All I Want for Christmas (12 page)

“Ah, now you know the benefits of parenthood.
You have a good cover for playing with cool toys.” He grinned back
at her. “No, we’re not splitting the tab this time. It’s the
holidays and I’m treating both my girls.”

“You mean bribing me to help pull your butt
out of a tight spot,” Nedra wisecracked. Still, she shivered at his
reference to them as a family.

“That too,” Carlos replied and hooked an arm
around her waist.

They left the restaurant and went to his
apartment. Within minutes of being inside, they were sat at his
computer, searching. Three websites later, it became clear that
finding the little bugs was going to be a huge challenge. Forty
minutes into their quest, they took a break.

Nedra nestled against Carlos’ solid chest as
they sat on his sofa. “Don’t freak. I think we’ll find them,” she
said.

“I hope so.” He heaved a sigh. “The last
thing I need is my mother hounding me about waiting until the last
minute.” He was about to go on when his cell phone rang. “Hello.
Yeah, what’s up? Outside? Right now? But I thought… Fine. It’s all
about you.”

“Everything okay?” asked Nedra, feeling a
foreboding at the scowl on Carlos’ handsome face.

“Chanté has decided to bring Carly early for
her visit,” he replied. “She’s going on a ski trip with her latest
man and they want to leave tomorrow. They’re here.” He tossed his
cell phone on the sofa and stood.

“Here?” Nedra echoed. Just as the full impact
of his words hit, the doorbell rang.

“Yeah and Chanté knows I won’t kick about it.
I don’t want Carly to think she’s done something wrong or that I
don’t want to see her.” Carlos took a deep breath and let it out. A
second later, he walked to the front door.

Nedra hurriedly smoothed down her turtleneck
and hair as she stood.

Carlos opened the door and his daughter
literally jumped into his arms. As he kissed her and made a big
fuss over how cute she looked, a statuesque woman with auburn hair
watched. Chanté was about to speak when she noticed Nedra. Stepping
around Carlos and Carly, she entered the living room.

“Sorry to interrupt
your
intimate
evening. I’m Chanté Epperson.” The woman gave Nedra a cool
appraisal from head to toe as she spoke. When she smiled, her even,
white teeth looked ready to bite.

“Hello,” was all Nedra trusted herself to
say. She was determined not to play war games. Nor was she willing
to be part of a stereotype: the baby mama versus new girlfriend
drama.

“Ooh, I get to hug and kiss you extra days,”
said Carlos as he kissed Carly’s cute milk-chocolate cheek for the
fourth time.

“Who’s that, daddy?” she asked, pointing to
Nedra. Carly had obviously picked up on her mother’s vibe.

Carlos didn’t miss a beat, and Chanté watched
his response with intensity. “Come over here and meet Miss Nedra,”
he said. “She’s a very special lady.”

Carly eyed her with curiosity. “Hi.”

Nedra smiled. “Hello, it’s so nice to meet
you. Your daddy is super proud of you.”

“Thank you.” Carly wrapped a little arm
around Carlos’ neck and blinked at Nedra shyly.

“So you know all about us. Tell us about
you,” Chanté said with a feline smile.

“I work for the city constable here and I’m
old Baton Rouge,” Nedra replied promptly and smiled back at her.
“Born and bred in the Red Stick.”

“Old Baton Rouge family, huh? I bet Judge
Jacobs loves that.” Chanté shot Carlos a sideways glance as she
murmured the last sentence.

“Do you sit up high and tell people what to
do, like my Meemee?” Carly blinked at Nedra.

“No, Nedra isn’t a judge like your
grandmother, sweetheart. You hungry?” asked Carlos, smoothing down
a stray hair that had come loose from one of the little girl’s two
thick braids.

“We ate. You think I don’t make sure Carly
eats healthy,” Chanté shot back with a brief look of annoyance.

“I had chicken fingers dipped in honey
mustard sauce, fries and a biscuit. I didn’t eat the biscuit
though. Too greasy.” Carly spoke matter-of-factly, undoing her
mother’s defensive response.

“Here, go put your suitcase in whatever
corner you’ll be sleeping in, since daddy has company.” Chanté
extended a pink, child-size, rolling duffle bag.

“Okay.” Carly climbed down from her father’s
embrace and looked up at him.

“You’ll be in your bedroom, like always,
honey,” said Carlos, smiling at his daughter. When she grinned and
darted up the stairway, singing, he turned back to her mother.

Chanté seemed unaffected by his cold
expression. “I can take her to your mama’s house if she’s in the
way.”

“Carly is never ‘in the way’. Thank you,”
Carlos replied quietly.

“Just sayin’…” Chante was about to go on when
her phone chimed. She took it out and read the text. Seconds later,
she tapped a short response and put it away. “I’ll give Carly a
last goodbye kiss.”

“Uh-huh.” Carlos looked away.

As Chanté disappeared up the staircase, Nedra
put a hand on Carlos’ shoulder. “You okay?”

He sighed. “Is it that obvious that she was
working on my last damn nerve?”

“Kinda,” Nedra whispered.

She was about to say more when Chanté
appeared at the top of the stairs, gazing down at them. “Well, she
seems to be settling in with all the goodies you have stocked up
there,” she announced, walking downstairs. She glanced at them
both, and appeared to notice how close they stood. “Merry
Christmas,” she added.

“Same to you, and enjoy your trip,” Nedra
said quickly. She could feel the simmering anger radiating from
Carlos.

“Thank you. Bye, Carlos.” Chanté flashed him
a flirtatious smile.

“Bye.” Carlos walked to the door, pulled it
open, and shut it firmly after his ex had left.

Nedra wondered if the two of them were really
over. “She still gets to you.”

Carlos wrapped both arms around Nedra. “Not
in a good way. She wants to fight, even though it isn’t good for
our child. Notice how she tries to subtly make Carly think I might
not have room for her in my life?”

“Daddy, do we have any praline ice cream?”
Carly yelled from upstairs. “I’m hungry.”

Carlos’ tense expression eased at the sound
of her voice. “Baby girl, I thought you ate.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have dessert.”

“I can’t argue with that logic,” he said,
laughing. “Come on down here. I happen to have your favorite.”

“Look, I’ll go,” suggested Nedra, walking
towards the hall closet to get her coat.

“No way! After I put her to bed, we need to
search for you-know-what.” Carlos kept his voice low as Carly
bounced down the steps.

The girl glanced at Nedra and then at her
father. “Mommy says I should stay in my room so I won’t be any
trouble, ‘cause you have company.”

“You’re never any trouble. We’re going to all
have ice cream.” Carlos walked over to Nedra and closed the closet
door. “Right?”

“Right,” agreed Nedra. She felt a nervous
flutter at the probing gaze of Carly’s light brown eyes.

They settled into Carlos’ breakfast nook over
bowls of ice cream. Unlike her mother, Carly seemed more curious
than hostile towards Nedra. She had the sweetest little girl,
charm-school manners. When Carly began to yawn, Carlos decided to
take her upstairs to bed. She waved as he carried her. “Goodnight,
Miss Nedra.”

Nedra felt a tug at her heart strings. “Sleep
tight, sweetie.”

She returned to the computer and searched for
the elusive robotic bug toys that everyone had to have. Twenty
minutes later, Carlos came back down. He’d changed into a T-shirt
and sweat pants, with the Southern University jaguar mascot on
both.

“She’s already dozing off. Let’s give it
another five minutes to be sure and then back to the hunt.” Carlos
sighed and sat next to Nedra.

“She’s so lovely, Carlos.” Nedra felt a jab
of sadness at what she’d been missing all these years.

“We’re going to have a great Christmas
together; the three of us.” Carlos kissed her and held her
tightly.

“Yes, we will,” replied Nedra, looking
forward to the holidays in a way she never had before.

Chapter 8

Tuesday night, Nedra sang
The Twelve
Days of Christmas
as she cooked dinner.
Carlos arrived just as she was putting the spaghetti and spicy
meatballs on simmer. She rushed to check the garlic bread and then
scurried to her front door as the bell chimed a second
time.

“Be patient, man, I’m coming,” Nedra called
as she flipped the locks.

“I’m hungry. Please let me in!” Carlos
groaned. When she swung the door wide, he stood pretending to slump
against the door. He reached out to her. “Don’t know if I can make
it.”

She grabbed his arm and yanked him through
the doorway. “Oh please. Come on in here before my neighbors call
the police.”

Carlos locked the door, inhaled and exhaled.
“Something smells so good.”

Nedra hurried back to the oven. The edges of
the bread had started to turn light brown. She removed the tray and
turned off the oven. “Spicy meatballs, my secret sauce and pasta,”
she said. “Oh and garlic bread. With all those carbs, I doubt we’ll
have room for dessert.”

“I’m hoping for spice alright.” Carlos winked
at her and did a dance turn to the music coming from Nedra’s sound
system.

“
Getting fresh already, huh?
Besides, you’re in daddy mode. Best behave. I don’t want your
family saying you left your daughter behind because of me. You
could have brought Carly.”

“
Actually, it’s tradition,”
he replied. “She spends at least one night with my parents. They
love having her over. My niece and nephews go over as well, and my
sister spends the night to help out.”

Carlos broke off a corner of garlic bread and
Nedra tapped him on the hand. “Stop that. We’ll be sitting down in
a minute,” she said. “The table is set.”

“I couldn’t resist. Garlic bread is like an
aphrodisiac, by the way.” Carlos came up behind Nedra and kissed
her neck.

She giggled as his hands roamed over her hips
and thighs. “Don’t mess with the cook during food preparation. I
think that’s a health law or something.”

“I wouldn’t want to do anything illegal, at
least not yet.” Carlos swatted her butt and went to the sink to
wash his hands. “I’ll get the bread and salad.”

“Good, put those wandering hands to good
use,” Nedra wisecracked.

“I will later on.” Carlos wiggled his
eyebrows at her.

They shared jokes and laughter for the next
hour over dinner. Nedra marveled at how different this holiday
would be from the previous one. Another break-up, just before
Christmas, had left her feeling down last year. Her friends
maintained that trifling men always got the goods and skipped out
before the holidays to avoid gift giving. Nedra was feeling much
less cynical this year. After dinner they sat on her sofa to
relax.

“So how’s your visit with Carly going so
far?” asked Nedra.

“Great, as always. We had a talk about you
though.”

Nedra froze and stared at him. “You talked
about me?”

“She wanted to know if you were my girlfriend
and if you would be moving in with me, and…”

Nedra’s mouth dropped open. “She’s only five!
How could she even think up such questions?”

“Well, for one thing, her mama has had a few
‘boyfriends’ since we split up. I’m sure her mother has spoken
about my dating habits and not in a good way either.” Carlos
sighed. “Our break-up was messy.”

“And Carly saw and heard a lot?”

“Yeah, Chanté isn’t shy about speaking her
mind in front of our kid,” he replied. “In case you’ve heard any
gossip, she didn’t catch me with another woman in our bedroom. She
told everyone that to make herself look sympathetic. I found out
she was sexing the assistant pastor at her church. He was
supposedly ‘counseling’ her on our marriage issues.”

Carlos nodded when Nedra stared at him in
shock. She blinked rapidly. “Whoa. Gotta let that one sink in for a
minute.”

“The church hushed it up and I’d never blast
out that kind of news about the mother of my child. Since we’re
talking about relationships, the gossip you heard about me having
lots of ladies is true.” Carlos cleared his throat. “I never lied
to any of them though. They were told upfront that I wasn’t looking
for a live-in, let alone a wife.”

“I see.” Nedra stared ahead at the
wall-mounted flat screen, even though it wasn’t turned on. She had
been leaning into Carlos, but now she sat straight.

“Hey, where you goin’? I was
talking about
them
. I see us together, for a long time,” he said softly. “That’s
why I wanted you to know.”

Nedra smiled as he pulled her close to his
body. “I wasn’t picking out furniture for us or anything,” she
said. Still, she savored the warmth from his solid arm around
her.

“Honey, other women have met Carly briefly.
None of them spent the holidays with us.” Carlos kissed her. “You
and me, we’re together. Got it?”

“Got it.” Nedra could barely catch her
breath. The look in his eyes made her tremble. Then she gasped,
“We’re serving dinner Christmas day, remember? You know we start
early prepping the site. Fortunately, we have more than enough
volunteers this year. You stay home with baby girl. Christmas
morning is a big deal for kids.”

“Carly gets up at the crack of dawn to tear
open her gifts. I’ll bring her with me. I think the experience will
be great for her. I won’t be able to stay for hours after though.”
Carlos rubbed his chin.

“If you’re sure, then we’d be glad to have
her. We have school kids who help all the time. And I agree, kids
should learn about giving to others. Did I mention that you’re a
wonderful father?” Nedra kissed him long and passionately.