Christmas Lost & Found

December 17th

Rob

Rob woke to the sound of Michelle snoring slightly. He frowned, remembering how giddy she was from the wine. Typically, he benefited from her indulgence in red wine, but not last night. Lily's arrival put an end to all his plans. He stayed in the kitchen for a while, but after catching Michelle's eye, he knew it would be a long night. Their daughter could talk and she had no inhibitions about sharing everything with her parents. She was an open book which used to drive poor Robbie crazy because he could never get away with anything. When Robbie was kissing on the beach, Lily made sure that they knew, but it was also the same when she was. She always told them everything. There was one piece of information that he didn't know about his daughter and he knew that Michelle had warned Lily long ago to never tell him. If his baby girl was no longer a virgin, he didn't want to know. He was certain that Michelle knew the status of her virtue. Oddly enough, he was certain what Robbie was up to with his girlfriend, Cayla, and that didn't bother him. He wasn't proud of his double standard, but Lily was his flower.

He hadn't bothered to stay awake for Michelle. There was no chance she would want to indulge him that late. Lily's arrival disappointed him because he thought he had laid the groundwork for more than their normal Saturday night that typically felt more like a chore than an expression of their love. Oh well, he signed, they had fourteen nights ahead of them.

Michelle was happy, and it had everything to do with having Lily home. Their children were her world or had been for years. He understood that her life had been through more changes as the kids grew than his. He still worked hard at his career, while she lost what was most important to her, the day-to-day caring for their children. Perhaps in retrospect, he started working harder to avoid the childless house. When the kids were young, he would rush home to spend time with them in the evening. Their teenage years and independence coincided with his promotions, eventually to Vice President. That promotion came at a good time as they were facing two in college and he already made too much to expect any kind of financial aid. He was glad to pay for his children's tuition so they could start their lives debt free. Money was the least of their worries, although being poor and happy sometimes seemed the better choice.

It was nice to have Lily with them. She stood between them at church. Rob and Michelle were both raised Catholic, and they raised their children the same. No matter how busy they were or how things changed, they always attended Mass every weekend. They never discussed it unless they had to rearrange from their preferred ten am to Saturday night or the dreaded eight am on Sunday morning.

They had only a few minutes to load the car with presents and baked goods before they left for the thirty-minute drive to his sister's house. Lily followed in her own car, because she was heading north directly. Rob almost wished that they weren't waiting until the next day to drive up, but they still had packing to do.

The house was full and chaotic. Everyone greeted each other loudly with lots of hugs. He watched as Michelle joined the throngs as if it were her family, but they had been together for more than half their lives and she had no family of her own. He stood next to his older sister, Karen. She was only sixteen months his senior, and they were always close.

"Will Little Robbie being coming for Christmas?" His family felt the need to differentiate between him and his son, but Rob was certain at twenty-two Robbie just tolerated the Robbie and hated the 'little'.

They had kept their Christmas disappointments to themselves. They had both been too busy to gossip on the phone with meddling siblings. "Nah and Lily's working, so it will be just us. We're going to the beach."

"A tropical Christmas, nice that you're so damn rich!" She teased.

"Actually, I mean the beach as in our cottage."