Learning to Let Go:
Chapter 9: The Holiday Season
Finally the day, that I have been most anticipating has finally come. Christmas Eve. Not only was it about me getting presents from my loved ones, but I was grateful for the life I had in front of me. Sometimes, I think I just took life for granted and never took time to actually apreciate the many blessings I had that year. As we drove into Cpdy's driveway I was grateful that he had made it through the battle. And I was also grateful that God had blessed my brother with the best baby boy. And speaking about kids, I was grateful that James was in my life and that I was going to be blessed with a new baby girl on the way pretty soon. I was happy that the Martin family was beginning to build once again. Especially after mom had died. Her dying wish for us was to raise our family willingly and to continue to love our girlfriends. Of course, our girlfriends turned into future wives in the years following our mom's death. I knew that she was up there smiling, and that she was satisfied with the family that me and Cody were raising. I was so happy that I had a family of my own. Sure I wouldn't think of it when I was growing up, but there was also this piece of me that didn't want to go through what my mom and dad were going through. Me and Cody both swore that we would only marry once when we were eight. That was the night that mom and dad's divorce got finalized.
As I walked up to the front steps of the Martin household, the smell of Bailey's cooking soon flooded into my nostrils. We had always loved Bailey's homemade cooking. And I think Cody should conscider himself lucky that he had a wife that not only loved him, but also had the willingness to cook whenever she wanted. Ad we walked into the house I scooped up a crying Lucas into my arms. He immediately stopped crying and flashed me a toothless smile.
"Merry Christmas buddy." I said as I kissed his forehead.
"Oh hey Zack." Cody said walking in after giving James a hug.
"Hey bro." I greeted handing Lucas to him.
"He's been crying again hasn't he?" Cody said as he spun Lucas around while he giggled.
"Yeah. Seems like one of the housemaids forgot about him." I said.
"Yeah that must be it." Cody said.
"Hey you guys." Bailey said as she walked in the living room wearing an apron.
"Hey Bails." I said hugging her.
"So, can you guys believe it? Lucas' first Christmas." She said smiling.
"I know. And pretty soon it will be our little girl's turn." Maya said as she out a hand on her stomach.
"Can't wait for that." I said wrapping my arms around her.
"Look you guys. Lucas is wearing the Santa Hat!" James said.
Sure enough, there was little Lucas wearing an over-sized santa hat. It got a laugh out of all of us. That kid was so cute. I swear he would never fail in making all of us laugh. As we continued to laugh about it, the butler said that dinner was ready so we all followed into the dining room.
"This dinner is delicious Aunt Bailey." James said.
"Thank you James. Glad you enjoyed it." Bailey said with a smile. "But it's not over yet. There's still desert."
"Bails seriously. You didn't have to go through this much trouble." Cody said laughing.
"But I did. After the hectic year we had, I think we all deserve it." Bailey said as she brought out our favorite apple pie.
"O.k. no objection there." I said as we all dug into the delicius desert.
A couple of hours passed since Bailey began stuffing our faces, we all hanged out in the living room. As we just sat there, we all laughed that Lucas attacked James to the floor. That just got a laugh out of the both of us. As we took out the presents, James couldn't have been more hapier.
"This is the best Christmas ever! Uncle Cody isn't sick anymore, I'm going to be getting a new sister soon, and I got everything I wished for!" James said.
"Well, you deserve it." I said.
"Really?" James asked.
"Of course." Maya said as the both of us hugged him. Pretty soon James stiffed out a yawn.
"Looks like someone's tired." Cody giggled.
"I think so." Maya said.
"Come on buddy. Let's get you home." I said as I picked up my sleeping child into my arms.
Two weeks gone, and finally it was time to ring in the New Year. As I got the house set for Cody and Bailey, I felt a pair of hands around my stomach.
"I have no idea what i did to ever deserve you." Maya said as she hugged me.
"Let me see, how about being the most cutest, and smartest girl on board the ship." I said catching her in a kiss.
"I love you so much Zack." Maya said. "And I promise you, once this baby comes I'll try not to fuss about it." Maya said.
"Babe, I think I might do that a little too. It's something we can't control. I mean look at when James was born, we couldn't stop fussing over him until her turned two. And I think we still do now." I said laughing.
"True...but this is a girl. It's different." Maya said.
"Maybe. But trust me, it will just be a phase." I said as I brought her into another hug.
"I have no idea what I would do without you." Maya said into my chest.
"That beautiful...is one thing you won't have to worry about." I said.
As the night wore on, we celebrated the brand New Year. And we basically began to look forward to what the next year had in store for the Martins. The show had some milestones comming up, Maya was going to have another baby, Cody was going to get promoted, and so many things that were yet to come. But I was sure that we would tackle it head on. Just like we do everything else. I mean, we made it through a health scare, through deaths, we've been through hell and back for the past two years. I'm sure nothing could bring us down now. As the clock struck midnight, we all kissed our spouses and hugged James and Lucas and wished them the best New Year ever. After about two hours after midnight, Cody and Bailey left to go home.
"Your the best you know that dad?" James said as I tucked him in.
"Of course I do."I laughed as I hugged him.
"Dad?" James asked.
"Yeah buddy?"
"Whe the new baby comes, will you and mommy forget about me?" James asked.
"Of course not. Sure she's going to be getting the most care, but we will be paying the same attention to you as much as we pay attention to her." I explained.
"Oh. That's good." James said.
"You are excitied about the baby right?" I asked.
"Of course." James said laughing.
"Good." I said as I kissed his forehead.
"Goodnight dad. I love you." James said.
"I love you too buddy."I said giving him one final kiss on the cheek before shutting the lights.
Finally I made it back into my room and found my beautiful wife asleep. I smiled as I crawled into bed. I brushed her beautiful brunette hair out of her eyes and just stared at her for a long time. Did Maya really know how much i loved her? That I would go to the end's of the earth just for her happiness? Because that is exactly what I would do. I scooped my wife into my arms and for the longest time just held her there.
Hey guys. I want your oppinion. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this story after the part that Cody loses his battle. Don't worry that section of the story won't cme until about the 19 or 20th chapter I think. I have so many plans for this story. Anyways tell me what you think.