Merry's Christmas: Two Book Set (Amish) (14 page)

Catherine couldn’t miss the disappointment that flickered across each of the kids’ faces. She coaxed herself to rise above it.

Ollie quickly appealed to his father. “But when is Merry coming, Dad? I want to show her the fishing rod you got me.”

“And wait till she sees my sonnet,” Tara said.

“And my room,” Hayden added.

Tara turned to her twin. “Merry was totally in on that, you know.”

Suddenly, a mortified expression crossed Joan’s face. “Did anybody get her anything?” Joan searched around the table. Tara, Hayden, and Ollie looked at each other blankly. Catherine saw Daniel grimace, clearly mortified at the oversight.

“I gave her the day off,” Catherine mentioned.

Hayden rolled her eyes. “How about something that she actually wanted? Face it. We’re all total Scrooges.”

Daniel shook his head. “No, it was my place. I should have thought of it.”

Tara moped. “It’s her birthday today, too. This is bad.”

Ollie tugged at his dad’s sleeve. “Let’s call her, Daddy.”

Catherine couldn’t help interjecting. “I’m sure she’d much rather—”

Tara whipped out her cell phone. “Yeah, let’s see if she’ll come over.”

“Oh, I know,” Hayden said. “Put it on speaker and we can all completely grovel.”

Tara’s eyes lit up. “Or carol to her! She would love that. What’s her number?”

Unable to take it any longer, Catherine flatly conceded. “555-7463.”

Daniel turned to Catherine as she abruptly rose from the table, “How did you know—”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Catherine replied. Then, with as much dignity as she could preserve, she strode back toward the kitchen.

“What’s with her?” Hayden asked.

Daniel pushed out his chair and stood up immediately. “No call to Merry just yet,” he instructed. “Mom, could you carve, please?”

With that, Daniel quickly followed Catherine out of the room.

As soon as the kitchen door flapped closed behind her, Catherine burst into tears. When Daniel appeared, she tried in vain to dry them. Unable to hide her emotions, she quickly turned away.

“Catherine?”

“I’m fine,” she whimpered. “I’m just... Who am I kidding? I’m a certifiable mess.” Catherine threw her hands up in despair.

Daniel circled around her and faced her. “You look nice to me,” he replied.

“That’s just because I cry pretty,” Catherine blustered. “Mother taught me never to scrunch.”

Daniel nodded, beginning to understand. “This is about Merry, isn’t it?”

“You think?” Catherine blurted. “It’s not like I blame you. I mean, she’s impossibly appealing. Even when she throws the ball completely into my corner, she’s still the unwitting belle of it.”

Daniel looked mystified. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night,” Catherine admitted. “It was all her idea—every enchanting, infuriatingly generous bit of it—right down to hiring Skeeter.”

Daniel reached out for Catherine’s hand, but for the first time, she refused it. “Catherine...”

“I don’t know why I can’t do this,” she mourned. “Sure. I can hold court with the best of society; I can schmooze with heads of state. But put me with a family and I’m completely out of my depth.”

“They can’t help loving her,” Daniel explained.

“Oh, I know,” Catherine replied. “Even I can’t help it. The question is: can you?”

Daniel took the query to heart. When he finally opened his mouth to respond, Catherine cut him short.

“No, no. Please don’t answer that,” she said. “No. Let me just...” Catherine took a moment to gather her composure. “You know,” she continued, “I’ve been thinking about things, and I realize we’d planned to exchange gifts tonight, but the truth is, if we did go through with all that, I...I suppose I’d miss my corner office.” Catherine inhaled, rallying her poise. “Or travel,” she mustered. “Yes. Maybe Paris. Or I might visit my ex in Rome. He sent me a lovely card this year and, well, quite by surprise, I find myself vaguely charmed, and wanting to at least... give it a chance, explore the possibilities. Forgive me?”

Daniel nodded. He brushed Catherine’s arm affectionately. It told her that he understood all that she couldn’t bring herself to say.

Catherine removed her holiday apron. Her eyes glistening, she gave Daniel one last kiss on the cheek. “You’ll say my goodbyes, won’t you?”

“I will,” Daniel assured.

Catherine picked up her clutch and crossed to the door. “My best to Merry,” Catherine concluded, “when you see her.”

Night had fallen. Far across town, Merry set a dish out for Rudy, and then sat down to a bowl of clam chowder. Trying her best to be grateful, she bowed.

“So... Merry, here,” she prayed. “Just me. Again. Sorry to be so droopy, especially today, but—”

The toot of a car horn outside interrupted Merry’s thought.

Merry looked up as she continued. “I guess this wasn’t exactly the Christmas I hoped it’d be.” As she paused, remembering, a sheepish grin crossed her face. “But I didn’t get evicted. And you did get me through it, like I asked. And it was good...good to see a family come together, even if it wasn’t mine. So, thanks for letting me be part of it—”

Again, the horn blasted outside, twice in close succession.

“Thanks for Rudy, and this chowder and—”

Yet again, the horn blared, insistently. Merry glanced toward the window as she heard Mr. Grabinski yell toward the street. “Cut the racket, will ya? How’s about a little peace on earth?”

Curious, Merry rose and went to her window, murmuring to herself, “What is...?” Merry looked outside toward the street. To her stunned delight, there stood the whole Bell family at the curb. Catherine was nowhere to be seen. Merry threw open the sash, overjoyed.

Seeing Merry in the window, Joan cued the family, and they all started to sing at the top of their lungs:

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a happy New Year!

Merry listened, delighted. Though the sun had set, Christmas was suddenly far from over for Merry. It was only just beginning.

“Hi!” Merry called out. “Am I glad to see you! Come on up!”

Daniel stepped forward from the rest. “Not yet,” he answered. “You come down first!”

It wasn’t two seconds before Merry grabbed her coat and went bounding down the stairs. As she passed his first floor apartment, Mr. Grabinski poked his head out and yelled after her. “Would you keep it down?” he groused. “Some people trying to have Christmas, you know!”

As Merry burst out of her building, she could see the Bell family bubbling with excitement.

“Here she comes!” Ollie shouted. “Here she comes!”

Tara clamped a hand over his lips. “Shhh! Act natural.”

Daniel prompted his kids. “Okay, get ready...”

Merry bounded across the snowy walk. She slipped gawkily, then regained her footing just in time to hear the whole clan shout out, in unison:

“Surprise!”

Merry skidded to a stop as the Bells presented a wrapped gift. She looked at the package, stunned. “You didn’t.”

Ollie nodded enthusiastically. “We did. We all made it. For your birthday.”

“All of you...you made this?” Merry replied as she tore off the paper and opened the box. Inside, she found a framed family photo. It was the picture she was in from the Christmas tree hunt. She stopped to examine the frame, a gift in and of itself. It was a mosaic of their broken family china, put together in beautiful new way. At the top, a banner read:
MERRY’S CHRISTMAS
. Tears sprang to Merry’s eyes. “This is...it’s like a family photo.”

Daniel smiled fondly. “Yeah, it really is. “

Merry couldn’t take her eyes off the picture. “Oh... I can hardly believe this,” she said.

“Why are you crying?” Ollie asked. “Don’t you like it?”

Merry hugged the boy tightly. “No, I love it. It’s just...a really big first for me and...I don’t even know how to—” Merry embraced Joan and Tara, then turned to Hayden. “Thank you so much! Thank you! Hayden, I know you don’t do hugs much.”

Hayden opened her arms. “I make exceptions,” she said wryly.

Merry squeezed Hayden, then gazed at the family photo again. “This is the greatest present ever!”

Ollie tugged on Merry’s sleeve. “Hey, Merry,” he blurted. “You want to help me plant my worm farm?”

Merry feigned appropriate surprise.  “Really? You got your worm farm?”

“Thanks to you,” Daniel said, “we all got what we wanted for Christmas.” Daniel’s expression took on a hint of mischief. “Well, almost,” he toyed. “There is one other thing I wanted to give you.”

Merry beamed. She checked around to make sure he was actually referring to her as the Bell kids prodded their dad to give her his gift. Merry couldn’t help being a little puzzled, seeing Tara link pinkies with Ollie.

Daniel stifled a shy grin, and then turned to his family. “I do believe there’s a snowman just begging to be built around that corner.”

The kids dutifully ran away, but Joan lingered momentarily.

“You, too, Mom,” Daniel intoned.

Joan smiled knowingly, then followed the kids around the building. Daniel turned back to Merry, his eyes reflecting his heart.

Merry wasn’t sure what to think. “You don’t have to give me anything else,” she said. “This photo is way more than I ever in a million years expected. What more could you possibly—”

Daniel put a finger to Merry’s lips, stopping her. Everything in Merry tingled inside, but still she searched his face, confused.

Daniel scratched his head, adorably nervous. “You should know, I... I’ll be returning that little trifle I’d bought for Catherine.”

Merry’s eyes widened. “You will?”

Daniel shrugged nonchalantly. “It caught my eye at first. But then, I realized it wouldn’t have fit.”

Merry gulped, hoping against hope that what seemed to be happening really was. “No?” Quietly, she thrilled as Daniel took her hand gently in his.

“I didn’t see it at first,” Daniel confessed, “But you were right. Because, when I look at your hand in mine, now, I find there’s no comparison.”

Tears welled in Merry’s eyes as she found herself in Daniel’s. “You see me, now.”

Daniel nodded softly, never breaking her gaze. “I see you.” He reached up to brush a tear off her cheek. “Don’t cry,” he whispered.

Merry smiled through her tears. “Sorry. I’m just so happy.”

“Really?” he teased. “This is happy?”

Merry caught her breath. “I’m new at this,” she admitted. “But yeah. I think so.”

“There is one more thing,” Daniel said. “All of the gifts and decorations you coordinated, they were great, all the ornaments you hung on the tree. But I realized just this afternoon that you seemed to have forgotten to hang one very special thing.”

Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sprig of mistletoe, tied with a red satin ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Merry,” he said.

Time didn’t stand still at that moment, but somehow it seemed to slow for Merry. It was as if everyone and everything else faded into the sheer bliss of the night. Gone was the noise of the El, rumbling by on the track above them. There was no Mr. Grabinski grumbling about snow on the walk. There were only two people, discovering each other in a whole new way with all of heaven shining on them.

Merry savored every instant as Daniel raised the mistletoe above her head and drew her close. She melted his kiss, drinking in what she’d always wanted most of all. This was no quick act of fondness, she realized. This was the beginning of a whole new life. It was the tender expression of awakening love.

Suddenly, Daniel and Merry found themselves being pelted with snowballs. Breaking away, Daniel stooped to grab a handful of snow. “You don’t know what you’ve started,” he warned his kids.

“Do you?” Merry countered, packing a snowball of her own.

“I’ll take my chances,” Daniel grinned.