The Advent Calendar

There was only one more little door to open – a special one added for Christmas Day

‘DAD, we’re making a Christmas calendar at school and I have to hide something in it behind every door.”

“What kind of things?” Kevin asked. “Special things,” smiled Grace. “The teacher said we can take in things that mean something special. They have to be things that make us happy, that we want to see each morning in the calendar. And they must be small things, Dad. No bigger than our thumb.”

“It sounds as if we’ve got quite a challenge on our hands,” Kevin said. “Should we ask Mommy to help?”

Grace wrinkled her nose and whispered to her dad: “I want it to be a surprise!”

WHEN school ended for the Christmas holidays, Grace’s mom, Susan, picked Grace up from school. She arrived with her backpack full. “What on earth have you got in here?” said Susan, surprised at the weight of the bag.

Inside were Grace’s Christmas cards from her friends and books from her teacher. Also nestled there, slightly squashed and looking a little worse for wear was a chunky handmade advent calendar.

The cardboard doors of the calendar from 1 December onwards were already open as the children had opened one door each day at school. But there were still a handful of doors closed, waiting to be opened at home in the countdown to Christmas.

“Could we hang it on the wall in the kitchen, Mom?” Grace asked.

“I think I know the perfect spot,” Susan replied. “But I’d love to have a look inside the doors before we hang it up. Dad’s told me so much about helping you with your calendar. I’ve been dying to take a peek.”

“Promise me you won’t open any new doors without me?” Grace said.

“I promise,” Susan said. “Come and sit with me on the couch and tell me all about what’s behind each open door. What did you hide inside Day 1?”

As Grace explained what was behind each open door of the calendar, Susan pulled her daughter gently towards her and kissed the top of her head.

There were pictures, cut from magazines, of guinea pigs and rabbits along with more traditional festive pictures. Behind one door Grace had glued a tiny little bell from their old cat’s collar which Kevin had found for her. Behind another door, Susan laughed out loud when she saw a picture of Justin Bieber that Grace had cut from a magazine.

“I don’t really know who he is,” Grace

explained. “But my friend Anna said she was putting a picture of him in her calendar and I wanted to put the same inside mine.”

Another door held a memento from their last holiday, a ticket from the train they’d travelled on at the seaside. Susan was surprised when she opened the next door and there was nothing behind it but an empty cardboard space.

“Oh, has something fallen out?” Susan asked her daughter. “No, I ate it,” said Grace. Susan raised her eyebrows. “We were allowed to put chocolates behind three of the doors,” Grace explained as Susan smiled.

Behind the next door was a drawing Grace had made of a Christmas tree with a bright star at the top. Next there was a picture Grace had drawn of herself with her mom. There were two happy, smiling faces. In another was a picture that Grace had drawn of herself with her dad. It was almost identical to the previous picture. A third picture that Grace had drawn showed her standing beside both Susan and Kevin who were smiling, holding hands.

“You look like a Christmas angel in this picture,” Susan said. “And what a gorgeous white dress you’ve drawn for me.”

Grace looked up at her mom and shook her head slowly.

“But I’m not an angel, Mommy. I’m a bridesmaid.” She pointed at the picture. “Look! That’s me in my bridesmaid dress and that’s you and Daddy getting married. I know you’ll get married one day because you’re both always saying you will. Grandma Jean says you’ve been saying it since before I was even born. And Nanna Marie says you’ve said it so many times that she won’t believe it until she sees it.”

Susan glanced over at Kevin who was trying not to laugh. It was true, thought Susan. They’d always said they’d marry one day, but they’d let life get in the way. She and Kevin had moved in together, then Grace came along and life over the years since had been looking after their daughter, working and running the house. Getting married hadn’t seemed as important as it once had.

THE countdown to Christmas Day was a flurry of activity, with shopping, visiting relatives and wrapping presents. On the afternoon of Christmas

Eve, Susan and Kevin were in the kitchen preparing for their Christmas Day feast. Susan loved cooking and Kevin loved baking and they let Grace help as much as they could.

“Shall we open today’s advent calendar, Grace?” Susan suggested.

Grace leapt from the chair and walked towards the calendar. She reached up and with both thumbs she pushed in the cardboard door to release it on the number 24. Inside was a picture she’d drawn. Susan and Kevin peered closely, unsure what it was.

“There’s only one more door to open now,” Grace glanced quickly at her dad. “The teacher at school said that most advent calendars only have 24 days. But I wanted mine to have 25.”

“I bet it’s a picture of Santa Claus inside or Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Am I right?” smiled Susan as she turned back to her task of preparing the veg. And as Susan was trying to work out if she would have enough sprouts or whether she needed to prepare more, she missed the secret smile, the look that passed between Grace and her dad.

CHRISTMAS morning came around too quickly for Susan and Kevin. “I think Santa’s been,” said Grace, sleepily, when she wandered into their bedroom and woke them before six in the morning.

“Go back to bed, sweetheart,” said Susan, without lifting her head from the pillow. “He hasn’t been yet.” At six-thirty, Grace was back. “Has he been yet?” “No, love. Go back to bed.” When Grace reappeared 10 minutes later, saying she was certain she’d heard a reindeer crying because she’d forgotten to put milk out for it the previous night, Susan finally admitted defeat and got up.

“I’ll put the kettle on, Kevin,” she said, pulling on her dressing gown and slippers and taking Grace’s hand. “Come on downstairs, Grace, and we’ll see what Santa Claus has left for us.”

“Can we do presents before breakfast?” Grace asked.

“Breakfast first, Grace, then presents,” Susan said, leading her daughter into the kitchen.

Kevin came stumbling into the kitchen after them, wearing his dressing gown and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Merry Christmas to my little angel,” he said, bending down to give Grace a kiss on the top of her head as she sat at the breakfast table. “And Merry Christmas to my big angel too,” he said, walking over to kiss Susan, who was busying herself with the teapot. “When can I open the advent calendar, Mommy?” Grace asked, in between mouthfuls of cereal and juice.

But it was Kevin who answered.

“I think Mommy should open it today, Grace, don’t you?”

Grace smiled. “Oh, I nearly forgot!” she whispered to her dad. “What are you two up to?” Susan laughed, eyeing them both suspiciously.

When Grace had finished breakfast, she jumped down from the table and stood beside the calendar. “Open it, Mommy, open it!” she cried. Kevin stood beside Grace as Susan pushed through the cardboard door of day 25.

It didn’t open as easily as some of the other doors had, Susan noticed, and there was some resistance when she tried to push the cardboard in. Finally the door gave way.

Inside there were none of Grace’s drawings, no magazine picture of Justin Bieber, no coloured pictures of shepherds or kings. When Susan saw what was hidden behind the Christmas Day door of the calendar she gasped.

“Daddy told me that it’s an engagement ring,” said Grace. “We put it in there yesterday. Daddy told me to leave day 25 empty because he had a special Christmas surprise, just for you.”

Susan took the ring from the calendar. It was a white gold ring with a diamond that was elegant and understated. It couldn’t have been more perfect if she’d chosen it herself. Kevin held Susan’s hands in his then gently took the ring from her.

Then, in his dressing gown and pyjamas, right there in the middle of their kitchen, Kevin knelt down on one knee and popped the question Susan never thought she’d hear – but one that Grace always knew she would.

‘I’ve been dying to take a peek inside the doors before we hang up your calendar,’ Susan said