The Christmas House Read Online Free PDF

to be a girl,” said Martha.
         “Well, we hope so but we will be happy no matter what it is,” replied the woman.
         “No matter what it is? Honey, it’s going to be either a boy or a girl, not a what ,” said the young man.
         The young expectant mother raised her voice slightly and said, “Michael, please no jokes. You don’t even know this woman. How embarrassing!”
         “I see your husband is a bit of a joker,” Martha said as she laughed.
         The young mother responded sarcastically, “Yes, he can be, but I still love him regardless.”
         The young man was very handsome. Tall with a muscular build, he was obviously a weightlifter or worked as a tradesman. His boyish face was bright and cheery as he chomped away on a wad of bubble gum stuck deep inside his cheek. A lumberjack shirt that was neatly tucked into a pair of snug fitting jeans confirmed his blue-collar status.
         As they walked into the dining room, the young man said, “Oh, I’m sorry, let me introduce my family. This is my son David.”
         Martha shook the young boys’ hand and said, “Hello there David.”
         “Hello,” replied the young boy.
         David was the spitting image of his father. Dressed alike, they resembled a poorly cast advertisement for the great outdoorsman. Chewing gum as well, David was only a fraction of his father’s height. Dark hair and bright blue eyes glistened effortlessly as he blew pink bubbles from his mouth.
          “This is my wife Arianna and this is our soon to be offspring ( as he pats her stomach) whatchamacallit,” the young man said.
         “Michael!” said his wife.
         Arianna, although very pregnant, was extremely attractive. Golden blonde hair tied back in a ponytail let her stunning facial features shine. A model’s profile featured a button nose and small gentle mouth. Big wide eyes that were crystal blue, sparkled as she smiled at her husband.
         “Oh, and in case you didn’t catch that, my name is Michael, but my friends sometimes call me Mike or Mickey.”
         “Oh, like the mouse that just scared the bejesus out of me downstairs. Nice to meet all of you,” said Martha.
         “Please come in and look around.”
          “You have mice?” Arianna asked Martha.
         Martha realized her mistake and said, “No deary. Mouse as in singular. He is harmless and down in the basement.”
         Arianna let out a sigh of relief as Michael added, “Well if he’s staying with the house he’s going to have to pay rent, right David?”
          “Right Dad!” responded the young boy.
         As they toured the house, Michael turned to Martha and said, “Listen Mrs...?”
          “Call me Martha.”
         “Okay Martha, I have to be honest with you. We really love this old house. We have been driving by it for the last few weeks but just never had the nerve to ring your bell. You see, we can fix it up really nice, but we don’t have very much money to spend.”
         Martha paused a minute and said, “Tell me about your family. Are they excited about the new baby?”
         “Neither of us have any family.  Michael’s parents and brother died in a car accident about 10 years ago and both of my parents passed away when I was 12. I am an only child,” Arianna replied.
         “Oh how sad,” Martha said and continued. “Well what about grandparents, aunts, uncles...”
         “No, we have no other family; just the three of us and the (patting her stomach ) unnamed addition on the way,” Arianna responded as she smiled.
         “But I would take it you have many friends right Michael?” asked Martha.
         “No, not really. We just relocated to this area from Las Vegas where I was a contractor. I got an offer to move here with my company due to expansion, so we took advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately, we left all of our friends