The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

by Rita Clay Estrada

  Carly tried not to think about what she was doing as she picked up the tree, placed it in Karen’s old wagon and walked around the block to Pete’s front door. She gathered her nerve and rang his bell, then waited.

  It was with a sense of relief mixed with disappointment that she realized he wasn’t home. Carefully, she picked up the plant and carried it close to an electrical outlet on the porch. After setting it down and plugging it in, she walked away. Even if he’d found someone who made him happy, the feelings she wished to express with this gesture were still there.

  As she turned the corner, she glanced back. It was a good, if sad, feeling to realize the twelve days were over and she was done. If she’d done a good job, Pete might forever remember this holiday and think more kindly of Christmas in the future. If not, she’d lost a few dollars and a little sleep over the planning, but none of the satisfaction of doing something for another.

  * * *

  PETE ARRIVED HOME LATE that night. On the porch, glowing with tiny white lights, was a little Christmas tree. It was live and sweet, and made him realize just how stupid a man he could be.

  He sat on the front steps and stared through the darkness at the tree for a long time. He couldn’t believe that he’d ever thought Carly’d had had intentions in giving these gifts. The tree wasn’t a threat to him. All it did was sit there and light up the night.

  How old did he have to be before he quit being an ass and began to live life the way it was meant to be lived, with love and laughter instead of sadness and hardship?

  Suddenly Pete knew what he had to do if he was ever going to have the happiness he’d dreamed of all his life.

  And he’d damn well better do it now, before it was too late.

  * * *

  CHRISTMAS MORNING dawned as beautifully as the day before. Carly awoke resigned to having lost Pete’s love.

  She might never know the true reasons behind his behavior. But accepting that their relationship was over was also a lightening of that burden. Besides, he deserved credit for enriching her life and giving her the greatest gift of all—the ability to look at herself as a desirable, feminine woman again. That was something she could treasure for the rest of her life.

  These thoughts eased the sadness that had taken root deep in her heart.

  Carly marveled at the energy displayed by her family as they opened their packages. The aunts seemed to get as much joy from watching as they must have had as children. Even Carly got caught up in the excitement.

  An early-afternoon Christmas dinner was easier to manage than Carly had expected. The aunts had always had friends over, and they didn’t change their routine this year. Although usually a little scatterbrained, they knew exactly what to do and did it. Two hired women came in to help in the kitchen.

  Dinner went off without a hitch. The company, several friends whose families were far away, shared the buffet-style meal. Afterward, everyone sat around and enjoyed dessert and conversation before leaving for home.

  The aunts helped the hired girls clean up, shooing Carly away. So she took advantage of the lull, and went into the living area to play a board game with Karen.

  Later that evening, Aunt Nora came downstairs from a quick nap, still wearing her dressy brown caftan with a festive holiday scarf tied around her neck. She stuck her head in the doorway. “Dear, did you ever hear from Peter about coming to dinner?”

  “No, Aunt Nora.” In one of the notes, she’d asked him to call on Christmas morning, but he hadn’t. A vision of the blonde flickered through her mind, bringing her pain to the forefront again. “I think he accepted another invitation.”

  “Such a shame that young man couldn’t have come. Well,” she said, tightening her scarf around her neck, “it’s his loss, as they say. Cora cooked the best turkey in the South.”

  “I wish Pete had come, too, Mom. I could have said thank-you for getting my team new uniforms,” Karen said.

  “Mr. Cade,” Carly corrected absently, as she noticed a car pull up in their driveway.

  “He said I should call him Pete.”

  Carly stood and walked toward the window to get a closer view. “Very well,” Carly said, not really listening. She moved from the window to the front door. It was Pete’s car that was parked in the driveway, but a man dressed like Santa was walking up to the door. Could it really be...? her mind cried out. The pleasures of heaven and the pains of hell couldn’t stop her from answering his knock.

  “I didn’t think you would come,” she said, standing in the doorway.

  “Merry Christmas to you, too,” he called in a booming voice, stepping inside and brushing off a few snowflakes. “I hope I’m not too late for gift-giving.”

  “Nope,” Karen volunteered. “I knew you’d be here. You liked Mom’s brownies too much.”

  “How do you know?” Santa asked.

  “Because you were smelling them as I left.”

  Pete chucked her under the chin and continued. “Well, is everyone ready for their presents?”

  Completely mystified, Carly led the way back into the living area and sat down. It hurt almost as much as it felt wonderful to see him. She didn’t understand what he was doing here.

  He saw the question in her eyes and chose to ignore it. “Where are your aunts, little Karen?”

  “Here we are, Santa.” Cora and Nora appeared and played along as if this happened all the time. “We were wondering if you were going to drop by.”

  Carly watched in silence as he produced two gifts from his bag and handed them to the older women. With oohs and ahs, they unwrapped them and exclaimed over the beauty of their new pearl-and-gold brooches.

  Next came Karen’s gift. She ripped off the paper and squealed in delight. It was a baseball and glove and a certificate from Nolan Ryan’s coach saying he would spend an hour giving her instructions in a batting cage. Nothing could calm her down. She jumped up and down, laughed, kissed Santa and squealed some more.

  As the aunts guided Karen away and left the two alone in the room, Carly turned and confronted him.

  “That’s a very expensive present.”

  “Yes, it is. But Hal’s a friend of mine and he thought it would be fun to coach a little girl for a change. It’s only for an hour.”

  The doorbell rang and Karen went screaming to it. “Daddy! Daddy!” she shouted when she opened the door. “Guess what? I’m gonna get batting lessons from the same man who taught Nolan Ryan! Isn’t that just great? Isn’t it?”

  Ken and his very pregnant wife walked in the door. He picked up his daughter. “Whoa, little one. Explain it to me, but first let me say Merry Christmas to everyone. Okay?” He gave each of the aunts a peck on the cheek and then entered the living room. His gaze lit on Santa first, but he came over to Carly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Carly. I hope you’re having a good one.”

  She smiled, her attention still on Pete. “It’s lovely. How about you two?”

  Ken’s wife smiled and patted her stomach. “Wonderful. It’s a quiet day for a change.”

  “Hard to believe any child of Ken’s could be still for a moment,” Carly teased. The two women had worked out their differences and established a comfortable relationship. It made for an odd peace, but peace just the same.

  The pregnant woman laughed. “I know what you mean.”

  “Don’t gang up on me, now,” Ken warned, then held out his hand to Santa. “Ken Michaels,” he said.

  “Santa Claus,” Pete replied.

  Ken’s brows rose, but he let it go. “Well, are we going to be offered a little of Aunt Cora’s special pecan pie before we leave?”

  Aunt Cora’s face turned pink with pleasure as she led them toward the kitchen.

  Once more, Pete and Carly were alone.

  Carly sat down as Pete reached for his beard and hat, pulled them off and dropped them to the floor. He sat beside her.

  She stared at him in wonder. He was so handsome that her heart raced just from looking at him.
And he was here, in her home on Christmas Day, dressed in a Santa costume.

  Carly couldn’t help asking the question uppermost on her mind. “What is it? Why are you here?”

  “I’ve had thirteen days to do nothing but think about us.”

  Carly remained silent, waiting for the punch line she knew would come. He didn’t want to see her again. He thought her gifts were juvenile.

  “I should have known you’d be hard to get out of my head.” His words were softened by a smile. “Until you came along, I had pretty solid opinions about life. From my work with the shelters and personal experience. I viewed relationships as being one long struggle. It never dawned on me that there was an easier way to deal with life—that is, until you came along.”

  “An easier way?”

  “I know it sounds stupid coming from a man who’s supposed to have some kind of intelligence, but I didn’t understand that relationships weren’t always a battle, and that ending a relationship didn’t mean you had to become enemies. You showed me that you could continue to work together without hurting others.”

  “I don’t follow,” she admitted, still confused.

  “I guess I’m saying that you have a unique relationship with your ex-husband and, at first, I didn’t believe it was possible. But now I know that whatever you worked out with him has had a wonderful, stabilizing effect on your child.”

  “We both wanted that,” she said.

  “Well, thanks to your example, I called my ex-wife last night and we had a long talk.”

  Carly’s heart pounded. So that was it. He was thanking her for his ability to finally open up a little. Well, it wasn’t love but it was the next best thing—she’d given him some peace. “Is she sending the kids for Christmas?”

  “No, but at least she’s willing to talk about next year.” He sighed. “This attitude is still new to me. It will take a little time to get over some of the bad stuff.”

  “I know. But you’ll be happier later,” she said softly. She wished she could hold him for a moment and let him know just how loved he was. But that wasn’t in the cards. Not now.

  “Carly—” he leaned forward and took both her hands in his “—I know you have every right to be angry with me. And I know that if you let me, someday I’ll explain about my parents and how I came to be like this, but this isn’t the time. You already know that losing the closeness with my kids has hurt me more than I can say. They weren’t only the object of my love, they taught me how to love. When I lost them, the pain was so great, I promised never to let myself open up to anything that could do that to me again. Then you came along.”

  Carly’s heart began soaring out of control, but she was still afraid to hope. Could this be a thank-you and goodbye? It was certainly possible.

  “Carly,” Pete began again.

  She couldn’t stand it. Placing her fingers over his mouth, she interrupted. “Hush, Pete. I’m glad you’re grateful. I’m glad I’ve helped influence your life for the good. But please, no more hurt.”

  His eyes widened. “Hurt? How?”

  Once more she was blunt and to the point. “You know how. Don’t give hope when what you mean is thanks.”

  “Do you love me?” he asked, his voice rasping with emotion.

  “Yes.”

  “Will you marry me?”

  Every muscle in her body froze. “What?” she finally managed.

  “Will you marry me?” He smiled. “I love you with all my heart. Besides, I’m tired of running from happiness, honey. And you’re happiness. You make me smile in the morning, smile in the afternoon, smile at night. You are kind and giving, and I’m a dirty rotten scoundrel for wanting to tie you up and keep you for myself, but that’s what I want.”

  “I am a package deal, Pete,” she said carefully. She wouldn’t risk doing anything that might harm her child. “Karen has to be just as welcome in this marriage as I am.”

  His smile was tender. “I understand that, honey, from my point of view as a father as well as yours as a mother. And the fact is that I really like your daughter. She and I get along pretty well, and I think the rest will come with time. What I was thinking is that we could gauge how well my relationship with her goes until Valentine’s Day. If it’s okay, then we can be married on that day.”

  Carly opened her mouth once or twice, then snapped it closed.

  Pete got up and pulled her with him until she stood in his embrace. His blue-eyed gaze was so intense she could feel the heat of it warm her insides. “Please say yes.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes,” she said. “Yes!” she cried.

  Then Pete’s mouth moved over hers and stole her breath away.

  It might have been her twelve gifts that showed him how to love her. But it was his one gift of sharing that love that would carry them through the years.

  * * *

  “HI, HONEY. LISTEN, I want you and your brother to get ready for a surprise. Remember Carly, the woman I told you about? And remember I told you we might get married? Well, the wedding’s going to be on Valentine’s Day. Kids, I can’t wait for you to meet her. Carly’s so special that she tells me she won’t marry me unless you guys like her, too. I’m confident that you will. But just in case, I’m sending a private jet to pick you up so you’ll be here before the wedding. I’ve already checked it out with your mom and she’s agreed to the trip. Oh, and you get to meet Carly’s daughter, Karen. She’s just a little younger than you are, Cynthia. And she always wanted a big sister and brother, especially one who plays professional baseball! Anyway, I love you and miss you so much that I want to see you before you come here. I’ll be out there next week. I’ll bring pictures and lots of hugs, so you’d better be ready for me.

  “Oh, and tell your mom and stepfather hello for me. I hope all is well.

  “Love you!”

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-8614-6

  The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

  Copyright © 1994 by Rita Clay Estrada

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