The Roots That Tied to My Feet

Melanie groaned as she felt sun beaming on the outside of her lids and her bed shaking. She rolled over and used her pillow to cover her head, blocking out the noises that were echoing into her ears.

“Melanie, Melanie, Melanie, Melanie, Melanie, Melanie, Melanie,” the boy sang. He paused, “Melanie!”

She threw her pillow at him and sat up with a scowl on her lips, “What the hell do you want right now, John! It’s eight in the morning!”

John stifled his laughter and she tried her hardest not to slap his smirk off his face. “Do you know what today is?” He asked at last.

“Let’s not let Melanie sleep day?” She groaned lying back onto her mattress.

“No! It’s December first,” John stated matter-of-factly.

“…Which means?” Melanie asked, annoyance obvious in her voice.

“Which means!?” he exclaimed while standing up and running his fingers through his hair. “It means that were already two days late on preparing for Christmas! It’s already December and I don’t have a tree up in my apartment! Melanie, you know this is our favorite holiday and I am completely unprepared because I decided to be a good friend and wait for you to come home from England.”

Melanie let out a soft chuckle and she finally turned her eyes to the boy. He was wearing a dark green Christmas sweater with reindeer prancing on the front. It had gotten tighter since the time he bought it—when they were fifteen years old. He had a small blush on his cheeks and Melanie smiled at him with tons of Christmas memories coming back into her mind.

“Give me twenty minutes,” she said at last while crawling out of bed. She blushed as she realized she was wearing only boy shorts and an old oversized sweater and she tried not to let her cheeks heat up as she watched John’s eyes naturally trail down her legs.

She ignored his gaze before walking into her bathroom and washing her face. She pulled her long brown hair into a bun on the top of her head and applied a small amount of makeup. She pulled a cashmere sweater out of her closet slipping it over her bra and pulled some ripped jeans over her thin legs. She stumbled out of the door as she pulled her Ugg boots over her feet.

She walked in her living room to find John sitting with Haley and Garrett who were lying on the couch. “Are you guys really watching Sex and the City?” Melanie laughed as she walked into the living room.

“It’s my favorite,” Garrett said seriously, keeping his eyes on the screen.

Haley looked up from where she was lying in Garrett’s arms. “It’s his fill of sex since he isn’t getting any,” she giggled.

“Good answer,” Melanie chuckled before looking at John who was watching the movie as well. “Did you wake me up to watch this or to go Christmas shopping?”

He stood up and walked over to her, grabbing her hand. They walked to his car and he opened her door for her. After a few short moments they arrived at the tree lot. Melanie pulled her sweater closer to her as they stepped into the cool air. They among others began walking around the lot surveying all the trees.

“This is one is pretty,” Melanie smiled, leaning forward to smell the fir. She really did love the holidays.

“The back of it is bare,” John replied simply before walking to the other side of the lot.

Melanie sighed as she remembered doing this for years now. John was a stickler. No trees were ever good enough and she was prepared to be there for at least another two hours. And they were.

Melanie followed behind the boy as he surveyed each tree seriously. Measuring it, guessing it’s weight, feeling the pine needles, and smelling it was part of John’s process for the finding the perfect one. It was bearable at first but after almost eighty trees it became invigorating.

“John, this tree is fine. I don’t understand what is wrong with it,” Melanie groaned as she looked at the tree in front of them.

“Melanie, you’re not looking at the bigger picture here. This tree is going to characterize me for the next month. Everyone who sees it is going to think of me differently solely based on this representation,” he said seriously, his green iris’s gazing into hers.

“Are you serious?” She asked, holding back a laugh. She turned and tapped the sales consultant behind her. “Excuse me, we’ll take this one please.”

“Melanie!” John exclaimed sounding astonished.

“We’re getting this tree! It’s perfect, okay? You’re being overly anal, O’Callaghan.”

John crossed his arms and pouted his lips. He refused to help as the guy at the lot helped Melanie load the tree into the back of his truck and she even had to steal his keys to drive his car home for him. As soon as they arrived at the apartment Melanie forced John to help her carry the tree up the stairs, considering it weighed more than she did. She maneuvered it around his living room as he sat on the couch with a frown on his lips. Once she had successfully found the perfect spot she sat next him and sighed, her body growing tired.

“There,” she smiled. “It’s right in front of the patio window but not in the way of the door. So everyone can see it from the outside but you can still stand on the patio.”

John sat silently keeping his eyes straight forward. Melanie groaned, “John,” she whined. “Are you mad at me?”

Silence.

“John! Come on, it looks great. This tree to me says, ‘hi, I’m John O’Callaghan and I am the coolest guy in the entire world!’” She giggled lightheartedly, smiling as she watched his angry façade smirk slightly. “Talk to me, Johnny boy.”

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, “It really says that about me?”

Melanie smiled softly at the fact that he seemed genuinely concerned, “You bet it does.”

John finally grinned at the tree shyly. He looked like a five year old on Christmas day trying not to open his presents. He was excited, that was simple to see. “Thank you for coming with me today, Melanie.”

She nodded her head, “Of course, John. It’s a tradition.”

“Did you buy a Christmas tree when you were in Seattle?” He asked quietly, looking into her blue eyes.

“I did,” Melanie said softly, biting her lip. “Did you buy one?”

John shook his head, “I-I didn’t feel right without you here.”

Melanie sat quietly as did he. She thought back onto her first Christmas without John up in Seattle. She traveled in the rain to find a lot with trees and her car broke down. She called a new friend she had made which ironically was Ben and he helped her to find her way back to her apartment and set up the tree. They had their first kiss under mistletoe.

“Shall we decorate?” John said after a few moments, placing both of his hands on his knees before standing up.

Melanie stood up as he sauntered into a different room returning with a box. He opened it and boxes of lights, tinsel, and bulbs spilled onto the floor. “I want to tinsel!” John exclaimed as he grabbed the blue string from the box.

She laughed and began plugging in strings of lights making sure they worked properly before stringing them around the tree. The decorated for hours before stepping back and looking at their work. The tree looked beautiful. They didn’t stick with the trends of red and gold, or blue and silver, but they found an assortment of bulbs in every shade and put them around the tree creating a sort of rainbow. Melanie smiled as she hung up a bulb that read: 2001 on the bottom. She and John had collected a Christmas ornament every year they had been friends until three years ago.

“I have a surprise,” John grinned before stepping into his bedroom. A moment later he returned with three small boxes and Melanie instantly knew what they were.

“John—you, you shouldn’t have,” she said delicately. She took the small white boxes from his hand before opening each one of them. One of them was a porcelain angel, a golden star, and a penguin with a Santa hat. She smiled before taking them in her hands, “Shall we?”

He followed her over to the tree and they hung them up. The two took a step back and admired their work. Melanie turned to John and opened her arms and he instantly stepped into them. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and squeezed her against him. “I really missed you, Melanie. I’m glad you came home to me this Christmas. I guess Santa finally heard me.”
_____

“Good God! This is beautiful, Melanie!” Charlotte exclaimed, smiling as she spun on the dance floor.

Melanie smiled at the red head and grinned looking around the room. “Isn’t it amazing? I’m glad we scheduled ourselves early! Thank you, Mom.”

Elaine grinned, “Of course, honey. I want you to have the perfect wedding you always wanted.”

Melanie looked up at the vaulted ceilings of the beautiful chapel. There were stained glass windows and rich brown mahogany pews. There were white flowers surrounding the stage in the front where she and Ben would be saying their vows and she got goose bumps as she pictured it.

Melanie felt a hand interlace with hers as she looked into her mother’s blue eyes. Her hair was a wig considering she had lost it all in chemo and her eyes were sunken in as well as her cheeks. The family knew she really didn’t have much longer just by the simple way the cold was getting to her.

“We have another hall if you would like to see it, Miss,” the attendant said and Melanie simple shook her head, knowing for a fact this was where she wanted to be married.

“Well, I would love to look!” Charlie giggled.

“When is your wedding?” The attendant asked as the two began walking out of the room.

“Oh you know, next March,” the red head lied, playing make believe.

Melanie laughed and followed her mom over to a pew. The two sat down and stared at the mural of baby Jesus and Mary on the stained glass. Elaine squeezed her hand gently before turning to her daughter. Melanie smiled at her mom and a small tear slid down her cheek.

“Why are you crying, baby?” Her mother questioned, touching her face lightly.

She shook her head as if it would stop the tears falling from her eyes. She sucked on her bottom lip enough to where she was sure it would swell. “I want you to be there…”

“I will be there, Melanie,” Elaine assured, rubbing her daughters back comfortingly.

“You don’t know that!” She yelled in a whisper, leaning in to her mother’s side. “I need you there. I need you there…”

“I promise you, honey. I will do whatever I can to be there,” her mom sighed, trying not to cry herself.

Elaine held Melanie as she soaked her dress with tears before fixing her dripping mascara. She felt like a small child but she didn’t care—mothers were there to fix you when you felt like falling apart.

“Are you excited?” Elaine asked after Melanie had gathered herself together.

“Yes,” she smiled. “I love him, Mama.”

“I know you do, darling,” her mother replied simply. “Will his mother be attending the wedding as well?”

“Yeah, she’s flying in from France with his grandmother a week before the wedding so she’s here for the rehearsals and everything.”

“Do you like her or is she a monster in law?” Elaine laughed.

“I like her a lot,” Melanie chuckled. “She’s been nothing but welcoming to me.”

“Well, you do have a way with mothers. I’ve never met one who hasn’t like you.”

“Because you’ve never met a mother of a boyfriend before! I never had a boyfriend in high school really, wow…I’m pathetic!” She laughed.

“No you aren’t dear, and I had June!” Elaine laughed.

“Mrs. O’Callaghan hardly counts. She knew me in diapers she had to love me. And John was never technically my boyfriend,” Melanie concluded.

Her mother shook her head and laughed, “Never your boyfriend and yet you had sex with him? Tsk tsk you slut!”

“Mom!” Melanie exclaimed with laughter in her voice.

She giggled as a girl collapsed onto the bench next to her, “That’s it,” Charlotte said simply. “If Kennedy doesn’t propose soon I’m going to be a gold digger and get married as soon as possible just so I can get married in the chapel down the hall. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

Elaine laughed at the red head, “I know a few doctors if you’re interested.”

“Thank you, Mama Hendricks for having my back,” she laughed.

Melanie sighed as she sat in between her best and her mother. She was excited and happy, just feeling completely content. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too, babe.”