A Christmas Homecoming (revised)

Martha surveyed her carefully set Christmas dinner table. She sighed, hoping Daniel’s place would be occupied this year, but knowing it would not happen. He’s been gone for 10 years this Christmas. Her husband Harold told her it only served to rekindle her pain. At his insistence, she stopped setting his place five years ago. It was the next year that they got the letter – the letter from prison. As a 16-year-old runaway, Daniel made all the wrong choices. The letter said he was convicted of armed robbery. It seemed it was too much for Harold. He forbade Martha from returning a letter or sending Daniel any money. She hid the letter in her dresser drawer. It was all she had left of her son.

She thought back to the last argument Daniel had with Harold. His grades were slipping and he was missing school. The truant officer had been to the house that afternoon. He said that when Daniel did attend school he was argumentative and aggressive toward students and faculty alike. When Harold got home a heated argument ensued in which Harold told Daniel he needed to “suck it up” and be a man. He said life wasn’t easy and Daniel should get used to it. Daniel stormed off to his room. That was the last time they saw him.

Laughter from the living room broke through her thoughts. She’d feigned happiness for so long, hiding the hole in her heart where Daniel had been. But this laughter was from her grandchildren. They could always bring out a smile from deep within her tortured thoughts. She heard Harold chuckling and couldn’t imagine what the kids were up to this time.

“What a beautiful Christmas dinner, Mom!” Beth gasped, walking into the kitchen with five-year-old Nicholas and three-year-old Benji sneaking a peak from behind her legs. They were the epitome of their father with their golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

“WOW!” Nicholas peered over the table, eyeing up the food.

“Come in and sit down, Sweeties.” Martha took Ben and Nick by the hands and led them to their places. She hugged each of them tightly and placed each on his respective stack of phone books. Nick sneered at Ben as he sat perched on his two phone books. Ben frowned down at his five books and turned his head away from his brother. The rest of the family assembled, eleven in all, counting her and Harold. Once they were all seated, they bowed their heads as Harold said Grace.

The meal continued on with light conversation and comments on the wonderful feast. The children chatted happily over cranberries, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Martha wondered, secretly, if they would both wind up to be vegetarians like Beth, or if there was another reason they didn’t touch their ham. All of the children had wonderful appetites, and that was what really mattered to Martha. Daniel was her only fussy eater. She pushed the thought from her mind as she began to gather dishes from the table.

“You all go on into the front room,” she waved them away. “I’ll just tidy up a bit and be right in.” The family obeyed. She busied herself clearing dirty dished from the table, and the untouched setting for Daniel. In her haste, she bumped the silver gravy boat from the counter. Gravy cascaded across the white kitchen floor.

“Goll Darn it!” She lowered her voice so the children wouldn’t hear. As she bent to scoop up the gravy with a towel, tears spilling from her eyes, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Here, Mom. Let me help.”
She gave the towel to Beth and tried to dry her eyes. The tears just flowed as if a dam had broken.

“It’s Danny, isn’t it?”

“Oh, Beth,” she turned and hugged her daughter, tears still flowing. “I miss him so during the holidays.”

“I know, Mom. I know.” Looking over her mother’s shoulder, Beth saw a shadow at the door. She screamed.

Martha whirled around. She dropped a China serving platter. Was it a burglar? Harold ran from the living room to see what the matter was. He saw the shadow and moved for the carving knife. There had been a rash of robberies in the neighborhood, and his house would not be the next. Martha heard him tell her to call the police, but she could not move. It was getting late, and they were not expecting anyone.

“Get away from my house, or I’ll shoot!” Harold held the knife out in front of him.

“Dad?” a familiar voice came back. “Dad. Don’t shoot. It’s Dan. I can’t get the door open. Please, don’t shoot!”

There was silence in the house. Martha knew this would be a bad scene. Harold would not even allow the mention of Daniel’s name in the house. She now had the phone in her hand, ready to dial 911.

Harold dropped the knife onto the counter. “Dan?” His voice cracked as he rushed toward the door. He swung it open and starred at a man Martha barely recognized. “Dan?” he repeated.

The man standing on the porch was loaded down with packages. “Dad?” He dropped hisload as Harold grabbed him in a bear hug, tears streaming from the eyes of both men.

Beth moved to support her mother, who held the counter top in shock. “Danny?” Beth pulled her mother toward the two men. After minutes of Harold and Daniel embracing, his warm blue eyes turned to his mother. Martha tried to smile through her tears, but her sobs were unrelenting. Daniel grabbed her tightly.

“I’ve been scared to come home,” he said, after all hugs were given and he dried his eyes. “I didn’t know if I even belonged in your lives anymore. I mean, I didn’t know how you would react. I’ve had a lot of time to think since, well, you know, since I’ve been out. It’s taken me two years to get up the nerve to come. I just didn’t know what to do.” Daniel looked at the floor.

“It takes a big man to come back after all this time, Dan.” His father extended his arm and shook his son’s hand, tears welling in his eyes again. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know what I would do if I ever saw you again, boy. You’ve put your mother through a lot. She’s been worried sick for years. As far as we knew you were dead.” He paused. “But I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Mom, Dad, I’ve been working at this shelter since I got out. I had to do some community service, you know? Well, I went to this shelter for abused kids, and I really fit in there…” his voice trailed off. He saw the rest of the family file in from the living room as he spoke. Small children were peeking, one blonde head over another, around the door molding.

“Danny, we never abused you.” Martha started to cry again.

“I know, Mom. I know. And that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Once I got there, I realized how good I had it as a kid. I realized how bad I messed up.” He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. He saw two other men in the background that he had never met, and tried to hold back his tears. He knew they must be his brothers-in-law. He had missed so much. He had been so foolish.

A pair of bright blue eyes looked up at him, “Are you my Uncle Danny?”

He bent down to Benji’s height. “I am. Who are you?”

“Benji,” he said, triumphantly. “What’s Europe like?”

Danny looked up at his sister, who put her hand over her eyes. He knew she had told Benji some story about where he was all this time. “Umm… Europe is… well, it’s great. Lots to do in that …Europe… place.” He reached out and gave his sister a playful punch in the leg. She giggled.

“Are you gonna stay here now?” another small child asked. He could feel everyone starring at him, waiting for his answer.

“Well, I’m here for a few days,” he ruffled Ben’ curly locks. “There’s lots of kids in Madi… Europe, I mean,” he winked at Beth, “that need me. But I brought you all some cool stuff, so let’s get in there and start opening presents!” he yelled. The children screamed with delight and ran to the living room.

“Dad?” he whispered, holding his father’s arm as the rest of the family filed into the living room, the kids towing Daniel’s load.

Harold stopped in the kitchen. “Yes, Son?”

“I know it’s going to take a lot. To get anyone’s trust back, I mean. I know. And I am going back. I can’t stay here – not because of you or mom or anything. I don’t want you to think that. It’s just that, well, those kids need me. But, can I stay here for a couple of days, stay with you guys, I mean?”

“If you don’t mind staying in a sixteen-year-old’s room,” Harold put an arm around his son’s shoulder. Martha hadn’t allowed a thing in Daniel’s room to change since he’d left. “You put us through a lot, Dan. But Good Lord willing, we’ll get through it. We’ll be a family again somehow. We’ve always been here for you.”

“And you’ve always been in my heart, Dad, even when I couldn’t find my way.”

Word Count: 1587