Yule Tidings by Savannah Dawn Page B

your mother.  We planned on inviting her, but after what happened on Halloween, we weren’t going to.  But Kelly, she forgot to take the invitation out, and Michael, he didn’t know, and he mailed them, and she’s probably gotten it already,” Alex cried harder.
                  “What?”
                  “She was invited to the wedding shower, Jason,” Alex said, tears streaming down her face.  “Kelly is really sorry, and Rose is too, but there’s nothing they can do.”
                  “What?” Jason asked, this time the depth of the situation dawning on him.
                  “I was planning on inviting your Mom to the shower, but then she was so mean and horrible that I decided not to.  Kelly was supposed to take the invitation out of the pile, but she forgot, and when Michael took the pile of invitations to the post office to mail them he didn’t notice.  He mailed all the invitations, including your mother’s.” Alex started crying with renewed vigor as she leaned against Jason’s hard chest.
                  The true horror of the situation finally settled in on Jason as he held his weeping fiancée.  His mother was sent an invitation.  Now she would think he’d rescinded his decision to distance himself from her.  She’d think he was groveling, admitting he was wrong.  Jason was irate.  He would not subject Alex to his mother, especially not without him present.  The men were all supposed to go hunting while the women stayed at the house for the shower.  Jason wasn’t supposed to be there.  Alex wept against his chest, mumbling, “I don’t think I can do it, I can’t handle it, Jason.”
                  “Alex, it’s okay.  Calm down, everything will be fine.  We’ll figure this out.  I’ll take care of it.  Shhh, Lexi.  It’s okay.  Don’t worry about it anymore,” Jason said, rubbing her back gently.  “Relax, sweetheart,” Jason told her, calming her down by degrees.  He stayed with her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair until she fell asleep, a broken sob here and a hiccup there interrupting her slumber. 
                  Jason wasn’t entirely sure what to do.  Alex had been so distraught and upset he could barely understand a word she said.  He eased her onto the bed and covered her up.  He’d just have to call Kelly to find out what had happened.  He couldn’t think of anything else to do.
                  The answering machine picked up.  “Kelly, it’s Jason.  Give me a call back when you get this,” he said, and hung up.  He’d have to try Rose.  To his surprise, Rose actually answered her phone.  “Hey, Rose, it’s Jason.”
                  “Hi Jason, how is Alex?”
                  “Asleep.  What happened?”  He asked, more than a little irritated that his sister would have let Alex cry, alone. He knew the kids were a handful, but she could have at least stayed on the phone with Alex until he got home, or even called him at work and told him how upset Alex was.  He didn’t expect her to drop everything and drag the kids over to his place to comfort Alex, but some kind of consideration would have been nice.
                  “Well, Kelly accidentally sent Mom an invitation to the wedding shower.”
                  “Why?  I don’t understand how she even got invited after what happened last weekend,” Jason said, letting the frustration seep into his voice.  With Alex he had been careful, unwilling to upset her more, but Rose could handle his anger at the moment.  He couldn’t fathom why his mother would have even been on the guest list, all things considered.
                  “Jason, we prepared the invitations before Alex ever met Mom.  Alex wrote them out and addressed them with Kelly two weeks ago, the day you guys told us about the baby.  She wanted us to