The Christmas Wish

by Vanessa Miller

  Chapter 2

  “Wake up, sleepy head. The kids are ready to open their presents.”

  Trinity’s eyes darted open as she searched the room, wondering where that deep baritone sound that she hadn’t heard in over ten years was coming from.

  “Don’t think I won’t tickle you.”

  Trinity looked down and noticed that she didn’t have any clothes on the upper part of her body. She pulled the covers against her chest as she screamed, “What’s going on? Who’s in here?”

  “Trinity! What’s wrong with you?” He started laughing. “Did you drink too much eggnog last night or what?”

  That laugh… she had missed that laugh. She couldn’t count how many times she’d wanted to call Jarod just to hear that infectious laugh of his. But they had chosen different paths and she couldn’t go back. But now she was hearing things and feeling as if Jarod was right next to her, pulling her arm, trying to turn her to face him. She had to be dreaming; that’s just all there was to it. No way was Jarod in her bed.

  Turning toward the sound, she started to open her eyes, but then she realized that if she opened her eyes, that dreamy voice would go away. And she didn’t want it to go away so fast. Not before she had a little time to remember…

  She and Jarod had grown up together… lived just three doors down from each other in their small little community. They went to elementary, middle school and high school together. But hadn’t started dating until the eighth grade. Everyone expected them to marry as soon as Jarod graduated from college.

  But in the meantime, Trinity and Tina had caught the eye of a record executive after singing a duet in church one Sunday morning. Trinity had wanted to stay true to her gospel roots and stay close to home so that she could marry Jarod when he graduated college, but the deal was too good to pass up. So she and Tina left North Carolina for California and never looked back.

  “Mommy, Mommy, get up. I want my presents.”

  Trinity’s eyes flew open at the sound of little feet running into the room, the Mommy word coming out of their mouths. “Who are you?” she asked as the two munchkins climbed into bed with her.

  “Mommy, you’re so silly,” the little boy said and then humored her. “I’m JJ and”—he pointed to his little sister—“And she’s Margie.”

  “My mother’s name is Margie,” Trinity said, sitting up in the bed with wonderment in her eyes.

  The little girl laughed. “Grammy calls me M2.”

  “Okay, you two. Let’s go into the kitchen and grab a bowl of cereal so Mommy can get dressed.”

  “But Dad, we don’t want to keep waiting and waiting to open our presents,” JJ said.

  Margie co-signed, “Yeah, God doesn’t like to make kids wait and wait all their life long.”

  With the grin of a truly happy man, Jarod opened the bedroom door wide. “Get out of here. I’m sure you can wait a few more minutes without angering God.”

  As JJ and Margie scuttled down the hall, Trinity got her first look at the man whose voice had invaded her dreams. And true enough, Jarod Harland was standing before her. She didn’t know what kind of magic had brought this all to pass, but Trinity knew two things for certain… this was no dream and she was not in her penthouse apartment anymore.

  Standing up, holding the cover against her body with one hand and shaking a finger towards the door with the other, she said, “You go with them. I need to get dressed.”

  Jarod’s eyes filled with worry as he took a few steps toward her. “Are you sure you’re alright? I knew I should have taken you to the doctor when you fell on that ice last night.”

  “I fell? Doing what?” Did he know how much she drank last night?

  “Don’t you remember? We took the kids ice skating last night, and you took a nasty fall, bumping your head on the ice. You claimed it didn’t hurt at the time.”

  “She didn’t remember going ice skating with any kids… matter of fact, she didn’t remember having any kids. “How did we get those kids?” She pointed towards the door.

  Jarod looked at the door, then back at his wife, then back at the door again. He then grabbed his coat off of the arm of the chair. “That’s it. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  “No!” Stepping back, shaking her head, she told him, “I don’t need to go to the hospital. I just need a moment to think. Go out there with”—she smiled sweetly as she said—“our children. And I’ll join you all in a moment.”

  Hesitating a moment, looking her over, he then took off his coat as he backed out of the room. “Okay, but I’m watching you.”

  The moment he closed the door, she rushed into the adjoining bathroom, which felt more like a linen closet compared to the spacious master bath she had in Long Beach. “What type of twilight zone did I just step into? What is going on? And how in the world can I get out of here?

  “I’m not a mother. And I certainly am not married to Jarod Harland.” The last time she’d spoken to anyone about Jarod had been about eight years ago. At that time, her mother informed her that she had been invited to Jarod’s wedding and wanted to know if she had a problem with her attending. So, how in the world could he now be her husband? Glancing in the mirror, just to make sure that she was who she thought she was. Yep, she was still Trinity Baker, it was the rest of the world that had gone mad.

  As she was staring at her reflection, she caught a glimpse of something beaming brightly in the sky. Pulling back the curtain, Trinity watched as the beaming light dimmed and then shone brightly again. Just as bright as the star she’d watched fall from the sky last night. Last night Trinity had wished that she’d never left home and this morning she was married to her high school sweetheart.

  Putting her hand over her mouth as she sat down on the edge of the tub, she looked to heaven with a thousand questions. “Is this what you’re trying to show me? That I could’ve been with Jarod if I had just stayed put? Why torture me like this? Because we both know that this isn’t reality.”

  There was a knock on the bathroom door. Jarod said, “I know you enjoy your morning talks with Jesus, but we’re all waiting for you in the living room and our children are about to start tearing into the gifts.”

  She still didn’t have any clothes on. So she asked, “Can you hand me a gown or a long shirt or something?”

  Jarod did as she requested. Trinity threw on the cotton gown and then wrapped the terrycloth robe around her body. She then went back to the window and looked back at the sky where that star still hung as if it were taunting her.

  “Okay, you win. I now have a family… I am going out there to figure out whatever it is I’m supposed to learn from this experience, so I can get back to my real life and put my life back on track.”

  As if agreeing with her, the star dimmed and then quickly shone brightly again.

  Trinity rolled her eyes heavenward. With all her troubles, why hadn’t she wished for her career back rather than wasting a wish on coming back to North Carolina with some pretend family?

  “Mom!”

  She hadn’t thought much about being a mom in years. Maybe she should get to know these kids, see how much trouble they are. If she liked being around them, Trinity figured she could always adopt a couple of kids. “I’m coming.”

  “Now! Or I’m going to start screaming,” JJ said.

  He was the older of the two children, and Trinity was beginning to think he was going to be the biggest headache. Maybe she’d just adopt one kid once she got her career back on track and her finances in order. “Did you hear me, star?” she asked as she looked out of the window one last time. “If you’re still accepting wishes. Let’s make that happen… career, then a nice kid.”

  Chapter 3

  Jarod was seated in front of the Christmas tree with a Bible on his lap. The kids were jumping around as if they’d eaten every ounce of sugar in the house.

  “Okay, Mommy is here, so let’s get started.” Jarod held out a hand to help Trinity take the seat next to his.

 
“Which present are we opening first?” she asked, trying to get the kids going. “Maybe I should open mine first, huh?”

  “No, Mommy. You and Daddy are last. Kids are always first,” Margie told her.

  The little girl looked to be about three or four. She spoke clearly and Trinity imagined that she was smart as a whip. Whatever Jarod was doing was obviously working on his kids.

  “Not so fast.” Jarod held up the Bible. “In this house we read the story of Jesus before opening presents. After all, it is His birthday that we’re celebrating, right?”

  Trinity’s head swiveled as she turned toward Jarod. Her parents were big on reading the story of the birth of Jesus before opening presents on Christmas morning. But Jarod’s parents didn’t attend church much at all. They were the kind of people who slept in on Sundays after working hard all week to keep up with everyone else in their suburban neighborhood. “I didn’t even know that you knew the story of Jesus’ birth.”

  Jarod’s brows furrowed as he faced Trinity.

  JJ giggled. “We read it every year, Mommy. What’s wrong with you?”

  This little boy was really started to work her nerves. “Nothing’s wrong with Mommy,” she told him. “I just thought we were going to open the presents.”

  Jarod opened his Bible to the book of Matthew and began reading…

  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

  Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.[d] And he called His name Jesus.

  Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

  When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

  Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

  And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

  “Yea! Jesus got the best gifts of all,” JJ yelled.

  “And he didn’t have to ask Santa for nothing,” Margie chimed in.

  Jarod smiled at his children. “You want to know something really sad… when I was a kid, I had no idea why we celebrated Christmas. I thought it was all about some Santa bringing tons of gifts to me.” He pointed towards Trinity. “But your Mom here, helped me to understand the importance of the true meaning of Christmas.”

  JJ looked awestruck as he stared at Trinity. “You knew about baby Jesus before Daddy?”

  Trinity could hardly believe that the children had gotten so caught up in the story of Jesus’s birth that they weren’t threatening to revolt over unopened presents. But then she remembered her childhood and how she and her siblings sat around the Christmas tree listening to this same story every year. It had been the most important part of Christmas morning as far as her mother had been concerned.

  Trinity took the Bible out of Jarod’s hands and put it in her lap. As she ran her hand across the pages a tear slid down her face. This had been a good tradition, even more important than looking at lights and baking cookies on Christmas Eve. But she hadn’t done any of those things in the last ten years.

  “Mommy, what’s wrong?” JJ asked as he moved the Bible from her lap, sat down and wiped away her tears.

  JJ’s kindness touched Trinity. She pulled the boy close and hugged him. “I’m okay. I guess I just miss my mom and dad. It’s been a long time since I spent any time with them.”

  “They were just here last night. Your mom made cookies with the kids,” Jarod said while staring into Trinity’s eyes as if he was trying to figure out if something was wrong with her.

  Turning away from his stare-down, Trinity hopped up. “Let’s open those presents.”

  ***

  Trinity didn’t know what was happening to her. But after spending the morning with her make-believe family, she’d started wishing that they were hers for real. She’d even found herself forgetting that this was all just a mirage that would end whenever that star stopped hovering over their house.

  Her mother had called and wished them a merry Christmas and Trinity had been so thankful to hear from her. She was even more thankful when Jarod informed her that she would be seeing her parents at church for Christmas service. So, after making breakfast for the kids, they all got in Jarod’s Jeep and made their way to church, but not just any church. Her wonderful husband, make believe or not, was pulling up at Christ the King Church. The very place she’d spent every Wednesday and Sunday during her teen years. That was about the time her family left the church they’d attended since Trinity’s birth, because her father, Elder Walter Thomas had heard from the Lord.

  The same way her daddy had heard from the Lord, when he moved them from Asheville to Charlotte, North Carolina so he could take a job in construction. That particular job went bust when the housing market crashed, and Elder Walter Thomas had barely scraped by as he moved from one dead-end job to the next. Sometimes, Trinity wondered if her daddy needed to have his ears checked with all this so-called hearing from the Lord.

  Stepping inside the church took Trinity by surprise, because it looked nothing like the hole-in-the-wall place she had grown up in. As a matter of fact, the place had expanded, and now seated at least two thousand people with ample room in the church gymnasium to host church functions.

  “What happened to this place?” Trinity asked as she gawked at everything around her.

  “You happened,” her father said, as he rushed over to her and lifted her into a bear hug.

  “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” Trinity was delighted to be in her father’s arms again. He hadn’t swung her around like this since she was a teen.

  When he put her down, she hugged him again. “I’m so glad to see you, Daddy.” But as she pulled back and noticed the graying of his beard and the extra creases in his forehead, she said, “Daddy, you’re getting old.”

  Walter laughed, “You sound just like your mother… I know I’ve been working too hard and I promise to slow down and take a vacation just as soon as we finish this last production.”

&
nbsp; Trinity wanted to know what production her dad was talking about. But every time she asked a question, Jarod looked as if he needed to have her medicated. So, she kept her mouth closed and pretended to know what he was talking about.

  But in the sanctuary, Trinity got another surprise. And she couldn’t stop herself from leaning in to Jarod and saying, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  “About what?” Jarod looked in several different directions as he tried to figure out what his wife was questioning him about.

  She and Jarod were sitting in the pulpit. He had the chair reserved for the pastor and she was in the chair normally reserved for the first lady. But there was no way in the world that she was anybody’s first lady. She’d sooner be the President of the United States’ first lady, than be the first lady of a church… Trinity knew in her heart that she didn’t measure up… not at all. Something was terribly wrong with this vortex she was in.

  “I did not sign up to be the wife of a preacher.”

  Before Jarod could respond, Elder Walter took his place behind the pulpit and declared, “Isn’t this the most beautiful morning you’ve ever seen… every morning God allows us to wake up should be treated like the best morning we’ve ever seen, because He didn’t have to wake us up. Many have gone on to glory, wishing they had been able to see this new day.”

  As she listened to her father’s words, Trinity felt ashamed of the person she had become. There wasn’t a day that had gone by these last few years that she had stopped to thank God for allowing her to wake up, nor had she appreciated the coming of a new day… just kind of expected that a new day would arrive right on schedule, so that she could go handle her business. But her dad was right, God didn’t have to be so gracious to her.

  “I’m so thankful that God led me to this town and to this church,” Walter continued. “Because this is the place where I really came to know Him. This is also the place where my wife and I met my business partner and the reason that I now have a successful and thriving business. Thank you, Jesus!