The Gift of Christmas Present

by Melody Carlson

  “Easy does it, girl. It’s not your fault at all. It’s just the way things go sometimes. And, knowing Mom, I’m guessing she’s going to be just fine. That woman is really resilient. Just the same, I’ll be over just as soon as I can. But I may have to bring the rugrats with me.”

  “That’s okay. I can help watch them,” she offered.

  Then she went and sat down in a hard vinyl chair. She leaned over and put her head in her hands and just cried. Why did this keep happening to her? And just when she thought she’d gotten a grandmother, it looked like she might lose her. Maybe it’s me, she thought. Maybe I’m some kind of jinx to everyone I love or have any connections to. Maybe I should just wear a big caution sign across my chest, warning people to beware—don’t get too close. But, at the same time, she knew she was being ridiculous. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d played the granddaughter-for-a-day game—and lost.

  By the time Jimmy and the kids arrived, Christine still hadn’t been told anything, and every time she inquired the receptionist grew more exasperated with her, telling her not to worry so much and that she just needed to be more patient. “These things take time.”

  “You’d think they could tell us something,” she said to Jimmy. “I mean, is she okay? Was it a heart attack? A stroke? What? Even if we can’t see her, they ought to know something by now.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s been well over an hour.”

  “Let me go give it a try,” he said. “You kids stay with your cousin and I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She smiled at that word. Cousin. It sounded comforting.

  “Where’s Grandma?” Jamie asked as he sat down beside Christine.

  “She’s in there.” Christine pointed toward the big swinging doors. “The doctor is with her now.”

  “Is she getting a shot?” Casey asked with wide eyes. “I don’t like getting shots.”

  “I don’t know,” Christine said honestly. “She might be getting a shot.”

  “We got our Christmas tree,” Jamie said as he noticed a small artificial tree on the reception desk.

  Casey clapped her hands. “Our tree is so big it touches the ceiling, and Daddy put an angel on top.”

  “It must be beautiful.”

  “And we have presents,” Jamie said. “We even have one for you.”

  Christine blinked. “For me?”

  He nodded. “Me and Daddy picked it out.”

  Suddenly she realized that she was part of the family now and that she still needed to get Christmas presents. However, that responsibility seemed to pale in comparison to today’s medical emergency. “All things in due time,” her father would probably tell her.

  “I spoke to the doctor,” Jimmy said. “She’s okay.”

  “Really?” Christine wasn’t sure whether she could believe this or not. “I mean, is she really okay okay? Or is she just stabilized? Was it her heart or—”

  He held up his hand to stop her. “Let me tell you. They checked her heart and everything, and it all looks pretty good. The doctor says it was probably low blood sugar and exhaustion. I told him about visiting the grave, and he said that might’ve contributed to everything. But the good news is she’s just fine.”

  “Thank God,” Christine said as she sank down into a chair. “I thought for sure that I was going to lose her. I mean everyone was going to lose her. But it just didn’t seem fair after getting to be her granddaughter for only a day.”

  He laughed. “Well, don’t worry. It looks like the old girl will be around for a good long time. I’d better call Felicity though. I left a somewhat urgent message on her cell phone, and if she got it, she’s probably coming a little unglued by now.”

  “Grandma’s okay,” Christine reassured Jamie and Casey. Of course, they didn’t seem overly concerned. They’d probably assumed she was perfectly fine all along, just getting a shot or a checkup or some everyday sort of thing. But Christine was so happy that she hugged them both. “It looks like we’ll be having a Merry Christmas after all.”

  “I can’t believe this would happen only two days before the Christmas party.” Felicity frowned as she pulled out yet another imitation evergreen garland from her apparently bottomless bag and handed it to Christine. Then she turned back to where she was arranging about a dozen red candles along with porcelain elves and reindeer on the fireplace mantle.

  “Oh, Felicity,” Aunt Hattie said from her position on the couch, where she was untangling a string of white lights. “These things happen. Let’s just be thankful it wasn’t more serious.”

  Christine returned to her current assignment without saying a word. She, for one, was getting a little weary of Felicity’s complaints. Would she have been happier if Grandmother had been seriously ill? It seemed Felicity’s biggest concern right now was not having anything ruin her party.

  Christine may have been out of sight, but she was still within hearing distance. Even so, she tried to block out Felicity’s words as she attempted to wind another length of that stubborn garland around the staircase banister. It was like wrestling with a long, green monster.

  “Well, I don’t see why she had to go traipsing off to the cemetery clear over in Larchwood just days before Christmas.”

  “She just learned that her daughter is dead,” Aunt Hattie said in a weary voice.

  “I know, I know. And I’m sorry, really, I am, Aunt Hattie. But then Jimmy said that everyone has suspected as much for years. I think she just needs to let the past go and move on with her life. She has plenty of relatives around here who are alive and well. In fact, she’s even got more than she knew she had.” Felicity lowered her voice now, but this probably served only to attract more of Christine’s attention. “What do you think she came here for, anyway?”

  “To meet her family, I suspect.”

  “But why now?”

  “Why not?”

  “Well, did you know that she pretended to be someone else when she first came here? She acted like she was taking a job as Mom’s caregiver.”

  Aunt Hattie just laughed. She had a sweet, merry laugh too. It reminded Christine of jingle bells, and probably helped her to suppress the urge to go out there and set Felicity straight. As a result of her frustration, she was probably wrapping the garland too tightly. Felicity had warned her not to do that. “Just gently drape it,” she’d instructed. “But make the drapes hang evenly.”

  Although Christine had known Felicity for only a couple of weeks, she realized that she wasn’t mean spirited as much as she was simply thoughtless. But thoughtless people had always aggravated Christine. Besides that, she didn’t see why Felicity was so consumed with this party. Wasn’t it enough that loved ones were going to gather together? Did every single detail have to be perfect too? Christine really wished Felicity would just lighten up and relax a little.

  “You just need to take Felicity with a grain of salt sometimes,” Grandmother had quietly told Christine as she had helped get the tired woman ready for bed earlier that evening. Of course, this was only after Felicity had implied that today’s emergency trip to the hospital might’ve been partially Christine’s fault.

  “We all say things we don’t mean sometimes,” Grandmother had said sadly. “Goodness knows I’ve done it enough times.” She’d leaned back into the pillows and closed her eyes. “I probably know better than anyone how words are hard to retract.”

  Christine hadn’t known how to respond to that. She knew that Grandmother was still grieving over Lenore, and despite her assurance to everyone that all was well, she still seemed troubled. Deeply troubled. Christine hoped that a good night’s rest might help her to get past whatever it was that seemed to be haunting her. Hopefully, she would be able to enjoy the festivities Felicity seemed bound and determined were going to happen.

  “I invited twenty people,” Felicity had told Christine when she came back out from attending to her grandmother. “And I need all the help I can get to pull this thing off. You promised me you’d help, Christine.
I hope you’re not backing out now.”

  And so Christine had stayed late stringing garlands and hanging lights and decorating a tall spruce tree that dominated the entire living room. Felicity had even gone so far as to remove the recliner and stick it in a dark, out of the way corner. Christine wondered what Grandmother would say about all this in the morning. Fortunately, the staircase was Christine’s last assignment. Felicity had told her she was free to leave when it was done. Free to leave! As if she was the hired help. But then isn’t that what she’d been masquerading as? Perhaps she was only getting her just dues now.

  Christine had immediately liked Aunt Hattie. Of course, that was only her first impression of the little old woman, but Christine had found that her first impressions were often fairly accurate. Aunt Hattie was short and rotund with an equally round face. She had red tinted hair and sparkling blue eyes along with a quick smile that seemed genuine. She had appeared happy to meet Christine, hugged her warmly, and welcomed her to the family. Naturally, Hattie, like Jimmy and his family, was no actual relation to Christine, but she made her feel loved and accepted just the same.

  “I was so sorry to hear about your ordeal with poor Esther today,” she had told Christine. “Good land, it must’ve been terribly stressful for you. I’m so glad she’s okay.”

  But their conversation had been cut short by Felicity’s list of chores. Christine thought that Felicity, despite her sweet, blond appearance, would’ve made a good army sergeant.

  At last Christine’s portion of the list was completely done, and with only a quick “See you tomorrow,” she was out the door and on her way back to the dorm.

  But she wasn’t prepared for the loveliness that greeted her outside. It had been just starting to snow when she’d driven her grandmother home from the hospital that afternoon, but it had stuck and by now accumulated what looked like almost two inches. Enough to transform their normally attractive college town into a beautiful winter wonderland. Streetlights reflected off the snow and made the night seem much brighter and more cheerful than usual. Christine felt like a little kid as she practically danced through the streets toward the dorm. And she knew just what she was going to do when she got to her room. She had a plan to make her grandmother a special Christmas gift.

  It took her a while to locate the right box in her closet. She’d used most of this space to store boxes and items she hadn’t wanted to put into storage with her father’s things. But she finally found the precious box of old family photos her father had asked her to keep safe while he was out of the country. And she didn’t think he’d mind if she shared some of these snapshots with her grandmother since they still had all the negatives for them.

  By midnight she’d made a nice little stack of pictures of herself as a baby, a toddler, a young girl, and so on. She made sure that some of these shots included her parents, because it seemed important that her grandmother see and appreciate their role in her life. She wanted to reassure her grandmother that, despite Lenore giving her up for adoption, she’d still had a wonderful life and been loved by a pair of sweet, if slightly old-fashioned, parents. She hoped this would somehow help her grandmother resolve the inner conflict that seemed to be eating at her regarding Lenore. Oh, she knew it wouldn’t fix everything. Only God could do something as big as that. But it might help a bit.

  Tomorrow she’d go to the campus bookstore and get the perfect little album to contain these photos, and then she’d have something really special to present to Grandmother for Christmas. Of course, she’d still need to find something for Jimmy and his family, and Aunt Hattie too. But that might prove fun. She’d never had many relatives to buy presents for in the past. And she’d already sent her father his gift weeks ago to ensure its arrival. She’d carefully packed a box with some of the local foods, like raspberry jam and Starbucks coffee, things he had mentioned missing. And on top she’d tucked in a video Brianna had made of her before Christmas break. There were shots of her in their messy dorm room and around and about on campus. Christine knew her father would probably love the video even more than the food.

  Finally Christine went to bed. She knew that tomorrow would be a demanding day. Felicity would probably have more lists, twice as long as tonight’s, for her. But even so, she had a hard time going to sleep. She prayed for her father and then her grandmother and then everyone else she could think of, and finally, after what seemed hours, she drifted to sleep.

  At last Esther’s house was quiet. Felicity must’ve finally given up on her infernal decorating and gone home, and it sounded like Hattie had finally decided to call it a night too. Oh, why in the world had she ever agreed to let Hattie be her houseguest? It was bad enough that Felicity had insisted on having her ridiculous party here, but Esther was beginning to think that her family was trying to torture her. Just how much could an old woman take?

  Knowing that sleep would be avoiding her, Esther pushed herself up into a sitting position on her bed and turned on her bedside light. Thankfully, Christine had left the crutches propped within reach. At least someone seemed to be looking out for her interests. That was something. She struggled to put on her robe, then slowly made her way out into the living room.

  “Good heavens!” she exclaimed, then instantly regretted it, since Hattie was sleeping in the room down the hall. All these decorations for a little Christmas party! What went on in Felicity’s brain was a total mystery to Esther. Greenery and ribbons and baubles and bangles and every possible Christmas trinket were draped and hung from every pillar and post. She shook her head. Leave it to Felicity to try to take this thing right over the top. Of course, she’d assured her stressed-out daughter-in-law that everything was perfectly fine and that she should go right along with the party as planned, but she’d secretly hoped that Felicity would think better of it, especially considering the circumstances. Or at least tone down her plans a bit. But, no, Felicity was a headstrong young woman, and she seemed bound and determined to have the party of the year despite how her mother-in-law felt.

  Esther went over to her desk. Even it was adorned with candles and greenery, and to her dismay the photograph of Lenore was nowhere to be seen. She checked in the bottom drawer, but it wasn’t there either. Frustrated and feeling like a hostage in her own home, which had suddenly turned into Santa’s Village, she flopped down in her desk chair, almost causing it to tumble. Well, it might just serve them right if she toppled right over and broke her neck. How would that make Felicity feel? Esther suspected that she’d probably go ahead and host the party without her.

  Esther leaned back and tried to remember Lenore’s face. Her big, brown eyes, so similar to Christine’s, her sweet features. Oh, she’d been such a pretty girl. Perhaps that was what had gotten her into trouble in the first place. Naturally, the boys would be attracted to someone like her. Why hadn’t Esther thought to warn her daughter? Why had she saved her motherly counsel until it was too late?

  Esther still remembered that hot confrontation, almost as if it had happened today.

  “How could you do this to me?” she’d demanded of her daughter all those years ago. It was only a week before high school graduation, and she’d just taken Lenore to the doctor and learned the news that her eighteen-year-old daughter was pregnant.

  “To you?” Lenore had looked indignant as she slumped down in the passenger seat, arms folded tightly across her chest as if she wanted to shut out the entire world. “What about me, Mom? What about my life?”

  “You should’ve considered that a few months ago,” Esther had shot back at her. “I guess we should just be thankful that you’re not showing yet. You can simply graduate as planned, and then we’ll tell everyone you’re going to tour Europe as a graduation gift.” She’d laughed. “But we’ll send you out to stay with Aunt Hattie instead. And that way you can just quietly get rid of it out there. No one will be the wiser. And, hopefully, you’ll have learned your lesson by the time you get home.”

  “Get rid of it?” Lenore’s expre
ssion had been horrified.

  “Well, you know what I mean. You’ll have an abortion, Lenore. Girls do it all the time. And it’s perfectly legal where Aunt Hattie lives. I’m sure she might even know of a good doctor, since her late husband was a physician, you know. It’s really quite simple.”

  “Quite simple?” Lenore had firmly shaken her head. “It might sound quite simple to you, Mother.” Lenore called her Mother only when she was very angry. “But I refuse to kill another human being just to make my life more comfortable.”

  “It’s not a human being,” Esther had assured her daughter. “It’s just fetal tissue. And it’s easily disposed of.”

  “Disposed of?” Lenore’s voice had gotten louder, and Esther had been thankful to be in the car. “Look, Mother,” she’d told her, “I am not the least bit happy to know that I’m pregnant, but like it or not there’s another human life involved now. And I am not going to just kill it to make everyone feel better.” She’d started crying then, turning away from her mother and facing the passenger door. “I couldn’t live with myself . . .”

  Well, she should’ve known her daughter might pull something like this. After all, this was the girl who couldn’t bear to kill a spider even when it was in the house. No, she would go find a cup, gently scoop it up, then transport it outside to its freedom. This was the girl who had rescued a fallen baby bird and climbed the tree to return it to its nest, nearly breaking her own neck in the process.

  “I know this is hard for you, Lenore.” Esther had decided to try a more gentle approach. “But maybe you should just trust me with the details for now. Perhaps I can go with you to Aunt Hattie’s. We can make it a fun trip if you like. We’ll do some shopping and—”

  “No.” Lenore’s normally soft chin had become firm. “I am not going to kill my baby and then go out shopping as my reward. It’s just not going to happen, Mom. I don’t want to discuss it anymore.”