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Home Again, Safe And Sound

“I don’t think we should go to the Family Fun Festival next year.” Kendra said as she got out of the van.

“I didn’t like the bad guys.” Chelsea said as she climbed out of her car seat. Kendra reached out to help her from the van.

“But it was nice to see our friends.” Frank said. “Even if it wound up in hours of police procedure.”

“Girls, go get your pajamas on.” Holly said.

“Can we watch a-”

“Pajamas.” Holly snapped. “Now.”

Kendra led her sister out of the garage.

Frank sat with his head bowed, waiting for them to go. “Still?”

“Got something to say, Mr. Lap Dance?”

“Remind me to grab my pillow before you go to bed.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Frank opened the door and got out without looking back.

Holly sat there fuming. “I hate the holidays.”

‘So did I.’

“Shut up.” Holly growled. “Don’t you think you’ve caused enough problems?”

‘It’s not what I wanted for you, Holly.’

“Imagine my surprise. It sure seemed like you always got whatever you wanted.” Holly crossed her arms tightly.

‘What I wanted was what was best for you and Ivy.’

“Strange. I didn’t think ghosts did revisionist history, Mom.”

Steve held Lynn close as he unlocked the front door. Nancy swept in behind him with Bradley cradled in her arms. They took the children to their rooms, took off their coats and shoes, and tucked them into their beds.

“Well, that festival wasn’t very fun. Was it?” Steve said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“It was pretty nice until those guys ruined it.”

“I guess so. The carolers were a lot better than waiting for the police to interview and clear everyone.” He stirred some egg nog into his coffee with brown sugar. “Can you believe Slipstream came all the way to Wyoming Pass?”

“Did anyone even see him?” Nancy got herself a mug.

“I don’t think so. Nice thing about being able to run at super speeds is that you can dash in, knock over a bunch of bad guys and zip back to Empire City in a couple of minutes.”

“Goodness knows how he even heard about what was going on.”

“I don’t know how The Sentinels keep tabs on stuff outside of the city, but Lynn said something pretty interesting.”

“Oh, what’s that?” She filled her mug with water and stuck it in the microwave.

“She said Chelsea told her that Frank was rescued by some unnamed superhero last Christmas.” Steve grabbed the tub of Christmas cookies.

“What?”

“Yeah, can you believe it?” Steve grabbed a few cookies and handed the container to Nancy. “She said

Frank was stuck in the snow. He couldn’t get traction and this guy pulled up in a truck.

“What, a tow truck?” She took a few cookies and snapped the lid back onto the tub.

“No, just a guy in a pickup truck. Grabbed some tow straps. Hooked him up. Put the straps over his shoulder and pulled him back up onto the road. No costume. No fancy name. Just some big guy in a pickup truck.”

“Wow. I can see why he wouldn’t go around telling people about that.”

“Apparently, he was at first. Holly stomped on him pretty hard.”

“She seems to be good at that.” Holly grabbed the canister of hot chocolate mix from the counter. “Talk about high maintenance.”

“You picked up on that, too?”

“She tries to play herself up as the ultimate modern housewife.” Nancy shook her head. “I pity those kids.”

“Well, it’s a season of miracles. Maybe this will shake something loose for her.”

“I told Lynn we need to pray for them. Seems like we need to pray a little harder.” The microwave beeped and Nancy got her mug out. “I’ll make myself some hot chocolate, Steve. Go find something nice for us to watch and I’ll be right there.”

Back in the parking lot where they’d started the evening, Ian and Ivy stood near her car.

“Are you okay?” Ivy stared into Ian’s slate-gray eyes.

“I feel awful about dragging everybody into this catastrophe.” He stared back into her soft green eyes.

“Hey, you spotted the problem and did your best to get us all someplace safe. There’s nothing to feel bad about. Who could have predicted that a bunch of masked goons would try to rob the whole festival? That was nuts.” She held his hands.

“It sure was. I’m just glad that superhero got here in time. I don’t think those guys would have reacted well to us decking their friend.”

She put a hand on his cheek. “Shh, don’t think about that anymore. Okay? We’re safe. The kids are safe and they’re not half as traumatized as they would have been if we’d have been outside with guns pointing everywhere.”

“Even so, poor Kendra. It’s not bad enough she had to see all that commotion…”

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Ivy’s eyes cast down, and she clasped her hands in front of her. “She’s a…”

Ian grabbed her hands and gave them a squeeze. “She’s a real piece of work is what she is.”

“Yes, that’s absolutely true.” Ivy laughed. “She always has been.”

“Boy, those poor kids.”

“She’s not always that harsh with them.” Ivy looked up at him. “She’s a pretty good mom, and she means well.”

“But?”

“Well, I guess the berry doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Don’t you mean ‘the apple’?”

“Her name is Holly, Ian.”

“Of all the trees that are in the wood, the Holly bears the crown.” He sang.

“Oh, God. Don’t remind me.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “She was the queen of her own little universe for as long as I knew her. Mom used to have her in all of those gosh-awful pageants.”

“But not you?”

“She tried.” Ivy shrugged. “Most times, I got to stay over at Grammy’s instead.”

“What was your grandmother like?”

“Old.”

“That’s not nice.”

“She was a gentle woman, and she loved us very much.” Ivy’s eyes welled up. “She wasn’t able to protect me from Holly.”

“Protect you?”

“Holly was so mean to me, Ian. She tormented me every way she could dream up. The world revolved around her and she wanted everyone to know it. Mom just egged her on. Holly was the pageant princess, and I was the toad.”

Ian pulled her close and wrapped her in a warm hug. “Ivy, you’re many things, none of which is a toad.”

She drove her face into his chest and sobbed.