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Chapter Twenty Six – December 24 – Kevin

I woke up the morning of Christmas Eve and spent a few moments just staring up at the ceiling. Since I had picked up Mason, time had sped up at an alarming rate. I hated the thought that in less than a week I’d have to fly him back to Kristin in Los Angeles.

My meeting with Kristin had been awkward to say the least. For one thing, I barely recognized her. I didn’t say anything but it was obvious that she had paid a visit to a surgeon. I had been with her for almost twenty years, I was well aware of how small and large things used to be. She seemed so…plastic.

On the way to Sadieville, Mason had chatted about this toy or that and how much he missed me.

“Mommy come for Chwistmas?” he asked. I looked in the rearview mirror. He was staring at the back of my head with large eyes.

“No buddy,” I said quietly.

He didn’t ask any other questions and I really didn’t know what else to say. Mason filled in the blank a few seconds later.

“Mommy spend Chwistmas with Greg,” he said solemnly.

I was going to ask him who Greg was, but I didn’t. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel the fiery jealousy that I thought I would. Maybe it was just that I had suspected for awhile now that there was someone else. Maybe we had been so far removed from each other for so long that it just seemed like a natural progression.

I had spent the first two days with Mason at home. We trimmed the tree, built a snowman, and bought a snowmobile. With Addy’s help, we also made some cookies.

Mason seemed to adore Addy. I don’t know whether it’s because she’s a natural with children or if it’s because he thinks she’s Santa’s daughter. Either way, he watched her rapturously as she showed him how to measure out flour.

With a yawn I rolled out of bed. I had Mason’s presents wrapped and stored on the shelf in my closet. From my duffel bag I pulled out a long, thin box. I decided today would be a good day to pay a Christmas visit to Ms. Selinski.

As I headed towards the bathroom, I peeked in at Mason. He was curled up in his toddler bed, his mouth open, his blonde hair falling in his eyes. He clung to a giant plush reindeer, still lost in dreams.

After I showered I called my mom. She assured me that the entire Richardson clan would be headed to Sadieville for Christmas Day. Typically we went to mom’s house, but I really wanted Mason to be able to enjoy a Christmas morning at home.

Mason woke up not long after and we made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. I saw Mason peek at the tree hopefully.

“Chwistmas?” he said, looking back at me.

“Tomorrow morning, bud,” I said gently. As Mason got older, he seemed to make Christmas more and more exciting.

I saw him peek at the chimney.

“Is our chimney dirty?” he said seriously. He looked concerned. I tried my hardest not to laugh.

“Don’t worry buddy. No one’s going to forget you.”

I set him up with a coloring book and crayons while I did the dishes. My mind went back to the package lying on my bed.

“Want to go visit Addy today?” I said.

“And Santa?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that Santa might be getting the reindeer ready, but I thought better. Best not to egg him on even more, even though the sleigh didn’t help matters much.

“Sure buddy.”

We had finally gotten my car unstuck the day before. I grabbed the package from my bedroom and got Mason dressed and bundled up in a winter coat. We headed outside; Mason pointed at his snowman.

“Someone ate Fwosty’s carrot!”

I laughed. “We’ll get him another one when we get home.”

I pulled up to the now familiar farmhouse a few minutes later. The barn door was open.

“Howses?” Mason said, craning his neck to get a better look out the window.

“I think they’re eating breakfast. Let’s go see.”

As of a few days ago, my own horse had become part of the divorce settlement with Kristin. I hadn’t expected her to fight so damn hard over my horse. In the end we were going to sell him and split the profits. I fully intended to get a horse so Mason and I could spend quality time outdoors.

I got out and scooped Mason up.

“I wanna walk!” he complained. I set him down in the snow; the snow was so high that he could barely take a step. Even so, the stubbornness he had gotten for me kicked in and we made our way slowly to the doors. The snow thinned out the closer we got.

Addy was dressed in a horrendous bright green coat, jeans, and red boots. The first thought that came to my mind was that she looked like an elf.

“Addddddy!” Mason yelled out. She turned around just as he ran right to her leg. She looked surprised to see us; I saw her eyes dart over to me.

“Hey Mason,” she said kneeling down with the brush in her hand. She kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas.”

“Mewwy Chwistmas,” Mason said happily. I walked up slowly, the box still behind my back.

“I didn’t expect to see you guys here,” she said, addressing me.

“Well, I wanted to give you a Christmas present,” I said.

Her eyes widened. “A present?”

I took the box from behind my back and held it out to her. She looked at it warily.

“It won’t explode,” I said gently. I saw Mason tug on Addy’s jean leg.

“Open it! Open it!”

She took the package from my hand and seemed to test its weight. She looked back over at me. I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

“Open it,” I urged, sounding slightly like Mason.

She slowly undid the white ribbon that surrounded the crème color box and lifted the lid. I saw her eyes widen.

“Oh, my,” she said. She held up the charm bracelet, turning it this way and that.

“Do you like it?”

When I had walked by the antiques shop, the bracelet had caught my eye. I knew it was meant to be after I realized with a closer look that it was an equestrian bracelet. A hay stack, horse, horseshoe, and saddle were amongst the many charms.

“This is beautiful,” she said. Her face lit up with a smile that I had never seen before. It caught me off guard.

She was absolutely stunning.