Summary:\u00a0 This story was written for the 2016 Advent Collection.\u00a0 The whole family gets into the spirit of the Advent season.<\/p>\n
Rating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 (2,130 words)<\/p>\n
The Strangest of Christmases (by JoaniePaiute)<\/strong><\/p>\n As always on Christmas Day, Joe woke long before daylight.\u00a0 He was eighteen now, a grown man (at least in his own eyes), but still a kid when it came to Christmas.\u00a0 The others hid\u00a0their excitement\u00a0a little better, but when Joe slammed open his bedroom door, Hoss just happened to open his own door before Joe could yell, \u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d at the top of his lungs.\u00a0 And when Ben and Adam appeared, rumpled and trying to appear grumpy, they both had a tell-tale glint of humor in their sleep-squinted eyes.<\/p>\n Joe took the stairs three at a time, hollering for Hop Sing as he went.\u00a0 The other three followed more sedately, and a moment later Ben, Adam, and Hoss were seated in the great room. \u00a0Hop Sing put a new log on last night\u2019s stoked embers and knelt to blow on them, while Joe turned to the presents under the tree.\u00a0 He paused and took a step back.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoa,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cWho put all these here?\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone stared.\u00a0 There were at least twice as many gifts as there\u2019d been the night before, all wrapped in glittering paper of red, silver, green, and gold and tied with elaborate bows.\u00a0 Big presents, little ones, square and round and cylindrical ones.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did those come from?\u201d Ben demanded.<\/p>\n \u201cNot from me,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 Adam and Hop Sing both shook their heads.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, somebody put them there,\u201d Joe protested.\u00a0 He picked one up and read from the tag, \u201cTo Hoss and Adam, from DJK.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned from one brother to the other.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s DJK?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHeck if I know,\u201d Hoss said, reaching for the package.\u00a0 \u201cGimme that, little brother.\u201d\u00a0 Adam leaned toward Hoss to watch him open it.\u00a0 Gold paper fell to the floor as Hoss lifted out a doll of some kind, dressed all in brown and wearing a pointed hat.<\/p>\n \u201cA barn elf!\u201d Adam cried.<\/p>\n Hoss grinned.\u00a0 \u201cIt sure is!\u201d he said, and gave a delighted laugh.\u00a0 \u201cHow did this DJK person know?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shrugged, grinning too.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s see what else is here,\u201d he said, snatching up a flat box wrapped in red.\u00a0 \u201cThis one\u2019s for all of us, from\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He looked at the tag.\u00a0 \u201cFrom Sierra Girl.\u201d\u00a0 He lifted his eyebrows.\u00a0 \u201cThat sounds interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStop drooling and hand it over,\u201d Adam ordered, taking the box.\u00a0 He lifted the lid and looked puzzled.<\/p>\n \u201cWell?\u201d Ben prompted.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam held up a gingerbread man with raisins for eyes.\u00a0 He handed it to Ben, then gave each of the others another one.\u00a0 Joe stared at his.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember this!\u201d he exclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cI made it that Christmas Adam was so late getting home!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, come one, Little Joe,\u201d Hoss said, taking a bite of his.\u00a0 With his mouth full, he added, \u201cThese aren\u2019t the same cookies.\u00a0 They just look like them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Joe insisted.\u00a0 \u201cThese are the same ones.\u201d\u00a0 He hesitated. \u00a0\u201cI know.\u00a0 I just know.\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing was standing by the fireplace, bouncing on the balls of his feet.\u00a0 \u201cNext package, Joe!\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n The gifts that followed were every bit as strange as the first two, and the names on the tags just as mysterious.\u00a0 Someone named Betty had given them a popcorn strand and a candle set in a tin holder, along with, of all things, a foot-long snakeskin.\u00a0 They all gaped at this, and then Adam turned bright red.\u00a0 \u201cThe tree,\u201d he said simply.<\/p>\n Hoss burst out laughing.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Mrs. Woods!\u201d\u00a0 Joe hooted, and Ben and Hop Sing smiled.<\/p>\n More gifts:\u00a0 a funny wooden squirrel on a sled from Sunrider, with the word \u201cFraueninsel\u201d carved on the back.\u00a0 A porcelain cherub, exactly like the ones\u00a0on the music box that had belonged to Adam\u2019s mother, from Patina.\u00a0 A cylindrical cake from Puchi Ann, at which Hop Sing shouted, \u201cA wood cake!\u201d\u00a0 A shower of dainty, lacy paper stars from Faust.<\/p>\n Adam picked up a pale blue star, holding it reverently between his thumb and forefinger.\u00a0 \u201cI remember these,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cNo, that\u2019s not right.\u00a0 I don\u2019t exactly remember them\u2026but I know them.\u201d\u00a0 A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were far away.<\/p>\n Ben had just unwrapped a long woolen sock.\u00a0 \u201cStrange,\u201d he said slowly.\u00a0 \u201cI know this sock.\u00a0 It belongs to a boy with\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cRed hair.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced at the tag.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s from someone named Cheaux.\u00a0 But what does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s connected to this, Pa,\u201d Adam said, showing him a musical score.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s from an S. K. Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 Softly, in his steady baritone, he sang the first line of what was written there: \u201cHark, the herald angels sing,\u201d and Ben shuddered.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Pa?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d Ben said, but he sounded uncertain.\u00a0 Taking the music sheet from Adam, he read through it and muttered, \u201cI\u2019ve heard this song a hundred times\u2014you sing it every year, Adam\u2014but this is different somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Pa,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I sang that line just now, I felt like something terrible had happened\u2014or will\u00a0happen.\u00a0 But I felt something else, too.\u201d\u00a0 He considered.\u00a0 \u201cHope?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cContinuity,\u201d Ben said firmly, and Adam nodded.<\/p>\n They continued opening presents.\u00a0 There was a crinkly paper angel from Belle, holding a small brass trumpet with colorful streamers hanging from it.\u00a0 When Hop Sing saw it, he sang in a remarkably clear tenor, \u201cAngels watching, e\u2019er around thee,\u201d and Adam chimed in, harmonizing, \u201cAll through the night.\u201d<\/p>\n The package from Inca held a set of carved cr\u00e8che pieces, including a perfect baby in perfect swaddling clothes.\u00a0 Ben turned the baby over in his hands, scrutinizing it.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought these had been lost,\u201d he said wonderingly.<\/p>\n \u201cThese, too,\u201d Adam said, showing him a pair of child-sized, hand-knit mittens.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019re the ones Mama\u2014Inger\u2014made for me.\u00a0 But the tag says they\u2019re from Bluewind Farm.\u00a0 Do you know of a place called that, Pa?\u201d\u00a0 Ben shook his head.<\/p>\n From Sybille came a worn cast-iron lantern that made Ben catch his breath and breathe the word, \u201cHome.\u201d\u00a0 From Juanita a silvery feather that caused Joe to blink rapidly and look away.\u00a0 From Forever Free there was a bag of white powder that Adam sifted through his fingers, muttering, \u201cSalt?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s\u2026but that can\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss reached over and touched the powdery stuff.\u00a0 He grinned.\u00a0 \u201cBut it is, brother.\u00a0 It\u2019s snow.\u00a0 And before you ask, no, I don\u2019t know why it don\u2019t melt.\u201d<\/p>\n Suddenly Joe gave a choked sob, and they all turned toward him.\u00a0 He was holding a pair of knitting needles in one hand and a dried starflower in the other.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph?\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Joe whispered, confusion and pain in his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cLike Adam said about those paper stars, I don\u2019t remember these things.\u00a0 But I know them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho are they from?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n Joe checked the tags on the knitting needles.\u00a0 \u201cJ.F. Clover?\u201d he read tentatively, then corrected himself, \u201cNo, I think it\u2019s J.F.C. Lover.\u201d\u00a0 Smiling shakily, he admitted, \u201cWell, I do like that.\u201d \u00a0Reading the other tag, he said, \u201cAnd the starflower is from Just a Fan.\u201d\u00a0 Carefully he set them on the coffee table.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand any of this!\u201d he burst out.\u00a0 \u201cThese make me feel sad and scared, but, well, sort of comforted, too.\u00a0 Does that make any sense at all?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d Ben said quietly.\u00a0 He was holding what looked like an ordinary walking stick.\u00a0 \u201cThis is from Dance Diva, and it makes me feel the same way: both sad and comforted.\u201d\u00a0 Hefting the stick as if to test its weight, he said, \u201cI kept this for three days after Inger died, and then I broke it into pieces and threw it in the fire.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s\u2014\u201d Joe started, and Adam, Hoss, and Hop Sing chimed in to finish, \u201cImpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben nodded. \u00a0\u201cYes.\u00a0 But here it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Only a few packages remained.\u00a0 Joe handed them out, keeping a small one wrapped in green paper for himself.\u00a0 It contained a sleigh bell, and when he shook it, they all seemed to hear children singing faintly behind its cheerful jingle.\u00a0 Joe looked at the tag.\u00a0 \u201cFrom T-S-T-I,\u201d he spelled out.\u00a0 \u201cInitials, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut four of \u2019em?\u201d Hoss asked.\u00a0 Joe just shrugged, and Hoss turned to the gift he held.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom some lady named Michele,\u201d he said, and poured a bagful of wooden puzzle pieces on the table.\u00a0 \u201cI never liked these things much,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, you can put this together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLater,\u201d Adam said, unrolling a scroll of parchment he\u2019d unwrapped.\u00a0 He read aloud, \u201cFrom Mumu:\u00a0 \u2018A very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope it\u2019s a good one, without any fear.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 His smile was a grim one.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll drink to that,\u201d he said, and no one chuckled.<\/p>\n Hop Sing and Ben opened the last two packages at the same time.\u00a0 Hop Sing held up a framed painting\u2014actually three paintings on one panel\u2014of Ben with each of his three wives, and the three sons interspersed between.\u00a0 It was signed\u00a0in the lower right corner\u00a0with the name Conny.\u00a0 A comfortable silence fell as they all gazed at it.\u00a0 There were no regrets in that silence, only warmth and good memories.\u00a0 Then Ben held up the final gift, from someone named Indiana.<\/p>\n It was a daguerreotype, large enough to plainly show the four Cartwright men, Hop Sing, three attractive women (one of them obviously with child), two little girls, and a toddler boy.\u00a0 Hoss held a baby in his arms.\u00a0 And here was another \u201cimpossible\u201d thing:\u00a0 Hoss looked older.\u00a0 He had slightly less hair, a slightly larger girth, and his proud smile showed a definite set of laugh lines.\u00a0 The others looked older, too:\u00a0 Hop Sing\u2019s face was a veritable road map, and Ben\u2019s hair was a gleaming white patch on the black-and-white daguerreotype.\u00a0 Adam, wearing a long black coat with a fur collar, was a handsome middle-aged man.\u00a0 And Joe seemed taller somehow, and his hair was no longer completely dark.\u00a0 It was, however, quite shaggy.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, you need a haircut,\u201d Ben scolded, and they all laughed.<\/p>\n Adam leaned toward the coffee table to begin putting the jigsaw puzzle together.\u00a0 He examined a piece that contained a green eye framed by thick lashes.\u00a0 \u201cSomething tells me,\u201d he mused, looking for a connecting piece, \u201cthis eyeball belongs to you, Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe picked up a piece showing a black hat brim below a silver-studded band.\u00a0 \u201cYours, older brother?\u201d he guessed.<\/p>\n Hop Sing stretched.\u00a0 \u201cEverything opened?\u201d he asked.\u00a0 \u201cNo, still presents there from last night.\u201d\u00a0 He was right:\u00a0 under the tree remained the gifts each Cartwright and Hop Sing had wrapped for each other.<\/p>\n Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI think we\u2019ve opened enough for now,\u201d he said, nodding toward the window.\u00a0 The sky glowed pink and yellow, throwing beams of light onto the breakfast table.\u00a0 Hop Sing had set their places the night before, and he\u2019d undoubtedly been awake even before Joe so he could brew coffee and put the biscuits in the oven.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, they all suddenly smelled those biscuits, and Hop Sing gave a little shriek as he dashed toward the kitchen.\u00a0 Smiling, Ben looked around at his sons.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s eat breakfast,\u201d he said, \u201cand then get started on the day\u2019s work.\u00a0 The rest of the presents will wait until later.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the Christmas feast?\u201d Hoss asked eagerly.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Hoss, after the feast,\u201d Ben agreed.\u00a0 Roasted goose surrounded with potatoes and cranberries, more biscuits, and Hop Sing\u2019s best plum pudding soaked in brandy and blazing with an eerie blue light\u2026yes, the rest of the presents could wait until after that.<\/p>\n As they all started toward the table, Adam held back, touching his father\u2019s sleeve to get his attention.\u00a0 Ben looked at him, waiting.\u00a0 Finally Adam spoke. \u00a0\u201cWhere did these come from?\u201d\u00a0 He picked up a tag, rereading the name on it.\u00a0 \u201cWho are these people?\u00a0 And how did they know\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He scowled.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026certain things?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll probably never figure that out,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He looked toward the window at the sunrise, but seemingly beyond it.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know who they are,\u201d he said softly, \u201cbut\u00a0I feel I know them.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam frowned at the tag, as if it were concealing its secret just to annoy him.\u00a0 Then his face relaxed.\u00a0 \u201cMe, too,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know them, but I know them.\u00a0 And you know what else?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 Smiling broadly, Ben gripped his eldest son\u2019s shoulder for a second.\u00a0 Then they followed Hoss and Joe to the table, where Hop Sing was waiting (most impatiently) with the coffeepot.<\/p>\n To everyone at Bonanza Brand:\u00a0Merry Christmas and a peaceful, prosperous New Year.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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