Christmas in the Air

Mommy. Check. Daddy. Check. Seth. Check. Elizabeth. Check. Kristy. Check.

It was Saturday morning. I was not taking attendance. I was in my room checking off my gift list. Before Andrew and I broke the angel, I had gifts for about half the people on my list. There were still a lot of names to go.

“I do not have money left to buy anything,” I said to Moosie. “So I better get busy making gifts.”

All I had to do was think of what to make. I decided to go downstairs and see what everyone was up to. Maybe I would get some ideas. Maybe I would also get some lunch. I was hungry.

I took a pencil and paper with me. That way if I got any great gift ideas, I could write them down.

I was halfway down the stairs when David Michael raced past me.

“Excuse me!” he said.

He was hiding something under his shirt.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to know about. At least not yet,” he said, smiling. He disappeared into his room.

Hmm. Mysterious.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was practically knocked over by Kristy.

“Sorry,” she said.

Kristy was hiding something under her shirt, too.

Aha! I did not even have to ask what it was. I knew. Kristy and David Michael were hiding presents under their shirts. They were running upstairs to wrap them.

Ooh. Things were getting exciting.

When Kristy passed by me, I noticed that one of her shoelaces was torn. I wrote “shoelaces” on my gift list next to Kristy’s name. I happened to have a brand-new package of shoelaces that I had not opened yet. That could be one of my gifts to Kristy.

Ding-dong. The doorbell rang. I was just in time to answer it. I looked outside and saw Mr. Venta, the mail carrier. I opened the door for him. (I am allowed to open the door for Mr. Venta.)

“I have a package addressed to your dad,” he said.

In a flash, Daddy was behind me.

“Thank you, Mr. Venta. I will take that,” he said.

It was a very interesting box. It was decorated with red and white candy cane stripes. A drawing of a Christmas wreath was on the address label. It looked as if it might be a present. But I did not get to look at it for very long. Daddy excused himself and disappeared upstairs. It was another mystery package. I wondered who it was for.

My tummy was making rumbling noises. It was time for lunch. I hurried into the kitchen. Nannie was taking some leftovers out of the oven. I noticed that her potholder was old and torn.

A new potholder would be easy for me to make. I wrote “potholder” on the list next to Nannie’s name.

“Would you set the table, please, Karen?” asked Nannie. “There is a new package of napkins on the counter.”

The napkins were decorated with red bells and green holly. Christmas was coming to the big house.

I did not have an angel for the tree. I was not playing the angel in the pageant. I owed a store owner money that I did not have. But I was still happy. Presents were being wrapped. Napkins had holly on them. Christmas was in the air!