A short story By Lori Hanson
When Kevin and Karen found out they were expecting their first child and the baby would arrive in December they were ecstatic. Both Karen and Kevin were crazy about Christmas, and were looking forward to welcoming their child into the world to help them celebrate their favorite time of year.
When their first daughter was born, they were enchanted by her smile, amazed by how brightly her blue eyes twinkled when she looked up at them, and how she smiled and rarely cried. They named her Hope.
Hope was a perfect baby who was happy, slept through the night from an early age and was the apple of her daddy’s eye. When it was time to celebrate her first Christmas, mom and dad were giddy as they attended to the tasks of getting the house decorated, putting up the tree and wrapping up many bright packages that they placed under the tree. From the first spotting of a Christmas decoration Hope was taken in by the bright colors and blinking lights.
She took her first steps, much to mom and dad’s delight, toward the Christmas tree to examine and destroy the brightly wrapped boxes. Hope giggled as she torn off the bright red paper and found to her delight the softest, sweetest teddy bear she had ever seen. She examined his nose, eyes, ears, and white and red scarf carefully before she put her head to rest on the teddy bear. Karen quickly snapped a picture to savor the moment. Only one year old, Hope was enjoying the Christmas festivities seemingly just as much as her parents.
In the spring, Karen and Kevin were delighted to find out that by Christmas, Hope would have a little brother or sister to join her. What a magical time they would have, welcoming their second child into the family at Christmas time. They shared the news with Hope and told her she would soon be a big sister. She joyfully clapped her little hands together and then followed mommies hand to touch her belly and feel the boom, boom, boom of her growing siblings heart beat.
Christmas was now only a few weeks away and Hope was often spotted running through the house saying “Baby, baby.” She couldn’t wait for the new bundle of joy to arrive.
To be continued…
