Remember Me

16. Bad Tidings

Christmas has always been the most important holiday in my family. Strict traditions, an inflexible dinnertime, and a reading of The Christmas Carol from Feeny. So it's unsurprising when my mother won't take no for an answer while I try to decline her invitation to this year's festivities. "Joshua Gabriel, I apologize if you thought that the invitation was a question rather a request-." I roll my eyes as my mother drowns on, all the while I watch my wife finger through cookbook after cookbook looking for the perfect recipes. As if I expect a five course meal from her.

"Mom, it's just not going to happen this year" I interrupt, unwilling to sit here and be berated any longer. Christmas was in less than a week and just yesterday I had finally told Maya that I didn't want to see my family if she weren't going to see hers. Omitting that the real reason I'd like to ignore the gathering has everything to do with my father who still isn't exactly supportive of my decision to leave the family business.

Something I shouldn't have to spell out for my mother. "And what happens if there isn't a next year?"

Flashes of the car crash that almost took Maya from me overtake my thoughts. The comfortable stillness of the car, the soft chords of the song on the radio before everything went black. I shake the memories from my head, focusing on the present, on this conversation with my mother. "Ma, c'mon. Don't say things like that. There will be plenty of years for us to do the whole Christmas thing. This year though, I just want to spend it with Maya. Don't wanna overwhelm her, you know" I lie, thinking this may be the only real way to get out of this though I hate that I've stooped so low as to use my wife's memory loss as a get out of Christmas dinner free, card.

She sighs defeatedly. "Alright." She finally concedes, "but Easter-."

"Yea, yea" I chuckle, shaking my head at my mother's persistence. "We'll be there." I assure her before we finally say our goodbyes and hang up with one another, leaving me to return to my wife who has a post-it hovering over a page she's reading intently. "Find something good?" I ask, sauntering further into the room. Her eyes lift to meet mine.

"Maybe." She turns the cookbook towards me, "would you eat this?" On the page is a recipe I know well...because it's one of my favorites that Maya perfected a long time ago.

In fact, "you bring that to Christmas dinner every year." I admit, reading the familiar ingredients. It's a recipe for cheesy potatoes, the kind with Corn Flakes on top. "They're my favorite." I remind her gently. Her lips curve into a grin.

"Really? Did I get the recipe from this book?"

"Mhm" I hum, chuckling softly as I close the book and set it aside. "It was a wedding gift from my mother."

Maya's eyebrow raises in piqued interest. "Was she suggesting I needed help in the kitchen?"

"My mother thought you needed help in almost every marital subject." I joke, not realizing how this could be interpreted until Maya's lips quirk into a teasing grin.

"Every subject?" She hums, "I could think of one she definitely didn't need to worry herself about."

"Oh yea?" Laughing, I move around the island to grab my wife's waist, earning the most melodious laugh followed by a loud yelp as I hoist her onto the counter.

"Josh!" She swats at my arms, squirming in my embrace as her legs part for me to stand between them. I smile broadly, my megawatt grin aimed at her as our eyes meet. "I love you" she says casually, raking her fingers through my hair. "So damn much."

"I love you too" I agree, reaching up to capture her lips in a kiss, pouring every ounce of love that I possess, into that kiss until it's proving to still not be enough. Our impatient, insistent hands pull at each other's clothes, hastily trying to get as close as humanely possible while our lips fumble against one another's, mere pants tumbling from our lips as we finally connect.