I am way too tired, thought Step. When I actually looked into the room I didn't see anything wrong, did I?
It was only afterward that I thought I hadn't seen him, but of course he was there all along.
Step went back to bed, where DeAnne was already snoring, and soon he was asleep, too. If he had any spider dreams, he didn't remember in the morning.
The next couple of days were a flurry of activity, but that was to be expected. Everybody got up at different times and it seemed like half the ward was either coming by or calling up and insisting that DeAnne or Step or both needed to do this or that in preparation for Christmas. In the afternoon of Christmas Eve, as DeAnne was helping Elizabeth wrap a present in the living room, she thought of something and called out to Step, who was in the kitchen putting away the groceries. "It just occurred to me that I honestly can't remember seeing Stevie eat anything for the past few days."
"I haven't seen anybody eat anything for the past few days," Step called back. "I don't think anybody has eaten in the presence of anybody else since school let out for the holidays."
"No, I'm serious," said DeAnne. "And he hasn't been playing computer games or anything, he's mostly been in his room. Do you think he might be sick?"
"I'll check on him when I'm done with the groceries," said Step.
That took only a few more minutes, and then Step headed on down the hall and turned left into the boys'
room. Robbie was on the floor, wrapping a present. "Get out get out!" he screamed at Step.
"Sorry," said Step. He immediately turned and stepped back into the hall, drawing the door almost closed behind him.
"You ruined the surprise!" Robbie shouted.
"No, I didn't," answered Step. "I didn't see anything. I was just coming back to see if Stevie was all right."
"I'm fine," answered Stevie.
"He's fine!" shouted Robbie.
"I can hear your brother quite well without your relay service, thanks just the same, Robbie," said Step.
"Stevie, your mother's worried that you haven't been eating much lately."
"I'm not hungry"
"You've got to eat something."
"Yes," said Stevie.
"Will you come to supper tonight?"
Stevie didn't say anything for a moment. "I guess," he said.
"Stevie, is something wrong?"
Another pause. "Nope."
Step went back to the living room, where DeAnne was still wrapping presents with Betsy, who periodically inserted a hand or a finger or, sometimes, her face into whatever DeAnne was doing. As a result, DeAnne had stuck about a dozen small pieces of tape all over Betsy's face, and they were protruding everywhere like a peeling sunburn. "Ooh, Betsy, you look so pretty."
"I heard you calling to Stevie," said DeAnne.
"Robbie wouldn't let me in the room. He was wrapping presents."
"He already wrapped yours."
"He's wrapping Zap's. But he didn't want to ruin the surprise."
"Didn't he buy it with you standing right there?"
"You know Robbie," said Step. "If you wreck one of his surprises, you might as well cut off your own head and save yourself a lot of suffering."
Step finally had a break about four o'clock and slipped into his office to catch a few minutes' work on the program. He was this close to finishing it, and if he could have it done, ready to fedex it to Agamemnon, then he- would have so much more relaxed a Christmas. It was just ticky stuff now anyway, but it meant changing a line or two, then compiling it, then running it and seeing what it looked like, then tweaking it again and compiling it again ... It ate up the clock without making that much visible progress.
"Step, can't you come to supper on Christmas Eve?"
Step turned around to see DeAnne standing in the doorway of his office.
"And Stevie won't come either. I didn't prepare a banquet but even self-employed people are allowed to have Christmas Eve off."
"I'm so close, DeAnne."
"All right, suit yourself," she said, and she closed the door.
Step sighed and got up from the chair. When he reached the hall he heard her saying to Stevie, "Go ahead, apparently males in this family don't eat anymore."
"DeAnne," said Step. "It's bad enough when you sound like your mother, but now you're sounding like mine."
She looked annoyed for a moment, but then decided to take it as a joke. "That's fine with me," she said. "I like your mother. And she likes me. In fact, she likes me better than you."
"Better than I like you? Or better than she likes me?"
"Both," she said.
"Impossible." He was now at the end of the hall and he nuzzled her and held her close and whispered in her ear, "Let's forget these kids and go make us another baby."
"It's too soon," she said. "I haven't forgotten how much it hurts."
They both remembered Zap's troubles and her words took on a second meaning, and now when he kissed her it wasn't romantic, it was tender, consoling.
Then he opened the door to the boys' room. Stevie was lying on his back in bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Come on in to dinner, Stevie."
"I'm not hungry, Dad," he said.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to eat," said Step. "It's Christmas Eve and we need to be together."
"I think he's sick," said DeAnne. "Maybe he's got whatever Zap had a couple of days ago." She pushed past Step into the room, heading for Stevie. And then, to Step's amazement-and DeAnne's too, of course-Stevie sat bolt upright and shied away from the edge of the bunk, looking fearful. "Don't touch me!" he said.
"Well, I've got to touch you," said DeAnne. "I've got to see if you have a fever."
"I just want to be alone in here for another little while," he said.
"Stevie," said DeAnne. "Just let me see if your forehead's warm."
"I'm fine," he said.
"DeAnne," said Step. "Please, let's not make a quarrel of it on Christmas Eve."
"But if he's not well I can't just leave him in here ..."
"He looks fine," said Step, ushering her out of the room.
"Suddenly you're the miracle doctor who can diagnose people across a room?"
As soon as they were out the door, Step pulled it shut and said, "DeAnne, didn't you see the look on his face? He was absolutely terrified."
"I know, Step. That's all the more reason to think he might have a fever. He didn't seem rational."
"His face wasn't white or flushed, and he always gets one or the other when he's sick. He's really upset, but listen to what he said. He wants to be alone."
"On Christmas Eve, and that's sad." Then she realized what Step was thinking. "You mean-without his imaginary friends."
"Have you seen him playing with the Atari in the last couple of days? At all?"
"You mean he might be going through some kind of withdrawal?"
"I don't know, but it's a sure thing he's really edgy right now, so let's go in and eat and then I'll come back in and talk to him, or you can, and we'll see if we can calm him down. He's not going to want to miss the ceremonies, right? He's the one who remembers things best, he always likes to tell the stories. He'll come around, if we don't make an issue of it right now."
DeAnne sighed. "Whenever you get so patient and understand ing with the children it makes me feel like I must usually be a shrew."
"So what do you feel like when I yell at them?" asked Step.
"Vindicated."
After supper, Step brushed his teeth and then went to Stevie's room to try to persuade him to eat something.
Stevie wasn't in his bed; DeAnne must have talked him into the kitchen.
Step meant to join the rest of the family, but he paused by his office door and thought, If Stevie's eating that'll take a while and so I've got a few minutes and that might be time enough to finish. He resumed where he had left off.
He didn't know how long he had been working when there came a knock on his door. He turned around.
DeAnne was standing there, leaning on the doorknob. She looked a little wobbly, as if she might need to sit down. "What is it?" he asked, concerned.