Chapter 2

For the teens after church and Monday before church was mostly taken up with chores. They worked ahead so they could ease off on Christmas. After Monday supper, everyone washed and dressed as they prepared to head in the St. Michaels for the Christmas Eve service. Everyone was excited and hoped their preparations had prepared them for their parts of the service.

A few weeks before Christmas, Jane, Pat, Krista, Lyndi, Teri and Sandi had gone into the attic to look at the dresses that used to be Carol O’Brien’s. All the girls found a dress that fit and they liked. Krista fell in love with the dress first time she laid eyes upon it. She was utterly delighted with the lustrous green velvet dress. Since it had once been her mother’s dress it was a few years out of style. Krista didn’t care, she loved the dress.

On Christmas Eve, wearing the dress, she checked herself out in her mirror, liking what she saw. Although she felt as if she was trapped inside the dress by the back zipper closure, she loved the way the pretty dress fit. The long sleeves were trimmed in pretty white lace that perfectly matched the intricately patterned holly leaf lace overlay on the princess seemed bodice. The dress snugly followed the curves of her torso. The only thing that bothered her was the fact her small breasts were all padding. Any lingering thoughts of someday returning to boyhood were snuffed out as she drinking her femininity. She fully understood that she would never give up being a girl to go back to being a boy. After Christmas was over, she’d definitely talk to her mom about starting female hormones.

It was a sizeable caravan that made it’s way from the Clan Wells Point into St. Michaels. The drivers dropped everyone off at the entrance to St. Luke’s UMC Church before they headed off to park the vehicles and join the others. The Clan Wells Point had arrived an hour early to set up the staging for the mini nativity pageant they were performing for the congregation. Since the teens were to be the greeters of all who entered, they had to get ready to welcome fellow worshipers to the service and hand out the bulletins and small candles. The rest of the Clan sat in the rear in the folding chairs always added to the sanctuary to handle the overflow of the well attended service. The church was lit by twinkling lights along the chancel rails and by the baptismal font. A tastefully decorated and lit Christmas tree stood to one side of the altar The church was festive yet serene.

The teens were spread out at the stairs and elevator as the people arrived. Jamie was flanked by Freddy in his power chair and Barney outside the elevator. They warmly greeted all who exited the conveyance. Krista and Jaz manned the top of the staircase. Tony and Jimmy took the task of seating those in attendance so no seats were left empty. As a prelude the organist played a selection of familiar Christmas hymns. By the 10:00pm start time, the church was packed.

“Good evening,” Rev. Giles warmly greeted everyone. “If you haven’t already figured it out, everyone is welcome in this house of worship. Tonight we’ve gathered to celebrate a birthday. Plus or minus a year, depending on which scholarly evidence you find most convincing, Jesus Christ was born two thousand twelve years ago! That’s quite a number of years for a birthday to celebrated! But what a momentous birthday it was! Before we begin our service, I’d like to thank the members of the Clan Wells Point for volunteering to help us with tonight’s birthday party. Now, let’s begin the service by singing of ‘O Little town of Bethlehem’.”

The organ swelled with the familiar tune and the congregation rose and began to sing. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhliK23BhD8 ) While they sang, two acolytes walked to the Christ Candle and lit the four feet long candle lighters. Then they walked down the aisles lighting the candles atop the single candle stands clamped to the sides of every other pew. The stands were seven feet high which put the wicks at eight feet. They finished just as the song ended. The duo then went through the chancel rail to light the two altar candles as well as the seven candle candelabras on either side of the altar. The duo was clearly nervous as neither had really set foot inside a church until the last two weeks. Most of the congregation was pleasantly surprised to see Dwayne and Phil becoming active in the church. A few were disgruntled a pair of gay boys were selected for the August roles of acolyte.

When they finished, Krista and Jasmine walked up to the lectern and began reading Luke, Chapter 2 from the Revised Standard Bible. Jasmine read first, alternating with Krista.

“Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to enroll themselves, every one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.”

Nine year olds Chris Olsen and Holly, dressed as Mary and Joseph, began the long trek down the aisle as Jasmine read her verses. Mary sat side-saddle on a wheeled wooden donkey as Joseph led (pulled) it by the lead rope. When they reached the front of the church, Joseph tied the lead to the chancel rail and gallantly helped Mary off the steed. It was obvious Mary’s tummy was quite full. Joseph knock on a wooden door that had been set up on one side of the chancel rail with a sign above the door that simply read INN.

“And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

The door to the ‘inn’ opened and Marcus Olsen, pantomimed there was no room. Joseph pointed to Mary’s tummy with a pleading look. The inn keeper sighed and pointed to the other side of the chancel rail where a few wooden beams stood in the crude shape of a stable. The floor of the stable was covered with straw and a straw filled manger was prominent in the center. Mary and Joseph went to the stable where Mary made a show of lying down behind the manger. After fifteen seconds, Joseph helped Mary up. Her bloated tummy was gone and she held a baby wrapped in strips of cloth which she gently laid in the manger. As soon as she did, a golden glow emanated from the manger by the baby’s head. Joseph put an arm around Mary and the proud parents beamed at the new child.

“And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock, and an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.”

As soon as she began to read, the lights illuminating the scenes in the front dimmed and bright lights appeared in the rear of the church. There stood three shepherds with three sheep and an angel, (Holly, Ivy, and Jimmy as shepherds with siblings Wanda and DJ Scott, with Benny Reese Jr. in cute sheep costumes and Tony as the angel). The shepherds showed fear as the angel mimed the words.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.”

At this point the adults of The Clan Wells Point clad in white robes stood and began to sing ‘Glory to God in the Highest”. Their voices blended almost magically bringing tears of joy and gratefulness to the eyes of many parishioners. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdA-ViRj6z8&feature=related )

When they finished the minute and a half song, Jaz began to read the scriptures. “And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.”

As she read the shepherds began to head up the aisle as the lights in the rear dimmed and those in front brightened. The sheep clad toddlers were actually shepherded forward to the delight of all. They gathered in front of the manger.

“And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.”

The shepherds again mimicked their actions to the scripture. When the shepherds turned to return to the back they had to urge the sheep to return to the pasture. Wanda took the hands of DJ and Benny, then she began to skip down the aisle while happily ‘baa’-ing, a completely unrehearsed bit of ad-libbing. DJ and Benny quickly joined in, causing everyone to giggle with delight.

The sanctuary lights rose and the organ began to play ‘Joy To The World.’ Everyone who was able stood and sang from the heart with gusto. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyy75l1MBrI )

Rev. Giles smiled as he took his place at the pulpit to begin his brief sermon which he ended with a short poem.

“Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight.
Christmas in lands of fir trees and pine,
Christmas in lands of palm tree and vine,
Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white,
Christmas where cornfields lie sunny and bright,
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight.
Christmas where children are happy at play,
Christmas where old men are patient and gray,
Christmas where peace like a dove in its flight,
Broods over brave men in the midst of a fight,
Everywhere, everywhere Christmas tonight.
For the Christ child who comes is master of all,
No palace too great, no cottage too small,
Everywhere, everywhere Christmas tonight."

Still in their costumes, the Clan Wells Youth took up the collection. LJ Scott, Holly, Ivy, Marcus and Chris moved to stand by the chancel rail while the others took the offering plates. Jaz carried Benny as she accompanied Sandi as the little girl carried the offering plate down the outer right aisle while Krista carried DJ as they escorted Peter Scott down the outer left aisle. Freddy and Barney took the left center aisle as Tony and Jimmy covered the right side. Jamie carried Wanda between the guys. The three toddlers, still clad in their sheep costumes, giggled and waved as they drank in the attention they received.

Larry and Kylie had followed the youths to the front. As the collection was being taken, they unrolled and connected two Smart Planet Piano Mats in front of the chancel rail which they hooked to a midi controller. Each two and half pound mat, thirty and a half inches wide by two inches thick and seventy inches long had twenty four keys. Linked together they had forty eight white and black keys in the standard piano layout and the midi was programed for piano mode. As soon as the mats were set up, Larry and Kylie sat inconspicuously off to the side. Sandi, Lyndi, and Teri, dressed in red ballerina costumes complete with flouncy green gauzy skirts and JC emblazoned on their torso with gold glitter paint, came down the center aisle and took up position. As soon as the collection was completed the girls began a dance routine on the twin mats playing ‘The Carol of the Bells’. The congregation watched in amazement as they flawlessly performed the cute song. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlZYGZEHMgU ) (The girls in the video use 45 of the 60 keys.) They curtseyed to the enthusiastic applause. As they returned down the aisle, Larry and Kylie rolled up the mats and scuttled to the side as the rest of the youth brought the offering forward.

Rev. Giles said the offering prayer, then after he’d turned from the altar to face the congregation stated “The Lord be with you.”.

“And also with you,” the congregation replied as they began following the liturgy of the communion service.

Rev. Giles smiled as he turned back to the congregation and spread his arms wide in welcome. “Everyone, young and old, is invited to The Lord’s Table,” Rev. Giles intoned once the liturgy was completed.

As he made the invitation, brothers Leroy, David, and Larry with their father Robert Scott walked up to the chancel rail. Robert opened the gate and stepped through to join Rev. Giles. Rev. Giles passed the chalice to Robert while he carried the loaf. Together they walked by the chancel rail and took up positions. Leroy stood at the far left with communion cups while David stood at the far right by the Christmas tree to collect the cups. Larry went to the rows of seats and ushered the congregation forward. In a continuos line, they moved forward to Leroy to get a cup, then moved along the rail to Rev. Giles.

Rev Giles tore a small piece of bread off the loaf and handed it to the person saying “Take and eat, this is the body of Christ broken for you.”

After the person ate the bread, they moved down the rail to Robert where he poured wine into their cup saying “The blood of Christ shed for you.”

Dwayne held a pitcher of wine to refill the chalice as needed while Phil held a second chalice filled with grape juice for those who wanted to avoid wine. After they drank their wine, the people filed over to David who collected the empty cups before they returned to their seats.

The only glitch, and it was a minor one, happened when Krista and Jaz, who had insisted on taking their first communion together, turned away from Robert after downing the wine. Both stopped in awe to stare at the angel on the top of the tree. It was only when Heather had urged the girls to keep moving that they snapped out of their brief moment of surprise. The two girls exchanged looks that told them they’d both seen the same thing. Then they were swept back into the flow of the service.

Although the church was packed, the entire communion only took ten minutes. When everyone had returned to their seats Rev. Giles faced the altar and led everyone in prayer.

After the prayer Robert stepped back through the chancel rail and joined his sons as they faced the altar. Dwayne and Phil picked up six twelve inch long one inch in diameter candles and joined the men, sharing the candles with them. As Rev. Giles took a similar candle and lit it from the Christ candle, except for the tree, the electric lights in the sanctuary were turned off. The only illumination was the lights on the tree and the candles, barely enough light to see. Then he turned and went to the six. Pausing before each, they tilted their candle into the flame of the upright lit candle Rev. Giles held. When all six were lit, they headed down the center aisle. Two stopped at the front pews, one on the left side, the other on the right. Two others went one third of the way down and stopped while the last two went two thirds of the way. When they were all in position, they held their upright candle to the first person in the pew. That person tilted his half inch diameter four inch long candle to light it from the shared flame. Once lit, the six moved on to the next pew while each person in the pews took their turn lighting their candle and passing the flame on. As the number of candles increased, the church brightened. Once all the candles were lit, the sanctuary was filled with a welcoming, safe, warm, flickering light that seemed somehow magical and yet comfortably quaint.

Rev Giles spoke firmly. “In Luke Chapter 11, verses 33 through 36 it says: ‘No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.’"

Larry slipped his faithful electric guitar over his shoulder and began to play softly ‘Silent Night’. The voices of the congregation blended in serene harmony. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4gVMb2yDHk ) When the song ended, Rev. Giles blew out his candle and the congregation followed suit.

“May the love God showed us by giving us his son be shared by everyone. Go in peace, serve the Lord. MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

The lights came on and people began gathering their things. In the back of the sanctuary, a projection screen had been erected. Instead of a postlude, Krista began to play video from YouTube. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRbTrensuiY ) xmas Despite the late hour, many stayed to watch, especially those with children. All in all, it was a Christmas Eve service they’d all fondly remember.

*****

Each home in the Clan Wells Point had a private Christmas breakfast with their immediate family. At lunch, those with extended families gathered together. All gathered together in the big farmhouse for supper. Gifts were exchanged and hugs shared. No one went hungry.

Krista and Jaz managed to step out the back door for a few moments. The night was cloudless and the moon, which had been full on Christmas Eve, illuminated the landscape. Looking out across Johns Cove and the small peninsula of flat land on the other side they could easily see the festive holiday lights of Neavitt on the opposite shore of Balls Creek. The docks and houses were ablaze in colored lights reflecting gaily off the rippling waters.

While each loved their family, they had grown closer, as close as if they were sisters by birth. Krista and Jaz had become nearly inseparable. With all the holiday preparations they had not had a chance to discuss what they had seen during the Communion service. After a few moments simply absorbing the serene view and feeling the warmth of the Clan emanating from the house they looked at each other.

“The angel atop the Christmas tree,” Jaz began as she looked deeply into Krista’s eyes. “After we turned from taking communion, I swear it was your mom’s face smiling at us! It was like she was proud we were accepting Jesus’ grace!”

“I saw her too,” Krista beamed. “She was pleased with us. I think she’s become our personal guardian angel.”

“I get that feeling too,” Jaz happily agreed. “Do you think that now that we’ve accepted Christ, God will talk to directly to us?”

“Gram said that God is always talking to us,” Krista replied thoughtfully. “It’s just that most people never bother to listen, if they do hear God, they don’t want to do what he tells them. Nearly everyone prays but they seldom listen for God’s response. Now that we touched Jesus and accepted his Grace, we need to carefully listen so we can hear God whenever he speaks to us.”

“That’s a big responsibility,” Jaz sighed. “I don’t know if I’m up t it.”

“My mom used to say that God never gives you more than you can handle,” Krista stated before giggling. “She almost always added she wished God didn’t trust her so much.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Jaz giggled.

“You have no idea how often I said I wished God didn’t trust me so much while we were on our Odyssey,” Krista sighed

Now that they’d sharing their first communion, their bond deepened. The experience of communing on Jesus’ birthday effected them deeply. Having lost two years of her life, Jaz while lacking a bit on maturity, had enough intelligence and common sense to realize the missing time had left her socially behind her peers. On top of that years before her rape had been lean times for the family so she was also not very technically savvy as compared to many of her classmates. To complicate matters, once her body recovered from the neglect, puberty hit hard. The mood swings and weird desires created by the sudden influx of estrogen nearly drove her to distraction. Again since she was in the coma she’d never developed the normal social maturation that pre-teen girls normally experienced. Krista not only proved to be her best friend, she was also a fantastic anchor keeping her focused on what was important. But it wasn’t a one way street. Krista loved being a girl but with only six months experience was often confounded by girlish reasoning. Jaz had always been a girly girl, and as such, used her life long girl experience to guide Krista on the paths to girlhood as well as doing her best to help Krista understand the way girls mind worked. Few men or boys ever understood the way girls thought and reacted and Kristopher had been no different. Now that he was on the other side of the fence, picking up the way girls thought was slowly becoming easier while at the same time the way guys thought was becoming grayer.

The girls didn’t really have much time for their discussion as Tony and Jimmy came out the back in search of their girlfriends. Needless to say the to couples snuggled together for warmth on the cold night and silently watched the lights rippling across Balls Creek and Longs Cove. It wasn’t long before they began kissing.

They quickly separated as the lights on the back porch were flipped on. No one came out to get them but they understood the adults had figured out what they were up to and it was time for them to come back inside. The men thought the rosy cheeks of the two couples were due to the cold night air. The women knew better and smiled knowingly at each other.

Tony and Jimmy honestly respected the Krista and Jaz. They proved to be the boyfriends they needed. Their budding machismo had already been tempered by the girls’ gentling influence. Tony and Krista had self imposed limits on how far they would explore due to Krista’s birth defect. Jimmy and Jaz had similar limits due to the sexual abuse she’d suffered. The four certainly enjoyed making out but did so without going past second base. Even then, any caressing and fondling was done fully clothed and above the waist with their hands remaining on the outside of the garments. While they all dreamed of and fantasized about going further, they respected their self imposed limits, thus earning the trust of their parents.

This trust allowed them to go for long romantic walks and picnics about the Clan Wells Point enclave on warm winter days. The young couples enjoyed bundling up as together to sit and watch the abundant birds and wildlife. The forests and wet lands that made up a large percentage of the Clan Wells Point were simply beautiful, even in winter. Since many of the trees were evergreens there were still sheltered nesting and hiding places for the wildlife that abounded in the area.

In the swampy ends of the coves and inlets as well as in the bits of forest that dotted the Bay Hundred area, the land of the Clan Wells Point was especially blessed. At least twenty white tailed deer in three small herds lived on the Clan Wells Point land. Flocks of wild turkeys freely and even arrogantly roamed the area. The turkeys had become so accustomed to living around humans they often refused to yield when encountered on the gravel lanes. The avian crowd also jammed the area. The entire Chesapeake Bay was a vital portion of the north eastern US flyway. Ducks and geese swarmed the area during their annual migrations. Osprey, herons, egrets abounded. At dozens of locations in the creeks and coves telephone pole like pilings had been driven into the bottom, extending ten to fifteen feet above of the mean water level. Twenty four inch square reinforced wooden platforms were attached to the top. Every one had a large twig and grass nest. In Leadenham Creek, northeast of Judys Point a little over two hundred feet from shore was a camouflaged observation post. ‘L’ shaped, the longer north south leg was fifteen feet wide and twenty feet long connected to the main piece was a ten feet by ten feet observation platform. To use it, one would maneuver their boat under the longer section and climb into the observation section. The entire thing was covered with branches and such to hide anyone inside. It was the perfect perch to observe birds using the flyway. A second observation platform was about two hundred fifty feet off shore outside Steves Cove on the south side of Wells Point. The teens planned to go out to each site when the Spring migration brought the birds back north.

This natural beauty effected the kids. Their love and appreciation of nature’s beauty grew. They developed an understanding of the needs of the wildlife. Together the for about to do all they could to see that future land development would always consider the needs of nature. They were glad that the farming on Wells point was going green and if they had anything to say about it, things would stay that way. The forests and swamps coves and inlets of the Clan Wells Point lands would remain a haven for wildlife. They seldom went on their walks without binoculars and at least one camera with a telescopic lens as well as a camcorder. The pictures and videos they took were posted on the Clan Wells Point web sites.

As usual, the evening conversation turned to Clan matters. While the things were going well, there were potential issues on the horizon. One of these was the increasing cost of electricity. As the Clan grew, so did their use of electric power. They were discovering that going green in their many ventures used more electricity.

*****