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Derek showed up fifteen minutes early with a ham warmed and glazed and ready to slice. Unfortunately, Susannah’s afternoon cooking endeavors hadn’t gone nearly as smoothly as that morning’s. Whether from her tiny bit of extra sugar, the excitement of the day, or some random fluke, Kitty’s digestion was all over that morning (literally), and once Susannah got her, the bathroom, and the bed completely cleaned up, it was time to put the green bean casserole in the oven. The only problem was she hadn’t set foot in the kitchen since breakfast.
Derek didn’t seem to mind the wait, and he sat with Kitty listening to Adventures in Odyssey while Susannah scurried around trying to prepare a few simple dishes.
I wonder, Lord, if you’re giving me a little bit of a taste of how Martha felt when you were visiting her home.
At least Kitty had been in a good mood, explosive diarrhea and all.
And her Christmas cheer was catching.
Thank you, God, for helping today go so much smoother than it might have.
What she wanted to say was thank you that I’ve been too busy to miss Mom very much, but the confession made her feel guilty, so she focused on her green bean casserole, cornbread, and apple pie. A simple spread, especially compared to the feasts her mom liked to prepare for holidays, but Derek wasn’t expecting much, Kitty couldn’t eat any of it anyway, and Susannah was too busy to even think about her own appetite.
At least she’d get some good sleep tonight. If Kitty’s gut issues resolved by then.
But she wouldn’t think about that. Christmas was the one day where she refused to let any anxious thoughts creep into her head. No maudlin moping around thinking about how nice it would be if Mom was in the kitchen working and Susannah was the one listening to Odyssey episodes. No pining away for the mission field or some passionate, godly missionary on the other side of the country.
Today was about keeping Kitty happy.
And making it through dinner without breaking down into tears.
That’s why she stayed so busy. And eventually, all her hard work paid off. Dinner was nearly an hour late. She and Derek had to microwave the ham slices by the time all the other dishes were hot, but at quarter to five, the sparkling cider was poured and the plates were served.
Kitty pouted when Susannah refused to add an extra spoonful of sugar into her formula again, but otherwise everyone was in good spirits. Susannah wondered if Derek and she were both in the same awkward position, trying hard for Kitty’s sake to keep a positive attitude when their hearts were empty and aching.
She and Derek might grow closer over the years, if he’d stick around long enough for her to get completely comfortable with him. Maybe. Only time would tell. Having him around, seeing the way he joked with her sister, reminded Susannah of how much energy it took just to keep Kitty engaged. It didn’t take much effort to make her laugh, but she was so compliant and easy-going that she was unfortunately simple to ignore too. Mom had been good at talking to her throughout the day, asking her questions, and waiting politely for an answer. Susannah tried, but sometimes it sapped all her strength just to feed and bathe her sister until there wasn’t any energy left for chit-chat.
After dinner, Derek cleared the table off while Susannah settled Kitty in her bed. “Are you ready to open some presents?” she asked.
Kick. Kick.
“Well, we have to wait for Derek to join us. Don’t want him to be left out, do we?”
Blink.
When everything was ready, Kitty opened her gifts first.
“I’m going to make you a blanket,” Susannah explained after helping her tear off the wrapping paper. “I got the yarn from Safe Anchorage Farm. Isn’t it pretty? Remember when Mom took us to see the goats they have there? Remember the cute little babies jumping all around?”
Kick. Kick.
“And here’s my present for you, kiddo.” Derek reached over and pulled the colorful paper off a small rectangular box he placed in Kitty’s hands.
“What is it?” Susannah asked.
“An MP3 player.” He pointed to the box to show Kitty. “And it’s got over five hundred Adventures in Odyssey episodes downloaded on it. All brand new.”
“Five hundred?” Susannah repeated.
Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick.
Derek opened his travel mug next, and Susannah was a little embarrassed she’d given him something so generic. But he smiled and hugged her and froze in goofy poses with his gift to make Kitty laugh.
“And now.” His expression suddenly grew serious. He cleared his throat and looked at Susannah. “I asked Kitty the other night what she thought we should get you, and we came up with something together.”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope.
“This is from all of us.”
At first, Susannah was afraid it would be full of cash. How did he expect her to accept a gift like that?
“Take a look,” he urged.
Even Kitty was calm while Susannah opened it up.
“A plane ticket?”
“Read this first.” Derek pointed to a brochure.
“The Urbana World Missions Conference?”
“It’s a get-together for young adults and college students who are interested in Christian missions. They have all kinds of speakers. From the minute I heard about it, I knew it’d be perfect for you. And I knew you’d never agree to go unless I made you, so I already booked your spot at the conference — your room, your flight there, everything. You leave in two days.”
“That soon?”
“They always have it right before New Year’s. Now don’t argue with me.” His voice was firm. “Kitty wants you to go too, don’t you?”
Blink.
A very tenuous blink.
“How can I ... How will ...”
“I’m taking vacation time. I’ll stay here with Kitty. And Mrs. Fields and her son have agreed to come over and help too. We all know how Kitty feels about Ricky Fields, don’t we?”
A cautious kick.
Derek nodded at the ticket in her hand. “It will be fine. I want you to go. It’s something your mom and I were already planning to send you to this year. She’s the one who first told me about it.”
“Mom wanted me to go?”
He nodded. “She’d been talking about it for months.”
“I don’t know ...” She looked at her sister.
“Your mom wanted it,” he whispered again.
Susannah was beaten. “All right.” She glanced again at the brochure, at the smiling faces on the cover. “I’ll go.”