The Miracle of Christmas
I sprawled out on the warm sand, arms stretched wide. The sound of the waves could be heard, lost in the din created by my friends. Nicola, Dam, and Leo were chasing Ella, while she splashed water on them and ran away. The sounds of laughter echoed along the beach, and I was sure they frightened all the sea creatures nearby.
While they were dunking each other, I enjoyed my book, occasionally glancing at them with interest. Finally, the boys gave Elizabeth a break, and she emerged from the water. Water dripped from her pink swimsuit, and sand clung to her wet body, yet the girl still looked stunning. She approached and leaned her head over me.
“Come with us,” she suggested.
“No, I’m reading,” I waved her off and shifted away from the droplets that fell on me from the tips of her hair.
“Come on,” Ella forcibly took the book from me, pulling me to my feet, and then twirled me in an improvised dance. I laughed.
“Okay, okay, just stop dancing, my head is spinning,” my friend obediently stopped.
“Shall we have a race?” she asked me.
“Are you serious?” While Ella thought about how to respond, I sprinted towards the sea. The blonde snapped out of it and ran after me, but it was too late: I reached the water first and dove into the blue waves. When I surfaced, she screamed:
“That’s not fair, you cheated!”
“And who said cheating is forbidden?” I clarified and charged at her.
We both plunged into the water headfirst.
Ella and I decided to fetch her mom just the two of us. We told the boys that it was to avoid embarrassing her, but that was only part of the truth. Above all, we wanted to be just the three of us again, like we used to be as kids when Laura would take Elizabeth and me somewhere to play, as if she were just a girl like us. We rode rides, played games, ate ice cream or fast food, and strolled through parks. She knew all our secrets, shared every moment of our lives, and healed our broken hearts.
“She’ll be pleased,” I assured my friend. We finally finished the poster that we were going to greet her mother with. I capped the marker and stood to admire the writing:
“Mom + Blonde = Perfection! Welcome!”
“I think so too,” Ella also stood up and smiled.
“Well, it’s time to get ready if we want to make it,” I rolled up the poster and ran up the stairs to change.
I grabbed blue jeans, put on a white T-shirt, and jumped into white sneakers. A high ponytail accentuated my cheekbones, and my lips gleamed with balm - the only makeup I wore in summer. I looked in the mirror and saw a happy person? Yes, I still didn’t know the answer to that question, but I knew what it would depend on.
Ella wore a loose-fitting green dress with puffed sleeves and an open back.
As soon as we entered the airport, a wave of cool air hit me. The contrast between the heat outside and the freshness in the lobby was sharply felt. We headed to the waiting area, where people were already crowded, waiting for passengers from the “Milan - Jeddah” flight.
Since it was initially planned for Laura to fly to us in Milan for Christmas, and the tickets had already been purchased - we thought it would be very convenient to fly straight from there to this warm country.
“Calm down, it’s just your mom arriving, not some mysterious Arab you met on Tinder,” I could feel Ella was nervous, so I decided to lighten the mood with my signature sarcasm. It didn’t work too well. “Or did you leave something out?” I made as surprised a face as I could.
“Why would I need some Arab now when I have my half-boyfriend?” Ella shrugged.
“Exactly, how could I forget, who was the one who made the promise of ‘no boys’?” I smiled. I was curious to see what path she would take to renounce her words.
“What promise? I’m hearing about it for the first time.”
“Okay, okay,” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What are you scheming?” Elizabeth read me like a book.
“Nothing,” I turned away from her, unwilling to reveal my (non-existent) plans.
Finally, a crowd emerged from the glass doors, having already collected their luggage, so we unfolded our poster and stood waiting for Laura. Then a fuchsia suitcase the size of a planet appeared, followed by Mrs. Karter herself, with her hair always tossed to one side and the kindest smile in the world, dressed in dark pants and a white T-shirt, with a giant straw bag over her shoulder and in oval dark sunglasses. The woman saw us with the poster and literally doubled over laughing as she approached closer and closer until we ran to meet her.
Hugs were, as always, sweet, filled with the woman’s perfume that reminded me of cherries, and the almost coconut scent of her blonde hair.
“Girls, you really outdid yourselves!” Laura purred, letting us go and still laughing.
“All for you, mommy,” only Ella could still call her mother “mommy” and not look foolish. “We have so much to tell you.”
“But…” Mrs. Karter began.
“All after tea!” we shouted in unison, and all three of us burst into laughter. Laura adored tea and had only three rules for us: “Do anything legal if you’re happy,” “Never lie to me,” and “All conversations after tea.”
We stood at the airport entrance, waiting for our taxi. People were coming and going, and we were still waiting. Ella bought us all iced tea with mint, but it didn’t really help against such exhausting heat.
“So, what other news do you have?” we told her almost everything we wanted, omitting our new acquaintances.
“None,” I blurted out, Elizabeth shot me an evil glare, but I pretended not to notice.
“I know you’re hiding something,” Laura brushed off my answer and squinted. “Something happened with Damiano?”
“No, mommy, he’s as healthy as ever, you’ll see soon,” Ella assured her, wrinkling her nose.
“Then tell me what happened,” the woman cut in.
“Nothing much,” I started.
“Well, fine, I’ll say it,” Elizabeth interrupted me. We both turned to her. “Mom, the thing is we met someone. A couple of months ago…”
“Someone in particular?” Laura clarified, waving her hands, not yet understanding the situation.
“No,” now I interrupted Ella because this was going to take an incredibly long time. “We met two boys, the story is long enough that it probably deserves its own book, but the gist is that they’re here now. And someone who won our little Lilibet over wants to meet you,” “little Lilibet” looked ready to tear me apart and would have done so if her mother hadn’t soothingly said:
“Wonderful, what were you so afraid of?” the woman smiled, and I felt a bit relieved.
“Are you upset that we didn’t mention it earlier?” Elizabeth asked as we made our way to the taxi.
“My dear, I’m not a priest to confess to, I’m just your mother. We both have secrets and our own lives, but I know you’ll never hide anything truly important from me, and for that, I’m very grateful,” Laura hugged her daughter and kissed her on the crown.