The Gift
Four-year-old Joseph Hardy was standing in line at Webber's Department store in downtown Bayport where he and his family lived. His dad was world famous detective, Fenton Hardy. Joe's mom Laura and his brother Frank completed the Hardy family.
Joe's blond hair was tousled and his vibrant blue eyes took in everything around him. Holding his hand was his big brother Franklin Hardy. Frank was a year older with dark brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. Today they were getting to see Santa Clause. It was two days before Christmas and Joe had to tell Santa what he wanted to get. It was something very special and wanted to know if Santa could drop it off before Christmas morning so he could give it to his brother on Christmas day.
Joe knew that his brother was really sick and from what everyone was saying, Frank needed to get all better. He did not know or understand what was wrong with Frank, but he knew by the way everyone was acting, that it was very bad.
Sometimes Frank did not feel well enough to play with him, either. Sometimes Frank was hurting, and sometimes he was too tired to even get out of bed.
Today was a good day for his brother. So they had been allowed to go with their parents to see Santa and to let Frank do what he wanted. And what Frank wanted was to take his little brother to see Santa Clause and to see the lights around town.
As excited as he was to see Santa, Joe was worried about his brother. His aunt Gertrude had told him before about people who was sick and sometimes they went to heaven to be with God. That's what happened when their grandpa Hardy died. Joe did not understand dying yet, but he knew people went away and he never saw them again, and that frightened him.
He stole a sideways glance up at his brother to make sure Frank was all right. Frank was the best brother in the whole world and it scared Joe to think of Frank leaving and never coming back. Frank looked down at him with a smile and squeezed his hand. "Just a little bit more, Joey. We're almost there."
Joe smiled back at him. In his young mind, he could not imagine being without his brother. So today, he would ask Santa for what he really needed.
As they moved forward, Joe saw they were next in line. His eyes went wide with awe as he saw Santa. He was too little to remember Santa from before. But there he was, big as life, and to the little boy, that was pretty big.
Santa was sitting in a chair that Joe just knew came from the North Pole. Santa's eyes twinkled and he had a big belly that actually shook when he laughed. He had a long white beard that lay over top of his red Santa suit and white hair underneath his Santa cap. Before Joe knew it, Santa was looking right at him and waving for him to come over. Usually quite boisterous, all of a sudden, Joe felt quite shy, and he turned in a little to Frank's side still peeking out around his brother's coat sleeve.
Santa laughed and said, "Well, now, aren't you the shy little one. And what is your name?"
Joe slunk back a little further and felt Frank turn to look at him.
"What's the matter, Joey? You wanted to see Santa. Go on. I'm right here."
Joe hesitated for just a bit longer, but then heard Frank ask, "Do you want me to go with you?"
Joe started to nod his head but caught himself at the last minute. If he let Frank go with him, it would spoil the surprise. Therefore, Joe gathered up as much courage as he could muster and shook his head no. Then he slowly walked over to Santa who smiled and lifted Joe onto his knee. In a voice as to not scare the young boy, Santa asked again.
"What's your name, young man?"
Joe swallowed and smiled. Santa didn't seem that frightening after all, he guessed. Besides, he had something important to ask him.
"My name's Joseph. But you can call me Joey."
Santa jiggled when he laughed and Joey could feel himself vibrate from the heavy baritone, "Ho ho ho's!" Joe giggled cause it felt funny.
"And what would you like for Christmas, Joey?" Santa asked.
Joe looked over at Frank and saw the happy but tired look on his brother's face.
"Can I whisper it to you?"
"Sure you can. Must be important, huh?"
Joe nodded his head seriously.
The man in the Santa suit could tell there was a special request coming and so he bent his head down so the boy could whisper to him.
Joe put his little hand up to Santa's ear and began to whisper his request.
"I don't want any toys this year. I've tried to be good but sometimes it's really hard. But I only want one thing, okay?"
The man pulled his head back to look at those serious blue eyes, knowing this was an odd request coming from one so young. "Are you sure? Not even one toy?" But one look into those sad eyes, and he knew there was something very wrong.
"You see my brother over there? His name is Fwankie."
Santa looked in Frank's direction and nodded.
"Well, he's sick," Joe continued, "But I know that all he needs is a op,..op…opation.. But mommy and daddy said he'd have to go way fo that. I don't want him to go way. So could you bring the opation to me and I can give it to him? Then he won't have to go way."
The man in the Santa suit was quite taken aback by the innocence of the question. He knew that the little boy held him in high regard, but also knew he could not fulfill the request. He looked at the little boy. The face was very solemn with serious determination in those wide blue eyes.
Then a thought came to him and he bent down to whisper in Joe's ear. The little boy frowned but nodded his head. Then Santa asked him one more time. "Are you sure you don't want anything for yourself for Christmas?"
"No, thank you. That's it. I don't want my brother to go way."
Tears filled the old man's eyes and his heart ached as he set the boy back on the floor. He smiled, waved, and turned to face the other brother, and waved him over.
"And what is your name?" he asked as he sat the dark haired little boy on his lap.
"My name is Franklin, but you can call me Frank, cause I'm five years old and only Joey still calls me Frankie," he said, his deep brown eyes twinkling with anticipation.
A lump caught in the man's throat and he had to collect himself before he went on.
"And what would you like for Christmas young Frank?"
"I want a little red wagon for my brother Joey. He wants one really bad. He probably told you already, but I just want to make sure he gets it, cause he's the bestest brother in the whole world."
The old man sat there fighting the tears back. In all his life he'd never seen such selflessness in ones so young before. He knew they would grow up to have a special closeness that not many brothers had these days.
"Well, if you've been good all year than I'm sure there won't be a problem." he smiled.
"Thank you, Santa!" Frank said as he jumped down off Santa's lap.
The old man watched as the older boy took his little brother's hand and with something akin to pure adoration in the younger one's eyes, he followed his big brother out into the congested throng of holiday shoppers. Only then did he allow a single tear to escape and slide down his cheek. 'Merry Christmas Frank and Joe and may God bless you all your lives.'
HBHBHBHB
The next night was Christmas Eve and Frank and Joe were getting ready to go to the evening services at church. Their father had come in to check on them. He knew that Frank would be tired and would need some help getting dressed. Their mom was getting Joe dressed. When the young parent's met in the hallway a few minutes later, Fenton noticed an unusual look on his wife's face.
"What is it, Laura?" he asked, concerned.
"Joey just told me the strangest thing."
Fenton pulled an eyebrow up and waited for her to continue.
"He said that Frankie was going to be fine and that he didn't have to go away."
"Why would he say that, I wonder?"
"I asked him the same thing and he just said, cause Santa knows everything."
Laura looked at her husband somewhat exasperated. "If that Santa has told Joey things just to make him happy because it's Christmas, well, that's not right!"
Fenton put his arms around Laura's shoulders and held her.
"I don't think he meant any harm, sweetie. People naturally want to make others feel as good as possible this time of year."
"I know." she sniffled and looked up at her husband. "But Joey's so little and he wouldn't understand if worse comes to worse."
"Sometimes I think they understand a lot more than we give them credit for."
"Well, not when he says things like that to a small child, he doesn't. That's giving him false hope."
"Maybe you feel that way because you are losing hope."
"Oh, Fenton." she cried. "What if he goes through this operation and he still…" she could not finish. She could not let the word cancer fill her mind. She just could not wrap her mind around the fact that one of her babies had a life threatening disease, and she broke down in his arms as he held her tight.
"We can't think about that right now."
"But they said it's probably gone too far."
"Laura,." he said, as he held a finger under her chin and gently nudged her face up to his. He gave her a soft kiss.
"We'll just have to pray he'll be all right."
All of a sudden a blood curding voice pierced her heart.
"Mommy!"
Laura's heart jumped to her throat as she raced to Frank's room. Frank was sitting on the edge of his bed, face pale and sweating. Joe's eyes looked frightened as he cried for his mom. He pointed to the floor where his brother had gotten sick.
Laura had gone immediately to Frank's side. She felt his forehead and knew that he was not going out to the church service that night.
"We have to stay here tonight, Fenton." as she saw her husband come in behind her. "Frank's just too sick to go out." She laid him down on the bed and started to undress him.
"Just get him comfortable and I'll go call Dr. Bates. Maybe he can give us some advice or come by."
As Fenton went down stairs, Joe ran after his dad.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Fenton turned around, and thinking Joe was scared because of his brother, the young father tried to calm him down.
"Everything will be fine, Joey. Go change into your pajama's, son."
"But Daddy, I need to go to church."
Fenton bent down and picked Joe up. "We can't go anywhere right now, son. Your brother is very sick and we have to stay home and keep him company."
"But Daddy, you and me can go. I have to go see Jesus."
Joe was so serious, that if it hadn't been such a heart wrenching situation, Fenton would have laughed. But he knew that his little boy was much more passionate about things than his older brother was. He also knew that once Joe got something in his head no one would have any peace until it was dealt with. He looked Joe in the eyes and smiled.
"After I call the doctor, you and I will go, okay?" The smile on Joe's face was worth a thousand words as he set his son down. He knew that somehow this night was going to be very special.
HBHBHBHB
Fenton made sure that his wife and Frank was were taken care of and the doctor was aware of the situation before he and Joe left to go to the Christmas Eve service. The little boy was more impatient than usual during the church service because he had to wait until the service was over to see the baby Jesus. The Christmas play was good he supposed, but Joe's thoughts were on getting to the manger scene where he knew he would find the answer that Santa had given him.
Once the service was over and Joe had made sure his dad was talking to some people and would be there for a while, he made his way to the manger scene in front of the church. There were a few people still milling around and Joe waited impatiently for them all to leave.
When the last person left the stage, Joe went up to the manger where he saw the baby Jesus.
Joe was a little disappointed that the baby wasn't real, but Santa had said that Jesus would be the one to help him with his gift. So he took a deep breath and laid a hand on the baby Jesus' hand.
"Hi, Jesus. My name is Joey Hardy. I have something to ask You." he frowned because he didn't know if the baby could hear him or not, but then decided to go on. "My brother Frankie, he's not here right now, 'cause he's sick. He needs a opation. Santa said I should go to You cause You would help me." Again he frowned, looking at the baby lying in the manger. Joe was unaware that his dad had come looking for him and was standing just a few feet away.
"Can you give me the opation so I can give it to my brother for Christmas? I don't want him to leave. He's the bestest brother in the whole world. I love him this big." he said as he stretched out his arms as far as he could. "You can bring it to my room. I can have my aunt wrap it for me. She's good at that."
He looked at the baby for a few seconds and then bent down and kissed its cheek. Joe then pulled up the little blue blanket on the doll and said. "I love you, too, Jesus." Then Joe turned to go find his daddy. His quest was done and he was very happy. He just knew his brother was going to be fine.
Behind him in the shadows of the curtains, Fenton was weeping silently as he prayed to God to let his little boy's prayers be heard.
Joe stopped in the middle of the church and turned all around to see if he could spot his daddy. His heart started to beat faster as the thought of being left behind scared him.
"Daddy!"
Fenton meanwhile had pulled himself together and when he heard the cry, he hurriedly ran from the hiding place behind the curtains. He scooped his little boy up in his arms. Fenton held onto Joe. Fenton was trying with everything he had in him not to cry, since he was trying to be strong for his family. But the sight of his youngest, asking for the gift for his brother was too much to bear and Fenton broke down. Minutes later, Fenton heard his four-year-old son telling him that it was going to be all right. He looked into those bright blue eyes and smiled. "Let's go home."
By the time they arrived home, there was much commotion going on. Fenton and Laura's parents were there, along with a couple of good friends. Frank was sitting on the couch in his pajamas in the midst of all the goings on.
He looked good, Fenton thought. Maybe he felt a little better, but his wife should not have called all these people. He was still fragile. As he turned to look for her, she appeared out of nowhere and gave him a huge bear hug.
"What's going on?" Fenton asked, bewildered.
"Oh Fenton, right after you left the doctor called back and asked me to bring Frank into the emergency room. Well, you had the car so I called Sam and Ethel. She told me she'd be glad to take us."
The look on Laura's face said that something had gone on while he was away. He looked up at Ethel and said, "Thank you."
She nodded and said, "You're welcome, it's the least I could do."
"Fenton, it's a miracle! They took x-rays of the cancer and they couldn't find any traces of it what so ever." Laura said.
Fenton was stunned. He was sure he hadn't heard right. "No cancer?"
Laura shook her head laughing and crying at the same time. "None; they did three different x-rays and took some tests and Doctor Bates is positive. Oh Fenton, my baby is just fine!"
Fenton held her tight and started to cry. He looked up and saw Joe over on the couch with Frank. They were talking, laughing, and having a wonderful time.
When Christmas morning came and the boys awoke, Joe was the first one down to the Christmas tree. He was looking everywhere but he couldn't see the one from baby Jesus. Frank came up behind him and saw him looking through all the presents but not taking any.
"Whatcha doing?" Frank asked him.
"Looking for the one I got for you." he said with out turning around. He was still looking at all the presents.
"What did you get me?" Frank asked as he sat on the floor watching his brother with some amusement.
"I can't tell. It would ruin it." Joe said seriously, looking at his brother with exasperation. "But I know Jesus sent it to me." he smiled.
"Oh, that one's back here." Frank said, grinning. He stood up and hurried to the back of the tree. He pushed it close to Joe. "Open it!"
"Hey, what's this? Opening presents without us?" their dad laughed, as he and their mom came down and sat on the couch to watch their two young sons on this fine Christmas morning.
"This is Joey's," Frank said.
Joe looked at it and said, "This isn't mine. It's from Jesus. It's yours, Frankie. I asked him to bring it to me so I could give it to you."
"It has your name on it, Joey." Frank stated, with excitement. "Go on open it!"
Joe frowned. He knew it was for his brother but if Frank was going to be stubborn and not open it, then he guessed he'd just open it for him. Either way, to Joe, his brother wouldn't be going anywhere. So he smiled and asked, "Help me?"
Frank grinned and helped Joe tear off the wrapping. There before him stood the red wagon that he'd told Frank he wanted. Tears pooled in his eyes. "He sent the wrong one."
"What do you mean, son?" asked Fenton.
"Jesus sent the wrong present," Joe answered sadly. "He was supposed to send the opation."
"Oh Joey," Fenton ran to Joe and picked him up. In all the fuss and commotion
the day before they had forgotten to tell Joe that Frank didn't need the operation after all.
"Frank doesn't need it anymore. Jesus decided to answer your prayer a different way last night and made Frank all better."
Then they all looked at the wagon. They were all wondering where it had come from. Fenton looked at Laura, and Laura looked at her husband. They both shook their heads.
"I asked Santa for it for Joey. But I guess Jesus sent it instead." Frank offered.
"I guess he did." Fenton whispered. That would be one mystery he knew would never be solved. But somehow he knew that it played a big part in the faith of two little boys. The love they had for each other would always stand the test of faith. It was unwavering, just like the mysteries of God.
The End