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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks for the reviews and my wonderful beta Jess - go read her story In God's Eyes. It's really good!!
CHAPTER 21

The first week of December we all scoured the attic for Christmas decorations. Will had found a box with one of those artificial trees that needed assembling, and Dawn found a couple full of ornaments, tinsel and other trimmings. Although the decorations were old, we made the best of them.

We put the tree together in the corner by the reading area and tried to fluff out the branches as best we could. The fuller branches were placed in the front to make the tree seem bigger. Once that was done, we placed the tinsel and the ornaments strategically around the tree to hide some of the bare spots. Dawn and Connor made some garland by linking together multi-colored construction paper to give it some more color. Adorning the top of the tree was a large angel from the ornament box. Many years ago, the angel was probably a beautiful tree topper, pristine white with lace and silver sparkled wings, but now it was a muted grey color with crushed wings; I tried to fix them as much as possible, but they still didn’t have their full luster. Overall, the tree wasn’t fabulous, but it was nice considering what we had to work with.

Around the attic, we hung the additional decorations. We made some snowflakes with white paper and found some mistletoe, which were all hung from the attic rafters. There were wreaths with pine cones and red berries that we hung on the support beams and some green garland that we framed around the more prominently located windows, placing extra ornaments on them for a more festive look. Dawn and Connor drew pictures of Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and other Christmas characters to hang on different sections of the attic walls, as well as our room. The only thing missing was lights, and Will decided to ask Adam about getting some of the battery operated strands so we could put them up on the tree and other places around the attic. With the new decorations in place, the attic took on a holiday feel that immediately lifted all of our spirits.

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The next week, we were down in our room waiting for our dinner to arrive when in walked mother with the serving cart. Her skin looked radiant with a healthy glow which I chose to believe she got while skiing, not by being intimate with Wesley. She had a bright smile on her face and looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Hi, everybody! I’m back from my trip.” She said as she positioned the serving cart near the table. She knelt down and held out her arms for Dawn and Connor. “Did you miss mommy?” She asked while she hugged and kissed the twins.

“Yes, mom. Did you bring us back a present?” Connor asked excitedly.

“No, honey. I’m sorry. I told you I’d try, but it just wasn’t possible.” She stood up and ruffled his hair. “Wesley and I had such a good time getting to know each other that we barely spent any time apart the entire trip.” Mom got a dreamy look on her face that made me think William was right in his assumption that this trip was about sex.

“So, it was good?” Will asked. I turned to him with wide-eyes and a look of shock on my face. He smirked at me and then added, “The plan’s going on as it should?”

He leaned over to whisper quietly in my ear, “Get your mind out of the gutter, little sister.” I elbowed him in the stomach, annoyed at how easily he could read my thoughts.

“Of course,” Mom was beaming. “My father is extremely pleased with me and Wesley absolutely adores me. Everything is falling into place. Eat your dinner while I tell you about Aspen.”

So the four of us ate dinner while mom sat on the bed relaying all the information she could about her trip. She talked about how beautiful the scenery was and described Wesley’s cabin in great detail, which sounded like it was a mansion rather than a small vacation home in the woods. They went skiing on the slopes, snowmobiling on the mountain trails, shopping in the town center, dining and dancing at exclusive restaurants and took a sleigh ride through the park. At night, they returned to the cabin to sit in front of the warm fire while drinking hot chocolate and learning about each other. It all sounded perfectly romantic. It made me want to be sick.

“Well, now tell me about your Thanksgiving. How was it?” Mom asked when she finished telling her tale.

“We dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians during dinner. The turkey was really good.” Dawn said.

“Will wrote another story too. I’m a werewolf.” Connor said proudly.

“Oh, William, I’d love to hear it.” Mom said turning to Will. “Dawn, Connor, why don’t you get ready for bed and then we can sit and listen to the story? You don’t mind listening to it again, do you?” Mom asked the twins.

“No, that would be ok.” Dawn answered. “Are you going to tuck us in tonight?”

“I sure am. Now go get into your pj’s.” Mom tapped Dawn on her bum and sent her on her way to the bathroom.

Once Will finished the story the twins were both yawning and ready to sleep. Mom snuggled them in, wrapping the blankets tight around them like she used to. She kissed them both on the forehead and told them she loved them. When she was done, she stood a little bit away and stared at them with a loving look. It seemed as if she missed them, like she was trying to memorize what they looked like.

“So,” she whispered, turning back to us, “was Thanksgiving really ok?”

“Yeah, it was good, though weird without you and dad.” William added.

“Oh, and grandmother almost ruined the whole day with her morning visit.” I grumbled.

“What happened in the morning?” Mom asked, concern lacing her voice.

“She was just spouting off about how dad was no good. Dru slapped Elizabeth when she tried to defend him.” Will said with anger.

“Elizabeth!” Mom shrieked, grabbing my wrist. “What did you say to her? You shouldn’t provoke her like that.”

Her grip on my wrist was so tight it hurt. I tried to wriggle out of it, but she held fast. “Nothing really. I just told her she would never be a better person than dad. She was being really mean.” I said as she tightened her grip even more. “Ow!”

“Mom! Let go of Elizabeth. You’re hurting her.” Will said as he came over to grab hold of mom’s arm.

She let go on an apology. “I’m sorry, honey. I just don’t want you to be punished. Mother can be irrational sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” I said rolling my eyes and rubbing my wrist. “What was she talking about anyway? She was going on about how Ethan banned Thanksgiving because of you and she made dad sound like a criminal.”

“It’s nothing. All in the past.” Mom shrugged off my question.

“My cheek didn’t think it was nothing when she hit me. I think we deserve some answers.” I wouldn’t relent.

“You already know the story. Father disowned me because he didn’t like Hank. He wasn’t one of the firm’s partners. Ethan always wanted me to marry one of his lawyer colleagues.” She said this with bitterness.

“That’s it? There’s not more to it? Grandmother seemed pretty adamant that we didn’t know anything about dad. That all we knew was lies.” William backed me up for which I was grateful.

“Well, I’m sorry if you don’t believe me, but that’s it. Ethan is finally pleased that I’m getting serious with one of the firm’s lawyers. That’s why this vacation and the upcoming party are so important.” Mom looked at us with doe-eyes and switched tactics. “Look, your father loved you very much. In all the years he was with us, did he ever treat you with anything but kindness? Did he seem like any of the things that Dru said he was?”

“No.” Will replied quietly looking down at the floor, unable to meet mother’s eyes.

“Of course not, because he wasn’t. He was a loving and kind husband and father, who was respected in the community. Ethan was just upset that I chose Hank over him. There’s nothing more to it.” Mom then changed the subject. “The holiday party for Wes and the firm is next week. So far, everything is going as planned, so stop worrying and be happy. It’s almost Christmas.”

“Are we going to see you for Christmas?” I asked.

“Absolutely. I probably won’t be back until then since I have a lot of preparations to do for the party, but I promise you everything is going to be fine.” She came over and hugged us both. “I love you very much. Please be good and don’t give mother any reason to hurt you, just hold your tongue. I’ll see you again as soon as I can.”

She left Will and me standing there in our little room. “Well, what did you think?” I asked.

“It sounds like everything’s on track. And she has a point; dad never did anything to prove that he was anything like what Dru said. I felt bad for even doubting him.”

“You don’t think she changed the subject a little too quickly?” I probed.

“It’s probably just something she doesn’t like talking about. She had to choose between her father and her husband, it couldn’t have been a pleasant time for her. I’m sure in a couple of weeks when we are out of here, all her weird behavior will blow over.” Will came over and embraced me in tight hug. “It will be fine.”

I held on to him tight and asked the question I really didn’t want to ask. “What are we going to do if we don’t get out of here in two weeks?”

He sighed and kissed my forehead. “We’ll figure it out when it happens, Elizabeth. No use talking about it yet.” He gently rubbed up and down my arms and gave me what was supposed to be a reassuring smile before going to get ready for bed.





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