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.