Danny was going to a Christmas Concert at Abbottsford Cathedral which was well attended as usual and when he when inside he saw the wonder of a manger scene, it looked so very life like and real, and there was a good reason for that, because it was.
In fact it was a wonderful scene and captured the mood perfectly as “Ave Maria” played softly in the background.
Part of the wonder of the stable of Bethlehem were the live animals, who seemed perfectly at peace away from his Uncle Jacks farm
Then he saw his younger brother dressed as Joseph, and his sister as the Virgin Mary, not exactly type casting he thought to himself rather uncharitably.
There were also three of his cousins playing shepherds, two Uncles and a maiden Aunt representing the Magi and his father was the angel Gabriel.
In fact the only one of the tableaux that was not a living member of the family was the Christ child which was actually one of those robotic dolls that pregnant women, with more money than sense get to practice motherhood on, supplied by one such woman, Aunty Evelyn.
His mother would also have been in it but for the fact that she was the Vicar and was part of the clergy taking the service.
Whereas his contribution to proceedings was as soloist in the choir in which he was performing “o holy night”.
He waved to his many kith and kin as he walked towards the vestry and as he did so his mind was preoccupied with two things, the first was a wish, to give a faultless performance in front of such a large congregation and the second was his hope of getting Heather Jones under the mistletoe at the party afterwards.
Heather was two years younger than him and was new to the choir and he was besotted with her, and had been from the first moment he saw her.
She was a bit of a tomboy but he quite liked that she wasn’t a girlie girl and didn’t present with all the girly paraphernalia.
Such as the fact that she never carried a hand bag, instead she had a back pack with her at all times, she also wasn’t fashion conscious, which was another plus for him, she always wore a loose fitting black dress, black tights and coloured baseball shoes and wore her long Brunette hair in plaits.
He really liked everything about Heather, her prominent chin which she thrust out proudly, her green thoughtful eyes behind thick framed specs and her broad smile that made her nose wrinkle.
In short he thought she was perfect, he just needed to work up the courage to ask her out, which is where he hoped the mistletoe would come to his aid.
So after the service the clergy, verger, altar boys and choir members all made their way at some point to the vestry to change into their street clothes, he made sure he stayed close to Heather as he still held out a hope that he might suddenly grow a back bone and ask her out.
He kept her in view at all times while he spoke with various members of his family, who were congratulating him on his solo performance, until most of the people who had gone in the vestry had come out when Heather looked over to where he was standing and went into the vestry herself, so he followed and as he went inside, the Verger went out leaving just him and Heather who was just hanging her surplice in the cupboard.
“Hello” he said nervously
“Hi Danny” she retorted as she slipped off her shoes and replaced them with her baseball shoes “great solo”
“Thanks” he said and started to panic as he couldn’t think of anything else to say, because as he watched her change her footwear his mind went blank, until he caught sight of the Christmas lights through the vestry window and he asked.
“Are you looking forward to the party?”
“I was” she replied
“Why aren’t you now?”
“Because I’m not going” Heather replied and he sat down heavily on a chair as his heart sank and she smiled when she saw his reaction then she said
“My mums ill”
“Oh I’m sorry” he said sympathetically and bent down to tie his shoe lace and when he sat up again Heather was holding a sprig of mistletoe above his head.
“I was going to use this at the party” she said and leant forward and kissed him, but not just a peck, it was a proper kiss, his first proper kiss, and it was everything he’d hoped it would be and more.
“Wow that’s good mistletoe” she said
“Definitely” he agreed and then added
“I’ve got some mistletoe for the party as well”
“That’s good to know” Heather said as she slipped her coat on
“So I think we should check if it’s as good as yours” he asked
“Fab idea” she grinned and they kissed again.
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