Everything We Always Were

Twenty Nine: Awake

The nerves hit me almost instantly when I woke up on Christmas Day.

Surprisingly, I had gotten a good amount of sleep, even though I woke up before sunrise. Last night was an early night for me, but it is only 30 minutes after I get up to go pee that Delia's mother's name pops up on my phone screen.

Merry Christmas, James! We are having lunch today with Delia at home, and we have some gifts for you. If you don't have any plans, stop by for some lunch and to open your gifts!

Her words are heartwarming, reminding me that I will always have a home in Delia's family.

Lunch is hours away, so I make the short drive over to the auto body shop. It's closed for the holiday, but Old Man Hendrikson lives right next door. I have a small gift for him, and as my shoes crunch through the blackening snow piled up next to his driveway, his front door flings open.

"Merry Christmas, James." He smiles at me, crooked and missing a few teeth.

He's a short and stout man, but he makes up for it with his loud voice. "Merry Christmas."

"Hold on one second," He holds a finger up and I listen to his heavy footsteps through the walls as they walk away, and then return. "Here,"

In his hand is a small white envelope with my name scrawled on the top.

"Your Christmas bonus," He waves the paper at me.

I take it, "Thank you," I pull out my own envelope, "I have a gift for you as well,"

"And what's that?"

"Open it,"

His fingers fumble with the unsealed but tucked-closed envelope until he's tugging out the paper inside. I watch as he squints, and then his eyes go wide. "What is this?"
"Tickets,"

"There are two tickets here,"

"Yeah," I nod, taking them from his hands to show him. "This is a plane ticket that leaves April 20th from Seattle Airport, and goes to St. Louis, Missouri." I show him the other ticket. "And this is a ticket for the St. Louis Blues against the Detriot Red Wings at the Enterprise Center,"

"I don't understand," The old man has tears in his eyes when he looks up at me.

"Your favorite hockey team is the Blues, right?" He nods. "So now you get to see them play on their home turf."

"For playoffs?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good god, boy." He pulls me into a rough hug, his tough body shaking. "You didn't have to spend all that money."

"It was nothing,"

"Thank you,"

I nod, and we say our goodbyes and final happy holidays before I get back in my car, tossing the envelope in my glove box, making my short drive back home to shower, and hopefully relaxing the tension and anxiety in my muscles.

Today is the day. I give her the necklace today.

My hands grip the steering wheel until I can't feel my fingertips, and when I get back inside my house, it takes quite a few minutes before the feeling returns.

By the time I shower and get dressed, it's almost 11 am, so I grab the necklace, shoving it in my coat pocket on my way out the front door to my truck. The entire drive there, my stomach is rolling, doing backflips in my abdomen.

"Good morning, James," Delia's father greets me at the door, and it seems he is enjoying the crisp morning air on the porch with his coffee.

"Good morning, Mr. Hunts." I nod to him. "Is Delia awake yet?"