Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (81 page)

Without
that
giggle,
his
chuckle
might
have
offended
her,
but
thankfully
she’d
cracked
first.
“Well,
it
did
sound
a
bit
amusing.”

“What
am
I
going
to
do?”

Truthfully,
he
didn’t
know
what
she
meant
by
the
question,
but
something
about
it
made
him
hesitant
to
ask.
Instead,
he
turned
the
question
into
another
direction.
“What
were
Allie’s
weaknesses?”

“What?”

“Just
what
I
asked.
What
were
Allie’s
weaknesses?”

“She
didn’t
have
any—I
mean
she
was
a
bit
of
a
perfectionist,
but
that’s
one
of
those
really
annoying
weaknesses
that
at
least
look
like
a
virtue.”

“I
think
you
should
ask
your
parents.
There
were
enough
years
between
you
that
I
bet
you
never
got
to
see
the
flaws
that
made
Allie
an
interesting
person.”

“Flaws.”

“Look,
Mibs,”
he
insisted,
“we
all
have
an
arsenal
of
weaknesses
at
our
disposal.
They’re
there
to
keep
us
humble
and
to
remind
others
that
they
aren’t
alone
in
this
walk
we
call
life.”

“That
sounds
too
profound
for
my
brain.”

“You’re
tired.
Go
to
bed.
We’ll
go
have
a
coffee
and
talk
about
it
more
tomorrow.”

“We
can’t
get
coffee
anywhere
tomorrow.”

Luke
pushed
himself
off
the
floor
and
tossed
the
pillow
aside.
“No,
we
can’t
get
coffee
today, but tomorrow
is
another
story.”

As
she
walked
him
to
the
door,
Aggie
leaned
her
head
on
his
shoulder,
her
hand
wrapped
in
his.
“Thanks
for
coming,
Luke.”

“Do
you
feel
any
better?”

“Not
really,
but
I
probably
will
when
I’m
not
as
tired.”

A
sprig
of
mistletoe,
put
up
by
the
children
just
that
evening,
hovered
over
their
heads.
Luke
rolled
his
eyes
and
jerked
it
from
the
tack,
stuffing
it
in
his
jacket.
“I’m
just
helping
them
to
not
make
me
stumble…
or
something
like
that.
Call
me
when
you
hear
the
first
screech
or
feel
the
first
bounce
on
your
bed.
I’ll
be
right
over.”

“Are
you
sure
your
sisters—”

“They
expect
me
by
ten,
so
we’ll
have
a
few
hours.
They
understand.”

At
home,
he
stared
at
his
laptop,
still
sitting
where
he’d
left
it,
the
messenger
box
open
and
the
cursor
flashing.
He
didn’t
know
when
she’d
see
it,
but
he
had
to
send
one
quick
message.

Luke says:
And she heard him exclaim as he closed the website, “Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.” Love you.

Christmas Cheer

Thursday, December 25
^th

Despite
her
predictions,
Aggie
awoke
Christmas
morning
with
a
fresh
confidence
in
her
ability
to
do
whatever
the
Lord
gave
her
to
do—including
raising
eight
children.
However,
by
the
third
tantrum
of
the
morning,
her
confidence
had
waned.
The
enormous
pile
of
presents
under
the
tree
had
seemed
enough
for
a
small
army,
but
an
innocent
comment
by
Vannie
regarding
her
relief
in
not
having
such
a
daunting
pile
of
gifts
sparked
a
chain
of
events,
some
real,
even
more
imagined,
that
tore
at
Aggie
all
morning.