Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies
Chapter Two
Tim saw the headlights as they pulled into the driveway and walked towards the door, passing Chauncy as she came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn. The look he shot her garnered an eye rolling from her as she continued on her quest to the living room where Jayson and himself were presently engaged in putting up the tree. After getting in with Calleigh's family, and making sure her grandmother was comfortable, Tim enlisted Jayson's help once more and started in on the tree. Chauncy , of course was doing what she did best, sitting on the couch watching and parlaying her opinion on what ornaments to put up. Every so often, they would pause and have a discussion about the art of decorating, which would usually end with Jayson shaking his head in disbelief and Chauncy rolling her eyes. It was during one of those relapses , that Tim saw the headlights as they reflected on the walls of their home.
As he opened the door, Sydney stalked past him, heading up the stairs, her feet making it very obvious that she was not in the best of moods. Calleigh followed in, glancing in her direction before making eye contact with Tim, a slight sigh escaping from her. He took the bags out of her hands and followed her sight as the door to her room slammed shut.
"Where's the costume?" Tim asked ,arching an eyebrow and shifting the bags to a comfortable position.
" They aren't getting them tonight. Maryanne's mother got the information wrong. The entire way home, I tried to explain to her why she couldn't get it tonight. Now, we have to deal with this all night," Calleigh said as she could hear her stomping around upstairs. "She's not a very happy camper."
"Do tell. You think I should go up there and talk to her?"
"I don't know, Tim. Maybe she should calm down some," Calleigh answered as another door slammed shut.
"I'm not giving her a chance to bring the house down, Cal. Maybe I can explain it to her in a different way," Tim responded as he walked into the kitchen , placing the bags down and returning to the base of the stairs.
"Well, good luck, hot shot. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Tim leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips, pulling back with a smirk, "I have the skills and determination, I think she will see it my way."
"Uh huh, no bribery, Tim."
"What?" Tim asked with his hands up , the light catching his wedding band , causing Calleigh to smirk heavily. She kept her eyes on his as he started to ascend the stairs. " My ' Daddy' senses will do all the talking. I'll only be a few minutes, can you listen out for my parents? They should be coming in any moment now."
Calleigh nodded as he disappeared up the stairs and shrugged off her jacket, hanging it up in the closet. Hearing the voices in the living room, she walked through the hall, the lights encasing her home in a warm glow. The smile inched across her face wider as she heard Chauncy's thick accented voice direct Jayson on the precise position of the tinsel.
"You know, it would look a lot better if you string it up and down," she was saying as Calleigh stood near the love seat, her arms crossed about her chest. The sight of Tim's brother holding the tinsel in mid air, the obvious signs of frustration building in his brown eyes becoming more and more evident as Chauncy pointed, was enough to make Calleigh chuckle slightly. Chauncy turned to see her cousin and went to her quickly, taking her into a huge embrace. Pulling back, they looked at each other and hugged again. " Bug, I'm so glad to see you! You look fabulous!"
Calleigh felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she adverted her eyes to Jayson, catching his grateful expression before he returned to stringing the tinsel, around the tree, then back to Chauncy, " So, how's the decorating going?"
"Fine, if 'mister I know what I'm doing when it comes to tinsel' would just listen to me. I've been trying to tell him tinsel looks far better when strung up and down. It makes the tree look fuller."
"This tree doesn't need to be made any more fuller," Jayson expressed with a tad more frustration. " It already takes up half the room."
"Hey," Calleigh said, feigning a tone of hurt, "I picked the tree out."
"And what a lovely tree it is, Cal," Jayson nodded in her direction. " I was just saying, it doesn't need to look any fuller. The tinsel is best going around the tree. I've never heard of stringing tinsel up and down before."
"It's a southern thing," Chauncy shot back ,crossing her arms. "You wouldn't know."
Calleigh couldn't help but let a laugh out as she heard the door bell ringing. Jayson moved towards the door, but Calleigh held her hand out, still trying to stave her laugh, " I've got it, Jay. It seems as if you have an issue to resolve."
"Tell me about it," Jayson responded as he turned back to his work, trying his best to ignore Chauncy. It was like having a long lost sister that he wished had stayed lost. " Don't mind me, I'll just continue to string the tinsel the stupid northern way."
Chauncy shot him a scowled expression as she turned to leave the room, deciding on going to check on Grandma. With Chauncy gone, he proceeded to pull the tinsel off of the tree and started stringing it up and down, nodding his head in agreement. Calleigh laughed heartily as she went to the door and opened it, seeing his parents standing there with warm smiles. She invited them in with a simple gesture, getting caught in the arms of his mother , who held her tightly.
" Calleigh," she said into her long blond hair. " The lights are simply to die for."
"You have your boys to thank for that," Calleigh replied as she retracted from her somewhat, taking in her natural beauty, her round , chocolate brown eyes expressed a happiness that Calleigh had never seen on anyone. "Well, at least one of your boys."
"Well, they are beautiful nonetheless. Where's my little sugar plum? Did she get to bring her costume home?"
"No, Lydia, she didn't, and she's not too happy about it."
"I tried to tell you, Calleigh, that the company wouldn't allow that, especially for the type of performance they are having. They are dancing at the Metropolitan Theater , it's a very big deal."
"I know, I just thought that since she had such a small part, that they would let her bring it home," Calleigh explained, feeling as if she was dwindling in size. She loved Tim's mother to death, but at times she could be a little over bearing. "I've tried to explain it to her, but she's not taking it well."
" You shouldn't give a child too much expectation,..." Lydia started as she glanced to her husband , who wore a narrowed look on his face. Tim may have gotten his eyes from his mother, but everything else was from Joseph.
"Lydia," he expressed with a dull sigh, feeling the tension growing somewhat. He put a hand on Calleigh's shoulder and smiled at her, " She's only doing what every other mother would've done. I can't count how many times that Tim and Jayson had been disappointed at their losses. It's apart of parenting, we make a mistake, we learn, we move on. No harm no foul."
Calleigh gave him a grateful nod as her body relaxed some, hearing the door open upstairs. Looking up, she saw Sydney and Tim as they appeared at the top of the stairwell, a smile on the little girl's face. Her smile dwindled into confusion as she saw Tim help her with her coat on. As they walked down the stairs, it could be seen that they were planning on going out. Sydney looked to her mother first, then turning quickly to see her grandparents as the smiles grew an inch a second. By passing Calleigh, she headed straight for her grandpa, running into his awaiting arms. He scooped her up effortlessly and held on to her tightly as she hugged his neck.
"Grandpa!" she squealed into his shoulder, then parting from him, looking into his deep dark eyes. "Did you miss me?"
"Oh, boy did I ever," Joseph responded, his eyes lighting up at the sight of his only grandchild. "So much so, that I brought you something."
"Dad,..." Tim expressed , putting his hands on his hips as Joseph let Sydney down and reached into his pocket, pulling out a box. " Christmas is a week away, couldn't this had waited?"
" Nothing said," Joseph returned , shaking his head. " My little sugar plum deserves it."
"Well, at least let her put it under the tree," Tim said as he glanced into the living room, seeing Jayson stringing the tinsel up and down. What the hell is he doing? he thought to himself.
"Timmy, let her open it," Lydia persisted. "She's only five once , and this is her first dance. Maybe she can wear it during the performance."
"I don't think that is allowed," Calleigh interjected as she glanced towards Tim, knowing that this was a battle that they were fast losing.
"Just the same, I'd like to see her open it," Joseph said as he placed it in Sydney's hand.
Tim closed his eyes and then opened them, gesturing defeatedly, "Alright, go ahead, Syd."
That was all the little girl needed to hear before she was ripping the paper off of the long box. She struggled with getting the box open, turning to her mother with wide expectant eyes that began to water at the notion of not being able to open it. When Calleigh finally opened it, Sydney's eyes widened even more as she began to jump up and down, simply estatic.
"A ballerina bracelet! Daddy, look..."
" I see princess," Tim remarked , his sigh deepening. "Are you still interested in going ?"
"Going?" Calleigh asked as Lydia and Joseph shrugged out of their jackets. She kept her eyes on her beloved family as she took their jackets. "Tim, we just got home. Where on earth are you going?"
"Well, I sorta..." Tim started as he made gestures to Sydney, " promised her that I would take her out."
"Yeah, he said he was going to buy me a costume!" Sydney blurted out loud, the joy in her voice unmistakable.
"Did he ?" Calleigh asked, as she looked to him, her eyes telling the story of her disposition.
"After I take her around to see the lights. The costume thing is a minor detail..."
His parents chuckled as they made their way to the living room, as Calleigh hung behind, "Daddy Senses, huh?"
"All I'm getting is the tu tu. Nothing more," Tim responded as he glanced over to Sydney, who was admiring her new bracelet. "She was so disappointed about not being able to bring home her costume. I couldn't let her go to sleep like that."
Calleigh placed a hand on his forearm as she tilted her head up to meet his lips, a smile coming , "Don't be too long. She has rehearsal in the morning."
" I won't," Tim replied as he gave her a peck in return. Turning to Sydney, he asked, " So, are we ready princess?"
"Yeah!" Sydney responded gleefully as she moved towards the door, placing her hand on the knob. Tim followed her, giving Calleigh a parting glance .
"I'll be right back."
" Sure. Have fun," Calleigh intoned in her thick accent as she began walking to the living room.
Outside, Tim grasped on to Sydney's hand, and walked to the truck, looking down at her. The smile she had on her face melted his heart as it had done so many other times before. He would cross the world and back for her, just to have that smile.
