Doctor & Nurse

Chapter 16

Sitting next to me in the car is Tobias with a huge smile on his face. He brought me to a place I have never seen before. I have never heard him talk about this place either. There is more snow on the ground then there was at home. This place looks like a place out of a dream. I am speechless. This place is beautiful. It feels like my jaw is on the ground. Tobias must think my lack of talking as a bad thing, he says suddenly, "Tris, don't you like it? If not, I can figure out something else."

I turn to Tobias, a huge smile on my face as I say, "Baby, are you crazy? I love it! It looks so pretty! Is it ours for the weekend?"

Tobias laughs as he says "Yes, it is ours for the weekend."

"This place must have cost a fortune to rent for the weekend," I say, wondering how he was able to afford it. Tobias laughs as I ask, "What is so funny?"

He smirks as he says, "I own this place."

I turn back to looking out the window, having no comment. There is a blanket of snow on the ground with solar lights dotting the yard. The cabin is located in the woods, in the middle of nowhere. Pine trees surround the years. The trees are the greenest trees that I have ever seen, they have a dusting of snow on them. Tobias gets out of the car. He moves to my side of the car gracefully in the snow. As I get out of the car, I slip on a patch of snow and ice. I fall back into Tobias and knock him off balance. We end up in a bank of snow, laughing. Tobias gets up, giving me his hand. I grab it and dust myself off from the snow. He smiles at me, and we walk up the house hand in hand.

As we get closer, I notice the house is a log cabin. Tobias hurries to open the door. The house smells like pine. The smell brings a smile to my face, bringing back an old childhood memory.

It is the beginning of December. I am six years old. My dad came home on leave for Christmas. He decided that as a family we would all take an adventure to go get a tree out at a local Christmas tree farm. My mom dressed Caleb and I up in several layers of coats to keep us from catching a cold. I remember not being able to walk very well. Caleb found it funny. He kept pushing me down into the snow while we were at the farm, leaving me behind. My dad finally picked me up and carried me the rest of the way. I pointed at a tree as I said, "What about that one daddy?" He smiled at me as he said, "I think that one is perfect, sweetie." He put me down on the ground, and I went running to the tree screaming, "Hello Christmas tree! You are coming home with us, and we will take care of you." Daddy started to cut down the tree while mom held Caleb and me back, away from the tree. I started crying. I screamed, "Stop Daddy! You are hurting him!" Dad stopped and explained that the tree had to be cut down to come home with us and that we weren't really hurting the tree. I said, being the serious six-year-old that I was, "How do you know we aren't hurting it? The tree can't talk?" My dad didn't have an answer for me. We dragged the tree back to the car and brought it home. I was happy once the tree was inside the warm house. The tree ended up being so big it touched the ceiling. That was one of the last Christmases we spent together as a family.

I am brought out of my memory by a kiss on my forehead from Tobias. "Penny for your thought?" He asks. "You are awful quiet. Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just thinking about a happy thought, thinking about my childhood. The snow always reminds me of Christmastime. It was one of the last Christmases that my dad spent with us as a family. I was thinking about when we went to go find the Christmas tree when I was six." I say.

"That sounds like a happy memory."

"It is a very good memory." I smile as I ask "Do you have any memories like that with your parents?"

"No, my father was always too busy with his job as a politician to do anything like that with me, and my mother, when she was around, played with me, and tried to make my childhood the best that she could, but she always seemed off in her own world. My grandmother and I use to make Christmas cookies every year for all of her friends and our family. She had the best cookies I have ever tasted. I remember my favorite part of her cooking was that she would let me lick the bowl afterwards." He says.