Different Lifetimes

Merry Christmas Baby 2001

Merry Christmas 2001

Reina

"Joy to the world the Lord has come!" was sung by carolers as they traveled from house to house to spread the joy of Christmas. Reina's first ever Christmas here in America, she was amazed that carolers went from house to house just to spread the joy, not a typical thing in Paris. She loved the cold, the smell of the pine trees being grown and how the kids and the animals played with the snow. This morning of the 24th of December she woke up sharing the wonderful feeling that all other people share when they celebrate Christmas, she felt ecstatic.

"Good Morning everyone! Merry Christmas to you, Mom, dad, Brad!" she beamed as she reached the kitchen to find everybody already getting breakfast ready.

"Good morning and merry Christmas to you too, my lovely daughter." Her father answered.

"You're definitely feeling the spirit of Christmas my darling." Her mom added.

"Merry Christmas sis." Her brother chimed in as they all took their respective seats on their dining room table.

"So dear I'm going to need your help cooking for our feast later, ok?" her mom reminded her.

"Sure mom, no problem." She said smiling.

"You really are excited huh, better make that feeling last until later." Said her dad.

"Oh I know it will, dad, up to tomorrow even. I can feel it!" her dad smiled and gave her a pat on the back.

"Son, we are going to pick up a tree after breakfast ok, so better clean up quick." Her dad added.

"Sure thing dad, my friend Leila told me picking out a tree is fun, so I'm in"

Brad grinned.

"Is it the picking or the talking to her the fun part?" she teased her brother.

"Ok you two better start eating before the food gets cold." Her mom scolded.

Breakfast, Reina thought, was more fun than usual. She felt that things were ok, that she would have a great Christmas this year and that this finally felt like their home. She finally came to accept that Paris was gone and America or should I say Portland, Oregon was now coming to stay.

As she finished breakfast and helped her mom clean up they started to plan their feast. And her dad and brother went off to bring home a tree. It was decided that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.

It was going to be the best Christmas ever because Reina now loves America....or a special someone in America.

Merry Christmas 2001

Caleb

"I'm definitely gonna tell her today!" thought caleb as he lay on his bed this fine Christmas morning.

"I have too before I chicken out of it." He thought again not being able to contain his thoughts no matter how hard he tried.

"I have to tell her I love her because she deserves to know. Even if she doesn't love me back. I promise to handle it the best way I can so that if it does go bad we could still be friends." He concluded with a deep breathe.

He didn't really realize it until he woke up today, he loved her. He loved her enough to write a song about her which he finished last night. He loved her enough to spend most of his time with her. He loved her because she never wanted to change him because she was never selfish with him.

"I'll tell her tonight, when we would all wish them a merry Christmas." He thought while picking up his guitar and strumming a chord.

After showering and getting cleaned up, he helped out his mom with dinner by tasting her cooking every five minutes and then he shared jokes with his dad when they picked out a tree. Everything was going smooth, everyone was cheerful and happy.

Nothing could replace the sight of a whole family sharing good times and cherished memories, all smiles and spreading love around.

Merry Christmas 2001

Caleb and Reina

"Merry Christmas y'all!" cheered the Mr. and Mrs. Gray as they handed their neighbors the Lévesque's a home-made Christmas cake.

"Thank you neighbors! Merry Christmas to you guys as well." replied the Lévesque's handing them an assortment of home-made French pastries.

"Were are the kids?" Mrs. Lévesque asked noticing that Caleb and Jenny weren't with them, all of them standing at the Lévesque lawn near the street.

"Their actually coming to wish you guys a merry Christmas too, just runnin a little late, you know kids." said Mr. Gray smiling.

"I can go check on them if you want mr. Gray" Reina volunteered.

"Well if it isn't much of a daunting task, then sure you can darling." Replied mr. Gray.

So with that she trudged through the snow with much eagerness than expected.

Caleb and Jenny emerged from the front door across the street a few seconds as Reina started to walk. Caleb had a guitar in one hand, fumbling with it as he walked not really paying much attention while his sister leads the way a few inches farther than him.

They didn't notice that there was a car that made a sharp turn suddenly, and skidded through the slippery road as Jenny was crossing.

"Oh my God, are you alright?!" the driver asked as he exited his vehicle and ran towards the street where apparently everyone was hastily making their way over to.

Everyone was in shock, adrenaline and a mix of emotion was taking over them as the Lévesque's and Gray's surround the bodies on the street.

"Jenny, where does it hurt baby?"cried Mrs. Gray as she checked Jenny's whole body for broken bones and bruises.

"I only hurt my arm in the fall mom." She answered still rattled.

"Please check on Reina, she pushed me away from the car and saved me." explained Jenny.

As they turned their heads to look at where Reina was they saw Caleb already there with her.

"Are you ok? Reina, can you hear me? Reina!" Caleb shouted as he tried to maneuver Reina's body to rest on his lap.

"Uhm...." Reina groaned as she slowly tried to open her eyes.

"Look at me Reina, everything is going to be alright we're here. Just please be ok." He pleaded continuously.

"I'm so really terribly sorry! The ice was too slippery that maybe my brakes didn't work. The ambulance is on its way. I'm really really sorry for all of this." The driver said with a lot of remorse.

Everyone was staring at him trying to calm everyone down and hoping that Reina wasn't anywhere near dying.

"Is she ok?" she asked slowly as her eyes adjusted to the surroundings and not being able to see Jenny.

"I'm here Reina!" she answered kneeling beside Caleb.

"Oh my God, thank you for saving my life. But you shouldn't have done that, that was reckless and we're all freaking out right now. Can you stand?" jenny added.

"I'm glad you're safe Jenny. I'm glad nothing serious happened to you. I think my back hurts a little maybe because of the fall on the hard ice but I think that's it, nothing medication won't heal." she explained trying to smile to reassure everybody that she was ok and to help her loved ones forget their worry.

As soon as Caleb saw Reina trying to smile, he didn't waste another minute, every emotion was running on overdrive now and so he kissed her.

He kissed her with passion that would never burn out, he kissed her with the need to let her know that he loved her, he kissed her with the urgency that time wasn't a commodity and that at any minute something bad would happen and words would forever be unspoken.

She was ok and her wish finally came true this Christmas day. Caleb loved her and that made her happy, that made everything ok. And so she kissed him back.

Then sirens blared as an ambulance parked itself across the street and EMT's arriving on scene, attending to both Jenny and Reina.

The End