by Irene Brand
“You look wonderful,” Clara marveled. “It’s mostly the suit.”
Allison grinned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
If she looked half as good on the outside as she felt on the inside, then she had to be glowing. Her hands brushed down the short jacket of her winter white bridal suit, amazed at how much had been accomplished in the past five hours. She could barely catch her breath.
She wasn’t sure she even wanted to. By the end of this single day she would have become a fiancée, a wife, a former family case manager and a potential regular foster parent.
Had there been a waiting period for a marriage license, they would never have made it. All she had to do was show proof of immunization for rubella, and they were signing the document.
It only seemed an appropriate step in their whirlwind romance to marry so quickly. Well, fast or incredibly slow, she was convinced they would end up in the same place: together.
At the sound of pounding footsteps, Allison turned to see David rushing down the hall. “You made it.”
Her best friend swiped his forehead with the handkerchief from his suit. “Barely. Ever heard of planning ahead?”
“That’s for amateurs.”
“Are you sure this is what you want? Isn’t it a little…sudden? I was trying to encourage you to get started dating, but you leapt right past dinner and a movie to flowers and a cake.”
Allison laughed and hugged her dear friend. “If I believed my feelings for Brock would change one bit if I waited a month or a year, I’d do it. But this is God’s plan. I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
David hugged her again. “Maybe someday I’ll find someone who makes me glow the way Brock does you.”
“You will. In His time.”
The door opened, and one of Brock’s friends from the sheriff’s department popped his head out. “You guys ready?”
“On our way,” David announced, holding out his arm so he could escort her into the courtroom.
Surprisingly, the room wasn’t empty as she’d expected, but full of standing friends—the cast from the live nativity, fellow church members, a few sheriff’s deputies and some foster parents with their foster kids. Most shocking of all, instead of being back in Ohio, Tracie and her parents sat in the front row.
Only when everyone else sat could she see Brock, looking amazing in a great-fitting suit. The other people around them blurred as she saw only him.
“No cold feet?” he asked when she’d reached him and David had handed her into her groom’s care.
“Didn’t have time for it.”
“That was my plan all along.”
Judge Douglas’s legal service was short and direct, but Allison didn’t really hear it, anyway. She saw Brock and no one else. As they traded gold bands—a purchase from early that afternoon—she couldn’t hold back her tears. Dreams she’d thought impossible fell into place with a gentle, chaste kiss.
Too soon it was over, and friends were crowding around them, offering their best wishes. Last of all, she found herself in Tracie’s tearful embrace.
“I knew God had a plan for Christina,” Tracie whispered. “I realize now it’s with the both of you. I’ve already told the judge that I’d like you two to adopt, but I don’t know what will happen when I sign the papers.”
“Everything will be fine,” Allison answered, convinced of it. Still, tears streamed down her face. “I’ll try to love her as much as you do.”
Brock came up from behind and put his arm around Allison. “Tracie, are you making my bride cry?”
The teen smiled through her own tears. “Only from happiness.”
“That’s the only reason she’ll ever have to cry again.” He bent his head and dropped a loving kiss on his new wife’s temple. Both hugged the teen once more, and Tracie’s parents led her out of the courtroom.
Allison watched after her. “It was so hard for Tracie to do what she believes is the right thing.”
Brock lifted his thumb and wiped a tear that trailed down her cheek. “Yes, it was. But I know that even Tracie wouldn’t want you to be crying on your wedding day. Now I have a surprise for you, Mrs. Chandler.”
He indicated with his head toward the far corner of the room where foster mother Margaret Ross had entered and was swaying and cooing to the baby. Margaret hurried over and lowered the sleeping infant into Allison’s arms.
As if the guests recognized the three of them needed a few moments alone since it would be a while before they could legally be together, they exited to the courthouse hall.
Once they were alone, Brock leaned forward and kissed the baby’s brow. “Did you tell Tracie we’re planning to change her name when the adoption is final?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think the time was right. She was having a hard enough time saying goodbye.”
“I’m sure she’ll be pleased with the name. Christina Joy is perfect.” He brushed his thumb along the baby’s jawline. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Everyone will always call her Joy.”
“It’s who she is.”
Brock leaned in close to press his lips to Allison’s, the kiss seeming to join the three of them together in a promise. They were not yet a family, but with God’s help, one day they would be. Longing brought the newlyweds still closer until Joy squirmed and grunted. They laughed together and, with Brock’s arm around the two females in his life, they left the courtroom.
As soon as they reached the hall, the crowd broke out into a post-Christmas rendition of “Joy to the World.” Allison only smiled, feeling Brock’s grip tighten on her shoulder. It couldn’t have been a better wedding recessional. Joy. Her heart swelled with the emotion she’d never thought would be hers.
With reluctance, Allison handed the child back to Margaret, hoping it would only be temporary.
Brock took the opportunity to turn Allison into his embrace. For several minutes, they simply stood and held each other. By the time they let go of each other, their guests had quietly exited the courthouse door.
“Do you think it will all be downhill from here?” Allison asked.
“Are you kidding? How many couples can say they’ve had a start like ours?”
A chuckle of happiness rose low in her throat. “Not many, I would guess.”
“None.”
With that he led her out of the building and into their new life together. There were still things to work out, such as how they could make Allison’s mother’s house into a home for them and for Joy. Allison knew that creating a home would take time and patience. The most important part was already in place. They’d already created their family together—a family formed by a child in a manger.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0476-8
A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS
Copyright © 2004 by Steeple Hill Books, Fribourg, Switzerland
THE GIFT OF FAMILY
Copyright © 2004 by Irene Brand
CHILD IN A MANGER
Copyright © 2004 by Dana Corbit Nussio
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