The Christmas Star Read online

  “Where do you live?”

  “In Cortland.”

  Miriam raises her eyebrows. “That’s a thirty-minute drive! I wonder if you could have found any volunteer opportunities closer to your front door?”

  Gloria steps forward, putting her hand on Amy’s back. “I forgot! I need to show you the big room!” She leans in, whispering, “I’m rescuing you from Miriam,” and leads her into the vestibule, pointing across the room filled with children. “We call this ‘the big room.’ Just go right across the big room and bring your purse and jacket through that door,” she says, pointing. “Just pick any empty locker and I’ll meet you right back here to greet the van.”

  When she is out of earshot, Gloria turns back to Miriam and says, “I keep hoping that one day you will learn some tact, but it appears that as you are getting elderly and more infirm, you are losing tact altogether.”

  Miriam looks shocked. “Whatever did I say?”

  “You said her job was boring and you asked if she was married or had children!”

  “I was getting to know her. My parents always called that being polite and inquisitive.”

  Gloria sighs. “Her application reveals that she is not married and does not have any children. How do we know that’s not a wound for her?”

  Miriam rolls her eyes. “Everything is a wound these days.”

  “You’re my wound,” Gloria says, whispering.

  “I heard that, Gloria,” Miriam hisses, heading toward the tutoring room.

  Gloria waves when she sees Amy walking toward them, and heads to the front door so she’ll follow behind. “Now you’ve met Miriam! I’m sorry to say that she’ll never improve beyond what you saw today.”

  Amy laughs. “I like her!”

  Gloria nods her head. “Me too, but don’t tell her that!” At the sight of the van on the street, Gloria opens the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk. “Ten children come to us each day from the elementary school. The school has its own after-school program but our program lasts longer.”

  “What time do parents pick up their kids here?” Amy asks, watching the van pull in to the driveway.

  “The last of the children leave around seven thirty.”

  “Wow! That’s a really long day for kids.”

  Gloria nods, looking at her. “That’s why we try to give these kids structure and encouragement and love. We know that this is the closest thing to a home that many of these kids have right now.” She waves as the van pulls to a stop, opening the side door. “Here are my favorite kids!”

  “You say that every day, Miss Glory,” a small boy with blond, messy hair says, jumping out onto the sidewalk.

  “I speak the truth, Jace,” she says, tapping him on top of the head. “Say hello to Miss Denison. She’s new here.” Jace waves as he runs into the building. “Everybody say hello to Miss Denison when you get out of the van,” Gloria says, hugging the shoulders of each child as they step out. She reaches her hand inside the van and helps the final little girl out. “How are you today, Miss Madeleine Grace?” She turns to look at Amy. “Madeleine means ‘high tower’ and Grace means ‘God’s favor,’ and as you can see Miss Maddie is the perfect picture of a high tower of God’s favor!”

  “I can see that!” Amy says, taking Gloria’s lead. “I love your glasses, Maddie.”

  Maddie looks up at Amy. “I like your glasses too! I always wanted a pair of blue ones like that but mine are just brown.”

  Amy bends over, adjusting the glasses on Maddie’s face. “Brown and very stylish.”

  “You’re new here. I’ve never seen you before.”

  Gloria closes the van door, turning to them. “Maddie! I just had the best idea! Miss Denison just arrived and I need to take her around and show her everything. Do you think you could do that for me?”

  Maddie nods and lifts her backpack over her shoulder. “Sure! Just follow me.”

  Amy follows her to a bank of cubbies, where Maddie hangs her jacket and backpack. “These are the cubbies where we keep our stuff. We aren’t allowed to put anything on the floor because it gets messy with so many kids.” Amy smiles at how grown-up Maddie sounds. Maddie hurries to a section of tables by the front windows. “This is where we can play games. We pick a game from here,” she says, pointing to shelves behind the tables. “And when we’re done with it, we have to put it away. Miss Glory says this is like our house and we have to keep it tidy.”

  “Those are good rules,” Amy says, following after her.

  “We can find a book here and use the beanbag chairs or sit at a table or just on the floor to read. I don’t like sitting on the floor.”

  Amy noticed Maddie’s walk and assumes it is too hard to get up and down off the floor for her. “I don’t like the floor either. It’s too hard and it’s difficult to get up off it too.”

  Maddie looks at her, surprised. “Really? Maybe it’s because you’re old.”

  Amy throws her head back, giggling. “It probably is! Why don’t you like to sit on the floor?”

  “Because a bug with long legs and wings crawled on my leg one day and he wouldn’t have done that if I was sitting on a beanbag chair.”

  Amy leans over, whispering. “Does this place have a bug problem? Because I hate bugs!”

  Maddie shakes her head and takes Amy by the hand, leading her across the room. “No. Dalton said he’s never been able to hear right since I screamed that day and he took care of the bug problem. That’s Dalton over there,” she says, pointing to an African-American man with gray hair, jumping rope with two girls. “That’s where we can be active. There are jump ropes and basketballs and other stuff that we can use. I don’t go to that side of the big room, except when Dalton makes me dance with him.” She leads Amy toward the door marked TUTORING.

  “Don’t you like dancing with Dalton? He looks like he’d be a great dancer.”

  “Dalton’s the best dancer and I’m the worst.”

  Amy stops before Maddie opens the door to Tutoring. “I’m not a good dancer either but I have fun doing it.”

  “You have fun because your legs are normal,” Maddie says, grinning.

  Amy bends toward her. “There’s something wrong with your legs?”

  “Just this one,” she says, tapping her right thigh. “Everybody knows it’s CP.” Amy doesn’t respond. “Cerebral palsy. I’ve had it since I was little. I don’t like it because it makes me walk funny and it’s the first thing people see.”

  “It wasn’t the first thing I saw. I saw your beautiful face and glasses and your awesome smile and was struck by your amazing name! Madeleine Grace. So beautiful.”

  The little girl twists the doorknob in front of her. “My parents don’t know me. A nurse named me that.”

  Amy’s heart sinks as she follows her into the room.

  THREE

  Twenty-five-year-old Travis Mabrey walks into Glory’s Place at seven, wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and Carhartt jacket. Travis works for the Grandon Parks and Recreation Department and his job brought Lauren into his life one year ago this month. On the evenings that she closes, he arrives to help clean as she gets the last of the children loaded into cars. Travis spends his days keeping ball fields in shape and city parks looking beautiful, so he doesn’t mind sweeping and mopping floors; sanitizing tables, toys, and games; emptying trash cans; or cleaning windows at Glory’s Place. He enjoys the children and when he and Lauren are finished, they are always hungry and ready for dinner.

  “Hi, Mr. T.,” Maddie says, waving as he comes in the door.

  “Maddie!” Travis says, giving her a high five. “How’s school?”

  “Good! I rocked a Florence Nightingale presentation today.”

  Travis looks impressed. “Awesome!” He catches Lauren’s eye and smiles. “Hi, babe!” She rolls her eyes, embarrassed.

  “We all know he’s your boyfriend,” Maddie says, making the remaining three children laugh.

  “Yeah,” says Marcus, a ten-year-old with shaggy bro
wn hair and a toothy smile. “We all know that you kiss each other when we’re not around.” The children begin to giggle as Lauren covers her ears.

  “You looooove each other,” Brianna says, her bright red hair bouncing in pigtails on each side of her head.

  “Hey!” Maddie says, her hand on her hip. “You two should get married!”

  Travis opens his mouth, pretending to be shocked, as the children begin to howl with laughter.

  “Yeah,” Brianna says. “When are you going to get married?”

  “She doesn’t have to get married,” Luke says, running to stand near Lauren. “Maybe she wants to be with us instead.” Lauren smiles, putting her hand on his shoulder and pulling him to her.

  Travis nods, thinking. “I’m pretty sure that if she married somebody, she would still want to be with you.”

  Luke looks up at her. “Is that true?”

  Lauren smiles. “Absolutely! What could ever tear me away from you guys?”

  “A honeymoon,” Travis says, grinning.

  “She can’t go on a honeymoon!” Marcus says, taking his place next to Lauren. “What’s a honeymoon?”

  Lauren bends over, laughing. “It’s like a vacation that a newlywed couple goes on together.”

  “Just the two people together?” Luke asks. Lauren nods. Luke shakes his head. “Sounds boring. If you two get married, then you have to take us on your vacation with you.”

  Travis laughs, picking chairs up off the floor and setting them on top of tables. “Apparently, you guys don’t know too much about honeymoons.”

  “And you don’t know anything about Super Mario,” Brianna says.

  Travis retrieves the large broom from the storage closet and begins sweeping the floor. “You got me there!” he says, winking at Lauren.

  The children help straighten books and wipe off games with cleaning wipes. Lauren feels especially close to these four children who are the last to be picked up each day. Brianna’s mom pulls into the driveway, followed by Luke’s, and Lauren makes sure that they each have their jackets on before reaching for their backpacks. She hugs each child before sending him or her outside and notices Marcus’s grandmother sitting in her car at the streetlight.

  “Marcus! Grab your jacket and backpack.” He races for his things and rushes for the door. She stops him, making sure his jacket is on. “See you tomorrow, handsome man.”

  He points to Travis with his thumb. “You better not let him hear you calling me that.”

  “I’m used to it!” Travis says, sweeping into a dustpan.

  Lauren closes and locks the front door and watches as Maddie straightens the games on the shelves. She is always the last to be picked up. “So! Miss Denison seems great,” Lauren says, organizing a shelf.

  Maddie nods. “I like her! I like everybody here.”

  “Me too. I liked everybody at Glory’s Place so much that I decided to move to Grandon. They were like family to me.”

  Maddie stops her work, looking at her. “Is that why you live with Miss Stacy and her family?”

  “Yeah, it is. Stacy was the first person I met in Grandon, and because of her work here I got to meet Miss Glory and Miriam and Dalton and Heddy and all of you. After that, I just couldn’t go anywhere else. I had to live here.”

  “But where’s your real family?”

  Lauren smiles. “This is my real family.” She sits on the table. “If you mean where is the woman who gave birth to me or the man who is supposed to be my father, well, that’s a great question. The truth is, neither one of them was cut out for being a parent. My dad left early on and my mom actually spent time in jail. When she got out she knew she couldn’t raise me so I grew up in foster homes.”

  Maddie’s face opens up. “I live in a foster home.”

  Lauren’s eyes are full, seeing herself as a child in Maddie. She has wondered about Maddie’s background because she never mentions a mom or dad, but Lauren can tell that her foster mom takes exceptional care of her. “You know what I always wondered about?” Maddie shakes her head. “I wondered what my dad looked like. I mean, I knew I must have looked like him because I didn’t look like my mom. She had light skin and blondish-brown hair and I have dark skin and black hair. Of course I always wanted blond hair and light skin.”

  “I love your skin and hair,” Maddie says, touching Lauren’s ponytail.

  “I love it, too. I wish I had loved it when I was your age.”

  Maddie is quiet, putting her hands in her lap. “I wonder what my mom and dad look like.”

  Lauren crosses her arms, looking at her. “Well, they might have this beautiful hair,” she says, touching it. “Or maybe blue eyes, but all of it: the smile, the beautiful skin, the personality, the brains, all that is God’s own special recipe to make you you.”

  “The cerebral palsy?”

  “I know you don’t think that it makes you beautiful but it does.” Lauren bumps her forehead to Maddie’s. A car turns in to the driveway and Lauren uses a British accent to say, “Your ride is here, milady!” She helps Maddie with her jacket and carries her backpack outside, opening the back door of the car, looking at Linda, her foster mom, who often works late as a nurse. “She had a really good day!” Lauren says. She sets the backpack at Maddie’s feet. “See you tomorrow, beautiful!” She watches the car drive away and walks back into Glory’s Place, locking the door behind her. She turns to see that Travis is waiting for her and her eyes fill with tears.

  He moves to her, pulling her close. “She’s one of your favorites, I know.”

  Lauren nods, wiping her face. “I see me at that age, you know?”

  He takes her by the hand, leading her to the beanbag chairs. He sits down and pulls her onto his lap. “But with a huge difference.” She looks at him. “You didn’t have a Lauren at that age. You didn’t have a Miss Glory or Glory’s Place or any of these people at that age.”

  She rests her head on his chest and they sit in the quiet together. Lauren has always felt whole with Travis. She has never had to pretend to be anyone but herself with him. He is safe and kind and good, with simple tastes like hers.

  “So what about it?” he asks, breaking into her thoughts.

  “About what?”

  “About what Maddie asked. When are we going to get married?”

  She looks deflated. “We’ve talked about this. When we have money saved and we’re on our feet.”

  He pushes her off his lap and stands. “We’re on our feet.”

  She shakes her head, putting the broom and dustpan back into the closet. “You know what I mean. We need to save a lot more money if we want to get into a house.” She shuts the door and turns. “We need to…” She stops talking when she sees that Travis is down on one knee.

  “We need to what? Love each other more? That’s not possible for me.” Her eyes fill with tears again. “I loved you the day I met you in this place. You know that.” Tears fall down her cheeks and she laughs. “If you’re saying that we have to have a certain amount of money in the bank before we get married then that’s never going to happen because life happens. But I don’t want it to keep happening without you. I don’t have a ring because I didn’t plan this but…” She laughs out loud, wiping her face with her hands. “Lauren Gabriel … will you marry me?”

  She crumbles in front of him, laughing and kissing him. “Of course I will!”

  “Will you go on a honeymoon with just me or do we have to take all these kids with us?”

  She laughs out loud. “Just you.”

  FOUR

  Gabe has spent most of the morning in the school’s kitchen fixing a leak under the dishwasher. He got to the school early, hoping to get the leak fixed before the breakfast dishes were ready to be cleaned. As with most projects, however, he had to make an unexpected trip to the hardware store for supplies. With just a few more adjustments, he will have everything back in place and the dishwasher ready for lunch. As he exits the cafeteria doors, he waits for two classes to pass before h
e heads toward the maintenance office.

  “Hi, Mr. G.,” many of the children say, waving as they walk by. Gabe smiles and says hello. When he first applied for this job, he thought the worst part of it would be dealing with children, but they have ended up being the best part of his work. They make him laugh, they always speak to him, on Valentine’s Day they give him chocolates and at Christmas they bring him cookies, and he always feels useful. He’s grateful for this work and for this place. There are many times he wishes that a few years ago he could have been the person that he is today. Life would be different in so many ways; but he’s learned that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t change the past.

  “Hi, Mr. G.,” Maddie says, grinning. She stops and looks at him.

  “Good morning, Maddie.”

  She lifts her little finger, pointing it at him. “I found a nice lady for you to date.”

  He throws his head back, laughing. “Oh wow! You were serious! Is this what you do? You set people up? Do you have a business card?”

  She begins to walk in order to keep up with her class. “You’re not married and she’s not married and she’s pretty.” She looks at him over her shoulder. “I’ll tell you more about her later.”

  “Set up by a seven-year-old. What could possibly go wrong?” he says, heading to his office.

  * * *

  Gabe is late retrieving the flag from the pole this afternoon. When he walks out the front door, he notices that the children who wait for the van from Glory’s Place are already gone. He takes down the flag and folds it, before picking up some scraps of paper along the sidewalk and throwing them away. He pushes the door open as Maddie is about to pull it open on the other side. He looks at her, surprised. “Maddie! Are you going to Glory’s Place?”

  “Of course I am,” she says, heading past him.

  “Uh, I think the van has already left.”

  She looks frightened, quickening her pace to the end of the sidewalk. “No! No! I can’t miss the van!” She begins to cry and Gabe runs to her.

  He puts his hand around her shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s go talk to Mrs. Kemper or someone else in the office and see how we can get you over there.”