章節 30: A Solemn Celebration
"To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." --Calvin Coolidge
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Roselle pounded her first into her own knee. "You should have told us! I can't believe it. Dad is . . ." Now she was sobbing too, and Armani held her. She surrendered herself to him and cried in his chest.
Mrs. Reyes put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Go home and rest. I'll take care of him."
"No. I'm staying. I want to see him."
"He's sleeping. He's doing better than before, but they want to keep him here overnight just to be sure. Go home. It'd be nice to have a Christmas breakfast to look forward to tomorrow, right?"
She sighed. "Fine."
* * *
When they got home, they all sat in the living room together, eating cold leftovers in silence. Though the Christmas decorations were present and beautiful, and though it was Christmas Eve, it was hard for anyone to feel cheery with everything going on.
"Why don't we play a game to get our minds off of things?" Dan suggested.
"Yeah." Armani nudged Roselle, who was picking at her plate. "It could be fun. What do you say?"
She shrugged. "I mean, I guess so. How about you, Michelle?"
Her sister nodded. "Yeah. I'm in serious need of a distraction right now."
Dan got up. "I'll get the wine."
"I'll get the glasses," Armani volunteered.
* * *
After they had their glasses poured, the foursome settled down in the living room, the fireplace crisping its branches rhythmically. The sisters awaited the boys' instructions.
"We're going to play a game called 'never have I ever'," Dan said.
"The rules are simple." Armani gestured his hand in a circular motion. "We go around each saying something we've never done, and if you've done it, you need to take a sip of wine."
Michelle raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"This is actually my first time having wine!"
Dan gaped his jaw. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You're only nineteen. Do you want cranberry juice instead?"
"And let you guys have all the fun? No way. I'll start. Never have I ever drank wine."
The other players took a sip.
"My turn," said Dan. He rubbed his hand through his curly locks. "Never have I ever been on TV."
Roselle and Armani took a sip.
"When were you on TV?" Michelle asked her sister.
"Apparently the time I was at that fashion show, it was televised." Roselle's turn. She peered at Armani through the corner of her eye. There was something she actually wanted to know about him. "Never have I ever slept with Lily Strobe."
No one took a sip.
She raised a brow. "Wait, seriously?"
Armani shrugged. "I'm not ashamed to say I've never done it at all with anyone. It's not that I don't want to, but I've always had something going on, so I've never had the opportunity before."
"How does Lily feel about it?"
"Well, I think she��s okay with it. We've agreed to have our first time be when we're married."
Roselle's mind flashbacked to the time when Eliot told her about Lily cheating on Dylan five times. She had a gut feeling, but kept it to herself.
"My turn." Armani gave a sly smile to Roselle. "Never have I ever slept with the Prime Minister of Canada."
She shook her head, but Michelle took a sip. She and Dan gawked at her. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Roselle screamed.
Dan looked away and took a never-ending sip from his own glass.
Michelle chuckled. "Okay, no I didn't. I just wanted to try this wine, but no one was saying something that I've done." She stuck her tongue out. "It's so bitter by the way."
Everyone in the room laughed with relief--even the secret service guys.
They all spent the rest of the evening playing the game. It was pleasant, and did indeed help the Reyes sisters get their mind off of things.
* * *
"What's this?"
Everyone, who was still in the living room, woke up to Mr. Reyes' voice.
Michelle ran up to him and jumped in his arms. "Daddy!"
He looked at Roselle, perhaps expecting her to have the same reaction, but she didn't. She crossed her arms. "Hi, Dad," she said, with a clear tone and malice in her voice.
Dan and Armani exchanged glances.
"Why don't you and I start cooking breakfast?" Armani asked him.
Dan, who didn't have his hearing aids in, put them in his ears and turned them on. "I don't know what you just said, but let's so make breakfast."
Armani nodded. "Good idea."
Once the boys were in the kitchen, the Reyes family had the space to have a serious conversation.
"Merry Christmas, by the way," Mr. Reyes said.
Roselle sighed. "Dad, I was worried sick about you. Why didn't you tell me you had cancer? Is that why you've been acting so weird?"
"Have I been acting weird?"
"Uh, yeah. You have so many mood swings now. You'll get angry out of nowhere, then you'll suddenly do a three-sixty and not care at all. When I was a kid you flipped when you found out I had a boyfriend." She pointed at her sister. "And now you want Michelle to have babies and get married?"
Michelle nodded, but she refused to look directly at the conversation.
Their father sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I was strict when you girls were growing up, but I didn't want you two to make the same mistakes your mother and I did. We were just teenagers when we got pregnant with you. When I got cancer, it made me realize that life is too short to care about petty things. That's why I'm acting so different now. I'm trying to focus on what matters."
Roselle bobbed her head. "Dad, as crazy as you can be sometimes, I know your heart has always been in the right place."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want to ruin Christmas for you."
"Well, it's a little late for that, isn't it? We were all so worried when you were suddenly in the ambulance with no explanation. We're not kids anymore. Promise me you'll tell us important things from now on, okay?"
"Alright."
They hugged, and Michelle and Mrs. Reyes joined in.
* * *
Everyone had breakfast, then it was time to gather around the tree and open gifts. They all took turns.
Michelle opened her gift from Dan. "Hey, an American Sign Language dictionary!"
"You said you were interested in learning it, so I got you something to help you out. Open it! There's another gift inside."
She opened the book, and there was a gold seashell necklace within it. "Aww, babe, that's so cute." She pecked him on the cheek. "I love you. Wait, no." She signed 'I love you' to him in sign language.
"Roselle's turn!" her mother beamed.
She looked at all the gifts. "Hmm. Which one should I open?"
"Why don't you open mine?" asked Armani.
"I guess so." She plucked up a gift that was in shiny, rose gold wrapping paper. Wow. What a fancy pants. She carefully peeled the tape from the edges.
"Don't do that! Tear it up like you used to do when we were seven!"
She tore the paper as politely as one could tear something, and opened the cardboard box. INSIDE THAT BOX . . . was another box. It was beautiful though. It was a rose gold plated one with an antique design.
"Woah," she said, smoothing her fingers over the grooves and designs. She opened the box, and beautiful music played. There was a tiny mirror, and an antique, rose gold hairbrush. She took it out and admired its colors, jewels, and crest. "It's so beautiful, Armani." She held it close to her heart and smiled. "I love it."
"You should open Roselle's present next," Michelle suggested. "I wanted to get you a tie, but she had something else in mind."
Roselle blushed. "Oh no, not that." She hid her face with her hands. "It's probably really stupid compared to this gift."
Against her words, Armani picked up Roselle's present and ripped the wrapping paper off. It was a toy train for toddlers. For a moment, he was expressionless. "No way."
"I--Well--Um, I heard that when you went to a foster home you couldn't take your toys, and when we were kids, this was your favorite one. I just thought--"
He swooped in to give her a warm, tight embrace. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Ro. Really." He looked upon the gift. "This is the same model as my old train that I named Choo-Choo. I'll call this one Choo-Choo Junior." He hugged the toy.
Mrs. Reyes started crying.
Roselle panicked. "Uh, Mom? You okay?"
"It's just so cute!" She sobbed more. "Choo-Choo Junior? WAH!"
They all laughed together and opened more gifts. It was such a beautiful moment, all until Roselle got a new text.
Unknown number: Enjoy your Christmas with Armani. Just wait until New Years when you REALLY start having fun.
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