Chapter 14 - The Second Christmas Poll
The poll had one question:
Where should we have Christmas?
Option one:
Mom and Dad’s.
Option two:
Restaurant.
Option three:
Derek’s.
Option four:
Everyone does their own thing.
My house wasn’t listed.
Then beneath it:
Vote only for yourself. Hosts must volunteer before their house becomes an option.
I stared at the screen.
Progress.
Actual progress.
Derek texted privately.
See? I can be trained.
I replied:
Barely.
Christmas ended up at Derek’s.
He volunteered.
Melissa agreed.
Everyone contributed.
I was assigned dessert only after I chose dessert from a signup sheet.
I spent $42.
Not $9,400.
I arrived carrying two pies.
Derek opened the door.
“Welcome.”
I held up the pies.
“This is everything I’m contributing.”
“Understood.”
“No surprise seafood bar?”
“No.”
“Ice sculpture?”
“No.”
“Sommelier?”
“Get inside.”
I laughed.
Dinner was chaotic.
Children ran everywhere.
Someone spilled cider.
Dad fell asleep during a movie.
Mom overcooked vegetables.
Derek spent half the night cleaning his own kitchen.
I enjoyed that part immensely.
At midnight, I stood outside on his porch.
Snow had begun falling.
Derek joined me.
“Worth forty-two dollars?”
“Maybe forty-three.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“I was jealous of you.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“You had your life together.”
“You thought that?”
“You had savings. A house. Work you loved.”
“And?”
“And I kept making mistakes.”
I understood something then.
Entitlement sometimes hides shame.
That didn’t excuse what Derek had done.
But understanding wasn’t the same as excusing.
“I never needed you to be me,” I said.
“I know that now.”
He looked through the window at his family.
“I just needed to become responsible for being me.”
That might have been the smartest thing my brother had ever said.
Then he ruined it.
“So you’re hosting next year?”
I stared at him.
He laughed.
“Too soon?”
“Forever too soon.”
We went inside.
But the following spring, an unexpected letter arrived from Portugal.
May you like
And it reminded me of the place where this entire transformation had truly begun.
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