“Karen!” Mommy called then. “Andrew! Nancy! The cookies are done.”
“All right!” I called back. “Come on, you guys. Let’s go.”
Andrew and Nancy and I jumped up, and Andrew put Emily back in her cage. But Nancy said, “Karen, I have to make a phone call.”
“Okay,” I replied. That was fine with me because I had to ask Mommy something in private. “Meet you downstairs,” I said.
When Nancy finally came into the kitchen, we both said, “Guess what!”
We giggled. “You go first,” I said.
“All right. I called Mommy and she said you can come over and celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with us.”
“Really? I just asked Mommy if you could celebrate Christmas with us and she said yes!”
“Neat!” cried Nancy. “We’ll trade holidays. Deal?”
“Deal,” I said.
Countdown to Christmas
Christmas was coming fast. The days were speeding by. I was busy at school. I was busy making presents for people in my families. I was busy making Christmas cards, too. And one evening we brought our tree inside and decorated it.
Finally, there were just ten more days until Christmas. It was Saturday. Early in the afternoon, Mommy found me in my room. I was singing, “On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me … um … ”
“Ten lords a-leaping,” said Mommy.
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Listen,” Mommy went on. “Wouldn’t you like to make another Christmas list, Karen? I know there must be some gifts you want.”
I thought about that. Nannie was doing well. I had talked to her on the phone lots of times. She had said she would be home from the hospital any day. Maybe I had already gotten my Christmas wish.
“All right,” I said to Mommy. “I will make a list for you.”
“Come downstairs and keep me company,” she replied.
So I did. We sat in the living room together. Mommy read a big person’s book. I got a pencil and a piece of paper. Across the top of the paper I wrote
I had just written the letter B for Baby Grow-a-Tooth when the phone rang.
“I’ll get it!” I said.
I ran into our kitchen. I picked up the telephone. “Hello?” I said.
“Hi, sweetie. It’s Daddy.”
“Hi!” I cried.
“Karen,” Daddy went on, “I’m afraid I have a little bad news.”
Bad news? “It’s Nannie, isn’t it?” I whispered.
“Yes,” replied Daddy. (I could feel a lump in my throat.) “Nannie had a setback.”
“A setback?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”
“She developed something called a staph infection. She’s just got a sore throat and a little fever, but the doctors want to keep her in the hospital and give her medicine until she’s all better.”
“Oh,” I said. Part of me felt relieved. A staph infection did not sound very bad. Another part of me felt sad. I was pretty sure that my Christmas wish would not come true after all. “Will Nannie be home for Christmas?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Daddy answered. “I just don’t know. That will depend on how fast the medicine makes Nannie better.”
“Okay,” I said.
Daddy asked to talk to Mommy then. So I called her to the phone. Then I went to the living room. I found the Christmas list I had started. I crumpled it up and threw it away.
* * *
Even though I felt sad about Nannie, it was hard not to get excited about Christmas. A wreath with a big red bow hung on our door. Our Christmas tree shone with lights and ornaments. Mommy gathered holly and put it in vases around the house. On TV, Andrew and I watched Frosty the Snowman and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
I decided to count down the days until Christmas. I made a very, very short calendar. (It had only nine squares.) Starting the next day, I would cross off one square each day until Christmas. And maybe — just maybe — Nannie would come home one of those days.
Snow Day!
I had crossed two days off of my countdown calendar when … a snowstorm hit! It came during the night and it woke me up. I could hear the wind howling. I could hear our shutters rattling. So I tiptoed across my room and looked out of the window. Snow was swirling past the light from a street lamp. The ground and street and trees and bushes were covered with white.
“Ooh,” I said.
I went back to bed. The next time I woke up it was five o’clock in the morning. Another sound had wakened me. A snowplow was grinding down our street. The next time I woke up it was after nine o’clock.
“Nine o’clock!” I cried. I looked outside. Snow, snow everywhere. School must be closed for the day. Mommy had let me sleep late.
I got dressed in a flash and ran downstairs.
“Snow day!” said Mommy.
“Hurray!” I shouted. “Can Nancy and I play outside?”
“Sure,” said Mommy. “As soon as you eat breakfast.”
I ate quickly. Then I put on snow pants, a sweater, my parka, a scarf, extra socks, my boots, and two pairs of mittens. I walked over to Nancy’s. Snow was still falling, but not very hard. A lot had fallen during the night, though.
I was about to climb the steps to Nancy’s front porch when the door opened. There was Nancy. She was all dressed up to play in the snow.
“I was coming over to your house!” she said.
Nancy and I flopped onto our backs in the snow. Then we moved our arms and legs up and down, up and down. We stood up carefully.
“Snow angels!” I cried. I drew a halo over my angel’s head.
“Let’s build Frosty the Snowman,” said Nancy. So we did. It was hard work. We rolled and rolled and rolled the snow. The hardest part was putting Frosty’s head on his body. The head weighed a ton. But we did it. Then we gave Frosty sticks for arms, a carrot for his nose, stones for his eyes and mouth (we did not have any coal, or even any charcoal briquettes), and a hat and a scarf.
When Frosty was finished, Nancy came to my house for lunch. Then we called Hannie and invited her over to play. The snowplows were clearing the streets, so Mrs. Papadakis said she could drive Hannie over.
All afternoon, Hannie, Nancy, Andrew, and I went sledding down the hill in Nancy’s backyard. Sometimes Nancy and I would whiz down the hill together. As we walked back to the top, Nancy would tell me about Hanukkah.
“It’s almost the eighth night,” she said.
“I know. I can’t wait to come over,” I replied.
“You know what I got last night?” she said. “Two books.”
“Two books?” I repeated in horror. “Which ones?”
“The Borrowers and The Land of Oz.”
Whew! She had not gotten The Bobbsey Twins in the Mystery Cave.
“Nancy! Nancy!”
I looked up. Mrs. Dawes was calling Nancy from a window. She called the rest of us, too. “Come on inside for some hot chocolate,” she said.
“Oh, boy!” cried Andrew.
We scrambled to the top of the hill. Then we went into Nancy’s house. Mrs. Dawes gave us mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top.
I wished that every day could be a snow day.
Lighting Candles
It was the eighth night of Hanukkah. Well, actually it was still the afternoon. I was in my room at the little house. I was getting dressed in my party clothes.
“There,” I said when I had buckled up my tappy black shoes. “All ready.”
I had started to run downstairs when I remembered something. I dashed back to my room and crawled under my bed. I could not forget Nancy’s present.
“How do I look?” I asked Mommy when I reached the kitchen.
“Lovely,” said Mommy. “Now you better scoot. It’s almost sundown.” (Nancy had told me to be sure to come to her house before sundown.)
When I rang Nancy’s doorbell, I felt a little nervous. I did not know very much abo
ut Hanukkah. What if I did something wrong tonight?
But I felt better when Mr. Dawes opened the door. “Karen!” he said. “I’m so glad you could join us tonight.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I stepped inside and took off my coat. Then I carried my present into the living room. There were Nancy, her mother, and Grandma B. (Grandma B is not Nancy’s real grandmother. She lives in a nursing home in Stoneybrook. Nancy “adopted” her. Now she is good friends with Nancy and Mr. and Mrs. Dawes.)
Everybody said hello. Then Nancy took my hand. She led me to the menorah. The first thing I did was count the candles. “Hey,” I whispered to Nancy. “There are nine candles. How come?”
“The extra one is called the shammash. It’s the helper candle,” Nancy explained.
“Oh,” I said.
Nancy and her parents and Grandma B and I stood around the menorah. I watched as Mr. Dawes lighted the shammash candle. Then he used it to light all the other candles on the menorah. He lighted them from right to left. While he did that, Nancy’s family and Grandma B said two prayers. They said them in Hebrew, so I did not understand them, but I liked the way they sounded. The Daweses and Grandma B sang some Hebrew songs, too. After one, Mrs. Dawes said to me, “In English, that’s Rock of Ages, Karen.”
“I know that song!” I exclaimed.
“Mommy, can Karen and I play a dreidel game now?” asked Nancy.
“Of course,” said Mrs. Dawes.
“Goody,” said Nancy. Then she whispered to me, “Usually I play with Daddy and he always wins!”
Nancy brought out her dreidel and we played the game she had told me about before. Nancy won — three times. But then she said, “Here. I have something for you.” She held out her hand. In it was a tiny dreidel. “It’s for you. To keep. Now you and Andrew can play at home.”
After that, the Daweses and Grandma B gave each other presents. Nancy wasn’t kidding. She did get a lot of gifts on the last night of Hanukkah. She got Baby Grow-a-Tooth and two more Nintendo games, the skirt, and some other things. Mr. and Mrs. Dawes had also bought me two presents — poodle barrettes like Nancy’s, and some ribbons for my hair.
“Now,” I said, “I have a Hanukkah present for you, Nancy.”
Nancy opened the present quickly. For a second she just stared at the book. What was wrong? I wondered. But then Nancy said, “Oh, thank you, Karen! This is great!”
I didn’t have time to wonder why Nancy had looked so surprised. The Daweses were still opening presents. And then Mr. Dawes gave Nancy and me Hanukkah gelt — a little bit of money and some chocolate coins! “It’s a custom,” he said.
After that, we sat down to dinner. I got to taste potato latkes. Yum!
And then it was time to go home. Hanukkah was over. I was sad. Now I understood what Hanukkah means to Nancy. I did not feel bad that her family does not celebrate Christmas.
Maybe, I thought, I can celebrate Hanukkah with Nancy again next year.
Christmas Eve Day
“Christmas, Christmas! It’s almost here!” I sang. I was making up my own song. “Christmas, Christmas! The best time of year!”
It was early morning on the day before Christmas. I had just woken up. I was lying in bed. I felt warm and snuggly and excited. Friday had been the last day of school. We were on vacation for a week and a half. Later this morning, Andrew and I would go to Daddy’s house. There we would see our big-house family … except for Nannie.
Suddenly I did not feel excited anymore. Nannie was still in the hospital.
My Christmas wish had not come true.
I had made only one wish, and it had not come true.
Boo.
I rolled out of bed and got dressed. Then I went downstairs. Maybe I wasn’t excited about Christmas, but Andrew was.
“Karen! Karen! It’s Christmas Eve!” he cried. “Tonight Santa Claus comes. He’ll fill our stockings! Today we go to the big house. Tomorrow we come back here. Two Christmases! Two Christmases!”
Mommy finally had to say, “Settle down, Andrew.”
At eleven-thirty in the morning, Andrew and I climbed into our car with Mommy. We were each wearing a backpack. And we were carrying a bag of presents. They were for our big-house family.
“Now remember, Andrew,” I said. “The presents are a secret. Don’t tell anyone what they are. Nobody is supposed to know until they open them.”
“Okay,” said Andrew. “Okay, okay, OKAY! I love you, Christmas!”
“Settle down, Andrew,” said Mommy.
Mommy drove us to the big house. Everyone was waiting for us there. (Everyone except Nannie.) When we walked into the living room I could smell good smells coming from the kitchen. I could hear Christmas carols playing on the stereo. (Pa-rum, pum, pum, pum, went the song about the little drummer boy.) And I saw the big-house Christmas tree. The lights were turned on — tiny bright points of red and blue and gold and green. Andrew’s star was on the top of the tree.
Suddenly, I couldn’t help feeling Christmasy and excited again, even if my wish had not come true. How could I feel sad? Our tree was sparkly. Emily was getting ready for her first Christmas ever. “Tee?” she said, pointing to the tree. “Pesents?” (There were already some gifts under the tree. They were from friends.)
And everyone seemed to have secrets.
“Don’t anyone go in my room,” said Kristy. “No peeking today.”
“Well, don’t anyone go in my room,” I said as I lugged the bag of presents from Andrew and me up the stairs.
“The attic is off-limits,” added Daddy.
After I hid the presents in my closet, I went back downstairs. Everyone was sitting in the living room. They were looking at the tree. David Michael was shaking the presents under it. Charlie was building a fire in the fireplace.
“I hope Santa remembers to come to the big house and the little house,” said Andrew in a singsong voice.
After awhile, Daddy and Elizabeth stood up. They went into the front hall and put on their coats.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Secret mission,” said Elizabeth. She was smiling.
Welcome Home, Nannie!
“Secret mission?” I repeated. “What does that mean?”
Kristy shrugged. But I think she knew where Daddy and Elizabeth were going.
After they left, I waited and waited. I stood by the window and watched for Daddy’s car. At last I saw it coming down the street.
“They’re back!” I shrieked.
I ran to the door. I watched Elizabeth get out of the backseat of the car. Then I watched Daddy get out of the driver’s seat and walk around to open the other front door.
Guess who he helped out of the car.
“Nannie!” I cried.
Even though it was freezing cold and snow was on the ground, I raced outside without my coat. I threw my arms around Nannie. “You came back! You’re well! You’re here in time for Christmas. My wish came true after all!”
I helped Nannie into the house. (She was using a walker.) Everybody wanted to hug Nannie. Finally Elizabeth said, “Okay. Let Nannie sit on the couch. She needs to rest. She’s still tired and her hip is a little sore.”
Well. Now I really felt Christmasy. I began to be excited about opening presents. I hoped it would snow some more. I thought about hanging my stocking and helping Andrew and Emily to leave a snack for Santa. But mostly I was glad Nannie was home. I sat with her all afternoon.
* * *
That evening we ate our Christmas dinner — clam chowder first, then turkey and cranberry dressing and mashed potatoes and apple pie. (I ate everything except the turkey.) After that, my whole big-house family gathered in the living room. First I read The Night Before Christmas to everyone. (Andrew always laughs at the “bowlful of jelly” part.) Then Daddy read us the Christmas story from the Bible. I like to imagine Baby Jesus sleeping in the manger of straw. I think that maybe Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men and the shepherds were not the onl
y ones who knew Jesus was special. I think the animals in the stable knew he was special, too.
When Daddy put the Bible away, Elizabeth made hot chocolate. Everyone else (except Nannie) made dashes out of the living room. We returned with presents. Daddy and Elizabeth and Charlie and Sam and Kristy and David Michael brought presents into the living room and put them under the tree. They were presents for Andrew and me. And my brother and I took our presents out of the shopping bag and placed them under the tree, too. Only Emily had no gifts to give. Nannie just smiled secretively.
“Can we open the presents now, Daddy?” squealed Andrew.
“Sure,” replied Daddy. He put a tape of Christmas carols on the stereo. Then we began to unwrap our packages.
“Goody!” I kept exclaiming. Even though I had not made a list, my family seemed to know what to get me — lots of books. And Daddy bought Baby Grow-a-Tooth!
Even Nannie had presents — leg warmers for me, and a hat for Andrew. She had knitted them while she was in the hospital.
“Oh, boy,” said Andrew when the paper and ribbons had been cleared away. “Now it’s time to get ready for Santa. I sure hope he comes here tonight. And to Mommy’s house.”
We hung our stockings over the fireplace — ten for us people and one for Boo-Boo and Shannon. Then I showed Emily and Andrew how to leave a snack for Santa. We gave him milk and cookies. Next to the snack we left a note. I wrote it for Andrew and Emily. It said:
Christmas Day
“Karen! Karen! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”
I opened my eyes. My room was very dark. But I could see Andrew standing by my bed. “Merry Christmas,” I mumbled.
“Is it six-thirty yet?” asked Andrew.
I looked at my clock. “It’s after six-thirty.”
“Hurray! We can wake everybody else up then!” (The rule in the big house is that no matter how excited you are on Christmas morning, you can’t wake anyone up until six-thirty.)
“Yeah!” I cried. I leapt out of bed. Andrew and I ran up and down the hallway crying, “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas! Wake up!”