The Ornament (aka: A Christmas Miracle)

Daylight glistened on the freshly fallen snow that covered the lawn; its reflection infiltrating her windows, filtering gently through the sheer white curtains to bathe their bedroom in a soft, heavenly glow.

She could almost picture her mother bounding youthfully into the room, her copper curls bouncing as she did.  Noelle, wake up!  Look outside, Sweetie!  She imagined her mother calling out to her excitedly.  It’s snowing!

Noelle caught the corners of her mouth lifting with the thought…until she remembered that her mom would never come flitting into the room again; those copper curls were now nothing more than ash.

She rolled over with a huff, kicking her legs off the side of the warm bed and sliding her toes into her house slippers.  They made her feet sweaty, but they were a helluva lot better than the frigid floor.  She padded over, her right index and middle finger pulling aside the curtain so that she could look down on the blanket of icy flakes that enveloped the earth.

Yes…her mother would have loved this. 

Noelle smirked, unconsciously returning to the visions in her mind’s eye, imagining how her mom’s green eyes would have looked so beautiful, sparkling in this glow.

The bedroom door creaked open as Noelle recognized Nick’s steps approaching.

She caught her smirk in the window reflection – after five years together, she could easily tell when it was her soulmate who entered the room simply by the vibrations his presence gave off.  His heart simply called to hers, and that call grew louder the nearer he was. 

“Hey Babe.”  She called out while her eyes resumed roaming over the view below.

As he grew close enough to warm her, he slipped his left hand on her waist, resting his head over her right shoulder.  “Hey.”  He kissed her just beside her ear.  “Open this.”

With his cheek pressed up against hers, she could literally feel his smile, even though she couldn’t see it.

She spun around in his arms, looking up into the depth of his chocolate eyes.  “Babe, it’s not Christmas yet.  You’re not going to have anything left for Christmas Day if you start giving me gifts now.”  She lectured.

“It’s December 1st.  It’s Christ-month,” he smiled broadly, pulling his right hand out from behind his back and presenting her with a palm-sized, gift-wrapped cube.

Noelle fought the urge to laugh; Nick’s gift-wrapping style was best described as looking as if there had been a struggle involved.  She doubled-down on her efforts not to laugh when she realized there probably was.

“Open it.”  He demanded.

She smirked as she plucked the box from his hand and removed the discombobulated paper.  Her eyebrows furrowed.  “What is it?”

“Here.”  He took the acetate box from her hands, reaching inside to remove an iridescent glass bulb with two charms attached, handing it to her.

She turned the ornament, lifting the charms in a way so that she could read their tiny inscriptions.

A heart shaped tag read, “a piece of my heart is in heaven” with a second, round charm saying: “I have an angel watching over me, and I call her Mom.”  Inside the bulb, was a simple white feather.

Nick cleared his throat.  “I remembered what you said – about how finding a white feather means your angel is near.”  He explained.  “I thought that was meaningful, and now you can have her near you all month long.”

Noelle wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her tear-stained face into the broad expanse of his chest.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much.”

He ran his hand over her hair, kissing her on the forehead.  “Anything for you, my Love.”

The small bulb nestled into the branches of the Christmas tree, featured prominently front and center where she could easily gaze at it and think of her mom.

And so, she did.

She gazed at the ornament longingly as she set up a folding table littered with tissue paper, wrapping paper, tape, scissors, name tags, and ribbon.  Noelle searched YouTube, settling on a video of a roaring fire with classical Christmas music playing, setting the festive mood she needed to wrap gifts for the next couple of hours.

In fact, Noelle abided by all their annual traditions, like baking cookies and watching It’s a Wonderful Life – it was only her mother’s absence that made it any different from the norm.

And it was that difference that left Noelle struggling to feel the usual joy, love and warmth that accompanies the Christmas spirit.

Nick tried to help, bless his soul.  He brought her a mug of Hot Cocoa as she wrapped gifts, cradled her in his arms with a blanket wrapped around them as they watched the movie, and sat by the kitchen island to keep her company while she baked.  And, every couple of days or so, there was another small, exceptionally wrapped gift for her to open in advance of the holiday.

His efforts went a long way towards keeping her sane, but there was no replacement for her mother’s missing cheer.

Christmas Eve turned out to be especially rough on Noelle’s psyche.  She and Nick went to bed around ten pm, but she tossed and turned fitfully, unable to clear her mind well enough to rest.  Within forty-five minutes, she gave up her efforts, returning to the living room where she snatched a photo album from a shelf before plopping unhappily down onto the couch, giving way to her tears.

As she turned the pages decorated with pictures from her youth, she mourned her mother’s smile and infectious laugh.  She mourned how excited her mother became about gift giving.  She mourned the smell of brown sugar and vanilla and chocolate as her mom worked in the kitchen Christmas morning.

Noelle sobbed and sobbed, alone on the couch until the clock struck midnight, alerting her to the fact that it was Christmas Day.  As if on cue, she yawned widely, sniffling once or twice as she dried her tears.

Figuring she’d sobbed long enough and craving her bed, Noelle set about turning off the lights and unplugging the Christmas tree for the night when the feather ornament caught her attention.  The bulb had a strange white glow about it, images appearing to dance within its iridescent shell.  With the Christmas lights extinguished, she bent over to more closely investigate the ornament.

No.  This can’t be.  Her mind must be playing tricks on her!

As Noelle peered closer, the interior of the bulb came to life, filling with a cloudy, white atmosphere.  In disbelief, she inspected the bulb even closer, jumping when a figure came to life right before her eyes.

She blinked rapidly, shaking her head to clear her vision but, sure enough – her mother was inside the bulb!

She watched as a long table appeared in the orb, dressed up in holiday finery with pots and pans that overflowed with food.  Her mother was setting the table, a smile on her face as she appeared to sing Christmas tunes.

Was this…was she seeing Christmas in heaven?

So transfixed that she completely forgot about bed, Noelle plucked the ornament from the tree, cradling it carefully in her palm as she traipsed back to the couch and plopped down.  She scrutinized the ornament for some kind of trickery, but found none.

She watched in awe as her grandmother – who had passed shortly before her mother – entered the scene.  The two women hugged and laughed before others began to arrive.  An uncle who passed from cancer a year earlier.  A cousin who died from liver failure.

They started arriving without end, filling the globe to capacity as Noelle watched – overflowing with joy to see her loved ones together and happy.

She watched as they broke bread and shared drinks, and smiled as they laughed at jokes she could not hear.

She stared, transfixed until Nick padded out from the bedroom to check on her.  “Hey, Babe?  You okay?”  He asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“I couldn’t be better.”  She smiled, slipping her arms around her husband's waist and burying her head into his chest

She was happy to have her mom home for the holidays – even if only in blessed visions from heaven.