A Christmas Story




------------------------------- Chapter Four: Welcome to Earth -------------------------------

Morning light streamed through the window of Jing-Mei Chen's Chicago loft apartment, hitting her eyes as she slowly opened them. Quickly, she closed them again against the sun, and she had to admit that for a Tuesday morning it was pretty quiet outside. She supposed it was due to the Christmas season, although she couldn't recall if it had been *this* quiet last season.

Wait.

Quiet? It was quiet. No Dave softly snoring next to her, no dog barking, no baby crying, no child poking her to wake her up. It was quiet. Absolutely, peacefully quiet. And, eyes still closed, Jing-Mei reached out a tentative hand to the space on the bed next to her, and…felt nothing but the cold mattress. One day! It had only been one day! Or some freakish nightmare, but it didn't matter now that it was over. She silently thanked God as she let out a huge sigh of relief that must've started at her small intestines, resting back in bed to lie in elation for a few moments.

A shriek, followed by another, and then a cry erupted from beyond her bedroom. She shot up, her eyes snapping open not to her loft apartment but to that same cramped, lived-in room that she'd awoken to the day before. A pained expression came to her face as she realized she was still in her alternate universe, with her new husband and her new children and her new life. This was great.

"Just freaking great," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes once more in hopes that it would make everything go away. But after a few minutes of wishful thinking, she realized that the baby was still crying - well, now more like wailing, and something had to be done. Even knowing how unreal all of this was, she still couldn't just let the poor thing suffer like that. Where the hell was Dave? And why wasn't he doing something to stop the baby from crying?

Another sound now: the shower turning on in the bathroom. She glanced to the door beside the nightstand, hesitating only slightly before pushing the covers aside and stepping out of bed. She knocked softly at first, but then louder as she heard Dave singing along to the radio, his voice muffled by the door. Steeling herself, she turned the knob and pushed the door open, listening for a moment to the wonderful voice she remembered him having, although he was currently slightly out of tune since he wasn't really trying. He'd always loved to serenade her, and, briefly, she wondered if he still did it.

"Hello?" she called from the doorway, keeping her eyes cast to the floor. "Hello!"

"…I was cryin' when I met you, now I'm tryin' to forget you…" was the only reply she received, and she sighed as he continued to sing along to and old Aerosmith song, unaware of her presence. "Your love is sweet misery…I was - "

"Hey!!!" she yelled over the music. Immediately, it was turned down and the shower curtain was pushed aside to reveal Dave in his full glory, naked as the day he was born. She stood there for a moment, cocking an eyebrow as her gaze took in his appearance. This…yes, this was something she had *definitely* missed. Absently, she said: "Uh…that…baby's crying…"

"And…?" His unimpressed tone made her snap out of her reverie, and she shifted her gaze from his naked body to his eyes. He was actually looking at her as if he didn't give a shit, and it surprised her. "Don't give me that look, Jing-Mei. Tuesday's *your* day, and you know it. Jeeze, usually *I'm* the one trying to pull this."

The curtain was pulled back in place, and Jing-Mei blinked in surprise just as the radio turned back up. She stood there for a moment, startled, before she shook her head and cleared her thoughts. "…Out on the street, is the devil's in your kiss…" he went on, as she slowly turned and left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "If our love goes up in flames, it's a fire I can't resist…"

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As Jing-Mei changed the little boy's Huggies, who was laying happily on his back and playing with a set of plastic keys, she was fully aware of the girl's eyes on her from the baby-sized Laz-E-Boy lounger across the room. She ignored her though, as she forced herself to go into doctor mode and pretend this was just a patient, experienced hands using the baby wipes and putting on a fresh diaper. Her professional - her *cold* - manner had to have been what gave her away.

And her biggest mistake was glancing up from the toddler and to the girl, who stared at her for a beat, before asking hesitantly: "You're…not really our mom, are you?"

"I…" Jing-Mei began, but somehow couldn't allow the lie to slip past her lips with the way the girl was staring at her so earnestly. She shook her head, almost sadly. "No…I'm not. I…I'm chief of the ER at the county hospital in Chicago…you know, that place with the big buildings…?" She received no response from the girl, so she went on, rambling nervously. "I live in an apartment house with a doorman. I have a Ferrari." She paused as the little girl nodded. "This…this isn't my real life. It's just a…glimpse."

"Where's my real mom?" Annie asked.

"I don't know…" Jing-Mei replied, shrugging helplessly. Her eyes went wide as she saw Annie's face scrunch up, petrified at the possibility she might start crying. Quickly, she added hastily: "But don't worry, she loves you, and I'm sure she'll be back very soon…very, *very* soon…"

With a curious expression, the girl approached Jing-Mei, climbing up on the little chair next to her. She motioned for Jing-Mei to lean closer, which she did, and then she tugged firmly at her hair and pinched her nose. "They did a pretty good job."

"Who?"

"The aliens," Annie said with a finality that only a child could possess. "In the mother ship. You look just like her."

"Uh…thanks," Jing-Mei replied, unsure of what else to exactly say to the now stone-faced girl. "You're…not going to start crying, are you? Because I'm not really sure I could handle that right now."

She seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding 'no' and asking, "Do you like kids?"

"On a case by case basis. Do you like aliens?" Jing-Mei asked, deciding to play along with the kid. Hell, it was easier than explaining what *she* didn't even understand.

"On a case by case basis," the little girl repeated, causing Jing-Mei to smile. Annie was obviously very smart for her age. "Do you know how to make chocolate milk?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Aliens?" the little girl challenged.

"Well, this one does," Jing-Mei replied quickly. "Chocolate is big on my planet."

"You promise not to kidnap me and my brother and implant stuff in our brains?"

"Sure…"

There was a beat. Then: "Welcome to Earth."

Jing-Mei smiled triumphantly. "Thanks. Tell me something…Annie."

"What?"

"Does your father let you stay up late and watch the Sci-Fi channel with him?"

"Yeah."

"Well...you're not allowed to do that anymore."

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She was driving in what was considered her minivan, with Annie buckled up in the front seat next to her. They'd been driving for a while now, with Jing-Mei trying to interpret Annie's disjointed directions, but, finally, they pulled up to Playland Daycare Center.

"This is daycare," Annie stated, and Jing-Mei looked at her for a minute before remembering that she was an alien. "It's where babies go when their parents are at work."

"Right…" she replied, nodding, and then got out of the van and to the back sliding door. She pulled it open, getting Josh out of his child seat and holding the baby at arms' length as she handed him to the woman standing out there to greet her. "Uh…do I get a receipt or something?"

The next stop was the local YMCA. Jing-Mei had actually considered that Annie would be going to school, until she remembered that it was probably Christmas break. The little girl opened the door, but turned to Jing-Mei before exiting the van. "I have winter camp until four, then ballet camp until five-thirty."

"Five-thirty," Jing-Mei repeated, committing the time to memory. "Got it."

"Try not to be late," she went on to say. "Kids don't like to be the last one picked up."

"Got it." Jing-Mei nodded. "Good tip. I'll, uh…see you later."

"I'll explain what ballet is later…hey! Maybe I can dance for you!" Annie squealed, before she bounded off. Jing-Mei watched as she scurried towards the building, and then jarred before quickly rolling down the window. "Hey! Annie!!" The girl turned to her. "Where do I go now??"

"To work."

Jing-Mei sighed in exasperation, but didn't let it show. "Where is that?"

"Oh," she said, and then looked up in thought. "It's in Daddy's work."

"I work in the ER?" she asked. Had *she* been the Malucci referred to on the locker in the Lounge? But the little girl shook her head, dispelling those thoughts, and Jing-Mei narrowed her eyes. "Do I work in the clinic? The free clinic?"

"You own it. I have to go!" Quickly, she ran inside, but not before calling over her shoulder: "Bye!"

"Bye…" she called absently, and then put the car in drive. Soon, she was on her way to County General, sighing as she realized she was now nothing more than a lowly volunteer running (as opposed to "owning," but she knew Annie didn't know better) the free clinic, as opposed to her Chief of the ER status in her real life. She wondered how she'd attained this position, before figuring that perhaps it had something to do with the children. This was a pretty convenient job for a mother who had to be home at certain times.

As slowly as possible, she stepped inside of the ER clinic, using the side entrance so she wouldn't run into John or, most of all, Dave. She didn't need to be making up more phony excuses and make herself seem even more insane then everyone thought she was. Which everyone did think, by the way, and the seven or so people that asked her how she was feeling today proved it. She was fine, she stated hastily, before pulling a very young nurse aside that she'd never seen before.

"Listen…" she said to the woman quietly, who was eyeing her curiously. "Do I have a private office somewhere in the building?"

"Uh…sure, Dr. Malucci," she replied nervously. There was that name again, Jing-Mei thought as the nurse pointed tentatively to a door a few yards away. "Right back there…"

"Thanks," she said with a smile, before making a hasty exit.

Her office actually ended up being an empty supply closet, with a window that offered a wonderful view of the garbage bin behind the building. Jing-Mei took a sad lap around the room (if it could even be called that), taking in the cramped and cluttered space as she read over the inventory lists and other papers tacked to the walls. Once she was done, she sat down at a small wooden desk near the back wall, sighing as the chair squeaked loudly beneath her weight. On the desk were several photos in different frames, and she picked them up one by one, studying the false memories.

Dave was smiling goofily next to Carter, both of the men's arms draped over each other's shoulders. They were both sweaty and holding hockey sticks, and Jing-Mei idly wondered when John had decided to take up the sport while knowing it had to be due to Dave's influence. She placed it down, picking up another picture frame. It was one of her, Dave and the children, with Dave holding the baby that was now Josh, and Jing-Mei holding a younger version of Annie. They were outside, with banners of "Happy Birthday, Annie" strewn behind them on the house. Another picture showed Jing-Mei in a hospital bed, holding a tiny baby as she smiled up at the camera, looking absolutely exhausted. But, God…she also looked so…happy.

Quickly, she put that picture down, picking up a small hockey figurine that she considered was from Dave. And when she saw the words "Hockey Players Do It In The Rink" embossed on it's base, she knew it had to be true. She found herself smiling, shaking her head in slight disbelief. He hadn't changed a bit, that was for sure.

Briefly, she then surveyed the desktop, before opening the top drawer and finding a personal checkbook. She looked inside, to the bottom line, and winced visibly. Dryly, she glanced up at a photo of her with Dave at a party, and said: "What are you smiling about? It certainly isn't this figure." Suddenly, the caption at the bottom of the photo caught her eye. She was so jarred she actually tore it away from the lamp harshly to make sure she was seeing this right. Dave and Jing-Mei Engagement Party - 2003. That couldn't be right, she thought. "That can't be right. Dave was in New York in 2003…"

It hit her then, like a ton of bricks. She looked at Dave in the photo, who was staring right back at her with that bright smile and those bright eyes. "You never left. You never got on that plane. You never went to New York." She leaned back in her seat, the photo still clutched tightly in her hands. "My God… You never left at all."

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Jing-Mei was sprawled out on the bed in front of the television, absolutely exhausted. In this life, not only was she very popular in the clinic with the smelly, dirty, perverted patients, but she was also absolutely disorganized. The inventory was a mess, the payroll was out of order, and she couldn't find any Goddamn thing in the place. She knew that there was probably a method to her madness, but she hadn't yet figured it out and didn't really want to. And right now, all she wanted to do was relax after the long day she'd had.

A young TV anchorwoman caught her eye on the television, and she raised the volume slightly as she listened.

"…Advancers led decliners by a nine-to-four ratio, and the closing tick was a mildly bullish plush seventy-six. Much of the market's action today was fueled by the latest round of merger mania to hit Illinois."

The Global Health Systems and MedTech logos appeared on a graphic in the corner of the screen, and Jing-Mei sat up, startled. She was on the board of MedTech! Well, she *had* been, in her other life. That company had been a part of the huge study she was working on, to better equip hospitals with state-of-the-art technology made to decline the death rate. When healthcares started paying for the technology, the survival rate on patients able to utilize them increased immensely. Her thoughts were interrupted as the anchorwoman went on.

"…when Global Health Systems and MedTech announced their intentions to join forces in a massive one hundred and twenty two billion dollar stock swap deal. Though neither side expressed significant regulatory concerns at the announcement press conference, it is believed that both the FDA and FTC will be closely scrutinizing the marriage, the largest ever in the healthcare industry. When asked about possible anti-competitive implications, MedTech Chairman Bob Thomas referred reporters to Cook County General Hospital board member Dr. Evelyn Mintz, the original architect behind a study that caught the eye of both companies…"

Jing-Mei's jaw dropped theatrically as an image of that red-headed bitch that had been hitting on *her* husband came onto the screen, oozing with confidence as she shook the Chairman's hand at the press conference. No way. No Goddamn way!

"Ironically," the reporter went on, "Dr. Mintz first met Thomas at a Lamaze class."

"A Lamaze class!!" Jing-Mei shrieked. "I met him through that Goddamned study I was working my ass off on! And you met him in a *Lamaze* class!"

"…While being coached next to Thomas, who, in turn, was coaching his own wife. Dr. Mintz and Thomas struck up a dialogue about the need for consolidation in the rapidly growing healthcare industry, and two months later the deal with MedTech was born…"

"What!" Jing-Mei said, incredulous. "That's ridiculous! That's *my* deal! After I impressed Thomas with *my* study on better healthcare!"

She barely listened as the news reporter went on about stocks and the economy rising, still fuming about her study that fueled the deal struck between two companies. *Her* face should be all over the news, not that Evelyn. And, as if stealing Jing-Mei's spotlight wasn't enough, she was trying to steal her husband too? That didn't bode over well, and she swore the next time she laid eyes on that skank -

"The kids are asleep," she heard from the doorway, and startled as she glanced up to see Dave standing there. He crossed the room to the window, drawing the blinds closed as Jing-Mei nodded, before turning back to the TV. "Jing-Mei. I said the kids are asleep…"

She glanced at him warily, half-distracted by the stock quotes of companies she *used* to own, replying: "That's great…those kids can sure be a real handful when they want to be…" Abruptly, Dave snatched the remote from her hand and shut off the television, and she gaped at him accusingly. "Hey! I was watching that!"

"I think I have something a little more interesting," he said, and she was suddenly aware of the mischievous glint in his eyes. Oh, shit. She remembered that glint, and suddenly felt a stirring in her belly she hadn't felt in a long time. But she forced herself to ignore it as he cocked a brow, saying: "What do you care about that study anyway?"

Words came into her head, and she found herself muttering them out loud: "I'm working on a new study now…"

"Fine," Dave said, climbing onto the bed next to her, and his eyes traveled up and down the length of her before he met her eyes, grinning. "But not tonight…"

"Wait a second," Jing-Mei stammered, suddenly uncomfortable as he moved close to her, his hands pushing the straps of her pajama top down her shoulders as his lips found her neck. Bolts of electricity arced through her body, and she was startled by them. She didn't love Dave anymore, how could he still do this to him? She pulled back, a little nervous. "Shouldn't we…do something first?"

He kept kissing her. "Like what?"

"I don't know…" She gasped as she felt his teeth scrape against her delicate skin. "Like…eat dinner."

"We had dinner hours ago," he said, one of his hands moving up her shirt.

"Wining and Dining, Dave," she said, taking his wrist in her hand to stop him from going any further. He raised his head, glancing at her puzzlingly. Dryly, she said: "Seduce me, why don't you."

He pulled a face. "Jing-Mei. It's ten-thirty. I have to get up for an early shift tomorrow, and so do you. You know by eleven we'll both be sprawled out on the bed, conked out. Just go with it."

"Whatever you say…honey…"

He started kissing her neck again, and this time, she went with it, allowed him to cradle her in his strong arms as they fell back on the bed, her form nestled under his firm body. His hand was making its way up her shirt, cupping her breast and causing her to moan softly. Her body remembered this, knew this and knew what it liked, and instinctively her hips were gently moving against his thigh, which was between her legs to support his weight as to not crush her. She ran her fingers through his hair, before slipping her hands on either side of his face to pull him into a kiss on the lips. They were still as soft and as captivating as she remembered them to be, and they still fit so perfectly against hers.

As he pulled back to sit up, probably to take things further, she stopped him, keeping his face in her hands. She studied him, really studied him, her fingertips tracing the lines on his face, lines that hadn't been there when she'd last seen him, last studied him like this. She could see him watching her as her gentle fingertips moved from the corners of his eyes and to the corners of his mouth. Curiously, she asked: "How did you get these?"

He smiled slowly then, showing her. Her Dave; of course they wouldn't be from thinking too much, or frowning too much. Her hands moved again, this time to his hair, which was laced with gray. His grin widened, as he said: "Now that's just from stress."

"God," she breathed then, looking into his eyes - looking into *him*. "You're so…beautiful…"

"Well, you're not so bad yourself," he replied, winking, although she could see the heat rise in his cheeks. He was never one to take compliments well.

"No, I mean it, Dave…you're…" She paused, hardly knowing where to begin, because she was so lost in him - and she never wanted to find her way back. "You…you were so handsome when we were younger, there's no question about that, but now…now you've grown into such a beautiful man…"

"How can you do that?" he asked then, searching her eyes with his.

"Do what?" she reciprocated, suddenly tense. Shit. What the hell was she thinking, saying all of that?? He probably thought she was crazy.

"How can you just…look at me like that?" he asked softly. "Look at me as if you haven't woken up to me for the past thirteen years of our lives…?" Suddenly, he pulled back, grinning. "Wait right there."

She watched with puzzled eyes as he got up and left the room, damning herself. She had no right to say those things to him, do those things to him, to make him think she was someone she wasn't. Because she wasn't his wife, she *wasn't*. She didn't love him - hell, she didn't even *know* him anymore. She had no right, no damn right…

Quietly, she crawled under the covers and turned over, evening her breathing, although that stirring in her stomach was still present. Through slits of eyelids, she saw Dave return to the door about five minutes later, holding a bottle of wine and two glasses. He sighed as he caught sight of her sleeping form, before he put the glasses and wine on the dresser, closing the light before climbing into bed with her. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms carefully around her, before he kissed the back of her neck sweetly. "Goodnight, Jing-Mei. I love you."

She felt him sigh against her, something she remembered he always did once he got comfortable, and she opened her eyes, only then realizing just how lonely she'd been all of these years. She was tempted to turn over and wake him, before she scolded herself for being so selfish. She didn't have a right. She had no right at all.

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To be continued…



Part 5
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