Christmas Letter
Annabelle wasn't sure if she should take the four-year-old twins to see the Father Christmas at the church's Christmas party. She wasn't worried about how they would react when they saw him as much as what they would ask for.
They wanted Noah.
"You think it's really him?" Connor whispered to Murphy.
"He doesn't look like th'picture on th'wall," Murphy said as he pointed to the poster on the wall.
"Then why do we have t'talk t'him?"
"Dunno."
"Alright. It's yer turn," Annabelle said and the twins looked back at her. Sighing, the twins walked up to the man dressed as Father Christmas and the man smiled at them.
"Hello," the man said.
"Tell him yer names."
"I'm Connor. He's Murphy," Connor said while pointing to himself then Murphy.
"Ah. The MacManus twins," the man said.
"You know who we are?" Murphy asked.
"Of course. I know the names of all the children in this room."
Connor and Murphy looked at each other as they had a silent conversation and Annabelle lightly patted their shoulders.
"Go on. Tell him what you want fer Christmas," Annabelle said.
"We want our da," Connor said.
"Isn't he here?" the man asked.
"No," Murphy said with a shake of his head.
"Where is he?" the man asked.
"Dunno," Connor said with sadness in his eyes.
"We jus' want him t'come back," Murphy said and a few tears rolled down his face.
"Boys….," Annabelle said and they walked to her. She pulled them to her sides as they headed for the table where the Christmas cookies and juice was and she felt a cold ball of ice in her chest.
Christmas morning arrived and Annebelle looked at the small pile of presents around the artificial tree in the corner of the living room. She had saved up most of her paycheck just so the boys would have something to open on Christmas and Sibeal had bought a few things as well.
"Go on, Lads. Open yer presents," Annabelle said, but the twins just looked at the presents.
"Wanna see what's on telly?" Connor asked his twin and Murphy nodded. They went to sit in Noah's chair after Connor turned on the black and white television and Annabelle looked at Sibeal.
"I knew this would happen," she said with a sigh. She headed for the kitchen to start cooking dinner and Sibeal looked at the twins. He then felt like he had to look at the door to the apartment when something was slid under the door and he headed for the door. He picked up the envelope and his eyes widened.
"Annie," he said and she walked to him after she wiped her hands on the dish towel.
"What is that?" she asked.
"I have no idea. It was slid under the door."
"Give it to me," she said and she removed the envelope from his hands. He followed her to the kitchen when she headed for the stove and he frowned.
"What are you doin'?"
"I'm gonna burn it."
"What?!"
"We have no idea who sent it or why."
"An' you think burnin' it won't set off whatever's in there?"
"Then we'll take it t'the police."
"Th'police stations are closed."
"Then you take it."
"Wait. Didn't you notice th'handwritin'?"
"No. Why?"
"it's Noah's handwritin'."
"You don't know that fer sure."
"Aye. I do. He has a very distinct handwritin'."
"He couldn't've sent this. He's in prison. In America."
"You're right."
"There is no postmark. Are you sayin' he somehow broke outta prison, got on a boat, sailed all the way here an' jus' left this without a word?"
"Mama? What is that?" Connor asked as he and Murphy walked in the kitchen and they looked at the envelope.
"It's…."
She knew she shouldn't lie to them as she sighed and she looked at the envelope.
"It's a letter from yer da," Sibeal said and the twins' eyes widened.
"Da wrote us a letter?!" Murphy asked.
"What does it say!?" Connor asked.
"Hold on," Sibeal said and the twins went to sit at the kitchen table. Sibeal carefully opened the envelope as he removed the piece of folded paper and he looked at the handwriting. "It says 'Hello, Boys. Not sure if you remember me, but this is your da. I am sorry that I am not there right now. Something bad happened and I cannot come home. I hope you are being good for your ma and not getting in too much trouble. I cannot believe you are four now. It seemed like it was only yesterday that you were these tiny babies. I still remember how upset you two were when I took one of you from Ma. I never heard someone cry like that. It was Ma who figured out what was wrong and asked me to give the baby I was holding back to her. Once I did, you were fine. You will always be fine as long as you're together. Never forget that. Never forget that your ma loves you and so do I. I pray everyday for you to be safe. I also want you to know what happened to me has nothing to do with you. I just made mistakes. Mistakes which took me from you. All of you. Maybe we will see each other again. For now, enjoy your presents and have a Merry Christmas.'"
Connor and Murphy got up as they headed for the living room and Sibeal and Annabelle followed them. They watched the boys opening their presents and Sibeal saw the confused looked on Annabelle's face.
"Please tell me you sent that letter," Annabele whispered.
"No. I didn't," Sibeal said.
"Do you think that man at th'church wrote it?"
"How would he know how old the boys are?"
"He could have been one of th'priests at th'church. He said he knew th'names of all th'children."
"How did he know about what happened when Noah took Connor from you? The only person you told was me."
"I don't know."
"Why would he want the boys to be safe?"
"I don't know."
"Then let's call it a Christmas miracle an' leave it at that,' he said and she saw how happy the boys were, but she still felt uneasy. Sighing, she nodded and she went to finish making dinner.