“What are you doing?”
Howie looked up to find Brian standing in his doorway, glaring daggers at him. Frowning, he looked back at the stack of paperwork in front of him and read the next line in the contract for the condos he wanted to develop.
“Hello?” Brian pushed away from the door and stepped into the room. “Didn’t you hear me?” When Howie still didn’t answer, Brian sighed exaggeratedly. “Howard, it’s Christmas Eve, and you are holed up in your office going over what looks like” he leaned across the desk “a housing contract.” He shook his head. “Man, that’s bad, even for you.”
Howie knew he’d never get anything done with Brian hanging around, so he set the pen down and raised calm, brown eyes to amused blue ones.
“I know it’s Christmas Eve, Brian,” he spoke evenly. “I have work to get done that needs to be done as soon as possible. What I want to know is what you’re doing in LA when you know your family is in Atlanta, right now.”
Brian edged a hip onto the desk and raised a brow. “Actually, Leigh and I decided to bring Baylee and Kayla here to celebrate Christmas where it’s warm. You know, Baylee’s never really had a Christmas above forty degrees.”
Howie rolled his eyes. “Please. You’re not going to”
“Not going to what?” Brian asked, cutting him off. “Not tell you that I came to see how you were doing? Not tell you that, at this moment, Kevin, AJ, Nick, Kris, Leigh, and my kids are at your place decorating your tree and playing with your attention-deprived daughter?” He shook his head and made a sound like a game show buzzer. “You’re wrong! Because that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you, buddy.”
Howie pressed a hand to his forehead, hoping the pressure building would disappear soon. “Look, I get it. You guys are worried about me”
“Wrong again!” Brian interrupted him. “We could care less about you, D. We care a he—oops! Christmas Eve means no cursing!” Howie rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what I was going to say is that we don’t care about you so much as we care about the little girl that you’ve decided to abandon. Howard.” Howie met Brian’s eyes again, knowing that the new tone meant that Brian was serious now. “Ariella is a very unhappy, confused four year old. Her mother left seven months ago for no reason, and now her father refuses to be home during one of the most magical times of the year. Please tell me that when Rosalie left, she didn’t take your heart with her.”
Damn, Howie thought. Brian was good at the guilt trip deal. He’d pulled it on everyone for almost the last two decades, so Howie shouldn’t have been surprised when the successful guilt began to layer itself over the feelings of despair and heartbreak that had filled him since the day he’d come home to find his wife gone.
Brian was right. He knew it, Howie knew it—heck, the entire world knew it, too. His wife may have walked out to God only knew where seven months before, but Howie had a little girl at home who did not deserve to lose everything on Christmas.
“Okay.” He stood, stacking the papers and shoving them into a drawer. “I have a daughter, one I would do anything for, and it’s absolutely not right that I leave her alone on what’s supposed to be a special holiday. So let’s go.”
Brian cheered, then stopped. The silence stopped Howie at the doorway. “What, Brian?”
“Do you know what tomorrow is?” Brian asked in hushed tones.
Howie resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “Christmas?” he asked in a tone that said “Well, duh!”
Brian shook his head. “Nope. Try again.”
Impatience beginning to simmer, he shrugged. “I don’t know, B. Why don’t you just save us both the guessing game and tell me?”
Brian stomped his foot. “Dang, D! You’re no fun!” Knowing Howie would only tolerate so much, his expression turned serious again. “Ella’s fifth birthday is tomorrow. Did you forget that your daughter was born on Christmas?”
Howie knew he was wrong, so wrong. He just hadn’t known the degree to which he’d royally screwed up. His baby was going to be five years old, and he’d completely spaced on her because the woman he loved had walked out without so much as a forwarding address or phone number. She’d even canceled her email and cell phone accounts. It was no wonder—Howie stopped himself in mid-thought. Why the hell was he worrying over a woman who’d walked away when the other love of his life had a birthday coming up that he’d forgotten?
“Guess you forgot?”
Howie looked over at his friend again and smiled sadly. “Guess I did. I bought a bunch of Christmas presents for her, but I completely spaced on the birthday part of the holiday. Brian, I’m a terrible father,” he murmured.
Brian crossed the room and slung an arm around Howie’s shoulder. “You’re not a bad father, you’re just going through a rough patch right now. Besides, you’re going to be with your little girl soon, so I think that’ll make up for something. Seriously, D,” he added, seeing Howie’s doubtful expression. “You going home and being with her is going to mean the whole world for her. Kids are easy at the age Ella’s at because they trust you to make the sun shine for them. Trust me, here. When she gets to be Baylee’s age,” he continued, referring to his nine-year-old son, “that’s when they start to doubt everything.”
“You think Ella won’t mind that I don’t have a cake or anything for her tomorrow? That it’ll just be me and her…unless you guys want to hang out with us?” he asked, sending Brian a hopeful glance.
Brian shook his head. “I’m spending the day with my wife and kids. You and Ella need quality father-daughter time. Now, let’s get a move on, man! We’ve got a Christmas to save!”
Chuckling, Howie closed up his office and followed Brian back from downtown LA to his home on the outskirts of the city. When they pulled into his driveway, Howie noted that there were fairy lights strung around the door, a wreath on the doorway, and, getting out of the car, he could hear music, laughter, and the loud voices.
“Dude, even I know not to stuff all the outlets!” AJ was saying. “Come on, Nicky. How angry do you want D to be if his electricity short circuits?”
“I didn’t know!” Nick whined. Howie shook his head. Somehow, at the age of thirty-two, Nick Carter was still as much of a twelve year old as he’d ever been.
Brian bounced into the living room where Kevin, Leighanne, and Kristin were working on a tree, while Ariella solemnly handed the three adults ornaments from a large box. Baylee was giggling at Nick and AJ’s arguments, while his nine-month-old sister, Kayla, slept on peacefully in her carrier.
Howie couldn’t help but smile at the scene. Here he was, acting like a jackass, and his friends still found it in their hearts to be with him and his child during the holidays.
“Guess who I found holed up behind his desk?” Brian announced, and Howie noted Ariella’s eyes shoot to the doorway.
When she saw her father, her gray eyes lit with joy, and she dashed over to him. “Daddy! I knew you’d come home!”
Lifting his daughter in his arms, Howie pressed his face to her brown curls and closed his eyes. He could remember when she’d been born and how thrilled he and Rosa had been. Now, here he was, five years later, with no Rosa, but a beautiful child he couldn’t imagine living without. How could he have been stupid enough to leave her alone for so long?
Brushing those thoughts aside, Howie shifted her in his arms and looked over at his friends. “Hey guys. Thanks for being here! I guess I should add a Merry Christmas, too,” he smiled.
Kristin sidestepped the ornaments and presents strewn across the floor and gave him a hug. “It’s about time you came home,” she murmured so only he could hear her. “I was afraid you’d break her heart.”
Howie smiled again. “Never. Thanks for taking care of her,” he added, referring to the fact that Kristin had been caring for Ariella for the past several weeks.
Kristin shook her head. “It wasn’t a problem. She’s fantastic, aren’t you?” she turned to Ariella.
The little girl smiled shyly. “It was fun to be hang out with you, Aunt Kris.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Kristin grinned back. When they heard a wail from somewhere else in the house, she stepped back and sighed. “You know, when you learn to keep your voices down,” she glared at Nick and AJ, “I will finally stop threatening to kill you for waking my kid up all the time.”
Kevin started for the door, but Kristin cut him off. “I’ll get him, hon.”
“You sure?”
When his wife nodded again, Kevin shrugged and let her tend to their five-month-old son. There were days when he was still amazed that they’d managed to have a child at the late age that they were at. Fortunately, after years of trying, praying, and countless treatments, they’d managed to have a healthy baby boy. The things he had to be thankful for, Kevin thought as he watched Howie greet the others in the room, all the while his daughter stuck securely in his arms.
Kevin couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Howie to come home and find out that his wife had left. She’d taken all of her belongings and walked out for no apparent reason. At least, there wasn’t any reason that Howie had been able to provide for himself or anyone else as to why his wife would leave him and his daughter. There had been no note, and, when he’d tried to contact her, Howie had discovered that she no longer had the same cell phone number or email account. Because Rosalie had been an only child whose parents had died years earlier and left her with no other family, that had been a dead end, also. Finally, just as Howie had geared up to go to the police, Rosa’s best friend had assured him that his wife was perfectly fine and most certainly did not need Howie trying to find her. At that, Howie had given up, and given up far worse than Kevin had ever seen him.
Shoving those thoughts out of his mind, Kevin grinned as Howie sat on a couch and talked to his daughter—both father and daughter wearing a solemn expression on their faces. When he heard her laugh and Howie smile, Kevin figured things would be all right.
“So, what’s for dinner?” Brian wondered as he passed Leighanne a star-shaped ornament. She smacked him with it.
“Why are you always hungry? We ate four hours ago,” she reminded him.
Brian rubbed his arm where she’d hit him. “Jeez, woman. It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re supposed to care for your family, not abuse them. Same goes for food,” he added.
Leighanne arched a brow and lifted the ornament threateningly again. “Unless you want another bruise, I suggest you go make dinner. I haven’t seen you doing anything productive around here anyway,” she added nonchalantly.
Brian’s eyebrows shot up. “What? What?” He turned to Howie and AJ, who were closest to him. “Did you hear that?” He pointed to Leighanne. “She said I hadn’t been productive here! How could she say that?” he whined.
AJ shook his head. “Because it’s simple. You haven’t done anything. Right, Leigh?”
Leighanne grinned. “I told you, baby. Go make your own dinner.”
Brian’s jaw dropped. “Don’t you love me anymore? Do you want our children and our friends to die of starvation? Because that’s what’s gonna happen if I cook,” he threatened, feigning seriousness.
Baylee giggled at his parents’ antics. “Dad, you’re crazy! You know you can cook, and, sometimes,” his voice lowered, and Brian leaned in, pretending to be a co-conspirator. “Sometimes, you cook better than Mom.”
“I heard that,” Leighanne called out from the other side of the tree.
Rolling his eyes, Howie headed out of the room with Ariella following him. Brian and Leighanne would mock argue for a couple more minutes, and Brian would get her to relent enough to do whatever he wanted. It always worked, and Leighanne knew it, too.
Howie tried not to think of his own wife and concentrated instead on his daughter as she settled into the porch swing next to him. They watched the city blinking its lights to rival the stars above, both of them quiet for a few moments. When he felt her shiver a little, Howie scooted her closer to him.
“Daddy?” Her voice hung in the air hesitantly.
Howie smiled a little. “Yeah, sweet pea?”
There was a short silence before she spoke again. “Is Mama going to be home for Christmas?”
Author's Chapter Notes:
So, hey. I thought, with the holidays right around the corner, I'd share my Howie Holiday fic. I hope you enjoy!
