The Christmas House (26 page)

     Martha addressed Michael, Arianna and Dennis.

    
“Well, actually she did.
Poor Wanda.
You see, we can be seen outside the house. That’s why we are not allowed to go out. The only time we can be seen is when we are coming or going from the house.”

     Jack looked at the three of them, as they were looking at an empty chair at the other end of the table.

    
“What are you all looking at?”

     Arianna quickly turned to Jack.

    
“Oh, nothing Jack.
It’s this flu. It makes you act a little weird. Dennis has it too so he came over to get some medicine
. He ran out and the drug store is
closed.”

    
“Oh sure.
Invite Kowalski over but not us. Some friends you are,” Jack said.

     “No really Jack. We really are sick.
Hot and feverish.
It starts out with imagining that you are seeing things,” Michael said.

    
“Yes.
Seeing things.
Just like Wanda experienced. Maybe you better get her out of here before she gets any worse,” Dennis added.

    
Jack seemed a bit perplexed.

    
“Yeah, well I guess you’re right. Maybe we better get going. When do you think you might be feeling better?”

     Arianna and Michael quickly answered simultaneously, “About 6 tomorrow!”

     Jack looked at them strangely.

    
“Okay then... maybe I’ll come by tomorrow night.”

     “Why not call first Jack. That way you can make sure the coast is clear... I mean clear of germs. You know what I mean,” Arianna said nervously as she stood up and tried to pull Jack toward the front door.

     Jack nodded his head with a bit of hesitation as he took Wanda by the arm and followed
Arianna
s
’
tug back toward the foyer.

     “Well, if you need anything just call okay?” he asked.

     “Will do Jack. Thanks so much for the soup Wanda. Take care now. See you tomorrow. Merry Christmas,” Arianna said as she pushed them out the front door and closed it behind them.

     As Jack and Wanda stood on the stoop four guests were coming up the walk. Jack was still looking at the door puzzled by Arianna and Michael’s behavior. But Wanda, looking straight ahead, saw the people at the same time they saw her. The people quickly turned around and scattered into the darkness.

     “Jack! Look! There are people running!” she screamed.

     Jack turned around but it was too late. The people managed to run back to the edge of darkness where they vanished into the night.

     “What people? I don’t see any people. C’mon. We better get you home. Hope you saved some of that soup for yourself. You’re gonna need it,” Jack said as he took Wanda by the arm and escorted her back home.

     Back inside of the Carter residence, Dennis was totally bewildered.

    
“I need a drink!” he stated.

     “Dennis just
sit
. I need one too. I’ll be right back,” Arianna said as she excused herself and went into the kitchen.

     Michael walked back into the dining room after watching out the side window to make sure that Jack and Wanda returned back to their house.

    
“
Boy, that
was a close one. Why didn’t you tell us that you could turn invisible? That was really very awkward Martha,” he said.

     “I never said we would vanish and leave Michael. Sorry you misunderstood Michael,” she responded.

     Dennis was still in a state of disbelief as Arianna handed him a double Scotch.

    
“I hope Scotch is okay Dennis?” she asked.

    
“I don’t know; I don’t drink,” replied Dennis as he took a large gulp of the drink.

     “Oh my,” said Martha as she watched Dennis gag on his swallow.

   
“What (
cough!
)
are
you people trying to do? Kill me too? What’s in this drink
…(
cough!) paint thinner?”

     Dennis regained his composure.

    
“So what is going on here? Can someone tell me the whole story, please?”

     Michael sat down next to Dennis and started to explain. As he told the story, the others at the table added in comments as well. Dennis was listening intently and trying to believe the far-fetched tale. Unlike Michael and Arianna, Dennis had no other deceased relatives or friends at the party. He had no proof to convince himself. As far as he knew, this was just one big practical joke. Michael finished the story with, “and they leave at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening and don’t return again until next Christmas.”

     “I don’t know Michael. This sounds pretty unbelievable to me. How do I know these are my real parents? I didn’t even know I was adopted,” Dennis asked.

     Martha spoke up.

    
“Dennis you have been fortunate and have not lost a single loved one in your life time. But do you remember a pet you had as a boy? A dog named Lucky?”

     “Yes, a miniature schnauzer. He was with me for 20 years. I got him as a puppy one Christmas when I was 10 years old. He died when I was 30. He was a great little dog,” Dennis said.

     The doorbell rang.

     David answered the door, but there was no one there. He opened the storm door to look out again and a small salt and pepper colored dog came running into the house barking. The dog ran into the dining room and leaped into mid air, landing on top of Denny’s lap.

    
“Oh my God!
Its
Lucky! Lucky!
Hi ya boy!
Good dog. Lucky, I can’t believe this is happening!” Dennis shouted.

     “Yes it’s Lucky, Dennis” Martha said.

    
“He will stay here with you until tomorrow at 6:00, as will your loving parents Arthur and Marie. And by the way, unlike the human spirits here, Lucky ‘is’ allowed to go outside, if you know what I mean.” Lucky barks at Martha as if to agree with her statement.

     Dennis was now convinced and placed Lucky on the floor. He walked over to Art and Marie and hugged them both. Arianna joined in with the hug and the dining room was once again filled with love and family. Arthur apologized to Marie for getting upset. She apologized for never saying anything to him after all these years. They sat with Dennis and talked for hours. Arianna joined the conversation every so often, but figured she could see Dennis anytime, but her parents could not.

     The evening progressed as usual. The guests were laughing, drinking, dancing and listening to music. The trays of food were starting to disappear, slow but sure. Michael and Arianna made the rounds with all of their long lost friends and family. They enjoyed this Christmas even more than the last one last year. They knew what to expect this Christmas even though Dennis was sprung on them as a surprise they did not anticipate; they still handled the celebration with style and grace.

      Nicole was now walking and as she passed another great Aunt or Uncle, she would be swept up and snuggled repeatedly. She giggled as she was lamented with affection. David was a year older as well and had made major strides with his guitar playing. He was upstairs with his Uncle Billy jamming away.  All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas once again.

Chapter Sixteen- Thanksgiving it is not

Festive Lane

Thanksgiving Day

3 years later

     Several years past and the Carters were very fortunate during this time. It had been 5 years since they first purchased the magical house on Festive Lane. David was growing by leaps and bounds as he quickly approached his sixteenth birthday. Nicole had become a beautiful young lady, with a vocabulary that was very proficient for a five-year-old.

     Michael had been promoted to management with the same construction company, and was now a building inspector. Arianna was the dispatch supervisor for the local Lake Forest Police Department. Their lives were fairly uneventful over the last 3 years. Accept for the Christmas holiday celebration and the annual visit of Tony Cesario trying to purchase the Festive Lane property, life remained steady as she goes.

     Every Christmas, the guests arrived and visited with the Carters. Dennis joined the celebration all three years, but would not be attending the upcoming holiday gathering due to accepting a new job in California. He still considered the parents that raised him, to be just as much his parents as Art and Marie. He felt being closer to them geographically would be beneficial.

Since last year, Michael had been busy at work and at home. He really liked his new management position because it gave him more flexibility to be with the kids and Arianna. At home, he finally installed a new furnace in the basement of the house. Unfortunately, the unit wouldn’t stay lit for more than a few minutes at a time. He had to keep shutting it off and re-adjusting the gas flow. He just tried to fix it again yesterday, but the problem persisted.

     This morning, Michael left a note on the thermostat to warn Arianna not to turn on the furnace until he came home. He was going to stop at the hardware store later today before they closed early for the holiday. He needed to get a few parts that he
felt would resolve the problem with the furnace. He placed the sticky backed note on the thermostat cover in the front foyer so Arianna would be sure to see it.

     It was Thanksgiving Day and as usual Jack and Wanda were invited over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was early afternoon and Wanda was watching the kids while Arianna was working at the police station. Michael had to approve some job sites for last minute inspections before the weekend and was running late. The kids were helping Wanda make cookies for dessert as Jack was up in his office working on some investment paper work. While laying out clumps of cookie dough, Wanda ran out of cookie sheets and decided to go over to Arianna’s to borrow a few from her kitchen.

     Wanda walked over to the Carter residence and opened the front door with the spare key she kept at her house for emergencies. As she opened the front door, a gust of wind blew through the foyer. The wind was strong enough to dislodge the note from the thermostat and it floated down to the floor landing out of sight behind a chair. Wanda walked into the house and started to shiver.

   “It’s freezing in here!” she said out loud as she walked to the thermostat and saw that it was turned off.

    
“No wonder it is so cold in here. This thing isn’t even turned on.”

     With that, she flipped the switch on the side of the thermostat to the “heat” setting. She walked into the kitchen and took a few cookie sheets out from the compartment under the stove. As she walked back to the front door, she reached down to feel if warm air was blowing out of a nearby vent. She felt the air blowing and smiled.

    
“There we go,” she said.

    
She returned to her home next door and was greeted by the kids.

    
“Now we can make some more cookies that much faster!” she said.

    
“Yeah!
More cookies!”
Nicole yelled.

     They marched into the kitchen and started putting dough on the new cookie sheets. The kids were very fond of Wanda. She watched Nicole on a regular basis since Arianna now works full-time. David was now old enough to take care of
himself
however Arianna insisted that he stayed at Wanda’s this holiday to avoid having to track him down later in the day.

     Jack’s moving business was doing very well, so Wanda retired from the company and stayed home full-time. She watched Nicole during the day and David comes to her house after basketball practice to help out until Arianna comes home. Arianna usually arrived home at around 4:00 p.m. most days, unless there was a work related
emergency
.

     Hours passed and as the kids were busy decorating the pumpkin shaped orange cookies. Wanda saw Arianna’s car pull into the driveway next door.

    
“Your momma’s home,” she said to Nicole.

     “Mommy’s home!” yelled Nicole.

     Jack came down the stairs from his office and into the kitchen.

    
“Why don’t we start taking some of these cookies over to Michaels
’
house
.
I think I just saw Arianna pull up,” he said.

     Wanda agreed and got Nicole dressed in her winter coat. Jack and David grabbed several cookie tins and led the way out the front door. As Arianna was unloading groceries from the trunk of her car, Jack, Wanda and the kids came up from behind her.

     “Hey there neighbor, need a hand?” Jack asked.

     “Hi!
Happy Thanksgiving.
Sure could use one,” answered Arianna.