Wings of Love (18 page)

“Don’t go away,” he teased her as he exited
the room.  “I’ll be right back.”

Adam came back into the room with a bottle of
champagne, an ice bucket and two glasses.  He caught his
breath when he saw Amy hiding beneath the bubbles which looked like
snow.  He placed the champagne on the ledge behind her,
turned out the lights and slid into the tub next to
her.  Adam’s heart was racing after the long day of
anticipation for this moment.  He felt as Amy floated to
face him then gently ran her hands through his hair, the warm water
bubbling sensuously around them.  Adam gazed into her
eyes which reflected the candlelight that bounced off the water
while they made shadows and memories here in each others’ arms.

Adam balanced the packages he held in his
arms as he unlocked the door.  He managed to make it over
to the bed before they tumbled all over the place.

“Well, I think we successfully completed all
our Christmas shopping.”  Amy admired all the packages
she had painstakingly picked out.

“Thank God,” said Adam.  “Now where
did that fudge go?”

Amy dug through all the bags until she found
the one she was looking for.  “Do you want chocolate mint
or peanut butter pecan?”

“A little slice of both,” he felt his stomach
growl.  “Then we’ll go to dinner.”

“I think everyone is going to love their
gifts.”  Amy held up a John Deere sweatshirt they had
bought for Adam’s dad.

“Yeah, you did a good job Amy.”  He
popped the last piece of fudge in his mouth.  “They
probably would have gotten empty fudge boxes from
me.”  He laughed as he tickled her side.  “Are
you ready for dinner?”

“Boy somebody is hungry!” Amy laughed as they
left the room to go to the restaurant.  “Winner, winner
chicken dinner!”

Adam pulled her chair out for her before he
took a seat beside her.  He noticed the family behind
them who were already eating their meal.  “The food looks
good.”

The waiter approached them dressed in German
Oktoberfest attire.  “My name is Eric and I will be your
server tonight.”  He placed a breadbasket of warm stollen
bread with fresh fruit preserves on the table. 

“I think we will both have the family style
chicken dinner and a couple draft beers.”  Adam handed
the waiter the menus then waited for Eric to leave the
table.  “Look behind you.”

Amy turned to see the beautiful mural painted
on the entire wall behind them of the Swiss Alps.  “It’s
beautiful.  Let’s take a picture in front of it.”

“Could you take our picture
please?”  Adam asked the man behind them with the five
kids as he handed him the Polaroid camera.  “Hi, sweetie
pie.”  He smiled down at the little baby who was enjoying
her ice cream.

“Say Wunderbar,” said the mother as she took
the picture of Adam and Amy. 

“Let me take one with you and your family,”
Amy offered.  “Say cheese.”  She snapped the
picture then handed it to them.  “Thanks
again.  You have such a beautiful family.”

The waiter served them chicken noodle soup
along with cheese spreads with crackers.  He also placed
a stein of beer in front of each of them. 

“Aren’t those children
adorable?”  Amy smiled wishfully at them as they colored
at the table.  “They are so well behaved.”

“I want us to have a whole bunch,” he smirked
at her as he took a drink of beer.  “Can you believe that
someday that could be us?”

“Yes, I can.”  Amy gingerly rubbed
her foot along his leg.  “But for now it’s just you and
me babe.”

Adam held her gaze as he understood what she
had on her mind tonight.  He finally looked away as Eric
returned to the table bringing them each another beer and a fresh
platter of chicken.

“This is like Thanksgiving all over again,”
Amy said as she passed Adam the platter of chicken and took the
mashed potatoes and gravy from him.

“Good thing I was hungry.”  Adam
took another piece of chicken and some more stuffing.

For dessert the waiter brought them each a
scoop of homemade ice cream in a dish drizzled with hot
fudge. 

“I have a little giraffe on
mine.”  Amy looked across at his ice cream and burst out
laughing.

Adam found a tiny orange plastic lion sitting
atop his dessert.  “I did not plan that, I
swear.”  He laughed as he licked the ice cream off the
toy placing it in his pocket.  “It must be our
destiny.”

They walked outside back to their room after
dinner, arm in arm, talking about their plans for
tomorrow.  Adam listened to Amy as she insisted they stop
at Bronners to buy an ornament for a souvenir of their
weekend.  He loved the way she treasured every moment no
matter how big or small. 

The Glockenspiel Tower echoed above them as
it turned nine o’ clock.  Adam held Amy in his arms
underneath the clock as it played German tunes while figurines
moved depicting the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. 

“You’re not going to buy a cuckoo clock now,
are you?”  Adam wrapped his arm around her waist as they
walked down the street. 

“Are you mocking me?”  She raised
her eyebrows in question.  “Maybe I’ll buy one with fifty
bells on it, just to annoy you.”

“You can ring my bell anytime,” his eyes
twinkled in the moonlight as he thought about another night of
bubbles and candlelight with Amy.

Adam closed his eyes leaning back in his seat
on his flight heading back to New York, visions of Amy playing like
movies in his head.  The excitement in her eyes when she
found the perfect Christmas ornament for them that read “Our First
Christmas – 1977.”  The childlike way she caught
snowflakes upon her tongue as she held his hand while they ran
through the park.  The unselfishness as she shared her
ice cream cone with him when his fell to the ground.  But
mostly the look upon her face when she opened up the cuckoo clock
he had snuck out and bought for her.  His plane hadn’t
even landed yet and he was already looking forward to seeing her at
Christmas.

***

The kids worked diligently to finish their
homework today and were ready for their group counseling
session.

“Does anyone have anything they’d like to
talk about today?”  Mrs. Schimt, the counselor asked.

Bobby raised his hand with a sad look on his
face.

“Yes, Bobby?”  Mrs. Schimt called
upon him.

“Some kids told me that I’m bad,” he looked
down at the table.  “They said my dad was bad too because
he’s in jail.  Oh, I wanted to do something bad when they
said that, but I didn’t.”

“Awe, you’re not bad,” Bob waved his hand as
if to brush the comments away for Bobby.  “Neither is
your dad.  Sometimes good people make bad
choices.  But I’m glad you decided to make a good
decision by not being bad.”

Bobby pondered that for a moment then a
toothless grin slowly appeared on his face as he understood exactly
what Bob meant.  Amy admired Bob as she watched him do
wonders with these kids.  He had formed a common bond
with them all.  He understood them and they trusted
him.

“So who wants to play some
hockey?”  Bob stood up as they all jumped up and down
with joy.

“You are really helping these kids,
Bob.”  Amy caught up to him as they headed over to the
activity center.  “You believe in them and make them feel
good about themselves.”

“Just repeating some words someone shared
with me,” he winked as he jogged backwards towards the
kids.  “Kind words can go a really long way
Amy.” 

Amy never realized until now how much her
kind words had meant to Bob.  It made her happy to know
her words impacted Bob enough to be able to help someone else when
they needed it.  Everyone knew the bad in Bob, but she
accepted it and had taken the time to find the good in him too.

Amy helped Bob while he divided up the kids
in two teams.  He’d been slowly getting them ready to
this point, an actual game. 

Bob had been a blessing to this center, not
only did he devote his time and energy, he had purchased brand new
equipment for them including helmets and roller skates. 

After the game was finished Bob had the kids
all sit down in a circle on the floor.

“I am really proud of all of you kids,” Bob
animatedly told them.  “Not only have you improved your
grades in school, you have impressed me with you skills in
hockey.”  He reached into his back pocket and fanned
tickets in front of them.  “So you’re all going to a
Motor City Blades game next month.”

“Yeah,” the kids all jumped up and down
exited beyond belief.

“We’ll even let Miss Amy go,” Bob grinned at
her.

Amy watched as the kids went ballistic,
cheering loudly to show their appreciation.

“We’ll see you kids next week,” Bob waved
then called out.  “Don’t forget to study hard for your
spelling test.”

“You sure made their day,” Amy said as they
walked out the door.

“Wait until they see the fifteen passenger
van I ordered for the center.  It should be here in time
for the game.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”  Amy
looked in disbelief at Bob as they rode home.  She seen
he was serious.  “Wow that sure is awesome.  It
will open up a whole new world for them.”

“Well it’s not a totally selfless act,” Bob
glanced at her.  “It makes me feel really good about
myself to be able to help them.”

“Then it’s a win win.”  Amy felt
good to see he finally believed in himself.  “I was going
to bring them nail polish and bubble gum,” she
laughed.  “But after what you did it pales in
comparison.”

“Hey, now wait a minute.  I am not
letting those girls paint my fingernails!” Bob laughed with
Amy.  “That’s where I draw the line.”

***

Adam pulled the seven foot tree through the
front door with the help of his father.  They had been
nominated for the job this morning as his mother and Amy prepared
for the LaPointe Christmas dinner.  Laurel and Michelle
worked hard setting the tables that had been lined up in the dining
room for all the company which was expected for this holiday.

“We found a beauty,” Mr. LaPointe smiled at
his wife as he approved the tree.

“You always pick out the nicest trees
dear.”  Mrs. LaPointe stood and watched as they set it in
the tree stand in the front living room window.  “Oh my,
it must be the best one yet.”

Amy, Laurel and Michelle came into the room
to admire it also.  Mrs. LaPointe dug in a dusty brown
box marked Christmas decorations on it and handed Adam a strand of
lights. 

“You get the lights strung up and the girls
can decorate the rest.”  She placed two more boxes of
ornaments upon the couch.  “Let me know when you are all
done and I’ll place the star on top.”

Amy enjoyed helping his family decorate the
tree.  It was fun seeing all the ornaments that had been
collected over the years.  Adam and his sisters explained
each one as they placed them on the tree and the memories attached
to them.  The radio played softly Christmas music, at
this moment 
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
 by John
Lennon and Yoko Ono was filling the room with Christmas spirit.

“We’re ready mom,” Adam and his sisters
hollered when the tree was finished as the LaPointe Christmas
tradition continued. 

Mrs. LaPointe stepped up the ladder as Mr.
LaPointe held her hand to steady her.  He handed her the
glass blown gold star tree topper.  She placed it on top
of the tree proudly paying homage to it.

“This star was brought here when great, great
grandfather and grandmother LaPointe arrived here in
1851.  It has been a part of our tradition ever
since.  “She climbed down the ladder as Mr. LaPointe took
her in his arms and gave her a kiss.

“Merry Christmas my love,” he said as his
wife blushed.  “That’s a tradition too.”

By the time all the preparations for the
Christmas holiday dinner were finished most of the guests had
arrived.  Adam guided Amy over to an elderly couple
sitting at a table among other family members.  The woman
had her gray hair up in a bun and she wore a hand knitted Christmas
sweater over her red dress.  The distinguished gentleman
next to her was an older version of Adam and his father.

“Amy this is my grandpere and grandmaman,”
Adam had his arm around Amy’s waist.  “Pere and maman
this is Amy.”

“Oh, you found a lovely girl,” said
grandmaman as she stood up and placed her hands on her cheeks
giving her a kiss.”

“Bout time you found yourself a girl,”
grandpere said as he puffed on his pipe.  “Amy it’s nice
to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you both.”  Amy
smiled as she held Adam’s hand nervously.

The home was filled with a mixture of
familiar aromas from the kitchen and the love and laughter of
family making a memorable holiday season.  Adam spent the
next hour mingling with Amy as he introduced her to all his aunts
and uncles and cousins.

“I don’t think I’ll ever remember all their
names,” Amy said hesitantly.  “I was so nervous.”

“You did fine babe.  Merry
Christmas, Mrs. Makowski.”  Adam bent over and kissed her
on the cheek.  “Is anybody sitting here?”

“Merry Christmas to you both,” said Mrs.
Makowski.  “We saved you a spot.”

Bob reached for a sweet pickle from the
relish tray in the center of the table and took a
bite.  “So what’s new?”  Bob almost choked as
he stifled a laugh.

“Merry Christmas,” Amy patted Bob on the back
and sat down next to him. “You okay?”

Bob shook his head as he took a drink of
water.  “I’m fine.”

“Merry Christmas you two lovebirds,” Joey
looked at Angie with a smirk on his face. 

“Have you two been in the eggnog
already?”  Amy laughed at their odd behavior.

“That was nice of your parents to invite us
all,” Angie changed the subject quickly as she gave Joey a look of
warning.