“Thank you,” Esther said in a low voice.
“I hope it’s okay.”
Her grandmother looked at her. “Are you kidding? Okay? Why, it’s one of the most beautiful gifts I’ve ever received. Thank you.” She flipped back through it again, staring in wonder at the photos, then suddenly looked up. “So you must have a December birthday too.”
Christine nodded.
“What day is it?”
Christine never liked to answer this question, but she finally said, “The twenty-fifth.”
“Christmas day?”
She nodded. “Yeah. My parents called me their Christmas present.”
Her grandmother smiled. “I can understand that.” She looked back down at the book. “Now, can you tell me more about what’s going on in these pictures?” she asked. “Like where were you when this was taken?”
So for the next hour or so, Christine attempted to commentate on the pictorial tour of her life.
“Hello in there,” Jimmy called as he poked his head in the door. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, of course,” Esther said. “How’s the party going?”
“Nearly everyone has gone home now, except for immediate family.”
“Is it that late?” Esther looked at her watch. “Good heavens, it’s half past eleven.”
“You two care to join us for a cup of peppermint cocoa?”
“Yes,” Esther said. “In fact, I have a little announcement to make.”
After everyone had gathered comfortably in the living room, where a cheerful fire was still snapping in the fireplace, Jimmy brought out a tray of cocoa cups, each one topped with a dollop of whipping cream and garnished with a candy cane.
“Remember who started this tradition?” Jimmy asked as he handed Grandmother a steaming cup.
“Haven’t we always done this?” Felicity said as she picked up a cup for herself.
“Well, I never did it myself,” Jimmy said as he handed Christine a cup. “Not until Dad married Mom, that is.” He handed Aunt Hattie a cup. “But I believe it was Lenore’s tradition to have cocoa before bed on Christmas Eve.”
“To give you sweet dreams,” Grandmother said in a voice full of reflection.
Jimmy sat down next to his wife. “Works for me.”
“Too late for them,” Aunt Hattie said as she nodded to Jamie and Casey, who were curled up in sleeping bags beneath the Christmas tree.
“It was Jamie’s idea to bring the sleeping bags,” Jimmy said. “But don’t worry, Mom, they don’t need to spend the night here.”
She waved her hand. “Oh, that’s all right, they’re welcome to stay if they like.”
Jimmy blinked, then Felicity spoke quickly. “No, we have to go over to my mom’s in the morning. She’s making waffles.”
“Good for you,” Grandmother said. “Good for Janet.” She looked around the room, pausing to look at each face before she continued to speak. “As I told you, I have a little announcement to make tonight. But I didn’t want to make it until everyone was here.” She looked directly at Christine. “My family isn’t very big, but you’re all important to me. As you know, I’ve been in contact with my lawyer regarding my will. He made a draft today, and I will sign it after the holidays.” She chuckled. “And be assured, if I should kick the bucket between now and then, the changes I made today will be in effect.”
Christine glanced over at Jimmy and Felicity. She could tell by Felicity’s creased brow that she was worried. And Christine knew that all this talk about changing the will had been upsetting to her. Suddenly Christine wished that she could just disappear. She had no idea what her grandmother was up to, but she was worried that her own presence had been the catalyst behind it.
“Rather than wait for my timely or untimely demise, I’ve decided to make my wishes known while I’m still around to make sure no bickering occurs after I’m gone.” She turned and looked directly at Felicity. “Because despite what I’ve said about money all these years, I know as well as anyone that it will never buy you happiness. Just the same, I know that’s a whole lot easier to say when money’s not an issue.” She cleared her throat, then glanced over at Aunt Hattie. “Sorry you have to hear all this again, Hattie.”
“That’s perfectly all right, dear. You go right ahead.”
“So what I have decided to do is to disburse some of your inheritance now,” Grandmother said. “Not all of it, mind you. Some things are better left until the end. But I have decided that it makes no sense for an old woman like me to sit on a pile of money while some folks are struggling to make ends meet.”
“Oh, Mom,” Jimmy began. “You don’t need to—”
“You just hush now, Jimmy. You’re a good boy, and I love you like my own, but when it comes to money sense you don’t always get it.” She shook her finger at him, then smiled. “Anyway, as I was saying . . . I want everything to be perfectly clear. I know how easy it is to get confused when families and wealth merge in marriages. I want all my cards laid out on the table. You see, when Christine’s mother left home more than twenty years ago, she had a good-size savings account that her father had started for her for college when she was just an infant. This was an account that I continued to add to over the years, hoping that someday she would come home and I would—” She choked slightly, and Aunt Hattie patted her hand.
“Anyway, at first I just wanted to change my will to reflect that this savings is to go to Christine. Because that seems only fair. But that’s when I decided that it’s usually the very times when kids need money that they don’t have it. And that’s when I decided to do a little disbursing this Christmas.” She held out two envelopes. One she pointed in Christine’s direction, the other in Jimmy’s. “Well, come on, here you go. Merry Christmas.”
Jimmy got up and got his envelope, but Christine felt like she couldn’t move. Then Jimmy got hers and handed it to her. “Come on, Christine, don’t be upsetting your grandma on Christmas Eve.”
“That’s right,” said Grandmother. “And like I said, that’s your inheritance for now. I plan to keep my house and enough to live comfortably on for . . . well, at least until I see those grandchildren grow up.” She looked at Christine. “And perhaps see some great-grandchildren from you. In due time, that is. No hurry.”
Christine felt her cheeks blushing. Then without looking inside the envelope, she got up and went over to hug her grandmother. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” Grandmother said.
When Christine stepped back she could see her grandmother’s blue eyes glistening with tears, but for a change they seemed like tears of joy.
Just then the bell on the mantle clock began to ring.
“Look, everyone, it’s midnight now,” Jimmy said. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”
“Happy birthday, Christine,” Grandmother said.
“No way,” said Jimmy. “You’re a Christmas baby?”
She nodded with embarrassment.
“Happy birthday, dear,” Aunt Hattie said with a smile.
“Happy birthday,” Felicity said. “Just wait’ll Jamie hears about this. He thought it was bad being born the week before Christmas.”
Christine nodded. “Yeah, it always made having parties a little awkward. But it was kind of fun too.”
“Her parents called her their Christmas present,” Grandmother said with a bright smile.
“That makes me think of something,” Aunt Hattie said as she held up her cocoa cup. “I’d like to propose a Christmas toast.”
Everyone else held up their cups and waited.
“Here’s to Christmas Past,” began Aunt Hattie. “The gift we keep with us forever. And here’s to Christmas Future.” She glanced at the children peacefully snoozing beneath the Christmas tree. “The gift that is yet to come. And here’s to Christmas Present.” Aunt Hattie nodded to Christine and smiled. “The gift we open today!”
Melody Carlson is the prolific author of more than seventy books of fiction, nonfict
ion, and gift books for adults, young adults, and children. Her most recent novels are Amanda’s Treasure (Tyndale, 2004) and Finding Alice (Water Brook, 2003). Her writing has won several awards, including a Gold Medallion for King of the Stable (Crossway, 1998) and a Romance Writers of America Rita award for Homeward (Multnomah, 1997). She lives with her husband in central Oregon.
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