Unexpected Christmas

Amy sat at the small desk in her apartment and stared at her opened checkbook.  Fifty-seven dollars was all they had to make it through the rest of the month, and it was only December the fifth.  How would she ever buy groceries for the family and provide a Christmas gift for her little girl?  She closed it slowly and lay her head down, spilling her long blonde locks over the expanse of the antique writing desk.  Her grandmother had given it to her and it was all Amy had left to remember her by.  They had sold everything else of any worth to pay the doctor bills.

            It wasn’t that Joe, her husband, wasn’t a hard worker.  In fact he worked most of the time just to make ends meet.  Amy wasn’t much help since the accident two years ago.  Wheeling away from the desk, she turned to find her little blue-eyed angel staring up at her.

            “Mommy, why are you crying,” said five-year-old Mandy.

            Amy quickly wiped the stray tear away that streamed down her face.  What would she tell their daughter when there was no brightly colored package under the tree this year?  Oh, how Amy wished there were a Santa Claus, someone to take up the financial slack from their burdened family.  Amy wheeled into the living room and asked Mandy to sit beside her.  She was about to begin the difficult task of telling Mandy not to expect much on Christmas day.  But something stopped her.  She just couldn’t get the words out. 

            Instead Amy whispered, “Mandy, I think we should pray.  Would you like to talk to God about anything?”

            Mandy closed her long lashes over her big blue eyes and bowed her head.  “Dear God, thank you for my mommy and my daddy.  I know we don’t have much money because I hear them talking about it when they don’t think I’m listening.”  Mandy peeked over at her mom, gave her a snaggle-toothed grin, then continued.  “So I’m asking you to think up something just for me to have on Christmas morning.  You know what I really want.”

            Amy wheeled into the kitchen to start their supper.  She couldn’t help but think that it was going to be even harder on Christmas now that Mandy believed that she would be receiving a gift from God.  Amy wanted to believe that it would come, but after all the struggles she had gone through, it was so hard to hold on to her faith. 

            Mandy woke up the next morning bright and early for kindergarten.  She brushed her hair and teeth and went into the kitchen for breakfast.  Joe met his daughter with a big hug and sat down beside her at the kitchen table.  It creaked as they slid their chairs underneath. 

            “Honey, have you decided what we’re going to have for Christmas dinner this year?”  His voice was strained.  He hated to talk about finances in front of Mandy, but he worked late every night at the factory and was up and off to work bright and early each morning.  There was hardly any time to discuss such things alone.

            Amy cut her eyes over to Mandy and gave her husband a frown.  “I think we’ll just have some bacon from the fridge.  It’s cheap.  I’ll stir up some grits to go with it.”

            “I’ve worked overtime all week long.  I thought at least we could have a ham.”

            “That sounds good,” Amy smiled.  “Mandy, would you like a ham for Christmas?”

            Mandy looked up from her bowl of cereal.  She always tried to pretend she wasn’t listening to her parents’ conversations.  It was always about the same old stuff.

            “God knows what I want for Christmas,” Mandy laughed.

            Amy kissed Joe goodbye at the door and he walked Mandy to the bus stop for school. 

            The next two weeks were filled with worry and disillusion.  Joe was told that he had worked all the overtime that was allowed by the factory.  There would be no more extra money coming in.  Amy tried to keep her spirits up.  She made little decorations to hang up out of paper she had cut into shapes.  With the package of crayons that Mandy used for her school work, Amy colored festive designs onto the paper.  Although she couldn’t reach very high from her wheelchair, she found a way to drape the paper across the knobs on the doorways and kitchen counter. 

            Christmas was coming up the next week and there was still no solution to the problem of finding Mandy a Christmas present.  Amy’s heart broke a little more with each passing day.  She prayed long and hard each night before she lay her head on the pillow, “Lord, please don’t let Mandy down. At least let her keep the innocence that comes with believing in Santa Claus.”

            It was Christmas Eve before they knew it.  Time flew, cutting off their days to ponder what would become of Santa’s gift.  Joe worked until dark that night and made his way home through the piercing cold that blew through his thin work jacket.  He stopped every few minutes to look around on the ground for some lost item that might be lying around.  It was amazing what one could find on the sidewalks if looking with a keen eye.  Maybe he could find something suitable for Mandy’s Christmas gift.  Time was running out, but he had not given up hope that a miracle would come.

            When he got home, he leaned down to remove his shoes before entering the apartment.  There, lying on the back steps was a tiny figure.  Joe kneeled down to get a closer look.  It was dark outside and the black fur nearly blended in with the black of the night.  He picked up the little puppy and began to stroke his head, just behind the ears.  He snuggled close to the warmth of Joe’s body.  Joe figured the tiny thing must belong to someone, so he stepped over to the neighboring apartment and knocked on the door.

            “Hello?” said a woman in curlers and bedroom slippers.

            “Hello, Miss, I found this puppy on our door step and wondered if it might be yours.”

            “Well, I guess the surprise is out now,” she frowned.

            “Pardon?”  Joe was confused about why the woman would be giving his family a surprise.  He had hardly spoken to the woman in the past year that they had been living in the apartment.

            “Your little girl strays over onto our patio sometimes,” the woman explained.  “She plays with my Sprout, that’s my black Labrador, through the sliding glass door.  I thought she might like to have one of the puppies that were born a few weeks ago.  I figured she would find him when she came to the back door to turn the light off like she does every night.”

            Joe didn’t know what to say.  His prayer had been answered.  He and Amy would give Mandy the puppy for Christmas.  All he had to do was keep him concealed until morning.  Joe thanked the lady and went inside to tell Amy the good news.

            The next morning Mandy came bounding down the stairs, eyes full of excitement.  Joe and Amy were already up having coffee.  Mandy went to the Christmas tree and looked around.  But there was nothing there.  She turned around with tears in her eyes to face her parents. 

Just then a tiny, black, furry puppy came scurrying out from behind the tree.  There was a big red bow tied to its neck with a note.  Mandy squealed with delight and scooped up the puppy.  Although he was squirming, she managed to open the note that was tied to the ribbon.  “From, Santa,” she read.  Mandy smiled a big, snaggle-toothed grin and looked up from her seat on the floor.  “Mama!” Mandy exclaimed, “God answered!  I’ve been looking at the doggy in Mrs. Wilder’s window and wanted one of my own.  It’s what I asked for and Santa brought it!”

Joe and Amy looked at each other in surprise.  Joe reached down and grabbed Amy’s hand.  Then they both bowed their heads in silent prayer, thankful that God had carried them through, and having faith that He would take care of them always.