The Greens of Jericho

    Dale stood up and cleared his throat. Slowly, the people around the room grew silent and looked up at him.

    “Since our little get-together's winding down, I just wanted to thank you guys for coming, and for a really great year. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I'll see you the day after tomorrow. Be careful out there, and have a great night!” he said.

    Several people called out “Thanks, Dale!” and some clapped. He tried to look modest, but grinned.

    He went around the room, wishing several people a happy holiday, and then he stepped over to the bar, where Mary Bailey was seated.

    “We should be cleared out of here soon. A couple of the guys offered to help clean up. Do you mind if I head out before they're done?” he asked.

    “Yeah, that's fine,” she said.

    “And I just wanted to thank you again. It was so much better having the dinner in here instead of the store. I hope it didn't inconvenience you too much.”

    “Well, you're welcome,” she said. “And I don't mind. I'm not even doing anything here. If I was over at the house, I'm sure they'd put me to work.”

    He chuckled. “Have a good dinner yourself. Say 'hi' to everyone for me.”

    “Are we going to see you at the Richmonds’?” she asked.

    “Yeah. I'm going over now, actually. I promised I'd help set up this year.”

    “I'll see you later, then,” she said.

    He waved, and after saying goodbye to his employees, he walked out the front door and into the street.
       
    He waved to a few people as he walked along the street, and stopped to talk with the Taylors, who were taking a walk through the snow. When he reached the store, Bonnie was already waiting out front with the truck. 
       
    “I'll get the stuff!” he said. He dashed into the store, and came out again with a cardboard box. They rode along quietly, as Bonnie had to focus on driving through the snow.
     
    When they reached the farmhouse, he could see Stanley outside, shoveling a pathway to the house.
   
    “Stanley. Merry Christmas!” said Dale, coming up to shake his hand. “Working hard, I see.”
     
    “I've been told by Eric that if his sister-in-law slips on the ice, he'll sue me,” said Stanley.
     
    Dylan Morgan came to the door. “Dale! Glad you could come.” He came to shake Dale's hand too. “I've been sent out here to help you, Stanley,” he announced.
   
    Dale and Bonnie went past them and inside the house. “Looks like Stanley likes him,” Dale said.
   
    “Stanley loves him,” she said. “He thinks he's an improvement on Sean.”

    They reached the living room. The couches and chairs had been pushed aside, leaving a big space in the centre. Dale placed his box in the middle of the floor and they opened it. It was full of decorations that had been hanging in his store for the past week.
     
    “Any particular way you want to do this?” he asked.

    “No, let's go crazy,” she said. They started to string the garlands around the room. He could hear Mimi in the next room, humming a Christmas carol, punctuated by expletives every now and then.

    “Is everything okay in there?” Dale asked Bonnie, looking towards the kitchen.

    “Yeah, she just gets like that when she's trying to cook,” said Bonnie.
         
    Dale recognized a familiar smell in the air. His favourite Yuletide drink. He groaned.
       
    He lost track of the time as they hung up the various festive decorations he'd found in the back room several years ago. He had kept them in the same box, labeled “Holidays” in Gracie's writing, ever since.
     
    Dylan came in with extra firewood, and admired their decorating. They heard crying a minute later, and Dylan tapped Bonnie lightly on the arm. “Your nephew's awake,” he said. “Do you want me to get him?”

    Bonnie shook her head and disappeared, appearing a few minutes later with a dark haired baby in her arms. She swung him up in the air so he could see the shining decorations.

    Mimi came into the room soon after. “Oh, thanks Bonnie,” she said and signed. She looked a little worn out.

    “The eggnog smells good,” said Dale, with the most convincing look of anticipation he could muster.
       
    “Thanks, Dale!” she said with an overly grateful expression.
       
    Meanwhile, they could hear voices coming from outside. Stanley was coming through the door, swinging a little boy in his arms. The boy was shrieking with laughter. Eric and Mary followed, carrying presents in their arms.

    “Johnny's old clothes, and some presents from our place,” Eric said, holding up a bundle. Mimi came and accepted it, giving hugs to everyone who didn't have their arms full. Dale came forward too, to shake hands with Eric and greet Mary again, though he'd seen her a few hours earlier.

    Next, Heather and Gail stepped through the door, smiling at the brightly decorated room.

    “Heather, you look...” Dale started.

    “Enormous?” she asked.

    “Uh, I was going to say beautiful, but what you said is true too,” he said, and she laughed.

    “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Green,” he said, turning to Gail and giving her a hug.

    “Merry Christmas, Dale,” she said.

    “Where's Jake?” he asked, looking around.

    “Putting away the horses,” she answered. “Now, let me see that beautiful boy,” she said, reaching for the baby in Bonnie's arms.

    Stanley had put down the other little boy, who ran up to Dale. “Hi Dale!” he shouted.
     
    “Hi Johnny. Was Santa good to you?”
     
    “He brought me candy. And a bubble wand,” said Johnny.

    “Awesome!” said Dale, as Eric flashed him a grateful smile.

    Jake came in, brushing snow off of his clothes. “Who threw a snowball at me when I was taking the blankets out of the sleigh? I know it was one of you guys.”

    “I didn't see anything,” said Gail with a sly smile. “Me neither,” said Heather, though both women glanced quickly at Eric.

    “Dale. Good to see you,” said Jake, giving him a handshake and a hug. He went on to hug Mimi and Bonnie. Slowly, everyone migrated over to the couches and chairs.

    Stanley took his son in his arms and settled down in an armchair. “How was the dinner, Dale?”

    “Good,” he answered. “I think everyone had fun. Art and Lucy announced they're getting engaged.”

    “Oh my God!” said Mimi.

    “I know, you wouldn't expect it, but they seem happy,” said Dale. “How was the mayor's reception?”

    “It was okay,” said Jake, settling down beside Heather. “A lot of emotional speeches though. You know, about how grateful we all are to be safe and happy, and how much we should look forward to the future now.”
         
    “And how proud we should be of all the courageous people who live here,” chimed in Heather, flashing teasing eyes at Jake. “It was a little much.”

    “You two,” said Gail, smiling but shaking her head. “I thought it was very appropriate. It's the first year we really could talk about all those things, now that the town's ours again.”

    “For now,” said Jake darkly. Stanley leaned over and punched Jake. “Always a downer, Jake. It's Christmas, you're about to become a father, and we get to spend the holiday celebrating instead of holding covert meetings.”

    “Yeah, you're right Stanley,” said Jake grudgingly, kissing Heather on the temple.

    “Oh, here's a little present for you,” said Mimi, tossing a bundle over to them. “As soon as Clark gets bigger, there'll be more.”

    Heather reached inside and held up a little blue sweater. “Finally, back to its original owner." She grinned at Jake, who rolled his eyes, but smiled back. "Thanks, guys,” she said.

    “But, I'm still going to knit you something pink,” Mimi added.

    “We don't know about that, Mimi,” said Jake.

    “Come on, you're having a daughter. She's going to marry my son,” said Stanley.

    Gail laughed at Jake's slightly horrified face. “No arranged marriages before my granddaughter is born.”

    “Or after,” said Jake.

    “But if he stays this good looking, she'd be pretty lucky,” said Heather, brushing her finger over baby Clark's hand.

    “So you really think it's a granddaughter?” Stanley asked Gail.

    Dale glanced across the older adults to Bonnie and Dylan. They shared a bored look.
       
    He stood up slowly and carefully snuck away. They followed him. The others didn't notice, as they were busy discussing Gail's previous predictions that Johnny and Clark would be boys.
     
    They went and sat on the front porch, breathing sighs of relief.
     
    “I love hanging out with your family and the Greens, but lately all they do is talk about babies,” said  Dale.
   
    Bonnie shrugged. “Better then when they used to only talk about strategies or the army I guess.”
   
    Dylan laced his fingers through Bonnie's. Dale was used to being around them now, but still felt slightly awkward.

    “So, is Sean coming tonight?” he asked. Bonnie nodded.

    “He'd never miss the annual snowball fight,” she said. “He wants to get Mimi back for last year.”

    He looked across the field. He could see a truck in the distance. “I think your cousins are coming,” he said.   

    She stood up. “They're supposed to be bringing a bunch of people,” she said.
   
    Dale and Dylan stood too. When the truck finally pulled up, they ran over to meet the many people getting out of the cab and climbing down from the back. Skylar gave Dale a hug before following James into the house. Sean bounded excitedly towards the porch, followed by a few other friends from town. Allison Hawkins was the last to climb down from the back, and Dale helped her carry the blankets towards the house.

    “So, were you at the mayor's reception today?” he asked her. He knew Gray had wanted some of the leaders of the resistance and their family members to be there. She nodded.

    “They dedicated a special plaque on the wall for my dad,” she said.

    “How are you feeling?” he asked.

    She shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” They walked into the house, past the room of guests and towards the bedroom where the coats and blankets were piled.

    “I've heard it's hardest the first year,” he said.

    She nodded. “He used to go away and we wouldn't hear from him forever. It's so weird that it's really forever now.”

    He glanced around. No one was nearby. “You don't know that for sure, though, right?”

    “Even so,” she said. “I keep expecting him to come home, like everyone else did. That's kind of stupid, huh?”

    “No,” he said, staring her in the eyes. There was an intense silence, and he looked away while she took a moment to regain her composure. “How did you do it?” she asked.

    “What?” he asked.

    She smiled. “You know, figure out how to do this by yourself.”

    “Who said I do it all by myself?” he asked with raised eyebrows. He smiled then, saying, “You’re not all by yourself either.”
 
    He could hear a bunch of voices in the other room singing the opening lines to "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

    “Should we go in?” he asked.

    She made an expression of mock horror, but then giggled. “I guess we should.”

    They went into the living room, which seemed more full than Dale had ever seen it. More guests had arrived in the time he'd been talking with Allison, including Bill, Jessica Williams, and Tom that worked at Dale's store. The only places available were on the floor, so Dale took a seat in front of the couch, narrowly avoiding sitting on Eric's foot. Allison sat nearby, avoiding Clark's outstretched hands as Mimi bounced him on her lap. Stanley was leading a bunch of people singing at the top of their lungs, Bonnie and her cousins were playing twenty questions, and Heather was politely refusing eggnog, though Mimi insisted it was non-alcoholic this year.

    Through all the noise, Dale noticed a truck approaching in the distance. He stood up to see who it was, and as he did, so did several other people.

    “Emily's coming!” yelled Eric. “And there's someone else in the truck!”

    About half the party guests ran up to the windows, and then out onto the porch to greet her and the mystery guest.

    “Who is it?” asked Stanley. “Can anybody see?”

    Dale shielded his eyes. “It's Dave,” he said. “One of the guys from my crew.”

    “I didn't know she was bringing a friend,” said Stanley. “Did anyone else know?”

    He turned quickly to Heather. “I was sworn to secrecy,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender.

    As Emily pulled the truck up the driveway, almost everyone streamed out the door, milling around on the porch and the walkway, swarming her as she made her way to the house. Dale laughed as he watched the excited party guests. It was like being invited to a crazy family reunion.

    “Come on everyone! Let's go back inside before we freeze!” called Gail. Everyone slowly made their way back up the steps and into the house. Dale waited until the porch had cleared, and he leaned against the porch railing, looking out across the field of snow, shining in the moonlight. It was like a tradition now, for him to take one quiet moment to look out at this view that he had first seen that strange night years ago. Though he had often doubted and wondered what had really happened to him, he didn't regret seeing, hearing, and knowing all the things he had known since that night.

    “Dale!” It was Skylar, standing in the doorway. “They're going to start blind man's bluff!”

    With one last glance at the starry Christmas sky, he turned and hurried in to the house.