2019-11-25 - A Home for the Holidays

Family is a funny thing. Easton technically has living relatives, people who are actually related to him by blood. But he hasn't talked to his parents in months and everyone is just fine with that arrangement. Tom's surviving wife and son are technically not his family, they never even bothered formalizing anything about him being a godparent. However, what matters is that it's time for their weekly video chat and despite the fact that Easton is laying in a hospital bed, that's not optional.

The laptop is setup on the tray, with his camera off. The little ringing icon shakes and dings quietly before the other side connects and a rambunctious child's voice calls out "UNCLE EASTER!" before Easton can quickly lower the volume. A dark haired woman with deeply tanned skin lean into frame and says in a much more conversational tone, "Hey Easy." Before Doug breaks back in loudly, "What's going on with you camera? We can't see you? Are you drunk?" The hand clasps so quickly over Doug's mouth that neither Doug nor Easton saw it coming. Jenny just laughs nervously and says, "Sorry, he's uh.. learning some new things."

Easton's eyebrows raise and he coughs a little in surprise but is thankfully able to answer honestly for once, "No bud." Of course the honesty doesn't last terribly long, "Gunner just chewed up something and broke the camera. I need to get it fixed."

"Why are you talking so quietly?" Doug nearly yells back into the screen, as if yelling louder will help him be heard if Easton's camera isn't working. Jenny is trying her best to be patient with Doug's vocal takeover of the call, knowing how much this time means to her son. She can only roll her eyes and smile at the next outburst of, "What did you get me for Christmas? Did you send it yet? Is it huge?" She shushes him and gives the camera a helpless shrug of 'children' before asking, "Is everything okay?" She manages to keep a smile on her face for Doug's sake but Easton can hear in her voice that she at least is not buying his 'dog ate my homework'-esque excuse.

"I'm talking quietly because Bennie's sleeping in the other room." Almost true. She's sleeping, but in the same room, the curtain drawn between them to help block the light from the windows. "And you know the rules, if I tell you what I got you then you don't get it. That's how presents work." Easton smiles, despite the pain throbbing in his badly mangled chest. "Besides it's barely Thanksgiving, I'm not planning on shopping until Christmas Eve. So maybe you'll have something in late January?"

Doug may not be very old, but he knows when he's being teased. He sticks out his tongue which his mother doesn't notice but causes Easton to smirk.

"Alright D-Rizzle, give your mom and me a few minutes to talk about what I'm not buying you for Christmas and then we can talk about when you're kicking my ass in Fortnite next."

With Doug having run off for now, Jenny drops the smile and says, "Easton. Are you okay? What is going on?"

"I'm good. Just a little accident, but I'm fine. I promise. " He turns on the camera, and shows her the fact that he is in fact in a hospital bed, with a bandages wrapped around his chest. He doesn't look actually all that bad though, considering what he went through. He shakes his head and says, "Please don't tell Doug. I don't want him getting freaked out."

Jenny takes it like a champ and closes her eyes to compose herself for a minute. "God dammit E, were you going to tell me? You could have texted, called, you know you don't have to wait for this right?"

"Jen. Stop. Please, this isn't why I'm calling." Easton gently tries to steer the conversation away from the accident, considering he doesn't really have a good explanation for what the hell happened. And it's true, that's not why he's calling. For a brief minute he looks up over the computer, half expecting to see the ghost of Tom standing there, urging him on. It had become a twisted weekly tradition for Easton to call Tom's family while his ghost silently and furiously urged him to do or say certain things. Of course Tom isn't there though now, but he is sure that he would approve of the next question. "Do you have plans for Christmas? Would you want to go out east with Bennie and I?" It will be the first time that he's seen them in person since the accident, something that Tom was trying manically to make happen.

Going out east in this case means heading to the Marshall's house on the Outer Banks. A tradition that Easton, Tom and Jenny managed a few times over the years despite deployments and other challenges. Jenny goes silent at the question, causing Easton's brow to furrow. She is quiet long enough that he actually starts to worry that he totally got this wrong. But eventually she smiles, a sad small smile.

"Yea, Easy, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot"

The call continues through the rest of the usual conversations and making of plans, with Easton making sure that he shuts off the camera before Doug comes back.

And just as he's closing the lid on the laptop, a figure catches his eye, sitting in the visitor chair in his room. But before he can blink or turn his head, it's gone.

He's gone.

Tom's gone.