Chapter 2 Christmas Improved

Hank Booth had bustled around the house all week, dusting, running the vacuum, washing bed linens and towels, stringing lights along the privet hedge bordering the front porch, and cooking.

"If Margaret could see me now, she'd bust out laughing," he smirked to himself. "Yeah, I know you can see me from up there, Missy. I still miss you something awful, but I had to do for myself once you went on, and I guess it was a good thing overall. Kept me occupied, and my mind off how dang empty this house was without you around."

"Staying busy was good medicine for a sore heart, Dr. Harris said," he chuckled. "That man may be a GP, but he's a pretty fine psychologist as well. Got me through the rough spots, him and talking to Father Jack once in a while when I thought I'd go crazy without you." But listen to me carrying on, this is no time for yakking!"

"Shrimp's on his way home; his tour in Iraq was over last week. Spent a couple days in Germany, seeing a few sights I told him about from WWII, and he'll be landing in Philly tonight. He's got a month's leave coming, so he'll be here for Christmas. Parker's coming too. Guess Rebecca felt it was important he spend some time with his daddy after a year away. Not sure what changed her mind, but I'm not arguing with a positive turn of events. That's enough yammerin' Girlie. I got to make tracks if I'm gonna meet that plane on time."

Hank, like many other widows and widowers, often carried on full conversations with his wife, hearing her sweet voice and merry laugh inside his head like she'd never left. He didn't go around touting this fact to family and friends, but found comfort in sharing his thoughts with the woman who'd once shared his life and his bed. Her spirit was never far from his thoughts.

He hadn't been this excited since the day Seeley had called to tell him about Parker's birth. Despite the friction between the young parents, Hank knew that both Rebecca and his grandson cared deeply about their baby, and would do right by him.

Humming Christmas carols, Pops changed clothes and set out for the airport at 3 pm. In time to miss the worst of Philly's rush hour traffic. Pulling into the arrivals parking lot, he extracted a time card stamped 4:10 pm, swung into a slot, locked the car, and set off for the terminal at a faster than usual clip.

"Hmmm, better slow down, or I'll be winded when Shrimp arrives, and then he'll fret. I haven't felt this enervated in years. There's nothing sweeter than reunions. I remember catching sight of Margaret at the train station when I got back from Europe. Man, was that a day!"

Hank checked the arrival board, located the concourse and settled down in the adjacent lounge area to wait. He pulled the newspaper and began to read.

An hour and ten minutes later, the baggage carousels nearby rumbled to life, and people began appearing in the concourse hallway beyond heavy glass doors. As these swung open, Hank stuffed the newspaper into his coat, and turned to scrutinize the debarking passengers.

He knew Seeley packed light, and soon spotted the tall olive-clad figure striding down the hall. Carefully dodging slower folks, Seeley spied his grandfather, an expectant smile spreading across his exuberant face. Hank barely had time to stand up before he was engulfed in a bear hug.

"Pops! It's so good to see you!"

"You too, Shrimp. You really got a tan over there, didn't you? Bet you're ready for some chilly Philly wind! Had enough of that desert heat for a while, huh?"

"Pops, you have no idea!"

"Yeah, I do, Son, best homecoming you'll ever have! Come on, let's go find your duffle bag amid the mountain of identical green bags on the carousel."

"This is gonna be a great Christmas! As soon as I hug Parker, things will be perfect!"