My Christmas Wish - Ep.1
•Juliet•
"You're late"
"Sorry Honey, work..."
Logan leant in and kissed me in the cheek, I turned away wanting to press him further.
"Printer?"
"Yeah"
He walked over to his Flipchart stand and straightened the pieces of paper still speaking, "It broke again and me and the boys had to stay behind and fix it!" he chuckled
I wanted to ask him more questions - 'who helped you fix it?', 'what was broken?', 'how did you fix it?' - but he was heading towards the kitchen now.
I smiled weakly and said, "Well, Lucia was hungry so I let her start eating."
"Hi dad!" she shouts
"Hello princess!" he cries lifting Lucia out of her seat and swinging her around. I watch her yawn loudly and rest her head on her father's shoulder.
"You're tired aren't you? You know what, go and sit in the living room and we'll be in there soon" I say
Logan puts her down on the floor.
"Can I go to my bedroom instead?"
"Of course, can you get your brother whilst you're up there?"
"Okay!"
She skips off to her bedroom so that it is just me and Logan. I walk over to the counter top and continue making dinner.
"So how is Aaron today?" he asks
"I'm not sure, he hasn't spoken to me since he got in from school..."
I turned to put some packaging in the bin, Logan was staring at me confused.
"It's Thursday" I say hoping it will be enough to jog his memory. Still nothing
"Aaron goes to school on Thursday and Friday, and I home school him Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday"
"'course. When are we going to start sending Lucia to school?"
"Not yet"
"What not?"
I scrape our evening meals onto plates and sigh
"She's not ready yet"
"What do mean 'she's not ready yet'. You don't want her ending up like Aaron do you?!"
"There is nothing wrong with Aaron" I calmly say placing the plates down on the table.
"Of course there's something wrong with Aaron, open your eyes Juliet!"
"He's FIFTEEN Logan! What do you expect?!"
"A normal son!"
I gasp for a breath in a room full of dense air, reaching into every pocket in hope of finding something.
"Lucia obviously forgot to tell him" I mutter leaving the dining room and going to the bottom of the stairs, "Aaron! Dinner's ready!"
He wandered down the stairs and followed me back into the kitchen/diner. We all took a seat and I took a large gulp of my red wine.
"How was school today Aaron?" asked Logan
"Alright" Aaron muttered putting a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth looking down at the plate. Logan took the opportunity to give me a 'told ya so' look.
"Who did you sit with?" I cautiously ask.
No response
"Aaron your mother is speaking to you"
"I said no-one"
Logan sighs and looks up to the heavens rubbing his temples. I can tell he is about to say something so I open my mouth to speak and much to my surprise Aaron gets there first although what he says is not what I want to hear
"Can I eat this in my room?"
I physically jump forward in my seat to say something before Logan,"If you want to sweetie"
Logan turns and gives me a piercing look...
•~•~•
I knock on the door before gently pushing it open,"Hey Lucia..."
"Hi Mummy" she replies turning to face me with two dolls in her hands and another three on the floor.
I bend down next to her and pick up one of the female dolls turning it over in my hands.
"Who's this?" I ask showing her the doll
"Oh, that's you"
"How did I not realise!" I laugh and pick up another one this time a male one who was face down, "How about this one?"
"Aaron. I've made our family" she smiles at me waiting for approval
"Ooo, so who are you holding?"
"This one's me" she pushes the smallest doll into my face for me to take, "and this one is Daddy"
She passes me him too. I notice one more on the floor that she hasn't told me about, another girl
"What about her?" I point to her
"I don't know"
Lucia picks her up and stares at her unrealistic, perfect face
"But we don't need her"
And just like that she throws her to the other side of the room...
•~•~•
"Aaron!"
It's not surprising he can't hear me when he's on the drums this loud. I knock again harder.
"Aaron! Aaron!"
I knock again getting increasingly frustrated.
"Ugh, come on! Open the damn door..."
"Just leave him love..."
I hear Logan from behind me and he puts his arm behind me ushering me towards our bedroom.
"It's just so annoying, you know?"
"Yeah, I know... I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have shouted at you"
"I honestly don't think Lucia's ready. She has been so tired and unable to concentrate in lessons recently anyway, I don't think a drive to school will help. Not to mention all the excitement, you know how she is..."
"I meant what I said about Logan... You're right, he's a teenager, I should accept that. I just wish sometimes that he would make some friends and be like a normal kid..."
"I know, sometimes I wish that too..."
He holds me in his arms and I let him.
He pulls away and hands me his jacket to put away. I watch him walk to the ensuite before I go to open his wardrobe. As I close the door again, a bit of paper floats to the floor and I hastily pick it up and stuff it in the drawer like nothing ever happened...
