Time Traveler’s Christmas: First Noel

Rowena Jordan was exhausted and she hadn’t even reached lunch yet. It was Black Friday at her store, 1^st and 10, which specialized in selling NFL, NCAA, and High School football clothing and accessories. They had long since surpassed their financial goal, by the time noon came around, when her sisters, Hadassah, Lorelei, and Kasseia strolled through the door with ecstatic grins on their heart-shaped faces. Rowena glanced over at them and held up her index finger, indicating that she would be there in a minute.

While they were waiting for their sister to finish up with the troublesome customer, Hadassah browsed through the posters, Kasseia looked at the college football jerseys and shirts, and Lorelei looked at the NFL jerseys; the Broncos and the Bears in particular. She was the oldest at 24, with Rowena and Hadassah, who were fraternal twins, at 23: Rowena was five minutes older, and Kasseia was the youngest at 21. They all looked alike: had black hair, Rowena and Kasseia kept theirs long and wavy, Hadassah kept hers medium length and streaked it different colours, and Lorelei kept hers short. They also had various shades of blue eyes: Rowena and Lorelei had dark blue eyes, Kasseia had Baby-blue eyes and Hadassah had sky-blue. All had heart-shaped faces and pale skin but had various heights: Rowena and Hadassah were 5’5’’, Kasseia was 5’4’’ and Lorelei was 5’3’’. All four of them were extremely close with each other, since their parents kicked them all out of the house the minute they graduated high-school. It didn’t matter much to them, since they had been planning on moving as far away from them as possible. Rowena always told people that she and her sisters couldn’t possibly have endured their parents’ abuse, growing up, without their faith in Jesus. Kasseia didn’t even complete high-school before their parents booted her out of the house, claiming that she had an attitude problem. The trio had agreed, when their mother called them up to tell them that Kasseia was too much of a problem so she was going to live with them, that the reason why Kasseia had a supposed bad attitude was because they gave it to her. The girls had three brothers, that their parents doted upon, that they got along really well with, Tristan, Arthur and Dominic. They were still in contact with their brothers to this day. Their parents lived out in California, but their parents’ families lived in Colorado, so they all lived there and were extremely close with their family on their father‘s side and their mother‘s side. The oldest son, Tristan, was graduating in June of 2012 and he was planning on moving out there to Colorado.

Rowena joined them thirty minutes later, when the customer left the store in a huff, telling her and everyone in ear-shot that she was taking her business to Goodwill where the prices were cheaper. Rowena snickered and had told her assistant manager, Joel Harding, that she’ll most likely see her there on Saturday since she volunteered there twice a week.

“All right, what’s up?” She asked, finding them in the posters section.

“You know how you always wanted to go to a Broncos game?” Hadassah asked. Rowena nodded, looking at all three of them in suspicion.

“Well, ALICE 105.9 was giving away tickets to the Broncos game on Christmas Day and Lorelei was the 15^th caller!” She elucidated. Rowena squealed and gave her older sister a hug/tackle.

“And that’s not all, when you get off of work, we have three guests who want to meet you,” Kasseia added with a mischievous smile on her face. Rowena paused.

“WHO???” She asked. Kasseia rolled her eyes and told her that she’d have to see. Her older sister groaned, knowing that the other two wouldn’t tell her if their lives depended on it. She then shrugged it off after a while and after they had lunch at Wendy’s, she went back to work and they went back to their respective jobs, except for Kasseia who had the day off, so she went back to the condo they all lived in.

Later that day when things were starting to wind down, Joel told her that her aunt Jenay was on the phone to talk to her. Jenay was her father’s older sister. Wondering what was up, Rowena went into her office and picked up line 2.

“Rowena, it’s your grandmother. She passed away last night,” her aunt explained. She sat down in shock. Her grandmother had been in the pink of health when she and Kasseia visited her two days ago on Thanksgiving at the Worthington, where she‘d been living for the past three years. Tears rolled down her cheeks as Jenay told her that Grandmother Jordan had a stroke. She had forgotten that it was time for her to leave, so she was still in the office, talking to her aunt, when her sisters came into the store with the three promised guests: Tony Garner, the QB for the Broncos, Jagger McGraw, the Safety for the Broncos and Maximus Everett, Rowena’s favourite singer in the world.

Tony Garner was used to being popular. He’d been blessed to have a considerably large amount of fans who had adored him in college. He was used to having colossal popularity and media attention for the full-four years he’d attended Auburn. But even that was nothing compared to the amount of celebrity and adulation he had in Denver. When the Broncos drafted him, his fame skyrocketed. Throughout it all, he remained humble about everything. Of course the media loved and hated him. The haters didn’t like him because he wasn’t a typical quarterback and some also didn’t like him because of his faith in Jesus. So when he walked into 1^st and 10, with the Jordan sisters, he wasn’t at all surprised to see everybody turn to look at him. The ladies really were checking him out, even though he had no idea what they saw in him. He was 6’3’’, built like a linebacker, had medium brown hair and blue eyes. Tony knew that the girls, he encountered liked him for his notoriety, or liked him for his body. So when the ladies checked him out at 1^st and 10, he felt like crawling underneath the table. Of course the other girls were also checking out Maximus Everett, who was extremely shy off the stage. But on the stage he electrified it. Tony was a huge fan of his and told him so when Hadassah introduced him and Jagger to the singer. Maximus smiled, ever as humble as Tony was. Lucky for him, he was wearing sunglasses, which were a part of his signature look. That and a black glove on his left hand. Joel greeted Rowena’s sisters and guests, leaving to get his boss. Maximus leaned against the counter, talking to Hadassah and Lorelei and Tony browsed through the college football jerseys.

Joel came back a few minutes later with someone behind him. He stepped aside and walking towards them was the most beautiful woman Tony had ever laid his eyes on. He had made his way back to the posse at the counter. Jagger and Maximus saw the look on Tony’s face and started snickering. Not taking his eyes off of Rowena, Tony elbowed both of them in the ribs. When she came closer to them, he noticed that she’d been crying.

“Hey, guys,” she said, lugubriously. Her sisters knew there was something wrong. She was normally a very happy and energetic person.

“What’s the matter?” Lorelei asked. Tears filled her eyes again, making Tony want to wrap his arms around her and hold her till the pain was gone.

“Grandma Jordan died last night. She had a stroke,” she told them. The girls hugged each other, crying. Maximus walked over to Rowena and rubbed her shoulders. Jagger shifted uncomfortably and Tony only did that because he was fighting the urge to hold Rowena close to him. He barely knew her and already she had a romantic hold on him! God, give me strength….and give her comfort…he prayed to his Heavenly Father. Jagger cleared his throat and the huddle broke up. The three sisters had forgotten completely about Maximus, Jagger and Tony.

“Rowena, we have some people we’d like you to meet; it might cheer you up: This is Tony, and Jagger, and Maximus,” Lorelei introduced them. Maximus smiled and took his sunglasses off, shaking her hand; he was five inches taller than her, had short black hair, medium brown skin and big brown eyes. He was the same age as Rowena and Hadassah. Rowena smiled back, knowing somehow that the two of them would be the best of friends. Jagger grinned and shook her hand as well; he was the same height as Tony, but built a little bigger, had light brown hair that he kept in a bowl-cut, and medium blue eyes. Her smile broadened, recognizing her second favourite football player. But when she looked up into Tony’s eyes and he smiled her favourite, boyish smile, she felt something she hadn’t felt in years: chemistry. Years later she would tell people that it was love at first sight for her. Tony would also say the exact same thing: he loved her the moment he laid eyes on her. When he let go of her hand, they finally noticed the amusement of the others’ witness to their obvious chemistry and looked away, knowing that they would get teased for it later. Joel looked over at his boss.

“Hey, Rowena, did you want to leave today?” He asked with a chuckle. Rowena walked over to the cash register and playfully punched him in the arm. He was like a little brother to her and her sisters. He was 6’0’’, had dark brown skin, black hair that he wore in an afro, and big brown eyes and was the same age as Tony and Lorelei. Hadassah, however, felt differently about him. Those two could not stand each other for nothing. She glared at him and turned to her twin.

“Punch him harder next time, since he has no patience whatsoever,” she told her, loud enough for him to hear. Joel shot her an annoyed look.

“You sure have no sense of anything. Considering I was only KIDDING with her,” he informed her. She rolled her eyes.

“It didn’t sound like teasing to me and next time be more respectful of your BOSS,” she snapped at him. Rowena pulled her Broncos coat on and grabbed her purse. She turned to the others.

“Let’s go before we get another edition of WWE Smackdown in our store,” she told them, grabbing Hadassah by the shirt and dragging her out the door, while she was still yelling at Joel. Maximus walked next to Rowena on her right and Tony walked next to Rowena on her left. Jagger, Kasseia and Lorelei were trying to calm down Hadassah. Jagger decided to take Kasseia, Lorelei and Hadassah in his car, while Tony took Rowena and Maximus in his Ford Escape. Rowena rode shotgun, with Maximus riding in the middle of the backseat so he could lean forward and talk to Tony and Rowena. The trio became friends instantly, with the exception of Tony and Rowena; they both knew that they wanted more than friendship. Before long, Rowena’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and answered it, seeing that it was Lorelei.

“So, where are we going for dinner?” She asked. They each took turns deciding where to go to eat and they only ate out for supper once a week. It was Rowena’s turn, since they went by order of age, and she’d been mulling about it in her head over where she wanted to eat.

“How about I confer with Maximus and Tony and I’ll call you back, how does that sound?” She asked. Lorelei thought that sounded good and hung up. Rowena placed the phone on her lap as she turned to face the two. “Where did you guys want to eat supper? It’s my turn this week but I want to include you guys in this decision.” Tony smiled, already having another thing in common with her. He always did that with his family and he had a friend with him. Maximus, or Max as friends and family called him, smiled as well, happy to be included.

“Does Fort Collins have a Red Robin?” Tony asked. He had become a regular at the Red Robin in Denver. Rowena nodded. Max looked puzzled.

“I’ve never eaten there,” Max said. “Is it good?” Tony and Rowena nodded emphatically.

“They’ve got the BEST hamburgers in the WORLD!” Tony promulgated. Rowena laughed.

“And their chicken wraps are to DIE for!” She added.

“That sounds good then,” Max said. Rowena smiled as the two men told her to call Lorelei and tell her they wanted Red Robin for dinner. She found her sister’s number and hit the call button on her iPhone.

“The vote is unanimous: Red Robin,” she said, laughter in her voice. Lorelei told her that she’d tell Jagger where to go. They pulled in front of Red Robin about fifteen minutes later. Tony parked the Ford Escape and helped Rowena out. Max and Tony followed Rowena into the restaurant. Tony and Max opened the doors for her. Jagger and the others weren’t there yet so they sat down to wait. They talked for what felt like an hour and finally Jagger’s Ford Taurus pulled into the spot next to Tony’s. When they finally came in, Rowena greeted them.

“Good grief, did you guys crawl here or what?” She asked. Hadassah rolled her eyes.

“Practically! Jagger refuses to drive over 10 miles per hour,” Kasseia said. Jagger sighed.

“I did not!” He protested. “I’ve never driven that slow! Tell them, Tony!” Tony chuckled.

“It’s true, girls, he doesn’t drive 10 miles per hour. He drives 15 miles per hour.” Jagger looked up at Heaven, wondering if he was placed on this earth for eternal torment.

“I do not!” He reiterated.

“Well, there’s SOME good news from all of this: you won’t have to worry about running out of gas! And your car probably hasn’t hit a thousand miles on it yet, either!” Rowena put in. Jagger shot her a look of faux-wounded pride.

“A thousand??? Rowena, he hasn’t hit a hundred!” Maximus replied. Tony was holding his sides he was laughing so hard. The seating hostess greeted them.

“Hey, can we sit in the lounge?” Tony asked the Hostess. She nodded, giving him a wink, which made Rowena want to slap her. Tony noticed that and scowled, rolling his eyes at Rowena. She smiled and nodded. He grabbed her by the hand and helped her into the seat. It was the hostess’s turn to scowl. She shot Rowena a dirty look before walking away. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Dinner was really delicious, Rowena ordered the Whiskey River BBQ chicken wrap. Tony ordered the same thing. He said he wanted to try it out, since she’d been raving about it in the Ford Escape, making him really hungry for it. Everyone else enjoyed their dinner. They laughed and joked and talked about serious stuff as well. When it was over, Max decided to ride with Jagger. Kasseia took the keys out of Jagger’s hands.

“Sorry, but I want to get home before Christmas,” she informed him.

Tony walked Rowena to his vehicle and helped her in. She smiled at him as he handed her the seatbelt. When they reached her condo, he and Rowena sat in the SUV and talked for a long time. Tony walked her up to her house.

“Rowena, can I see you again?” He asked her. His blue eyes looked intensely into her own. She looked up at him and nodded. She reached into her purse, pulled out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down her number and her name. He handed her a paper with his. He promised to text her later. They were walking up the sidewalk, when Rowena stepped on a patch of ice and slipped. He didn’t even think, just reacted by reaching out and catching a hold of her waist before she could fall onto the cement. She placed her hands on the arm he had wrapped around her waist. The side of his face, rested against her cheek. Her hair was spiraled around him.

Kasseia was inside when Rowena walked through the door. She was lounging on the couch, her sisters Hadassah and Lorelei were upstairs. Tony had already texted her a joke, making her smile and respond to the joke with one of her own.

“Hey, Kass, where’s Hadassah and Lorelei?” She asked her little sister.

“Upstairs, talking to Dad,” she stated matter-of-factly. Rowena made a face and Kasseia agreed. She sat down next to Kasseia on the couch. They had a chat about their jobs and Rowena ended up offering a part-time cashier job to her sister. Kasseia worked at Wendy’s as a cashier and wasn’t getting enough hours. Also her female bosses were not treating her very well, which was making her unhappy working there. The conversation then turned to the men they had just met.

“Do you like Tony?” Kasseia asked her older sister. Rowena ducked her head, her cheeks flushed a scarlet red.

“Is it that obvious?” She asked. Kasseia smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul,” she assured her, knowing that Rowena didn’t like a big deal made of her love-life.

“I noticed you were paying a lot of attention to Jagger.” Kasseia grinned really big, but before she could respond, her sisters came down. Hadassah slammed the cordless phone onto it’s charger.

“Golly, Hadassah, what did the phone do to you?” Rowena asked with a laugh. Hadassah and Lorelei shot their merry sister dirty looks.

“Our father is a despicable human being!!!!” Hadassah growled, flinging open the fridge with a passion and threw her leftover food into the fridge.

“What did he do now?” Kasseia inquired, expecting the worst.

“He’s not coming! The jerk’s own mother PASSED ON and isn’t even coming to the funeral or anything. He claims that he’s got a life of his own and can’t be bothered to be inconvenienced to come to see a woman who’s been dead to him for a long time now,” Lorelei spoke up. Rowena’s jaw dropped and Kasseia gasped.

“Are you serious?!” Rowena had never been so ticked off. Tony texted her, asking her what was up, since she had told him that she was peeved. She explained to him about her parents not coming.

Tony read the text and shook his head. Jagger looked over at him, a questioning look in his eyes. He explained what happened. Jagger pulled out his phone and texted Kasseia. He and Tony were roommates and had been since college. Tony called Rowena the next day when she was on lunch.

“So when’s the funeral?” He asked her. She told him she didn’t know but the reading of the will was going to be that afternoon so she was getting off early. He had that day off so he wanted to know if he could come along.

“For moral support,” he explained. Rowena laughed.

“Thank you! I will definitely need that,” she told him. He told her that he’d be there in an hour. Rowena smiled and said all right. She heard shouting out in the store.

“Let me guess, Hadassah and Joel are yelling again,” Tony said, hearing it on the phone.

“Yeah, I better go before they start throwing Pillow Pets at each other,” she said. He understood with a laugh and they hung up. Rowena sighed and breathed a quick prayer to God for help and patience. She immediately felt peace about it all, so she took a deep breath, then walked out onto the sales floor.

“COME ON, HADASSAH, HAVE YOU EVER SOLD JERSEYS BEFORE?! NO?! I DIDN’T THINK SO!” Joel was shouting. Hadassah picked up a pillow pet of the Florida Gators’ mascot and was about to throw it at Joel, when Rowena grabbed it out of her twin sister’s hands.

“ALL RIGHT THAT’S ENOUGH!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. “You two, in the back. RIGHT. NOW.” Hadassah put her hands on her hips and Joel folded his arms across his muscular chest. Neither of them budged. Rowena snapped her fingers and gesticulated with her hand to follow her. She shot them both a look that told them she meant business. They both followed her into her office. Rowena placed the pillow pet on her desk and told them to sit down. They did, but she did not.

“Since you two can’t seem to get along, I’m banishing both of you to the storage room,” she told them firmly. Joel laid his head back, a look of annoyance on his face. Hadassah shot her sister a look of pure disbelief.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?” She asked her. Rowena stopped the pacing she’d been doing since she started talking to them and faced her twin.

“Do you see merriment on my face and in my eyes or a smile? Do you hear me laughing?” She asked her. “You both will be unloading the boxes of clothing, accessories and trinkets such as this lovely Pillow Pet that you were about to throw at my employee. And if you two can at LEAST be civil, I will allow you two back on the floor. And so help me, if I hear you two shouting at each other, or get another customer complaint, I will ship you both out the door. Is that understood? You both are driving customers out the door, with your constant bickering and I’m really quite tired of it.” Hadassah let loose and exasperated sigh and Joel kept shooting dirty looks at Hadassah.

“Come on, Rowena, we’re not toddlers!” Hadassah said to her. For the first time ever, Joel was in agreement with his boss’s sister.

“If you don’t want to be treated like toddlers, then stop acting like it! Now this order goes into affect tomorrow, since Hadassah and myself have to go to the reading of the will,” she told them both. Joel stomped out of the office, not saying a word to Hadassah and pleading with God to keep him from killing Rowena’s twin sister.

Jenay met her four nieces and Tony at the Hilton. It wasn’t the traditional way of reading the will but the actual will had already been read, legally so she wanted to treat her nieces to something nice for once. She was pleasantly surprised to see Tony Garner with them but nothing should shock her about her fantastic nieces. She was buying them lunch so she made sure to remind them not to eat yet. The four gave their aunt a huge hug and Tony shook her hand, after which, Jenay waved that off and gave him a hug.

“So?” Kasseia asked. Jenay laughed, knowing that the only Jordan sister who was patient was Lorelei.

“Let’s eat first, then I’ll read to you what your grandmother left the four of you,” their aunt told them. So they followed her into the hotel’s restaurant and they were well into their meal when Jenay told them what their grandmother left them: her Victorian house in the Old Town area and everything that was in it. Five pieces of silverware fell to porcelain plates with a loud clang.

“REALLY?” All four of them asked at the same time. Aunt Jenay nodded, with a smile, knowing that they all four adored the Jordan Victorian house, next to the library. Tony was secretly in bliss, seeing the look of happiness on Rowena’s face. Kasseia texted Jagger, telling him what her grandmother left her and her sisters. Jagger was ecstatic for her. Rowena texted Max to meet them at the fountain after her lunch with her aunt. He responded to her, telling her that he’d be happy to. When lunch was over and they all headed to the lobby, they said goodbye to their aunt and walked over to the fountain, where Max was sitting at a bench, reading a book. Rowena smiled, seeing that it was War and Peace. He looked up and placed his bookmark in the book. Max walked over to the Jordans and Tony and gave them all hugs.

“So what’s up?” He asked them. They looked at each other and Lorelei told him, what they received from their late grandmother. His eyes lit up like Sports Authority Field on Sunday night. “That is so cool!!!” Their aunt had already taken care of the paperwork, all they needed to do was sign the papers later that day. Rowena suggested that they all go to Dairy Queen for ice cream after they signed the paperwork, making the house theirs. Rowena found herself, once again, riding with Tony, while Hadassah drove the rest of them to the Foothills Mall.

“So, did you have any plans on Christmas Eve?” Tony asked Rowena. She tilted her head to one side, an idea forming in her head. The paperwork would be finalized on Christmas Eve, which was extraordinarily expeditious for Colorado. They could move in beforehand, which was great for them all because they were sick of their cramped condominium.

“I have an idea! We could have a house-warming party on Christmas Eve and celebrate Christmas early with you, Jagger and Max!” She told him her idea. Tony loved that idea, after they had signed the paperwork, they were at the mall when Rowena told them her idea. They all liked it as well.

The weeks leading up to Christmas Eve were chaotic to say the least. The girls had their own businesses to run, their grandmother’s funeral to attend and moving to do. Rowena owned her jersey shop, Lorelei owned her own bookshop, Kasseia was in school to become a fashion designer, as well as being a cashier at 1^st and 10. Hadassah still didn’t know what she wanted to do but she was willing to work at 1^st and 10, along with her other job of working at Goodwill part-time. When they were done moving, Rowena and Lorelei had decorating to do for Christmas. It was a gorgeous house. There were rooms that they hadn’t known about, which excited Kasseia, Rowena and Hadassah. Lorelei was just content with sitting in her room and reading.

The night of Christmas Eve, came and Tony and Max were early in arriving. Max was close friends with Rowena. Tony had been spending a lot of time with Rowena, he was falling in love with her and she with him. He wanted so bad to tell her but couldn’t, for the first time in his life, find the words to tell her how much she was beginning to mean to him. Of course she longed to tell him that she’d cared about him, since she watched him play in college and found out all she knew about him before they met. However, she was scared of being shot down and tired of initiating every romantic relationship she’d ever been involved in. Lorelei and Rowena were putting the finishing touches of ornaments on the tree in the library. Hadassah and Kasseia were putting up wreaths and stuff, while Hadassah was complaining about working with Joel.

“That man is extremely insufferable!” She promulgated. The other three sisters groaned, hearing her say that for the umpteenth time that evening. Lorelei shook her head and turned to her younger sister.

“I think, you like him,” she said to her sister, point blank. Rowena snickered, hearing the doorbell ring and going to get it, listening to Hadassah’s protests.

“Hadassah, Lorelei’s right. You’ve been talking about him nonstop since Rowena hired him last year. If you don’t like him, then why do you constantly talk about why you don’t like him?” She heard Kasseia ask her twin sister. Rowena opened the door, to find Tony and Max standing there, two hours early.

“Hey, guys! You’re extremely early!” She exclaimed. Tony smiled brightly at her and Max shrugged his shoulders as the two of them walked through the door.

“Kasseia, that made absolutely no sense! I talk about not liking him because I DON’T!” The two men looked puzzled and turned questioningly to Rowena.

“Let me guess, Hadassah, you’re denying that you like Joel,” Max said. Hadassah protested. They were in the kitchen, making food.

“I do not!” She was emphatically pounding the dough in the bowl, making lefza. Tony walked into the kitchen with Rowena.

“Are you still telling that to people? I thought you would have grown weary of telling people that you don’t like him,” Tony teased. Hadassah grabbed the rolling pin and chased Tony with it. Rowena grabbed her sister and whirled her back into the kitchen.

“Get back to work,” she told her. She looked over at Tony and winked. He smiled and grabbed her by the hand. He walked with her down the hall to the library. They knew that the others were in the kitchen, talking about them. He reached into the pocket of his coat, that was hanging on the coat-tree and pulled out a package, wrapped neatly in silver Christmas wrapping paper. He smiled down at her and handed it to her.

“Here’s your present. Open it,” he murmured, his blue eyes twinkling as he looked at her. She ripped the paper open and opened the box to find a Denver Broncos necklace. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you!” She said, as he held her close, enjoying the scent of her hair. She let go and handed him her gift to him. He opened it to find a CD of Frank Sinatra Christmas songs on it. He looked at her in amazement.

“Wow, you remembered,” he whispered, pulling her back into his arms. He kissed her forehead and her cheek. Before he knew it, his lips touched hers in a kiss that electrified him. Tony held her close to him, and ran his hands through her soft black hair. The kiss ended too soon for them but before they could talk, the doorbell rang again and Jagger and the others were in the room. Hadassah was still fuming about people claiming that she liked Joel.

“What’s her problem?” Jagger asked Rowena.

“She’s claiming still that she doesn’t like Joel,” she responded. Jagger laughed.

“Oh my gosh, you’re still telling people that lie?” He demanded, to which she replied by stomping out of the room to go get the lefza. Rowena gave Jagger a high-five. He had already dropped off his presents the day before, when he came over to chat with them; mostly Kasseia. They ate supper at Perkins’ then came back home to eat dessert. When things were winding down and all of the gifts were opened, they were trying to decide who was going to read the first two chapters of Luke in the Bible. They finally decided that Tony should read it. He smiled, got up and grabbed the old King James Version Bible that rested on the table in front of the bookshelf. When he opened the book to Luke, where there was a bookmark in it, a weird sensation happened in the room. Everyone felt a pressure on them and were zapped into darkness. When the pressure and weird sensation was lifted, they found that they were no longer in the house on Peterson Street. Rowena sat up and dusted herself off. Tony was sitting next to her, the Bible still in his lap and opened. Jagger helped up Kasseia and Hadassah. Tony helped up Rowena and Max helped up Lorelei. Rowena looked up at Tony.

“You all right?” She asked him, hoping that he wasn’t hurt. He nodded, then she directed the same question towards everyone else. She noticed that it was evening wherever it is that they were and starting to get a little frigid. Tony saw that she was shivering and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. No one noticed and if they did, they said not a word. Max stood close to Rowena and Tony.

“Ok, where in the world are we?” Hadassah asked the universal question. Lorelei was examining the Bible but didn’t close it. Everyone either shrugged their shoulders or said that they didn’t know. Lorelei was the only one who didn’t say a word.

“Guys, I think we’re near Bethlehem the day before Jesus’ birth,” Lorelei finally answered. The rest of them stared at her, as if they all should have known this. Hadassah and Rowena looked behind them. A couple, clearly newlyweds, were walking along the dirt road that ran beside them. The man was pulling a donkey, while his very pregnant wife road on it. He looked like a shepherd from Biblical times. Tony and Max noticed this too.

“Holy cow!” Tony murmured under his breath. Only Rowena heard him, since she was still nestled against him.

“You may want to rethink saying phrases like that. Mary and Joseph may take you seriously,” Rowena teased him, laughing. Everyone saw them and clearly Mary and Joseph saw them, for they paused to talk to the strangers.

“Who are you people? Where do you come from? Cush?” Joseph asked. Rowena shook her head, she was fluent in Hebrew. As was Tony and Hadassah.

“No, we’re from farther than that,” Rowena said. “I can’t tell you where we are from because in this place, it doesn’t exist yet.” Mary shot her husband a puzzled look and he shrugged. Something inside of him, told him to believe this young woman who wore strange clothes, yet spoke the tongue of his ancestors. After all, his wife was carrying the Son of God.

“Why doesn’t this place exist yet? What is it?” Mary asked, shifting her weight on the donkey. Her back was killing her, for she was nearing her time to give birth to Jesus.

“Fort Collins, Colorado, the year 2011,” Rowena replied. At this, their eyes went wide. If Mary was standing she would have fainted.

“Do you have a place to stay?” Joseph asked. Rowena shook her head. “Then come with us.” That was the last thing Mary expected her husband to say. They didn’t have a place to stay themselves! Tony translated the conversation that went on between Rowena and Joseph to the others who didn’t speak Hebrew. They all walked after them. Lorelei kept the Bible open. She was about to close it when she felt something tell her that the Bible should stay open and on the hill that they landed on. Not that she could lift it, even if she wanted to. Rowena walked alongside Mary.

“So, what is your name, young one?” She asked Rowena.

“I’m Rowena. I’m here with my sisters Kasseia, Lorelei and Hadassah, my friends Jagger and Max, and that’s Tony.” Rowena pointed to each one of them in turn. Tony noticed that she didn’t refer to him as a friend. He made a mental note to ask her what he was to her later on that evening.

“I’m Mary and that’s my husband Joseph. The child I’m carrying is the Son of God, named Jesus,” she said. “I’m not expecting you to believe me.” Rowena laughed and assured her that she actually did believe her.

“Was it hard?” She asked her. Mary was a little shocked by the question, since no one had ever asked her that before.

“I guess to some degree, yes. But in other ways it wasn’t really. The only problem I had was explaining my pregnancy to my family and especially to Joseph. They all assumed that I was being unfaithful and coming up with an excuse,” Mary told her. Rowena nodded.

“I’m sorry for my forwardness, I’ve just always wanted to ask you that question. I can imagine it quite difficult to explain. Especially since, I imagine that no one was around to witness the miracle.” Mary smiled at the young lady’s understanding.

Tony stood next to Joseph, talking about the same thing that Mary and Rowena were conversing about.

“How did you feel when Mary told you?” Tony queried. Joseph was also taken aback by his question.

“At first I didn’t believe her, until Gabriel told me that she was conceived through the Holy Spirit. He told me this in a dream. I mean, I wanted to believe her but it just seemed so surreal to be true, you know?” Joseph told him. Tony nodded, glancing over at Rowena, wondering how he would feel if they were betrothed to each other and he found out she was pregnant with Jesus.

“I was waiting till I got to Heaven to ask you that question but since we’re here and so are you, I figured I may as well inquire.” Tony didn’t take his eyes off of Rowena, laughing with her sisters, Max and Mary. Joseph was paying attention to all of this, with a wry grin on his face. Tony turned back to Joseph and blushed.

“You like Rowena, don’t you?” the carpenter asked the football player, who nodded.

“More than that….I’m in love her,” he said to him. Tony looked down at the dirt that was flying up. Joseph understood.

“Well, if she is who God intended you for, then you shall have no problems with her loving you back,” Joseph answered. Tony nodded, already knowing this from his mother. That night they laid down on the earth. Tony laying down next to Max, Joseph and Jagger, who was making an attempt at learning Hebrew. Lorelei and Kasseia were picking it up fast and Jagger wasn’t to be outdone by two women. Max was also fluent in Hebrew.

“Rowena, what’s with you and Tony?” She asked her twin sister, already knowing the answer to the question. Rowena looked over at the other women.

“I hardly know myself,” she responded. She told them about the kiss. Of course, this was the same time, Tony was talking about it to Jagger, Joseph and Max. They didn’t elaborate, just told them what they wanted to know.

“Tony, I think you should tell her,” Max said when he was finished. Tony looked up at the stars, knowing that the singer was right.

“Rowena, maybe you should tell Tony that you want to be more,” Hadassah advised her. Lorelei shook her head, even before Rowena could say anything.

“I think he’ll tell you,” Lorelei said. Mary and Kasseia agreed with Lorelei. Rowena looked over at the quarterback and nodded, knowing that her older sister was right. Pretty soon everyone else fell asleep except for Tony and Rowena. Rowena gave up on sleep and got up to walk around. Tony saw her walk by and stood up to join her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to face Tony. She smiled and covered his hand with hers. He smiled back at her and cradled her face with his hands.

“Rowena,” he murmured, not knowing what else to say to her but hoped that his eyes told her everything she needed to know. Her eyes seemed to mirror his own and he said not another word but kissed her on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his fingers ran themselves through her hair. He held her close to his body and put his heart into the kiss. When they broke free, she felt him lift her off the ground. She rested her head on his broad shoulder. The two of them closed their eyes.

That morning she awoke, finding herself having slept not too far from him. They had decided to not say a word to anyone about this until after they had found their way back home. Joseph had brought enough food for all of them, ironically enough, and they broke their fast, then quickly got up to continue their journey to Bethlehem. They reached the city by nightfall and had found that because of Caesar’s census, all of the inns were full. Rowena had found that some were polite about it and others were flat out rude. She and Tony were walking behind everyone else, she felt him reach out and take her hand. Rowena looked over at him and smiled. He smiled back at her and gently squeezed her hand. He felt her squeeze back. Kasseia was screaming in Latin at one of the innkeepers, while Lorelei and Max had to pull her away from him. Joseph turned to Mary and saw that she was close to going into labour. Jagger was carrying Kasseia in his arms, while she was still shouting out at the innkeeper who had returned to his business. Rowena, Lorelei and Hadassah were rebuking their little sister at random intervals. Max and Tony were taking pictures of Bethlehem. Finally, they reached the last inn and Joseph was pleading with the innkeeper to give them a place to rest. Mary was sitting on the donkey, tired and wanting to lay down and rest, when a sharp pain sliced through her body. Rowena saw her wince and somehow knew that she was in labour. She and Max walked over to Joseph and waited patiently as the innkeeper told him with the utmost sympathy that he absolutely had no rooms left in the inn. Joseph hung his head and nodded in understanding, walking towards his wife, who was starting to contract. Hadassah and Lorelei were coaching her on breathing through the pain. Jagger, Tony and Kasseia were staying out of the way

“Sir, wait! If you want to, you can stay in my stable, I’ll go get some blankets and you all can sleep on the hay,” the innkeeper shouted after Joseph.

“That’s good, because his wife’s about to have the baby,” Rowena pointed out to both of them. Joseph was startled and rushed to his wife, while Max and Rowena followed the innkeeper, getting blankets. Tony was now flipping out and followed Rowena, Max and the innkeeper who went by Benjamin.

“TONY! CHILL!” Rowena shouted, hearing him freak out about Mary potentially dying. “God won’t let the Baby or His mother die.” She spoke in English when she shouted at him. He took a deep breath and let it all out.

“What can I do?” He pleaded with her, wanting to be of some use. She laughed at him.

“Take these out to the stable,” Rowena replied, handing a bunch of blankets to Tony. Kasseia joined them and took some out to the stables as well. They got a lot of blankets and were able to take them out to the stable. Benjamin brought out some food and water for them to eat. Rowena ran over to Joseph.

“Get Mary off of the donkey and lay her down in that pile of hay over there. Maximus, you’re good with animals, gently move them out of the way so Mary can give birth without being waylaid by an ox. Tony, you and Jagger help Maximus, Benjamin, thank you for the food, Hadassah, stop screaming or I will send you to the Maker and, Lorelei, help with Mary’s breathing.” Everyone sprang into action, Benjamin promised to look in on them in the morning and left to return to his inn. Before long, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Tony started to freak when not a sound came from Jesus. Rowena rolled her eyes.

“Anthony, remember? Jesus didn’t cry! Now, chill! He’s fine!” Rowena told him. Jagger snickered, standing next to a cow. The two turned and faced the Safety. The Baby looked up at Mary and made a cute noise, as she wrapped him in the swaddling clothes and laid him down in the manger. The seven of them walked out when they noticed a bright light above their heads in the stable. Rowena gasped, when she saw the bright star.

“Oh my word! That star is bright!” She cried. Hadassah pointed towards a bunch of shepherds, headed their way.

“Those dudes are headed this way!” She shouted. Joseph looked at Hadassah in complete confusion.

“What’s a dude?” He asked Rowena, who laughed.

“That’s slang for ‘man’,” she informed him. Joseph nodded but thought that word was an odd one. This also amused Rowena.

“Hadassah, those aren’t just DUDES, those are shepherds. HELLO!” Rowena told her twin sister. Hadassah smacked herself in the head for the stupid thing she just said. Tony patted her on the shoulder, then went with Rowena to greet the shepherds.

“We just saw the most amazing thing! A host of Angels told us about the Baby being born in a manger and told us to follow the star. So we did,” One of the shepherds was telling Rowena. Tony put his arm around Rowena’s shoulders, noting that nobody was paying attention to his act of affection. Tony noticed that Kasseia and Jagger were standing very close to each other, he whispered that in Rowena’s ear and she looked over at them, then up at Tony and smiled. Everyone escorted the shepherds to the stable. Hadassah pulled her twin sister aside.

“So when are the Wise Men supposed to come?” She asked her twin. Right then, Tony and Jagger looked out from the stable.

“You mean, them?” Jagger asked. “Those dudes in the funky looking robes? They look like they’re from Jamaica.” Rowena, Kasseia and Tony rolled their eyes and groaned. Rowena pulled Tony by the shirt towards the Wise Men, while the Shepherds and their sheep worshipped the Baby Jesus.

“This is where the star stopped!” One of the men said to the other. Rowena, who’s outfit consisted of a, Auburn shirt, a denim skirt and a pair of black boots. Her shirt was torn, dirty and caked with blood, she felt underdressed compared to the splendor before her. The men wore robes that were royal purple, with silver and gold trimming their sleeves.

“Come with us, we’re your welcoming committee,” Rowena said to them in Latin. The men stared at her in wonder and amusement as to her vestments, for that she was quite certain. Tony didn’t pay attention to her tattered clothes. To him, she never looked more beautiful.

“So, the King of Israel who has been born this day, is right over there?” He asked her. Rowena nodded and they gestured for them to follow them.

The Kings got off their camels when they finally reached the stable. Mary was rocking Jesus in her arms, Joseph was talking to the shepherds and Max. When they saw the Wise Men come, everyone was silent as Mary laid the Baby back in the manger so the Kings could see Him. Tony looked over at Rowena and wrapped his arms around her.

“Amazing! That little Baby Boy will one day perform so many miracles and signs, it’s so incredible,” he murmured to her, resting his head on her shoulder. She smiled, feeling him kiss her cheek and neck. She turned around to face him, with tears in her eyes. He reached out and gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks, with both of his hands. Tony pulled her into his arms and held her close. She cried, happy tears for the birth of Jesus, and sad tears because she missed her grandmother. He kissed her forehead and her hair, while she cried.

“Sorry,” she whispered. He laughed quietly, and led her outside so they could be alone.

“Rowena, it’s all right. We’re dealing with the stress of moving, losing your grandmother and you just helped Mary give birth to Jesus.” He held her close to him, the way he’d wanted to since the moment he laid eyes on her. She sat down on the bench in front of the inn. Tony knelt in front of her, his face buried in her neck. She wrapped her arms around him, enjoying his comfort.

“Listen, I don’t want to rush into anything but, at the same time I don’t want to be just friends,” he told her, moving away and looking deep into her eyes. She smiled and caressed his face.

“I agree,” she said. “I feel the same way.” He pulled her close and kissed her tenderly and passionately on the lips. She smiled and returned the kiss. When they were done, everyone was coming out of the stables. Lorelei walked over to the now couple.

“Guys, I think we should try to head back to the hill to go home,” she said. “I never knew this about Grandma’s library, did you, Rowena?” Her younger sister shook her head. Tony was sitting next to her, holding her hand behind their backs. She walked over to Rowena and Tony and sat down beside them, leaning her head on Rowena’s shoulder. Hadassah and the others soon joined them. Hadassah was holding something in her hands.

“Guys, the shepherds gave us our Bible!” She called out. Rowena took it and suddenly knew what to do. She closed the Bible and the scenery melted away and they were in the middle of the library.

“How did you know to do that?” Lorelei demanded.

“Because no one had tried that earlier and something told me to do that,” Rowena replied, knowing that it was God Who told her. Looking over at the clocks, they noticed that no time had passed since they left, yet they all crashed on the couches and floor. Rowena lay on the couch and Tony lay on the floor near Rowena.

The next morning they ate breakfast together, then looked out and saw it was snowing. Rowena grinned, put on her coat and ran outside. Tony ran out after her, still wearing his pjs. Rowena laughed and told Tony to put on his coat. He did, and rejoined her. Everyone watched the two, playing around in the snow.

“Are those two together?” Kasseia asked. Max nodded.

“I think they are,” he answered. They headed back inside to get ready for the game. Everyone decided that they may as well all go together. When they got to Sports Authority Field at Mile High the two football players, told security that the others were with them. They cleared them to watch from on the football field. Jared Jones, the starting quarterback was playing with a broken toe, much to Rowena’s amusement. She couldn’t stand Jared Jones and said that to Tony and Casey Raymond, the cornerback for the Broncos. They were playing against the Ravens and Denver had the ball. Rowena stood with the other celebrities who had attended the game. She saw Tony pacing back and forth on the sidelines, knowing that he wanted to play. Jared Jones walked out onto the field, to fans booing him. Rowena knew about his rude remarks directed towards Tony Garner. The first snap of the game, Jared threw the football right to Ray Lewis who ran in for a touchdown. Rowena shook her head and snapped the picture of Lewis running into the End Zone. Jared was ticked off and walked over to the sidelines.

“Jared, maybe you should have thrown it to Rosario. He was open,” Gary Leland, the Head Coach for the Broncos suggested. Jared started screaming at the Coach. Tony stepped in and rebuked Jared for yelling at his boss, then Jared started yelling at Tony. The Coach ordered him to sit down. Rowena was being restrained by Lorelei and Hadassah. Kasseia was also ticked off.

By halftime, the Broncos were down 31-0. There was talk that Tony would come in as starter and that Jared would be benched. Rowena watched the Broncos come out of the tunnel and waved at Tony, who winked at her. Coach Leland walked over to Rowena and told her that Jared Jones wasn’t allowed out of the locker room because of his attitude. Rowena smiled and watched the football game. Joe Flacco dropped back to pass and got hit from behind, forcing him to fumble the ball. Casey Raymond scooped it up and ran it all the way into the End Zone for a touchdown. Tony started jumping up and down on the sidelines and Rowena was squealing, along with her sisters. Max was ecstatic. He and Rowena gave each other big hugs. The Ravens got the ball back and ended up punting it from their own end zone. Tony took the field, since Willis brought it out to the 50 yard line. He called the cadence, caught the snap and threw it to a wide open Eric Decker for 20 yards, good for a first down. On and on, down the field, Tony drove them, then he tucked the ball underneath his arm and ran it in for a touchdown, making it 31-14. The Ravens got the ball back and Denver was all over them. Flacco threw and interception and Denver capitalized on their plays. For the remainder of the second half, the Denver Broncos dominated the Baltimore Ravens on offense and on defense. The score was 48-31. There was less than a minute left in the entire game and Flacco had the ball on their own 35 year line. They had no timeouts left and it was up to Flacco to try to at least make a game of it. The play called for him to be in shotgun formation. Denver was expecting Harbaugh to do a trick play so they went from a light zone coverage to man-to-man defense and a blitz package somewhere in there. Flacco handed the ball off to Ray Rice, who tried to throw it to Anquan Boldin. Casey Raymond wasn’t fooled. The 13 year veteran ran right in front of Boldin and took it all the way for a touchdown, making it 55-31. When Casey ran over to the sidelines, he and Tony body slammed each other. The Ravens got it back but ended up fumbling it, giving Denver the ball back. When Tony got behind the center, he sat on it and the game was over. Rowena and her friends went into the visitor’s locker room. When Tony was done with hanging out, he ran right up to Rowena, scooped her up in his arms and kissed her full on the lips. She smiled and kissed him back, her hands were buried in his hair. Everybody else watched the episode with amusement. Casey was in shock.

“Goll, Rowena, Tony, get a room!” Kasseia shouted at them but they ignored her. Tony finally set her down and walked her out to the parking lot, where he was going to take her to the Christmas party he’d been planning for them all.