Page 49 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
“That’s a good one, Pix,” John-John said approvingly.
River came up to look. It really was a great tree—green and bright all around, and when he stretched his arm up, it was just the right height.
“This is an excellent choice, Pixie,” he told her.
The little girl nodded once as she looked up at him, her face dead serious, as if she felt too proud to smile.
“Okay, should we cut it down and bring it home?” he asked.
“Yes,” John-John said.
“Yes, please,” Nora added.
“Yay,” Pixie exploded, a big smile escaping from her little face after all.
He crouched down and began to saw, but as soon as he did, there was a frantic rustling in the tree.
“What’sthat?” John-John wailed.
But there was barely time for River to move out of the way, and no time to answer, as a gray squirrel came rocketing out of the tree, making a mad dash up the hill, and disappearing into another tree.
Pixie screamed, and the bright sound echoed off the hillside.
“It’s okay,” Nora told the kids. “There are lots of animals out here. It’s part of being out in the country.”
“I don’t like animals in my tree,” John-John whispered, looking terrified.
“You picked a really good one,” River said moving back. “It’s such a good one that Mr. Squirrel picked it too. Should I move the branches around a little, and make sure no one else is in there?”
Pixie nodded slowly.
“Knock knock,” River called out in a funny voice as he wiggled one of the branches. “Anyone home?”
Pixie’s worried expression broke into a smile.
“Helloooooo,”River said, making a real show of marching around the tree and really fussing with the branches.“Come on out. Don’t be shy.”
Both kids were cracking up now, and when he came back out on their side of the tree, River saw that Nora was smiling too, a touch of color in her cheeks and the cold breeze lifting her hair.
She was so beautiful. Maybe even more so because he felt some part in the happiness that was on her face today. She seemed a world away from the worried woman who had opened the door the night he’d come to get her little family.
Prettier than the first time I saw her…
But that didn’t bear thinking about. He had a tree to cut, after all.
“Okay,” he said. “I think we’ve got a nice, empty tree now. Should I work on getting it down?”
Everyone agreed, and he had another opportunity to show the kids how to do something.
It was amazing to him how well Pixie listened. She seemed as interested in how to safely use a bow saw as she was in anything else they had done. And she did a great job tamping down her curiosity and keeping her little brother safe when River asked them to step back for the final part of the cutting.
She’s smart, he thought to himself, as he brought the tree down safely.And John-John is such a good boy. They’re lucky to have each other.
It occurred to him that without Nora, the two might have wound up in the system, maybe even separated. The idea made his heart feel like it was being twisted inside his chest.
Once the tree was down, the rest of their time at the farm passed quickly. Jacob came by to grab the tree, and they watched as he put it in a shaker and the loose needles flew off, to the children’s delight.
Next, he used a baler to wrap the tree in a thin net and tied a tag around the trunk. Thankfully, it was color-coded so that Nora wouldn’t have to see a price.
