Fifteenth Lovely

Sunday afternoon, maybe two hours after church, I sat at the kitchen table, finalizing the gallery’s Christmas showing. Mr. Evans had been comfortable enough offering me my own show on a bonus due to how hard I had worked for September’s show. Of course, I took up the offer and its bonus. Considering the puppy and the holidays coming up, any bonus was welcome to try and still afford a place to live.
“Hey, father.” Gora. He emphasized “father,” as he walked around the table. He sat next to me, looking over my computer. “A spreadsheet. What’s it for?” He reached over me for one of the apples on the table.
I pursued my lips, “Just...people like the Christmas show to be flashy. So big decorations and fancy portraits are a must. But we’re a little low on savings this year...even more important I do well.” Gora stares at me, blank. I stared back, knowing that he wasn’t retaining any of this. “Shoot, we might need to hire a Santa.”
His head jerked, “No, it’s an art show, right? Keep it cultured.”
“Like?”
“Frosty the Snowman,” he grinned. I groaned and added another row to my sheet. I typed in “Santa Claus” and opened a separate tab to see if I could find any for cheap. For a few minutes, Gora sat beside me in silence. Honestly, I forgot he was even there. I settled into the sound of his soft chewing and focused on finding a Santa. “So,” he said suddenly, “is Frosty going towards getting our house back?”
I tended up, “I’m getting a Santa, not Frosty.”
“Same difference,” he shrugged. “Point is, you’re taking on another big project, so we’re definitely getting the house back.” He paused to take a bite of his apple and swallow. “For a minute there, I was skeptical. Seeing as you haven’t mentioned it in forever and now Couro has that puppy. Dot’s kinda cool though, don’t get me wrong. I was just worried he’d be too expensive.” He paused again, clearly waiting for some kind of response. Ignoring it, I nervously scrolled through different pages of Santas-for-hire.
Then, I felt a hand on my arm. “I know I give you shit over working so much,” he said, “but I promise I’ll be forever grateful for this. Like, seriously, thanks.” I swallowed. How was I supposed to admit we might have to rent out this house again. Going back to Little Rock would take money I just couldn’t be sure I could get.
To save me from having to eventually answer, Couro then wandered into the kitchen with the puppy in her arms. She held Dot around his body and let his bandaged back legs dangle in front of hers. Dot’s coat was now a purer white. Over the past week, bathing and cleaning him had restored his coat’s color. Dot looked up at me with a blank expression, quiet as Couro looked back and forth from Gora and I.

"Yo,” Gora called out. “You’re not that bad of a sister.” Confused, Couro paused, and looked her brother up and down. He laughed and pulled out a chair for her. Puppy and all, she climbed into it and I squirmed watching her put Dot’s paws on the tabletop. "Heard you grilled that kid over insulting me. Andre, or whatever his name was."
"Aidan,” she corrected. “And I didn’t grill him. I just told him where was wrong.” She looked down and petted Dot’s head. “He was mean to you."
"I'm not the nicest to you either."
"And that's why Daddy always yells at you." Mischievously, she laughed at Gora sinking into his chair.
"Nice to see you two getting along." In the corner of my eye, I saw Gora stick his tongue out at his sister.
When her laughter died down, Couro shifted her chair closer to mine. "Daddy, can we take Dot to the park now?"
"Ah...” I pulled out a piece of paper to write down the contact number for a certain Santa. “Sweetie, now isn't a good time. Let's try next weekend? I'll be off for Thanksgiving, I'll have time."
"No, you won't,” Gora scoffed. “Auntie's coming."
Stunned, I asked "Zeze? Did she confirm?” Gora turned and reached into the drawer with all our mail. He ruffled through it and pulled out a letter from Zeina Alaoui. Kutu’s older sister. “Shoot,” I mumbled.
"So can we go today?" Couro piped up.
"Maybe the weekend after?"
"Isn’t the Christmas showing every weekend of December?”
“...Let’s try January?”
"That's so long!” she was whining now. “We might not still have Dot." I swallowed, wondering how quickly I’d be able to finish finalizing for tomorrow. Couro got frustrated and started pulling on my arm, “Please. You said you would yesterday."
"Something came up, sweetie. I couldn't." Right then, I got a text from the person coming in to install the lights. Reading it, I saw that they were trying to flake on us last minute. I texted back, trying to figure out why.
"You promised..."
"Damn,” Gora remarked. “Dad's not fulfilling his promises. What a surprise."
"Not now, Gora." The technician was trying to demand more money since apparently somewhere else offered him more for a similar job. When I refused due to our budget, he was kind enough to link me to another lights person looking for work.
Gora looked at me, then my phone, "What is so important that you couldn't keep a simple promise?"
"Making sure we have a place to live in the summertime, dammit." Frustrated I dialed the number given and listened as the phone rang.
"You said we're moving back to Little Rock next summer." I didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at him.
Couro caught on and pulled on my arm again, “We are going back, aren't we?"
I didn’t look at her either. "Eventually."
I could see Gora about to rage off in my side view, "What--!?”
"Eventually,” I snapped. “And that's final." Finally, the guy answered and I walked out the room to talk to him.
From behind me, I just heard Gora bark, "Couro, get the mutt in the car before I change my mind."