I’m about to head up to the guest room and drop off my things for the night when I spot one of those maids I wondered about. Before she can dart out of sight and disappear entirely again, I call out to her and ask her to wait. I go up to her with the gift in one hand.
“Pardon me. I was wondering where the Christmas tree is. I want to put these under it.” I smile at her. She stares at me like I’m an alien.
“I’m sorry miss, but there is no tree this year,” she says in a hollow tone.
“No tree? Where are they putting the gifts?” I ask, trying to hide my disbelief.
She shakes her head. “There are no gifts.” With that, she walks away, looking as if I’ve disturbed her.
I’m dumbfounded. No tree. Nowhere to put gifts because there are no gifts. It’s Christmas Eve. How can there be no tree and no gifts? And no decorations?
Even the foster homes I lived in at least put on some sort of effort. Even if it was just in case of a surprise social worker visit, they tried something.
I take the gift back to my room and leave them there. Thank god it’s not long before dinner.
I could go down and look for them, but the whole thing is throwing me off. I sit on the end of the bed awkwardly, wondering what kind of person makes me promise to visit for Christmas and then doesn’t even greet me at the door?
I don’t mean to be a spoiled brat. I don’t need gifts. They’ve already given me so much.
It’s something more than that.
It’s just that something feels off. I can’t quite place it.
Finally, the butler knocks on the door to check on me and announces that dinner is served.
I’m taken into the dining room and I walk to Ellen and give her what turns into another awkward hug. Dane takes his seat before I can get to him, and I know that he’s doing it to avoid a hug. I’m okay with that. We’re still figuring out how to be family with each other.
So far, I’m a bigger fan of Dane’s way about doing it.
“Merry Christmas!” I tell them brightly, hoping to lighten the heavy mood in the room.
Dane nods, and Ellen gives me that painted on smile of hers. “Merry Christmas, Teddy. We’re glad that you could come.”
The meal is served and it’s amazing, but it’s just like any other dinner. There’s nothing about it that might suggest that it’s Christmas. This is so weird for me. It’s felt more like the holiday in most of the foster homes I’ve been in. I just wasn’t expecting it to be like this at all.
There’s no conversation at the table, and I decide to bring up something that I think might help.
“I’m glad to be here with you both. I was hoping to talk with you about something that’s come up. I thought that maybe you’d be able to give me some advice.”
They both look up at me immediately.
“Yes, of course. What is it?” Dane asks, looking interested. I feel relieved and happy that I’ve managed to bring them out of their shells at least a little.
“There’s a big charity event at the school during Valentine’s week. The seniors are responsible for obtaining prizes to be auctioned off at a charity auction, and then there’s a ticketed dinner. I was wondering if you know where I could get prize donations.” I look from Ellen to Dane and back again. I’m surprised that they both look so interested. It’s nice.
For the first time in a long time, Ellen looks genuinely excited. She reaches over and takes Dane’s hand. They share a look, and I know what they’re thinking.
Sadie. They’d looked forward to doing this sort of thing for her, one day. Now, they get to again.
It makes me feel a little less guilty for wanting to be at Wills’ instead of here right now.
“I’ll definitely be able to come up with some good ones for you. I’m on at least five fine arts boards where I can get tickets to sold-out shows and things like that,” Ellen says. She squeezes Dane’s arm again, and then reaches for her phone and starts furiously typing. “I’m sure my travel agent can come up with some exotic trips, and my jeweler would certainly be willing to donate some pretty things. Let me see what I can do.”
“I have a lot of contacts. I’ll dig in and see who can get to pony up.” Dane gives me a rare smile and a nod.
“Thank you both so much! That’s a huge help. I appreciate it.” I didn’t know what I was going to do. I don’t know many people, and I definitely don’t know anyone who I could ask for things like prizes from. They’ve saved me. “I just want to be sure that I’m involved in getting the prizes. The competition is for the seniors to obtain the prizes. I just don’t know who to contact to get them.”
“That’s no trouble. We’ll make the connections for you, introducing you to the right people, and you can ask them for what you want,” Dane tells me easily.