Page 106 of All the Beautiful Things
Brandon asked for coffee, Dad requested eggnog, and I left the two in the entry area and followed Jenna and Lilly to the kitchen.
The sways of Lilly’s backside, encased in tight skinny jeans, was a sight I didn’t want to miss.
After we tested out her new lingerie last night, I’d pulled out gifts I bought for her. She was wearing one of the outfits today, a red and black buffalo plaid cardigan sweater over a new black tank top and skinny jeans.
I’d enlisted Jenna’s help for that one which she noticed once she and Lilly reached the kitchen.
“Nice outfit,” she told Lilly, plucking her sweater at the shoulder. “Do I have good taste or what?”
Lilly shot me a playful glare. “I was wondering if you had help picking this stuff out.”
“When it comes to fashion, there’s no one I trust more than Jenna.”
She turned to Jenna. “Then thank you. Everything I got was perfect. If not excessive,” she said, shooting me another glare.
“It’s Christmas. If this isn’t the time to be spoiled, when is there one?”
* * *
It was hours later.Hours after the mayhem of presents was over. Hours after we practically inhaled the sausage and bacon frittatas Jenna had whipped up, teaching Lilly as they went along.
And it was hours after lunch, after the fifteenth conversation when company stopped by when Dad yawned so long and so loudly I was worried he’d fall asleep on the living room couch, in front of almost a dozen guests. At that sound, our family who had stopped by—family not by blood but by circumstance—slowly began filtering out the door.
More tears flowed.
Lilly cried so much every time Dad had to tell someone about his cancer, I was worried her eyes might not ever be able to get the redness in her eyes to go away.
It was an exhausting day. Long.
It was beautiful too, one I would always remember.
And I hoped like hell it wasn’t the last.
A knock hit the doorframe and I turned, putting my back to the remaining pictures I’d ripped down weeks ago. At some point, Dad must have picked them up and settled them on a pile on Melissa’s old nightstand.
“You okay?” Lilly asked.
She lingered in the doorway, her blonde hair a mess of curls hung limply past her shoulders, as if even her hair no longer had the energy for the day. “I was worried when you disappeared.”
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I needed a minute.”
“So you came here?”
To Melissa’s room. The last time I was in here with Lilly I was so damn pissed, just learning of Dad’s diagnosis. It was less than a month ago and yet so much had changed since then.
That day, I didn’t know if Lilly would ever come back to me.
I didn’t know if she’d ever trust me again, and I certainly didn’t know if I’d be strong enough to let her weather this storm with me.
Now she was here, loving with me with all of her heart and giving all of herself to me.
Unashamedly.
Stronger and more steadfast than I ever could have imagined, despite her desire to run when things get hard.
We’d work on that. Someday.
For now, she looked as tired and worn out as I felt, and I needed her.
