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Standard disclaimer.

The day of the Hope holiday parade dawned cold, but snow free. And Mercedes was both happy and sad. But mostly happy for the town and everyone involved in the parade and the town-square project.

But there was snow forecast in a few days, so she could still be excited about that.

She'd had to report to the parade center early that morning, to meet with the town-square committee, so she'd gotten up at the crack of dawn, to have coffee with her parents.

Mrs. Jones announced bright and early, she would be attending the parade today, and her husband insisted, that if she was going, it was going to be in a wheelchair, because, there would be too many people around, who could potentially bump into her and knock her down.

Plus, walking around the house and at therapy was one thing...fatiguing herself at the parade was another.

Despite her mother's protests, Mercedes sided with her father, and her mom grudgingly agreed to the wheelchair.

After that, Mercedes had hurried down to the parade route, to see the town-square. And she wasn't disappointed. It was beautiful.

The fountain was running, the dolphin was gorgeous, the tiles were amazing, and the playground was perfect.

And the giant Christmas tree sitting behind the square, was a fabulous touch.

She couldn't wait to see it lit up tonight after the festival. She had made plans to meet her parents here after the parade.

She hoped her mother would be proud of the final product, since she was the one who had spearheaded the project from the beginning.

Checking the time, she realized, she had to get in place at the judge's grandstand. So she hurried down the street and around the corner, the brisk walk in the cold air, warming her up.

On her way there, she decided to make a quick stop at Marley's shop, to grab a very large latte, and she had that in her hand when she arrived at the grandstand, where Mavis waited.

"Oh, good, you're here, Mercy. Here's your judging packet. You know, Anderson's is a big contributor to the mayor's campaign. And they always do the best floats. Do you know they win the grand prize every year?"

'And so it begins,' Mercedes thought.

"Is that right?" she asked, as they made their way up the bleacher stairs to the booth.

"It is. The mayor would consider it a personal favor, if you'd give them a high vote."

"If they have the best float, they'll get a high mark. I'm sure there are a lot of great floats. On my way over, I saw the one that Hope High's science club put together. It looks pretty amazing, too."

Mavis looked flustered.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure that one's nice, too. But you know, the mayor is up for re-election this year, and campaign contributors are hard to come by."

Mercedes looked up at her.

"Mavis, you aren't by some chance, trying to persuade me to vote a certain way on the mayor's behalf, are you? Because, that would certainly be unethical."

She made sure to say it as loud as she could. And since people were starting to fill the stands around them, it caused Mavis' face to turn beet red.

"Of course not. I would never do such a thing."

A few of the other judges arrived, so Mavis gave her a tight smile.

"Harry," Mavis said. "How nice to see you. How's it going over at the hardware store? The mayor was just asking about you the other day."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and sipped her latte. She smiled when Harry took his seat, and introduced himself to her.

"You're David's girl."

"Yes, sir."

"I heard you were back in town. How's your mama doing?"

"Much better, thank you. She intends to come to the parade today."

"I'll be sure to tell my wife. She'll look for her."

After the other judges arrived, they only had to wait about ten more minutes, before the Hope Fire and Police Department, got the parade started, by leading off with sirens and flashing lights.

Mercedes had missed this parade, missed seeing all the floats and the clowns and the mayor and his wife, waving from their fancy car.

Also, both the high schools and their marching bands, with baton twirlers and cheerleaders in front.

She was right about the science club from Hope High...they had put together an amazing float, with kids from the club dressed as different forms of colorful bacteria.

She loved it, but then, maybe she had a soft spot in her heart for the club, since she used to be a member.

"What a great float," Harry said with a grin on his face.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't just her.

She wasn't all that impressed with the car dealership's float.

It was towed by one of their new trucks and had some hot woman on it and a bunch of car sale signs.

It looked like they spent a bundle of money on it, but otherwise, it wasn't all that creative.

There were many other floats, groups had put a lot more time and creativity into, so she scored them all accordingly.

What the other judges thought, she had no idea.

The parade ended, of course, with Santa Claus riding on a float that held his sleigh. Everyone cheered happily, especially the kids.

Mercedes finished up her score sheet, then turned it in to the parade committee.

The awards would be given out at town-square tonight, prior to the tree lighting ceremony.

'At least my work here was done,' she thought and headed off to meet her parents.

Sam finished watching the parade, then wandered around, talking to a few people.

He saw Mercedes climb down from her spot on the judge's booth, so he excused himself to go find her.

She was headed towards the town-square, so he picked up his pace and crossed the street to catch up to her.

"Excuse me, miss, but you look familiar," Sam said.

Mercedes stopped, then smiled at him.

"Wasn't it a great parade?"

"It was. And did you vote for the mayor's favorite float?"

She laughed.

"Well, I gave it a score. I don't think it was the score Mavis wanted me to give it, though."

"I'm shocked, Mercedes. No more judging the parade for you."

She slipped her arm in his, as easy as taking a breath.

"And to think, it's now become my favorite holiday tradition. I'm heartbroken," she said.

"Yeah, I'll bet you are."

She saw her parents near the square and pointed them out to him.

"There's my mom and dad. Are your parents here?"

"Yeah. They're supposed to be somewhere near the square, too."

They approached and greeted her parents.

Her mom looked plenty warm in her thick coat, hat, and gloves, and her Dad had even thought to put a fleece blanket on her lap.

"Did you enjoy the parade?" Sam asked.

"It was great," Mr. Jones said.

Mercedes sat on the bench next to her mother, who had parked her wheelchair facing the fountain.

"What do you think, Mom?"

Her mom grasped her hand and squeezed it.

"Oh, honey, it turned out even better than I envisioned. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. This was your doing."

"But you stayed and jumped on the committee. You and Sam made sure it got finished. And the playground...a brilliant idea."

"Thanks, Mom."

Sam took a seat next to Mercedes.

"Thank you, Sam," Mrs. Jones said.

"We did it, didn't we?" he asked.

"We sure as hell did. Isn't it fantastic?"

He leaned back, surveying the finished product.

"It's amazing. I'm so glad you came up with the idea, Marlene. It's a hell of a beautiful thing."

Sam wasn't sure why, but he liked seeing Mercedes' mom happy.

The two of them had worked hard on this project, and he'd hated that she hadn't been able to finish it. But, he was also glad Mercedes had taken on the responsibility.

He was sure it had given her mother some comfort, knowing her daughter had been involved.

"We couldn't have done this without Mercedes' help. She's an ass kicker," Sam said.

Mrs. Jones beamed. She had a huge smile on her pretty face.

"Well, she is my daughter."

Sam laughed.

"That she is."

"I honestly didn't do much, other than back up Sam and keep the meetings on track," Mercedes stated.

"That's bull. The playground was your idea," Sam said.

"And it looks wonderful," Mrs. Jones said.

Just then, Sam's parents arrived, greeting the others.

"Oh, Sammy this looks amazing," his mother said.

Mercedes had stood right away, as Mr and Mrs. Evans, came over. It had been so long since she'd seen them.

Mary was as pretty as she'd always been, with her blonde hair cut shorter than she remembered. Dwight's hair was a but more grayer now, but he was still a strikingly handsome man...just like his son.

"Thanks, Mom," Sam said, hugging his mother.

"And Marlene, how are you?" Mrs. Evans asked, as she sat next to her on the bench.

"I'm doing so much better, Mary. So nice to see you again. How are you?"

"Good, thank you. I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. But you look amazing. Leave it to you to have a terrible injury and still look as gorgeous as always."

Mrs. Jones blushed.

"Oh, well, Mercedes has been taking good care of me."

Mercedes smiled.

"I did nothing. My mother has tons of energy and hates being cooped up in the house."

"I know this about her. And what about you, Mercy? It's so wonderful seeing you back here in Hope. Will you be staying permanently?"

Mercedes shifted on the balls of her feet.

"Um...I don't know..."

"Mom," Sam said, directing his mother by the elbow, "What do you think of the Christmas tree? Do you think it's big enough? Are you going to stay for the lighting ceremony tonight?"

He moved his parents ever so subtly to the tree, and then over to the playground, giving Mercedes an out from that question. And she was silently grateful for it.

"People are going to start asking, now that I'm recovering," her mother said. "Eventually you're going to have to give them an answer."

Mercedes was surprised her mother hadn't asked. But her mom knew her better than most people.

"I don't have an answer, Mom. I don't know. You know what my life has been like all these years. I've gotten sort of used to it."

"Which doesn't mean you can't stay." Her mother grasped her hand and squeezed it. "I've gotten used to seeing your face all the time. And you have a job here. You could get a nice apartment and give it a try for a while."

"Maybe. We'll see."

Even as she said the words, she felt walls closing in on her, and that familiar sense of needing to flee.

But that was the norm...what typically happened, whenever one of her bosses offered her a raise or a promotion. It meant permanence.

And she just didn't do permanent.

Stay safe!