CHAPTER 31
1265 Words
CHAPTER 31
If Carl had teased Kennedy for her small appetite before, he’d have no excuse to do so in the future after seeing how much Christmas dinner she packed away. Only halfway into the main course, she already regretted wearing her tight black skirt. Now she understood Sandy’s preference for loose-fitting dresses that didn’t hug you anywhere around the waist.
Sandy had pulled out three tables, and even then there were a few guests sitting on the couches eating off TV trays. The overfull, bursting feeling Kennedy felt in her gut grew in proportion to the pressure building up in her brain from all the noise. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been around so many children. Had she ever? She and Reuben remained in the corner, laughing about Professor Adell and her atrocious penmanship, giving their best impressions of their calculus TA’s Korean accent. They already had plans to check out the bookstore and grab some pizza the day after Christmas.
In the middle of the meal, Carl stood up and clinked his cider glass with his knife. His arm was still in a sling, but he was dressed handsomely in a forest green suit with a striking red tie Sandy had adjusted for him two or three times over the course of the evening.
“Can I have your attention?” His booming voice carried over the dozens of smaller conversations, but it still took half a minute before he could continue.
“Two weeks ago, God took something that could have been tragedy. He took something that I know for a fact the devil would have loved to use for evil, and he brought about good. What good? you might be wondering.” He raised his glass toward Kennedy. “All those who might have reason to harm our friend here are being brought to justice.” He nodded to Blessing. “Our family’s closer than ever before.” He gave his wife a charming smile. “And I’ve been reminded every day of my recovery how lucky and blessed I am to have this amazing woman by my side. You mean more than the world to me, babe, and I don’t say that lightly.”
He kissed the top of Sandy’s head, and everyone raised their glasses.
“To the one who does immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”
Kennedy hadn’t heard many toasts before, but this felt more real and more genuine than anything she could have put into words even if she had weeks to prepare. Everyone drank, and several of the grandkids splashed sparkling cider on the kiddie table when they tried to clink their plastic cups together.
“And now I have something to say, too.” Blessing’s boyfriend stood up. Kennedy hadn’t met him officially, but she knew who he was from the way Blessing had draped herself over his lap all evening.
Carl’s eyes widened, but he made a broad gesture and sat down. “All right. Here’s Dominic now, apparently with something to say to us all this Christmas Eve.”
“Damion,” Sandy whispered. “His name is Damion.”
“Sorry. Go on, Damion.”
Kennedy couldn’t tell if that was sarcasm creeping into Carl’s tone, but she did catch the way he didn’t look right at his daughter’s boyfriend but instead stared past his shoulder.
Damion took a deep breath and took Blessing’s hand.
“I’m not standing up,” she hissed.
“Yes, you are.”
There was a little tug-of-war, and finally Blessing reclaimed her hand and crossed her arms, slouching back in her chair.
Damion frowned and then cleared his throat. “Well, with this being Christmas and all, and Christmas being a time for, you know, family, and all ...” He looked around from guest to guest, but his imploring eyes didn’t land on one person for any length of time. “And with Christmas being about the birth of baby Jesus, and his mama being pregnant for the holidays and everything ...”
“What are you doing?” Blessing sizzled under her breath.
“Just hear me out, baby. Let me do this.”
“We said we were gonna wait.” She was talking through her teeth, but Kennedy could hear every word. Apparently, Carl and Sandy could, too. Carl was leaning back in his seat, his eyes wider than silver dollars. Sandy swayed slightly back and forth at the table, her face strained with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.
Damion cleared his throat again and wiped his hand on his forehead. “Wow. This is a lot harder than it looks. Ok, well, um, Carl ... Sandy ... Mr. and Mrs. Lindgren, I mean ...”
“Spit it out, man!” Carl finally blurted.
“Well, we’re gonna have a baby.”
Squeals of delight and a subdued applause sounded around the table. Sandy clasped her hands to her chest, but she glanced at Carl’s serious face, and then she hid her smile behind her cider goblet. Damion and Blessing were arguing at each other in subdued tones, with Blessing’s I told you so the only words Kennedy could make out.
Damion looked at Carl and wiped his forehead again, only this time with his napkin. “Um, so, Mr. Lindgren ... Carl ... I, uh, wanted to tell you that I know your daughter’s really special to you, and she’s really special to me, too, and I know that you being a pastor and all probably doesn’t mean you want to have ... What I’m trying to say, sir, is I really want to do right by your daughter, by Blessing here.”
“I know her name.” Carl’s tone was so flat you could have chopped veggies on it. Kennedy and Reuben raised their eyebrows at each other and stifled their giggles.
Damion dropped his napkin and glanced around the table imploringly. His gaze finally landed on Sandy. He gulped once before continuing. “And, so, to get to the point, sir ...”
“I wish you would.”
Sandy hit Carl’s uninjured arm with her napkin. “Hush, now, and let’s hear what the poor boy has to say.”
Kennedy could tell she was trying not to laugh, too.
Damion shifted his weight. “So, what I really want is I want to ask Blessing to marry me.”
Nobody spoke for several seconds. Kennedy was painfully aware of Reuben’s presence next to her but didn’t take her eyes off Blessing’s boyfriend.
“I know it’s maybe not the best time, but I thought, you know, Christmas being all about family and stuff ...”
“Yes.” Carl spoke so quietly he had to repeat himself. “Yes.”
Damion balked. “You mean ... you’re saying it’s ok?”
Carl took a sip of cider. “It’s fine by me, man, but I’m not the one you need to ask.”
Damion blinked at Carl a few times before his face lit up brighter than the lights on the Lindgrens’ tree. He fumbled in his pockets and beamed down at Blessing. “Now you understand why I told you to get up?”
Still pouting but now blushing like a schoolgirl, Blessing stood and self-consciously tugged her miniskirt. Several women awwed when Damion dropped to his knee and opened the small black case he was holding. “Blessing Lindgren, will you marry me?”
She stole a quick glance at Sandy, who nodded encouragingly. Blessing wrapped one arm around her son and gave him a squeeze. “Well, squirt, what do you think? Should we say yes?”
Tyson jumped to his feet and wrapped both arms around Damion’s neck. “Heck yeah!”
While Blessing chastised her son for his choice of words, Damion slipped the ring on her finger, and everyone clapped. A few started clinking their glasses demanding a kiss, and when Blessing and Damion complied, the table erupted in hoots and hollers, as well as quite a few snickers and one very loud “Ew!” from the kiddie table.
Kennedy shot a quick glance at Reuben, who was smiling along with everyone else. She couldn’t remember a Christmas ever feeling quite so full, and it wasn’t because of the piles of food she had heaped on her plate. After the holidays, she’d be right back where she started that week. There would be police reports. Long meetings with Drisklay and his cold cups of stale coffee. Interviews with men in drab suits and somber-toned ties from the district attorney’s office.
But right now, none of that mattered. Right now, Kennedy was safe.
Right now, she was home.
- Writer
