Just before eight o’clock, the judges returned to the stage and huddled with Peggy as if she were the quarterback and they were about to call the winning play. Jake had gone over to speak with his sister and Maddie, and Noel had headed off to locate the “little girls’ room.” Ally looked toward the back and saw Amelia’s would-be beau Justin sitting all alone, nursing a sad cup of eggnog. She’s already growing bored with him, she thought. Robbie, this is your chance.
“Hello there.”
Ally turned toward the greeting to find three ladies with pasted-on grins. They had her cornered. They were early to late forties and all wearing the same washable linen pants and white sweatshirts with red lettering that shouted “Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off” on the front. All three had bumper bang hairstyles, and Ally was convinced they’d had their hair done on the same day. Their lips were red, and their faces had a heaping helping of foundation, powder, bronzer, and blush. When they smiled, each had traces of red lipstick on their canine teeth.
“Hello,” Ally replied.
The one in the middle spoke first. “You must be the pretty one everyone’s talking about. You’re staying with Peggy Nelson, aren’t you?”
“That’s right,” Ally said. “I’m Ally Henderson.” The women spoke in perfect synchronicity, as if they’d rehearsed in the ladies’ room.
“Bethany.”
“Margaret.”
“Gina.”
“We’re members of the Bethlehem Babes,” Bethany explained.
“It’s a fitness club,” Gina said.
“We work out together,” Margaret tagged on. Ally was impressed with how seamlessly they shared the speaking duties.
“That’s great,” Ally said. What does this have to do with me? she wondered.
“We hear you’re a yoga guru,” Bethany said.
Ally squelched a smile. She had never thought of herself as a guru, though she’d been called that before. “I suppose that’s right,” she said. “I have a studio back in L.A.”
“Awesome!” Margaret and Gina said simultaneously. Bethany saved her voice for the kill shot.
“We were wondering if you might give us some pointers,” Bethany said. “We’re thinking of taking up yoga as part of our New Year’s resolution.”
“Oh…” Ally said. “That’s great. Sure. I’d be happy to.” Ally was relieved that’s all it was.
“Wonderful!” the three ladies chorused. They all watched Ally expectantly. She looked at Jake. He’d come back over and was watching her, too.
“I could use some pointers, too,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Oh,” Ally said. “You mean right now?” The ladies nodded.
“No time like the present,” Gina said.
“Well,” Ally started. “The first thing you should do is find a nice space to practice yoga. A place where you can focus without too many distractions.”
“Find a space,” Margaret echoed. The ladies all nodded.
“Space,” Jake repeated. Ally shot him a look to let him know she knew full well he was poking fun at her situation.
“Next, you should define your practice. How often you’ll meet, what you hope to accomplish, what type of yoga you want to try, that sort of thing.”
“Define practice,” Bethany said.
“And, lastly,” Ally said, “invest in a sticky mat. You need good footing. I’m sure you’ll have to order those online. I can’t imagine Bethlehem will have those readily available.”
“Sticky mat,” Jake said.
“Thank you so much,” Gina said. “C’mon, ladies! Let’s go reload our plates before the cookies are all gone!” Ally watched the three Bethlehem Babes toddle off toward the food table. She looked at Jake.
“See? Not everybody thinks yoga is new-age hooey.”
Jake smiled. “I take it all back.”
Onstage, the judges broke their huddle and made a line behind Peggy. The mistress of ceremonies stepped up to the microphone. She was holding an index card in her left hand. Noel returned from the bathroom and looped her arm around Ally’s.
“I’m so nervous,” the expectant mom said.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” Ally said.
“And now the moment of truth,” Peggy said. She looked at the card. “The blue-ribbon winner of Bethlehem’s 27th Annual Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off is…Crazy Cranberrilicious Chocolate Christmas Chunks by Noel Rogers and Ally Henderson!” The crowd cheered. Ally and Noel shrieked and bounced up and down like bobblehead dolls, then Noel threw her arms around Ally and rocked her back and forth.
“We did it!” Noel said. “We won!”
“I know,” Ally said. “I can’t believe it. I think it was the name.” Ally shot a look over Noel’s shoulder at Jake. He was giving it the old sarcastic slow clap, but she could tell from the look on his face that he was genuinely happy for them.
As the crowd moved in around the winners, offering congratulations, Noel beamed like a giddy little girl. “I’ve never won anything in my life!”
“C’mon,” Ally said. “Let’s go claim our ribbon!” Ally took Noel by the hand, and they moved through the parting crowd toward the stage, where Peggy and the judges waited with their prize.
…
As Jake watched Ally and Noel head to the stage, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction, like his favorite team had just won the championship. Though he had started out hoping for a three-peat, he was glad they’d won. He wanted Ally to be happy, to forget for a moment all the crap that was going on in her life. Most importantly, he wanted her to think that maybe Bethlehem wasn’t so bad after all. He wanted her to feel at home.
Jake saw Amelia step up on stage carrying the giant blue ribbon. She handed it to Peggy and then stood aside, and she just so happened to stand right next to Robbie. Jake noticed Robbie stiffen up, his eyes staring straight ahead as if terrified to glance in her direction. Poor kid. Jake whistled and cheered with the others as Peggy presented the winners the oversized ribbon. He watched as Ally allowed Noel to step up to the mic to say a few words, Oscars-style.
“Wow!” Noel said as the crowd fell silent. “I’m just so excited. I don’t really know what to say except that…” Jake saw her face change suddenly. The exuberant glow quickly vanished, and she looked confused. He looked at Ally and saw that she seemed as perplexed by the sudden shift as he did. Something was up.
“Except that…my water just broke.”
A pall fell over the room. Was she kidding? Ally looked back toward Jake. He could tell from the look on her face that she knew it was no joke.
Jake rushed to the stage as Ally and Robbie stepped up and each took one of Noel’s arms. Jake grabbed a chair and jumped on stage, nearly slipping in Noel’s amniotic fluid. He spun the chair around in one deft motion and helped Ally and Robbie ease Noel back into it as Doc Baker stepped up to the microphone. He was the picture of calm as he held up a hand and quieted the murmuring crowd.
“All right, now. Quiet down. There’s no cause to panic. I’ve delivered better than two thousand babies in my time, so I’ve got this under control. Robbie, run across the street and get a wheelchair from my office, please.”
Jake watched Robbie leap from the stage like an action hero. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, giving him a wide path to the back door. Even amid the hubbub and fervor, Jake thought to glance over at Amelia. Robbie’s crush watched him bolt out of the community center. Jake knew exactly what she was thinking. My hero.
But Ally wasn’t watching Robbie and Amelia at all. She was watching him.
…
“Ally, this can’t be happening.” Ally felt Noel squeeze her fingers tightly, and she kneeled down beside her. The soon-to-be mommy’s eyes were filled with panicked tears. “My baby has to be born in New Jersey. And Brian should be here. Also, I’m supposed to be late, not early, just like all the other women in my family. This is just wrong. All wrong.” Ally lifted Noel’s hand to her lips and kissed it.
“Yo
u know what they say,” Ally said, “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Noel managed a smile at her friend’s recycled wisdom just as another contraction hit her, and she winced in pain. Ally looked over at Jake. Now, he was watching her.
Chapter Fifteen
“Don’t worry, Brian. I’ll call you every ten minutes. It’s okay. She’s going to be fine. Yes, I’ll tell her you love her. Bye for now.” Ally hung up Noel’s cell phone and tucked it away in her pants pocket. She’d used it to give the laboring mother’s husband updates from the moment Noel was whisked away to Doc Baker’s clinic in a wheelchair. There was a five-foot artificial Christmas tree in the corner by the window in the clinic waiting room. Ally stood beside it, having moved away from the others to take Brian’s call. She noticed the tree was dark, bent down, and plugged it in. She glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing again. She could see Charlie’s diner just across the street, the neon “Season’s Greetings” sign glowing in the darkened window. Maddie had written the latest sandwich board quote in large letters, and Ally could read it from where she stood.
Christmas isn’t a season, it’s a feeling.
It was a minute before midnight, and Ally noticed another quote. It was painted on the glass of the clinic window just beneath Dr. Thomas Baker, MD. Family: where life begins, and love never ends. Ally looked around the waiting room. There was Tina sitting in a chair, legs crossed, flipping through a movie magazine, smiling at something she was reading. She saw Robbie sitting on the floor on one side of a coffee table. Maddie was on the other; they were playing Connect Four. Maddie dropped in a chip.
“And you win again,” Robbie said.
“That’s five for me, one for you,” Maddie said.
“Thanks for rubbing it in,” Robbie said.
“I can’t help it if you’re a total loser,” Maddie said.
“Way harsh,” Robbie said.
Ally smiled and looked at Jake. He was reading a copy of Field & Stream. There was a fly fisherman on the cover with a fishing rod in one hand, a massive salmon in the other. Jake seemed to feel Ally’s eyes on him and looked her way. He gave her a smile, and she went over to him, sat down next to him.
“It’s after midnight,” Jake said, “which makes it officially Christmas Eve.”
“Yes,” Ally said. “Who would have guessed I’d ring in Christmas Eve in Bethlehem waiting on a baby to be born?”
“Perfectly poetic,” Jake said.
“Yeah.” She sighed. It was a wistful sigh, a contented one.
A middle-aged nurse came out from the back. She waited as everybody stopped what they were doing and gave her their undivided attention. “Mother and baby are doing just fine. Noel gave birth to a healthy seven-pound four-ounce baby girl.” Ally felt her eyes fill, and for some strange reason, her first thought was of Tim and a conversation they’d once had while curled up watching Netflix on the couch.
“I don’t think I want kids,” Tim had said as casually as if he was talking about dessert instead of their future. Ally had remembered feeling suddenly empty when he’d said it. They’d had no discussion, no back-and-forth, nothing. She’d felt a strange sense of rejection, of being cut off from something, a family dream she’d carried since she was a little girl. But, instead of grabbing the remote and pausing the TV, instead of pulling him into a conversation about the matter, she’d just responded in a nonchalant voice: “me either.” But she knew even then she didn’t mean it. Maybe she had felt that way at first, when they were just starting out and she was building her career. But, as time passed, the pull of her childhood dream returned. Ally wanted a family. Children. The whole shebang. Then, why did she just casually agree when Tim broached the subject? Why did she let him think she was on the same side of the issue? Was she just trying to put off the confrontation she knew was coming? Did she fear this inevitable altercation would put an end to the Ally and Tim story?
The subject was never really discussed after that, except Tim would occasionally bring it up when they were out together and they saw a set of parents dealing with unruly kids.
“So glad that’s not us,” Tim would say, or “I don’t know how they do it.” And Ally would always quickly agree and then shift topics, for, deep inside, she knew that—despite the chaos they were presently dealing with—she envied those parents. And she wept for that little-girl dream of family. She never fully understood why she hadn’t stood up to Tim, why she hadn’t spoken her mind. Maybe she was afraid of losing him. Maybe she was afraid kids would wreck her career. Or maybe she was afraid she didn’t have the right stuff to be a mom.
But, standing in that waiting room just after midnight on Christmas Eve morning, she suddenly felt something as she heard that Chelsea Rose had entered the world. Ally felt she’d been given a second chance. She turned and looked at Jake, and all the rubbish about them being from different worlds seemed to just vanish into thin air. He was a good man and kind and decent, and she couldn’t imagine him in a million years taking all her money and running off with some yoga bunny. He was there in her life, by accident or fate, exactly when she needed someone. And, as their eyes met and lingered together, she could feel that he cared for her, that he believed she was someone special.
Ally thought the kiss that followed seemed as natural as breathing, like Balasana or a movie kiss that came at just the right moment in the rain or under a streetlamp or framed against a glorious sunset. Only, her first kiss with Jake took place in the waiting room of Dr. Tom Baker’s medical clinic early on Christmas Eve morning, the morning Chelsea Rose Rogers came into the world.
Ally thought about how Jake had dreaded December 24th, had been haunted by its memories. She wondered if the kiss had helped him find a new way to remember that day of days. She hoped so. The neon light in the room was too bright, the chairs a little worn, and they had an audience. Ally didn’t care. To her, the kiss was perfectly timed. Later, she wouldn’t be able to recall if she kissed him first or he kissed her, just that it happened so naturally and suddenly, sitting side by side on those cheap waiting room chairs. The kiss was as sweet and soft as Jake’s lips, and, as her eyes closed, she felt a sudden wave of euphoria, a girlish giddiness that took her back to a time when all her romantic dreams were still years ahead of her. When the possibilities of life were endless.
When the kiss was over, Ally opened her eyes and moved back from him. Jake was watching her, a half smile, half-surprised look on his face, as if he couldn’t quite process what had just happened. Ally could see that his eyes were clear on the matter, though. He’d loved it just as much as she had. Then, as if snapping out of some romantic trance, Ally turned to the room. Everybody was watching her, watching them. Jake’s face had turned bright red. Oh boy, Ally thought. I just kissed him.
Tina bailed her out. “This calls for a toast,” she said, getting up from her chair. “Jake, you got any sparkling cider in the walk-in?”
“Believe so,” he said.
“Be right back,” Tina said. She headed to the door, then turned back as if she’d forgotten something. “And no more kissing unless I’m here to witness it.” Ally felt her cheeks flush crimson, but she had to smile. The nurse poked her head through the door again.
“Ally? Noel’s asking for you.”
…
“Ah, there she is. Our mother here’s been asking for you.”
Dr. Baker was standing at the foot of Noel’s patient bed, making notes on his chart when Ally stepped into the doorway. The light was low and dim, and Noel was a big lump of sheets and blankets, cradling a little bundle in both arms. She beamed when she saw Ally, and Ally again felt happy tears well up in her eyes. For that moment, standing in the doorway, the thought of motherhood drop-kicked her right in the heart. Yes. There was no doubt. She yearned for her own little swaddled bundle just like the one Noel was holding on a snowy Christmas Eve morning in Bethlehem.
Dr. Baker nodded to Ally as he headed out of the room. “I’ll leave you three alone.�
��
“Hey,” Noel said. “Look what I did.”
Ally came over to her and took a seat in a chair next to the bed. Ally gently brushed her hand through the newborn’s fine hair.
“Noel, she’s beautiful. You done good.”
“Thanks,” Noel said. “She’s perfect, huh?”
Ally nodded. “Yeah. She sure is.”
“The moment I saw her, and held her…all that stuff I was worried about just vanished into thin air.” Ally smiled. Will I get the chance to feel that someday? “Here,” Noel said. She handed her newborn daughter to Ally. Ally took the bundle from her and cradled her. She smiled down at the tiny face and nose and fingers. The baby’s eyes were closed; she was breathing with the perfect rhythm of her very first nap. “Ally Henderson, meet Chelsea Rose Rogers.”
“Welcome to the world, Chelsea Rose,” Ally said. Ally moved her finger up to tickle the baby’s tiny fingers, and the baby’s mini-hand clasped it. Ally smiled, looked at Noel as if to say “see what she’s doing?”
“I know your life has sucked lately,” Noel said, “but I just wanted to thank you for being there for me. It means everything.” Ally smiled at her friend and marveled at the teeny fingers gripping hers.
“Well, there are moments that certainly haven’t sucked,” Ally said. “This being at the top of the list.” Noel’s smartphone hummed in Ally’s pocket. “That would be your husband. I’ve been using your phone to give him regular updates.” Ally slipped out the phone, handed it to Noel, and took the baby to the window.
“Hey baby,” Noel said into the phone. Ally looked out and watched the snow falling on Bethlehem as she slowly rocked baby Chelsea on her shoulder. Her life had taken such a strange detour, yet something about that moment, the town, the whole strange world she’d dropped into seemed oddly…perfect. And, as she held the warm newborn in her arms and looked out on the glimmering square, she suddenly felt that home had a whole new meaning for her. She whispered a quote she’d once seen on a calendar one of her yoga clients had given her for her birthday. It was by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
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