Chapter 9
M aggie secured her seatbelt and twisted to look at the object in the back of John’s Suburban that filled the entire space. A moving blanket concealed its identity.
“I can’t wait to see what’s back there,” she said to John. “I didn’t know you had a surprise gift for Julia. We’ve got these two Disney princess costumes for her.” She patted the two packages wrapped in Santa Claus paper that she held on her lap.
“I think a grandpa should have a few tricks up his sleeve,” John said, clearly enjoying his secret.
“I can’t believe you’ve been driving around town with whatever it is back there since Christmas,” Maggie said. “You could have stored it in the garage. I wouldn’t have peeked!”
John slid his eyes to hers and raised a skeptical eyebrow before backing out of the garage.
“What?” Maggie asked, laughing. “I wouldn’t have!”
“Maybe not. I want everyone to see it at the same time, is all.”
“Won’t you need a hand moving it into their house?”
“Aaron will help me,” John said. “He already knows.”
“No way!” Maggie erupted.
“Simmer down,” John chuckled. “As I said, I want you and Susan to see it when Julia does.”
Maggie squeezed his hand. His obvious infatuation with their granddaughter warmed her heart beyond measure.
They rode in companionable silence until John turned onto Susan and Aaron’s street and backed into their driveway.
“I’ll go inside to greet Susan and Julia,” Maggie said. “I’ll send Aaron out here to help you. If that little girl sees her grandpa—her favorite person on the planet—you’ll never shake her off long enough to get this thing inside.”
“Great idea,” John said. “Aaron and I will have it set up in her room in five minutes. Ten tops. I appreciate you running interference for me.”
Maggie leaned across the console and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m happy to be your wingman anytime.” She got out of the car and entered the house through the unlocked front door.
“Hey, everybody!” Maggie called as she stepped inside. She unwound her scarf from her neck and tossed it and her coat on a chair in the entryway. The warm, fragrant aroma of roasting beef and freshly baked bread enveloped her.
“In the kitchen!” Susan called.
“Grammy!” Julia cried from the family room, where she was reading a book with Aaron.
Maggie joined them and opened her arms as the little girl flung herself into them.
“Will you show me the book you’re looking at?” Maggie asked, hugging her close. “Reading is one of my favorite things to do.” She sat on the sofa and scooped Julia onto her lap.
Maggie and Aaron exchanged a look, and he nodded.
“Daddy’s got something to do,” Aaron said. “Can Grammy finish reading to you?”
Julia nodded emphatically.
Aaron handed Maggie the book and left the room.
“I’ll be with you in a sec,” Susan called from the kitchen. “I’m putting the finishing touches on the au gratin potatoes before I put them in the oven.”
“Take your time,” Maggie said. “We’re doing fine.”
“ Angelina Ballerina ,” Maggie said, reading the cover. “This was one of your mom’s favorites. Mine too! Is it okay if we start over at the beginning?”
“Yes!” Julia said, burrowing deeper against Maggie’s chest.
They were turning the last page when John and Aaron entered the room. Julia sprang off Maggie’s lap.
John set the Christmas packages he was carrying down by the tree and opened his arms to her. She threw herself into them, and he lifted her high, swinging her around.
“How’s my best girl?” he asked, beaming. “Feeling all better and ready for Christmas with us?”
“Feeling better!” she declared.
Maggie smiled at the joyful grandfather-granddaughter reunion. “I’ll go get Susan,” she said. “We need her out here to open presents.”
She found her daughter gripping the counter with both hands, arms rigid and white knuckled. “Honey, are you okay?” Maggie asked, hurrying to her side.
Susan took a deep breath and straightened. “I’m fine,” she said. “It was just a wave of nausea. It’s passed.”
Maggie pursed her lips, swallowing the question that hovered on the tip of her tongue.
Susan met her mother’s eyes, and a smile bloomed, wide and radiant.
“We couldn’t stand not knowing,” she said.
“I took a pregnancy test two days ago. We’re trying to keep it a secret until I’m past the first trimester, but I had to tell Sunday yesterday.
” She grasped Maggie’s hands and whispered, “I’m pregnant! ”
Maggie pulled her daughter into a tight hug, both women clinging to each other. “I’m overjoyed,” Maggie finally managed to say.
“We are too,” Susan replied, tears prickling the back of her eyes. “Despite all the morning sickness and fatigue, we couldn’t be happier.”
“And you told Sunday?”
“She asked me to be her matron of honor,” Susan said. “And I was thrilled to accept. Since they’re planning a spring or summer wedding, it’s only fair she knows I’m expecting, and that my due date is mid-August.”
“That was thoughtful of you,” Maggie said.
“I’m so happy for them—and honored to stand up for her.”
“You and Sunday are becoming close friends, aren’t you?”
“We are,” Susan said. “We just click. It’s so nice to have a best friend again, besides my mom, of course. You’ll always be my BFF.”
The patter of little feet interrupted their moment.
“Mom, Grammy—Daddy sent me in here to get you! It’s time for presents!”
“Lead the way, sweetheart,” Maggie said.
They followed Julia into the family room. Aaron helped the little girl play Santa as she handed out gifts.
“I’ve always wanted one of these!” Maggie exclaimed when she unwrapped the beautiful Fair Isle sweater in soft tones of cream, beige, and taupe. She hugged Julia, Susan, and Aaron. “I’ll wear it tomorrow. Thank you!”
John admired his new watch. Aaron loved the hiking boots he’d been hoping for. Susan wrapped herself in her new plush bathrobe with a delighted laugh.
“I think it’s time for someone else now,” John said. “Those two big boxes are for you, Julia.” He rose from the sofa and handed her one.
Julia tore off the paper and carefully pulled out the fancy dress with a glittery yellow skirt, blue satin bodice, and red satin cape that tied in a bow at the neck. The box contained a headband with a matching bow and an artificial apple.
“Do you know who wears this?” John asked.
Julia turned questioning eyes to him.
“Snow White!” he said. “Now you can be just like her!”
Julia clapped her hands in delight.
“There’s another one, too,” John said, handing her the second box.
“Cinderella!” she cried as she pulled a light blue gown with a bejeweled velvet bodice and sweeping tulle skirt, a tiara, and sparkly plastic “glass” slippers from the package.
She jumped up, shimmied out of her red and green plaid Christmas dress, and pulled the elaborate costume over her head. Julia plopped onto an ottoman and thrust her feet out expectantly.
John knelt, fitting the slippers onto her feet like a proper footman. “They fit perfectly! You must be the real Cinderella,” he said with a wink.
Julia sprang to her feet and, after an unsteady wobble on the low heels, twirled around the room.
“Thank you, Grammy and Gramps!” she cried.
“That was lovely,” Susan said. “I’ll go finish dinner so we can eat.”
“Not so fast,” John said, grinning. “There’s one more gift.”
Susan looked around, puzzled. “I don’t see anything.”
“Let’s go look in your room, Julia,” John said.
Susan glanced at Maggie, who shrugged, equally mystified.
Julia grabbed John’s hand and led him down the hall.
A wooden playhouse fit for a princess stood against the far wall of her room.
Rising five feet to a gabled roof, it bore the words“Princess Julia” above a small, child-sized door.
Intricate bluebirds perched along the roofline, and silk roses in shades of pink overflowed from flower boxes under arched windows.
John knelt beside Julia. “Do you recognize those birds?”
Julia’s eyes widened.
“They helped Cinderella sew her dress,” John supplied the answer.
Julia nodded.
“Do you want to go inside?”
Julia flung open the door and walked in.
John crawled inside after her while the other adults peered through the windows, smiling.
Inside, a dressing table with a tufted stool and a gilded mirror occupied one side. A child-size pink velvet sofa sat in the center.
“You can put your brushes, bows, and jewelry here,” John said, opening a small drawer in the dressing table.
Julia plopped onto the stool, gazing at her reflection.
On the other side, a clothes bar held two sparkling hangers.
“And here,” John said, “is where you hang your princess dresses.”
Julia flung her arms around his neck. John chuckled and hugged her close.
Maggie and Susan exchanged a look full of affection.
“This is incredible,” Susan whispered. “Where did he find this? It looks handmade.”
“It is,” Aaron said. “John designed it and had it custom-built.”
Susan pressed a hand to her chest. “Mom, you had no idea?”
“None,” Maggie said, shaking her head. “That man can keep a secret.”
“He most certainly can,” Susan said, grinning at Aaron. “Should we tell him?”
Aaron nodded.
John backed out of the little house, Julia right behind him.
Susan’s eyes shimmered with emotion. “We have one more gift,” she said. “It’s not a physical gift—at least not yet.”
John looked at her, puzzled.
“You love being a grandfather. Would you like to do it again?”