*~*~*
"Thank you,
Father, for all the
blessings you've given
me.
I love You. Beyond
that... I'm speechless."
-from
Andrew's journal
Soon
after Andrew's arrival,
dinner was
served. Then
dessert was brought out,
a special cake to
celebrate
little Jacob Wells'
first birthday among
them. Afterwards
most of
the Tunnel dwellers
returned to their home
leaving only the
Dyelanders
to sit before the fire,
sipping coffee and hot
chocolate and cider.
"So did you know you'd
make it back, Andrew?"
Rose asked.
Andrew shook his
head. "No, I just
hoped. A
lot. I
prayed I would be and
I'm very glad that's one
prayer the Father chose
to answer with
yes." He smiled at
each of them. "So
what
did I miss? Please
tell me."
"We can do better than
show you!" Lady
Beth smiled and then
looked expectantly at
JenniAnn.
Thus prompted, the woman
went to retrieve the
memory card from
Andrewcam 2000, hidden
behind a
curtain. She
had hastily
stashed it there
after finally pulling
herself away from Andrew
upon his arrival.
However, she
unintentionally revealed
the entire camera and
tripod.
Curious, Andrew drew
nearer. "Laja, is
that camera wearing one
of
my ties?" he raised an
eyebrow and then
chuckled as he stood to
examine
the tie more closely and
discovered it was,
indeed, his own.
"Laja" only blushed in
response.
"Baby, I think Andrew
should know about
Andrewcam 2000," Tess
encouraged.
Surprised by Tess,
JenniAnn smiled and
began to explain
breezily.
"Well, we were worried
you wouldn't get here at
all and we had so much
fun and, oh, Adam was
Santa and..."
Andrew again look
perplexed.
Adam chuckled. "At
that store you saw me at
on Halloween. I
was Santa at a store,"
he clarified.
"But it was more than
that! You'll see,
Andrew!" Yva
beamed
at the ever-modest Adam.
"Wow. That's
really... I'm
touched. Thank you
for
finding a way to include
me even when I was
away. But the
tie? Josef had
said something about a
camera stealing my
clothes."
"He... it...
whatever. Had one
of your sweaters and a
flannel
shirt earlier," Countess
Jennifer reported.
JenniAnn blushed again
but quickly
recovered.
"Tonight we
actually intended to put
the beige sweater on him
but now I know why we
didn't find that.
It looks infinitely
better on you.
Andrewcam doesn't have
much of a shape to
him..."
Then it was Andrew's
turn to blush at the
apparent admiration for
his
own shape.
"I must admit at first I
was a trifle put off by
this," Nigel waved to
the camera. "But
it did make you feel
more present, my
friend."
Henry nodded.
"Sometimes it really did
seem like you were right
there."
Everyone nodded.
"Strange thing is,
sometimes I felt like
all of you were out
there with
me. There was one
morning I smelled
chocolate and
marshmallow so
strongly I could have
sworn I was in Willy's
factory." Andrew
smiled at the
chocolatier and at all
his friends.
Andrew's admission
reminded Willy of the
package he had brought
with
him. He went to
retrieve it and quickly
returned.
"Well, thank you,
Willy," Andrew
gratefully accepted the
box and untied
the ribbon.
"There's one from each
of us."
Andrew looked from
Countess Jennifer who
had just spoken back to
the
contents of the
boxes. Inside were
several much smaller
boxes,
each made of chocolate.
"Should I open them?"
"Sure. And you can
eat them all right now,
too!" Yva answered.
Andrew gave her a wary
look. He didn't
really want to think of
all he'd had at dinner
and dessert.
Yva laughed. "Or
not. You can save
the chocolate for
later. But do read
the notes."
"Out loud?"
"No!" JenniAnn adamantly
shook her head and then
realized Tess was
staring at her.
"Well, I just
mean... I guess
you could..."
A couple other of the
Dyelanders looked
similarly concerned at
the
prospect.
Andrew stifled a
chuckle. He
couldn't read JenniAnn's
mind nor
any of theirs but he had
the impression that if
he could he would hear
something like
"Gah! Bad, bad,
bad idea... Tess
is gonna
freak!"
So Andrew opened each
box as his friends
looked on
expectantly.
Each opened box brought
with it a feeling of
love and hope and
goodwill.
"Hey buddy,
I hope you're having a
merry Christmas,
wherever you are.
You
should see what's going
on here! I guess
you will and when you do
you'll know that we all
thought of you and
missed you.
Take care, Andrew,
Adam"
"Happy holidays,
Andrew! I hope you
enjoy these treats and
know
how much everyone here
cares.
Sincerely,
Willy"
"Happy Christmas,
Andrew! Know that
you are being thought of
at
this blessed time.
Fondly,
Nigel"
"Namaste and love to you
this Christmas,
Andrewkins. Hurry
back
to us!
-Yva"