CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The LaBella family celebrated Christmas Eve dinner with the “feast of the seven fishes”, an Italian tradition that Peter, the family patriarch, insisted on even though he had married into the Novak family. “We can have the Polish traditions any other time, but we have to have fish on Christmas Eve,” he explained to Sky as they sat down for dinner.
Grace chimed in. “Of course. After all, who doesn’t like lobster fra’diavolo?”
“It’s delicious,” Sky said, as he helped himself to another lobster tail. “Thanks for setting an extra place for me at your table, and making me feel welcome.”
“You’re always welcome in our homes, and at our family dinners,” Victor said, while the rest of the family members nodded their heads.
After they finished eating, the women cleared the table, and the men retreated to the living room, where they shared some post-dinner drinks. Peter poured measures of cognac, and passed them around.
“Thank you,” Sky said, as he accepted the snifter from Peter. He lifted the glass to his nose and inhaled the rich aroma before savoring the warmth of the liquid as it slid down his throat. He waited for Victor to take his first sip, before meeting his eyes and gesturing with his head towards the dining room.
As Sky and Victor left the room, Drew returned from upstairs, where he was checking on the children. He accepted a glass of cognac from Peter, and said, “I wonder what Sky and Victor talking about.”
Peter watched the two men shake hands. “I think I have an idea.”
Grace walked into the room and kissed Peter on the cheek. “What’s going on?”
Drew, Pete and Peter exchanged glances, before Peter offered, “I think Victor is going to stay here in the main house with us tonight.”
Grace laughed. “I figured as much. Three’s a crowd in the guest house.”
The men joined her laughter. “Yeah, I remember Jen’s and my first Christmas Eve together,” Drew said. “The guest house came in handy that night.”
“It sure did,” Jen agreed, as she, Gina, and Victor appeared in the living room. “First Christmases together are special.” She beamed as she watched Sky and Meg walk hand in hand into the living room.
Gina placed a vinyl record album on the ancient turntable, and the scratchy sounds of Mitch Miller singing “Must Be Santa” came through the speakers. “How about a sing along?” she asked.
“Great idea,” Jen said with a grin.
The family sang carols, laughed, and told stories of past Christmas celebrations. They did not realize how loud they had become until PJ came down the stairs and climbed into Jennifer’s lap.
“We’d better get you back to bed,” she said, standing up. “Santa won’t come if you’re still awake.”
PJ rubbed his eyes and asked, “Will he know where to find us?”
“Your dad and I told him we were going to be here. I’m sure he’ll find us.” Jen picked PJ up and began to walk towards the stairs. “Good night, everyone. See you in the morning.”
As the rest of the family said their good nights, Meg turned to Sky. “We should go to the guest house. You can take my bed, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Sky wrinkled his brow. “Why?”
“I’m not going to ask my father to swap beds with me so that we can sleep together. That would be awkward,” she whispered, as she glanced across the room.
Sky opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Victor, who called out from across the room. “Meg, I’m going to stay here tonight. You and Sky have the guest house to yourselves.”
“Are you sure, dad?”
“Absolutely.” He walked across the room and kissed Meg on the cheek, then turned and shook Sky’s hand. “See you in the morning for breakfast. Be prepared for a big Polish feast.”
Sky picked up his luggage in the entry way, before he and Meg walked up the path towards the guest house. As he followed Meg through the door, his heart began to race, and he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans.
“Can I get you anything?” When he didn’t answer her, Meg turned around and noticed Sky staring off into space with his arms crossed tightly against his chest. She walked across the room and wrapped her arms around him. “Are you okay?”
He pulled her close and kissed her on top of her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He took her by the hand and sat her down on the sofa. He leaned in and ran his fingers through her hair, while lightly brushing his lips against hers. “My beautiful guardian angel…”
His palms became sweaty again. Do it, Johnson. Stop stalling. It’s time. He took a deep breath, then sank to his knees on the floor by her feet, and buried his head in her lap.
Meg became concerned. “Sky? Are you sure you’re okay? You’re acting strange.”
He picked his head up and stared into her deep green eyes. “I’m fine, baby.” He took her hands in his, and kissed each of them. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, Meg, but I love you, and can’t conceive of my life without you. I want you, and need you, to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
Meg gasped. She nodded her head, and began to weep.
“You’ve gotta use your words, Meg,” Sky said, with a mixture of amusement and relief in his voice. “Is that a ‘yes’?”
“Yes! Oh my God! Yes, yes, yes!”
Sky reached into his pocket, pulled out a small black box, and joined Meg on the sofa. He opened it, and took a deep breath. “This was my mother’s engagement ring. I’d be honored if you’d wear it.”
“Oh, Sky, of course I’ll wear your mother’s ring. I’m overwhelmed that you’d want me to. But is your father okay with it?”
“My dad wanted me to give it to you. He told me that the little diamonds around the center stone are called a halo setting. Perfect for my guardian angel.”
Tears streamed down both their faces as he slipped the ring on her finger. He kissed her hands again, before standing and gesturing towards the bedroom. “We’ve got some celebrating to do.”
When Sky tried to pull her into the bedroom, Meg shook her head. “You go on in. There’s something I want to do first.”
She disappeared into her childhood bedroom, and emerged a moment later carrying a small artificial Christmas tree.
“What’s that?”
Meg placed the tree on the bedside table, and plugged in the lights. “It’s my Christmas tree.” She sat on the bed, and continued, “When I was a little girl, I asked my father if I could have a small Christmas tree in my bedroom. He got me this one, and I’ve kept it all these years. I still put it in my room every time I’m home for Christmas. I used to wish on it each year.”
A pit formed in Sky’s stomach, and he felt an overwhelming need to protect her at that moment. He took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “What did you wish for?”
“It’s silly, but even serious, self-sufficient little girls, like I was back then, wished for a ‘prince charming’.” With a catch in her voice, she added, “And now you’re here.”
He kissed her again on the top of her head. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
The following morning, Meg stirred, and as she opened her eyes, she realized that Sky’s arms were wrapped around her. When she felt his warm breath on her neck and the stubble on his face rub against her shoulders, she grinned and turned over. “So, it wasn’t a dream. You’re really here.”
“Yes, I am. And you’re really going to be my wife,” he said, as he pulled her left hand out from under the covers and kissed it. “I can’t wait for our wedding day.”
“Hold on, cowboy!” She sat up in bed. “Can’t we enjoy being engaged for a little bit? We haven’t even told my family, or yours, yet.”
“Well, my father knows, because he gave me my mother’s ring. And your father knows too,” he said with a devilish grin. “I spoke with him last night, after dinner. He approves.”
Meg’s face lit up. “Really? Aww…that’s so sweet of you. I’m sure he appreciated your asking.”
A text message alert sounded from Meg’s phone. She looked at the screen, and said, “It’s my dad. Everyone is up and having breakfast, and he wants to know where we are.”
“Tell him we’ll be right there.”
When they walked into the farm house, they were greeted with the typical chaos of a LaBella-Novak family gathering. Jennifer was nursing Belle, Pete and Drew were on the living room floor playing with PJ and Laura Grace and their new toys under the tree, and Grace, Gina, Peter and Victor were carrying platters of scrambled eggs, kielbasa, smoked salmon, poppy seed rolls, and sweet cakes to the dining room table.
PJ noticed Sky and Meg first. “Aunt Meg, come look what Santa brought me.”
Meg knelt down on the floor and gave PJ and Laura Grace hugs. “Looks like you were very good this past year.”
Sky squatted down next to Meg. “That’s a cool train set, PJ. Can you show me how it works?”
“He can, after we eat breakfast,” Grace interjected.
“Deal,” Meg said. She stood up and slipped her left hand into the pocket of her pants before walking into the dining room with Sky to greet the rest of her family. “Merry Christmas, everyone.”
Victor spied the ring on his daughter’s left hand as she gave him a hug. “Meg, is that what I think it is? Don’t you have something you want to tell us?”
She blushed, and turned towards Sky, hoping he would make their announcement, but he just shook his head and held his hands up. When she realized he wasn’t going to help her out, she stuck her left hand out in front of her. “Sky asked me to marry him last night. We’re engaged.”
“Oh my God, that’s awesome!”
“Congratulations!”
“We’re so happy for you!”
“When’s the wedding?”
The heaping platters were passed around the table, and they dug into the food as if they were starving. While multiple conversations were taking place at the same time, Sky squeezed Meg’s hand. “If you need a little alone time, we can always go back to the guest house with the excuse that we have to make phone calls to my family and our friends,” he whispered in her ear.
She smiled and squeezed his hand back. “Okay.”
“Since we’re all together, we should start working on the wedding details right away,” Jennifer said.
In spite of Meg’s protests, by the end of the day the women in the family had completely planned her and Sky’s wedding. They settled on a date at the beginning of May, when the band had a two week break from touring, with the wedding at Our Lady of Poland Church, and a barn reception at the farm.
“Almond can cater the wedding, if that’s okay with you, Meg. And, Sky, if you want me to, I’ll host the rehearsal dinner at my house,” Jen said, looking up from a note pad. “We can have The Clam Man cater that, maybe with a beach theme to go with all their delicious seafood.”
Sky shrugged his shoulders. “Sounds good to me.”
Jen turned to her cousin. “Meg? What do you think?”
“Umm…it all sounds good to me. But can I at least pick out my dress and the flowers?”
Jen’s face fell. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize until now that I completely took over. I’m sorry. This is your wedding, not mine. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, no…it’s okay, Jen. I haven’t lived here in ten years. You know way more about planning parties, and the vendors here, than I do.” She reached out and gave her cousin a hug. “Thanks for all your help.”
Sky stood, stretched, and yawned. “Thanks for all your hospitality today, but I’m beat. Meg, are you ready to turn in?”
As they walked up the path back to the guest house, Meg confessed, “I really wasn’t ready to jump into wedding planning today. I’m sorry if my family was so overwhelming. Are you okay with all their plans?”
“Yes, as long as you are. The wedding is far less important to me than planning our lives together.” He pulled her close, and kissed her on top of her head. “But you’re going to have to take a lot of time off, to pull everything together in four months.”
Meg opened the guest house door, and collapsed on the sofa. “Yeah. I don’t know how I’m going to manage that, and take three weeks off for the wedding.” She pulled her arms tightly across her chest. “I’m going to lose my job.”
“Baby,” Sky said, as he sat down next to her. “We’re going to be married. There’s no reason for you to worry about work anymore.”
“You’re kidding, right?” She jumped up and began pacing the floor. “And what if we break up before the wedding? What would happen to me? I’d have no job, no place to live…”
He was taken aback. “Darlin’, first of all, we’re not breaking up. Second, you’ve gotta get a hold of yourself. These pre-wedding jitters are hitting a little soon, don’t you think?”
“I’ve already had one broken engagement. What if it happens again?”
“It’s not going to happen again. Trust me. Besides, I have a plan.”