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It was Christmas when John found out how special she was. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Janet was in the spirit as every child her age was. While her and John were decorating, they enjoyed hot cocoa and danced to Christmas music.
On Christmas morning, Janet opened her eyes and could see that it was lightly snowing. She jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to see what Santa had brought for presents. Her eyes lit up when she saw all the presents beneath the Christmas tree. Her and John’s stockings were full of treats. She then ran upstairs to wake John up, who was catching up on much needed sleep from the night before.
“Da, its Christmas!!!” Janet exclaimed as she jumped on John’s bed.
“Uh huh,” John said as his eyes slowly opened from the heaviness of his deep sleep.
“Wake up! Wake up!” said Janet.
John got up from the comfort of his bed. John slowly walked down the stairs while Janet led him to the living room to observe the wonders of Christmas morning. Janet grabbed her stocking first while John made a much-needed pot of coffee. As Janet took out each separate item from her stocking, John was slowly sipping his coffee. Janet brought over John’s stocking and John went through his. Janet then tore through the wrapping paper for her Christmas presents, thanking Santa for each present as she finished the unwrapping. Janet also handed John his presents from Santa and demanded that he thanked Santa for each one, which John did.
After Janet and John finished unwrapping their presents, there was wrapping paper and opened boxes all over the floor. Janet left a doll in the box and played with her other presents while John cleaned up. John was unsure why she left the doll in the box.
Mike and Nancy came over in the afternoon for Christmas dinner. John made a turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans, and turnip. Nancy brought over her stuffing and Mike brought over a homemade apple pie. Everyone sat at the table, ate, and shared stories about past Christmases.
“Janet, what was your favorite Christmas gift Santa brought you,” Nancy asked.
“Ta doll over tere,” Janet said while pointing at the doll still in its box.
“Why haven’t you played with it yet, peanut?” asked John.
“I want to give it to someone just in case Santa forgot,” Janet said as she looked at John.
“Oh,” said John speechless. He did not know what to say after that. He never expected a girl her age to be so generous.
“That is very thoughtful of you, Janet,” Nancy said looking at John.
“Yes, it is,” John said clearing his throat. “We can take it to the station. They are still collecting donations today.”
After dinner, John and Janet went to the station, where Janet kissed the doll and placed it gently into the collection bin. She saw all the toys that were in the bin.
“Da, why did Santa forget so many children?” Janet asked. He could tell from her watery eyes that she was upset for all those children.
“Well,” John said trying to find the right words. “A lot of children do not have homes like you do. So, Santa assigns people to find those children to give them presents.”
“That is nice of them,” said Janet relieved. John hugged Janet and kissed her on top of her head and told her how kind that was of her to donate her favorite toy.