Page 34 of Unexpected Gifts

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Abby had pulled stockings from one of the boxes. They were quilted in a red-and-white checkered pattern, and names had been stitched across the top. Jack. Sophie. Ramona. What did one do with a familymember’s stocking after they passed away? Another pitfall he hadn’t thought of.

Abby shot him a worried glance.

Sophie picked up her mother’s stocking and traced the lettering with her finger. “What do we do with Mom’s?”

Abby sat on the couch as if her legs had weakened. “Would you like to hang it as you always did?”

Sophie nodded. “Mom’s goes on the first hook.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do this year too,” Abby said.

“What about a stocking for Abby?” Jack asked.

“Grace made these ones for us last year,” Sophie said. “Maybe she could make one for her too?”

“I think my mom would be happy to do that,” Luke said.

Abby and Sophie hung the stockings and placed garland over the fireplace. Jack and Lily hopped around, too excited to concentrate on anything for long and getting in everyone’s way.

“Your Grinch still in hiatus?” Luke asked Abby, standing back to admire his work.

“So far, it’s looking like the Grinch is on full sabbatical,” Abby said.

“All right, let’s plug these lights on and pray they work.” Luke knelt to hook the plug into the nearest outlet. The tree lit up with sparkling white lights.

“Yay,” Lily shouted.

Sophie breathed in what sounded like a happy sigh. “It’s perfect, Luke.”

“It really is,” Abby said. “Well done.”

Luke had just turned on the lights when his mother and father arrived. He’d not thought his father would come, but he seemed eager to help.

He left his handiwork to greet his parents at the front door, with Abby following behind.

“I brought something for Jack,” Walter said quietly to Abby as he took off his jacket in the foyer. “It’s a Christmas train. I ordered it for him last week, and it came in today. Perfect timing. Is it all right if I help him set it up?”

Abby tented her hands under her chin. “Oh, Walter, he’ll love that. Thank you.”

Luke and Walter left to get the train set boxes from the truck. By the time they’d gotten it into the house, Jack was beside himself. “There’s really a train in there?”

“Yes, there is,” Walter said, kneeling to open the box, his face as lit up as Jack’s.

“You got it for me?” Jack asked, falling to his knees beside the older man.

“I sure did,” Walter said. “But it was partly selfish on my part. I always wanted one when I was a boy. You’ll let me help you set it up, right?”

“Yes, yes,” Jack said.

“Me help too?” Lily asked.

“You bet, Lily girl,” Walter said. “Come on over here. But you have to be careful and wait for me to tell you what to do. We don’t want any broken pieces.”

Lily promised to listen as she took her place next to Jack.

His mother had already set up the cookie station in the kitchen and returned to them with steaming mugs of hot cider. Luke accepted one and then sat back to watch his dad and Jack put the train together. Sophie and Abby, stepping around the train builders, began to put ornaments on the tree, including the new ones from today. As they went along, Abby exclaimed over different ornaments, including the homemade ones with photographs of Sophie or Jack they’d made for their mother.

“That one was from Mrs. Stone’s class,” Sophie said. “Last year.”

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