The Christmas Kerchief

Heath looked narrow-eyed at the needle and the thread. "Well, it isn't like I haven't sewed up a hole in my shirt or anything, so I ought to be able to do this."

"Embroidery thread can be more tricky because it's thicker," Audra said and watched Heath try to get the thread through the eye of the needle.

"I hope this ends up being something Mother can appreciate," Heath said once he got the thread through.

Audra was holding the embroidery hoop with the kerchief stretched inside it. She, Jarrod and Nick had already embroidered their names on the kerchief – a Christmas gift for their mother. All right, so her brothers' names were a bit hard to decipher. That was why Heath wanted to do this very carefully. "Here," Audra said and handed him the hoop.

Heath's name was penciled in lightly. He could barely see it. "How do I do this? Come in through the back?"

"Yes, that's right, down at the beginning of your name," Audra told him. "Good, good," she said when he managed to get the needle through in the right spot.

"Now what?" Heath asked.

"Just take small stitches along the line of your name. This doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"That's a good thing. What made you want to do this for a gift, anyway?"

"Oh," Audra said, "we're all getting older. Nick will always be living here and you probably will be too, but Jarrod and I are likely to live elsewhere before too long. He's already in San Francisco half the time. I just wanted Mother to have a Christmas keepsake she can cherish after we go our own ways."

"Are you going to embroider some Christmassy stuff on it after we finish our names?"

"Uh-huh," Audra said.

"I guess you're gonna get Eugene to add his name when he gets here."

"Oh, yes. He just doesn't know it yet."

Heath struggled a bit when it came time to figure out how to get to the cross bar in the H. Audra guided him carefully. "So, you think you'll be moving on before too long?" Heath asked. "Is there somebody I ought to know about?"

"Not exactly," Audra said. "Not yet anyway. And before you get too intent on me, what about you? Isn't there a girl in Stockton you're keeping a secret?"

Heath laughed and made his way to the E in his name. "She's no secret. Miriam and I are – moving right along but we're not engaged or anything yet."

"She's hoping, you know," Audra said.

Heath stopped for a moment and gave Audra a look. "Have you two been talking to each other?"

"Girls always talk to each other about their beaux, Heath," Audra said. "It's you men who keep the deep, dark secrets."

Heath smiled and went on to the A. "Well, I'll tell you, Audra. If I thought Miriam would say yes, I might just make the proposal before too long, but I'm not quite sure yet that she would."

"Why not? She's crazy about you."

"I think she might want to wait for my adoption papers to go through," Heath said.

Audra understood what he was saying, and it made her uncomfortable to think anyone would worry about the legality of Heath's being a Barkley. But she knew Miriam wasn't worried. "I don't think that's an issue for her, Heath. Besides, Jarrod says it will only be a couple weeks now before everything is settled."

"She might change her mind about me once things are settled," Heath said.

""You're fretting over nothing," Audra said.

Heath paused after finishing the A. "Well, maybe it's me feeling a little goosy over it."

Audra was shocked. "Why?"

"It's a change. All these years I've been just 'Heath.' I know, I've been signing things 'Heath Barkley' for a while, but once Jarrod gets my adoption through, it'll feel different. Besides, look at me. I'm 25 years old and getting adopted. Doesn't that seem a little silly?"

Audra smiled. "Only if you look at it that way. All it really means is that Mother wants you as her legal son. Is that silly?"

Heath shook his head and felt bad now for saying what he'd said. "No. No, that isn't silly at all. And I want to be her legal son." He moved on to the T in his name.

"Does it make you feel like you're betraying your real mother in any way?" Audra asked, being as gently blunt as she could be.

Heath shook his head. "No. Not really. It just seems a little funny, having two mothers."

"I'd feel honored if I were you, to have two women who were graced to have you as their son."

Now Heath had to smile. As the crossed the T on the kerchief he said, "Thank you, Audra. I'm glad you feel that way."

Audra leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Mother feels that way, you know."

"I know," Heath said and meant it. "And I feel graced to have had two mothers as wonderful as I've had." Then he smiled a little more as he moved on to the last H. "Kinda makes me feel sorry for you and Jarrod and Nick and Eugene."

Audra laughed a little. "Why?"

"Because I've got two, and you all only have one."

Audra laughed a little more as Heath finished his signature.

"There," Heath said proudly. "How does that look?"

Audra gave it a critical eye. "Well, Nick's looks like 'Nish,' and Jarrod's looks like it's missing an R. Yours, on the other hand, looks like 'Heath.'"

Heath gave Audra a kiss on the cheek as he handed the embroidery hoop back to her. "Nothing but the best for our Mother. Now you better hide it before she comes in here and finds it."

Audra got up and headed up to her room, saying, "I'll finish it up tonight. Mother's going to be thrilled when she sees it."

Heath leaned back on the settee and smiled. He looked around the living room, only partially ready for Christmas day now three days away. Nick and Jarrod were out hunting a tree right now, while Victoria was visiting with some friends. Heath had stayed here to finish his contribution to the kerchief while Victoria was out of the house, and now, looking around this room on his second Christmas with the Barkleys, he felt really, really good. Last year he was still settling in, but now, he was really home, and he had just placed his signature on the cloth to say so. Maybe it would take another couple weeks for the paperwork, but in his heart, he was officially Victoria Barkley's son. He officially belonged here, with her, and somehow he knew his own birth mother, wherever she was, approved.

Heath leaned back, closed his eyes, and happily took a nap.

The End