Day 2

Jules felt it was evident his family didn't go out very often when Anah was the one in the fanciest clothing. Then again, it was hard for anyone to avoid looking at a talking Egyptian cobra, especially when that talking Egyptian cobra was wearing a velvet red "tube" trimmed with very fluffy white fur, a little holly wreath with bells around her neck, and a Santa hat complete with a bell in the puffball at the top. His parents, Jack and Vanora Moffitt, wore slightly plainer, but still nice clothing, while Jules had the misfortune of being in something far less comfortable than a knit sweater and jeans. The family was standing in the lobby of one of the nicest theaters in Cambridge, waiting for Moffitt's parents to arrive. They had arranged to see the concert composed of members of the university's choir and orchestra—at least, that was what Jules heard. He wasn't opposed to listening to Christmas music, but he preferred doing it at home, or out in the department stores. At least the theater was very nicely decorated.

"How exciting!" Anah said. "A Christmas concert, and everything looks so pretty."

"True, but the prettiest thing in the room is right here with me." Moffitt pulled Vanora close, and gave her a kiss. "Darling."

"Is Livna going to be alright since we'll be gone a while?" Jules asked.

"She had run of the yard earlier," Moffitt replied. "Hopefully that tired her out. I think she'll be alright."

"And with a fresh snowfall, she had extra fun," Vanora added.

"That, too." Moffitt's smile faded a little as he looked at his son. "You really don't want to be here, do you?"

"It's not that I don't want to be here, it's just… not something I'm used to doing," Jules said.

"It'll be alright, Jules. This shouldn't take more than two hours, and then we'll go to dinner."

Jules nodded, and tried to keep himself occupied by looking around at the decorations. He could hear Anah humming "Jingle Bells" to herself and looking quite bouncy on Moffitt's shoulders. Jules allowed himself to smirk, glad that Anah was happy. This was her favorite time of year more than anything—apart from Moffitt's birthday.

Moffitt's parents, Nicholas and Adeline, showed up about ten minutes later, greeting everyone happily and handing Christmas cards to them. They were right on time, too, as the concert was set to begin in five minutes. Jules followed his parents, grandparents, and happy bouncy cobra down to the large hall. They would be seated in the middle of the room, far from the stage and far from the exits. Jules didn't particularly care for how crowded it was, but sat and tried to enjoy himself. At least his father was sympathetic, and occasionally leaned over to whisper and make sure Jules was doing alright.

There were some energetic pieces and slower pieces performed. Jules heard his father and grandfather whispering to each other about some of the people on stage, while Anah kept her head down to avoid blocking the view of anyone behind them—which was difficult given that Moffitt himself was quite tall. Jules admitted that this was more fun than he was expecting. As time went on, though, he started to feel hungry. He took a quick glance at his watch. Still an hour and a half left! Blast! He shifted in his seat, anxiously looking around, and tried to think about something else.

Troy's family would be arriving the next day and staying over for a little while, which meant Jules would have time to spend with his girlfriend, Antheia. I have all that planned out, don't I? We're going to take a ride on horseback and see the lights. She wants to attempt ice-skating again. We're going to go to the bakery—oh, no, don't think about the bakery! Too late. He started thinking about gingerbread and shortbread biscuits and freshly baked, warm, extra-gooey raspberry jam bars. His face heated up with embarrassment when his stomach began growling.

Moffitt tapped his shoulder and leaned over to whisper, "There's going to be an intermission at the one-hour mark. We'll go to the counter near the lobby and get something to snack on."

"That's still fifteen minutes from now."

"I know. Think you can make it?"

"I can try. There's going to be a long queue, though."

"Are you two seriously hungry?" Vanora gave her husband and son an exasperated look.

"I mean, I'm a bit peckish," Moffitt said.

"That's what you get for spending the afternoon tiring out the dog instead of having a proper lunch!" Vanora looked past Moffitt at Jules. "The same goes to you, but you get it from your father, so it's mostly his fault."

"People are trying to watch the concert," Adeline whispered. "Stop it."

"Sorry, Mother," Moffitt said. He then sighed. "You know what—" He placed Anah on Vanora's shoulders. "Let's go, Jules. We're avoiding the bloody queue."

Jules followed his father out of the hall. It was quiet once the doors were shut aside from the muffled sound of Christmas songs, as everyone was enjoying their shows. He noticed his father had a playful gleam in his gray eyes, and motioned for Jules to keep following him.

"Wait, I thought the food counter was back in the lobby," Jules said when he noticed they were heading away from the lobby.

"It's not the only one. There's something I'd like to show you," Moffitt replied.

There were a handful of very small gift shops in a hall leading away from the center of the theater. Moffitt's expression was becoming quite gleeful as he jogged up to the glass door of a candy shop. "Oh, please tell me they still have them," he kept saying.

"Have what?" Jules asked as he followed his father into the shop.

"You'll see… Yes! They do!" Moffitt picked up a box as tenderly as he would a valuable artifact in the archives of Cambridge. "Jules, I would like to introduce you to the best British truffles you'll ever have." He took a second box, and brought them up to the counter to pay, then left the shop with Jules still trailing him. They couldn't go back into the concert hall with food, but Moffitt looked like he knew where he was going. He found a secluded area behind a bookstore, lit with Christmas lights. "I haven't been back here in… good grief, nearly thirty years. Last time was Christmas of 1938."

"That long?"

"Yes." Moffitt opened one of the boxes. "Alright. Let's see what we'll get today."

Jules salivated at the sight of the perfectly round spheres of chocolate nestled in paper holders. There were all different kinds of chocolate—white, milk, dark, even what looked to be a blend of chocolate and peanut butter. White mixed with milk, dark mixed with white. The possibilities were seemingly endless.

"You'll like these—white chocolate raspberry." Moffitt handed one of the truffles to Jules.

Jules briefly hesitated despite his appetite. "We'll be going to dinner in an hour. You're not worried about spoiling it?"

"That's your mother and your grandmother talking. No, I'm not worried."

Jules shrugged, and took the chocolate. It was very rich, creamy, and the raspberry filling was delectably tart, all melting in his mouth. "Blimey, that's good."

"I told you. Best chocolate in all Britain, and it's been that way for a long time."

"If it's so good, how come I'm just finding out about it now?"

The glee in his father's eyes faded. "Well… largely because of what it means to me. See, my parents used to take me and Michael here every year, and I would start feeling very hungry at about the halfway point through the show. Of course, I wasn't allowed to get anything until intermission, and during intermission, there would be a very long line by the counter. Michael decided he was tired of watching me suffer, so one year, he grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the queue. He dragged me around until we found that candy shop, and the rest is history. We both fell in love with this chocolate, and kept coming back, every year."

Jules wasn't sure what to say in response, as he knew it wasn't until two years ago that his father had started really processing his brother's death. "So, I'm guessing that you haven't come here in years because of… what happened."

Moffitt nodded, his smile disappearing completely. "I refused to come to this theater, especially around Christmas. My parents would invite me to attend this concert with them, but I said that I wasn't ready. Not yet. This is the first year that I've felt like I can be here without… breaking down. I mean, it still hurts. It's always going to hurt, but it's not nearly as excruciating as it once was." Moffitt sighed. "It'll always be a shame that you'll never get to meet him. Goodness, he would've loved you with all his heart and soul. He would've made a wonderful father, too, if he could have found the right lady to be with him."

Jules half-expected Moffitt to say that his brother would have been a much better father than he had been. It was partly a relief for Jules to not hear his father tearing himself down for once, but he wasn't fond of turning and seeing tears slowly trickling down Moffitt's face. "You okay, Dad?"

"Yes. I'm… I'm alright."

Jules pushed the boxes of chocolates aside to give his father a hug.

Moffitt was quiet for a moment. "Thanks, Jules. This… right here… I know I mentioned this a few months ago, but I see a lot of… your uncle in you. I'm not sure you could get more selfless than he was. It's funny, because he was quite possible the sweetest person you'd ever meet, but a lot of people mistook that for weakness." A smile finally returned after he let go of his son. "He was more than capable of defending himself if he needed to—and he was very willing to defend me. Some might say that having your younger sibling be the one to defend you is embarrassing. I was grateful. Very grateful, because there were a lot of situations that could've become quite dangerous if Michael hadn't stepped in."

"You've mentioned that you were picked on a lot."

"I wouldn't really say 'a lot,' but it happened more frequently than I would have liked. Michael wouldn't stand for it."

"Was he in trouble a lot for it?"

"He got caught fighting a couple of times. To avoid getting suspended, or potentially expelled, or dealing with Father's wrath, he got creative, so no one would be able to point fingers at him in various incidents."

"Sounds a bit like Troy."

"There was more planning involved, compared to Troy, but, yes. In a way, they were similar."

Jules didn't say anything more when it looked like his father was becoming lost in his own memories. He tried another chocolate, and listened to the faint, muffled Christmas music elsewhere in the theater. "Well, it's not like we're missing the concert," he said.

"No, we're technically not." Moffitt sighed. "I think this goes without saying, but I miss doing this with Michael."

Jules could sense there was still a great deal of grief left for Moffitt to process, but as Anah had mentioned two years ago, when his father opened up more about his brother, sometimes grief would never fully go away. In Moffitt's case, he had finally gotten around to healing, but it would always be more of a scar than a truly healed wound. Jules didn't think there was really anything he could say or do that would help, but he ultimately decided that sitting there and listening would be the best thing to do.

When they both had eaten their fill, Moffitt brought the remainder of the truffles out to the car, putting them in one of the large bags used for groceries so they wouldn't be forgotten. Jules watched his father pause and stare off at the dark pinkish-orange sky as the sun set. "Are you alright, Dad?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm alright," Moffitt said. "Thank you for that."

"Thank me? Why? I feel like I inconvenienced everyone by walking out of the concert. Mum and Grandma and Grandpa are going to be really angry with us. It… felt rude."

"Maybe, but it meant a lot to me. For years, I didn't think I'd be able to come back here, and especially go in that candy shop and get a box of those chocolates, because of how much this all reminded me of Michael. Now… I feel like I'm healing a little bit more. So, yes, this is all thanks to you being like your father and missing lunch." Moffitt grinned. "Don't worry about what the others will think."

"Well, if you say so. You're welcome, then." Jules gave his father a quick embrace before they turned to head back into the theater.