“Something sure smells good,” Tyler said as he wandered into the kitchen, where Donna was preparing dinner.
“I told you I’d give you boys a nice Christmas dinner, and I meant it,” she said, taking a sip of wine as she stood at the stove. Curt smiled at the familiar memory. Whenever she cooked, Mom always had a glass of wine on hand. Something about it made him feel grounded.
Tyler stepped in behind Donna and hugged her from behind, putting both arms around her stomach and squeezing tight. Donna made a pleased sound and reached back to touch his hair. In the back of his mind, Curt thought that perhaps the two of them lingered on the hug just a tad too long, but then decided not to worry about it.
“My goodness,” she said. “What did I do to earn all this affection?”
“I’ve just missed you, that’s all.” He kissed her on the cheek.
“Well, I guess we know who gets the biggest helping of potatoes at dinner,” Donna said. “You hear that, Curt? I guess you better step up your game.”
“I guess I’d better,” Curt said. “Do you have any more of that wine? Now that we’re old enough to legally drink it.”
She laughed. “In the pantry, son of mine. Break out a bottle or two. We’ll make a night of it.”
# # #
Christmas dinner was indeed glorious; smoked ham, potatoes and gravy, cranberries, stuffing. Curt hadn’t eaten that well since he’d started his office job — in fact, he was pretty certain he hadn’t eaten that well since the last time he’d been home.
Donna watched with satisfaction as her sons scarfed down the meal, nursing her wine.
“My hungry boys,” she said fondly. “I’d almost forgotten what it was like to have men around the house to eat up all the food.”
“Have you been dating at all?” Curt asked, twirling his potatoes with his fork. He’d gobbled down his first plateful and now felt himself slowing down.
She laughed, and Curt thought he detected a note of bitterness in her voice. “I have, a little bit. I even opened up an account on one of those dating sites. But most of those men are such creeps. You would not believe the pukes I’ve had to deal with.” She drained her wine glass and held it out to Curt. “Would you be a dear?”
As Curt poured her a fresh glass of wine, Tyler put his hand on hers.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a smile. “You’ve always got us.”
She smiled and touched his cheek. “I do, don’t I? Thank god I raised two wonderful boys. Even if your father was a flaky little… never mind.” She raised her glass and drank again. “I shouldn’t bad-mouth your father.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Curt said. “We love you no matter what.”
She smiled and reached over to touch his cheek, then reached over to touch Tyler’s as well. “Look at you two. Why would I want to get a husband when I have my two beautiful boys?”
# # #
After dinner, they piled their dishes in the sink and left the washing-up for the next day. Donna grabbed the bottle of wine and the brothers grabbed their glasses. All three of them moved to the living room to unwrap presents. Curt and Tyler sat down on opposite ends of the leather couch, just as they always had growing up.
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