Tuesday, December 24, 2021 — Christmas Eve

The sky was dark on Christmas Eve, the sun never stood a chance. It was so dark outside that even Einstein stayed in his favorite spot under our bed, instead of waking me up at 8am as usual.

It was nice to have a lazy morning. I had no plans until our Christmas Eve show at 4. There was nowhere I had to be, nothing I had to do, except got for a walk with Einstein, and hang out with Sara, which was exactly what I wanted to do.

And then the phone rang.

I know that the phone always sounds the same, but I swear I could hear by the tone of the ringing that something was wrong before I picked it up.

It was Mom.

“I knew it, Peter. The storm ruined everything. Dad and I got the bread to the market alright this morning, but I just heard the presents won’t get here in time. We don’t even have a car,” she said.

“I’ll be there,” I said.

I was surprised by my own reaction. I didn’t have a plan, and to be honest, I wasn’t the one Mom usually turned to when she needed to figure things out. I was sure she had called Tina first, and if she hadn’t been able to calm her down, well, that meant trouble.

I got on my bike and pedaled to the square as fast as I could.

Mom was smiling, but her nose was a little redder than usual. She had been crying.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked Mom.

“Oh, he’s here somewhere,” she replied, and handed out another loaf of bread to the next person in line.

“I don’t really understand the problem, Mom,” I said.

“Well, you know the church charity? Presents to kids? Well, we were supposed to get a delivery from Sweden this year, and the van is stuck in Stockholm. Because of the storm. And the storm is now in Helsinki, I hear, and coming this way,” she explained.

“So you need a van? And presents?”

“Yes.”

Mom was busy so I walked around the square looking for Dad. I finally found him in the corner where Antti was selling Christmas trees. They were laughing and slapping each other’s backs like long lost friends which they, at least according to Antti, sort of were.

“Hey, Dad,” I said. “Have you talked to Mom about the charity thing?”

“Yeah, it’s too bad. And the storm is on its way here, too,” he replied.

Behind Dad, Antti grabbed a tree and put it on a trailer.

“Season’s over?” I asked him.

“Yes, not many people buy a tree on Christmas Eve, you know,” he said and carried another tree to the trailer.

“How much did you pay for the trailer?” Dad asked his buddy. “I saw one on Facebook for 600 euro. That’s a deal, isn’t it?”

“Oh, for sure,” said Antti and another tree flew on the trailer.

“Where are you going to put it, Dad? At the stor–“ I began and before I could finish the sentence, I knew what we should do.

“Antti, can we borrow your van and trailer today? We’d need to do some deliveries,” I said.

“Sure, I’ll just take the trees back to the lumberyard, and then it’s eggnog for Antti,” he said.

“What are we going to need it for, Peter?” Dad asked me.

“We’re going to spread some happiness, Dad,” I said. “But let’s go home first.”

Back at the house, I sent Twisted Sister a message, called Tina while Dad picked up the keys to his secret storage space. Then we drove to Antti’s house to borrow the van and the trailer. Antti had already had two eggnogs and he was so happy to hang out with Dad, he insisted on tagging along.

And so we drove back to the square – Dad behind the wheel of the van and me driving his Volvo behind him and Antti – to deliver the good news to Mom.

It started to snow.

➡️ More on Someday Jennifer (HarperCollins Canada 2019)