Free The Christmas Light by Donna VanLiere Page A

them. “For ten years I’ve been listening to her about how to eat, and the day I want a pastry with my lunch, she says no.”
    “You had two doughnuts for breakfast!”
    Stephen shoots her a look that says she’s crazy. “What does breakfast have to do with lunch?” He raises both hands and swipes them in the air. “That’s all I’m saying.”
    “Do you always argue like this about food?” Kaylee asks, confused. Stephen’s laugh is like an exploding note from a trombone, making Kaylee laugh, too. She felt it the first time she was with Lily and feels it again sitting here with her and her husband, that feeling of being okay. She often imagines what adults think, when they look at her pregnant belly. They remember their own sophomore years, filled with basketball, football, cheerleading, choir, and sleepovers, and can’t begin to imagine what the sophomore year of a pregnant teenager looks like. Does she still go to sleepovers or meet her friends at the mall? Does she hear students whisper about her as she walks through the halls and does she have anyone to sit with at lunch? They never ask these things but Kaylee imagines the thoughts playing out in their minds. Lily and Stephen don’t look at her in those ways.
    “I’m sorry,” Stephen says. “Your parents are probably normal people and we have completely freaked you out.”
    Kaylee shakes her head. “Oh, no! They’re not normal, they’re just like you guys.” She hadn’t meant it to be funny but it came out that way and the three of them laugh, together. Her eyes widen and she places her hand on top of her belly. “Wow! The baby is going crazy right now.”
    “Can I feel it?” Lily asks, her face open with surprise. “It’s been years since my sister was pregnant and I haven’t felt a moving baby in a long time and would love to.” Kaylee reaches for Lily’s hand and guides it to the spot just above the navel. Lily smiles. “Wow! This is one active baby!”
    A grin spreads across Stephen’s face. “A future running back!”
    “It’s always about football with him,” Lily says. She bends toward Kaylee’s belly and says, “Hello, little one. Merry Christmas! You’re going to make the perfect gift.”
    Stephen watches Kaylee’s face. “What would you like for Christmas?”
    “I haven’t really thought about it.”
    He looks at her over his coffee mug. “You haven’t thought about it? When I was a kid I started dropping hints about Christmas in June.”
    “You still do that!” Lily says.
    “Of course I do! It’s a big deal!” He sets the cup down with a thud to make his point. “So what’s on your list?”
    “It’s been kind of a weird Christmas, in case you didn’t notice,” Kaylee says, trying to smile.
    “But the weird situations are where Christmas really shines,” Lily says.
    “So what do you want?” he asks. “And you can’t say stuff for the baby.”
    Kaylee thinks, playing with the zipper on her coat. “Some money for clothes that fit would be great, and a new cell phone cover.”
    “That’s it?” Stephen says. “I doubt that will be any problem for Santa.”
    “Santa hasn’t stopped by my house in a few years,” Kaylee says.
    “Well, we’ll write a letter ourselves and clear that up,” Lily says. “I’m sure he’s just had too many pastries and he’s suffering with brain fog.”
    Steven groans. “Even Santa isn’t exempt from your food rants.”
    “The last time I saw him here at Betty’s he had two pastries on his plate!” Lily says.
    “And I don’t think Mrs. Claus helps any,” Kaylee says. “She’s overweight, too, so you know the entire year she’s making lots of pies and cakes and covering everything he eats with cheese sauce.”
    Stephen’s face falls. “And I thought you were my friend.” He lifts his hand when he sees a woman in a maroon woolen peacoat approaching their table. “Dorothy, you have saved both me and Santa!”
    Kaylee takes her cue and scoots to the end of