Christmas, Almost Midnight
My Office
Sitting here watching the snow come down. I love being snowed in. Good thing, since from the sounds of things we're gonna get a couple feet.
Today was great. Woke up to the usual Christmas mayhem, the kids tearing down the stairs to the tree to see what Santa brought. Well, Romey at least. Steph and Jess are way past that and I think Jakey knows the Big Secret, but they all played along for Romeo's sake. Of course none of us got a wink of sleep past about 6 am once Romey was up, since he came pounding on everybody's doors to alert us to Santa's visit.
It was great having everybody here; Mom and Dad, the kids, Dorothea. I was kinda worried about how Cate would feel about having Dorothea stay over and be here for Christmas morning. She said she was fine with it, and she seemed to be. I guess it is a little weird, considering how many Christmases D and I came down those stairs together as husband and wife to watch our kids open presents. Now she's a guest here. It was probably a little strange for her too, now that I'm remarried.
I gotta hand it to Dorothea, though -- she's a class act. Whatever happened between her and Cate while I was gone seems to have passed. They're not BFFs, but they do seem to respect and understand each other. But I know Dorothea, and I could tell from the gift she gave Cate she's still feeling a little guilty. It was beautiful and meaningful, and a wonderful gesture to my new wife. As far as that goes, her gift to me was as well.
A couple years back D and the kids gave me that necklace with all the charms on it; one from her, one from each of the kids. This year her gift to me was simple; a new charm to add to the necklace. One with Cate's name on it. I seriously choked up when I opened the box and saw it, and when Dorothea just smiled and said now my whole family will be with me when I wear that necklace, those charms against my heart. Only D can truly understand how much that means to me, that she considers Cate to be more than just the woman I married after her. That she acknowledges Cate as an important part of my kids' life.
She got Cate pretty good too. I saw my wife blinking back tears when she opened the charm bracelet, with all the little silver charms that are miniatures of mine, a big one for me and a small one for each of the kids. It's just like the one Dorothea has, that she had made for herself when she made my necklace. The look Cate gave me says it all -- she's humbled and a little overwhelmed by Dorothea's acceptance.
These women in my life -- these strong, independent, amazing women. I'm so thankful for them every day, even when they're driving me crazy. They're the only thing that keep me going sometimes, their love and support. Dorothea saved me more times than I can count, back when things were slipping away from me. And now Cate -- she saved me in ways she can't even understand. She calls me her Superman, but she's the one who has rescued me over and over again.
The snow is beautiful -- big, huge wet flakes drifting down from the Heavens. I guess in a few hours it will be a full-on blizzard, but right now it's pretty and Christmas-y. Cate and the boys are in the family room watching a movie, with a fire going in the big fireplace. Guess I should go join them. Steph wanted to go with Dorothea to see her other Grandparents, and Mom & Dad headed over to Matty's, so it's just the five of us.
Me, my wife and my boys, gonna be snowed in together tomorrow. Nowhere to go, nobody to visit, no calls, no schedules. Just drinking hot chocolate and watching movies and playing games and being lazy. Sounds pretty damned good to me.
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