123, I Love You

Brad

Chapter 16:

Brad

   After I gave Lyssy the cat on Christmas Eve, her dad gave her a box of her brother's old things. Something changed in her eyes and she stepped outside. I excused myself and followed. 

   She was sitting on the steps just outside her dad's back door. She was wearing her giant parka; Blue Jay was tucked inside it, purring. I sat next to her. It was snowing, but we were under the roof's lip.

   I put my arm around her. "I'm sorry. It's a lot."

   "Damn right, it's a lot. He could've told me before everyone was in there. He could've told me before..." 

   I rubbed her back. Her voice was strained and fell out.

"It's a lot for him, too. Obviously, your grief is valid, but his is too. He lost your mom and brother too."

   "I know," she huffed. She pursed her lips like she'd start crying if she didn't. I held her against me.

   "I think it'll be good for him to move, when it's all said and done. He can move closer to us, if you want to offer that." 

She nodded. "Okay." The snow fell slowly and we just sat there, watching it together.

   When we went back inside, Mom made us hot cocoa and we offered the idea to her father. He said he'd look into apartments nearer to us. He seemed happy that his daughter wanted him close. We all sat 'round the fireplace to watch It's a Wonderful Life, the one with the angel. Lyssy fell asleep on my chest and the kitten snuggled on her lap.

   As corny as it is, my life's pretty wonderful too.

   After Christmas, my parents headed home. Lyssy and I stayed for a few more days. She pulled up all the real estate websites she could think of and started to look into cheap, but safe and beautiful apartments on the outskirts of Calgary. He helped her bookmark a few and call for information. They set up dates in January to visit.

   He was set to move out in exactly three weeks. If he needed a place in-between, he knew he was welcome to live with us. She also busied herself with helping him to pack. The two of them sorted piles to keep and giveaway and it was my job to pack them up accordingly. I made quite a few trips to the Goodwill drop-off in town, donating worn-out blankets and sweaters that didn't fit him anymore. When they came to the hastily stored boxes of her mom's and Jay's old things on our last day there, they just left them to sit in the living room for a few hours.

   "Why don't I go and get our oil changed and wheels rotated? That will give you two some private time to sort through the boxes." I grabbed the keys. 

   "Just text when you're done, okay?"

   "Okay. Thank you, Brad," her dad said. 

   I slipped out back, cleaning the windows from snow and then driving off.

   I came back a couple hours later when she texted. There were more giveaway boxes to drop off, but there were three or four boxes he'd be taking with him. She had a box marked "Mom's things" that I brought out to our car, along with her Christmas gift of Jay's items. I also brought out our luggage and Blue's box of goodies. We'd be leaving after dinner. We settled on delivery pizza. Blue had another serving of food and we packed him into his crate as the car warmed up.

   I stood and shook her dad's hand, and he pulled me in for a hug. 

   "Thank you for having us over the holiday," I said as we pulled away.

   "Thank you for helping so much, and for taking such great care of my girl." I smiled.

   "I'll just be out in the car," I said and grabbed Blue's crate. I walked her to the car and set her in the back. I just got in when Lyssy came out, wiping her face. She climbed into the car and said, "I'm glad we stayed and helped. And, I'm glad he's going to live closer. I always forget how much I miss him, until he's right there."

   "Just a few more weeks," I said, smiling. 

   "Let's go home." She greeted it with a smile, too. 

   We then turned on some music and headed home.