Part 25
Anna knew that it would be rude to let John’s invitation hang in the air for much longer. His sister-in-law, after all, was preparing all kinds of food for her guests and she needed to know how much to make. Yet, she struggled with the idea of going to a strange family’s house on Christmas, such a special day to most people.
Finally, she came up with a plan. She’d go but not spend hours and hours there, and that way the family could share their quiet moments together, so she called John and told him she would come.
“Oh, that’s great. Janet will be so happy. She said to tell you to come at around three,” John said, sounding enthused.
The next week, Anna put in her time at work and then spent evenings making some cookies and other treats, the same ones she and her mother had made the year before. She used the same cookie sheets because they had always done such a good job, and she would never be able to part with them.
On Christmas morning, it was beautiful. A light dusting of snow had fallen the night before and the trees held onto every little bit of it. The pine trees looked flocked. Anna dressed up for church and got there a little early. She visited the manger scene before sitting down and again marveled at God’s amazing generosity in sending his son to earth. John wasn’t there, or she hadn’t seen him go to Communion. Afterwards, she went home and wrapped a gift for Janet and put the cookies on a lovely Christmas tray and then covered it with plastic wrap. She turned on the TV and watched a rerun of Jimmy Stewart in, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Tired from all the work she had been doing, she fell asleep for about an hour. When she awoke, more snow was coming down and cars coming down the road were moving slowly.
She left for Janet’s house at around 2:30 to give herself plenty of time. John had given her some directions. She found the house and saw quite a few cars, either in the driveway or along the street. She parked on the street and headed for the front door. She assumed it was Janet who opened the door.
“You must be Anna,” the pleasant woman said. “I’m Janet, and I’m so happy to meet you.”
“Me too. These are for you,” Anna said holding out the cookies and the gift.
“Thank you so much. You didn’t need to bring anything, but I do appreciate it,” Janet said, motioning Anna towards a large family room after taking her coat.
There were presents lying all over the place and wrapping paper still here and there. In the middle of all of it was Katie who was obviously having a ball. She looked up, saw Anna, and said, “Kiki.”
She heard John laughing and looked in the direction of the sound. He was sitting on a couch with a coffee cup in his hand. He smiled at Anna and motioned for her to sit down too. He introduced her all around. Most of the people there were John’s wife’s family members, but she was surprised that the LIccis were there too.
“Oh, Anna, I’m so glad you came,” Mrs. Licci said. “I would have told you we were coming, but it was kind of last minute. Like last night. Our grown kids were supposed to come but a series of things happened and they couldn’t make it.”
“I’m so sorry. You must be very disappointed,” Anna said.
“Yes, but they will be coming next weekend instead,” Mrs. Licci said. “We’ll just pretend it’s Christmas all over again.”
John introduced Anna to one woman who didn’t seem to be a relative. She was attractive and all dressed up. It turned out that she worked with Janet’s husband, Jim. Anna couldn’t help but notice that she seemed to pay a lot of attention to John and was always around him. Anna felt awkward, and she focused her attention on the Liccis, especially Mrs. Licci. Close to five, Anna and Mrs. Licci started helping Janet put the food on a makeshift buffet table. Katie’s high chair was placed near the table. Janet’s children were playing in the basement and were well behaved kids, as Anna figured they would be, and they came up right away when Janet called them.
They sat down to eat at five, and Anna was at the end of the large dining room table, sitting by the Liccis and two of Janet’s children. Anna noticed that the woman, she remembered her name as Tonya, was at the other end of the table sitting by John. When Anna looked at her, she smiled in a rather strange and secretive way and then raised one eyebrow. Anna merely nodded.
Janet’s husband offered grace and everyone dug in. The food was fabulous, and Janet was one of those hostesses who works efficiently and is never flustered by anything. Janet had loved the serving dish that Anna brought her and in fact, used it to serve the stuffing.
After dinner, Janet served pie and cookies. Mrs. Licci raved about Anna’s cookies.
“Anna, where did you ever get this recipe. These are delicious,” she said. “They are so light.”
“My mother always made them. I honestly don’t know where she ever came by the recipe. Maybe my aunt knows; I’ll have to ask her next time we talk,” Anna said. “But you are welcome to the recipe.”
John smiled at Anna from the other end of the table, and she smiled back.
After dinner, Anna and the LIccis enjoyed watching Katie and her cousins romp around in the family room, and Anna got down on the floor to play with the kids. They got a game that was really for Katie, but they were good sports and played it with gusto. Katie came over and sat in Anna’s lap and she patted Anna’s leg, “Niiii Kiki,” she said. Anna laughed so hard at her.
When the clock chimes played out seven, Anna thought it was time to head home. Katie was so tired that she had already been put to bed. Tonya was still sitting right by John, and the older kids had gone down the basement again. So she got up from her chair and told Janet, “Well, I’d better head home. It looks like the snow is pretty deep,” she said. The Liccis looked out the window and were surprised by how much snow had accumulated. “Oh, we’d better go too. We have a little hill on our driveway and I don’t want us to get stuck.”
They all thanked Janet for her hospitality, and she hugged everyone. Janet retrieved their coats and the Liccis and Anna walked out to their cars together.
“I’m so glad that you were here,” Anna said. “Merry Christmas, you two.”
“We’re glad that you came, Anna. Give us a call soon. Are you taking off some time from work?” Mrs. Licci asked.
“Well, yes. A few days anyhow. And I’ve got a meeting about the center coming up too. I’ll call, promise,” Anna said.
She drove home, and entered her house still lit up by the tree. It was warm and cozy and she made herself a cup of decaf tea and sat by the tree, thinking about her mom and praying that she was joyful and at peace with God. One package had come from her aunt and she had saved it for Christmas, a little surprise. When she opened it, she was amazed. Her aunt had sent her a handmade crèche scene. She got out a scrap of red fabric and set up the scene under the tree, placing baby Jesus last.
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