Andi's Dream - Joyeux Noël

by Duleigh

©Copyright 2024 by Duleigh

Chapter 1

Paul Jarecki was awakened by a strange squeaking. He was dreaming about spending a quiet weekend at the cabin, just him and Andi, but there came this noise, a tree branch scraping against the cabin, and no matter what he did, the branch kept rubbing against the cabin and continued to squeak. Slowly his eyes came open, and he was in their bedroom and the squeaking continued.

Little stars and planets slowly circled the ceiling, occasionally a shooting star would zoom across the ceiling, and the ISS, a rocket, or Santa Claus, would also drift across the sky. It was a gift from Grandpa Harold, Andi's step-father, a planetarium projector. He said it would keep the baby entertained at night. Paul wasn't sure about the baby, but he was fascinated. He might have to get another one for the nursery and keep this one. The thing was amazing, and Paul couldn't wait to explore the educational modes and teach the twins about the stars because star gazing was a big part of camping.

However, the squeaking continued and soon built up steam. Paul got out of bed, pulled on a robe and walked around the bed to Andi's side and carefully, so carefully, scooped tiny Danny out of the cradle as Andi woke up. "I have him," whispered Paul.

"Mmmfff" said Andi, and she went back to sleep.

Paul stepped into his slippers and stepped out of the bedroom. He headed down the back stairs and stepped into the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a tiny bottle of breast milk Andi had expressed earlier, and set it on the counter. He put a pan of water on the stove and fired up the stove, then sat down at the table. Paul gave Danny a pacifier, which the little guy gnawed on thoughtfully for a while, then he pushed it out with his tongue. "You're so hungry," teased Paul. "Hungry, hungry boy," and he tried the pacifier again.

Eventually the water got to the temperature that he wanted and as he got up to warm the milk, John slowly walked into the kitchen with a bundled baby who was making little quacking sounds. John reached into the pantry for a powdered formula, but Paul stopped him. "Hold on, we have natural," and he took another bottle of expressed milk out of the fridge and put both bottles in warm water. "It's better for her."

"I can't have you doing that," said John. "That's for Danny."

"Andi is doing fine. She was feeding twins a few years ago, and her body still remembers how. There's more than enough for Danny and my little goofy girl," and he tickled Katarina under the chin. She didn't understand, but she was just barely a week old. There's a lot that she and her cousin Danny haven't figured out. Paul plucked the bottle out of the warm water and handed it to John, then grabbed the other one and sat next to his brother at the kitchen table and they fed their babies.

Paul reached over and adjusted the way John was holding the bottle. "I don't believe how you have taken to babies," said John. "You're like super dad."

"Me? No… I just have a little training. When I was seven mom made me help take care of you," said Paul. "I was complaining about changing your diaper and she said, 'you're going to have children some day and you'll thank me for this.'" Danny fell asleep while eating so as Katarina taught him Paul tugged on the bottle which woke Danny up. "Thank you, mom," he whispered sadly.

"You changed my diapers?" demanded John.

"Yeah, quite a few times… then I married a doctor who raised two preemies on her own. It's quite an education."

"Macy still isn't producing enough to keep Katarina full and she's feeling horrible. We don't want to keep asking."

"We're family, it's ok. We have it, and if you need it, it's yours. Andi has only been part of this lunatic asylum for 11 months, but she really and truly loves Macy. It's ok about the milk, we have plenty and Macy will come along. Andi went through the same thing six years ago. She had Lucy to help her, but Lucy never had kids, so she couldn't identify with her problem." Paul pulled the bottle out of hungry little Danny's mouth, then put him up to his shoulder and started patting his back. He gestured for John to do the same.

John pulled the nipple out of Katarina's hungry mouth and burped her like Paul was doing. "How do you know when they need to burp?"

"They always need to burp," said Paul as a little burp erupted from Daniel.

Katarina burped, then expelled gas from the other end with a tiny beep. "Really classy, little girl," said John as he continued patting her back.

"It's ok, we'll check diapers when we head off to bed."

"I forgot my diaper bag," groaned John.

"There's always a spare here in the kitchen," said Paul. "This is where the babies are fed so Andi insists that a bag remains here. She says that it goes in one end and out the other."

Just then, Heather stumbled down the stairs. Her eyes were bleary, her nose was red from being blown. "You don't look good, Mom," said Paul.

"I'm fine, I heard the babies and I'm here to help."

"Get back to bed, we have it under control," said Paul. "I'll bring tea up to you when its ready. You need sleep as much as anyone else around here."

Heather looked at the teakettle, which gave no hint of warming up soon, and said, "I'll get tea in the morning," and she headed back upstairs.

The brothers fed and burped their children for quite a while under the watchful eyes of Macy and Andi, who peeked at them from the parlor door. When the tiny newborns couldn't keep their eyes open anymore and were done feeding, the guys changed the diapers and headed back to bed to find their wives sound asleep, or at least they looked sound asleep. But both Andi and Macy realized they weren't alone with raising their children. This wouldn't be as hard as they first thought.

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Chapter 2

Yi made sure that the twins were ready for school, lunches packed, homework complete, pencils sharp and ready. As Yi checked their backpacks, Heather zipped the twins' parkas up and led them out to the van and snapped them in their seats. As soon as they were locked in, Heather said, "Kiss!" and got a goodbye kiss from each of the girls. "Have a good day!"

"Bye gamma!"

Yi took the twins to school fully prepared for their first homework essay assignment, 'What I did during the Blizzard of November.' The assignment was sent at the height of the storm, asking for an essay on what they did to keep busy. They both wrote a 200-word essay describing, as only the twins can describe, what happened at their house during the Blizzard of November. Their mother and aunt in labor, their dad loading them in the snowmobile and riding off into the storm, and pictures of babies being sent back. Of watching Yi being dragged around by the snowblower, and playing in the snow with Wonka. Oh yes, and meeting their new brother.

They were also armed with plenty of pictures of Danny and Katarina to hand out to their classmates. "What if they don't like Danny?" Sandy asked Yi.

"Don't start a fight. They clearly don't like beautiful babies," said Yi.

"Ok," Sandy almost sounded like she was disappointed she couldn't beat up a classmate. Yi put Madeline's glasses on her, then took a pair of glasses with plain lenses for Sandy and put them on her.

"You ready?"

"Uh huh." The twins really liked school ever since they got moved up in grades equivalent to the second grade.

"Ok, don't lose your glasses." Yi gave them a kiss and led them to their classroom. Their lunch boxes were attached to the outside of their backpacks "just like camping" as the twins claim. As soon as they were close, they yelled and squealed and dashed off to the classroom.

"They're sweet, are they yours?" asked a woman that came up behind Yi.

"No, I'm their governess."

"They never mention a governess, but they talk nonstop about their big sister," said the woman as she headed into the classroom.

Big sister? The twins teased her when they found out her birthday was the day after theirs. Yi felt a warmth that the twins would think of her like that. She wanted to rush home and make her little sisters a sweet treat for when they get home, but first she had a stop to make.

"Hi pretty girl!" called Grandpa Archie as Yi entered the feed store. "How's my favorite Korean granddaughter?"

Yi gave Grandpa Archie and Grandma Lacy a kiss and asked, "Where's Kenny?"

"He's unloading a truck," said Archie. "Sit down, you look a bit worked up. Anything happen since we last saw you?"

"We had two babies born," said Yi as she sat down in a rocker by the warm parlor stove.

"Any of them yours?" asked Archie, and Grandma Lacy swatted him with her newspaper.

"I haven't had a chance to touch either one of them. Andi is teaching Macy all about mothering and John and Paul are there constantly trying to be the best dads they can be when John's not writing his next sermon or Paul's not in his office being boss."

"So the whole bunch of ya are in that big old house?"

"Andi's mom is there with us too. Her dad will come for Christmas."

"That's quite a bunch! You going to have room for Kenny up there?"

"Kenny?"

"You can't live here and watch those little girls," said Grandma Lacy as she filled in a word on her crossword puzzle.

"You got your whole life ahead of you," said Archie. "You can't dedicate your life to a job."

"The twins and Danny are not a job," said Yi. "They're my sisters and brother."

"I'm sure that if you went to Paul and Andi and said, 'Kenny and I are going to open a restaurant in London,' they'd wish you luck and buy your plane tickets," said Archie.

"I'm sure he would, but I don't want to do that, not right now anyhow," said Yi. "I'm needed, and it's nice to feel needed."

Lacy swatted Archie with her newspaper again and said, "let the kids be. They'll make up their own minds."

Yi got up and headed back to the room that Kenny was converting to a sporting goods section and found he did quite a job. It looked wonderful. There were racks of snowshoes, skis, and ski boots, both alpine and Nordic. There was ice fishing equipment and all kinds of hunting equipment, and outdoor clothing of all types.

"What can I get ya?" he asked from behind a counter.

"I want a turkey," said Yi.

"I think the B-Quik has Butterball turkeys, I'm not sure of the other brands. Bells IGA just up the road has smoked turkey legs on sale."

"No, I want a wild turkey for thanksgiving," said Yi. "I've been involved in every bit of food on my menu, I planted and harvested every vegetable that will be on the table, I'm even going to whip the cream for the pumpkin pie I am going to bake. I already made the pie filling from the twins pumpkins. The only thing I didn't grow is the cranberries, but I will make my own cranberry jelly."

"Doc has a big old sack of cranberry's in his root cellar," said Kenny. "We picked them. There's a few cranberry bushes back by the spring that feeds the pond. Besides, Doc always cooks Thanksgiving dinner."

"I still want to harvest a turkey."

"Harvest?" chuckled Kenny. "Harvest isn't exactly the word for hunting and killing a turkey. They're pretty tricky birds.."

"I don't care, I dispatched half a dozen chickens a couple of weeks ago, a turkey is just another bird."

"Ok, you need camouflage, a shot gun, ammo, a hunting license, and a place to shoot," said Kenny as he pulled out the paperwork for a hunting permit. "Autumn and winter shooting isn't very good, the critters are skittish. Spring is much better. This permit will be for the remainder of this autumn and next spring."

"Perfect," said Yi. "When are we going hunting?" she asked as she paid her license fee.

"Honey, you know that I would do anything for you, but the store is expanding so fast that I don't have any time for…" memories of Yi stomping off angrily filled his mind and he steeled himself for her reaction.

"I'm sorry, I should be more supportive," said Yi. They leaned across the counter and kissed, then she whispered, "it's been crazy for me too… but I'm gonna get that turkey!" She gave him one more kiss, then she headed out of the store. In shock, Kenny watched her small, round ass swing as she headed out.

"Damn," he whispered. Now Kenny knew the precise feeling that's summed up in the expression "dodged a bullet."

Yi drove to Paul's cabin to check on the chickens and parked in the road because the driveway was still covered with snow. She clipped on her snowshoes and trooped over the snow and made her way to the barn. She went inside the barn, but this time she hit more than one light switch when she entered the side of the barn. There was the orange Kubota sitting in readiness, but it had the backhoe attached to it, along with the dump scoop up front. It was tempting to try, but Paul would freak if she broke it. In another bay was Paul's antique Ford 8N with a drag plow. She could drive the 8N, but there was too much snow out there for a drag plow.

Then she saw the John Deere, the baby Deere. It still had the snow blower attachment on the front. Here was a snow blower that wouldn't drag her around and make the twins giggle! And the baby Deere had a full tank of gas. She turned the key, and it started right up with a little bit of choke applied, then she shoved the barn door open and sat on the seat of the Baby Deere and studied its controls. This should be simple. She pushed down on the hydrostatic transmission pedal and the tractor surged forward, but it bogged down and stopped when it hit the snow.

Yi pondered this for a few moments as the yacht mechanic in her brain went to work. She backed up the tractor, turned the crank so the chute was aimed forward and a bit to her right, then pushed the lever that adjusted the lawnmower height. It lowered the snow auger. She pulled the lever that engaged the lawn mower and the snow auger roared to life. "YEEEE HAWWW!" she screamed and tromped down on the transmission peddle and the baby Deere tore into the snow.

She had figured out the zero turn lawn mower back at the house in a matter of moments. This was fractionally as complex to get started and running. The baby Deere gnawed away at the snow and ice, and she quickly had the area in front of the three cabins cleared and the larger area around the barn cleared. After that, she tore into the driveway. The first pass down the center was slow going, the auger clogged with the heavy wet snow quickly and twice she had to stop and clear it with an ice chipper. She made the full run and turned around and went back to it, and made a total of four passes to clear the driveway.

She returned the John Deere to the barn, then went upstairs to check the chickens. They were low on food and water, but not out. She cleaned up their roosts, collected a lot of eggs, and refilled the food and water, then cleaned out the straw and changed it, and carried her heavy basket down to her truck.

Ten minutes later, she was at Brad Clemmons' hog farm. "Need some eggs?"

"Did you bring pictures of the babies?" asked Brad's wife, Dianna. Yi opened her phone and showed Brad and Dianna the new babies and the overjoyed parents. "They're so darling! I can see their fathers in both of them. They must be so proud… oh and the twins!" Dianna flipped to a carefully posed picture of Sandy and Madeline holding Daniel and Katarina.

"The twins are crazy about them," said Yi. "The babies have to have a kiss before the twins head off to school."

"School? How are the twins liking school?" asked Brad.

"They're loving school now that they're in Zoar Academy."

"I knew it!" laughed Brad. "I knew there was no kindergarten that could hold them! What grade do they have them in?"

"Zoar doesn't strictly do grades, but they're doing second grade equivalent work. Their math skills are beyond that, but they need to get acclimated to school."

"And the glasses?" asked Diana.

"Madeline needs the glasses," said Yi. "Sandy wears a pair of matching frames with fake lenses because they're twins."

"Their glasses don't match, one is purple, and one is pink," said Brad.

"They both have a set of purple and a set of pink, but they wear the different colors so their little brother can tell them apart." Yi shrugged and added, "it makes sense to them."

"We can't wait to see them at church. Say hi to everybody for us," said Diana.

Yi departed with a dozen two inch thick pork chops and headed over to Gerry and Irma's dairy farm which was on what Andi called "The Happy Corner." It was where Paul rescued Andi and the twins.

"Hi, we need extra milk," said Yi as she handed Irma a dozen eggs, a pair of pork chops, and a couple of empty milk bottles.

"I suppose those tots get thirsty playing in the snow," said Gerry with his usual laugh.

"They're too busy being big sisters," said Yi as she handed Irma her phone.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Irma.

"I could see it in their eyes that Sunday morning when we dug her out," said Gerry with a loud belly laugh. "I knew it would lead to this!"

"How sweet! Paw, get those folks some protein, said Irma as she gushed and cooed over the pictures. "What are their names?"

"They're named for their grandparents. He's Daniel Cyryl, and she's Katarina Romée."

"I miss Katarina and Cecil, we'd sit by the campfire with them after Paul built his cabin and they spent the nights," said Gerry wistfully. It was the first time that Yi had ever not seen Gerry laughing about anything.

"We never met Daniel or Romée," said Irma as they looked at pictures of the twins snuggling in a bed with the babies.

"Andi's father Daniel died in Iraq when she was young," said Yi. "I just found out that Macy was an orphan. She ran away from her uncle and Romée was the person who took her in and made her a fashion model."

"They are beautiful babies," sighed Irma. "They must be happy."

"Overjoyed," said Yi as Gerry handed her several frozen steaks and a huge roast that Yi immediately started making plans for.

As he handed Yi the meat, Gerry said, "Do you have anything against veal?"

"Veal is my favorite beef!" gushed Yi. Ten minutes later, she was loading the frozen meat into her truck, then saying thank you to the couple, she headed back to Paul and Andi's cabins to load much of that meat into the chest freezer. After locking up the cabin and barn, she pulled out of the driveway and was getting ready to lock up the gate when she noticed Josh was at his cabin across the road. She walked over with a question on her mind.

"How ya doin' Miss Yi?" asked Josh as he unloaded a cooler from his truck.

"I was wondering if you hunted turkeys."

"Me? Nah. I should though. The damn things are all over my property. They're thick as mosquitos in a South Georgia swamp and they're tearing everything up. They really tore into your garden this year."

"Really?" asked Yi. "I thought that was deer."

"Nah, deer nibble, they don't rip stuff up. I'm surprised Paul didn't deal with it."

"We were kind of occupied this year," said Yi. "Could I hunt turkey on your land?"

Josh looked Yi up and down. Even in a warm parka, she looked slim and tiny. "Have you ever held a shotgun in your life?"

"I shoot rifle quite often. My dad has an M1, and we shoot floating targets in the ocean off his boat."

"A shotgun and a rifle are two different animals. First, we don't hunt with rifles in Erie County." He led Yi into his cabin and took a shotgun off the rack. "This is a turkey gun. It's a Weatherby Orion 12-gauge shotgun." He handed it to Yi and expected her to buckle under the weight, but she seemed to like it.

"I thought shotgun barrels were all side by side," she said as she broke down the gun and eyed down the bore of the over/under barrels.

"You want to take a shot?" asked Josh.

"Hell yeah!" said Yi.

"Ok, let's step outdoors," and he led her outside and showed her how to hold the gun. "Tight into your shoulder. Pull it back into your shoulder as tight as possible. Good, now lean into the gun, good. Sight down the barrel… perfect." Josh led her off the porch and stepped a few steps toward the pond. "Here you go," and he handed her two shotgun shells. "This should be turkey shot."

She broke down the gun and put the shells into it. "Is this double aught buck shot?"

"No this is BB shot, it'll do good for geese and turkey."

Yi brought the shotgun up to her shoulder and swept her view along the edge of the woods. "Do turkeys sit in trees?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Do they look like sideways hornets nests?" she said as she tightened up on the trigger.

"Yes…" He was answered with a double BOOMBOOM! And Yi fell back on her butt. Josh tried to catch her, but the shotgun shoved her down pretty hard.

"Ow!" groaned Yi, and she grabbed her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" said Josh as he crouched down next to Yi. "Normally you shoot one barrel at a time."

"I think I dislocated my shoulder," she groaned.

"You should go get that checked out," said Josh as he took the shotgun and helped Yi to her feet.

"Gotta get my birds first," she said, and she trooped through the snow to the edge of the woods. "They came down right about here…" Josh didn't see the turkeys she claimed to have shot, because he was paying attention to Yi. "Here we are!" she said, and she came back to Josh holding a turkey by the neck in each hand.

"Holy shit," gasped Josh. "That was your first shot?"

"Yeah, I never harvested a turkey before."

As they walked back to the cabin, one of the turkeys struggled in her grip. "I think that one is still alive," said Josh.

Yi gave it a snap with her wrist, and its struggling ended. "Got it, thanks."

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Chapter 3

Gus and Lucy were at Paul and Andi's house and the six of them (eight counting the babies) sat around the dining room table. Lucy held Danny in her arms, and Gus held Katarina. "When you're married you need to steel your mind for anything," said John as part of their pre-marriage class.

"Oui, anything!" said Macy. "We had tried several times to have a baby, so when ma sœur (my sister) suggested a baby race, we did not expect to have Katarina."

"I keep telling you," said Lucy, "it's the magic of Valentine's Day."

"That's a fact." said Andi.

"Just because you are careful doesn't mean you will remain childless. This is something you need to consider. Gus you are not too young to have another baby, and Lucy, you are younger than Andi. Both of you are hardworking, things happen. I'm not going to say mistake when it comes to a baby," said John. "Planned or surprise, babies are incredible, beautiful creatures that need your love."

Katarina became fussy, and she was pushing the bottle away. This was her way of showing that she wanted attention elsewhere. "Keep talking," said Gus and he placed a receiving blanket on the table and laid Katarina down and opened her swaddling. As John continued with his lecture, Gus quickly stripped Katarina of her wet sleeper, changed her soaked diaper, cleaned her up, dressed her in a dry sleeper, and swaddled her back up. John wasn't far in his lecture and Katarina Romée was warm, dry, and gnawing on her "nootcher" as she drifted off to sleep.

"Wow, I should have timed that," laughed Lucy.

"Well, it's not exactly calf roping, but with three daughters and five grandchildren, I know my way around a diaper bag," said Gus.

"Lucy, are you prepared to become a grandmother?" asked John.

"Hell no," laughed Lucy. "But I know that's in my future…'Grandpa? Why is my new grandma same age as mommy? Is there something Freudian going on here?'" Her remark caused Andi to laugh.

"Like I said, you have to be ready for everything," said John.

As John said that, Yi pulled into the driveway after picking the twins up at school. She was running just a little late. As they finished up their conversation they heard Madeline in the kitchen calling, "A little help here? This is heavy!" She walked into the dining room carrying a dead turkey. "Where should I put this?" she asked. Andi shrieked and jumped up, and Madeline was followed by Sandy, who was also carrying a dead turkey.

"Out!" shouted Andi.

"But they're dead," said Sandy.

"They have germs and fleas and bugs!"

"Oh kay!" groaned the twins, and they went outside to find Yi standing in the driveway.

"Where did you go?"

"To take the turkey to mom!" they cried in unison. They were nearly in tears from their mother's rejection. Just then, Papa Paul stepped outside.

"I'm sorry girls but momma's scared of bugs and germs after being in the hospital so much with her broken leg and having a baby. We need to clean these birds before we can take them in the house. Yi, why don't you take the girls upstairs… Yi? Why is your arm in a sling?"

"She broke it hunting turkeys!" said Sandy.

"You broke your arm hunting turkeys?"

"I dislocated my shoulder," Yi said nervously. "I guess I let go with both barrels when I saw the birds."

"Both barrels? Whose gun did you use?"

"Josh's turkey gun."

"The Weatherby?" asked Paul. "You're lucky to have a shoulder left. But these birds look great. Don't worry about fleas or bugs, the cold weather killed them all off, that's why we hunt in the late autumn. Go take a bath with the girls to humor Andi and I'll clean these guys up and get them ready for the fridge."

Ninety minutes later, Paul stepped back into the house with two turkey carcasses plucked, gutted, and scrubbed and they were put in the freezer in the basement for Thanksgiving two weeks away. As he stepped into the dining room, they were huddled around the table, Yi and the twins in bathrobes, and they were playing a board game that John and Macy developed to teach an engaged couple to deal with married life. Andi and Lucy were fascinated, and Gus had a very successful marriage, so he was far ahead in the game, taking Lucy with him and they were ahead of John and Macy and Andi and Yi. "Tricheur!" (Cheater!) Macy cried as Gus and Lucy lapped them a second time.

"You told me that a woman must submit to her husband," said Lucy. "I'm applying that lesson."

"Will you apply that lesson to everyday life?" asked John.

"That depends on the circumstances," said Lucy. "When we're at the drag strip or in his wood shop or paying bills, he calls the shots. When someone is lying on the ground bleeding, it's my call."

"And that is the right answer," said Macy.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Andi said, "Darling can you get that? It should be our supper."

"Will do," and he disappeared into the parlor. A moment later he called out, "Girls! Did you check the tree water?"

"Ooops!" The twins dashed into the kitchen and soon emerged with two small pitchers of water and ducked under the tree in the parlor. The tree was still undecorated except for a well-loved Strawberry Shortcake doll that was sitting in the branches. They topped off the tree's water and scolded Wonka for drinking tree water and when they were finished, they rose and saw their dad reentering the living room with a stack of pizzas, a box of chicken wings, and he was followed by Josh and Veronica.

"We had to come and see how the newest cripple in Doc Jarecki's emergency ward was doing," said Josh.

"I came to see the babies," said Veronica, and she took them both so Gus and Lucy could help clean up the board game.

"Can you handle them both?" asked Andi.

"I think I can, they're just so precious, aren't you? You're momma's boy aren't you? And you're daddy's little girl, I can just see you bringing your prom date home to meet Pastor Dad."

"That's why there's a second amendment," said John as he helped clean up the table.

"I've never heard you ever talk about owning a firearm before," said an astonished Paul.

"I've never had two beautiful women living in my house with me before," said John.

"You know," started Andi, "Yi has never held one of these babies."

"Keep them away from me," said Yi. "They're addictive. If I pick up one of them, I'll be carrying triplets the next day and Kenny will be on oxygen."

"Oh, I will, will I?" said Kenny, who came in through the kitchen door and snuck up behind her. She yelped in surprise and Kenny leaned over and kissed her. "I came to see the turkey killing she-demon."

"Swear to god, I never saw a one of those birds," said Josh holding up a hand like he was swearing in as a court witness. "She said, 'do turkeys sit in trees,' and I said 'Yup' then she said, 'do turkeys look like sideways hornets nests?' and I said 'Yup' and she said BA-BLAM! And let go with both barrels. She ended up on her back about ten yards behind where she was standing. I said, 'you got to get that shoulder looked at,' and she said, 'I gotta git my birds first,' and she picks herself up and walks over to the trees and comes back with about fifty pounds of turkey! Honest to god, I never saw one of them. I saw Yi yank the trigger and then I saw Yi sailing through the air, but I never saw a turkey until she picked them up."

Everyone was laughing riotously, which woke the babies. "I broke them!" gasped Veronica.

"C'est bien," said Macy as she took Katarina. "It is her supper time." Then she began calming Katarina. "Chut ma douce. Maman est là." (Hush my sweet. Mommy is here.) She covered up with a receiving blanket and lifted Katarina to her breast. As she did that, Danny looked up at Veronica in confusion, and seeing an unfamiliar face right after his second afternoon nap! He began squalling too, but it wasn't as vocal as his little cousin. With a couple of hiccups, he went back to sleep.

"He's so sweet!" gushed Veronica as Danny licked his lips, yawned and snuggled down into her arms.

"No," said Josh. "You need to leave him here when we go. And we have our own baby coming." He held Veronica from behind and looked over her shoulder at the sleeping little boy and John took their picture.

Andi and Macy both gasped in shock. "You're… you're…?"

"When we go see my dad for Christmas we're bringing him back with us!" said Veronica.

"Oh," said Andi and Macy in small voices.

Sandy and Madeline came into the room. Their arms were loaded down with a stack of paper plates, napkins, paper cups and a two liter bottle of Sprite. "SUPPER!" cried Sandy, imitating her mom. "GET TO THE TABLE!"

Paul chuckled as he helped Sandy and Madeline set the table and he got a few extra chairs. "It's been a while since we had this many folks at the table." He looked at Yi and said, "Deadeye, would you say grace?"

"Grace."

"HEY!" shouted the twins, and they glared at Yi. "Say all of it!"

"Like this," said Madeline. "God is gracious, God is good, let us thank him for our food."

Yi loves tormenting her little sisters, but they looked so angry. "What's the matter?" she asked, but the twins just huffed and grabbed their paper plates and went into the kitchen to eat. "What's wrong?"

"I'll go talk with them," said Andi.

"What did I do?" asked Yi.

"They're not used to someone close to them making fun of their faith," said John. He sighed and said, "Give them time."

"I… I didn't. That's an old joke."

"Those are young kids," said Kenny. "You and I know it's a play on words, like 'say good night Dan.' Good night Dan."

"Madeline told me why they like saying grace," said Macy. "Because now they have enough food so their mother can eat too."

"It was pretty grim for their whole life," said Lucy. "The only thing Frank left behind when he ran off was his bills."

"I didn't know," said Yi. She got up and went into the kitchen and hustled Andi out, then sat down with the twins. "I'm sorry. I didn't understand how serious you took saying grace, I was being funny, I made a word joke, and I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"You're our sisser!" pouted Madeline.

"You should say grace wif us!" wept Sandy at the edge of tears.

"I'm very sorry, but I wasn't raised like this," said Yi. "Tell you what, while we prepare dinner you teach me, and we'll say grace together."

"Every night?" asked Sandy.

"Every night," assured Yi. "and when Danny is talking, he does it with us."

"Ok," said Madeline.

As the three 'sisters' made up to each other, Veronica was still holding Danny in the dining room and was bouncing the tiny snoozing boy gently. "You know who would like this?" she asked Josh. "Ant and Marj Friedman. When they hear about their baby race they'll go nuts."

Josh had to agree. Their boss, Anthony Friedman, and his wife Marjorie were crazy about kids. They had seven, three of their own and four adopted kids, and Marjorie ran an adoption service that helped couples through the paperwork nightmare of the adoption process. "How would you guys like to go to a holiday party?"

"When?"

"December 28th," said Veronica. "Anthony likes having the holiday party between Christmas and New Years, not before when everyone is rushed getting ready for Christmas."

"You have to come and see Veronica and Mitch dance, it's really awesome," said Josh.

"Me and Paul?" asked Andi.

"And John and Macy," said Josh.

"Don't forget Danny and Kat."

"I don't know," said John.

"Je suis d'accord," said Macy. "We are not party people."

As Veronica tried to convince them it was an awesome holiday party with a sumptuous dinner and Josh gestured to the guys and stepped into the kitchen. Paul, John and Gus followed him into the kitchen, and he said, "I'm going to…" and he opened a ring box that contained an engagement ring.

"We'll be there," said John.

"I'll get a suit for Danny," said Paul with a chuckle. The girls were going to love this.

"Does your uniform still fit colonel?" asked Josh. "I have an idea."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 4

That Sunday, Springville Congregational Church was happier than it's been in a long, long time. John was preaching again, although still from a stool from behind the lectern, and most importantly, the babies were there! People crowded around Macy and Andi after the opening hymns, trying to see the babies, and it took quite a while to restore order. "Should we just pass them around the room?" John asked Paul as Paul finished up the announcements.

"NO!" shouted Sandy, causing the congregation to laugh.

"He was just kidding," said Andi, trying to calm down Sandy. "I have Danny right here. He'll meet everyone later."

"But he's my bruver, he could get lost!"

"He won't get lost. Now shush."

"It has been a very challenging period of our lives," continued John. "As you know, Paul took Macy and me into his house immediately after the accident so they could make sure she had the best pre-natal care, and he has been nursing me and Andi ever since. Paul and Andi's mom has been pampering poor Macy, along with his own family, and we ran him ragged. We want to thank Andi's mom Heather who has been a mom to Macy too. She has been watching over Andi and Macy and her newest grandchildren since our injuries. She's been a mom to me also, bringing me coffee and sandwiches as I study and prepare my sermons."

"November will always be remembered in my mind as my brother Paul's greatest test of love. We both knew the babies were coming the moment that storm hit. It just had to be, right? Paul was able to take two women in labor and me to the hospital at the height of the storm in one trip on his snowmobile. Paul and I on the sled, me clutching Paul with one arm, my crutches with the other… and the girls were in Paul's snowmobile trailer as we wound around stalled and buried cars. I will never forget that sled ride."

"And then Fathership… wow. When Macy and I were looking for a position, we were turned down by several churches because we didn't have children, and now I'm starting to understand. I look into that little girls eyes and I see her mother's eyes, and I see MY mother's eyes, so I know I'm never getting away with anything ever again. Of course she wakes up at midnight, three, and six. She sleeps in bed with us, and she just barely squeaks and there's Andi's mom Heather leaning over our bed saying, 'are you ok? do you need help?' She's upstairs, we're down in the library. How did she hear that?"

"I raised Andi," called out Heather, and she was rewarded with laughter from the pews.

John looked at Paul and Andi, and said almost sadly, "Thank you, my brother and sister, but we have to return home. We know you want us to stay until after Christmas, and it's tempting, but we want to go home." He saw the broken, sad look on Paul's face when he said this. "After thanksgiving," he added. "I'm not going to take a chance on missing out on Yi's turkeys."

Andi patted Paul's hand. She knew how much he loved having John and Macy close so he could take care of them like they took care of him when he was going through some horrible times. Before he started with his sermon, John finished his homily by saying, "Any questions?"

Tammy Schatz stood and said, "What are you doing Wednesday?"

"Getting our house ready to move back into, why?"

"Wrong answer," said Tammy. "There will be a proper baby shower for these two darlings and your wives on Wednesday, here at church in the Fellowship hall."

John looked at her for a moment and said, "I guess I'll be at a baby shower that day. Anything else? Ok, let's get our bibles out…" He gave a sermon on fatherhood to no one's surprise, and as he finished, Melissa Kraft took her place at the piano, to play the recessional and John knew it was the moment he both dreaded and looked forward to, presenting Katarina to his congregation.

As usual, John walked to the back of the church, leaning heavily on his crutches, and Macy joined him, carrying Katarina. This time Andi and Paul followed, and they lined up at the door, forming a reception line for the babies.

As expected, the people of the church gushed and cooed over the babies, who woke up to look at the curious faces that peered at them. They were wearing the warm knit sleepers that their grandmother Katarina knit from super soft cotton yarn a decade before they were born. "Oh, I remember when Katarina was knitting these," said Mrs. Schuler, one of the oldest members of the congregation. "Such a shame, but knitting and sewing are disappearing."

"I still knit a little," said Heather, who was standing behind Andi with Paul.

"My momma can knit really good!" insisted Sandy.

"She just hasn't started yet," added Madeline.

Helen chuckled, those girls! They have such a wild imagination. But Andi considered it. Paul, John, and Macy all play at least two musical instruments, including the recorder, which makes three. Macy plays the violin and piano, John plays the guitar, harmonica, and piano, and Paul plays the guitar/guitarrone, and the bass. Andi once took piano lessons, but that was a massive failure. To her, playing the piano was equivalent to typing and she would just press the right keys in the right order. What she couldn't do was put life into the music, but at least she learned to read music.

She felt kind of useless. She can't even sing. Even Yi sings, and she has a beautiful voice and sings with Macy sometimes. But knitting? Andi is good at crafts and repetitious tasks, so she might be able to knit. She has some of Katarina's needles and skeins of yarn waiting to be knit into something. She's got to try. Besides, Paul's birthday is coming up.

As she pondered this, her friends and neighbors gushed over Danny and Katarina. Both babies seemed confused by the parade of people that marched past and spoke to their parents. Macy noticed Andi was thinking about something and asked, "What is on your mind, petite soeur?" (little sister)

Andi touched the beautiful, soft little hat on her son's head and said, "I want to learn to knit like this."

"Maman Katarina taught me, I'll show you. Do you have anything in mind for a first project?"

"Yes, a nice warm red, white, and blue scarf for Paul."

"Parfaite (perfect), I think I have the proper colors. Maman Katarina left so much behind for both of us."

"Both of us?" Andi asked as a tiny blue mitten covered hand emerged from under Danny's swaddling and pushed back his stocking cap. He grimaced in annoyance at the cap that was covering his eyes.

"Oui, she knew Paul would not be alone, she told me multiple times that you would be here soon, and we would be sisters." Macy smiled happily and Andi was shocked that the mother-in-law that she never knew had predicted her arrival.

"I don't know anything," said Andi. "I can't knit, I can't sing, I can barely cook, I hate housework… The only thing I can do is doctor, and I don't want to do that."

"Knitting is just counting, and as for singing, everyone can sing, no one ever helped you fine tune. Yi and I can help. You have been so busy with the twins and working and paying bills that you never tried," said Macy as the line of admirers thinned out. "This winter we will enjoy our babies, we will relax and let John and Paul provide the holiday cheer, and we will knit like Chère Katarina, and you will learn to love her too."

Andi spent all of Monday trying to knit, and she got very good at casting the yarn on to the needle, which is the very first row of stitches. It's something that needs to be practiced, so Macy made her tear it all off and start over again, over and over until she could do it with her eyes closed. She and Macy sat on the bed in the Library and Macy relearned the skills she hadn't used in over a year. Between them lay Katarina and Daniel, who loved to sleep together. As they knitted, they told each other their life stories and Andi was shocked to hear that Macy was an orphan, and worse, she didn't learn about it until after she ran away from home, had two careers, got married, and moved to a different country. She was especially shocked to hear about how Macy was drugged. "That was just like John!" she gasped.

"We would be happy if those stories did not leave this house. Like the story of John and I playing Cache-cache (Hide and seek) in your attic." Macy chuckled at the memory of that night almost a year ago. "Where is the strangest place you made love to Paul?" asked Macy.

"Your cabin," said Andi without a pause.

"What?" gasped Macy.

"They had just finished putting the roof on and most of the floor upstairs wasn't there, and what was there wasn't nailed down. I had mentioned to Paul about your hide and seek game in my attic a year ago, so we climbed up to the second floor with a ladder and christened your cabin.

"Where were we?" Macy gasped.

"You and John went to the pond with the twins." Macy's look of shock turned to one of admiration as Andi continued, "when you have kids you take whatever chance is handed to you. Where is the most unique place you ever made love?"

Macy grinned and said, "My car."

"You and John in your tiny Alpha Romeo?" gasped Andi. "Where at?"

"At the drive-in movie, where else?"

"HOW?" demanded a startled Andi. Macy's car is tiny!

"I was sitting in the passenger seat, and he put the top up because it was going to rain. Then he climbed in and kneeled between my legs, and I skooched down on the seat and as the rain came down we made love."

"I'm so proud of you!"

"We're home MAAAAA!" shouted the twins as they raced in from school. They jumped up on the bed, waking the babies.

"SHHHH!" said Andi, a finger to her lips. "Baby!"

"Shhh baby!" was the bane of the twins' childhood. For weeks before Daniel and Katarina were born, Macy and their mother were drilling them in "Shhh baby!" and being six they forgot that rule easily, especially when they were excited. As Andi and Macy cuddled a squalling Danny and "Kitty" (Macy hates that nickname, but the twins love to use it) Yi stepped into the library and said, "They may have an excuse this time," and they handed Andi a letter from the principal of the school telling her that the twins were doing very well in school and they are the tops in the entire second grade for mathematics, but their reading needs work.

"What did she say?" asked Madeline trying to read over Andi's shoulder.

"She said that your math is very, very good, you two are best in the school! As for reading, she says you're so good, you should read Danny's stories to him every night, so he grows up to be an expert reader too."

"Really?" The girls snatched the page from Andi's hands and scanned the paragraph for those exact words. Meanwhile, Macy and Andi pulled Katarina and Daniel's wet sleepers off of the squalling infants and changed their diapers.

"It's almost time to get them ready for their shower," said Macy as she rolled up the disposable diaper for disposal.

"Shower? Can't they take a bath with us?" asked Madeline. The twins have been aching to take a bath with Danny since he was born, but they're constantly told that he was too little.

"A baby shower is a name for a party for the babies and the mommies."

"What about sisters?" asked Madeline.

"Is Yan coming?" asked Sandy as Andi and Macy dressed the babies.

"Yes it's for sisters too. Her name is Lanh, and no, but I wish she would, you two are getting lazy tongues again." Lazy tongues is what Doctor Campbell called childhood mispronunciations from not placing the tongue properly. Lanh Campbell was a speech pathologist in Colorado, and her husband was Andi's patient.

"Sorry," said the twins in unison.

Why would Sandy ask about Lanh? It's been over a year since Lanh and her husband Don watched the twins for Andi. Don was Andi's patient, and his wife Lanh loved to watch the twins if Andi was stuck for a sitter. "What is this?" asked Sandy as she looked at Andi's knitting.

"It's going to be a scarf, for your father's birthday," said Andi.

"Oh," said the twins, but they looked confused.

"What's the matter?" asked Andi.

"You said you didn't have much time," said Macy as she handed Katarina's rolled up dirty diaper to Madeline and asked Madeline to dispose of it.

"Is there poop?" demanded Madeline.

"Il n'y a pas de merde," said Macy. "There's no poop."

"'k!" said Madeline, and she dashed off, then came back, took the diaper from Macy and dashed off again.

"I don't understand," said Andi. "What do you mean?"

Macy put her hand on Andi's shoulder and said, "Soeur chérie (sister dear) Paul's birthday is eleven months away."

Andi looked shocked; she was sure his birthday was next month. "No, that can't be right, It's December fifteenth…" Then she remembered a conversation she had with Paul in the cabin as they waited for the blizzard to blow itself out, "I'm not into horoscopes and sooth saying, but astrological signs seem to me to be strangely right on the money. I'm a Gemini, Frank is a Scorpio, that's the worst match in the astrological calendar I'm told, and I believe it. You on the other hand are a Libra and we are supposed to be the absolute best match on the calendar, especially sexually."

Andi looked down at Danny, who was chewing on his fist. "We missed Daddy's birthday."

"It's ok mommy, we took Pappa out for his birthday because you didn't feel good," said Sandy.

"Uh huh. We had hotdogs and ice cream," said Madeline.

Meanwhile, John had been working on his sermon in the kitchen, where Yi had been feeding him coffee and croissants and picking his brain about several strange subjects. His pain was worse than it had been in weeks. By noon, he had to switch from his favorite kitchen chair to the wheelchair just to make it to the bathroom.

"What does God think about ESP?" asked Yi as John came out of the bathroom.

"Real actual ESP? Why, can you read my mind?" asked John.

"No, not ESP," said Yi, looking for a word. "Maybe… telepathy? Just between two people."

John patted her hand and said, "It's not mentioned in the bible so if you can do it, all I can say is to use your skill wisely."

"Then… what does God say about dragons?"

"Dragons? Fire breathing or ice breathing?"

"Not Game of Thrones dragons," insisted Yi. "Chinese dragons."

"Is there a difference?" asked John.

"Just don't ask a Chinese dragon that. What does God think of them?"

"I suppose that depends on what the dragon thinks of God."

Just then, Paul returned from work in time to rescue John from Yi. "Let's go daddy, time for your shower. You're invited too Yi," and he wheeled John away from his laptop and into the library before John could close up his work.

"My sermon!" he started.

"Don't worry, nobody is going to cheat on the test."

Paul pushed John into the library. He was having a bad day dealing with the pain and he spent the day in a wheelchair. ""It must be the weather," said Andi. "I don't want to get up and walk either." The weather was cold and rainy, erasing the snow from a couple weeks ago and anyone with a nagging ache was feeling the pain.

"It's bad today," said John. "I ache all over."

"That's because you're broken all over," said Paul. "Are you sure you want to go home?"

"I really do, I miss my own bed and my fireplace."

As Paul leaned over the bed to kiss Andi, she broke into tears. He kissed her forehead and said, "What's wrong?"

"I forgot your birthday!" and she cried in huge sobs.

Paul hugged her and tried to calm her down. He prayed it was just the hormones coursing through her body causing this. "No, you didn't, you were having a bad time with the pain and the baby and hadn't slept in two days. I gave you some tea that knocked you out and I took the girls to The Station for ice cream." The Station was the old B&O train station that was part museum, part ice cream stand. It was just a few blocks away and a favorite for the twins to walk to on a nice day. "We had a wonderful day, and you got the sleep that you needed more than anything."

"I thought it was next month," she sniffed.

"No, there's a much more important birthday in December," said Paul. "Come on," he said as he dried her tears. "We're going to miss your party."

"It's your party too."

"You did all the heavy lifting. I placed the order, and was there for delivery, you did everything else." He gave her a warm kiss. "For all that, I am in your debt, my lady."

When they got to the church, the large central room known as the Fellowship Room was decorated with pink and blue streamers and it was filled with people. There was cake, coffee, and a pink punch that everyone loved. "Why is there no blue punch for Danny?" Sandy insisted.

"We tried," said Tammy Schatz. "But it tasted yukky, so we made blueberry muffins for Danny."

"I don't think Danny can eat them," said Sandy as Tammy handed her and Madeline a small blueberry muffin and a cup of pink punch each.

"I'll have to eat them for him," said Madeline, then she and Sandy went and sat down at a table in the fellowship room to finish their treats.

"I don't ever remember having a baby shower for a pastor's baby," said Melissa Kraft.

"You've never had a pastor's wife have a baby?" asked Macy.

"That's not what I mean," replied Melissa.

Macy thought about it, then realized what she was implying. "Oh! I see… I suppose that's rare."

The party was filled with laughter, which Danny and Katarina seemed to enjoy, and at one point Lucy ended up with both babies in her arms and she received a lot of taunting from the women. "This one is next!"

"I'm not so sure about that," said Lucy as she cuddled with her new "niece and nephew."

Gus just shrugged. "What happens, happens." That earned a glare from Lucy.

Happily, the women of the church did not leave out big sisters, and Madeline and Sandy got gifts also, Madeline got a T-shirt that said Big Sister and Sandy's said Big Sister Again. Both showed a stick figure of a girl with a baby stick figure. Andi and Macy were heaped on with piles of baby clothes, diapers, burp cloths, bibs, receiving blankets, pacifiers, teething rings. The list seemed to go on forever. The church gave Andi and Macy both a device that Sandy was sure someone called a "Baby cooker" a device that blended veggies, fruit or meat into puree fit for a baby and cooked it as well.

Kenny and Yi presented Andi and Macy, each with a wrapped picture frame. When they unwrapped them, they discovered Kenny had 'photoshopped' them into a photo with Katarina and Cecil Jarecki. Macy's picture was a picture of her holding little Katarina with Cecil and big Katarina on either side of her. Andi's picture was similar, but it included the twins. The work was immaculate. It was impossible for anyone to see that it was a Photoshop.

Andi said, "Thank you, that is so wonderful. Everyone should have their grandparents with them."

Macy was overcome with the memories of John's parents and how sweet they were to her. All she could do was cry at the memory and hug Kenny. Katarina, Cecil, Romée were all gone, and they meant so much to her. Paul and John were having problems holding back the tears themselves. "John, Macy and I know how much this day would have meant to them," said Paul. "Thank you, that was a perfect gift."

Finally, Macy said, "This will find a prominent home in our nursery."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 5

"Are you sure you don't want to eat with us?" John asked Yi as she pulled on her parka and dug out her knit cap with kitty ears. "Paul and I will be doing all the cooking, and these are your turkeys." They were early risers at the Jarecki house, especially on Thanksgiving.

"No, mine are in the freezer, these are yours," said Yi. She was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with Kenny at his home with his folks, Grandpa Archie, Grandma Lacy, his youngest sister Olive, her husband Devin, and their three kids. When she got the invitation, she took Paul's turkeys out of the freezer and put hers in. "I'd be too tempted to correct your culinary catastrophes on my day off especially with my turkeys on the line. They're in the freezer waiting their turn."

"What are you going to do to Kenny's faux pas?"

"Make him suffer."

"You're so heartless," said Paul as he hung holly wreaths in each of the kitchen windows. The rain was slowly turning into snow outside, adding to the festive air in the house. "Have a good time with the Johnsons, tell Kenny's dad that the truck will be ready Monday."

"I will" Yi said as she pulled on her coat.

Kenny's dad, Davis, found an old GMC pickup even older than Kenny's, a 1950 step side GMC. Paul had his team of experts at his primary car dealership restore the truck to brand new condition and it was lettered for Johnson's Feed Store in the style of the 1950s. Instead of black like Kenny's truck, it was painted a bright red with gold leaf lettering like an antique fire truck. The only thing left was the wooden sideboards above the sides of the truck bed. Humoring her boss's holiday spirit, Paul's assistant Min had a large pine tree placed in the back of the truck to resemble the red truck and Christmas tree craze that was sweeping the craft stores.

Yi pulled on her hat and checked her purse, and she called out to Paul, "Kenny said thanks."

Before Paul could consider what Yi said, the twins stumbled into the kitchen wearing their nighties, each clutching a brightly colored teddy bear. "Did you guys check the mail yesterday when you got home from school?" Paul asked.

"I'll get it," said a sleepy Madeline, and she slogged off to the front door with Sandy and Wonka in tow. The twins are never at their best first thing in the morning.

"That poor old dog," said Yi as she watched John fill a pot on the stove with water. He was going to skin potatoes for roasting and mashing the easy way. "How long have you had him?"

"Which dog?" asked Paul. "John or Wonka?"

"You have had Wonka for seven years," called Macy from the parlor. She and Andi were sitting on the French Provincial sofa, in front of a warm fire. Both were knitting, and both had a baby in a little wooden rocking cradle at their feet. When Danny or Katarina Romée got fussy, a few gentle nudges from a foot to rock the cradle put the child back to sleep. They were wooden cradles made by John mere weeks after discovering that Macy and Andi were pregnant. The babies were covered in hand knitted baby Afghans knitted by Grandma Katarina out of silky soft cashmere yarn. They wore their little cashmere hats and mittens and slept peacefully.

Madeline returned with a handful of letters and gave them to Paul. "Just bills," she muttered. It was the same thing her mother said whenever she brought in the mail in Colorado. Dragging her teddy bear, Madeline joined Sandy and Wonka in the living room to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade. Actually, very few of the envelopes contained bills. Most were junk advertisements for credit cards (Having a high credit rating attracts them) but one was addressed to Lt. Col. Paul Jarecki, USAF, Ret. The return address was from the US Air Force Judge Advocate General corps.

To: Lt. Colonel Paul L. Jarecki

I was the first assistant for the trial counsel in the trial of General Abernathy Blecher. I understand the pain and turmoil that he caused you, and I hope you are healing. I wished I could have provided you with more than a guilty verdict. His actions certainly warranted a death sentence, but that was not to happen. As you may not know, there were several Article 32 investigations into other forms of wrongdoing by former general Blecher, which would have been halted at his death, so a life imprisonment sentence was imposed.

However, justice has found its own way. At approximately 1300 hours on the eighth of November at the Midwest Joint Regional Correction Facility, Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas, Abernathy Blecher was found dead in his prison cell of multiple stab wounds. An investigation is ongoing, and I will provide you with updates if desired.

Sincerely,

Major Joseph Rice AFJAG.

Paul looked at the page again and again, then with a pained look, he folded up the letter and laid it on the table, then left without a word.

A little while later, John turned from the pot he filled using the pot filler valve over the stove. He finished slitting the skin on the potatoes and plunked them all in the pot and cranked up the fire. Then he saw Paul was gone. He heard the treadmill down in the basement and then noticed the letter on the kitchen table where Paul had left it. He crutched over to the table and picked up the letter and read it and groaned sadly. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and said a brief prayer. Then John painfully made his way to the parlor where Andi was breast feeding Daniel Cyryl and Macy was checking the scarf that Andi was knitting for any dropped stitches.

John handed the letter to Macy and said, "Chérie, could you go talk to Paul? He's down on the treadmill and I can't get down the stairs."

Macy read the letter and reacted the same way that John did. When she was done with her prayer, she said, "Oui. Votre fille dort." (Yes. Your daughter is asleep) Then getting up, she handed the letter to a confused Andi. John took Macy's place on the sofa and gently rocked Katarina's crib as Andi read the letter.

"Oh no," Andi groaned. She was there at General Blecher's court martial for raping Melony Jarecki. It was just a few months ago. It felt weird knowing that she saw this man sitting on trial and speaking. Now he's gone. Murdered. Then she noticed the date of his death. She pointed it out and asked John, "Is that why Paul is downstairs?"

"Probably.

Down in the basement, Paul was stripped down to running shorts and a pair of sneakers and he was sprinting as hard as he could. He didn't know if he was setting a record for this treadmill since he got it, but if not, he had to be close. Macy stood next to him, and he was sure she wanted to talk, but he wasn't ready yet. Not yet, so on he ran until exhaustion overwhelmed him, then he slowed to cool off.

"Is there a conflict?" asked Macy.

"Oh yeah," said Paul. "A big one."

Macy handed Paul a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and he slammed it down. "Are you going to make me guess?" she asked.

"Maybe, what's your best guess?"

"I would like to say that you are worried that he didn't achieve redemption, but that's probably not it."

"You're right, that's not it," said Paul as he poured some water over his head.

"You're upset he isn't alive to be tried for Captain Sommer's rape."

"I didn't know anything about that," said Paul. Paul heard rumors that there were more female fliers that Blecher attacked. Paul didn't know that when former Captain Alica Sommer heard about Melony's rape, she stepped forward. That was the Article 32 investigation that Major Rice mentioned. Paul avoided everything about Buzz Blecher. He just didn't want to be reminded of Buzz and what he did to Melony and to him.

"Hmmm… best guess, you're thankful he's gone…"

"You're getting warmer."

"He died as we gave birth to Daniel and Katarina," said Macy. She was there for just a few minutes of his murder trial and the man disgusted her.

"That's it. He died before our babies were born. He's gone. How can I sit at the Thanksgiving dinner table and not say, 'I'm most thankful that the murdering bastard died in agony like Melony?' Would it be hypocrisy to say anything else?"

"You're more thankful for his death than for the birth of your son?" demanded Macy.

"No, I suppose when I think of it like that."

"Then you're more thankful for his death than for your daughters?"

"You have a way to make someone embarrassed for having conflicting feelings," said Paul. "This must be why you're not in private practice."

"That's right," said Macy with a rueful grin.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 6

Upstairs, Heather emerged from her bedroom. She came downstairs just in time for Andi to hand over Danny after his feeding and changing. "Gamma's here!" cheered the twins as they saw her settle down with Danny in her arms.

"Watch!" said Sandy. "We're teaching him!" then the girls gently tickled Danny's nose, saying, "Show us your tongue! Show us your tongue!" As they tickled him, the tiny infant squeezed his eyes closed and his tongue appeared from between his lips.

"Good Danny!" said Madeline. "See? He showed us his tongue, he knows what his tongue is!"

"Ok, ok," said Heather. "He's a baby, he doesn't know what that means. His job right now is to grow. He'll be able to play soon enough."

"But he likes us!" said Sandy.

"The only person he knows right now is his mommy, but he will learn. Now go watch your parade and see who is at the very end."

"K. Come on Wonka," and the twins retreated to their parade.

As Heather settled Danny down, she rocked on the rocking chair in the parlor. It was a wonderful thanksgiving morning. The rain finally turned to snow, soft Christmas music played, and the fire popped and snapped. Now and then, Andi would open the glass fire-place door, letting a little of the sweet smelling birch wood smoke in the room to add to the fragrance of the huge blue spruce standing in front of the window.

"You look so happy," said Andi, as she placed a cup of tea next to her mother.

Heather smiled and whispered, "I'm holding Danny in my arms again." She was clearly talking about the infant's grandfather.

Andi gave her mother a kiss and whispered, "I know the feeling."

Macy soon rejoined the group and sat between Andi and John. "Paul was conflicted with his feelings over the death of General Blecher."

"Who is that?" asked Heather.

Andi and Macy looked nervously at each other, but John said, "about ten years ago he raped and killed Paul's wife."

"That's horrible!" gasped Heather. "I can understand why he's conflicted."

"What do you mean?" asked Andi.

"Thanksgiving is supposed to be joyful and it's hard to keep in mind the good things while someone so hateful dies."

"And that was exactly it," said Macy as Paul entered the parlor, refreshed from a shower.

"I have fresh coffee and a coffee cake in the kitchen," said Paul. "Unfortunately, our wait staff is off for the season." He set out dishes of nuts and a couple of nutcrackers and picks, then sat down and looked at the fireplace and around the beautiful room. "I could spend hours decorating just this room."

Andi eased into his lap and sighed. "I want to help." She gave him a kiss. "You made me love Christmas again. Before I ignored it or worried myself sick wondering where I would get the money for the twins gifts."

"It's not about the gifts," said Paul.

"I know. But when you have babies you want to give them everything." She fought back the bitter memories of bounced checks and empty refrigerators. "When you have nothing but debit it's horrible."

"You know Howard and I were there for you," said Heather.

"I know mom, but I didn't want to depend on you for everything, you were feeding us!"

"It's ok, you're here now, we're solvent and safe," said Paul.

"I want to make everything beautiful," sighed Andi, as they kissed again. "Are you settled down now?"

Paul knew exactly what she meant by settling down. "Yes, a Canadian helped me organize my priorities."

After getting dressed, Andi was happily assisting Paul and Macy, who were looping the garland along the banister of the grand staircase. Where the loops swooped up to meet the handrails, they decorated the peak of the loop with a large red and gold bow. The garland had multicolored glass ornaments, and they worked hard to match the left and right banisters that divided the parlor from the living room.

As they stepped back to admire their work, the doorbell rang, and the twins and Wonka rushed to see who was at the door. Peeking through the window behind the tree, Sandy saw who it was and dashed to the door and opened it before her parents could say, "Wait!"

"It's ok," said Madeline. "It's just Aunty Ronika."

Josh and Veronica came in as Paul and Andi welcomed them into the house. "You're early," said Andi.

"It's snowing," said Veronica.

"Yeah It's snowin'" said Josh. "An ah figgered if'n we were gonna be snowed in, we should do it where the food is."

"One little blizzard and he's gun shy," sighed Veronica, rolling her eyes. She's lived on the shores of Lake Erie most of her life. Josh has just recently learned what snow is all about.

"Wail, ah kin earn my keep," said Josh. "Ah kin decorate, cook, and eat. What else is needed on a Thanksgiving?" Paul chuckled as he spoke. Josh's southern accent was refreshing. The military, especially the enlisted corps, is dominated by the patriotic good ol' boys from the south. It was like being home when Paul heard them speak. Glancing at the fireplace, Josh saw the two grandparents' pictures that Kenny made proudly displayed on the mantle until the Christmas Decorations take over. "My man Kenny did a hell of a job on them, didn't he?"

"He sure did," said Paul. "We're waiting for Howard to come for Christmas so we can take a similar picture with Howard and Heather." He looked at the photoshopped picture of his mom and dad holding Danny with the twins standing with them and wondered, how old are you when you stop missing your parents?

Just then the phone rang, and Andi took a break from decorating to take the call. It was a Colorado number she used to dread hearing from. It was a patient that she loved, and she felt horrible that she abandoned them. She put the phone to her ear and said, "Hi Doctor Lanh!"

"Hi, Doctor Andi! Happy Thanksgiving!" said the bubbly speech pathologist in Greeley, Colorado. She sounded happy. "How is your leg?" When Lanh last called on Halloween, Andi was still in a lot of pain and bed ridden.

"Better, this darn cast comes off next week and I'll be free to limp around."

"Your accident scares me," said Andi. "I have nightmares of getting hit by a car… I don't know why. Silly huh? Oh! Did you have your baby yet?"

"Yes, we had a boy on the eighth!"

"How big?" said Lanh excitedly.

"Seven pounds six ounces. Now Danny is rocking in his grandmother's arms while I'm sitting on a couch in front of a fire with my sister-in-law Macy and her daughter Katarina and she's teaching me to knit. Paul, John, and Josh are putting up the Christmas decorations and the twins are watching TV."

"When was Katarina born?" asked Lanh. Any time Andi sent Lanh a picture of her progress, Macy was in the picture, so she knew all the news. And the mention of someone named Josh gave her warm memories of a Josh she knew years ago.

"One hour after Danny, at the height of a blizzard." And she told her old friend about their terrifying snowmobile ride through the snowbound village, through the blinding snow to the hospital in time to have their babies.

"Wow," gasped Lanh. "You really struck gold when you left a year ago," said Lanh.

"How are you and Don doing?" asked Andi.

"Oh… they keep cutting my hours and Don's speaking engagements are getting fewer and farther between, and our poor neighbor Karole, she lost her job so we're helping her…"

"Like you helped me. I just worry about you two," said Andi, thinking about Lanh and her husband, Don Campbell. Those poor folks, all they ever wanted was kids, practically since the day they met, and all they end up with is heartbreak. "If you're still looking to adopt I know someone who can help."

"Really?" asked Lanh. They've been turned down so many times that she wasn't trusting at all in the adoption process.

"Yeah, I think they can help you in Colorado, let me look up their number…"

"That's why I was calling," said Lanh. "Don and I are moving back to Minnesota! We want to be home for New Years Eve. We're taking our neighbor Karole and her baby Krissy with us! We're going back to the farm!" she squealed.

Just then behind them Josh broke up in laughter over something John said, and he called out, "Lawd love a cow!"

Lanh heard it too and said, "That sounds so much like Josh I knew."

"Josh? Who's this Josh?"

"Just an old friend from Korea. He was in Don's squadron, and he was so good to us when I snuck over there."

"What was his last name?" asked Andi.

Lanh thought back years ago when they were in Korea… She could picture Josh, big, jovial, always smiling… Josh, Wedge, Roxie, Don and Lanh… they had so much fun for a couple of months. She leaned back and said, "Don! What was Josh's last name?"

"Josh who?"

"In Kunsan, the weapons guy. You know, Wedge's boss."

"It was Asshole I think."

"No really," huffed Lanh. "What was Josh's name?"

"Gravely."

"Gravely! Why?" Lanh finally said to Andi.

"I think I might know him, let me think…" Andi got up from the couch and found Josh holding a stepladder for Paul while Paul hung a large wreath over the front door mudroom. She put her phone on speakerphone and handed it to Josh. "Here it's Lanh, she wants to talk to you."

Josh looked confused, and he held the phone up and saw the call ID that said Doctor Campbell. "Hello? Lanh?"

"Josh?"

A huge smile of recognition spread across Josh's face as the memories came flooding back. "SQUIRT!"

"REDNECK!" she squealed.

"Oh my God little baby! How are you doing? I heard about Don's injuries. How is he doing?

"I'm right here," said Don. "I ain't dead yet." It was obvious Lanh had put him on speakerphone. "We're living in Colorado, but it's not panning out, so we'll be heading home to the farm right after Christmas."

"Back to the cows? Your little lady will like that… and I do mean little."

Attracted by Josh's laughter, the twins came running. When they heard Lanh's voice, the twins suddenly squealed, "Yan!"

"It's Lanh" said Lanh, emphasizing the sound of the letter L.

"Yan!"

"Say it like me. Luhh, Luhh, Luhh."

" Luhh, Luhh, Luhh," repeated the twins.

"Now say Lanh."

"Yan!" they said brightly.

"Lazy, lazy tongues," scolded Lanh.

"I wanna see your cows!" shouted Sandy.

"Me too! I want to see baby cows!" said Madeline as she bounced up and down.

"Not until you work on those lazy tongues!" said Lanh.

"Ok," pouted the twins.

"Ok, back to your parade," said Andi. "Say goodbye."

"Goodbye Doctor Lanh!" called the twins, pronouncing her name properly, then they dashed back to the living room.

"Brats," muttered Lanh.

Lanh, Don, Josh, and Andi chatted happily. Lanh and Don were stunned that two old friends from different places now live two blocks from each other. "We've got to get together," said Josh.

"We're tied up for the next two months, " said Don. "After that you're all welcome to come out to the farm."

"How about a cruise in February?" said Paul as he brought another box of decorations down from the attic. "Andi and I have been aching to go sailing and we will have the big boat."

"Yes, let's do it!" gushed Andi. "Josh and Veronica are overdue a vacation together, and you guys need the rest."

"I don't think so," said Don. "Money is tight and…"

"It will be my Christmas present to Andi," said Paul.

"You need to speak with Veronica about adopting in the first place," insisted Andi.

"Who?"

Now Veronica stepped up to Andi's phone. "I'm executive assistant to the founder and president of Adoption Advocates, and I think we can help."

Lanh nearly broke down in tears. How many times has she heard that? How much money have they lost trying over and over to adopt? "I'm sorry but we don't have the money anymore… It's cost us so much and we're so tired…"

"No, this is a free service, and we have a 99 percent placement record. We can even come up with financial assistance to parents. Look us up on the website and give me a call next week. I'll have Andi text you my personal cell phone number."

Lanh took the phone and sat down when it was just her and Andi on the call and said, "Don't worry about the plane tickets, a place to stay, or food. Paul said it was my Christmas present."

"I don't understand," said Lanh.

"We'll fly you down to Florida, anywhere you want to land, and we'll pick you up on our boat. We'll have fun! Josh and Ronnie are coming with and we're going to go visit a friends private island."

"Let's do it," Lanh asked Don.

That's great! And I'll have Veronica call you and set up a meeting with Marj Friedman, ok?"

"Will do! Love ya Doctor Andi!"

"Love ya Doctor Lanh!"

"Who was that?" asked Macy, as Lanh hung up the phone.

"A wonderful, wonderful friend that I left behind when I chose to stay here," sighed Andi.

"Lanh was a nut," said Josh.

"How did you know Lanh?" asked Andi.

"We had a couple in the squadron, if you know what I mean. A guy named Wedge worked for me, his girlfriend Roxie worked with Don. Good folks, fell for each other big time. They were really meant for each other, and the dumbest shi… uh… stuff kept happening to Wedge…"

"Like what?" asked Paul, who loved war stories.

"He had this butter bar wingnut on his first live drop with 2000 pound bombs that was convinced he nuked Korea, then he had some eagle eye whirlybird driver try to land on him while he was driving down a taxiway."

"I don't know what's better, the story or your spin on it," said Paul as he laughed.

"Anyhow I went to meet Wedge and Roxie for dinner at the NCO club and they had Don and Lanh with them. I knew Don, great troop, loved the hell out of him, and he had this tiny little ajumma with him and…"

"A what?" asked Andi.

"Ajumma is a Korean word for married woman. We had Korean women who did laundry and light cleaning in the NCO rooms, and we called them ajumma. So, she's sitting there, and I figured I'd show off all of my magical powers of Korean lingo and said 'Annyeonghaseyo ajumma,' and she said 'Huh?' and Don said, 'She doesn't speak Korean, just Vietnamese, German, and English.' I said, 'Ah ain't no good on none o' them.' and she said, 'Sit yo ass down.' I said, 'You speak 'merican too!' She loved it, we was buddies ever since. She was living in the dorm with Don for two months."

"She never told me that, she told me that Don was in Korea for 3 years and she was there for his two years in…" Andi searched her memory. "Ocean?"

"Osan, it's outside of Seoul. How do you know them?"

"Don is my patient, he had an incident in the Air Force. As his doctor, I can't talk about it, but it gave him issues that would send him to a pulmonologist. Lanh came to every appointment…"

"YAN!" shouted the twins from the living room.

"She helped me with the twins when I was at a really low point," said Andi sadly. "They really love Lanh."

"Docker and docker!" said Madeline from the living room.

"Docker and Docker?" asked Veronica.

"Lanh and Don are both doctors, she's a Speech Pathologist and he's got an Ed.D."

"Holy Shi… uh… cow. I cannot wait to see them again!" said Josh.

"It's SANTA CLAUS!" cried the twins. They dashed into the parlor and announced, "Santa Claus was in the parade!"

"That's the end of the parade," said Lanh.

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Chapter 7

Gus and Lucy pulled into Paul and Andi's driveway later than expected. "Do you think anyone will complain?" asked Gus. "I promised we'd be there after the parade."

They opened the kitchen door, and the twins stood glaring at them, brows furrowed, bottom lips pouted out in anger. "Oh yeah," said Lucy. "We're in big trouble."

"Tree!" demanded Sandy.

"You promised," said Madeline with a pout.

"Big, big trouble," agreed Gus. Then he tried another tactic. "Look what we made!" and he showed the twins the pie he was carrying, a woven crust cherry pie, sparkling with sugar.

"That's mom's pie."

He showed them the other pie he was carrying, a perfect pumpkin pie. "This was made from your Halloween pumpkins," he said.

"Pappa's pie."

"Told ya," Lucy whispered.

"Tough crowd," whispered Gus.

"I got 'em," said Lucy. She pulled open the Tupperware bowl she was carrying. The twins peered in suspiciously… careful, it could be broccoli…

"COOKIE SALAD!" they shrieked.

They tried to dip their fingers into the bowl for a taste, but Aunty Lucy pulled it back. "Not until you cleaned up your plates!"

"Awww… come on. Papa needs you," said Sandy. After Lucy and Gus set their desserts on the kitchen table, far back from an inquisitive Wonka, they stepped into the dining room and saw that it was decorated exquisitely with autumn colors, the dining room fireplace mantel was decorated with wax figurines of boy and girl pilgrims and wild turkeys whose tails were fanning wide. Each figurine had a wick protruding from the top.

"Those were Katrina and Cecil's candles," said Gus. "Katrina had them for all holidays and got one candle for each of her boys. John has the same candles at his house."

"So, they decorate the kitchen for Christmas, the dining room for thanksgiving?"

"Just for today," said Gus. The dining room will be Christmas tomorrow if Paul doesn't go to work."

The twins led them into the parlor, where much of it was decorated like Lucy remembered from 11 months ago; the tree was still bare but there were two tall step ladders next to it and Paul was getting ready to put lights on the tree. "We found them!" announced Sandy.

"Why don't you two sit on the couch with grandma and Danny and Katarina and read them a thanksgiving story?" asked Andi. She was nervous about the twins bouncing around as Paul was preparing to climb a ladder.

"Read a story to both of them?" demanded Madeline.

"You only have to read the story once; they both can hear it."

"Oh yeah!" said Sandy. "I forgot." Heather carried the two babies in their carriers to the couch and the twins dashed into the library to find a story book they were sure they could read.

Paul had a battle plan ready for Gus and Lucy's arrival. "Ok. Gus and Lucy on Ladder 1, Josh and I on Ladder 2, Veronica and Macy handing up ornaments, we'll be done before the oven timer goes off."

"What about me?" demanded Andi.

"And me?" huffed John.

Paul hugged John and Andi tightly and whispered, "Don't ask me to put you two in danger anymore. No ladders, no climbing, no holding on. I don't want to fall on you."

"So we're stuck in the kitchen?" demanded Andi.

"Just whip up some egg nog for us," said Paul.

"It's not hard, you open the carton and pour…" she realized she was being stared at by Paul and John.

"Follow me dear sister-in-law," said John, and he led her into the kitchen.

"Are you ok?" asked Andi as John led her into the kitchen.

"No." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "This is the first time since Paul came home that we didn't decorate the tree together."

"Is that a Polish tradition or something?"

"No… it's a John and Paul tradition." As John took a spoon and dipped potatoes out of the boiling water one by one and dropped them into a large bowl, he shared stories of Christmases in a tiny house with no money and Thanksgiving dinners with relatives in Gowanda. One by one, he took the skin off the potatoes; the skins having been boiled just fell off. Then John cut up the semi cooked potatoes and returned them to the water.

"The first Christmas he had in this house, mom and dad were here and we put that gigantic tree up and we decorated it with Gus and Dad holding the ladders. Mom and Macy were freaking out, but we did it and it looked beautiful. We had that tree so high that the star touched the ceiling, after that we decided that sixteen feet was too high. Then mom, God bless her soul, put up an N scale train around the tree. She said, 'No tree is complete without a train!'"

"Is that bad?" asked Andi as she tried to picture her in-laws living with Paul, John, and Macy in this house.

"An N scale locomotive is this big," and he held his fingers a few inches apart. It's tiny, and under that enormous tree, nobody noticed it. That's the sense of humor that mom had."

"Is the train still around?"

"Yeah," said John with a cheerful smile. "It runs on top of my piano every Christmas. So, it became tradition to put the tree up on Thanksgiving while the turkey roasts. It helped Paul deal with his loneliness and pain so much."

As he talked about holidays past, John quickly and expertly separated a half dozen eggs with his bare hands. "I always thought you poured the egg from one eggshell half to the other back and forth to separate the white from the yolk," said Andi.

"Yeah, that can work if you don't like touching eggs," said John. He cracked an egg, opened it into his hand and jiggled his hand and the egg white flowed out between his fingers, leaving the perfect yolk in his hand. "Nothing is easier." As he put milk on the stove to heat, he spoke of how broken Paul was when he came home.

"Are you saying that because he hit you?" asked Andi.

"He needed to hit me," said John. "He needed to get that anger out, General Blecher destroyed him, he murdered Melony and convinced Paul she was cheating on him. He had to hit something to get the anger and hate out. And it had to be someone he loved so he felt the pain too." John started adding heated milk slowly into the whipped egg yolks and continued whipping. "He can hit really hard. Ok, this is the important part, add the milk slowly, you don't want to cook the eggs, you want to warm them with the milk."

"But you went through all that pain, and you don't hold it against him?" asked Andi.

"How do I put it?" John asked himself. Then it came to him. "Do you hold all that pain you endured against Frank?"

"Hell yes," said Andi quickly.

"But you went through even more pain three weeks ago when Danny was born, do you hold that against Paul? Do you hold it against Daniel?"

"Touché. No wonder why you're the pastor and I'm the girl they shush when I try to sing."

The ingredients came together quickly and soon there was a large container of egg nog cooling in the fridge. Just as John finished cleaning up, Paul peeked into the kitchen. "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"The tree. We need you." John and Andi followed Paul into the parlor and saw that the tree was decorated with lights, and tinsel, and ornaments, halfway down. "We got the ladder work done, and it's your turn."

As the music played on the stereo, the brothers decorated the tree together while the scent of roasting turkey mixed with the scent of pine. As Paul and John decorated the tree, they recalled stories of Christmases past, laughing and nudging each other. Macy put her arm around Andi and said, "This is what healing looks like."

Dinner was done on time at 5:00 PM, with most of the tree's decorations completed. The twins were promised that they could hang ornaments if they ate everything up. "Everything looks so good!" said Veronica. "The turkeys look incredible." Incredible but smaller than she was used to. Josh recognized what kind of turkey they were and didn't say a word. It was all there: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green beans, lima beans, and acorn squash.

"It all came from our land except one thing," said Paul.

"The turkey," said Veronica.

"Nope, Josh got one and I got the other. They're wild turkeys from the woods behind the pond. Next guess?"

"The cranberries? I didn't see them in the garden, don't they need a bog?"

"That just makes them easier to pick. We have cranberries growing back by the pond," said Gus. "Lucy and I picked them, and the blueberries that are in the freezer."

"I'm pretty sure Josh knows what the secret food is," said Andi. "It's on the table just for him."

"Lima beans," said Veronica. "He has to have his lima beans."

"Bingo. Pastor Jarecki…" John and Macy both looked at him. "The short one… would you care to lead us off?"

"Proud to and glad to," and John said a short and to the point grace. He wasn't a pastor that was bound up by flowery language, he liked plain language so a new member to his church wasn't lost in a tangle of 'Christianese.' "I am so thankful for my beautiful, beautiful daughter, and oddly, I'm thankful for my injuries, which make my baby's eyes so much sweeter to look into and remind me how important family is to me."

They went around the table. Sandy was thankful for Wonka, and Madeline was thankful for school. Josh was thankful for Veronica, and Veronica was thankful for Josh. Gus was incredibly thankful for his fiancée and Lucy, who usually said pass, said thanks for the chance to learn what love is really all about. When they got to Paul, tears streamed down his cheeks. "I've been so blessed this year, I can't even count all the blessings that have been heaped on me… but I could have lost it all if it wasn't for the greatest blessing I've always had and never appreciated, my brother." He started weeping uncontrollably as Andi and John threw their arms around him.

As he thanked John over and over and Andi joined him in tears, Josh leaned over to Veronica and whispered, "In my family, normally at this point, Aunt Hetta would have insulted every dish and have all the wommin folk steaming mad and ready to leave, and Grandpa Joab woulda dropped his teeth in the gravy."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 8

Yi had a wonderful meal with the Johnsons, but she missed her girls. Kenny and Yi-jin had promised to come by for dessert, so when they came into Paul and Andi's house, everyone was still there. The tree was beautifully decorated and the dining room that she and Andi decorated for Thanksgiving was now becoming part of the Christmas wonderland of the rest of the house. The little wax pilgrims and turkeys were replaced by wax snowmen, angels, and Santa. Center stage on the mantel was a wooden nativity scene that John had made years ago when he started working for Gus. Everyone was in the parlor and the twins were dashing back and forth between the tree and Andi, who had a box of ornaments. The twins would get an ornament from Andi, dash to the tree and hang an ornament on the lowest branches, then sprint back to Andi. John and Paul sat on kitchen chairs playing Christmas carols on their guitars.

"Uff da! It's snowing out there!" said Yi as she and Kenny sat down on the love seat.

"Uff da," chuckled Josh, "what's an uff da?"

"It's just a Norwegian expression," said Andi.

"Uff da!" cried the twins.

"Shhh! Baby!" said the adults in attendance.

"Sorry."

"The tree looks so awesome from outside," said Yi. "The twinkling lights, the tinsel, I never knew tinsel was so cool! Why don't we use it anymore?"

"Cause it's a mess!" said Andi and Macy at the same time.

"Yeah, you need a good vacuum," said Paul. "Even if you're careful, you're going to drop it."

"It takes a lot of practice to put it on the tree," said Kenny.

"Practice, that's silly. Give me some of that tinsel." Yi approached the tree with a package of tinsel that John gave her. "Are you done here?" Yi asked the twins, and they nodded silently. It was as if they knew that entertainment was heading their way. "It's just pieces of shiny mylar. You take some and you put it on the branch…" She ended up with a wad of tinsel in a shiny tangle on top of the branch.

"That doesn't quite fit in with the pattern," said John as he strummed his guitar and Macy joined in on the violin as they played We Need A Little Christmas softly.

Yi pulled the wad off of the branch and tried to straighten it out, but Kenny took the wad from her and said, "Try again."

Again, Yi tried and again she ended up with a wad of tinsel. "What am I missing here?" she demanded.

"Gravity," said Veronica.

"Huh?"

"Haven't you ever seen an icicle hanging on a tree branch?" asked Veronica as she took the pack of tinsel from Yi.

"Icicle? I've never seen ice in the wild before moving up here! Where I come from, ice is only seen in glasses of tea and coming out of refrigerator doors," said Yi. "You have to make ice; it doesn't just happen."

"It's time we hung some tinsel on that evergreen bough!" sang John and Paul

"Let me show you," said Veronica. She took some tinsel out of the pack and let it hang from her fingers. "Work with little bits… hook the short end on the branch… hang the tinsel and just guide it into place gently and let gravity do the work. Everything is gentle, try to get the tinsel to hang straight down."

Before she knew it, she and Kenny were hanging tinsel on the lower branches and doing a marvelous job of it. When they finished up, they turned and saw Paul and Andi chuckling. "What's so funny?" asked Yi.

"Have you ever read Tom Sawyer?" Andi asked.

"No," said Yi.

"The whitewashed fence?" asked Kenny. "I get it."

"I don't get it," said Yi.

"We have been had," said Kenny.

"I don't care, this is the prettiest tree I've ever seen."

"Do you see all these ornaments up here?" asked Andi as she pointed to exquisitely beautiful ornaments that were hung far out of the twins' reach. "They are hand blown, hand painted antique Polish Christmas ornaments that Grandpa Cecil and Grandma Katarina's families brought with them from Poland."

The colors! The shapes! Yi and Kenny were entranced with the collection. "My god," whispered Yi. "Look at this one! It's a full painting!" The hand painted scene on a white ornament was a small church surrounded by pine and deciduous trees, a picket fence, and if you turned the ornament, the reverse side featured a snowy road with a horse and sleigh riding past snow-covered trees. On every tree, the branches were covered with glittering snow. Then she noticed more and more scenes hanging from the tree, nativities, three wise men trekking under a star, and geometric designs that made the ornament look more like a tiffany egg. "How much do you think they're worth?" asked Yi.

"They're priceless to Paul and I," said John. "There were Christmases where those ornaments hung from a bare branch that Dad, Paul and I found, and that was it. We were broke, but we had each other."

"You remember that year?" asked Paul in surprise. He sighed. "We had nothing, Mom and Dad lost their business and our house, we ended up in that hovel in Cheektowaga. We had an open flame gas heater because the electric furnace was too expensive."

"One light!" said John, imitating Cecil's demand to turn the lights off when not in use. "Dad only allowed one light bulb per room and you better be reading!"

"Mom and Dad stacked bricks around that gas heater and that was our Christmas fireplace where we hung our real socks thumb tacked to the wall," said Paul. "A few Christmases in a row there was nothing under the tree."

"But we got our orange!" said John.

"Yes, we always got an orange," said Paul.

"Boże Narodzenie," said Macy to the twins. "That means Christmas, or God's birthday to the Polish."

Andi took Paul's guitar and sat in his lap. "Let's do Christmas your way this year."

"We can't," said Paul. "The Christmas Eve dinner, the Wigilia can last hours if you do it right. We have obligations that night."

"Lets do it, but do it early, like at three, then do our American celebration on Christmas day."

"Is everyone cool with a Polish feast on Christmas Eve?" asked John, and almost everyone was excited about the idea. Then he said to Paul, "You need to work from home that day Ebenezer."

"We can't make it," said Josh. "I promised a friend I'd come and show off this here filly," he said as he hugged Veronica.

"We're going to visit my dad," said Veronica.

"You should go look at the tree from outside," said Yi.

"Yeah," said Paul. "Let's."

They pulled on coats and boots and, leaving the babies sleeping in their carriers, they assembled in the street and looked at the tree as it sparkled in the window. "It's beautiful!" gushed Andi.

"But wait! There's more…" said Paul, and he took out his cell phone and tapped a few screens and started up the app that Kenny designed for him. "I have a friend who went crazy with a Raspberry Pi." As he spoke, the lights around the huge front window came on one by one. The lights woven into the pine garland that decorated the waist high wrought-iron fence around the property came on in a chasing pattern around the perimeter of the property, then started twinkling gently. Meanwhile, under the eaves of the complicated Victorian roof, lights came on shining against the siding of the house. Those lights changed colors in chasing patterns as Christmas lights around each window came on.

That was a preview of Andi's Dream - Joyeux Noël. To read the rest purchase the book.

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