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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Chapter 13 Christmas Eve

I could hear the phone ringing, but I guess Grandma couldn’t. She must have taken out her hearing aids because after about eight rings she still hadn’t answered it. I dragged myself out of bed and down the hall to Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Nathan was still asleep on their bed, so it must have been early. I hadn’t grabbed my glasses, so it took a minute to get my eyes to focus on the numbers on the clock, 9:15. “It’s pretty early,” I grumbled as a picked up the still ringing phone. “Hello?” I croaked.




    “Kira?” It was Mom.
    “Yeah?” I sat down on the side of the bed and yawned.
    “Wake everybody up and get them dressed. Dad will be there in half an hour. Kiy is coming home today!”
    “All right!” I yelled. I could hear both Mom and Dad laughing on the other end of the line. Nathan sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Well,” I said into the phone, “that’s one.”
    “What?” Mom asked. She was still laughing. 
    “We managed to wake Nathan up already,” I said, pulling him into my arms for a good morning hug.  Suddenly, my tired brain understood what Mom had just said. “What happened? Is she fine? How does she look? Can she talk now?” The questions tumbled out of my mouth before Mom could answer any of them. 
    “Slow down,” she said, “one question at a time.” Mom laughed again. “Kiylee had a peaceful night. This morning, our regular pediatrician came in to see her. After looking her over, he said, ‘I think after a few more hours of observation, she can go home today!’”
    I squeezed Nathan and he stared at me with his big brown eyes. He probably thought I was crazy! “I’ll get everyone ready. Tell Dad to hurry!”
    “I will,” Mom promised.
    “Oh, and Mom?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Does this mean it’s Christmas Eve?” I held my breath.
    She laughed. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “Tell all the kids that tomorrow we are going to celebrate Kiylee’s Christmas.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Chapter 12 The Night Before



    Aunt Laurie and Uncle Glen took us home on their way back to Orem. Dad wanted to stay at the hospital a little longer with Mom. They were both hoping that Kiy would wake up and talk to them, but I knew she was going to be fine.
    I told the other kids what had happened at the hospital, but they still seemed a little scared. Grandma just kept crocheting. Nathan watched TV, and Kinsey and Kiyna huddled together on the couch with their dolls.
I finally went upstairs. I still had presents to wrap and things to do before Kiy came home. If she came home on Saturday, maybe we could have Christmas on Sunday. That was only two days away and I needed to be ready.
    I gathered all the wrapping stuff and lugged my bag of presents to Mom and Dad’s room. I could lock the door in there so the other kids wouldn’t see what I was doing. I usually put off wrapping my things until the last minute. If I put them under the tree early, some of them always got mysteriously opened. Neal always says it’s not him, but I wonder.
    I unrolled some bright red wrapping paper with little angels all over it and I cut off a piece. Then I dug into my goodie bag and pulled out the first gift. It was a little stuffed dog I found on sale for Kiyna. She loved dogs, even though she hardly remembered when we had dogs in the Creekwood house. I stroked the dog’s long shaggy fur and pulled off the price tag. Kiyna was going to love him. I taped and tagged and started my pile.
    It wasn’t long before I had a bunch of packages all ready to go under the tree. I reached into the bag and pulled out the doll that I had chosen for Kiy. She cost more than all the other presents, but when I saw her at the store, she looked just like Kiy with her big blue eyes and short curly blond hair. She had a soft body and fuzzy pink pajamas. Kiy loved babies. I touched each pink button and straightened her little white socks.  She even had a pink pacifier attached to her wrist. I smiled. She was just like Kiy.
    I carefully cut off another piece of paper, making sure it was the right size. After wrapping the doll, I gathered up all the presents and carried them downstairs. Nobody had bothered to plug in the tree. I guess that part of Christmas wasn’t as important anymore. I arranged all my presents with the one for Kiy right on top, then I plugged in the lights. Their bright colors lit up the darkened room. Even the angel on top seemed pleased. Christmas this year was going to be perfect.