The House on Hope Street - By Danielle Steel Page 0,5

and would never be. He was such a handsome child that people always noticed him, and then were confused by the simplicity with which he spoke, and the directness. Sometimes, it took them a while to figure out that he was different, and when they did, they were sorry for him, which annoyed his parents and his siblings. Whenever people told her they were sorry, Liz said simply, “Don't be. He's a terrific kid, he has a heart bigger than the world, and everybody loves him.” Besides, he was almost always happy, which was a comfort to her.

“You forgot the chocolate chips,” Jamie said sensibly, chocolate chip cookies were his favorite, and she always made them for him.

“I thought we'd make plain ones for Christmas, with red and green sprinkles on them. How does that sound to you?”

He thought about it for a fraction of an instant, and then nodded his approval. “That sounds pretty. Can I do the sprinkles?”

“Sure.” She handed him the sheet of cookies in the shape of Christmas trees, and the shaker with the red sprinkles, and he went to work on it, until he was satisfied, and she handed him the next sheet. They worked together as a team until they were through, and she put all the trays in the oven. But by then she could see that Jamie was looking worried. “What's up?” It was obvious that he was upset about something. And once he got an idea in his head, it was hard for him to let go of it.

“What if he doesn't bring it?”

“Who?” They spoke to each other in a kind of shorthand, that was familiar to both of them and easy for them.

“Santa,” Jamie said, looking sadly at his mother.

“You mean the bike?” He nodded. “Why wouldn't he bring it? You've been a very good boy this year, sweetheart. I'll bet he brings it.” She didn't want to spoil the surprise for him, but wanted at the same time to reassure him.

“Maybe he thinks I won't know how to ride it.”

“Santa's smarter than that. Of course you can learn to ride it. Besides, you told him Peter would help you.”

“You think he believed me?”

“I'm sure of it. Why don't you go play for a while, or see what Carole's doing, and I'll call you when the cookies are done. You can have the first ones.” He smiled at the thought, and forgot about Santa again, as he went upstairs to find Carole. He loved having her read to him. He still hadn't learned to read.

Liz went to a closet and took some presents out that she'd hidden there, and put them under the tree, and when the cookies were ready to come out of the oven, she called him. But he was happy with Carole by then and didn't want to come back to the kitchen. She put the cookies on platters and set them out on the kitchen table, and then went upstairs to wrap the set of leatherbound Chaucer she had bought Jack. The other things she'd bought for Jack had been wrapped for weeks, but she had just found these recently, while browsing through a bookstore.

The rest of the afternoon flew by, and Peter came home just before Jack did. Peter looked happy and excited, and gobbled up a handful of the cookies his mother had made, and then asked if he could go back to Jessica's again right after dinner.

“Why doesn't she come here for a change?” Liz asked plaintively. They never saw him anymore, he was either at sports, at school, or at his girlfriend's. Ever since he'd gotten his driver's license, she felt as though he only slept there.

“Her parents won't let her go out tonight. It's Christmas Eve.”

“It's Christmas Eve here too,” she reminded him, as Jamie wandered back into the kitchen, and helped himself to a cookie, with an adoring look at his older brother. Peter was Jamie's hero.

“It's not Christmas Eve at Timmie's house. He's Jewish,” Jamie said matter-of-factly, as Peter rumpled his hair, and ate another handful of cookies. “I made them,” Jamie said, pointing at the cookies disappearing into his brother's mouth.

“Delicious,” Peter said with his mouth full, and then turned back to his mother. “She can't go out tonight, Mom. Why can't I go there? It's boring here.”

“Thank you. You need to stick around to do things here,” she said firmly.

“You have to help me leave the cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer,” Jamie said