Chapter 4.

During dinner I forgot my plight. But now, I wasn't able to sleep. Everything replayed in my head. It had been a long night.

The morning bell rang, and woke me up. The Christmas song playing downstairs was banging my head. And I just remembered that Christmas at my mother's house wasn't so peaceful. It was a disturbance of joy.

I rose from bed, and surprisingly saw My luggage inside my little room. My room was exactly how I left it, but it was cleaner than I recalled. I changed into another sweatshirt and went downstairs. I saw Martha dancing with her family. This put a smile on my face, but it also made me sad. Michael might not be as rich or as handsome as Lorenzo, but he was a caring husband, and he loved his family. How did I make the wrong decision to marry Lorenzo? Was it the money? Was it the fame? Was it his looks? No! I could have sworn he loved me from the depth of his soul, just like I did. I remembered how he would always call me at night to hear my voice, and how he never forgot to tell me he loved me. But I noticed a slight difference in him when we got married. Was there something he found out about me that made him change?

My mother was expecting some visitors from her Charity support group and we had to prepare a lot of meals. I couldn't remember the last time I cooked. Lorenzo treated me like a princess, a sad one. I had fun preparing food with Martha and my mother. We gossiped about some people in the neighborhood, and laughed. I was glad I came to my mother's house. I didn't think I could be this cheered. I made a promise to myself that I'd be very happy during this holiday, happier than I had ever been in the past 20 years of my marriage.

We spend the rest of the day in the kitchen. I didn't blame Lisa for saying her grandma's house was stressful, but she was wrong to say it wasn't fun.

The evening arrived sooner than expected. We made pumpkin pie, apple cinnamon cake, mashed potato with cheddar, cran-berry orange relish and green beans casserole. The house smelled delicious. We set out the food on the table, and then added a few more chairs. We were all set for Christmas Eve.

Ding dong, the doorbell rang and a jingle bell song began to play, and the statue of Santa which was placed by the side of the tv started dancing to the song. I laughed. My mother really had a fun way to set things up.

"I'll get it," Martha said, while we all sat at the dining, ready to eat.

"Oh my God!" I heard Martha's voice.

We all stretched out our neck to see who that was.

"Come on in," said Martha.

To my greatest surprise I saw Lisa. "Whaaaat..." I drawled as I stood up.

"Is that Lisa?" My mother asked.

"Nana!" Lisa ran to her and gave her a big hug.

I stood there, dumbfounded. What happened? I thought she was going on a cruise with her dad.

"Lisa, you are now a big girl," George said.

"Hi uncle George." Lisa gave him a hug.

Paul, my daughter's driver, brought in her bags. There were a lot of bags.

"What happened? I thought you were going on a cruise."

"Yeah, well, dad had plans so he canceled."

Of course he did. He was supposed to be spending time with his family this holiday, but didn't care.

"Uhmmm, honey, who's your friend?" I asked when I saw the tall, dark skinned guy standing beside the shelf, looking at our family's photos. He buried his hands inside his pocket and kept a neutral face.

"Ohh, that's Kelvin. Kelvin! Come say hi to my family."

Kelvin walked up to us. "Kelvin, this is my Nana, my grandpa, my mom, my aunt and her family, and this is my uncle."

"Hi." Kelvin waved at us with a smile fixed on his face. His dimples made him look cute.

"Wait, is she your mom?" Kelvin pointed at me.

"Yeah."

"Yes, I'm Lisa's mother." I brought out my hand for a handshake.

"Wow." He uttered, shaking my hands while looking into my eyes. "I mean, uhmmm, she looks younger than I expected." He dropped his hands, and put them back into his pocket. Was it just me, or did anyone else find that weird.

"Everyone, this is Kelvin, my friend from college."

"It's lovely to meet you Kelvin, come, come have a seat." Nana took Kelvin by the hand and sat him down at the dining.

Unfortunately Nana's visitors couldn't make it, but Nana didn't care much because she was surrounded by her family. During dinner, Kelvin couldn't stop staring at me. I didn't know why that was? But it made me a bit uncomfortable. It was a peaceful dinner until we heard a knock on the door. This time I decided to go get it.

When I opened the door, I saw Lorenzo standing in front of me. It was like a dream. I thought maybe it was because I had been thinking about him, but I wasn't, not that much. I blinked my eyes, but he didn't go away.

"Merry Xmas," he said, and then forced his way into the house. Why had he come here? Why wouldn't he let me have peace for once? I hoped he didn't come here to ruin Christmas for my family.

"Dad?" Lisa said.

"Hi baby girl."

Lorenzo hugged my mom while she was seated. "I'm glad you made it," She said. I didn't understand what was going on, and what my mother meant by that. Was she the one who invited her?

George and Lorenzo shared a handshake, same with Frank.

"Martha." Lorenzo greeted, but Martha grimaced at him. Martha had never liked Lorenzo for reasons I didn't know. But whatever her reasons were, she was right not to like him.

He joined us at the dining, and mother was so happy to serve him some food. It would break her to find out what had happened to my marriage. I wasn't planning on telling her anytime soon, and I hoped Lorenzo would keep his mouth shut.