Noelle

  Todd looked at Keenan and Emily sitting on the floor next to him. However hard it had been, three years of struggling to train a dog who everyone said was untrainable, it was about to pay off. He said, “Yes, Keenan. Anna Claus thought it would be a great gift for your daddy, just as you and Emily asked for. She told us to bring Noelle to your family for Christmas. Would you like that?”

  Keenan was astonished. “We get to keep Anna Claus’s dog?”

  “Yes. That’s right,” Todd said.

  “Daddy?” Emily asked.

  “Yes, munchkin.”

  “Does that mean Noelle is part of our family now?”

  Link beamed with gratitude. For once something was pulling their family together and not dashing it apart. “You bet she is. Todd trained her just for us. Your mommy and I can share her—she can always be with our family no matter which house you’re at.” Then Link set her down and said to Todd, “I hope you’ll thank Anna Claus for us.”

  Noelle scooted across the floor and put her cold nose on Keenan’s stomach. Keenan giggled. He looked up and asked Mary Ann, “Why is she doing that?”

  Mary Ann leaned down from the sofa where she was sitting and ran her hand through his hair. She smiled and remembered another little boy from so many years ago. He had grown into such a fine man. “I’d guess that’s how Todd taught Noelle to say Merry Christmas to the children she loves.”

  Keenan wrapped his arms around Noelle. He looked at the dog with her soft brown eyes and buried his face in her fur. She made him feel secure. He liked this cabin, too. It felt like how a home should feel. Not anything like Sam’s apartment. Plus, it was good to be with his dad. Much better than expected.

  Todd didn’t know how he could just walk out on Elle like this. Still, his job was done. Now it was Noelle’s turn. It was a tall order—keeping a family together, turning a house into a home, helping children to always feel loved—but he knew that Elle was up to the job. For the first time amid the excitement, a bit of fear ran through Todd. He was going to be a dad. His assignment would be no different from little Elle’s job. Keeping a family together. If she could do it, he could, too.

  He got to his feet. It was time to leave. “Come on, Christmas,” he said. “We’ve got to get home so we can see what Santa and Anna Claus brought us.” He turned and winked at his father. “I hear they brought Mom something special. You know how much she likes surprises.”

  George took the leash from Todd and gave Christmas a little tug. They said their good-byes to the Robinsons and let themselves out, closing the cabin door. As they started down the steps of the front porch, he turned back to Todd. “Speaking of surprises, should I tell her?”

  Todd said, “No, you better not. This time I’ll tell her.”

  “What now?” Mary Ann asked.

  Todd took his mother’s arm and helped her down the wooden steps that were still frosty and slippery. When she cleared the last one and stood on firm ground, he asked her, “Mom, did you know that twins are very common in Laura’s family?”