Some links may be affiliate links. We get money if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these links on our site.

Christmas All The Time is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Phew, I Almost Spilled The Beans

12/20/2025

Gary stirred.

“Dad?” Abby whispered.

So bright. He rolled over. “Abby? What time is it?”

“Don’t worry. I called Don. He said you should take the week and maybe call the helpline.”

He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Cotton pajamas, flannel sheets and a thick down comforter held him in a world of warmth. The cold realization he had come to still gripped his heart.

“Want me to make you some breakfast?”

What kind of breakfast could possibly fill the hole that had opened up inside of him yesterday? What comfort could he ever take in the face of how he had failed Tracy?

That sound.

A faint tapping at the door made the corners of his mouth curl involuntarily.

He knew that sound.

Soft, tiny baby hands batting at the maple-stained barrier. Teddy was up, and he wanted breakfast with his grandfather.

Gary squirmed and struggled free of the covers. “Hi, buddy.”

The doorknob turned. He twisted to watch Abby carry the baby in to greet him. He smiled and waited for the tiny cherub in footie pajamas to descend into his aching arms.

“How about some breakfast?” Abby’s face was clouded with concern.

Gary turned to the baby and kissed his cheek. “I think I’m having a cute baby for breakfast!” He dug his mouth into the giggling boy’s belly and made nom-nom sounds. “Come here, you tiny morsel. I’m going to gobble you up!” He tickled Teddy as he wrapped him in a nest of blankets and covered him over with a corner of his sheet. “There, all gone. Very good breakfast.”

Teddy squealed and kicked at the sheet covering him.

“Oh, no. He’s back.” Gary handed Teddy back to his mom. “I guess we’ll need something that stays eaten. Right?”

“How about oatmeal with raisins and walnuts?” Abby smiled as she rocked Teddy on her hip.

“And lots of cinnamon. Sounds perfect.” His smile faded.

Hers did, too. “Want to talk about it?”

He sighed. “No, but I probably will anyway.”

“Hmm, one of those.” She nodded as she carried Teddy to the door. “I’ll start the water so you can have some hot chocolate.” She closed it behind her as they left.

Gary looked at the light streaming around the edges of his curtains.

‘She’s a lot like you. Maybe you’ve been watching. I hope so.’ Gary hung his head as he dangled his feet over the side of the bed. ‘I wish you could have been here in person.’

He slid out of bed and into his slippers. Looking around, he finally spied the clock. ‘Eleven? When do I ever sleep ‘til eleven?’ He opened his dresser drawers in a long-practiced sequence. Underwear, socks, sweats, tee. ‘The kind of work I’m doing today requires comfy bum clothes. Hope you’re not offended.’

“Matt, enough now.” Gabe poked at him.

He opened an eye to find his father looming over his bed, poking him as if his fingers were a cattle prod. “Huh?”

“It’s after eleven. You’ve been moping in here since last night. What would your Marine buddies think of you, wallowing around in bed?”

“They’d think I was tired.” He sat up and reached out for the sling.

Dad shook his head. “A likely story. Up and at ‘em, Corporal. Get your tired tush out of bed. Blood flow will wake you up. Hup, two, three, four, hup, hup, hup!”

Matt looped the sling over his neck and slid his cast into it. “Come on, Dad. I’m on leave.” He lifted his cast for proof.

Jenny slipped into the room. “What’s the matter?”

“Who is this nattering knucklehead and what has he done with my son?”

She took his arm. “Come along. There’s a fresh pot of coffee ready.”

“Not until I see it!” Gabe shook free. “I want to see it.”

“See what?”

“The ring, Jenny. I want him to show me the ring.”

“I don’t have the ring, Dad.” He got up and slid into his slippers. The fluffy lamb’s wool lining nearly canceled the discomfort he was feeling under his father’s interrogation. “I only put a down payment on it. They’ll give it to me when I pay it off.”

“Down payment?” Gabe’s eyes bugged. “What is this, a communist plot to tick me off? Why didn’t you say so?”

Matt yawned and said, “I just did.”

Gabe’s face screwed up. “Shower.”

“I’m hungry, Dad.”

“Get a shower, and we’ll stop through Burger Heaven on our way to the store.”

Matt twisted his back. “What store?”

Gabe smacked his forehead. “What store. The jewelry store where you made your down payment. C’mon. Wake up. Go get a shower and get dressed to go with me.” He stomped out of the room and pounded each step of the staircase meaningfully.

“I’ll help you bag your cast and put the stuff on your back. Go ahead and get washed up now.”

“Et tu, Mom?”

“I don’t understand why you’re still wallowing in self-pity, Matty. What’s the matter?” She helped him take off his t-shirt, wincing at the bruising and cuts on his back.

“You had to see him, Mom. I Spartan-kicked that man square in the heart.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds awful. How could you possibly know? Nobody thinks that. Gee, haven’t met Mom yet. Maybe she’s dead. Nope, that’s not the first stop on that merry-go-round, Matt.” She opened the bag from St. Hedwig’s and pulled out a cast cover.

“It was obvious, and I didn’t see it.”

She slid the plastic cover over his cast and tucked it into the end of the cast. “It wasn’t obvious. She could have been away visiting family or off on a mission trip. Nobody, Matthew, nobody jumps straight to dead mom.”

“Well, I feel bad anyway.”

“That’s because you’re a good person. Nobody wants to kick somebody in the heart. You were trying to be respectful, and you didn’t know. You couldn’t know. Take a shower, and I’ll put your pain cream on when you’re done.” She pulled his drawer open and pulled out some underwear. “I’ll help you with your socks and your shirt, but with these, you’re on your own.”

“I’ll manage.”

“And you’ll manage this. You didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I’m sure he knows that. Let’s just move on.”

Abby sat cross-legged on the couch with Teddy wrapped up in a blanket, nursing. Gary wandered in from the kitchen. She flicked her eyes at the TV. He turned to see what she was looking at. EWTN was playing video Christmas cards from servicemen.

A new one appeared on screen. There was a Marine in his dress blues. The banner at the bottom of the screen read: Cpl. Matthew S. Jozsa, Laurel Ridge, PW. The card activated, and the Marine spoke. “I’m pleased to take this opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas to my family back home in Pennswald from here at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. I’m thinking of you, missing you and I love you. I’m sending my love and, hopefully, you’ll see a surprise under the tree just in time.”

‘That poor kid. He meant well.’ He sat down beside Abby on the couch. “Wow, he looks even sharper in uniform.”

“You can say that again.” A geeky smile curled her lips. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve been having a problem lately.”

“I know.” She looked down at Teddy. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”

“You have been.”

She turned to look at him. Tears moistened her eyes.

“I…” His brows furrowed. “I haven’t been keeping… Details have gone…”

“You miss Mom.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you afraid of being alone?”

“That too.”

“We don’t know how long it’s going to take for Matt to figure out what he wants to do about…”

Gary closed his eyes and slid down to rest his head on the back of the couch. “I don’t think it will be much longer. He’s completely in love with Teddy, and he’s determined to do right by you.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Dad’s intuition.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Okay, gut instinct then. We’ve met him. We’ve called him. He seems like a decent guy, and I think he means well. Don’t you?”

She adjusted herself and stood up. “I’m going to put him in his crib.” She headed back to her room.

‘Phew, I almost spilled the beans.’

The sales agent looked up from the calculator. “Be right with you, folks. Ooh, there’s three of you.”

Matt waved and headed over to the display of rings. “Here it is, Dad.” Gabe and Harry joined him.

“Which one?”

Matt pointed at a delicate little cross with marquise-cut topaz arms and a ruby heart set in rose gold.

“Oh, a Sacred Heart ring?” Harry gasped. “You think she’ll switch to our church?”

“It’s a pretty little thing.” Gabe smiled.

“So is she.” Matt said, studying the ring.

The sales agent hurried over to join them. “Boy, if I knew they were hiding all the handsome guys over in Laurel Ridge, I’d have transferred already.”

The Jozsa men grinned and Matt pointed at the ring. “It was this one. Right?”

“That’s the one she picked. Isn’t it lovely?”

“Yes, you are.” Harry muttered.

She blushed as she unlocked the case. “Showing off to Dad?”

“Dad’s going to pay it off.” Gabe said, taking the ring to turn it over and around. “That’s a work of art. Box it up. We’re taking it.”

“We?” Matt asked.

“I’m holding onto it until you figure out how you’re going to pop the question.”

She swallowed a grin and quivered behind the counter. “I’ll bring the handbill.”

“I wonder if she picked a ring already.” Harry said.

Gabe shook his head. “What’s her name?”

“What?”

“Tell me what her name is. She’s wearing a name tag. Tell me her name.”

“Dad.”

“I thought so.” He shook his head. “Falling for every pretty face you see.”

Harry closed his eyes and invoked her name like a line from a hymn. “Zelda.”

She came back with a book of receipts, a calculator and a portable card processor. “You rang?”

“Would it be too forward if I asked if you had a ring picked out?”

“Yes,” Gabe said. “ring us up.”

“A guy can’t be curious?” Harry jammed his hands into his pockets while Matt stepped away to pretend not to be related to him.

She put the materials on the glass top of the counter and flipped to the page in the receipt book with Matt’s down payment. “Are we paying with–”

Gabe flicked his card down next to the portable terminal while he gave Harry withering side-eye. Harry was too focused on Zelda to care, and Matt was pretending to be a potted topiary near the exit.

She completed the transaction and selected a chocolate velvet box for the ring before sliding it and the receipts into a Finegold’s bag. Gabe smiled and went to retrieve his injured son.

“Be careful what you wish for, buster.” She pointed to a spot in the ring display before walking away with the sales materials.

He leaned in to study the ring. It was simple, almost basic. When he moved to catch the profile of the ring, something came into view. The center of the amber-tinged diamond showed off graven petals. He moved his head again, and the center of the diamond caught the light like an ivory rose with a votive candle embedded in it. The stone was held to the ring by five delicate leaf-shaped prongs.

“Like what you see, sport?”

He looked up and locked onto her sage-green eyes. Her breath caught as she watched him stand up to his full height. “Do you like what you see?”

“I’m on record as saying you’re all very handsome.”

“Important question now.”

“First, tell me your name.” She lifted up on her tiptoes to see if she could reach his sharp jawline with her head. Not by a long shot. “What’s your name?”

“Harry.”

“Hi, Harry. I’m Zelda.”

“Yes, you are.” He turned quickly to squint at his dad.

“You had a question?”

He leaned in, as if to kiss her, before dipping his head for another look at her ring.

“Anything, Harry. Ask me anything.”

“How do you feel about tuba music?”