Christmas with the Reeds

Friday has had way too much fun putting together the costumes for tonight. “What the fuck, Friday?” I ask as she tosses me a pair of red and green striped tights.

“Daddy said f—,” Hayley sings out, but Friday covers her mouth really quickly. She scowls at me.

“I thought she was in her room,” I say, trying to defend myself. I look down at the tights. “I am not wearing these.” I toss them onto the coffee table.

“You’re all wearing them. And the elf shorts. And the pointy hat.”

The door opens and my four brothers walk into the room together, and they have Josh and Daniel with them. My heart stalls a little. I knew Pete was going to get Josh, to try to get him to come home with him. I just wasn’t sure if it would work or not.

“Josh,” I say as I get to my feet. I shake hands with him, and he smiles at me. “So glad you could make it.”

Josh looks around, his eyes wary. “So, what are we doing?”

“We’re going down to the homeless shelter and taking toys for all the kids. And Henry is going to be Santa.” I jerk a thumb toward Friday. “My wife decided that all of us men have to be elves.”

Friday holds up a pair of tights. “You’re going to look so handsome.”

Sam reaches for a pair. “Oh, I love it when Peck lets me wear her tights. Those things are warm.” He starts to unroll them, and he actually looks excited about it. “I’m totally serious,” he says. “Even better than thermals.” Suddenly, he starts to laugh. He turns to Friday. “I am not wearing these things.”

The door opens and Peck, who is eight months pregnant, walks in, along with Reagan and Kennedy, Emily and Kit, and Sky and her brood. Sky has Seth, who is technically not a kid anymore. He’s in college. And she has Joey and Mellie, along with Hoppy and Matty, and their new baby girl Gracie. Gracie is screaming at the top of her lungs. Sky passes her to Matt and she immediately shuts up. Sky looks like she wants to punch him.

“Great,” she murmurs. “Now, she’s quiet.”

Matt talks to Gracie and she giggles and coos.

“You should just put her in a pouch and take her everywhere,” Sky says.

“Okay.” Matt shrugs. He would be just fine doing that.

Now that all my brothers and their families live in one single building, the same one Friday and I live in, it’s easier for all of us to share babysitters and spend time together. We found ourselves shuffling from one house to another on opposite sides of town, so we just bought the building we’ve lived in all our lives. We renovated all the apartments and made them look like new. Some people who already had apartments kept them. Some left. We rearranged ourselves so it all worked out.

The elevator never worked in our lifetime, so we had that fixed first thing, mainly because we were hoping our plan for Josh would work out. And now he’s here.

I nudge Josh’s shoulder. “You got a minute to take a walk with me?” I ask.

He looks down at his legs and grins. “Well, that might be difficult.”

Heat creeps up my cheeks. But I motion him toward the door. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

I never know if I’m supposed to offer to push Josh or if he’s supposed to do it all himself, so I just walk. He comes with me.

“Where are we going?” he asks.

We step into the elevator and the doors close. I push the button for the eighth floor. It’s the same floor Pete and Reagan are on.

The elevator doors open and we walk down the hallway, and I can feel Josh’s eyes searching my face.

We stop at a door and I let myself in using a key. I hope he likes it. We walk into the room.

Josh turns in a circle. “Nice digs,” he says. “Whose is it?”

I lay the key on top of my thumb and flick it toward him. He catches it in the air. “If you want it, it’s yours.”

He stops and looks around.

“It’s three bedrooms, which is probably more than you need. But we’re using the smaller apartments downstairs for another project, and this one is perfect for you.”

We had our architect widen the doorways, lower the counters, and make it handicapped accessible.

I walk to the bathroom and flip on the light. There is a huge shower stall he can roll his wheelchair into, and the separate tub has been fitted with a bench. The whole room has been converted so Josh can roll in and out.

“If there’s anything we didn’t think of, just let me know. We’ll get it done.”

“You did this for me?” Josh asks, his voice quiet and wistful.

“Yeah.” I suddenly have a lump in my throat and it’s hard to talk past it.

He shakes his head. “I can’t accept this.”

I lean against the doorjamb in the bathroom. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t have a pot to piss in. They gave me clothes from the rag bag when I left the prison, dude. I don’t have a penny to my name. I can’t afford this place.”

I shrug. “Well, I know where you work.”

Josh’s eyes get bigger. “You mean I can come back to the tattoo shop?”

I shake my head and his face falls. “No, wait,” I say. “You can come back, but not as a janitor. I want you doing tats. Every day, all day. If that’s what you want to do.”

“Seriously?”

“And Sam could use someone dependable at the restaurant when it opens. He could use you too, if you’re interested in that kind of work.”