Chapter 6
Krystal preferred utilitarian clothing that rarely netted her any compliments, but not for Sunday mass this week. If all dresses were as comfortable as the one Mrs. Flannery made her, she might wear them more often. It had pockets. Not tiny things that barely held a tissue, not awkwardly placed annoyances, and not semi-useless back pockets that ended up with a hole in the bottom, so things fell out. Actual pockets that were just a bit bigger than her hands, sewn into the side seams of the dress so they were easy to reach, with some kind of odd seam that wouldn’t rip out easily. In short, genuinely useful pockets.
The dress itself was soft, warm, comforting dark green flannel, with a coordinating jacket. It reached the middle of her calves, keeping her legs warmer than any short up-time skirt could. It had short, cuffed sleeves and was loose enough to not need a zipper or buttons. Twisting around to try to reach a zipper in the back was such a pain! Combined with the long-sleeved bolero jacket, easily worn under a warmer coat, the outfit would be comfortable almost all year, depending on how Krystal wore it. She also didn’t have the constant problem of her shirt coming untucked and the simple wrap belt kept cold air from shooting up her back. All in all, her new dress was much more comfortable than she ever expected from church clothes. But still, with all the snow and cold, Krystal opted to follow the current style and skip the church shoes, instead wearing her boots and jeans under the dress for warmth. Being generally oblivious to fashion, she was surprised by the compliments she received on her new dress.
At the end of the service, Krystal went to find Mrs. Flannery. She looked quite pleased to see Krystal wearing the dress, and even more pleased to overhear the compliments Krystal received as she walked toward her. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Flannery. I’ve never liked dresses, but this one feels wonderful, and has real pockets to boot! It’s a lot more practical than I expected.”
She snorted. “Young lady, women didn’t wear dresses for millennia without making sure they were practical! But I can understand how, if you are judging them by the standard of some mall-store, low-end piece of sweatshop garbage, you might think that. When women still made their own clothing, they decided how big their pockets needed to be and make the whole outfit fit their body instead of making-due with some ill-fitting… Never mind. I’m glad you appreciate it. I look forward to seeing you wear that dress many more Sundays.” With that, Mrs. Flannery nodded and walked away.
When they got home, Krystal asked Sam to take a picture of her in the new dress for her parents, jeans and all.
* * *
As the Christmas Eve carolers from St. Mary’s started progressing from their street to the next one, Anna Maria pulled her husband aside. “Heinrich, it would be a kindness for you to stay with Frau and Herr Reed, so they don’t get sick in the cold. Perhaps have some hot Glühwein waiting for us when we get home? We will call when we leave the Parish Hall to come home.” With a kiss, she ran off to catch up to the other carolers.
Grandpa Eli gave Heinrich a conspiratorial grin as they walked up the sidewalk. “When I was a boy, the children’s choir director sat me down and looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Eli, there are a lot of ways to serve the Lord. Singing in the choir is not the best way for you to serve the Lord.’ Since that day, I have sung quietly when I’m not alone in the shower or the car. Looks like someone may think similarly of your singing.”
Heinrich grinned back ruefully. “I may have heard something like this a time or two before I learned to sing not so loud. My good wife married me even after she heard me sing, so I knew right away that she was a tolerant woman with a good sense of humor!” With a shrug of his shoulders, “But I do not mind missing caroling and staying in the warm house to make Glühwein with my American friends!”
Sam, Krystal, Agatha, Gisela, Dietrich, and Anna Maria were all laughing and smiling as they stomped the snow off their boots on the front porch. As soon as they peeled off their layers inside the house, they were handed steaming mugs of Glühwein to warm them from the inside out. It smelled like Christmas.
The German tradition was to open presents on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. Since Christmas Eve was a busy day with caroling, mass, baking, and all kinds of activities, the Schulte family agreed to only open one gift on Christmas Eve. In truth, they weren’t sure why the Americans thought opening gifts would take so long. Sam and Krystal were the last to open their gifts on Christmas Eve. Krystal had a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Sam had a manga comic book.
Grannie B spoke softly, “Sophia bought you other things, but these were your most special presents. Grandpa Eli and I decided to do what Sam suggested and keep the others for other years so you can still have a little bit of them with you at Christmas.” Krystal looked up sharply at that, brows starting to knit together. Grannie B sighed. “If they don’t come back, child. If they do come back, they can give them to you all at once themselves. If you decide you want them all, you can open them any time you want. But for now, this is what we thought was best.”
At bedtime, Grannie B heard Krystal crying herself to sleep. Perhaps she was starting to see that her parents really weren’t coming back.
One could hope.
The next morning, Grannie B and Grandpa Eli woke up in their old bedroom, like they had for nearly fifty years. Aiming to be the first to get up, they went downstairs as quietly as they could to make a Christmas surprise for everyone. “You heat up the water, Eli, while I get out the mugs and measure out the mix. We can each have a mug while we wait, to make sure it’s still good, of course, if you don’t wake everyone up galumphing about.” That last was said with a bit of a twinkle in her voice.
As they turned the corner from the steps into the kitchen, Krystal looked up from her mug of herbal tea and gave them a questioning look. “And just what is it you are trying to hide from the rest of us?”
Grannie B grinned. “Swiss Miss!! With mini marshmallows, no less. We found a container packed in with the ornaments. We want it to be a Christmas surprise for everyone. But there’s plenty for us to have a mug before everyone else comes down.” Before Grannie B finished, Krystal was putting the kettle on to boil and pulling out mugs. Unfortunately for their plan, the kettle’s whistle woke everyone up. It sounded like cattle thumping around upstairs and down the steps into the kitchen, where they made everyone wait until they were all gathered together to see what was under the tree.
Once everyone had their hot chocolate, Grannie B, Grandpa Eli, Heinrich, and Anna Maria went in to sit near the Christmas tree. Expecting only the one gift they had opened the day before, Heinrich and Anna Maria’s kids (Agatha, Gisela, and Dietrich) were amazed to find more gifts under the tree. For Krystal and Sam, the small number of presents they each had was a stark reminder that their loving parents, home, and friends were all left up-time. (Sam’s father was down-time, but he wasn’t a loving parent.)
After the presents under the tree were opened, Grannie B and Grandpa Eli each pulled out one more. “Krystal and Sam, we know most of your clothing and all your stuff was left up-time.” They handed each one a gift. “With a little help from Heinrich and Anna Maria, we found these in the attic for you.”
Krystal gasped in surprise. Grannie B had been wearing her Scotty dog scarf for at least fifty years. “I can’t take it, Grannie B. It’s your favorite! Everything will go back to normal soon and I’ll have my own things again.”
“No matter what you think, we don’t know when or if things will go back the way they were.” Grannie B’s response was firm. “Even if they do, I’m quite happy to stay inside my nice warm assisted living facility. I don’t need it anymore. You most decidedly do.”
Now it was Grandpa Eli’s turn to give Sam a gift. His box was a whole lot bigger. When Sam started to rip into the wrapping paper, everyone shouted at him to make him slow down and remove it carefully, so it could be reused. When Sam finally opened the box, he held up a motorcycle jacket, clearly confused.
“Believe it or not, Grannie B and I had a lot of fun back in the day. I had a motorcycle when I met her, mostly because I could afford it and also because, well, never mind the other reason. But Grannie B liked it almost as much as I did, never mind what she tells you.”
“Back up a minute, Gramps. You rode a motorcycle? Why didn’t we ever hear about it? And where is it now?”
Grannie B butted in, afraid this was headed toward Sam wanting a motorcycle. “Yes, he rode one of those pestiferous machines, until he had an accident and totaled it. He still has a limp when the weather changes from that infernal machine. Most of it went to the junkyard, and some of it went to his friends who didn’t have wives to reign in their crazy streak.”
“She’s not entirely wrong, just mostly wrong. She had as much fun on it as I did, but wreck it I did, and broke my leg pretty badly in the process. Since we had kids by then, there was no way I could afford to repair or replace it once the frame was bent. It was wrecked. So, crazy streak or no crazy streak, I had to let it go. But I kept the jacket until now, and I’ve made sure to take care of the leather, so it isn’t dried out. Now it’s your turn to take care of it, kiddo. Take care of it—and wear it. You never know, maybe someday the National Guard will give you a motorcycle to ride!” He was old, but not stupid. Grandpa Eli moved out of range before Grannie B could whack him with her purse for suggesting Sam ride a motorcycle. Even if it was a lot of fun.
And of course, Krystal took a few pictures for her parents.