All I Want for Christmas Is You (Short Story) by Molly O'Keefe

Author:Molly O'Keefe [O'Keefe, Molly]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780345542441
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2013-11-03T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 3

“That was delicious, Joanne,” Billy said as he stood and grabbed his plate, preparing to clear. Maddy smiled at him, so pleased that he always tried to clear the table, even though her mom never let him.

“My pleasure, honey,” she said. “It’s not every day I get to cook for a second-round NHL draft pick. Now, don’t you worry about that plate.” Joanne took the plate from his hands. “Go on out with Doug. Maddy and I will clean up and get dessert ready.”

Now, Maddy thought, her stomach clamping down hard on what little bit of curry she had managed to eat. Now Billy was going to ask Dad for her hand in marriage. She put a hand on her stomach as it twisted.

“I’ll be right back, Mom,” she said and nearly ran from the table.

By the time she came back out, Billy and her dad were gone and her mother was standing at the sink with yellow gloves on. But she wasn’t doing the dishes. Her hands were braced on the counter, as if she were trying to push it into place.

“Mom?”

She didn’t turn, but Maddy could see her eyes flutter closed. “Tell me you’re not pregnant,” she nearly whispered.

“Pregnant? What? No! Mom, no.”

Joanne sagged against the counter. “Oh, thank God.”

“I’m on the pill, remember?”

“Well, the pill isn’t perfect. and …” She finally turned to look at Maddy. “Frankly, I’m not sure what’s going on with you.”

Oh man, her stomach was not going to survive the night.

“Nothing’s going on with me, Mom,” she lied and grabbed the red and green towel that hung from the oven door. “I’ll dry.”

But Joanne didn’t move. She just stared at Maddy. Most of the time, Maddy would say her mother was kind of like Billy. She had a simple life with simple wants. All she needed to be happy was her family and a new cookbook. But sometimes her mom looked at her and Maddy felt like a different animal was looking out from her familiar eyes. One far more complicated and knowing.

“I saw that letter from Carnegie Mellon, honey,” Joanne said. “They were offering you a scholarship.”

“Not a full one,” she said, drying the dishes with so much force it was a miracle the little flowers didn’t come right off. “And without a full one, Mom, there’s no chance.”

“We could have figured something out.”

Maddy stacked the dinner plates and slid them into the cabinet. And then she took another breath before turning to face her mom.

Surprisingly, her mother was already facing her. That different creature was looking out through her mother’s eyes again. “What’s going on, Maddy?”

“Billy and I want to get married.”

“Ridiculous.” Joanne turned away, put her hands in the sink, and started attacking the dishes. “You’re too young.”

“I’ll be eighteen—”

“A baby.”

“Mom.”

“No.” She shook her head. “No. Honey. You’re going to school. You’re going to be a journalist.”

“I love him, Mom.”

“And that has almost nothing to do with marriage.”

Maddy jerked back. “I thought … I thought you’d be happy for us.

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