Chapter Sixteen
Christmas morning always came earlier than other mornings for Eroica. Even though she wasn’t a child anymore, she had been awake for hours. She lay in bed, curtains opened, an extra blanket piled on, and watched the sky lighten. It had finally stopped snowing sometime during the night, and all the clouds had disappeared. The sky was clear enough that she could still see a few lingering stars. It was going to be a sunny, sparkling Christmas day.
Eroica finally pulled herself out of bed and went to turn on her Christmas tree lights. She had a small, half dead tree in her front room. Eroica always bought her tree too early, never watered it, and kept her apartment too warm. Her Christmas trees never stood much chance of making it through the holidays.
After making herself a cup of cocoa, she sat down on the floor and began to unwrap a package. Her mother had sent it from Germany and Eroica, who was not known for her patience, managed to save it for Christmas morning. Inside the box was a soft, peach-colored sweater with a scalloped, lace collar. There was a card that went with it.
“Dear Eroica,” she read from her mother, “Merry Christmas. This sweater was handmade by our neighbor. Don’t beat it up in your washing machine, and don’t put it in the dryer. Dry-clean it or ask AnnaMaria to wash it for you. She is so much more careful than you are. We miss you and wish we could be with you on this day.”
Eroica’s mother was practical above all else. There was also a note from her father which read simply, “Be good and don’t let anyone slip you non-Mormon eggnog.” She imagined the twinkle in his eye as he wrote this, and it made her smile. She missed them.
Eroica had put on jeans and her new sweater, and was ready for the events of the day. It didn’t include that much. At least not until there was a knock at the door.
“Hi, John,” Eroica greeted him. “How was Christmas morning at your house? I heard noises coming from next door for a long time last night.”
“It took me so long to put two tricycles and one wagon together. But I did get them finished before the boys woke up this morning. Annie was up with me also. She’s been having contractions and they are not going away.”
“But she isn’t due until January.”
“That’s what she keeps telling me,” he continued. “But I think that I have finally convinced her that she ought to go to the hospital. She just doesn’t want to leave the boys on Christmas day.”
“I’ll come over and they can show me all the toys that they were given. I will make sure that they have a good Christmas day.”
“Thanks, Eroica. That’s just what I was hoping for.”
Eroica turned off her lights, slipped on her shoes, and followed John next door.
“Hi, boys,” she called as she walked in on wrapping paper, emptied boxes, and lots of toys. Most of which were noisy and had wheels.
“Oh, Eroica, isn’t this terrible?” AnnaMaria moaned.
“This is exciting. A Christmas baby. How wonderful.”
“It hasn’t happened yet. This is most likely false labor and I’ll probably be home in an hour.”
John smiled and shook his head. “This is what she did to me the last two times, and I thought I was going to be delivering a baby in the car. I’ll call you as soon as we know what is happening.”
He ushered his wife out the door and Eroica was left with Charlie and Joshua.
It wasn’t until Eroica had cleared up the wrapping paper, played with every toy, let the boys color in their new coloring books with their new crayons, and put lunch on the table, that the phone rang. It was John informing her that they were not coming home. At least not until they had a new baby to bring home with them.
Eroica was so excited that she almost missed it. Someone was knocking next door. On her door. She stepped out to see Mark standing there, his hands in his pockets.
“What are you doing in Provo on Christmas day?” she called.
“I thought I’d take a chance and see if you were home.”
“I’m watching my nephews over here. Come on in.”
He entered the house to find himself accosted by two pair of dark brown eyes.
Charlie and Joshua were taking turns hiding behind each other. Mark fished something out of his pocket and held out his hand to them. “Come see what’s in my hand.”
The two boys looked questioningly at their aunt and saw that she was laughing. So they went over to Mark, and he gave them some holiday chocolates. From then on the three were fast friends, and Mark had to get down on the floor and play with every one of their toys.
When the boys finally finished with him, and were back to work making a path in the carpet for their cars, Mark turned to Eroica.
“I bought a small Christmas present for you,” he said. “I wanted to give it to you the other night when I stopped by, but after your experience with Preston . . .” he faltered. “Anyway, this is it.”
He picked up her hand and put something in it. “You don’t have to like it, and I promise that I won’t propose to you.”
Eroica hadn’t taken her eyes off of Mark. He seemed so intent that she not misunderstand him. She pulled her eyes away and looked down. In her palm was a small velvet jewelry box. She carefully opened it, and inside was a CTR ring. It was made of silver and had a simple thin band. Eroica smiled as she slipped it onto her finger and looked up at Mark.
“Thank you.”
“I noticed that you never wear jewelry so I wasn’t sure if you would like this or not.”
“It’s perfect. I missed out on going to primary so I was never given a CTR ring. I’ve always wanted one.”
This was true. Eroica had always wanted a CTR ring. But she had lost so many rings from leaving them on top of pianos in practice rooms over the years. So she had stopped wearing jewelry. She had thought about buying a CTR ring, but she didn’t trust herself. Now she quietly resolved to keep this ring forever.
“I was going to ask you if you wanted to go see the lights on Temple Square with me. It’s been several years since I’ve been, and you’ve been in Germany. But, of course, you have plans for Christmas day.”
“Actually I didn’t have any plans until my sister went to the hospital. It looks as if she is going to have a Christmas baby, so I am taking care of Charlie and Joshua. But we could take them with us, if you don’t mind,” she suggested.
“That sounds like a lot of fun. I think it’s a great idea.”
Eroica called John at the hospital, while Mark bundled the boys up in coats, hats, and gloves and they were on their way.
After seeing the lights and going to another bargain burger place—Mark seemed to know where they all were—Charlie and Joshua were worn out. They’d had a great Christmas day, and had fallen asleep in the car on the way home. Mark helped Eroica get them into the house, into pajamas, and into bed.
Eroica called the hospital and found out that she had a new little niece. As she said goodbye to Mark she couldn’t help but realize that he would someday be a wonderful father. And if she would have allowed herself to, she would have admitted that he would someday be a wonderful husband. But all that she would allow herself to think right then was that this had been the best Christmas day of her life.