Broken (36 page)

Max returned to the stove to bring the food to the table.

“By the way, Mom asked me to pass along a message to you,” she said as she settled Zoe into her high chair.

Glancing over his shoulder, he quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“She said it’s rude to transfer the phone to someone else without first acknowledging and greeting the caller—”

He snorted and continued filling their plates. “I said hello. She should be happy I answered instead of letting the call go to voicemail,” he muttered.

“
But
,” Cassidy continued, ignoring his comment, “under the circumstances, she understands and apologizes for waking us. She thought with Zoe, we’d already be up unwrapping gifts. She hadn’t realized we had such a late night. If we can, she’d like us to call when Zoe begins opening presents so she can be a part of it. Technically, this is Zoe’s first real Christmas, and she’s disappointed they couldn’t be here to see it.”

“Sure. Hey, do your parents know how to use Skype? If so, I can log in with my iPad so your folks can watch Zoe open her presents,” he suggested.

“I don’t know. I’ll call Daddy and see. He’s the techie in the family.” After a brief conversation with her father, she told Max, “His laptop doesn’t have a camera but he says he’s going to get a camera for it soon so we can video chat.”

They ate breakfast and cleaned the kitchen and afterwards, led Zoe to the Christmas tree to open presents. A few days before he’d carried up the presents in the basement so they formed one huge pile under the living room tree. Having spent the last week being chastised anytime she even looked toward it, Zoe immediately placed her hands behind her back and with a ferocious scowl, told them, “No touch!”

Max laughed.

Cassidy said, “Today, we can touch, Zoe.” But she was grinning broadly, humor sparkling her eyes.

“I’m going to get my iPad out of the bedroom. Call your mother,” Max instructed as he left the room. When he returned, he set the tablet up in a corner where it could record all the action but not be in the way.

Cassidy had her parents on speaker.

Turning from the mantle, Max clapped his hands and rubbed them together in gleeful anticipation. “It’s present time!” he announced grandly, causing Zoe to chortle and clap her hands though she clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

“You sit, and I’ll distribute,” he told Cassidy when she made to rise.

He examined his choices, selected one, and set it in front of Zoe. She glanced at the box and then her father. “Open it,” he encouraged her.

When Zoe merely stared at it, Max crouched to his hunches and demonstrated what he wanted her to do. Typical toddler, she was more interested in the pretty paper than the package inside. He ended up opening the box and giving her the toy. Cassidy explained to her parents what was going on and laughter filled the room.

Time passed swiftly. He felt like a particularly jolly St. Nick, showering his ladies with gift after gift. When Cassidy placed a box in Zoe’s hand and told her to, “Give this to Daddy, Zoe,” his eyes misted. The tag read:
From Zoe, To Daddy.
Seeing it, his joy knew no bounds. This was his child, created in love with the woman who meant more than life to him, and they were a family. It truly was the most blessed Christmas ever.

Later, after Cassidy’s parents had disconnected to prepare for their guests, Max surveyed the front room in bemused disbelief.  They’d amassed a mountain of discarded wrapping paper. The garbage man was going to have fits.

“I told you it was too much,” Cassidy chided.

Toys littered the floor from one end to the other like colorful, noisy confetti, with scarcely stepping room in between. Zoe flitted between them, a hyperactive bee barely lighting on one before buzzing to another.

“Where are we going to put all of this stuff? There’s no way it will fit in her bedroom.”

Cassidy laughed. “Who is
we
? That’s
your
problem to figure out, Dada, and this isn’t all of it. We still have to go by Nell’s and Erika’s. I’m sure they loaded up as well. I dread to see what Erika bought Zoe. Probably something that makes a lot of noise and will have us hiding the batteries to preserve our sanity. She’s been threatening revenge for years for gifts I’ve given Macey.”

He groaned, looking around again at all the flashing lights and noisemakers that had appeared so cute and innocent on the shelves in the stores. “I guess I went a little overboard,” he admitted sheepishly.

“I could make you put that lawyer’s brain to work, but never fear, it’s Mommy to the rescue,” she said, patting his knee consolingly. “We’ll watch and see which toys she takes an instant liking to. The rest we’ll put away until her birthday. She’s young enough, she won’t notice the difference.”

“I married a wise woman,” Max said with heartfelt gratitude.

They managed to pull Zoe away from her horde long enough to eat an early lunch at Nell’s where there was another exchange of gifts. If only to himself, Max admitted he was nervous about seeing Nell again. She’d been friendly enough when she’d visited with Cassidy’s parents, but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk one-on-one since the friendship between him and Phillip disintegrated. Phillip and his mother had always been extremely close. She’d forever been stopping by first their dorm room, and later their apartment, bringing food and goodies. Even though in the beginning he’d been just Phillip’s white roommate, she’d taken care of him too, treating him like a favored nephew.

Nell opened the door looking just as beautiful and regal as ever with her dreads swept up in a complicated style that left her long, elegant neck bare. She wore one of the colorful caftans she loved whose flowing length didn’t disguise the still-slender figure beneath. Smooth, dark chocolate skin that Phillip had inherited and warm, dark brown eyes shone out of a face as young as a thirty-year-olds, though Nell had to be approaching fifty.

“Merry Christmas! Come in out of the cold.” Nell’s wide smile included him and Max breathed an inward sigh of relief. Even if she did blame him for Phillip and Cassidy’s marriage ending, she was too gracious a lady to make a scene.

Nell led them straight to the dining room table, which was already set. “I know you have other stops to make today. I thought we’d eat first, and then exchange gifts, if that’s all right?”

Cassidy smiled. “Sounds wonderful.”

“Max, put those boxes with the others under the tree in the living room while I bring in the food,” Nell instructed.

“Is there anything I can help with?” he heard Cassidy ask as he left the room to do as he was bid.

“No, I’ve got it. Put Zoe in her high chair.”

They ate a leisurely luncheon. Wiping his face with a napkin, Max settled back in his chair with a satisfied groan. “Nell, you’re still one of the best cooks I know. Sure you won’t run away with me?” It had become a standing joke between them.

Nell chuckled. “I didn’t come this far in life to become some man’s kitchen slave.”

Max waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

Nell threw her napkin at him. “Go on with yourself, now. I’m too old and too tired for a young stud like you.” But her face flushed and her eyes glittered with amusement.

They went into the living room and exchanged gifts. To his surprise, Nell had one for him too.

Zoe patted Cassidy on the leg and said, “Potty, Mama.”

Cassidy excused herself to take Zoe to the bathroom. While Cassidy was tending to Zoe, Nell pulled Max aside, near the picture window so they wouldn’t be overheard. “I’m happy she has you in her life. I loved my son, but I was well aware of his faults. Phillip didn’t have it in him to keep a woman like Cassidy happy, despite my wishes otherwise. There was a core of selfishness in my son he never outgrew. You’re more of a match for her, more of what she needs.”

Max hugged her hard. “Thank you.  I can’t tell you how much your approval means to me. Despite how things ended between us, I never in a million years wished Phillip dead. I would have attended the funeral had I known.”

She laid a gentle hand on his cheek. “Of course you didn’t. You have a good heart, Max. I’m at peace with his death. The doctors told us had Phillip lived, he’d have been a vegetable. He would have hated that. This way was better.”

Max leaned into her touch. “You know you’ll always be Zoe’s grandmother, right? I wouldn’t take that from you. I’m adopting Zoe. When she’s old enough, we’ll tell her about Phillip and his heroic actions that saved her life.”

“See, that’s the type of man you are, Max. You understand what love means,” she said, pinching his cheek before moving away.

No
, he thought,
but I’m learning more and more each day
.

They donned their coats and Max loaded the gifts in the SUV while Nell and Cassidy said their goodbyes. Then they drove to Philly to Dave and Erika’s where the whole gift giving process was repeated.

He and Dave bonded over appetizers and punch while their wives laughed and chatted, exclaiming over their presents and the children. None of them had seen each other since the wedding, though he knew Cassidy and Erika spoke on almost a daily basis. Max told Dave about the progress he was making with the renovations, showing pictures stored in his phone, and about his first meeting with his in-laws. Dave shared relationship war stories as well and offered advice from his many years of experience.

All too soon it was time to leave. The other couple was going to Erika’s parents for dinner and needed to depart soon if they planned to be there on time.

“Be careful on the road,” Max cautioned. “The snow plows have been busy, but there are still patches of ice here and there.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Dave said. “We’ll take our time.”

As they pulled out onto the street and merged with traffic, Max casually stated, “Before we go home, there’s one more stop I’d like to make.”

After voicing her agreement, Cassidy remained silent until he’d parked the vehicle a block and a half from his destination. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.

Max stared straight through the windshield, both hands clutching the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip. “No, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“I agree,” she murmured.

“This won’t take long. I’m not staying long. Just pop in, show my face, say Merry Christmas, and leave.”

“Okay,” Cassidy agreed.

Aware of the clock ticking, Max didn’t move. Instead, he stared at the block where he’d grown up and thought of how life had changed. Once, he’d been a child running and playing on these streets. Now he was a man, bringing his child to meet his family. Cassidy sat silently, allowing the time to reminisce.

Zoe, however, wasn’t as patient. “Dada, out!” she demanded, hitting her car seat in emphasis. His child tolerated the child restraints only as long as the car was in motion. As soon as it stopped, she demanded to be set free. Her command was the impetus he needed to get moving.

“All right, Princess. We’re getting out of the car.” Max opened the door and a blast of frigid air blew in. He walked around the car and opened Cassidy’s.

She glanced up at him in surprise. “You want me to go with you?”

“Yes.” He paused, head titled sideways as he considered his wife. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, I…” She flushed and climbed hesitantly out of the vehicle. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked when she stood there fidgeting with her hair and her clothes in a very un-Cassidy like manner.

“I just wished you would have warned me so I could have dressed better,” she muttered.

Max narrowed his eyes, allowing his gaze to sweep her from head-to-feet. She had on leg-hugging black jeans tucked into black suede knee high boots. Under her black, knee-length jacket was a form-fitting red and green sweater that cupped her small breasts and emphasized her curves before stopping at her hips. “You’re beautiful, and sexy, and all the men are going to wish they were me.”

  He placed a small kiss on her cool, raspberry-tinted lips. “But, if they say one thing wrong, if they are in any way rude to you, we’re out of there. Understand?”

“Yes.” Her eyes were clear and untroubled, her confidence in him humbling.

“Dada!”

Max smiled as he glanced in the rear seat. “Zoe’s getting impatient.” Turning to his wife he asked, “We good?”

She nodded. “Let’s do this.”

He took Zoe out, and with her tucked in one arm and the other around Cassidy’s waist, escorted his ladies to his own personal lion’s den. Due to the cold, there was no one standing around outside his parents’ home. Bright light shined through the frosted glass-paned door. Max could see bodies in motion inside. Max inhaled deeply, glanced once more at Cassidy for courage, and then reached out a hand to twist the knob.

They stepped into chaos. There were people everywhere. All his siblings, their partners, and children were present. Max saw aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few relatives from their Italian branch had evidently flown over to spend the holiday with his parents. Mingle in with his many relatives were a few parishioners from the church and some long-time neighbors.   

Dozens of conversations and sporadic bursts of laughter overpowered the Christmas carols playing gaily in the background. The smell of garlic, tomato sauce, and other delicacies scented the air along with the sweet undertone of free flowing wine and Christmas punch. For a few peaceful moments, they stood, unnoticed, near the entrance.

The cold wind that entered with them must have registered, for one by one gazes turned toward the door. A hush fell over the crowd. Then pandemonium reigned.

“Max!”

“Uncle Max!”

“Hey, it’s Max!”

On and on the cries rang out as the family swarmed him
en masse
. Max felt more than saw Cassidy try to move away from him. He snaked an arm around her waist and plastered her to his side in a non-breakable grip. No way was she leaving him alone.

“Who’s this?”

“Is this your baby, Uncle Max?”