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Benjamin crouched down to be eye level with her and took the ornament. "Is this for me?" he asked, and she nodded. "Thank you, Pearl."
"It's for our precious tree," she signed and pointed at the Christmas tree beside him.
Benjamin looked up at Jewell, curious about Pearl's description of their tree, and wondered at the glisten in her eyes. Jewell smiled and smoothed Pearl's hair before signing, "Why don't you explain our precious tree to Benjamin, sweetheart."
Pearl nodded and took Benjamin's hand, tugging on him to turn so he had to stand and follow or fall over. She pointed at several other handcrafted ornaments that hung from the evergreen branches. Some were made of construction paper like the one she'd given him. Some were made from felt. Some were glued together wooden tongue depressors. Each one had a word or a name written on it: Jewell, Garnett, Red Sox, Ruby, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, Pearl, Mama, Love, God, My New Family, Snow, Daddy.
"These are all our precious things," Pearl signed, her gaping smile enough to make him smile just as wide. "Precious means something very valuable, or one who is dear or beloved." As she signed, she had an expression of deep concentration, like she wanted to make sure she got every word correct. "See? I said Mama and Daddy, those are mine. And I said pumpkin chocolate chip cookies because they're my favorite. And now you." She touched the end of his nose.
The lump in his throat surprised him, and he didn't quite understand it. Drawing in a slow breath through his nose, he touched his fingertips to his lips and brought his hand down, palm up. "Thank you."
She smiled and threw her arms around his neck, pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek before she ran out of the room. Benjamin rose from his crouch, watching her disappear around the corner into the hallway like a streak of white lightning. Cecil Kincaid deftly stepped sideways to avoid her and waved to them.
"Dinner is on the table. Come eat."
He looked down at the ornament, running his finger across the smooth wax crayon lines. Turning to the tree, he reached above his head and hung the construction paper decoration. Jewell's fingers laced through his and he looked down at her. She smiled, but a single tear slipped from her eye. Benjamin smoothed the trail away with his thumb. "Why are you crying?"
"It's official."
He led her toward the dining room, maneuvering around the couch without looking away from her face. "What's official?"
"You're on the precious tree. You're part of the family."
He stopped, cupped her cheek, and kissed her. She had no idea how much courage little Pearl's ornament had given him. He only hoped he could hang on to that courage a little longer.
* * *
Jewell stacked the various containers of eggs foo yung, pork chow mein, fried rice, and teriyaki steak before setting them on a refrigerator shelf beside the rest of the leftovers from dinner. She was so full she felt like she'd burst, but knew in an hour she'd probably be in here to steal an egg roll.
With the counter wiped down and the last dish in the dishwasher, she sighed and headed for the parlor. Her mother and father sat together on the couch, his arm behind her while he smoked his pipe. The soothing, comforting smell mingled with all the holiday aromas that she forever connected with home. Pearl was asleep on the floor beside the Christmas tree, her hands folded under her cheek. She had fallen asleep an hour short of making it to midnight, but not for lack of trying. The little girl had consumed enough hot chocolate and cookies she should have been on a sugar high for a week.
"Have you seen Benjamin?" she asked her father.
He looked away from the fire, taking the pipe from his lips. "No, Pipsqueak. Last I saw him, he was headed for the kitchen. I thought he was with you."
"Humph. Okay."
She wandered the house, and only managed to find Garnett and Ruby playing chess in the living room. They hadn't seen Benjamin either. Since her father had last seen him heading for the kitchen, she doubled back through the hall. She scanned the empty room and nearly left again when she saw him outside on the back porch, his hands shoved in the front pockets of his long wool coat, his head down. A light snow had begun to fall, and drifted down in the soft glow of the Christmas lights over his head. Jewell grabbed one of her father's sweaters from the hook near the door and slipped it on, opening the door to step out onto the porch.
He didn't look up until she touched his arm, and smiled when he saw her. Without taking his hands out of his pockets he leaned over to kiss her. His lips were chilled and his cold nose rubbed against hers.
"Why are you out here?" she signed.
He shrugged and looked out across the large backyard. A snowman stood in the corner, wearing an orange and yellow striped scarf and hunter's cap. His face was painted on with food coloring. Ruby's flying saucer sled sat against the side of the porch, along with an assortment of snow toys. The A-frame swing was nearly buried to the back of the seat.
She touched his arm again so he'd turn back to her. "Is something wrong?"
Benjamin smiled and shook his head. "No. As insane as the last few weeks have been, I think I'm as far away from wrong as I've ever been."
Jewell tipped her head, studying his profile in the flickering, multicolored light. Instead of trying to pull out of him whatever was on his mind, she turned to lean back against the porch railing, wrapping her father's sweater around her body. The wind had a bite, stinging her cheeks and whipping her hair around her face. Benjamin watched her for a few moments before looking out across the yard again. He squinted against the wind that hit him in the face.
"I talked to Travis this morning," he said after several minutes of silence between them.
She pulled her hair back from her face, curling it behind her ears. "About what?"
"I'm coming back to Bulwark mid-January." He chuckled softly. "If I stay home much longer, I think Victoria might try to kill me in my sleep. She says I'm driving her crazy."
Jewell smiled, happy at the idea of having him in the office again. He had been out of the office since the trial began, and Jewel had been working with Alexi Rouan on Benjamin's funds, with the intent that Benjamin would step back in when he returned from his leave. Alexi was a good manager, but he wasn't Benjamin. In more ways than one.
