Christmas Surprises (10 page)

It wasn't about an iron, of course.  But she heard what he'd said.

"What did you get me?," she'd asked, leaning forward to kiss him, not caring in the slightest what he'd bought.

"Well, I'm broke," he'd said, a laugh in his voice even as he'd kissed her back.  "So, prepare yourself.  It's nothing huge."

"Okay," she'd said, backing up.  "Tell me."

"I'm not going to the restaurant on Monday," he'd said, almost shyly.  "I've got a whole day planned, just me and you.  Nothing fancy, just --"

"Time," she'd said softly, knowing what this cost him.  "You've given me time for Christmas."

And he'd grinned again, pulling her close.  "I've got all the time in the world for you, Maddie."

She thought of it even now as she blinked back tears in Micah and Rachel's living room, as Grant's phone buzzed again, indicating another text from the restaurant.

She put the cruise papers back into the box and set it aside, not even trying for a reassuring smile.

"I wanna see what Rachel and Micah got us!," Jacob exclaimed, trying to draw attention away from her disappointment.

But she was sure everyone could see it all the same.

CHAPTER three

Rachel

No sooner had the gift completely flopped than Grant was back on the phone with the restaurant, spending his day off with his attention still there.

Stupid Grant! 

Rachel kept it to herself as the rest of the gifts were opened, her mind as distant as Maddie's, as she kept glancing over at her sister-in-law with concern.

More gifts, more talking, more and more surprises, as Zoe crawled into Brian's lap, scooting Sugar on over, and holding out to him the book she'd just gotten.  Rachel's own father was a big reader, obviously, and spent whole holidays reading books to his granddaughters.  He'd likely do that very thing the next day when they all spent Christmas together. 

Zoe had obviously concluded that all Grandpas were readers and smiled up at Brian as he read her the story, using different voices for the characters.

Natalie watched him with affection.  Micah continued scowling. 

Stupid Micah!

As soon as the story was over, Mia bounded over to him with another book in her hands.  "This one next!," she said.

Brian laughed and went to take it from her when Micah interrupted.  "Maybe you girls should let Daddy tell you a story."

The girls looked at him with surprise.  He read to them plenty, of course, but he wasn't one for making up stories.

"About what?," Mia asked.

"About a very devoted son who only wanted the best for his mother, even though she --"

"That sounds like a boring story, Micah," Joy noted, looking up from the newest Madison Finn novel. 

"Oh, girls, you know who can tell the best stories?," Gracie grinned, glancing over at the book, as she bounced Ben in her lap.  "Your Aunt Maddie!"

Maddie had smiled self-consciously at this, like she always smiled at everything these days, it seemed.

"We know," Zoe said proudly.  "She's an author and all.  Writes loads of books."

"But what you don't know," Gracie said, "is that when she and I were little girls, not much older than you, she would tell the craziest stories."

"Now it's just love stories," Mia sighed.  "Which I like.  You should tell us a love story, Aunt Maddie!"

"Should I?," Maddie murmured, tucking a strand of her niece's hair behind her ear.

"I don't wanna hear a love story," Andrew said. 

"What kind of story would you like, then?," Maddie asked him, even as Zoe climbed over her sister to be close enough to lean her head on Maddie's shoulder.

Such a beautiful picture, Maddie there with her nieces.  Rachel smiled at the sight, thinking of the baby to come, how thrilled Grant must be, how --

Where was Grant?

"What happened to Grant?," she asked, looking around.  "Shouldn't he be off the phone by now?" 
And not trying to ruin my perfect Christmas?

"Still talking," Micah murmured. 

"How about an adventure story!," Andrew replied.  "With zombies!"

"Ahh," Maddie sighed, disappointment there on her face so suddenly.  At the mention of zombies, the mention of Grant...

... or both, likely.  Rachel was pretty sure it was both.

"Zombies?!," Mia asked, wrinkling up her nose. 

"I can include zombies," Maddie said. 

"They'll ruin the story!," Zoe protested.

"No, they won't," Maddie said.  "Trust me."

And all the kids did, as did the adults, as the room grew silent and everyone watched Maddie.

"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a girl who fell in love with a boy."

"I thought this was an adventure story with zombies!," Andrew interrupted.

"Hush," Gracie scolded him.  "Just listen."

"He was everything," she said softly.  "Kind, gentle, compassionate, sincere... handsome.  But the best thing about him was that he was alive.  So alive.  He made her come to life, too, you know.  Because he showed her who she was, just exactly who God had made her to be, and she became everything she ever wanted to be."

"Thanks to Jesus," Mia said.  "Because Jesus is better than any boy."

"Amen," Micah muttered, shooting a look over at his mother who held hands with Brian across the room as they, too, listened to the story.  "You just remember that when you're seventeen.  Or much, much older than --"

"Everything she ever wanted to be," Rachel interrupted, making a mental note to have a few words with her husband later on.  "Sounds dreamy."

"Yes," Maddie murmured, looking down at her niece.  "And it was thanks to Jesus, of course.  And Jesus just kept on being wonderful to this girl because not only did He change her life but He made the boy fall hopelessly and helplessly in love with her."

Andrew heaved a great and mighty sigh... in imitation of his father, who was doing likewise.

"It's romantic, Jacob," Gracie grinned over at him.  "Take some notes and all."

"I'm obviously doing just fine in the romance department," he said, grinning right back at her.  "Four children in four years, and --"

"Hush," she said again.  "Go on, Maddie."

"Life was perfect," Maddie said, so softly that the room stilled to hear her.  "Until... well, until the boy died."

Mia gasped at this.  "Did he get sick?"

Zoe cut in as well.  "Was he in an accident?"

Andrew echoed these thoughts.  "Was there a lot of blood?!"

"Nothing like that," Maddie said.  "He died so slowly and so gradually that... well, one day, the girl woke up next to him and realized that it had been days since he'd said anything lovely to her, weeks since he'd kissed her, months since they'd... well, it was very sad," she concluded.  "He'd died.  The boy she loved had died, and in his place was a zombie, who was consumed by everything else around him and had very nearly forgotten that the girl was even there."

Oh, boy.  Rachel wasn't liking this story.

"But," Maddie said, "the girl didn't give up on him.  Because she loved him.  Because he was everything.  Because he was, even in his zombie state, still someone she cared about so very much."  She bit her lip for a second.  "So, she embarked on a quest to find a cure for the boy."  Her eyes shot over to Andrew.  "An exciting, daring, adventurous quest."

"Yay!," he yelled.

"There were dragons along the way, fire and brimstone raining down on her, great riddles to answer every hundred miles or so, and time, so much time, between her and the boy, between her and the cure.  But she sought it anyway, because he was worth it."

Rachel very nearly shouted "good!" 

Maddie continued on, the grin on her face fading.  "A few months into the long quest, though, she discovered something.  Not only had the boy become a zombie, but she, too... well, she'd lost herself along the way as well."

Rachel swallowed, shooting a panicked look over at Micah... who was still shooting death glares at Brian. 

Helpful.  Very helpful.

"She didn't even know who she was anymore," Maddie whispered, "and soon, she began to believe that the boy she'd given up everything to save... well, that he had never really even existed."

"Did she find the cure?," Zoe whispered.

"No," Maddie breathed.  "She stopped looking.  And then... well, then, she just disappeared.  A zombie like the boy she loved.  Because maybe that's what love does, you know.  Just kills you slowly, in such imperceptible, subtle ways, until you're a walking corpse who doesn't even know you're dead because you can't even remember when your heart stopped beating."

No one said anything for a long moment.

"Well, merry Christmas, everyone," Jacob managed.

Just as Rachel turned to echo his sentiment, she saw that Grant had come into the room, likely early enough to hear his wife's horrible story, given the expression on his face as he looked at her.

Or not, given the words that left his mouth.

"Maddie, we gotta get on the road," he said.  "There's freezing rain, and we've got to get back to the restaurant."

"Freezing rain?!," Gracie said, shooting right up off the couch.  "It's going to be a white Christmas!  My first one ever!"

"Not a white Christmas," Brian said, looking out with the rest of the group, as they all made their way to the window.  "An icy Christmas."

"Close enough," Gracie giggled.  "Oh, wow, am I glad to be in Texas this year!"

"Maddie," Grant said again.  "We've gotta go now."

"Grant, it's not safe," Rachel said, peering out the window, too.  "The driveway... well, what will eventually be the driveway will be too muddy and dangerous to get down right now, and with the temperature dropping --"

"I've got to go back to the restaurant," he snapped at her.  Snapping at her.  Here in her house.  Like they were still teenagers, snapping over who was taking too long in the bathroom --

Maybe he was more stressed out than she'd figured.  Maybe things weren't okay at the restaurant.

But still. 

"Then, go," she bit back, her mind going to really stupid zombies who made the women they loved disappear and all.  "But you're not taking your pregnant wife out on the icy roads in freezing temperatures.  Especially not in that crapmobile you're driving."

Mia and Zoe gasped at the bad word.

Awesome.  Best Christmas ever.  Best mother ever, too.

Grant opened his mouth to protest her very good advice, but Micah interrupted him.  "I would tell you to take my truck, but--"

"It's not worth it," Natalie murmured, the worry on her face a direct reminder to them all about the car accident that had taken Micah's father not so long ago.  "It's not worth risking an accident."

"She's right," Brian added softly.  "You don't want to put Maddie at risk.  Even a small fender bender can create some serious problems for a pregnant woman."

"Well, I'm not going without her," Grant said.  "Christmas won't be right unless we're together."

At this, Rachel saw something real, something hopeful in Maddie's eyes.  Then, it disappeared as soon as Grant's eyes went back to his phone.

Lots of talk of things disappearing and all. 

"We weren't really going to be together anyway, Grant," she said.  "You're working all day tomorrow at the restaurant."

Wait... what?

He'd promised to take the day off.  He'd promised them all that he'd take the time off --

"You're working?  But Mom's expecting you at the family dinner," Rachel said, turning on him.  "We have plans for you to --"

"I'll send over the food," he sighed.  "But, Rachel, I've got a lot riding on this Christmas at the restaurant.  And I need to take my wife and go home --"

"Wait until the morning," Micah said, taking his wife's shoulders in his hands before she could open her mouth to give her brother a piece of her mind.  "It can't last all night.  And even if it does, you can head out in the morning by yourself to go over there.  You can take my truck and leave Maddie here with us.  Stay the night, though.  You'll at least have part of Christmas morning with Maddie that way."