“That’s from your mom,” Greta said, watching her. Emily held it in her hands and stared at it. She turned it over and saw there was engraving on the back.
“What does this say?”
Mark knelt down and looked over her shoulder. “It says, ‘For Emily. Love, Mom.’ And that word right there is ‘Christmas.”
She ran her finger over the writing. “Can you put it on me?” Mark took it from her and put it around her neck. She picked it up and looked at it.
“It’s beautiful, Emily,” Greta said. “It’s just absolutely beautiful.”
Emily didn’t say anything but she nodded. One day she’d realize how special that little cross was. In the corner of my eyes I saw Mom brush a tear off her cheek. No one had expected a gift from Tracy but I was so glad Greta had found it. The Easy Bake oven and doll would last only for a little while but the necklace would be the gift that Emily would remember and keep for the rest of her life.
Mark looked to the back of the tree. “Here’s the last one. Are you ready for it?”
Emily nodded. He handed it to her and she tore through the paper. She opened the top of the box and lifted tissue paper to see the princess dress.
She gasped and pulled it out of the box. “I told Santa I wanted this. This is my dress!” She pointed her foot and held it under her chin; then she swayed back and forth so she could see the layers of silk and crinoline flow.
Mark showed her the tiara and put it on her head, then pulled out the pair of sequined plastic shoes. Emily scrambled out of her pajamas and Mark slid the dress over her shoulders. “May I, Your Majesty?” he asked, holding one of the shoes in front of her.
She nodded and he helped her into both shoes. We all said “Aww” at the same time and she twirled for us. Hal clapped the loudest and Mom and Greta said over and over that she was more beautiful than either Snow White or Cinderella. I snapped several pictures in a row. Emily was beside herself. I didn’t know how long her happiness would last or when the sadness of her life would sneak up on her again but in that moment she was happy and so were Mark and I. I didn’t know how I could feel a sense of contentment in the middle of this tragedy but I did.
It was over too soon. Greta bent down to wad up discarded wrapping paper. “It’s okay, Greta,” I said. “Just leave it.” If we cleaned everything up it would mean that the morning was slipping away and I wanted to hold on to it as long as I could. Mark and Hal helped Emily set up the Easy Bake oven while Mom, Greta, and I put coffee cake and fruit onto plates.
“Thank you again for inviting us,” Greta said. “She means the world to us.”
“She means the world to us, too,” I said, before realizing it. Mom didn’t react; she just licked her fingers and made yummy noises before picking a plate for Dad and carrying it into the living room. Emily wanted to visit Mia in the hospital before she started playing with her new toys. “I didn’t think we’d visit today since we were just there yesterday afternoon,” I said.
“We have to go,” Emily said. “It’s Christmas and she’ll know she’s alone.” I thought maybe just the women would go but before I knew it, we had all piled into Mark’s SUV and Mom and Dad’s car for the short trip to the hospital. Mia was awake. When she saw Emily she smiled. Emily stuck a finger into Mia’s palm and gently bounced it up and down.
“‘Silent night, holy night.’” Oh, no, she was singing again. Her voice was small and sweet. She looked at us hoping we’d join in as we had yesterday, and we did. Mom and Dad moved closer and joined us. They waved Hal and Greta over and there we stood, a ragtag group of carolers singing to a tiny heart patient on Christmas Day. “‘Sleep in heavenly peace,’” we sang, trying to harmonize as best we could. “‘Sleep in heavenly peace.’”
We cheered for ourselves when we hit the last note and Greta started the next song. “‘Hark the herald angels sing,’” she began, searching for a note. Mom and I attempted to help her out. “‘Glory to the newborn king!’” Hal tried to clap but it clearly wasn’t working. Greta grabbed his hands so we could finish and what a finish it was! Mark took the low note, Mom attempted the high one, and the rest of us just kind of jumped in and hung on as best we could. It was lousy but wonderful. I hadn’t sung in years. Someone began to clap behind us.
“How much can we pay you to entertain the whole unit?”
We turned to see Dr. Andrews.
“We’ll do it if you take the solos,” I said.