Sweet Vidalia Brand by MAGGIE SHAYNE

table was set though, with him at the head, Vidalia at the foot, eight chairs on each side. And when the food was all laid out, wafting scents that made his mouth water, and everyone had taken their seats, an odd, tense silence made the very air in the room feel heavy.
    And then Vidalia said, “So, Tyler, why don’t you tell us all what you’ve asked Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas?”
    The little boy grinned. “A pony! And I think he’s gonna do it this year, I really do. I’ve been so good, and I know how to take care of him. Miss Haggerty teaches me every single week when I go out to ride Rusty. And I can board him at her place and ride him anytime I want.”
    “If you get one, can the twins come and ride too?” Maya asked. Her kids started bouncing in their seats, asking “Can we, can we?” They were smack between her and Caleb, so they could keep them anchored and focused.
    “Sure you can!” Tyler said, nodding eagerly. “I’ll show you everything. I know how to put on a saddle, and a bridle, and–”
    “I want a baby. A real one, not make believe,” Dahlia said.
    Maya and Caleb looked at each other in surprise, but their little girl went right on. “I got so many dolls. I’m tired of dolls. I want a
real
baby.”
    “I want a four wheeler,” her brother said. He was all of four years old.
    “Over my dead body.” Vidalia pressed a hand to her chest. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
    “Oh, I don’t know, Vidalia,” Bobby Joe put in. “I think Joey had one at his age.”
    “I sure did,” Joey boasted, grinning at CC. “It was red, and Dad put a control on it so it wouldn’t go faster than he thought I could handle. But my big brother Robby knew how to take it off.”
    “Oh, you didn’t!” Vidalia shot a wide-eyed look at Robert.
    He smiled, apparently remembering. “I did.”
    “Yep, he sure did,” Jason said with a frown at his brothers. “And within the hour, Joey drove it into a tree and wound up with eighteen stitches in his head.”
    Maya shot Caleb a terrified look. Caleb patted her hand. “They have little ones that barely go five miles an hour, hon. Far more suited to a four-year-old.”
    Soon they were all exchanging childhood memories, and eventually, Christmas memories. Maya told about the birth of the twins the year of that freak snowstorm. Kara talked about her first Christmas with Tyler and Jimmy, leaving out the scary parts involving Jim’s addict ex and her porn-king boyfriend. At that point, Bobby Joe’s boys seemed to run out of tales of their own to offer, and Vidalia shot a look across the table at him, about to try to prompt him for some more, he thought.
    “I want a Christmas like that, this year,” he said. “Well, minus the blizzard and home delivery of twins, that is.” Everyone laughed softly and beamed at Maya and Caleb. Then Bobby went on. “I want an old-fashioned holiday, full of pine needles and piles of food and noisy family members all talking at once.”
    “Kind of like this right here, right now, you mean?” Vidalia asked him.
    Smiling, he nodded hard. “Just like this.” He looked at his sons. “That’s part of the reason I asked you boys to come up here. So we could have that together, right here in Big Falls. My adopted hometown. That’s how I’ve thought of it ever since I left it behind.”
    “I think that’s a beautiful idea,” Vidalia said. “And I’d be real pleased if we could have that together, Bobby. You and your boys are welcome to share your holidays with us.”
    “I was hoping you’d say that.” He lifted a glass. “To family.”
    “To family,” Vidalia agreed, and they all lifted their glasses in agreement. Even the children picked up their glasses of juice and tinked them together.
    Bobby met Vidalia’s eyes across the table and held them as their families all started talking at once and food was passed around and compliments were paid. And he couldn’t help thinking that this should’ve