“Hello,” they chorused.
“Can we play some more?” Victoria asked her mom.
“Sure. I brought a Frisbee, if you want it.” She extracted it from her purse, and the girls charged off.
Leo, Maddie, and Kim settled around one of The Pie Emporium’s outdoor wooden tables. Even though this first day of December had dawned sunny and still, the chilly temperature had inspired most of The Pie Emporium’s patrons to enjoy their coffee and pie inside the shop’s small confines. Only a middle-aged man reading the paper and wearing a parka also sat outside.
“We’re looking forward to partnering with you on Mission:Christmas,” Leo said to Kim as Charlie climbed onto his knee.
“I’m so grateful that you are! I don’t mind telling y’all, though, that I feel a little guilty about submitting an application for Mission:Christmas. Until recently, I’ve always been fine—not wealthy or anything like that, mind you—butfine. I’m usually the one helping others at Christmas.” Her cheerful expression faltered, revealing the stress that lived beneath. “Then I lost my job. If it was just me, I wouldn’t have considered Mission:Christmas. But I adopted Victoria and Samantha nine months ago, and I couldn’t bear the thought of them having to make do with next to nothing on our first Christmas together.”
“I’m very glad that you applied,” Maddie said. The other Mission:Christmas families she’d been paired with in the past had taught her that sometimes, in order to receive God’s provision, you first had to be humble enough to ask for help. “Leo and I will make sure that your first Christmas with your daughters is a memorable one for all three of you.”
“Memorable for the girls is more than enough. Please don’t buy anything for me. I left that section blank on the form.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Kim,” Leo said, “but we’re going to have to buy you a few gifts at least.”
“Leo!” Kim exclaimed, good-naturedly scandalized. “Don’t get me anything.”
He met her attention head on. “You’re going to have to trust us, Kim.”
“The girls are the ones I’m concerned with,” Kim said.
Charlie climbed down and started playing with the pebbles that made up the surface of the nearby walkway.
“I’d love to know more about you and your family,” Maddie said.
“Well, I was raised in Georgia, and I’ve worked in hospital administration ever since I got my master’s degree. I’ve lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri. Four years ago, I moved here to work at Valley View Medical Center. Right around that same time, I started to hear the Lord calling me to adopt a child. I was fifty-one years old at the time, and I’ve never been married. I kind of raised my eyebrows up and said, ‘Lord, me? Are you sure?’” She laughed and slapped her hands together.
Leo grinned. “And was He sure?”
“He was,” Kim answered. “I spent months researching adoption, both domestic and international. I decided to adopt an older child out of the foster care system here in the United States.” The wind flipped a strand of her hair upside down, and she smoothed it back into place. “When the caseworker told me about two sisters who needed a home, and I saw Victoria and Samantha’s picture, I just . . . Iknewthey were meant to be my babies. So I decided to take a leap of faith and become their mama.”
The younger of the girls, Samantha, ran up. “Would it be okay if the little boy plays with us?” She motioned toward Charlie.
“It’s okay with me,” Kim said, “but you’ll need to ask his father.”
Samantha looked self-consciously at Leo.
“Sure.” Leo turned to Charlie. “The girls have invited you to play with them on the grass.”
Charlie mulled it over for a long second, his courage clearly battling against his fear, before approaching Samantha. “’Kay.”
“Continue to play right here on the grass where we can see you,” Kim said.
Charlie and Samantha walked side by side in Victoria’s direction.
“Since you’re a father,” Kim said to Leo, “I’m guessing you know how hard parenting is.”
“It’s incredibly hard.” Leo jerked open the snaps on his navy jacket, revealing a sage green sweater. Maddie might need to rethink her recent preference for his professor’s wardrobe.
“I talked with all of my friends who are parents before I adopted the girls,” Kim said. “I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. Even so, all my life I imagined I’d make a terrific mother.” Her eyes rounded with rueful honesty. “Well, motherhood’s more joyful and more challenging than I expected. What I can’t get used to is the fact that I’m not as terrific a mother as I thought I’d be. Please don’t think badly of me for admitting that.”
“We don’t,” Maddie said.
“I’m not the father I imagined I’d be,” Leo told her. “I’m doing the best I can, but I’m fallible.”
“Same here,” Kim said. “I didn’t realize how set in my own selfish ways I was, having had only myself to answer to for so long. It’s been a journey. I’ve had to get over myself!” Her lips,covered in dusky rose lipstick, pulled into a smile. “Anyway, we’ve been finding our way forward little by little. When my boss at the medical center told me that a few other staff members were going to take over my job responsibilities because of budget cuts, I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath for a week.”
