Chapter 61

Kiki waved back and then slid into the driver's seat of her own car, quickly turned the engine over, and listened as it roared to life. As she pulled the car out of the driveway and headed toward home, somehow, she didn't feel quite so alone.
Snow continued to fall through the headlights as she drove home, enjoying the Christmas decorations that stayed up all year long in support of the town, in an effort to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for the tourists.
A few minutes later, she pulled down the road leading to her ranch house. After her parents left, she bought the house from them, and made the payments directly to them. It seemed that over the past few years, the only time she ever heard from them was about the house. Kiki had thought of taking out a loan and paying her parents off, but never had enough money to make the down payment. Also, what bank would give a twenty-one-year-old woman a loan? But she had been saving and had good credit and was nearly ready. She made a mental note to pay a visit to the bank after the holidays.
She pulled the car to a stop and turned off the engine. After being at the Children's Home with the sounds of celebration, it seemed too quiet. "Oh well," she said to herself as she got out of the car, making a note to go back to visit the Children's Home as soon as she could. Christmas Day, she planned to sing at the church in the choir and maybe go back home and fix something to eat, and then deliver the fruitcake she had made to the neighbors. Christmas Day and Easter Sunday were the only days of the year when all the businesses in town closed.
She rushed up the wooden stairs, illuminated only by the streetlamps along the road, hurried inside, and locked the door behind her to get out of the cold.
Her cat mewed loudly as she rubbed up against her legs, greeting her as soon as she was inside.
"I know, Prissy. Mama left you alone all day. But I'm here now." Kiki stooped down and ran her hand along her soft fur, and then stood and hung her coat up in the closet to the left of the door. Then she bent down and picked her up, but Prissy wanted none of that, squirming in her arms. She was just as independent as Kiki. "Okay, okay." Kiki let her down and Prissy quickly smoothed her fur back into place. "Let's go check your food bowl, shall we?" Prissy purred her agreement, rubbing up against her leg once again.
Kiki walked into the kitchen and Prissy followed, mewing even louder as she paced before her empty food and water bowls.
"Well, we'll just have to do something about this, won't we?" Kiki picked up the water bowl, filled it, and placed it back onto the floor, but Prissy was still pacing. "I know, I know." Kiki smiled as she crossed to the kitchen sink, opened the door underneath, and filled Prissy's food bowl and then stowed the food bag back under the sink.
Kiki walked into her bedroom and flipped on the light switch, sat down on her bed, and kicked off her shoes. Prissy jumped up on the bed and rubbed against her, wanting to be petted. Kiki reached over and stroked her orange and blonde fur, then scratched the white patch under her chin that matched her paws.
"It's pretty bad that I'm actually talking to a cat."
Prissy looked up at her as if wondering what she was talking about.
"Yes, I guess I talk to you all the time, so you have no idea what I'm talking about." Kiki let out a deep breath as she stroked her fur. "Okay. Enough of that." Prissy looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Today's Christmas Eve! We have to celebrate!" Kiki dressed quickly in her jeans and an oversized sweater, still in her socks, and headed out to the living room.
There was a chill in the air and, luckily, there was plenty of wood in the bin near the fireplace. "Prissy, let's build a fire." She removed the fire screen and put a log and some kindling in the fireplace as Prissy rubbed against her back. "Yeah, you're helping me, aren't you?" Prissy purred her approval and followed Kiki around the room as she lit candles. "It's Christmas, so we have to have candles," Kiki cooed, sounding matter of fact. Then she plugged in the tree and stood back to admire her efforts. Multi-colored lights flickered on the tree, and the candles cast a warm glow in the room as the fire blazed in the fireplace. Kiki almost put the fire screen back in place, but she left it off so she could watch the fire. Then she stood in the center of the room, watching the yellow, orange, and red flames lap hungrily at the log when an idea occurred to her. "Hot chocolate," she announced, looking down. Prissy meowed in agreement.
Kiki laughed. "How is it that you always seem to know exactly what I'm thinking?"
As if in answer, Prissy trotted into the kitchen.
"Case in point." Kiki followed her into the kitchen, added milk and sugar to a pan, and then lit the fire beneath the pan. She looked down and Prissy was sitting on the linoleum floor, looking up at her expectantly. "Now- for the secret ingredient," Kiki announced as if she were a magician about to pull a rabbit out of a hat. She opened the cabinet door next to the stove, pulled out a small box, and looked down at Prissy. "Cocoa!" Prissy looked at her as if she were crazy and rubbed against her leg. Kiki shrugged. "Yeah, I guess if I'm talking to a cat and getting excited about cocoa, then I really have lost my mind." She pulled a tablespoon out of a kitchen drawer and measured out the brown powder. Then she snapped the lid closed and placed it back into the cabinet.
Prissy mewed loudly.
"Yeah; you're right. I need to get a life."
Kiki stirred the mixture, waiting for it to heat, and the scent of warm chocolate filled the house, reminding her of Christmas. She opened the candy jar on the counter, pulled out a peppermint stick, and set it in a mug. When the chocolate was ready, she poured it over the peppermint stick. Steam rose from the mug as the sweet scent of hot cocoa rushed toward her.
"Okay, girl. Let's go." Kiki picked up the mug, opened the snowman cookie jar on the counter that had belonged to her mother, picked out a chocolate chip cookie, and headed back into the living room. Prissy jumped up on the couch beside her as she ate the cookie and sipped hot chocolate, watching the fire sparkle in the fireplace. The fire crackled, relaxing her as warmth filled the room.
After she finished her cookie, she took another sip of her hot chocolate and set it down onto the coffee table, her eyelids growing heavy.
"I'll lay down just for a few minutes," she said, stroking Prissy's fur, "and then I'll blow out the candles and we'll go to bed." After adjusting the couch pillows onto the arm of the sofa, she laid down.
As she watched the fire, thoughts of Taren rushed into her mind. She hadn't seen him in years and she wondered what he looked like now. In high school, he had dark blond hair that bleached out naturally into streaks in the summer. She could only imagine what he looked like now. Men always improved with age.
Soon, her eyes became heavy as thoughts of Taren filled her mind, listening to the fire crackle in the fireplace.