Laughs, smiles, jokes. This is what 25-year-old Eleanor Woods misses about her life. After her husband, Cameron Bailey, left Eleanor and their 2-year-old child, Iris, enstranged, there's just the two to continue their life.
Two years later, th...
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03 | baby it's cold outside
The next three days had passed by in a flash. Eleanor was struggling to figure out what she was going to do if Cameron decided to show up at her door. A part of her told her to shut the doors tight hoping he'd go away - something that Eleanor thought would make a good idea.
But she'd never tell Maria that idea; Maria would shun her for that. Being a strong believer in Christmas, there were a couple things Maria always did. Forget about being rude to anyone, she'd visit homeless shelters and give out food, volunteer at orphanages, and forgive people like she had a sack of forgiveness instead of presents. The rest of the year, she'd go back to being the sarcastic grinch she was.
Eleanor laughed at the thought as she was close to completing the evening's meal. She had the next five days off at work which was the best gift she'd receieve all year. Covering the glass pot up with a slightly too big of a lid, she examined the empty living room which didn't resemble Christmas spirit at the slightest.
Thank God Maria hadn't visited her house, Eleanor thought, she would've panicked!
Eleanor would always decorate the house in beautiful red, bright greens and warm blues for Christmas, however, being a busy year, she hadn't gotten the chance. Iris had kept pestering her about decorating the house; she'd been inspired in her kindergarten class to do so.
"Iris!" Eleanor called to her daughter who was in her room probably scribbling on papers, "Sweetie, let's do decorating!" Eleanor didn't necessarily like decorating ever since Cameron had left her, she lost her spirits. But Iris' enthusiasm this year made her decide that she'd decorate the house.
Iris immediately bolted to the living room in excitement, "Yay! Mommy, are we weally decorating?"
"Yes, Iris!" Eleanor grined, "and you get to help me!" Her statement caused Iris to bounce up and down in her spot in thrill and clap her hands rapidly together. Eleanor walked over to the closet she had stored the Christmas decorations. They hadn't been touched in over two years, which meant a heap of dust was bound to be covered on the tops.
She picked up the boxes and set them down on the ground as Iris jumped up and down, "I wanna do the Christmas tree first, mommy!"
"Of course, sweetie, but it might take the most time. Are you sure you won't get tired?" Eleanor tested Iris jokingly to see her enthusiasm. Of course, Eleanor didn't think otherwise, her daughter was way too excited to let the opportunity down.
Iris shook her head vehemently, "No mommy! I promise, I'll do evewything! You won't have to do any work this time, I promise!"
Eleanor laughed and lifted the two heavy boxes into the living room and set them down on the ground once again. "Okay, this box has the Christmas decorations," Eleanor explained to Iris slowly so that she'd understand, "but I want you to be very careful when you take them out, okay? These cost mommy a lot!"
