Christmas Relit

Edith

I threw on a black dress with white textured spots and did a light makeup look. The pulled-back hair was good as it would get with two kids who screamed all morning long getting them ready to drop off at Lara's. My sister only lived about 10 minutes away and I'm thankful she offered to watch the kids for me this morning. I couldn't imagine having to haul them both into a funeral and keeping them quiet. 

"Lainey! Huddy! Come here please!" I called. I heard silence so I knew they were up to no good. 

"Uh, Mommy, bubby is trying to call Daddy on your phone," Lainey tattled. 

"Oh, hey," I said awkwardly as I picked up the phone and was greeted with Will's face on a FaceTime call. 

He laughed lightheartedly. "Hey, I was just about to get off here. I saw you were calling and thought something was wrong," he said. 

"Oh, that's okay. Thanks for checking," I replied. 

"No problem," he said, but before I could end the call, "Are you going to Miss Ila's funeral today?"

Shit. 

I failed to remember that both Will and I were in Ila's Sunday school class together once upon a time. I guess I was subconsciously hoping he wouldn't be there. I had enough to worry about with Blake Walker being there. 

"Yeah, I am. I am about to leave now and drop the kids off at Lara's for a bit," I replied.

"If you want, you can bring them with you and I can sit with you and help keep them quiet," he offered, but in no way was I accepting that.

"Oh, it's totally fine, Lara already has some plans for them," I replied casually, careful not to upset him or come off wrong. 

"Oh," he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Well, I reckon I'll see you at some point."

"Okay, see ya," I said as I hit the red button. 

I face-palmed so hardly a bit of foundation rubbed off on my hand. Maybe Will was right, I did just complicate things. But I didn't want to attend a funeral with my two kids and ex-husband pretending everything was fine when it was absolutely not. 

I dabbed some more foundation on my cheeks and cleaned it up before directing Lainey and Hudson out to the car and in their carseats.

When I got to Lara's house, my niece Laila ran out to meet us.

"Aunt Edie!" she greeted. 

"Hi, Laila!" I replied, opening my door to hug her. 

"Are Lainey and Huddy staying with us today?" she asked.

"They are, but I will be back later to pick them up," I said. She looked disappointed. 

"I said they could stay the night!" Lara said defensively. 

"Yeah, you should let them, Edie. We will take good care of them," Laila promoted. 

I giggled. "I'll think about it, 'kay?"

"Okay!" Laila exclaimed as the three kids ran off to play.

I handed the diaper bag to Lara and informed her of the situation with Will earlier. 

"He just won't stop, will he?" she said.

"Exactly. And it's been seven months. Why isn't he backing down?" I said, sounding defeated. 

"Because you're too good, Edith Jane. Too good! He can't back down from fighting for you," she tried. 

"He should've fought for me while he still had me." I looked down at the gravel. Saying it out loud hurt - badly.