Hi, it's me, William Bates. My Granddad is helping me write this, because I don't always get the words right. You'll be seeing me here sometimes. Mummy and Daddy are really busy right now and they said it would be okay as long as I wrote it on another piece of paper and gave it to them to read first. So this is number one, by William Bates.

I asked Granddad if he wanted to say anything too. He says he doesn't.

They said I should write about things that happen, and this happened. Daddy hung a kissing berry flower from the light in the upstairs hallway last night. I asked him what that was for and he said it was for catching pretty girls under it and getting a kiss from them. I said, 'Like Mummy?' and he said, 'Exactly like your Mummy?'

I think it's silly, but it works, cause I heard Mummy laughing last night and wanted to see what was going on. I got out of bed and peeked out my door and I saw Mummy kissing Daddy. I don't know why he needs his kissing berries to kiss her. They do it all the time anyway.

It's Christmas Eve and I'm going to be a shepherd tonight at the church. Granddad is going too. Mummy made me a shepherd robe and blanket for my head and Daddy gave me his old cane for a staff. I look like a real shepherd in it. Oh, Fee is going to be baby Jesus. I told her she wasn't allowed to cry. That's all I have to say. Good-bye.

Happy Christmas! The End ~ William Bates.

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Christmas Eve, 1927

Little Shepherd Boy

'Twas the night before Christmas and John Bates was attempting to adjust William's shepherd's headdress and robes. The boy was beside himself, so excited he just couldn't stand still, bouncing on one leg and then the other.

'Do you need to go pee, son?' John asked.

'Uh-uh, Daddy?'

"Then please, stand still, or we will never meet your mother at the church on time,' John said, the shepard's headdress slipping off Will's head as he shook it side to side, causing it to fall to the floor.

'Do I have to wear that thing, Daddy? It itches.' Will complained.

'If you want to be a shepherd, yes, you do. You can stand it for a little while,' John told him, re-settling the headdress back on his head.

Eamon Bates, from his seat on the sofa, looked on in awe at the patience his son was exhibiting. It was clear that John had a calling to be a father. For himself, he was just thrilled to be allowed to be a witness to it.

Anna and Fee were already at the church, Fee being assigned the part of baby Jesus in this year's nativity. They had drawn straws as to which twin got the role. Fee won. It was John's job to get shepard, Will, and spectator, Finn, across the street to the church within the next fifteen minutes.

'There! All set... I think.' John looked around at his father, still amazed he was here, that this was happening, but it was. Best to just accept it. 'There, let's go. Don't forget your stick, son.' He stood up, pulled on his gloves, took Will's hand and headed for the front door.

'It's a staff, Daddy!'

'Uh, John… Anna will be upset if we forget little Finola… Don't you think?' Eamon stopped his son in his tracks.

"Right…' John sighed and threw his head back, 'Finn, how could I forget Finn?' And she needed her nappy changed yet. John glanced from his smiling daughter sitting in her basket, to Will and then to his father.

'Here, let me take the boy across the street and find Anna. You tend to Finola and meet us there,' Eamon offered.

'Yes...yes, that will work,' John said as he rushed to change the baby girl. 'And, thank you.'

Will grabbed the older man's hand, 'C'mon, Granddad! Let's go. I'm gonna be a shepherd, remember?'

'I'm coming, lad. I only have one leg, you remember?' The old man grabbed Will with one hand and his stick with the other and hurried out the front door and across the street to the church.

John chuckled as he picked Finn up and put her on the sofa to change her. 'I can't believe I almost forgot you, baby girl. Shhh…' he said, putting an index finger to his lips. 'Don't tell Mummy.'

The little girl kicked her chubby legs and laughed at her daddy.

xxxxx

'Hold tight, William. Don't let her run away.' An old man, known as the sheep man, told the boy as he handed him a piece of rope to hold. At the end there was a small sheep looking rather upset with the situation she found herself in. 'Her name is Lily and she's only a young one. She won't give you much trouble, hm? If you think you can't handle her, I'm right there…' the man pointed out off to the side. 'You call me. I'll come running.'

William nodded obediently, sharing a look with Lily and hoping that the little wooly animal wouldn't give him any trouble. He was good with dogs and cats, even fish and birds, but sheep? Sheep were a whole other business.

The boy lifted his head up to spot his proud parents and his granddad among the villagers. They were smiling back at him and his mother dared a quick wave, her expression a reassuring one. 'You will be the sweetest of shepherds. And you will behave properly as you promised.' He remembered her words now as the headpiece he reluctantly wore began to itch. At least Lily was now lying down and as still as a statue. That was a relief.

Fee was Jesus and sleeping peacefully in the manger, wrapped snugly in her swaddling clothes atop of a hot water bottle, as comfy as she could be. William on the other hand, was a bit confused. How could a girl be baby Jesus? His blasted headdress was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute. He stuck a finger up underneath it trying to scratch causing it to shift just a bit.

His eyes drifted toward the crowd again. Mum and Dad were talking with some friends. More people were coming by. George and Sybil Crawley were Joseph and Mary. The baby sheep stood up looking around as if in search of something. The sheep man was nowhere in sight. 'Oh no!' thought Will. Shepherding was becoming less and less fun.

'Lily…' the boy whispered, pulling the rope ever so slightly. 'Stay, girl. Sit.' But Lily didn't play by dog rules. She was more interested in the hay that was under the manger where his sister, baby Jesus slept. That's when Lily began to baa loudly and started pulling on the rope William was holding.

'No! Lilly!' the poor boy pleaded. His headdress slipping to the side with every movement he made to try to prevent the sheep from getting to the hay. But the little animal was strong, and William wondered how such a young sheep could pull so hard...maybe, he thought, it was just a shrunken old sheep and the sheep man had tricked him. And that's when he had to use all his strength to stop her. His arms were just too weak, his legs not stable enough, the hairpins his dad had used to anchor the headdress in place were now pulling hard at his hair.

The baa's could be heard by the crowd, now silent, watching what was unfolding before them. The other children in the nativity were wide eyed and scared. Lily seemed possessed trying to get to the manger where Fee was just now waking up. Baby Jesus began to cry. William was sweating, thinking that if he let go off the rope the sheep would run to the manger and hurt his little sister...he looked at the crowd again and saw his parents, and the tears that he had tried so hard to hold back began to slide down his cheeks.

'It's all right, it's all right,' the sheep man took the rope from his hands the second after, pulling Lily to him. 'Come here, girl...I have food for you here,' he said, taking a handful of hay out of his pocket. 'Here girl, here…' and Lily went willingly, wagging her tail as happily as any dog.

'Will, are you all right, my love?' Anna cried, after having to walk by the crowd of people that had gathered to see the scene.

'Mummy…' William sobbed into her shoulder, as she kneeled down to welcome him in a tight hug. 'I don't want to be no shepherd anymore.'

'Darling, the sheep is gone now, and everything is fine.' Anna tried to calm her son down.

'My headdress is pulling my hair and it's bloody itchy as hell,' the boy cried louder now, everyone hearing his pleas.

'William,' Anna whispered in a scolding manner. 'Don't say those words in public.'

'Where's my daddy?' the boy pouted again.

'I'm here, son.' John announced from behind Anna.

'Take me home, Daddy, please.' Will begged.

'All right, darling, come here.' The boy stretched out his arms asking to be carried and John lifted him into his arms.

'You stay here and see to Fee, love,' John told Anna. 'I left Finn with my father.'

'All right,' Anna nodded, patting Will on the back. 'Take him home. We won't be long now.'

John walked away then, everyone smiling at the boy with reassuring eyes, telling him he did very well, it wasn't his fault. But William wouldn't have it, not even when his granddad told him so.

'Take the lad home, son. I'll stay to help Anna with the babies,' Eamon said, running a hand along Will's back as the boy held his father's neck as tight as he could.

'Thank you...much appreciated,' John replied, the old man's offer surprisingly warming his heart. 'I'm going now.'

'I don't want to be a shepherd ever again!' William's voice was muffled on John's shoulder.

'All right, if you don't want to you don't have to, but let me say this, you were very brave for stopping that sheep from running to the manger,' John told the boy, proudly.

'I didn't want her to knock Fee over...and the sheep man wasn't there. He said he'd be right there,' the boy explained. 'And the stupid headdress was too itchy.'

'You are a good brother, my boy. The best. When Fee is old enough to understand we will tell her about the day you saved her from a mad, hungry sheep.'

His father's words made Will laugh, even though he had tried so hard not to at first. Soon enough they were home, making hot chocolate in the kitchen, waiting for the others to arrive. So even though the Nativity had been rather terrifying for young William, it would turn into a great day in the end. A day William would never forget.

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Happy Christmas Eve from Handy & Terrie :)