Christmas with my ex

Georgia was exhausted, she regretted that she had worn her lace heels this time, for her feet were screaming with exhaustion. He walked at a hurried pace, pulling the two large wheeled suitcases, as he searched for boarding gate 3.

"Mom, I can't!" Annie complained.

"Annie, don't be a complainer, Mom has more stuff than we do," Tommy scolded.

Georgia caught his eye. Walk quickly, the plane is going to leave us.

"This suitcase is heavy," Annie complained, pouting.

"I told you not to put so many things in your backpack, nor are you going to use them," Tommy insisted.

"Let me take your suitcase and take mine," Annie asked her brother, flapping her eyelashes innocently.

"That's fine, but I won't help you on the next trip," Tommy agreed.

Georgia listened to them negotiate and stayed on the sidelines, even though she loved her kids getting along, obviously there was no shortage of normal sibling fights, but Tommy was always there for his younger sister.

Annie handed the suitcase to Tommy and he made a face that made his mom laugh; Actually, the little girl had put more things than necessary in her luggage, although that guaranteed that she would be entertained during her end-of-year vacation.

"Are they done?" Georgia asked.

"Missing passengers on Flight 7854 bound for Billings, Montana, please board through gate No. 3," the voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Children! That's our flight! Georgia shouted. Run!

The three of them start running down the hallway, under the watchful eye of the other travelers in the airport lounge.

"Mommy, Daddy's not in Billings," Annie said confusedly, her breathing ragged.

"Honey, your dad's in Glasgow, but the planes don't come there," she explained, as they arrived to report to the flight attendants, who were about to close the doors.

 "Oh, I'm dying," Annie said dramatically, as she stood next to her mother, who is already passing the boarding tickets.

"We almost missed our flight because of you, Annie. Why didn't you go into the bathroom when we left the house? Mom told you to go and you didn't want to, but we just got there—" Tommy complained.

"But I didn't feel like going to the bathroom at home," the little girl replied sadly.

"They're not going to fight, kids. They've been on vacation for the first time, and they haven't seen their father for months," Georgia reminded them, as they began to walk down the aisle to board the plane.

"We're going to miss you, Mommy," Tommy said, making his mom get a lump in her throat.

"I'm going to miss you too, my children, but you know that your father is longing to see you and this year you're going to spend time with him.

"We're going to call you and send you pictures, Mommy, so it's going to be like you're with us and so you don't miss us so much." You send us pictures of what you do with the grandparents, too," Annie said and smiled. She always has her positive, but dramatic attitude.

"Noted," Georgia replied.

They entered the plane and the intense gazes of the passengers were fixed on them as if they were needles, they were the last to board and because of them the itinerary had moved for a few minutes. Annie walked down the hallway, feeling as if everyone was judging her for having to go into the bathroom at the airport; However, she wasn't about to be intimidated, she had enough of her brother who constantly scolded her.

One of the flight attendants helped them stow their luggage, while Georgia was in charge of helping her children fasten their seatbelts and settle into the seats.

During the flight, the children entertained themselves by watching a Christmas movie, while the mother read a few chapters from the last book purchased. The two-and-a-half-hour journey passed quickly, so Georgia didn't feel like she was able to rest, when it was time to continue running with her children, as the longest part of the journey to Glasgow was missing.

"Keep an eye on your bags, I'm going to rent the car," Gia asked.

There were three of them, but they carried five suitcases, each of which was a backpack and one with wheels, while Georgia only carried a small backpack with what she needed for a night away from home, because she would soon return to Las Vegas.

"Annie," Tommy called, as he looked intently at his mom, doing the paperwork to rent the car. The girl looked at him and raised her eyebrows, expecting him to say something. What if Dad has a new girlfriend?

"Like Mommy?" The little girl replied with another question.

"Arthur's nice, but what if Dad's new girlfriend is a witch?" Tommy said.

"Does your father have a girlfriend?" Georgia asked, arriving in time to hear her son's question.

The children didn't say anything, but shrugged their shoulders without giving him a clear answer.

"If that woman treats you badly or tells you things, don't hesitate to call me. I'm not going to let anyone mistreat you, understand? Gia remarked, and they both nodded.

"Noted," Annie said, the same way her mother had answered her before.

"Let's go to the bathroom, because we have several hours of walking ahead of us," Mom insisted.

"Annie... "To the bathroom," Tommy demanded, when his sister had begun to refuse at her mother's request. Enter now, because you won't have a chance along the way.

"How many hours is it a journey?" The girl asked.

"Almost five... Listen to your brother," Georgia insisted, even though they were already walking to the car rental restrooms at the airport.

"Five hours?!" Annie shouted, opening her eyes and putting her hand to her chest. Georgia and Tommy laughed, but preferred not to say anything else.

An hour later, both Tommy and Annie were completely asleep in the car, so Georgia was very focused on the road and with the navigator active, so as not to get lost, since the snow had part of the road covered and not to mention some of the warnings that would help her know where she was.

Her mobile phone rang and she hurriedly answered it, so as not to wake her children.

"Hello?"

"Georgia, hello... How was the trip?"

"Hello, Stephen. We're already on our way.

"I'm sorry I couldn't go get them.

"No problem, I understand that you had an important delivery and I'm already on vacation from the firm.

"Thank you. Drive carefully. I'm waiting for you here. Will you stay tonight?

"No, I'm leaving the kids and going back to Billings, I've already booked my flight first thing tomorrow morning, to go back to Las Vegas.

"It's all right. See you.

"Yes.

Gia hung up the call and took a deep breath. It was still two hours before arriving and her butt was already numb, although it was better to be inside the car with the heater and not outside, where the predominant landscape was white, very different from the landscape she was used to seeing in Las Vegas.

She turned on the radio at a volume that would keep her awake, but that would not disturb the children and entertained herself listening to Christmas songs and New Year's Eve classics, those that during her twenty-seven years of life had accompanied her at that time, while celebrating with her parents, brothers, uncles, cousins and children.

The fond memories turned to melancholy, especially when Annie's first Christmas came to mind. Their little Tommy was just two years old, while Annie was just under six months old and she had returned to her parents' house, her marriage to Stephen having come to an end. Tears welled up in her eyes, she still couldn't get used to the idea that a nineteen-year-old girl had already gone through experiences that others lived much later or had the joy of never being separated.

"Mommy, are we there yet?"

Annie's voice brought her back to reality, she hurriedly wiped her cheek and looked at the tracker to see where they were.

"Yes, honey. "We're getting there," Gia announced, and two minutes later, she was entering the urban area of Glasgow.

The GPS announced his arrival at his destination, and just as he turned off the car, the door opened and Stephen walked out with a big smile, the same smile Georgia had fallen in love with eleven years earlier.

"Daddy! Annie shouted, alerting Tommy, who was asleep up to that point.

The little girl hurriedly opened the car door and ran to greet her father with a big hug.

"My little one," Stephen greeted her, pressing her to his chest. You're not so small anymore," he said and lowered her to the floor, joking as he stuck out his tongue at Annie's weight and size.

"Hello, Daddy," Tommy said, much more regulated than his sister, but also happy to see his dad.

"My boy." Stephen hugged him and placed a kiss on the crown of his head. I've got something for you.

Tommy looked up and his eyes were expectant, his father put his hand behind his back and took out a poorly wrapped gift, but it didn't matter.

"Happy birthday, son," she congratulated him, even if the boy's birthday would have been a month ago, but it was the first time in ten years that they couldn't be together.

"Thank you, Dad," he said.

"Open it, Tommy!" I want to see what Daddy gave you," Annie said desperately, about to rip the gift out of her brother's hands and open it herself.

Tommy uncovered it, and his mouth opened in surprise.

"I love it, Dad!" Thank you! He hugged his father.

"You got it," Georgia said, walking up to them and seeing the collector car her son had been looking for for more than a year.

"Hello, Gia," Stephen said, walking up to her, who came with the backpacks in her hands.

"Hello, Teph," she greeted him.

"I'll help you with the luggage," he offered, to break the tension of the moment.

Between the two of them, they took the luggage out of the car and then entered the house, all under the watchful eye of their children.

"Are you hungry?" Stephen asked his children and they both nodded insistently, stealing a laugh from their parents. Well, they're in a good mood, because I've prepared what they like," he said, and the children applauded excitedly.

"Did you hear, Mommy?" Annie asked, and Gia nodded.

"You can't leave without eating my orange chicken," Stephen said, and she nodded again a little hesitantly, but the hopeful looks of her children convinced her to stay.

Georgia remained silent, allowing her children to talk to their father and update him on what had happened in those six months without seeing each other due to the project he was working on. Dad listened attentively, even though he already knew most things, only it was very different to hear him directly and not through a phone call.

It didn't take long for lunch to be ready, everyone sat down at the table as they hadn't done for a long time. Thanks to Annie's chattiness, the silence of the adults was not noticeable, however, Georgia wanted to return to Billings and time was against her.

"It's time for me to go," Gia snapped, and the two little ones pouted, but nodded. They behave well, they listen to their dad and I hope they don't forget me because of how much fun they'll have here," he joked and they both shook their heads.

"We'll call you in the evening," Stephen promised, and she nodded.

The farewell had tears, laughter, hugs and promises. Gia stayed as strong as possible, but she had a lump in her throat, as it was the first year in which she would not share Christmas or New Year's with her children, which made her nostalgic.

"Please let us know when we get to Billings," Stephen said, and she nodded as she got into the car.

Georgia took off, turned around the street, to go back the way she had come, and the three hands that moved from side to side to say goodbye to her, received an equal, but short, response from their side.

Gia didn't make it out of town when it started snowing, and with each passing minute the snow fell more intensely, making it difficult to get along. Five minutes later, the road was closed with a police patrol car with its lights on.

The policeman ran up to the car and she rolled down the window a little.

"What's up, officer?"

"I'm sorry, the road has been closed, because due to the snowfall an old maple tree fell on the road, a few kilometers ahead and the roads in the area have been blocked.

"But I need to get to Billings," she said, and the man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, ma'am... The road will be closed until further notice, as the machines that remove the tree will not be able to arrive due to the snow. I'd better get back to Glasgow.

Gia started the car, she didn't know what to do, her cell phone was without signal because of the snowfall, so she had no choice but to go back. At the entrance to the town there was a small hotel, but at the entrance there was a large sign announcing its full occupancy, later another one was the same, but he decided to get out of the car and ask, he had nothing to lose by doing so.

"At this time the whole town is full, I'm sorry I can't help you. "There are no vacancies," the woman announced at the front desk, and Gia let go of the air she was holding. She thanked them for the attention and returned to the car, her feet frozen, as the snow had wet them, as well as the discomfort of walking in her heels on the white ground.

She had to take off her stockings, it was better to have her legs bare, which, with the cold of the snow, because she didn't want to get sick and started the car again. There was only one place he could go, even if he didn't like the idea.

The car's engine shut off, drawing the attention of those inside the house.

"Mom is back!" Annie shouted happily as she watched Gia get out of the car and walk to the driveway.

"Georgia! Stephen shouted as he saw her shivering and walking on her bare legs in the snowfall. He ran to her with a coat in his hands and covered her quickly.

"It's-it-is-it's-it-it's-it-it's He had just gotten out of the car and felt the cold penetrate his bones.

"Come, let's go inside," Stephen said, and he didn't have to open the door to get in, for Annie and Tommy were waiting for their mother's return.

"Mommy! Annie shouted and threw herself into Gia's arms as soon as she entered the house.

Georgia shivered, definitely, she was not used to the cold and in that area so close to the pole, that was what predominated.

"What happened?" Why did you come back? Tommy asked.

"There's no passage, because of the snowfall a maple tree fell on the track," she explained, as her daughter clung tighter to her waist.

"Will you stay?" Annie asked ex