“Yes, ma’am,” Riley said, moving to stand on the opposite side of the room to get a feel for if it met what his daughter had described to him. “I think that’s it,” Riley said.
“Knock-knock,” Richie said, opening the front door and letting himself, Yvette, Constance and Moe into the house.
“Hey! Welcome,” Riley said. “Glad ya’ll could make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Yvette said. “I’ve been so excited about this Christmas. I’m excited to get it started.”
“Me, too,” Constance said, allowing Moe to remove her coat and hang it on the coat-rack for her.
“This is just trimming the tree. Ya’ll ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait ‘til it’s actually Christmas Eve. The presents will be stacked so high and so far from the tree, you won’t be able to get within six feet of it,” Roman said.
“Seriously?” Constance said.
“Yep. Maia gets into Christmas,” Roman said.
“You leave the gate opened so Travis can drive right in?” Riley asked.
“I did,” Richie said.
“Good, good. Ya’ll have a seat and get comfortable,” Riley said. “Dinner is almost ready. We’ll get the Christmas shows on and decorate the tree.”
“Hey everybody! Who are we missing?” Maia asked, walking into the living room.
“Just Travis and his family,” Lazarus answered.
“Okay. Well, ya’ll go ahead and make your bowls. I set them out on the counter and there’s hot French bread for dipping in the gumbo as well,” Maia said. “They can catch up when they get here.”
“Oh! There they are!” Maia added, spying headlights turning in at the gate. “They’ll let themselves in,” she said, walking over to pick up Sebastian from the floor so Roman could go get his dinner.
“I got him, Maia. You go ahead. I’ll get my bowl in a minute,” Roman said.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am,” he said, holding out another block for Sebastian to try to connect to the chain of blocks already lying around him.
Sure enough, not more than a few minutes later there was knock on the door and it opened. “Hey! Anybody home?” Travis called out.
“Come on in, they’re all in the kitchen getting their bowls of gumbo,” Roman said.
Travis, Libby, and Scotty all came inside, took off their coats and piled them on top of the coats already hanging from the coat rack.
“You know?” Libby said, watching Roman playing with Sebastian, “One day, you’re going to be an amazing father.”
“Appreciate that, Libby. But I don’t think it’s in the cards for me,” Roman answered.
“Never give up hope,” Riley said, walking back into the living room, carrying his bowl of gumbo and taking a place on the sofa at the end nearest the tree.
Roman didn’t say anything, just went back to playing with Sebastian. Eventually everyone, even Travis, Scotty, and Libby came back into the living room and took a seat with their steaming bowls of food.
“Okay, your turn,” Maia said, setting her bowl on the coffee table and sitting down on the floor beside Sebastian.
“I’ll be right back,” Roman said, getting to his feet and heading down the hallway into the kitchen. There was method to his willingness to be last. First, he wanted to be sure everybody else had enough to eat. Second, he loved the shrimp Maia put in the gumbo. So, if he waited for everyone else to get theirs first, he didn’t feel guilty about scooping more shrimp than sausage and chicken into his bowl along with the dark, rich broth and rice. He served himself, and went back into the living room, retaking his place on the floor with the kids.
“Man, this is good, Maia,” he said, chewing appreciatively.
“Thanks. I’m glad you like it,” she said, setting her now empty bowl aside. She’d only eaten a little because it never failed — if she cooked, she wasn’t hungry right away. “I’m going to get the decorating started,” she said.
“Yay!” shouted Cristie, getting to her feet, then bending over to pick up her bowl from the floor at about the same time Sebastian noticed she had a bowl.
“Stop!” Cristie said, trying to keep his little hands away from her food.
“Hey,” Roman said calmly. “Leave your sister’s food alone. You can have some of mine. Here,” he said, dipping his bread into the gumbo and handing it to Sebastian. Sebastian grinned and took the bread from Roman, sucking on it and gnawing until all the broth was gone. Then he scooted over to Roman and tried to dip it in again.
Roman laughed and dipped for him again.
After the gumbo was eaten, and the empty bowls were placed on various tables and surfaces around the living room, they started the decorating in earnest. Everybody participated. They decorated the tree, the banister on the staircase. They hung tinsel from the curtain rods. And despite the fact that Roman was not in the mood for celebrating, he couldn’t help but be lulled into a feeling of warmth and family.
“So, who’s already decorated their trees?” Maia asked, as she placed another hook on an ornament and handed it to Cristie to hang on the tree.
“I have. Got my presents under it too,” Roman said.
“Seriously? You did?” Maia asked.
“Yeah. Took your advice,” Roman answered.
“Did it help?” she asked.
“It did. A little anyway.”
“Anybody else?” Maia asked.
“I got the tree up. Nothing on it yet,” Lucas said.
“Well, we’re all coming to help if you don’t. We’re all gonna have a Merry Christmas every Christmas if it kills you,” Maia said, smiling prettily.
Lucas chuckled.
“Mine is up,” Constance said.
“Ours is, too,” Richie said. “I did it a few days ago to keep Yvette from doing it. She’s stubborn,” he said, leaning over and making goofy eyes at her.
“I wanted it up!” Yvette said. “If you have a tree, it should be decorated,” she said.
“See? You get me,” Maia said.
“Absolutely,” Yvette agreed.
Lucas was facing the windows and noticed headlights coming down the drive. “Who’s that?” Lucas said, getting to his feet.
“Everybody’s here already,” Yvette said.
“Not everybody,” Lazarus said. “I told Alex about it. It’s probably her.”
“Oh, yeah! That’s gotta be who it is,” Maia said. “I invited her, too. I was hoping she would be able to make it.”
A little while later there was a knock at the door, and Lazarus got up to answer it. He wore a huge smile when he opened the door, prepared to hug her and invite her in. But, his smile fell when it wasn’t Alex. “Can I help you?” he asked.
Riley realized this wasn’t Alex and stepped away from the tree to go to the door. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Riley Colter. Can I help you?” he asked.
“Hello. My name is Sherry Autry. I’m looking for Mr. Roman Lyakhov.”
Roman sat on the floor with a popcorn strand wrapped around his shoulders as he patiently threaded the popcorn with a needle and thread to make a strand to hang on the tree. He had Sebastian sitting beside him, and thanks to Cristie had two Christmas ornaments hanging from his long, black, curly hair.