An Advent Story - Part 2 (Aaron Achartz)

Joe walked up to the snow plastered red door. The snow fell more heavily and the wind blew more strongly every minute. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

Normally, he’d turn to Miriam for support. But he couldn’t look at her right now. His chest was tight and his lip hurt from biting it so much. He blamed himself for their predicament. He hoped that his old friend would be willing to talk to him.

He knocked on the door, hoping that the light upstairs meant that someone in the house was awake.

He stepped back.  The wind howled around him and drowned out the rumble of the engine of the SUV’s where Miriam and Josh waited. He needed to find them somewhere warm to stay.

He looked around as he waited, trying to distract his mind from his problems. There were five cars in the snow covered driveway that led past the house to a garage and a pole barn. They must have several visitors for the holidays.

The door opened. A warm golden light spilled out onto the front porch step, silhouetting a tall, broad shouldered man.

“Who is it?” the man asked.

“Hey, George,” Joe said. “It’s me.”

“Joe.” He crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit family.”

George scoffed. “Like they’d want to see you.”

“Listen, I need your help.” He gestured behind him. “My wife and son are in the car and we need somewhere warm.”

“Wife and son?” He seemed taken aback. He thought for several seconds, waves of warm air drifting out around him. “Alright, come in out of the cold for a little bit.”

“Thank you.” Joe waved to Miriam.

Miriam brought Josh in, shielding him from the snow. George greeted her and then cooed at the baby for several minutes before Josh began to cry and Miriam went into a side room in order to feed him.

“Eggnog?” George asked, already pulling out three glasses.

“Thank you. I need it.”

“What are you doing here?” George placed the eggnog in the microwave.

“As I said, we need a place to stay.”

George did not turn around as he entered a time. “And you came to me? Why?”

The microwave hummed.

“I thought I could always count on you.”

George turned around and looked him over. “You’re here for your dad?”

“Yeah. But I haven’t been there yet.”

“I can’t help you,” George gestured to the tiny kitchen. “No room tonight.”

Joe nodded his head. “I get it. Just…” He paused. “The B&B is full and I don’t want to drive any more than I have to. The storm is getting worse.”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” George said. “I’ve got my parents, my wife’s cousin and her kids, plus my brother’s family in the basement. We don’t have a spare room, or even a spare sleeping bag.”

The microwave beeped. George poured a shot into each glass and held one out.

 “Thanks.” Joe gladly took the warm cup. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

George brought a glass out to Miriam in the family room before returning for his own cup.

They sipped silently.

Joe felt an urge welling up within him. He needed to say something while he still had the chance. “I’m also sorry about… dragging you into trouble that night.”

George looked off into the distance. “Eh, I’m not mad anymore. It was just a stupid mistake.” He clapped Joe on the shoulder and smiled. “I’m actually glad to see you again.”

“Me too,” Joe said. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay in touch. I figured you’d hate me.”

“I was mad for awhile, sure.” The corners of his eyes glistened. “But you realize that hating someone doesn’t really accomplish much. It just keeps you apart.”

Another moment of silence passed.

George’s eyes lit up. “You should come back in the spring for the reunion.”

Joe shrugged. “Maybe…  I do miss you guys.”

“Remember that Christmas we went sledding at Charlie’s?” George began to chuckle.

“I thought you’d broken your arm on that tree,” Joe said. “Your mom was so mad at us!”

“I thought I was gonna be grounded for the rest of my life!” George realized how loud he was and lowered his voice. “But, she forgave me eventually.”

Joe nodded. “That was a great Christmas.”

“I wish you hadn’t left.”

They stared at each other in silence.

Joe lowered his cup. “Yeah. Me too.”

George lowered his cup as well. “So, you’re here because of your dad?”

“I need to talk to him. After Miriam’s father had a heart attack, I realized that it could happen to him as well.”

“Is her father alright?”

“Yeah, but it was quite the scare for her. Especially since it happened right after Josh was born.”

“But, your dad’s pretty healthy.”

“I just got to thinking, it could be anything. He could be gone at any time. I don’t want our final words to be what we yelled at each other that night. I thought, maybe, I could prove to him that I’ve become someone worthy of his love.”

“Didn’t he love you before?” George asked.

“I think I lost it,” Joe said.

“Just because he hates what you did doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love you.”

“You really think so?”

George leaned back, arms crossed. “Your father loves you very much. You need to talk to him, without having this agenda to prove him wrong. Have hope and I believe things will work out.”

“I don’t-”

George held up a hand. “Go talk with him tomorrow.”

“And if he just yells at me?”

“Trust me. I don’t think he will.”

Joe raised an eyebrow.

“If he does, then just leave,” George said. “But I think you might be surprised.”

They finished their drinks. Miriam soon returned with Josh.

Joe began to pull his coat on. “Thank you for the drink.”

“Listen, I can’t send you guys out there,” George said.

“But you said the house was full,” Joe said.

“It is, but I can’t let a friend suffer.”

“Friend?” Joe asked.

“I told you, I’ve forgiven you,” George said. “I’ve got the camper out in the pole barn. I’ll go fire up the propane heater. You guys can stay there tonight.”

“Really?” Joe turned to Miriam. “Is that okay?”

“It’s better than sleeping in the SUV,” she said.

Half an hour later, they were huddled in the camper. Miriam fell asleep quickly, but Joe couldn’t. He just watched Josh sleep. He would forgive his son if Josh ever did something wrong. Maybe his father would forgive him?