A Christmas Present

A couple of weeks ago, the General Commandant had Dmitry and I set dynamite charges around the dam. He told us that the rebels in the area were getting strong and if they attacked, he would destroy the dam rather than let it fall into their hands. Although we had disabled the section of the transmitter that would set off the charges, they could be manually detonated...by someone who wanted to commit suicide.

Dmitry told me that we were going to his sister's home. She was west of Osh, a small city in Kyrgyzstan. He said that I should get comfortable as it was going to take at least three days to get there.

"That's if we don't hit any traffic," he said. That got a laugh from everyone.

I actually took four days to get to his sister's. The roads were little more than goat tracks and the going was very slow. We stayed off of any main arteries, taking the back roads. We all took turns driving and would stop for the night as it was far too dangerous to travel in the dark. Mainly because of the roads but also there were probably bandits in the area. Not only bandits but if anyone saw a lone car on the road at night even some upstanding citizens might be tempted to relieve us of all our possessions and quite possibly our lives. This can be a rather brutal and merciless countryside.

After four very long, hot and dusty days, we arrived at Tanya and Alexander's home. It would have been a more joyous occasion, if not for the circumstances of the visit. But, all in all it was a happy event. I slept in a bed and I actually did sleep through the night. Didn't have to pull guard duty.

Three days later Alex took Dmitry and I into Osh and we got a bus to take us to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan and the closest large city. The trip took a day and a half in a very hot, dusty old bus. When we arrived in Tashkent we were met by Dmitry's uncle Emomalii and his family. We spent the night with them and it was a real celebration. They hadn't seen Dmitry in years.

The next day we were taken to the Tajikistani Consulate and met with the Ambassador. He told us the whole story. It seems that the initial attack by the "rebels" was actually a sham. It was the General's troops that attacked the dam, they had been dressed like the insurgents. He did it so that the government would have to send troops to the dam to protect it. He also wanted a reason to make everyone working there to think that he was following orders and the legitimate government was protecting the dam.

He told us that the General had put an arrest order out for us, so we should be cautious and stay out of the limelight. He didn't think that we would have too much trouble in Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan, but we should be careful as there were fundamentalists around that may support the General.

We had the ambassador get a drawing of the dam and we indicated the exact placement of the charges. We also gave him the diagrams and flash drives that we had taken. This way if the government sent in commandos they would know exactly where the charges were and would know how to disarm the devices

After leaving the consulate we returned to Uncle Emomalii's home. The next morning I took the first flight out of Tashkent. It was not quite the way I wanted to go, but it was out of here. I got on a Korean Air flight to Seoul. From there I caught a Delta flight to LA where I would change planes for a flight to New York.

I didn't want to go to Chicago, I wanted to arrive at JFK early on Christmas Eve morning. I knew that Anne would be at her Mother's on Long Island. I was going there and nowhere else. I wanted to see my wife, my Anne as soon as possible.

I had tried to call from Tashkent, later from Seoul but couldn't get through, the international circuits were all jammed. Well, it was right before Christmas.

When I got to LA again all circuits were busy and as my flight had been delayed for hours the airlines had to reschedule my flight to New York, thus my time between flights was very short, no phone calls today. But I figured that I would be in New York in a few hours so it would be a surprise. As I said, my cell phone had been taken by the General's men a long time ago.

I had no problem using my credit card in Asia and had purchased my tickets for the whole trip, but when I got to the states, no one would accept it and I had to show my passport and driver's license so I wouldn't get arrested. I still had a little cash, but I knew that I would need that for a cab.

I felt like death warmed over when we finally landed at JFK. It was about eleven hours later than when I should have landed. I went straight for a cab. Didn't want to wait on the lines at the very few pay phones to make a call.

Finally, after about a hundred years, I arrived at Aunt Milly's, I paid the driver and had three bucks left over after giving the driver a nice tip. I got out of the cab, threw my backpack over my shoulder and walked to Aunt Milly's front door. I stood there for a minute or two, thinking, "I must look terrible, I haven't showered or shaved since I left Uncle Emomalii's in Tashkent. Well too bad, they're going to get me the way I am."

I rang the bell and waited...nothing. I could hear the music and talking that was going on inside the house, so I rang the bell again and this time I kept my finger on it, after a moment I heard my angle's voice say, "Hold on, Hold your horses...I'm coming."

The door opened and I gazed on the most beautiful woman in the world. I said, "Hello there, beautiful."

Anne just stood in the doorway staring at me. Her mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. I heard a voice from inside yell, "Who's at the door Anne?" Then she screamed, "Oh my God...Georgie...Georgie."

She flew into my arms and was crying and screaming, "Oh my love...my Georgie...I knew that you would come back...that you would come back to me. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it."

She was crying and kissing me all over my face. She had her arms wrapped around me in a death grip. I dropped the backpack and held her as tight as I could. Finally she stopped screaming and just stood there holding me and sobbing and shaking.

By this time a crowd came to the door to see what the commotion was about. Sharon stood there with her mouth open, Barbra just said, "Oh Lord...Oh my god." Mom just gave a screech, her eyes went back into her head and she fell back into Uncle Milt's arms.

I was flabbergasted, I didn't know what was going on. "What in heck is going on? You guys all look like you saw a ghost." I stammered.

Then little Pete found his voice and said, "But...but Uncle George...you're supposed to be dead."

I looked at him and said, "What...I'm dead?"

"Yea they told us that you were dead...we even went to church for you."

"Wow you even went to church? Well, I guess that they were wrong...I ain't dead."

He gave me a look like I was a complete dummy and said, "I can see that Uncle George."

I hugged Anne into my body and put my face into her neck kissing her and whispered, "Oh my darling, my love, I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Please forgive me."

Anne just kept saying, "Oh my Georgie...my love...my darling..." over and over.

The place was complete pandemonium. Aunt Milly was running around screaming for smelling salts for Mom. Uncle Milt was holding Mom in his arms and calling, "Helen, Helen are you alright. Somebody get some water."

Jack was standing there laughing, but tears were running down his face. The kids weren't exactly sure what was going on. Their dead uncle...wasn't, I guess.

Steven was holding Sharon as she looked like she was going to collapse. Sharon's husband had returned. It seems that he had not run off with another woman (as I thought) but had gone to a Trappist Monastery, to "find himself." He returned after three months and they are doing just fine. I haven't seen Sharon so happy in a long time.

Finally, things started to quiet down. Mom was revived and was hugging and kissing me, as were Sharon and Barb. Anne never let me go, she just held me as close as possible, with everyone else trying to hug and kiss me.

Eventually we all ended up in the living room, where Uncle Milt handed me a bourbon on the rocks. I took a sip, it was wonderful. This was the first drink I had in months. The General (I refuse to say General Commandant any more) wouldn't tolerate alcohol.

I was sitting on the couch with Anne on one side of me and Mom on the other. Jack was explaining that about a couple of months ago Mom and Anne had been contacted by the State Department that the government in Dashanbe had reported that after all the work had been finished on the dam all of the civilian workers at the dam had been sent to Dashanbe in a truck convoy. The convoy had been attacked by the rebels and everyone had been killed. There were no survivors.

I was surprised that we hadn't been told this by the Tajikistani Ambassador in Tashkent.

Everyone was devastated. Anne came back to New York and was inconsolable. Unlike before she stopped eating and lost weight. Mom and Aunt Milly would force feed her telling her that she had to eat. She was just starting to slowly come around. There had been a Memorial Service for me last week and the place was packed.

My boss, Carl and his wife had flown in and attended. He told everyone that the company would take care of Anne, that she had nothing to worry about.

Then all of a sudden, Anne pushed away from me, she stood up and said with a smile, "I think I should give Georgie his Christmas present, don't you Mom?"

Both Mom and Aunt Milly nodded like crazy. I looked at her like she was nuts and said, "Anne, I don't want any Christmas presents. I have everything that I want right here."

Anne started to giggle and got up and said, "No my love, I have this present just for you."

She got up and went out of the living room. Mom said in a small voice, "Anne is so happy...she has had this present for you and she really has to give it to you."

I turned to Mom and said, "Damn it, Mom, the only present I want is Anne in my arms and now I don't have that." She just gave me a smug smile and said nothing more.

Everyone was asking questions and I was giving half answers, not really paying attention. Mom just sat there, she had a smile on her face and she would reach over to me and hug me every once in a while. Anne was gone for what seemed forever and I said to Mom, "Where is Anne? Is she making that present?"

Mom giggled and said, "She has to get your present ready, and no she is not making it."

Sharon laughed and said, "No that's already been done."

After about six months or about twenty minutes later, Anne quietly came into the living room; she was behind me and said, "Close your eyes, George."

I sort of ignored her and said, "Where were you? What were you doing?

She said, "Please, Georgie."

I closed my eyes and said, "Okay, they're closed." Then I said, "Wait...how do you have a Christmas Present for me if you thought..."

I felt her sit on my lap and I put my arms around her, but it was very awkward like she was keeping me from holding her. Anne said in a giggling voice, "Okay, you can open them."

I opened my eyes and I was looking at the tiniest, most beautiful little girl that I ever saw. She was dressed in a red and white Santa outfit and had a pink bow in her hair. She had her mother's reddish blonde hair. I looked at Anne and she was smiling at me, the tears were running down her face and she was cradling the baby...our baby in her arms. I looked at her and back to my daughter and wrapped my arms around them.

In a sobbing voice Anne said, "Merry Christmas, my darling husband."

I kept saying, "Oh my love...my love...I love you so much..."

"This is Christina Marie, she is ten weeks old. And she misses her Daddy. She was wet and hungry and didn't want to wait for us to have our dinner."

I was speechless, I couldn't talk, I couldn't even think. She was beautiful. Her bright blue eyes were looking straight at me. Then she blinked and looked at me again and closed her eyes and snuggled into her Mommy.

I looked at Anne through my tears and said in a soft sobbing voice, "Looks like we're going to have that peaceful Christmas Eve dinner after all."

Anne slumped down into my arms and said, "And three hundred and sixty-four noisy dinners?"

I laughed, "No my love, three hundred and sixty-four heavenly dinners."

Christina just lay in her Mother's arms and snuggled. Anne then placed her in my arms. For the first time I held my daughter. I sat there on the couch and silently wept. I had missed so much, that job had taken so much away from me.

At that moment, I decided that I wasn't going to spend time away from my family. I would find a job close to home. Maybe the pay wouldn't be as much, but I would be close.

I sat there thinking about the last year, not knowing about Anne's pregnancy nor about the birth of my beautiful daughter. I just let all of the talk and noise of the party go in one ear and out the other, not paying any attention to anything but the tiny bundle in my arms.

Anne had to nudge me when Aunt Milly called us to dinner. As Mom, Sharon, Barb and the rest of the adults wanted to be with Anne and me, we had to sit at the adults table. But, I refused to give up my daughter. She was asleep in my arms and that's where she was going to stay.

When we sat down, Anne put her head on my shoulder and whispered, "It didn't work this time did it."

I looked at her and answered, "Does that mean that you want to try again?"

She giggled, "I have all intentions of trying...as much as possible, but I don't think that we should succeed for another year or two."

I leaned over and lightly kissed her on the lips. At that point both Uncle Milt and Jack started in with the questions. I told them that I was not going to spend my first dinner at home with my wife and daughter being cross-examined. So after a not so peaceful dinner we eventually went back into the living room.

Sitting on the sofa with my wife next to me and my daughter asleep in my arms and another bourbon in my hand, I told them the whole story. The sham attack that brought me back to the site, finishing the dam, the General and his scheme, the escape in Dmitry's car through the wild countryside, and finally the trip back to New York.

I was just about finished with the stories when the phone rang. Little Pete answered it and came running into the living room, handed the phone to Anne and said, "Aunt Annie, it's for you."

Anne took the phone and said, "Yes? Hello." Then she said in a very excited voice, "Oh god Carl, yes and a very Merry Christmas to you. Oh god...I don't know where to start...no, no, no George is here...yes, yes, he's here, sitting right next to me. NO, I haven't been drinking...here you talk to him."

She handed me the phone and said, "Your boss thinks I'm drunk or hallucinating."

I took the phone and said, "Hey Carl. I just want to let you know that the reports of my death are just a bit premature."

He was silent for a moment and then he gushed, "Holy shit, George, it is you. Oh God, this is great, what a fantastic Christmas present."

We talked for a while and decided that I should get back to my family. I told him that I would see him in the office next week and hung up. I didn't say anything about quitting. I would wait until we were face to face. I went back into the living room and sat with my wife, daughter and mother.

No matter how hard I tried my eyes kept closing, well I was approaching 40 hours without much sleep. I hadn't really slept since I left Tashkent and sitting with my second bourbon in my hand and my sleeping Christina in my arms, all I wanted was to close my eyes and join my little beauty in dreamland.

But of course no one wanted to let me go. They all wanted to talk, or should I say hear me talk. It was well after eleven o'clock when almost everyone went home. Anne, Christina and I were staying at Aunt Milly's, we would be in the master bedroom.

Aunt Milly was in Anne's old room, and Mom was in Debbie's room. Sharon, Steven, Greta and Pete were in the living room, the parents on the sofa-bed and the kids on the floor. Of course, Uncle Milt stayed. He slept in the lounge chair.

We went up to the bedroom and Anne fed our little darling. I couldn't believe how beautiful that was. Watching my wife feeding our daughter from her body. Christina was a lusty eater, she slurped and gulped as she sucked on her Mother's breast.

I lay down next to Anne and watched that wonderful scene. I was filled with emotions that I have never known as I watched my beautiful wife feed our daughter. I felt so much love for them that I thought my heart would burst. I was in heaven.

After a while, Anne got up and changed Christina and put her in her crib. She turned toward me and smiled. I held my arms out to her and she rushed into them. I took her in my arms and kissed her. I pulled her into me and kissed her again. We held each other and I laid back pulling my wife on me. I smiled and closed my eyes for a second.

I opened them a moment later and found that the room was completely dark and Anne asleep in my arms. She had her arms around me and one leg across my thighs. I smiled into the darkness and once again closed my eyes.

I next opened my eyes when I felt the bed move. I lay there watching Anne go over to the crib and take a crying Christina out and hug her. Anne came back into bed and arranged the pillow and sat back against the headboard, opened up her nightgown and brought our daughter to her breast.

It was dark and she obviously couldn't see my open eyes. She would glance over at me and then reach out and touch me. Sometimes she would touch my arm, then my chest, my hair just moving her hand to different parts of my upper body.

I smiled and in a very soft voice said, "Good morning, my love."

Anne's face broke into a huge grim. "Good morning, Daddy, have you been up long?" she asked as she reached over and ran her hand over my cheek. She looked at me and went on, "I have to keep touching you. I have to make sure that you're really here and that I'm not dreaming."

There were tears in her eyes. I sat up and move in close to her. I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. I leaned my head onto her shoulder and just sat there watching our Christina feed on her mother's milk. This was heaven and I was still alive.

We just rested there close to each other, silently watching our little bundle of joy as she slurped and ate. Anne said that Christina had been up for a while. Ann and heard her cooing and mewling in the crib for about a half an hour before she started to cry.

"I'm so attuned to her that as soon as she wakes, I'm up. But I usually wait until she gets hungry before getting up and feed her," Anne explained.

Christina fell asleep as she ate and Anne then got up and changed her diaper and placed her in the crib. She then turned toward the bed and smiled at me. She was so beautiful standing there in her flannel night gown.

I held my arms out to her and she rushed to me. She practically jumped into the bed and took me in her arms. Her lips mashed into mine and her tongue tore into my mouth. It was like she was a wild woman, attacking me like there was no tomorrow.

I was immediately infected with her passion and I wanted her more than anything in the world. I rolled her onto her back and started to tear her nightgown off of her. I stopped and started to unbutton the front of her nightgown.

I would unbutton a few buttons and then spread the gown and kiss the newly exposed skin. As I went lower I spread the gown more and when I got to her breasts I stopped and just gazed at them. I couldn't believe how beautiful and ripe they were. They were a bit bigger than I remembered, but heck, she was breast feeding.