Family Short Story – The Christmas Eve
Photo credit: calgrin from morguefile.com
Beth had just finished using another box of tissues. Her eyes were red and puffed from crying her heart out. Beth knew she must be looking a completely broken woman and a wreck and also realized that she had no one to help her to get out of the situation that she found herself in. She had for the last month cooped her in her one room apartment that she shared with Maria, her friend from college. It was good that Maria was travelling to Europe for work and was not here to crowd the place, Beth needed her space at this juncture in her life but Maria would be back soon and Beth needed to pull herself together before she returned.
Beth’s life had been completely changed in the last two months and she had not even told Maria about it because Maria had got a well-deserved break to launch her designer line in Europe and Beth would not want to do anything to mar the happiness and success that Maria was undoubtedly enjoying. But soon it would be Christmas and she would have to bring some cheer to this flat before Maria come back. Christmas always had a special place in her heart since she always believed that one day, Christmas would bring her happiness and a gift.
Until two months ago, Beth was happily going through the last two months of her pregnancy and was looking forward to be a new mom soon. She had married John, a classmate who had pledged undying loyalty and claimed to have loved her to bits. Beth, an orphan had been taken in by the blue eye and the handsome face of the college mate who had proposed to her in the most romantic way, going down on one knee and she had stars in her eyes. Maybe, in hindsight, Beth realized that she had not thought through her decision, before consenting to marry John after a whirlwind romance in her final year of internship at college.
While Beth had wanted to work and get some experience before getting married, John had insisted that with his well-paying job that he had just secured, there was no need for Beth to work. Beth had hesitatingly agreed and they had soon after the exams, got married. Within a few months of marriage, Beth had realized that she was going to be a mother and was overjoyed. John though shocked at first but had soon come around to accept the fact that he would soon be a father and have a little toddler vying for attention. But as Beth’s pregnancy progressed, John seemed to move away and spend more time at work than at home. He found reasons to also spend the weekends away from home and when Beth questioned him, he blamed it all on his new job and the competition at the work place. Beth didn’t give it a second thought and got into a routine of long walks, bit of reading and making sure that she took good care of her health to have a healthy baby.
One day as Beth was returning from her walks in the nearby woods, she heard the unmistakable voice of her husband and interspersed with a shrill laughter of a young girlie voice. Beth was transfixed to the spot and strained to hear what was being said. The girl seemed to laugh at everything that John said. Beth was sure that she had made a mistake as John had told her that he was going to be travelling for the next three days for work and had even carried a packed suitcase earlier this morning when he left for work. Then how could it be John’s voice, in the middle of the afternoon and that too with a girl by his side?
These questions assailed Beth and she slowly moved forward to peep from behind the trees from where the sounds were coming. She was shocked to see that it was indeed John and he was with this beautiful redhead and they had their arms around each other. Beth was shocked. What was John doing with another woman when his own wedded wife was at home, pregnant with his child? Without her knowledge, she continued to move forward and before she realized, she was almost at the bench where John and the redhead were sitting.
As him warned by some sixth sense, John turned and was shocked to see Beth standing behind the bench and her face was white and drawn with shock and fear, as if she had just seen a ghost. John quickly scrambled and fell over himself in his haste to get to Beth.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting or something”, asked John, after extricating himself out of the clutches of the redhead.
Beth couldn’t seem to get over the shock to say something and just stared at the two of them. Finally, as she came to her sense, she looked at John and said” Who is she and what are you doing here in the middle of the day, weren’t you supposed to be out of town for work”?
John walked up to Beth and tried to calm her down and held her hands. Beth just screamed and said” Don’t you dare touch me, who is she and what is going on here”?
“Beth, she is Liz, a colleague of mine from the office and we were just taking a break from work. Why don’t I get you back at home, where you should be at this time” said John and tried again to hold Beth’s hands. But Beth just shook him away and continued to stare at Liz.
“What are you doing here with my husband”. Don’t you know he is married and expecting his child”?
Liz looked flustered and looked at John and said” she doesn’t look psychic to me, you said you wife was mad and had mental health issues”.
Before anything else could be said, Beth slowly slipped to the ground and would have hurt herself had John not scooped her up in his arms just before she hit the ground. When Liz next opened her eyes, she was in a stark white room with some tubes hurting her arm. She realized she was in a hospital room and just before she could try and sit up, a very friendly looking middle aged nurse walked in and “Ah, finally the mom to be has come around and decided to wake up”.
“What happened, why am I in a hospital, who brought me here” asked Beth.
“Lady, one question at a time smiled the nurse and have Beth some juice to drink. A very kind couple brought you here. You were lucky that they found in the woods while they were passing through that way”.
Slowly, Beth’s memory of what had transpired came back and she asked whether the gentleman who had brought her here was still waiting but the nurse said that he had left with the beautiful redhead he was with and said that he was going to be travelling for work. That’s when it sunk in that she had summarily been dumped.
That had been almost four weeks ago and now Beth was pregnant, without a husband’s support and no job to bring in the money, what could she possibly do and who would support her? Who would bring he succor when she had her child? Should she give up her child for adoption so that he/ she could at least have a proper upbringing and not be left at her mercy? How could she support a child and herself without a job? How would she feed her child?
While Beth was still grappling with these questions in her mind, the doorbell rang and it was only the persistent ringing that brought Beth out of reverie. Who could it be at this hour? Maria wasn’t due for another two weeks. Slowly, giving support to her back, Beth walked to open the front door. She almost stepped back in shock when she saw Liz standing at the door.
“What are you doing here”, shrieked Beth. “Have you no shame that you sneak behind my back to befriend my husband and have now come here to mock me”?
Liz stood quietly and only the grief on her face made Beth take notice and shut up. “John is dead, he met with an accident and died last night”, said Liz and took hold of Beth’s arm and took her inside to seat her and fetch her a glass of water.
Liz was just too shocked to react and stared dumbly at Liz as she moved around the kitchen to make Beth a cup of tea. As the shock set in, Beth asked Liz how it had happened and Liz said that it was a quick brutal end as the two cars had collided head on due to the fog. So I have moved from being a dumped wife to a widow in a month, thought Beth as she took the cup of tea from Liz.
“How are you coping”, asked Liz as she took a seat opposite to Beth.
“John paid the price of doing a wrong and so have I. We have both been thoughtless in our actions and I would like to undo some of the hurt that I have caused you”, said Liz.
Liz continued to talk as Beth was still reeling with shock and didn’t have anything to say. Before Beth realized what was happening, Liz appeared with two suitcases, having packed most of Beth’s belongings and slowly helped her get up and walk down to her car. Liz was cold and didn’t know what was happening. She dozed in the car and woke up just as the car was drawing to a halt outside a quaint two storied house with a beautiful garden. Hearing the car stop, an elderly couple stepped out and rushed to meet Liz and Beth.
“This is the friend that I told you about, mum and dad”, said Liz.
“Beth, these are my parents who have been looking forward to meet you ever since I told them of the grave mistake that I had committed. I am dying of cancer and thus want you to be a daughter to them that I never could be”.
Beth looked at one from the other and after being hugged closely by Liz’s parents, she was drawn into the house that was soon to be her house. How life had changed, she was married, become a wife, was soon to be a mom, then dumped and now widowed, all in less than a year. And now she had parents for the first time in her life. With tears in her eyes, she walked across to Liz and said,” I forgive you and thank you at the same time”.
As she looked out, she saw the snow was just beginning to fall and it would soon be the Christmas Eve. What this new family, the gift that Christmas had brought her?
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