It was early Christmas morning when Julio and his mother returned from Midnight Mass. Gabriela went straight to bed, but Julio hauled the candelabra out and set it in the fireplace. He was placing the candles the holders and was ready to put the bow on when he heard someone come into the room. He turned to see Dina watching him in surprise.
He shrugged sheepishly. “Merry Christmas!”
Dina hugged him. “I love it!”
They lit the candles and sat together on the sofa in front of the fireplace. And, that’s where the boys found them a few hours later, wrapped together, asleep.
Christmas morning flew by in a rush of opening presents, breakfast, and then church. Dina made it into the coffee house just after noon. There were only a few people there, including Dan and Yusuf told her it had been a light morning.
“I brought you some cookies,” Dina said, handing Yusuf a bag.
“Yum!” Yusuf smiled. “And this is for you,” he said, holding out a small box.
“I thought you didn’t observe…” Dina started. She opened the box and gasped when she saw the little wooden angel with dark hair, almond-shaped eyes and light brown wings.
“Yusuf, it’s beautiful!”
“My brother made it. He’s an artist in Africa.”
Dina felt her eyes well up. “Thank you! This is the angel I’ve been looking for.”
Just then, Eli burst through the door with a handful of chocolate cigars. “It’s a boy! 8 pounds 3 ounces, born on Christmas at 12:46 AM!
They all crowded around him, cheering.
“What’s his name?” Dina asked.
“Angel! Pronounced “Ahn-hel” in Spanish. We were thinking about Jesus, but thought it mind be kind of an imposing.”
The door flew open and Muriel stormed in with another young woman. “You can go home, Dina. I would have been here earlier, but I had a fight with my brother and had to take the bus back.”
“What happened?” Dina asked.
“Never mind, I’m just glad to be home and I brought my sister with me!” Muriel introduced her sister, Taylor. “We get to spend the rest of the holiday together! So, it was worth the trip, despite everything else!”
The door opened once again and Dina’s whole family, including her parents, came into the shop.
“I wanted to bring Yusuf and Dan my tamales,” Gabriela announced.
When the family heard the news of Eli’s Angel, they whooped as he passed out more chocolate cigars.
Muriel set out cheese and crackers she’d brought back with her. She wanted to break out a bottle of wine, but Yusuf advised her against it. Still, they cranked up the music and Muriel bought everyone a round of coffee.
“We can celebrate Christmas all the way to Epiphany,” Kazu informed Taylor.
“And tomorrow’s Boxing Day!” added Dan.
“And the first day of Kwanzaa,” Eli noted.
“And next week is New Years!” Muriel shouted.
Julio sighed. “More celebrating?”
Dina kissed him and held up her coffee cup in a toast. “Happy Holidays, everyone!”
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