Chapter 27

ON CHRISTMAS EVE, Dennis, Peg, and Dot went to the late-night candlelight service. The Armors and the Browns were there as well. The other girlfriends had various family or other church commitments. Peg was not slated to have a solo but was always happy to go to church and sing for Jesus.

And singing was what the service was all about. While radio stations and department stores had begun playing Christmas carols sometime in November, Trinity Lutheran had held to the traditional separation of the seasons and did not begin the Christmas music until Christmas Eve. And they stuck to the softer and gentler music for the most part. The children in the congregation, as sleepy as many were, still loved singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Away in a Manger,” and “Silent Night” as the service came to an end. The candles were extinguished and dropped into a basket at the door as people left quietly.

Dennis found a moment to kiss Natalie, Roberta, Daniella, and Lana goodnight and wish them a merry Christmas. That’s when he was confronted by two very tall women who seemed to want to intimidate him, standing close and looking down at him. He was quick to identify them as Natalie’s older twin sisters, Zoe and Eva.

“So, you’re the enchanter,” the one on the left said. Not really knowing the women, Dennis couldn’t identify which was which.

“Um ... I don’t think so,” Dennis began.

“Twelve girlfriends giving you undying devotion. Sounds like enchantment to me,” the twin on the right said.

“It’s pretty unusual, but I assure you, I haven’t worked any spells.”

“We’re interested in one thing,” said twin left. “What are your intentions toward our sisters?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Dennis smiled. “I intend to love them.”

“Not good enough. You know you can’t keep a relationship up with twelve women. How many more are waiting in the wings?” twin right said.

“Natalie is a foregone conclusion,” twin left joined in. “She won’t make any move without you. But Roberta and Daniella don’t need to be tied down to you. They need to come to school with us. We never got to play together in high school.”

“I heard about that and I’m sorry. You would have been unstoppable.”

“And the four of us will be unstoppable at State,” twin right said. “But you can’t hold them back.”

“I wouldn’t think of holding them back. It’s wonderful that they want to go play ball with you.”

“You kept Brenda back. She’s marking time at DMACC until you can join her full time. Just don’t do that to Robbie and Dannie. We only have one year we can overlap,” twin left said. Dennis thought he caught a tone of real anxiety in her voice.

“Zoe and Eva—whichever of you is which—I completely support Roberta and Daniella joining you at State next year. I’m trying to help them become the best players they can be and they’re working hard at it. Daniella beat Roberta to it, but it won’t be long before we see Roberta slam dunk the ball. I’m not going to do anything to hold them back.” Dennis was firm and hoped he was convincing.

“We’re just worried,” twin right said. “And I’m Zoe. We never thought they’d get this serious about a boy in high school. I never thought Daniella would get serious about any boy ever. Just encourage them to go. Okay?”

“Yeah. I’m glad they have older sisters who care so much for them.”

“Dennis, we need to get Peg home to bed,” Dot said. “Come along.”

“Yes, Mom. I’m on my way,” he called. “Merry Christmas,” he said to Zoe and Eva.

A very different Christmas Eve scene was playing out at Brother Jules’ house. He opened his door and Kristen threw herself into his arms.

“They’re going to do it!” she wailed. “They’re going to rape me!”

“Who?” Brother Jules asked. It seemed a logical question.

“My husband and his father.”

“Well, you are bound to your husband and must provide for his needs,” Jules counseled.

“I’ve always just gritted my teeth and let him have his way,” Kristen moaned. “But his father? They are both drunk and swearing to unwrap me as their Christmas present.”

“No man would do such a thing to his wife!” Jules declared. It was difficult to determine if he meant a man who did that to his wife was not a man or that men in general are above such behavior. In her current state of mind, Kristen took the interpretation she wanted.

“That’s right! My husband is no man! Oh, Jules, I want a real man to take me and make me his,” she moaned as she reached to kiss him.

Jules was lost. He’d come to this town as an itinerant preacher who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. His wife turned her back on the true teaching and, as an apostate, filed for divorce. Jules had tried to live a pure life since that time, but had been prey to the weakness of the flesh on some occasions. He had made sure to keep those occasions far from where he had established his Disciples of the Pentecost Church.

But here, the weakness of the flesh had manifested itself in his arms. Kristen Conway was still a comely woman—not nubile like the girls she campaigned against in the school board meeting, but attractive in a forty-something way. A younger man might not be drawn to her, but he could certainly see how her father-in-law would find her as irresistible as he himself was finding her. He pushed the door shut behind her and they tumbled onto the couch. Words were lost with their clothing. Kristen was an aggressive lover, pulling his manhood from his trousers and sucking it into her mouth as he was growing to his full five inches. She mounted his steed and rode to her lord’s coming.

They collapsed together, bare chests sweating against each other as they caught their breath.

“Merry Christmas, Jules.”

“I ... We ... We must be very careful in our relationship, Kristen.”

“Please don’t tell me this was a one-time thing. I don’t think I could take that. My life would not be worth living.”

“No. Of course not. But we must be discreet and not damage the faith of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. It would not do to forsake the ministry. We have much to accomplish here.”

“I’ll divorce him. I have just cause. I might even get enough for us to become missionaries together in another town. Far away,” Kristen said.

“That wouldn’t do. Divorce is a sinful thing. It frees the man to visit his uncouth attentions on another innocent woman,” Jules said.

“But what should I do? I have tasted the sweet fruit of the tree of knowledge and can’t imagine letting it go,” Kristen said.

“The man must stand before God and be judged for his actions,” Jules said. “It is the only way.”

Christmas morning was low key, but was perhaps the most elaborate Christmas the Enders family had enjoyed in several years. There had never been money for expensive gifts. Usually, Peg and Dennis got articles of clothing they desperately needed. This year, there were only the three of them. It was the first Christmas without Will saying “Ho Ho Ho!” Dennis missed him and knew his mother missed him, too. He wasn’t sure about Peg. He rather thought that Jesus had replaced her father in her mind.

When she unwrapped the string of pearls he’d bought her, though, her face lit up more brightly than the Christmas tree. She hugged her brother tightly and he put the necklace on her. She ran to look in the mirror. Dot gave her a new cellphone and showed her how she could download music and listen to it any time, not just on Sunday on the radio.

When Dot opened her gift from Dennis, she was puzzled for a moment.

“You gave me a safety pin?”

“Well, sort of,” Dennis laughed. “It’s a family pin. It has four stones on it to remind you of our family. Kind of like a safety pin for all of us. The aquamarine was Dad’s birthstone. The tourmaline is yours. The Peridot is Peg’s birthstone, and the amethyst is mine. It’s our whole family pinned to your collar.”

“Oh, it’s lovely!” Dot said. “Truly lovely!” She handed him his present, which looked suspiciously like Peg’s. He opened the package to find a new smartphone.

“Mom!”

“It’s not fair to have your coach paying for that phone you have. It’s time our family entered the modern age. I got myself a phone as well and put us all on an unlimited plan. I know you’ve always been careful about downloading music or watching videos on that phone. And the company said you can activate it and switch your old number to it.”

“It’s great, Mom. And I’m glad you have a phone now, too. There have been a lot of times I’ve wished I could quickly text you something.”

“I’ll figure out texting, I suppose. But you are still welcome to actually call and talk to me,” Dot laughed.

Sunday morning, the day after Christmas, found the family at church, joined once again by the crew. Peg was in the choir and sang out lustily when they joined in “Joy to the World!” She liked singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” with all the o-o-o-os in Gloria. But when she stepped to the front of the church, everything was hushed as she sang “What Child is This?”

When the service was over, Dennis joined his girlfriends in hugging Peg and then heading to Tori’s house for their private Christmas party. Tori’s parents and brother joined Dot and Peg at the Browns’ home with Lana’s parents and siblings.

Tori had a Mexican feast spread for the crew when they gathered. They ate, laughed, and made a lot out of being a family and how they would all remember the first Christmas they were all together.

Zoe and Eva’s message to him on Christmas Eve was still on Dennis’s mind and he wondered how many of his twelve girlfriends would still be with him next year at this time. They wanted to treat this like it would be an annual event—and perhaps it would be—but Dennis knew the odds against a bunch of fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds staying together as a family were enormous. He pushed the thoughts away from his consciousness and resolved to enjoy this family gathering as much as possible.

After they had cleaned up and put away all the food and dishes, Tori led the way to the barn in which the stall had been festively decorated.

“I figured it was easier to just heat the stall and not the whole barn for our little party,” Tori said. “We can still turn on all the lamps for when we want to exercise or play ball.”

“Play ball?” Brenda asked.

“Yeah. Didn’t you see the hoop Dad helped me install this week?” She pointed at one side of the barn where a backboard and hoop hung from the loft. “It was my Christmas present.”