Paved with Gold

Tearful Goodbyes

János walked home from the bakery that night feeling indifferent. Of course he was angry, and quite shaken after being pinned to the wall by a burly man. György's words lit a fire within him. A fire to drive him to be better, to be resilient in a new world.
That nights events solidified that him and Évike were never meant to be. Even if János lived the rest of his life here, György would never let them live happily, and Évike would never disobey her father like that. János hoped that she married someone worthy of her, and he hoped that she was happy.

János got home after dark and found his family sitting at the table like usual. He wasn't going to tell them that György called him a filthy, low life peasant. They wouldn't take too kindly to that, and it would spoil his last couple days with them. He joined them, sitting across from Zsuzsanna with his mother and Josef on either side.

"Just took a small walk through town." János explained quickly before anyone could ask him what he was up to. His family eyed each other suspiciously, knowing he was at the bakery. János shook his head at all the stares, and they changed the subject. They made light conversation about the weather, the neighbors, and politics until the conversation somehow changed into reliving their favorite memories together.
"One of my favorites is when nagyapa tried to fight that man on the riverbank." János laughed into his hands.
"The man was trying to steal my fish!" Josef said outraged, balling his fists and pretending to fight.

They all laughed together. "Or how many times nagymama has tripped in the garden?" János laughed again.
Zsuzsanna glared at him. "Wait till you get my age, fíu! See how many times you trip!" She smiled, pointing her finger at him.

They laughed about several different stories, each of them having a mishap to reminisce on. The laughter eventually died down and they got quiet, still smiling.
"This Christmas without you will be very hard." Katalin spoke quietly as she grabbed her sons hand.
"I'm not dying, anya." János responded.
"I know, fíu. Who will pick out our tree?" She smiled weakly, holding back tears.

"János Fodor, Christmas tree finder extraordinaire." Josef chuckled.
"I remember when you were about 8 or 9," Josef continued, "you had a friend in school who told you all about their Christmas tree, and how they decorated it with fondant candies, candles, ribbon, and glass ornaments. You came home one afternoon and exclaimed that we were going to have a Christmas tree just like his." His voice cracked a bit. Katalin's eyes teared up.

"We had never been able to afford a tree. We knew we couldn't buy one, and we definitely knew we could not adorn ours the way his family did. But we wanted you to have a wonderful Christmas that year." Josef smiled at his grandson, and then to his wife and daughter. Katalin and Zsuzsanna were wiping away tears, reliving that moment of wanting to give your child the world but being unable to do so.

"But you didn't know that his family bought a Christmas tree. So you and I set out two days before Christmas and trekked through the forest behind the cottage here, until you found the tree you wanted." Josef said, twiddling his thumbs.

"I carried around that axe and followed you for what seemed like hours. It couldn't be too tall, or too short. It had to have enough limbs, and it had to be full. Finally, we found a fir that fit your description of the perfect tree. I cut it down and you helped me carry it back to the house." János stared at his grandfather and listened intently to his story. He remembered vividly.
"By the time we had set it up, your mother returned from the market carrying a handful of fondant candies and one long red ribbon to decorate the tree. We could just barely afford it that week, but seeing your face light up at the decorated tree made all of it worth it." Josef finished his story, looking up to see his daughter and wife crying, and János with glossy eyes.