Harper Cooper was an unparalleled friend. She promised Calvin that he could keep her car until they got back from Vermont at the end of next week, provided that he fill it up with gasoline before returning it and did not run it off the road. Again, Teddi was overwhelmed with the generosity of her friends. Maybe it was the times. They made people appreciate each other a lot more. Or maybe more people were rooting for Teddi and Calvin than she realized. Calvin told her that he tried to refuse Harper's offer the morning he picked up the car, saying that he would rather return it as soon as they got home on Christmas Day, but Teddi's old friend would have nothing of it. It was their honeymoon, she'd said, and you only get one. Teddi was glad she'd insisted they keep the car because right now Calvin was nervous, nervous because they'd lost track of time, nervous because they were running a little late for Christmas dinner with her family. She couldn't imagine the state he would have been in if they had to return the car and walk back from Harper's.

"Calvin, my grandmother really won't care that much," Teddi told him again as they pulled in front of the Donovan house.

"She will care because she'll have me to blame for it."

"Calm down," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "It'll be fine. I tell you what. I'll go soften Grandmother up and you get the gift you brought for her from the back."

"But it's only—"

"No complaints," she said, slipping out of the car and rushing up the walk.

She thought about ringing the bell to make their announcement known but thought it might be slightly foolish since she had the key. But her grandmother remedied her indecision by opening the door before she had a second to think on it further. The older woman stood there in her holiday best, looking anxious. "Theodora," she said, taking her hand then glancing over her shoulder, "there is something you should know," was the first thing she said.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Grandmother."

When her grandmother did not lighten her expression at all, she began to worry.

"Your uncle," Elizabeth said. "He's here, and, well, I didn't think he'd be pleased by the news, but I didn't think... Well, it's been so many years; I thought his reaction would be a little more subdued."

"What are you saying?" Teddi knew what she was saying. Her uncle could be a very unreasonable man when he wanted to be, but Teddi did not care what he thought. In fact, she despised her uncle so it really shouldn't matter.

"I'm saying that you might consider visiting your sister," her grandmother said.

"Are you saying we aren't welcome?

"Of course not, but if you'd like a peaceful holiday—"

"Hey, what's going on?" Calvin asked approaching from behind holding a small square box with a ribbon wrapped around it.

"Nothing," Teddi said, handing the gift to her grandmother. "That's for you. Calvin bought it in Norway. I'm sure you'll like it. It's quite unique."

"Thank you," she said, looking a little surprised and, to Teddi's slight satisfaction, embarrassed. "Theodora, I—"

"We'll be back in a minute," Teddi said quickly, "you can start dinner without us."

"What?" Calvin said, confused as Teddi led him down the porch and through the front yard. "We just got here."

"I know, but I think we should take a walk first."

"What's going on, Teddi?"

Teddi waited until they were halfway to the corner of the long block to answer. "It's my Uncle Richard. He's apparently a little upset that we're married."

"So what?"

"You should be prepared," Teddi said, taking his hand. "He's not exactly the nicest person. We don't really get along well."

When they got to the end of the street, Teddi decided to turn left, away from town. There was a small bench that sat indented off the path in front of a nice maple tree they'd put in not too long ago. They could talk quietly there with some privacy.

"Teddi, I'm used to your grandmother, what do I care about an uncle who's never here?" he asked as they continued walking.

When they got to the little bench, Calvin wiped some of the moisture off with his glove before they sat down.

"He usually spends the holidays in Chicago with his wife's family, but her parents both died this past year."

"So, now he's returned to torment us?"

"I guess you could say that." Teddi shrugged. "It's funny. He was always around when we were little. I remember always being really afraid of him. He was kind of mean to my dad and he hated my mother. So, he didn't really like us kids either. I remember one awful time, he—" She stopped herself, thinking about the painting he'd ruined when she was young. She still could not fathom where that cruelty sprung from. "I think he kind of got mad that grandmother took me instead of sending me off somewhere."

Calvin frowned. "He really hated your mother that much?"

"His favorite quote is, 'Some people are born to be a burden on the rest.' I think he thinks that about me or something."

"Well, he sounds like a winner."

"It's like he can't stand anyone who's different. I think it's mostly with the family money. He doesn't want Aurora White's kids to get their dirty hands on what's rightfully his."

"He can't keep you from it. Your grandmother wouldn't allow that."

Teddi smiled a bit. "So, you stick up for her now?"

"She would never in a million years cut you out of her will, Teddi."

"I know, but my uncle..." she trailed off, wanting to shake free of the bad memories, memories she never quite understood fully. She could feel the past unearthing itself, something she wanted to make happen on her own. But it seemed to be happening without her even trying. Calvin was still at home. She had to focus on him right now—to hell with her uncle.

"What made him hate your mom so much?" Calvin was saying. He seemed to want to ask something a bit more than what he'd stated, but no other words came. Did he know something? He couldn't. She'd never told him. Teddi took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start, where to begin telling him a story she only knew in pieces. "I told you that they never really approved of my parents' marriage. Not my grandmother, my uncle, even my grandfather thought it was a bad idea."

"Why?"

"First of all, my mother was only sixteen. She'd run away from home and was refusing to talk to her family. She lived in a decent neighborhood in Brooklyn. Her mother and stepfather had a clothing store. She had been seeing my father for a few months, then her stepfather found out and, well, I'm not really sure what exactly happened, but she was scared enough to run away after that. She and my dad eloped. Then they moved to the Bronx. I told you how he used to smuggle alcohol back when we were kids? Well, before that he ran a gambling house in New York. My grandparents blamed all this on my mother's bad influence. Well, mostly grandmother and Uncle Richard did."

"How old was your dad when he married your mom?"

"Nineteen or twenty, I think. My Uncle Richard is about five years older."

"I still don't understand what your father's business had to do with your mother. Didn't you say she hated all that stuff?"

"She did. She just loved my dad so much most of the time she tried to look the other way. My Uncle Richard just liked to blame my mother for my father's problems because she was the easiest person to pin it on. She was young and left her family. And she didn't have a father. They liked to use that against her."

"And that's all you know about it?"

"That and my mother's real father was from Portugal or something like that. White was her stepfather's last name. That's what my maternal grandmother told me before she died, anyway. My mother didn't like to talk about her real father or anything that made her feel different after she moved to Brookhurst."

"So the Donovans have been giving us outsiders a hard time for at least a generation. Good to know it's not just me."

Teddi took a deep breath and said what she knew Calvin might not want to hear. "He was around back then, Calvin. He was here when it all happened."

"I don't remember him."

"Well, he sure remembers you, or your father anyway." Teddi felt heavy after bringing up all those memories. Maybe her grandmother was right. Maybe they should stay away tonight.

"Come on," he said, standing up and holding out his hand. "Let's go back."

"Are you sure you want to?" she asked carefully, accepting his offered hand and getting to her feet.

"No, but it's Christmas, and it's your house. You have just as much right to be here as he does."

Teddi looped her arm through his and snuggled close to him. "And so does my husband."

"Right," he said, smiling down at her.

"Besides," Teddi began, feeling empowered by her husband's attitude, "he'll be back in New Haven before the year is out."

*~*