Sugar Lust

Chapter Ten

 With only three weeks until Christmas, Nicholas seemed to be not acting like himself. Emmeline could see sadness lurking behind his normally vivid eyes and feel the heaviness weighing on him that she knew he was trying to mask. She finally confronted him. Nicholas broke down and wept for the first time. With the holidays coming up and dreadfully missing his brother, he was done with their exile. She sent him out for an evening with Callum, hoping that some time with the guys would do him some good, but although he had fun, it didn't erase the ache of missing his family.

Emmeline had heard through the grapevine that problems were also on the other end. Dorothy wasn't attending her regular committee meetings, which was unusual.

Emmeline hadn't spoken to Dorothy herself since the baby shower. Part of her felt bad that Dorothy was struggling, but she wasn't the only one affected. It was time to move on and get over it. She got angry every time she thought about it. Dorothy went on and on about how she and Nicholas were still children and didn't know what they were doing, but Emmeline couldn't help but think how much Dorothy acted like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Emmeline didn't say anything to Nicholas about what she thought. For once, her tongue didn't get the better of her when she and Nicholas were talking.

Emmeline decided to swallow her pride and put aside caution so she could attempt to fix things with Dorothy. It might just be the best present she could give Nicholas, especially since she couldn't afford anything else. Maybe, with the time that had passed and the holidays coming up, Dorothy could see reason. If not for Emmeline's sake, at least for Nicholas's. She decided to take Millie to their house while Nicholas was in school. She didn't want to tell him she did this if it didn't work out.

It took her an hour and a half to walk there, pushing the stroller and cursing the hills that defined Port Hope. Thankfully it was still mild outside, just a little under-freezing. She wrapped Millie up in a blanket, the one present Dorothy had given Millie, hoping the gesture would mean something to her. She never had even used it before this day, but it seemed like the right to bring it out now. Emmeline spent the entire morning working hard on her school assignments while almost five-month-old Millie played. Emmeline was plowing through her work, and her overall marks had improved since she started doing distance education.

She turned down the driveway. The house was even bigger than she remembered, or maybe all her time in the cramped train car was clouding her memory. It was hard to remember her life before Millie. There was nothing the same. Her world, instead of revolving around her friends, what party to go to, or her current celebrity crush, was now all about diapers, baby feedings, and those precious moments she got to spend with Nicholas alone when Millie fell asleep for a few brief hours.

That was what she would tell his parents, what he had done for her and Millie. He was their rock. She would never have been able to do this without him. His calming nature soothed Millie and lulled Emmeline into some sense that everything would be okay, like he never doubted anything for a second. All while working, going to school, and somehow completing his homework which became more and more demanding each day. He didn't complain. He didn't get mad. He was a freakin' angel, and the very least he deserved was to have his mother recognize it! Emmeline's anger simmered under the surface.

Seeing the house for the first time in months made her hands shake. Walking up the steps to the front door was intimidating. She almost turned back but remembered Nicholas's face and steeled herself. She wasn't going to let Dorothy get to get to her.

She rang the doorbell and heard it echo throughout the house. Dorothy answered a few minutes later. She stood there looking at her, picking out a strand of hair that was beginning to thin and yanking on it.

"Hello," said Emmeline, trying to break the awkward silence. "Can we come in? I need to change Millie, and I would prefer not to do that in the cold."

"Well, of course," she said, snapping back into focus and ushering them in.

The house was impeccably decorated for Christmas. Garlands wrapped the staircase, and overflowing red poinsettias formed the centerpiece of the round table in the ample hallway.

Dorothy led them into the Victorian parlor with a white marble floor. Almost everything in this room seemed breakable, and Emmeline was always afraid of moving wrong or dropping something on the delicate white velvet settees facing each other. Behind them were couch tables with precious, sparkling cranberry lusters decorating them. Between the settees stood an intricately carved walnut coffee table with a Belleek planter. Lining the walls were shelves that boasted Dresden china figurines, Wedgewood pill boxes, or portraits in gilded frames.

"I think I need to take Millie to the bathroom," Emmeline said sheepishly. There was no way she could change this kid on the white velvet couches, especially not with what she smelled coming from Millie's diaper.

Dorothy nodded and pointed in the general direction of the bathroom. It wasn't exactly the way Emmeline wanted to start their visit. That morning she had planned everything she wanted to say between working on her Canadian history essay and fumbling over her advanced calculus. She would talk to her rationally and invite her to be part of Millie's life with a welcoming smile. She'd let Dorothy hold Millie, and Emmeline would do all this for Nicholas to try and repair the rift. Personally, she didn't care if this woman was tossed off a cliff. She would happily never talk to her again, but Dorothy was Millie's grandmother, and it would mean the world to Nicholas. Besides, it was Christmas. Now was the time.

Nicholas hadn't been feeling well over the past few weeks, either. He was working hard with too many late hours. Emmeline didn't know how he was keeping it together. Thankfully the train station wasn't all that busy the past week, so it allowed him to work on his growing mound of homework before the big Christmas travel rush.

She changed Millie, then came back out to join Dorothy, who had set out a tray of tea on a silver service and a few plain biscuits. They sat down, straight-backed as the couches were designed to do, and Emmeline reached for a biscuit. She was starving, a side effect of nursing. The biscuits tasted like sawdust.

Good to see that she brought out the good stuff for her granddaughter's first visit, Emmeline thought to herself, although she didn't like the bitterness that Dorothy was bringing out of her. It didn't feel like herself.

"Why are you here?" Dorothy glanced at Millie as though she didn't want to be caught doing it.

Millie squirmed, protesting having to sit on Emmeline's lap. Millie, Emmeline was learning, preferred to do her Emmeline reached into her diaper bag, pulled out a blanket, and spread it on the floor beside her feet. She placed Millie on it, which was much more to her liking. She rolled over, grabbed at her feet, and stuck a toe in her mouth after ripping off her sock.

"I know the situation hasn't been the greatest," Emmeline started as she had rehearsed. "But I don't see why we can't put this whole thing behind us and start over."

Inside her mind, she begged over and over, Please, let this witch come around. Please, I'll even stop calling her a witch. Nicholas needs this. Please. Let this work.

Dorothy squinted. Emmeline wondered if she was trying to figure out if she had an angle by coming here. Emmeline didn't have one. She just wanted to do the right thing. She wasn't sure what she could say to convince Dorothy of that. Clearly, their time apart hadn't cooled Dorothy's animosity for her. Please let this work .