December 25, 2001 Tampa Florida

“If you glare at the window any harder you’re going to break the glass.”

The sound of her mother’s words made Tina turn from where she was standing at the kitchen island.

“What do you mean?” she asked before returning to chopping vegetables for dinner.

“You,” Lynn said while quickly checking on the turkey which was roasting in the oven, “You’re not even looking at what you’re cutting. You’re glaring at the window so hard you’re either going to cut off all your fingers or break the glass.”

Tina sighed, “Sorry,” she said, looking back down to the cutting board so she wouldn’t injure herself.

After the morning’s initial drama things had seemed to cool off and go smoothly. Zoey was oblivious to everything that was happening; she just sat propped up against the arm of the couch while an endless amount of little outfits were held up against her. The rest of the time she slept. Parker on the other hand had lost his mind with excitement. It was worse than the after Halloween sugar high he’d had just a few months prior. He tore the paper off of his presents, acting as if each one were the greatest thing he’d ever received, or ever witnessed in his life. Until, of course, he’d seen the play structure in the back yard. After that every pair of khakis from his grandparents, and every DVD or toy from his mother and sister were worthless compared to the joy that only his father could bring him. When Nick brought Parker out to see the Adventure Lodge the little boy had clutched his chest, and gasped for air, showing off the knack for drama that had been passed down in his Dad’s genes.

Nick had tried for the first little while to play with Parker in the lodge but the cramped space was not meant to be enjoyed by adults, especially not ones as tall as him. Now he was stationed at the bottom of the slide, acting like an elevator. Parker would slide into his arms and Nick would scoop him up and transfer him back to the top again.

“Parker should be wearing a sweater,” Lynn commented as she followed Tina’s line of sight out to the backyard, “Nick should have put a sweater on him. It’s probably only 60 degrees.”

“Nick doesn’t think of things like that,” the younger woman sighed, putting down the knife in her hand to grab one of Parker’s hoodies out of the closet.

She carried it out the patio door, smiling slightly at the happy squeals that greeted her as soon as she stepped into the backyard.

“Parker!” she called out as she rounded the pool and headed for the plastic playground, “Honey come put a sweater on.”

“No Mommy, I’m sliding,” Parker said, poking his head out the window of the second floor of the lodge.

“Parker,” Tina said in a warning tone, putting her hands on her hips.

“Baby, he’s fine,” Nick told her, moving to the bottom of the slide to wait for the boy, “It’s warm enough. He doesn’t need a sweater.”

She hated that he seemed to have the answer for everything. Right then, as far as she was concerned, he didn’t have the authority to tell her anything about Parker. He didn’t know him; he didn’t know his needs or how to take care of him.

“I didn’t ask you,” she snapped testily, “Parker come down her right now and put on a sweater.”

“NO!” the boy’s voice came drifting out from behind the plastic walls and Tina let out a frustrated grunt.

“It’s fine,” Nick repeated, moving towards her, “I’ll take the sweater. If he gets cold it’ll be here for him. Just let him play.”

Tina took a few deep breaths, grinding her teeth to keep her emotions at bay, “Fuck you,” she spat, throwing the small sweater at him before he could reach her.

Tina never swore in front of the kids, and he was pretty sure he had rarely ever heard her drop an f-bomb, so Nick knew something was up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked wide eyed, glancing back quickly to check on what Parker was doing, “Did I do something wrong?”

“I can’t believe you even have the balls to ask me that,” she said sadly, shaking her head at him.

“Baby...”

“Don’t,” Tina instructed firmly, her arms tight over her chest. Without another word she turned around and walked into the house, slamming the patio door behind her in the process.

Her breath was coming in shaky gasps as she walked through the house, ignoring her mother’s pleading inquiry as to what had happened in the backyard. Biting back a sob Tina walked upstairs, quickly looking in on Zoey before walking into the master bedroom. She barely got the door closed before the tears came and she threw herself down on the bed to cry.

~*~

Nick quickly made his way over to the guest house, poking his head in the door. Tina’s father was on the couch watching some old Christmas movie on television.

“Can you keep an eye on Park for a second?” he asked and the older man nodded, lumbering outside to watch his grandson.

Nick didn’t know for sure what was going on with Tina but he did have a slight inclination. He walked quickly through the house, taking the steps two at a time.  The bedroom was dark as he swung the door open but he could clearly make out Tina’s form lying on the bed. He closed the door and crossed the room, sitting down next to her.

“Are you going to talk to me?” he asked her, hearing her sniffle.

“I want you to leave me alone Nick,” Tina muttered, not turning her face away from the pillow.

He wasn’t sure if this was some kind of woman thing. He wasn’t sure if maybe her mood could be attributed to hormones or something else but he was going to tread lightly regardless.

“I’m not going to leave you alone so you better start talking,” he put simply.

He had expected that she would relent and give up the fight and just tell him what the problem was but instead she bolted off the bed and out the door faster than he could acknowledge what had happened.

“Tina!” he yelled, following after her down the stairs. He found her standing in the living room looking at the Christmas tree with the piles of presents underneath.

“What is going on?” Lynn asked from the doorway and Nick waved her off.

“None of your business,” he told her sternly, holding up his hand before turning back to the younger woman, “Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?!” Tina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She turned around so Nick could see the tears pooling in her red tinged eyes and rolling down her cheeks. With a power that she didn’t know she had Tina reeled back then lashed out, slapping him firmly on the cheek.

“What the hell?!” Nick exclaimed, his hand coming to his face, “Are you insane?! You just hit me!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t get me anything for Christmas! You asshole! Do you know how embarrassing that was? You got presents for my parents and you hate them but you didn’t get me a single thing? Not even a card?!”

His cheek stung, but not as much as her words did. He deserved it though. He had backed out of his plans to propose at the last second, wanting to wait for a better time. He was scared that after her anger in the morning it would seem like he was trying to placate her and it wouldn’t be as special. So during the flurry of the presents he had moved the one wrapped present he had for her and hoped she wouldn’t notice the difference. Apparently, she had.

“It’s not like that,” he tried to explain but the tears kept coming; “I did get you something.”

“Liar,” she cried, “Where is it then? Aren’t I important to you?”

Nick let out a heavy sigh, running his hands through his hair, “You’re so important to me. You have no idea...”

“You’re right!” Tina exclaimed, throwing her arms out in frustration, “I don’t have any idea because you never tell me!”

Nick didn’t know what to do. The situation was lose/lose. Either he told her what the real present was and risk her saying know because she was angry or he gave her nothing which would potentially ruin any future chance he had with her.

“Would you tell me what’s going on, already? Why are you two yelling again?” Lynn asked, unable to just ignore what was happening in the house as she walked into the room wiping her hands on an apron.

“Just...” Nick held his hand up to her again, the other hand on his hip, trying to maintain his composure, “Would you butt out of our lives for five minutes? Can we not deal with anything without you being there sticking your nose in it?”

“You two can’t deal with anything. All you do is fight!” Lynn exclaimed, “Your relationship, if that’s what you want to call it, is completely toxic! Nothing good can come of this! You’re out of control, Nick!”

“Would you just shut up for once?”

Nick was surprised that the question didn’t come out of his mouth. He looked at Tina, completely surprised to see her tell her mother off.

Tina wiped her eyes, “The most important words you just said were ‘your relationship’. It is our relationship, Mother. Your constant criticism of him is part of what keeps this fight going. I have accepted him despite all of his flaws and I’m the only one who needs to. I appreciate everything you do for us but you need to let us live our lives.”

Lynn let out a surprised scoff. She had done more than her fair share for Tina and for Nick. They had moved there on a whim to help her daughter take care of her kids and had never judged her. When she had told them she was pregnant with Parker they never said two negative words to her about the fact that she was essentially ruining her life. She believed that the sacrifices she had made for her family gave her a right to voice her opinion.

“Destroy each other,” the older woman said with a roll of her eyes before heading back into the kitchen to keep prepping for Christmas dinner.

Nick wanted to smile, he wanted to jump for joy and congratulate Tina for what she’d said. It was what he had been trying to get across to her parents all along, that it didn’t matter what they thought of him because he wasn’t in a relationship with them.

“I did get you something,” he said, deciding right then and there that he had to go ahead with his plans, “I just need to go get it. Stay right here?”

Tina wiped at her eyes again, her body still in a defensive position, “I have nowhere else to go,” she whispered as Nick ran off towards his games room.