out of my reverie and grab my purse.
"I'm so hungry, I could eat a cow!", Henry exclaims.
"I highly doubt that", Charlie remarks while holding open the front door for us all to walk through. The kids race ahead to climb into the car. I go to the passenger side and Charlie quickly cuts me off from opening my own door. He opens the door for me with a small smile playing at his lips.
"Thank you, Charlie", I say returning a smile as I get inside the car that smells like Tide laundry soap. I notice he keeps those little square air fresheners on the AC vent. So that explains it.