Noel
“Honey, wake up. We’re here.”
The sound of Sam’s voice stirs me awake, and I rub my eyes and sit up higher in the front seat of the car.
“Sorry I fell asleep,” I tell him with a yawn as he unbuckles his seat belt.
“Noel, you just gave birth last night. You’re allowed to sleep whenever you want,” he tells me with a smile.
We both turn around and stare at the car seat in the back, our baby nestled in it, fast asleep.
“I can’t even stand how beautiful she is,” I whisper.
“Of course she’s beautiful, have you seen her mother?”
Looking away from our daughter, I smile at my husband and lean over the center console to kiss him. Sam brings both of his hands up to cup my cheeks as I pull back, and stares into my eyes.
“Thank you for making me a father,” he tells me softly, emotion filling his voice.
“Thank you for not wanting to divorce me when I saw her face and knew immediately what her name should be.” I laugh softly.
Christmas Holiday Stocking, Christy for short, was born at exactly 12:01 a.m., making her the first official Halloween baby in our small town.
I know, I know. I refused to ever saddle my child with an insane name and carry on the tradition my family started, but I couldn’t help it. I took one look at her perfect, tiny pink lips, perfect pink cheeks, perfect pudgy little fingers, looked over at my family—who Sam was unable to keep out of the delivery room, all with tears falling down their cheeks, including my father—and knew I had no other choice.
As insane as my family is, they’re still my family. I love them unconditionally, and I’m proud to be a part of them. I never want Christy to feel like she should be ashamed or embarrassed about being in this family, even though I’m sure everyone will give her plenty of reasons to feel that way. And on top of that, her father and I met at Christmas. Bringing him home from the airport bar was the best decision I ever made. I wouldn’t have her if I never took that leap. And even though she’s only been mine for sixteen hours, I can’t imagine my life without her in it.
Tilting my head to the side and out of Sam’s hands, I look over his shoulder and out the driver’s side window in confusion.
“Wait, why are we parked across the street from my parents’ house? I thought we were going home and everyone was coming over for an early dinner before trick-or-treating?” I ask.
Even though Halloween is my favorite night of the year, I couldn’t possibly be sad about missing it this year, when I’d be spending the evening staring at my daughter.
Sam doesn’t say a word as he gets out of the car. I watch as he walks around the front of the vehicle, opening the backseat door behind me and carefully unbuckling Christy from her car seat. He gently lifts her out and tucks her against his chest before opening my door and holding out his hand for me.
He pulls me out of the front seat and closes the door behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist and turning the three of us away from the car, which is parked along the curb across from my parents’ house.
“We are home,” Sam tells me with a nervous smile.
He nods at the house we’re standing in front of, the one across the street from my parents’ house, and I stare up at him, my heart beating faster.
“What are you talking about?” I whisper.
Leaning down, he kisses the top of my head.
“Welcome home, baby.”
My mouth opens and closes wordlessly as I look back and forth between my husband and the house of my dreams.
“No, you didn’t . . . ” I mutter, wondering if I’m still back at the hospital. Maybe I haven’t really been discharged yet, and I’m still asleep in my hospital bed, having the best dream ever.
“I did. And, full disclosure, I haven’t been working any overtime the last month. I’ve been busy getting these decorations built and set up.”
I think someone needs to pinch me. Or throw a bucket of cold water on my face. My eyes quickly fill with tears, and the Nightmare Before Christmas yard decorations become one big blur.
“I can’t believe you did this. You really bought me my dream house? You really spent all this time decorating the front yard with things from my favorite movie?” I ask, the tears falling fast and hard down my face.
“Of course I did. As soon as the house went on the market, your mom called me and told me about it and how you’d always loved this house. I know you’ve been worried about being so far away from your family once Christy arrived, and I didn’t want you to worry about anything. I want to make all your dreams come true, Noel, just like you’ve done for me.”
Turning to face him, I wrap my arms around his waist, careful not to squish our sleeping daughter between us.
“But Alex is the only one who knew I actually bought the house and have been decorating it. I wanted to wait to tell everyone else until after I told you,” he says with a smile, reaching up with his free hand to wipe the tears off my cheeks.
“How in the hell did you even manage to do all this without anyone seeing you?”
Sam gives me another heart-stopping smile.
“Are you forgetting I’m a Marine? I’ve trained for years for shit like this. I spent months canvassing the neighborhood at different times of the day throughout the week, so I knew when the neighbors wouldn’t be home and I could unload all of my decorations and supplies into the garage. Then I’d get up in the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, don my camo gear, and creep around the yard in the dark, setting everything up.”
The smile on my face immediately falls, and my happiness suddenly turns to worry.
“You bought me my dream house and spent all this time decorating the front yard,” I say again, in a soft, nervous voice.
Sam laughs, looking down at me quizzically.
“Pretty sure we already established that.”
I shake my head at him, trying to make him understand without screaming.
“You. Decorated. It.”
Sam still isn’t getting what I’m trying to say, and right when I open my mouth to spell it out, there’s a loud commotion from across the street.
“SORRY, GUYS! I HAD TO SPILL THE BEANS!” Alex shouts from my parents’ front porch as my dad shoves him out of the way and comes racing down the steps in our direction.
“Oh, shit. I decorated it,” Sam mutters, finally understanding the gravity of the situation.
“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Dad screams as he trips over one of his clowns, quickly righting himself to continue charging across the yard toward us.
Sam hastily passes Christy over to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. With one last look at the two of us, he glances over at my dad running full speed across the street and takes off running down the sidewalk.
“IF I DON’T SURVIVE THIS, TELL OUR DAUGHTER I LOVE HER AND I WAS ONCE A BRAVE MAN!” Sam shouts over his shoulder to me.
“DON’T YOU MEAN A STUPID MAN?” I yell back.
“THAT TOO!” Sam replies before he disappears around the corner of the block.
My dad makes it over to me and runs right by without a word, his sights set on my husband and how much bodily harm he can do if he manages to catch him.
“DAD! DON’T YOU DARE KILL MY HUSBAND!” I shout.
He ignores me and continues running, and I shake my head as Alex, Scheva, my mom, and Aunt Bobbie join me on the curb in front of my dream home.
My mom immediately takes Christy from my arms and starts cooing at her, running the palm of her hand gently over her soft, red hair.
“That blur who just ran past was your grandfather, Christy, and he’s insane. Yes, he is. He’s a crazy man!” my mom tells her in a lilting baby voice.
“Good news: I called the pumpkin farm and disguised my voice. They’re delivering four cases of apple butter by tomorrow,” Aunt Bobbie announces.
“And your Aunt Bobbie likes to do kinky things with apple butter,” Scheva informs my daughter, bending down and kissing one of her pudgy little cheeks.
“Can we please hold off on teaching my child what kinky means?” I ask, watching everyone crowd around my mom and stare down at Christy with smiles on their faces.
“How long are we going to give those two idiots before someone goes after them?” Alex asks, staring off into the distance where Sam and my dad disappeared.
Scheva pulls her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and checks the time.
“We’ve got two hours before trick-or-treating starts. Let’s go set up the fire pit in the driveway and the table of food and candy. If they’re not back by the time we’re finished, I’ll go look for them,” she tells us.
We all cross the street to my parents’ house to get things ready, and I pause in the middle of the street, taking a moment to look back at the house Sam bought for me.
Who would have thought that almost three years ago, when I was unemployed, homeless, and alone, that I’d find the man of my dreams, fall in love, and have a baby, and that all of my dreams would come true?
Definitely not me, and yet, here I am. I don’t know how life could get much better than this.
I join my family and friends in my parents’ driveway. Alex has set up tables for us, and we set out all the treat bags, which no longer include illegal narcotics or sex toys; light the candles in all the jack-o’-lanterns spread around the front lawn and the white luminary bags lining the driveway; and start bringing out trays of food and coolers of drinks to share with the rest of the neighborhood.
Sam and my dad make it back to the house just as the first group of trick-or-treaters walks up the driveway, both of them calling a truce until the festivities are over. With Christy in her car seat on top of the table, sleeping through everything, I enjoy a few glasses of apple-pie moonshine with my husband, since I’m not nursing Christy; I decided to formula feed her for the sake of my own sanity. I daydream about all of the Halloweens we’ll get to celebrate with my family, in the house across the street, with our very own trick-or-treaters and table full of goodies.
“Happy Halloween,” I tell Sam with a smile as I wrap my arm around his waist and look up at him.
“Happy Halloween,” he replies, leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose. “Don’t worry, your dad won’t kill me as long as I don’t win the decorating contest. I already spoke with a bunch of the neighbors and told them not to vote for me this year, since technically we haven’t been living in the house. But just be prepared. Next year, it’s war.”
I laugh and shake my head at him, knowing I’ll never be able to believe my luck that I was able to find a man who fits in with this family so perfectly.