Absent

Epilogue

10 years later.

"Alex, come help me out."

He arrives and climbs the ladder to reach the top of our Christmas Tree. He places the golden star and I smile, contemplating our work. Alex returns to my side, and brings me to a hug.

"We're ready, aren't we?" He whispers, kissing the top of my head.

"Almost. Where are Kayla and Dylan?" I answer, slightly pulling apart to look at him directly. I laugh when he doesn't answer. "I'll look for them, but you need to pay more attention."

"I'll clean their room!" Alex says, running to the twins' bedroom. I exit the house and scan with my eyes, but they're not in the garden. I begin to worry when they're not hiding in their usual spots. Before I can even call Alex's name, I hear a noise at the tree house.

"You're doing it wrong!" Kayla says, annoyed.

"No, you're the one messing things up." Dylan replies.

I sigh and climb to their tree house, entering without knocking. "What do we have here, kids?" I look around at their paintings, scattered around the floor. I see the drawings of people holding hands, and of Christmas decorations. "Is this the homework you were working at?"

"We need to draw how we celebrate Christmas." Kayla explains, without taking her eyes off her paper. "But Dylan says it should be about our family."

"It should be of how our family looks at Christmas." Dylan defends, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue at her. She narrows her eyes and launches at him. I'm quickly between them, and they return to their work individually.

"Why don't you do both ideas in one?" I suggest, kneeling beside Kayla to examine her stickmen.

"How do we do that?" She asks, suddenly sounding frustrated. I kiss her cheek and grab a piece of paper.

"Well, why don't you draw our family standing next to the Christmas tree? And don't forget that Uncle Javier always wears a Santa Claus costume." I say, handing Kayla and Dylan my idea. They discuss in private, pointing at different spots of the image and sighing with exaggeration. Finally, they agree.

"We'll do that. Thanks mom." Kayla says, kissing my cheek. I smile at them before returning to the house. I go straight for their room, knowing that's where Alex must be.

"Are they okay?" He asks the moment I enter.

"Yeah, just doing their homework and fighting at the same time." I answer, sounding tired. "I don't understand. I never fought with Ashton or Javier when I was young. Not even Lindsey, until we were both teenagers. Should I be worried for Kayla and Dylan?"

Alex lowers the things he was carrying, and kisses me. "I never had siblings, but I'm sure that Kayla and Dylan will learn to love each other as time passes. We're doing a great job with them."

"I bet you're right." I agree, kissing him back. We're interrupted by the sound of cars arriving. "Time for Christmas celebration." I say, before running to welcome our guests. The first to arrive, as I expected, is Javier (Santa Claus Javier) and his wife, Betty. Their children, Joan and Jodie, are both taller than they were last year, and I waste no time before complementing them. I guide Javier and Betty to the house, letting Joan and Jodie join Kayla and Dylan at the tree house.

"How old are they?" I ask Betty, as we all take a seat in the living room.

"Joan's 10 and Jodie's 8." She answers. "How old are Kayla and Dylan?"

"They're 5."

"Time is fast, isn't it?"

"Absolutely right."

"How are you doing with the writing profession?"

"Well, using the ideas I had when young, I have come to sell 4 horror and successful books."

We continue to chat about events in the past years, before another car arrives. I go to welcome Lindsey and Galileo. To everyone's surprise, Lindsey's pregnant of their first child. We share wine in  their name, and then welcome our last guests; Vicky and Jimmy (and their child Emma), Chester and his wife Lucy, Tyler and Calvin, and Richard (and his family).

Sometime around 10 p.m., someone knocks on the door. Everyone, including the children, is inside, so I'm more than a little concerned about who could be missing. I send Alex to open, and he returns with a blank expression. "Mary."

I nod slowly, walking to the door. Mary's waiting outside my house. The moonlight shines upon her to reveal the weight of years in her appearance. She must be almost 50 years old, and in 10 years, I have heard nothing from her.

"My daughter..." She whispers, when our eyes meet. "My dear daughter."

"I have a family now." I answer coldly. "Two children, a husband, and friends. I fixed my relationship with Lindsey through the years. Why do you think I'd want to welcome you into all this? Why do you think I'd let you walk back into my life?"

"Because I've seen my mistakes. When your father abandoned me, I saw clearly that I had done wrong as a mother. I didn't care enough for any of you. Truth is that when Ashton died, I... I felt weak. I felt impotent, and I felt depressed. One of my children dead... I thought that if I maintained my distance from you and your siblings, then the time of your death wouldn't be so hard on me. How very wrong I was. Darling, I love you so much. I'm so sorry for everything that happened in your childhood."

I bite my lip, and out of the corner of my eye, I distract myself by watching the snow fall. But I can't ignore Mary, standing right in front of me. I know she deserves the hell she's been through, but if I can't hate her forever. At least, not in Christmas. What example would that be for my children, when I'm trying to teach them family love?

"Forgive me." She insists.

"Come inside." I say slowly. She smiles and we enter the house, where everyone stares at Mary. Kayla and Dylan come running.

"Who is the lady?" Dylan asks.

"She's grandma, and I want you to include her in the drawing of our family."