Chapter 16

After a quick look at the exterior of the huge house that Paul said would soon be Andi’s, the family hopped back into Paul’s truck and drove through the village. Soon they pulled up in front of what Andi considered a modern church. No steeple and the doors on the side. A church should have its doors on one end or the other, Andi thought. However, next to it there was a beautiful, if tiny, white church with a steeple and the bell had just finished ringing.

People were walking up to church from the recently plowed lot in small clusters. Paul hopped out of the truck, helped Andi down, then they led the twins through the parking lot to the church.

As they turned up the walkway, a beautiful, tall, slim, black woman with long, flowing raven hair came out of the church. A huge smile glowed on her face, and she held her arms wide. “Is this her mon frère?” she cried to Paul in a delightful French accent. When he nodded in the affirmative, she threw her arms around Andi and gave her a huge, warm hug. “Ma belle-sœur.”

“Andi, this is Macy, John’s wife.”

“We talked last night,” gasped Andi. Macy’s hug was tight and loving and Andi was having trouble breathing.

“It’s so good to meet you!”

“And these are my Love Bugs, Sandy...”

“Bug bug.”

“And Madeline...”

“Bug bug.”

“Oh they’re so cute!” Macy crouched down and hugged the twins, who were reveling in the attention. “They’re so tiny!” Macy mouthed up to Andi.

“There wasn’t room in mommy for two of them, so they moved out at 28 weeks.” Andi didn’t add that her ex-husband Frank’s slapping her around for being fat as the babies grew put the babies at more risk than her own tiny body.

Macy walked with them up to the church door. “Sorry you ended up in a Lake Effect storm, especially down here in the Snow Belt. How was being holed up in the cabin for a long weekend?”

“Well...” Andi said, and she blushed.

“Oooo girl!” Macy grinned. “we’ll talk later.”

Andi didn’t realize it, but Paul was highly active in the Springville Congregational Church, and she was happy that he was involved. Inside the building, she found a warm welcome and a hand to shake every time she turned her head. So many names! And Paul knew them all; “This is Tammy Schatz, she’s the president of the Women’s Ministry, this is my buddy August Di Domissio, we all call him Gus, he’s a deacon on the board with me and he practically built your house, this is Lou and Nanny Sagget, this is...” wait, did he say, “on the board with me?”

“You’re on the board? You’re a bigshot in this church?” asked Andi.

“Big shot? No! I’m a deacon, the word deacon is Greek, it means waiter, we’re here to serve the needs of the people of this church. An Elder is a big shot, or a short pastor is a big shot.” Paul pulled her close and gave her a quick hug. “And speaking of needs of the church, here’s the shepherd of this flock, my baby brother John.”

John was a shorter, younger version of Paul and had a smile as big and as bright as his wife Macy. John’s eyes popped wide open. “Hello Andi! You didn’t tell me how beautiful these girls are!” He crouched down, “You must be Sandy and you must be Madeline!” He got an appreciative giggle with each correct identification.

“He’s lucky,” Paul whispered to Andi. “He’s always been lucky. See how he got the girls names right on first try?”

“I told him about the freckle,” Andi whispered in reply. Madeline has a small freckle on her neck below her left ear.

“Wait, what freckle?” Paul had been differentiating the girls by their attitudes, which was successful about sixty percent of the time.

Soon enough, it was time to head into the sanctuary. The service started with a hymn from the choir and, being the Christmas season; it was a well-known Christmas carol, one with verses that Andi had never heard before. Soon the carol was over, and the worship director invited the congregation to “Shake hands with another sinner.”

Andi was shocked at what happen next. In most churches she has been to, the congregation would turn and shake hands, but here they left their seats and milled about, shaking hands, hugging, even an affectionate kiss occasionally. And Andi and the twins were the stars of the love fest. This was a congregation that reached out to visitors and got to know them and when a deacon walks in with a beautiful woman and two darling little girls, this had to be checked out.

“I have to go do the announcements,” Paul said. “Hang tight with Macy.”

“Ok,” Andi said, and Paul walked away, leaving her to these adoring strangers. Macy came and joined Andi for support, but Madeline had disappeared. Andi looked around in a panic until a chuckle spread through the congregation. Greetings came to a stop as the congregation moved back to their seats. Andi was nearly in tears, but Macy grabbed her arm and pointed to the podium. There was Paul standing at the lectern, getting ready to read announcements, and next to him was Madeline, holding the hem of his blazer. “Wow!” he said into the microphone, “I didn’t have to ask you to take your seats, it’s a Christmas Miracle! Good morning!”

“Good morning!” they replied. Paul then went over the announcements for the week, upcoming activities, news items from the differing committees, and bible study. He then asked if anyone had anything to share and Lorrain got up and spoke about the fellowship meal next week (soup, salad, and Christmas cookies). When all the announcements were complete, Paul stood smiling at the lectern with a little girl who looked lost and alone. Andi’s heart was breaking for Madeline. She tried to coax Madeline back, but the little girl wouldn’t move, so Andi told Sandy to go help Madeline. Without a second thought, Sandy ran up to the podium to be with her sister. The ENTIRE congregation went ‘Awwwww!’ as Paul scooped them both up. “I would like to ask this congregation...”