Knowing You're There

Chapter 24

Emmit woke me up as usual on Christmas Eve, due to the fact that once again Mom was making peppermint muffins.  It was the one thing from my grandmother that she could actually bake without burning or destroying.  Believe it or not, Mom was a decent cook when she follow the directions of a recipe exactly. 

I changed from my pajamas into my sweats and brushed my hair before going downstairs.  Star was waiting for me in the living room.  I hugged her and she followed me into the kitchen.  The sun coming through the back window warmed my face when I sat down. 

“Well, you look like you’re in a better mood this morning,” Mom said, placing a warm plate of muffins in front of me.  My mouth watered and I immediately took a bite. 

“You know that Christmas is my favorite holiday,” I said. 

“Yeah, because you get things,” Emmit said from across the table. 

I ignored him and kept eating, then grabbed a piece of bread and ripped it into pieces for Star.  She sniffed her bowl, but ignored the food and went for her water dish instead.  After that, she went down the hall and towards the front door, which hadn’t happened in weeks.  I rushed behind her. 

“Do you want to go for a walk, Star?” I asked her.  She nudged my leg.  “Okay, we’ll got for a walk.”

I opened the hall closet and put her harness on, then bundled myself up and went out into the cold.  There was that same stillness in the air.  However, something was different about Star.  Instead of me dragging her, she was dragging me, almost like before she got sick.  I smiled as my boots crunched down the salt-covered street. 

“Look at you go, Star!” I said to her. 

Right when it seemed like everything was going well, Star halted and started coughing.  I heard her vomit spill into the street.  Pain shot through my abdomen.  I pet her back and waited for her to finish.  When it was over, she moved closer to my side. 

“Let’s go home, girl,” I said, then practically dragged her down the street. 

When we got in the door, she went straight to her bed in the living room.  I went upstairs and listened for text messages.  There were none from Sarah or the twins.  Kurt’s said, “Good morning honey.  I love you.”  I just said, “I love you” back and then listened to the new single Rayvn released the night before. 

I checked the time every so often while listening to the song on repeat.  Kurt and the snowmobile would be in the driveway around one.  Over the music, I could hear Mom and Dad’s footsteps coming close to my door.  They were doing that a lot lately. 

When it got closer to the time of the ride, I changed into a pair of jeans and the sweater that I wore on our first date, then went downstairs and waited by the front window. 

“Look at Lia waiting for her lover-boy!” Emmit said, his fingers going crazy on his game controller. 

“Don’t you have a princess to save or something?” I asked.