AllFreeNovel
Share Us
5
Mr. Grinch
Ryan
It wasn’t fun being Mr. Grinch, not with a wife who was the embodiment of Cindy Lou Who. She had the house decorated for Christmas the day after Halloween, and holiday jingles played throughout the house on repeat all day. Every year, Christmas had been her favorite holiday, and this year, even though she denied it every time I asked, there was no sparkle in her eyes as the days until Christmas passed.
This year was the worst Christmas ever, and just like the Grinch, I was stealing Christmas from her.
It was hard to give her a budget this year, to stop her from buying the new Christmas decorations at every store she went to. It was especially hard to stop her from buying all the usual gifts for our kids who had been spoilt in the years past. I wanted to let her go shop to her heart’s content, to go buy whatever she wanted so long as it made her happy, but I couldn’t give that to her this year.
I hated not being able to provide.
Christmas was in four days, and even though it was supposed to be the best time of year, it felt anything but with the chaotic mess at work and then the tense evenings with Amber where we sat at the kitchen table and scrutinized our financials. There was little happiness anywhere anymore. The kids seemed oblivious to all of our changes, and most importantly, to Amber’s sudden mood shift with their never-ending excitement for the big, impending day.
I tried to keep a brave face on for Amber, for the kids, but with every passing day, I felt my brave front breaking as I slowly came to terms with where our future was headed. It was looking more and more like this would be my last Christmas with my family for a little while, and the thought was like a sucker punch to the gut.
Being away from your families during the holidays was one of the hardest parts of being in the army.
And it was looking like I wouldn’t be with mine next year. The thought of missing this precious time with my forever growing children gutted me. I didn’t want to miss out on any milestones, but sometimes, sacrifices were necessary for others’ happiness and wellbeing.
Glancing at Amber across the dinner table, I watched my beautiful spitfire of a wife help our youngest cut the chicken I had grilled for dinner. Time hadn’t dulled her flame – only made it shine brighter – and regardless of the situation, of the tense moments we had shared recently, I wouldn’t want to go through this with anyone but her.
She made everything worth it. There was only one woman I would willingly go to war for, and it was the beautiful redhead sitting across from me.
“Momma, did you know Santa is coming in three more nights? Only three!” Nicky burst out around a mouthful of food.
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth, Nicolas,” I reprimanded, setting my glare on our middle child who flushed with embarrassment.
“Sorry, Dad.” He swallowed loudly.
“Only three more nights?” Jeremey and Kennedy chimed in, looking at each other with big, excited eyes. Those two shared the same thought process, always finishing each other’s sentences. It amazed us all.
“Do you think he’ll get me that new Xbox I asked for?” Mason looked at me, his red hair unruly just like his mothers, his excitement showing through the big smile on his freckled face.
“I’m not sure. Did you get straight A’s?” Mason nodded and turned back to his twin sister to continue their heated debate about a TV show they were watching.
“I want a puppy so bad,” Kennedy squealed before shoving a forkful of food into her pink lips, chewing with her mouth open, still not having fully grasped the concept of chewing food with her mouth closed.
“What are you going to do with a puppy, sweet girl?” Amber asked, looking between Kennedy and me. Fear was in those big, green eyes, but she masked with a small smile for the kids.
It gutted me.
We definitely were in no position to get a puppy.
This was hard on Amber, really damn hard because all she wanted was to give the kids everything she couldn’t have as a child, and now, we had nothing to give.
“Play with it, and feed it treats, and go for walks,” Kennedy listed the activities she wanted to do with the puppy, ticking each item off her chubby, little fingers.
“What happens when you get bored with it just like all your other toys?” I piped in, setting my knife and fork down on my empty plate. Our youngest turned to me with wide, green eyes – the exact mirror of her mother’s – and gasped dramatically.
“I won’t get bored, Daddy! Never!” She slammed a small fist on the table, and everyone laughed at her antics.
“You said that about your Elsa barbie doll,” Maddi chimed in, raising a brow at her little sister. We all knew just how much Kennedy had to have that stupid doll the last time we went to Disney, only to play with it for a total of five minutes on the car ride home and hadn’t touched it since.
Kennedy’s bottom lip trembled, and Amber scowled at Maddi almost instantly. She hated it when any of them picked on each other. “Alright, who wants dessert?” Amber changed the subject, getting everyone’s attention, especially our little girl who was seconds away from crying.
I couldn’t have fallen in love with a better woman. She was the most amazing mother this world had ever been graced with.
