Home for the Holidays Ch. 05-07

"Your angel," Mara said, coming to look over my shoulder as I held her up to the light. She was just as pretty as she'd been that first day. It wasn't often you found angels with red hair and green eyes. They usually had blonde hair and big blue eyes, sort of like Bekka. But I had learned at an early age that Bekka was no angel, as she continually proved.

"I can't believe Mom and Dad haven't thrown that old thing away. It's cracked."

I turned toward Bekka. "You should know. You cracked it."

"It was an accident. Besides, it happened what, fifteen years ago? Get over it, Kenna." Bekka smoothed her hand down over her stomach.

"A lot of things that happen around you are accidents, aren't they, Bekka?" I said, a smirk on my face.

"What do you mean by that?" Bekka snapped, sitting up in Mom's chair, though she couldn't get out of it on her own like I knew she wanted to.

"Girls!" Mom interrupted. "It's Christmas. It's time to put the squabbling behind you and act like sisters."

"We are acting like sisters, Mom." Bekka said. "At least, I am. I didn't start this."

I felt Nicky behind me, his hand running down my back to pull me against him. "Don't let her get to you," he whispered in my ear. "She's not worth ruining your Mom and Dad's Christmas."

"You're right," I said, giving him a smile and a kiss. "I'm sorry, Bekka. Let's just forgive and forget, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Bekka said. "Whatever."

"What's for dinner, Mom? I'm starving."

"Good, then you can help me serve it up while the rest of you take care of this mess."

I followed after my mother, eager to get away from Bekka and her bitchiness. "Is she like this all the time?"

"No. For the first few months, I think Bekka was actually very happy with Steven. Then the baby began to show and she started gaining weight. Now we barely see them and when we do, Steven is, well, it's like he's thinking of some other place he'd rather be and he doesn't even seem to want to touch Bekka. I know some men are turned off by pregnant women, I just never thought he'd be one of them."

I'd never told my Mom about the diets Steven had always had me on or the way he'd look at me if I ate a cookie or had a soda.

"Maybe things will get better after the baby's born."

"Let's hope Bekka can find her maternal side," my mom said, but she didn't sound too positive about it. I helped ladle and carry, taking the food to the table and snitching tastes when Mom wasn't looking. Between the dishes and the food, the table was almost groaning with the weight of what we'd put on it. I couldn't wait to settle down and eat more of my mother's fantastic cooking.

"You're favorite fruit salad is in the fridge, Kenna."

I hurried and pulled it out. The combination of marshmallows, mandarin oranges and pineapple had always been my favorite as a child. I never got it anywhere but at home. Grabbing a serving spoon, I hid the piece of pineapple I'd snitched and popped it in my mouth.

"God, Mom, no one cooks like you do."

"You want to go and call them in for dinner?" she asked, a pleased look on her face.

Stepping to the kitchen door, I hollered, "DINNER!"

"Kenna, I could have done that myself." Mom scolded like I knew she would.

"So why didn't you?" I asked, teasing her like she knew I would.

We were the last two to the table. I was sitting between Nicky and my father and I brushed my fingers across the back of Nick's neck as I sat, pleased by the shiver it gave him. Mom sat at the foot of the table. "Shall we join hands so that we can give thanks?"

Chapter Seven

Dinner was a happy affair, full of laughter and teasing. Even Bekka seemed to come out of her snit and join in with the fun. Steven, though, held himself away from us like he always had. I could see it now as I hadn't been able before. It was like there was a plastic bubble around him, where he could go and not have to deal with people.

"I'll never be able to eat again," Nicky said as he finished off his second piece of my Mom's famous apple pie. She always served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled in homemade caramel sauce. I ran my finger through the sauce on Nicky's plate and sucked it off, looking up at him with mischief in my eyes. "You are a cruel woman," he said softly to me.

"Would you like to hear what Mom's making for tomorrow?" I teased.

"Oh shoot me," he begged.

I laughed and stood up, reaching to start stacking plates. "Come on, Mara, Mom's been cooking all day. Least we can do is the dishes."

"You hate doing dishes," Mara said, but she stood up and started collecting plates anyway.

"Yeah, and the sign of a good child is to do the things you hate doing without complaint," I said, hearing a snort from Bekka's direction.

"When did you ever do anything but what you wanted to do?" Bekka asked.

"You dropped out of college and moved to Lapeer. You're working for the police there when they fired your brother-in-law for no reason. Sounds pretty selfish to me," she said, gathering the shawl she'd taken off the back of the couch around her. She sent a pretty smile down towards Steven but he ignored her. Then his cell phone went off and he excused himself, still without looking at anyone.

It took everything I had in me not to throw in her face that her fair-haired husband had been fired for trying to have sex with a woman while he was on the clock. The woman had complained to her politician husband about Steven's advances. He'd been told to quit or face sexual harassment and assault and battery charges.

I'd never told anyone about that, not even Nicky. I guess I was too embarrassed that the man I'd thought so perfect had ended up to be just another dog, looking for whatever he could get. Without answering her nastiness, I took the plates I'd stacked and carried them into the kitchen.

Mara was already there, standing near the mudroom door, her ear plastered to the crack.

"Mara Jean McEwen!" I said loudly, startling her into jumping straight up and looking at me sheepishly. "What are you doing?"

"Shhh," she hissed, putting her finger to her lips, then she motioned for me to come to her. I went, too curious to refuse.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Steven's out in the mudroom talking to some woman," she hissed at me. "I think he's making a date for later tonight."

"You're kidding me," I said, pressing my ear to the crack and listening. If I strained I could hear him talking. His voice carried that sniveling whine he always used when he wasn't getting his own way.

"I can't get out of here any earlier, baby. You know I would if I could. I have to do the family thing. She doesn't want to tell her family about the divorce until after the holidays and I agreed." There was a pause and I could almost picture Steven's face in my mind. "You know I only love you. We both realized we were making a mistake with this marriage and she's just as anxious as I am to have it over. Then we never have to see each other again."

"Go back out and keep cleaning off the table," I told Mara. "Don't tell anyone about this, got me?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago," I muttered and took a deep

breath, opening the mudroom door. Riley was on my heels and I felt comforted by his presence. With him there, Steven wouldn't try anything against me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, as if I really cared.

Steven slammed his hand over the phone. "Oh no, just some work that I have to finish. I'm going to have to go into the office tonight."

I reached over and to his surprise, plucked the phone out of his hand.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" a woman's voice said from the other end.

"Who is this?" I answered right back, smacking Steven's hand away from me as he tried to reach for his phone.

"I'm Diane Trangle," the woman finally answered. "Steven is my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend? Did he happen to tell you he's married and they have their first child on the way?"

"Child? His wife is pregnant?" She sounded sincerely shocked and I couldn't blame her. I'd felt the same way when I'd found out about Steven and Bekka.

"Yes. She's due within the next month." I looked up at Steven as he once more reached for his phone, hearing Riley growl. "Do it and you'll lose a hand," I said, nodding down at Riley.

"Will you give him a message for me?" Diane asked and I could hear the hurt and betrayal in her voice. Boy, did I know how that felt.

"Sure."

"Tell him to forget my number, forget where I live, and to stay out of my sight or I'll let him know how I feel about cheaters."

"No problem. I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

With that, I hung up the cell phone. "I can't believe you," I said, the disgust in my voice more than evident. "What the hell is wrong with you? Your wife, the woman that you left me for, that you couldn't wait to run to, is having your baby. How could you leave her now?"

"Have you looked at her recently?" Steven asked. His face took on a moue of disgust. "She's so fat, she can't even pull on her own socks."

"That's not fat, Steven. She's pregnant with your baby, you ass. I can't believe I ever fell for any of your shit. Stay away from me, Steven, and you'd better start treating Bekka better or I'll let her know about this little phone call, do you understand me? Maybe I should tell her about why you lost your job with the county? I think the family might be interested in hearing about that, don't you?"

"You bitch, you're threatening me?"

"Nope, this ain't even close to being a threat, you son of a bitch. This is a promise. Mess with me or anyone else in my family and you'll find out how much hurt I can put on you. Maybe your bosses would like to know why you lost your job?" I threw his cell phone back at him, calling Riley to my side so he wouldn't be tempted to take a bite out of Steven after I left the room. I stormed back into the kitchen.

Mara was there, talking to Nicky. "Are you all right?"

My heart was pounding, the top of my head felt like it was going to come off, I was so mad. I was disgusted with him, and with myself for not seeing what he was the first time we'd met. "Fine," I said shortly. Then I went to Nicky and threw myself in his arms. "I need a hug."

"Anytime, love," he said, holding on tight and burying his face in my hair. "What happened out there?"

"Yeah, did you give the creep a good kick in the balls?" Mara asked eagerly, wanting details.

"No, but I did ruin the date he had for later tonight."

"No! He had a date?"

Nicky let me go slowly, lifting my chin to give me a kiss that helped steady my nerves and made me feel better. "Some woman named Diane. I don't think she'll have anything to do with him after this. She didn't know Bekka was pregnant."

"I hope you let her in on that," Mara said, watching the door to the mudroom.

"Yes I did, and I told him if I caught him fooling around on Bekka again, I was going to let loose a few truths I knew he wouldn't want spilled."

"He didn't try to hurt you?" Nicky asked, his back going up.

"No, baby. I'm fine. But he won't be if I have to go after him again."

"It's not fair," Mara groused. "I'm the one who told you and now I can't get a few licks in." She kicked at the kitchen table, moving it a few inches. "That smarmy bastard needs his ass kicked."

"Mara!" I wasn't sure if I was more shocked or amused by my darling sister's language. "Don't let Mom hear you talk like that. She'll get out the soap."

"Do I look stupid?" she asked me, following up quickly with a "Don't answer that."

"Just don't say anything to Bekka," I said. "She doesn't need to know about any of this."

"Don't say what to Bekka?" Mom asked, walking into the kitchen and giving the three of us a look that said she knew we were up to something. "What's going on, Kenna?"

"Nothing, Mom, I took care of it." I walked up to her and gave her a hug. "It's nothing so ... please just let it be for now, okay?"

"Something tells me I shouldn't but I will, for now."

I breathed a sigh of relief and started the water running, rinsing off the plates and stacking them in the dishwasher. I heard Nicky in the family room with my father watching football on television and under that I could hear Bekka and Steven talking. Arguing was more like it.

Mara and I finished cleaning up the kitchen and the dining room and then went into the family room as well. I plopped down on Nicky's lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and snuggling my nose into his neck.

"Tired?"

"Uh huh, someone didn't let me get a lot of sleep last night."

"You probably kept yourself awake with the snoring."

"You're going to get hurt," I said, glaring up at him.

"Try it," he egged. "I dare you."

I curled up my fist and stuck it under his nose. "Mom would hurt me if I got blood on her couch."

He was about to say something else when we both heard a feminine cry from out in the living room where Steven and Bekka were. I was up like a shot. She might be a bitch and almost impossible to be around but she was my sister and no one was going to hurt her but me while I was around.

"Bekka!"

She was standing in front of the couch holding onto her belly with both hands, a look of disbelief on her face. Between her legs was a wet patch of carpet. "I think my water just broke."

Nicky called the hospital to let them know she was coming in. Steven hustled her out to the car as the first of her contractions hit. She bent in half, clutching the hard mound of her belly, her face going white. "Oh," she gasped.

"We'll be in the car behind you," Mom told her as they helped her into the front seat of Steven's car. "Just breathe, baby. You'll get through this just fine."

Dad drove as quickly as he could, but Steven was driving like a maniac. By the time we got to the hospital, Bekka was in a room. I could hear her cursing already and was shocked by the things she was saying. I turned and glanced at Nicky, surprised to see a small smile on his face.

"Hey," I growled, coming up and taking his hand. "What's with the smile?"

"She kind of reminds me when my cousin went in to labor. I drove her to the hospital and she cursed me, men in general and her husband in particular for the entire trip. I never knew she knew those kinds of words."

"I just hope she doesn't upset Mom with her language," I said softly.

Steven came out of the room, his face a little on the green side. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy. I mean even if I hated the man, I knew what Bekka was like and I'd seen enough movies on reproduction to know it was a messy job. Steven had never been good with messy.

"She wants to see you," he said curtly to me.

"Me? Why does she want to see me?"

"I didn't ask, I wouldn't dare ask her right now. She just wants to see you."

I gave Nicky a look that spoke of my fear and then took a deep breath, feeling him squeeze my hand in support. Then I went into the hospital room, a wavering smile upon my face.

The nurse pulled her hand out from under the sheet. "You're fully dilated and effaced. The doctor should be here momentarily and then you can start pushing."

"Wow, that was pretty quick, wasn't it?" I asked the nurse. "I mean, her water broke only about an hour ago."

"Some women go fast." She rose, patting Bekka on her knees. Bekka was wearing a hospital gown pushed up over her huge belly. Two monitors were strapped around her. One on top of her belly and the other below. One was monitoring the baby's heartbeat, which seemed fast to me, the other was keeping track of her contractions. As I watched, I saw her tense and heard a low moan come from her as the needle on the monitor tracked her contraction.

When it was done, I went closer to the side of the bed. "Steven said you wanted to talk to me?"

"I need you to promise me something, Kenna." Bekka was sweating so I took the cloth sitting next to the bed and wiped her forehead with it, offering her a spoonful of ice chips as well.

"What, Bekka?" I asked, taking her hand when she grunted and scrabbled for mine. She held on so tight I thought she would tear it off. When she released it, I shook it, trying to stop it from hurting.

"Sorry. I didn't realize it would hurt like this," she said, surprising the hell out of me with the apology. She'd never apologized for stealing my fiancé, why would she change now?

"That's okay. What do you need from me, Bekka?"

"If anything happens to me, I want you to raise my baby."

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Bekka. You're in a good hospital with a good doctor. You'll be fine. Besides, shouldn't Steven have a say in this, too?"

"Steven never wanted this baby. He wanted me to have an abortion. When I told him I wouldn't, well, he got very upset and promised me that he wouldn't help raise the baby. I don't really need his help, but if something happens to me...I don't want my son or daughter raised by that asshole, do you?"

"No," I said, and meant it. But if something happened to her, how the hell would I be able to raise a baby? I shook off the thought. Bekka was healthy and hadn't had any problems during her pregnancy. She should be fine.

"Okay," I said finally. "I'll raise the baby if something happens. But, Bekka, nothing is going to happen."

"I know." She seemed tired now that she'd gotten me to promise and she lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. "Would you send Mom in now?"

I'd been dismissed. That easily, she could dump that news on me and then send me away. I nodded, gave her hand a squeeze and walked out of the room. "Mom, she wants you."

I must have looked a little shell-shocked; I know I felt that way. Nicky took my hand as soon as I sat down next to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"My sister just asked me to raise her child if anything happened to her. How do you think I feel?"

"Whoa, what about Steven?"

"What about me?" Steven asked, coming up and setting down across from us.

"Shouldn't you be in there with your wife?"

"She doesn't want me in there right now," he said, looking glumly at the door.

"If I didn't know better, Steven, I'd think you wanted to be in there with her."

"Bekka is my wife, Kenna. She's having my child. Where else would I want to be?" He gave me one of his patented smirks, the one that always used to make me want to smack him because he seemed so nasty, like he had something to lord over me. I'd always hated that smirk.

"How about with Diane?" I asked in a whisper. That wiped the smirk off of his face and I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Steven. You have no hold over me and I don't have any feelings left for you but loathing. Don't you even try to be superior to me. I know your secrets. I'm not afraid to blab them, either."

"Your sister is in there having a baby and you're acting like this? I'm surprised at you, Kenna. Maybe it's the company you keep nowadays."

Before I could reply, my mother came to the door, waving for Steven to come in the room. He paled, gulping audibly before he stood and moved obediently toward her. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting Dad to hear any of our argument.

Even from where we all sat, we could hear the sounds of Bekka's pain. I cringed as I heard her moan. It sounded as if she were being tortured. "Why don't they give her some pain killers? I mean, don't they do epidurals for these things now?"

"Your momma had all you kids naturally without a lick of drugs in her system. It's healthier for the babies." Daddy reached over and squeezed my hand comfortingly. But I could see his face pale when he heard Bekka scream. I couldn't sit any longer. I got up and paced the floor, walking by my sister's

room. I was standing there when they hustled Mom out.

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing the worry in her face.

"The baby's gone into stress. His pulse was dropping. They're taking her in for an emergency C-section." She clasped my hand, pulling me close.