Christmas Daisy by Christine Bush Page A

those kids. And nothing had mattered as much as that.  But last night, he’d had the dramatic realization he had changed.  Ben Wilson, independent man, had let that wall down.   He wanted his own second chance.
    Last night, holding her in his arms, feeling the heartfelt sobs wracking her slight body,  his fall h ad become complete.  He loved  Daisy Donovan.  There was no denying it.  Listening to her story,  that love just kept growing.  He had never been in this position before.  What if she turned around and walked away?  What would he do? How would he live? 
    He’d heard her enter the building, and had stayed in the kitchen stirring the hot chocolate.  His pulse was hammering,  his hands maybe even shaking a little as he heard her footsteps travel down the long hall toward him. And toward the smell of chocolate.
    “Yippee!” she exclaimed, brandishing an empty mug. “Hot chocolate day! Just what I was dreaming about.”  Her smile was wide, and her eyes were twinkling. Did she sense his fear?  Did she have some herself, well hidden behind her joviality?   He smiled back.
    “Bribery,” he said , presenting a ladle of steamy hot chocolate.
    She filled her cup.  “Bribery not necessary,” she said, the cup already up to her lips.  “Ouch, hot!”  She pulled the cup away.  “I’m fine. I’ll do whatever I can for the pageant, even though it will be tough.  I have costume ideas. Just know I’m a half baked potato about this. But I’ll try.”
    The hammering in his chest slowed to a more manageable pace. It was going to be all right. She wasn’t standing there confessing her love for him, but she was taking a giant step forward with her decision to face her Christmas issues.  She wasn’t pulling back after their emotional intimacy as he feared.   And she wasn’t leaving.   He took a deep breath,  as she put down her backpack, and assisted with pouring hot cups of hot chocolate for the students,  who were beginning to arrive.  He was shocked at his thoughts, at the relief he felt.  Had he really thought she’d run away?
    But she was laughing, talking to the students as she greeted them, handing them a steaming mug, tossing in the required marsh mellows. He could breathe again.
      Normal.  Happy.  He’d take it one step at a time, and manage his unruly heart.
    ****
    The whole school had their first rehearsal for the pageant at eleven that morning.  Roles were easily assigned.  The teens were teamed up with their little buddies in the younger grades. That meant for a mix of giant shepherds and little shepherds, tall wise men and tiny ones.  Big angels and little ones.
    Tyrone nominated himself to play Joseph, and nobody complained. Maria was assigned the role of Mary, and little Sasha from the primary class had brought in her Raggedy Andy doll to be the Baby Jesus. No one seemed to object to the idea that the baby Jesus was wearing  a sailor suit and red striped tights, they just swaddled him temporarily in a New Horizons sweat shirt and put him in the cardboard box they were using for a temporary manger for the first rehearsal.
    Everything fell into place. Almost.  As the roles we re accepted, Daisy noticed Alexandra, who was sitting alone to the side. Daisy had been busying herself making lists and plans for costumes for the many shepherds and angels.    She crossed the room to Alexandra, sitting casually beside her.  The girls face was taut and tense.
    “Pageants are tough for you too?” Daisy asked almost in a whisper.
    Alexandra looked up at her, eyes wide.  She stared for a minute, then slowly nodded.
    Daisy took a deep breath, pulling her feet up under her on the chair, wrapping her arms protectively around her legs.    “Sometimes things happen that make us very sad. That happened to me. My mom and my dad were killed in a car accident,” she said.  She watched Alexandra’s eyes grow wide as saucers at the news. She felt her own pulse hammer as she dared