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Zavijava, Any Time After 4

Chelsea was pretending not to watch Lynn drawing. She figured that since they weren’t friends anymore, Lynn was just drawing because she liked to draw.

Lynn was concentrating too hard to take notice of Chelsea. She grabbed a brown crayon, a yellow one, a black one. She studied her work.

Chelsea tried to peek without getting caught. She saw Lynn’s eyes dart over toward her and then back at the drawing.

“What’s that, Lynn?” Her teacher asked.

“A picture of Baby Jesus.” Lynn said, holding it up. “I drew it for Chelsea.”

Chelsea’s mouth dropped open. “For me?”

“Yeah, you’re my best friend even if you don’t like me anymore.”

“I do so.” Chelsea said as she looked at the drawing.

“You were really mad at me yesterday.”

“It’s okay now.”

“That’s good.” Lynn said, putting her crayons back in the box.

The teacher smiled at them and moved on.

“Kendra said I was wrong to think you were mean.”

“I didn’t mean to say it, Chelsea. Really. I think your Aunt Ivy is nice.”

“It just hurt my feelings. I love Aunt Ivy and I don’t want people to be mean to her.”

“I wouldn’t be. Honest.”

“Not your uncle, either.”

“He took it back. I said so.”

“Really?”

“Mommy said he ought to apologize to her in person.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Chelsea said. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I guess so. She can’t forgive him if he doesn’t apologize. Right?”

“Maybe so, but how?”

“There’s that smile.” Ivy said.

“Hi, Aunt Ivy. Lynn drew this for me.” She held up the paper.

“Are you guys friends again?”

“Yeah, she apologized.”

“That’s nice, honey. I’m glad you have your friend back.”

“She said she apologized to you, too.”

“That’s sweet of her. She didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, not really, I guess. She said she didn’t ever think that. She just said what her uncle told her.”

“I’m glad she doesn’t agree with him.”

“She said something else.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“She said Uncle Ian wanted to apologize to you.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know.”

“She said he feels really bad about it and how can you forgive him if he doesn’t have a chance to apologize?”

“That’s very nice, Chelsea. Why don’t you just tell Lynn to tell him?”

“She said he’s really sad that he hurt your feelings and wants to apologize in person.”

Holly wandered into the kitchen. “Who are you talking about?”

“Lynn’s uncle.” Ivy said. “Apparently, he’s devastated and needs to beg my forgiveness in person.”

“Look, Mommy. It’s the Baby Jesus.”

“Did Lynn draw that for you?”

“Even when she thought I was still mad at her. She drew it anyway. She said Jesus was born because God wanted to forgive everybody.”

“That was very nice of her. Did you forgive her?”

“Yes, we’re friends again. Can we put this in my picture frame?”

“Of course we can. Let’s go do that right now.” Holly held Chelsea’s hand as they moved to the stairs.

“What about Aunt Ivy?”

“What about her?”

“Is she going to let Lynn’s uncle apologize?”

“Let’s go put your picture in your picture frame. It will give her time to think about it.”

Ivy stood there, watching them go.

Apologize?

Was she actually going to meet him somewhere and let him grovel?

It had a certain appeal.

It was certainly terrifying.

‘Get hold of yourself.’ She chided herself. ‘Does he even deserve a chance to apologize?’

“I’M HOME!” Lynn came screaming in the door.

“Hi, Lynn!” Bradley hopped excitedly at the sight of his sister.

“Oh, hey, sweetie. Did everything go alright?”

“Yeah! Chelsea is my friend again and she’s going to tell her aunt.”

“That’s wonderful. Good job, Lynn.”

“Can I have a cookie?”

“Sure, honey. You want milk or hot chocolate?”

“Milk!” Bradley yelled as he bowled past them into the kitchen.

“Me, too. Let me get my coat off.” Lynn unzipped it and began struggling with the sleeves.

Her mom helped her out of it and hung it for her. “Go ahead and wash your hands. We’ll have some cookies and milk. Bradley has been waiting to watch a Santa show with you.”

“Arthur!” He yelled from the kitchen.

“Bradley, we already watched that one.”

Her mom laughed. “Go ahead and wash your hands. We’ll figure out what to watch while we have our snack. Bradley, just wait. I’ll help you.”

By the time Lynn was done washing her hands, Bradley was securely in his seat and her mom was on the phone. She held her finger up to her lips so Lynn would know not to talk.

“Hi, Chelsea said it was very important that I call you.”

“Ivy?”

“Yes, she’s quite concerned that Ian should have a chance to apologize to me in person.”

“Oh, of course.”

“I think it’s best if we meet someplace neutral.”

“Sounds great. Let me check his schedule to see when he can meet with you.” Nancy swept the screen to get to the texting app.

Are you busy?

Yes. What’s up?

Setting up a mtg w Ivy

OMG

Be serious. When and where?

Zavijava, any time after 4

“Hey, Ivy, can you meet him at the Zavijava?”

“Sure, what time?”

“He says after four.”

“I’ll be waiting.” She hung up.

Don’t be late!

Alright

Bradley was happily gnawing on a Christmas tree-shaped cookie.

“Well, that’s that.” Nancy said, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

“What?” Lynn asked, grabbing a second chocolate chip cookie to dunk in her milk.

“Uncle Ian is going to meet Chelsea’s aunt at the coffee place. It’s all up to them now.”

“Should we pray? I think we should.”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Her mom asked as she sat down.

Lynn frowned as half of her soggy cookie dislodged and plopped into her milk.

Bradley laughed as she wiped up the milk that splashed out of her cup.

“Here, I’ll get you a spoon for that.” Her mom laughed.