Forever Flirtations
The Daughter I Never Had Chapter 6
Author's Note Chapter 6 of my current collaboration with Mandalicous Holiday Memories from Mrs. Pugh's perspective.
The day after Thanksgiving my son Billy called me. The previous day we had a nice relaxing day at home. Grace and Oliver's relatives spent the holiday with their in-laws. It was a wonderful evening. I chatted with Billy for a bit and I was delighted that he'd invited us over on Christmas Day.
Grace was watching me as I spoke on the phone and she was happy to see the look of delight on my face.
"That was my son Billy. We're going to their house on Christmas Day."
Grace was grinning from ear to ear. "Excellent. It will be great to have change of scenery. What time do they want us over for dinner?"
"Around 3."
"Do you suppose it would be too much of a problem to visit Toni and Jim Bennett on the way to Billy's?"
I smiled. "I don't see why not. We should try to leave for New Jersey by at least quarter of 11."
"I'll go upstairs and tell the girls. They'll be so excited."
Christmas Eve we had Gene and Anne Warbucks over for dinner as well as Molly's birth parents and sister Patricia. Patricia still seems a little shy but she is warming up to everyone else in our family quite nicely.
So Gene have you seen Gloria lately?" Oliver asked.
Gene nodded. "Yes, we went down to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. Jonathan and Patrick are growing up to be handsome young men."
"How come we haven't met them yet Daddy?" Annie asked
Oliver shrugged. "My sister hasn't gotten the chance to come to New York for some reason. Not sure why. Maybe we can go to Massachusetts in the spring to visit them."
Annie grinned. "That would be great. We can visit Aunt Melissa and Christopher too."
Grace smiled at her daughter. "How about we all go to Boston in March and meet all of them for lunch?"
Annie's grin did not disappear. "That's a swell idea Mom."
Grace looked at Patricia. "How are you sweetheart?"
Patricia smiled. "I'm fine Mrs. Warbucks."
Robert smiled at his daughter. "Sweetheart, it's okay for you to call her Grace. We're all family you know."
Patricia nodded. "Okay Daddy."
"How is school Patricia?" Grace asked.
"Fine. I really like my teachers. My favorite subject is probably art."
Gene Warbucks looked at his niece. "So Annie, big year ahead of you next year with starting to look at colleges?"
Annie nodded. "I really can't believe I am going to be a junior. Time has just flown by."
Grace looked at her daughter. She too couldn't believe that by this time next year they would be starting to look at colleges.
"Have you given any thought to what you might want to study?" Anne Warbucks asked.
"Not thinking that far ahead right now.. but I might want to be a teacher."
Grace and I exchanged a smile. She had been studying education before she dropped out of college to take care of her parents before they died. I have been encouraging her for months to go back and finish her degree. I think in January she just may do that… after all she doesn't have all that many credits left to complete.
After a nice relaxing dinner we sat by the fire and the children opened one present each. Then Isabella and Annie played some Christmas carols on the piano for us. It was a lovely evening.
After the guests had left Grace came into my room to kiss me good night.
"Come here baby." I whispered.
Grace climbed in bed next to me and snuggled under the covers. I have always loved the closeness we share. She may not be my birth daughter but she has a special place in my heart and she always will.
"I can't wait to go over to Billy's tomorrow. It's going to be my first time having dinner at your son's house. Molly and Annie are so excited to see Harry and Marie again too."
I squeezed her hand. "Billy is excited to have us over too. He was telling me that Harry got a dog for Christmas so I am sure that Annie and Molly will love playing with him."
Grace was silent.
"What's wrong Gracie Liz?"
"Well, it's just that last year at Christmas I noticed that Ralph was kind of flirting with my sister Melissa. Has he always been flirty?"
I smiled. "I wouldn't worry too much about Ralph, sweetheart. Ever since he was 10 years old he was always the helpless romantic. He's completely harmless."
Grace still looked unsure. "Okay Mama, if you say so."
I wanted to relieve Grace's unease but I wasn't sure how to. I stroked her hair back and kissed her forehead.
"I love you Gracie Liz. Merry Christmas."
Grace's embrace tightened around me. "I love you too Mama. Good night. Merry Christmas."
Grace fell asleep in my arms. Not wanting to disturb her, I let her sleep next to me. I tucked her in, stroking her hair back again and placing a second kiss on her forehead.
"Good night my sweetest angel. Sweet dreams."
The next morning we slept in til 9:15 then got up ate breakfast, opened the rest of the presents and then started getting ready to leave for New Jersey.
As we loaded everything into the Bentley, Grace squeezed my hand. I noticed the look of unease from the night before had not completely gone away.
"Do you want me to talk to Ralph for you sweetheart?"
Grace shook her head. ""Not right away. We'll have to see if my sister's name comes up in conversation first.
Grace had promised Toni and Jim Bennett they'd stop by their house on the way to Billy Pugh's. Annie and Molly were excited to see their cousins Margaret and Larry who they had not seen since Annie's birthday party at the end of October. Annie and Molly were too excited to see their cousins and catch up with on what they had been going on in school to focus on having pre-dinner snacks. We stayed there til about 1:15 or 1:30 and then headed over to Billy's.
When we arrived at Billy's the sound of the doorbell caused the dog to bark.
Billy opened the door. "I hope none of you are allergic to dogs... this was Harry's Christmas gift." He said looking apologetic.
I kissed his cheek softly. "No need to apologize darling."
Harry & Marie entered the hallway. "Hi Grandma Helen!"
Billy took the platters of food from my hands and I laid a kiss on each child's forehead. "Hello my darlings, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas! Come on Annie and Molly let's go play with Rascal."
Annie and Molly joined their cousins to go play with Harry's new dog. Frederick and Joanne stayed relatively close to Grace's side… they weren't quite used to the new environment.
Grace bent down and kissed her twins on the head. "Run along and play with your sisters and cousins.'"
"Okay Mama." Joanne said and off they went.
"Don't go too far kids. We'll be having dinner soon." Billy said.
Harry nodded. "Okay Daddy."
As the adults had pre-dinner drinks, I noticed walk Ralph saunter over to Grace cool as a cucumber. He obviously had no idea that Grace was uneasy about him flirting with Melissa.
"So your sister Melissa, is she married?"
Grace almost spat out her wine.
"Ralph, darling, that's rather rude." I said swatting him on the shoulder.
"Sorry Ma." I could tell that that comment was not completely sincere.
Grace composed herself. "Yes, Ralph. Melissa is married. She has been for about four years. I'm sure you must remember meeting her husband and son last Christmas."
"Grace, I'm not meaning to be rude or out of line. I just noticed your sister from afar and thought she was gorgeous."
"I'm sure she'd appreciate the compliment." Grace said.
"Do you still think I could be friends with her?"
Grace patted Ralph on the shoulder. "I don't see why not. Alex actually just got drafted into the war and is getting deployed in mid-January. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind some company while he's away and her son Christopher would absolutely adore you."
She shot me a look over Ralph's head that said. "Please get me out of here!"
Ralph's grin was a mile wide. "Great."
"Dinner is served." Billy called.
'Thank goodness.' I thought to myself.
We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and Annie and Molly had a lot of fun playing with Rascal. They did not want to leave that dog by the time 8:15 rolled around.
Grace hugged Billy tightly. "Thank you for having us Billy. We had a wonderful time."
Billy returned Grace's squeeze. "The girls are welcome to sleep over whenever they want. I think Marie and Harry would love to see their cousins more often."
Oliver grinned. "I'm sure something can be arranged. Since Toni and Jim Bennett don't live too far from you do you suppose that Margaret and Larry could also come over?"
Billy grinned. "Sure. We'll work something out. Do have their phone number?"
Grace smiled. "I can call Toni when we get home and tell her to give you guys a call. I'm sure we could all arrange a beach trip for the summer."
"That'd be swell!" Annie interjected.
Billy kissed Annie on the forehead. "We'll see you girls soon alright? We love you."
"We love you too Uncle Billy."
On the way home in the car Grace was very quiet.
"Sweetheart, don't let Ralph bother you. As I said he's a helpless romantic."
"I just hope he doesn't devise some sort of scheme to break up Melissa and Alex's marriage."
"Don't jump to conclusions Grace. At the very most I'm sure he'll be good company to Christopher while Alex is away at war."
Grace shrugged and still looked very uneasy. "I wish I never mentioned anything to him about Alex going away."
I squeezed her hand. "Gracie Liz, everything will be fine. You need to stop worrying."
"The first thing I need to do is talk to my sister."
"Well we'll be seeing her New Year's Eve right?"
Grace nodded.
"Why don't the two of us have a private conversation with her then? I think if I'm there with you it will make you feel better."
Grace squeezed my hand. "That would be wonderful."
"My beautiful precious girl, I love you so much." I whispered.
Grace snuggled against me and I pulled her in the embrace that had always made her feel so warm and safe.
"I love you too Mama."
On New Year's Eve we left New York around 1:00 Melissa and Alex were expecting us for dinner around 7:15. Grace was very excited to see her sisters since she had not seen them since Annie's birthday party in October.
We arrived at Melissa and Alex'a apartment in Cambridge around 5:45. This provided us lots of time for Annie and Molly tot tplay with Kathryn Jacob and Christopher. It was at that point that Grace and I decided to talk to Melissa privately.
Once we were in Melissa and Alex's bedroom We all sat down on the bed.
"Melissa, you remember my son Ralph don't you?" I asked
Melissa nodded. " Of course, I remember him from last Christmas he seems like a nice boy."
I smiled. "Yes. He's very nice. He's a bit flirtatious though. Just thought I'd warn you."
Melissa look confused. "Why do you feel the need to warn me?"
Grace looked at her younger sister.
"Lissy, Ralph has a crush on you. I must say it makes me feel a bit awkward."
"Why should it make you feel awkward, you did tell him I was married didn't you?"
Grace nodded.
"I don't see the problem then. I don't mind getting to know him a little better. He is my brother-in law after all."
I squeezed Melissa's hand. "Melissa, Grace has been a little worried that Ralph will devise a scheme to get in the middle of your marriage with Alex and break you guys up."
Melissa gave her sister a strange look. "Why would that even be an issue?"
Grace looked embarrassed. "I let it slip that Alex was getting deployed in January."
"So what? It's going to be lonely here without Alex. Chris has told me numerous times how much he'll miss his father when he's away at war. We don't even know how long he'll be away for."
"You really don't mind that Ralph spends time with you while Alex is away?"
Melissa smiled. "Not at all. It will be good to have another man in the house while Alex is away to keep Chris company. I have a ton of single girlfriends from college I can introduce Ralph to as well so the flirting shouldn't be an issue either."
"At least let's hope not." Grace said.
Melissa squeezed her sister's hand. "Gracie, you worry too much. Everything will work out fine."
I smiled at Grace's younger sister. "That's what I tell her all the time."
"Do you feel better now Gracie Liz?" I asked, laying a kiss on her forehead.
Grace nodded. "Yes, I do Mama. I am so glad the three us had this talk."
"Okay then, let's all go down stairs and start with appetizers."
We left Melissa and Alex's room. Grace reached for my hand and squeezed it.
"I love you." She whispered.
I put my arm around her. "I love you too baby girl."