Christmas In Icicle Falls

“He’s had false hopes for years,” Samantha pointed out. “So what’s the difference if he’s having them here or in Germany?”

“The difference is that I’d have been taking advantage of him.”

“Mom, taking advantage of someone is doing things with an ulterior motive, letting them always do things for you without getting anything in return,” Samantha argued. “You and Arnie don’t have that kind of relationship. You’re always making him cookies or feeding him dinner.”

“Poor Arnie,” Bailey said. “I bet he feels really bad.”

Muriel had seen how bad he felt. “Believe me, he got over my rejection in record time. He’s perfectly happy going with Dot.” In fact, the two of them were downright ecstatic. Muriel was suddenly aware of Cecily studying her. She smiled as if nothing at all were bothering her—because, really, nothing was—and finished her tea.

“I’m wondering if perhaps Arnie is your ugly tree, Mom. Maybe you’ve never really seen him,” Cecily said.

“I see the good in Arnie,” Muriel insisted. “We’ve been friends for years.”

“You could be more,” Cecily suggested.

More, after all those years? “Well, honestly, a woman can’t manufacture attraction. You of all people should know that.”

Cecily shrugged.

“I don’t know why all three of you couldn’t have gone,” Samantha put in.

They could have, probably. If Dot was paying her own way anyway, there was no reason Muriel couldn’t have just bought an extra ticket and truly made this a trip among friends. Really, though, it was better this way. Arnie needed to expand his horizons, do more things with other people. “I think he and Dot will have fun.”

“Maybe something will happen between them,” said Bailey.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Muriel was quick to say. “Arnie and Dot are two very different people.” Arnie was quiet and refined; Dot was outrageous and often uncouth.

“Opposites attract,” pointed out Samantha.

“Not those two opposites,” Muriel said firmly. Samantha and Cecily exchanged smiles and that annoyed her. “I don’t know what you two are smirking about,” she said irritably, and all three of her daughters grinned.

“Mom, I’m beginning to suspect you don’t want to share your special friend,” Samantha teased. “I wonder why.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Muriel snapped. “I was the one who suggested they go together. There’s nothing between Arnie and me. We’re good friends and that’s all we’ll ever be.” She wasn’t attracted to Arnie. Dot could have him!

“Okay, whatever,” Samantha said. “But I think you should have gone to Germany.”

Yes, she probably should have. Was Arnie interested in Dot?

* * *

Sienna normally worked Mondays, but it was parent-teacher conference week and her conference was scheduled for early Monday afternoon, so Pat had given her the afternoon off. She’d promised Leo that after her meeting with Mrs. Brown he could help her put up Christmas lights. He’d also begged to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas and she’d agreed, hoping the anticipation of a fun-filled afternoon would lift his spirits. His poor excuse for a father hadn’t bothered to call on Thanksgiving and it had left Leo feeling down.

He wasn’t exactly happy that she had a conference with his teacher, either. And once she sat down with Mrs. Brown, she knew why.

“Leo is a sweet boy,” Mrs. Brown began. “He always wants to help. He loves to help me collect and pass out papers, but...”

Oh, no. Here came the but.

“...we need to work on his concentration. He’d much prefer to clown around and put pencils up his nose or talk to his neighbor than work on his addition and subtraction.”

Addition and subtraction. Other kids Leo’s age were on to multiplication and division and Leo was putting pencils up his nose. This behavior wasn’t anything new but it was still disheartening. Sienna heaved a sigh.

“This is not unusual,” Mrs. Brown said gently. “Children with special needs often prefer to ignore dealing with unpleasant tasks. As do most of us,” she added with a smile.

“I know. And I have talked to him in the past. I’ll speak with him again.”

“He is making some progress,” Mrs. Brown assured her. “If you could work with him a little more at home, that might help.”

“I’m doing all I can, Mrs. Brown, believe me.”

The woman gave her a sympathetic nod. “I know. It’s hard. Don’t give up. And remember, he needs concrete examples and step-by-step direction. I’m sure you have other aspects of his life where you have to do this.”

As a matter of fact, she did. Even simple tasks like taking a bath could get complicated. Leo needed to be reminded that washing his hair required another step beyond simply sudsing up his scalp. When she forgot to remind him to rinse it out, he often wound up crying with soap in his eyes. Setting the table was done with everything mapped out and she still had to stand over him when he loaded the dishwasher and supervise the process.

“We have a lot of the school year left,” Mrs. Brown assured her.

Sienna wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for that or depressed by it. She thanked the teacher and left.

She saw Leo standing at Rita’s living room window when she went to pick him up, but by the time she got inside, he was hiding behind the couch. Rita had her toddler on her hip, and at the sight of Sienna little Linda squealed happily and reached for her, crying, “Si-si.”

“Hello, my beautiful niece,” she said and took the child. She would have loved to have had another child, but that probably wouldn’t happen now with no husband in the picture. As a single parent, she felt that one child was all she could handle, especially when that one child had special needs.

Still holding Linda, she walked into the living room. “You can come out now.”

Leo’s head popped around the corner of the couch. “Hi, Mama.”

“Have you been behaving yourself for Tía Rita?”

He nodded but still stayed behind the couch.

“How’d it go?” Rita asked.

Leo’s head disappeared.

“It could have been worse.” Sienna kissed the toddler’s head. “Your teacher says you’re a sweet boy. Is that true, my son?”

Leo peeked around the corner of the couch and made a silly face.

“And she says you’re a clown.”

“I like clowns.”

“That’s nice, but you can’t be a clown when you’re supposed to be doing your schoolwork,” Sienna told him.

He frowned.

“Tito will be disappointed if he hears you’re not paying attention in school,” put in Rita.