Gracie's Christmas Wish

Chapter Four

The next Sunday, Gracie asked her daddy to go to church with them before he flew off to Japan again. He said he would and they went as a family. Gracie proudly sat with her daddy in church and he watched Charlotte serve as an acolyte again. She came down from the altar to give Gracie a hug and she hugged Aiden and Cecily too. Aiden was slightly embarrassed because he thought about his dream while he was hugging her. He kept the dream to himself.

He watched Charlotte intently and saw for the first time that she was a pretty lady with long brown curly hair and had beautiful green eyes. She was not beautiful but she was very pretty. After church, Aiden and Cecily sat with Charlotte and they had a lovely time talking at the Sunday School lunch. They talked and laughed together. Aiden had a really good time talking to her. He found her smart, charming and very funny. Charlotte went to teach her lesson and then after class, Gracie hugged her and then they went home. Aiden flew off to Japan after they got home.

The following week, Aiden was home and took Gracie to church. For some reason he didn't know, he looked forward to going. He knew it would make Gracie happy to be there too. He was disappointed because Charlotte wasn't there. They didn't really explain why. It was unusual because she was always there.

They went back the following week and Charlotte was there but she looked tired and sad. Gracie asked her what was wrong. "I had a bad couple of weeks Gracie. My friend, Mr. Stephens passed away from being sick. His heart gave out." Gracie gasped. "But as I like to say, It all works out alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end. It will get better." She said. "But I need a lot of hugs." She said and Gracie gave her the biggest hug.

Aiden overheard some of the other parents talking about Charlotte and what a shame it was she had lost her job. Her employer at the Stephens Law Firm passed away and the son who was supposed to take over, decided not to. Her office was closing suddenly. Aiden listened in more and heard how she was having a very hard time finding another job in this bad economy. Another person said that she heard that if she doesn't find something soon, Charlotte was going to have to move to Chicago and live with her brother and the kids would have to go to Nashville and live with their dad temporarily. Somehow the thought of Charlotte moving away upset him and he knew it would upset Gracie. He stepped outside and called his HR department head and asked if there were any openings in his FL legal department or any other clerical position. She said no and because the legislature was fighting them tooth and nail on the solar initiative, she didn't expect the company to expand as quickly as they wanted so there wouldn't be any new hires for a while. He was disappointed.

That night, Aiden listened to Gracie say her prayers and she prayed that God would help Ms. Morgan with her bad week and that she make Ms. Morgan smile again. She thanked God for her daddy and her grandma and for Mrs. Harrison and asked God to watch over her mommy in heaven and if possible to give her a mommy on earth, if he wanted to.

Aiden kept thinking of Charlotte and felt awful for her. He didn't want Gracie to lose her most precious friend and for some reason he didn't understand, he didn't want her to leave Florida either, especially knowing she'd be separated from her own kids. Deep down, he selfishly didn't want her to leave for himself as well.

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