Gertrude Hardy pulled out the last gift she needed to wrap.  She was listening to a Christmas CD and singing along. 

Outside, the snow was still falling, and she stopped to look out the front window and admire the winter wonderland – it was really very beautiful. 

Behind her, the large Christmas tree dominated the living room, and almost 800 little lights twinkled brightly.  It was still only early but she had already turned on the tree; it made her feel a little less lonely.

And Gertrude Hardy was a very lonely woman.

Never married, she had given up her job as a stenographer to move in with her brother and his family when Laura went back to school full time.  And then, except for three years when she moved back home to care for her ailing parents, she’d been living with them ever since.

Although she had never had children, she had helped raise Frank and felt like he was her own – hence the tension that sometimes arose between her and Laura, as they had very different parenting styles.

Fenton tried to stay out of it.  How do you choose between the two women in your life?  Your wife or your sister…oh yes, he definitely stayed out of it.

Usually, she never minded devoting her life to her family, but sometimes, especially on Christmas and New Year’s, she wondered what she had missed out on and whether or not there truly was someone…for everyone.

Reflective, Gertrude brushed a tear from her cheek and carefully placed a soft ivory bow on top of the present she had just finished wrapping. 

She had chosen lovely gold paper with little ivory cherub angels on it for this special gift. 

Every year, she would carefully select one extra item and then, after wrapping it, she would take it to the hospital and drop it into one of the donation bins to be given to a needy child on Christmas morning. 

It heartened her to know that somewhere in Bayport, a child that she hadn’t met would receive her gift and it would put that little light in their eyes…if only for a few hours. 

This year, she had bought a CD player and some of the current top CD’s to go with it and on the gift tag, she wrote: 

       To:  A special Boy

    From:  Auntie G

She used Frank as a model of what to buy for the gift.  Last year he had received this exact present and had loved it.  And when she went out to look for a gift, she remembered.

At the bottom of the tag, she had to write the age that the gift was appropriate for, and without hesitating, she wrote 16. 

She always chose to go one year less than Frank…it just felt right.

Satisfied with the wrapping, Gertrude left the gift on the coffee table as she leaned back and looked at it.  Behind her the Christmas tree blinked and the CD sang…so this is Christmas…and what have you done…?

And Gertrude Hardy cried.

* * *

The little boy with the blue eyes reached out his hand to comfort the crying woman, but stopped.  There was nothing he could do. 

He knew why she was crying…she was crying because she knew she had lost something…she just didn’t know what…

“It’ll be okay,” the older man assured the child.  The little boy didn’t look convinced but turned back to watch the woman again anyway.

* * *

Dr. Hardy pushed a long strand of blond hair under her green cap as she prepared to go into the OR.  It was Christmas Eve and she would prefer to be home with her family instead of this sterile, antiseptic hospital prep room…but she had a job to do.

Right now there was a terrified young girl on the other side of the swinging door who was trusting Laura Hardy with both her life…and that of her unborn baby.

As she scrubbed her hands she thought about how funny it was how things worked out.  A one time aspiring Olympic horsewoman, she would have laughed if anyone had told her that less than 20 years later she would be preparing to deliver a premature baby. 

But then life goes and throws you a curve ball…or in her case, a nasty riding accident that cost her both her horse and the life she had known.

The best laid plans of mice and men, she thought to herself as she shook away the images of the accident and her beloved horse, Heart.  Life goes on…life finds a way….

Closing her eyes, she said a little prayer that the Lord would guide her hands in delivering this mother and child safely through the unscheduled C-section….

And then using her shoulder to push open the door, Dr. Hardy nodded to the nurse and then smiled down at the young girl, “Okay Tania, are you ready to be a mom?”

Seeing the look of terror on the face of the 16 year old girl, Laura gave her a reassuring wink. “That’s okay, neither was I.”

Preparing to make the first incision, Laura thought about her own son, Frank. 

No…she hadn’t been prepared for being a mom. And then she made the most startling discovery about 6 weeks later, when all the aches and pains had subsided, and Frank had finally let her have more then two hours sleep at a time…she loved being a mom. 

It was this love that sent her to medical school and then on to Obstetrics.  She wanted to be there to see that look on the parents’ faces when they finally got a chance to see the child that they had made.  To somehow recapture the magic that had been her own child’s birth….

* * *

The little boy with the blue eyes felt someone else standing beside him and he turned to see another little boy with large brown eyes and a face full of freckles. 

The boy waved to him and then disappeared seconds before he heard the baby’s cry.   His blue eyes widened but before he could ask anything, he felt the man’s hand on his shoulder.  “It’s okay.”

The little boy didn’t look convinced but turned back to watch them again.

* * *

Laura felt the baby’s head and gently but firmly brought it into the world.  For one brief moment her gaze locked on the child’s face…but it wasn’t him.

Forcing a smile she called out, “it’s a boy!” and then watched the magic as the young mother saw her child and fell instantly in love. 

This didn’t happen all the time…but when it did…you knew they were the only two people in the world.

“Hello Christopher,” she heard the young girl greet her son, and Laura felt overwhelming sadness. 

Who am I looking for? she asked herself as she mechanically went about suturing the incision….Who am I am waiting for…?

* * *

The little boy with the blue eyes turned away and left.  He didn’t believe anymore that it would be okay.  Was he the only one who could feel their pain?

The older man didn’t follow.  He knew where the child was going and he knew it was a journey that he needed to make by himself.  But it would be okay.