The Seventh Part of Chapter 17: Three Families, Three Christmases

Belinda would be spending Christmas with her mother in Toronto, as per family tradition. She did not have much contact with her family apart from her mother, because they had always teased her, there was an intense sibling rivalry, and her brother and sister would pick on her for whatever reason. Of course, it was childish, but they continued it anyways, as they had from when they were much younger. Lately, they had been making malicious comments about her continued singlehood; it wasn’t as if it mattered to her siblings, they only cared insofar as they could needle Belinda about it. Belinda thought they would have grown out of that by now. Hence, she went to her mother’s more out of family obligation than any real desire for the day. In previous years, she would see her family much more often; she once spent a significant portion of her summers at the family’s cottage on Rice Lake, and she would spend Thanksgiving there also, but she had ended those traditions several years ago. She wondered why other people didn’t seem to have these problems; James’s sister Katherine liked him very much, as did Clarissa’s brother and sister, from what she could tell at the funeral.

Suzanne had pared down the celebrations, due to Home Depot having laid her off. Her children were chipping in on the presents, and a large portion of the food, which made up for the lack of money on Suzanne’s part. Belinda had arrived the previous day and would be staying over until Boxing Day before heading back home, as would Juliana, while Melvin would just be visiting for Christmas Day. It was Christmas morning, and the three women, mother and daughters, were sitting around the fireplace in the den, which had a view of the ravine behind the house. Juliana`s husband Myron was in the living room watching a football game he had taped.

Suzanne had many tchochkes around the house, which meant that novelty items had been out of the question for Belinda; she also had a full wardrobe with a nice assortment of clothes, so she didn’t buy her any clothing either; with those two options out, she purchased Suzanne some books. Gift giving was important, but the time spent with the family was much more so even if that were the case for her mother only, and Belinda didn’t particularly care what she received.

“101 duck recipes? Why, thank you, Bela.”

“That’s not the only book,”

“You got me Nicholas Nickleby and Hickory Dickory Dock! This book looks hefty; it will take a while to read it; perhaps being unemployed is not such a bad thing after all.”

Melvin and his wife Adrienne arrived later in the afternoon; they had spent the most on presents, first because Melvin liked Myron and his mother, and secondly because he was the most fortunate child, with the best luck and the most money, and he liked showing off.

Melvin had also given her books, some of which were quite expensive, while Juliana gave her clothing and some chocolate. After presents came conversation, as there was a lot of catching up to do with the family; what with the three kids living so far from home, there was not a whole lot of opportunity for them to meet face-to-face; most of their communication was done by phone and over the Internet.

“I’ve told mom about this beautiful couple, but you haven’t heard. It’s so sad: the husband died, and the woman, Clarissa, is now unhappy. I thought there was something fishy about it; James, the husband, was in his thirties, and one doesn’t just drop dead without people, you know, asking questions. So I asked around, and it turns out to be a heart attack. It still seems suspicious that after his death, Clarissa inherited everything, which would mean, if she were some greedy person of no morals, she would have had a big incentive right there. Oh, and all my friends aren’t talking to me anymore; they think I’m being a nosy parker. Do you think I’m nosy?”

“Not at all, Bela dear,” said Suzanne, though she had already heard this sob story, and was getting bored of the plot line; in her opinion, once was enough for a tragedy such as that.

Juliana said, “I heard you have some flame going on. How’s that coming along?” Juliana heard this not from Belinda directly, but rather from her neighbour in Sudbury back in June, who happened to know Kevin, the subject of Belinda’s affections, in a rare moment of warmer than icy relations; the neighbour didn’t know the relation between Juliana and Belinda, but Juliana was shrewd.

“I think he’s playing hard-to-get.”

Melvin asked, “What was his name again?”

“Oh, Kevin. He’s a dream, he’s so handsome, really well-built, well-groomed, and he seems to have a lot of money, telling from his clothes.”

Juliana said, “So, you’re still trying to find a man after the divorce, eh?” She liked to make pointed and unnecessary observations such as this.

“She takes after her mother, don’t you,” said Suzanne, affectionately touching her knee. Suzanne had been divorced twenty-five years previously, and had remained single ever since.

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