Welcome to book fifteen in the Operation Quickline series. Christmas may be Lisa Wycherly’s favorite time of the year, but then Sid’s shocking encounter with an old friend gets them embroiled in one messy case. With Lisa’s nephew spiraling out of control, it’s looking like a not-so-merry holiday. You can read the latest chapter here, and follow the whole series here.
Sid’s Voice –
There is something magical in the pre-dawn of Christmas morning. The Then-Somes party, and then the frenetic energy of Christmas Eve are wonderful. But Christmas Eve, in particular, involves wired kids of all ages. Plus, I was usually thinking about Midnight Mass and what I was going to be playing. But at five a.m. on Christmas morning, almost everyone is still asleep. Our family does not tend toward morning people, even in infants and toddlers.
Our tradition is that anyone under eighteen gets a present or two from Santa, which are left unwrapped and placed under the tree. Everyone gets a stocking, and it can be a bit of a trick putting in the stocking stuffers when the recipient is right there stuffing another stocking or two.
The Christmas of ’89, I went right to bed after Mass. Lisa, Mae, and Neil took care of stuffing stockings, getting the Santa presents out, and assembling the tricycle for Lissy. Lisa and I had gotten our lovemaking in during nap time, so she didn’t have to wake me when she finally got into bed that night.
No matter how little sleep I’ve gotten the night before, I’m almost always awake at five. If I’m really tired, I can roll over and go back to sleep until eight, which is not Lisa’s idea of sleeping in at all. Five a.m. that day came too quickly, but there I was, wide-awake, Lisa next to me, her cute little whistling snore going. I rolled over, kissed her forehead, then got up. She was out cold and never noticed.
I put on sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt that Lisa had bought me the year before. The shirt had one of those international symbols for “No,” namely the big red circle with the diagonal line through it, overlaying a big green L. As in No L. It was as close to the whole Christmas kitsch as I was willing to get.
I checked to make sure the intercom was on so that Lisa would hear either Lissy’s or the twins’ shrieks of joy that Santa had come, then went downstairs to start breakfast. The kids are allowed to play with their Santa presents when they wake up, but we all wait until breakfast is ready to unwrap everything. Which means being late with breakfast is not popular. I turned on the oven to get it preheated, then went out into the hall.
The house was silent and dark. The younger kids were still fast asleep in the rumpus room. I breathed in the quiet with the faint hint of evergreen in the air. Back in the kitchen, I got the bread pudding I’d assembled the morning before from the fridge and slid it into the oven. I needed a cup of coffee, but with no one due to wake for at least another hour or so, I got the kettle going instead of the coffee maker and ground beans for the filter cone over the single cup.
“Uncle Sid?”
I turned and smiled. Janey wore a flannel nightgown with red stripes and tiny Christmas icons in between the stripes.
“Hey, Janey.”
She’s the only other member of the family who likes the early morning hours.
“Merry Christmas.” She ran up and gave me a warm hug, and I hugged her back.
“Merry Christmas, kiddo. You want some coffee?”
She made a face. “No, thank you.”
“What can I get you?”
“Is there any tea, please?”
“Yes, there is.” I got the box of Assam down, glad that there was plenty of water in the kettle.
“Can I help you make breakfast?”
“You most certainly may.” I chuckled. Janey and I had found many special times together, but as the years passed, early Christmas morning, before anyone else woke up, got to be our favorite.
“What have we got on the menu?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve got the bread pudding in the oven now, but it’s going to take a good hour to finish. We can still put out some oatmeal, and you know your grandfather isn’t going to be happy unless there’s some bacon.”
Janey laughed. “Or scrambled eggs. And Aunt Lisa wants bacon.”
“The Whole Fam-Damily wants bacon.”
Janey and I went to work. We nixed the oatmeal because we’d have the bread pudding. We got the chafing dishes ready on the dining room table, then took my coffee and her tea to the breakfast room table and sat down. We couldn’t do anything about the bacon that early, let alone the eggs.
“So,” I said. “How are things going with you?”
“Pretty good,” she said, then frowned. “I mean, Gina Preston called me last week. She said her cousin Wyatt had seen my class photo and wanted to meet me.” She rolled her eyes.
“You are pretty cute.”
Janey snorted. “Yeah, but you know what he was interested in, and it wasn’t me talking to him. If the only thing he sees in me is how I look, I’m not interested.”
“And I’m glad you’re not.”
“Uncle Sid, why are boys only interested in what I look like?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. Your aunt had a similar problem, she tells me. I just know that the women I liked the most had brains and were fun to talk to. That’s part of what I love about your Aunt Lisa.”
“She says it’s primary socialization. That our culture encourages boys to only see women as objects for their gratification. You know. I think she’s got a point.”
“I agree.”
Janey’s big, round eyes pierced through me. “Did you use to see women that way?”
I shut my eyes and thought about how to phrase it. “I hope not. Before I knew Lisa, and even after for a while, it was about the sex. But I do hope it was truly reciprocal. Lisa once accused me of using women, and my response was that they were using me the same way, so it was fair.”
“You know Darby…”
“Yeah, I know.”
Janey shrugged. “He’s going to do what he’s going to do.” She frowned. “Uncle Sid, what made you change your mind about sleeping around?”
Oh, yeah. That kid always asked the hard questions. A lot like her aunt did.
“Um. I got bored with it.” I stopped and thought. “That wasn’t entirely it, but it didn’t help. I fell in love with your aunt. Granted, it took me a while, but I finally had to accept that what I felt for her was real love. After that, there was no reason to sleep around.”
Janey nodded. “I thought so.”
“You would.”
“Uncle Sid, are you still thinking about the war?”
I took a deep breath. “I am.”
“You know your friend, Mr. Renfew?”
“Yeah?”
Janey grinned. “He’s a good person. I mean, I know he does bad things. I don’t think anyone taught him how to be good. But he is, at heart.”
“Really?” I snorted. “You do realize that he has done nothing but lie to me of late.”
“So?” Janey shrugged. “He shouldn’t. That’s not good. I just don’t think he knows how to do anything else. You know what I mean?”
“You may be right, Janey.”
I had to laugh. As usual, Janey had put her laser beam on the essential issue.
“Okay. What time is it?” she asked. “I figure if we get the bacon in the second oven by seven, everything will be set by the time Lissy wakes up.”
Yes, I have two ovens in my kitchen. As for breakfast, we did bacon in the oven because that was the only way to cook enough for the Whole Fam-Damily at one time. Janey and I took turns beating the eggs, then she laid out the bacon strips on three of my half-sheet pans.
Lisa’s Voice –
Oh, I was exhausted when I crawled into bed the night before. Sid was chattering away in his sleep, so I kissed his forehead, not that he noticed, and rolled over myself.
It was about eight-fifteen when the twins began the shrieking. Marty was ecstatic that he had the new wood carving tools he’d been pining for. Mitch crowed over the new skateboard and helmet he had. Lissy started crying, but shrieked with joy when she saw her tricycle. Slowly, the rest of us emerged from our rooms, dodging Lissy as she pedaled her way through the halls surrounding the living and dining rooms.
The other kids took down their stockings and crowed over their gifts. Well, Janey was helping Sid with getting breakfast together. Nick had a roof rack for his Volvo, one that could carry either skis or a surfboard. He, Josh, and Darby had gotten hooked on surfing the summer before. Santa had brought Darby a new surfboard.
Thank God, Sid had made plenty of coffee. The whole house smelled of coffee, baking bread pudding, and Christmas tree. Oh, and bacon. Janey brought out the chafing dish filled with scrambled eggs smothered in cheddar cheese. The bread pudding wasn’t quite done, but there was only so much Sid could do about that.
We looked at stockings and sipped coffee while Sid brewed another pot and Darby and Nick helped him get the turkey ready for roasting. Finally, the bread pudding was done, and pulled from the oven, and the turkey went in. Plates were distributed, and we all settled into the living room, with the dogs hovering nearby in the hopes of getting a treat. Sid got out a trash bag, and Mama took custody of it because Sid sometimes got a little overzealous when it came to clearing away the torn wrapping paper.
“Hey, remember when Uncle Sid threw out Aunt Lisa’s earrings?” Marty said, laughing.
Sid sighed. “Uncle Sid remembers that one all too well.”
Well, that Christmas (in 1984) had not been a particularly good time for Sid and me, although it wasn’t bad enough to break us up.
[I’m amazed that the twins remember it. They were only four that year. Mitch told me recently that it’s the first thing both he and Marty remember, although it’s mostly the hullabaloo that happened when we discovered that the aquamarines had disappeared. It was Darby who told them when they were six or seven what the hullabaloo was about. And as difficult as things were that year, it was still better being with you than without. – SEH]
Daddy saw to distributing gifts, making sure each one was opened and duly appreciated before giving one of the twins the next gift to hand to its recipient. With our large family, this means unwrapping gifts takes a while. Sid took a break early on so that the rest of the adults and Nick and Darby could get more coffee.
One of the best moments was when Darby got a decent-sized box from his parents. Inside was a tuxedo.
“We’ll have to get it tailored,” Mae explained. “But I’ve got a strong feeling you’re going to be needing one soon.”
Darby looked up. “You mean…?”
Neil smiled. “We’ve talked to the two agents on the phone that Ms. Stein recommended, and the three of us will be meeting with them after the New Year to make the actual selection. But, yeah, looks like you’re going on tour this summer.”
Darby bounced up, almost knocking his plate onto the new tux, and hugged his parents.
Then I got a small flat box from Sid. Inside was the owner’s manual to a small photocopier.
“Sid, what is this?” I looked up at him.
“Your new copy machine. I figure it will be cheaper than using the copy shop and save hours of time.”
“Honey, these things aren’t cheap.”
Sid shrugged. “What do I care? The guys will be here to set it up after the holiday is over. Which means you will be forced to take a break this week.”
I reached over and kissed him warmly.
The unwrapping went on. By the time we’d finished, the turkey was starting to smell divine. Darby and Sid retreated to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner, while Mama, Mae, and I took over straightening the living room, and Sy and Stella brought the breakfast dishes into the kitchen and cleaned them. Neil and Daddy tried to get Lissy to take a nap.
It was late afternoon when dinner was ready, and the great Boxing Day Excursion Debate began. The kids decided they wanted to go to Universal Studios. Sy and Stella were all for it. Mama and Daddy volunteered to stay back at Mae and Neil’s to babysit Lissy, who was still too young for amusement parks. Sid and I looked at each other and wished we could have volunteered first. Mae and Neil were resigned.
Then, Darby and Nick asked the final question for their family history project: Describe your first faith experience. Sid just chuckled. Being an atheist, he had no faith experience, and none of us expected him to answer.
Mama answered first. “I’ve always believed. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.”
“Me, neither,” said Mae with a bemused look on her face. “God has always been a part of my life, and praying is second nature to me.”
Neil sighed and shook his head. “You know, I gotta say the same thing. Sorry, guys, but I’ve always believed in God and can’t remember when I didn’t, or when I wasn’t committed to it.”
Nick looked at me.
I thought. “Huh. I did have a faith experience apart from just believing. It was when I was in high school. I went to a teen retreat my sophomore year. It was part of Confirmation class. One of the leaders challenged us to make a conscious decision about whether or not we believed or wanted to believe. So, I really thought about it and prayed about it, and realized that, yeah, this was what I believed and that I wanted to make a commitment to the faith.” I smiled. “It felt really good, and I think I’ve only gotten stronger in that faith as I’ve grown.”
“What about you, Grandpa?” Nick asked.
Daddy looked at me and blinked a little. “I’ve always been Catholic, always went to church. But I wasn’t always so sure about God. I mean, I just kind of took it as a given. But then, when your grandma was pregnant with Lisa, she went into labor two months too soon. We were so sure we were going to lose another one, and worse yet, after Althea had carried her for so long.” He swallowed and shook his head. “You know how she kept having miscarriages before then. I was in the waiting room at the hospital, and Sister came out and asked me what the baby’s name would be if it was a boy or if it was a girl. Althea was already unconscious. Women were knocked out for labor at that time. I forget what we were going to name a boy.”
“It was David Lee, honey.” Mama smiled at him.
“That’s right.” Daddy shrugged. “But we had decided on Lisa Jane for a girl. I asked Sister why she wanted to know the names, and she said, ‘So that we can baptize the baby the second it’s born.’ Oh, that scared me like nothing else. If they were going to baptize a baby that fast, they were not optimistic about the odds of it surviving. And yet, when Sister came out to the waiting room again, she was smiling. The baby was a girl, and she was alive. It was still pretty touchy, though, and Sister took me to the nursery so that I could see her.” He blinked. “She was so very tiny, and in that moment, I prayed like I had never prayed before, and somehow, I knew that she was going to be alright. That God was going to hear my prayers, and that’s when I really became a believer. It was still scary for a while there. But she made it, and look at her now.”
Daddy grinned at me.
“Wow,” said Darby, laughing. “That’s going to be great for the presentation, Nick.”
“We have to do an oral report on our histories,” Nick explained. “And Darby and I are going to do ours together because we’re cousins.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun,” I said.
“Are you two going to ignore Sy and me?” Stella asked suddenly.
“But you guys don’t believe in God,” Nick said.
“I certainly don’t,” said Sy. “I went to church every Sunday until I left home, and never believed in any of it, and was thoroughly glad not to have to get up early on Sundays. Day of rest. Pshaw. If it was supposed to be restful, then why didn’t they let us sleep in, for Heaven’s sakes?”
“Stella, you don’t believe in God, either,” Darby said. “You’re why Uncle Sid doesn’t believe in God.”
“True enough.” Stella smiled at Sid, then looked at the boys. “But there was a time when I did believe. I remember my First Communion. I was seven years old and had a beautiful white dress and veil, and thought nothing could be better than taking that host on my tongue. I was even toying with the idea of becoming a nun. My father thought that was a fine idea, which may be why I didn’t. Of course, he was why I stopped believing.”
“Aunt Stella,” Mitch said. “It’s really sad that your father was so mean, but we love you.”
Stella blinked and laughed. “And I love you all, too!”
By the end of dinner, Lissy was getting cranky, so Mae and Neil packed up their family. Darby stayed behind to help clean up, and Nick offered to drive him home and spend the night in Pasadena. Mama and Daddy decided to go over there as soon as the cleanup was finished. Sy and Stella left for their place right after Mama and Daddy left.
As we shut the front door, Sid and I looked at each other and grinned. The house was quiet, and we were finally alone. Then the phone rang. I went into the living room to put away the gifts that had been left out. Sid took the call in the library. When he came into the living room, his face was grim.
“Angelique was kidnapped just now,” he told me.
Thank you for reading. For more information about the Operation Quickline series, click here.
Please check out the Fiction page for the latest on all my novels. Or look me up at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Vroman’s, in Pasadena, California.