This Bitch Just Blew Me Away

She hesitated in picking up the phone, but she knew it was something she had to do. Since her father had died she’d always been further away from her family, and now she’d completely shut out her mother. But she didn’t want it to be that way anymore. It was Christmas now, and Ashlyn was six months old now. Lizzy was still living with Austin and they were still very happy to call themselves a couple. Austin’s divorce had been finalized not long before, and Jami wasn’t around very often.

So she picked up the phone and she took a deep breath before punching in the familiar numbers. Austin’s parents were already in town to meet their granddaughter for the first time, and Lizzy wanted her daughter to know her only truly blood related grandmother, even if she never knew the truth about her genetics. There were four rings before her mother’s voice came onto the line in a simple “Hello.”

“Mom, hi, it’s me…Elizabeth,” Lizzy said and cleared her throat. “I was…I was wondering if you’d like to maybe…uh, if you’d like to come to Austin’s and my place for Christmas dinner?”

“I haven’t heard from you in six months, Elizabeth. And after the way you treated me the last time we did speak…why I don’t know if I can do that…” Melanie asked.

“Mom…I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, it wasn’t fair for me to do that. But…but you have to understand why I was hurt, mom. You came in here and started criticizing and judging and offending the father of my child, ya’know? And I know he isn’t the kind of guy you wanted me to get involved with, but mom, I love him.”

“Elizabeth, he is a bad man,” Melanie insisted.

“Mom, he’s an amazing man. He’s done everything in the world for me. I love him, mother, please just accept that,” Lizzy said.

“Dinner…Christmas dinner?” Melanie asked then. Lizzy let out a sigh of relief and she smiled.

“Yes, Christmas dinner. Tonight.”

“Okay…fine I’ll come for Christmas dinner, because I want to see the baby,” Melanie agreed.

“I’ll see you soon, mom,” Lizzy said with a smile and she looked up when she saw Austin walk into the bedroom with a towel around his waist. His hair was wet and he was freshly shaved. He smiled at her and she smiled back brightly. “Okay, well I have to get ready and get Ashlyn up now, I’ll see you later. Bye mom,” she said and hung up. Austin sat on the edge of the bed and looked towards her.

“You talked to your mother?” he asked. She nodded.

“Yea, she’s coming to see the baby. For Christmas, Austin,” she said. He nodded.

“It’s all good. We better hurry, I’m sure my mother is down there making breakfast,” he said with an eye roll. Lizzy laughed out loud.

“You’re mother is nice, Austin,” she said. He sighed.

“You only say that because you didn’t grow up with her,” he said. She laughed again and kissed his cheek.

“She’s very nice to me,” she said and rolled her hair up into a bun and walked out of the room and into Ashlyn’s nursery and picked the baby up before kissing her head. “Hello my love, it’s Christmas, my darling,” she said and kissed her again. Ashlyn stared at her and smiled a nearly toothless smile, which made Lizzy laugh. She carried the baby down the stairs and went into the kitchen where Austin’s mother was making breakfast.

“Lizzy, good morning darling!” she exclaimed and took the baby from Lizzy’s arms and kissed her cheek. “Good morning little baby! You are such a sweet adorable little love! You look just like your gorgeous mother.”

“You liar,” Lizzy said with a smile. “Telling her I’m gorgeous.”

“You are gorgeous. You’re a perfect match for my son,” Tammy said with a big smile. Lizzy blushed softly and looked down at the floor.

“I’m glad you think so,” she said. She heard Austin coming down the stairs and she took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m a good enough match.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lizzy,” Tammy said and watched her son come into the kitchen.

“Morning, mom,” he said.

“Merry Christmas, Austin,” she said as he pecked her cheek.

“Merry Christmas,” he said and rolled his eyes, earning himself a swat on the arm. He laughed and put his arms around Lizzy from behind. He leaned down and put his chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck. “Santa brought you a present,” he said. She looked at him with suspicion.

“I don’t trust you,” she said. He laughed and stood up before putting his hands over her eyes and starting to lead her to where her gift was. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m taking you to your present, because you were such a good girl,” he said with laughter and continued to direct her. She was suddenly very suspicious when she realized she’d been taken out into the front yard.

“I don’t like where this is going,” she said and he moved his hands from her eyes after pushing the lids down so her eyes would remain closed. “What is all this about Austin? It’s cold out here,” she whined. He took her hand and set something in her palm before closing her fingers around it.

“Open your eyes,” he said and she opened them to see a small black convertible BMW. Her eyes widened and she took in a deep gasping breath as she looked down at the keys in her hand. “Merry Christmas.”

“Austin! I told you I wouldn’t accept a car from you!” she squealed as she looked at the car. He rolled his eyes.

“I told you, Santa brought it,” he said. She turned around and glared at him.

“You swine,” she said. He laughed and kissed her lips.

“Lizzy, take the car,” he said. She frowned.

“I’ve already taken so much from you,” she started and he opened the car door and pushed her in.

“It’s already paid for, Liz, take the car,” he said. She ran her hands over the steering wheel and the dashboard and she took in a breath before putting the key in the ignition and turning the car on.

“It’s amazing,” she said to herself and turned it off. She got out of the car and she put her arms around Austin’s neck and kissed him hard on his lips. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he said and held her tightly around her waist. “I love you, Lizzy.”

“I love you, too,” she said with a grin.

In the early evening Lizzy’s mother came to the house with gifts wrapped in silver wrapping paper with red ribbons. When Austin opened the door Melanie could see his body tense up a little bit and she did her best to smile at him and seem pleasant. “Merry Christmas, Austin,” she said.

“Merry Christmas,” he said and moved aside so she could walk into the house.

“You’re looking good since the last time I saw you,” Melanie said with a smile still spread on her face.

“Thank you, you’re looking good as well,” he said. “Lizzy is in the dining room setting the table for dinner.”

“Where should I leave the gifts? Do you have a tree?”

“Yes, our tree is in the living room,” he said and pointed her in the right direction before going into the kitchen to see his mother putting food into serving dishes. He quickly reached into one of the dishes and flinched back when his mother slapped his hand.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said.

“I was only gonna get a…”

“Are you still three years old?” she said and looked him over. He frowned.

“Fine,” he pouted. “Lizzy’s mother is here…so this ought to be fun.”

“Have you met her?”

“Once, quite a while ago. She wasn’t my biggest fan,” he said.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you. Now be useful, Austin, and help me take these things out to the dining table,” she said. He sighed and picked up a serving dish of mashed potatoes and carried it to the table. Lizzy was lighting the two tall red candles on the table when he set the dish down.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

“You’re mother is here,” he said. She frowned.

“Is she?” she said. “I had better go out and great her. Was she okay to you?”

“I suppose,” he said and shrugged. He picked up a spoon and went for the potatoes when Lizzy smacked his hand the way his mother had. “Bitch,” he said.

“We’re going to eat in a minute, Austin. I don’t think you’re going to starve to death.”

“I was only going to…”

“I don’t want excuses,” Lizzy said and walked out of the room while rolling her eyes. He watched to make sure she was out of the room before picking the spoon up again.

“Drop it,” his mother said as she walked in with a casserole dish full of green bean casserole.

“You two are like fucking blood hounds! My god,” he groaned and walked out of the dining room, causing his mother to laugh to herself.

“Some things will never change,” she said to herself and went back into the kitchen.

Lizzy went into the living room to see her mother talking with Austin’s father, and she was surprised when suddenly her mother let out a loud genuine laugh. “Mom,” she said then suddenly. Melanie turned her head to look at her daughter and she stood up to greet her.

“Elizabeth, merry Christmas,” she said and hugged her daughter tightly, which also surprised Lizzy. She tensely hugged her mother back and pulled away.

“Merry Christmas, mom,” she said.

“Where is the baby?”

“She’s asleep upstairs; I was just going to get her for dinner,” Lizzy said and looked at her mother. She was dressed in a red skirt suit with her hair pinned back and a light layer of makeup, looking the same as she always did. So Lizzy was confused at her attitude.

“Well, bring her down, let’s see her,” Melanie said. Lizzy nodded and hurried up the stairs to pick up the baby. Ashlyn was awake and playing with her small socked feet. Lizzy realized that one of the socks had been pulled off and she rolled her eyes.

“Why are you taking your sockies off, silly girl?” she asked as she lifted the baby from the crib. She replaced the removed sock and smoothed the wrinkles out of the little red dress. “You’re so pretty my girl.” Ashlyn smiled up at Lizzy and giggled. Lizzy laughed and suddenly she realized Ashlyn needed to be changed. She sighed and quickly changed the baby’s diaper before taking her down stairs.

She walked into the living room to see Melanie still talking with Austin’s father and laughing. She took a deep breath and shook her head a little to try and clear her thoughts before walking up to her mother with Ashlyn in her arms. Melanie turned again and looked at the baby with a smile.

“Why, Lizzy, she’s beautiful,” Melanie said and took the baby from her daughter. “She looks just like you when you were this age. But I can see just a touch of her father in her,” she said and looked the baby over. “She’s completely gorgeous.”

Lizzy was silent. She didn’t know what to say to her mother’s new behavior, and she certainly didn’t understand how Melanie had seen any of Austin in the baby. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what Ashlyn’s biological father had looked like. A slight memory came to her mind and she realized there had been enough similarities between the two men that Ashlyn could very well appear to have some of Austin in her features. She smiled. “Thank you, mom,” she said. “Let’s have dinner.”

“Yes, my dear, lets,” Melanie said and followed Lizzy into the dining room with Austin’s father following. The meal went well, which further confused Lizzy. It had been years since she’d seen her mother laugh so often. In the past the only person that had been able to make Melanie Marshal laugh had been her husband, Lizzy’s father. After he’d died, Melanie rarely laughed, and when she did it was soft and short.

“Well, why don’t we have coffee and dessert in the living room with the tree?” Tammy said with a smile.

“That sounds wonderful,” Melanie agreed. “Elizabeth has made such a wonderful dinner for us this evening.”

“It was with a lot of help,” Lizzy said and smiled at Austin’s mother. “I’m so happy you enjoyed it, mother.”

The group moved into the living room and Lizzy strapped the baby into her baby swing before she went into the kitchen. Austin followed her. She smiled at him and once they were in the kitchen she put her arms around his waist.

“Are you having a nice Christmas, babe?” he asked and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Surprisingly I’m having an amazing Christmas,” she said. He laughed.

“I think your mother likes my dad,” he said.

“I think you’re right,” she laughed. “Now let’s get going on coffee and dessert before they wonder what happened to us,” she said. He nodded and let go of her. “You have serving trays, right?”

“Somewhere,” he said. She rolled her eyes. She looked through the cupboards until she found serving trays and she cut coffee cake for everybody and took out a tray with cake and Austin brought out a tray with coffee and cups. Cake and coffee went by just as dinner had, smoothly with laughter. Lizzy was excited that her mother had enjoyed her time at the house and that it seemed like everybody had a good Christmas.

After Melanie went home and a lot of cleaning, Lizzy finally collapsed into bed with Austin and snuggled against him. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered.

“Was it a merry Christmas?” he asked. She nodded sleepily against his shoulder and yawned.

“A very Merry Christmas,” she said and smiled gently.

“I’m glad,” he said. “I love you, Liz.”

“I…love you…too,” she said as she drifted to sleep with her head on his chest. She was finally able to say that she was completely happy, with a good man, and her daughter. She finally had the family she’d always wanted to have as a child, and she was working things through with her mother. So with a final deep breath she let go of everything, of her fight to not let anyone help her, and she let some of the burden off her shoulders, because as she fell asleep with him, everything was perfect.