A Christmas Surprise

Baking. It’s the only thing that was able to take her mind off of it… off of him. It was her escape from reality. The feel of dough sticking to her fingers as she tried to make it cooperate was home to her. The scents of cinnamon and nutmeg combined in her freshly baked apple pie and made her nose twinge, her mouth longing to taste the sweetness. Bing Crosby crooned in the background as she rolled the dough into balls and placed them on a cookie sheet.

She knew it would be hard this year, spending the holidays alone. She just wasn’t expecting it to be this hard. Looking to her left she sighed as she stared at his picture. It had been six months since she had last seen him in person. Video chats on the computer were never enough. There was either a huge delay because of how far apart they were or their time was just cut too short. They resorted to sending letters but it always took forever. Suddenly, the phone rang causing her to lose her train of thought. She put down the dough she was rolling and wiped her hands on a towel and picked the phone up off the receiver.

“Hello?” she asked, walking over to the radio and turning the dial down.

“Hey Lily,” her sister, Violet, answered. Lily smiled when she heard her sister’s voice.

“Hey Vi, what’s up?”

“Oh nothing, just reminding you about the annual Christmas party at my place. Tony’s out shopping and we just want to make sure you’re coming so he can get your favorites.”

“Of course I’m coming! But he doesn’t need to get my favorites. I can drink and eat the same stuff everyone else is.”

“If you insist,” Vi said, letting out a dramatic sigh. “I can’t wait to see you! I feel like it’s been forever.”

“Vi, it’s been two weeks!” Lily said, letting out a laugh.

“It feels like longer.”

“You are so strange baby sister.”

“But you still love me!” Vi said loudly causing Lily to pull the phone away from her ear slightly.

“This is true. So I’ll see you on Saturday?”

“Five o’clock. Don’t be late!”

“I never am,” Lily said, hanging up the phone with a smile on her face.

Violet and Tony were famous for their Christmas parties. It was Lily’s favorite time of year and the unforgettable parties were always the highlight of her year. Cory always got excited around Christmas time because he loved Vi and Tony’s parties. Lily smiled thinking of her husband and felt a tear prick at the corner of her eye knowing that he wouldn’t be there with her this year.

However, she couldn’t show her emotion. Everyone was convinced she was fine not having him around, especially this past month with the holidays around. Instead she imagined how extravagant Vi’s decorations would be this year. She always changed it up to present variety since the guests were always the same. One year, she went with a tacky theme and had different kinds of light strands, inflatable decorations outside, moving decorations outside, flashing lights, and hideous ornaments and decorations inside. To go along with the theme, everyone wore ugly sweaters. Last year, it was all white. White lights, white ornaments, and everyone wore white. It was truly a white Christmas. This year, the theme was a southern Christmas, food and all. Lily couldn’t wait to see what the house looked like.

“Oh, my cookies!” she exclaimed, pulling away from her thoughts as the timer went off on the stove. She grabbed her oven mitts and pulled the tray out of the stove, letting out a breath of air as she realized she got them out just in time.

Cory would kill her if she ever burned the cookies.

****

Lily tugged at the bottom of her dress, making sure there were no wrinkles before ringing the doorbell at Violet and Tony’s house. She balanced the tray of cookies in her hand as she waited for someone to answer the door.

“Sis!” Tony said with excitement as he swung the door open.

“Hi Tony,” she said with a smile on her face as she stepped inside. She wrapped an arm around her brother-in-law as he squeezed her tight.

“Let me take those,” he said, grabbing the tray. “You can put your coat in the closet. These smell delicious Lil!”

“Thanks Tony,” she said, letting out a laugh as she hung her coat in the closet. “Where’s my darling sister?”

“I’m over here!” Violet cried, quickly crossing the living room with her arms wide open. “How are you doing sis?”

“I’m great! Vi, the house looks absolutely gorgeous!”

“Thank you honey, but seriously, how are you doing?” she asked, grabbing a hold of her sister’s shoulders and looking sincerely into her eyes.

“Violet, I’m not doing this,” Lily said in a sing-song voice and walking away. “Hi Mom!”

“Hello darling!” her mother said, walking over and embracing her daughter in a hug. “You look beautiful! How are you holding up?”

“I’m doing fine, Mom,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “But can we please not talk about it, not tonight? I just want to have fun with my family and friends. Okay?”

“Okay,” her Mom whispered, kissing her forehead. “Your sister went all out this year.”

“I can see that,” Lily said, letting out a laugh. “It’s probably her most beautiful theme though.”

“They get better and better each year.”

“Thank you!” Violet said in passing as she carried some glasses of champagne over to some friends.

“Amazing,” Lily said as her mother laughed. They watched Violet weave her way through the crowd, entertaining their friends and family.

“She’s one of a kind, your sister,” her mother said, turning to look at her. “Lily? Sweetie?”

“I miss Cory,” Lily said, tears dripping down her face.

“Oh honey,” she said, wrapping her arms around her daughter’s shoulders. “You’ll see him again.”

“But I don’t know when,” Lily said, taking the handkerchief from her mother and wiping her tears away. “It could be weeks from now, months, years. I miss him.”

“Lily,” her mother said, putting her hand on Lily’s arm.

“I haven’t seen him in months,” Lily said, throwing her hands in the air. “I can’t take it any longer. I’m sick of this.”

“Lily…”

“It’s not fair to me. I know he’s doing his job and serving his country but to keep him away from his wife… it’s just not fair.”

“Lily, honey…”

“What, Mom? Nothing you can say will make it better.”

“Sweetheart, turn around,” her mother said, and that’s when Lily noticed the tears dripping down her mother’s face. Slowly she turned around, her heart racing, and that’s when she saw him. Cory. He was standing there in front of her, still in his ACU. Everyone else in the room was silent, their eyes fixated on the couple standing in the middle of the room.

“C-Cory? What are you… how are you… you’re here!” she exclaimed, jumping into his arms, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.

“Hi baby,” he said, squeezing her tight. She melted into his grasp and took in his scent. She relished in his deep, husky voice that she missed the sound of so much. She didn’t want to let go.

“How are you here right now? I didn’t think I’d be able to see you until June!”

“It was a surprise,” he said, setting her down, keeping his arms tight around her waist. “We all get two days to be home and I wanted it to be a complete surprise.”

“Cory!” Violet cried, dropping the tray she was carrying into the room.

“Hi, ruining the moment here,” Lily said, turning to her sister and rolling her eyes.

“Well I’m sorry that no one decided to tell me that my favorite brother-in-law showed up to surprise everyone,” she said, putting her hands on her hips causing everyone to laugh.

“Hey!”

“Sorry Robby!” she said, causing more laughter. “But seriously Cor, how did you know we’d all be here?”

“Lily told me the last time we talked,” he said, turning back to his wife who had the biggest smile on her face. “When I found out that it was the same day we would be coming home I knew I had to show up here without telling anyone.”

“I hate you for surprising me like that,” Lily said, lightly shoving him. “But I also love you for it!”

“Welcome home, Cory,” Lily’s mother said, coming over and wrapping her arms around him.

“Thanks Ma,” he said, kissing her cheek.

“We’ve missed you,” Vi said, giving him a hug next.

“I’ve missed you all too,” he said. “The place looks gorgeous, Vi. This is my favorite theme yet.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” he said with a laugh.

“Everyone!” Violet shouted, catching everyone’s attention. “From now on, every year, this will be our Christmas theme!”

Everyone applauded as Lily snuggled into her husband’s chest. This is what Christmas should be like every year. Beautiful decorations for a party with the people she loves the most; her husband by her side while she bakes all kinds of Christmas cookies. This is what she had been missing. And right now, that’s what she had and she was going to cherish it for as long as she could.

"Now, where are those cookies?" Cory asked, looking down at Lily. "I could smell them a mile away!"