The (Not So) Perfect Christmas
written by: Monika Moreva
Sarah stayed on the sofa looking at her family. It was Christmas Day and her children have just unwrapped their presents. All the preparations for the holidays were overwhelming. But, it was worth it. Looking for the perfect gifts paid off. Jasper, her 9-year-old, was running around the living room with a remote in his hands. A not-so-small car was maneuvering before him bending to his command. Anna, her sweet 3-year-old, was jumping up and down around her father, begging him to put together her new wooden children kitchen unit. Her gold locks were following her movements like jumping jacks tied to her ponytails. Her husband, Josh, put aside his gift, a new play station, because…well, boys will be boys, and went to get his tools. Dalia, her 15 year old, was happily unwrapping her heavy gift. The whole limited edition Harry Potter book series. Sarah thought that the price was hefty, but she would gladly spend it for books rather than make-up.
She took her new kitchen robot and went in the kitchen. Sarah was nerdy when it came to kitchen appliances. The kitchen sink was overflowing with dirty dishes and she started to rinse them off with water and put them in the dishwasher. Their family had a tradition when it came to Christmas Day. They got up, ate breakfast and they opened the presents after that. No one was allowed in the living room before breakfast was over. This way, their bellies were full and the anticipation was bigger. They will eat their last night’s leftovers at lunch and they will have dinner at her parents’ house. No need for more stress surrounding the holiday. She sipped the last of her coffee and looked through the kitchen window. The snow was falling lightly to the already white ground. The backyard looked like taken out of a Christmas card.
There was a noise coming below the sink. Sarah opened the cabinet and a pair of yellow eyes surprised her. Garfield, the family cat was hiding again in there. Of course, hence the name, Garfield was a fat orange ball of fur. He jumped out of the cabinet and started to swirl around Sarah’s feet. He was definitely begging for food.
“You silly cat,” said Sarah, “didn’t you eat enough this morning?”
“Meow!” replied Garfield.
“Well, I guess since it is Christmas, I can give you more.”
The woman petted her cat, before filling up its bowl. The phone rang and she made her way through the hallway to the dining room.
“Hello!” she said.
“Merry Christmas, honey!” a soft woman’s voice replied. “How is my favorite daughter doing?”
“Oh, mom! I am your only daughter,” replied Sarah while laughing. “Merry Christmas! What time should we come tonight?”
“That is actually why I am calling, besides wishing you all Merry Christmas,” said Tina. “We are cancelling dinner, sweetie!”
“What do you mean by ‘cancelling Christmas’?” asked Sarah with a panic in her voice. Was someone sick? Was her mother joking? She was probably joking, right? No one cancels Christmas on Christmas!
“I mean that we are not having dinner tonight at our place.” replied Tina while trying to sound calm.
“Mom, it is Christmas. You can’t cancel dinner. The kids can’t wait to see you guys!”
“I will come and drop off their presents before lunch. Is that okay with you?”
“No! It is not okay!” shouted Sarah before looking around to see if someone had heard her conversation.
“How about tomorrow?” asked her mother.
“Mom, the problem is not when you will deliver the presents. The problem is you canceling Christmas dinner on Christmas!” hissed Sarah. “What is going on?”
“Well, if you must know, I am leaving you father and since I will be packing his clothes, I will not be able to cook dinner!” explained Tina.
“You should be the one packing, you are the one leaving…” the agitated voice of her father could be heard somewhere around her mother.
“Shhh, Frank!” Tina scolded him. “As I was saying, I am definitely not cooking dinner tonight, sweetie.”
Sarah stood there for a moment trying to process this new and confusing information. Her parents were separating? How come? They were so happy, always smiling and joking. What happened to them?
“Mom, I hear you, but I don’t understand. What happened to you guys?” she felt like a little girl asking if Santa was real or not.
“Your father cheated and I am kicking him out!” replied Tina with the whole sass she could gather.
“I didn’t cheat!” now Frank was on the phone. “Honey, you mother is delusional. I would never cheat. You know me, right? Merry Christmas, by the way!”
“Um, Merry Christmas to you too dad!” replied Sarah even more confused than before. “If you didn’t cheat, why does she think you did, dad?”
“She found something she thinks is a clue to my cheating, but it is not, honey!”
“A clue?” they must be pranking her. None of this makes sense.
“Yes, sweetie,” Tina was back on the phone, shushing her dad away. “I found a receipt for a large sum he spent in a jewelry shop and he won’t tell me what he bought. So, I am telling you that he bought his mistress an expensive necklace or earrings, but he bought me a new vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner, Sarah!”
“You said you wanted a vacuum cleaner, Tina!” Frank could be heard shouting.
“Well, that is definitely strange,” started Sarah, “Mom, put dad back on the phone.”
“Yes, honey?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what her next question will be.
“Dad..” started Sarah carefully, “What did you buy from the jewelry shop?”
“Honey, it is a secret!” he said.
“But mom will leave you for this secret!” she said. Her parents were definitely crazy. Was it an age thing? Her dad having an affair was something no one would expect, but then again, these things do happen.
“Honey,” said Frank interrupting her thoughts. “I will tell you tonight,” he said in a low voice, so that Tina wouldn’t hear him, “but, I need this dinner to happen!”
Sarah started to put the clues together. What if she makes the dinner? She thought she was done with cooking for at least a day or two ahead. She just wanted to relax and enjoy the holiday. But, something weird was happening to her parents, so she had to help them. Yes, she would make dinner and host it.
“Dad,” she started, “I will make dinner, but make sure you don’t bring a woman, other than mom to it, okay?”
“I will try my best, honey,” he said while laughing. “Thank you! Try to convince your mom to come too!”
Sarah could hear her parents arguing. There was shouting like she hasn’t heard before from them. Finally, her mom was back on the phone.
“Mom,” said Sarah, “Please, oh please, come to dinner tonight. For the kids!”
“You are such a traitor, Sarah. Using the kids to blackmail me? Really?” replied Tina. Oh, she was mad. “Okay, I will come, but only for the kids!”
Well, that was a weird conversation. Sarah sat down for a few minutes while trying to contemplate the last ten minutes. What was her dad up to? Now, she has to cook dinner and clean the house. Oh, her family won’t be very happy about that. She went into the living room. Dalia was sitting on the sofa next to the bay window, reading a book. She was such a Harry Potter fan. Josh was building the wooden kitchen unit for Anna, while the little one was trying to help. Jasper was lying on the floor with Garfield on top of him. The cat was purring while the boy was scratching him behind the ears. What a perfect Christmas morning. How was she supposed to ruin this idyllic picture?
“Guys,” she started and everybody looked at her. She felt like a monster and was hesitant to continue. Josh immediately understood that something was wrong. He put the tools away and sat on the couch with Anna in his lap. Jasper sat on the couch next to his father with Garfield cuddled in his arms. Dalia used her new Harry Potter themed bookmark and put the book aside. Now that all eyes were on her, Sarah felt even guiltier. She promised her family a relaxed and carefree holiday and was about to ruin that.
“So, I have good news and a bad news.” started Sarah, “The good news is that it is Christmas,” she laughed nervously at her witty remark, but was the only one smiling, “the bad news is that we are hosting Christmas dinner!”
The room became eerily quiet. It was as if no one was even breathing. Anna, who understood only that it is Christmas and that there will be dinner started to clap with her hands and to repeat “Christmas dinner.” Josh looked between her and Sarah and smiled. He knew that his wife would never agree to that, if she didn’t have to. Jasper put Garfield on the floor and said “Cool”’ while looking for the remote control for his new car toy. Dalia stood there staring at Sarah without saying a word.
“So, what happened to the laid back and casual Christmas?” asked the girl.
Sarah looked at her daughter and her husband. Was Dalia too young to know the truth?
“Sweetie,” she started and then stopped. When Jasper left the room she continued “Grandma and Grandpa have some kind of an argument and that is why I will help them with dinner and I really, really need your help.” Sarah blurted this and waited for a response. None came. “Will you help me?”
Dalia took a big breath and nodded. She would do anything for her grandfather. He was her favorite human.
Sarah was relieved. All she needed right now was a plan.
“All right! Let’s do this. We will host the best Christmas dinner!” said the woman with hope in her voice. “Josh I will make you a list and I need you to go to the store. I don’t know if any supermarket will be open on Christmas, but I depend on you to drive around town and find something that I can cook. Dalia, I will need your help with cleaning. Jasper will watch Anna, but I will be checking on them all the time, because they are kids after all.”
An hour later and Josh was nowhere to be seen. At least the house was looking cleaner and she was ready to clean the bathrooms. Dalia was such a help. She collected all of the wrapping paper and sorted what was good enough to be used again and she threw the rest. After that, she cleaned the living room.
Josh came home after another hour. He drove around town and even went to the neighboring towns. Anyway, he had checked everything off the list and they started preparations. Another hour later, everything was chopped and ready for the oven. The cold salads were almost ready as well. Suddenly, the music from the radio stopped, the TV in the living room lost picture and the lamp in the kitchen went dark. Sarah and Josh looked warily at each other. The man went to check if the problem was in their house, but he realized there was a bigger issue. Their whole neighborhood was dark. No Christmas lights were shining and people started to get out of their houses and talk to each other. Their worried looks were contagious. Josh went out to talk to his neighbors and quickly understood that there was a huge power outage and no one knew when the power will be back on.
Half an hour later came the technicians. They said that they will try to fix the problem, but it will probably take hours. The snow was making everything even harder. What about dinner? Sarah was anxious. She could bring the meal to her parents’ house and cook it there, but she knew that her parents needed time alone to fix things.
“How about I call Marlene and Jack?” asked Josh.
“But, they live in Manhattan.” replied Sarah. “It is at least an hour drive in one direction”
“I don’t think we have a choice, honey,” said Josh and went to pack the food. “No, Garfield, no!” shouted Josh.
Sarah ran in the kitchen to see the cat eating some of the raw meat. Josh was shushing him away while swearing under his nose. Her husband would swear only if he was under a lot of pressure. She hugged him and thanked him. He quickly packed the food and left. Sarah continued with the salads, while Dalia watched the kids. Garfield came in the room and started coughing. The noises he made worried Sarah. She kneeled beside the cat, petting it on its back.
“What’s wrong buddy?” she asked as if he was able to answer. Instead he vomited on the kitchen floor.
“Dalia,” shouted Sarah, “come quickly!”
The girl came in the kitchen and kneeled beside the cat and her mom.
“Garfield doesn’t look good, mom!”
“I know, sweetie! Can you call your friend Matt? Isn’t his father a vet?” asked Sarah.
“Oh, yes,” replied Dalia, “I will call him right away.”
Sarah looked for the cat carrier. Was anything else about to go down today?
Dalia left with the cat and Sarah went to check on Jasper and Anna. They needed to eat some lunch. Anna was making faces, because the food was cold, but the boy ate in silence.
“So, that is how Flintstone ate his food, huh?” asked Jasper. Sarah couldn’t help, but laugh. He looked so much like his father. Not only visually, but he was soft and funny, and would always look for the silver lining in every situation.
“Mom, I am home!” shouted Dalia. She entered the dining room and put the box on the floor. As soon as she opened it, Garfield ran away. “It was the raw meat, mom. That is why he vomited. He gave Garfield some medicine and said he will be fine.” With that she sat beside the table and ate everything in her plate. She was so hungry from walking in the snow. The power was still off, but at least it wasn’t dark yet.
Sarah went to the attic to look for some candles. She would later light them in the dining room. The woman opened the attic door and climbed the last few steps to the attic. So many boxes filled the space. Sarah had one quality that Dalia hated, but Josh appreciated. She loved to organize and label everything. So, finding the candles wasn’t a hard task at all. There it was, the box labeled ‘candles.’ It was on top of the Christmas decoration box that was now empty. She opened the box and took as many candles she could carry, but couldn’t fit a lot in her hands. She put the candles back and took the whole box instead.
Sarah went down the stairs and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t move an inch. God, she hated that door. Josh was good with his hands. He could fix almost everything that needed to be fixed. But, Sarah forgot to tell him about the attic door. She screamed in hopes that her kids would hear her, but no one came. Banging on the door didn’t help either. What else would go down tonight?
She climbed the stairs again, put the box on the floor and went to the window. Her hopes of seeing someone outside paid off. There he was, Mr. Petterson, her elderly neighbor. She opened the door and shouted.
“Mr.Petterson!”
He looked around, but didn’t see anybody. She shouted again and he looked even more confused. Her voice sounded somehow shallow in this snowy picture. It was as if the snow muffled her screams. Sarah yelled again “Up here, up here,” until the man spotted her. He went into their yard and shouted in response.
“Hey, Sarah!” he was looking up with his hands over his eyes. The light today was white and blinding. “What is wrong?”
“I am stuck in the attic. Josh is not home and the kids are alone downstairs.”
“Say no more!”
With that he rounded the house and rang the doorbell. Sarah heard voices followed by footsteps.
“Mom?” she could hear Dalia in front of the door trying to open it, but nothing happen.
“Sarah, I will try to open the door with my tools,” said Mr. Petterson, “Stay calm; we will open that door soon!”
Half an hour later and the door was still shut. Mr. Petterson was talking to Jasper, who was really curious about everything the old man was doing. Dalia was probably downstairs watching Anna. Hopefully!
“Sarah!” shouted Mr. Petterson, “I am sorry, but I will have to break the door down!”
Great! She thought about Josh and his face when he learns about the door. If only she have told him about the door, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Alas, there was nothing she could do now, so she stayed away from the door. Mr. Petterson was freakishly strong for an old man and the door flew out of its hinges in a matter of minutes.
“Thank you, Mr. Petterson!” said Sarah, “I am sorry I have taken so much of your time on Christmas!”
“Don’t worry, honey!” replied the old man, “because of the snowstorm that caused the power outage we won’t have any guests tonight. My son is stuck in Boston and can’t take a flight to New York. We will see each other next week.”
“So, you guys are alone tonight?” asked Sarah.
“Yes, just me and Joan.”
“No one should be alone on Christmas!” said the woman, “I would love to have your two over tonight for dinner and I don’t take “No” for an answer!”
Before the old man could protest she hugged him and told him that she would see them at 8 o’clock.
“So, we don’t have an attic door, now, huh?” asked Dalia, when her mom entered the living room.
Sarah just laughed. Today was like a nightmare. She could only hope that nothing else will ruin the holiday. She bent to remove Garfield’s cat carrier in hopes to put it in the closet. What she didn’t see was the cat staying near the Christmas tree. The orange furball looked at the box, hissed and jumped.
“Garfield, noooo” shouted Sarah and Dalia, but the cat had already jumped on the Christmas tree and now the tree itself was falling to the ground. Sarah could see it in slow motion. The glass ornaments shattered into pieces on the floor, the cat was meowing under the tree and she heard Jasper yelling “Timber” somewhere behind her. Anna was clapping and laughing. Her little body was moving towards the glass pieces on the floor and Dalia run over to take her away from this hazard.
“Great, mom!” said Dalia with sarcasm in her voice, “I cleaned the room this morning. Why did you frighten the cat?”
“Well, “started Sarah, while picking up the tree to free the cat which ran in the other room, “I was just picking up the carrier that you forgot to put in the closet.”
The woman cleaned the living room again, which was really hard, because it was starting to get dark outside and there was no light in the house. To hell with this storm, it was awful to not have power on Christmas. She went in the dining room and opened the box with the candles.
“So, the living room is off limits, kids,” she said, “I tried to clean it, but with no light I can’t be sure there aren’t any glass pieces left on the floor. I will clean it again tomorrow!”
Sarah put a cloth on the table and lighted a few candles. Meanwhile Garfield was back in the room.
“Hey, mom,” said Jasper, “You actually forgot to put away the carrier.” He was laughing and holding the cage. Garfield saw it and with another hiss jumped on the table, pushing down the candles. The table was engulfed in flames for seconds. Dalia screamed and picked up Anna, running away from the room. Sarah shouted to Jasper to follow his sisters and run to get the fire extinguisher from the kitchen. With a few quick motions she put out the fire and looked around. These candles were for the garbage, as well as the table cloth. The table itself was a mess and Sarah sighed at the thought that she would have to clean this as well.
Meanwhile, Josh was still in Manhattan, waiting for the meals to be cooked. Sarah phoned him, but didn’t tell him about everything that went down during these hours. She just asked him to find some gifts for the Pettersons’ family. While she was cleaning she heard Dalia yelling at Jasper.
“What have you done, what have you done?” she was hysterical. What did he do? Sarah was actually afraid to go and see what was wrong. She made her way to the kitchen only to find the carpet of the hallway soaking wet. The kitchen floor looked as if someone had a shower there. Dalia was just stopping the running water from the sink.
“I just wanted to help, so I filled the sink with water for the fire!” said Jasper defiantly. “You should have stopped the water!” shouted Dalia.
Sarah sat on one of the kitchen chairs and tried to hold back tears. This was the worst Christmas ever. She had to clean the kitchen itself and to make sure no one will go down this wet hallway, which was impossible, because the restroom was down this hall. Just one more hour till dinner and then this day will be over. She hoped that the house will be cleaned by then, with no more stuck doors, fires or another flooding. Hopefully, there will be food on the table, as well.
Sarah, Jasper and Dalia cleaned the kitchen, while Anna was put in her kitchen stool overlooking the hard work the rest of her siblings were doing. After that, Sarah moved the Christmas tree with what was left of the ornaments to the dining room. She asked the kids to do some more ornaments out of paper and glitter and she could hear them laughing in the kitchen. The table cloth had to be ironed, but the power was still down, so she put the plates, some new candles and some decoration on the table to hide the wrinkles.
Garfield was banned from the dining room. The kids finished the decorations and they put them on the tree. Then Sarah bathed Anna and left the others to take care of themselves with instructions to be clean for dinner. As soon as they were all in the living room the doorbell rang. It was Sarah’s father.
“Oh, dad,” said Sarah almost crying. “I am so happy to see you!” she jumped into his arms and finally gave into tears. She went on and on about the bad day she had and he hugged her even more. Then he went upstairs to see the attic door. Meanwhile, the Pettersons’ arrived, with Joan bringing pie for dessert. At least, there was some food on the table. Sarah sat them on the table along with her kids.
The mood was cheery and everyone was chattering around the table. Frank and Mr. Petterson had a lot in common, both being war veterans and loving football. Joan turned out to be a Harry Potter fan herself which surprised not only Dalia, but Sarah as well. Jasper was making funny faces to entertain Anna who was hungry. Sarah knew that in a few minutes people will start to ask about dinner, so she served the salads and poured some drinks. The candle light made everything look somehow magical.
There was a noise coming from the front door. Steps indicated that someone not only entered the house, but was approaching the dining room. Josh opened the door and smiled. A mouthwatering smell was coming out of the bags he was caring.
“Anyone hungry?” he asked with a serious tone, but his eyes were lit with excitement. Everyone nodded or made hungry noises. “Alright then, let’s unpack the food and we can actually start celebrating this holiday.”
Sarah followed him to the kitchen and helped him unpack the food. Josh looked at her putting the food on plates. He knew his wife well, so the fact that she looked overwhelmed didn’t go unnoticed.
“You look exhausted, honey!” he said calmly.
“I had a really rough afternoon,” she replied and he gave her a big warm hug.
“Do you want to share?”
“I don’t want to ruin Christmas for you as well.”
“Honey, we are together in sickness and in health, for better or for worst…” Josh recited their wedding vows, “Plus, any bad holiday spent with you and the kids is better, than one without you all, so do tell, “He urged her.
“Okay, if you insist,” she started “So, there is no door to the attic, because Mr. Petterson had to break it down, so I can get out of there, because I got locked in. The Christmas tree fell down, so there are a lot of glass pieces on the floor, even though I cleaned the room. There was a small fire in the dining room, followed by a flooding in the kitchen. Oh, yes, meanwhile Garfield started to vomit, because of the raw meat he ate and Dalia had to take him to the vet. And, yes, there is still no power, plus my mom is not here yet and I don’t know, if she will come at all.”
She finished her story with tears in her eyes. Josh hugged her again and started laughing.
“Wow, that is a hell of an afternoon honey! At least, no one got hurt, right?” he started “We will fix the door, buy new ornaments, make sure the cat have some medication and I will try to call your mom right away. You are still standing up and managed to prepare dinner and clean the house, while watching three kids. You are a supermom and I love you! Look on the bright side – we have friends and family over, there is food on the table and I can hear all of them laughing and having a good time. This is what is important during the holidays – to spend time with the people you love.”
Josh released her from his embrace and walked over to the phone. But, before he could dial Sarah’s mom the doorbell rang. As if she knew she would be soon summoned, there stood Tina.
“Well, I said I would come for the kids,” said Tina and hugged her daughter.
“I am happy to see you too, mom,” replied Sarah and sighed in relief. “Dad is already here.”
“Yeah, I guessed he will be here by now. Is he alone or his mistress is here as well,” asked the old woman looking really fierce.
“Mom, behave!” said Sarah “He is indeed alone. Why don’t you go and sit down. The food is ready and everybody is hungry.”
Josh and Sarah brought the food to the table and sat. They all said a prayer and were just about to eat when Frank stood up and clunk on a glass with his knife.
“Before we start, may I have your attention?” he asked, but didn’t wait for a response. “This year, actually precisely today, I and my beautiful wife, Tina, have an anniversary!”
“We got married in July, you fool,” said Tina bitterly.
“Yeah, sweetheart,” continued Frank, “but, we got engaged on Christmas, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, you are right,” she replied hesitantly.
“This year marks 50 years since I got engaged to this amazing, hilarious, witty, but terribly stubborn and sometime annoying lady,” said Frank while winking at his wife. He reached for something in his pocket and took out a small jewelry box. After that he kneeled next to Tina’s chair and opened it. There, in the middle of a small plush pillow rested a huge and sparkling diamond ring. “Today, I ask you again, if you will marry me. I don’t take you for granted, Tina. I would like to spend the rest 50 years with you, if you will have me again?”
“You are a fool, Frank!” she said holding back tears. “You left me a whole day thinking you have cheated. I was out of my mind!”
“Yes, I know, but I wanted to surprise you and you were about to ruin the moment with your noisiness.”
“Damn you, Frank!” she got up and kneeled next to him, “I don’t need jewelry, to say yes to this proposal! But, this one is gorgeous, so I am keeping it” with that she kissed him and they both laughed.
“Dad,” said Sarah, “I am equally relieved and angry with you. Do you know what we went through today for this dinner?”
Frank looked at her and bowed his head.
“I am sorry, sweetie!”
But, than Sarah laughed and went to hug her parents.
“You too are the worst and the best! If that even makes sense!” she was laughing and crying at the same time. Everybody congratulated the “newly” engaged couple and then dinner officially started. The food was warm and delicious, the light from the candles combined with the sparkle of the drinks made everything look like taken out of a fairytale. The power came back on around when the dessert was served and everyone gave out cheers. The lights on the Christmas tree flickered and Anna started to laugh and clap which made everybody laugh.
Sarah looked around the table. Her parents looked madly in love even after 50 years together, still holding to that primal passion. Her kids were the best kids anyone could hope for and they looked really happy. Her neighbors were a nice elderly couple with great stories and always there for their community. Her husband was kind and helpful and one she could always rely on. He was right that family was more important than the perfect dinner. And last, but not least, Garfield had somehow found his way into the dining room and was eating something on the floor, that probably Anna or Jasper gave him. Sarah smiled. This was the best Christmas she could imagine.
- The (Not So) Perfect Christmas - December 25, 2024
