The Love We Choose

Chapter 27

Having washed the last of the dishes she had accumulated after finishing her up kitchen duties, Lynne grabbed a glass of cranberry juice and walked into her parents' living room. Numerous family members were packed into the space: her siblings, their spouses, her aunts and uncles, and her father. Conversations were flowing all around her as they caught up with each other, played with each other, discussed football and politics, and just enjoyed each other's company. In the corner her youngest nieces and nephews occupied the floor, playing with numerous toys kept in the living room chest. Nat was on the floor, keeping Paulo occupied while his mother was in the kitchen helping to cook.

Plopping herself on the couch next to her cousin, Yolanda, and uncle Freddy, her mother's youngest brother, she listened in to their conversation on politics. Not wanting to step into the minefield the new age liberal and old school conservative were navigating, Lynne turned her attention to the television, watching the football game the majority of her male family members were shouting about.

Small hands waving in front of her face brought her out of her reverie.

"Auntie, will you play with us?" Elisa's daughter, Hannah asked with Vinny's daughter Bianca in tow.

"Sure, what are you playing?" Lynne asked, getting up off the couch. She had to momentarily steady herself on the armrest as the rush of blood from standing too quickly made her lightheaded.

"Jenga!" Bianca answered, eagerly. "It's more fun with more people though."

"You are absolutely correct," Lynne replied, nestling on the floor opposite Hannah, who had begun to stack the tiles.

An hour and multiple rounds of Jenga later, where Lynne learned that their younger hands were much steadier than her own, it was finally time for dinner. Taking her place between David's girlfriend Amara and her sister, Elisa, she eyed all of the magnificent dishes prepared. After Aunt Shelly blessed the food, they all dug into the wonderful feast that had been prepared for them. Lynne found herself fighting with her brother-in-law, Travis, for the last one of Elisa's buttermilk rolls when she went back for seconds. Following a minor playful debate highlighting why each of them deserved it more, they took the 'King Solomon' route and split it.

Once everyone had more or less finished their plates, it was time to go around the room and declare what each of them was thankful for. Many of the reasons were similar to the same ones said from year-to-year: family, health, passing grades, new jobs, etc. Purveying the room as her family members spoke, Lynne settled into a level of quiet contentment. She loved this holiday more than any of the others. There was no pretense attached to it. No religious overhangings, no presents, no expectations, just love, togetherness, and family. It wasn't until Elisa nudged her, that she realized it was her turn.

"I'm thankful that the numbers on my spreadsheets balanced out evenly before I left work yesterday," she simultaneously signed and spoke.

"Lame!" Vinny called out from his space on the opposite side of the table.

"Oh hesh up boy," Aunt Shelley chided him from her space at the end of the table. "The girl is allowed to be thankful for whatever she wants to be thankful for."

"Fine, I'm thankful that I am gainfully employed for another year. Is that better, brother-mine?" She asked, shooting him a pointed look.

"I"ll allow it."

"So gracious of you," she mocked, taking a sip of her sparkling cider.

"Maybe this time next year she'll be gracious for a new man in her life?" Nat suggested from her spot next to Kris, wiggling her eyes in Lynne's direction.

"Or maybe a job where she utilizes more of that double major of hers," Vinny interjected.

Exasperated and uncomfortable at the continued attention, Lynne turned to Amara. "Well, enough from me. Amara, your turn."

After everyone had said their piece, the dinner concluded with the adults pulling names for their annual Christmas grab bag. As the table was cleared and several different types of desserts were placed on it, Julissa walked around with a brown paper bag filled with scraps of paper. Dancing in front of Lynne, she shook the bag and opened it for her to pick a name. Diving her hand into the bag, Lynne pulled a name out and placed it in her pocket. "You know the rules, Lil' Lynny. Check to make sure you didn't grab your own name," her sister admonished her.

Sighing, Lynne pulled the name out of her pocket and checked to make sure it wasn't hers. "Benjamin Prentice" was written out in Julissa's impeccable script on the tiny scrap of paper. "I definitely did not get my name. Does that suffice?"

"Thank you."

Inwardly, Lynne celebrated. Getting her father's name was the easiest in her mind. Immediately, she set a skeleton list of gift ideas in her mental bank. Oh yeah, I'm going to win Christmas this year.

Smiling to herself, she plopped herself down on the couch next to David. Several of her family members were watching an action movie. Eventually, Paulo crawled his way over to her and pulled himself up to his feet with the aid of her pant leg. "Hey there," she cooed at him sweeping him into her arms and nuzzling his face. Entertaining the precious baby occupied the rest of her night.

Later that night as Lynne was packing up her share of leftovers her mother had put to the side for her, she was joined in the kitchen by Nat.

"Hey girlie; you leaving already?"

"Yeah, I want to hit the road before it's too dark. With the temperature dropping and the rain earlier, I don't want to hit any ice patches."

"Aww. Ok. You should have just spent the night. Or stayed with me and Kris."

"Next time. You know I stay with mom and daddy a couple of days during Christmas week and then house hop before the school year resumes. You'll have me all to yourself then for at least two days, I promise. Just make sure the spare room is ready." Lynne told her as she swept her up in a hug.

"I'm holding you to it. But....you might be losing the spare room soon," Nat told her with a smirk on her face.

"Come again?"

Nat was positively vibrating as she grabbed Lynne's arm and pulled her in close, dropping her voice to a low whisper. "We weren't going to tell anyone, but I'm afraid I'll bust if I don't tell at least you. I'm pregnant!"

A host of emotions bubbled up within Lynne in a three second span before she broke out into a full grin. Keeping her voice low she jumped up and down in place before throwing her arms around her sister-in-law in celebration, "congratulations! I get to be an auntie again."

Nat returned the hug with her natural, bone-crushing strength before releasing her. "Yeah. We're so happy, but we're keeping this on the Q-T. I'm only 7 weeks in and with the first two rounds of in vitro, I didn't make it out of the first trimester. Once all the danger is past, we'll tell everyone."

Trying to control her emotions, Lynne swallowed against a lump that was forming in her throat. "I'm so happy for you guys," Lynne told her, her voice cracking. "Oh turning to hide her glossy eyes as she finished packing up all of her leftovers. "How's that big lug of a husband of yours taking it?" She asked of her brother, making sure to keep her voice low.

"He doesn't want to jinx anything, but when I showed him the test, he had the biggest grin on his face. We go to the doctor for my checkup on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure seeing the sonogram and hearing a heartbeat will change things for him."

Lynne thought back to lying on the exam bed in Dr. Ulias's office. Nat didn't know just how true her words rang to her.

"Oooh. Don't tell him I told you."

"Cross my heart sister-girl," Lynne promised, miming the action before pulling the taller woman in for a hug.

After saying all of her goodbyes, which took about twenty more minutes, Lynne pulled off the street and followed the familiar maze of streets out of her hometown onto the highway. As she chugged along she reflected on the joy, warmth, and love she felt with her family. When she thought of how Nat had trusted her with her exciting news, her heart sank at the realization that she had not returned the courtesy. "It's ok," she rationalized to herself. "I'm going to tell them all soon. And now I'll have a belly buddy," she laughed out loud at her own corny pun. "You hear that, little bean? You're gonna have another cousin to play with that'll be really close to your age," she spoke to her stomach as she turned the radio on, filling the silent car with Christmas music.

"Joy to the world."