After a good night’s rest, I mulled it over some more in the morning; it was Christmas Eve. Staring at the bare tree made me feel even worse, but at least Santa would be coming that night. He would deliver several more presents for my baby girl, though, none of them would contain the tablet that she so desperately wanted. The one she’d been hoping and praying for.
“Dale,” I said when he answered the phone, “I was wondering if you were coming over tonight for dinner?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Is there any particular time I should be there?”
“Oh, I thought maybe we’d eat around six o’clock, and maybe we could have some eggnog after dinner.”
“Sounds good to me. Do you need me to bring a dish or pick anything up on my way over?” He knew that I couldn’t leave my little girl to run to the store.
“Actually, yes, if you could pick up an apple pie and some whipped cream, that would be great. I forgot to get dessert when I went shopping for dinner.”
“I’ll be there in just a bit; I’m wrapping some presents right now and then I’ll head over.”
“You didn’t have to get us anything for Christmas,” I said, feeling guilty for not having a present for him to open.
“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. It’s nothing significant.”
Honesty got the best of me. “Dale, I have to admit something to you. I didn’t have money to get you anything,” I explained as shame swept over me.
“Don’t worry about whether you bought me anything. You’ve already given me the best present in my life: you and that sweet doll face who’s probably wondering when I’ll be there,” he laughed. “I’m going to jump off of here and get over there as soon as I can.”
I had just placed the ham in the oven when Dale knocked on the door. “Come in,” I yelled from the kitchen.
“Momma! It’s Dale!” Nevaeh exclaimed as her eyes widened, staring at the presents in his arms.
“Here, let me help you,” I offered, placing the gifts under the tree.
“I’ll be right back. I have to go back out for the dessert, but I wanted to bring the important stuff inside first.”
We had an excellent dinner, and afterward, we sat around sipping hot cocoa and coffee. Nevaeh couldn’t take her eyes off the brightly wrapped presents with big bows on top.
“Momma, could I open my present from Dale? Please, please, please?” she begged.
I looked at him and raised my eyebrows, asking if he cared. “Let’s see what he thinks.”
“Oh, go ahead!” he said as he retrieved a gift from under the tree. “Open this one.”
She tore into the package like a pro, after carefully removing the beautiful bow on top of the present. Her jaw dropped when she saw it was a Color Blaster.
Giddy with excitement, she yelled, “Look momma! Look! He got me a Color Blaster!”
“That’s awesome!” she exclaimed, giving her daughter a high-five.
“Would you like to open one of your presents tonight?” he asked me.
“If you want me to,” I said, snuggling up to him on the couch.
He reached under the tree and pulled out a square-shaped present, neatly wrapped with a ribbon tied around it. “I hope you like it.”
“I will because it’s from you,” I said as I carefully opened my gift.
I pulled out a cashmere sweater decorated with beautiful sequins. “Dale, this is so sweet,” I said as she nestled the sweater against my face.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I thought maybe you could wear it to the benefit,” he said, hoping that I’d thought about it more and would accept.
“Actually, I was going to talk to you about that.”
He leaned in, waiting to hear my response.
“I think we’ll accept. It’s not something that I’m very proud of, but I thought a lot about it last night and I have to do it for her.”
“Do what?” Nevaeh asked.
“We’re going to have a benefit on your behalf and any money raised will help you and other children with your condition,” he explained to her.
“What’s a benefit?”
“Um, it’s kind of like the fundraisers that you have at school,” I explained, trying to relate it to something that she would understand. “You know how your class sold chocolate bars when your teacher was raising money for a class pet that you could all play with?”
Nevaeh nodded her head.
“Well, it’s kind of like that, only except the money will help pay for other little boys and girls who have the same thing you do. It will help pay for their testing, medicine and equipment that they might need.”