The Plight Before Christmas(47)

“Don’t talk about my other wife that way,” Allen chides.

“Speaking of wives, almost done,” Whitney says, typing a mile a minute, a knowing smirk curving her lips. “Kill the lights, would you, Eli?”

“Sure.” After clicking off the lights, I take a seat at the edge of the couch just as Whitney turns toward her parents. “We know your anniversary isn’t for a few weeks, but we wanted to do this while we are all together.”

“Which anniversary?” I ask.

“40th,” Allen boasts proudly.

“Oh, no,” Ruby says, her eyes lighting with excitement. “What have you done now, Sweet Pea?”

“Thank God Dad gave me the password, or we’d be sitting here all night.”

“Which isn’t fair,” Gracie whines.

“I made one exception. And she had to guess it.”

Allen turns to Whitney with a stern warning look. “And she won’t be sharing it.”

“Nope. Sending,” Whitney says as she picks up her phone and mirrors it to broadcast on the large flatscreen, opening an email she sent herself with a link. Within seconds, a song, old but familiar, begins to play as the wording on the screen slowly appears—her parents’ names and their wedding date. Whitney glances at her parents excitedly as both their mouths drop when a slideshow begins.

“What song is this?” Gracie asks.

“Shh, Gracie,” Serena scolds. “Just watch.”

“Just asking,” Gracie grumbles.

“It Might Be You by Stephen Bishop,” Ruby replies, not taking her eyes off the screen. “Our song,” Ruby adds softly, her voice shaking with emotion. The whole of the living room quiets as we all get lost in the story unfolding before us. It starts with individual shots of a young Ruby and Allen before rolling onto the start of their relationship, a candid picture of them holding fishing poles in a mountain stream. Another of them cozied up by a campfire in lip lock. It’s accompanied by a few clips of old videos, all of it flowing perfectly to the music. Their wedding photos pop up next.

Entranced, I watch the start of forty years of memories play out, including the births of Serena, Brenden, and Whitney. We all sit hypnotized, the music filtering throughout the room, making it impossible not to be affected. My chest tightens unexpectedly as I watch a short clip of Whitney taking her first steps.

Various stages of their collective lives follow—camping trips, family vacations, milestone after milestone. Laying witness to it firsthand is so incredibly different from hearing her stories. A warmth spreads inside my chest as I watch Whitney hand a present to her father on Christmas Day, and a much younger Allen pulls her into his lap and nuzzles her. Swallowing, I feel Whitney’s eyes on me briefly as the music changes. Air Supply’s “Lost in Love” rings out next, and my gaze flits to Ruby and Allen, who sit completely taken aback as they watch snapshots of their lives fill the screen replaying four decades of successful marriage. Looking back at Whitney, I see her eyes dart back to me, and I grin before I mouth a “wow.” Her reply is a beaming smile as her gaze drifts over to her parents while Serena sniffs to the right of me. I can feel the emotions of every person in the room and catch movement in my peripheral. Brenden takes Erin’s hand, pulling her into his lap as she lovingly grips it between her own hands. It’s clear they have similar aspirations for their own marriage. They want this.

Serena wants this.

Whitney wanted this.

With examples like Ruby and Allen, who the hell wouldn’t?

Oddly, envy isn’t even in the lineup of emotions running through me. If anything, I feel nothing but happy for them all. Happy that they were fortunate enough to have the gift of each other and that it’s endured all this time. As the years pass, I sit back and soak it all in and can’t help my chuckle when a prom picture of Whitney appears as she stands awkwardly next to her date.

“Jesus, that dress,” Serena says with a giggle, just as a picture of Serena with a bad haircut pops up. “Had to include that one, didn’t you, sis?”

“We’re all in this together,” Whitney says definitively, and I know she believes it. She has every reason to. Thatch and Serena’s wedding follows. Just after, Brenden and Erin’s wedding plays out, prefacing pictures of the births of each grandchild. It’s then I look over to Whitney, the only Collins girl unspoken for. Glancing around, I realize all individual families are bundled together as Whitney sits alone, seemingly undeterred in her position as both maestro and memory keeper. Though I feel every bit of the disappointment for her, all I see in her expression is devotion, and it’s like a battering ram to the chest.

She deserves the same success story. She deserves the life she wanted, the life she romanticized and always has.

I wanted it for her as much as she wanted it for herself.

The question is, why didn’t she have it?

As the video comes to an end, a picture appears of two elderly people huddled together in the cabin’s back yard. Easily, I identify them as Grandpa Joe and Grammie P, short for Penelope. I feel the crushing weight of their loss in those surrounding me before their images slowly fade away, and GRAVITY appears in block letters on the screen. The video cuts to black as sniffs sound throughout the room. The silence broken when Ruby speaks up.

“Have one more, Son,” Ruby says, slowly turning to Brenden. “I dare you, have one more.” No doubt she’s referring to her earlier statement about Whitney, and I feel the maternal love flowing from her as Ruby’s pride and tear-filled eyes drift to her. “What a blessing you are, beautiful girl.” Ruby stands just as Whitney gets to her feet. The two embrace for long moments, both sniffing and smiling.