Holiday Celebrations

We decided to take the kids to the fair that year. Seth could walk on his own, and I pushed Morgan in her stroller. We stood in the long line at the ticket booth while Seth excitedly jumped around and talked about all the rides he wanted to go on. "The roller coaster...the tilt and twirl...the swings...the bungee jump..."

"I think you'd enjoy yourself much more on the teacup ride," chuckled Maxim.

"That's for babies," Seth replied. "I rode it last year."

"Tell you what," said Maxim. "How about if we ride the Sizzler together, and we can save the bungee jump for next year, OK?"

"All right," Seth said with a sigh. Maxim and I both laughed.

After what seemed like forever, we finally had our hand stamps and arm bands and were walking through the building in front with all the insurance company, cruise sweepstakes, and church exhibits. Finally we reached the main fair grounds and headed for the aisle with the kiddie rides. "Train! Train!" Morgan crowed excitedly.

I lifted her out of her stroller and placed her into one of the cars of the train ride. It went around in a circle and over a gentle hill. "I'll ride it with her so she doesn't get scared," Seth volunteered generously. Maxim winked at me, and we both burst out laughing.

We went down that row and let the kids ride all the kiddie rides, then took turns walking through the house of mirrors. Then I stayed with Morgan while Maxim went on the haunted house ride with Seth. When the car they were riding emerged at the end, I saw that my son's eyes were wide with terror and he was gripping the bar in front of him tightly. "C'mon, sport, it's over," Maxim said as he ruffled Seth's hair playfully.

The spell broken, Seth quickly climbed out of the car and went to join me and his sister. "That was a really cool ride, Mommy!"

Maxim grinned at me again.

The high point of our evening was when the four of us rode the Ferris wheel with the gondola cars. The view from the top was breathtaking, and the lights on the darkening fair ground made everything seem magical. I had to hold onto Morgan tightly so that she wouldn't squirm and make the gondola rock. After that, we ate foot-long corn dogs and washed them down with lemonade, and Maxim bought cotton candy, which Morgan got all in her hair.

Later, we walked around and looked at the art, plant, antique, and livestock exhibits. Seth and Morgan petted baby goats and lambs in the petting zoo, and we went to the free concert in the amphitheater. Morgan fell asleep in her stroller but woke up later when I transferred her to her car seat.

The kids were too tired for a bath and bedtime story, so Maxim and I simply tucked them into bed and then went to the bedroom ourselves. As soon as we got there, Maxim took the pink paddle out of the drawer it was kept in.

"Ready for your spanking?" he asked me with a twinkle in his eye.

Obediently, I bent over the bed and felt him pulling my pants and underwear down at the same time. Then he began to rain the blows on my bare ass. I howled with each blow, but not loud enough to wake the kids up.

Halloween was a few days later. Seth dressed up as the blue Power Ranger, Morgan as Raggedy Ann, and I took them to the mall to go trick-or-treating. We got there early to avoid the crowds and went around to all the stores. Both kids got big buckets full of candy. I knew I'd have to go through Morgan's and take out all the chewing gum and other choking hazards when we got home, but we still had a lot of fun.

That night, Maxim dressed up as a school principal, and I pretended to be a naughty kid. He threw me over his knees and gave me the spanking of my life, and I begged for mercy near the end.

"Are you going to be a good girl now?" he asked me.

"Oh, yes!" I gasped.

He put the paddle away. "We'll see about that."

One day not too long after that, Seth came home from school wiggling one of his bottom front teeth. "Let me see it," I said. I tested it and discovered that it was quite loose. "Soon it'll have to come out, to make room for your new grown-up tooth," I told him. His eyes grew round with fear. "Then after it comes out, you can sleep with it under your pillow, and the tooth fairy will take it and leave you money for it."

Instantly his face lit up. "Cool!" he said with a grin.

The next time I went to work, Misty approached me with a big grin and flashed a diamond ring in my face. "Wow, congratulations!" I exclaimed. "When's the date?"

"We haven't decided for sure yet," she replied. "We're talking about maybe spring break of next year."

"Wow, everybody's getting married!" I exclaimed. "First Chad and Lily, and now you and Ilya!"

In contrast with Misty's happy news, something very sad happened later. A group of teenagers were on their way home from a football game when their car was broadsided. All of them escaped with minor injuries except for one girl. Both her legs were so badly mangled that they had to be amputated below the knee. As I stood looking down at her peacefully sleeping face, tears filled my eyes as I thought about the tragic surprise awaiting her when she awakened. In one instant, her life had been changed forever.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't get her face out of my mind, not even when my shift was over and it was time to go home. "Bringing your work home with you again?" Maxim asked me with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess so." I told him about the tragedy.

"I didn't work that accident, but I heard about it," he told me. "Guy was drunk and got thrown through the windshield and all cut up. If he lived, which I doubt, he'll be horribly scarred for the rest of his life."

At his words, memories of my first husband's death suddenly came flooding back to me. "What's wrong, Lacy? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Maxim exclaimed.

"It's just that what you just told me was exactly how John died."

"Oh, that's right. I'm so sorry, Lace." He gave me a hug and I felt a lot better, but I still couldn't get that poor girl's face out of my mind. I knew I'd probably dream about her that night.

I was actually in the girl's room when she woke up for the first time after the car crash. As I was bringing a Styrofoam jug full of water into the room, I saw her eyes flutter open. "Good, you're awake," I said briskly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You were in a very bad car crash," I told her. "You're lucky to be alive. You're gonna be with us for awhile."

"Something's wrong," she wailed. "My foot itches, but I can't scratch it!"

"Sweetheart," I said as gently as I could. "What you're feeling is called 'phantom pain.' The doctor will be here soon to explain it to you."

As quickly as I could, I went to fetch Dr. Adams to tell him his patient was awake. I very badly didn't want to be there when she found out what had happened to her legs.

I ran into Dr. Adams briefly before I left for the day. "How'd she take it?" I asked him.

"Very hard," he told me. "Her dream was to become a model. She's completely devastated."

"I'll bet," I said sympathetically.

I got home to find Maxim and the kids in the living room watching television. "Mommy, my mouth tastes funny!" Seth complained.

"Let me see." I examined the inside of his mouth. "Blood's coming from around the base of your tooth. That means it's time for it to come out. Want me to pull it for you?"

"I want Daddy to do it." He went to Maxim, who used a tissue to pull the tooth.

"There now, all ready for the tooth fairy!" he said as he handed it to Seth, who grinned proudly.

The next time I checked on Carly at work, she had visitors, a teenage boy and girl. The boy's forehead was bandaged. I assumed that they were a couple of the kids who'd been in the car crash with her.

She was sitting up in bed chatting with them and seemed to be in good spirits, which I was glad to see. They all stopped talking when I entered the room. "I just need to check your vitals real quick," I said apologetically. She watched while I took her blood pressure. "Have you had any more trouble with phantom pain?" I asked her. She shook her head. "I'm glad." I smiled at her and left. The next time I came in to check her vitals, she was alone.

"I'm supposed to get my new legs soon," she muttered.

"That's good," I said. "Then you can be up walking around again, and soon you'll be out of here."

"I don't want them!" she exploded.

"But don't you want to be able to walk again?" I asked her.

She shook her head, and tears filled her eyes.

"Look, sweetie." I sat in the chair by the side of her bed. "I know you've suffered a tremendous loss, but you're going to have to accept it and go on. You can't just lie there feeling sorry for yourself for the rest of your life. You're only seventeen, Carly. You have your whole life before you."

"I had my whole life before me," she said bitterly.

I sighed helplessly. I knew that she needed more professional help than I was able to provide, and I hoped that she would soon receive it.

Unfortunately, Maxim and I both had to work on Thanksgiving, but the kids spent the day with my parents and Andy and Jane, and Maxim and I both went by there after work. Andy and Jane were both still there. The night was chilly, and my Mom made hot apple cider for us, and we all sat together talking and enjoying leftover pumpkin pie.

"I can't believe how fast this year has flown by," Maxim remarked.

"So many things have happened," I added. "This time a year ago, you invited me to go to New York to see the Bolshoi Ballet with you."

Maxim clasped my hand across the table and smiled. "That was the most memorable vacation of my life."

"I was still paralyzed and in a wheelchair," I reminisced. "I was afraid I was going to be a burden to you."

"There never would have been any chance of that happening," Maxim said quickly. "I was worried that you wouldn't enjoy yourself."

"As long as I was with you, there would have been no chance of that being the case," I said loyally. He laughed and squeezed my hand.

"Andy and I didn't even know each other a year ago," Jane commented. "That was before we moved here. I had no idea I had a half sister." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Atlas doesn't even know about her. I mean, he knows her, of course, but he thinks she's just a friend. He doesn't know she's my half sister. He thinks that my step dad is my real father and that I'm his full sister."

"Well, don't you think you should tell him the truth?" I asked.

"He's only twelve," she replied. "I'm afraid if I told him now, it would really blow his mind."

"When did you find out yourself?" I asked.

"It was on my sixteenth birthday," she told me. "After my party was over and all my guests had gone back home, she said that she had something very special she wanted to show me. She took me into her bedroom and handed me a tiny box. I opened it to find a pair of gold earrings inside. She told me that they were a present from my real father, that he'd asked her to give them to me when I turned sixteen. I was shocked at first, of course, but once I got over the shock, I was very curious about him. My Mom answered all my questions as best she could and told me that perhaps I'd meet him someday. Now I finally have, thanks to you and Lily. How long have you guys known each other?"

"Since first grade," I told her. "We met on the first day of school, and we've been friends ever since then."

By that time it was quite late, so Maxim and I bundled the kids up and took them home. After putting them to bed, we watched a movie, then headed for the bedroom.

"Are you ready for your holiday spanking?" asked Maxim.

"Uh huh!"

He alternated using his hand and the paddle, and by the time he was finished with me, my butt was so sore I knew I couldn't sit down for awhile.

"But wouldn't he rather have the blue engine than the yellow one?" Maxim asked me.

"He already has Thomas, Edward, and Gordon," I replied. "He doesn't have Annie or Clarabel yet. If we get him those, he'll have the complete set."

Maxim and I were at WalMart shopping for Christmas presents for the kids. Seth was crazy about Shining Time Station and wanted very badly to own all the toy train engines and other figurines that came with it.

I felt Maxim's arms around me, embracing me. "Well, Seth is all taken care of, but what about Morgan?"

"There's this really gorgeous doll house I've had my eye on," I replied. "It comes with not only the dolls but also the furniture and everything."

We got the train engines for Seth and the doll house for Morgan and went home to wrap and hide them. I knew that the kids would find out the truth about Santa Claus in a few years and figured I might as well let them hang onto the fantasy for as long as they could.

"We still have a little while before we have to pick them up." Maxim came up behind me and began placing soft kisses along my neck.

I giggled. "Any idea what to do about it?"

"Oh, I've got lots and lots of ideas," he murmured as he caressed my breasts through my clothing.

A few nights later, we took the kids to see the Christmas lights at the St. Mary's Catholic church downtown. With much difficulty, we found a parking space in the back of the lot, and I took Morgan's stroller out of the trunk and put her in it, and we were on our way.

Seth skipped ahead excitedly. "Hi, Brittney!" he called to a little girl he saw. Brittney was in his kindergarten class at school. Maxim and I said hello to her parents and engaged in a few minutes of small talk with them.

The sun was just beginning to set, and the lights were spectacular. They lined rows of booths, trees, and other structures. Some of the booths held nativity scenes or scenes of old-fashioned Christmases from the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. "Would you like a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie?" asked a middle-aged woman at one of the booths.

"Yes, thank you," I replied. Maxim blew on Seth's hot chocolate for him, and I blew on Morgan's. She wasn't really used to drinking from regular cups yet, but she still managed to spill only a little of it.

After awhile we came to a miniature merry-go-round with toddler-sized horses. Seth climbed onto one, and I took Morgan out of her stroller and sat her onto another. Then we stood with our arms around one another watching the carousel go around and around. "Only two years ago, I never would have imagined I'd be here doing this," Maxim chuckled.

"You've been a wonderful father to them," I said gratefully. It was true.

Not too long after the merry-go-round ride, Morgan grew very sleepy, so we went back home.

Several nights after that, Maxim and I went to a party at Yuri and Erin's. We brought barbecue potato chips and ginger ale to share and had a lot of fun meeting new people. At one point I sat on the sofa chatting with Erin.

"I have to go for another pelvic exam in a couple of weeks." She made a face. "They found a cyst on one of my ovaries last time, and if it's still there, they're gonna have to do a biopsy. I might end up losing that ovary." Yuri came and sat beside her and took her hand.

"Oh my god, that's scary!" I exclaimed. "So do they think it might be...you know..."

"They didn't say the word." I could see the worry in her eyes. "But I know they were thinking it."

"Wow, it's sure a good thing you already have your three kids!"

"I know," she replied. "But I still dread the thought of radiation and chemotherapy."

"Oh, I know!" I'd treated many hospitalized cancer patients since I'd started working as a nurse. The chemotherapy often made their hair fall out and also tended to make them very nauseous, and the radiation also damaged their bodies frequently. "Well, I sure hope everything goes all right for you," I told her.

"Thank you," she said.

On the morning of Christmas day, Maxim and I got up at about two AM to put the presents beneath the tree, then grinned at one another and went back to bed.

It was about six when Seth burst into our bedroom shouting excitedly. "Mommy! Daddy! Santa Claus came and left me presents!"

"Oh, did he?" I asked sleepily.

"Come see!" said Seth.

His shouting had awakened Morgan, and I could hear her jumping up and down in her crib. I went into her bedroom and lifted her out of it, and she raced into the living room with her brother. They both squealed with excitement as they ripped into their presents. "Look what Santa Claus brought me!" Seth crowed. "Annie and Clarabel!"

"Dolls! Dolls!" Morgan cried.

"Just look what Santa brought Mommy." Maxim picked up a small oblong box that I hadn't noticed before and handed it to me. Quickly I opened it and gasped with pleasure when I saw what was inside. It was a silver necklace containing two charms. One was an oval amethyst with a head, arms, and legs, and the other was a triangular ruby that also had a head, arms, and legs.

"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed. "Thank you!" I hugged and kissed my husband.

"There's plenty of room on the chain to add more charms, if they're needed in the future." Maxim winked at me.

Later in the morning, we went to my parents' for dinner. Andy and Jane were there, too. We'd bought new gardening tools for my Dad, a new sheet set for my Mom, a wallet for Andy, and a make-up set for Jane. My parents got me and Maxim a new combination CD player/radio. "Wow, thanks!" I exclaimed. "It's way better than our old one!"

"I thought of you as soon as I saw it," my Dad replied.

Of course, Seth and Morgan received many more new toys from my family. They whooped excitedly as they ripped into present after present.

"Have you seen Lily recently?" I asked Jane.

"We're getting together at our Dad's later on today," she replied. "She and Chad are bringing Luke."

"I'll bet he's really grown!"

"What a lovely necklace!" Jane exclaimed.

"Thanks," I replied. "Maxim gave it to me this morning."

"Do the charms represent your kids?"

I nodded. "And there's room to add more charms if we need them later on."

She grinned. "Cool!"

Later, we gathered up all the presents, loaded them into the car, and drove back home. Seth and Morgan were more tired than they usually were and went to be early that night, which gave Maxim and me plenty of time to fool around.

"You get a special treat tonight," he promised me.

"Oh, I can't wait to see what it is!" I cried.

He grinned. "Close your eyes."

I did. "Now open them," he said a few minutes later. I opened my eyes to see a red-and-white striped paddle with a red ribbon tied around it.

"Oh, a Christmas paddle!" I cried. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"You're quite welcome." I leaned over the bed, and he pulled my pants down and gave me my Christmas spanking.

Lily called me the following day. "Guess what!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"My Mom went with Chad and me to my Dad's last night," she said. "It was the first time her and my Dad had seen each other in years. She was curious about Jane and wanted to meet her. Things were kind of awkward at first, but by the end of the visit, they were sitting on the sofa holding hands. I think they might get back together!"

"That's great!" I squealed. I knew that Lily's Mom had been very lonely for a long time and thought that it would be wonderful if she and her ex-husband got back together.

On New Year's Eve, Maxim took me out for dinner and dancing. As we moved together on the dance floor, I thought about how good-looking and sexy, as well as kind and loving, my husband was, and how lucky I was to be with him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me as we were slow dancing.

"How happy I am to be with you," I replied.

"I love you, Lace," he told me. "What we have together is so special. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

That night, we sat up until midnight drinking vodka (Maxim) and wine coolers (me). Ilya and Misty came over to celebrate with us. Misty talked excitedly about her upcoming wedding. I showed her the necklace that Maxim had given me for Christmas.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "Ilya and I want to have kids of our own in a couple of years," she added, understanding the meaning of the charms.

In mid-January, my friend Roberta came into the hospital to give birth to her second child. "My due date's in only three days, so the doctor offered to induce me today," she told me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I replied. "I had Morgan induced, and my labor with her was a lot more painful than it was with Seth. Pitocin's a real bitch."

"I asked my doctor about that," she said. "She said that since I'm getting an epidural anyway, it doesn't matter."

I shrugged. "Good luck."

I was busy all morning with a terrible car crash. Some drunk guy had flipped his car over and it had caught fire. He was still alive but had third degree burns over ninety percent of his body. I walked into his cubicle to find him swathed head to toe in bandages and on a morphine drip.

For several hours, the other nurses and I struggled to keep his fluids and electrolytes balanced, and then another nurse arrived to relieve me, so I went up to the maternity ward to check on Roberta. I found out that she'd already delivered her baby and was resting in her room. I went to see her and found her gobbling a piece of chicken.

"So how did it go?" I asked her.

"Terrible!" she replied. "All that Demerol they gave me made my mouth so dry I can hardly eat, even though I'm starving 'cause I wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight last night. The whole thing was horribly painful. I kept asking for an epidural and they kept telling me my labor wasn't far enough along, and then when they finally said I could have one, they checked me again and said that it was too late. The worst part was that they made me hold the baby in until the doctor could get there. I can't describe to you how painful that was."

"I'm sorry that happened," I said. "Is the baby all right?"

"He has club feet," she told me. "He might have to have surgery in a few months."

Feeling a little bit depressed by Roberta's sad tale, I returned to my duties.

Later that month, I saw Yuri pacing back and forth in the waiting room on the surgical floor, looking very worried. "Erin's in surgery," he told me. "They found a tumor on her ovary. They think it might be cancerous. They're doing a biopsy right now."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "I sure hope she'll be all right!"

"She's had a really hard time of it, you know," he told me. "Her younger sister Tonia was murdered when they were teenagers, and then three years ago, we lost one of our twin boys. He was stillborn."

"I didn't know Mason was a twin!"

Yuri nodded. "His brother's name was Matthew. It was a horrible time for all of us."

"I'll bet!"