PlaySanta3

As I watched the presents pile up, my sadness turned to pride. I took great care to wrap Mike's underwear so neatly that he'd know Santa's favorite elf did it. I chose a special bow for Ali's doll, so that she'd be happy she was home from the hospital and had this new doll baby to cheer her up.

Beth brought out the last two bags--huge and bulky, but lightweight. One bag had her name on it; the other, mine. I peeked in Beth's bag while she peeked in mine. We laughed with excitement as we discovered two dolls bigger than me. Bigger than Beth. Mine had blond hair; Beth's, brown. They were dressed in beautiful long white gowns. Matching white frilly bonnets surrounded their hand-stitched cloth faces. On their hands and feet were elastic straps that we could attach to our hands and feet. They were dancing dolls! We attached them to our feet and twirled around Mama's bedroom until we heard Dad's car drive up. We quickly put the dolls back and stuck bows on the bags. When Dad came in, we pretended we had just gotten to those bags and hadn't opened them yet.

'We didn't have time to wrap everything,' Beth said. 'Can you finish?'

'You go on to bed. Santa will finish,' he winked. 'Thank you, girls. Mama will be proud of you.'

Christmas morning, we joined in our brothers' oohs and ahs as we viewed the presents under the tree. The boys were allowed to open their stockings, but we all waited to open our presents until after we returned from Mass, until after Dad brought Mama, Baby Gerald, and Little Alice home from the hospital, until we were all gathered together as a family. The crescendo of oooohhhus increased as we opened each present one at a time, fully enjoying that present before going to the next.

Finally, Beth and I got to our last present, the huge one, still in its bag, with a second bow added to the one we had stuck on. Beth and I opened our presents at the same time. We screamed with delight as we attached the dolls' straps to our feet and hands. Then, we danced around the room.

Mama's face was filled with joy. 'I knew you girls would love them,' she said. 'That's why I asked Santa to bring them for you.'

'Thanks, Santa,' I said as I winked at Beth. 'Thanks, Mama and Dad,' I said as I gave each a big hug and kiss, then continued to dance that Christmas Day away.