Christmas Morning

It was 8:00am…. a cold, morning in December.

Snuggled up in her blanket, she turned over and discovered a huge teddy bear next to her.

Still half asleep, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

She then opens her eyes wide and surprisingly looks, saying “where did you come from??”

Without hesitation, she quickly, but quietly, jumps out of bed and sneaks downstairs.

With her teddy bear on her back, she came to a screeching halt,

As she discovered that the living room was completely filled with presents.

With eyes brighter than the sun itself, she raced towards the tree,

Asking herself, “hmmm… which presents belong to me?”

She places the bear next to her and sits there roaming….

Present after present….

“To Isabella, from Santa”

Her smile grew bigger and bigger. She then saw that there were presents for her mother, too.

“Here’s presents for mommy,” she thought to herself, “but where are daddy’s presents?”

“Why didn’t Santa leave anything for him?”

As she continued to wonder, she then began to hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

Her heart began to skip beats, as she was so nervous….

Her father, with a cup of coffee in hand, spotted the 7-year old standing by the fireplace.

“Well, someone’s up mighty early.” her father said with a warm smile.

“Looks like Santa was here, and he left quite a load of gifts for you, Isabella.”

She nodded her head in agreement, but her smile slowly turned into a frown.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I see presents for mommy, presents for me, and I even see presents for Poppy.”

“But I don’t see anything for you, daddy. Did Santa forget about you??”

With tears beginning to fall down Isabella’s face, her father puts his coffee down,

And picks up his daughter.

“I’m not sad about that at all, Isabella,” her father says in a calm voice.

“Why not, daddy? You deserve presents, too. You’ve been good all year like me, right?”

“I have been good,” he replied. “But you see, my present came many years ago,”

“Many years ago??” She asked.

“Yes,” he said. “The day you were born, that was when I received my present.”

“The day I married your mother, that was another present.”

“So you see, my presents didn’t come from Santa. They came from God.”

“You and your mother ARE my presents.”

Isabella began to cry. “Daddy, I love you so much!!!”

With a tear in his eye, he hugged his daughter tight.

“I love you too, Isabella.”

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