The Christmas Hope(47)

He held up his hand. “I knew early on that I had a voice for medicine, not singing.”

“You don’t even get a day off for Christmas?” I asked.

“I got here at the crack of dawn. I don’t have a long day. And it’s gotten a whole lot better seeing Emily this morning and hearing that beautiful singing.”

We laughed, embarrassed at our lack of musical ability and wished him a Merry Christmas. We needed to get home; it was time to eat.

That was one of the best days I can remember. We played games with Emily and Mom and Greta and I worked together in the kitchen to prepare the meal. Emily sat at the head of the table wearing her princess dress and then we all joined hands and Dad thanked God for the food, for Christ’s birth, and for new friends. We ate and laughed and played another game and ate some more, then went for a walk to the woods and ate even more. Though there were three men in the house we never turned the TV on to watch football or catch sports highlights of any kind. Somehow, without saying a word, we were all unified in making the day special for Emily. We listened to Hal tell stories of his childhood and Dad laughed so hard tears ran down his face. Emily didn’t understand half the stories but she laughed anyway, mostly at us. She served cake from the Easy Bake oven and though everyone was full to the brim, we each took a bite. Mark kept the fire going throughout the day and at eight o’clock when it was dying down Hal and Greta got up to leave. I couldn’t believe the day was over.

Greta leaned down and hugged Emily to her. “Merry Christmas, darlin’,” she said, kissing her face. She hugged her so tight Emily caught her breath. I know that Greta worried that she’d never see her again. “I sure do love you,” she said.

Emily patted her back. “I love you, too, Greta.”

Hal got down on his knees and looked at Emily. “Can I get a peck right here?” he said, pointing to his cheek. Emily wrapped her arms around Hal’s neck and kissed him hard on the cheek. “Thanks for letting us spend Christmas with you.”

Emily nodded and wrapped her arm around his leg.

“You come see us anytime you can.” Hal’s voice started to break and Greta turned away. They didn’t want to cry. Not now. Greta kissed Emily again and they waved at Mark and me as they walked out the door.

Dad helped Mom with her coat and she sat down at the kitchen table in front of Emily. “Merry Christmas, Emily. I can’t remember meeting someone that I’ve liked more.”

Emily smiled and Mom pulled her closer, kissing her head.

Dad extended his hand and Emily shook it like a big girl. “I’ve met a lot of fairy princesses in my life but you’re the sweetest, and by far you’re the prettiest.”

Emily moved to my side, embarrassed. We said our good-byes and they walked to their car. I hated to see them go.

I sat at the table and pulled Emily onto my lap. “You were the belle of the ball,” I said. “Are you tired?”

She shook her head.

“Would you like to take a bubble bath?”

“Can Girl come, too?”

I set her down. “She can’t get in the tub,” I said. “She’ll eat up all the bubbles!” Emily and Girl started up the stairs as I put the last few things into the refrigerator.

“It was a great day, Patti.” I turned to see Mark standing at the island. He hadn’t called me Patti in years.

“It was,” I said, smiling. “I think she had a good time. All things considered.”

“I did, too,” he said. “It was a great Christmas.” Emily called me from the bathroom and Mark moved in next to me. “Go ahead. I’ll finish here.”

By the time I walked into the bathroom Emily had bubbles up to her chin. Girl was up on her hind legs dipping her nose into the tub trying to move the bubbles away. Her head was covered and I laughed when I saw her. “She is trying to eat the bubbles,” Emily said, trying to push Girl away. Girl jumped up and stuck her head right in the center of the tub again.

I yelled for Mark to bring the camera. He brought it in and snapped pictures of Girl looking as if her head was missing because it was buried beneath the foam, of Emily wearing bubbles on top of her head like a big frothy hat, and of Emily pushing Girl away before she jumped into the tub completely. It took forever to get the suds to go down the drain. I had to rinse Emily’s body off before I helped her out of the tub. I wrapped a towel around her and she laid her head on my shoulder. I hugged her and felt my heart flutter. How did I let myself get attached to this child? I combed her hair and blew it dry and then helped her into her pajamas.

“We should take your necklace off before you go to bed,” I said.