As part of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Series that Faith P organized, I wrote a special little almost 2,000 word Hansen Christmas story :) I hope you all enjoy. This story will give you a little sneak peek into the Hansen sisters' lives with their parents, Zachariah and Alice.

A Hansen Christmas Story

            Belle settled into the rocking chair and closed her eyes. It had been a long, busy day and Belle was grateful to finally sit down and relax.

            Suddenly, a little body scrambled onto her lap and grabbed her around the neck.

            Belle’s eyes flew open to behold Nadia sitting mere inches from her face. “Sweetheart, what is it?”

            “Can you tell us a story?” Nadia’s big blue eyes stared into Belle’s own blue eyes.

            “What kind of story?”

            “A Christmas story! It’s almost Christmas time and I want to hear how you celebrated Christmas with Papa and Mama when you were a little girl.”

            Belle smiled faintly at the thought of Papa and Mama. They had had many wonderful Christmases together. Her heart ached a bit; thinking of another Christmas that they would be separated.

            “Will you tell us one?” Nadia waited impatiently.

            “Let me think of a good one.”

            Upon hearing Belle’s answer, the rest of the sisters crowded into the living room and settled down on the furniture. Even Paul and Lillian joined the girls; eager to hear Belle’s story. Once everyone found a seat, Belle began her story.

            “My favorite Christmas was the year 1881. I was seven years old…Mama was due to give birth to Kenny any day. It snowed so much that Christmas Eve! Outside it was snowing so hard that it turned into a blizzard. Mama and Papa were worried about the terrible weather, so Albert and I wanted to do something special for them…”

~~~

            Zachariah Hansen pulled at his mustache and looked out the window. The snow was laying and growing deeper and deeper by the hour. He was worried that the snow would prevent him from getting to the midwife, should his very pregnant wife go into labor soon.

            “I want to see the pretty snow!” five-year-old Danielle tugged on her father’s pant leg.

            “Darling, don’t bother your father,” Alice Hansen scolded. She bustled over to her husband and daughter.

            “Of course, you can see the pretty snow,” Zachariah replied, hushing his wife. He scooped Danielle into his arms and let her peer out the window.

            “It’s so sparkly!” Danielle pressed her face against the window.

            “It is, isn’t it? God sure made snow a beautiful thing.” Zachariah set Danielle down and sent her to play with her siblings.

“I just didn’t want her to bother you at a time like this,” Alice whispered, resting a hand on her husband’s shoulder. She gently pushed her fingers back and forth, massaging his shoulder. “I know you don’t like all this snow.”

Zachariah looked out the window again. “I don’t want to get snowed in. I need to be able to get to the barn and to the firewood.”

“We’ll be alright,” Alice soothed, kissing his cheek. “God will take care of us. He always has.”

“You’re right, dear. I wish I had faith like you…” Zachariah gently touched his wife’s swollen stomach. “What if you go into labor, though? How will I get to the midwife?”

“Don’t worry about me!”

“Go rest. You must be in pain.”

“I’m used to the pain,” Alice protested. “I feel fine.”

“You go upstairs and lay down before supper. Please, it’ll ease my mind to know you’re resting.”

Alice complied to her husband’s wishes and mounted the stairs to her bedroom.

            Zachariah moved to the doorway and put on his coat and hat. He reached up on the shelf and pulled down a coil of rope. He tied one end of the rope around his waist and the rest he clutched in his hand. With his remaining hand, he lit the lantern. Albert and Belle walked over to their father and watched him with curiosity.

            “What are you doing, Papa?” Belle asked.

            “I’m going to the barn. It’s snowing so hard that pretty soon, we won’t be able to see the barn from the house.”

            Albert’s eyes widened. “But the barn is only a few yards away!”

            “Exactly. I’m going to string this rope from the house to the barn so you and I can get through to the barn to take care of the animals. I better lock up the barn too while I’m at it.” Zachariah put his hand on the doorknob. “You two keep an eye on your siblings while I’m away.”

            “Yes, sir.” Albert and Belle watched their father brave the winter winds and head for the barn.

            “Papa’s upset,” Belle remarked.

            “He is,” Albert agreed.

            “Let’s do something nice for him!”

            “Like what?”

            “Well…tomorrow is Christmas day. We could get him a gift.”

            “Where are we going to get a gift?” Albert pointed out.

            

            “We will make him one. We can make Mama a gift too. She’s been extra tired with the baby.”

            “What will we make?”

            “You could make Papa a feather pencil like Mr. Wilbur showed you. Papa is always writing stuff down.”

            “Hey, that’s a good idea. We still have leftover turkey feathers from the turkey he shot. I’ll get to work on that right now.”

            “But what should I make Mama?” Belle seemed unsure what to do. “She needs something special too.”

            Albert snapped his fingers, “You could make her a cover for her Bible. Her Bible is really worn but if you made a cover out of some of our old rags, it will protect it.”

            “Alright. I’ll check the rag bin and see what’s in there.”

            Belle hurried to Alice’s rag bin and sorted through the materials. She found enough material to make a cover for the old brown Bible that Alice read out of every day. Belle sat down on her mama’s rocking chair where she could keep an eye on Cassandra, Danielle, the twins, Gideon, and Hannah, and took the sewing kit. Belle was only seven but Alice had taught her basic sewing skills. Belle figured she knew enough to make a book cover.

            Cassandra sat at Belle’s feet, watching her older sister sew. “Can’t I make Mama a gift too?”

            Danielle stood behind Cassandra. “Yeah. I wanna make Papa something too.”

            Belle thought a moment, “Why don’t you draw cards for Mama and Papa? I can write Merry Christmas on it and you girls can draw pictures.”

            “I love to draw!” Danielle squealed.

            “I’ll get the paper and pencils,” Cassandra ran off to fetch the card materials.

            Belle met Cassandra and Danielle at the kitchen table. She took her time and neatly wrote Merry Christmas on the front of the cards and left her sisters to draw pictures everywhere else. Belle sat back on the rocking chair to finish sewing the Bible cover.

            Albert clattered down the stairs and maneuvered through his siblings to show Belle the feather pencil he had constructed for Zachariah. He had split the feather quill and stuffed the pencil into the quill and tied it off so the feather remained attached to the top of the pencil.

            “It looks great,” Belle grinned, “Papa will love it.”

            Albert smiled at Belle’s praise and took a rag from the rag bin and carefully wrapped his homemade gift in the rag and set it under the Christmas tree.

            Belle moved to the kitchen table and left her youngest siblings with Albert. Cassandra and Danielle were cleaning up the table and taking their cards to the Christmas tree. Belle praised their work and sat down at the table to finish her own gift. Making the Bible cover was much harder than she had anticipated. She fought at the material with her needle and struggled to get the material to come together how she envisioned.

            She was so intent on her work that she didn’t notice Alice entering the room.

Alice stepped up behind her daughter and kissed the side of her head. “What are you working on, my beauty?”

Belle jumped in surprise and quick tried to hide her work. “Mama! You’re not supposed to be up yet!”

Alice cocked her head, “If I wasn’t up now, supper wouldn’t be ready on time.”

Belle looked to the clock in dismay.

“What were you working on?”

“Nothing.” Belle shoved her sewing under the table.

“You were very busy to be working on nothing,” Alice persisted, sitting beside her daughter.

Belle looked down at the fabric in her hands. Oh, how badly she wanted to make her mama a special gift for this Christmas! She tried so hard but it ended up not being what she wanted.

“May I see?”

Belle burst into tears. “I was trying to make you a special Christmas gift but I ruined it!”

“You were making me a gift?” Alice whispered, obviously very touched by the gesture.

“Albert, Cassandra, Danielle, and I wanted to make you and Papa something for Christmas. You have been really tired recently with the baby almost here and Papa has been worried about this blizzard. I wanted to make you a cover for your Bible.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Alice pulled Belle into her arms and hugged her tightly. “That is so sweet of you to think of your Papa and me.”

Belle buried her head in her mother’s shoulder. “But I ruined your gift!”

Alice pulled back and examined her daughter's work. “You didn’t ruin it. You did a great job. I love it.”

“But it isn’t that good.”

“There’s a thing or two I could help you fix,” Alice offered. “But this Bible cover will always remind me that you took time to make me a special gift when I didn’t expect one. It shows me that you love and care for me. That makes it special to me.”

Belle wiped away the tears and smiled at Alice. She handed the Bible cover over to her mother. “Merry Christmas, Mama.”

“Merry Christmas, my beautiful girl.”

~~~

            Belle ended the story and the only sound that could be heard was the pop of wood cracking in the fireplace.

            Danielle was the first to break the silence. “I remember making that card…”

            Cassandra brushed away a tear, “I miss Mama and Papa.”

            Belle set Nadia down on the floor and rose to go to her two sisters. Being so close in age, she, Cassandra, and Danielle fought many times, but Belle loved her sisters dearly and she knew exactly how they were feeling right now.

            Belle sat between them on the couch and slipped one arm around each girl. Danielle and Cassandra leaned into their sister and Belle held them close.

            Nadia stepped up to her three oldest sisters, watching them cry silently. “I’m sorry…I didn’t think it was a sad story.”

            “Come on, Nadia, dear,” Lillian intervened. “I think we should get ready for bed.”

            “But, Belle—”

            “She’ll come say goodnight soon,” Lillian promised.

            Lillian took the girls into their bedroom to help them get ready for bed while Paul went to put Oakley in his cradle. The O'Neals realized the three oldest girls needed some time by themselves.

            Cassandra blew her nose. “I just…I wonder what they would think of us now...”

            “Mama and Papa would be so proud of you both,” Belle whispered, kissing each sister on the head. “And they would be glad that the O’Neals are looking after us and glad that you two are very helpful to Lillian and Paul with the chores. They’d both be pleased with how you’re good examples for the little girls. They’d be proud of everything, I’m sure.”

            “I miss them both…it hurts a lot sometimes.” Danielle took a shaky breath. “It’s the little things you miss the most. That Christmas wasn’t real exciting but…the look on Papa’s face when I gave him his card…I’ll never ever forget that.”

            Belle squeezed Danielle’s shoulder. “I know…our parents were saints…God surely blessed us with remarkable parents.”

            “He did indeed,” Cassandra agreed.

            “And now He’d given us great adoptive parents,” Danielle added.

            Belle glanced at Danielle and hesitated a moment before she slowly nodded her head. “You’re right; He has.”