The Christmas House (39 page)

He opened the envelope and pulled a piece of paper folded in
to
three parts from it. He unfolded the paper and read the letter.

It simply read, “Our gift to you is love, faith and friendship. Merry Christmas Michael” and it was signed by all of the guests.

Michael stared at the letter for a few more seconds. He was confused. Love, faith and friendship were not gifts of mass and matter.

“Why can’t the guests come back next year for leaving me these consumable feelings?”

He became outraged and kicked the rocking horse so hard that it slid into the Christmas tree and shattered several glass ornaments into a thousand little pieces. As he stared at the broken colored glass lying on the floor, he couldn’t help but think how the shattered pieces of glass that were once solid and beautiful, were the perfect metaphor of his life. In a matter of seconds, his life, like the fragile glass ornament, was reduced to shattered and crumbled ruins.

As he walked back to the fireplace and sat on the apron, he heard the front door open and shut. He yelled out.

“I’m in the family room Denny. Come on in here. I need you to help me try to sort this all out,” he shouted.

As he sat and pondered the letter he heard the footsteps enter the room.

“I got this letter from all of the guests and Martha said that
- ”
He stopped talking as he looked up expecting to see Denny but instead he saw Arianna and the children standing before him. Arianna and David were crying. Michael stood up with letter still in hand.

“Arianna!
David, Nicole? What are you doing here?”

“We walked into the darkness but we never vanished. We just stood there for several minutes. We have never done this before and we were so scared and confused. Then, out of nowhere Martha came to us. She told us not to be scared and then she said, “Welcome home mass and matter. Merry Christmas,” and then she vanished. What did she mean by that Michael?”

Michael looked at the letter and then realized that the gifts of mass and matter that the guests left behind for him were his family. Arianna, David and Nicole were home to stay.

Michael ran to Arianna and the children and hugged them all tightly and kissed them repeatedly. He placed his hands on Arianna’s face and looked deep into her eyes.

“You’re not dead anymore! You’re home! Martha said that the guests made a decision to never visit me again because they felt I would be wasting my life waiting for you to come here every Christmas. My God, they gave up their opportunity of immortality just so we could be together again!”

“What are you talking about Michael?”

“Don’t you see what has happened? They left behind a gift of mass and matter. They did so knowing they could never return. The three of you are that gift! That’s what Martha meant when she said to you, “Welcome home mass and matter!”

“Oh my God!
No Michael, you must be mistaken. How could they do this! Why didn’t they tell us they were doing this?” Arianna asked.

“Because if they would have told us, we would have never agreed to it,” responded Michael.

“Michael is this really happening? Are we really here for good?” Arianna asked.

Michael hugged her and kissed her.

“I will never let you go again. My undying love for you has brought you back to me and it will keep you here for the rest of ‘my’ life, which I have been assured from a very reliable source will be very long and now also, very happy.”

Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out the white diamond and blue sapphire necklace.

“I believe this heart as well as the one inside of me belongs to you,” he said as he attached the necklace around Arianna’s neck.

“Does this mean I have to go back to school on Monday?” David interrupted.

“I don’t think that would be a very wise idea David. Might create quite a stir,” Michael said.

“Oh Michael, we have to move. We can’t stay here. We will surely be recognized in no time at all. How will the kids attend school? How will I work? I can’t go back to the police station. They will think I’m a ghost! This will be very difficult to explain.” Arianna said.

“Arianna, relax. We are going to move as quickly as possible. The magic of this house is no longer available to us. We should move and let another family live in this magical home. A family that will be able to appreciate the wonders this house can
bring to a loving a caring family,” Michael said.

Standing in front of the Christmas tree, Michael embraced Arianna and picked Nicole up in his arms.

“Thank you Martha. Thank you for all of your generosity and your love, but most of all, thank you for giving me
back
my family.”

Three Months Later.

As the time passed, Arianna and the children seldom left the house on Festive Lane. She asked Michael to visit the library to check out suitable books for David to study until he could be enrolled into a new school under a new identity. Nicole was busy playing cowgirl on her hobbyhorse and had been fairly easy to control. David on the other hand was terrible. In his mind, he missed a full year of school.
All of his classmates were now s
eniors in high school, when he would be started over as a
j
unior at another school. He wanted to go outside and hang out with other kids.  He was getting bored being a prisoner in his own house. Michael and Arianna were at their wits end trying to help David make the adjustment to life.

Unfortunately, Arianna was not doing much better herself. She was very happy to be with Michael again, but the lack of freedom was driving her crazy as well. She counted the days until they would move to their new home so her and the kids could once again live life as they once remembered.

Michael was living life to the fullest. The happiness in his heart was so great he felt like he was walking on air every waking moment. His love for Arianna was stronger than ever. He spent a substantial amount of time with his children and worked a little less. Work would always be there; his family as he knew all too
well,
may not. Life was good for the Carters. Life was also good for the Kowalski’s. It seems that on his way back to the house after walking out with his parents that Christmas night, Dennis ran into a very attractive woman dressed up as Mrs. Santa Claus. Dennis and Sharon are due to be married in June.

********************************************

At the end of March the Carters followed a moving truck to their new, yet smaller home in Algonquin, IL. Algonquin was a nice middle class suburb that 60 miles west of Lake Forest. Great schools and a healthy population of kids awaited David and Nicole’s arrival. Michael sold the house on Festive Lane to a wealthy couple who had three children of their own.

Unlike the previous attempts to sell the house, this transaction went through without any conditions having been applied to the sale. The local Realtor, Thomas Clark finally made a commission from the sale of the home and the buyers were not even remotely related to Tony Cesario. Michael took the profits from the sale of the house on Festive Lane and donated the majority to charity, as he and Arianna always intended.

Michael and family were back together. Michael often reminded Arianna of a phrase Martha said to them once. “Paradise is anywhere that I can be with you,” and a modest three-bedroom ranch home in Algonquin was all the paradise they would ever need. As they looked back over their short 5 years at the house on Festive Lane, they realized that it was a wonderful experience that they would not have missed for the world. The house brought them many years of joy and happiness as well as desperate times and moments of anguish. They learned a great deal from the house. Michael regained his faith forever and understood life much better these days. Should he ever lose a loved one again, before he passed on himself, he would not blame God for his loss. It was part of life. Michael was grateful to have a second chance with his family to live his life without questioning every disappointment.

5:59 p.m.

Christmas Eve

148 Festive Lane

At the house on Festive Lane a family of five sits down to a Christmas dinner. The parents are in their mid 40’s and their children, a boy and two girls, are sixteen, thirteen and ten respectively.

An older couple walking hand in hand approaches the front walkway carrying trays of cookies. They step up onto the front stoop and ring the doorbell.

“Merry Christmas Susan!” they shout as the front door of the house opened.

“
HOLY
SHIT
!” a woman’s voice exclaims.

It was exactly one minute after six on Christmas Eve.

*******************************************

Life can take many twists and turns. To find our way, we have to keep an open mind and a loving heart. Thus, the next time you are walking down a crowded street, you may see someone you think you recognize. You may be startled and confused when you realize that the person you thought you saw was an old friend or family member that has been gone for many years. When this happens and it will, don’t let common sense steal away that split second that may allow you to call out their name and embrace their love once again. That split second may be the difference between a lifetime without them or a little slice of magic that can only be described as heaven on earth.

The End