Season of Blessing (26 page)
Sylvia managed
to pull off the Christmas she'd planned for her family. Within a couple of days of being home, both Sarah and Jeff seemed to forget their mother was ill. They stopped walking around with somber faces, trying to keep the baby quiet, and watching every word they said to her.
By Christmas Day, the family had relaxed completely, and it felt like old times. Sarah helped her in the kitchen while Harry played with Breanna, and Jeff and Gary watched a ball game in the den.
By the time the dinner was served and eaten, chemo exhaustion was pulling at her. Harry insisted on cleaning the dishes so that Sylvia could lie down for a nap, while the kids went to visit high school friends from town.
That night, as her children continued to visit with friends, Sylvia joined the neighbors at Tory's house for her annual Christmas night celebration. The Christmas paper had all been thrown away and the presents were no longer new. It was the perfect time to gather and relax from the harried pace of the season.
They sipped eggnog and munched on Chex mix and watched Tory's Christmas morning video of Spencer and Brittany and baby Hannah tearing into their presents. Harry read the Christmas story from the Bible, while David sat quietly, tolerant of the observation. Sylvia sat with baby Hannah on her lap, and Joseph leaned next to her on the couch, patting her arm in a quiet affirmation that he knew what she was going through.
All seemed right with the world. Her abundant blessings were too many to count.
That night as Brenda and David and the kids headed back to their house, David put his arm around Brenda and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you,” he whispered.
Brenda smiled up at him. “I love you, too.”
“Watching Harry and Sylvia made me think,” he said. “You can just see how much they love each other. He's worried about her.”
“He is going through a rough time.”
“Yeah, but I'm just amazed at her attitude.” David stopped in the yard between the two houses, and grabbed the chain to the big porch swing he'd built to hang beneath the arbor. As he always did when he passed it, he tested it to see if it was safe. Joseph, Leah, and Rachel horsed around just ahead of them, their cheeks and noses red in the cold night air.
“Joseph seems so drawn to Sylvia,” David said.
Brenda sat down on the swing. “He's never forgotten how close he came to death. But Sylvia does have a good attitude. She has her down moments, but mostly she just has a lot of hope.”
David sat down next to her. “What if she dies?”
Brenda tried to picture Sylvia facing death head on. “I'm sure she's hoping for a cure, David. But if it turns out the other way, if she's going to die from this cancer, I think she'll be ready for that, too. She has a lot of faith.”
“Faith in what?” he asked. “I mean, if she's going to die anyway, wouldn't that faith be misplaced?”
Brenda looked at her husband, and felt his breath warming her face.
“This life is temporary, David. I wish you understood that. There's a lot more on the other side.”
“Let's see if you feel that way if Sylvia dies.”
She knew he didn't mean to be cruel. In a way, she suspected his words were a kind of plea. Whether he admitted it or not, she was pretty sure he relied on the stability of her faith.
“You've seen me suffer over impending death before,” she said. “I got to the point where I thought we were going to lose Joseph, and so did you. Did I ever despair?”
Tears misted his eyes and he shook his head. “No, you didn't.”
“I won't this time either, but I'm still hoping that Sylvia is almost out of the woods.”
David looked down at his feet. “Yeah, me too. I'm really hoping that.”
He took her cold hand, pulled her to her feet, and snuggled her against him as they went into their house to get warm.
That night
after the party, Steve and Cathy felt the warm sense of contentment that Christmas night brings, when all the work and celebrating are done. Annie and Tracy had gone home from the party with Sylvia to help her make a pot of soup for her family. Both Rick and Mark had signed up with their church to work at the local soup kitchen tonight, cooking for and serving those who didn't have Christmas dinner.
While Steve started a fire in the hearth, Cathy curled up with a cup of hot apple cider. When the fire was going strong, Steve joined Cathy on the couch.
Propping his feet on the coffee table, he said, “Ah, this is one of the nicest parts of Christmas.”
“Yeah,” she said. “No deadlines, no food to prepare, no gifts to wrap. When it gets quiet and slow.”
Steve pulled her close. “You sure you're not upset that the kids aren't here tonight?”
She smiled. “They were here all last night and most of today. It's nice to have quiet, especially when I know they're doing something good. Can you believe Rick signed up to work at the soup kitchen?”
“Sure I can,” Steve said. “He's got a good heart. The miracle is that Mark is doing it. A year ago, would you have ever imagined it?”
“No,” Cathy said. “God has done amazing things.”
She heard a car door slam, then another.
Cathy got up and looked out the screen door, and saw Mark coming toward the door. Someone else walked behind him, but he was taller than Rick.
“Looks like we're about to have company,” she told Steve.
Mark opened the door into the kitchen, and as his companion stepped in behind him, Cathy recognized Josh, the young man Sylvia had pegged for Annie.
“Josh, hi,” she said. “It's good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Josh gave me a ride home from the Stewpot.” Mark winked.
Cathy only looked at him, wondering what the wink meant. Was Mark telling her that he had set this up for Annie's sake?
“Where's Rick?” she asked.
“He wanted to stay and help clean up,” Mark said. “Josh was leaving, so he offered to bring me home.”
Cathy grinned, wishing Annie would hurry home. “Did you have a nice Christmas, Josh?”
“Yes, ma'am. Did you?”
“Wonderful,” she said.
Steve came and shook his hand. “So how was the Stewpot?”
“Great,” he said. “My parents and I have been there all afternoon. We served five hundred people today. Mom and Dad are still there, closing the place down.”
Mark brandished the Blockbuster movie he held. “I invited Josh to come in and watch a movie. I figured Annie and Rick and Tracy might want to hang out.”
Cathy doubted that the twenty-two-year-old had accepted the invitation to spend time with sixteen-year-old Mark. She hoped that meant he wanted to see Annie.
“Annie and Tracy are next door. They should be home any minute.”
Mark shot her a look that spoke volumes.
Call her and get her home, Mom. I didn't do this for my health
.
She slipped into the bedroom, and Steve followed. “I'm calling Annie,” she said.
“I was just going to suggest that.” Steve grinned. “Do you believe Mark did that?”
“Guess it's just a little belated gift for his sister.” She punched out Sylvia's number.
“Hello?”
“Sylvia, it's Cathy.” She kept her voice low. “Would you tell Annie that Josh is here?”
Sylvia gasped. “Really?”
“Yes. He brought Mark home from the Stewpot. He's in the living room watching a movie.”
“She'll be home in two minutes,” Sylvia said. “I'm throwing her out right now.”
Cathy laughed as she hung up the phone.
Annie hurried Tracy out the door and across the yard. Back home, Tracy ran straight for the new computer the family had gotten that morning, but Annie gravitated to the living room. “Hey, guys,” she said. “What you watching?”
Josh came to his feet. “Hi, Annie,” he said. “Remember me?”
She grabbed a handful of the popcorn the guys had between them, popped it into her mouth. “Sure I remember. From Miss Sylvia's dinner party.”
“That's right.”
“We're watching
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
,” Mark said. “And don't hog our popcorn, okay?”
Annie ignored him. “I love this movie.” She came around the couch, picked up the popcorn, and plopped down between them on the couch. “Oh, good. I didn't miss the part about the rabbit.”
Josh threw his head back and laughed. “I love the killer rabbit.”
They started trading off lines they'd memorized from the movie, and before long they were laughing and chattering, and rewinding bits of it so that they could act it out again.
As the movie came to an end, Annie realized she owed her brother big.
She and Josh had a lot in common, and she enjoyed being around him. Maybe once again, Miss Sylvia had been right.
It was almost midnight when Josh got up to leave, so she walked him to the door.
“Thanks for the ride home, man,” Mark said from the couch.
“Sure,” Josh said. “Thanks for the movie.”
“Bye, Josh,” Annie said as nonchalantly as possible.
“See ya,” he said. “Uh, could I get your phone number, by any chance?”
Annie grinned, but Mark spoke up. “Mine?”
Josh chuckled. “Either of yours.”
“Same number,” Annie said. “And either of us would be glad if you called.”
She wrote it down for him, hoping she'd hear from him soon.
When Josh was gone, Annie turned back to her brother. Grinning, he lifted his hand, and she slapped it.
“Merry Christmas, sis,” he said.
Annie leaned over the couch and kissed him.