A Christmas Miracle

"But obviously, my preferred solution to the problem didn't work out too well, because everybody's gone." The ice cubes clinked in his glass as he jiggled it and took the last sip. "All I wanted to do was make it through Christmas without torturing myself over all the stupid things I've said and done over the years. I've been trying to ignore the festivities mostly. I thought I could make it to January and just get on with my life, but then I came home tonight and saw the tree and the decorated parlor. It was one of those moments that shakes you. I felt like the Grinch."

"Then I opened your present and..." Dr. Reynolds swallowed really hard.

He placed a picture on the coffee table. It was a framed photo of the whole bunch we had taken at J.J.'s place during Thanksgiving.

There was a Christmas card attached that read, 'Your family miss you.'

"It was a nice gesture to place Mr. Carrots under the tree," Dr. Reynolds placed a worn-out stuffed bunny at one side of the picture. "It reminded me of Wendy, of course. She slept with it till she was ten," her father explained, his eyes red with emotion.

"Your mother is right, Lizzie. I pushed everyone away. Now, I'm all alone. I wanted you to know that I understand you're not a child anymore, and I need to let you live your own life and be with whoever you want to be with."

Lizzie wrapped her arms around her father's shoulders. "I'm glad you did. Thank you, Dad. This means a lot to me." She drew back and held his hand. "I think we should call Mom."

Dr. Reynolds said nothing. He merely sat and watched with some unease while Lizzie found her phone in her purse and dialed the number.

"Hi Mom," she said. "I hope I'm not calling too late. Yes, we're fine." She turned to look at both of us and smiled radiantly while she listened to Joan talk about her visit with her son's family and the kids.

"That's sounds wonderful," Lizzie said. "Look, Mom, I'm calling because Dad is here." She paced around the living room. "Yes, I know it's late. He says hello. He loved our gift."

Lizzie turned to her father and handed him the phone. "She wants to talk to you."

Dr. Reynolds's cheeks flushed red. He rose from the sofa, took the phone from her and walked to the kitchen.

Lizzie sat down across my lap. I cradled her in my arms and kissed the top of her head.

We listened discreetly for a few minutes, then exchanged a look when we heard her father say in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry Joan... Please tell J.J. I'm sorry..." Dr. Reynolds sat down at my kitchen table and began to weep.

Quietly, Lizzie and I rose from the chair in the living room and went into the bedroom to give him some privacy.

CHAPTER 26

By some Christmas miracle, everyone was able to fly to the Reynold's house in Canyon Road for Christmas. It required two vehicles to pick everyone up at the airport, so Lizzie came with me in my car and Mr. Reynolds followed in his.

The whole way there, snow was falling in giant fat flakes that floated in the air like something out of a dream.

"I hope you realize," Lizzie said, reaching for my hand as we approached the airport, "that none of this would be happening if you hadn't knocked on my door that day."

"Or if I hadn't been shot and I had seen and spoken to Wendy, who died the same night and decided to stick around long enough to turn me into her final psychiatric case," I added.

I won't lie and pretend it was an easy, joyful greeting at the baggage carousel. The children were oblivious to any family tension, of course, and Mrs. Reynolds was quick to rush into her husband's arms. J.J. and Meg, however, were reserved, as was Dr. Reynolds when they shook hands. I suspected the tension and hurt would linger for quite some time to come. Maybe it would never be resolved completely, but at least J.J. had agreed to bring his children to meet their other grandfather for Christmas, so it was a positive first step.

Lizzie had prepared a traditional turkey dinner which she reheated on the stove when we arrived. The children were boisterous and touched everything they could, but Dr. Reynolds somehow managed to bite his tongue.

"Come outside with me?" I said to Lizzie after J.J. and Meg herded the children off to bed. "It's a beautiful night."

She smiled at me and took my hand. A few minutes later, we were standing in our coats and boots on the covered porch by the outdoor Christmas tree we had set up that morning.

"Considering I was expecting World War III, it all went well, don't you think?" Lizzie said, reaching out to touch a golden angel ornament that hung from one of the lower branches.

"It was a great first step in the right direction." I watched her stroll around the tree and felt completely beguiled by her every move.

"The kids had a good time with their presents," she added.

"All kids do," I commented with a smile remembering my own Christmas as a kid.

She paused to re-arrange a section of lights. I waited until she draped it properly, then I moved a little closer.

"Talking about presents, there are still two more presents, though," I teased.

"Really? Who are they for?"

"You. It's a Birthday present and a Christmas present."

Lizzie stopped what she was doing and looked at me.

"Happy birthday," I wished her, and gave her a Boosey & Hawkes clarinet in its box.

She tore the wrapping off and let out a small gasp, "A clarinet! But... How did you know?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Wendy told me you loved playing it."

Tears were sliding down her face as she leaned forward and kissed me on my lips. "Of course, she did. Thank you, Nick. By the way, how did you know about Mr. Carrots? How did you find it and placed it under the Christmas tree?"

I felt shivers running down my spine.

"Lizzie, I didn't place Mr. Carrots under the tree. I thought you did."

Lizzie shivered from head to toes, shaking her head. "I didn't."

A warm feeling surrounded us, and the evening mist morphed into a crystalline glowing female form. Wendy... She pointed at the small box in my hand and smiled. Then she glowed brighter and finally disappeared in the mist.

"Did you see what I saw?" I asked Lizzie.

She gulped and nodded, speechless. Tears running down her cheeks.

"I have one more present for you," I tossed my head slightly to indicate a small blue velvet box tied by a red and gold ribbon in my hand.

"Oh my God! Is it a...?" Lizzie gasped.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" I reached up to untie the bow, and then got down on one knee.

Lizzie covered her mouth with a hand, smiling and crying at the same time.

"Elizabeth Reynolds," I said. "I think maybe you're the reason I came back from wherever it was I went on the night I was shot, and thank God for that. Or maybe it was Wendy who sent me back. Maybe she knew you were meant to be my wife."

Lizzie opened the box to reveal the classic diamond ring I had chosen just for her. She dropped to her knees in front of me.

"Lizzie, will you marry me?" I asked.

She nodded in a hurry, crying and laughing at the same time as I slid the ring onto her finger. "It's so beautiful!" she cried, holding it up to the light shining down on us from the tree.

We both stood up and she wrapped her arms around me. I held her close, closed my eyes and touched my lips to hers.

A moment later, we looked up to admire the decorations on the tree, and listened to the distant sound of carolers somewhere down the street.

EPILOGUE

Three years have passed since the day I proposed to my wife. That was the year her family broke apart, but found its way back together again, even stronger than before.

I still think about Wendy, and the way things turned out. Lizzie tells me she feels her presence sometimes when she walks into a quiet room at her parents' home on Canyon Road. Placing Mr. Carrots under the three became a family tradition.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds recently celebrated their anniversary and we all gathered together to celebrate it. Even J.J., Meg and the kids flew in for the party.

Lizzie graduated from medical school last spring and she's working forensics with the FBI.

As for Mr. Reynolds and his son... They've come a long way. Bruce's counseling has helped a lot, and J.J. is no stranger to human weakness, given all that he's seen and heard in the support groups he leads. He's the most forgiving man I've ever met. His wife Meg is that way, too.

The important thing is to keep getting up each day knowing that everything can turn on a dime. For better or for worse.

Sometimes bad things happen, and people will always make mistakes, but isn't that how we learn and grow stronger?

That's why we need to treasure each moment of every day, learn how to accept and forgive, and never fear what might be over the horizon, even if it looks dark and cloudy. Because it just might turn out to be the best day of your life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!