Holiday Rewind: An Early Flight To Christmas
Lindsay wanted nothing more than for her family to be together at Christmas. In the five years since she moved out of her parents’ house, it seemed like something came up every year to keep them apart
Lindsay wanted nothing more than for her family to be together at Christmas. In the five years since she moved out of her parents’ house, it seemed like something came up every year to keep them apart.
The first year she’d gotten sick. The second year it was her brother’s turn to host (Lindsay had just started a new job and couldn’t get the time off to make the cross-country trip, her brother lived in California, herself in Minnesota, and her parents in New York).
In the third year, her parents were sick. The fourth her brother was sick. The fifth, her parents spent in Hawaii to celebrate their retirement. Lindsay couldn’t fault them for the fifth missed Christmas. Her parents had been planning the Hawaii trip since before she was born. They wanted to celebrate their retirement in a Christmas wonderland. Which for them, for reasons unknown to their daughter, meant sun and snorkeling.
This Christmas would be special. Lindsay knew it. The agreement was for everyone to come to her house for the holiday. She’d moved from an apartment to a small house over the summer and finally had enough room for everybody. Her brother Jake had a new girlfriend, Michelle, that would attend, along with her son, Brandon. Her parents, Maggie and Henry, would arrive on Christmas eve just as her brother and company would.
Despite knowing they’d be tired from their flight, Lindsay prepared a holiday feast, or feast-ish, for everyone. Mashed potatoes, a store-bought rotisserie chicken, peas, corn, gravy, and cranberry sauce (from a can).
She had placed on her schedule that she’d be working a half day on Christmas eve. Since someone else called off, she ended up leaving just an hour early. Nothing to fret. Right? She had the meal ready to go and it wouldn’t take long to prepare.
She turned the keys in the ignition of her used sedan and set out for home. Unfortunately, a traffic jam stifled her plans. As she sat in the line of cars, all she could think about was opening the door and seeing her family pour in. She’d offer her parents hot chocolate and point her brother towards the bourbon. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she put it on speakerphone and placed it on the dashboard.
“Hello,” she said. “Did your plane already land?”
“Hi, Sweety,” replied her mother. “Bad news. Our connecting flight in Chicago got canceled. We will not make it tonight.”
“Oh no,” replied Lindsay. Her heart sank. She felt her dream fading away.
“We booked a flight for first thing in the morning.”
“The very early morning,” her father groaned.
Lindsay laughed.
“Have you heard from Jake?” asked Lindsay.
“He said he’d call you,” replied her mother. “His girlfriend had to fill in for someone at work. They won’t be in until tomorrow.”
“I know how that goes,” replied Lindsay. “Okay, well. Tomorrow it is then. About what time should I pick you up from the airport?”
“Don’t worry about that. Jake is renting a car. So long as nothing happens with him, he’s going to meet us at the airport and give us a ride over.”
“I can’t wait to see everyone.”
“We can’t wait, either. It’s been too long.”
Lindsay got home an hour later than if she’d worked a full day. She placed her purse on the kitchen counter and tossed her coat over a chair she’d found at a garage sale.
The next morning, Lindsay sprung out of bed. Her gift wasn’t something she could unwrap, but it felt special all the same. She made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. As she sat with a cup of coffee, she waited to see what her mother’s response would be.
After twenty minutes of waiting, a reply popped up on her phone.
“We’re here,” texted her mother.
“At the airport?”
There was a knock at the door. Lindsay’s eyes grew wide.
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