© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

For Curtis. I wish you were still here to read this. I'm sure you'd enjoy it if you were.

Thank you for being my friend.

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 16

Joyeux Noël

"Good morning darling," said Paul. "How are my beautiful women." Paul leaned to kiss his beautiful wife Andi. Short, curvy, blond hair, big breasts and a delightful smile. She was Paul's dream girl come to life.

"I'm doing fine," said Yi over at the stove. Yi was making oatmeal for the girls. "The twins don't look happy." And Yi looked like she was doing fine. The slim Asian woman with an incredible ass looked like she spent the evening getting fucked into paradise. Her smile was contagious. It was unfortunate only the men were catching it.

Andi was breastfeeding six-week-old Daniel, who was smiling around the nipple he had in his mouth. "Smart little man," thought Paul. That was a breast worth smiling about. His father-in-law Harold was astutely doing yesterday's Sunday Crossword puzzle with his wife Heather. Kenny, Yi's boyfriend (fiancé? Lover? Husband?), was helping Yi prepare breakfast and the six-year-old twins, Sandy and Madeline, came dragging in like they were headed for their execution. Kenny sat out the oatmeal for the twins, who sat at the table staring at their bowls.

"Come on girls, eat up all your breakfast and you can open your advent calendar!" called Andi cheerily. The twins wordlessly swapped their breakfast bowls with each other and began eating.

Just then Kit Mays came down the rear staircase and pulled up a chair next to Andi. Kit (Katrina Mays) was Andi's assisting RN in Denver and they've remained quite close. "Do I get an Advent Calendar too?"

"I thought you were Jewish," said Andi.

"Jesus was Jewish," countered Kit. "So is Lucy." Kit was in town for Christmas (hey - it's a party) and the wedding of their friend Lucy Kocis.

"Maybe you should go to church with Lucy," said Andi. Lucy was a messianic Jew and her church was quite interesting. Paul's brother John, the pastor at Springville Congregational Church, was considering having a joint bible study with the Zoar Valley Messianic Synagogue.

"Why couldn't Cholly stay last night?" moaned Sandy, the oldest of the two twins by two minutes.

"Not on a school night. Besides, he's a little young for sleep overs," said Andi. "Let's wait for him to start speaking English." Cholly is an eighteen-month-old orphan that was dropped in Paul's brother John's lap, literally. Through trial and error, they discovered Cholly has a grasp on French and John and his wife Macy are fluent in French.

"What is everybody doing today?" asked Heather.

"I have a Zoom meeting with my General Managers, and I have a new assistant to break in," said Paul.

"We're having a Countdown to Christmas sale," said Kenny, whose family's feed store was getting into sporting goods in a big way. "The sporting goods that we're carrying is really making a difference this year," he said with a huge grin.

"Chickens!" said Yi. "I need eggs for Christmas baking, we need eggs for egg nog, so I have to go squeeze a couple of chickens." The thought of squeezing chickens caused the twins to giggle.

"I'm going Christmas shopping with John," said Andi.

"Shopping with Unka John?" gasped the twins. "I wanna go too!" they said in unison.

"School," said Paul.

"I'm hanging with Andi," said Kit. Katrina came here to spend time with Andi, and she thought John was cute for a guy.

"I'm going to watch the little darlings," said Heather, who was passionately in love with sitting for her grandson that was named after her first husband, Andi's father, who died in Iraq. Daniel Cyryl (Or Danny Cecil) was named after both of his grandfathers. He will never meet them, but step-grandpa Harold will be there for him, the twins, and Cholly and Katarina. John and Macy's children somehow became Heather's and Harold's grandchildren as well.

"I think when Yi runs out to the farm, if Heather isn't swamped, I'll go see these chickens that my girls keep telling me about," said Harold. Suddenly, he was inundated with advice from the twins.

"Chooky is pretty nice, until she bites you."

"Melissa is the red one. You can pet her but you have to be quick."

"Don't worry if they poop on their eggs."

"Yeah, Grandpa Archie says be happy they're not cows."

"Robert thinks she's a rooster. She's loud."

"Come on you guys," said Yi. "We have to drop Kenny off at work."

"How come she can have a sleep over, and we can't?" groaned Sandy as the twins finished up their last bits of breakfast.

"She doesn't have school in the morning," said Paul as he prepared to leave himself. Still complaining, the twins put their dishes in the dishwasher, pulled on their snow boots, jackets, and toques (knit caps).

They were pulling on their backpacks when Madeline said, "Calendar!" They ran to the doorway that led to the formal dining room, and on either side of the door was an advent calendar. They opened their door on the 20th and each girl found a tiny Christmas tree. Each tree was actually wood painted with a metallic acrylic paint to make it look metallic emerald green. The girls put their tiny treasures on the kitchen windowsill, kissed their mom, brother, grandparents and father goodbye and charged out the door shouting, "Come on Yi!" They love school now that they found a grade level that challenges them properly. Yi backed the transport van out of the garage and opened the side door and the twins scrambled in and climbed in their seats that were far in the back.

When Kenny helped Sandy in her car seat, Sandy furrowed her eyebrows at him. He's never done this! But he had her clipped into the seat safe and secure as Yi clipped Madeline into her place. Then, with Kenny and Harold in the van, Yi backed out of the driveway. As they headed to their school, the twins mumbled to each other in their own language, the language they probably developed in the womb. The twins called it "our language" and Andi calls it TwinBabble®.

"Talking about Santa?" asked Grandpa Harold, who was sitting in a rear facing captain's chair. The twins scowled at Harold. Had he cracked the code? He's been listening to their babble for years, but there are certain concepts that don't have a place in their language, and Santa is one of them. He heard the word Santa as they talked.

Madeline let her feelings out with an anguished, "There's no Santa. He's not real."

"Really?" asked Harold. "Last year you guys were poor, your momma was this close to losing her apartment, and suddenly you have a big house, toys, a cabin and a dog..."

"And chickens!" added Sandy.

"Wonka is Poppa's dog, he lets us borrow him," said Madeline.

"Santa is a very special person who rewards us when we've been good," said Harold. "You and your mommy must have been extra special good for Santa to reward you so well."

"Kids in school say there's no Santa," said Madeline.

"How sad!" said Harold. He remembered being told over and over something last year. "Remember when you found Wonka? Those kids who think there's no Santa will never know the joy of those extra, extra special gifts that Santa gives you even before Christmas."

"Like what?" asked Sandy, hoping there was an extra present waiting for her to open.

"Like Cholly! You were wishing for somebody in your family, a brother or a cousin, that wasn't as little as Danny, someone you could play with, and a lady gave Cholly to Uncle John. She was one of Santa's helpers. Now Cholly is going to have his best Christmas ever also."

"Cholly's funny," said Madeline. "He's scared of the dark."

"He is scared of spankings," said Sandy.

"He should be. Sometimes when you do something very, very bad, a spanking is a reminder of how bad you were, but Cholly got spankings for just being a baby. And they were very, very bad spankings. So, if you do something that scares him, you need to cuddle him and tell him he's a good boy."

"Bon garcon!" said Madeline.

"Yes! Very good! We get to show Cholly what having a good Christmas is all about!" said Harold.

"He likes snow," said Sandy.

"He's just a little boy and has never seen snow before, you'll have to teach him how to build snowmen," said Harold as Yi pulled into a parking lot at school.

"Ok!" cried the twins. Harold unbuckled the twins, and they started to get out of the van. Then Sandy yelled, "MY GLASSES!"

"Hang on," said Yi, and she pulled a Sandy size pair of glasses out of her purse that matched Madeline's prescription glasses except that there were no lenses. Sandy wears glasses in sympathy with her sister and she wears Madeline's favorite color (Pink) while Madeline wears Sandy's favorite color (Purple). Sandy used to have lenses in her frames, but she made so much of a mess with them she could barely see, so Yi took the lenses out and Sandy never noticed.

Harold walked into school with Yi and the twins, and the place was an uproar of Christmas and Chanukah decorations made by the kids. "Miss Freeman, we brought our grandpa from Denver!" called Sandy into the classroom. The young teacher came to the door and shook hands.

"If you're here as a show and tell exhibit, that isn't until tomorrow, so you'll have to wait," she teased. "Are you here for Christmas?"

"And to visit the new arrival," said Harold.

"He's been a special guest several times," said the young teacher.

"We need to get Kenny to work," said Yi, tugging at Harold's sleeve.

"Gotta go," said Harold and they headed out of the building. "This is quite a school, is this the Academy that Andi was talking about?"

"Yes, it's very individualized learning," said Yi. "The twins get second grade reading, third grade math, and kindergarten art. Their hand to eye coordination still needs work and the socializing with kids their age in that class helps."

"Amazing," said Harold as they got back in the van and took Kenny to the feed store where his family was waiting for him. Harold, like Heather two months ago, was stunned at the "antiques" in Grandpa Archie's collection. The store front of Johnson's Feed Store looked like a combination of a flea market, antique tool museum, and Santa's Workshop. With the influx of cash when they recovered the business from a ruthless partner, Kenny's father Davis and grandfather Archie decorated the feed store like it was decorated for Christmas back in the 40s and 50s. Santa Claus was everywhere, garlands decorated every shelf and doorway, and Christmas music by Gene Autry, Doris Day, The Lennon Sisters, and Frank Sinatra filled the air.

"Good morning, Princess," said Archie as Yi and Kenny entered the store front area. Kenny had an arm load of wood for the pot belly parlor stove at the center of the room and he stacked the wood in the wood basket next to the stove.

"Good morning, Grandpa," said Yi as she leaned over and gave Archie a kiss, then kissed Lacy on the cheek. "Morning Grandma. This is Harold Driscoll, Andi's dad. You met Andi's mom Heather."

"Good morning," said Harold. "This is quite an inventory you have here. I can see why Andi and Yi thought this was a museum."

"Everything is for sale," said Archie. "Except Lacy. You couldn't afford her if she was." Lacy folded up the newspaper she was reading, gave Archie a swat with it, then went back to reading.

"Grandpa!" scolded Yi, as she followed Kenny back to the main store.

"I'm just making sure she's got her hearing aids turned on this morning," said Archie, which earned him another swat with the newspaper.

Chuckling over Lacy and Archie, Harold poked through the inventory. "Oh my goodness," he said as he picked up an old, old farm tool.

"Betcha don't know what that is," said Archie. "We have our guesses."

"It's a fencing tool," said Archie. "You clamp the barbed wire with the jaws and twist the handle. My grandfather gave me one of these and would set me out on horseback with a canteen of water and a sandwich and tell me to tighten the fence."

"Where was this, out by Elmira?" asked Archie.

"Wyoming. Antelope Hills was the nearest town to us. It was a day's ride on horseback," said Harold as he continued to poke around.

"What brings you here?" asked Lacy as she started on the Jingo puzzle.

"Grandchildren! Three months ago, I had two, now I have five." When Archie gave him a startled look, Harold explained, "The missus adopted Pastor John's pair of youngsters as our grandchildren too."

"Pair? Sweet little Macy had twins?" asked Archie.

Lacy swatted him with the paper again. "If ya came to church on occasion you might catch up on the news."

Harold picked up a wooden bowl with designs carved on the inside. He chuckled at the tag. "This is not a 'Fancy Soup Bowl', it's a butter mold. My grandmother had quite a collection."

"Butter mold?" asked Archie. "Even the princess missed that one."

"She said it was a mold of some kind," said Lacy without looking up from the puzzle.

Harold held up what looked like a retro sci-fi ray gun. "Cookie press. My Heather and the twins pressed about six dozen spritz cookies this weekend. My grandma Lina Gulbrandsen used to have me pressing spritz cookies all holiday season."

"Sounds like a wise woman. Does your family have a ranch?"

"The ranch went to my cousins and I headed off for fame and fortune in the big city of Cheyenne." He picked up a couple of antique cast iron trivets that were hidden under a few other items. "These are beautiful!"

"The princess has her eye on them, she loves them, that's why she hid them."

"I'll take them. If she asks where they went, tell her some tourists bought them."

In a matter of moments, Archie and Lacy had the set of trivets boxed, gift wrapped, and sold. "I'll have my grandson deliver them."

"Thank you, sir.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Yi. "We have eggs waiting for us!"

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The big Explorer pulled into the driveway, then beeped the horn, and Melissa Kraft panicked. "He's going to fire me. I might as well quit and save him the time."

"Mom, relax," said her youngest son, Damon. "You're going to do fine. You'll be working for Macy anyhow. You're going to be answering phones and email. You do that every day at the church office."

"This is for a big company!" gasped Melissa.

"Mom, chill. Paul and Macy are friends," said her other son, Jacob.

"And Macy is coming to get you," said Damon as he peeked through the front curtain.

"Ok, ok." She pulled on her coat and the boys handed her a messenger bag with notepad and pens and a paper bag containing one bologna sandwich, a twinkie and an apple, then Damon handed her a Casio keyboard that was folded up, then opened the front door for her.

"Bonjour! Joyeux Noël!" called Macy as Melissa stepped down the front stairs of her house.

"Merry Christmas," said Melissa. "That's nice, when did you get an Explorer?"

"I don't have an Explorer," said Macy. "I have a Transit." Then Melissa looked up, and Paul was behind the wheel, looking at his phone.

"He's going to fire me," groaned Melissa.

"He's not allowed to fire you. Not without my permission," said Macy. She put Melissa's keyboard, bag, and lunch in the back. As the women got in the back seat. "Your keyboard?"

"I like to play in my spare time. It settles the nerves," said Melissa. In response, Macy reached behind the seat and produced her violin case. "So I'm not crazy?" asked Melissa.

"No, just not alone," said Macy.

"What, I'm not good enough to ride with?" said Paul as Macy and Melissa laughed and pulled on their seat belts.

"Drive," said Macy.

"Yes Miss Daisy."

As they drove to Orchard Park, Macy walked Melissa through the employee handbook. "If you want to get fired, do not read this book. You will get a test in January on the contents of this book," said Macy. "Much of it is for the sales staff and service reception, people who talk to the public. You will not be one of them."

"I'm the CEO's assistant!" said Melissa. "I don't talk to the public?"

"No, you'll be talking to people that you're allowed to tell shut up." That caused Paul to start laughing. "Did I say something funny?" asked Macy sternly.

"No, you're one hundred percent right," said Paul. "I just never heard it put like that."

"You will be talking mostly to the managers of the dealerships and potential new members of the family. I'll make sure you get full training on the phone system, that's the hard part. The rest is simply to be pleasant. I know you can do that," said Macy.

"I'm pretending most of the time," said Melissa.

"Aren't we all?"

They soon parked next to the showroom and got out of the big SUV. An employee with a special snow blower that was a rotary broom swept the sidewalk perfectly clear from the light snow that was falling. "Hey Sid, how's the wife and little one?"

"They're doing awesome Doctor Jarecki, and welcome back!"

"It's good to be back," and Paul led Macy and Melissa into the main showroom.

The salesmen looked up, surprised to see Macy. Many came up to her and asked to see pictures of Katarina, and Melissa was shocked to hear her old friend being addressed as Marie-Claude and occasionally Doc or Doctor J, never Macy. Soon Macy had a group of people around her, and a couple looked like interested buyers. "Gang, this is MY executive assistant Melissa Kraft. She's a wonderful pianist and maybe she'll play a little something for us."

"Will you play too Marie-Claude?"

"Maybe, IF you behave." She tried to introduce Melissa to the salesmen, and Melissa recognized one from somewhere in Springville, but most were faces in a crowd. What she did notice was that some were wearing racing jackets. Many had a Honda jacket, and two were wearing a Ford jacket. "Let's go get you set up," said Macy and she led her back to the parts department, where they entered an unmarked door and came into a very nice office. There was a flocked Christmas tree in one corner and a beautiful nativity in another corner. It was quite peaceful in the office. There were two desks facing each other and a door between them. "That's your desk there. I don't know if Min left anything in there."

"Who's Min?"

"She was my previous assistant."

"What happened to her?"

"Paul made her C.O.O. Ok, you'll notice there's no waiting room out front, and only chairs for us in here. anyone that comes here has to go into his office or wait out front."

"What's the plan to that?"

"Paul doesn't have you come to him, he'll come to you. If he schedules a meeting it might be in his office, or he'll have it with the GM in the GM's office, or in the conference room or upstairs in the lunchroom. It keeps whomever he's talking with a little off balance."

"Is that a good thing?" asked Melissa.

"It's worked so far." She led Melissa into Paul's office, which was smaller than Melissa expected. It was covered with pictures of Andi, the twins, Daniel, John, Macy, Katarina, and as they walked in Paul was hanging a picture of Cholly.

"Your parents?" Melissa asked, pointing to a picture of John and Paul playing their guitars, Macy playing her violin and an older couple looking on with pride.

"Yes," said Paul.

There were pictures of a very young Paul serving his parents and a tiny John spaghetti in a restaurant. There was a picture of Paul in an Air Force uniform with a beautiful woman in a flight suit. There was a picture of Andi, hugely pregnant with the twins next to a Christmas tree. She noticed something odd about that picture; it looked like the tree was cut from another picture and added to this one, covering something. "This is odd."

"Good eye, Andi didn't notice that herself. That was the last picture of Andi and her ex-husband Frank, who left her for a Minnesota hotel maid a few days later. I covered him up with a Christmas tree."

Melissa continued to look. There were lots of pictures of Paul and Wonka. The brown dog was wearing his service dog vest in many pictures. There was a picture of Andi peering at the twins in their incubator right after birth. Melissa gasped. She didn't realize how tiny they were. The next picture was Andi and Danny right after he was born, and he was bigger than the twins combined at birth. "So many pictures," said Melissa as she studied a picture of a very young John, Paul, Katarina, and Cecil standing next to a tiny tree. The picture was marked 'Christmas Morning' but there was nothing under the tree.

"They remind me of why I'm here," said Paul.

"What's next?" asked Melissa.

"Macy, can I ask you to mind the phones for a few minutes, we're going up to the Compliance office."

"Compliance?"

"It used to be HR. When the term Compliance pisses me off, I'll change it again."

"He hates HR," said Macy as Paul led Melissa out of the office and upstairs to where the business offices were and the lunchroom were located. There were a couple of guys standing in front of the lunchroom door.

"What's up Slim Shady?" asked Paul.

"Waxing the floor Doctor J. We don't want anyone to mess it up."

"Gotcha." He led Melissa into Compliance, formerly HR, and re-introduced her to Monica. "Monica, do your magic, make her a member of the Jarecki family."

"She doesn't look Polish," said Monica as she studied the tall, slim, silver-blond Melissa.

"Neither did Macy before you met her," said Paul as he left.

"Macy was here before me," said Monica. "OK, let's get started..."

Back in his office, Paul sat down and started going through his emails when Macy knocked on his door. She peered in and said, "I think you need to deal with this." When Macy tells Paul, 'I think you need to deal with this,' there's no one else in the company that can deal with it. He stepped out into Macy's office and there was one of his hostlers. Hostler is an old term for the men that handled the horses around a stable. They handled stagecoaches in the coach yards of cities and towns, and they moved railroad locomotives around the railroad yards. For Paul, they're the men and women he hires to move cars around the sales lots.

"What's up?"

"Fisher's sent us an unacceptable car," said the hostler.

"Show me." Fisher's was an import broker that occasionally sends Paul cars. They walked out to the lot and there in the gently swirling snow on a transport truck was a beautiful Maserati Ghibli, a masterpiece of style and technology, with a huge scratch down the side. "I ain't takin' that crap!" said Kent Smith, the GM of the Orchard Park Jarecki Motors Import lot. Paul closed his eyes and shook his head. Why did Sid do this? The truckdriver started to unchain the Ghibli. It was his last delivery, and he wanted to go home early. "No." said Paul fairly loudly. "That does not come off that truck."

"Where should I take it?" demanded the truck driver.

"I don't care," said Paul as he dialed his cell phone. "Sid, Paul Jarecki here. You sent me a Maserati Ghibli with a ten foot long scratch down the side?"

"I figured if anyone can buff out that scratch it's your boys."

"So, you don't mind paying for a full paint job? Because I'm not going to sell that to one of my customers without stripping the entire body and starting over. You call that driver of yours and tell him if he offloads it I'm calling the cops and claiming it was abandoned and ask them to tow it to their impound lot."

"Paul, be reasonable, it's Christmas."

"Do I sound like Santa Claus? Get it off my lot." He hung up on Sid Fisher and turned to the driver. "Take that piece of crap away."

"Where do you suggest I take this?"

"I have several suggestions, and I doubt you'd like any of them. It's not my problem, it's yours and Sid Fisher's. If I look out my window and see you on my lot in ten minutes, I'll have you charged with vagrancy."

"What?" the driver was angry, but Paul didn't say another word to him. He turned to Kent and nodded grimly.

"Don't let him dump that on us," and walked back to the main building.

"Feel better?" asked Macy as Paul stepped into the service bay.

Paul was about to say something, but after months of bowing to politicians, of one disaster after another, having to do without and having to change diapers round the clock for the first time in his life, it felt good to tear into Sid Fisher. Paul didn't like that guy, his dad didn't like that guy, but thanks to some crafty connections in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he doesn't have to take the crap that Sid Fisher sends him. "Yeah," said Paul with a grin. "Feels great."

Macy turned to Melissa, who had finished in compliance and rejoined them. "You need to let Paul vent on occasion."

"Oh... How?"

"You'll figure it out. Come on." They stopped walking in front of a white Ranger and a pewter colored Explorer. "Do you like the Ranger or the Explorer?"

"I think I like the Explorer. Why?"

Macy handed her a key fob. "It's your business car."

"What?"

"You'll be driving Paul to work and home after work, you'll be driving on errands, and taking him to meetings. He likes the rear seat room on these two. Occasionally you'll drive a Mercedes."

"I thought I was just answering phones," gasped Melissa.

"You'll do that too."

"Can I use this for personal needs?" asked Melissa as she looked at the key fob in her hand. She was close to tears. Her old Chevy Citation was near death. It needed thousands of dollars' worth of work. This Explorer was a god-send.

"Like shopping and stuff like that?"

"Yeah, or going to see Devon play at the philharmonic," said Melissa.

"It's not a problem," said Paul, who stepped up behind them. "Just keep in mind that it's owned by Jarecki Motors for my use, so expect a call asking for a ride during office hours."

"You have a garage full of vehicles," said Melissa, but Paul was already heading back to his office.

"He's working on the way in to work and on the way home," said Macy, shaking her head. "Hopefully he can relax with the new C.O.O. taking some of the burden."

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"Hi Cholly!" said Andi, as Cholly walked into the parlor. Andi and her mother were relaxing, Andi was finishing up her knitting projects for Christmas and Heather was reading a magazine, getting ideas for Christmas day.

"Ha!" said Cholly cheerfully, and he pulled his cap off, revealing his mop of curly hair. He threw his cap and mittens on the couch.

"Is that where they go?" asked John as he followed Cholly into the parlor.

"Je suis désolé!" (I'm sorry) cried Cholly. There was panic in the tiny boy's voice.

Andi glared at John and said, "Lighten up daddy. He's a little boy." Then she scooped up Cholly and hugged and tickled him. "Look at this boy," she said in a sing-song voice. "He shouldn't be walking around in terror. I know Cecil and Katarina were firm with you and Paul, but you didn't survive the terror this boy had to survive." She started tickling Cholly and said, "Who whips a boy for pooping?" Cholly looked confused, but Andi started bouncing him. "Pooping is good! Faire caca c'est bien!" which caused Cholly to smile. Then to John she said, "We were going to pick you up, did you walk?"

"Yeah, it's pretty out there, I had princess in a papoose and Cholly on his sled. There's a gentle snow and Cholly sits on his sled nicely as we walk."

"Well Yi and Grandpa should be back soon then we can go."

Soon Heather had her arms full of sleeping babies, her precious Daniel in one arm, and his beautiful cousin Katarina in the other. As Andi resumed her knitting she began talking about how peaceful this Christmas season was compared to the year previous. For her, the big change was that Frank was gone, her fears were banished. Most of Paul's ghosts were healing, and there were three new children to share the holiday with. Cholly was in the corner behind the tree with Wonka. The big brown dog was lying on his side and Cholly was lying on the floor, petting Wonka and singing to him. You could hear Wonka's tail thumping on the floor.

"Can you hear what he's singing?" asked Andi.

"That's Sur le Pont d'Avignon," said John. "It's the French version of Ring Around the Rosey."

Andi saw a movement outside through the front window, then the sound of footsteps on the front porch. The doorbell rang and Wonka jumped up, ready for action, and Andi looked at her phone. The doorbell camera showed a detective she talked to several times after Frank ran her and John over. Why would he be here? Then she saw the big envelope in his hands. He's serving papers. He must be here for Cholly!

She signaled John to grab Cholly and move to the dining room, where they won't be seen. Then she went to the front door and pulled open the big front door. He was holding the storm door open. She stepped forward to block his view into the house. "John Jarecki?"

"Andi Jarecki," said Andi. "John has dark hair." Paul's wise-ass attitude was rubbing off on her.

"I'm looking for John Jarecki," said the cop angrily, realizing that he was just disrespected.

"He doesn't live here anymore," she said.

"Is he here?" asked the cop.

What was his name? thought Andi. Something Irish. "His house is over on Church Street."

"I didn't ask that," said the cop. "I asked if he was here."

"His office hours at the church are Wednesday through Sunday from eight AM..."

"Listen bitch, I'm coming in there and if I find him in there, I'm taking you both in."

"Not without a warrant," said Andi. The tiny woman's voice suddenly grew cold. "If you enter without a warrant, you'll be endangering your life."

"Bitch!" He slammed the envelope into Andi's chest with such force that it drove her back into the house, and she stumbled onto the stairs.

"Donnybrook," muttered Andi, as she picked herself up. "That's his name, Detective Donnybrook."

"Are you ok?" gasped John, and he dashed up to her. Alerted to the problem, Wonka went into guard mode and began growling and barking and he dashed out, barking at the cop who sealed himself in his police car and backed out of the driveway quickly. Howard Avenue was horribly slippery and his rear wheels spun crazily as Wonka stood in the driveway and barked at him.

Andi and John tried to call Wonka back, and Cholly joined them, but Wonka was ignoring him too. Then Cholly noticed some trash on the floor. Momma was always telling him to help pick up around the house and always let him know he was a good boy when he helped. Cholly found a big envelope on the floor and picked it up and toddled off to the kitchen to put it in the trash.

When he finished, Yi and Grandpa came into the kitchen and Yi scooped Cholly up and swung him around. "There's my good boy! What are you up to today Cholly?"

"Hamassy!" he said happily.

"Good boy!" said Yi, not understanding that Ramasser (Pronounced hamassy) was French for picking up. "Let's make more cookies today! What do you say, more krumkake?" (pronounced kroom kaka)

"Kaka!" said Cholly happily.

"Maybe more spritz?"

"Spits!"

"Ok, let's get the iron out and our aprons on..."

In the living room, John was calling the Springville police to report the assault on Andi. "Yes, we have it on security camera, thank you." He hung up and said to Andi, "They'll send someone over right away."

"That doorbell camera isn't going to show everything," said Andi. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

"Where's Paul's tablet? The one he reads on..." Andi found the tablet and handed it to John, who showed her the security footage from the security system.

"I thought all the cameras were outside," she gasped as she watched the confrontation from the vantage point of right behind her. The detective's face was plainly visible. "Where is the camera?"

John pointed out the newel post, the major post for the stair railing at the bottom of the stairs. Hers was elegant with jeweled ornamentations on the carving. "The camera comes on when you open the door."

"Isn't that kind of an invasion of privacy?" asked Andi.

"I suppose you could tell your lover to use the back door," said Heather.

"MOM!"

Twenty minutes later, Sergeant Montgomery was looking at the video footage and said, "You're right, that's Detective Donnybrook. I truly apologize ma'am."

"I understand," said Andi. "Every officer that I have delt with has been professional, and I've delt with detective Donnybrook before, I don't know why he acted this way."

"Well, it's clear he was serving civil papers on Pastor John. I wouldn't doubt that it has something to do with the little boy, but that's not an accepted method of delivery." Just then, with a lot of encouragement from Yi, Cholly toddled up to Sergeant Montgomery and offered him a krumkake. Yi had piped it full of whipped cream and dusted it with powdered sugar. "I shouldn't."

"It's Christmas," said Andi.

"You're right," and he took a bite of the rolled waffle cookie that Paul calls Norwegian Cannolis and rolled his eyes in pleasure. "I haven't had one of these since I was at Minot."

"You were at Minot? Paul was there too, right after he got his commission. My Grandma and Grandpa live in Bismark."

"That's where I grew up," said Heather.

"It's been ages," said Sgt. Montgomery. "I was Security Police on the air base. We used to drive to Fargo because they had a Red Lobster. We'd eat and dash back before they discovered we were gone."

"Paul said they used to race to Grand Forks for the Ground Round," said Andi.

Sergeant Montgomery looked embarrassed but asked, "You wouldn't have any lefse, would you? I haven't had any of that in ages."

"Hang on," and Yi walked back to the kitchen and quickly returned. "Here you go," said Yi, handing the police man several packets of frozen lefse and a rosette.

"Have a Merry Christmas," said Andi.

"I will now!" he said cheerfully and left.

"You ready?" Andi asked John.

"Let's go." When John headed for the door, Cholly got upset and came running and was crying when John picked him up.

"Ne pars pas!" (Don't go)

"Shhh, it's ok, I'll be back very soon. We're going shopping and you can make cookies with Miss Yi. Grandma and Grandpa will be here, Danny and Kit-kat will be here, and you can feed grandpa cookies, and play with Wonka."

"Wonka!" the little boy said, and he wiggled out of John's arms and dashed off to their corner where the dog was napping.

"Thank you so much for watching Katarina," said John as he kissed Heather's cheek.

"Have fun shopping, I hope you find what you want."

Soon they were at a farm a few miles south on US240 near Riceville, NY. They turned off 240 and followed Burns Hill Road to the end, where a large farm sat. Andi pulled into the farmyard and there a fellow came out of the barn and called, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Andi Jarecki, I called yesterday."

"Oh, Andi. Dale Smith," they shook hands, and he said, "follow me," and Dale led them around back to a fenced enclosure where a small shed sat. "Hang on..." he stepped into the shed and stepped out almost immediately carrying a ball of black fur. It was obviously young, but it was the biggest puppy John had ever seen. It was big and husky and the fur was thick, soft and gentle. The fellow handed Andi the puppy and Andi gasped.

"He's so big!" said Andi, laughing at the wiggling puppy.

"He's two months old and he weighs twelve pounds."

"He's got puppy breath," laughed Andi, as the huge puppy licked her face. "Look at his little white socks!" She took the puppy and held it up to John's face and said, "Look at that face! How can you say no to that face?" John looked, and the puppy looked back at him sadly and Andi said, "Look at those puppy eyes! It knows you have a little boy to play with." It gave him a lick, and John took it into his arms.

"It's a moose! I have lighter bowling balls."

"It's a Newfoundland," said the farmer.

"It's a Canadian dog! Macy will love it," said Andi. "She's a black Canadian too!"

"I don't know..." said John, but he was fighting a losing battle.

He gave a sharp whistle, and two enormous dogs came bounding through the snow. "Here's mama and daddy. This is their first litter. We're thinking of one more. They're both young and pure bred and disease free."

"I want to give my niece and nephew a dog for them to play with," said Andi. "His eighteen-month-old loves our lab to pieces so I looked up the best dog with children and the Newfoundland came in tops. Now we have to convince dad that it's ok for Aunt Andi to put a puppy in Santa's sleigh."

"They're incredible with kids. Do you have water on your property? They love the water!" said Dale.

"We have a spring fed pond," said John. "It's mostly for swimming."

"He will love it," said the farmer. "Just let him explore this spring and get used to it. Newfies don't mind cold water so much and they're incredible rescue dogs. If your boy gets close to the water, this fellow might push him away from the shore. They're very protective of their families. His momma, Sally Ann, has helped Erie and Wyoming Counties with several rescues. I can't keep her out of Cattaraugus creek."

John looked at the puppy and sighed, then said sternly, "No chewing furniture. First chair leg I see with teeth marks will be your last." The puppy began licking his face enthusiastically while Andi handed the farmer a wad of cash.

"Does he have a brother or sister that's available?" she asked.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Paul spent the morning and much of the afternoon catching up on work that went undone while he was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was still angry at Sid Fisher for trying to dump a Maserati on him that he couldn't sell. So far, Michelle was working out fine. Paul stepped out and Macy was not around, but Michelle was exploring the laptop that IT gave her.

A while later, while he was reviewing the numbers for the year, Michelle paged him. When he picked up the phone, she said, "The C.O.O. is here."

"Send her in, thank you."

The door opened and Min Zhong Sun walked in. "How's life treating you Min?"

"It's been a long weekend, but we have Portsmouth straightened out. We have a solid sales staff and with the media relations you gave us and having the son of the mayor in the driver's seat is amazing. How did you arrange that?"

"I didn't, we just got lucky. I've known Ernie Hawkins for years; I remember when he started in Olean as a salesman with a few ideas on running a dealership. I never knew that his dad was Chet Horton, the mayor of Portsmouth."

"So," said Min as she sat on a chair in his office. "Where's my office going to be?"

"Where do you want it to be? You can park it in any site in the company."

"I'm thinking Harlem Road."

Paul chuckled. That's where it all began. He thought back to the day that he and John got locked out of their ramshackle little apartment by some whore turning tricks while his mom and dad were desperately trying to save Jarecki motors from a thief that used to be a friend. "See that safe behind me?" asked Paul.

She looked. There in the office was an old safe with a combination lock, just tall enough to be used as an end table. There was a lamp on it and a recliner next to it and it wasn't unusual to see Paul sitting there reading or napping. "Yeah, why?"

"That safe was in the Harlem Road location. A trusted employee, the sales manager Charlie Giffard, was able to pick the lock and steal copies of contracts Dad had in there and sell them to our competition, Walden Avenue Truck."

"Who?"

"Walden Avenue Truck was eventually bought out by a much better run company. The business is still there, it's called Jarecki Motors Commercial."

"That's the first dealership you bought when you took over the business," said Min.

"I think you're right." She was right. Paul purchased Walden Avenue Truck and turned it into a very successful commercial truck dealership. "Anyhow," Paul continued, "it broke dad's heart, he loved Charlie, and Charlie almost destroyed the company. Ask your Uncle Chun about it, he was there. Dad kept the safe close as a reminder that you can love your employees like a spouse, but trust has to be earned over and over."

"That's why you were so angry in Portsmouth?"

"Yep, there's no way I could trust those guys. I didn't even trust our spy guy Josey Kersey."

"So what's in the safe now?" asked Min.

"An illegal substance," he reached over and swung the safe door open and she could see that the safe was empty except for a bottle of Cutty Sark Scotch. "The last bottle. The seal is still intact and there's a dab of epoxy on the cap. Nobody is going to get that open."

"So no Christmas cheer?"

"I have plenty of Christmas cheer. I have a pair of twin girls waiting for me at home to read their little brother a Christmas story. A wife who, like me, was once so broke the thought of Christmas made her nauseous." Paul paused for a long time, then said, "I had a dollar to do my Christmas shopping, and I couldn't get my parents and my little brother anything for Christmas. My stomach hurt. I couldn't eat and mom wanted to take me to a doctor, but we couldn't afford that. I cried myself to sleep every night in December. Finally, mom came into our room and asked me what was wrong, and I told her. I said, 'I don't have a way to get you a gift that says how much you mean to me.' and she said, 'me too.'"

"My mom was a parent who couldn't afford a few extra cents to get their boys a toy truck or a pair of socks. She was heartbroken and sick about the whole thing just like me. Every extra dime went to bills or food or to keep the business afloat. She climbed into bed with me and John, and we both cried. We soon had John crying with us."

"What happened?"

"Dad heard us. He came in and said 'that is not Christmas! The presents, the tree, the lights, that is all secular, profane! There was ONE gift on Christmas, and it cost us nothing and gives us everything. We are our gifts to each other.' That year we had a little tiny tree. I think dad cut a branch off a tree behind his shop; our Charlie Brown tree came to life. We put candles on it, just like they do back in Poland, and we went to mass, then we lit the candles and told each other what our greatest blessing has been. No toys, no clothes, no cars, but what means most. We still do it, every Christmas eve."

Min, who is new to Christmas, was about to say that his story was so sweet, but then Paul started laughing. "That's a beautiful story, what's so funny?"

"Last year, I married the woman of my dreams, and we spent our wedding night in my cabin. At midnight Andi said "Stop! Hands off! Get out of bed!" Macy had told her about the candles and as my brother and friends recited their Christmas blessing in my living room, in my cabin Andi and I stopped our wedding night and lit our candles and recited our blessings."

"That's sweet," said Min with a smile. Then her phone chimed, and she glanced at it. "It's time, let's go."

"Go?"

"I promised to deliver you."

"I have a zoom meeting in about ten minutes," said Paul.

"I canceled it."

"You canceled my meeting?"

"I canceled quite a few things," said Min as she led Paul through an empty outer office. Everything was closed, the parts department, service, all silent. But he heard music coming from the showroom and Min led him out there, past the empty offices where dozens of people were normally working. The music was coming from the showroom, and it was clearly Macy and Melissa on violin and Casio keyboard playing In-a-Godda-Da-Vida.

When Paul stepped into the showroom, he realized that all the employees were there. When they saw Paul was there, all the conversations stopped and suddenly everyone started singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" as Melissa and Macy played along.

"What? What's going on?" asked Paul.

"Something the gang thought up. I gave them permission," said Min with an uncharacteristically sweet smile.

"It has come to our attention that you've been a little busy," said Kent Smith. There was a speaker system in the building and Kent had a hand mic. "We send you to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to sell a few cars and you came back with eighty-one woman that were kidnapped into the sex slave trade, one hundred pounds of fentanyl, over two dozen human traffickers and drug dealers in handcuffs, and a brand new C.O.O. Then you come home and how do you relax? You and your brother rebuild a Vietnam Veteran's home for her. A year ago you were a happy-go-lucky bachelor surgeon with a law degree selling cars, now you have a wife, two girls, and a boy. When do you find time to sell cars?"

A man that Paul recognized emerged from the crowd of revelers and Kent said, "Our friends in Detroit heard about what you have been up to, and here is Dale Greer, president of Dealer Relations for the Ford Motor Company."

Paul realized he had his arm around Andi, and at that moment, he wished for nothing more. With Andi at his side, he could conquer anything. He felt a slug on his right arm and there was John who had his arm around Macy. "We at Ford realize Jarecki Motors is owned by two people, Paul and John Jarecki. John, I understand that you do not take an interest in the operations of Jarecki Motors?"

"Paul has my full support, I'd just screw it up, so my wife keeps an eye on him."

Dale looked at Paul and said, "You and Miss Sun could have gotten yourselves killed, but you did what needed to be done, and you freed a lot of innocent people caught up in the slave trade. Yet somehow you made your sixth million dollar in sales. For that we would like to award you with the new Team Ford racing jacket." And two salesmen put the new jacket on Paul. It was spectacular, metallic Ford racing blue with the white racing stripes down the left side and touches of bright red piping. Min was given the basic Team Ford jacket, very light blue. It was nice, but not the same as the salesmen get for topping five million dollars in sales.

When the applause was over, Dale returned to the mic and said, "It's efforts like yours that made Jarecki Motors, Ford's dealership partner of the year." This was huge. This was an incredible recognition of the twelve pure Ford dealerships in the Jarecki family. The cheering rang the rafters. There were people hugging, clapping, laughing and soon they were chanting Paul! Paul! Paul!

Andi hugged Paul as hard as she could and whispered, "You did it!"

"Because you were there for me," said Paul and they kissed.

"We were hoping to debut a new car at Jarecki Motors and this is the flagship location, is that not true?" asked Dale.

"It's the closest one to my home," said Paul as he and Andi approached Dale. "But yeah, dad wanted this location to be his gem. He wanted it to be a museum of all that is incredible and for sale at the same time."

"And I understand you only sell Super Cars here, is that also correct?"

Paul realized he was being baited, but he said, "Yes that's true. The only Ford products sold here are the Lincoln Black Label vehicles."

"Then would you consider selling this here?" and the crowd parted. There was a car behind them, and it was under a tarp. The gang from service lifted the tarp to display the new S650 Shelby GT 500 Mustang, not due out until the next model year. It was painted Ford Forest Green, which on a Mustang is called Bullit Green. The entire crowd went wild. Even Macy and John, who are not impressed by hot cars, were excited.

Andi squealed when she saw the car. It was art. Angry pavement chewing art. A car that looked like zero to sixty was done in one leap. It was beautiful... it was power personified, and she couldn't wait to take it for a ride. "Uh yeah, you make those, we'll sell them... reluctantly," said Paul as he admired the beautiful lines of the Mustang. So beautiful, so angry, and so completely alien from his sweet pony sitting in the front window. That made him think of another admirer of cars. "Min, I want a picture of this and my pony together."

"You got it boss," she said cheerfully.

As Paul shook hands with Dale, the man from Detroit said, "We would like you to come work for us Paul."

"You can't afford me," said Paul. "This is my home. I've roamed the world and thought that was for me but when Macy and John reminded me what was real, I realized this is where I belong. I'm licensed to practice law here, I'm licensed to practice medicine here, and I play guitar in church. I can help people a thousand ways."

"You can do all that in Detroit," said Dale.

"No. I can't. I'll retire first."

"You should be retiring anyhow," said Andi. Then she whispered in his ear, "I have a plan to get you your dog back."

"I can't wait to see that," said Paul. He loves his wife and his girls, but he misses his dog that the twins hijacked.

The party moved upstairs, and as Paul entered the lunchroom, Min snapped to attention in front of him, blocking his way. "SIR!" she shouted and gave him a British salute. "C.O.O. Sun Zhong Min requests a one-time waver to the alcohol prohibition due to exemplary actions by the men and women of Jarecki Motors."

"Ok C.O.O., if there is to be drinking I want to see designated drivers, company cars are off limits and the building spotless in time for work in the morning."

"Aye, aye, SIR!" and with a grin, she turned to the crowd and said, "Let there be beer!"

There was a cheer, and the beer began to flow. There was a beer keg set up behind a Christmas Tree. The hose from the beer tap was routed through the branches of the tree, giving the impression of a beer tree. A huge tub was full of ice and canned soda, and bottles of iced tea, hard lemonade, and bottles of water. A large table with huge submarine sandwiches cut into 2 inch portions, Christmas cookies, hot coffee and cocoa. "This is quite a layout Min."

"Monica, your Compliance officer set it up," said Min. "She said, 'he can't deny us now! Especially on a Monday.' I don't understand the part about Monday."

"In my experience office parties held on a Monday are more subdued because everyone has to be to work on Tuesday."

"Very wise sir."

"Shall we head home?" Paul said to Andi. "I think my work here is done until tomorrow."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"Where's your folks?" asked Paul at dinner that evening.

"They're having dinner with Rabbi and Mrs. Blustein," said Andi.

"Are your folks thinking of converting to messianic Jew?" asked Paul as he took a fussy Danny and began to bottle feed him. The little guy was pushing the bottle away and Paul said, "I understand, it's better on tap." Andi was about to say something but Paul said, "Isn't Loretta Blustein a realtor?"

"Yes she is," said Andi with a grin.

"What does that mean?" asked Madeline.

"A realtor helps sell real estate," said Andi, knowing that the twins would accept that answer for a few minutes. It was up to her and Paul to distract them from revisiting the question.

Dinner was delicious and simple: meat loaf, mashed potatoes and frozen vegetables from the garden. "Kenny and I are going out to dinner tonight," said Yi as she pulled on her jacket. "I'll be back in time for practice."

"Ok," said Andi. "Going anywhere special?"

"The Red Mill Inn in Arcade"

"Oooo, that's a nice place," said Andi. "Very romantic!"

"I know," grinned Yi. "I think he's up to something." She headed out the door as Kenny's pickup pulled up the drive. "Wish me luck!"

"Arcade?" asked Sandy, thinking of a video game Arcade.

"Remember where we rode the big chuffy train this summer? That's Arcade," said Andi as Yi dashed out. The Arcade and Attica Railroad has been hauling tourists through the hills of Western New York for decades.

"Oh!"

"Not as good as Colorado," Madeline said with a pout. Her grandfather made sure that the twins rode every tourist train between Denver and Cañon City, Colorado.

"You said that on the train at Arcade, until the whistle started blowing and it scared the cows and you thought that was great fun," said Andi, causing Madeline to giggle at the memory.

"Where was poppa?" asked Sandy.

"Yeah, where was poppa?" asked Paul as he bottle fed Danny.

"Working," said Andi. "Working as usual."

Paul took a break from burping Danny to take a bite of dinner. "I think that I'll be able to get more free time now with a C.O.O. helping out."

"Yeah. If she's running the different sites, what will you be doing?" asked Andi.

Paul thought for a moment, then said, "Golf. I always wanted to play. I'm a doctor and a lawyer. I could play against myself."

"You're also a businessman, you could be a threesome," said Andi as she fed Paul a mouthful of mashed potatoes and gravy.

"Why don't we take it up together?" asked Paul around the mashed potatoes. "You're a doctor too."

"Yes, why don't we?" said Andi. Golf looked like a wonderful way to mess up a nice walk outdoors.

"What's golf?" asked Sandy.

"When Uncle John has those metal clubs at the cabin and he hits little white balls? That's golf."

"Oh."

"Do you girls have homework tonight?" asked Paul.

"Yes," groaned the twins in unison.

"What's your homework?" asked Andi.

"An essay, what was my greatest present," pouted Sandy.

"That should be easy," said Andi. "How long did we go with little dollar general dolls and socks for presents? We ate a roast chicken from King Sooper every year instead of turkey... then everything changed last year! What did you get last year?"

Paul finished his dinner and sighed. "I have homework tonight," he said as he carried his dishes to the dishwasher with one hand, a sleepy Danny in the other hand. "I'll be in my office if you need me." He shouldered Danny's bag and headed upstairs.

The girls finished their supper, got their paper and pencils out and stared at the blank pages. They got so many things last year, it's hard to remember them all. Games and puzzles and dolls and skates and bikes... Poppa bought them so much. "Poppa!" cried Sandy.

"Yes?" urged Andi as she sat at the head of the table knitting.

"He let us have Wonka!"

"So close," sighed Andi. But it was Madeline who got the question right.

"I got a daddy," she said softly.

Andi leaned over and kissed Madeline's cheek. "Yes. God gave us a daddy."

"And a house!" said Sandy.

"We got the same thing," said Madeline.

"I'm sure you will use different words to describe it. How many words is your essay?"

"Fifty!" moaned Sandy. She was sure that fifty was about the limit that any human can write.

"Make it seventy-five to make your teacher happy."

"Seventy-Five!"

"Just write the story, I'm sure you will have more than enough story for seventy-five words. I have to get the door." Andi walked out to the front door and saw there was a police man out there. "Can I help you?" She was sure this had something to do with Detective Donnybrook.

"Could I speak to Paul Jarecki?" asked the cop.

"Doctor Paul Jarecki."

"Sorry ma'am. Could I see Doctor Jarecki?"

"Hold on." Andi picked up her cell phone and called Paul. Andi discovered that a cell phone in a house this big is a necessity. "Honey, there's a cop that wishes to speak with you."

"I'm a bit busy," said Paul. "Send him up."

"Ok dear." Andi looked at the policeman. His shuddering nerves showed he was clearly new at the job. "He's in his office, follow me." Andi led the policeman through the parlor, through the main dining room, and kitchen where the twins worked on their essays like they were handwriting the Magna Carta. "Homework," said Andi. "Last assignment before Christmas break."

"My little one just started school. She's got a while before writing essays."

"They just started school this year too," said Andi proudly. Even though they're six, they still look like pre-school children because they were so tiny. They really stand out among the second and third-grade students they were pummeling academically.

"Mama and Grandpa teaches us," said Sandy without looking up from her paper. Andi watched her girls as they worked, each letter crafted slowly, painfully with tiny hands that were untrained, but learning.

"This way," said Sandi as she led the police officer up the back staircase to the attic. "His office is at the end of the hall," and she pointed down a plank floored hallway.

The young police officer stepped into the office and saw Dr. Paul Jarecki, cardiologist, lawyer, successful businessman. He was studying a computer monitor with a pencil clutched in his teeth while at the same time he was changing a baby's diaper. "How can I help you officer?"

"The Mayor would like to have a word with you," said the young policeman.

"As you can see, I'm buried. If the mayor would like me to give him a call I'll be done with this in about three or four hours."

"The mayor would like to see you in his office."

Paul opened his calendar and looked. "I can work him in... tomorrow at five." Paul had misgivings about Mayor Windecker. He was clearly suffering from Big Fish in a Small Pond syndrome. Best yet, he appointed his brother-in-law, Dick Harvey, as the chief of the Village Police Department. The Springville PD was created to provide extra security for the parks of Springville. They have no authority outside of the parks and law enforcement was handled by the Town of Concord police department. Somehow, Mayor Windecker reasoned that the neighborhoods around the parks required PD protection also and expanded their reach to encompass the entire village.

"The mayor would like to see you now,"

"We could zoom," said Paul. "That's the best I can do." He handed the policeman Danny's spent diaper and said, "could you ask my wife to toss this on your way out please?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," said Officer Brown.

"You've already asked me that, I've already said no. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do. Thank you." Danny was fussing, so Paul tried feeding him again, but it was clear the little guy wanted his mommy. Paul knew this jerk in his office wasn't done, so he took his cell phone and put it in his shirt pocket with the camera pointing out. He was now live streaming everything that was going on in his office on the internet.

Officer Brown took out handcuffs and said, "Paul Jarecki, you are coming with me."

"You're arresting me? For what?"

"Failure to follow an officer of the law's orders."

"That's not a real charge. That only works if you arrest me on a legitimate charge which you have not done. Try again Patrolman."

The young cop had enough. He pulled his gun and aimed it at Paul. "God damn it Jarecki, the mayor wants you in his office now. Get out of that chair."

"You pull a gun on a man with a baby? That's pretty spineless."

"Put the baby down and get up Mister Jarecki."

"No, you have nothing to charge me with..."

Just then, Officer Brown stepped up and hit Paul on the side of his head with his gun, nearly causing him to drop Danny. He heard Andi scream as she was watching from the doorway. The pain was incredible. Paul felt his hands go numb and his vision faded. "As you can see, this police man just committed a felony," Paul said to whoever was watching his live stream, but it came out all slurred. Then he heard Andi, "Honey, just go." She gently took Danny from him and whispered in his ear, "I called Sammy. Sammy says to go." He looked at her with bleary eyes, unable to form words. The pain in his head was all-encompassing, but he heard Andi when she said, "We'll be ok."

<><><><><>

"What is this?" demanded Amelia Hernandez as she glared at her dinner plate. Meat, potatoes, carrots, all covered with gravy. It looked incredible, and it smelled awesome, but as Dexter learned, Amelia's tone of voice rarely matched her mood.

"It's pot roast," said Dexter Humboldt. Life in the little house over on Argentine Road had quickly settled into something that people would call A Life. Two lonely people were brought together for no reason other than to talk and share stories and have a quiet meal together. And on Fridays they watched Blue Bloods. Both Dexter and Amelia were medics in Vietnam. Dexter was a field medic, a Spec 4, Amelia was a nurse, a captain and had an amazing career going until she was shot by an American troop stoned out of his skull on something. Possibly LSD. One stray bullet in her hip took everything away.

Dexter had a happier life, but one stray cluster of cancer cells settled into his wife and soon his partner of over 50 years was gone, and so was his reason to live. Somehow Amelia and Dexter, who were assigned to the same base 50 years ago but never met, found kindred souls. Amelia found someone who didn't mind putting up with her grouchy attitude, and Dexter found someone who would listen to his stories.

"Did you hear the rats under the house last night?" asked Amelia. "They sound huge."

"Maybe a raccoon?" Ventured Dexter. He had found the skirting of the house knocked down yesterday, so he called Gus, who came out and secured all the skirting good and firm with screws. "I don't think they'll get in tonight after Gus fixed us up."

"Do you have a gun?" asked Amelia. "I don't trust these rats."

"Yeah, an old souvenir that I've kept."

As they ate by the light of a single bulb, at some point Amelia actually complimented Dexter's cooking. His response was interrupted by the sound of something scratching against the house. "Rats!" hissed Amelia.

"I'll get the damn thing," whispered Dexter. The old man got up and quietly made his way to his end of the house, where the sound grew louder. He took his cane, an aid that has been coming into use more and more lately, and quietly unlocked the latches and bolts on his apartment door and quietly stepped outside. There, in the light of distant Christmas lights, was his rat, a human rat. It had pulled the skirting away and was trying to crawl under the house.

"Get out of here!" shouted Dexter, and he began to hit the human rat who, instead of trying to crawl under the house to get away, crawled back toward Dexter because his Sam Brown belt was caught on the skirt. The human rat finally worked his way free and ran off into the night covered in bruises, but it left behind a couple of items.

Dexter knew enough to put his gloves on before he touched those items and he took them into the house. One he placed in the secret hiding spot under his bed, the other wouldn't fit, but it made a nice souvenir. He returned to the dinner table and placed the police uniform hat on the table. "Pretty big rats." Amelia said as she ate a second helping of pot roast.

"He left a pistol in the snow," said Dexter. "Paul showed me a nice place to hide it."

"I think it's time to call Paul," said Amelia.

Dexter dialed Paul's cell phone, but it went directly to Voice Mail. He tried another number that Paul gave him and John answered the phone. "Pastor John, this is Dexter, we had a fellow try to get under the house, Paul told me to call him if something like that came up."

John looked helplessly around Paul's parlor. Andi was completely devastated. She clutched little Danny to her chest and wept. Her friend Kit Mays held her close and was in tears as well. The twins were wandering back and forth, crying for their papa. There's something damaging about seeing your husband or your father being dragged off in handcuffs by a cop with his gun drawn. "What happened Dexter," John asked as Macy tried to get Andi to speak. John had answered Andi's phone.

"Some guy tried to get under Amelia's house again, this time I stopped him and chased him off."

"You chased him off?" John almost laughed at that. Dexter is in his 80s, he only chases naps now.

"Well, I convinced him to leave with my cane. But he left a couple of items behind."

"Like what?"

"A Village of Springville Police Department hat with the name card bearing the name of H. Dalton."

John knew Hank Dalton. He used to come to his church. "I'll tell Paul when he is free," said John.

"Pastor, he also left behind a 9mm Beretta."

<><><><><>

The Sammy that Andi called was Samuel Wynn, a member of John's church, and he'd be a shoo-in for the church board if he ever ran for a position. Sam was a good man, a godly man, and he was a cutthroat, no holds barred defense attorney. Andi has been begging Paul to retire for a year, and Sam has been double teaming him, promising Paul, "Play a few rounds of golf with me teaching you and you'll have a six handicap."

Paul still needs to ask him what a six handicap is.

Sammy waited patiently outside of the mayor's office, watching Paul's live stream on his phone. He watched the cop yank Paul out of the rear seat and up the stairs into the village hall, where Sam could look up and see Paul being shoved down the hallway. Sam stood and straightened up. He needed to look good; he was now live on the internet. "Officer, what is my client being charged with?"

"Failure to obey an officer."

"I'm going to need you to cite the ordinance that covered that."

"That is village ordinance fuck dash you."

"Thank you, officer Michael Brown. Paul, let me do the talking."

They entered the mayor's office and Mayor Windecker grinned that damn grin he gave everyone, regardless of the situation. "Paul, who is this and why do I have to send a driver for you. We're old friends. Right Paul?"

"Mister Mayor, my client is currently under arrest charged with failure to obey an officer which I believe is either a felony or bogus, there's no such law on the village books. Regardless he is exercising his right to remain silent."

"There's no charges!" assured the mayor with the charm of a rattlesnake. "I just wanted to talk."

"There are no charges?" asked Sammy. "You can assure Doctor Jarecki that you never intended to bring any charges against him?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then what's with the handcuffs? Why is he bleeding from a head wound?"

"Handcuffs? No, there's no handcuffs. I just want to talk about Mrs. Jarecki's encounter with a detective this morning." Officer Brown removed the handcuffs, and Paul rubbed his wrists.

"I just want to be sure that there was never any order to bring Doctor Jarecki here against his will," said Sammy in a tone of voice that spoke of friendship and possible misunderstanding.

"Never, I just wanted to talk to Paul."

"Ok then," said Sammy and he opened the mayor's office door and two state troopers and a town of concord policeman entered. "Michael Brown, you are charged with the assault and abduction of Doctor Paul Jarecki. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law..."

Meanwhile, Paul took his cell phone out of his pocket, set the camera to focus on him, and began speaking to it. "I've never live streamed anything except my wedding and parties for the kids, I hope this turned out well enough to be used as evidence against Officer Brown and Mayor Windecker. If you're watching Andi, I'm on my way home."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The Red Mill Inn was a beautiful restaurant in a beautiful tiny town in Western New York. Unlike other restaurants named Red Mill or Old Mill, this restaurant was actually made from an old water mill. The building was full of huge heavy beams and the table settings were intimate and illuminated by a hurricane lanterns and Christmas lights that were wrapped around the ceiling beams.

"This place is marvelous!" gushed Yi. "I'd love to see the kitchen."

"They're looking for help here," said Kenny.

"I couldn't afford the pay cut," said Yi. When Kenny gave her a questioning look, she said, "I'm being paid as an executive chef, and as a governess for kids that I love, I get extra money from John and Macy watching Cholly and Katarina, and I get a vehicle. Nobody is going to pay me that kind of money."

"But you love to cook."

"I worked for Bobby Flay for two months. He was riding on a yacht I was cooking on, and he invited me to join his Miami restaurant. I learned so much in those two months... I learned that cooking for 20 was better than cooking for 200, and cooking for 5 was better than cooking for 20."

"You really love Paul and Andi," said Kenny.

*Almost as much as I love you,* she said silently.

"Say it out loud," said Kenny.

"But you feel it when I... you know."

"I feel it when you say it too. Sometimes it feels good to hear it. You know... when you had a tough day, you were planning your menu, and Danny needs to be held, and the twins don't want to do their homework... when your brain is tired, but your heart is hungry. And sometimes it feels good to say it."

"Is your heart hungry?"

"I spent a whole day selling skis and snowshoes and you were four blocks away, close enough to reach out and touch you with my heart..." said Kenny. "My heart is very hungry."

"I love you," said Yi for the first time out loud. "Wow," she said softly. "That makes it so real." They were holding hands across the table, and she lifted his right hand and kissed the ring he wore, and she felt it too. The ring had a band of mother of black pearl on the inside that touched his finger and transmitted feelings and sensations and thoughts to her black pearl jewelry. He also had black pearl on his watchband, and a black pearl on his dog tag chain that he always wore.

Yi wore black pearl earrings, a black pearl on a necklace and non-piercing nipple jewelry. They were tight spirals of silver with a tiny black pearl that was held tight to her nipple as the spirals of silver squeezed her nipple. It made her nipples erect, visible, and so sensitive. Every time she moved, her silk blouse slipped across her sensitive nipples and suddenly she was moaning softly in delight. And so was Kenny.

Kenny kissed the back of her hand and said, "I love you too. I wish I was rich and could give you a house that was..." but she stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"We'll make our own rules," she said. "Let's start with a menu."

"No menu tonight, let's see what the chef sends out." As Kenny said that a very Christmassy looking martini was placed in front of Yi. It was red with a slice of lime clinging to the rim of the glass.

Yi sipped and her eyebrows shot up. "Tequila, Grand Mariner, cranberry, lime... this is good!"

"You nailed it, they call it a passion cocktail, but the colors and flavors work good for Christmas too," said Kenny. As they spoke about their drinks, the waiter placed a bowl of clear, lightly brownish broth in front of Yi. She looked at it. It had to be chicken broth or weak beef broth. Kenny sipped a spoonful of his and said, "absolutely perfect," to the waiter.

"Very good sir." And the waiter disappeared.

With a confused look, Yi said, "I keep smelling tomatoes."

"Taste it," said Kenny between spoonfuls of his broth.

Yi sipped the broth, and the flavor of fresh, ripe tomatoes filled her mouth. "This is incredible! Tomato consommé! How did they do it?"

"Good tomatoes I guess."

The next course came out after the consommé was finished. Each got two large grilled tandoori shrimps. The sweetness of the shrimp was a perfect counterpoint to the coriander, cumin, and garam masala spices.

"Kenny, this is amazing, you're taking me to school tonight."

"I called the chef and said 'I'm dating a smoking hot executive chef, make me look good. He said, 'hang on to your hat.'" As Kenny said that the main course was brought out, chicken piccata on angel hair pasta with garlic bread. A bottle of wine was brought to the table and poured as Yi tasted the best chicken meal she's ever had. Chicken breast with capers, lemon, and parsley.

"This was so incredible," sighed Yi. "I need to learn these dishes. It might get me a raise." As she said that, a small chocolate soufflé was placed before her. "No really, I can't eat another bite."

"Taste," insisted Kenny and he took a small sample of the soufflé on his fork and held it to her mouth, and she tasted it.

"Oh god, that's perfect," she groaned, and they shared the delicious treat. After they finished the meal, they sat drinking in each other's gaze, until Yi said, "what? You look like you're dying of yellow fever."

"I used to have yellow fever, I found that the women of Korea were beautiful and smart and hardworking, but I don't have yellow fever anymore, I have Yi fever. Your beauty, your charm, and your whit are everything a man could ever want. And we work together so well..."

Yi knew what was happening. It was something she dreamed of as a little girl, a handsome man opening his heart to her... is he proposing to her? She was trembling, listening to every word. Tears filled her eyes. His words were poetry, and she was sad that she'd never remember all of them, but she could tell from her black pearls that he was speaking from his heart. Then he kneeled by her side holding a diamond ring saying "Nae salang nalang gyeolhonhae jullae?" (My darling, will you marry me?)

His Korean diction and pronunciation were perfect. In the background, the restaurant pianist played a joyful version of her favorite Christmas carol, Ding Dong Merrily on High! She looked at the ring, it sparkled in the light of the candles and the Christmas lights and all she could say was, "Ye!"

"What does that mean?" a terrified looking Kenny asked.

"It means Yes!" she cried, and she threw herself into his muscular arms and the diners around the restaurant applauded. Between kisses, Yi said, "You proposed to me perfectly, but you didn't know what Ye means?"

"Your mom never taught me yes or no."

"My mom taught you how to propose?" gasped Yi.

"No... she just taught me how to say it in Korean," said Kenny. "Everything was mine."

As Yi peppered Kenny's face with kisses, the waiter said, "Chef David wonders if you would like to see the kitchen."

"Oh Yes!" gushed Yi.

The waiter led them back to the kitchen, that Kenny thought was small. It was tiny compared to what he's seen on the food network. It was just a bit larger than Paul and Andi's kitchen. "Well?" grinned the head chef. "Did my meal work?"

Before Kenny could answer, Yi called out, "Yes it did! He finally asked!"

"Chef Yi-jin! Your reputation precedes you!" said the Chef laughing. "I heard of your cooking on the Western Dawn. I'm Chef David; I'm a graduate from the Culinary Institute also."

"I know," said Yi, "a few years before me. You set the bar quite high."

"How did you enjoy your dinner?" asked Chef David.

"I loved every bite, but you know what knocked it out of the park for me?" said Yi. "The tomato consommé. It was amazing! I can't wait for our tomatoes this summer." She turned to Kenny and asked, "Do you think they'll let me do a half-acre of tomatoes?"

"Oh? What have we going here?" asked Chef David with a grin.

"I'm currently executive chef for a family in Springville, and they... we put in an enormous garden this year. There's about two dozen chickens, wild turkey, deer, game-birds of all kinds, and bass the size of a football. On one side of us is a dairy farm, on the other side is a hog farm. We have a side of beef, and a side of pork cut, wrapped, and in the freezer. It's a field-to-table paradise."

"Fresh milk, eggs, and bacon every morning," said Kenny. "If Doctor Jarecki could grow coffee he would."

"Doctor Paul Jarecki? The car guy?"

"That's my boss," grinned Yi.

"He sold me my Ferrari 488," smiled Chef David. "So, you're the super cook he stole from Andi's Dream."

"That's me. I still cook on Andi's Dream when the family takes her out. Working a yacht is a lot of fun, but I don't want to do something like the Western Dawn again. That was like cooking on a cruise liner."

Chef David showed her around the kitchen and introduced her to his staff. "He's not going to let you cook?" asked Kenny.

"Nope," said Yi. "He can't. If I screw something up, he can't yell at me."

"And if she comes up with something amazing, I can't steal it from her."

Soon they were heading back to Springville, full of hope for the future. "When do you want to have our wedding?" asked Yi.

*You're the bride, * said Kenny silently. *Whenever you want. It's your timeline. *

"I don't want to be celibate for months so John and Macy can marry us," she said with a pout.

"If we were legally married, like with a justice of the peace, John has no say in it. He won't tell a married couple to stop having sex. He'll have a reaffirmation of vows ceremony."

"You talked to John already?" asked Yi in shock.

"No! Of course not," said Kenny with a smile. "I talked to Macy."

They pulled into Johnson's drafty old house; it was the first Christmas that Kenny ever saw actual joy in the house. Mom was baking a mincemeat pie for Christmas dinner, along with Grandma Lacy. Grandpa Archie was nearby to grab any leftovers. Cheerful Christmas music played throughout the house and two of Kenny's nephews were dashing around playing their own version of laser tag.

"You two are up to something," said Kenny's mom Angi.

"What makes you say that?" said Kenny as he handed Yi a Christmas cookie, and they headed toward the living room.

"Kensington! You get back here!" called Angi.

Kenny and Yi backed into the kitchen and said, "What's up mom?"

"You two are grinning like a couple of monkeys at the zoo! Now tell me."

"There's nothing going on, we had a great dinner in Arcade, and I have to get Yi home before Doc locks her out of the house."

"This is a really great cookie, Mrs. Johnson," said Yi. "Thank you."

"That? That's a store-bought cookie," said Grandma Lacy. Then she noticed the sparkle on the hand that held the cookie. "Awww you kids! Come give grandma a hug."

"What?" asked Angi and as Lacy hugged Yi, Yi held her hand up so Angi could see the ring. "Kenny!" she cried and smothered her son with kisses. She never thought on the day she found out she was pregnant from being raped that there could be joy like this in her heart. "I am so proud of you..." She wanted to call him her baby, but that didn't go over well when he went to Basic Training. "Davis! Get in here and congratulate your son!"

Kenny's dad stepped into the kitchen looking tired from a long day at work. So was Archie. Grandpa Archie has been spending a lot of time on the sales floor. The sporting goods, clothing, and farm toys that Kenny insisted on stocking were going faster than hotcakes and coffee after a long sermon. Their exhaustion disappeared when they saw the excitement and joy in the room. "What is it?" he asked in a mock angry tone and Yi extended her hand and Dave saw the ring. "Oh my..." he said almost sadly, then he cheerfully said, "Another daughter! One that can cook!" and he pulled Archie's 'princess' into his arms for a smothering hug.

They pulled into Jarecki's driveway a lot later than they expected and were surprised to see the house lit up. "Damn, I missed practice," said Yi.

"Maybe they're waiting for you," said Kenny.

"Whose car is that?" There was a Cadillac in the driveway and a lot of lights were on in the house. They came in the kitchen door and the twins came running up to them, their eyes red from crying. "What's the matter squirts?"

"Poppa got arrested!"

"He got hand snuffed!"

Something was up. They could see many people in the parlor. "Jammies! Now!" said Yi in full governess mode.

"But poppa! If he goes to sleep, he'll die!" and the twins started crying.

"Go get your jammies on, robes and slippers too, then you can come back downstairs," said Yi.

"But poppa!" they whimpered.

"Go! Should I send Mister Kenny up to help you undress?"

Suddenly their eyes grew huge in shock, and they dashed up the kitchen stairs shrieking, "DON'T SEE MY BUTT!"

"What was that?" laughed Kenny. "Last month they were running around naked."

"I don't know," sighed Yi. "Don't try to keep score. Just roll with the mood."

They entered the parlor and saw that it was full with Sam Wynn, Dexter Humbolt, a grouchy-looking Amelia Hernandez, a terrified-looking Veronica, Josh and Gus. Sam was on the phone talking with somebody while John and Macy hovered over Paul and Andi, who were curled up on the couch. Lucy was crouched in front of Paul, who looked awful and held an ice bag to his head. The babies Danny and Katarina were fussy and crying and Cholly was wandering around the crowd of adults, lost.

Paul turned his pain-filled eyes to Yi and gave a weak smile. "She's here. Please sing."

"No, we..."

"Please?"

Kenny went and eased Katarina out of a trembling Macy's arms and Josh took Danny. *Sing Ding Dong Merrily on High* came Kenny's silent request.

"We need an A," said Yi.

Josh took his pitch pipe out of his pocket and blew an A and Yi started singing. "Ding dong, merrily on high! In heav'n the bells are ringing; ding dong, verily the sky is riv'n with angels singing..."

Macy soon joined her, and then with a push from Paul, Andi got up to sing. Their singing grew stronger. It didn't solve any problems, but it helped.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The next day, two deputies from the Town of Concord Police department arrived at Amelia Hernandez's house and Sammy Wynn met them there. "I'll be acting as Miss Hernandez and Mister Humboldt's attorney," said Sammy. "I'm just here to observe and advise the homeowners."

"Not a problem," said Detective Charlie Klafka. "What happened?"

"We were having dinner," said Amelia. "Pot roast. I'm going to make sandwiches later."

"Yes, go on," said Charlie's partner, Detective John Gaulin.

"We heard a noise outside," said Amelia. "Somebody had pulled the skirting away from the house a few nights ago so we had a carpenter repair the skirting."

"Gus Didomissio, he's a good man," said Dexter.

"Last night somebody tried again," said Amelia. "Dexter went outside to see what was going on."

"I got out there and I must have scared the kid because he ran, but he left this at the scene," and Dexter showed them the hat. "We haven't touched it without gloves."

Detective Klafka put on latex gloves and picked up the police 'wheel cap' worn by the men of the Springville Police Department. "Park patrol... you're a little far from the park," said Charlie. The Town of Concord PD does not like the fact that Springville PD exists. Who is funding that? It's not funded by the state except for patrols inside village parks.

Detective Gaulin placed the hat in a plastic evidence bag and said, "Ok, we'll take this into consideration and start..."

"That's not all that was left behind," said Sammy. "Show him Dex."

"I found something else, and I put it away so kids wouldn't get it. I only touched it with my gloves," said Dexter as he led the police to his apartment. He pushed the bed aside and opened the floor panel, revealing the hiding spot. "It wasn't like that last night," said a shocked Dexter.

"Looks like you have rats," grinned Charlie Klafka. The edges of the hiding space were chewed away by a crowbar, but it held tight. The gun was still there.

"Have you done anything with this gun?" asked Detective Gaulin as he carefully lifted it from the hiding spot.

"No sir, I picked it up because I didn't want anyone grabbing it. This isn't a friendly neighborhood anymore."

"Beretta M9, police issue. Safety is off," muttered Detective Gaulin, and he pointed that out to Detective Klafka. Then he removed the magazine from the gun and inspected it. "Full, ten rounds." Then he pulled back the slide and a live round was ejected from the chamber, that Charlie Klafka caught with a practiced grab.

"I pulled the gun logs from Springville PD last night the moment Mister Humboldt came to us about this," said Sammy Wynn.

They checked the gun registration number against the list for Springville PD. "Harvey Dalton. Go figure," said Detective Klafka. "A police issue nine-millimeter pistol with the safety off and a bullet in the chamber, and you found it lying in the snow?"

"Yes sir," said Dexter and he led the policemen outside to where the skirting was pulled away. "Looks like someone tried to get in again," said Dexter. The skirting was pulled away and there were fresh tracks in the snow. Charlie Klafka crouched down and shined his powerful LED flashlight under the house. "Do you realize you have a crowbar hanging from your floor joists down there?"

"Gus and Paul Jarecki were working under there on Friday."

"I don't think either one of them would leave a tool hanging in the floor joists," said John Gaulin. Being the younger (and slimmer) of the pair, he crawled under and returned with a fifteen-inch-long pry bar. "This is a nice tool, probably thirty bucks. It's not cheap."

Charlie Klafka looked it over and pointed out a series of numbers. "It's etched for the Village of Springville Department of Public Works."

"I wish I could tell you this is over," said Detective Gaulin, "But there must have been something in that hiding space that somebody wants. I wouldn't put anything valuable in there."

<><><><><>

The detective's next stop was a huge Victorian home on Howard Avenue. The house looked like a Currier and Ives print, with the beautiful tree in the window, the waist high iron fence decorated with pine garland and a fresh dusting of snow. Across the street, skaters skated to beautiful Christmas music, but Christmas music could be heard from inside the house as well. They approached the front porch and there was a beautiful song coming from inside. "Oh, I love that one," said the younger detective, John Gaulin.

"I've never heard it before."

"That's because you've never taken a music appreciation class. You think Boss Scaggs is the epitome of music."

"Prove I'm wrong," said Charlie Klafka as he tapped on the door. Heather answered the door, and they flashed their badges. "Town of Concord Detectives, ma'am. We'd like to ask Doctor Jarecki a few questions."

Heather motioned for silence and ushered the detectives into the house. Inside were three women singing a beautiful song that danced with the joy of the season. They were accompanied by a recorded performance on a Casio keyboard. Their audience was two babies in carriers and a toddler that sat between them and hung on every word that was sung. Charlie looked at the women, he recognized all of them. The statuesque black woman was Pastor Jarecki's wife, the short blond was Doctor Jarecki's wife, and the Asian was Kenny Johnson's fiancée. When the girls brought the song to a close, Detective Gaulin and the toddler applauded, and the toddler cried, "Bon! Bon!"

"Quand Dieu naquit a Noël, fabuleux!" said Detective Gaulin.

"Thank you," said Macy. "We've worked hard on it."

"That was beautiful ma'am," said Detective Klafka, and he introduced himself and detective Gaulin. "We're working on a couple of cases in the village today and we need to ask some questions of Doctor and Mrs. Jarecki."

"I'm Mrs. Jarecki," said Andi, stepping forward. "Paul is at work."

"I thought he would take the day off after last night," said Detective Gaulin. "Can you tell me what happened last night?"

"We finished dinner, and the girls were working on their homework. A man came to the door and identified himself as a police officer and said that he wanted to talk to Paul. Paul was busy in his office and asked me to set the police man up. I led the police man upstairs, and Paul was working and changing the baby. I was going back downstairs when I heard the cop getting angry. So I called a friend from church, a lawyer, because this was getting ugly. Sammy told me to tell Paul to go to the mayor's office and he'd meet Paul there. I was heading back to Paul's office and that's when the cop hit Paul with his gun."

"Can we see Paul's office?" Asked Detective Gaulin.

"Sure, follow me," said Andi, and she led them up the stairs to the third-floor office. As a third-floor office goes, it wasn't fancy. Except for the large round window, it was unremarkable. There was a desk with two monitors, a laptop docking station and several shelves of books.

"Where were you standing when the officer hit Doctor Jarecki?" asked Detective Klafka.

Andi stepped back out of the office a few feet and said, "right here."

"Are you sure you were that close?"

"Yes, Paul had the baby. I was terrified that Danny would fall."

Detective Gaulin sat down on Paul's office chair and leaned back. "You're sure you were standing right there?"

"Yes, you can even see me on the live stream."

Detectives Gaulin and Klafka looked at each other in shock. "Live stream?" Ten minutes later, they were at the kitchen table looking at the live stream that Paul uploaded to YouTube and Rumble. They saw the assault happen before their eyes. "What made Doctor Jarecki decide to record this?"

"You'd have to ask him; I don't know but he'll do that when playing with the girls. He puts his phone in his shirt pocket, and it becomes a body cam."

They watched again as Mayor Windecker acted like a punk dictator and mocked Paul's complaints. "That guy makes me sick," said John Gaulin. Then they watched Patrolman Brown being arrested by the Town of Concord police.

"Sometimes this job is its own reward," said Charlie Klafka. "I think we have everything we need. You've been very helpful, thank you." Then he turned to Yi and said, "I saw Archie at the coffee shop this morning, congratulations!" And with that, the officers left.

Macy turned to Yi and asked, "Congratulations?"

Yi held up her hand, showing off her engagement ring, and the girls squealed. "Why didn't you say anything?" said Andi.

"I came home last night, and the house was in an uproar, so we let it go."

"When were you going to tell us?" asked Macy.

"The twenty-fourth, just before the service,"

"Tell us! Tell us what happened!" gushed Andi. So as Macy and Andi hung on her every word, Yi described her evening and how beautiful the Red Mill Inn was, and she went on and on about the tomato consommé. "Enough with the soup! Tell us what happened, what did Kenny say? What did he do?"

"It was the chocolate soufflé, he weakened me with chocolate and a promise to tour the kitchen," said Yi with a sigh. She smiled at the memory as Andi and Macy practically trembled in anticipation.

"Well?"

"Oh," said Yi, coming out of her reverie. "The kitchen was a bit smaller than I expected but the equipment was clean and..."

"The proposal!" Andi nearly shouted.

She had tortured her friends enough. "Kenny was very sweet, his proposal was well thought out and wonderful... and I remember thinking I would remember none of it, and I was right." Yi sighed. "He proposed right after dinner at the restaurant, no big fancy fanfare no modern 'hey look at me' antics, he was perfectly Kenny, and he let me know exactly how much he loved me with no mind-games. He was sweet, honest, and the man whose children I want to bear."

Heather watched as the girls chattered in excitement, remembering those days when an entire month could be spent excitedly reviewing the engagement of a friend. Kenny and Yi were a perfect fit.

<><><><><>

There came an apologetic tap on the office door. "Doctor Jarecki?"

"What is it Melissa?" Paul was leaning back in his chair, his feet up, resting on an open drawer. On his computer, a zoom meeting was happening, but he claimed camera troubles. It wasn't an interesting meeting, and he didn't want to be seen. By anyone.

"Sir there are two policemen here to see you."

"What department are they from?" Damn, and the Tylenol was just kicking in.

"Town of Concord detectives. Should I tell them to come back?"

That would just be delaying the inevitable. "No, send them in," said Paul with a sigh as he rose to greet them.

"Doctor Jarecki, I'm Detective Charlie Klafka and this is Detective John Gaulin. We've already spoken to your wife about what happened last night, and we saw your video. Is there anything you'd like to add?"

"I haven't seen the video," said Paul. "I don't know how it came out and if there is anything to add."

"It pretty much tells the story, when Michael Brown hit you, you could clearly see Andi in the background, and you could see her reaction."

"I don't want to see it," groaned Paul. "It can't be used in court."

"You're not thinking clearly counselor, you have multiple signs on your house stating that security cameras are in use on your property," said Detective Gaulin.

"Or did you skip the class that covered implied consent?" said Detective Klafka with a grin. "The minute he saw that sign on your front door, he consented to have his picture taken the moment he knocked on your door. We have video of him coming in the front door, we have video of him hitting you, we have video of Andi watching him hit you which will validate her testimony."

The lawyer in Paul was just waking up. "Damnit! I have to take that video down." He typed crazily on his computer keyboard and said, "There, it's locked behind a password while I download it."

"What if he claims in court that he couldn't read?" asked John Gaulin.

Charlie Klafka shrugged and said, "he still goes to jail for life for kidnapping."

"That's not going to happen," said Paul. "He's Mayor Windecker's son-in-law."

"I don't think the Caligula of the Southern Tier can protect his boy from a kidnapping charge," said John Gaulin, using a title for Mayor Windecker that was becoming popular.

"Damn, Paul, you're just making friends hand over fist," laughed Charlie Klafka. "Drug dealers, human traffickers, crooked car dealers, rapists, murderers, crooked cops and a corrupt mayor of an influential village in the hills. How the hell are you still alive?"

"I just want to raise my children in an absolutely perfect world. Is that too much to ask?"

Charlie Klafka chuckled, "Isn't that every man's dream?"

"Do you remember Springville ten years ago? It was peace on earth," groaned Paul.

"It's still better than most places," said John Gaulin.

"It can be so much more."

"What made you think about recording the event?" asked Detective Klafka.

"I don't like what happened to the park police, they used to be one of the top selling points of real estate in Springville. Peaceful parks with no gang activity, no kids doing drugs in the gazebos at night. Then suddenly over the summer Mayor Windecker decides to turn the park patrol into his own personal Waffen SS. Look at this black eye. My boy's first Christmas and I'm going to be in the pictures. My daughters' first nativity pageant and daddy is going to be playing guitar with a big black eye because of him. I decided at about 3:00 AM this morning that I was going to do anything I can do to embarrass and expose him."

The detectives looked at each other and smiled. They found the right man. "Doctor Jarecki, what would you do if you were mayor?"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

That afternoon, while Melissa drove Paul home, he wasn't working on his laptop as usual. He was staring off into space. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked Paul.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Yeah, you have a catalog of music on this buggy. Play Jesu Bambino for me."

Soon Luciano Pavarotti's pure, perfect voice filled the SUV.

Nell'umile capanna nel freddo e povertà

é nato il Santo pargolo che il mondo adorerà

Then at the chorus a children's choir began singing

Venite adoremus, venite adoremus...

It was just perfection. Maybe next year Macy and the kids can do this for the nativity. It's a shame he won't live to see it. He didn't know why that thought crept to mind, but for some reason, he knew it was the truth. "Drop me off at Gus Didomissio's shop, we need to talk trucks."

"Ok, do you want me to wait?"

"No, I'll find my way home." Then he texted Andi, "I'm going to swing by Gus's and have a beer or two."

She responded, "Text me when you're ready, and I'll come get you."

Paul left his laptop in the SUV and walked up to Gus's house. It suddenly wasn't a pretty day. It warmed up and now the snow had started melting. Not a lot, but enough for the dirt trapped in the snow to come forward and be visible. Paul tapped on Gus's kitchen door and walked in to find Lucy cooking dinner. "What?" she demanded. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I just never saw you cook before."

"What did you think I made for my meals?" Paul just shrugged. She was expecting him to say "Reservations," but he just shrugged. "Come here," she demanded. She carefully studied the left side of his face and his left eye. She held a finger up and said, "You know the drill. Follow my finger with your eyes, don't move your head." She moved her finger from side to side and his eyes tracked cleanly. This showed that there was no neurological damage from his attack.

Lucy looked at Paul and sighed. "Gus and John are in the workshop."

"Thanks." Paul trekked out to the workshop where Gus and John were finishing up a set of cabinets for a customer.

"What's up big brother?" said John as he happily sanded down a panel that will probably become a cabinet door.

"Can we talk?" asked Paul.

"Sure," John shut off the sander and took off his mask and goggles.

"Do you want me to step out?" asked Gus.

"No. This may involve you as well," said Paul as he leaned against a work bench. "I have not been making friends with my enemies. I have put some very nasty people out of business and my actions have been attracting some attention."

"What are you saying?" asked John. "I don't take hints well."

Paul took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to do something that is probably not the best decision, but I want to fix what I can, and I want you to promise me that Andi, Danny, and the girls are taken care of if I'm not around."

"Stop being morbid," said Gus with a grin, but his grin faded as he realized Paul wasn't kidding around.

"I'm going to do something that will raise far too much attention and will make some people angry." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm going to run for Village Mayor. The first thing I'm going to do is shut down the Park Police and find out where those funds are coming from. Then I'm going to transfer funds to the Town of Concord and hire them to police our parks and the Argentine neighborhood."

"What about Mayor Samael Windecker?" asked Gus.

"That's the problem, we know he doesn't like to play fair," said Paul.

"What does Andi think about it?" asked John.

"I haven't talked to her about it."

"She's the first and the primary person you should be talking to about this," said John. He was getting a bit angry with his brother. Paul wasn't new to being married. He should know this.

"I know," said Paul. "Please promise me you guys will take care of her."

Gus went over to his friend, the man who gave him hundreds of hours of work to keep his mind busy after his own wife's death. Work that Paul's house didn't really need, but Gus did. He was going to tell Paul not to worry and stop being silly, but when he saw the terror and the determination in Paul's eyes, he said, "I will care for her like she was my own sister. Don't worry."

"Thank you," said Paul, and he felt quite relieved.

"I will be wherever you need me," said John.

"Thanks buddy," said Paul, then without a word, he left.

He walked all the way from Gus's house to home, about three miles, on slippery slushy sidewalks. The village has a small sidewalk plow for clearing the sidewalks, but Mayor Windecker redirected the funds elsewhere and the sidewalk plow remains in the highway department's garage. There was a village regulation that property owners must clear the snow from the sidewalk in front of their homes or businesses, which really angered the business owners because they now must take time out of their busy day to take care of what had been the village's responsibility for decades.

When Paul passed under the 219 expressway and got into the village, he stopped at the different shops along the way and asked the business owners, "What would make running a business in Springville easier, or more profitable for you?"

Almost everyone said, "diagonal parking," which was something the village had years ago. "The street is wide enough to allow diagonal parking plus a bike lane." Or they'd simply say, "we don't have enough parking in the village."

After he stopped at seven businesses, a park cop came up to him and said, "Why are you bothering these poor businessmen?"

"I know it goes against everything you believe, but this is a free country. We have the right to speak to each other."

"Not if it fosters unrest," said the cop.

"Who determines what unrest is?" asked Paul. "Let's put my law degree up against your G.E.D. You do have a high school diploma, don't you?"

The cop was turning red in anger. He finally said, "You had better watch your step."

Paul smiled his best disarming smile and said, "Thank you for your concern. I suggest you do the same and have a blessed day."

"Watch yourself Jesus freak," snarled the cop.

Jesus Freak? Paul hadn't heard that slur in decades. He couldn't let it go without a response. "Somewhere there's a mall with a Segway waiting for you officer," Paul said with a smile. "It would be so nice if you were there." Then Paul continued to the next business with his questions. This time it was Paul's favorite business in town, Worzil's Bar and Grille. Paul pulled up a stool at the squared horseshoe-shaped bar and ordered a Genny.

"I have what you need to make your Christmas bright and gay," said Ayato, as he handed Paul his beer.

"And what is that?"

"Tom and Jerry mix, come over for Christmas Eve, Eve."

A Tom & Jerry was a hot rum drink with a sweet white batter on top. It was something he learned about during his tours of duty in North Dakota. "The night before the night before Christmas? Now that sounds like a plan, Andi will love it. Hey, give Stash and Tony a cold one," he said, gesturing to the bar flies at the other end of the bar.

Ayato gave the old boys a fresh beer and then turned to Paul. "Having a little run-in with the Waffen SS?"

"Yeah, we don't see eye to eye sometimes," said Paul. Paul believed Ayato was talking about the black eye he got at the hands of park cop Michael Brown. He was about to ask Ayato how he found out, but Ayato was grinning at him.

"Somewhere there's a mall with a Segway waiting for you... I love it."

Paul had once again forgotten Ayato's superior hearing. How can somebody be in charge of maintenance on B-52s and still be able to hear? It was said that if a couple were making love in their home three blocks away, Ayato could hear if she was faking it or not.

"As for that shiner of yours," said Ayato in a soft voice. "News travels fast. People in Springville don't like Mister Windecker ever since he started acting like a German paper-hanger." Then, in a much softer voice, he said, "You might want to have someone else ask questions of the business owners in the village. The business owners all hate the man, but there's rats in every grain silo, if you get what I'm saying."

"Roger that, copy," said Paul.

Just then, a park cop walked into Worzils and stepped up to the bar. "Is this man bothering you?" asked the cop.

Ayato pointed to a sign on the wall. "Hey, can't you read?" The sign said "This Is Not a Park. The following are not allowed in this establishment: Bathing suits, bare feet, pretend police uniforms." That poster was springing up in the businesses of Springville. The park cop looked at it and began to get angry, but Ayato said, "Hit the road, square badge."

"Look, the boss asked me to make sure that this fellow isn't bothering people."

"The boss meaning Dick Harvey?" asked Paul.

"That's CHIEF Harvey to you," said the park cop.

"No, that's Chief Harvey to you," said Ayato. "To the rest of Erie County he's DICK Harvey, the cheating ambulance chaser who happens to be the mayor's wife's brother."

Just then, the cop was flanked by two very large drunks. "Da bartender asked you to go politely," said Stash Pietrzak.

Tony Marchioni got so close to him their noses almost touched. "Dat's my pal yer botherin'. We tink ya should stop botherin' people and leave... now." The park cop scrambled to get out of there, leaving Ayato and his wife Julissa laughing.

"Thanks guys," said Paul.

"No, tank you doc," said Tony as he and Stash raised their beer in a toast.

Paul walked over to the Juke Box and made a selection that would probably never be heard outside of Buffalo or Chicago. Soon the strains of the Polish Christmas carol Dzisiaj w Betlejem (Today in Bethlehem) filled the bar. Soon Paul, Stash, Tony, and many others in the bar were singing.

Dzisiaj w Betlejem, dzisiaj w Betlejem

Wesoła nowina

Że Panna Czysta, że Panna czysta

Porodziła Syna

Paul was a little bit drunk when he got home, but he told Andi that he was going to have a couple of beers on his way home and she expected worse. "Poppa!" cried the twins, and they told him about their day.

"Mrs. Braddock liked our Christmas essay!"

"She read it in class, and she said it made her happy!"

"She didn't look happy, she was sniffy..."

"Ainsley thinks the letter S is a number."

"I didn't know you couldn't bring your favorite snowball in class so if Mrs. Whitmore calls it's her own fault."

"Yeah, nobody told us!"

"Jessica says she's going to get a real cat for Christmas and he's going to eat Wonka."

Paul was used to the rapid fire back and forth chatter that the twins used to update him on their school day. He didn't understand most of it, but later Andi would translate what they said. Paul had a tiny blond on each knee and they were chattering about their school day as quickly as they could form the words.

"Nicholas is mad because he can't write the number eight," said Sandy.

"You can't either," said Paul. "You make little ducks, so give the guy a break." Sandy has a lot of trouble with the number eight. The top loop is always too small, and the bottom is wide and flat, and she ends up with a small duck shaped 8. That's the downfall of the twins' education at the moment. Their hand-to-eye coordination was at kindergarten level or worse, but their minds were working at a much higher level.

"Stella didn't have her smock today so she couldn't paint."

"Isn't Stella the girl who buried her shoe in the playground sandbox?" asked Paul.

"No that was Linda Knipp."

Most of the twins' school chatter was about their classmates in their kindergarten classes. The second and third graders they associated with in their math and English classes were a bit more subdued than their kindergarten classmates. "Ok, you two. I have to talk to your mommy."

"Ok," said Madeline, but she made no move to get off her dad's knee.

"There's going to be a lot of kissing," said Paul.

"Eeeewwww!" shrieked the twins, and they raced off to tell Wonka what Paul was planning to do.

"Kissing? I'm up for that," said Andi, as Paul struggled to his feet and gave her a kiss. He ended up with Danny in his arms. "Is your back hurting?" she asked.

"Yeah, can we go upstairs?"

"I guess, sure." Andi turned to Kit Mays, who was at the table with Harold and said, "I'll be right back." Then they went up to their bedroom. When they got to the bedroom, Paul placed Danny on the bed and took off the suit he wore to work. "Did you see Gus?" she asked.

"Yeah, him and John, then I walked home and stopped in to see Ayato and Julissa. They invited us over for Tom and Jerrys on Christmas Eve Eve."

"We should take Mom and Dad, they would love that. It's like a tradition with Grandma. The only thing she would drink was her Christmas Tom and Jerry," said Andi, as she filled the tub with hot water.

"You taking a bath?" Paul asked.

"No, you are. When you're wincing like that, it means your back hurts. Get those pants off."

Soon Paul was in the enormous bathtub, congratulating himself for installing the huge thing. He watched Andi tuck pillows on either side of Danny so he wouldn't roll off the bed if he learned to roll. Then she slipped off her dress and underwear and eased into the tub with Paul. God, that woman is so sexy! Large, round breasts, slim waist, her tummy reducing from birth, round hips and an ass to die for. Occasionally she'll ask him to plunder that ass of hers and they'll both end up crying out in pleasure.

In the background, soft Christmas piano music played on the stereo. She curled up in Paul's arms and they kissed gently, as if to keep from bursting the bubble of this perfect moment. They soaked for a long time, then came their favorite part, draining the water and cuddling together, all slippery from the bath oils.

"It's snowing," said Andi. A quick glance out the window showed gentle snowflakes floating past the bare tree outside the window. Her hand wrapped around his cock, and she said between kisses, "The best things happen when it's snowing."

"We need to talk," said Paul.

She held his cock lightly and stroked it with a feather light touch. "I'm listening."

It was hard to concentrate with her little hand sliding up and down his cock, the gentle, light touch, the bath oils making her hand slippery as she stroked him. Paul pulled her close to him and she continued to stroke. "I've been thinking that maybe I should return something to this community."

"More than the skating rink, the ball diamond, the pavilions at Zoar Valley park, and the bucket brigade tower for the firemen's picnics?" These were all things that Paul donated to his new hometown of Springville, NY without saying a word publicly.

"I am thinking of running for mayor."

"You could do the job," said Andi. "I think it's a great idea."

"I'm worried about Windecker. He thinks he can do whatever he wants. I don't want him to hurt you."

"Hey," she said as she squeezed his cock tightly. "Springville needs you. Let's do it. I'll be your campaign manager."

"You're not worried?"

"We've been through some bad things, but we came through, didn't we? This is something we can work on together." Her brown eyes danced with an excitement that reminded him of their first shower together in the cabin a year ago. "You are exactly what this village needs," she said with a kiss, her delicate hand slipping up and down his cock faster and faster.

Paul felt the excitement building and his fears slip away... together they can make this happen! Her hand was wonderful, driving him to heights of excitement he hadn't felt for months. Then quickly, Andi slipped down toward the foot of the tub and swallowed Paul's cock. Her warm, wet mouth slid up and down. With each gulp, she drove him higher and higher. Involuntarily, his hips rose from the now cooling tub and he cried, "I'm cumming!"

Spurt after spurt of cum rocketed up his cock and his body shuddered with the intense pleasure of release that came with each spurt. Andi drank down every drop he gave her, eagerly relieving her man of his pent up anxiety. Shuddering and spent, Paul sagged to the cooling tub and Andi curled up in his arms. "That was a LOT," she said as he kissed her warm, swollen lips.

"I've been saving it up for you."

"I shouldn't let you go that long," she sighed as she lowered her head to his chest and listened to his heart and his breathing. As he calmed down, Andi kissed his chest and said, "Best tasting mayor in Springville's history."

That evening at dinner, Yi and Kenny joined Paul and Andi's family for dinner. "You're part of this lunatic asylum," said Paul. As dinner ended, John and Macy came by for coffee and they were joined by Gus and Lucy. The formal dining room was finally packed full, something that Paul believed would never happen. "I'd like to say something, if I may," said Paul, rising and tapping his coffee cup for attention.

"No!" said Cholly, who was having a contrary day.

"It's my house!" insisted Paul.

"Don't worry about him, he's being silly," said Madeline. Then she looked at Cholly and cried, "Silly Sheep!"

"Bay! Bay!" said Cholly. For some reason, he wouldn't say Baa! Baa! like an American child would say when imitating a sheep. It came out Bay! Bay! like a French child would say.

Grinning, Paul scooped Cholly off of John's lap and said, "After talking with my wife, my brother, and my best friend, I have decided to run for Mayor of Springville. I will go to the village clerk and throw my hat in the ring tomorrow morning and make a public announcement next Monday after the Christmas holiday. For now, we want to concentrate on the future Mr. and Mrs. Didomissio."

"You ready Lucy?" asked Macy as Paul sat down with Cholly on his lap.

"It's going to be so nice to have a name that people can pronounce," sighed Lucy as she leaned on Gus's shoulder.

"How are the girls handling the news?" asked Macy. Gus has four daughters and his oldest is only three years younger than Lucy.

"Linda said it's about time I moved on," said Gus. "Adelle is glad I'm marrying a doctor, but she said I should be marrying a geriatrician."

When the laughter settled down, Lucy said, "We're planning on traveling to Indiana where Cindy lives and have a family gathering."

"What about your folks," asked John.

Lucy just shook her head. "They are obstinate. They suddenly found religion after sixty years as Poo Jews."

"Poo Jews?" asked Paul.

"Pass Over Only," said Lucy. "Kind of like CEO Christians." A CEO Christian is Christmas Easter Only. They're also called Easter Bunnies.

"Are you ok with that Gus?" asked Paul.

"To be honest, I'm happy they found their way back to the religion of their youth," said Gus. "It's not a sacrifice for me, it's a blessing."

Lucy kissed her man. "That's why I love him."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Christmas Eve, the big night, finally arrived. After all the rehearsals, they still ended up with a nativity pageant filled with merry mayhem. The event opened with John and Paul playing guitar, Melissa playing piano, and Macy singing Minuit Chrétien, the French Christmas carol that Oh Holy Night was based on.

This was how they always opened their candlelight ceremony, and the people of Springville Congregational Church loved it. Macy was wearing a gold velvet dress and stood under the spotlight in the dark church singing. As she neared the end of the first verse, Andi and Yi, both in gold velvet dresses, stepped into the spotlight next to her and joined her in a verse of Oh Holy Night in English.

This was something new to the people of the church. Macy was their girl, not only their song leader but also their emergency back-up preacher with a delightful French lilt to her voice. Now she was joined by women she considered her sisters and their singing was perfect. John and Paul played softly as possible, just loud enough for Macy, Andi, and Yi to hear and keep in tune and tempo. The three hit that big note in the word divine and held it perfectly.

There was always some form of applause in the past, but this year Macy, Yi, and Andi received a standing ovation. When the applause died down, the spotlight over John came on, and John said, "Welcome to the annual Christmas Eve candlelight ceremony. This year our Sunday School students wanted to put on a nativity pageant and grinchy old Hester Willoughby said "Yeah, let's do it," for the first time since I started here." Calling Hester Willoughby, the head of Sunday School, "grinchy" was an obvious joke. She's been wearing Christmas themed sweaters and jewelry since before Thanksgiving.

"Everyone has a part, including you," said John, making a sweeping gesture that took in the entire audience. "You will be our chorus of angels."

Then the light faded, and another spotlight on the right side of the church came on. There was a simple doorframe and there stood Sandy and her friend from Sunday school, Jessica, in biblical robes. Jessica had a pillow under her robes and Sandy was wearing a fake beard. "There is no room at the inn, Mary," said Sandy.

"What will we do, Jofus?" asked Jessica, who pronounced Joseph the same way Sandy does when she's not paying attention.

"He gave us his staple," said Sandy, mispronouncing 'stable' again.

The light faded and Paul said, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." And the church sang the old carol "Shepherds in the Fields Abiding," As the lights came up there was Madeline in a fake beard and her Sunday school friend Nicholas also in a fake beard. Their flock of sheep was the pre-school students wearing cute sheep hats and robes and they mulled about saying "baa" and occasionally "bay"

In Bismarck, North Dakota, Nana and Ole Olsen watched their great granddaughters steal the show. Sandy with her silly malapropisms and Madeline with her cute "pet" lamb, Cholly. The church sang carols that matched the scene of the "play" and Macy, Yi, and Andi sang another French carol, Quand Dieu naquit à Noël while Melissa played accompaniment on her Casio keyboard and Paul and John played recorders. It was a cute up-tempo song and soon all the "lambs" and angels were dancing behind Macy, Andi, and Yi.

Finally came the final carol, Silent Night. The audience had real candles that they lit. On stage, the Sunday school children had electric candles, and John led the song while Macy sang solo. Only Nana and Ole noticed that Sandy and Madeline were missing.

At the end of the song, John held Cholly and gave a small sermon on love while Macy, who was now holding Katarina, stood next to him. His sermon ended with, "I thought I knew what love was. I love my wife and my brother and our family, and I thought I knew it all. But in the past two months, it all changed, and my understanding of love is growing and my appreciation of what our lord did on Christmas is growing by leaps and bounds. Please join us for one more celebration of love."

The light came up and there was Gus and Paul standing at the edge of the small stage. And John and Macy stepped forward and gave the audience special instructions as Heather and Harold came forward to collect Katarina and Cholly.

Back in the Fellowship Hall, Andi was quickly changing Madeline out of her shepherd's costume, and Yi changed Sandy out of her "Jofus Suit." They pulled gold velvet dresses over the twins' heads and adjusted their glasses and combed out their hair. Then Sandy, Madeline, and Andi joined Lucy at the doorway into the church. That's when Andi started to cry, which started Lucy crying. "I never thought this day would ever happen!" wept Andi.

"Me too!" cried Lucy as they fell into each other's arms.

"Stop it!" demanded Yi. "You're ruining your makeup."

"What did I tell you girls last year?" said Ernie as he watched the three friends hug.

"I don't remember what I said last year," said Andi. "And I certainly don't remember a word you said."

"That's a shame, because it still applies," said Ernie.

Then a voice that Andi hadn't heard in years rang out behind her. "Adrianna, may we have a word with our daughter?" In shock, Andi turned and saw an old couple holding Madeline and Sandy.

Sandy was updating her old friends with everything she could remember that happened to her and her sister over the past year and finally ended with, "oh yeah, we also got a bruver."

"Yes Mrs. Kocis," said Andi, as she and Yi took the twins from Lucy's parents Sal and Ester Kocis.

"Mom? Dad? I thought you weren't going to come!"

"That was before we met August," said Ester. Ester calls everyone by their full name except her husband, Solomon. He's Sal to everyone.

"Gus is a good man, he flew out to Denver three weeks ago and begged for your hand then begged for us to come to the wedding. He even offered to pay for our airplane tickets," said Sal.

"What did you say?" asked Lucy.

"I said we don't fly coach," said Ester.

Ernie cleared his throat and said, "Kenny, could you escort this nice lady to her seat?"

Kenny offered his arm to Ester. As Melissa began playing Bach's Christmas Oratorio, he led Ester Kocis down the aisle. She sized up her tall, handsome escort as they walked. "You're strong, what do you do?"

"I sell animal feed and sporting goods, ma'am."

"Well, he's polite," she whispered to herself. Then, as she sat down, Kenny went and stood next to Paul. Ester noticed that she knew the woman she was seated next to. "Hello Katrina."

"Hi Missus K."

"Is that yours?" said Ester as Kit hoisted a tiny baby to her shoulder and patted its back.

"No, this is Andi's boy. He wouldn't settle down for his grandma, but he likes me."

"Heather is here?"

"And Harold. They're next to me."

Ester was impressed. She knew Heather and Harold Driscoll from hospital functions when their daughters worked together in University Hospital. "Who's the little sheep up there, is this part of the wedding?" She pointed to Cholly, still in his lamb costume. He clung to John's pants leg and sucked a finger nervously. His terror was breaking hearts through the entire church.

"No, that's Cholly, he wouldn't come sit with me so Pastor John is letting him stand up there with him and Pastor Macy," and she gave Ester an abbreviated history of Cholly.

Andi soon walked down the aisle and stood facing Paul. She was followed by Yi, leading the twins. Sandy was scattering rose pedals, and Madeline was carrying the pillow that held the wedding rings. It was Madeline's turn to be the flower girl, but she was too compulsive for the job. She would try to ensure an even distribution of rose pedals and it would probably take a half hour to walk up the short aisle while she carefully placed each pedal, while Sandy just liked to throw them.

After giving their parents the wedding rings, the twins dashed back to sit between Heather and Kit. "Come on Cholly!" called Sandy loud enough to be heard by the church. Cholly looked up at John for permission and John nodded. With a huge grin, Cholly dashed after his cousins.

"Bay! Bay!"

John's heart soared. The little foundling had turned to his new dad for permission. His hand sought Macy's. She also saw the little interaction between Cholly and John. Her heart soared, knowing that the little man was theirs! Now if he'd calm down when changing diapers...

As this played out, in the back of the church, Lucy was waiting anxiously for this ceremony to begin. "I told you a year ago that he liked you," said Ernie.

"Yes you did," chuckled Lucy, and she gave Ernie a kiss.

"Thank you for giving our friend his smile back," Ernie whispered.

"Is that what you're wearing?" asked Sal.

"No, this is what I wore last year for Andi's wedding." Lucy was wearing a dark blazer, but this time her skirt was white. Her father helped her off with her blazer to reveal her ivory white dress. "I'm just wearing the blazer because it's cold back here." Her dress was form fitting, and it clung to Lucy's athletic frame and small, firm breasts. It was more of an elegant cocktail gown than a wedding dress, but it fit Lucy perfectly.

Sal cleared his throat and looked for the words that he needed to say. "I wasn't happy when a man my own age appeared at my door asking for my daughter's hand. In fact, I told him to go to hell, but he was so nice, and we talked. He told me how you're running and biking again and I realized it was him that encouraged you."

"He's a good man, and he treats me like you do. Like I'm beautiful..."

"That's because we can both see your heart.

"Cantor Kocis? It's time," said Ernie.

"Thank you, Mister Kraft. Let's go meet my new son-in-law that's eleven months younger than me," said Sal.

Ernie's wife Mary did a quick review of Lucy's dress, hair, and make-up, then handed her a modest bouquet and Sal finally escorted his daughter down the aisle, something he's been aching to do for over thirty years.

Lucy looked down the aisle. There was Andi, Macy, and Yi in their gold dresses and with them were John, Paul, Kenny, and Gus in tuxedos. She just wanted to grab Gus and run, but her dad led her down the aisle at a stately pace, then stopped. This was the part that Lucy dreaded. She's not a prize to be given away and when they practiced, Ernie Kraft walked her down the aisle and they didn't say anything at this point.

However, John looked at Sal and said, "Cantor Kocis, can you and Mrs. Kocis open your hearts to August and accept him as part of your family?"

"We can and we do," said Sal, and he gave Lucy a kiss, then turned to his seat with Edna as Lucy struggled not to sprint to Gus's side.

The ceremony was beautiful and simple. Halfway through the ceremony, Paul picked up his guitar and began playing the Wedding Song as John and Macy sang a duet and Lucy began to tear up as they sang.

A man shall leave his mother, and a woman leave her home

And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one...

The vows reflected Lucy and Gus's love, simple, honest, unpretentious, and when the vows were over, Pastor Jarecki took a cloth, and Macy placed a wine glass in the cloth. Together, they folded the cloth around the glass and John placed it on the ground. When Gus stepped on the glass to break it, the entire congregation shouted, "Mozel Tov!"

"I am happy to present Mister and Missus Gus and Lucy Didomissio!" said John and as Melissa played, "All I Want for Christmas is You" as Lucy's recessional, Gus and Lucy led their wedding party out of the church. There was a lot of hugging and kissing among the members of the wedding party, but there was no party planned like after Paul and Andi's wedding.

"No reception?" asked Edna.

"We're going to have a small family reception at our house," said Andi. Then she whispered to Lucy's mom, "This church doesn't drink."

"Nothing?" gasped Edna.

"Macy was raised in a French tradition so she will drink wine, but John and many members don't drink at all."

After the reception line, Paul and John and a few volunteers cleaned up the church, then they packed the kids into the van and headed home. When they got to the house, Lucy and Gus were giving her parents a tour of Andi's house and showing off the different styles of woodwork that Gus does, including the cabinets he's made and the furniture he's built.

"That's very impressive," said Sal.

"At one time Gus had the largest private contractor's business in southern Erie County," said Lucy.

"Not anymore?" asked Edna.

"No," said Gus. "I thought I was building this company for my family, but I realized I was building it for me. But I discovered when our girls moved out and my wife passed away this company had nothing for me. So I cut back and Paul kept me busy. Now it's a money-making hobby and my apprentice is coming along nicely."

Then Edna realized she had a twin glaring up at her. "What do you want dear?" Sandy just pointed up. "What's that? I'm not sure, I've never seen it before."

"Dad," said Lucy. "You better go give her a kiss, the twins are enforcers of all things yuletide."

"I don't get it," said Edna, but Sal played along and gave Edna a kiss.

"Ok, then," said Sandy, and she went back to playing with Madeline and Cholly.

"That's how this whole thing started," said Gus as he gave Lucy a kiss. "With a sprig of mistletoe."

"Missile toast!" shouted the twins from the library.

They sat in Paul and Andi's spacious parlor and sipped hot buttered rum and briefed Edna on the fun of last Christmas. "Finally, a Christmas that's not hectic and rushed!" sighed Andi as she sat on Paul's lap and leaned back on Paul.

"Not hectic?" asked Kit.

"You should have been here earlier last year."

"It was pretty wild," said Paul. "People coming and going, I had lectures to give and was adding Burlington, Vermont to the company... children in my life for the very first time."

"I didn't know that about Burlington," said Andi. "You never mentioned it."

"We were busy," said Paul as he put his arms around Andi.

"I set out snacks and there's still half a pot of coffee," said Yi. "I have an early day tomorrow."

"You have tomorrow off," said Paul.

"And let YOU cook? I'll never hear the end of it. See you in the morning boss."

"Hey, Yi, Kenny," called Paul. "I'm sorry I've been so busy and not mentioning it, but congratulations, I'm happy for you. Have you told your folks?"

Yi nodded. "Dad said, 'it's about time.' Thank you, boss." She leaned over and got a kiss from Paul, then she and Kenny headed out into the gently falling snow.

The four couples talked for a while, giving Edna and Sal an introduction to life in the Snowbelt and how to deal with Christmas. Andi found the snacks Yi left out and found that it was a plate of sandwiches in three piles. One marked Kosher, one marked Kids, and one left unmarked. She offered sandwiches around the room and when Sal bit into pastrami on rye, his eyes rolled up in pleasure. "Where did you order these from?"

"We didn't. Our chef, Yi, made them before she and Kenny left."

"It's incredible, she must be from New York."

"No, she's from Jupiter, Florida. She is our yacht captain's daughter, and she cooked on our honeymoon cruise and we hired her away from... us." Paul squeezed Andi. "I guess that's what happened. Anyhow, Kenny proposed to her on Monday night."

"Are they going to Kenny's house?" asked John.

"No, the cabin, they're going to celebrate their engagement at our cabin.

"This is delicious, and the company is wonderful, but Mother and I are getting tired and bed is calling," said Sal.

John and Paul looked at each other and nodded, then Paul said, "stay for a few minutes, this will be cute." Gus got up and disappeared into the kitchen as John and Macy tried to get Cholly's attention.

"Cholly, come here, we have something for you. Cholly!"

After the third time, Paul whistled and Wonka came running, covered in peel and stick Christmas ribbons, the twins and Cholly following and giggling.

"Cholly," said John. "Père Noël was just here and he left you a very special gift for being a good boy."

"Meeeeee?" asked Cholly. 'Me' was currently his favorite English word.

"Bon garcon!" said the twins in unison.

"He's been really good," said Madeline.

"He helped us decorate Wonka," said Sandy. "Who's Père Noël?"

"That's a French Santa Claus," said Andi, as Gus set a large, decorated box in front of Cholly. It was gaily wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper and had ribbons. It had a lift off lid and air holes and if Cholly was paying attention, a black nose was peering out one of the air holes.

"Merry Christmas Cholly. Joyeux Noel!" said John. He and Macy readied their cameras as Cholly crouched down in front of the box. He tapped it a few times and heard a noise from inside.

"Open it!" cried the twins.

Cholly nudged the lid, and the lid lifted by itself. Little Cholly's eyes grew enormous as a black Newfoundland puppy peered out of the box at him, then licked his face. The girls squealed in laughter as Cholly hugged the puppy and said, "Chiot!" He tried to lift the heavy puppy from the box, but he couldn't lift it. The big fluffy puppy climbed out and happily resumed licking the peanut butter and jelly from the little boy's face.

"What's his name Cholly?"

"Chiot!"

Cholly's excitement had Macy laughing as he hugged his puppy. "You have to share him with Katarina, ok?"

"OK!" and he tried to lift the puppy, and it ended up pinning him to the ground. "Chiot! Chiot!" he cried as he laughed.

"He named it Chiot?" asked Edna. "What does that mean?"

"I guess so," said John. "Chiot is French, it means puppy."

"We called the maid of honor at our wedding Chiot," said Macy.

"I miss her," said John as he kissed Macy. He had been worried that Macy would be angry with another 'pet' in her house, but she was laughing joyfully along with Cholly as he played with Chiot.

The twins were trying to pet the puppy, but Chiot clearly preferred licking Cholly's face. "Girls, if you had a dog like that would you share it with Danny?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

"And I get Wonka back forever?"

"Yes," they said, a little unsure. Wonka was their friend, but he was also Poppa's support animal. When he was wearing his vest, he ignored them, like he was ignoring Chiot right now.

"You'll have to walk it and clean up after it, and go to training with it," said Andi.

"We will," said the girls.

"Then turn around."

While they had been watching Cholly, Gus set another box behind them. They turned around and squealed and popped the lid off and up sat another Newfoundland puppy. "Her name is Jolie," said Andi. Like Chiot, it was black, but Jolie had some brown mixed in.

"Jolie?" Paul whispered.

"It will prevent arguments," said Andi. "It means pretty."

"Angelina Jolie's name means pretty?"

Andi nodded. "Pretty angel, to be exact."

The littermates Jolie and Chiot were reunited and took off running through the house with the three children chasing them. "You were right, that was entertaining," chuckled Sal. "But it's past our bedtime, we need to go."

"Yes, we need to get in bed too," said Paul. His headache was coming back, and he realized he had a lot of work to do tonight. They said their goodbyes at the back door in the swirling snow, and they watched Lucy and Gus lead Lucy's parents out into a Western New York winter.

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Kenny had a crackling fire lit in the stove and the cabin was warming up nicely while Yi warmed up the kitchen with the stove. The cabin was lit with candles that flickered and added a romantic, rustic air to the cabin. While Yi bustled in the kitchen, Kenny set up a small table in front of the couch at Yi's request.

"What are we going to do?" asked Yi as she cooked up a romantic Christmas Eve dinner she loved to eat and she hoped Kenny would love it too.

"Eat, I haven't eaten all day."

"I mean with our life," Yi clarified, then she felt Kenny's thoughts.

*Why should we settle for the conventional?* Then he said, "It's our life, let's make our own rules."

"Where are we going to live?" she demanded as she took a small ribeye steak off the frying pan and let it rest.

"We can stay where we want to. You have that palatial room at Doctor Jarecki's house and we love staying there, and we have the run of the house at the feed store, and we can stay here if we want... let's live at Doctor J's during the week, my house on weekends, and here in the cabin when the spirit strikes."

Yi looked at her creation, then reconsidered her plans. *My dinner is too big for in front of the fire. We need to eat at the table* and without a word, Kenny cleaned off the dinner table.

"What is your goal in our marriage?" Yi finally said.

"My number one goal hasn't changed since the day we met in the sporting good section of the store."

Yi leaned out of the kitchen and glared at him. "And that was?"

"To raise our children to be smart, strong, respectful, and godly."

She was shocked; she did not expect that answer at all. "We had just met!"

"That doesn't mean it's a bad plan," he said as he put some soft piano Christmas music.

He wants my babies! Yi wanted to shout! She wanted to sing! All the damn losers she wasted her time with just looking to fuck the slant eye chick... lawyers, investment bankers, doctors... and the best one was waiting for her in a country village feed store.

"I think my whole life was just getting ready to meet you," he said. "I even went to Korea twice to find you, but when you walked into my store I knew my search was over."

"What if I had said, 'Leave me alone white boy?'"

Kenny shrugged. "You're half white. I would have dated that part of you until the other side came around."

"I don't think it works that way. That's a nice album, who is it?" She asked

"It's a mix of Melissa and Macy. Paul recorded it a few years ago."

"I hope you're hungry," said Yi as she began setting out bowls of vegetables, cooked, cubed potato, broiled cauliflower, steamed broccoli, grapes, chopped apple, and cubed pieces of bread. Rye bread, sour dough, French. She continued cooking, gently stirring her creation, then soon she emerged carrying a pot that she placed on a small heating element. What Kenny noticed was the fact that she was only wearing an apron.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Fondue," she said. "My dad used to make it every Christmas eve for mom, my brother Brian, and me."

Kenny's mouth went dry as her breasts peeked out the side of the apron. She also had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. When they were alone, that was something she only did when she was in the mood for a blowjob. "Come on, get your clothes off. Johnson family tradition, naked fondue for Christmas Eve," she demanded, then disappeared into the kitchen.

Kenny was naked by the time she brought out the cubed steak and sat down next to Kenny. "You're going to love this. My favorite is the potato and cheese, but try the apple and grape, it's incredible how they go with beer cheese."

"Beer cheese?"

"It's cheddar with beer and mustard." She skewered a cherry tomato and dipped it in the cheese sauce. "It's very important to twirl until the cheese cools a little," she said as she twirled the tomato over the fondue pot.

"Why?"

"So you don't drip any on you. That's the fun of naked fondue." She brought the tomato to Kenny's mouth and he bit in. It was delicious. The sweet tomato mixed with the sharp cheese was an incredible bite.

They ate their fondue, sprinkled with kisses and touches. As the snow swirled outside, the young couple laughed, kissed and ate the first of, hopefully, many Christmas fondues. "This is the best way to get a kid to eat broccoli," said Yi as she fed Kenny a cheese covered sprig of broccoli.

"Good to know," he said as their lips met.

As the meal neared its end, Yi put down her fondue fork and straddled Kenny's lap. "I can't wait for dessert any longer," she said, and she lowered herself onto his thick, drooling cock.

Kenny groaned as he felt her hot, wet pussy surround his cock and engulf his shaft. She began to rise up and down on his cock, skewering herself on his fleshy lance over and over. The passion was welling up inside of her and she knew she was going to cum quickly. Before she knew it, she was in the throes of ecstasy. Her body shook as wave after wave of sexual frenzy crashed over her.

Her head was spinning, and she felt his cock surge deeper and deeper. Kenny had stood up and was carrying Yi to the couch. She hung suspended on his dick, her weight forcing him into her even more. She wrapped her legs around him and locked her ankles for security.

He gently laid her on the couch, then he began to fuck. The beautiful Asian was still trembling from her first orgasm when he started pounding into her, their crotches slapping together, drowning out the gentle music. It was vicious; it was furious; it was glorious! She fell in love with Gentle Kenny, but she adores Kenny the Madman. His strokes were deep and strong, and it felt like he was denting a lung.

Another, stronger orgasm crashed over her as he roared and fired spurt after spurt of life creating semen into her womb. Their mutual climax seemed to go on forever until finally they ended up panting, trembling in relief, lost in each other's eyes.

*Merry Christmas Mrs. Johnson.*

*Merry Christmas my love.*

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The twins were wearing their special Merry Christmas pixie jammies, slippers, and robes. They were arguing over whose bed Jolie was going to sleep on.

"What does it matter? Your beds are pressed together," said Grandma Heather.

"Isn't she supposed to sleep in a kennel?" asked Aunty Kit.

"It's full!"

Kit looked at the kennel that they got for the dog, and it was full. Chiot and Cholly were laying in it. The little boy was hugging his giant puppy and the puppy happily cuddled with Cholly.

"Do you want to do the honors?" Paul asked John. Paul still hadn't moved from the chair he sat down in after the wedding. Next to him was Wonka, now wearing his Service Dog vest and sitting at attention.

"This is a Jarecki family tradition that goes back to when I was four and Paul was eleven," said John. "That Christmas we had nothing, not even a pair of socks under our tree. Our tree was a limb that dad cut from a tree behind his shop. Instead of lights we had some old candles left over from the old world. We stood around our tree and listed the gifts that God gave us, and we discovered that we had a lot more than we expected. Starting with that Christmas, the Jarecki family began to flourish, and as we continue the tradition, we ask that you join us. Think of a gift that God gave you and join us in giving thanks."

Andi and Macy lit the candles on the tree, one for each person there. Then, as Paul rose to his feet, John turned off the lights, and the tree glowed from the twelve candles. They each mentioned a gift they received. Heather said she had received three more grandchildren: Danny, Katarina, and Cholly. Harold received time to spend with Heather. Madeline got glasses and she could see again, and Sandy received a new school, with a "zillion new friends." When they finally got to Andi, she said, "I received over eighty sisters that my husband had the courage to set free."

When they were done, the candles were blown out, and it was time to put the twins in bed. Paul said, "Grandpa Harold, would you like the honor of reading the special Christmas story?"

"I would be honored." With a twin on each side of him, each twin holding a baby, and with Cholly on his lap, Grandpa Harold opened the tome that was ancient when Paul first read it as a child. "T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house..."

The little ones were asleep before Santa rode off into the night, and Andi and Paul helped Macy and John carry Cholly, Katarina, and Chiot out to the van. "It was a great pageant," said Paul. "Let's do it again next year." This was one of the more successful pageants, with more kids taking part than ever before.

"Are you ok? You look like you're going to fall," said John.

"Headache. No big deal."

"You've had a headache for a week."

Paul shrugged. "I was hit in the head; it gave me a medical condition called cephalalgia."

"Cepha-what?" gasped John.

"It means he has a headache," said Andi. "Come on hero," and she hugged Paul's arm and tried to tug him inside. But Paul didn't want to go. He wanted to remember this moment forever, his brother John, his sister-in-law Macy in the swirling snow, their two children in the car, their family complete. Why did he think this would be their last Christmas? Paul and John hugged, wordlessly saying Merry Christmas, brother, and then going their separate ways.

Grandpa Harold and Grandma Heather had tucked the twins in bed while Aunty Kit sat in the living room and was watching It's a Wonderful Life while she fed little Danny his last bottle of the evening.

As she fed the baby, more and more gifts appeared from hiding places in the attic, in the basement, in Heather and Harold's room. Andi pushed Paul back into his chair and gave him some Tylenol. Then she and her parents began to arrange the gifts under the tree. They soon had a mountain of gifts under the tree in the parlor and the silver tree in the living room. "Where's Paul?" asked Heather, as they wrapped the last few remaining gifts.

"He went to change the baby," said Kit.

Andi went upstairs to find Paul in bed. He was asleep while Scrooge was on TV. He had Danny tucked into the crook of his arm, and next to him was Jolie, who cuddled up next to him, and Wonka, who was licking Jolie.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Gus's pickup pulled back into his driveway. He and Lucy had made a couple of deliveries, then returned home to celebrate their wedding night. Once again, Gus had the chance to drink in the sight of Lucy in her wedding dress. She was magnificent. Over the past year or two, she had put on a few pounds and Gus didn't mind in the least. Her dress clung to her, accentuating the curves she denied having.

"Let me show you the magic of fire light," said Gus as the fire in the living room glass sided wood stove crackled to life and cast a dancing golden glow through the room. The way her pure white dress clung to her drove him crazy. Gus didn't have a 'type.' He wasn't a boob man or a leg man or an ass man. He loved Lucy for everything she was. She had marvelous legs and an ass to die for, and nipples so sensitive he could make her cum with patient attention to them alone, but he learned the hard way that the body is transitory.

Lucy's intellect, her sense of humor, and her heart won him over. She was almost ready to kill Gus's best friend Paul, to protect Andi and the twins, and that actually endeared Lucy to him. Loyalty and love like that are a rare commodity, and Gus wanted to explore more. On their trip to the Bahamas, when she admitted she liked to watch others make love, it didn't shock Gus; it was a cry for help. Her love life was a failure, and Gus knew the feeling well. Before he met Tina Skeates, his love life was one string of failures after another. It was Tina that showed him what love was, and Paul that showed him that a tragic loss was survivable.

Now, ten years after Tina's sad passing, he could feel her cheering him on, urging him to show Lucy the love that Tina showed him. Gus stood behind her and held Lucy tight, grinding his hard cock into that perfect ass of hers while they stood fully dressed in front of the enormous picture window. She finally asked the question she had been waiting hours to ask. "You flew to Denver and asked for my father's permission to marry me?"

"No, hardly. If he said no I would have just laughed in his face. I told him that we were getting married and asked him and your mom to join us and celebrate with us."

Lucy turned in his arms and groaned, "You're so naughty." Gently, they kissed and allowed their passion to overcome them. Long weeks of denial stoked the fires of their passion. Finally, when their lips parted, Gus turned her around and unzipped her wedding dress and slipped it down over her shoulders, her taut breasts and erect nipples, her narrow waist and round ass. He was wrong. She did wear underwear. She was wearing a tiny white G-String that said in light pink letters, "Open with care." He eased off the G-string and leaned in and began licking at her pussy. Then he urged Lucy to lie down on a soft quilt in front of the fire and began kissing his way down from her shoulders to her breasts. "You're still dressed!"

"A gentleman always dresses before he dines."

"No. Not tonight." She started chuckling, and he finally got up and got undressed. He carefully took off his tux and folded each piece as he watched the firelight dance over Lucy's milky skin. Finally, he tugged down his boxer shorts that said "Just Married" in bright red letters, making Lucy laugh harder. His hard cock slapped against his stomach, and he crouched down.

"Where was I when I was so rudely interrupted?" and he knelt down between her legs that opened for him. His tongue began swiping her pussy gently, sweeping from her seeping opening to her tingling clit. Lucy wound her fingers in his hair and sighed. He was so good at this. Nobody got her off like Gus, not even the few women in her life that tried to show her "the wild side."

Only Lucy could get Lucy off with any regularity until Gus came along and showed her what a caring man could do if you let him. "Oh God, Gus," she sighed as he eased two fingers into her pussy while suckling on her clit. His free hand began pinching and twisting an erect nipple, sending jolts of excitement through her body, from her nipple to her clit. She joined him and began pinching and pulling her other nipple. "You're going to make me cum!" she gasped. He just looked up at her and winked and continued to pleasure this sexy, smart woman.

Before she realized it, her orgasm was almost on her. She planted her feet on the floor and raised her hips, driving her pussy into Gus's mouth. She was whimpering and gasping in her need as the pressure to cum built up inside. Just as the biggest orgasm she had ever felt exploded in her mind, her husband drove his thick cock into her pussy and began fucking her savagely. She shrieked and wrapped her legs around him as he fucked, her fingernails clawing into his back as he pounded her pussy.

Neither of them knew how long it went on, they just knew it was good. They were covered in sweat and juices as finally he came in her and they collapsed in front of the fire. "I felt that in my palms!" gasped Lucy. "I've never cum like that before."

"That's because you've never been married to me before," grinned Gus.

They cuddled and snuggled, enjoying an afterglow that neither knew was possible when Lucy's eyes flew open and she gasped. "I'm cumming again!"

"Really?"

"Really! Look at my leg!" she cried and sure enough, her leg was shuddering and waves of ecstasy coursed through her body. It went on for a full minute, then she sighed and relaxed. "That was incredible!"

"That never happened before?" asked Gus.

"No! Not to me. I heard Andi and Macy talking about it."

Gus just grinned. "Get used to it, I'm going to try to make that happen every time."

"I love you Mister Didomissio."

"And I love you Missus Didomissio."

They got up and snuggled on the couch, watching the fire dance, the snowflakes swirl outside and the lights dance on Gus's small Christmas tree. Lucy kissed Gus and said, "Do you know what you get when you cross a Jewish doctor with an Italian carpenter?"

"I don't know, what do you get?"

Lucy smiled and said, "A long hard night," and she ducked under the quilt and began suckling on his re-surging cock.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

With everything settled downstairs, Andi lifted the big puppy out of their bed and carried her to the twin's room. Jolie settled in between the twins with no complaint, and Wonka curled up on the floor next to Paul. She then put Danny in his bassinette, where he went to sleep with no problem. Poor Paul, he's been in so much pain from being pistol-whipped, but Andi was almost in tears. She wanted him so badly. It had been so long since they could make love, and tonight was their anniversary.

She crawled naked under the covers and Paul woke up. "Come here," he whispered, and he pulled her on top of him.

"Are you ok?"

"Give me a pussy slide," he said softly. "I love it when you do that."

With a grin, she straddled Paul's lap and lined her pussy up on his cock and began to rock her hips back and forth, rubbing her damp pussy on his hard cock. His fat cock was pressed against her pussy lips and her clit. She slid forward and back, her moisture lubricating their connection. As she slid back and forth, her motions grew jerky from the sparks of ecstasy that she was igniting.

Paul's hands reached up and cupped her magnificent breasts, swollen with milk, and he gently squeezed and kneaded her tits as she drove herself to orgasm by sliding her clit up and down his hard cock. She soon had a tremendous orgasm, and she collapsed on Paul as her climax crashed over her.

"You didn't cum," she said as she recovered from a sweet orgasm.

"It's ok, you did, that's all I wanted."

"But it's our anniversary, our first anniversary!" she said with a pout.

"Don't worry, we'll both be healthy soon enough."

She reached for his cock, but he was already soft. "Aww honey, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I'll be feeling better soon..." Then he grinned at her and called her, "Mrs. Mayor." Then he pushed back the covers and swung his feet out of the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get some Tylenol." He got out of bed and walked over to the basin by the tub and pulled a large bottle of Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet and poured about six tablets in his hand.

"Honey, your liver!"

"It's getting better," said Paul as he climbed back into bed. He gave her a sweet kiss and said, "We're going to be fine."

She snuggled up to him and said, "Please retire."

"I don't know how."

<><><><><>

Somehow, Andi found herself curled up on the loveseat in the parlor, looking at the fire in the fireplace while the immense tree glittered and glowed. As always, with Paul's Christmas holiday, music was playing in the background. The gifts under the tree were stacked so that Paul and Danny's little train could still run, but it only peeked out from between and under stacked gifts in a few places. In her arms, little Danny slept peacefully, secure, knowing that he's loved and will always be loved.

In front of the fire, Wonka played with Jolie. The big puppy bounced and nipped at Wonka as the chocolate lab rolled on his back, four feet in the air, and he wiggled, scratching his back on the carpet. It will be sunrise soon and the vest goes back on. Wonka seems happiest when he's able to wear his vest, but he hasn't had a chance to wear it much in the past year. The girls always want to play with the big, sweet dog, but Wonka won't play when he's wearing his support vest.

Just then, Andi noticed someone sitting next to her. Andi turned and saw a woman with dark burgundy hair sharing the loveseat with her. The woman was a few years older than Andi, and she was looking around the room with envy. As she looked around, she sipped from a small mug of egg nog. "He really did it," the woman said in awe.

"Did what?"

"He loved Christmas, he always wanted to turn our apartment into a Christmas wonderland. I will always wonder what he would have done if we had made it to Germany." Andi understood. Germany was the source of many of America's Christmas traditions, and Paul would have gathered every German Christmas decoration he could have grabbed. "Does he still listen to Mitch Miller?"

Andi nodded. "Mitch Miller, Doris Day, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, anyone from the early fifties."

The woman looked at Andi, then looked closely at the sleeping Danny. "He looks so much like his father..." she said sadly. Then she added, "and a lot like your father."

Finally, Andi demanded, "Who are you? And how do you know my father?"

"I suppose I am the ghost of Christmas that will never be," and her sad green eyes met Andi's eyes and Andi understood...

"Melony?"

"Be ready to step in for him," said the apparition of Paul's now dead wife. "Lean on your sister for help, and don't stop looking for Paul or we will both lose him."

"What do you mean?"

"And take care of his dog, whatever it costs..."

"What do you mean?" it was then that Andi realized she was sitting in her bed, in her bedroom and in the dim light of a small lamp she was nursing Danny. He was almost done. One good burp and he would fall asleep while she changed his diaper. Next to her, Paul slept fitfully through the pain of that headache that won't go away.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"Jolie, wake up!" whispered Sandy.

"It's Christmas! Wake up Jolie!" said Madeline. The big puppy woke up and bounced up to its feet, ready to play.

"Grandma must be up," said Sandy. "It's almost lunch time." It wasn't quite lunch time, the sun still hadn't risen above the horizon. The twins crept out of their room and crawled on their hands and knees around the balcony, hiding behind the Christmas garland that was draped on the balcony railings as they moved. Jolie was part of the fun, and she nipped and tugged at their robes as they crawled over to Grandma and Grandpa's room.

They tapped on the door but there was no answer, so Sandy slowly opened the door, and the three girls peered in: Sandy, Madeline, and Jolie. "They're gone!" gasped Madeline. The room was empty, and the bed was made.

"Let's get Aunty Kit," said Sandy, so they crept through the shared bathroom into Kit's dark room, but that bed was empty too!

Nervously, they tapped on Yi's door, then peered inside. Nobody was in there! There was one last place to check...

Down in the parlor, Andi and Kit were sipping coffee with Heather and Harold as Paul and Yi prepared breakfast in the kitchen. "I thought they would have been up by now," said Andi.

"They had a busy day yesterday," said Heather.

"Do you hear something?" said Yi as she brought an air-pot full of coffee into the parlor and set it on a side table. "Sound like they're crying."

"What is going on?" said Andi. She climbed upstairs and found all the bedroom doors wide open and the twins sitting in the middle of the floor in her room, hugging each other and crying. Between them was Jolie, who looked happy to be the center of attention. "What's the matter?" asked Andi.

"E-e-everyone left us!" wailed Madeline.

"N-n-no one is home!" cried Sandy.

"You sillies, everyone is waiting for you downstairs," said Andi as she dried their tears.

"You said we couldn't come downstairs until you were with us," said Madeline.

"No, I said you call downstairs and say, 'Can we come down now?'"

"Oh yeah," said Sandy.

"I forgot," said Madeline with a sniff.

"Now let me get downstairs and get the camera and we'll try again, ok?"

Andi hurried downstairs and said, "Come on Paul, the girls are ready." But he was in the kitchen trying to look busy.

Paul felt horrible. His black eye was going to ruin the pictures. "I'm making breakfast," he muttered.

"Honey, the girls are waiting for us."

"Ok, but let me take the pictures, ok?"

"Dad was going to take the pictures."

"Please, I don't want to be in the pictures." He looked at Andi and she saw his eye was full of blood. "I just noticed this morning."

"Ok. Let's do this," said Andi. She would not be deprived of father and son pictures. Her fondest memories are captured in pictures with her father. She can't deprive her children of that. She gently applied pancake makeup to the bruise which was really showing, then she arranged his Santa Claus hat so the white ball at the end of the stocking cap hung in front of his eye. It looked rakish and fun.

After showing him a photo of how he looked, Paul said, "If you're happy with it, I'm happy."

"Ok, let's do it," she said happily, and they went into the parlor and called out, "Come on down girls!"

The twins came down the stairs, with Jolie following down the stairs clumsily, and they gasped in surprise at the mounds of gifts and packages under the tree. Harold caught their expressions on video and he spent the morning happily video recording the girls and their puppy. "Stockings first!" exclaimed Madeline happily. There were ten stockings hanging from the mantle in the parlor, one for everyone, including Grandma, Grandpa, Aunty Kit, Yi, and Kenny.

"Interesting," said Andi. She had a card in her stocking from John and Macy which said, "To our favorite sister. Your gifts are on the front porch." Andi and Paul went outside and there, on the front porch, were two large wooden rocking chairs and a Santa style sleigh big enough to fit Danny. "They're beautiful!" shrieked Andi and which brought the twins running.

A card on one of the rocking chairs read, "Hand crafted for you by J.M. Jarecki." Andi was impressed, but Paul was shocked. "It's Grandpa Smolak's chair." The sight of the treasured rocking chair from decades ago lifted the cloud of dread that had been hanging over Paul. Where did they come from?

"Who?" asked Andi.

"My Grandfather Stash Smolak, his dad brought his furniture when he moved to the US in 1900. John and I played on this chair all day long, it was our bucking bronco, our rocket ship, our monster truck... He did an incredible job recreating it."

"They're big," said Andi, as she and Kit pulled them inside. On the bottom of the seat, John had branded the chair J.M. Jarecki Woodcraft, and he signed it with a wood-burning pen. Paul ended up with Danny in his arms and now and then, one of the twins would crawl up on his lap and rock with him.

Paul got a Christmas Card from Danny. Andi took Danny in for his check-up and Andi put the results in a card to daddy. The card that Danny gave him said, "I grew two pounds!" Paul pretended to have a hard time lifting Danny, making the girls giggle. "Oh I'm so proud of you!" said Paul as Danny smiled and dribbled.

The gifts that were exchanged were thoughtful, and many times there were handmade items like the scarf, hat, and mittens that Andi knitted for everyone. Paul opened his gift from Andi and in there was a red white and blue hat, scarf, and mitten set made from the downy soft yarn that his mother loved so much. With trembling hands, Paul pulled on his hat and wrapped the scarf around his neck. Memories of his mother Katarina flooded in as he held the soft mittens. "They're perfect," he gasped as he was transported back to the last time that he was this happy... that was when he was thirteen and John was six and it was a wonderful Christmas. Dad's business was taking off, and they bought a house in Williamsville. They didn't have much for furniture or gifts, but they had a tree and they were out of Tiarunda.

"Is it the right color?" asked Andi, unable to read the look in his eyes.

"It's perfect. More than perfect, it's..." He gave her a long passionate kiss that had Sandy squealing in agony and Madeline watching in jealousy. "It's your love made visible," he said.

The twins made a macaroni wreath and tree for Paul, gluing the noodles in place, then Yi spray painted them, then the girls added more decorations. Paul loved them and planned to make them the center of attention in his office.

Yi got several heavy packages from Paul, Kenny, and Harold. It was the iron trivets that she loved so much, the entire six trivet set. She had watched sadly as the set was sold piece by piece, not knowing that they would wait under the Christmas tree for her. "I love them! Thank you!" she cried, making sure that Kenny got the biggest thank you kiss of all.

After being drenched with clothing and jewelry, Andi was handed a framed document that was signed by Paul, John and Macy. "What is this?" asked Andi. "I don't understand."

"It means you're a member in Jarecki Motors LLC," said Paul.

"I don't understand. Pretend I'm not a lawyer."

"You are now officially part owner of Jarecki Motors. You share in the profits and can even have a say in the way that the company runs. But to make money, we have to make a profit." Paul tried to explain the process, but she was confused.

"You bring the money home and share it with everyone, why do I need to be a member?"

"Because there's more than making a profit. Say somebody buys a car that they can't control and slam into an orphanage. They could come after Jarecki Motors, but not us as the owners. It's possible they could try to sue you because a slimy lawyer will try that, being a member of the LLC gives you protection against that. That's what Limited Liability means."

"Where are the girls?" Grandma asked. Earlier they disappeared. They had climbed into Jolie's kennel and hid in there for a while.

"They're taking Jolie for a walk," said Yi. Jolie had gotten a harness and a leash for Christmas, and the dog was pulling the twins up and down the driveway. She was a strong little pup and equipped with four paw drive, so she was able to get better traction on the snowy driveway than the girls were.

It was a wonderful Christmas morning with freshly baked sticky buns and Paul's fresh fruit salad for breakfast. Yi and Andi made espresso, lattes and cappuccino with Andi's new professional espresso machine until Heather and Paul were sure that everyone would not sleep for a week. Paul's sense of dread faded, and he wondered if it was because this was his first Christmas morning without John, Macy, and Gus in over 10 years.

<><><><><>

Paul, Lucy, John, and Macy, along with Lucy's folks, arrived later in the day for dinner. Yi and Paul had made a banquet feast based on a Polish Wigilia, but it was Americanized with things like pizza flavored pierogi and haddock steaks rather than carp. There was borscht with dumplings which the twins called "red soup," that was followed with mushroom soup, vegetable salad which looks like a macaroni salad with colored bit (carrots and green beans) added. Another dish was herring in tomato sauce followed by cheesecake, poppy seed roll and gingerbread cookies.

"That was fantastic!" said Ester Kocis. "So new yet so traditional and so delicious. I never would have thought of some of the bold changes you made, like putting macaroni in the vegetable salad."

"That was something our mother taught us; eggs were expensive. Noodles were cheap so noodles instead of egg was used and that's what John and I were raised on."

"Traditionally a Wigilia is twelve dishes, I counted eleven," said Sal.

"I have two types of perogies, traditional mushroom but I also made pizza flavored, that give me twelve."

"This was a real education," said Yi. "There was nothing like this at the institute."

At that point, Paul got up and hugged his brother from behind. "John, thank you so much for the chairs, they will be treasured always. How did you find the plans for them?" asked Paul.

"Magnifying glass and calipers," said Gus.

"Gus showed me how to guestimate measurements from a photograph and I found several photos that contained Grandpa Smolak's chair, so I was able to get a good idea for the measurements. And you! How can I thank you for the lathe and the radial arm saw?"

"I'm hoping you can show me how to use them," said Paul.

The conversation was lively and cheerful, and only interrupted by a call from Judge Nicholetta Atherton. "Merry Christmas lovebirds!" said the preternaturally cheery judge. "How is the weather in Buffalo?"

"Perfect Christmas weather judge," said Lucy into the speakerphone. "Cold, and snowy, but we have a big group of family and friends to keep us company."

"I watched the wedding and the pageant, it was so beautiful, the twins were darling, but the little sheep stole the show, what was he saying?"

"Bay!" cried Cholly.

"That's John and Macy's son," said Andi.

"That is our foundling," said Macy. "He's our Christmas present from God. His mother passed away and he ended up in our laps. He came to us in the middle of a pageant rehearsal. We are fostering him and working through the adoption process."

"That is amazing, what a blessing. I'll have my office watch to make sure your adoption goes smoothly. Lucy, Gus, you were an adorable bride and groom, that was how all weddings should be. Short, sweet, and surrounded by friends. I can't wait to see you again!"

After their goodbyes, the conversation turned to Lucy and Gus's upcoming trip to Nisi Arcadia. Andi said, "It's a private island near the Bahamas..."

"Obamas!" insisted Sandy and Madeline.

"Go play," said Paul. "And take your cousin Cholly with you." Cholly was filling up on gingerbread cookies. He had turned his nose up at everything except the borscht and the pizza perogies, but he tried to taste everything. The children dashed off to play with their puppies and Andi continued. "They'll fly to West Palm Beach and hop on our boat there for a ride out to Nisi Arcadia, and spend a week there, then fly back to the mainland."

"It's owned by the woman that just called us," said Gus.

"It's a beautiful getaway," said Lucy. "We ended up there on New Year's Day last year. There's beaches, private beaches, cabanas out over the water, Gus and I swam with a dolphin last year. It's beautiful."

"I'm going to learn to sail a boat," said Gus. "And if it's half as much fun as it looks, I'm going to build one."

"Now that's a worthy project!" said John. "Let's do it. I'll start looking up plans and design considerations."

"Yeah, let's do it," said Paul, who was feeling less melancholy now that the family was together. He and John loved sailing. They have a small boat in Florida that they sail up and down the Indian River. Maybe they can build a little one they can use to splash about on the pond. That would be great. Paul looked to his right and Andi's smile lit up the entire room. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for your love."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"You set this up in just a day?" asked Paul.

"Must be a slow news cycle," said Andi. "But you announced it at church yesterday and you had almost two hundred people listening to you. We've already got campaign contributions coming in."

Paul peeked out at the crowd gathered, there were a couple of news crews from the local stations, which was a bigger surprise than he expected, reporters from the Buffalo Evening News, and from the suburban papers, like the Amherst Bee, the Orchard Park Bee, the Cheektowaga Bee and other papers from the "Bee Group." There were other papers, including the Springville Press, Concord Tribune and the Gowanda Times. But there were people who had identified themselves as reporters for on-line news sources like WNY Now an underground news site, and Free the Frontier, a libertarian publication.

"Let's go baby," and she and Paul walked out to face the crowd. There was a lectern there with a small cluster of microphones and Paul stood behind them. He must have presented quite a sight. The shiner on his left eye was abating, but his eye was still full of blood. "I have officially filed with the secretary of Erie County and the Springville village clerk as a candidate for the office of mayor of Springville. I am a businessman and know the needs of the local businessmen and will work to improve the climate of business for the local businesses. I know their concerns and as a resident, I know the concerns of the residents of Springville. Issues like water, sewage, snow removal, security, these are all quality-of-life issues that need to be addressed."

Paul was barely into his prepared statement when the hands went up. "Yes?" and he pointed at someone.

"Sir, you're a doctor, a lawyer, a businessman, you've got all the money you could want, why do you want the mayor's job?"

"I'm not someone who can leave a job undone. I got my medical degree because I wanted to be a doctor, I got my law degree to help with my business, and I took over my dad's business so my brother could continue as a pastor." He grinned and said, "I love my brother, and I wanted him to get the opportunity to preach and not quit to keep the family business going so I did the George Bailey thing and sacrificed my happiness for my brother." Macy rolled her eyes, which caused laughter in the room.

"I'm glad I did it because I found out that I enjoyed business and was really good at it. And I found out that my brother's a really good pastor. I want the job as mayor because I know I can do it, and there's a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I believe that as a passionate lover of the village of Springville I can solve these issues and bring back the life we grew up with. Parades on Main Street, picnics in the park, sitting out on the porch on a summer evening. Yes?"

"Doctor Jarecki, you've got all the money you need, why do it?"

"You're right, I don't need the money, I will donate one hundred and five percent of my pay to the youth sports activities of Springville and Concord township. I believe I can do the job better than the current administration and I will stand by my words."

"What do you mean?"

"This is issue number one for me. The village has a park police, which are only allowed to operate inside the village of Springville parks. The current mayor has declared by mayoral fiat that the entire village is a park and now we have a rogue agency walking the streets while the parks become crack dens. I will return the Village Park Patrol to the parks and work with the town of Concord Police and Erie County sheriff's department to ensure the law enforcement personnel in Springville are fully trained, and properly supervised."

Paul grew very serious. "Last week I was walking along Main Street talking to people about what they would like to see improved in Springville and I had a park cop order me to stop because I was stirring up unrest. That violates the first amendment, I could sue this village into insolvency for that. What if he had done that to someone that doesn't care for the village like I and my family do? Then I stopped at my neighborhood pub and another park cop followed me in and told me to stop talking to the bar tender. How do you not talk to a bar tender? Do you play guessing games with hand signals until he stumbles on the drink or meal you desire? Not only is that unconstitutional, but it's also over as soon as I take office."

"That's quite a shiner you have, how did that happen?" asked Julissa Tanaka, his bartender's wife.

"A village park patrolman entered my house and ordered me to follow him to the mayor's office. I refused because I was busy but offered other options. He didn't like any of those options, so he hit me with a loaded pistol while I was holding an infant, and he took me in handcuffs to the mayor's office. I have the resources to fight back, but what happens when the next victim is a citizen who can't afford legal representation? This will not happen in a Jarecki administration."

The press conference went on for about 20 minutes and even though Paul mentioned the issue of his "arrest" he did not say anything that was not already a matter of public record. After a while, he introduced Andi as his campaign manager and Macy as his executive assistant, and let them handle a few questions. "Mrs. Jarecki?" asked a reporter.

"Yes?" said Andi and Macy at the same time.

"Uh... Macy. What do you say to the idea that Doctor Jarecki is running for mayor to make it easier to open a car dealership in Springville?"

"To that idea I say, what part of running for Mayor makes it easier? Doctor Jarecki has opened nine dealerships in the past seven years in four different states without being a mayor anywhere. An added layer of complexity doesn't make it easier by any means."

"Andi, what do your children think of Paul's running for mayor."

"The girls just turned six and they don't fully understand. This morning Sandy told her dad to wait for spring, it's easier to run when there's no snow."

"What are your plans for New Years?" asked another reporter after the laughter died down.

Andi and Macy looked at each other. Their plans were the same. "Our husbands have been working pretty hard lately, we have a couple of cabins out in the woods, and we're going to spend New Years resting by a fire, sipping anything we want and building snowmen with the children."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Two days later, on December 29th, they dropped Kit Mays RN off at the Buffalo airport. "Come back in the summer so we can show you our piece of heaven," said Andi.

"You have something nicer than your mansion?" teased Kit.

"How about 75 acres of forest with streams, ponds, camping and cabins?" asked Andi.

"I'll see you in July!" grinned Kit and with a last hug, she disappeared into the Airport and the Jareckis were heading downtown to the corporate party that Josh and Veronica invited them to.

The Andalon Data Systems winter party was a big deal. Anthony "Ant" Friedman loved to show his employees how much he appreciated them, so he always threw a party between Christmas and New Years, and it was always a smash. Dinner, live band, charity bar (profits go to a charity), dancing and singing. Josh Gravely, Paul's neighbor and friend, first saw the love of his life, Veronica von Köster, dance at this party. They discovered they had "grandma nicknames" that they shared with each other. He called her Ronnie, and she called him Effi.

Veronica was a company officer, an executive assistant to the CEO. She fell above the three vice presidents on the corporate ladder. Josh was a wrench turner. He was not on the corporate ladder, but he was expected to hold the ladder steady. He had one person who worked for him, and he's made better money elsewhere, but he loved the atmosphere at Andalon Data Systems. It was where he and Veronica fell in love and, with all small companies, an affair like that could become a point of contention, so they kept their relationship secret.

Ant and his wife Marjorie invited Andi, Macy, John and Paul to the party because of their Amazing Baby Race. Josh was up to something because he was able to talk Paul into wearing his uniform, which Andi loved. "What are you complaining about, this thing is loose on you," said Andi.

"That's only because I was eating my way into a food coma before I retired," said Paul. That wasn't totally accurate. He was doing more drinking than eating. Finding out your wife was raped and killed by her commander, who had convinced everyone that she was a slut and planning to leave Paul did a number on his psyche. It was Macy who really saved his life. She reunited Paul and John, she got Paul talking about his loss, and she got him Wonka.

"God, you look hot enough to fuck," said Andi. "How would you like another wedding night?" This was their code word for anal sex.

"You know we don't have to go. We could go to the cabin and light a fire ..." said Paul as they drove through downtown Buffalo to the Statler-Waldorf where the party was held.

"After the party," she said. "Besides, having these babies with is the best excuse to leave early," said Andi, as Paul pulled up to the front door of the Statler Waldorf Hotel in Buffalo.

"Go find our table, I'll catch up with you," said Paul and Andi, John, and Macy grabbed the babies and piled out of the van.

About fifteen minutes later, Josh Gravely arrived in the lavishly decorated ballroom and he found his table almost immediately. The room was decorated in white and gold. Flocked Christmas trees with gold lights and gold ornaments filled the corners and gold rings in clusters of five hung from the ceiling because December 29th is the fifth day of Christmas.

Seated under a chain of golden rings was Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Paul Jarecki in his semi formal USAF uniform along with Andi, John, and Macy. Andi and Macy had their babies swaddled in receiving blankets that matched their gowns. Andi's gown was a deep shade of blue that is known as American Blue that came close to matching Paul's uniform, and Macy's gown was Cranberry Crimson. Both gowns were designed the same as Veronica's white gown that she wears when dancing in public. Josh and Veronica had the dresses made for both women as Christmas and New Mom gifts. Both dresses had deep necklines and were resplendent with sequins that glittered and flashed in the lighting as they moved, just like Veronica's dress.

Josh shook hands with Paul and John, then scooped Katarina from her mother's arms and sat down, leaving an open seat to his left. "There's my baby girl, my little milk dud." he said, gently rocking the sleeping infant. "Uncle Josh is going to take you fishing and hunting snipes. You and me and little Josh are going camping every weekend..." Josh isn't allowed to call Danny "Little Josh" when the twins are around. They have a screaming fit when he does, so he has to do it in secret.

"Joshua, you are going to be the worst uncle ever," grinned Macy, seeing the "there he goes again" look in Andi's eyes.

"That's my job," he said as he gazed at Katarina, who slept peacefully in his arms and he wondered what his son or daughter would have looked like if his ex-wife Yesenia wasn't such a bitch.

Anthony and Marjorie Friedman came over and greeted Josh, who rose and shook their hands. "Mister and Mrs. Friedman, you've met, Paul, Adrianna, John, and Macy. Andi and Macy had a race to the delivery room, and last month during the snowstorm 'Little Josh' was born two hours before Katarina." Somehow Katarina ended up in Marjorie's arms.

"So, Andi won?" asked Anthony, trying to ignore the term 'Little Josh.'

"No, the race was to the delivery room," said Paul. "These guys were born in the ER, so the race is still on."

"Look at that smile!" gushed Marjorie as she tickled Katarina's nose, "She's smiling at me!"

"It's just gas," said Anthony. It was the same remark he got from Marjorie every time he held one of their newborn sons or daughters and mentioned the smile.

"It is not fair," pouted Macy, "elle l'a déjà fait, she's done this before."

"That doesn't count, the twins were Caesarean," responded Andi, and not for the first time. Like actual sisters, Andi and Macy enjoyed the occasional bicker.

Marjorie, who has seven children, smiled and patted Macy on the shoulder, and handed Katarina back to her. "It gets easier as you go."

Hearing Macy's French-Canadian accent, Anthony said, "You must be our newest citizen," and he extended a hand to shake. "And Veronica tells me you're a doctor?"

"Oui, doctor of psychology."

"And she has a PhD in Theology," added John. "And she's a Pulmonologist, and he's a Cardiologist," he said pointing to Paul and Andi.

"I sell cars," said Paul. "He has a Th.D. and is a doctor of theology."

"They have the property across the street from my cabin," said Josh. Then he pointed out, "we have a doctor, a doctor, another doctor, and a doctor-doctor, and me."

Anthony chuckled, "four people, five doctorates and none of you are Jewish? My mother will never believe this. Have a great time at the party!"

As soon as Anthony and Marjorie left, Terri McCarthy, Josh's trainee, sat down in the empty seat next to Josh, putting her between Josh and Paul. "Is anyone sitting here?"

"Not right now, my date will be showing up later after dinner," said Josh.

"Nobody believes that story anymore," said Terri as she took a piece of stuffed celery off Josh's hors-d'oeuvre plate and crunched on it. "Be honest, did she stand you up or did you strike out?"

"No, really. She'll be here later," he pointed out the large, gift-wrapped package under the table. "That's for her."

"See, you should have worn your uniform like the army guy sitting next to me," said Terri as she shook hands with Paul.

"He's Air Force."

"You were Air Force too, you could be twins, he could be your wingman and help you pick up chicks. Your suit is the same color as his, and you're both wearing a bow tie. Maybe after dinner you two could go..."

"Thank you, Terri, but no," groaned Josh while everyone laughed at his predicament.

"Hey, at least you trimmed that beard, you were starting to look like a hermit."

Hoping to deflect Terri's attention, Josh said to Macy, "Terri is from Mississauga Ontario." Which started a conversation between the Canadians which quickly changed to French. Terri changed seats with Josh so they didn't have to shout across him, but he could tell that Terri was talking about him because of the hand gestures and Macy's laughter. At least her attention was diverted.

Soon came dinner, it was standard large crowd fare, braised beef tips or roast chicken breast, or vegetable plate, rice pilaf, and vegetable medley followed by sorbet for dessert. Paul leaned over and said to Terri, "Would you like to hold the baby while Macy is eating?"

Terri looked like she was just offered a choice of suicide method. "Hell no! I mean no offence, she's all cute an' shit, but Hell no!"

"Aw, come on," said Josh, knowing full well Terri's fear of babies. "Why not?"

"No! Those things are contagious! Those adorable little faces, the way they smell, the cute noises they make. If a girl gets her hands on one of those, the next thing you know is she's out looking for a guy with a steady job."

The table erupted with laughter and Josh held Danny for Andi and bottle fed him, letting Andi finish her dinner. Terri took a picture of Josh with the baby for blackmail purposes as Anthony stepped out onto the dance floor with a wireless microphone and a page of notes. Behind him, the band was quietly taking their places. "If I could have your attention, please," he said, and the background murmur quickly quieted.

Anthony spoke about the stellar year they had, and he announced several large accounts they just landed; each announcement met with applause. He handed out awards for their outstanding performers and he then introduced the guests, including Macy, and she got a standing ovation for receiving her citizenship.

He then smiled and said, "Let's kick off the entertainment part of this shindig with what has become an Andalon tradition. Miss Veronica von Köster and New York National Guard Major Mitchell McDonnell."

Mitch stepped onto the dance floor and soon he and Veronica began to dance as the band struck up a foxtrot. "I thought you were going to ask her to dance," Terri said, trying to embarrass Josh.

"You're right, I'm going to do it," said Josh as he handed the baby back to Andi and pulled the box out from under the table and handed it to Paul. "Could you hold this for me colonel?"

"Sure," said Paul with a straight face. He was dying to see the look on Terri's face. She was the only person at the table that wasn't in on the plan. Josh took off his blazer and lifted the lid on the box and pulled out another jacket, placing his blazer in the box and returning it under the table. He put on the other jacket, which turned out to be his USAF dress blue uniform jacket, which was covered with his badges, wings, and ribbons.

"What are you doing?" gasped Terri. "You can't wear that!" Josh had far more ribbons than Paul and Mitch combined. Terri immediately thought that Josh had bought more ribbons to intimidate Mitch.

"It's mine, why not?" said Josh as Paul gave his uniform a last inspection. The colonel tugged the jacket into place, brushed off the shoulders, and tugged his tie straight. "I'm trying to impress a lady."

"Are you allowed to wear wings?" scolded Terri, "You're not a pilot!"

"Paul has wings and he's not a pilot," Josh responded. Paul is a flight surgeon and as such wears fight surgeon wings, and his wings were different from Josh's, whose wings identify him as a flight crew member. Josh also wears a paratrooper badge, a Missile badge for his years as an armament specialist and an Aircraft Maintenance badge, along with more than twice as many rows of ribbons as Paul was wearing. The six stripes on his arms boldly declare his rank as Master Sergeant.

"Wish me luck," he said as he snapped Paul a salute. Paul returned the salute, then as if announcing his own impending death, Josh turned to Terri and in a deep steady voice said, "I'm goin' in." He snapped an about face and stepped up to the dance floor, followed by John Jarecki with a video camera and Paul with a DSLR camera.

"You're going to get in trouble," warned Terri, then she turned to Macy and said, "Il va se faire abattre à nouveau." (He's going to get shot down again)

Josh stood at attention on the edge of the dance floor and a murmur went up throughout the audience. Was that Josh? What is he doing? The murmuring grew louder as more and more people noticed him standing there at attention.

The dancers came close, handsome Mitch in his Army mess dress, vivacious Veronica in her traditional white gown, the same one she wore at the beauty pageants. Now Josh came to life. Back ramrod straight, he stepped up behind Mitch and tapped him on the shoulder. "May I cut in?"

The couple stopped and Mitch turned to Josh and was more than a little shocked to see Josh in his dress blues. "God damn," he whispered, seeing Josh's ribbons, wings, and badges, "Holy shit... step aside and let someone else win the war, will ya sarge?"

"Will do sir," said Josh as they shook hands. Then, with a sharp salute that Mitch returned, Josh turned to an utterly stunned Veronica. She eyed him up and down, entirely speechless as Josh bowed slightly and said, "Nica, may I have this dance?"

"Oh my God," gasped Veronica as she melted into his arms, "You said you would never wear your blues ever again..." They had planned for Veronica and Mitch to pretend to be a little surprised to see Josh, but when he appeared in his semi-formal dress blue uniform without telling them, they honestly were shocked. Veronica was so honored that he wore the uniform for her that she was moved to tears. "Oh Effy," was all she could say, and she melted into his arms.

"For you I'll make this and many other exceptions." He pulled her tight, and she smiled as her man began to lead her in the dance. As they picked up the dance that they practiced dozens of times, Josh said, "You look so beautiful, I know exactly when I fell in love with you."

"When?" she said breathily. She was exhilarated that he was finally holding her as tightly as she desired. In practice, she kept telling him to hold her tighter, and tonight he got it perfect.

"It was when I saw you dance for the first time, then you walked through the crowd straight to me, and you called me Effy."

"So sweet," whispered Veronica. She smiled and blinked away the tears. "For me it was much longer."

"When was it?" asked Josh as he tried to not concentrate on his steps. He did so much better when he let the music and the feel of his lover in his arms guide his steps. "Was it when we went to the Ellicott Manor?" On their first date Josh took her to the Ellicott Manor and serenaded her with a barbershop quartet.

She smiled at his joke. That was when they first publicly admitted their feelings for each other. "It was when you came into my office for your HR briefing." Normally Sophia in HR does that, but Veronica is HR trained and will fill in for Sophia when needed. "It was that day I gave you the HR introduction," she said. "We spent the afternoon laughing and just being nice to each other. That's when it happened."

"Oh yeah," smiled Josh, "that was the day that Anthony took Sofia out to lunch and said I had to get my briefing from you. That was the day after the party."

Veronica tried hard not to laugh; Anthony took Sophia to lunch so Veronica could spend time with Josh? That was so much like Anthony. For her part, Veronica was overwhelmed. She was almost wordless. Seeing the man that she loved in his dress blues stunned her and she wanted to know the story behind every brightly colored ribbon on his chest. "You look so..." she couldn't finish. Tears of joy were still welling up. "Thank you so much," she finally whispered.

The song ended and as they drew to a stop Josh held up a finger showing to the band and to Anthony that they wanted one more. Anthony raised the microphone he was holding and said, "Let's give them one more dance folks, shall we?" There was applause from the darkened party and as the band's female vocalist stepped forward, the band played the most beautiful of country waltzes.

I'll always remember the song they were playing

The first time we danced, and I knew...

Josh and Veronica always opened their practice sessions with country waltzes to warm up because Josh said he was most comfortable with them, and it showed. And now they danced to the beautiful three-quarter time ballad, swirling around the dance floor, her gown glittering in the spotlights, his back ramrod straight, his uniform once again a part of him. Every step was in unison, every twirl, every dip looked like they did it together for years, and all the while Josh whispered soft endearments to her.

Josh and Veronica danced like they were born to dance with each other. Cameras started to flash as the dance progressed and John caught every moment on video. Across the room, Terri watched her boss dance with the most elegant, unreachable woman she ever knew. She was in shock. "Holy shit, he can dance?" She turned to Andi and said, "He can barely walk, and now he's dancing?" Andi almost spit the water she was drinking onto Danny.

Macy leaned toward Terri and said, "he told you he was going to ask her to dance with him, why did you not believe him?"

"I believed he would ask her, but I didn't think she would do it!"

Veronica could think of nothing more than dancing right off this dance floor and heading up to the suite they reserved up on the twenty-eighth floor. Josh leaned close and whispered, "This is the first song we danced to at Paul's house, remember?" She nodded, remembering their first dance and how delighted she was to find that he could dance. She remembered that back then how right it felt to be in his arms just as it does now, just like the song said. Was it a premonition set to music?

"Effy, I've never felt so loved, so secure..." she fought to hold back the tears.

"One more surprise," he said softly as the song headed into the final stanza.

She found they had stopped in the middle of the dance floor. What was he doing? He stepped back then slowly dropped to one knee... she heard Terri cry, "WAAAA?"

Now he pulled something out of his pocket... "Nica, without you I am nothing, then you showed me how wonderful life truly is. Your love completes me. Please be my partner and share this dance with me... for the rest of our lives." He opened the little box in his hand and a dream she never dared to realize suddenly came true. Through the welling tears of joy, she saw the ring that Mr. Wetzel made with her diamond in the setting they fell in love with...

The crowd stood stunned. Was he really proposing? A hundred people held their breath as this regular guy, who had somehow transformed into a knight in shining armor, was proposing on bended knee to someone that they all considered their royal princess.

She covered her mouth with both hands and nodded. At first, the word wouldn't come out; she was too excited. Then the dam broke, and she cried "Yes!" loud enough for all to hear... and he was standing, putting the ring on her shaking finger... now they were holding each other tightly, kissing as the band replayed the last chorus of "Could I Have This Dance."

Anthony and Marjorie came up and wrapped their arms around the couple as the crowd clapped. "Let's go sit down before we fall down," said Josh. He led her back to the table and Terri stood there with her mouth wide open. "My date is here now," Josh told her.

"Jeezuz boss," said Terri in total shock. "When you ask a girl to dance you don't hold back shit!"

"Ok besides Veronica, show of hands, who was surprised by that?" asked Anthony into his microphone as he stepped out on the dance floor. The response was nearly universal, including Anthony. "Ok besides Josh, show of hands. Who knew that was going to happen?" This time the only hands raised were Paul, Andi, John, Macy, Anthony's wife, Marjorie, and the entire band.

"My own neighbors?" shrieked Veronica as she leapt to her feet when she saw all the Jarecki's lifting their hands, raising laughter from the Andalon staff gathered around. "You didn't say a word," she growled at Paul. "I held your wife's hand while she was in labor, and you didn't say a word."

"Now you know how I feel," said Terri as she inspected the ring on Veronica's finger. "I'm Josh's best friend and he didn't say a word."

"Sorry Terri, but I'm going to marry my best friend," said Josh as he tried to kiss a laughing Veronica.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The ride from downtown Buffalo back to Springville seemed to take forever. It was a grand party, and the babies were loved. The folks at Andalon Data Systems knew how much their bosses loved babies, and the story of cousins born moments apart at the height of a blizzard was more than enough for an invitation to the party. The talk was mostly about one thing: the shocked look on Terri's face when her boss proposed to her hero. "I don't know," said Andi. "The look on her face when she discovered that Josh and Veronica had been living together for months and she never knew, that was classic."

"Oh stop picking on my fellow Canadien eh?" said Macy. "She's a smart girl, just a bit silly."

"What got me was how many people didn't know that Josh and Veronica were living together," said Paul.

"Living together! They didn't know that Josh and Veronica were seeing each other!" laughed Andi.

"It was amazing how they kept that secret," agreed Macy.

"You're the wedding whisperer," said John. "When do you think they will tie the knot? Spring? Sooner?"

"No," said Macy and she thought back to conversations she's had with Veronica. "Autumn. She loves the autumn leaves. She would love an outdoor wedding under the autumn leaves."

"You're right nine times out of ten," said John and he spun his captain's chair to face her, and he drank in the sight of his woman. "My god, you are beautiful in that gown."

Macy thought back on her talks with Marjorie Friedman, who said, "You've done it all! Professional fisherman, internationally acclaimed fashion model, theologian, psychologist, college professor, pastor, wife, and now mother. What's next?"

"Sex goddess," said Macy without a pause. When Marge laughed, Macy said, "No, seriously. John was a virgin when we married, my only experiences were all bad, so we were enthusiastic, but we were very bad at it. It took us years to synch. Now for the first time in my life I am truly eager for my man. Maybe I was afraid of babies? I don't know." She didn't say it out loud, but she had a feeling that after Cholly and Katarina were asleep, she and John were going to have some fun.

Up front, Andi tried calling her friend Lanh again, and she finally got through, but it wasn't Lanh who answered. It was her mother, Mai. "Ah-low, Andee?"

"Merry Christmas Missus Nguyen, is Lanh or Don there? I just wanted to say Merry Christmas."

"Lanh just got out of surgery, Don in ICU with Karole."

"Oh my God... what happened?"

"It horrible... wait..." In the background Andi heard Lanh say, "let me talk." There was a shuffling of the phone and Lanh said, "Hello, Andi?"

"Lanh, what's going on?"

"Mom and I got hit by a drunk when we stepped out of a restaurant." She told Andi the abbreviated story of how she and Mai would have been dead if it hadn't been for Karole getting between her and the car.

"Oh my God! Are you going to be ok?"

"No ice skating for a while," sighed Andi. Then she started to cry. "What do I do?" she groaned. "My best friend is dying in the ICU because of me!"

"No, Andi, don't ever think it's because of you. It's not. You support your friend any way you can and you lean on your husband, that's what he's there for. And when you're able to travel we'll go for a cruise, a nice healing ride on my boat. That's your Christmas present, it's just going to take some time to unwrap, ok?"

"Can I bring Karole?" sniffed Lanh.

"You and Don can bring anyone. We have plenty of room on the boat. And you call me, a lot. How many other people on earth know how you're feeling right now?"

Andi and Lanh spoke softly for a while, then after they said their goodbyes, Andi looked up and they were on the 219 expressway, passing Orchard Park, half way home. "What's wrong?" asked Paul.

"My friend in Colorado, Lanh, she was hit by a drunk driver. She's hurt bad but her friend Karole is in the ICU."

"Oh no."

"She has a big family to support her, I'm sure she'll be ok. They had just decided to sell and get out of Colorado. They were planning to move in June."

"I'm sure the altitude wasn't good for Don," said Paul, and Andi nodded her head in agreement. She was silent for the rest of the ride. Finally pulling off the exit for Springville, Paul said, "Do you want to pick up Cholly or let him sleep overnight? According to Grandma, Cholly and the twins and their puppies were camping out under the Christmas tree and completely asleep in their sleeping bags."

"Let him sleep," said Macy. "How many of us had the chance to sleep-over with our cousins?"

"Ok," said Paul. Andi didn't have any cousins in the Denver area, Macy was unaware of cousins until after she married John, and John and Paul's cousins were all older than them, so sleep-overs were not part of their growing experience. They pulled into John and Macy's driveway and made a few quick plans for a quiet New Year's Eve together, then John and Macy gathered Katarina and her baby bag and went into their house.

"I worry about this area," said Andi. "It's so dark and isolated, and the intersections are horrible."

"Add that to my Mayoral wish list," said Paul. "Streetlights at intersections. The Argentine neighborhood needs a lot more light too."

They pulled into their driveway and stopped at the back patio and Paul hit the remote to open the garage door, then got out, crawled in the back and got Danny out of his carrier. The little guy was still asleep from the biggest night in his short life. Paul carried Danny into the house and helped Andi up the slippery steps. He placed Danny's carrier on the kitchen island and turned to Andi. "Thank you for a wonderful party."

"They kissed long and sweetly then Andi said, "You left the motor running on the van."

"That's not the only motor that's running," he said with a grin.

Andi was so happy that the headaches he's been having had faded as was the black eye. "Go!" she said.

"Ok, be right back." Paul stepped back outside, and Wonka zipped past him as he went out the door.

"How was the party?" asked Heather softly as she stepped into the light of the Kitchen.

"It was..." but Andi was interrupted by a shout from Paul that was cut off suddenly, followed by a loud bang and the sound of Wonka yelping in pain. "What the hell?" She turned on the floodlights that lit up the back area and looked outside. The van was still running, the doors were open as was the garage door, but she didn't see Paul. "Paul?" she cried out.

There was the sound of car doors slamming and an engine revving, but no sign of Paul. "Paul?" she called again, but the only sound she heard was a car's wheels spinning on the icy street out front.

There in the snow lay Wonka, twitching and whimpering, the snow around him turning red. Footprints in the fresh snow showed there had been several people out there, but there was no sign of Paul. That's when Andi's screams started.

"PAUL!"