A week later, Grammy and Abby took the Christmas tree decorations out of the attic. Grammy placed one box on the couch beside Chester. He pretended not to notice. Abby knew what was inside that box. She and Grammy went out to the garage to get the fake Christmas tree. When they returned Chester had the old cardboard box on his lap. Slowly he opened it and looked inside. He whispered, "You kept all these Ma?"


    Grammy smiled at him. "Of course you made them. I put them on the tree every year.” Deftly she opened the Christmas tree box, and handed the sections of the tree to Abby. While they put the tree together, both of them secretly, watched Chester. He held up a ginger bread man with broken noodles glued to it. "I made this in third grade," As he picked each ornament out he studied it and then laid it down in a neat row on the couch beside him. A rare smile lit his face as admired his own handiwork, a cotton ball snow man, a salt dough star, a red and white Santa. He reached for another box on the floor near him. Abby knew what was in that box too. She couldn''t watch him open that one. She wanted to leave. She glanced at Grammy.


    "The lights are next dear."


    Abby reached for the lights and plugged them in. For the first time ever they all lit up. It was a mini miracle that she would have celebrated, if Chester had not been holding her box of ornaments. He said, "I don''t remember making these."


    "That''s because Abby did."


    "Wow," he said. "Really?" She looked up at him then. He twirled the puzzle piece wreath around. "Bet you made this in second grade."


    "Yes."


    Carefully, he pulled out a Santa with fat red crayon lines. "Kindergarten?”


    “Yes.”


    He guessed the grade right for every ornament. When he had them all lined up below his own he said, "I sure did miss a lot."


    It was true. He had.


    The front door banged open and David walked in. He was wearing a ragged sweat suit, and his flip flops with a pair of his dad''s argyle socks. Abby noticed his right flip flop had fresh duct tape on it. He announced, "Guess who failed his driving test?" He was smiling so big his face was about to split in two.


    Grammy glanced at her watch. "Poor Ryan."


    "Yup, ain''t it a tragedy!" He dabbed his eyes with the hem of his sweatshirt and fluttered his lashes.


    "You be nice David."


    "I am just heart BROKEN about it. I swear Mrs. Pierce."


    "You know how I feel about swearing David. Now, put your music on the piano, your mother doesn''t pay me to listen to you bad mouth your brother."


    "If she did, she would be a VERY poor woman." David took his music to the piano and sat down. Grammy joined him.


    A sudden shyness came over Abby. She had never decorated the tree with anyone but Grammy. She knew where all the ornaments were supposed to go and how Grammy wanted them to look. Well, like everything else, this year would be different. Chester came to the tree and placed one of her ornaments and one of his ornaments on the tree, side by side. He arranged them according to grade. It was strange the similarities that each had. It was almost as if they had been made by the same child. In the past she had resented Chester''s ornaments. Hanging them had made Grammy sad. Chester said, "I didn''t know decorating the Christmas tree was a spectator sport."


    "Sorry." Abby reached for a box of ornaments. When she opened it, Chester made a strange sound in his throat. These ornaments were made of blown blue glass. They were glistening orbs of perfection.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Softly Chester said, "I had forgotten about those. Dad made them." For once there was not any bitterness in his voice. With reverence he hung each one. He put them in the exact places on the tree that Grammy did. In tandem with an instinctive awareness of what went where, they decorated the tree. David''s music wound around them. He was playing, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." She looked out the window at the dark waters. Above the first stars were just beginning to shine. When the tree was finished, they stepped back to admire it. Chester said, "We did good."


    Abby smiled and nodded.


    By the time David finished his lesson, Chester and Abby had assembled the creche on the dining room table. The baby Jesus lay in his manger with his hands outstretched like he was waiting for someone to pick him up or at least put a blanket on him. When Abby was little she used to cover him at night with a sheet of toilet paper.


    Grammy came into the dining room. "Everything looks so nice." She put one arm around Chester and the other around Abby. She was the bridge that connected them.


    David still at the piano said, "Will you play, Mr. Pierce?"


    A willing smile came to Chester''s face.


    "Yes, I think I will." He went to the box where Grammy kept her sheet music by the piano. He rifled though its contents for quite a while before he selected something. When he sat down at the piano, a stillness came to him. A stillness that Abby had never witnessed in his restless personality. His hands began to move across the keys. They were like wind over the water. The music he created swirled and dipped. It was filled with such longing. At first Abby did not even realize what he was playing. It was Opus 49 number 4 commonly known as Brahm''s "Lullaby."


    Softly David began to sing, "Guten Abend, gute Nacht/von Englein bewacht/die zeigen im Traum/dir Christkindleins baum." Abby did not know what all the words meant, but she knew this song told her that angels were watching and in dreams the Christ Child''s tree would be seen. From where she sat on the couch, she looked at their fake replication of the Christ child''s tree. Wrapped in Chester''s music and accompanied by David''s voice, it had acquired a divine beauty.


    *


    Friday afternoon, when Abby got off the bus, the water was a calm sheet of tranquil light. Leaves caught in the soft breeze, floated to the damp ground. In the driveway was Jaspar''s mother''s SUV. Abby got the mail and went inside. Jaspar was seated at the piano. His face was a study of intense concentration, his small fingers poised over the correct keys. Grammy said, "Now, begin."


    Abby braced herself for the noise that was about to ensue. Jaspar tended to be a bit heavy handed in his playing. He struck the keys with a jangling force and leapt into the simple tune like a herd of dinosaurs. Quickly, Abby left the room and went to the kitchen where Chester and Jaspar''s mother were deep in conversation. When she opened the fridge for a juice box, they both looked up at her, finally aware of her presence. Jaspar''s mother flushed pink. Did she still have crush on Chester? Looking at her Abby realized she did! Good grief, did every one become a teenager and just get stuck there? She got her box and closed the fridge.


    To cover the awkward silence that had fallen upon them, Chester said, "Hey Abby, Charla and I were just reliving some of our school days. I haven''t been up to the elementary school, but I think I might go have a look."


    Almost, almost the words came to her lips, but she pushed them back. A germ riddled elementary school was no place for a man with an Auto Immune Disease.


    Jaspar''s mother said, "Oh that would be nice. I volunteer on Mondays, you will have to stop by then, we can have lunch."


    "Sounds good. I would like that."


    In the living room the dinosaurs continued their dance. Then, the unexpected happened the tempo slowed down, the notes fell at their proper speed. The banging became a recognizable melody. Both Chester and Abby knew what this meant. Jaspar had found the magic. He would loose it again and he did, but for one brief stanza he had captured music. In time, how much only God knew, he would become a musician. Chester smiled as the dinosaurs continued their waltz.


    Jaspar''s mother asked, "Do you think he has any talent?"


    "Yes, but more important he has determination and that is what will carry him through boring lessons and long practices."


    Abby glanced at Chester, he was looking a little tired. The dinosaurs abruptly stopped. Small feet hit the floor. Jaspar exploded into the kitchen. His eyes were bright and shining. "Did you hear that Mama, did you hear my song?"


    "I sure did and it was beautiful."


    Chester added, "You are coming along nicely, Jaspar."


    "Thanks!" Jaspar climbed onto the counter and reached for the cookie jar. Abby waited for his mother to scold him for taking such big bites but she did not. He settled himself on the edge of the counter and began to chew his cookie slowly like a cow. He managed to make the cookie last an entire five minutes. When he finished he jumped down and went back to the piano. Abby took her juice and went upstairs.


    Back at the piano Jaspar began to play "Silent Night." It was a very simplified version, but still recognizable. For the first time since Jaspar had become Grammy''s student, Abby did not reach for her headphones. Even Jaspar couldn''t destroy her love for that song.


    *


    Monday Chester had lunch with Jaspar''s mother. Tuesday night, he sneezed. By Wednesday morning he had a full blown cold. It was a bad thing, a very bad thing. Grammy took Chester to his Houston doctor while Abby was at school. All day Abby worried they would not be home when she got back, but they were. Chester was in bed, knocked out by cold medicine. Grammy was in the living room reading.


    Abby said, "I knew he shouldn''t have gone to that school. I knew it and I didn''t say anything. If only I had said something."


    Softly Grammy said, "Abby, this is not your fault and it is not something you could have prevented. Chester is a grown man, he makes his own choices. We don''t know that he caught something at school, he could have caught something anywhere. At least the doctor didn''t put him in the hospital. If he thought it was necessary, he would have. That is something to hold on to."


    It was something, but not much. Chester had to be okay, he just had to.