“Merry Christmas!” Virginia said as she ran into my room like she was on fire. “Merry Christmas!”
My eyes flew open. “Good Lord, Virginia.” I sat up. It was so cold I grabbed my covers and pulled them back up over my shoulders. “Why is it freezing in here?” I asked still trying to open my eyes.
“Because it’s freezing outside.” She looked at me in that Virginia way as if I should have already known the answer to my question.
“This is the South,” I yawned. “It doesn’t freeze here.”
“Well, it does today,” she said looking out the window. “Hurry and come downstairs,” she yelled back at me as she left the room.
I got my bearing and got up. There was a lot of ice outside. I noticed that the gifts that I had left by my fireplace for Mr. Brady and Mr. Alan were gone. I smiled to myself. I hoped they liked them.
I got cleaned up and went downstairs. We sat in the blue room most of the morning and sang and sipped punch. It was fun. Virginia and I played a few games. Ben hadn’t made an appearance yet this morning. I missed seeing him.
Virginia and I washed for lunch and just as we walked into the dining room, we saw Ben come in the house.
“Where have you been?” Virginia asked looking at his heavy clothing.
“Out. Good morning.” He looked at me and smiled. “Joyeux Noël.” His face glowed from the cool weather outside.
“Merry Christmas,” I smiled. He looked so cold. His face was pink and his lips were a deep red. He stomped his feet on the rug at the door as he came in. It was only dirt. I wished it were snow.
We sat down for lunch and everyone seemed to be in such a hurry. I wasn’t quite finished yet when Virginia jumped up. “I’ll meet everyone in the blue room. I have to get my gift for Elizabeth.” She ran upstairs.
We finished our lunch and went to the blue room. My gifts were already under the tree. The only ones. Mrs. La Beaux admired the tree. She placed her teacup on top of the piano as she sat down to play.
Virginia handed me a gift. It was a card. It was a special card for a sister. She wrote at the bottom. “Elizabeth, thank you for being my sister and my friend. Love, Virginia.”
I looked at the certificate inside. It was a donation in my name for fifty dollars to the children’s hospital. At the bottom of it read: For our love of Julia.
I hugged her. “Thank you so much.” We had stopped talking about Julia as much around the house, wanting to allow Virginia to have the time to heal from her loss. We all felt it, but it was especially hard on her. We knew that the memory of Julia would live on in all of us.
I reached under the tree and got the gifts to give to Ben and Virginia trying not to disturb the shoes. I handed them each a gift and took Mrs. La Beaux’s gift over to her at the piano.
She smiled. “Why dear, you didn’t have to do that.”
They all opened the gifts at once. Tissue flew from Virginia’s gift, but Ben was the first one to say anything.
“It’s a fat pillow,” Ben announced as he held his up.
“It’s a quillow.” I went over to his and unfolded it. “It’s a quilt that folds into a fat pillow.” I clarified.
“Oh, mine has teacups.” Mrs. La Beaux showed everyone. “I love it. Did you make these? Thank you, dear.”
“I did. I hope you like them.”
Virginia unfolded hers and wrapped herself in it. “Thank you,” she smiled and twirled around with it. “It’s warm.” She had a big smile on her face, so I guess that meant she liked it.
Ben didn’t say anything. He put his under his arm and looked at me. “Are you ready for my gift?” he asked.
“All right.” I was a little startled. I hoped he would at least thank me for the gift, but he was in a hurry.
He left the room and came back in with a heavy black topcoat. He helped me put it on and handed me a pair of gloves. This was an odd gift, outer wear.
I turned around and he took my hand. “We’ll be back,” he said to the others as we left. I looked back at Virginia. She waved at me without saying a word. I was confused.
Ben walked me to the front door. “Are you ready?” he asked looking very serious.
“Sure.” I had no idea if this was good or not. I was a little nervous.
He opened the front door and there it was my gift. It was Buster. He was hooked up to a black carriage with red leather reins and big silver bells. He just stood there looking at me. I squealed. I couldn’t help it. I was thrilled. It was so neat. I hugged Ben. “Is this for me?” My face was cool from the wind, but I felt warm all over from the coat and the gift. That was the most thoughtful thing he could have done.
“Do you like it?” Ben asked. “Is it okay?” He grinned at me, looking like he was about to freeze to death.
“I love it. Thank you.” I held tight onto his sleeve and we walked slowly because there was a little ice on the steps.
I stepped up into the carriage. There was a little rug on the floor and a blanket on the seat.
I sat down and got comfortable. Ben walked around the other side and got in. He reached down handed me a small wicker basket. There was a thermos, cups and homemade gingerbread man cookies wrapped in wax paper.
As I poured the cocoa from the thermos into cups, Ben unwrapped his quillow and tucked it over his legs. I handed him a cup and cookie and kept one of each for myself. He inhaled the cocoa and gave me back the cup. He bit off the gingerbread man’s head and balanced the body on his lap. He flipped the reign and asked Buster to walk.
“I take the family for a ride every Christmas, but you won’t be here, so you get your own ride,” he explained. “It’s my gift to you; although, it’s usually not this cold.”
“Thank you.” I looked at him. “It was so nice of you to go out of your way to make an extra trip for me.” I smiled and ate my cookie. Buster walked down the trail in back of the house and we saw the pond from afar. It was so pretty.
“I’ve never known it to be so cold here,” Ben shivered. “Thank you for the fat pillow, by the way. Pineapples. I get it.”
I smiled. “You look miserable. We can go back if you want to.”
“Its okay,” he pointed out into the distance. We were obviously trying to get somewhere. We pulled up in front of a house in the very back of the property. Miss Idell had stayed there until just recently. “She’s coming for her things next week.” We stopped. I hadn’t been out this far since Julia passed away. I was sad because I missed her. I struggled to keep her a good memory.
“I’m supposed to ask you if you could talk with your mother and see if y’all would like to move in here or stay in the main house.” He asked me.
“Oh, I couldn’t live here. There are enough memories in the main house of Julia.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to but I can talk to mom about it.”
“I understand,” Ben said. “I’m sorry.” We started moving again. It was so still. The sky was a heavy gray that seemed endless when I looked up into it. The cool trees looked muted in color with a hint of white from the frost and ice.
“So, is it cold enough for you?” he asked.
“Well, it’s not snow but it’s close,” I said smiling. “You don’t have to worry about covering me up with all the blankets. I’m used to it being much colder.”
“Well, I’m not used to this at all and I’m not proud.” He reached for my quillow. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”
He walked Buster up to the pond and we stopped. The pond was perfectly still even though it was windy. The huge moss covered trees around it moved a little. It was as if the trees were there to protect the pond. They did a good job.
Ben nibbled on his cookie and moved closer to me. “Are you warm?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” I smiled at him. “You look like you are about to be frozen alive.”
He finished his cookie and kind of snuggled on my shoulder. “I’m fine,” he said.
“We can go back,” I encouraged. “I still have to pack so we can go.”
“Oh, well then.” He said moving quickly. “I wouldn’t want to make you late.”
We rode quietly back to the main house. I saw Mr. Brady as we drove up. Ben folded his fat pillow to put under his arm. He got out and walked around the carriage to open the door for me. He helped me down and we walked up the steps.
“Thank you. I love it,” Mr. Brady called as he drove the carriage away.
“Thank you s…” I started to thank Ben again for the ride, but something hit my face. I thought it was rain, but it was light. “Is that what I think it is?” Ben looked at my face and the shoulders of my coat. It was white. It was snow. It was very light and the flakes were very thin and small, but it was snow.
“Thank you.” I smiled and looked up to God as if I were thanking him in person. This Christmas was turning out to be one that I would never forget.
“I guess this is per your request?” Ben looked at me accusingly.
“Well, yes,” I smiled sheepishly. “I really miss the weather changes. I thought the snow would help me this year.”
“I understand. Merry Christmas.” He hugged me.
I hugged him back enjoying the warm embrace. I stood on the step for a few moments and caught the snow on my tongue. Ben laughed at me, but then he tried it too. We laughed as the snow hit our faces and landed on our tongues. Finally it was too cold and we went inside. I hated to pull myself away, but I had to pack my things.
I didn’t know what to pack so I just grabbed a few of my black dresses, my sweater and shoes. I was nervous as I thought more about leaving. I walked downstairs and stood by the front door. It didn’t seem right that I was leaving and they were staying.
Virginia and Ben looked at me and said, “We’ll miss you.” Virginia hugged me.
“I’ll miss you too.” I hugged her tight. Ben came up and hugged us both. “I’ll miss you the most!” he wailed, making fun of us. “You’ll be back the day after tomorrow,” he rolled his eyes and stood back. I felt tugging at my skirt. It must have been Ben. He was so silly.

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