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(From CHAPTER ONE)

Who said each Christmas would be easier as the years went by?

Julie Melitto wiped a tear from her eye and secured the last ornament on the artificial Christmas tree. Five years had already passed since her husband Mike’s death, and things had only gotten worse. Finances had tightened. Work had grown more demanding. And loneliness ate at her like never before.


She swallowed hard, put the lid back on the cardboard ornament box, and piled it on top of the other empty boxes of decorations. Now to take them back to the garage until the first week in January.


Julie picked up the pile of boxes and nearly tripped over Max, the scrawny, wire-haired mutt she’d adopted from the rescue shelter the summer before on a trip back from the library to return an overdue book. Behind the confining bars of his cage, the pup had peered out of the shelter window, his forlorn face begging to be loved. And Julie hadn’t been able to resist. Within five minutes of her entering the shelter, the orphan dog was joyfully licking the face of his new owner. 


And he’d been licking her face ever since, helping to fill the void of loneliness in which she and her young daughter had dwelt for far too long.


Max yelped.

Julie put down the boxes and stooped down to check on the poor creature. “I’m sorry, Max. I stepped on your paw, didn’t I?” She took the dog’s paw into her hand and rubbed it gently. “Sorry, buddy. Next time, I’ll be more careful.”


A rustle behind her caught Julie’s attention.


“Mom, can I go play over Aubrey’s house?” Ten-year-old Laney’s eyes pleaded for a yes.


“But, it’s Sunday, sweetheart. Don’t you want to be home with our family?”


“We have no family, Mom. Ever since Dad died, we haven’t been a family.”


Julie heaved a long sigh and sat down on the sofa. “What have we been then?”


“Two people living alone in the same house.”
Laney’s words pierced the core of Julie’s heart. Her perceptive daughter was right. Things hadn’t been the same since Mike’s death. “Don’t you think Aubrey’s family wants to be alone together as a family on a Sunday?”


“But I feel more like part of her family than of ours.”


Julie sent up a desperate prayer for wisdom. “Well, what can I do to help us feel more like a family?”


Laney put her hands on her hips. “Get our family a daddy. That’s what. A family needs a daddy, and our family doesn’t have one.”


Tears stung Julie’s eyes. “It’s not that easy, Laney. I just can’t go out and buy a daddy at the store. If God wants this family to have a daddy, then He’ll have to send us one.”


“But there must be something we can do to help God.”


Julie smiled. “I don’t think God needs our help, sweetie. He’s pretty powerful on His own.”


Laney scrunched her face into a pout. “Then why hasn’t He sent me a daddy yet?”


Julie swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ve wondered that myself, Laney. Five years is a long time to be without a daddy.” 


And a husband.


Eyes brimming with tears, Laney joined her mother on the sofa. “My school’s Daddy-Daughter Christmas Party is coming up in two weeks. It will be the first one I’m old enough to attend. What if I don’t have a daddy to take me by then?”


Julie’s heart ached at the look in her daughter’s eyes. They were Mike’s eyes. Dark and round and deep. “How about if we ask God to send you a daddy in time for the Daddy-Daughter Party?” Her maternal instinct to comfort had moved her to go out on a limb, and it was scary.


Laney’s face brightened. “Do you think He will?”


“Well, we can ask, can’t we?”


“Then let’s ask, Mom. Please?”


Julie stifled her misgivings. “Okay. Why don’t you pray?” Laney’s faith was far stronger than her own. 


Laney folded her hands in her lap. “God, I want so much to go to the Daddy-Daughter Christmas Party, but I don’t have a daddy to take me. Would you send me a daddy in time for the party? I’ll thank You forever and ever. Amen.”


“Amen.” Julie choked out the word as she blinked back doubtful tears.


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