Amish Christmas Twins. Shelley Shepard Gray

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СКАЧАТЬ don’t think we have to talk about this anymore,” she said when her friends Kendra and Marie started to ask her questions about how she was feeling.

      “Are you sure?” Marie asked.

      “Positive,” she replied, hoping her quick glance at Jemima would relay what was on her mind.

      “Oh, of course!” Smiling down at Jemima, Marie said, “Do you have a Christmas wish yet?”

      “Nee.”

      “Really?” She looked up at E.A. in concern. “I know the Amish don’t have Christmas trees or Santa Claus, but I thought children still got presents.”

      “They do,” Kendra said before E.A. could. “But it’s different. Kinner don’t ask for the moon and stars, just for one or two special things.”

      “Oh, of course.” Marie smiled again. “So, do you have one or two things in mind?”

      Little Jemima looked up at E.A. with big eyes, which of course made a lump form in her throat. “You can say whatever you want to say, dear,” she murmured. “I promise, both Marie and Kendra are nice women. I’ve known them for years and years.”

      Jemima seemed to think about that for a long moment, then said, “I do have a Christmas wish, Mrs. Byler. But it’s a secret.”

      “Of course. I should have realized that. Christmas wishes are very special.”

      “You sound like you have experience with them,” Kendra teased. “I’m going to guess that you’ve probably had your share of Christmas wishes over the years.”

      Marie’s cheeks heated. “I can’t deny that I have. I was a spoiled girl, and I always seemed to want just one more thing.” Her green eyes lit up. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun to dream.”

      E.A. smiled down at Jemima, who was now staring at Marie as if she was some kind of Christmas angel. E.A. didn’t blame her, either. Marie had an enthusiasm about her that was infectious. It had always been that way, even back when they were little girls together.

      “My wish right now is to go try some of those Christmas cookies. Want to do that, Jemima?”

      “Jah.”

      “We’ll talk to you later,” E.A. said to Kendra and Marie before guiding Jemima over to the long table that was filled with beautiful and tasty-looking treats. “Look, Jemima! There are the marshmallow treats that we made with Roy this morning.”

      The little girl smiled. “They look shay.”

      “I think they look pretty, too.” They’d decorated their treats with red and green chocolate candies and cut them into stars while they were still warm. Arranged next to plates of snow crescents, gingersnaps, and other cookie cutouts, they looked perfect.

      She picked up a paper plate. “What kind of cookie is your favorite?”

      Jemima giggled. “All of them.”

      “That’s the best answer, dear. How about we each pick four cookies to sample?”

      “Is that really okay?”

      “Jemima, you can have as many as you’d like,” Katie Lambright said as she approached with her baby in her arms. “Cookies are meant to be eaten, not simply stared at.”

      After E.A. gave her an encouraging nod, Jemima wandered over to the opposite side of the table and slowly made her choices.

      “How are things going?” Katie whispered.

      “I think pretty well. Today’s been a good day. Jemima and Roy seemed to like making cookies, and Jemima at least has seemed to enjoy the party. Well, once everyone stopped talking about my pregnancy.”

      “She and Roy are adorable, and it’s obvious that they’re already settling in with you and Will.”

      E.A. glanced over at Will, who was now carrying a sleepy-looking Roy on his hip. “I hope so. As soon as I met them, I knew I wanted to be their mother.” After checking to make sure Jemima was out of earshot, she added in a whisper, “I don’t know if it’s going to be easy, though. By all accounts, their parents were wonderful people, and the children miss them terribly. I don’t want to replace them, of course, but I’m afraid I’ll never measure up.”

      “Oh, E.A., don’t you know that you can’t worry about things like that?”

      “How can I not worry? Will and I are kind of like instant parents. We don’t have the experience of what to say or do.”

      “One day soon, I want you to sit down and think about your parents. Think about what they did right . . . and what they could have done better. Then I want you to think about what would have really made a difference to you.”

      “I have good parents.”

      “You do. So does Will. But they weren’t perfect, were they?”

      “No, of course not.”

      “So, here’s my question. If you didn’t need them to be perfect, why are you asking yourself to be that way?”

      As usual, Katie’s forthright attitude made a lot of sense. “I hear what you’re saying,” E.A. said. “I just need to love them, right?”

      Katie nodded. “That’s all they need, E.A. I promise.”

      “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

      “Any time, Elizabeth Anne. Any time at all.” When her baby started fussing, she grinned. “I think I’d better take some time to be a good mother right now.”

      As she wandered off, E.A. stepped up to the table and chose a couple of cookies, making sure that one of her four was a star treat that she’d made with the kids.

      “You took one of ours, too,” Jemima said.

      “I did. I thought they were mighty good.”

      “Me too.” Her eyes lit up. “Do you have a cookie exchange party every year with your friends?”

      “This was the first one, but I’m thinking we should have another one next year. What do you think?”

      “I think so, too,” Jemima said.

      Feeling that they’d just crossed another barrier, E.A. smiled down at her. “Let’s go get some punch and then sit down near Roy and Will and eat our treats.”

      “They saved us a spot!”

      She laughed. “Jah, they surely did. You lead the way and I’ll follow.”

      As Jemima carefully made her way through the crowd of thirty people, her little figure looking so proper and ladylike in her red dress, E.A. felt many of her worries fade away. Some of that was due to Katie’s encouragement.

      But some of it was simply due to little Jemima. She was acting like a happy nine-year-old for once.

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