The Christmas Gift

Margaret stood outside her sister’s door, taking a moment to admire the festive wreath on the door. Lizzie’s work, no doubt. Grace wouldn’t have thought of it herself, having spent years of George not liking a fuss at Christmas. But George had been gone for five years now, and it was nice to see a glimpse of the old Grace again. It made what she was about to do a little easier.

Gathering up her courage, she rapped briskly on the door. It only took a moment before it opened.

“Hello, Lizzie.” Lizzie was her twenty year old niece. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but I need to speak with your mother.”

“Mom and I were doing some Christmas decorating but we’ve stopped for a hot chocolate break. Come in and join us.”

Lizzie held the door open a little wider and Margaret stepped through, then followed the younger woman to the kitchen.

“Margaret,” Grace said, turning from the stove. “What a pleasant surprise.” She peered a little more closely at her sister. “You’re looking a little peeked. Is everything thing all right?”

“I—” Margaret stopped, then started again. “No, not really. I’ve something that’s been weighing on me for a number of years, and I need to get it off my chest.”

“I think I’ll run down to the store to get the butter for the shortbread,” Lizzie said, slipping out the door.

“Why don’t you sit down, Margaret.”

“I think I’d be better standing.” Margaret laid the manilla envelope she’d been carrying, on the table between them. “These belong to you. I’ve kept them all these years, and I’d no right to. I … I thought I was doing the right thing, that you’d be better off with George. By the time I realized it wasn’t my decision to make, it was too late.”

“Margaret, whatever are you talking about? What’s in the envelope?” Concerned, Grace reached out to her sister, but Margaret pulled back.

Tears in her eyes, Margaret said, “They’re letters from Liam. The first one came just before you married George. I—I—I’m sorry.”

Unable to face the shocked look on her sister’s face, Margaret turned and fled.


Grace sank slowly onto one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table, staring at the envelope as though it were a snake about to bite her. There wasn’t a day gone by in the last twenty years that she hadn’t thought about Liam McKenzie. She was still lost in thought when Lizzie returned with the butter.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Grace said. How many times had she wondered how things would have been different if she and Liam hadn’t quarrelled? How many times had she wished she’d swallowed her pride and gone to him? Too many to count.

Lizzie sat down opposite her. “What’s this?” She indicated the envelope.

“It’s … mail from a friend. It’s been coming to Margaret’s house and she saved it for me.”

“To Margaret’s house, why would it go there?”

Grace smiled faintly. “Because it used to be my house too. But that was a long time ago.”

“Well, aren’t you going to at least open it?”

“I don’t know if I should or not. I’m a little afraid of stirring up the past.” With a shake of her head, Grace pushed back from the table. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry. What do you say to ordering Chinese take-out for dinner?” She looked at her daughter earnestly, silently begging her to let the matter drop.

“Chinese would be great,” Lizzie said, letting the matter drop. At least for now.


The unsealed envelope was on the little roll top desk in the front parlour when Lizzie came downstairs in the morning. Unable to get the look on her mother’s face as she stared at it out of her mind, she tipped the contents onto the desk. There were more than a dozen smaller sealed envelopes.

Frowning, she put them in order by date. There were fifteen of them, one a year for fifteen years starting twenty years ago. The postmarks for the first five years were the same, but after that it was a different country each time, like the person started travelling. The sender’s name was Liam McKenzie. The wheels started turning in Lizzie’s brain.

She’d been looking for the perfect Christmas present for her mother, what could be more perfect than a man who’d cared enough to try and stay in touch. She put all but the last letter back in the envelope and left it as she found it on the desk. Then, calling up to her mother that she was running an errand, she headed for the library.

Lizzie had always enjoyed research, and by the end of the day she knew all kinds of things about Liam McKenzie. He had a degree in Engineering, which accounted for the first five letters being all sent from the same place, and then he’d joined the army. Five years ago he’d been wounded and ended up with a medical discharge. And one year ago, he’d moved back to this city.

It was meant to be. Now she just needed to find a way to bring them together. Of course that was assuming he was still interested.

“Well,” she said, standing up, “There’s only one way to find out.”


It was Christmas Eve and Lizzie and her mother were enjoying a quiet evening at home.

“Mom, I have a confession to make,” Lizzie said.

“Nothing too serious I hope,” Grace said with a smile.

Lizzie took a deep breath, but before she could speak there was a knock on the door.

“Whoever could that be?”

“It’s your Christmas present,” Lizzie said. “I hope you like it. Stay right here, I’ll get it.”

When she returned leading Liam McKenzie, she didn’t need to say anything. Her mother rose to her feet, one hand pressed to her heart and the look on her face was anything but displeased.

“Liam!”

“Gracie, you haven’t aged a day.”

Lizzie grinned. Her mother seemed to like her Christmas gift just fine.