Safe Place to Fall

19

Grayson 

Theo wants to do a gift exchange with Hanna and Trevor, we are setting up the recording equipment for the song she wants to give to my dad. 

“Okay Theo, let’s test it out” I say as I grab my acoustic guitar and tune it. 

We go through the song twice before she is nailing it perfectly. 

“I think I’m ready” She says 

We record it and play it back, it sounds amazing. 

“He’s going to love it Theo” I say as I kiss her cheek. After putting it on to a disk I hand it over to her. She writes something on the CD and puts it in a case with a bow on it. 

“Ready to go give it to him?” She asks 

“Now?” I clarify, she nods her head. 

“Alright, let’s go” 

“After this, we have to go visit Hanna, Rebecca and Trevor.. Then later tonight Emily also” 

“You have it all planned out don’t you?” I tease her, she giggles and nods. 

We make our way into the kitchen, seeing dad at the table surrounded by some paperwork. 

“Hey Dad, got a minute?” 

“I suppose I can take a break.. This paperwork is stressing me out” 

“Well then right now is a perfect time.. Trust me” I tell him. 

Theo steps up and extends her hand holding the CD, “Merry Christmas Connor” She smiles brightly at him. He takes it from her and inspects it closely. 

“What is this?” He asks confused. 

“It’s a CD dad, you put it in the CD player” I joke with him, he gives me a goofy smile. 

“Gee thanks smartass” He gets up and turns on the stereo, putting the CD in and pressing play. 

“Dear Conner, thank you for being there for me, you are like a father to me and I hope you enjoy this..” She starts to sing. Dad grabs onto the cabinet to steady himself as he listens. He is silent for a long time after the song ends. Theo moves nervously in her seat. 

Dad reaches over and presses a button on the stereo, replaying the song. I walk over to him and see that he is silently crying as we listen to the song. I place my hand on his shoulder, he embraces me and sobs into my shoulder. I cannot help but feel overwhelmed by it, I feel myself cry as well. 

We listen to the song about six more times before dad walks over to Theo and gives her a hug. 

“Thank you Theo… I could feel her in your voice. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me...” He says as he releases her, she sniffles and gives him a hug of her own. 

“I’m glad you liked it” She whispers to him.

“You really are a lot like her, in so many ways” He says as he holds her out in front of him. 

“You have a beautiful voice that reflects your beautiful soul Theo… Don’t let go of that” 

I know exactly what he means, I knew right from the first time I spoke to her that she was a kindred soul. Someone who would never betray you and would always be by my side. She is pure, something these days that is unheard of.

Theo just smiles at dad and nods her head. We sit down on the couch and dad walks out of the room. Theo snuggles up to my side and tucks her legs under her. I wrap my arm around her and kiss her forehead. 

“Thank you Theo” I say. She looks up at me confused. 

“For what?” 

“For making him so happy.. It’s been a long time since I seen him that happy” 

“Of course” She smiles a million dollar smile at me, making my heart skip a beat. I lean in and kiss her on the lips, she always tastes like strawberries, I don’t know how she does it, but I love it. 

Dad comes back into the room a minute later, making us disconnect our bodies from each other. 

“These are for you Theo” Dad hands over a small stack of wrapped gifts. 

“For me? You didn’t have to Connor!” She says as she sits up more to take the pile from him. 

“I know, but I couldn’t decide on just one” He winks at her as he sits in the seat across from us. 

Theo unwraps her first gift. It’s a knitted scarf that matches her perfectly. 

“I love it! Thank you” She wraps it around her neck admiring it fully. 

“Open the next one!” Dad encourages her. 

She unwraps a small box, inside a leather book with a music note engraved on the front of it. “It’s for you to write music, your own songs” He says 

Theo runs her fingers along the leather, her hand trembling slightly. 

“Thank you..” She whispers sadly before lifting her head and smiling. There is a small spark in her eye. 

“You’re very welcome Theo. I hope it brings you some joy to write your own music” Dad smiles at her. 

“We need to get going if we are going to make it to Hanna’s before three.. We still have dinner with Emily too.” I say as I take Theo by the hand and help her up from the couch. She holds her gifts under her arm as she grabs her coat. We say bye to dad and head out.  The drive to Hanna and Trevor's is quiet, Theo mostly just stares out the window. Her fingers run along the book dad gave her, over and over again. 

Theo jumps from the truck and runs to the door, Rebecca greets her in a hug. 

“Theo, you look so good… I’m so happy to see you looking so well” She says as she leads her inside the house. I grab the bag of gifts from the backseat and follow in. 

The living room has been decked out with all sorts of decorations and a massive tree is in the corner, lit up with gold and red lights. A small pile of presents are neatly stacked, three separate wrapping papers differentiate them for each person. 

“Want some eggnog?” Rebecca asks as we take off our coats. 

Theo nods her head and walks into the kitchen to help bring the drinks out. Hanna is sitting in an armchair reading a book. She looks sick. 

“Hanna, you alright?” I ask as I sit on the couch. 

“Yeah, I just can’t seem to shake this bug… I think it’s the stomach flu or something” She says as she closes her book and looks at me. Her eyes are puffy like she’s been crying and her cheeks look sunken. I eyes her for a moment before the girls come back into the room. Rebecca sits on the side of the chair and feels Hanna’s forehead. 

“Still not feeling well?” Theo asks sadly. She cares so much for her friend. 

Hanna nods but doesn’t look at Theo, her eyes are glued to the fireplace. 

“Well, maybe this will cheer you up?” She hands Hanna a box wrapped perfectly in blue and silver wrapping paper. It looks just like how my mom used to wrap gifts, the corners tucked in. 

“Ohh, open it up!” Rebecca encourages Hanna. 

She unwraps it and reveals a candle set and some bath bombs. It seems to make Hanna feel a little bit better, she sniffs one of the candles and smiles as she looks at Theo. 

“Cotton Candy?” She asks 

Theo nods, “Just like the fair when we were kids, do you remember?” She smiles brightly at Hanna who returns the smile. 

Hanna nods, a few tears coming to her eyes. “Thank you Theo!” 

“Of course! I’m so glad you like it! Maybe later you can have a nice bath and use a bath bomb and light a candle!” 

“That sounds really nice,” Hanna says. 

“Okay, your next Theo!” Rebecca jumps up and grabs a gift from under the tree. She underhand throws it to Theo who catches it easily. She begins to unwrap it and Hanna sits up to watch her friend. Theo stares at it for a long time before saying anything. 

“Is this?” She breathes 

Rebecca nods enthusiastically at her. Hanna looks from her mom to Theo and then to the jacket in Theo’s hands. 

“The same shirt I wore to your very first concert when you were six? Yes, see in the corner where you and Caleb signed it? I thought maybe you could frame it and hang it up in your room” 

Theo launches herself at Rebecca and hugs her tightly. 

“I remember when you were so small, all you wanted to do was sing, didn’t matter where you were. Singing was all that mattered to you, Hanna wanted to become a singer just like you so she could always be around you.. You were so proud to sing your first autograph that night.. I like seeing you have that passion back inside you” 

“Thank you so much.. I love it” Theo wipes her cheeks for her tears and comes back to sit beside me, she shows me the shirt, her childish scrawl across the back, then her brother Caleb’s. 

We hang out for a little bit before going back to Theo’s for dinner with Emily. 

“Grayson, was your father busy?” Emily asks as we sit down to the table for dinner. 

“Oh, I’m not too sure…” I answer honestly.

“I do hope you extended the dinner invitation to him as well. I hate to think he is alone at home not able to enjoy a Christmas dinner” She seems worried.

“I can call him if you’d like?” I offer. 

“Oh don’t be silly dear, I will call him, you two eat and enjoy your food” She gets up from the table and makes her way to the kitchen.  

A few minutes later she comes back, “Connor is on his way over” She blushes as she excuses herself to ‘freshen up’

“I think Emily has a crush on Connor” Theo whispers in  giggle to me. 

I had never thought about my dad with another woman other than my mom… but Emily is extremely nice. Maybe a bit on the older side but she is a nice enough woman. 

“Yeah, seems like it huh?” I whisper back, just as Emily comes back into the room. She has changed her shirt to a fancy looking red sweater. She has a string of pearls on her neck. Theo smiles to herself as Emily sits back down across from us. 

“You look lovely Emily” Theo comments, making her blush deeply. 

“Thank you dear” 

Dinner goes by slowly as we wait for dad to show up, twenty minutes later the doorbell rings. Emily shoots up from her seat and scurries to the door. I can hear their voices, Emily laughing nervously. They enter the room and dad takes a seat as Emily runs to the kitchen to get him a plate and a glass. 

“How was the rest of your dad Connor?” Theo asks 

“IT was pretty good actually. I got a lot of work done so I’m off the hook for Christmas crunches” He laughs as Emily sets a plate in front of him. “Thank you Emily.. This looks amazing”  

We finish eating and go to the living room to open gifts and drink some more eggnog. It’s not my taste but I don’t like being impolite. 

At the end of the night I say goodnight to Theo and promise to pick her up early the next morning. I want to stay the night with her, but I have to pack for our trip. I want everything to be perfect so I need a few hours to prepare. I still have to talk to dad about getting one of mom’s rings to give to Theo as a promise ring. I don’t think he will object, mom had six rings she wore on a daily basis. I want to give Theo her leaf ring. A gold and ruby ring carved to look like Ivy and flowers, it was one of her favorites. She got it when she was sixteen from her mother. 

“Dad, can I talk to you?” I ask as soon as we get home. 

“What is it Gray?”  He yawns as he sits on the couch. 

“I was hoping to get something from you… to give to Theo for Christmas.. Mom’s leaf ring” I hold my breath automatically. 

“Of course.. I guess this means she’s the one?” He asks 

I nod my head. “Yeah, I really think she is.. I don’t want to rush her to return my feelings but I’m going to tell her I love her on this trip.. I want to give it to her as a promise ring.” 

“Well, from what I’ve seen.. You have nothing to worry about. She loves you, maybe she’s just not ready to admit it yet.. To you or herself.. But it’s there” He leaves the room and goes upstairs. He comes back a few minutes later and hands me a small box. I open it up and see the familiar ring sparkle in front of me.