Read Changing Traditions, A Christmas Novella Online

Authors: Rachel Rittenhouse

Tags: #family, #christmas, #young adult, #historical, #sisters, #diary, #christian, #traditions

Changing Traditions, A Christmas Novella (2 page)

BOOK: Changing Traditions, A Christmas Novella
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Not entirely so. I’ve
always tried to show you that I care—”


As a friend.”


But I also gave you space
when you seemed to prefer Albert.”


Yes, you did, which
brings up the point that he still may come home.”


He hasn’t written you in
seven months!”

Bethany felt her mouth gap
open, “How did you know?”


Please, Beth,” Jeremy
leaned to and placed a light kiss on her hand, “Say you’ll consider
being my girl?”

Bethany felt tears begin
to pool in her eyes. “I…I need time to…think about
this.”


I can wait for
you.”

His words touched her
heart as he drove her the rest of the way home. When he pulled up
to the porch, he walked around to help her down. Before letting her
go though, he added, “I’m serious in what I’ve said, Bethany. I do
care for you.”

Bethany found a slight
smile, “I know.” Then she hurried in the house. Before she even
shut the door, Laura was standing before her, a sneaky smile on her
face.


Why, sister, who exactly
was bringing you home?”

Bethany forced a chipper
sound in her voice instead of the tears she wanted to shed. “Only
Jeremy. He saw me walking home and offered a ride because of the
snow.”


How generous of him.”
Laura looped her arm through Bethany’s. “Come, Momma has made
cookies. Chocolate-strawberry mint. How does that
sound?”


Umm…refreshing?”


Exactly what I thought
when I came up with the recipe.”


You created it?” A
warning bell sounded through Bethany’s head as she came to from
dwelling on Jeremy and Albert.


Why of course! What is so
surprising about that?”


You hate the
kitchen.”


Not any more!” Laura
pulled Bethany by the arm and she had no choice but to follow her
sister. Thoughts of what Jeremy had said would just have to
wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER
TWO

 

Thanksgiving was always a wonderful time for Bethany and her
family. Momma, Carolyn, and Heather made quite the selection of
wonderful food. So much so, a person hardly knew what to begin
eating first!

After Poppa offered a
blessing, Bethany couldn’t help but look around the table at the
family she had been blessed with. Indeed, there was so much to be
thankful for especially this year. Poppa and Momma sat at one end
of the table, looking so happy. Next to them, Rosie sat trying to
convince Adam that he should try his green beans. Heather had gone
to gather something that was forgotten in the kitchen, while Jesse
and Scott were having quite the discussion about the food their
wives made. Carolyn was looking adoringly at her husband, though
Bethany noticed, she seemed a little more peeked than usual. Jake
was looking at the food that Momma was piling on his plate, while
Laura talked about her experiences at the doctor’s office with
her.

Bethany suddenly came to
attention when she realized that Laura was looking at her
expectedly. “I’m sorry, dear. My mind had wandered. What did you
say?”

Laura gave her a strange
look. “Busy thinking about Jeremy, are we Bethy?”


Shh, Laura. Not now.
We’ll talk later, I promise.”

Jake, though, had turned
his attention from his food. “What was that about Jeremy, Laura?
Something to do with our Bethy?”

Laura looked like she was
about to say something, but Bethany beat her to it. “Only that
Laura saw Jeremy when she was in town. Isn’t that right?” Bethany
placed on a demur smile while her eyes appealed to Laura that she
better not say anything. There was no way she wanted Jeremy’s offer
discussed with her family. Yet.

Laura appeared conflicted,
but in the end, she only agreed with what Bethany had
said.

Poppa cleared his throat
and the conversation miraculously turned from Bethany. “As we are
now entering into the Christmas season, we should begin discussing
what we would like to do as far as gathering the tree and other
activities planned.”


Christmas!” Adam clapped
his hands together and everyone burst out laughing. This would be
Adam’s first Christmas with all his family members. Bethany thought
that it would most likely be the best one they had ever
had.

Carolyn’s voice broke
through the laughter echoing the very words Bethany had thought.
“It shall be one of the best, for we are all together again.” There
were tears in Carolyn’s eyes, but that was just because Carolyn
tended to be the most emotional of the siblings, and Bethany knew
that she was just truly happy. “We shall all go out and pick out a
Christmas tree and then decorate it. Of course, our St. Lucia
traditions. Perhaps we could all spend the night at Momma and
Poppa’s. Sister baking time to make pies and cookies
galore.”


We should host a
Christmas ball as well. Oh we haven’t had any dancing since the war
began…” Heather piped up in Carolyn’s ramblings.


Or…we could start some
new traditions.” Laura’s matter-of-fact voice broke through. “Don’t
you think it would be nice to have a bit of a change? Perhaps we
would enjoy something different.”

The room got eerily quiet.
No one quite knew what to say. Laura was known for her opinions,
but one didn’t usually argue with Carolyn.

Carolyn looked at Laura,
“But dear, wouldn’t it be lovely to have a Christmas like we had
before the war. Traditions are not a bad thing. And besides, we are
all together again.”

Bethany sighed inwardly.
They weren’t
all
together.


They are when you over
use them.”


We haven’t used them for
five years!”

It was one thing for Laura
to get mad, but to see Carolyn, the tears from her eyes replaced
with determination, Bethany hadn’t seen that before. Someone needed
to get between these sisters before things got too out of control.
Bethany began slowly, “Perhaps…”


Bethy, please,” Carolyn’s
voice held a no nonsense tone. She didn’t even stop when Scott
placed a hand on her shoulder. “Fine, Laura, what are your
ideas?”

Laura crossed her arms, “I
haven’t thought that far…”


So then why change it
all?”


But—we could try some new
recipes and maybe decorate the tree a little differently. And maybe
forgo St. Lucia’s day. I think you’ve been St. Lucia enough in one
lifetime, Carolyn.”


I was planning on
teaching Rosie. I figure it’s time to teach the younger children
the traditions that have been taught to us.” Carolyn glanced at
Jesse and Heather. No one looked too sure about this display
between Carolyn and Laura. It was out of character which told
Bethany that something else was at the root of the
problem.


Oh is that a fact? So it
can suddenly go from you to Rosie but manage to skip over Bethy and
me?”

Carolyn looked to Bethany
then back to Laura, “Well if you wanted to be St. Lucia, why didn’t
you say anything?”

Laura was standing now,
“Because it would’ve gone against tradition!”


Laura, I had no
idea…”


Laura, sit down, there is
no need for this.” Momma’s voice had a no nonsense tone and though
Laura hesitated, she did end up taking her seat. “Now, how about we
talk about this like adults. Carolyn and Laura both expressed their
opinions about Christmas. Does anyone else have anything to
say?”

It seemed as though no one
wanted to get in the middle of things and Bethany truly had no
desire to side with one sister over the other. Even
though…

Jake appeared to be the
brave one, “I’m all for doing something new. It could be like a new
start, especially with Henry not here. It would be hard to go
back.”

Laura appeared to perk up,
“Exactly what I was trying to say!”


Laura.” Momma shook her
head and Laura instantly quieted.

Heather looked to Jesse,
“I know Jesse and I talked about how we want to combine how we both
celebrated Christmas when we were younger, especially since it will
be Adam’s first Christmas. We want him to know the traditions we
both grew up with as well as begin our own.”

Jesse nodded, “I know that
this Swedish tradition pull is probably stronger for Carolyn and me
because we remember celebrating it in Sweden, whereas Laura was so
young. But I don’t think we need to forgo that because that is who
we are.” Poppa nodded his approval and Bethany wished her thoughts
could formulate as wisely as her brother’s.

All eyes turned to Bethany
now and she desperately wished she could hide under the table
instead of being the tie-breaker. “Couldn’t we possible do some of
both? I love our traditions, but this year is different. We can’t
possibly go back to how it was before.”

Laura stood, “No! Jesse
and Carolyn, if you want to celebrate the traditions, do it with
your own family. We don’t always have to do the same thing year
after year.” Laura stood then and ran from the table.

Feeling terrible, Bethany
stood to follow her, but Heather placed a hand on her arm. “Let her
go, Bethy. Just give her some time.”

Poppa sighed, “I believe
it’s time for pie. We can figure out what happens next
later.”

As Momma and Carolyn rose
to get the desserts, Adam’s chatter was a happy divergence, but
Bethany worried over Laura and Carolyn. Would the whole Christmas
season be ruined if the two couldn’t figure out a
compromise?

Suddenly, Bethany had two
Christmas options before her as well as two guys. Somehow she was
going to have to decide on both instances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 


Well
that was…interesting. I bet Poppa wasn’t expecting that when he
asked such a simple question.” Heather looked up from her dish
washing at Bethany and Momma. It was just the three of them in the
kitchen since Carolyn took Rosie and Adam out and the guys were
doing the barn chores. Laura was still gone, though someone would
probably go searching for her soon.

Momma nodded, “I just
don’t understand what got into Carolyn and Laura. I know they are
both so different, but I’ve never seen Carolyn get as defensive as
she did tonight.”

Knowing her sisters the
best, Bethany said, “I think that there is something deeper going
on with Carolyn. She just wants everything to go back to the way it
was and since she’s knows that can’t happen, the easiest way is to
do everything the same.”

Heather sighed, “But how
does that explain Laura? She’s gotten more opinionated with age,
but she has never spoken to Carolyn that way.”

Momma placed the last dish
in the cupboard and turned, “Laura and Carolyn have different ways
of dealing with hurt. Laura, I believe, still misses Henry. I know
I do, but Laura’s way of dealing with that is making things
different. I can see her logic, but I tend to side with Carolyn in
this matter. Sometimes those you love feel closer when you do
things as you have always done them.”


The war has been hard on
everyone and we all have different ways of coping. Perhaps the
strain of it all has taken its toll on Carolyn.” Heather looked to
Bethany, giving her a sad smile. “You seemed to be leaning towards
Laura’s way. Does it have to do with missing someone
still?”

Bethany shrugged, “Perhaps
Laura’s logic would make the pain not go as deep. I couldn’t hurt
Carolyn though. Christmas and traditions are important to her.” For
a time, her family members realized she was grieving her loss of
Albert. Once the letter arrived though, they all appeared to think
that Bethany moved on from him. Perhaps Heather still saw the grief
that Bethany was going through.

Or maybe she was thinking
it is long time that Bethany moved on. Maybe this change in
traditions would be just what Bethany needed to move on.

Pulling Bethany out of her
muddled thoughts, Momma squeezed Heather and her hand. “We can’t
take sides, that’s for sure. I believe that it’s up to us girls to
make sure this Christmas is the happiest one we’ve had in a long
time.” And Bethany could only agree.

 

<> <> <>
<>

 

Later that evening,
Bethany found Carolyn sitting out under a pine tree. Going over to
join her, Carolyn almost didn’t seem to realize her presence and
Bethany suddenly wasn’t sure if she wanted to interrupt.

Then Carolyn reached over
and grasped her hand, “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, dear. I don’t
know what came over me.”


It is alright. I know you
didn’t mean it.”


But I did.” Carolyn
turned and looked at Bethany. “Well, I meant
what
I said just not
how
I said it. Why is
Laura so intent on doing this to me? I thought she’d
understand?”

BOOK: Changing Traditions, A Christmas Novella
7.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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