Fritz woke Brenda up the next morning at 9am by gently shaking her shoulder. She responded by rolling over on her stomach and pulling her pillow over her head.
"No fair", he said, removing the pillow. "Honey, time to get out of bed."
"Mrrrrmmmmph."
"Your parents and Grady are going to church, and we are going to join them. So you have to get up and get ready. Come on, Brenda."
She lifted her face slightly from the mattress and opened one eye to look at him. "I don't go to church, Fritz. Now go away." She closed her eye again.
"I know you don't go to church, but it's Christmas morning, and it would be very nice if we all went as a family." He paused. "Do your parents even know you don't go to church?"
"Yup. Went through that battle when I was still in college."
"What do you do when you go home and visit them?"
"Sleep in."
"You can't tell me your mother is very happy about that, Brenda. You can at least pretend when they're around, and go back to your heathen ways when they are gone."
Brenda rolled over on her side to look at Fritz, both eyes open. "Look whose talkin'. Do you even know what a church looks like? For the record, it's the big buildin' with the cross on top." Her eyelids began to sag.
"Yeah, but I'm half-Jewish. And besides, my parents are secular humanists. Yours aren't, and it would make them happy if you joined them for the service this morning." He paused, thinking about their conversation last night. "Besides, Brenda, you have a lot of making up to do to your parents for everything that has gone on recently. You getting up and coming to church would be a nice start." He raised his eyebrow at her, and she opened her eyes slightly, glaring at him.
"All right, all right, all right, I'll go. But there better be some good Christmas carols bein' sung to hold my interest, and no sermons 'bout how women should to submit to their men." She sat up on the side of the bed and ran her fingers through her out of control hair.
Fritz grinned. "So, we aren't going to have that big church wedding your momma has been planning?"
He didn't see her swing the pillow until it made contact with the side of his head.
Thirty minutes later, Brenda was showered and dressed, and joined the others in the living room. Willie Rae's face brightened when she saw Brenda.
"Oh honey, you really are comin' with us! I am so happy. We haven't been to church as a family in 20 years."
Brenda rolled her eyes. "Don't start, Momma, I'm not in the mood for the "burn in hell" speech you've given me 'bout a billion times. I'm just in it for the Christmas carols." Fritz subtly kicked her foot and hissed, "be nice, Brenda! I mean it."
Grady sided up to Brenda and whispered, "I'm not too big into goin' to church myself, but my Grandma used to make me. I mostly used the time to check out the cute girls in the congregation." He grinned unabashedly. Grady and Fritz looked at each other and started to laugh. Fritz remembered the raging hormones of a 15 year old male, when every opportunity was used to stare at the opposite sex.
"What's so damn funny?" Clay asked brusquely. "I don't think Brenda Leigh's attitude toward religion is anything to laugh about." Fritz and Grady stopped laughing immediately.
"Sorry, sir," Grady and Fritz said in unison, looking at their shoes.
Brenda just stared at the ceiling. "Lighten up, Daddy, it's Christmas mornin'. Deck the halls and all that. Let's get this church thing over with so we can come back and open presents." She looked over at their small tree and saw brightly wrapped gifts with fancy bows under the tree, stacked next to the tree, and leaning against the wall.
"Yea, I was wonderin' who all those presents were for," Grady said. "Santa sure stopped by this house."
Brenda smiled sadly and put on her blazer, nodding at her parents that she was ready to go.
During church, Fritz looked over at Brenda, who was sitting next to Grady, and was horrified to see that they were playing Hangman on a piece of paper Brenda had pulled from her purse. He looked at Clay and Willie Rae to see if they noticed, but they seemed to be engrossed in the service. The only time Willie Rae looked over toward Brenda is when she said, "don't y'all just love singin' Christmas carols? I sure do," and then proceeded to sing "Silent Night" at the top of her lungs, off-pitch. Brenda hastily shoved the Hangman game behind her back before her mother could see, and Grady bit his lower lip to stop himself from grinning. As soon as Brenda saw her mother occupied by the hymnal and her enthusiastic singing, she brought the Hangman game and her pencil out from hiding, and arranged her large purse on her lap as to block her mother's view of their game. Fritz, sitting to Brenda's right, could see perfectly. "Brenda, put that away! What if your parents see you playing games in church? Please at least act like you are here willingly!"
Brenda looked up at Fritz with that defiant look in her face, clearly not happy to be bossed around by Fritz twice in one morning. "Make me," she whispered.
"You are being disrespectful, Brenda, and not setting a very good example for Grady," Fritz whispered back. Would it kill her to pretend to pay attention to make her parents happy? "Why don't you…?"
He was interrupted by a heavy arm that crossed his shoulder and pressed him down into his seat. Clay reached behind Fritz and stretched enough to grab hold of the paper with the Hangman game and rip it off Brenda's lap. She looked up at him, surprised and a little ashamed, and then averted her gaze.
"Please tell Brenda," Clay said close to Fritz's ear, "that a 41-year-old teenager isn't all that impressive. She used to do this when she was growin' up, play games in church, and I had kinda hoped she'd outgrow it by now." Clay looked angry, but Fritz noticed a twinkle in his eye. The rest of the service was spent without disruption, as Brenda furiously studied her nails, and Grady surreptitiously stared at three teenage girls sitting two rows in front of them.
"Present time!" Willie Rae exclaimed. Everyone was gathered in the living room after church, looking at the tree and its overflowing bounty of presents. "Grady, will you play Santa for us?" Fritz smiled, knowing Grady was about to be surprised that all the presents were for him. Just then, Fritz remembered that he had forgotten to wrap Brenda's Christmas present and put it under the tree. He groaned. The woman loves presents; he hoped that she wouldn't interpret a lack of gifts from him as a way of showing how angry he is. Tomorrow, he thought, after our big talk, she will need a present then. He looked at her, studying her expression as Grady pulled present after present from under the tree with his name on it, and she didn't have that eager expression she wore when she was about to get her hands on a nice gift. She wasn't expecting anything, he realized, which made him sad. A reserved Brenda at a present exchange was a side of her he had never seen.
"There are so many here for me, how did y'all do that?" Grady asked, with wonder in his eyes. "I never got so many Christmas presents in my life, I swear." Fritz didn't doubt it. From what Wesley had said, they both had extremely deprived upbringings, and he doubted Wesley could have afforded much for Grady on his guard's salary. Fritz felt glad that he and Brenda could give this type of Christmas to Grady, even though it almost ate up the rest of the yet-to-be-received $20,000 house sale money. The look on Grady's young face made it all worth it. He saw Brenda smile at him, and knew she felt the same thing.
"But where are presents for y'all? How can all these be for me?" Grady asked.
"Oh honey, don't you worry 'bout us," said Willie Rae, organizing the gigantic pile in front of Grady. "Clay and I left all our presents for each other back home, and I imagine Fritz and Brenda are going to exchange their gifts in private." She smiled at Grady. "Honey, if you don't start openin' these now, we aren't ever gonna make it to brunch! Here, start with the smaller ones." She ran her hand over his hair, a subtle, motherly gesture.
They all watched Grady open present after present, his excitement growing. "Thank y'all so much, I hardly know what to say! Wait until I tell Wesley about how nice y'all are bein' to me, givin' me such a wonderful Christmas and all. He's gonna be really grateful for y'all treatin' me like family."
With that, Brenda stood up and quickly walked back toward the bedroom. He knew Wesley's name had upset her, but he wished she could have held it together until the gift-opening was completed. "Fritz, is Brenda OK?" Grady said, setting down a package he had in his hand. "I mean, she's OK with all of this, isn't she?" He looked worried.
"Grady, Brenda's fine, and she's the one who really wanted to make sure you had a good Christmas. She probably has to make a few phone calls for work before brunch. She never really has a day off." To distract him, Fritz said, "hey, open the big one, down by your feet. I have a feeling you will be needing that for brunch today."
Grady opened up the large box that contained the suit Willie Rae and Fritz had picked out. "As soon as you're done with your other packages, Grady, I want you to try that on. I think you are going to be one handsome young man in that suit. Don't you think so, Clay?"
"I do," he said. Every man's gotta have a nice suit. It impresses the ladies, isn't that so, Fritz?"
"Women do find it hard to resist a well-dressed man," he smiled.
After the last of the presents was opened and Willie Rae had gathered up the scraps of wrapping paper, Fritz noticed it was time to head to the hotel for brunch. Grady tried on his suit, and Willie Rae fussed over him, suggesting a few alterations would make it fit any better. "Wait until Wesley sees me in a suit, he won't believe it!" he said. He turned to Fritz. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were telling me last night that Wesley was helping out the police, workin' sorta undercover. I was hopin' I can talk to him today, wish him a Merry Christmas and all." Grady turned in the direction of Brenda's bedroom. "Brenda?" he called out loudly.
"Why don't you ask Brenda over brunch, Wesley," he said. "We really have to get going now." Everyone gathered their coats, and Fritz called out for Brenda to join them. There was no response.
"Do you think that fancy beachfront hotel will valet the RV?" Willie Rae asked, mischief in her eyes.
"I'd love to see them try, Fritz said. "Let's take it!" He grinned and leaned over and kissed Willie Rae on the cheek.
"Brenda!" Fritz called again. "Time to go!" Still no response. He and Clay looked at each other. "I'll go and talk to her," Clay said. Fritz nodded. He was relieved to have some backup help with Brenda's dark mood. Ten minutes later, Clay climbed into the RV, mouthing "she's OK" to Fritz, and not long after, Brenda showed up. Clay must have told her to put a smile on her face, Fritz thought, because she was clearly trying to make an effort to look less depressed. But he knew her well, too well, and the self-loathing he saw in her eyes the previous night on the porch was still there.
Brunch went well, and Grady was quite impressed at how nice the hotel was, saying he had never eaten somewhere so fancy. He leaned over to Brenda. "So, which knife and spoon do I use?" he asked, puzzled by the array of cutlery by his plate.
"Start on the outside and work your way in," she said. "And don't worry too much, you aren't gonna get us kicked out of here for usin' the wrong fork. If bringin' the RV here didn't get us thrown out for bein' hicks, than I don't think the improper use of utensils is all that big of a deal." She smiled at Grady and took a bite of a pecan role.
"Hey Brenda, I wanted to ask you if I can talk to Wesley, bein' Christmas day and all. I want to tell him how nice y'all have been to me and what a great day I've had." He looked at Brenda expectantly.
Brenda started to choke, and Fritz quickly handed her a glass of water. She gulped it down, and Fritz could tell she was trying to buy some time to think up an answer. "Ah, no, Grady, I'm sorry," she said, a pseudo-smile on her face. "He's not reachable at the moment, so it's not possible to call him."
Grady's face fell. "When do you think I'm gonna get to talk to my brother?" he asked Brenda. "I know he's doin' important police work and all, but I don't want him to worry about me," Grady said.
Willie Rae spoke up. "Grady honey, Brenda has let Wesley know that you are safe with us, and he's happy about that. So don't you worry about him, he knows you are in good hands." She patted Grady on the arm.
"Okay, whose up for round one?" Clay said, standing up and grabbing his plate. "Do I need to show you, boy, how to load up at a buffet? Come on, let's find us some pancakes." Grady picked up his plate and followed Clay. "Think they have biscuits and gravy?" he asked eagerly.
"Son, this is LA. If they have anything besides alfalfa sprouts and tofu, I'll eat my hat."
They returned home, sleepy and full. Clay and Willie Rae went to the RV for a quick nap, and Grady went through all his presents again. Brenda pulled Fritz into the bedroom. "You'll never guess what my daddy told me," she said. "I can't believe it myself." She took a deep breath. "Momma and Daddy are takin' Grady home to Atlanta tomorrow. To live with them." She looked like she was going to cry again, but she just cleared her throat. "They're amazin', done raisin' three kids and willin' to bring a teenager into their house."
"Well, that's a better option," Fritz said, feeling a little sad.
Brenda looked at him. "Better than what?"
Fritz sat down on the bed next to Brenda. "I was going to talk to you about this tomorrow. I wanted to suggest that we volunteer to become Grady's foster parents, and have him live with us. We're planning on getting a three bedroom house, so we will have the room. And he's such a great kid." Fritz sighed. "And I thought it would be good for us, since, well, since our own having kids is kind of uncertain." He forced himself to smile. "But it's better that he go home with your parents. He will be back in Atlanta, where he belongs, and your mother will take very good care of him."
"Better than I could, you mean," Brenda said, looking at her shoes.
"That's not what I meant at all, and you know it," Fritz answered. "You and I would do just fine with him, he's a great kid and so smart, I have no idea how he has been through what he has been through and still is so sweet. And I was kinda looking forward to a partner to go to the Dodger's games with, but your mom has raised children before, and from what she told me you were quite a handful as a teen, so your parents have the experience to get him through any rough patches."
"Like when he finally figures out his brother is dead, and we've all been lyin' to him. I imagine that will be quite a rough patch," she said, standing up and pacing the room.
"It will be," Fritz said softly. "And he will get through it. And so will you."
Later that evening, while drinking more eggnog and nibbling on last night's cookies, Willie Rae and Clay told Grady their intentions. "Wait, is Wesley okay with this?" he said, confused.
"Oh yes, he is," Willie Rae answered. He's happy you will be back in Atlanta, so you can see your friends and keep an eye on your grandmother. And Clay and I have a big house that we just rattle around in. And we have a pool. It will be so nice to have a young person living with us again. I think we are all gonna get along just fine."
Grady still seemed a bit shocked, but a slight smile played across his lips. "I'm goin' home," he said, almost to himself.
"Yes honey," Willie Rae said, putting an arm around Grady and squeezing. "You're goin' home."
End Part 3