Amelia and George sat down to play a game of chess.
“Now, this time you can’t give all the chess pieces backstories,” George said. “You have to play bravely, and face losing.”
“Really?” Amelia sighed. “I’d rather tell you the long and heartrending story of how my pawns grew up together in an orphanage and became like a family.”
“Not fair, Amelia!” George said. “Now stop that. Let’s just play. Like men.”
“Like men?” Amelia raised one eyebrow, and if George had been married longer, he would have seen the danger in that raised eyebrow. But alas, he was only a newly married frog.
Amelia won that game. One by one, she took George’s pawns, his knights, his castles, his bishops… She took his queen then, and boxed him into a corner.
George tipped over his king in defeat.
“Now, give me back those pawns you took,” she said. “I hate to separate a family.”
“Good game,” George murmured, then he shot her a charming smile. “Tell me about your orphan pawns, Amelia. We must hear the story of those formidable foot soldiers!”
George and Amelia had decided to have a very thrifty Christmas that year. They’d just bought a new car, and George worked in finance, so he was very concerned about things like amortization and interest compounding. That boiled down to a very thrifty Christmas, indeed.
So Amelia decided to knit George something. What better gift that one she made herself?
So in every break when George was at work, she knitted and knitted and knitted…
Her first thought had been to knit him socks, but she wasn’t as good at making socks, and she was afraid that she’d only finish one and that would make for a very awkward Christmas because sweet George would wear that one sock, and his other foot would be cold.
So she decided upon a scarf. A beautiful red scarf! Made with much love.
It was a Far Too Warm December in Alberta, Canada, but that didn’t dampen George’s Christmas spirit in the least. On his way home from work one night, he stopped by the grocery store and bought one of the real Christmas trees they had for sale.
He couldn’t wait to surprise Amelia with it! She’d been talking about skipping a tree that year because of the expense, but George would never let that happen. It was their very first Christmas, after all, and Amelia would have a tree.
And with any luck, the weather outside would be frightful soon and they’d get a white Christmas, after all.
Amelia was going to be thrilled!
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season with the twinkling lights, the time with family, the warm blankets on a cold night… And I hope you’re getting some time to read some good books, too! If you haven’t checked out my books recently, why not take a peek? You might find your next read!
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Happy reading!
❤
Patricia Johns 
Your comments make me feel warm and fuzzy. Seriously!