Christmas Eve
I invited all of my family and friends to Topanga for the Christmas holidays and it was so nice to see everyone I loved in one place! The house looked beautiful but, I must confess, I hired someone to decorate. I felt awful about it but I wasn't in the best of shape to do the work and Taylor was busy with the Coattails so I bit the bullet and hired some fancy pants decorator to make the house look like a Christmas dream. I had everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner with the kids, including all of Foo's and their families. Most of the wives looked like they had been dragged there kicking and screaming but I didn't mind as long as they were civil. I felt so pregnant I could burst but I still had until March. My sweet mother and Taylor's sweet mom tried everything in their power to help me with dinner but I only allowed my best friends, Elena and Gia to help me in the kitchen. God bless them, they were the only ones I could communicate with in the kitchen because they knew what the hell they were doing and this was a HUGE undertaking. Taylor always knew to leave me alone when I cooked but he was scared to death of my illness and would just stare at me from the other side of the counter while people tried to converse with him. They might as well have been speaking Japanese to him.
"Stop staring at her, Taylor. You're going to give her a complex!" Dave whispered to him, jostling him by the shoulder.
"What if something happens? She's working too hard. She should just let Elena and Gia do it!" Taylor whispered back excitedly.
"You know that's never going to happen so just leave her alone, T... She seems to be OK." Dave said, putting his arm around him and squeezing him. Taylor slumped and allowed Dave to manhandle him a little before shrugging him off and going back to his position at the counter. I looked up and smiled at him.
"You're not being a very good host, my angel..." I said staring back at him while I poured my enormous pot of truffled mashed potatoes in a chafing dish. I went to grab a lighter for the sterno. Taylor jumped.
"I'll do that! Let me do that when I put them out on the buffet." He said grabbing the lighter away from me. I took his face with both hands and kissed him gently.
"I love you. Please stop worrying." I whispered. His eyes looked so frightened. He shook his head then carried the dish away.
I and the girls were able to get everything on the buffet and not kill ourselves. It was quite a feat! I watched as everyone enjoyed their meal and I took a small bite of the mashed potatoes while Taylor squeezed and rubbed my thigh under the table. I went to swallow and immediately regretted it but was able to breathe through the wave of nausea. He could hear me breathing and stopped eating to put his arm around me and stroke my hair.
"Come on, baby. How 'bout a green bean. They're so good..." He smiled and lifted his fork to my mouth. I giggled at him and put it in my mouth, chewing it slowly.
"Ew! Why are you feeding her?!" Shane shouted across the table, causing Taylor to give him the death stare.
"That was terribly rude! Apologize right now..." Taylor growled. Shane threw his fork down and crossed his arms. I turned to Taylor and stroked his hand trying to calm him down.
"Sweetie...sweetie... It's OK! I know it's kinda' funny that your dad was feeding me, huh? He just wants me to eat is all. My tummy doesn't feel very good when I eat..." I said to Shane sweetly, trying to de-escalate the situation. My mother shot a look at Taylor, he swallowed hard and stared down at his plate.
"Taylor! You PROMISED me that you would tell me if she didn't get better! You promised!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone. Taylor hunched over and I squeezed his hand and rubbed it.
"I told him not to, Mom. I begged him." I said, starting to tear up. Her eyes and mouth widened in shock.
"Why? Why would you do that?" Mom replied. "I should be here taking care of her! I can't BELIEVE you, Taylor!" She shrieked at him.
"Yell at him ONE more time and I swear on my LIFE I will never speak to you again! Why? You wanna know WHY I asked him not to tell you? Because you're terrible in tough situations, Mom! You completely fall apart and I don't have the time or energy to take care of you right now! All you do stress me out like you're doing RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. Everyone was quiet and I was humiliated. I got up from the table and threw my napkin down on my plate. Taylor grabbed at my hand but I was able to slip from his grasp. "Enjoy your meal, everyone..." I grumbled and stormed upstairs, Taylor hot on my tail. He grabbed me before I got to our bedroom door and hugged me to him then grabbed my face with both hands.
"You have to go back down. I don't give a shit about your mom; I need you to eat. Do you hear me? I am not fucking around. You have to eat, baby." He said sternly. My lip quivered and I nodded at him. "OK, how 'bout this? How 'bout I bring it up here and you and I can eat alone, OK? How does that sound?" He said softly. I nodded again and he opened the door to our room and sat me down on our bed. "I'll be right back..." He said stroking my head then left. Before I knew it the door opened and it was Britt, Lee, Gia, Karen and Elena quietly tiptoeing in. I smiled at them.
"So you weren't going to tell your best friends that you're sick?" Karen said sitting next to me and pressing my head to hers. Lee sat on the other side and stroked my arm. She was currently pregnant with her second child.
"I knew you looked too thin... You're too small." Lee cried. She was naturally a worrier but you add pregnancy hormones to the mix and she will break down very easily. Before I knew it we ALL were sobbing and Taylor came through the door with our plates on a tray and put it down on the dresser. He couldn't help it. The scene made him crack up with laughter. We immediately stopped and stared at him.
"I'm so glad this is funny to you, Taylor!" Lee sobbed. He winced and grinned dropping to his knees in front of her and grabbing her hands.
"IT's not funny, THIS is funny!" He laughed gesturing to the bed filled with sobbing women. I snickered and he got up and kissed everyone's forehead one by one leaving me last to kiss my lips. "OK, ladies... Sorry to kick you out but I need to get her to eat. See ya' in a few!" He said ushering them out. They all hugged me then Taylor and left the room. "Just you and me now..." He smiled and brought the tray over and put it between us.
"It's probably cold now..." I pouted.
"No no, this is a new plate." He said and took a fork to the mashed potatoes. "OK, now, you just look at me and take a bite." He said and smiled at me. I smiled back and stared him deep in the eyes. He was so beautiful, I stopped thinking... Before I knew it, I'd almost eaten all of them. "Oh my God, sweetie! Look!" He said tilting the plate up. "That's amazing!" He exclaimed then kissed me. "Here. Drink this water." He directed and I was able to do so. I didn't need my mommy, I needed my Taylor.
Once we finished eating, Taylor and I headed back downstairs. To my happy surprise, everything had been cleaned up and all the grow-ups were imbibing while the kids danced around to the Very Special Christmas Volume 1 which was my favorite Christmas record of all time. Run DMC was rapping about Christmas in Hollis when we joined everyone. I took Annie's hands and danced with her and she loved it. My sister, Anna, was holding Alex but she cried to let her down and she ran over to me. I put her on my hip and continued to dance with the kids. Taylor shot me a look but I clutched Alex to me and winked at him. No time to worry, we were all having fun.
"Hey guys! Let's open presents that Santa brought everyone early!" I exclaimed, making all of the children squeal. A lovely sound. I had gotten a gift for all of the children so no one would be sad watching Shane, Annie and Alex open our presents. Allison said she'd be over to get them at 7:30 am. Yaaay... All the adults sat around and watched the madness. I, of course, spoiled Dave's girls because I loved them so much. They still called me "Baba" because love just doesn't die like that. We would always be connected. Phee and Alex sat on both of my knees hugging their new American Girl dolls to their chest. I tried to get them all one that looked like them including Violet, Harper and Annie. They were overjoyed. I always loved dolls. Taylor got Shane a new drum set and a little mountain bike. The girls only cared about their dolls. Shane was already a little virtuoso. I noticed Dave watching him with a sad look in his eyes. I approached him.
"Hey... You have an amazing girlfriend... Knock her up, motherfucker!" I joked. He smiled slightly.
"Yeah. Maybe..." He said wistfully then put his hands on my belly. I nodded and smiled.
"That's mister Oliver David Hawkins. I'm going to actually call him Ollie. It's about time Oliver is used for real!" I snickered. Dave gazed at my tummy and smiled.
"Thank you..." He whispered then kissed my cheek.
"Of course..."
