Living with Her [Book 3]

Chapter 28

An hour later Dusty had finally assembled the Christmas tree that now made the small living room space even tighter. But as she stood back and admired the tree, she knew it was worth it. It made the whole place feel much more festive. "This is all I could keep," Kayla explained as she handed Dusty a large cardboard box, which had been stored at the back of the trailer.

Dusty opened the box and peered inside. She saw tinsel and fairy lights, the antler of a reindeer. Long-forgotten relics of the life they had once led. In their old home, Christmas was a sumptuous occasion. There would be a real fir tree in the hallway and in the living

room. Fairy lights would be hung from every possible surface along with an animatronic Christmas village, which was the centerpiece of the vast dining table.

Dusty had loved that village. For hours she would watch the little people ride their train or dance around a skating rink. The lights within it made it sparkle with an inner magic, and at night, when she was in bed she imagined the people of the village coming to life and moving around. Her father helped perpetuate the myth by mov-ming everything, just slightly, each night before he went to bed so upon waking, a young Dusty would find everything moved and be convinced that her village was alive.

The Christmas village was long gone, all but one part. Dusty removed it from the box and gazed at it, her fingers tracing the familiar lines of the carousel upon which little model children sat on ornate horses. Moving her hand beneath it, she found the crank and turned it and placed the carousel down as the soft melody of "Jingle Bells" played out as the carousel turned and the children moved round.

"You used to adore the village," Kayla noted. There was a time when hearing that soft melody would have made her weep with longing, but now she felt only the fondness of Christmases past.

"I'm glad we've still got a part of it," Dusty commented, carefully lifting the moving carousel and placing it pride of place in the window above the living area. Dusty watched it turn for a few moments, remembering the hours she'd spend watching the entire village move and turn in time to the music. Then she snapped herself back to present and delved back into the box for the next decoration. 

**** 

An hour later the trailer had been transformed into a Christmas wonderland. There were fairy lights everywhere, along with hanging tinsel and a tree covered in traditional wooden decorations. Outside on the door, Dusty proudly hung a wreath and, as she did so, caught the eye of a neighbor, who smiled in approval.

In another window she placed an animatronic reindeer that would lower his head as if going to feed. There were snow globes on the table depicting idyllic wintry scenes and sprigs of holly dotted around the place. The feeling that Dusty had had walking around New York and admiring the lights, she now felt within the small trailer in West.

Somehow, she had managed to bring the magic of Christmas into the small space, and it was a beautiful sight to behold. "You've done a great job," Kayla complimented her, wrapping an arm around her daughter.

"It was a team effort." Dusty smiled. "I think we've earned ourselves a treat. How about we go out for dinner tonight?" Kayla suggested.

"Sure, where?"

"I can only afford Coco's," Kayla said, "as I want to treat Dust too when he's back."

"Coco's is perfect." Dusty smiled, hugging her mother. "I'm really glad I came home."

****

The following day the women of the Black family awoke after a rare evening together. After their meal they sat and watched television together beneath the twinkling Christmas lights and indulged in a glass of mulled wine. It had been a perfect evening, one of the best in recent memory that Dusty had spent with her mother.

And the new day brought with it the final piece to their family puzzle. Dust would soon be arriving, and they would be whole once more. "Do you think Dust will like the decorations being up?" Dusty asked a little anxiously as they ate breakfast.

"I'm sure he'll love them," Kayla reassured her. Dusty wasn't so certain. She herself had been against the decorations for many years, not wanting to relive the pain of what had been lost. What if Dust was still in that same mind set and not yet ready to move forward? If he was angry with her, it could ruin the whole festive season.

****

The entire cab ride back from the station, Dust talked. He talked about college and the football team he was on. He talked about his friends and even briefly mentioned his new girlfriend. Both Dusty and Kayla asked eager questions about his life there, which he happily answered. Gone was the sullen teenage boy who wanted to be left alone. He had been replaced by a confident, handsome man who was enjoying being reunited with his family.

But as the cab pulled into the trailer park, Dust stopped talking, his gaze fixed upon their own trailer, which now twinkled magically with the glow of the season. Beside him, Dusty felt her stomach drop when she saw his reaction. "It was my idea to put the decorations up," she explained as Dust exited the cab and stood before the trailer.

He took a moment to take in the outside decorations, the wreath and various lights, before heading inside and delving deeper into the Christmas adornments. He saw the tree, instantly familiar as the one that used to go up in the kitchen because in their old house it had been comparatively small and therefore wouldn't be in the way. Yet in the trailer it loomed large like a giant, barely contained in the limited space they had there.

He moved forwards and touched some of the decorations. He remembered them, remembered how his father would hold him up high so he could place them on higher parts of the tree. His eyes drifted over the whole room and settled upon the carousel. He then looked to Dusty, who was standing uneasily in the doorway, their mother behind her. "I didn't mean to upset you," Dusty began, her voice small.

"You didn't," Dust clarified, shaking his head. "This, this all looks amazing." He gestured around the room and smiled as his eyes misted with tears. "It just caught me off guard, to see the trailer looking, you know, so nice." He shuffled uneasily as Dusty and Kayla entered the trailer and hugged him.

Embraced together beneath the sparkling lights, the Black family vowed that this was to be a good Christmas. The time of mourning and of grief was behind them. It was time to look ahead, to let the magic of the season influence them once more.