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Angel Wishes

Chapter 3

"Oh, she's beautiful!" Margaret Gibbons exclaimed, staring at the blonde, blue-eyed baby in Vanessa's arms. Fenton Hardy's elderly neighbor had been sitting on her front porch, enjoying the warm spring evening, when Joe and Vanessa pulled into the Hardys' driveway. Seeing the young couple emerge from the car with their infant daughter, she had hurried over to them, eager to see the latest addition to the Hardy family.

"What's her name?" she asked, automatically reaching out to touch the baby's hand. The tiny bundle smiled, cooed and immediately wrapped her small hand around Margaret's finger.

"Her name is Laura Lindsay Hardy," Vanessa replied softly.

Margaret looked up to see a world of pain in Joe's eyes and her heart broke for him. The young man, who was the spitting image of his late mother, obviously still grieved for her. Laura's sudden death from breast cancer a few years earlier had hit him hard, and while Fenton and Frank seemed to accept and deal with it, she wondered if Joe would ever get over losing his mother so early in life.

'How could he,' she thought, 'when it's a constant reminder every time he looks in the mirror.'

Margaret reached out and squeezed Joe's hand tightly. Seeing his eyes begin to water only made her heart ache for him more. "Your mother would be honored," she said softly.

Laura woke with a start, clutching the blanket around her. She could still clearly see the devastation on Joe's face, the tears in his eyes…and the granddaughter she never met who bore her name.

"Laura? Are you all right?" Fenton asked, his voice suspiciously coherent for someone who should have just been rudely awakened in the middle of the night.

Rolling over, Laura saw her husband in the dim light from the window and knew he hadn't been asleep. Snuggling close to him, Laura reveled in the feeling of safety as his arms wrapped around her. "Mmm-hmm," she murmured. "Just a bad dream, I guess. Can't even remember what it was…"

'I do not have breast cancer. I do not have breast cancer. I do not have breast cancer.' Closing her eyes, Laura repeated the mantra over and over. She pictured the beautiful baby girl she had seen in her dream, only this time Laura Lindsay Hardy was in the arms of her delighted grandmother. With the image seared into her mind's eye, Laura drifted back to sleep with a smile on her face.

oooOOOooo

Laura stood in the kitchen, listening to her sons and their girlfriends talking, laughing, teasing and thoroughly enjoying each other's company. She had gotten up early before the boys were awake, and gone to her appointment to avoid any awkward questions from them. The technician had told her Dr. Tanninger put a rush on the results and she should be hearing from him that night or early the next morning, which she assumed was supposed to calm her fraying nerves. It didn't seem to be working.

Despite the warmth from the heat of the oven, she still felt chilled. Ever since she'd awakened that morning, she couldn't get the dream - the image of Joe's face - out of her mind. Grief stricken, he'd seemed on the verge of tears simply at the mention of her name. And the baby - the granddaughter who bore her name - she'd had Joe's electric blue eyes, a head full of white-blonde curls and a smile that could melt even the coldest heart.

Shaking off the haunting emotions, Laura looked up and did a double take, her eyes misting over. Vanessa was holding a wooden spoon covered with cookie dough, giggling, while Joe licked it off. The two teenagers then engaged in a somewhat lengthy kiss.

'Did I ever thank Vanessa? She's the one who gave Joe a reason to start living again. Does she even know what she did?'

"Oh, puhleeze!" Frank's voice cut into her thoughts. "It's too early in the day for that!"

Joe looked at his brother and raised his eyebrows, smiling wickedly. "It's never too early for that!" he replied, leaning over to kiss Vanessa again.

Laura felt a lump rise in her throat. How many more Christmases would she have with her sons? Were there only a limited number left, or would she someday be standing in this very same kitchen making cookies with her grandchildren?

"Mom?"

Laura looked up to see Frank, Joe and the girls staring at her warily.

"I'm sorry, honey, what did you say?"

"I need another cookie sheet," Frank repeated, the look on his face somewhere between bewildered and worried.

Laura reached behind her and grabbed one of the cookie sheets drying on the rack. Feeling four pair of eyes on her, Laura knew the teens sensed something wasn't quite right; she obviously hadn't been hiding her anxiety as well as she'd hoped. Turning back to the teens, she plastered a smile on her face.

"Here you go," she offered Frank the cookie sheet, then looked at Callie and Vanessa. "I'm so glad you're here," she said warmly. "Callie, other than when you were home for Thanksgiving, I haven't seen you since the summer."

"As much as I love school and living in the city, I do miss Bayport and everyone here," Callie confessed. "Even you," she winked at Joe. "And I really missed your decorating party this year, Mrs. Hardy."

Every year at Christmas, Laura and Fenton hosted a Christmas tree decorating party, mostly as an excuse for the boys to invite all their friends over for an afternoon of holiday fun. They all pitched in to decorate the huge tree in the living room and either hung out at the Hardys' the rest of the night or went out ice skating, sledding or Christmas caroling – which ever activity garnered the most votes.

"We missed you, too," Laura replied.

"Some more than others," Joe grinned, nudging his brother.

"We all missed you, Callie," Vanessa said poking her boyfriend in the side. "You know I forgot to tell you, Mrs. Hardy, I love the angel on the top of your tree. It's so beautiful!"

"Thank you, Vanessa," Laura beamed. "That angel is a Hardy family tradition. Gertrude and Fenton's parents put it on their tree every year. They passed it down to Gertrude…" Laura stopped, a fond, faraway look in her eyes. "Gertrude gave it to Fenton and I the first Christmas we were married," she said softly.

"It's the miracle angel," Joe added, somewhat reverently.

Vanessa stared at him for a moment, then shrugged good-naturedly. "Okay, I'll bite, why is it the miracle angel?"

"Because whenever you make a wish on it, miraculously, that wish comes true."

Vanessa looked at him skeptically for a moment. Hearing Frank snicker, she decided she was being had. "Okay, Frank, what's the real story behind the miracle angel."

"When we were kids, Aunt Gertrude told us it was a special angel. That if we made a wish and asked the angel to grant it, that wish would come true," Frank started to explain.

"And it works! Every time I've wished on that angel, it's come true!" Joe announced.

"Yeah, because you always wished for some present you'd put on your list to Santa! Mom and Dad got us pretty much everything on our lists, so your wishes were guaranteed to come true!" Frank teased, as the girls and Laura laughed.

"Well, yeah, you got me on that one," Joe joined in with a grin. "But it really is a miracle angel," he continued, his light-hearted tone having turned serious. "Remember that year you told us Dad wouldn't be home for Christmas?" Joe asked his mother.

Laura shivered involuntarily. She'd never forget that year. Fenton had been working on a very dangerous case for the U.S. government. He'd gone undercover and had been out of touch for almost a week. On Christmas Eve, two agents showed up on her doorstep telling her they believed Fenton's cover had been blown and he'd been killed. He'd missed a pre-arranged meeting with his contact and hadn't been heard from in days.

Devastated as she was, Laura decided not to tell her two sons Fenton was dead, only that he wouldn't be home in time for Christmas. She did not want to ruin the magical day for them, knowing from that point on they would automatically associate Christmas Eve with the day they found out their father was dead. When she told them they would be celebrating Christmas without Fenton, they were visibly disappointed but took it well. And when Fenton showed up, bruised and exhausted at three o'clock Christmas morning, she was eternally grateful that she had decided to keep the news of his 'death' to herself.

"Yes, I remember that year," Laura said softly.

"After those two men came to talk to you on Christmas Eve, you were so sad. I knew it had something to do with Dad. So after you went to bed that night I got up and came downstairs. I told the angel I didn't care about anything on my list, I didn't want any presents. I just wanted Dad to come home for Christmas…and he did," Joe explained, his face and voice reflecting the seriousness of his words. Clearly, he still believed that angel had granted his wish that night and given his family a miracle.

"You…what?" Laura gasped softly.

Joe shrugged, feeling everyone staring at him. "I asked the angel to bring Dad home. That was my wish. And it came true."

A silence engulfed the small group. Each was considering what Joe had said and coming to their own conclusions as to whether Fenton's arrival on Christmas was simply a coincidence…or a Christmas miracle.

oooOOOooo

Joe pulled the van to a stop in front of the Benders' farmhouse. Turning off the engine, he sighed happily. He couldn't have hoped for a better day. Frank's living on campus was somewhat of a rude awakening for Joe, forcing him to admit he'd taken his brother for granted over the years. He missed the time they spent together, with each other and their parents, doing mundane everyday things. Being able to spend the day with his family and girlfriend, just enjoying the feeling of being together, was the best Christmas present he could hope for.

"Penny for your thoughts," Vanessa said softly, snuggling a little closer to him.

"Just thinking what a nice time I had today," Joe smiled, pulling her close.

"Yeah, it was fun spending time with Frank and Callie again. I didn't realize how much I missed them." She looked at Joe for a moment, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. "That story you told us about the angel…is that really true?" She cocked her head to one side in a way Joe thought was absolutely adorable. The look on her face was skepticism mixed with hope. She wanted to believe…he could see it in her eyes.

"Yes, it's true. And that's not the only wish that angel granted me," Joe replied seriously.

"Oh?"

"One year Frank got really sick about a week before Christmas. Started out as a bad cold but he couldn't shake it. It just kept getting worse and worse. I heard Mom talking to the doctor on the phone. He wanted to admit Frank to the hospital the next day if he hadn't started to show some sign of improvement. That would've been Christmas Eve." Joe smiled, a faraway look on his face. "I remember making a beeline for the Christmas tree and looking up at that angel, wishing as hard as I could that Frank would get better so he wouldn't have to spend Christmas in the hospital."

"Did he?" Vanessa asked softly.

Joe's smile grew and he nodded slowly. "His fever broke that night. Mom, Dad, the doctor…they couldn't believe how much he'd improved by the next day."

"But you weren't surprised," Vanessa guessed.

"Nope," he replied confidently. "I knew he'd be fine. I didn't wish for a lot from that angel, but somehow I always knew, when it was really important, whatever I wished for would come true."

"When was the last time you wished on that angel?" Vanessa asked, wondering if these incidents were all distant childhood memories.

Joe looked out the window, an air of sadness descending around them. "Last year," he replied quietly. "It was the first Christmas after Iola died; the worst Christmas of my life. I hated myself, I hated the terrorists who killed her… I hated the whole world." He felt Vanessa gently take his hand, twining her fingers through his. "I felt lost. And alone. And I just wanted it to be over. I didn't care how…" Joe turned and stared into Vanessa's blue-gray eyes. "I couldn't take it anymore. So on Christmas Eve I asked that angel to end it for me one way or another. The loneliness and guilt and misery." Joe stopped and smiled then. He reached out and stroked Vanessa's cheek. "And a week later I met you. I know that angel sent you to me. You were my miracle."

The moonlight reflecting off the snow provided just enough light for Joe to see the tears trickling down Vanessa's cheeks. Gently brushing them away, Joe leaned down and kissed her. Immediately, Vanessa wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss with an intensity Joe had never felt before. As he lost himself in Vanessa's arms, he thanked the angel one more time for bringing her into his life.