What WOULD Jesus Do?

The Birth

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A/N: I do not believe this will happen. This story is what I believe would happen if Jesus returned and saw how life is today, especially in Christian circles.

Disclaimer: I do not promote or demote any places mentioned in this story.

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"Tell me again what we're doing this for, Joseph." Mary looked out the window of their beat-up old Ford Taurus. Heading all the way to Chicago from New York was not her idea of a good way to spend Christmas day. Not to mention the fact that she was pregnant. Very pregnant.

"Don't worry, hon," Joseph looked intently through the snow falling on the highway. "It's been half a year since I've seen my family, and we're only a couple hours away." I hope.

"That sign said we're just entering Indiana. We're at least four hours away. Probably six in this weather."

"Mary, you said you were okay with this family reunion. Besides, Will set up a place for us at the Hilton, and I've wanted to stay there since forever." If only this snow would let up a little… Joseph looked at Mary's pregnant belly briefly. "Are you doing all right there, hon?"

"Yes, Joe. You asked me that question twenty minutes ago. Are you worried my water's going to break? The doctor said I wouldn't have to worry for another week. Remember? 'You're going to have a New Year's baby, Mrs. Jenton.' That's what he said."

People have early babies. "Yeah, everything will be fine," Joseph said out loud. He patted Mary's shrinking lap and turned back to his driving.

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"What are you saying, sir?" Joseph looked intently at the Hilton's concierge. "My brother booked us a hotel room, a suite with two bedrooms, a living room, and a pull-out couch. He said so. Here's our confirmation number—"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jenton, but our hotel is completely booked, and your number doesn't seem to work here," the concierge looked apologetically at Joe. "I can call the main Hilton line and try to see if your brother booked you a room in a nearby hotel."

"Yeah… I mean, yes, please. Do that." Joe walked back towards his car. "I'll be right back in," he called over his shoulder to the concierge.

"Any problems?" Mary asked Joseph sweetly when he returned to the car.

"Um, it seems as if Will booked us in a different hotel. We're may have to go to someplace else. There's no room for us here." Joseph looked worried.

"Relax, hon. It's not as if I'm just a time bomb waiting to go off."

Joseph turned to go back into the hotel. As he walked through the doors, the concierge met him.

"Sir, I'm afraid that there are no reservations for any Joseph, William, or Mary Jenson in all of our hotels, and we're all completely booked, on top of that. I tried to see if there were any cancellations, but no luck."

Joseph looked at the concierge in amazement. "Surely there's some mistake! My brother told me that he had booked us a room! Can't you try again?"

"I'm sorry sir, there's nothing I can do. I'm not sure you're going to get any hotel rooms, this being the holidays and all. I could try to pull a few strings, but I doubt I can do anything."

"No… that's all right.…" Joe was devastated. How was he going to get a room? "I'll just try a Motel 6 or something," he said to the waiting concierge.

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"No, sir, we're all booked," was the reply Joseph got at the next ten hotels he tried. Mary wasn't looking well at all. Maybe it was just the cold, but he swore he saw her in pain once when he was at the Ramada Inn trying to get a room. When he asked her, she said that it was just a little spasm. "Nothing to worry about," she smiled grimly.

Joseph drove a ways until he arrived at a Red Roof Inn in Northbrook. "There has to be someplace in Chicago to stay," he said to Mary.

He walked through the door, listening to the cheerful jingle of the bells on the door. Please, Lord… he prayed.

"I was wondering if you had any rooms available for two." Joseph was getting good at this after seven tries.

"Can't you read the sign?" the clerk was obviously wishing he was home for Christmas. "No vacancy."

"Please, sir," Joseph pleaded. "This is the seventh place we've come. I would pay you double the price of a room! Is there anything? Anything at all?"

"I'm sorry, but no vacancy means no vacancy. I can't kick someone out of their room for a stranger coming in through the doors."

"My wife is pregnant," Joseph still tried, not even hoping for success. "I don't know if she'll last the night in the cold. Please…"

The clerk looked at Joseph and then out through the doors at the waiting car. "If my boss found out…. All right, I'll let you stay in our parking garage. It's not much, but at least it's a little warmer than outside." He went to a closet and took out some blankets. "Make sure you return these, or I'm gonna get fired."

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"I'm gonna kill him." Joe sat in the car with the door open, feet on the concrete of the garage. Mary, sitting in the passenger side with the blankets covering her, looked at her fiancé.

"It's not Will's fault. I can guess what happened." Joe continued ranting at no one in particular. "Some white guy came and wanted a room. Who is he going to give a room to? Mr. Moneybags or one of us? Face it. They think we're scum."

"Not all of them, Love." Mary hated all prejudice, both against her race and against the whites. "They probably just were overbooked. We did arrive awfully late."

"You don't deserve to sit out here in a car on Christmas Eve. We should be inside, in a nice room someplace…"

"Forget it, Joe. You know wha—" Mary's stopped short as she gasped for breath. "He's coming Joe. I know it."

"What?" Joe looked at her in horror, the concierge forgotten. "You're going to have the baby now?"

"Well, it's not like I can control it, Joe!" Mary's face was filled with fear. "I can't just say, 'Baby Jesus, I don't want you to come yet. Can you put off your divine plans another day or two?' What are we going to do?" She grimaced as another spasm hit her. "They're coming quicker now."

"Quicker! They were coming before! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I figured that they were fake. Some women have fake contractions, you know! I didn't want you to worry!"

"What am I doing now!" Joe was almost yelling at her in his fear.

"This isn't going—" Mary doubled over again. "Ca—call the doctor… do something… Joe!"

Joe was torn between going to the hotel lobby and bothering the clerk again or staying with his fiancée. He knew he shouldn't leave her, so he decided to help out in any way he could.

"There isn't any time, Mary. I have to stay here with you!" Mary was obviously in great pain, sweat pouring down her head. "Hang on there, honey." He gently helped Mary out onto one of the blankets the clerk had lent them. What am I supposed to do?

"I don't know how to do this, Joe! I—I need an ambulance!" Mary was short of breath.

"Just breathe, hun." Joe wasn't sure what he should do. He prayed that those TV shows knew what they were talking about.

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Joe thought he had been standing there for hours, although it was probably only about twenty minutes. He flinched in pain every time Mary gasped for breathe. How long is this supposed to last? Joe grimaced again as Mary screamed. He just hoped she wasn't going to wake the entire hotel.

"Joe…" Mary's voice was weak, even as she gasped for breath. "I can feel him coming… He's coming!"

Joe couldn't believe what he was hearing. No, it's not happening. Focus, Joe. What do I do? He looked down and saw a head coming out. He tentatively put his hand on the baby's head to help guide him out. After another long period of pushing and groaning, the baby was finally out. In the distance, Joe could hear sirens coming.

"How did they know?" Joe looked questioningly at his fiancée and his new son. "Maybe someone called from the hotel."

The medics rushed up to the fifth level to find Joseph and Mary on the garage floor. "There he is!" shouted one of them. "Wrapped in an old blanket, just like they said!"

"Who said what?" Joe was completely confused.

"Why, the angels! You'll never believe this, but we were on a coffee break when suddenly a group of people appeared out of thin air. They said the Messiah was born again and to come here and we'd find you in a parking garage with the baby wrapped in an old yellow blanket. Then they started saying, 'Hallelujah! Praise be to God in heaven, and on earth, peace to all men!' We figured they either were angels or we were crazy!" The medic was amazed. "Come on, Sam; we need to help these folk out." The medic motioned to one of the girls in the back of the ambulance who had sat dumbfounded.

"I didn't think—" Sam could hardly speak, she was so stunned. "Jon, we should get these folk to the hospital."

Jon turned back and said, "She doesn't need a hospital anymore. God has sent His Son again! Praise the Lord!"

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A/N: Please write with any questions, comments, concerns, or praise. I would love to hear from my readers. Thanks once again to Dalamar Argent for doing the beta work on my story.

--Valgorúth & JBRam