Merry Little Christmas

12. A Job

December 17th, 1961

Everything was going well. Weekends was her break, and even when she knows she should at least fit in some extra work time to earn some more money, she didn't come. It was hard, and she didn't know that spending so much time away from her family was a hard thing to do.

It was Friday. And tomorrow would be a day off. And then the day after that. She liked keeping track of the days now that she had a job, she found it more efficient. 

In the bakery, her job was to bake. She liked to follow the instructions off the cookbook she had been given to be able to make the treats on display. The one she wasn't allowed to go near. Now she could. She smiled at that thought, as she continued to knead the dough with her hands. 

She loved everything about it. She loved the part when she listened to the crackling of the oven, to the part when she sprinkles the right amount of sugar onto the tapestry. But what she loved most is that she could help herself inside the pantry and the new cookies she made. And every night the leftover cookies were brought to Niall, and to have the cookies all to themselves. 

Each and every treat had been sprinkled with love from her heart. She watched as the customers inside the bakery lick their lips, and smiled after each bite. She watched as more and more customers were in line, begging for her tapestries. And it was all because of her. 

"Can I please have the new cookie on the menu?" A lady asked her, as she warmly smiled. She was a woman with an ornate style. 

"Of course! That would be $12.99 ma'am. The woman nodded, reaching into her wallet, handing a fifty dollar bill to her. "Keep the change." She smiled, putting her purse away. "It's for you. Merry Christmas."

"For me?" Isabella laughed, putting the extra money inside her pocket. "Thank you, my family would appreciate this." She grabbed a pecan bar and handed it to the nice lady. "Merry Christmas." 

She walked away, waving at her. Isabella waved back, then continued her work in the bakery. 

 ❆ 

"How was work today?" Niall asked, grabbing the cookies from his sister's hands. Isabella laughed. 

"It was great!" She exclaimed, jumping in the air. Niall opened the bag to reveal the cookies. He grabbed one from out of its container, taking a mouthful of the treat. 

"Mmmmm," He smiled, with chocolate smeared all over around his mouth. 

Mama and papa laughed. "Slow down, Niall! You might choke!" Papa took two cookies from the bag, giving one to mama. "Yum." He said between mouthfuls of the cookie. 

"It's delicious." Mama agreed. 

"Thank you." She blushed, sitting down onto the snow. "Guess what?" 

"What?" Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy replied in unison.

Isabella reached for the cash from inside her pocket. "It's money. A nice lady gave it to me for Christmas." She explained, giving the money to Mr. McCarthy.

Papa gasped. "What?" He said, shocked.

"That's amazing!" Mama replied. 

"This is going to help us a lot!" Papa said happily. He put the money inside the money cup, then put a blanket over it to hide it. 

"Did you say thank you?" Mama asked. 

"Yes, I said thank you." She said a matter-of-factly. 

She smiled. "That's good."

"Money!" Niall laughed. "Now can we go inside the big building?" Niall said. "Mr. Knight said he'll take us there one day."

"No, Niall. Remember? He's not coming anymore." Mama said, looking down to the ground. Isabella smiled, with a good idea.

"He said he wasn't coming because there's not enough people at the hotel." She grinned. "So we can be one of the customers! If we have the money!" 

Mama and papa's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea, Isabella! Let's see how much money we have though." Papa found cup embedded inside of the blanket and started to count the money inside. 

"One-hundred, one-ten," He mumbled to himself as he was finishing the last of the dollars and cents inside. 

Isabella and Niall watched in entertainment, their eyes wide with suspense. Just a couple dollars more to stay the night. They crossed their fingers. 

"one-hundred and twenty dollars," He said, putting the cash back inside. "How much for one night?" He asked. 

"a hundred fifteen." Niall said, smiling. "Can we go?"

Mama looked at papa with concern in her eyes. "What about the thing?" She whispered.

Papa nodded. "It's fine." He whispered. "Isabella's making money now. Plus its basically what she asked for." And mama nodded in agreement. 

"Let's go." Mama smiled, as she looked at the kids. 

"We're going?" Niall asked, his eyes wide. 

"Yup." Mama assured. "We're going."

Niall and Isabella jumped up in the air. "We're going to the big building!" Niall laughed, spinning as the white snow fell against them. 

"Look!" Isabella pointed. "It's snowing!" It was if the snow and the stars aligned just for them that night.  Like the snow had fallen ever so gently and gingerly onto their cracked skin just for them. Just for once to enjoy the snowfall like it was meant to do. 

"Beautiful." Mama said, reaching out for the snow. The light touch against her finger didn't bother her. It felt soft and cotton-like. 

Isabella danced, having no signs of stopping soon. Things were so bad, now it was time for good. And maybe, it might just stay like that forever now. The family continued to watch in amazement. Isabella got a new job. The family was going to a hotel. And in the atmosphere it was raining soft cotton.  

It was like nothing could be better. Nothing could go wrong. For now, it was good, and there were no signs of going downhill once more. And if there was still more of the downs in life the have yet to experience, the world could beat them up if it wanted to. At least they would be together.