A Little Too Much | CM

1.07

Two weeks and three more dates later, it was Christmas.

Derek had gone home to Chicago for a few days and Lia spent the day with Will, JJ, Henry and JJ's mum who had come down from East Allegany for the holiday.

Lia and Will didn't really have any Holiday traditions, Will was planning on taking Henry to New Orleans for a few days between Christmas and New Years and after much begging from both, Lia was still refusing to go.

However, Lia did have some traditions she liked to follow with the kids at school. On the last day of November she asked them to write a list for Santa as she had his personal phone number to pass on the list for them (it was actually just parent-teacher conference night). Then on the last day of term they would spend the day watching Christmas films and eating popcorn before she sent them home with a bar of chocolate each and a packet of sweets for the dairy-free kid.

To Lia, Christmas Day itself carried mixed emotions. She had the happy memories of Christmas mornings when she was little; opening presents with Will whilst both of their parents watched with a smile but now she's older she can see that her mother was in pain. Then there's the Christmas's after their mother had passed; William LaMontagne Sr tried to make it as happy as he could for his kids and most of the time he succeeded but then as the siblings got older and money got tighter, he began working on Christmas day so Lia would make Christmas dinner and the three of them would eat it in his office.

But the worst Christmas's by far were the ones after Will moved to D.C. to be with JJ because Justin didn't like her visiting him so they would spend the day at home.

And that's the memory that came to mind as they sat around the living room after dinner, JJ's mum quizzing Lia on her personal life and asking if there was anyone new in her life, a question she asked every time they saw each other. 

The noise of the bauble hitting the hard wood floors wasn't particularly loud, Henry had just knocked it off accidently whilst playing with his new toys with his mum. Lia however, jumped like someone had fired a gun in the next room. She could feel her chest tightening and her heart beginning to race so she followed the advice JJ had given her the first time it happened and removed herself from the situation.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sandy asked as they watched Lia almost run out of the house and into their back garden.

"No, Christmas is just a rough day for her." JJ explained.

"Is Shel okay?" Will asked, rushing into the room after seeing his sister running across the garden and sitting under a tree from the kitchen window.

"Yeah, she just needs a minute. Alone." JJ said.

Christmas 2 Years Ago

Lia sat on the floor of the living room she shared with her fiance Justin, surrounded by the smashed glass baubles that had once belonged to her parents. The tree was on its side, Christmas cards from friends and family were scattered around the room like leaves on an autumn day. A few feet away from her was the angel that once adorned the top of the tree, that had survived Katrina, destroyed by the rage of a single man.

Tentatively, she began  to crawl towards one of the cards that had caught her attention, cutting her hand on a piece of glass in the process. She couldn't help the small, sad smile that crept onto her face as she was met with the faces of her brother and his wife holding her 4 year old nephew between them, all wearing matching Christmas jumpers and a large smile. She didn't even have to open it to remember what it said as she had read it hundreds of times since it had arrived the other week, the message about how they wished she was there, how much Henry missed her and that they were forced to take the photo by one of JJ's work friends, Penelope.