Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long!
Chapter 6
The rest of the weekend passed without much incident. Karen avoided the rest of the family, including Rosario. Mason and Olivia spent as much time together as they could without bickering; the clock was quickly winding down and they hadn't gotten Karen anything for Christmas.
Monday morning was Christmas Eve. Instead of waking up in excited anticipation of the following two days, Olivia awoke in a cold sweat, terrified that Karen didn't yet have a present under the tree.
As Olivia dressed for the day, Mason knocked on her bedroom door. Olivia called out for whoever it was to enter just as she pulled her auburn locks out from neck of her sweater.
"Morning, Mason," Olivia greeted.
"Hi," Mason said. Olivia noticed his strange tone and looked at him. He had the same pinched look he got whenever he was excited.
"What's up?" Olivia asked.
"I think I know what we can give Karen for Christmas," Mason said.
Olivia's eyes widened. "Well, what is it?"
Mason walked back to Olivia's bedroom door and shut it, quietly explaining his plan to his sister.
Instead of looking relieved, Olivia's brow furrowed further. "Could it be finished by tomorrow morning?"
"How hard can it be?" Mason questioned. "We'd just have to go to the store."
"The stores close early today," Olivia reminded him. "We'd better get moving."
Karen jumped as her cell phone started playing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
"Good Lord, who put this on my phone?" Karen wondered aloud. Then her eyes narrowed. "Rosario." Pushing thoughts of her maid to the back of her mind, Karen flipped open her phone. "Karen Walker."
"Mrs. Walker, it's all ready," the voice on the other end said. "Would you like to come pick it up or would you rather us deliver it?"
Karen thought for a moment. "No, I'll come pick it up. Thanks!" Without waiting for a reply, Karen snapped her phone shut. No sooner had she shut it than she heard all about Rudolph and his very shiny nose. Karen opened her phone once more. "Karen Walker."
"Mrs. Walker, it's all ready," the voice on the other end said.
Déjà vu, Karen thought. It was oddly disconcerting.
"Mrs. Walker? Are you there?"
"Oh, yes, honey, sorry," Karen replied. "It's ready? Wonderful. I'll be by later to pick it up." Once more, without hearing a response, Karen ended the call and tossed her phone aside.
She leaped off of her bed and traipsed into her closet, grabbing her long mink. She wrapped it around herself, stepped into her pumps, slid her phone into her purse, and exited her bedroom.
By the time the family had gathered for their Christmas Eve dinner in the dining room, each had their Christmas gifts for everybody else, tucked away safely in their respective rooms. Karen pushed the gourmet food around her plate, vaguely noticing that Cook overdid himself tonight. She felt Rosario's eyes on her and Karen sighed, knowing she couldn't put it off any longer.
"So, kids," Karen opened. Mason and Olivia looked up at their stepmother. "Tomorrow is Christmas."
"It usually follows Christmas Eve, Miss Karen," Rosario remarked, trying to keep Karen from beating around the bush.
Karen glared at her. "Well, there's no sense in waiting. Would you like to visit your father tomorrow?"
Olivia froze and dropped her utensils on her plate with a clatter that echoed throughout the large room. She dimly wondered why such a small family needed such a large dining room. Mason, however, nodded.
"I'd like to see him," he replied quietly. He turned to his sister. "Liv? What about you?"
"Um…s-sure," Olivia said.
"If either of you don't want to," Karen began, "you shouldn't feel obligated. I'm going to visit him tomorrow and I thought I'd extend the invitation to you."
"No, we-we want to go," Olivia assured her, more certainly this time.
"Good. So, listen, we'll wake up tomorrow, open presents, then go visit your father," Karen said. "How does that sound?" Without waiting for a reply, Karen barreled on with, "Oh, and I think Jack, Will, and Grace want to stop by after."
"It sounds like fun, Karen," Olivia replied.
"Don't get so excited, Curly Sue, your hair might frizz up," Karen teased lightly. She knew the prospect of seeing their father was daunting and overwhelming and probably a subject Karen should have broached a bit sooner than the day before. After her little altercation with Rosie, Karen realized that these kids had been through a great deal and were stronger than most gave them credit for. Karen now recognized it and didn't wish to waste her time treating them like…well, like the children they technically were.
"Listen, honey, I was thinking you could wear that red dress your father loves," Karen suggested to Olivia. "You…you look very pretty in it."
Rosario's eyes widened. Karen was giving compliments? Oh, what the holidays did to people. But she smiled sweetly at her employer, proud of how good she was with the children.
Olivia beamed in return, not bothering to tell Karen that she'd been spending the last few moments trying to remember where the dress was in her closet. "Thanks, Karen. That's a good idea."
"And Mason, you could wear that tie you have," Karen said. "Oh, honey, you know, the navy blue one your father has? He used to tell me how proud he felt when he saw you wearing it."
Mason grinned. "I'll wear it."
Now the family began to eat with vigor, eagerly anticipating their visit to see Stan the next day.
Olivia sat at the breakfast nook, which still coincidentally happened to be larger than Will and Grace's apartment, and smoothed the skirt of her red dress. It was one of the most expensive pieces of clothing she owned and Olivia adored it. The story, according to Karen, is that her father actually picked it out, but Olivia still thought that Karen had. Regardless, she loved the dress and it made her father happy when she wore it.
Mason entered the room, looking startlingly similar to Stan as he pulled on his necktie to loosen it.
"Merry Christmas, Mason. You look nice," Olivia offered.
"Merry Christmas, Liv. You, too," Mason muttered in response. He sat down on the other side of the round table. "I know Dad likes it when I wear this, but the minute we get back, I'm taking it off."
Olivia smiled. "I'm so excited to see Daddy. When's Karen coming down so we can eat, open our presents, and leave?"
Mason shrugged. "It was pretty quiet upstairs, from what I could tell."
"That means she's still getting ready," Olivia said. "This could take a while."
Olivia didn't know how right she was. Karen stood in the middle of her enormous closet, wrapped in a black silk robe. She glanced around her closet helplessly.
"Rosario!" Karen called out shrilly. Karen tapped her foot while she waited for her maid to turn up. Minutes later, Rosario came huffing in. "What took you so long?"
"Woman, I was on the first floor, in the kitchen, helping Cook get ready for dinner," Rosario said, trying to catch her breath. "And I still heard you."
Karen smiled. "That's my Rosie. Always prepared."
"So, what do you need, mamí?" Rosario asked.
"Oh, well, I don't know what to wear," Karen said.
"You've got Chanel, Versace, YSL, Carolina Herrera, and you say you don't know what to wear?" Rosario asked in disbelief.
"That's easy for you to say. The only question you need to ask yourself in the morning is: do I wear my 'Members Only' jacket or not?" Karen retorted.
"I'm going to ignore that because it's Christmas," Rosario replied kindly. "But if it weren't Christmas, you can bet your drunken ass I'd say that the only question you need to ask yourself in the morning is: Stoli or Grey Goose?"
Karen smiled and pat Rosario fondly on the shoulder. "Oh, Rosiola. I love ya."
Rosario stepped forward into Karen's closet and motioned towards Karen's velvet trousers. "How about these?"
Karen wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I want to look nicer than that."
Rosario walked to the other side of the closet and pointed at Karen's low-cut, shimmering black gown.
Karen shook her head again. "I don't want to look that nice and drive Stanley wild. This isn't a conjugal visit."
Rosario suggested more than a dozen outfits and when Karen promptly turned down each one, Rosario threw her hands into the air and stalked out of the room, muttering under her breath about rich white women.
Karen cocked her head to the side and surveyed her closet slowly, hoping inspiration would come. And come it did, in the form of a clingy Chanel dress with long sleeves and a deep v-neck in the front and back. She chose her Chanel sling backs as well, along with her large, square-cut diamond studs in her ears and a diamond drop around her delicate neck.
Of course, Karen wanted to look nice for her husband, but another, smaller part of her wanted to slowly drive Stanley crazy so he wished he was out of prison as much as she did. The sadistic side of her personality (the one most saw) wanted to make Stan pay for being in prison during Christmas. She missed him so much and his everyday absence caused her an indescribable amount of pain. There was a throbbing ache where her heart should have been and instead of admitting to the pain and dealing with it, Karen made a deal with herself to trade the pain for anger and resentment. Rather, she'd bargained with herself to appear angry and resentful in front of everyone but silently harbor her pain.
Knowing that Mason and Olivia were anxiously anticipating opening their presents, Karen pulled her hair half-up, leaving a neat ponytail bouncing against the rest of her hair. She dabbed on some of her favorite perfume and made her way to the breakfast nook.
"Merry Christmas, kiddies!" Karen called out upon entering the room.
"Merry Christmas, Karen," the kids responded in unison.
Karen sat at the chair between Mason's and Olivia's, accepting the plate of food Rosario offered. She speared a grape on the end of her fork and placed it in her mouth.
"Are you children excited about seeing your father?" Rosario asked.
Mason and Olivia nodded eagerly.
"Well, you both look nice," Karen told them fondly, sipping her orange juice. Never one to enjoy breakfast food, Karen pushed the plate away after a few more bites. "Let's get to the presents!"
The Walkers excitedly stood and hurried into the living room. Olivia laughingly noticed that Karen was moving just a bit faster than she and Mason were, an eager smile on her face. Olivia sat next to her brother on the love seat while Karen took the leather armchair. She momentarily glanced at the adjacent armchair where Stan usually sat at Christmas. Halfway through the opening of the presents, Karen used to go over and sit on his lap, gushing about her new jewelry or furs and Stan would thank her lovingly for whatever she'd gotten him that year.
She gave a bittersweet smile as she looked at the chair.
"Oh, Karen, I love this sweater!" Olivia exclaimed, touching the blue fabric reverently.
"Honey, Santa Claus gave that to you," Karen told her, snapping out of her daydreams.
Olivia rolled her eyes. Nearly every gift they got was from "Santa Claus," with the exception of Karen's personal gifts to them.
"I'm sure he realized that you're old enough to have your own cashmere sweaters now," Karen continued. "Go on, keep opening them."
Mason was admiring his new video game, also from Santa Claus, when he looked up at Karen. Olivia still had to retrieve Karen's gift from her room; she'd wanted to keep it a surprise until the last possible moment. Regardless, Karen didn't have any presents near her feet. Karen, the person who easily spent thousands on gifts for people each year, didn't have any to open on Christmas Day.
As Olivia tore the wrapping paper off of her new stereo, Karen glanced at Mason. She smiled understandingly at him and said softly, "It's ok, honey."
Mason smiled at her and reached for his next present.
Rosario entered the room with a small pile of presents. "Miss Karen, I have something for you."
Karen stood up, happy to have something else to do. Olivia and Mason's best presents weren't even in the room yet; they were still waiting in her room upstairs. "Well, Ro-Ro, that's good. I have something for you, too."
Rosario set one present in Olivia and Mason's large piles each and handed Karen the last one. "Here you go."
Karen walked over to the tree and plucked a crisp white envelope from the branches. "And here you go." Karen watched as Rosario opened the envelope, obviously expecting money. She watched the confusion build in Rosario as she pulled out her Christmas present.
"Merry Christmas!" Karen exclaimed excitedly, throwing her arms into the air and bopping on the back of her heels a bit.
Rosario's jaw dropped.
Olivia, having finished with her immense pile, looked over to see what was going on. "What'd you get, Rosie?"
"A…a plane ticket," Rosario said in disbelief. "To El Salvador."
"Go on home for the holidays, Rosie," Karen told her. "I know it's a little late, but you Spanish people celebrate different holidays, right?" Karen winked at her.
"But Miss Karen, you…you can't go a whole week without me," Rosario said.
Karen smiled. "I think my staff of 34 will be able to keep me occupied for seven days. You need to be with your family."
Rosario smiled and hugged Karen. Pulling away, she said, "Thank you so much, Miss Karen. But this is my family, too, you know."
Karen pat Rosario's back and began to unwrap her own present. "We know, Rosie." Finally growing impatient, excited to have a present of her own to open, Karen tore the rest of the paper off.
"It isn't much," Rosario said quickly.
"Great opening to a gift," Karen remarked sarcastically. She took the top off of the nondescript white box and pulled out a fashionable scarf. It was a bit more casual than Karen usually went, but considering she knew every single item for sale at Barney's and knew how much each cost, she knew that it wasn't cheap for Rosario.
"I know it isn't fancy," Rosario explained. "But you don't have anything else like it and…I thought it would look nice on you."
Karen smiled. "Thanks, Rosiola. I love it." Karen fingered the material fondly, touched that her maid would put so much thought into her gift. "But I can't wear it now, go put it in my closet." Karen tossed the scarf to Rosario and let the box fall to the floor. Rosario exited the room and Karen walked back to her chair and flounced into it, glancing at the kids.
They looked back at her, excited. Mason nudged Olivia and finally she burst out, "Can we go get your present now?"
Karen looked taken aback. "Wha...wha…what?"
Mason smiled. "We got you a present, Karen." Before they could say anymore, they took off out of the room and left Karen with her mouth hanging open. When she finally came to her senses, she walked over to the intercom and asked Rosario to bring down Mason and Olivia's presents.
The Walker children entered the room moments later, carrying a large square object between the two of them. They carefully set the thin, beautifully wrapped box on the floor near Karen's chair. Karen eyed it curiously, wondering what it could be.
Before she could make another step toward it, however, Rosario entered the room flanked by five other servants. Three carried a large present not unlike the shape of Karen's, two carried a pile of presents each, and Rosario held a small present in her hands.
Too eager for Olivia and Mason to open their presents to pay any mind to what the other staff was doing, Karen watched as the large present was given to Olivia and the smaller was given to Mason.
"Go on, open it!" Karen said, making frantic motions at the children. Mason and Olivia both glanced at each other, shrugged, and took the paper off of their gifts. Mason stopped halfway through his as he saw his sister strip off the wrapping paper and reveal the present underneath.
Olivia gasped. Still halfway covered in paper, Olivia stared at a beautiful oil painting of herself in a satin blue dress. It was quite similar to Karen's, though smaller in size. Olivia vaguely remembered the photographic portrait being taken of her, but she'd had so many done in her life that they rarely fazed her anymore.
"Karen, I…I…it's beautiful," Olivia said, glancing at Karen. She couldn't keep her eyes away from the painting for too long, though, and before long her eyes were glued to the portrait again.
Karen smiled and winked at Mason, who looked at her and grinned. He carefully helped her take the rest of the wrapping paper off and admired the painting as well.
"You look really pretty in it, Liv," Mason told her nicely.
"Karen, how'd you know?" Olivia asked breathlessly. This was, by far, the best present she'd ever received. And she was including the pony her father gave her when she was five.
"Well, I-" Karen began.
"She just knew you'd like it, Livvy," Mason interrupted quickly. Karen caught on quickly and nodded.
"Go on, Mason, open yours," Karen urged gently.
Mason picked up his smaller present and continued ripping off the paper, pausing when he held an expensive-looking box in his hands. He then opened the box, a curious expression on his face, and saw a Rolex watch sitting nestled among a velvet bed.
Mason's jaw dropped. Less than a handful of kids in his school had Rolexes and Mason had always secretly wanted one. It amazed him how well Karen really did know him and his sister.
"Karen, I…this is really nice," Mason said. "It's awesome."
Karen smiled. "Well, it's the same one I got your father this year. I thought you'd appreciate having something of his. Besides, you're mature enough now. Consider it a rite of passage, kid."
Mason was still staring awestruck at his watch. "This watch is so cool."
Karen watched as Olivia and Mason practically drooled over their presents. The one thing Karen always admired about the children was that no matter how many things they had, they still appreciated the gifts they received, especially ones with real thought behind it.
"You know, the watch came with a little booklet," Karen said. "It's upstairs somewhere. But once you set it, you can know what time it is in Spain, in case Rosario ever wonders how her homeland is doing."
"Lady, you bought me a plane ticket to El Salvador!" Rosario exclaimed.
"Oh. Well, you can exchange it at the airport," Karen said dismissively.
"Karen, open yours!" Olivia said anxiously. Truth be told, she was beginning to get a little worried; she hoped Karen liked her gift.
"Yeah, go on," Mason encouraged.
Karen bent over and picked up the present; it was surprisingly heavy. She carefully took off the silver wrapping paper and set the ornate silver bow aside. When she finished taking the paper off, she saw that it was actually a large black frame. Pivoting it around, she saw exactly what was framed and against her will, felt tears come to her eyes.
At the top, there was a large, crisp photograph of Karen and Stan on a cruise ship next to the rail. It was several years ago; Karen's hair was short and Stan's face looked younger. She stood in front of him in a summery pink dress; Stan wore a nice white suit and he had his arm around her waist, holding her against him. The sky was a brilliant kaleidoscope of blues, pinks, and oranges.
Below the picture was a poem Stanley had requested to be read at their wedding:
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below
A heart whose love is innocent!
Karen didn't think to ask where the kids had heard that that poem was read at their wedding nor where they learned that it was Stan's favorite poem. They couldn't possibly know that he used to hold her close at night, whispering lines from the poem in her ear. No one else knew how special this poem was to her; no one knew that Stan could make it sound as though it were written for her.
The poem and the picture were set in a simple, elegant frame. It practically looked like a present Stan would have given her. Before Karen could realize and consequently stop it, a tear slipped out of her eyes and slid down her cheek. She hastily brushed it away with one hand while the other held the frame up so Karen could look at it.
"D-do you like it?" Olivia asked nervously. She'd initially been skeptical when Mason first approached her with the idea, using one of the pictures they'd found in Karen's drawer and the poem they found in Karen and Stan's wedding album. Then it had seemed like the perfect idea; now, it didn't so much.
"I…" Karen's voice cracked and she worked as hard as she could to keep herself in check. This gift had been such an unexpected shock that Karen was still reeling from it. She cleared her throat and took a calming breath. "I love it. Thanks, kids."
"I know it isn't much, but we really couldn't think of anything else you'd like, you know you already have so much and we didn't want to pick out any clothes just in case you didn't like them or they didn't fit, and we didn't want to get you jewelry because we couldn't afford it, but we really didn't know what else to do and then Mason came to me with this idea and back then it seemed like a good idea but now I don't know if you really like it and if you don't, we can get you something else, really, just tell us, we want you to like it, we understand if you-" Olivia said quickly, rambling on and nearly managing to say it all in one breath.
"Honey, honey, calm down," Karen said with a smile. "I really like it."
"We're glad you like it," Mason said. He glanced over at Rosario, still standing in front of two servants carrying a pile of presents each. "Rosie? What are those?" Karen and Olivia glanced over at her, too.
"Oh…they're presents," Rosario stated obviously.
Karen rolled her eyes. "No, no, honey, who are they for?"
"They're for all of you," Rosario said, dangling the piece of meat above three hungry dogs.
Olivia stared at Rosie confusedly. "Who're they from?"
Rosario smiled. "Mr. Stan."