A Christmas to Remember(74)

She focused on the faces of Walter, Joyce, and the others she knew as they walked toward her, but once they’d said their hellos and taken their seats, she saw the two people with Adam. They looked quite refined like him, well dressed—the woman was clearly pregnant, and Carrie immediately worried for Sharon. She glanced over at her face, but she seemed okay, so she looked back at the couple. The woman walked ahead of them. Her maternity dress showing beneath her open coat looked expensive, but it was slightly more casual. She’d dressed it up with a nice necklace. Adam was talking to the other man who was very handsome, with dark hair and chiseled features. That must be Robert, she thought. Adam’s family had crawled over Carrie and filled the seats to her left, leaving the seats to her right open. She was thankful, however, that Walter had ended up beside her.

When they got close enough, Adam made eye contact and smiled, putting his hand in the air to say hello. He eased into the row and sat down next to her. The chairs were so close that Carrie had to fold her arms so as not to take too much of his personal space. They were so close that if he’d put his arm around her, she could lean into the emptiness between his arm and body and be quite comfortable—but there was no way that was going to happen. Carrie leaned toward Walter. The only person who probably had less room was the poor lady who was expecting. She’d been wedged between Adam and her husband.

On stage, the woman with the cardigan finished talking about next Sunday’s potluck dinner, dismantled the microphone, setting it just off stage, and walked down the three steps to take a seat in the front row. Then, the curtain opened, illuminating the audience with light. Olivia was standing on a bale of hay, holding a star in one hand and itching her halo with the other. David was leaning on the manger until his teacher motioned with a smile from the edge of the stage for him to stand up straight. There were other children on the stage, but Carrie hadn’t noticed any of them because she was too busy taking in the sight of the Fletcher children.

She’d already become so attached. She hadn’t just fallen for Adam; she’d fallen for his children as well. Olivia’s feet were tapping in place, and Carrie smiled, knowing that she wanted to spin circles or dance—she needed movement. And David was so clearly anxious about his part, he had hardly moved other than to take his hand off the manger.

The children began to sing “Away in a Manger,” one of them singing too loudly, but Olivia, who had been fidgety the whole time, became still and focused as she sang. Carrie hadn’t known that about her, and she thought how she should incorporate more music into her day. David was singing, but his lips were barely moving, his eyes on the floor. Immediately, her mind went into plan mode of what she would do for David while Olivia was given more time with music. Then it hit her: she wouldn’t be with them much longer, yet she was mentally planning as if she were their full-time nanny. David took the hand of a little girl who was dressed like Mary, and walked with her to the center of the stage to greet The Wise Men, and Carrie had to blink to keep the tears at bay. She would miss this family so much.

“A king is born!” Olivia said while itching her head again, the halo moving to the side of her head. Walter chuckled beside her, and Carrie smiled too through her blurring eyes. Refocusing on Olivia and David as they told the story gave her calm, and as she watched them sing, she tried to forget about leaving. She loved watching the children. David struggled with his lines a bit, his nerves clearly getting the better of him, while Olivia was a complete ham most of the time. Carrie wished she could be their full-time nanny, but even if she could, they’d be going to kindergarten next year, and they wouldn’t need her anymore.

Her time with the Fletchers would soon be coming to an end. Then, all the wonderful people around her in whom she’d become so invested would be gone, and she’d have no reason to return. She could feel the heaviness of the loss before it had even happened, making her worry about what it would feel like that last day. Had she made a difference at all? Would Adam go back to work and forget about the times he’d had with his kids? Would he see Andy every day and never think about Carrie again? She focused on the kids for the rest of the show.

At the end, the lights came on, revealing the large, airy sanctuary. It wasn’t the traditional layout of a sanctuary with pews—instead, it had chairs—but the atmosphere was very traditional nonetheless, with a huge wooden cross at the front and candles and greenery in the stained-glass windows along the sides of the room. Adam turned to Carrie. “That was fantastic,” he said, smiling. She nodded. He stood up along with the crowd and she followed suit. The other couple congregated with Adam in the aisle while those from the surrounding rows filtered around them easily, Walter working to get through the chairs and Joyce right behind him pushing them all back just a little for him.