Page 21 of Threads of Kindness
Julia tore off the paper and carefully pulled out the fancy dress with a glittery yellow skirt, blue satin bodice, and red satin cape that tied in a bow at the neck. The box contained a headband with a matching bow and an artificial apple.
“Do you know who wears this?” John asked.
Julia turned questioning eyes to him.
“Snow White!” he said. “Now you can be just like her!”
Julia clapped her hands in delight.
“There’s another one, too,” John said, handing her the second box.
“Cinderella!” she cried as she pulled a light blue gown with a bejeweled velvet bodice and sweeping tulle skirt, a tiara, and sparkly plastic “glass” slippers from the package.
She jumped up, shimmied out of her red and green plaid Christmas dress, and pulled the elaborate costume over her head. Julia plopped onto an ottoman and thrust her feet out expectantly.
John knelt, fitting the slippers onto her feet like a proper footman. “They fit perfectly! You must be the real Cinderella,” he said with a wink.
Julia sprang to her feet and, after an unsteady wobble on the low heels, twirled around the room.
“Thank you, Grammy and Gramps!” she cried.
“That was lovely,”Susan said. “I’ll go finish dinner so we can eat.”
“Not so fast,” John said, grinning. “There’s one more gift.”
Susan looked around, puzzled. “I don’t see anything.”
“Let’s go look in your room, Julia,” John said.
Susan glanced at Maggie, who shrugged, equally mystified.
Julia grabbed John’s hand and led him down the hall. A wooden playhouse fit for a princess stood against the far wall of her room. Rising five feet to a gabled roof, it bore the words“Princess Julia” above a small, child-sized door. Intricate bluebirds perched along the roofline, and silk roses in shades of pink overflowed from flower boxes under arched windows.
John knelt beside Julia. “Do you recognize those birds?”
Julia’s eyes widened.
“They helped Cinderella sew her dress,” John supplied the answer.
Julia nodded.
“Do you want to go inside?”
Julia flung open the door and walked in.
John crawled inside after her while the other adults peered through the windows, smiling.
Inside, a dressing table with a tufted stool and a gilded mirror occupied one side. A child-size pink velvet sofa sat in the center.
“You can put your brushes, bows, and jewelry here,” John said, opening a small drawer in the dressing table.
Julia plopped onto the stool, gazing at her reflection.
On the other side, a clothes bar held two sparkling hangers.
“And here,” John said, “is where you hang your princess dresses.”
Julia flung her arms around his neck. John chuckled and hugged her close.
