A Wealth of Unsaid Words
A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper
A Wealth of Unsaid Words
f there was one thing to be relied upon in this world, aside
from the obvious finalities like death and taxes, it was
I that even a bitter, crazy nonbeliever like himself could be
warmed by the bustle and cheer of the Faraday clan at
Christmastime.
The whiskey in his coffee didn"t hurt either, but even
before Everett"s father had poured a generous amount into
his cup, Alex had felt himself relaxing into the cushioned
bench of the breakfast nook and smiling a little at the
familiar, welcoming chaos of arriving sisters and brothers
and cousins.
Family came in through the side door, banging into
walls as they tried to squeeze their luggage past the laundry
room and through a kitchen already filled with Everett"s
mother and sisters as they prepared plain sandwiches for an
increasing number of guests.
The number seemed to be getting larger by the minute,
but maybe it only seemed that way since Alex hadn"t been
here since last Christmas and so had missed new babies and
roommates and growing children. He would wonder where
they were all going to fit for the next three days, but he knew
without asking that room would be found for everyone.
As though to prove his unspoken point, Rachel"s four-
year-old adopted daughter climbed onto the bench seat of
the nook, and everyone shifted to give her space. Already
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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper
wedged in the corner between Everett"s father, George, and
his sister"s new best friend-slash-roommate, who hadn"t had
a place to go for the holidays, Alex slouched back to give
himself a sliver more room.
George responded to that by shifting over again to grant
him a speck more breathing space and then poured more
whiskey into his cup. With all his newfound clarity of
thinking, Alex knew that drinking too much wasn"t the best
idea, but he couldn"t formulate a very convincing argument
against it, not with the whiskey warming up the shivering
butterflies in his stomach. The whiskey was honestly too
good to be wasted by pouring it into coffee, but he didn"t
protest.
“It"s Christmas.” George must have read the uncertainty
in his expression and offered a flawless counterargument
which earned him a toast from Alex before he took another
small sip. Christmas. There was a power and magic in the
word that allowed the rules of the everyday to be broken with
impunity, and which promised untold treasures for those
who respected it.
Alex hadn"t lit the candle, but he was warm with hope.
That it was most likely the whiskey warming him didn"t stop
him from wishing for one moment to be a child who could
make Christmas wishes and expect them to be answered. A
child, or a braver man. He cleared his throat.
“Are you sure?” There was a devil in Alex that never let
him stay silent when he should. But when he gestured at the
garlands of pine and twinkling lights on the walls and the
rainbow of hanging, blinking bulbs visible through a window,
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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper
George chuckled. His cheeks were red, but it was more his
nature in general than the whiskey that allowed him to be so
forgiving of Alex"s sarcasm. It was no wonder Everett was
Everett with such a figure for a father.
Most people, even those lucky enough to have relatively
stable childhoods, did not have parents like George and Ally.
Most people dreamed of a Christmas that looked like this
one.
“I"ve never seen anything like it outside of a movie.” The
roommate, the earnest type with the styled hair and clothes
of someone determined to prove he was cool, was staring
around the kitchen with wide blue eyes, as he had been
since he"d arrived with Everett"s younger sister an hour ago.
Alex smiled into his cup with sharp sympathy. His own
disbelief hadn"t faded in nearly twenty years.
“This is
all
family?” The boy paused when he looked over
and caught Alex"s smile.
“Mostly,” he murmured, only to be overruled by
Everett"s younger sister and George. Molly hip-checked her
father and scooted her way onto the bench next to him. Alex
rolled his eyes at her as he was crushed once again. If he"d
been standing when she"d shown up, she would have hugged
him. Hiding behind the table of the nook was just trading
one brand of Faraday family closeness for another.
Molly had the same height as her brothers, but where
Everett and his other sister Rachel had taken after their
mother with strong, supple limbs and a sort of tireless grace,
Molly, like Robert, had George"s chubby, rosy cheeks and
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A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper
dimpled arms and a tendency to be caught either frowning or
laughing. She did have Everett"s dark, coarse hair, but she"d
cut it short and dyed it a flaming red sometime since he"d
last seen her.
“Yes,” she and her father said in unison, but only Molly
continued after that. “Yes, Ty, it"s all family. Not the great-
aunts or anything, but the close family members. Even Alex
here.” She slid the whiskey bottle over to look at the label,
but didn"t open it. It had probably come from her brother
Robert, who worked in liquor distribution and often gave
pricey bottles as gifts. “He"s like a brother
and
Everett"s soul
mate.”
“That"s enough out of you, miss.” Ally swooped in from
nowhere, dropping off a tray of sandwiches and silencing her
daughter. There was more gray in her hair, or so it seemed,
but the year between visits could have been playing with his
mind. Maybe nothing had changed here. Or perhaps
everything had.
Alex"s butterflies were growing decidedly more anxious,
but he winked at Ally and smiled wider when she winked
back. Then he took a sandwich before she could force him to
eat one. The alcohol was a bad idea, never the depressant
with him it was supposed to be, and the caffeine was slowly
adding to the tremors in his hands. Food would help.
He stopped after a few bites and ran through his
thoughts for the last few minutes, checking to make sure
none had been too grandiose or intrusive. It was easy to fall
back into bad habits, not eating, not monitoring his
thoughts or his lithium levels, thinking too much and too
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