Kate James - A Child's Christmas

“You remember what happened the first time Jason was ill. Remember, that’s why I decided to trade off child support for sole legal custody. I can’t risk that again, for either of us.”

“But he has a right to know.”

“I’ll think about it.” That was the most Paige was prepared to commit.

* * *

THEY HAD A quiet dinner together, and Paige decided to leave early the next morning. She’d originally planned to stay three days but was anxious to get back to Jason. The weather forecast was also calling for inclement weather the next day.

After breakfast, Paige packed her small bag and stowed it in the trunk of the Honda. Her father was back in the den, in his favorite chair, Iris at his feet, when she went to say good-bye.

“Hi, Dad.” Paige sank down on one knee in front of her father and rewarded the faithful Iris with a scratch behind her ears.

Her father lowered the paper he’d been reading, then gave her a warm, friendly smile. “Well, hello, young lady.”

Paige placed a hand on his knee. “It’s me. Paige.” She needed to try before she left, just to see if he would remember her at all.

“Paige...” He rolled her name around his tongue. “It’s a pretty name, isn’t it?”

Paige continued to smile, but she withdrew her hand. “Yes, it is.”

“Such a lovely name for a lovely young woman.” He looked vague for a moment. “I’ve always favored it, I think.”

Paige felt the sting of tears, lowered her eyelashes and gave her attention to the dog. There was no reason her father should see her pain. When the mist had cleared, she reached into the pocket of her shirt, pulled out a recent school picture of Jason and held it out to him.

Stephen took the picture and examined it for a minute while Paige tried to distract herself by rubbing Iris’s belly. “What a handsome young man,” Stephen said. He shifted his gaze to Paige. “He resembles you.”

She swallowed the sob that bubbled up in her throat. “This is Jason. He’s my son.”

Stephen pursed his lips and nodded decisively. “Yes. I thought so.” He took one last look at the picture before handing it back. “A very handsome boy, as I said. You should be proud.”

Paige swallowed hard again. “You can keep it if you like.”

Stephen lowered his eyes to the picture once more. A smile spread across his face. “I would like that very much. Thank you.”

With a herculean effort, Paige held back her tears. “Can I get you anything? Something to drink, maybe, before I go?”

“How sweet of you to ask.” He glanced at his watch, studied it for a moment while his mouth worked, then looked up again. “It should be time for my walk soon, but a cup of tea would be very nice.”

“I’ll get it for you.” Paige rose. On impulse, she leaned forward and gave her father a hug. He responded to her affection by wrapping one arm around her back, his head just above her shoulder, his mouth near her ear.

Because of the proximity, Paige caught his softly whispered words. “You’re my darling girl, Paige. You are.” When she straightened, the vague look had returned to his eyes.

CHAPTER FOUR

PAIGE WAS RELIEVED that the nasty weather held off during her drive home. Emotionally and physically drained, she didn’t think she was up to coping with treacherous road conditions. A couple of blocks from home, she pulled into a gas station and filled up the Honda. The least she could do was return it to Chelsea with a full tank.

She parked it in Chelsea’s assigned spot, retrieved her overnight bag and headed inside. None too soon, as the first flakes of snow started to fall.

She dropped her bag inside the door to embrace Jason, who rushed into her arms. She held him tight and breathed in the baby powder fragrance of his shampoo. If there was a better feeling than holding her son, she couldn’t imagine it.

Mrs. Bennett joined them by the door. Paige understood the silent support in her eyes and knew she wouldn’t ask how things had gone with Jason in the room. She thanked Mrs. Bennett for taking care of her son.

“No trouble at all, my dear. We enjoyed ourselves. Jason, make sure you show your mother what you’ve been working on.”

Jason did just that after Paige had put her things away. He’d painted a winter scape with a large snowman that looked a lot like Frosty.

“See?” He thrust out a printout of a photo. “It’s the snowman Chelsea and I built!”

Paige examined the photo, then the painting again. The likeness was undeniable. Her son had a remarkable talent. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “You had a nice time while I was gone?”

“Yeah, Chelsea took the picture that I used for the painting,” he replied, but the light in his eyes had dimmed.

Paige stroked his hair. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“I was sick, Mom. Like before.”

She immediately placed her palm on his forehead, checking for fever. Since Jason had started his treatments a few days earlier, they were both adjusting to the cyclical swings in his health. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better. Mrs. Bennett took my blood pressure, too. She said it was fine. She wrote it down in your journal.”

Paige looked over the notes in the journal she kept of Jason’s health. With relief, she saw that everything seemed okay now.

He’d always had a hard time immediately after a treatment, especially with the nausea, but got progressively better. She knew from experience that the second week after a treatment was generally good for him. Of course, as the cycle progressed, the effects built up and he felt increasingly worse, particularly right after the treatments. Paige not only accompanied him when the new cancer drug was administered, but tried her best to stay home with him the day or two after, when he was feeling the worst. He was already missing a lot of school because of his various appointments.

She was very grateful for her friends in the building—Chelsea, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, and her next-door neighbor, Mr. Weatherly. She could count on one or another of them to help out if she found herself in a bind.

The reality was that Jason needed her, and her whole world was Jason. Nothing mattered more than making his life easier and taking care of him when he was unwell.

Paige accepted this, and she had no complaints—if only Jason could be healthy again.

* * *

JUST THREE WEEKS before Christmas, and it had been one of those days, Daniel Kinsley thought as he let himself into his house. If his initial consult with a potential new client was any indication, there was another nasty divorce battle brewing. And she was young. In her twenties. She and her husband hadn’t been married a full year!

They were using the standard “irreconcilable differences” argument. Did they even know what that meant in legal terms?

He’d finally gotten rid of Gloria Farnsworth. He’d transferred her case to one of his partners. The firm didn’t want to lose the revenue they could generate if she did take her husband to court and there was a protracted legal battle. But now he had “Farnsworth lite” to contend with.

As dissatisfying as his work continued to be, there was one bright spot for Daniel. It had to do with a little boy named Jason.

Daniel had made his decision to sponsor Jason the day he’d spoken to Laura Andrews, but he hadn’t had a chance to confirm it.

He sent Laura a quick email, letting her know his decision. By the time he’d fixed himself a Crown and Coke, set a fire in the fireplace in his home office and gone back to his laptop, she’d already emailed him a scanned copy of Jason’s handwritten wish list. He chuckled as he printed it.

Daniel perused the list while he sat by the fire and sipped his drink. Much like the lists provided by the other families, Jason’s consisted of basic items—winter clothes, a stuffed dog, a backpack for school, a sketch pad, a New England Patriots cap, a toy train and a book about circuses. Circuses—huh! Daniel remembered his own fascination with circuses when he was a kid, but they were more popular then. It was different now. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard of one in the area. He wondered how the kid had developed an interest in circuses and felt a sudden connection with this boy he’d never met.