“Marcus,” Jessica said into the phone. “It’s just one night. You can do this for just one night.”

“Jessica,” Marcus complained. “I’m a Rock & Roll performer, not classical music. I went along with it during the summer for the shock and awe Cindy was bringing to the performance. Been there, done that, and now it’s time to move on. I have no intention of being known on a national stage as a classical piano player. Since there is no way the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra is going to let me do a Rock & Roll performance, that means there is no way I am going to do this.”

“Come on Marcus. They want all of us to perform the piece I wrote during the summer. That means we need you.”

“Sorry Jessica, a Symphony Orchestra performance just isn’t my thing. It’s bad for my rep.”

“Marcus, you’re better than me on the piano, and that is saying something. You can do things other than hard rock. Elvis did gospel music, Little Richard did a lot of Christian music, and Boy George was all over the place with the type of music he played. You can be a Rock & Roll performer and still play the classical music in a symphony orchestra. Come on Marcus. Do it for Cindy and Sammie. They’re little kids who won’t understand you saying no, just so you can maintain an image. During the summer you said they were like your little sisters. Do it for your little sisters, Marcus.”

“Jessica! You know I will be there to support the two of them, but that does not mean I have to be playing the piano in a symphony orchestra,” Marcus stated. “I’ve gotta go Jessica. I have a date to get ready for. I don’t know what to tell you, but . . . I also don’t want to hurt Sammie and Cindy. I just don’t know. Tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you. If I can do a song or two with my electric guitar, then I’ll agree to do one piece on the piano.”

Jessica looked at her phone after Marcus hung up. This was a problem. Marcus was right, they wanted a symphony orchestra Christmas performance, not some rock & roll performance. Putting her phone down on her desk, she headed for the kitchen for a snack to eat.

“Chocolate Chip cookies?” Jessica’s mom asked. “It couldn’t have gone that bad.”

“Marcus does not want to play on the piano,” Jessica said as she put the cookie package on the counter and got out some milk. “I got him to finally agree to play my piece in the performance, but he put a condition on it that he knew would never be met. He wants to perform a piece on his electric guitar. They’re a symphony orchestra, they’ll never agree to that.”

Jessica’s mom smiled at that, “Have you ever heard of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra?”

Jessica scrunched her eyebrows together, and slowly shook her head back and forth, “No.”

After eating a few cookies, the two of them headed to the living room to watch some Trans-Siberian Orchestra performances on YouTube.

“I bet Cindy and Sammie would love to do that,” Jessica commented. “It reminds me of a rock version of that Celtic thing they played at camp. Some of those Trans-Siberian Orchestra performances were Christmas songs. Do you think the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra would let Marcus do something like that? I could easily see Marcus, Sammie, and me all rocking out doing one of those Christmas songs.”

“Let’s call them to find out,” Jessica’s Mom gave her daughter a hug before getting up to find her phone. “What was the name of that conductor that called us?”

“Mr. Frances,” Jessica said. “At camp, they called him the silent judge.”

“Oh, you’re not getting out of this Marcus,” Jessica practically yelled into the phone. “You said you would join us if they let you play your electric guitar. Well, Mr. Frances agreed to let you do a performance or two. Watch the Trans-Siberian Orchestra videos. We have a verbal contract, Marcus. My mom’s taught me about them, and I’m not going to let you out of the one you made with me. If I have to get your gang to drag you up on stage, I will.”

Jessica hung up the phone and calmed down before making the next call, “George, hi it’s Jessica.”

“Hey Jessica,” George responded. “Sorry, my parents still haven’t made up their minds. They would love to see me perform with the Tri-City Symphany Orchestra, but you know.”

Jessica sighed, “Yeah, I know, but we have to do this, for Cindy. She’s been having a hard time since camp. Did you know her mom has refused to see her since then, and her parents are getting a divorce.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard. I’ve had some chats with her sister Holly,” George stated. “But my mom agrees with Cindy’s Mom. She was not happy about me doing all that stuff with Cindy this summer, and even less thrilled about my little sister playing with Cindy. She let it go once because Dad pulled the mental health card, but Jessica, neither of them want me being around Cindy.”

Jessica rolled her eyes, “Cindy is an innocent little kid who is nice to everyone. I don’t understand why so many people view her as some evil villain.”

“You’re in middle school Jessica. Grown-ups are just like the kids in middle school. They tease, harass, and exclude people who are different. Kids who are transgender are an easy target. To many people, there is nothing stranger and more bazar than a kid wanting to be the opposite gender. Our parents were raised to believe boys were boys and girls were girls. When they were little, there was no crossing that line.”

“I know,” Jessica shook her head back and forth. “But times have changed.”

“They’ve changed for us Jessica, but not for my parents. The church they are part of repeatedly tells them that kids like Cindy are evil. Nothing I say seems to have any impact on their views.”

Jessica didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Jessica, I’ll keep trying. I think I am making headway with dad, but mom is a lot harder. There are a few more days before Mr. Frances needs an answer. I’ll try my best, Jessica.”

“Do better than your best George. This is an amazing opportunity for all of us, and you know as well as I do that we owe it all to Cindy. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have gotten those instruments this summer and definitely wouldn’t be invited to perform with the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra. She’s opened these doors for us. The least we can do is be there to support her when she has to get up on that big stage.”

“I know Jessica. I know. I’ll text you tomorrow and give you an update. I’ve got to go now. My little sister wants me to take her to the park.”

“Bye George.”

Jessica put her phone down on her desk and collapsed onto her bed. Looking over at the American Girl doll sitting on her dresser, “I don’t know if I can pull this off, but for Cindy I’m trying.”

>From: Jessica
>Okay, Marcus will join us, and George’s parents finally agreed. That means the concert is on. Mr. Frances wants us each to email him a list of our 3 favorite Christmas songs by December 1st. He’ll call us on December 4th to arrange rehearsals. I can’t believe we’re going to do this. This is sooooooo cool.

***

>From: George
>Calm down Jessica. That was the easy part. Now we need to get up there and show all those professionals that we belong there. That’s going to be the hard part. The second Sammie walks out there in her cute dress and sticker covered, purple violin they are all going to be certain that we don’t belong there. That means we all need to practice a lot and be perfect out there.

***

>From: Sammie’s Mom
>Should I have Sammie take the stickers off her violin for the performance.

***

>From: Jessica
>NO!!!!

***

>From: George
>NO

***

>From: Marcus
>Definitely NOT. Those stickers are part of the special charm of Sammie.

***

>From: Holly
>Cindy loved those stickers. She was actually envious that there was no real way to put stickers on a flute. Let Sammie have the stickers on her violin.

***

>From: George
>Holly, is Cindy up to this?

***

>From: Holly
>Cindy can block out everything in her life when playing and just melt into the music. I think the concert will be good for her. We haven’t decided when to tell her about this concert though. When the London Christmas Concert fell through because we couldn’t get passports in time, it hit her hard. Until we absolutely know this one is going to happen, we’re not telling her about it. I’ll get the song list from her without her knowing why and send it off to that Mr. Frances guy. We’ve decided not to tell Cindy until he calls us to confirm this is all going to happen.

***

>From: Sammie’s Mom
>Sammie doesn’t know about this either. I’m not sure I’m going to tell her until just before the first rehearsal. Like Cindy, the concert won’t be a problem for Sammie. The challenge will be keeping her calm and focused on things like school up until the concert.

“Hello?”

“Hi Holly.”

“Hi George,” Holly said as she sat down on the couch. “So, your parents finally agreed to let you perform?”

“Yeah, Mom still thinks Cindy is some evil creature from hell, but I finally figured out a way to convince her to let me go.”

“How in the world did you do that?”

“We were driving home from church and Mom was frustrated by one of the other Mom’s bragging about her daughter winning some competition. My mom was going on and on about how this other mom always thought her kids were so much superior to everyone else. I threw out there that me playing in the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra would be just as impressive, if not more so. The other mom’s kids were competing against other kids, where I would be on stage performing with adults.”

Holly chuckled, “You played your mom.”

“I just had to find something she took more personal than religion. I’ve gone to church almost every Sunday since I was born. I’ve repeatedly listened to moms and dads brag and compare their children against other families. Sometimes I feel the only reason adults go to church is to prove their better than others by boasting about their job or children.”

“Grown-ups are so weird.”

“Can’t disagree with you there,” George stated. “How are you doing Holly?”

“I’m doing fine I guess. It’s hard without Mom around, but Grandma and Grandpa come by several times a week to check up on us all,” Holly said, while listening to Cindy and Anna playing in the other room, “Cindy, however, is taking it all real hard. She blames herself for Mom’s stupidity. She keeps asking me if she went back to being Frank, would Mom come back?”

“Poor kid,” George said. “After all that your mom put Cindy through, it’s kind of surprising that she would want her mom still.”

“She’s a little kid who used to turn to mom for everything. Now her Mommy’s not here, just because Frank decided to be Cindy full time. Cindy’s therapist says she’s getting better, but it will be a slow process.”

“I guess,” George thought about his little sister. “I can’t imagine what like would be like around here if Mom suddenly wasn’t here.”

“Right now, I’m babysitting Cindy and her best friend Anna. They’re back in Anna’s bedroom laughing and giggling like ten-year-old little girls should be. When they’re together, Cindy is fine, but at our house, Cindy mopes around. You should hear her music, George. Most of the time it sounds sad, even when it’s a happy song.”

“Yeah, emotions of the person playing a piece can really impact how it sounds. At home Cindy has to face the realities of her life, but I’m glad to hear she at least has some time to just be a kid.”

“I think this concert is going to be real good for her. She still talks about the five of you that last week at camp. It is kinda cute. She pretends her two American Girl dolls are Jessica and Sammie. The three of them go on adventures together.”

George smiled, “My little sister is always trying to drag me into her make-believe play with her dolls. It’s cute to watch her, but annoying when she wants me to participate.”

“From what Cindy has told me, you were great with Cindy and Sammie at camp. I bet you are wonderful with your little sister.”

“I was seven when she was born. We’ve always had a special relationship. She always turned to me to help her with things when Mom or Dad weren’t in the room. It can be a little annoying at times, but to be honest, I’d do anything for that little pip-squeak.”

“I understand,” Holly smiled. “My connection with Cindy is special too. Lots of my friends view their little brothers or sisters as pests, always bugging or fighting them. Cindy and I mostly only fight when we are in the car for long road trips.”

“I’ve gotta go,” Holly said, as she got up and headed for the bedroom. “Sounds like the rugrats just knocked something over.”

“Catch you later Holly,” George said before ending the call.

“I can watch her all weekend if you want,” Sammie’s mom said. “It’s not like we will be able to keep them apart. While in the city, I was thinking about taking Sammie to the Children’s Museum one day and the Science Museum another day. I also hear there is this big fancy playground somewhere in the city that I bet both Sammie and Cindy would love.”

“Are you sure, Joyce,” Cindy’s dad asked?

“Honest, Herbert, in some ways it becomes a little easier with a second kid. They’ll entertain each other at least some of the time. No sense in both of us going to the same places, when the two of them will be together the whole time. ”

“I could send Holly to help if you want a babysitter.”

“That’s not necessary. No need to have another kid missing school days for this rehearsal.”

“Thanks Joyce. This will help a lot. It’s tough as a single parent managing all of this. Then taking time off work to deal with the courts, means I have no sick or personal days left for stuff like concert rehearsals.”

“It really is no problem. Glad to help. It will be interesting to see how a professional level orchestra prepares for a performance.”

“Do you think they are going to hold to the time restrictions for the little kids?” Cindy’s dad inquired.

“The state and federal child labor laws require the restrictions, so yeah, they will probably work hard to follow the restrictions.”

“Hadn’t thought about that.”

Sammie’s Mom thought for a moment, “Have you told Cindy yet?”

“I almost did last night, but I’m trying to hold off as long as possible.”

“Yeah, I haven’t told Sammie either. I’m going to hold off as long as possible. Otherwise, she will be all hyped up and not get anything done at school or home.”

“Not sure how Cindy is going to respond. She was all excited about going to London for a Christmas Concert. When that fell through, it hit her hard.”

“Poor thing.”

“She can’t take another disappointment. We’re very careful to make sure that we only tell her about things which we are certain will happen.”

“Makes sense,” Sammie’s Mom commented. “How are you getting her to practice the songs without her knowing about the upcoming concert?”

“Holly came up with a brilliant idea. She convinced Cindy to put on a special performance at Christmas for the Grandparents. Holly will read poems, and between them, Cindy will play songs on her flute.”

“Smart daughter you have there.”

“Holly has been amazing since my wife left. She’s really stepped up as the big sister and will do anything for Cindy.”

“That’s so sweet,” Sammie’s mom said. “If I’m going to have Cindy for four days, is there anything I should know?”

The two parents talked about Cindy’s anxiety issues, and how best to deal with it. Before hanging up, they arranged for a place and time for Sammie’s Mom to pick up Cindy, at a location that will be on her route into the city.

“Sammie,” Joyce said, entering her eight-year-old’s bedroom. “Cindy’s on the phone.”

The Polly Pockets and My Little Pony’s surrounding Sammie were flying as she sprung up and sprinted for her mom.

“Slow down Sammie Pooh. Here you go,” Mom said as she handed her cell phone over.

Sammie took the phone and headed for her bean bag, “Cindy! Cindy, it’s been like forever since you’ve called.”

Cindy smiled at the enthusiasm, “Hi Sammie. How you doing?”

“I’m doing great,” Sammie replied as her mom left the room. “My 3rd grade class is putting on a play for the Christmas program and I get to be an elf.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It is. Just wish we practiced during reading instead of Music class.”

“Are you playing your violin in the Christmas program, or just putting on the play?”

“Oh, Mr. Evans has me playing a solo song in the middle of the program. He is having me practice four different songs. Then just before the program, he will pick which ever one I do best.”

“Four songs,” Cindy asked? “I have to practice four Christmas songs too. One for my Christmas program and three for a special thing my sister and I are doing for my Grandparents.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It is,” Cindy admitted. “But Holly is always bugging me to practice the songs. I have them memorized, but she says it has to be perfect for Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Well, they did watch you after camp, and get your dad to let you be Cindy full time.”

“I know, but the way she is pushing me for it to be perfect,” Cindy paused in thought for a moment. “It’s worse than the teachers at camp pushing us for the concert at the end of music camp.”

“Seems a little extreme just for your grandparents. They’ll love it even if you make a mistake. I totally messed up a note on a song I played for my Grandpa at Thanksgiving, and he still gave me all this praise.”

“I know. My sister is great, but sometimes she is just a little bossy,” Cindy paused for a minute before continuing. “Sammie . . . is your mom in the room or are you alone?”

Sammie looked around, “No, she left. I’m in my bedroom alone.”

“Have you talked with Jessica, George, or Marcus lately?”

“No, they don’t call me like you do.”

“Do you know of anything that’s coming up where we all might get together?"

“No, but that would be really cool.”

“Yeah,” Cindy admitted. “It would be great to see you all again.”

“Why you ask?”

“I don’t know. I just feel like something is going on that people aren’t telling me about. I’ll walk into a room and people will suddenly stop talking.”

“They’re probably just talking about whatever they’re getting you for Christmas.”

“Maybe,” Cindy contemplated. “I called Jessica yesterday, and she also seemed to be hiding something.”

“Well, it can’t be about the same thing,” Sammie pointed out. “Jessica doesn’t even live in the same state as you.”

“I know, but then yesterday I heard Holly on the phone, and she said both Marcus and George’s name. I think the bigs are up to something. They’re just not telling me.”

Sammie thought for a moment, “It can’t be our George and Marcus. Holly doesn’t know them. It must be some of her friends, not ours.”

“I guess,” Cindy contemplated. “I just wanted to check in with you and see if you knew anything.”

Sammie looked over at her American Girl doll on her bed, “It would be great if we could all see each other, but that’s not gonna happen until Music Camp next summer.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Cindy sighed. “So, tell me about this play you are in.”

The two girls chatted about their school’s Christmas concerts, what they asked Santa for, and what their favorite Christmas shows were. The conversation only ended because Sammie’s mom wanted her phone back.

Herbert sat on Cindy’s bed and shook her awake, “Morning, Princess.”

Stretching and cuddling her stuffed rabbit, “Morning, Daddy.”

“No turning over and going back to sleep silly,” Dad said peeling back the blankets. “I have a special Christmas surprise for you today.”

Cindy immediately sat up, “I get to open presents early?”

Dad chuckled and tapped Cindy on the nose, “No silly, you have to wait for Christmas to open up the Christmas presents. But, we’re going on a mystery surprise trip into the city. Come on, up and at 'em. Put on something comfortable to wear for the long car ride.”

“After school?” Cindy inquired.

“No Princess, you’re not going to school today.”

As Dad got up and headed for the door, Cindy started to get out of bed, but stopped when she saw her unicorn suitcase and Frozen backpack next to the door. Sticking out of the backpack was her flute case.

“Daddy?”

“What Princess?” Dad picked up the suitcase and turned back towards Cindy.

“Suitcase?”

Dad smiled at Cindy, “You’ll be in the city for several days. Put your stuffed rabbit in your backpack, so you have her on the trip.”

Dad walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Confused, Cindy went over and looked in her Frozen backpack. Inside was her flute, her music tablet and her regular tablet, some activity books, a chapter book, and some toys. Same type of stuff she would have in her backpack for a trip to Grandma’s house. No clue in there as to where they were going. Dad said she would be missing school, which was strange, since Dad usually says the only reason to miss school is if you are sick. Cindy felt her forehead, nope, not sick, just confused.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Cindy put her stuffed bunny in the backpack and got dressed. Putting in a hair clip with a Christmas bow, Cindy headed to the kitchen for breakfast. As she got close, she could hear her sister and Dad talking.

“You get everything packed,” Holly asked Dad.

“Yup, only thing left to put in the car is her backpack and us.”

“Wish I was going.”

“Not this time, Holly. You have your end of term exams.”

“Daaaaaddddd . . . . This is more important than those.”

Cindy walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, “You’re not coming?”

“Nope, Dad thinks teachers torturing me is more important,” Holly rolled her eyes. “But, Cindy, I want you to be a brave big girl. Oh, and have lots of fun.”

“Where are we going,” Cindy asked?

“No, no, no,” Dad interrupted. “That is a surprise. You used to love surprises, and I know you will think this is a fabulous Christmas surprise.”

Cindy looked at her older sister with pleading eyes and puffed out lower lip, “No go little one. I agree with Dad. This is something you will love, and it will be even better as a surprise.”

“Eat up Cindy,” Dad said putting a bowl of cereal on the table. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Before Holly left for school, she painted Cindy’s fingernails with red nail polish containing silver glitter. After watching her sister go off to school, Cindy plopped down on the living room couch and turned on Disney Junior.

About an hour later, Herbert entered the living room, “Cindy, time to go potty and then into the car.”

With Cindy’s backpack in hand, Herbert waited for Cindy to return and put on her coat. Then the two headed out to the car. Climbing in, Cindy stopped upon seeing her American Girl Molly doll buckled into the seat next to Cindy’s booster seat. There was even the doll’s flute on her lap.

“Come on, in you go Princess,” Dad came up behind Cindy.

“What’s Molly doing here? She never leaves the house. It’s my other American Girl doll that goes with me when we go to Grandma’s house.”

Dad smiled, “Holly and I thought Molly would like this trip as much as you.”

Cindy looked at Dad and then over at her Molly doll before looking back at Dad, “Where are we going?”

“Nope, not time to tell you yet.”

Cindy got into her booster seat and buckled up. Dad handed Cindy her backpack before shutting her door.

“Daddy?” Cindy asked as he got in the driver’s seat. “Molly really wants to know where we are going.”

“Nice try. If I tell her, she will tell you. Nope, I’m not going to fall for that one.”

Cindy looked over at Molly, “Sorry, I tried.”

After two hours on the road, Herbert looked into his rear view mirror at Cindy looking out the window. “There is a McDonalds at the next exit. Let’s stop for potty, a stretch, and maybe a snack.”

They pulled into the parking lot and headed into the restaurant. First stop was the bathroom, then they got a chicken nugget Happy Meal for Cindy. As they entered the play area of McDonalds, Cindy noticed a lady at one of the tables, and heard a kid up in the play structure.

“Cindy!!!” a scream came from the top of the play structure.

Turning to look up, Cindy couldn’t tell who it was behind all the netting.

“Hi Joyce,” Herbert said as he approached the lady sitting down. “Hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“No, we have only been here about ten minutes.“

Cindy looked around at the lady. She looked familiar, but Cindy had no idea who she was.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” the kid coming down the slide screamed out.

Cindy just stood there holding her Happy Meal box, trying to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, a girl about Cindy’s size, wearing braided pigtails and a Vampirina t-shirt popped out of the end of the slide.

“Cindy! What are you doing here?”

“Sammie?” Cindy said in shock, looking between her grinning dad and Sammie.

Within seconds, Cindy was tackle hugged by Sammie.

“I’m missed you soooooooooo much,” Sammie said, before letting go of the hug and leading Cindy over to the table with the two adults. “Look Mommy! Look, it’s Cindy. It’s Cindy Mommy, Cindy! Wow, what are the chances that we would run into Cindy on our way into the city?”

Cindy looked at the two adults who had the biggest grins on their faces, “Sammie, they knew.”

Sammie looked at Cindy and then at her Mom.

“Sammie Pooh,” her mom stated. “This is just one of the surprises for this trip. Have a seat and let Cindy eat her Happy Meal while we explain the second surprise.”

Sammie, dragging Cindy by the hand, went over to her spot at the table. Grabbing a French fry, she sat down. Cindy, however, stood still and just looked at her dad.

“Come on Princess,” Cindy’s Dad pointed at the empty seat next to Sammie.

Hesitantly, Cindy sat down while eyeing her dad the whole time, “What’s going on Daddy?”

“Well,” he smiled. “You are spending the next few days with Sammie and her Mom in the City.”

Cindy thought back to all the times that Cindy was told that she couldn’t miss school unless she was sick. She wasn’t sick, and this was just a . . . playdate? No, there had to be more to this.

Slowly Cindy opened up her Happy Meal and got the food out.

“Owww,” Sammie said when Cindy pulled out her toy. “You got the same one I did.”

Cindy looked at the girl toy in her hand and then over to Sammie holding up one exactly like it in her hand.

“Isn’t this cool Cindy,” Sammie blurted out. “We get to go to the Children’s Museum together.”

When Cindy processed that, she looked at Sammie, “We’re going to the Children's Museum?”

“Yeah, didn’t your Daddy tell you? My Mommy told me last night when she was tucking me into bed, but she didn’t tell me you were going to be there.”

Cindy looked at her dad, “What else didn’t you tell me?”

Dad looked at Sammie’s Mom and then back at Cindy, “Start eating, and we’ll explain.”

Sammie’s Mom got a paper out of her purse and unfolded it before putting it down on the table, “We’re going to a rehearsal for this.”

Cindy and Sammie looked at the paper:

“What’s a Su-mp-hany,” asked Sammie as she started to read the paper.

“What’s an Or-chest-ra,” Cindy asked.

Joyce read the flier to the two girls.

“Who’s this Cynthia kid getting to play with Sammie, Jessica, George, and Marcus,” Cindy looked at the two adults. “Why don’t I get to be in the concert?”

Herbert laughed, “Princess, Cindy is a shortened version of Cynthia. That is your name.”

“Oh,” Cindy looked between the paper and the adults.

“Cindy,” Sammie said with pure joy. “We’re going to be in a grown-up Christmas Concert.”

Cindy just looked between Sammie, the paper, and the adults. Sammie was bouncing around in excitement, but Cindy wasn’t sure what to think. The last concert she was in, was the last day she saw her mom. It was the last happy day of her life. Yeah, she had happy times since then, but at the end of every day the reality of her life came down upon her. Once since then, she had allowed herself to get excited about something. She had been invited to perform in London, but the government wouldn’t allow her to go without a passport. But this time . . . could it really happen?

Cindy wanted to be excited like Sammie, but deep in her heart she knew this concert would never happen. Everything went bad because of her; Mom, London, and now this will too. Cindy just sat there, showing neither joy or sadness.

“Isn’t this great Cindy,” her dad asked?

“Yeah, great.”

The two adults looked at each other. After about five minutes, with Sammie rambling on about getting together with the others and getting to perform in a grown-up concert, Cindy was just starting on her second chicken nugget.

Herbert was looking at Cindy’s behavior before turning to Joyce, “I think maybe I should go with you into the city.”

“No,” Joyce said. “You’re supposed to be at work in two hours. Let’s get Cindy’s stuff transferred into my car so you can get back on the road. I’ll take care of this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Come on Girls,” Joyce stood up. “Time to go. Let’s throw the trash away.”

When they got out to the car, Cindy found out that Dad had parked right next to Sammie’s car. They quickly had everything transferred over, including the car seat. The last thing out of the car was the American Girl doll, Molly.

“Hi Molly,” Sammie waved at the doll in Cindy’s arms. “Hope you have been doing a good job protecting Cindy.”

Cindy held the doll just below her shoulders, “I’m a great protector. Thanks for letting me protect Cindy.”

The two girls giggled, as they got in Sammie’s car. Cindy put Molly between the two booster seats, next to the American Girl doll that Jessica had given Sammie. As the two girls had their dolls interact with each other, the adults were talking outside the car.

“Thanks Joyce. If you need a break, just give me a call. My mom has said she can come up and watch Cindy.”

“We’ll be fine Herbert,” Joyce looked in the car windows. “Listen to her, she is fooling around and laughing. This will be good for her.”

“My Mom heard what you had planned for this weekend, and sent some money to help,” Herbert said giving Joyce an envelope. That should cover Cindy’s expenses, and have enough for a concert dress.”

Joyce smiled, “Concert dress shopping is going to be fun.”

“I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to get. Thanks for the help.”

The two said their good-byes and then both got in their cars and drove off in opposite directions.

“I think we should go from that, into the rock Christmas song. Larry and I have been coming up with a light show to go along with it. It won’t be as impressive as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I’m hoping Marcus will like it. Do you think the other kids will want to join Marcus and the orchestra in that song?”

“Cindy and Sammie did an amazing duet at their summer camp concert. It was a fast-paced piece blending Celtic and Classical music, so if given the chance, I bet they would join in. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other two would also want to participate,” Mr. Frances commented.

Hannah made a few notes on her pad, “Okay, I’ll figure out how to get them all in positions where they will easily be seen once we start playing with the lights.”

The two were distracted by the pitter patter of little feet running across the stage.

“Looks like someone brought their little kids to practice today,” Hannah smiled at the two girls crossing the stage to look at the big Christmas Tree.

Mr. Frances smiled as he watched Sammie and Cindy, “They look so little up there. If you’re not careful they’re just going to disappear on stage in the middle of the performance. Glad that’s your challenge to prevent, not mine.”

Hannah looked at Mr. Francess, “They’re in the performance? Did you plan something you didn’t tell me about?”

Mr. Francess chuckled, “Just one thing. I told you we had five child musical prodigies, and we talked about fifteen-year-old Marcus. I didn’t, however, tell you how old the youngest two were. Hannah, up on stage there we have Sammie and Cindy. They are the true stars of the show. Their talent will blow you away.”

“What? But they’re just little kids. They look about seven. You’re telling me, they’re the true talent of the five kids?”

“All five of the kids are extremely talented and already have musical skills at or above anyone in our symphony orchestra, but those two . . . those two have talent above anything I have seen in a very long time. Sorry I didn’t tell you they were so young, but I wanted to see your reaction. It’s why I asked for this meeting down here, instead of in my office. Wait till you hear them play.”

The two adults sat in the front row just watching Cindy and Sammie take in the magic of a big Christmas tree.

“Look at them,” Hannah commented. “That little kid joy and fascination in Christmas decorations and lights always makes my heart melt. Hmmm, what if we put that heart melting into the performance?”

Hannah pulled out her cell phone and made a call, “Larry, are you in the control room? . . . Good, can you dim the lights on the stage and give a spotlight on each of the kids. I want the lights on the tree to really stand out, but I don’t want the tree in complete darkness. So, maybe a soft spotlight on it. Then throw in snowflakes, bells, or just a star pattern across the whole stage. Look at the scene and go with whatever inspires you.”

A few moments later, the stage lights changed to how Hannah had directed, with what appeared to be twinkling white stars shining on the whole stage. Cindy and Sammies mouth dropped as their smiles widened. After taking in the tree a little bit more, they slowly turned around looking at the light pattern on the darkened part of the stage.

“Snow,” Sammie screeched out.

The two girls moved into the twinkling lights. Larry, suspecting what they wanted to do, dimmed the spotlights on the kids to let them dance around in the ‘snow’ fall.

“That,” Hannah smiled. “Is the opening to our Christmas Concert. Those two coming out in pretty little girl Christmas dresses, showing that same little kid joy in lighted trees. Then we have them open presents containing their instruments. They can immediately start to play a Christmas song . . . I don’t know, something like White Christmas or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree?”

Mr. Frances kept his eyes on the two girls, “That could work. White Christmas would be a perfect way to start the concert. We’ll have to figure out if we use all five of the kids or just those two, but it would be a good shock for the audience. Stuff like that is why you are the best Stage Director in the area. Figure it all out, Hannah. We can integrate it into tomorrow’s rehearsal. For now, though, let’s go meet our little musicians.”

The two quickly found their way up onto the stage and went over to the girls who were twirling around.

“Hi Cindy and Sammie,” Mr. Frances said. “Nice to see you again.”

“Hi,” the two girls replied as they stopped twirling.

“Girls, this is Hannah. She’s our Stage Director.”

“What’s a Stage Director,” Sammie asked?

Hannah got down on her knees to look at Sammie, “I turn the music performance into a show, instead of people just playing music. I’m going to turn the two of you into musical princesses.”

Both Sammie and Cindy smiled at this.

Sammie’s Mom came up behind her daughter, wrapping her in a hug from the back, “Hello.”

Greetings were made all around, after which Cindy and Sammie were shown a room backstage where they could put their coats and backpacks. They were told that this would be their breakroom, so tomorrow they could bring some toys to play with during breaks if they wanted to. Before leaving, Mr. Frances gave Joyce instructions on what app to download onto the girls’ tablets and what the login code was for the girls to have access to all the sheet music for the performance. Once all that was set up, Joyce sent the girls to the bathroom and had them both drink some water. Then the girls were given parent lecture #42: be good and listen to the grown-ups.

With instruments and music tablets in hand, Joyce, Cindy, and Sammie went back out to the stage. It was now alive with activity, as the orchestra members were setting up to perform. Some were still getting their instruments out, but most were warming up. Joyce stopped the girls before going out on the stage. She kissed Sammie and left to go sit in the audience. Cindy and Sammie looked out at all the grown-ups.

“Ellen,” Lisa said to her friend after noticing two kids slowly come out from backstage. “Did you bring your kid’s today?”

“Not me,” Ellen looked over at the two little ones. “Those kids look to be the same age, so definitely not mine. Isn’t that cute though, they brought toy instruments, so they can pretend to be part of the orchestra when their mom or dad rehearse.”

“Don’t worry Ellen,” Lisa chuckled. “I’m sure they’re not here to take your job. They’ve gotta be what, six or seven. I think your position in the orchestra is safe for at least a few more years.”

Ellen glared at her friend. “No doubt there. They’re just little babies with their toy instruments. Look at that violin. It’s purple and has stickers all over it. Little kids and their stickers.”

The girls looked around at all the adults. It was obvious some were looking and talking about them. They both recognized a few of the adults as teachers during the summer at Music Camp. Cindy smiled when she saw Mrs. Johnson, the Woodwind Class teacher.

Sammie turned to her friend, “Cindy, we need to do something to show them all that we belong here.”

“Hmmm,” Cindy looked at the stage full of professional musicians. “What should we play?”

Sammie thought for a moment, “We’re here to put on a Christmas concert, right? Do you know Silent Night?”

“Sure, that’s an easy one.”

“Let’s go right out there to the center of the stage, turn and face them, and play Silent Night.”

“Sure,” Cindy said. “I was afraid you were going to suggest that Celtic piece we did this summer. I would need to practice that one at least once before we did it again. Silent Night will be easy.”

The girls put down their music tablets and went out to the center of the stage. Looking at each other and smiling, they turned to face the Symphony Orchestra members. Quietly Cindy counted down from three, so only Sammie could hear her, then the two of them started playing.

The stage quickly went silent and listened to the two little girls play. When they finished, there was clapping from both the audience and the stage.

“Sorry,” Lisa said to Ellen. “Looks like they are here to take our jobs.”

Mr. Frances came out onto the stage, “Thank you girls. Okay everyone, you all saw the posting about this year’s Christmas Concert, where we will be debuting some talented young musicians. These are the two youngest, Cindy and Sammie. I wasn’t expecting them to start us off, but it was a good introduction.”

Mr. Frances smiled down at the two girls before looking to the side of the stage, “And over here we have . . .”

“Jessica! George!” Sammie and Cindy screamed together and ran off to give both of them hugs.

“Yes, Jessica and George,” Mr. Frances chuckled at the little kid enthusiasm. “There will be a fifth member joining us in an hour or two. He had an important exam today that he couldn’t miss. Don’t let the size of these kids fool you. They all have the talent to perform at a professional level. The only thing they are missing is experience.”

Mr. Frances got the kids to quiet down and showed them where to sit on the stage. Jessica had a discussion with Brad, the orchestra pianist. It was decided that at least initially, Jessica would start out on the regular piano, and Brad would be on the electric piano.

“Some of you got to hear these kids play this summer, but most have not. To help speed up the process of integrating them into our Symphony Orchestra for this concert, I am going to ask each kid to play their favorite song for us,” Mr. Frances made eye contact with Sammie, Cindy, George, and Jessica before continuing. “Cindy, do you want to go first or last?”

Cindy knew that playing the flute would calm her nerves, “I’ll go first.”

To the shock of those that had never heard her play before today, Cindy played every note perfectly of the very difficult piece. It was full of emotion and flowed seamlessly from start to finish. Sammie went next, followed by Jessica and then George. After all the kids had played their individual pieces, Mr. Francess went right into integrating the kids into the orchestra. He had the whole orchestra, including the kids, play two Christmas songs together.

Hannah came up onto stage at this point and stopped Mr. Francess from starting another piece, “These kids could be hired today into any orchestra, but they are still kids in school. Child labor laws restrict how long they can work before requiring a break. Our governing board puts even more restrictions on the state’s regulations. So, twenty-minute break for the kids. Since I need to talk with Jim, everyone else can take a fifteen-minute break.”

Nods were seen around the stage.

“Sammie and Cindy,” Mr. Frances stated. “Can you please show Jessica and George where the break room is,” Mr. Frances gestured towards backstage. “You can leave your instruments here. I’ll send someone back to get you in twenty minutes.”

The kids all got up and followed Sammie backstage. They noticed that the parents in the audience were also moving toward the backstage door. In the break room, the kids spent some time catching up with each other before Joyce sent Sammie and Cindy off to use the bathroom. When they left, Jessica and George figured they probably should go too. In what seemed like no time at all, the kids were back on stage.

The kids had to re-evaluate Mr. Frances’ camp name as the silent judge. As Musical Director and Principal Conductor, he was much more vocal, stating what he wanted and how he expected the different sections of the orchestra to play parts of each musical piece. During this hour, the orchestra played through some of the music chosen for the concert.

Marcus showed up about half way through the hour. Although the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra does not have anyone playing the electric guitar, most of the musicians had heard of other orchestras which included them. What they weren’t ready for, was Mr. Frances stating that they would be performing a Trans-Siberian Orchestra style piece during the concert.

At the hour mark, Hannah came up on stage and took Jessica, Cindy, and Sammie off stage and to their break room. The parents joined them.

“Tomorrow we will change things,” Hannah said to the parents. “We will keep the kids on stage for one or two songs and then send them back here while everyone else practices one or two songs. Sometimes the kids will be doing the same song, but a lot of the time they will not be. George and Marcus are fifteen, so they are allowed to practice longer between breaks. This also means they will be doing more songs than the others.”

“That’s not fair,” Jessica complained.

“You’re right,” Hannah responded. “Unfortunately, the law is very clear. There are different standards for kids under fourteen. That is completely out of my control.”

“Then who do I make my argument to?”

“Jessica,” her dad piped in. “This is not your mom’s courtroom. Mrs. Evans is following the law, and it is your job to also follow the law. Without argument, young lady.”

“Yes, Dad,” Jessica’s head slumped down.

Hannah turned to Joyce, “I did notice that after 30 minutes Sammie was more fidgety and not as focused. I will keep an eye on this tomorrow and make adjustments if needed.”

“Thank You,” Joyce responded.

“Part of rehearsal for the kids is to learn the songs and be prepared for the performance, but another part is figuring them out. We need them to be their best while on stage during the Christmas Concert, and that will include some backstage time to get the wiggles out. We just need to figure out a good balance between the two.”

“I’m a big girl. I can last the whole concert,” Sammie declared.

“I can too,” Cindy added.

Hannah got down to the girl’s height, “Oh I know you two can last the whole concert, but as Stage Director, it is my job to make sure my princesses are seen for their cuteness, not their fidgeting. It is okay to have you two backstage during parts of the concert. Even some grown-ups will have backstage time during some performances.”

Looking over at Jessica for a moment before continuing, “Now, I have a very special idea for the two of you and Jessica, if she wants to join in. Remember how you reacted when you saw the big tree on stage for the first time?”

Sammie and Cindy nodded their heads in agreement.

“I want the two of you to start the Christmas concert by doing that again in pretty Christmas Dresses. Then we will have you open boxes under the tree containing your instruments, like you got them for Christmas. You pretend you are all excited about getting the instruments and start playing the song White Christmas. Conductor Frances will decide how much of the song you play before more of the orchestra joins in, but I thought it would be a good way to start the concert.”

Standing up, Hannah looked at Jessica, “What do you think? Would you be interested in joining Sammie and Cindy in this?”

“I’m not a little kid,” Jessica stated. “And I don’t wear cutesy little girl Christmas dresses. I don’t wear dresses at all.”

Jessica’s dad cleared his throat, “You will be wearing a dress for the Christmas Concert young lady.”

“But Dad.”

“Listen Jessica,” her dad glared at her. “You will be wearing a dress for this concert and that is the end of that discussion. I won’t force you into a cutesy little girl dress like I am sure Cindy and Sammie will be wearing, but you will be wearing a dress. Consider yourself lucky that I was the one that brought you to this rehearsal. If your mother had heard this offer, she would insist you be in a cutesy little girl dress to match what Cindy and Sammie will be wearing. She would also insist you open the Concert just like the other girls.”

Cindy nodded her head in agreement, “She probably would Jessica. Remember what she did at Summer Camp.”

Memories of discovering only dresses in her summer camp suitcase flooded Jessica’s thoughts, “Yeah, she probably would. Okay, I’ll wear a dress, but only for the performance. No cutesy little girl dress.”

“I want a cutesy little girl Christmas dress,” Cindy interjected.

“Me too, me too, me too,” Sammie added.

Joyce chuckled, “I was planning on taking you two Christmas Concert dress shopping later this weekend, but we could do it earlier. You two want to do it this afternoon?”

Sammie and Cindy were jumping up and down while nodding their heads in agreement, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

“Can we join you,” Jessica’s dad asked. “You can probably help Jessica find a nice dress for the concert better than I could. It would also help to not have her mom dress shopping for Jessica.”

Jessica’s eyes went wide, “We definitely don’t want Mommy dress shopping for me. She won’t stop at one dress.”

The adults all laughed.

“Sure,” Joyce stated. “Another girl along for dress shopping will be no problem.”

“Well, then, I will see you all tomorrow morning,” Hannah stated. “Remember to bring stuff for the kids to do in this room during breaks.”

George’s Dad looked at his son, “I think we should probably go shopping too for a nice outfit for the concert. You’ve probably already outgrown the suit you wore this summer for the camp concert.”

“Good point,” Marcus’ Mom looked at her son. “We probably don’t have good Symphony Orchestra clothes for you either. You definitely can’t wear any of your Rock Concert outfits. You will need something much more respectable.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. Glaring at Jessica, he pointed at her and then at the adults talking with Hannah about what the kids should be wearing the night of the Christmas Concert.

Jessica went up to Marcus, “Sorry. You’re not going to be the only one in uncomfortable clothes. Can’t believe my dad is insisting I wear a dress for the concert.”

George and Marcus went off together to get new outfits for the performance. All the girls went with Joyce and Jessica’s Dad.

“Turn into this parking garage,” Jessica’s dad told Joyce.

The girls had not stopped talking since leaving Symphony Hall. Jessica only figured out where they were going when they walked over the bridge from the parking garage into the mall.

Jessica turned to her Dad, “Not there.”

“It is the best girl dress shop in the tri-city area,” her dad commented.

Jessica rolled her eyes and turned to the other girls, “Come on, the shop is this way.”

Jessica’s dad turned to Joyce, “She used to love to come to this shop when she was Sammie’s age.”

Joyce looked at the girls walking far enough ahead that they probably couldn’t hear the adults, “What changed?”

“She is going through a phase where she doesn’t like dresses.”

“Maybe she isn’t very girly, or maybe transgender like Cindy,” Joyce looked at the girls and then at Jessica’s dad.

“Oh, she is 100% girl. She is just going through a phase. If things go the way I think they will in this shop, you will see her girly side come out.”

They turned a corner, and the girls were stopped in the middle of the walkway. They were looking at one of the shops. When Joyce turned to see what they were looking at, she smiled at the windows full of lavish girl dresses.

“I’m not going to be able to afford anything in this shop,” Joyce quietly commented to Jessica’s dad. “We can’t take the girls in there.”

“I suspected you would say that, and I know there is no way Cindy’s family could afford anything here either. Don’t worry, this is Jessica’s Christmas present to the two girls.”

“What,” Joyce asked?

“I’ll explain in a minute,” Jessica’s Dad turned away from Joyce and raised his voice a little so the girls could hear him. “Jessica, this is the shop where you can get their presents.”

Jessica turned to her dad with a big smile and wide eyes, “Really?”

“As long as you each walk out of there with a dress for the performance, then yes. Go find the perfect gift for each of them.”

Jessica shrieked. She ran up and hugged her dad before going back and taking Cindy and Sammie’s hands and dragging them into the store, “Come on. I’m going to get you each the perfect dress for the performance.”

Jessica’s dad smiled as his baby girl came alive at the joy of giving.

“We can’t accept a gift this expensive,” Joyce stated as the adults followed the girls into the shop. “Dresses in here have to cost over a $100 each.”

“Actually, there probably isn’t anything in here costing less than $400. They are all very high-quality handmade dresses.”

“Then there is no way we can take a gift like that. Jessica can’t afford to buy two dresses costing that much.”

“Actually, she can,” Jessica’s dad stated. “My wife’s a judge and I work at a fancy advertising agency. Jessica’s grandpa on my wife’s side is also a judge and my parents are also wealthy. From gifts over the years, Jessica has a lot of money in her bank account. We usually don’t give her access to that account, but when she started to talk about getting Sammie and Cindy something special for Christmas, we agreed to let her get the girls whatever she wanted. The only condition was that either her mom or I had to pick the store. My wife knew that Cindy’s family could never afford a good dress for the performance and gave me strict instructions to make sure Cindy had a good outfit. You were also in those instructions. She has a rough idea what state police officers make in a year.”

“But . . .”

“Joyce, look at my daughter. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. Your daughter and Cindy changed her at Camp. Before going to camp, Jessica wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep playing the piano and only reluctantly agreed to go to camp this last summer. She came back from camp talking constantly about Cindy and Sammie. She is all excited about going back to camp this coming summer, to be with Cindy and Sammie. Jessica was talking about how she had made friends with some of the nicest and best musicians at the camp. Not just the kids in her mini-orchestra, but others too. And, as I understand it, that is all because of Cindy and Sammie. If she wants to spend hundreds of dollars getting them each a special gift they will love, I am going to support her in that effort.”

Joyce looked over at the three girls going through the various dresses. They were all excited and having fun. Jessica was telling the two younger ones positives and negatives of different dresses they looked at. She was even pointing out when it would be hard to play their instrument in a particular dress. Some dresses were being ruled out, because they would be hard to sit in, while others because they might be a tripping hazard as they moved around the stage.

“Are you sure? It looks like Jessica is picking from some of the more expensive dresses in here.”

“I am very certain about this,” Jessica’s dad stated as he smiled at his daughter. “We may have money, but we have tried to raise our children to not feel entitled or spoiled. We have always tried to emphasize the importance of doing one’s best and giving to others. For Christmas this year Jessica wanted to cheer Cindy up. When the concert possibility was offered, Jessica set out on a mission to get the whole summer camp mini-orchestra back together as a way to do something to make Cindy happy. It took her quite a lot of phone calls to convince that Marcus kid to join this concert. There was also something with George’s family that put things into question on whether he would be able to come. Jessica worked hard to make sure everyone came. I’m so proud of her, putting others before herself.”

“Here you two, go try those on,” Jessica said handing dresses to Cindy and Sammie.

“What about you,” Sammie asked without moving.

“Yeah, we all need to try on a dress,” Cindy turned to a rack next to her and pulled out a red dress with frills on the shoulders and a bow around the waist.

“No, not that one,” Jessica quickly took the dress and put it back on the rack. “Mine has to be black to match the dress code of the rest of the orchestra. Only you two get to wear something different. It’s one of the special treats you two get for being so cute.”

Sammie and Cindy blushed.

“Let’s see,” Jessica said going over to the part of the store with dresses in her size. “Black and white dress code. Hmmm, not this one. Not that one, this isn’t a party. I need something formal but not too formal.”

“She really does know her stuff,” Joyce said to Jessica’s dad.

“Oh yeah, it is the only reason my wife will allow me to take Jessica clothes shopping. She knows Jessica will be picking out the clothes not me.”

Joyce laughed.

“No serious, I’m hopeless picking out an outfit for the kids that will work for the situation.”

“Do you have other children?” Joyce turned to Jessica’s dad.

“Jessica has a brother who is seven years older than her. He’s in college working on a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He’ll be back for Christmas just in time to see Jessica perform.”

“This one,” Jessica said pulling a dress off the rack and holding it up to her.

“But I thought you said we don’t want one that is down to our feet, so we can easily move around the stage,” Sammie inquired?

“You two will be moving around,” Jessica stated. “I’m a piano player. I will be sitting at the piano the whole time. And if I put some heels on, it will raise me up just enough that it isn’t so close to the floor.”

Joyce turned to Jessica’s dad, “I see what you mean about her girly side coming out. She will look stunning in that dress if it fits her.”

“Yes, she will,” the proud dad smiled.

Jessica, Cindy, and Sammie all headed for the changing rooms to try on their dresses. Joyce handed Sammie’s violin case to Jessica’s dad and followed the girls in to help them.

Sammie, being the first to get Joyce’s help, emerged wearing a dress with a dark blue bodice and white skirt. Her smile was huge as she looked in the three floor length mirrors. With a little spin, she remarkably got an even bigger smile.

One of the store employees was quickly by her side checking the fit. Before the process was done, Jessica came out and stood in front of the other three floor length mirrors outside the changing rooms. Just like most thirteen-year-old girls trying on a fancy dress. Jessica tried to take in how she looks from all angles and did a small spin.

“You look beautiful,” her dad said. “You are going to outshine all the adults up there on that stage.”

Jessica smiled, “Thanks Dad. If I have to wear a dress, at least this one makes me look like a teenager, not a little girl.”

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Jessica’s dad thought back to a very similar looking dress they got Jessica at this store when she was six years old. They were going to a formal party at the Art Gallery, and they wanted Jessica to look elegant but not stand out. Little six year old Jessica, however, believed that the dress made her a princess, requiring her to wear a tiara to the party. Jessica’s dad knew to keep this memory to himself. After that last comment, this was not the time to point out that the dress was almost identical to one she wore when she was six. The shop assistant finished with Sammie and came over to Jessica, “Sammie over there said she was going to be in a Christmas concert. Are you also in it?”

The lady used clips to grab the dress in some areas. Jessica had been here before, so she knew what was going on. It was all in an effort to figure out what alterations needed to be done to the dress.

“Yeah, the three of us are performing in the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert. Will you be able to make the alterations before the concert.”

“Really,” the lady said while clipping another area of the dress. “I heard they were having some child prodigies this year perform. Are you three some of those musicians?”

“Yeah, Sammie plays the violin, Cindy the flute, and I play the piano,” Jessica said while the lady made another adjustment.

“That’s impressive. I was never good with any musical instruments.

While this was going on, Cindy came out of the changing room, not wearing the dress. Joyce got Sammie’s violin and asked her to play a song or two in order to make sure the dress didn’t restrict any of her movements while playing.

Just as the assistant was about to finish up with Jessica, Sammie started to play Silent Night. This caused everyone in the store to stop and look over at Sammie.

The owner of the shop had come over while Sammie was playing. She noticed a few of the clips the assistant had put in had come out while Sammie played her violin.

“My oh my. You are quite good at that. Are you getting a dress to wear while performing?”

“Yeah,” Sammie responded with glee. “We’re playing with the Symphony Orchestra.”

“Rose,” the store assistant said. “These girls are some of the musical prodigies playing at the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra Christmas concert.”

“I see,” Rose said kneeling down to Sammie’s level. “Penny, when doing alterations for performers, it is important to not have the dress so form fitting. They will need more movement than for a wedding, dance, or party.”

Rose took out all the clips Penny had put in and started over. When she was done, she asked Sammie to play again. This time Sammie played Frosty the Snowman.

“Was that better,” Rose asked?

“Yeah,” Sammie responded. “The dress didn’t feel as tight.”

“Good. I’ll make the final marks if your parents decide to buy the dress for you,” Rose stated. “But now I need to go help Penny out with your sister.”

Cindy, Sammie, and Jessica laughed.

“She’s not my sister,” Sammie said. “Jessica’s just my friend.”

Rose went over and made some adjustments to how Penny had done the clips on Jessica’s dress, “This fits you pretty good. We won’t have to do many adjustments for you.”

Finishing up Jessica quickly, Rose’s attention focused on Cindy, “Did the dress not fit you dear?”

Joyce spoke up, “It was too big both in size and length. I examined it some, and it looks like it would need more than just slight alterations. I think we need to find her another dress.”

Rose looked at Sammie and Jessica before looking back at Cindy, “The other two have dark blue and black as the primary color theme. I noticed this little one’s dress was all red. Much more Christmassy. Do you want a dress to go along with the color theme of the others or one to stand out.”

Jessica spoke up, “Cindy is the special guest artist at the show. People from around the world want her to come and perform for them. Cindy needs to stand out.”

“She even plays better than me,” Sammie said. “Yeah, she needs to be seen by everyone.”

“All three of you are outstanding musicians,” Joyce stated.

“Yeah Mommy,” Sammie went over and gave Cindy a hug. “But Cindy is better. She won first place this summer for the best musician at camp, and I hate to say it, she really did play better than me. Next summer though, next summer I am going to get first place.”

“Well,” Jessica interrupted. “I am buying Cindy and Sammie’s dresses. They both need to be extra special to help the two stand out from the rest of the orchestra. The director lady Hannah said Cindy and Sammie needed cutesy little girl Christmas dresses. But, like Sammie said this summer, we are performing and need to look professional.”

“Hmmm,” Rose said going over to a rack of dresses. “Cutesy, Christmassy, and professional.”

Rose grabbed three different dresses and brought them back for the others to evaluate. Cindy ended up trying on two of them.

“I like this one better than the last one,” Jessica said as Cindy came out of the dressing room. “But it’s too long.”

Rose smiled, “That is easy to fix for that dress. How long would you like it?”

“It looks good long, so maybe just up a little,” Jessica examined Cindy. “Maybe just enough that we can see her shoes. We have to make sure they don’t trip on the skirt. She will be using both hands for the flute, so she can’t hold the skirt up.”

Rose got a container of pins and went down to pin up the skirt about two inches. Stepping back she looked at Cindy and then put a clip in the back before looking again, “Okay, what do you think Cindy?”

Cindy turned and looked at herself in the three floor length mirrors, “I wish my hair had grown back more. This would look great with pigtails.” Rose stepped away for a moment. When she returned, she put a tiara on Cindy’s head. “Ooooooo,” Sammie said. “Cindy’s a princess.” “I like it,” Jessica smiled. “We’ll take it.”

“Don’t you think the tiara is a little over the top for an orchestra performance,” Jessica’s dad asked?

“Dad, you don’t know anything. Little girls can always wear a tiara when in a fancy dress, and it will not be too much. It just makes them cuter.”

Joyce laughed, “She does have a point.”

After the dresses were paid for, and alteration marks were made, the group left the dress shop.

“Daddy,” Jessica tilted her head and smiled.

“This isn’t good,” Jessica’s dad looked at his daughter. “Daddy? What do you want Jessica?”

Sammie’s mom laughed, “Protect your wallet with your life. She’s doing the full head tilt and eye flutter.”

“It’s not going to cost you anything,” Jessica responded. “Honest, I just want to go play on the piano, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.”

Jessica’s dad looked at his watch and then at the three girls, “Five minutes. That’s it.”

Spinning around, Jessica grabbed Sammie and Cindy’s hands before heading off into the mall.

“Where are we going,” Cindy asked?

“To the piano. You’ll see. This will be fun.”

Jessica weaved her way through the mall to a point close to where they were taking Santa pictures. Just past Lloyd’s Music Emporium, in the center of an intersection, there stood a baby grand piano.

“This, is THE piano. Anyone can sit down and play on it. We can play whatever we want,” Jessica said with the biggest grin on her face.

“So,” Sammie asked? “Cindy and I don’t play the piano, and you can play on lots of different piano’s. What’s special about this one?”

Jessica sat down at the piano and tickled the keys, “But Sammie, you and Cindy have your instruments here. Daddy’s carrying them. Come on, let’s play a song.”

Cindy looked around the crowded mall and then at Sammie, “I guess, we can play a song. What should we play?”

As the girls got their instruments out, there was a discussion on what song to play. They settled on Jingle Bell Rock, as something that might get people’s attention in the noisy mall corridor.

As they started to play, a few people looked over at them, but most just went on their way doing their holiday shopping. But, by the end of the song, a crowd had formed. Everyone clapped when the girls finished playing.

Cindy and Sammie immediately understood why Jessica liked this piano. There was nothing like getting a bunch of strangers to give praise to your playing.

“Let’s do another song,” Sammie said as she looked around at the crowd.

The girls ended up playing songs for forty-five minutes. They probably could have played more, if Sammie’s Mom hadn’t insisted the girls take a break and get something to drink. Jessica was going to protest, until her dad pointed out that it had been much longer than five minutes.

“That was soooooooooo much fun,” Cindy said sitting down with her Strawberry and Banana Orange Julius drink.

While the girls talked about the crowds’ reactions, including those of kids their age and younger, the adults discussed their next move.

“It’s dinner time,” Sammie’s Mom said as she looked over at the girls sitting at the next table. “Any suggestions on where to eat? Or should we just get something here at the food court?”

Jessica’s dad looked around at the noisy and crowded food court, “Let’s go to a real restaurant. One that’s a little quieter than this. There is a nice family restaurant on the other side of the mall from where we parked. A little inconvenient being so far from the car, but it’s probably better than driving to a different place and trying to find parking.”

“That might also allow us to find some of the other things we need for their concert outfits.”

“Other things?”

Sammie’s mom just shook her head, “Tights, shoes, and hair accessories. There is always more than just the dress. I probably have some white tights and black Mary Jane shoes for Sammie’s dress, but for the special occasion it would probably be best if I just get Sammie new tights. There is probably no way Cindy has any shoes to match that dress, so we need to find something. Jessica said she would need heels to go with her dress, does she have any at home that would go with it?”

“You’re asking me? I don’t know. Here, let me send the picture of Jessica in that dress to my wife and ask her.”

Sammie’s mom kept looking at the girls and over to Santa. Although Sammie already did a trip to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Joyce felt that a picture with Santa would help the three remember this day for many years. Pulling out her phone, Joyce texted Cindy’s Dad, asking him if it would be okay to bring Cindy to visit Santa.

“My wife says Jessica might have some shoes to go with the dress, but she isn’t sure if they will still fit or not. If we find anything good, we should get them.”

“They outgrow shoes so fast at these ages,” Sammie’s mom said as she heard her phone ping. “Okay, Cindy’s Dad says we can take her to see Santa.”

“What? Jessica’s not going to go for that. She has told me point blank that she’s too old for Santa pictures.”

Joyce smiled at the naïve father, “It is different if you are going to do it with friends. Watch and learn.”

“Girls, do you three want to go get a group picture with Santa?”

“Really? Can we Mommy?”

“Yes, Sammie Pooh. If the other two are okay with it.”

Sammie looked at the other two who were smiling and nodding their heads.

“Finish up your drinks and then we will go see Santa.”

Cindy took a big suck on her straw and then declared that she was done. It took Sammie and Jessica a little bit longer, but they all quickly finished their drinks. Standing in line to see Santa, the age difference between the girls was very noticeable. Sammie was bouncing around in excitement, repeating that they were going to get a picture with Santa. Cindy was telling about her visit to Santa last year. Jessica was smiling, clearly happy about the upcoming experience, but also silent.

Going over to her dad, “Did I behave like that when I was Sammie’s age?”

“At eight,” Jessica’s dad thought for a moment. “No, that was the year you were convinced that you were on the naughty list. You kept blowing your temper at school and were certain that Santa was going to bring you coal for Christmas. You were petrified to see Santa that year. At age seven though, yes, you behaved much like Sammie is now.”

Jessica gave her dad a slight hug and then rejoined Sammie and Cindy.

“They grow up way too fast,” Jessica’s dad said to Joyce.

“Tell me about it,” Joyce said. “Seems like it was just yesterday that Sammie was running around the house in diapers and little baby pigtails. Now she’s in third grade and reading chapter books.”

The two parents smiled at their children, soaking in the Christmas energy as they got closer to Santa.

After Santa, the group weaved their way through the crowds towards the restaurant. By the time they sat down to eat, all three girls had new tights to go with their dresses. Jessica and Cindy had new shoes, and they had even made a stop at Claire’s to get hair accessories and matching earrings for the three girls.

“We wrap up our six o’clock news with a heart-warming story. Shoppers today at the Tri-City Mall were treated to a 45-minute-long Christmas Concert today by three little angels. The videos of their performance are going viral. No one knows who these three little girls are, but they certainly cheered up several shoppers’ today. Stacey Stillman is on location at the Tri-City Mall.”

“Thank You Karen,” Stacey said. “I am standing here with Mike Lloyd, owner of Lloyd’s Music Emporium in the Mall. Mike, it is my understanding that your music shop donated a piano to the mall and help maintain it so anyone can go up and play it.”

“Yes, Stacey. Here at Lloyd’s Music Emporium, we want to spread the joy of music to everyone. Lots of people over the years have sat down at that piano and played a few songs as a break from the craziness of shopping.”

“The Tri-City mall does bring in a local musician each month to play on the piano. Is that what happened today?”

“The first Saturday of every month, the Mall and the Music Emporium do co-sponsor an artist to come in and play for a few hours. Today’s performance by those three little girls was not scheduled. It was just three people who chose to sit down and play some Christmas music for the shoppers.”

“But Mike,” Stacey objected. “The two youngest were maybe 6 or 7 years old and they brought instruments. Are you telling me this was not planned?”

“That is right Stacey. Neither the Mall nor Lloyd’s Music Emporium had invited anyone to play today. For those two little kids to show up with a violin and a flute, those girls must have planned this on their own. I’ve checked my store video cameras. They did not buy the instruments today in my store. I don’t know who they are, but they certainly were amazing musicians.”

“That they were. Three little Christmas Angels sent from heaven to share their amazing talents with the shoppers today. Back to you Karen.”

“Thank You Stacey. I guess we have a little mystery on our hands. Who were these talented young musicians, and why did they put on a concert today at the mall. As we sign off, we will play some of their music.”

Dinner was as uneventful as it could be with three girls ranging in age from eight to thirteen. Just as the waitress was taking the credit card to pay the bill, the two adults suddenly had their phones go crazy with ping after ping indicating a new text message had come in.

“What is it Dad,” Jessica asked?

“Lots of people are sending me messages about you being on the six o’clock news.”

“Same here,” Joyce said. “Message after message about Sammie being on the six o’clock news.”

“Really,” Cindy looked at her two friends. “What did you two do to get on the news?”

Joyce spoke up, “You’re probably on the news too Cindy. They were probably doing some promo about the upcoming concert. Since the five of you are the stars of the show, they probably included you in the news announcement about the concert.”

“Yeah, that must be it,” Jessica’s dad said as he muted his phone. “It’s seven o’clock. I think we need to get the three of you back to the hotel and ready for bed. You all have a long day tomorrow. And if I remember anything about having an eight-year-old little girl, by the time we get to the hotel and through a pre-bed routine, it will be close to someone’s bedtime.”

Jessica was about to argue but stopped when she saw Cindy yawning.

Weaving their way back through the mall, the girls tried to get the adults to make detours into things like the Disney Store, Build-A-Bear, and the American Girl Store. The parents were sticking to the plan of going straight to the car.

“Look Dad. A Channel 2 TV crew. Let’s go see what they’re doing here.”

“Not now Jessica, it’s time to go to the hotel and settle down for the night,” Jessica’s dad said as he guided his daughter past Lloyd’s Music Emporium.

Cindy and Sammy both fell asleep on the car ride to the hotel. Waking them up at the hotel was easy, but they were both groggy. The rooms were on different floors, so the kids had to say good-bye to each other when Cindy, Sammie, and Joyce got off the elevator on the third floor.

After teeth brushing, hair sorted, and PJs on, Joyce tucked the girls into bed together along with their stuffed animals. Both Cindy and Sammie fell asleep after a discussion about the day and what the plans were for the next few days.

Jessica, up on the tenth floor, also had to get ready for bed after entering her hotel room. Once ready, she got her blanket out of the suitcase and curled up on the couch to read the next chapter in The Secret Garden. At nine o'clock, her dad told her to put the book away and go to bed.

Joyce and Jessica’s dad had both planned on staying up until the eleven o’clock news, in hopes that they might re-run the promotion for the Christmas Concert. Both fell asleep, however, reading a book.

“Good evening. I am Erin Ross, bringing you your local and national news at eleven. Tonight’s top story is a local one about three young girls who conducted a forty-five-minute impromptu concert this afternoon for Christmas Shoppers at the Tri-City Mall. The mystery surrounding who these girls are, has gripped the tri-city area and the internet. A video of their performance is going viral, in just the last six hours, it has gotten over 1.5 million views.”

“Social Media has coined them the Christmas Angels. I am happy to report that we now know who these girls are. They are the three youngest of five musical prodigies that will be performing on December 23rd with the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra. Our Christmas Angels are eight-year-old Sammie on the violin, ten-year old Cindy on the flute, and thirteen-year-old Jessica playing the piano.”

“Many had questioned the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra bringing five children in for the Christmas Concert this year. No one is questioning that now. If the last two children are anything like our Christmas Angels, then this year’s concert will be the event to be at this holiday season.”

Sammie, Cindy, and Jessica entered their break room backstage and put their backpacks down. Getting out their music tablets, the three headed for the door.

“Drink of water and trip to the bathroom first,” Joyce said.

When the three were finally ready to go out on stage, Marcus and George had arrived.

Hannah stopped the five kids and their parents before they could leave the break room, “Okay, there are the Christmas Angels. I can’t believe you three. I sent you out to get new dresses for the performance and you end up in a viral video that currently has over three million views. That’s impressive for just sixteen hours. The Christmas Concert was completely sold out before the eleven o’clock news was finished. Next time the three of you go to pull a publicity stunt like that, give us some warning please.”

“Oh my,” Marcus said looking down at his phone. “You three really are being called the Christmas Angels all across social media, and the views on that video are now over four million. I’ve gotta see this.”

“See what?” Jessica asked.

“What are you talking about Hannah,” Sammie’s mom inquired?

Hannah looked at the expressions on the girls faces and the parents, “You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what,” Jessica’s dad asked?

Hannah laughed, “Their viral sensations and don’t even know. You three this morning were even on one of the national morning talk shows. Okay, umm, Sammie, Cindy, and Jessica were recorded playing Christmas music at the mall yesterday afternoon. A video of their performance was posted online. The six o’clock Channel 2 news reported about it and were the first to call you Christmas Angels. At the time though, no one knew who the angels were. For the next few hours, all over social media, the question being asked was, Who are the Christmas Angels?”

“All we did was play a few Christmas songs for kids at the mall,” Sammie said.

“George, look at this,” Marcus brought his phone over to George. “Does that look like just playing a few Christmas songs for kids at the mall?”

“Way more adults in that crowd than kids,” George stated. “This was at a mall? Jessica, how’d you get a baby grand piano into the mall to put on this concert?”

“It’s there for anyone to play. I always try to get my mom or dad to let me play on it whenever we go to that mall.”

“Whoa,” Marcus exclaimed. “You have the kids and adults singing along to Santa Clause is Coming to Town. That crowd loves you. No wonder this went viral. Sammie, how are you pulling that sound off on a violin? What? You go straight into silent night, with the crowd going silent. You have that crowd in the palm of your hands. I knew the three of you were good, but to have control of a crowd like that. This is the middle of a mall, and it is silent.”

“Yeah,” Hannah said. “Extremely impressive. It is causing Jim and I to rewrite how we are going to do the Christmas concert. Jim told me you five kids were prodigies, but I didn’t understand. Let’s go out and have a talk with the rest of the orchestra.”

Hannah didn’t lead everyone to the stage, but instead, to the seats where the audience would be. The rest of the orchestra members were there chatting with each other and looking at Mr. Francess sitting on one side of the stage.

“Morning everybody,” Mr. Francess said as soon as the kids and their parents were seated. “Hannah and I have decided that you all should watch a video that is going viral and has been reported on at the local and national levels. Based on this video and the response to it, Symphony Hall management has asked us to add more performances of our Christmas Concert.”

Looking at Sammie, Cindy, and Jessica, “When I invited the five children to perform with us, I knew what we were getting, and I thought our concert would be their introduction to the world. They apparently had other ideas.”

“Actually Jim,” Hannah interrupted. “They had no idea of their fame until I told them a few minutes ago.”

“Let’s watch the video and we will talk afterwards,” Mr. Frances said before looking up at the control room and nodding his head.

The lights dimmed and a thirty-minute video of the girls’ performance at the mall was shown. Then there was the six o’clock news report followed by the one at eleven.

“Symphony Hall management would like us to take advantage of their instant fame,” Mr. Frances said after quieting everyone down. “Hannah and I have already started discussions on how we want to modify the concert to make the kids more of a focal point.”

In the middle of a discussion on adding two more performances, Sammie raised her hand and waited patiently for Mr. Frances to call on her, “Can one of them be for kids instead of grown-ups?”

Many of the orchestra members, especially those with young kids or grandchildren, thought this was a great idea.

By lunchtime, they had settled several issues and rehearsed a variety of music pieces. At three o’clock, the girls were told that they were done for the day. With George and Marcus practicing one more music piece with the orchestra, there was a discussion in the break room as to what the girls would do for the rest of the afternoon.

“Come on Jessica, it will be fun.”

“Sammie,” Jessica got down to Sammie’s height. “I’m too old for the Children’s Museum. I loved it when I was your age, but it just isn’t for me anymore. You two go and have fun. It is a fabulous Children’s Museum.”

“What are you going to do?” Cindy asked.

Jessica looked over at her dad talking with Sammie’s mom, “I am going to try and talk Dad into bringing me home to get my cell phone. We don’t live that far out of town, but Dad hates driving in the rush hour traffic, so we’re staying at the hotel during these rehearsals. I really need my phone though. Dad insisted I leave it at home, but I want to stay up to date with our fame. I can’t do that without my phone.”

Everything was packed up and the group went in Joyce’s car back to the hotel. After dropping Jessica and her Dad off, it was a quick trip to the Children’s Museum.

“There is no way I am running a story on one of the Christmas Angels being transgender. Even if it is true . . .”

“It is,” Stacey interrupted her news director. “I’ve got some girl named Ariel willing to go on record about how the boy started at camp this last summer as a kid named Frank. Apparently, this Frank kid wanted to win some competition, so he got all the kids who had more talent than him kicked out of summer camp. When the kid manipulated everyone into treating him like a girl, Ariel felt scared the kid would come into the bathrooms and rape her.”

“How old is this, Ariel? We can’t interview a minor.”

“Oh, Ariel is eighteen. She’s not a minor anymore.”

“So, this eighteen-year-old Ariel was afraid of the little ten-year-old Christmas Angel who looks like they’re seven? That sweet little thing that plays the flute?”

“Yeah, the freak is evil. Even his mother has stories about how manipulative and evil he is. She explained to me how he was a sweet young boy until he was brain washed by Woke teachers who convinced her son that he was a girl. This turned him evil and manipulative. The mother has told me about how the freak destroyed her marriage and even got her arrested for no reason at all.”

“Stacey, boy or girl, it doesn’t matter. The kid is ten-years-old and their video currently has over ten million views in just 24 hours. Whether you want to believe it or not, this is a free country. If the kid wants to go around wearing a dress, they have the right to do that. This news agency is not going to destroy a young child’s life over a culture war issue.”

“But transgender individuals should not . . .”

“Stop right there. This conversation is over. We are going to report on the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra doing two more performances and the Christmas Angel’s video hitting over ten million views. This is a feel good story for the area, not a culture war battle with an innocent ten year old in the middle.”

“Innocent? That freak could be in the girl’s bathroom doing who knows what . . .”

“It’s a bathroom. They will be using it for the intended purpose. Come on now. The kid is ten and probably being seen by a doctor to help them deal with some very tough medical issues.”

“Good point, we should interview the doctors and expose this plot to feminize our boys against their will.”

“No Stacey, we are not going to report lies on this news channel. Although you have a right to believe whatever you want, we have no right to spread lies and conspiracy theories. The community expects us to tell the truth, and that is what we are going to do.”

“We have to warn our community members to stay away from this kid. Other kids are in danger just being around him.”

“Stacey, we do not report on fake news, conspiracy theories, or political motivated culture wars. Drop the topic. There is nothing along this line that I will allow talked about on air, so drop it and get back to real news stories.”

Cindy and Sammie had fun for three hours exploring everything from bubble making, to a huge Lego room. For dinner, they returned to the hotel and walked to a pizza place just one block away. Two pizza’s were delivered to the table. Sammie and Cindy looked at each other before turning to Sammie’s Mom.

“Mommy,” Sammie asked? “Why so much? We can’t eat all this.”

Joyce looked down at her phone, before looking over at the door, “We are expecting someone to join us.”

“Who,” Cindy looked over to where Joyce was looking.

A moment later in walked two police officers.

“Daddy!!!!” Sammie jumped up and went running off to hug her dad.

Carrying his daughter back to the table, Mr. Ellsworth sat down next to his wife, “Hi Joyce. I hope Sammie Pooh isn’t giving you too much trouble.”

Joyce leaned over and kissed her husband and daughter, “She’s a little Christmas Angel. She would never give me any trouble.”

“Yeah, I’m anjelly,” Sammie stated as she cuddled into her dad. “Hi Patty, thanks for bringing Daddy to me.”

Mr. Ellsworth chuckled, “Sammie Pooh, did you mean angelic?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

Joyce and Patty held back a chuckle.

“Hi Officer Ellsworth and Officer Granlin,” Cindy said as she took a piece of pepperoni pizza and put it on her plate.

The five had a nice dinner together, but it was over way too early for Sammie. Her dad, and his partner, had to get back to patrolling the interstate highway.

That night, the girls got to watch some Christmas specials on TV. Joyce wondered if there were any other kids in the world that watched these shows like Cindy and Sammie. The two girls had their instruments out, and played along whenever there was any type of music in the show. It was how Sammie had learned many of the Christmas songs back when she was five, and she has done it each year since.

George was spending the night at Marcus’ house. Instead of watching Christmas specials, the two of them were having a jam session on their instruments with two of Marcus’ friends.

Jessica was at her house, watching the Christmas specials. She wasn’t, however, playing along to the music in the shows. After the shows were over, Jessica said bye to her mom and headed back into the city with her dad. She was always amazed that it took only about thirty minutes when there was no traffic but could take several hours at other times of the day.

When the five kids went to bed that night, their thoughts were all on the same thing. The upcoming Christmas concerts.

After a morning of rehearsal, the five kids went to lunch together. The kids were at one table and the adults at another. Most were leisurely eating until Sammie spoke up.

“Rehearsal is sooooo boring. I wish we could just play the music without all the stop and go.”

Marcus looked at Sammie and then at George, “We could. They gave us an hour for lunch. Let’s just finish quick, go back and have some fun before the rehearsals start up again.”

There was agreement around the table, so everyone started eating faster. George leaned over and told his Dad what they had in mind. By the time the kids were ready to go, the only adult ready was Marcus’ mom. She agreed to take the kids back so the others could finish their lunches.

Up on stage in the concert hall, Marcus turned to Sammie and Cindy, “Let’s go youngest to oldest, so Sammie you’re first. Start playing your favorite Christmas music and we will join in. A Christmas Jam session everyone.”

Sammie smiled, as she started to play Frosty the Snowman. The others joined in when they felt the groove.

“Now that was fun,” Sammie said when they finished. “Cindy, tag, you’re it.”

Cindy played Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Jessica played Linus And Lucy.

“That’s not exactly Christmas music,” Marcus commented after finishing Jessica’s piece.

“Yes, it is! Where do you know that piece from Marcus?” Jessica asked.

“She has a point Marcus,” George interjected. “It’s the main music connected with A Charlie Brown Christmas. That does, sort of, make it Christmas music. Okay, my turn.”

At this point, a few of the other Orchestra members had returned from lunch and asked if they could join in. When it was Marcus’ turn, there was about half the orchestra. He chose Jingle Bell Rock and set a fast pace for the piece.

Between the smiles and discussion when they finished, it was apparent that everyone was having fun. This was interrupted by a voice coming through some speakers, “Do that again, and I’ll join in this time.”

“Who was that,” Jessica asked?

“That was Larry up in the control booth,” said Mrs. Johnson, the summer camp woodwind instructor. “Let’s do as he says and see what he comes up with.”

So, Marcus started everyone off, with another round of Jingle Bell Rock. The main lights on the stage dimmed, and a light show went wild with Larry trying to synch a light show to the music. Up on the screen above the musicians, was Marcus rocking away to the musical piece. Occasionally, the scene on the screen would change to one of the other five kids.

“I guess someone is trying to take my job,” Mr. Frances chuckled as he came out on stage with a smile. “Let’s do it one more time. The kids do it just like they were, but I’ll conduct the rest of the orchestra.”

Mr. Francess looked over to Hannah on the side of the stage talking into a walkie talkie. When she stopped talking and nodded to Mr. Francess, he directed Marcus to begin. The rest of the afternoon went like that. Two to five of the kids would jam session a Christmas song, and Mr. Frances would conduct the orchestra to support.

It was a much faster and enjoyable afternoon for the two youngest. At three o’clock, Jessica, Cindy, and Sammie were told to head backstage, because they were done for the day. As they entered the break room, they could hear George and the brass section of the orchestra playing.

“You were right Hannah,” Mr. Frances said as they sat down and discussed the day and tomorrow’s rehearsal. “Jessica and George were giving their best how we’ve been practicing, but Marcus, Cindy, and Sammie did much better when we switched to what we did this afternoon. It’s more work for the orchestra and me if we go with this approach, but the music is better.”

“It makes sense,” Hannah said. “Playing with a group is still work for them. Since it’s easier for the orchestra to adapt to the kids than the kids to adapt to the orchestra, having them take the lead should produce better music. I am still amazed at that viral video. Those girls were feeding off each other and the crowd. They were even taking recommendations from the kids in the audience. If one of them didn’t know the music, they would still figure out a point where they could join in.”

“I have been a judge at that music camp for years, but when I saw Cindy play for the first time, it was so much better than anything I had ever heard adult flutists play. She wasn’t just playing a piece of music. She was expressing feelings and emotions through the music. If we have to alter how we traditionally do the Christmas Concert, it will be worth it to get Cindy and Sammie to share their emotions with the audience.”

Hannah thought for a moment, “Larry had fun today when the kids were doing that Jingle Bell Rock piece. Tomorrow, we need to get the lights set up for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra style piece you promised Marcus.”

“Okay, let’s start out with that one tomorrow after we do the bit with the girls opening presents and playing White Christmas,” Mr. Frances wrote some stuff on his tablet. “Have you talked with all the parents about extending rehearsals now that we are doing three shows?”

“That’s all coordinated. A few of the parents are going to take shifts babysitting, so last minute Christmas shopping can be done while the kids are rehearsing.”

The two discussed a new order for the concert, and possible ways to introduce the individual kids to the audience.

After about an hour at the Science Museum, Jessica’s Dad and Sammie’s Mom directed the three girls down to the Planetarium. Just before entering, they saw George and Marcus waiting for them.

The five kids watched the show and then explored parts of the museum. George was attached to Cindy and Marcus to Sammie, acting like big brothers helping them understand the different exhibits.

Mr. Dillinger tried to object when his son was spending so much time with Cindy, but the other parents shut him down quickly before the kids knew anything about it.

“Be careful of what you do and say. Preventing your son from being with Cindy could have some serious consequences,” Jessica’s Dad said. “Your son has God in his heart, and spreads that to those in his life. You raised him that way. You taught him that God will guide him through life. George has taken the principals that Jesus and the Lord brought to our world, and he applies them to his daily life. Are you going to now tell him that those lessons are wrong? If you stop him from supporting those that others tear down, then you risk him forever turning away from the Lord.”

Mr. Dillinger looked over at his son. George was treating Cindy just the same as he does his little sister.

“Cindy is not going to magically make your son transgender,” Jessica’s dad explained. “Jesus did not turn away from shunned individuals, and George doesn’t either. Matt, as a psychologist you understand better than anyone else here how fragile Cindy’s mental health is at the moment. George got Cindy through some tough times during summer camp, and he is now continuing that process. You and the Lord taught him James 4:12 ‘There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?’ George understands that passage of the bible very well. So well in fact, my Jessica came back from camp asking me about that passage. She heard George talking about it and wanted to know more.”

Mr. Dillinger took his eyes off his son and looked at Jessica’s Dad, “What?”

“My daughter came back from music camp asking me about bible verses. Because your son was spreading the word of God through his actions. We’re not exactly religious, but we’re not against religion either. We do go to church for Christmas and Easter. If you stop George from being kind and nice to Cindy because of your interpretation of a few passages in the Bible, I’m afraid my daughter will interpret that as God not wanting someone to be kind and nice to others. She will turn her back on God. So Matt, be careful what you say and do around these children. Your son is currently spreading God’s message through is actions and words. Don’t send the wrong message through your actions.”

“I . . . I . . .” Mr. Dillinger made eye contact with all the other parents.

Sammie’s Mom spoke up, “Have you watched the kids up on stage? Jessica may be the leader of the group, but George is who the three girls look to for guidance when things get rough. Don’t wreck this moment for the other kids. They need George and his abilities as a leader. You’ve raised a good son.”

Mr. Dillinger just watched the kids for a bit without saying a word.

When the girls were being tucked in that night, Sammie’s mom turned to Cindy, “Tomorrow is Saturday, your dad and sister will be coming up.”

Cindy grabbed her stuffed rabbit and turned away from Sammie and Joyce.

“What’s wrong Cindy,” Sammie asked. “Isn’t that great that Holly is coming?”

“Don’t you get it Sammie,” Cindy blurted out as a tear started down her face. “They’re coming to take me home. I’d don’t get to be in the concert.”

Joyce immediately grabbed Cindy into a hug, “Oh Cindy, that’s not true. They’re just coming up because it is the weekend. With the new rehearsal schedule, no one is going home this weekend. We’ll practice part of the day on Saturday and have Sunday off. On Monday we will be back to our regular schedule. You will be here for that. Then Monday after rehearsals, we get to go pick up the dresses for the concert.”

Cindy did not believe anything Joyce was saying. The past had taught her that bad things aways come after good times. The last few days had been absolutely wonderful, now it was time for the bad things to happen.

As they walked onto the stage Saturday morning, Sammie and Cindy were called over to the Christmas tree.

“These wrapped boxes are made up to look like Christmas presents,” Hannah pointed to two wrapped boxes with the lids off. “They should be just the right size to fit your open instrument cases. You two will be starting the Christmas Concert by opening these presents and taking your instruments out.”

Hannah got Cindy and Sammie to put their instruments cases in the boxes. Before the lids were put on, it was decided that Cindy should already have her flute assembled. Looking at the end product, both girls smiled at the big bows adorning the presents.

“Now, when it’s time to start, go over to the other side, just off stage so you cannot see any seats in the audience,” Hannah explained. “Mr. Frances will bow to the audience and then turn around toward the orchestra. That is when I want the two of you to come over to the tree. Do you remember that first day you saw it?”

The two girls nodded.

“You were enjoying the big tree and all the lights. I want you to act like that again. Pretend this is your first time seeing the tree. Ignore any sounds from the audience and the orchestra, just focus on the tree and the presents. Once you reach the tree, slowly count in your head to ten and then open up the present with your instrument in it. Do you understand the directions?”

Hannah had each girl individually repeat the directions.

“Once the presents are open, pretend like you just got the best present in the world. Take the instruments out and admire them for a moment before you start to play White Christmas.”

“Easy,” Sammie responded.

Hannah smiled down at the two little girls, “Larry is going to do the star lights again to make it look like it is snowing on the stage. You can move around in the snow a little bit but work your way to your designated platforms. Before the end of the piece, I want both of you on your platforms.”

Sammie and Cindy were once again asked to repeat the directions from start to finish. After each girl had done this, Hannah went over to Jessica at the piano.

“Sammie, Cindy,” a scream came from just off stage.

Turning, Cindy and Sammie found Ciara from summer music camp running towards them.

“What are you two doing here,” Ciara asked after giving them both a hug?

“We’re doing a Christmas Concert with the Symphony Orchestra,” Cindy replied. “What are you doing here Ciara?”

“I’m going to the Children’s Museum with my Mommy and cousins.”

Both Cindy and Sammie looked at her in confusion.

“Oh,” Ciara turned and looked at the orchestra. “That’s them over there with Aunt Lisa.”

Cindy and Sammie looked over at one of the Oboe players who had two young girls around her.

“Your Aunt is in the Orchestra,” Sammie asked?

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were,” Ciara smiled. “It is soooo cool that my aunt gets to play with you two.”

The three girls chatted for a bit as more of the Orchestra members arrived and set up.

When Ciara’s Mom came over to get her, Ciara asked to have her picture taken with Cindy and Sammie, “I need proof that I know you two. I saw your video. They’re calling you the Christmas Angels. That was a really cool performance you put on at that mall, but when I told my friends that I knew you, they didn’t believe me. I want a picture to show that I really do know the famous Christmas Angels.”

“Can’t have people not believing you,” Sammie commented. “Jessica, come over here a minute.”

Once Jessica joined the group and the situation was explained, the Christmas Angels and Ciara all posed together for a picture.

As the girls were looking at the pictures taken, Ciara’s cousins came over.

“Hi Stephie and Izzie,” Ciara said.

The five and seven year old were introduced to the Christmas Angels and then Ciara’s Mom said it was time to go. She looked over at her sister before taking Ciara, Stephie, and Izzie off to the Children’s Museum.

Mr. Frances tapped his baton on his music stand, causing the many different people warming up to go silent, “Today will be a little different. This will be more for the kids and Larry than the orchestra members. We are going to run through the whole performance, while Hannah tries to get the kids all in the right places and figuring out the best way to transition between pieces. Sammie and Cindy, get in position please.”

That is how the morning went. Hannah was on stage the whole time, directing the five kids. Even in the middle of a musical piece, she would ask one of the kids to move or adjust their position on the stage. They got through the whole performance twice before it was time for lunch. Since it was a Saturday, that was all they were scheduled to practice today.

As Cindy was putting away her flute, she was suddenly hugged from behind. Turning around, Cindy found her big sister, “Holly! Oh, I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah right, Munchkin,” Holly ruffled Cindy’s hair. “I bet you have been too busy to miss me.”

After a brief exchange, Cindy and Holly joined the mini-orchestra kids and their parents who were deciding what they were all going to be doing for the next day and a half when they didn’t have rehearsal. George’s Dad immediately stated, while looking at Cindy, that George and he were going home to see the family. Marcus said he was off to do stuff with his friends. Jessica’s Mom invited the two younger girls and their families over to their house for the afternoon.

As final details were worked out for some things at the beginning of next week, Jessica looked around at the group. She saw the smiles on Cindy and Sammie’s faces, but she also noticed something unexpected and interesting. George and Holly were holding hands. She so wanted to say something, but worried about what Mr. Dillinger would say if he found out his son was . . . dating? . . . Cindy’s older sister.

Everyone going to Jessica’s house was split up between two cars. Since the two little one’s booster seats were in Joyce’s car, the three girls and Holly rode with Sammie’s mom. When they arrived at the house, the kids were immediately off to Jessica’s room.

Saturday afternoon was full of games, chatting, and even some art activities. After dinner, the three youngest girls were chatting in Jessica’s room. When they decided to watch some Christmas specials, Jessica was confused when Sammie headed to her mom’s car to get her violin.

“Why do you need your violin to watch Christmas specials,” Jessica asked?

“It’s more fun that way,” Sammie said with no further explanation as she was putting on her shoes.

Jessica looked at Cindy, who just smiled at her and shrugged her shoulders as she also started to put on her shoes so she could get her flute.

With Sammie’s violin and Cindy’s flute out of the car, Sammie turned to Jessica, “So, what room has a TV and piano?”

Jessica looked at the two little ones putting their instrument cases on the dining room table and getting their instruments out, “What are you two doing?”

“We’re getting ready to watch Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Clause is Coming to Town. Come on Jessica,” Sammie declared. “Keep up. What room has a TV and piano?”

Utterly confused, Jessica responded, “The living room, but all the adults are in there.”

Sammie headed for the living room with Jessica and Cindy in tow.

“Can we have the living room to watch Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Clause is Coming to Town?” Sammie blurted out as she approached Jessica’s mom.

“Why don’t you girls go down to the playroom and watch the shows down there?”

“No,” Sammie responded, standing tall with a big eight-year-old little girl smile on her face. “We need a room with a piano and TV in it. The Playroom doesn’t have a piano, so we need this room to watch the shows.”

“What,” Jessica’s mom questioned? “You don’t need a piano to watch Christmas Specials.”

“Actually, they might,” Sammie’s mom stated. “This is kinda cute to watch, so let’s give them the room. We can go somewhere else. Or if you want, we can stay here and watch the performances.”

Jessica’s mom turned to Sammie’s mom before turning back to Jessica, “Go ahead, I guess.”

“I don’t know what is going on either Mom,” Jessica said as she went over to turn on the TV and start the DVD player. “But the two of them seem to think we all need our instruments to watch the shows. Sometimes it is just best to go along with Sammie, whether you understand or not.”

A few of the adults chuckled.

Soon the shows were starting, and immediately Sammie and Cindy started to play along to the opening music to Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer. That is when Jessica finally got it and sat down to the piano with a big smile. The adults stayed and watched the kids perform during the first show but left when Santa Clause is Coming to Town started.

After the shows, Cindy’s and Sammie’s families left for the night. Before they reached the hotel, the two girls were sleeping in the back of the car.

“She may like pretending to be such a big kid, but she’s still my baby girl,” Sammie’s mom said to Cindy’s Dad. “Car rides have always caused her to fall asleep. When she was a baby, sometimes a car ride was the only way we could get her to take a nap.”

“Yeah,” Cindy’s Dad commented looking back at the two girls. “We have to keep a Squishmallow in our car as a pillow. It is so easy for Cindy to fall asleep on a car ride. Unfortunately, she also uses the Squishmallow to hit her older sister.”

“She definitely does that too much,” Holly piped in.

Sammie’s mom giggled, “I used to do the same thing with my sister. It’s how little sisters show love for their older sibling.”

The adults all laughed, but Holly just rolled her eyes.

After parking at the hotel, the sleeping princesses were woken up for the short trip to their rooms. They were back asleep before the parents had managed to get them undressed and into pajamas.

Sunday, they all met again at Jessica’s house. At two in the afternoon, there was a call from the dress shop to let them know that the dresses were done and ready to be picked up. Jessica and Sammie’s moms both felt they should go that afternoon to get the dresses, so the kids were packed into the car. The moms made sure that each girl had their shoes and tights that they would be wearing with the dresses. The girls also insisted on wearing the matching jewelry they had bought for the occasion. This required a detour to the hotel to get Cindy and Sammie’s supplies.

The final fitting for the dresses went without a hitch. Before the girls were allowed to take the dresses off, Cindy and Sammie both played a piece of music to make sure the dresses had no problems while they performed. The girls wanted to wear the dresses out of the shop and do another concert in the mall, but that was immediately vetoed by all parents. Besides not wanting to get the Dresses damaged before the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert, the parents felt one viral video of the girls playing was enough for this holiday season. To stifle the objections, Jessica’s Mom let Jessica pick where they were eating dinner.

Jessica’s eyes widened, looking right at Cindy and Sammie, “Mommy, can I pick anywhere?”

Hesitantly, Jessica’s Mom asked, “Where do you want to go?”

“Just Chinese Mommy.”

“She has used Mommy twice,” Jessica’s Mom looked at the other adults. “This isn’t just Chinese. Jessica, what do you want?”

“Peking Duck!”

Jessica’s Mom rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath, “Figures. I can call the restaurant to see if they have any available for tonight. We usually have to call a day ahead to get one of the few they make for each night.”

No one in Sammie’s or Cindy’s family had ever had Peking Duck before, so when it arrived at the table, Jessica became the teacher, explaining how to put it all together.

“You take one of these thin pancake things,” Jessica started. “Then you take one of these paint brushes.”

“Scallions,” Jessica’s mom explained.

“You dip the paint brush, sorry mom, scallions into the sauce and paint the pancake. You can paint pictures, I often start with a smiley face, but I’ve drawn other things too. My boring parents just scribble on the pancake. When done painting, you put the paint brush,” Jessica looked at her mom. “Scallion, onto the pancake. Then you take some crispy duck skin and a few pieces of duck meat and put them on the pancake. You finish by rolling it up, like you are swaddling a baby.”

Jessica’s mom put her hand to her forehead and shook her head back and forth.

“Make sure it’s tight, so everything stays in when you pick it up,” Jessica continued. “Don’t forget to fold the bottom over, so you don’t lose the baby when you pick it up.”

Sammie, Cindy, and Holly were all cautious before taking the first bite, but they all quickly found it the best part of the meal.

As the table switched to more conversation than eating, Cindy’s dad looked at his watch, “I think we need to get on the road. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us and I have to work in the morning.”

Cindy’s demeanor instantly changed from bright and cheerful to sullen, “Bye Sammie and Jessica. It was great spending time with you both. Hopefully I’ll see you this summer at Music Camp.”

As Cindy went to hug Jessica, who was sitting next to her, Dad spoke up, “What are you talking about? You’re staying. It is just Holly and I that have to leave.”

Cindy looked at her dad skeptically, “I’m not going home with you?”

“I guess you could, but I don’t know how we would get you back for rehearsal tomorrow morning.”

Pushing her chair back, Cindy got up and ran over and gave her Dad a hug, “Thank You Daddy. You mean I can perform in the Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert?”

“Of course you can Princess,” Herbert said to his daughter. “That’s why you have been up here rehearsing and why Jessica bought you that fancy dress.”

“Oh Daddy, thank you, thank you, tank ooo.”

“Can I stay too,” Holly asked? “I can help babysit the girls.”

Herbert raised an eyebrow at his fourteen-year-old, “I don’t think so Holly.”

“But I don’t have school this week, and it would give Sammie’s Mom a break.”

Shaking his head back and forth, “And you some time to spend with George.”

“Yeah,” Holly said without thinking, and then turned beat red.

“No Holly, you’re coming home with me. George doesn’t need a distraction, and Mrs. Ellsworth doesn’t need a wild teenager to keep tabs on. She has enough to deal with looking after Sammie and Cindy.”

“Okay,” Holly slumped her shoulders. “But honest, I would have helped babysit.”

Several of the adults smiled as they remembered their teenage years. Goodbyes were said and soon Herbert and Holly were gone. There was a discussion about where everyone would sleep tonight, and it was decided that Sammie and Cindy should go back to the hotel with Sammie’s Mom. The girls all pleaded for a sleep-over, but the adults were not listening. Jessica’s Dad paid the bill, and everyone went their different ways.

Monday was the first rehearsal with an attempt at a complete beginning to end performance. Conductor Frances and Stage Director Evans would make slight adjustments after each run through, to make sure everything was perfect. After rehearsal, Cindy and Sammie went to the Tri-City Children's Museum.

Tuesday was different. It was a full dress rehearsal, with everyone wearing their concert outfits. Just before they started, the girls changed into their pretty new dresses. After the performance they had to change back into their regular clothes before going to lunch. The process was repeated after lunch, but this time, there was an audience. Each member of the Orchestra was allowed to have up to four family or friends come watch. Hannah didn’t usually allow that many at a dress rehearsal, but she thought it would be good for the kids to practice in front of an audience.

“Okay girls,” stagehand Laura said as Sammie and Cindy stood just off stage. “This is the first time with the audience being more than just your parents. I know it is going to be hard not to look out and wave at the audience, but you need to focus on your roles in the performance. You’ve practiced this and you know what to do. Both of you are amazing musicians, so go out there and show everyone.”

Sammie stood up tall with a big smile on her little eight-year-old face, “We’ve got this. No problem.”

Cindy, being two years older than Sammie, knew she should not be scared or worried if Sammie wasn’t, but she was. She peaked out at the audience, seeing lots of adults and kids out there. She looked for her dad and Holly, even though she knew neither would be there. To her surprise, she did see Holly, but it wasn’t Dad with her. It was Grandma and Grandpa.

Cindy was disappointed Dad wasn’t there, but excited her grandparents were. Before she could figure out these confusing and contradictory emotions, Laura directed Cindy to a location where the audience couldn’t see her. The three of them looked out onto the stage where conductor Frances was. He looked at the audience, bowed, and then turned back to the Orchestra. Suddenly, the lights on the stage dimmed.

Laura softly said, “Wait for the audience to go completely silent . . . and . . . now, go.”

Cindy and Sammie made their way across the stage with eyes focused on the lit-up Christmas tree. There was a spotlight on each girl as they walked slowly across the stage in awe at the big tree.

About halfway across the stage, they heard a kid’s voice call out, “It’s the Christmas Angels.”

A lot of clapping and hollering came from the audience.

Sammie instantly looked, but quickly returned her gaze to the tree when Cindy softly said, “Don’t look. Don’t look.”

But, not looking became harder for both girls as the audience started clapping. Smiles spread across each of the girls’ faces as they worked hard to do as they had been trained; ignore the audience and focus on your job.

Rolling around in both girl’s heads were the instructions, “Stop in front of tree, slowly count to ten, then open the presents. Show love for a new present and then start playing.”

As they started to play White Christmas on their instruments, Sammie and Cindy could hear several parents telling their kids to be quiet.

The two girls played and twirled around in the lights giving the image of falling snow on their dresses. Mr. Frances had the orchestra start softly and slowly built up the volume as the music piece progressed. By the end, the girls were just part of the whole symphony orchestra. When the last note played, the girls looked down to make sure they were in position, before looking at each other on opposite sides of the conductor’s podium and smiling.

The Tri-City Symphony Hall Christmas Concert dress rehearsal went almost perfectly. At least, until the end. Once the concert was over, the audience full of family and friends of the performers threw a twist into things. There was the traditional standing and clapping, but then everybody in the audience that was less than 20 years old started chanting: Christmas Angels, Christmas Angels.

Conductor Frances directed Cindy, Sammie, and Jessica to get up and take a bow. But that wasn’t enough for the audience, there were scream outs for Marcus and George too. Once all five kids were front and center on the stage, the whole place filled with kids screaming ‘Christmas Angels’, whistling, and lots of clapping.

“How in the world did we become a Christmas Angel,” Marcus asked George. “I thought that was only the girls from the viral video. Angels are girls. Being known as a Christmas Angel is not going to look good for my rep as a rock ‘n’ roll star.”

George chuckled, “In the Bible there are male angels. Stop worrying about image Marcus, and just enjoy an audience loving our performance.”

After a few minutes, the lights flickered on and off and the audience quieted down.

Over the speakers came Stage Director Hannah Evan’s voice from the control room, “Okay, Christmas Angels, the audience apparently liked what you did. Let’s give them one last piece with just the five of you. All adults leave the stage. Jessica, you’re conducting the piece you wrote this summer for the group. Positions everyone.”

The Christmas Angels all looked at each other. They had played the piece a few times during rehearsal, but it had been cut from the concert when Hannah offered them a choice between that or another Trans-Siberian type of piece. All the kids had decided to stick with all Christmas Music for the concert.

George looked at the others, “You heard her, let’s get into positions. Jessica, you’re the conductor now. Let’s show this audience what we can do without the adult Symphony Orchestra backing us up.”

“Just one thing though,” Marcus said before heading for the piano. “We’re doing more than one song. Cindy, it’s because of you we are all here. When we finish Jessica’s piece, walk out to the center of the stage and start playing anything you want. The four of us will back you up like it is a jam session.”

The group smiled at each other, looked at the audience, and then up at the control room.

“Larry,” Hannah said as she saw the five kids look up. “They’re up to something. I don’t know what they are planning, but did you see the look on their faces? Be prepared for anything and roll with it.”

Larry sat at the controls and adjusted the lights to draw attention to the five musicians on stage. Cindy with her flute and Sammie with her violin went to their designated spots. Marcus went to the piano, and George grabbed his French Horn. Jessica at the conductor podium, tapped the baton and started the piece she wrote for the five of them.

Jessica’s piece was played, and the audience started clapping, but they quickly quieted down when Cindy stepped off her mini-stage and walked to the front center of the large Symphony Hall stage. While she was doing that, Jessica went to the piano, while Marcus left the piano and grabbed his electric guitar.

Cindy put her lips up to her flute, and suddenly her brain went blank. She couldn’t think of any Christmas music to play. Looking out at the audience she was frozen. She found her older sister in the audience and her advice over the last few months rang in her head. Whenever Cindy was having a hard day or in an emotional mess, Holly would tell her to play her favorite piece on the flute. So that is what Cindy did. Her mind cleared as she worked her way through one of Friedrich Kuhlau’s flute solos.

Sammie was going to join in, but Jessica stopped her and indicated for the others not to join either. She quietly said, “Not with that piece. That’s a solo piece to calm herself down. Let her play alone. When she’s done, we’ll jam to a piece Sammie picks. Sammie, while Cindy’s playing, think of something to play.”

When Cindy finished her piece, the audience started to clap, but Sammie started playing almost immediately, so they sat back down.

“Larry,” Hannah said looking down at the stage. “Let them play this last piece and when they are done, cut the lights to the stage and bring up the lights on the audience.”

Hannah tapped the controls to limit her words to the earpieces of the stagehands and Jim Frances, the conductor, “I am shutting off the kids' microphones after this piece and cutting lights to the stage. Bring the rest of the orchestra onto the stage for final bows. Jim, I want you center front stage, standing behind Cindy and Sammie with the rest of the angels around the three of you.”

Hannah’s display screen suddenly had three lights flashing two times. That was Jim and her two primary stagehands sending acknowledgement.

After the applause and the audience had sat back down, Hannah had Larry slowly bring up the lights on the stage. A few people were still getting into position, but not too bad for an unplanned and unrehearsed step done in the dark. Thanks were given, bows were done and then everyone left the stage. Hannah helped Larry reset a few controls before heading down to the stage to talk with everyone.

“. . . Marcus, you did a great job transitioning into that section, but we need to be careful that you don’t drain out the other instruments too much. I’ll talk with Hannah to see if they can control that with the mics or if you need to adjust your intensity during that section. We could also move you to a different location. I’ll put that piece first for practice tomorrow morning,” Mr. Frances was saying as Hannah joined everyone backstage.

“I’ll also check the videos and recordings from our test locations in the audience,” Hannah said, coming up to the group. “First impressions though, from the control room everything looked and sounded fine.”

“Good,” Mr. Frances stated as he turned back to the musicians. “Now, let’s talk about . . .”

“Ummm, not yet Jim,” Hannah interrupted while listening to Larry in her earpiece try to explain something. “Miranda’s having a problem.”

Everyone looked at Hannah in confusion. She tapped her earpiece, “Larry, connect me directly with Miranda . . . I’m here Miranda, what is going on? What do you need the Angels for?”

The kids all looked at each other.

“Whose Miranda,” Sammie asked?

Lisa, who was standing right behind Sammie, bent down and quietly said, “She’s one of the people who runs everything here. Hannah and Jim handle the Orchestra, but Miranda deals with everything else.”

“There is no way I am sending the three girls out there without each having a handler,” Hannah said into her mic. “And the two older boys should have handlers too. We don’t have the people in place today. This was a dress rehearsal for the adult concerts, not the children’s concert. I could maybe come up with two handlers, but not five.”

“Hannah,” Marcus interjected. “We might be able to provide protection for the three girls.”

“Hold on a minute Miranda,” Hannah looked at Marcus approaching her. “What do you have in mind?”

“My dad was in the audience with two of the people who are my bodyguards during my rock concerts. If this Miranda person stops them before they leave, they could protect the girls. They should be easy to spot. All three are over six feet tall, with the tallest being six feet, ten inches tall. The two with my dad today are the ones who protected Cindy and Sammie during the summer concert at camp. I’m sure they’d be willing to do the same today if needed.”

“Luke and Penelope are here,” Cindy and Sammie said together as they went up and looked at Marcus.

Marcus smiled down at the girls, “They wouldn’t have missed a chance to see the two of you perform. When they heard I had four tickets to a dress rehearsal of your performance, they insisted on coming to see the two of you.”

Mr. Frances came up to Hannah, “The summer camp hired them this summer to protect the kids. They passed the background checks back then the camp did before hiring them. If the parents of the kids agree, I don’t see why we can’t hire them today to help.”

“Miranda,” Hannah said into her mic. “There should be someone six foot-ten leaving Symphony Hall with two other large individuals. One of them is Marcus’ dad. Stop them. They work as bodyguards at Marcus’ rock concerts. See if you can hire them for the next few hours to protect the girls. If they will, have them meet us at door F. I’ll get Philip and Laura to be the last two handlers.”

Hannah then turned to the five Christmas Angels, “Okay, I need you all to go get your phones and tell whoever brought you today to meet Miranda in the Lobby at door F.”

As the kids went to the room where they had their backpacks, Mr. Frances got the attention of the other Orchestra performers, “If I am piecing this together right. Something is going on in the lobby, and Miranda needs the Angels to address the issue. We have talked about Children’s Performances and the efforts we put in after the performance for the kids to meet some Orchestra members and their instruments. This is done to promote and encourage music to the next generation. I know the kids out there are either your own kids or relatives of yours, but the mission is still the same. They may know your instruments but not the others. And if the Angels are sparking an interest in them, it is our job to encourage it. View it as rehearsal for the Children’s performance in a few days.”

Hannah gave a few more directions into her mic before turning to the Orchestra, “Quick version, there is a little seven- or eight-year-old girl named Ciara out there who has rallied a bunch of other kids to refuse to leave until they get to meet the Angels.”

“My niece,” Lisa questioned?

Sammie started to giggle as she returned with her phone, “Way to go Ciara.”

“No, not way to go,” Lisa interjected. “My sister taught her better than to start a public protest.”

“Is this the Ciara that lent Cindy the dress for the concert at the end of camp,” Jessica asked?

“Yup, that’s the one,” Sammie said before turning to look at the Oboe player behind her. “Lisa here is her aunt.”

Jessica looked right at Lisa, “Ciara most definitely is a good kid. She stood up to support Cindy this summer when others wouldn’t.”

Hannah interrupted, “Regardless of whether she is a good kid or not, her actions have led to an issue that we now need to deal with. Although Miranda could easily just get the guardians out there to get the kids to leave, she feels that, this time, it might be best to bend to the demands. I agree with her, for it will be good practice for you Angels in preparation for the Children’s Concert.”

“So, what do we have to do,” Cindy asked?

Hannah looked at Conductor Frances before looking at the Angels, “Just go out and greet some of the people. Answer a few questions while being the nice and friendly kids you are. I saw the videos of you three girls interacting with the crowds at the mall. This should be easier because you won’t be playing any instruments, and all the kids out there are friends or relatives of the Orchestra members. There should be no issues, but if you are uncomfortable, or want to stop, just tell the adult with you. They will get you away from the crowds. The Angels won’t carry any instruments, but we will have a few Orchestra members with instruments out in the lobby for the kids to see.”

“And based on past experiences,” Mr. Frances added. “We need to have the Angels and Orchestra members with instruments spread throughout the lobby. Musicians, if you are not displaying an instrument, and you had kids in the audience, please go out and help with those kids. We’ll plan for thirty minutes but expect it to last forty-five. After which, we will all meet back here.”

It was sixty minutes before everyone was backstage. At which time, the day was over for the kids. Once everyone had changed back into their regular clothes, the three girls headed off to the big fancy playground in the city.

The five kids sat down in the audience chairs with the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra musicians. Conductor Frances and Stage Director Hannah were sitting on the stage looking at them all. There was a discussion of yesterday’s dress rehearsal, with the kids and adults both expressing the positives and their concerns. Hannah also talked about how things might be different with the next two concerts. With an idea of what was to come, and a plan for minor changes to this next dress rehearsal, everyone went to their positions on the stage.

The morning dress rehearsal went on without a glitch and Hannah was happy with the results. Everyone was sent off and told when to return for that night’s performance.

“I can’t believe we are really going to be playing with the Tri-City Orchestra,” Jessica said as the five kids and their parents headed to the parking lot.

“We have been practicing with them for a week, Jessica. Hasn’t it sunk in yet,” George asked?

“Nope,” Jessica smiled and skipped ahead of the boys and up to Cindy and Sammie. “So, you two, my mom has insisted that you two come back to my house for the next few hours and we all do something together. She suggested a board game, but I was thinking we could make friendship bracelets and bake cookies.”

“Cookies?” Sammie and Cindy said in unison.

Jessica smiled, “We have all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, and I snuck a bag of M&Ms in the cart so we can also make a batch of M&M cookies.”

Jessica didn’t think the smiles on the two younger girls could get any bigger as they reached Sammie’s car. The three girls got in the back seat as Joyce and Jessica’s Dad got in the front seats.

“Dad? Aren’t you driving in your car,” Jessica inquired?

Mr. Thompson turned around and looked at his daughter, “No sense in taking two cars when we are just turning around and coming back in a few hours. Since the girl’s booster seats were in Joyce’s car, we decided it would be best just to have her drive. And you know how much I hate driving in city traffic, this way we can go home without me having to deal with it. Unless you want to stay in the city for the next few hours?”

“No!” the three girls said in unison.

“Cindy, Sammie, and I are going to make cookies,” Jessica added. “We have to go home to do that.”

“Cookies it is then,” Joyce said as she started the car.

By the time they got in the car to return to the Tri-City Symphony Hall, the girls each had a friendship bracelet, and they had enough cookies to share with the whole Orchestra.

After delivering cookies to all the Orchestra members, the girls went to their ready room to get changed and ready. Joyce was working on her daughter, Sammie. Jessica’s Mom met them backstage and helped Jessica get ready. The Oboe player Lisa had volunteered to help Cindy get ready.

“My girls were all excited to see you and Sammie play yesterday,” Lisa said as she was trying to get Cindy’s hair just right. “I’ve never seen them so excited about an Orchestra performance before. Yeah, they like seeing Mommy play, but they're just happy to see me play on the big stage. Yesterday, however, they were more interested in you and Sammie than me.”

“Sorry Mrs. Lisa,” Cindy said as she watched Lisa in the mirror.

“Oh, don’t apologize Cindy. This is a good thing. They actually went home and played with all the toy instruments in their playroom. My oldest, Izzie, expressed interest in learning an instrument like me and her cousin Ciara. Whenever Ciara and I brought up the idea in the past, she showed no interest. Close your eyes Cindy, I’m going to put in some hairspray.”

Lisa gave one last look at Cindy and declared, “You certainly do look like a Christmas Angel. You ready?”

“I don’t know,” Cindy looked over at Sammie and Jessica. “Everyone’s so much better than me. . .”

“Cindy! ! !” Sammie and Jessica said in unison.

“Okay, okay,” Cindy held up her hands in defeat.

“Who won the Best Performer at Camp during the summer,” Sammie asked? “It wasn’t any of the other kids at camp, it was you. You’re even better than most of the adults in the Orchestra.”

“She’s right Cindy,” Lisa interjected. “You may be a better performer than all the adults in the Tri-City Orchestra. The way you did that flute solo yesterday was outstanding. Not one mistake, and you played with such feelings and emotions. It was so touching. To pull that off at such a young age is absolutely amazing. It is no wonder my girls love you so much.”

Cindy blushed.

With Sammie, Cindy, and Jessica all done up and ready for the performance, the adults had the girls stand and slowly twirl to make sure they were perfect. Then the girls were escorted out to their starting positions. Joyce and Jessica’s Mom had designated spots backstage to help if needed when the girls were not on stage.

“Now girls,” stagehand Laura said to Sammie and Cindy. “We have practiced this over and over. You two have this down. In this first part, don’t look at the audience. Your focus is on the Christmas tree and pretending like it is the first time you have seen the pretty tree. The audience is almost exclusively adults, so it should be a bit more formal than the last performance with an audience. You just need to go out there and be cute while you melt into the music you are playing.”

Both Cindy and Sammie smiled at that. This time it was little eight-year-old Sammie that was more nervous than Cindy, but both stood waiting for the directions to go out on stage.

“Okay, lights are dimmed . . . audience is quiet . . . go,” Laura squeezed the two girls’ hands and released them.

Just like the first time they had seen that tree, the two of them went out on stage in complete awe of the big Christmas Tree on stage, all lit up and sparkling. They opened their presents and took out their instruments. After a minute of admiring their new instruments and even hugging them, the two started to play, White Christmas.

The performance went off without a hitch. There was no trouble with the transitions on and off stage and every note was played perfectly. As the final bows were taken, all five kids had the biggest smiles on their faces. Backstage congratulations were given all around before the three youngest performers were directed to their backstage room. Cindy and Sammie collapsed on the couch, grabbing their American Girl dolls in the process.

“We did it,” Sammie let out a huge sigh. “We really did it. We performed on stage with the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra as their special guest performers.”

“We sure did,” Cindy responded. “That was even more amazing than the concert at the end of Music Camp this summer.”

Jessica looked at the two younger girls and smiled, “And they loved us.”

“They sure did, Cindy’s grandma said as she entered the room.”

“Grandma!” Cindy jumped up and ran over to her for a hug. “You made it.”

“Of course I did princess. Sorry I wasn’t here before the show, but traffic was worse than I expected.”

“I’m just so glad you made it,” Cindy said, still hugging Grandma.

“Okay girls,” Joyce interjected. “It is late and past Sammie and Cindy’s bedtimes.”

“Past yours too Jessica,” her mom added.

“But Mom . . .” Jessica started but then stopped when she saw the expression on Mom’s face. “Okay, time to go. We’ll all be back here in the morning.”

“That’s right,” Jessica’s Mom stated. “But for the moment, let’s get to the hotel.”

Both Cindy and Sammie were asleep, hugging their dollies, before the car pulled into the hotel parking lot.

When Sammie and Cindy showed up for rehearsal in the morning, they found Jessica, George, and Marcus already in the kid’s break room. The three older kids were on their phones scrolling through stuff.

“Here’s another,” George said. “Marcus, this one talks about the Trans-Siberian style piece we did.”

“Let me see,” Marcus immediately went over to George and looked at his phone.

“The local news did a nice review of the concert,” Jessica commented. “Most of their review was about us five kids and how we were the highlight of the night.”

“What are you three doing,” Cindy asked as she went up to look at Jessica’s phone?

“We’re reading the reviews online about our performance. Everything so far has been positive, even the review from this guy who was against kids performing this year. He felt we only enhanced the Tri-City Orchestra and questioned why the adults were not better than the Christmas Angels.”

“That is soooooooo, cool,” Jessica said, bouncing up and down while hugging her American Girl doll.

The kids were looking through the reviews for about five minutes when Marcus called George over to his phone.

“I can’t believe she is still hung up on Cindy,” Marcus said as George read through the posting he had found.

“Who,” Cindy, Jessica, and Sammie asked together?

“Ariel,” Marcus replied.

“What did she do now,” Jessica asked with hatred in her voice?

George looked at the three younger girls and focused on Cindy, “Oh nothing, just a post about how she dislikes Cindy.”

“Well, I dislike her too,” Cindy replied.

“Okay kids,” Sammie’s Mom stated. “You are expected to be dressed and on stage in 5 minutes. Stop looking through the internet and time to get ready for another dress rehearsal.”

As the girls went to get ready, Marcus went over to the parents and showed them his phone. What they read on the screen was a shock. It was pictures and comments about protesting outside Symphony Hall last night with a few other people. They were objecting to Symphony Hall allowing a transgender kid to perform for the public. It specifically identified 10-year-old Cindy as the Christmas Angel who was transgender. The phone was passed around to all the parents, each parent’s eyes bulged as they read the post.

Once the parents had gotten all the kids in position for the performance, they went as a group to go find Miranda.

After reading the post, Miranda looked at the parents, “Yeah, it was just a small protest group. We explained to them when they first arrived that they cannot protest on Symphony Hall property. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to stop them from protesting on the city sidewalk. I hadn’t seen these posts, though. This one from Channel 2 News reporter Stacey Stillman is the most concerning. She has influence in the area. I’ll make a few calls to figure out what is going on. We have some connections that might be able to help, if needed.”

“Stacey, have a seat,” Channel 2 News Director Karen Tinslin said gesturing towards a seat on the other side of her desk. “Do you care to explain to me why I just got off the phone with the CEO of the company over an online post one of his news reporters have posted?”

Stacey Stillman just looked at Karen with a confused expression.

“Okay, play it that way, Stacey. You have posted a story online about one of the Christmas Angels, a ten-year-old named Cindy. Is that accurate?”

“Yes, Mrs. Tinslin, but I didn’t post it on the TV 2’s web site.”

“No, you didn’t,” Karen glared at Stacey. “You couldn’t. That would have to go through me, as you very well know since you asked the tech department to post that same exact story, but when they said they would forward it to me for approval, you took back the article. Is that accurate?”

“Yes.”

“So, after finding out you couldn’t post the article at Channel 2 News, you created an account online and posted the story on there. You didn’t post it anonymously. You didn’t even take off your official title here at Channel 2 News. No, you just posted it exactly how you intended to post it on our website.”

Stacey nodded her head.

“Well, that is a violation of your contract. As of this moment, you are on administrative leave with no pay pending an investigation. Security will be here shortly to escort you out.”

“But I didn’t do anything. I just . . .”

“Oh, Stacey, don’t even start to go there. Let me tell you what your little stunt has done. This morning, the CEO of the company got calls from two governors, the three mayors of the Tri-City area, and several of the sponsors of our News shows. They all wanted to know why Channel 2 was running a smear campaign against one of the angels. Several of them were also at the concert last night and saw you with the protesters outside the concert.”

“I was off duty. I had every right to be there.”

“Maybe, personnel and legal will determine that, but combined with the article you posted, everyone is feeling that Channel 2 is now against the best thing that has happened to the Tri-City area in decades, the Christmas Angels. I told you to drop the story about a transgender kid being one of the Christmas Angels. You didn’t. You wrote about one side of the story, not even looking at both sides. The people you have to support your version of things are all people who tried to harm an innocent ten-year-old transgender girl. The kids mother, she’s been in jail for child abuse to that kid and is under court orders to stay away from her. Yet, you make her comments in your article as the most important elements. The teenager who you reference was kicked out of a Music Camp for trying to beat the kid up. Not the reasons you give. Now, if that isn’t enough, this Channel has a strict policy to only state the facts. Your article is full of opinions and feelings, with almost no facts.”

“Sorry.”

“It is too late for that. The company is under investigation for violating a few laws regarding reporting on children. That little ten-year-old transgender girl has a lot of power behind her, and that is before the millions of fans and supporters she has. Everyone who called the CEO this morning was firmly behind that little girl. Did you know that the parent of one of the Angels is a local state Judge, one that is on the Governor’s list of possible new State Supreme Court Judges? The father of another Angel is a State Police Officer, and a third parent is a producer at one of our competitor’s stations. Did you do any research on that little kid? Did you know they were supposed to be in London this Christmas, performing for a Symphony Orchestra there? According to reports some real reporters have given me, the royal family was going to be in attendance. That little kid has a following around the world, and you decided to pick a battle with her.”

News Director Karen sat back in her chair, shaking her head back and forth, “Because of your actions, I need to jump into this hot potato. As ordered from the CEO of the company that owns our little station, we will be running positive stories about transgender, the Christmas Angels, and one on the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra.”

The look on Stacey’s face expressed her disgust at this.

“You forced us to do it. If you don’t like it, then complain to the person you see when you look in the mirror. You are the only reason we will be running those three stories. Now, get out of my office. I have a lot of work to do in order to save my job after the ridiculous stunt one of my, former, News Reporters pulled.”

“It is out, and we can’t do anything about it,” Marcus’ dad said. “This will impact every one of our kids.”

“Cindy can’t find out,” Herbert stated through the phone. “My daughter is too fragile at the moment. If she discovers her mother is telling lies to reporters, it will devastate her.”

“We have to keep it from both Cindy and Sammie at least until the end of the third performance,” Sammie’s mom added. “Sammie and Cindy are already nervous enough about these performances. I’m not sure what adding another issue to the mix will do. They’re only little eight- and ten-year-olds.”

Miranda looked at the group of parents, “I completely understand. We have two more performances to get through, and I am doing everything I can to make sure they go off smoothly. Here is what I have done and will be doing . . .”

Downstairs, the Symphony Hall dress rehearsal was progressing. Sammie sat down on the stage before the musical piece was even finished. This caught the attention of Conductor Frances and the Stage Director, Hannah. When the piece was over, a break was called, and Hannah had the five kids go to their break room.

When Cindy and Sammie immediately plopped down on the couch, grabbing their American Girl dolls just hugging them and vegging out, Hannah knew this would need to be more than just a ten-minute break. She informed the two youngest that they could play for a bit, then called the three older kids over to her.

“Okay, I want the three of you to stay off your phones and no discussing what is going on,” Hannah said before looking over at Cindy and Sammie. “Those two are just little kids in elementary school and we are pushing them. They don’t need to know what is going on. For now, though, they need a break, a real break. I’d recommend time on a playground, but we don’t have one here on Symphony Hall grounds. I need you three to help by thinking of something to get their minds off of tonight’s concert and the Children’s Concert tomorrow. No watching TV or getting on the internet, they need a real mind and body break. In thirty minutes, I’ll reevaluate if we continue this morning or just call rehearsal over and send you all off until tonight’s performance.”

Jessica looked over at Sammie and Cindy, “Can we play some music?”

Hannah looked at Jessica, “The idea of this is to stay away from your instruments, maybe get them moving or actively playing in make-believe play. I understand they have some toys in their backpacks. I assume stuff like Polly Pockets or stuff like that.”

Jessica giggled, “Yeah, they have Polly Pockets in their backpacks along with a few My Little Ponys, but what if we did some singing and dancing to music? Not us playing, just music we play on our phones.”

Hannah thought for a few moments and started to give her approval and then stopped, “What do you have in mind?”

Hannah, Jessica, George, and Marcus discussed some songs for the little ones to dance to. Hannah let them go out onto the stage to use the open space for dancing. She got Larry to play some music over the speakers and do some fun stuff with the lights. Jessica took control and tried to get the little ones to coordinate some dance steps.

At the end of the thirty minutes, the orchestra was all back in their spots while the girls did one last singing and dancing performance. George went up to Conductor Frances and Stage Director Hannah. He quietly had a conversation with them. Afterwards, Conductor Frances quickly pulled up a musical piece on his tablet and silently got the orchestra members to look at the piece he just pulled up for them to play. When the music the girls were dancing to ended, they headed over to their instruments.

“Girls,” Hannah stopped them. “I want you to do one more, please. During Children’s Concerts we always have a movement activity in the middle of the performance, to get the kids up and moving around. George has proposed that you three do one of your choreographed dance routines while the orchestra plays. I bet the audience will love having the Christmas Angels teach them all a dance performance.”

Jessica glared at George and then turned to Hannah, “Ummm, you want me to stand up in front of a packed Tri-City Symphony Hall to sing and dance to music? Are you nuts?”

“From what George has said, you did it at Summer Camp this last summer. So, you don’t have to learn anything new, just do what you did last summer,” Hannah smiled and nodded at Conductor Frances to start the music.

As soon as the first few notes of, Let It Go, started, both Cindy and Sammie jumped up and down with glee and dragged thirteen-year-old Jessica out to center stage.

“Come on Jessica,” little eight-year-old Sammie exclaimed as she got into position and started dancing how they had done it at camp.

At ten, Cindy had no concerns about joining right in, but she did notice something Sammie didn’t. Jessica was shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she joined the two younger ones.

When the music stopped, Hannah came back out on stage and knelt down on her knees in front of the three girls who were all giggling, “That was fabulous. Now, Sammie and Cindy, I know we haven’t practiced this, but do you think you could do that during intermission for the Children’s Concert. I think the audience would love to join you.”

As both Sammie and Cindy expressed no concerns over doing that, Hannah stood up and looked at Jessica, “Little ones always need a leader to help them. I will be looking for you to help these two and get the audience to join in. I’m not going to make you do it, but you three going viral with that performance at the mall has made the Children’s Concert possible. The kids coming would really want the three of you doing this, not just the two youngest.”

Jessica wanted to say there was no way she was going to stand up in front of an audience to sing and dance, but looking down at Cindy and Sammie’s faces caused her to cave, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Conductor Frances had the orchestra practice Let It Go one more time, and of course, both Cindy and Sammie insisted that they practice the dance routine again. Afterwards, they finished the regular concert rehearsal.

The two little ones were not happy after lunch. They were ushered back to the hotel room and told to take a nap. The curtains were drawn, blocking all the light from outside. The room lights were turned off, except for the one in the bathroom, and Sammie’s mom started reading from a chapter book. Before she finished the first chapter, the two girls were asleep hugging their stuffed animals.

Cindy was the first to wake up, three hours after she fell asleep. Sitting up in bed, caused Sammie to wake up too. Neither one could believe they actually slept. Even more surprising to them, was how long they slept. To help them wake up, and have a restful afternoon, they watched Disney Junior episodes. At dinner time, they went to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel where the kids were thrilled to get hot dogs and chips.

Arriving back at Symphony Hall, they were met by Cindy’s dad and sister. Holly got to work on doing Cindy’s hair while Joyce did her daughter’s hair. The girls watched more Disney Junior on their tablets during the process. Jessica arrived about half-way through, and her mom was immediately on hair duty. By the time the boys arrived, the girls had their hair done and were playing with their American Girl dolls.

Jessica felt proud of herself for keeping the little ones busy and distracted until they were needed on stage. She expressed this concept to her Mom during one of the adult check in points.

Turning to Sammie’s mom on the other side of the room, “I’m not going to point out to her that she isn’t being a big kid watching the little ones. Jessica is acting just like she did when she was eight playing with her dolls. It’s so adorable. She tries to act like such a big kid now that she is a teenager, but she is very definitely still at times my little girl.”

“Yeah,” Joyce smiled at the three girls playing. “They want to grow up and be big kids. If they only knew there is nothing wrong with being little.”

When the concert began, all three girls were excited for another performance. The show went off without any problems. Back at the hotel afterwards, Cindy was offered a chance to sleep with Sammie as she had been doing or in the other room with her dad and sister. This was the last night the two would have a chance to have a sleepover, so she chose Sammie.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please,” Hannah said as she waited for the orchestra members to quiet down. “You have all done great, and the last two performances have been met by overwhelming positive reviews by those that attended. This afternoon’s performance will be different. Most of you have done one of our Children’s Concerts before, but for those that haven’t, let me explain.”

Hannah went into an explanation of the changes and shocked the five kids when she stated that Conductor Frances would be introducing them throughout the performance and asking them a few questions. She ended the discussion by stating that last night's performance would be airing on Channel 2 on Christmas day. There was also an offer to show the Children’s Concert during times programming is designed for kids, but no decisions would be made on that until after the performance.

George quietly said to the other Christmas Angels, “Yeah, several networks are trying to get the rights to air it. My mom’s station asked first, so who knows what will happen.”

Sammie turned to Cindy, “Cool, we’re going to be on TV.”

There was no real rehearsal that morning, just a run through of things without actually playing the music. The girls were then sent off and told to return after lunch.

When they reached the hotel, Holly took control. She set up a girls get together while the adults went to one of the other rooms. There were snacks and drinks. Jessica, Sammie, and Cindy’s American Girl dolls joined the get together. They were all sitting on blankets and pillows on the floor. All sorts of things were talked about. When Holly and Jessica started talking about boys, Cindy and Sammie voiced their negative opinions on the topic, so the older girls dropped the subject.

The children’s concert was an early afternoon performance, so after lunch they were off to the Tri-City Symphony Hall. Hair, nail touch up, and dresses were done before Marcus and George joined the girls in the break room.

As Cindy and Sammie got into position to go out onto the stage at the start of the Children’s Concert, it was obvious things were different this time. The noise from the audience was much louder than it had been for the last two performances. The two of them could hear comments coming from the audience about the Christmas Angels and people spotting Jessica, George, and Marcus.

“Okay, girls,” Stage Director Hannah said, coming up to the two little ones. “You have both done a great job on the last two performances but this one as you can already tell is a little different. When you go out there at the beginning, and during the performance, expect kids to shout stuff out. Try, try, try, hard to just ignore them. Focus on what your job is for the concert. No matter what is said, focus on playing your instrument, not the audience. If you have any questions or concerns, look at Conductor Frances for guidance. If it is too much, try to hold on to the end of whatever piece you are playing and then just leave the stage and go to your break room. Your parents are back there to help. No one can get up onto the stage from the audience, and only approved people can get backstage. Are you ready?”

Cindy reached out and squeezed Sammie’s hand while looking her right in the eyes, “Ready?”

“No,” Sammie admitted. “But, I guess this is no different from concerts at school with the whole elementary school with all the kids in the bleachers watching us.”

“This will be much better,” Cindy grinned. “Those kids are always grouchy because they have to sit on those uncomfortable bleachers. These kids have the comfy Symphony Hall seats.”

Sammie giggled.

“Now the hard part,” Hannah commented looking out on the stage. “Let’s see if the audience will quiet down when we dim the lights.”

The lights went dark with just a spotlight on the lit up Christmas tree. Hannah waited as the noise in the audience started to calm down. After a few minutes she squeezed the two girls shoulders and whispered, “Go.”

It was simple all they had to do was walk out onto the stage in their pretty little girl Christmas dresses and be in awe of the tree as they approached it. Then they would open up their two presents and take out their instruments. They had done it during every practice and the two previous performances. This was the easiest part of the concert. All they had to do was go out there, look at just the tree, and look cute and adorable.

As soon as they got on stage and the spotlights highlighted them, however, things changed. Suddenly, the whole audience started shouting and clapping. Both Sammie and Cindy jumped by the onslaught. They were frozen in place. They looked at each other and then out at the audience.

“Keep going girls. The show must go on,” Hannah stated loud enough that the girls could hear her. “Focus on the tree and your instruments.”

The two little girls looked at each other and then got back to the task at hand. Sammie said, “We need to ignore them. Time to just be cute little girls. Come on Cindy.”

The two girls got back into their role and headed for the tree. The noise in the audience didn’t start to calm down until the two little Christmas Angels had gotten their instruments and started playing. Throughout all of the first piece, comments from parents could be heard, telling kids to be quiet.

After the second musical piece, Conductor Frances, came over to Sammie and got down on his knees to be at her level, “Samantha, you are the youngest of the Christmas Angels.”

There was a lot of hooting and hollering from the audience, with a few people calling out, “Sam-mie, Sam-mie!”

“Well, Sammie,” Conductor Frances said with a quick look out at the audience. “You are playing wonderfully tonight. What is going through your mind.”

“Which cookies I’m going to put out for Santa tomorrow night,” Sammie said with a smile.

Suddenly there were several suggestions shouted out from the audience of different cookie types, along with a lot of laughter.

“Samantha,” Conductor Frances stated, looking down at her violin. “You are here today playing with a whole symphony orchestra full of adults. You can play at or above the level of any adult here. The only thing that sets you apart from them is your size and the stickers all over your violin. Those are where the Sammie side of you really shines through, even here up on stage playing with the orchestra. Tell us a little about your stickers.”

“I love stickers,” Sammie said with pride. “I have Vampirina, Sofia the First, and My Little Pony stickers on my violin. There is one other sticker though, and it is my favorite. This one right here of a little girl in pigtails playing a flute. Cindy gave it to me. I put it on my violin to remind me to keep practicing so someday I will be as good as she is.”

“You are already an amazing violinist.”

“Yeah, but Cindy plays her flute way better than I can play my violin,” Sammie looked over at Cindy. “Someday, I will play my violin as well as she can play her flute.”

“Thank You Sammie. Although I know you are already a top performer, I am sure you will get even better as you get older and practice more,” Conductor Frances moved away from Sammie and back to his podium. “Each one of the five Christmas Angels are extremely talented, but they all continue to strive to do better. Now, let’s hear more of their musical prowess.”

Two more musical pieces were played before the next of the child prodigies was approached by Conductor Frances. Cindy figured it would be her, with him going from youngest to oldest, but instead he went over to Jessica.

“Well, Jessica,” Conductor Frances said, coming up to the piano she was sitting at. “You are certainly a talented musician on the piano. The other four members of the Christmas Angels were collected by you. Can you please tell us about where you found them and why you brought them all together to perform?”

Jessica blushed, “We were not called the Christmas Angels until that video of three of us performing at the local mall went viral. We all met at Music Camp this last summer. I was taking a composing class and had to create an original piece of music. Originally, I figured one for just me to play on the piano, but Cindy needed help to . . . to shine, so I expanded it to be the two of us. Then I thought, well, since I was the best on piano at camp and Cindy was the best at woodwinds at camp, why not try to get the rest of the best players together to perform a piece.”

“And you did just that,” Conductor Frances stated as he smiled at the audience. “You got the five best performers together to perform. Your musical piece won first place, but you didn’t actually perform that piece on the piano. You chose to be the conductor of the piece when you performed it in front of everyone at camp.”

“Yes, sir. George, Cindy, and Sammie all decided that it sounded better when I was conducting it. So, we needed to find someone to play the piano. George suggested Marcus. I had never heard him play the piano, but he is amazing, even better than me.”

Conductor Frances and Jessica looked over at Marcus who was holding his electric guitar, then Jessica continued, “But, he was a Rock ‘n Roll performer and didn’t want to play the piano anymore. We sort of tricked him . . . well, Cindy did, and then he hesitantly agreed. But the only way he would join us for the Christmas Concerts here was if he got to play on his guitar instead of the piano.”

“Ah, yes, we will get to Marcus later in the performance,” Conductor Frances stated. “We all just heard him in that last piece. He really is quite talented on the electric guitar, and as the audience saw, not all music has to be the traditional style. I am impressed, Jessica. You got all these talented young musicians together and my understanding is you did it for Cindy and not yourself.”

Jessica beamed at Cindy, “She may be little, but she is absolutely amazing on that flute of hers. She was feeling so sad and depressed at the beginning of camp and I needed to do something to cheer her up and bring out the joy she spreads when she plays her music with emotions.”

“Thank You Jessica,” Conductor Frances made his way back to his podium. “This next piece will show some of Cindy’s amazing talent, as well as the other four Christmas Angels.”

The next musical piece started and the kids in the audience were fully captivated. After two more pieces, there was the intermission with Jessica, Cindy, and Sammie leading the audience in a singing and dancing performance of, Let It Go, with the full symphony orchestra playing the music for them. It was a hit. Then bathroom breaks for the audience and musicians. When they got back together, they started with another one of the fast and fancy pieces with music and lights showing off Marcus on his electric guitar and little dynamo Sammie on her violin.

The next time Conductor Frances approached one of the Christmas Angels it was George, “You are one of the oldest Christmas Angels, George. I know the three girls all look to you like a supportive big brother. That all being said, you are a very talented musician on the French Horn.”

“I love to play and have worked hard over the years to try and be the best that I can be. Cindy and Jessica both got me to be better though. I was an excellent technical player, but those two got me to tap into my emotions while playing. There is a big difference between just playing the music and feeling the music while playing. That is one of the things that makes Cindy such an amazing musician. She plays that flute of hers with such emotion. She taps into however she is feeling, sad or happy, and plays her music with those emotions. As you listen to her playing, you feel those emotions too. With her help, and prodding from Jessica as conductor, I finally figured out how to tap into my emotions while playing. It really increased my abilities.”

“Yes,” Conductor Frances looked out at the audience. “When we first learn to play, we all focus on the task itself: reading the piece, playing the music, and then figuring out how to play in a group. The truly talented musicians, though, learn to play with emotions. The experts in the field figure out how to play in such a way that the audience can feel those feelings from the music. Tell me George, the three kids younger than you are girls and they all look up to you. Do any others look up to you?”

“I have a little sister. I am very close to her and very protective of her. It is great being a big brother.”

“Big brothers are the best,” was heard from several young girls in the audience.

After two more musical pieces, Conductor Frances went up to the heart throb teenager on the electric guitar, “Well, Marcus, you are the oldest of the Christmas Angels. As I understand things, you were reluctant to join the group during the summer and even more so this Christmas. Your interest in playing louder and more fast paced music certainly isn't typical for a Symphony Orchestra, but have you enjoyed playing the music done in the style of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra?”

“Most definitely. I had never heard of Symphony Orchestra music done like that before until Jessica introduced me to it as a way to get all five of us back together for these Christmas concerts. It’s also given me a few ideas of what I can do when I am putting on rock concerts.”

Conductor Frances smiled at Marcus and then out at the audience, “Many musicians can play more than one instrument. Marcus here can play both the electric guitar and the piano. At age fifteen, he can do both at an expert level. In fact, I personally believe he plays the piano better than the guitar, but that is not where his passion is. Earlier we heard how George learned to put more feeling into his playing of instruments. Marcus feels he does that better with the guitar, so that is his focus at the moment.”

Turning back to Marcus, “Even though you are the oldest, you are not the leader of the Christmas Angels. Is that hard for you?”

Marcus laughed, “One of the things we learn at Music Camp each summer is that age doesn’t make you better at something. Once you figure that out, it is much easier to be part of a group, instead of feeling like you need to shine on top. Out of the five Christmas Angels, Jessica is officially our leader, but she isn’t the best player of the group. Actually the best would have to be our shyest player, Cindy, is probably the best musician of the five of us, and she is only ten. One of the most amazing things about her is that she doesn’t try to be better than others, she just tries to be the best she can be.”

“Cin-deee! Cin-deee!” was heard from the audience.

“Cindy is certainly good, and I will get to her after some more music,” Conductor Frances went back to center stage and started the music for the next piece.

When they finished the concert, Conductor Frances went up to Cindy, “Well, young lady. When I talked with all the other Christmas Angels, they mentioned you. Now, I know you are shy and probably don’t want to answer my questions, so instead I am going to ask you to show everyone why the others think you are so good of a player. Whenever you are stressed, overwhelmed, or just asked to play your favorite piece of music, you always play the same solo piece. Could you please play that for us right now?”

Cindy closed her eyes and brought her flute up to her mouth as the lights dimmed, except for a soft spotlight on Cindy. Suddenly, Symphony Hall was full of the sound of one of Friedrich Kuhlau’s flute solos. The audience went silent, until about two seconds after the last note, when the whole place erupted in applause.

“Cindy,” Conductor Frances stated as the lights came back up on the stage. “That was absolutely lovely. It was full of joy and happiness. You have such a positive impact on all the members of the Christmas Angels and the musicians here at Symphony Hall. It is impressive and shows us all something important. You don’t need to be loud and assertive to impact others. You can be quiet and shy like you, but still leave big marks on the world.”

“Thank You,” Cindy quietly said with a huge smile.

The five Christmas Angels were brought out together to the center of the stage, thanked for joining the Symphony Orchestra, and then were asked to play one more piece for the audience as an encore. When the concert was finally over, the five Christmas Angels met back-stage where they received hugs and congratulations from the parents.

Miranda was backstage with the parents, “Well, kids, that was absolutely amazing. Now, we were going to have you go out and meet people in the lobby, but we’ve decided to do things a little differently this time. During intermission, and right now, there are tables set up in the lobby to take questions from the kids in the audience. If you open up your tablets you can find the questions we have accepted. I’d like you all to pick a few questions to answer. We will meet out on the stage in ten minutes. So bathroom breaks and try to pick a few questions.”

After bathroom breaks and drinking some water, the five Christmas Angels opened up their tablets and looked at the questions. They were divided into ones for the general group, and specific questions for certain different Musicians. When Cindy opened up her folder, she found a sub folder labeled Transgender.

Holly sat on one side of Cindy and her dad on the other. Holly broke the silence, “Cindy, you don’t have to answer any question you don’t want to. You don’t even have to go out there to answer any questions. Honestly, Dad and I both feel you should avoid any of the Transgender questions, that is why they are in a separate folder. Since you have answered a lot of those types of questions from your classmates at school, Grandma thought you should be given the choice to answer some if you wanted to.”

Cindy opened the Transgender folder, “How do they know I’m transgender?”

Holly and Dad looked at each other before Dad reached around Cindy’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze, “A news reporter was looking into the Christmas Angels and discovered the truth. They weren’t supposed to connect the issue to your name when reporting on a child your age, but they did. They got in trouble for it too. It doesn’t matter now, most of the kids in the audience tonight know the truth. We can ignore the issue, or face it head on with family and friends there to support you.”

Cindy looked over to Sammie, Jessica, George, and Marcus all with their parents looking at the questions.

“Two minutes,” Miranda said, sticking her head into the break room.

Cindy quickly looked at the questions in the Transgender folder and highlighted three of them. Then she looked at the other questions in the main Cindy folder and highlighted three of them. When she went to look at the ones in the whole group folder, she didn’t have time. The five Christmas Angels were directed out to the stage where chairs were set up for them to sit in. Expecting to see just a few returning for this part, they were all surprised to see that a large amount of the audience was returning to their seats.

Conductor Frances was on stage looking at his tablet. He quieted down the audience and then started going from one kid to another asking questions they had highlighted. He would state who the question was for, the name and age of the person who asked the question, and then the question. He even answered a few questions that were about symphony orchestras or being a musician. There were a few questions the kids had not approved, since they were added after the concert. Cindy found one very interesting.

“This question is for Cindy, from eight year old Stella: Cindy, I am a transgender girl. My parents and a few friends know, but the other kids at school don’t know yet. Do your classmates know you are transgender and do they know you play the flute like a real angel?”

Cindy looked over at Sammie and then Jessica, before looking back stage at her Dad and sister Holly. Turning back to the audience, “When I was eight, like you, only my best friend Anna and my family knew about the true me. I was only supposed to be Cindy in my bedroom. Anna, and my big sister Holly, knew I was really Cindy all the time, only pretending to be a boy when I left the bedroom. That all changed this summer. I went against my parents orders and went to Anna’s birthday party in one of Holly’s old party dresses. At Music Camp the week after the birthday party, Jessica found out I played better wearing a dress than I did in boy clothes.”

Jessica got up and went behind Cindy and hugged her from behind.

Cindy continued, “When Sammie got involved, she helped me be Cindy full time at camp by making sure I had the right clothes to wear and lending me Molly.”

Sammie got up and joined Jessica behind Cindy hugging her. Then, Holly came out onto the stage and handed Cindy the Molly doll.

“That’s my big sister Holly, and this,” Cindy hugged the American Girl Molly doll before showing her to the audience. “This is the doll Sammie lent me the last week of summer camp. She then gave the doll to me as a gift. I had carried her around everywhere during that last week at camp. I was never without her. That is why Molly will always have a special place in my heart and in my room.”

Many of the girls in the audience could be heard saying, “Awe.”

“When I started fourth grade full time as Cindy this school year, I so wanted to bring Molly, but my therapist said it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to carry a doll around school full time in the fourth grade. She did have a point. If Kindergarteners can go to school without their favorite doll or stuffed animal, I could go to fourth grade without Molly here.”

There were several chuckles in the audience.

“Getting up and playing music in front of a large audience isn’t scary to me, but going to fourth grade as myself sure was. Everyone at school has seen me perform at Christmas programs and other events since I was in 1st grade. If the music teacher had known I played the flute when I was in Kindergarten, I’m sure he would have made me perform then too. It was only this year though that I let the school know I was really a girl named Cindy. Stella, I wish you the best of luck on your journey. It will not be easy. I made a mistake going against the orders of my parents, so my recommendation is to listen to your parents and your therapist. If you don’t have a therapist yet, get one. Surround yourself with people who know the true you and love you.”

Cindy stood up and hugged Jessica, Sammie, and Holly. She then looked over at the two boys, “Oh, Stella, that doesn’t always mean surround yourself with girls. George and Marcus are like two big brothers to me. George was amazing this last summer getting me through some panic attacks I had, just like he helps his real little sister. Marcus pretends to be all cool and macho, but he is just a big softy around girls. But, you might need some ear plugs if you listen to his music. He plays it real loud. It’s good, but loud.”

Many of the teenagers in the audience laughed or shouted, “Rock on, Marcus.”

Conductor Frances then closed out the Question and Answer section and the Christmas Angels left the stage for the last time.

As the kids gathered backstage, the realization hit them. This was goodbye time. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and everyone was heading to their own homes for Christmas. They wouldn’t see each other again until Music Camp in July, seven months away. George and Marcus were the first to say their farewells and head out.

“I can’t believe I agreed to wear a dress to this thing,” Jessica said as she went to get changed. A few minutes later she rejoined the group wearing a blouse and pants.

“Never again,” Jessica commented as she sat down on a chair. “I don’t care if it is what girls are supposed to wear to stuff like this. Never again.”

Cindy looked at Jessica and smiled, before turning to Sammie, “She may not like them, but I love getting all dressed up in a pretty dress.”

Sammie and Cindy twirled around the room in their fancy dresses.

After some discussion, Jessica gave both Sammie and Cindy hugs before leaving. She promised to stay in touch, but both of the younger girls knew they probably wouldn’t hear from the teenager again until summer.

Cindy and Sammie were playing together with their toys and dolls, not wanting to say goodbye to each other. Holly and the parents let them play together until Miranda came in and quietly told the parents that the protesters had left. That is when the girls finally had to say goodbye to each other. They made their way to the cars holding hands. After their American Girl dolls said goodbye to each other, Sammie and Cindy said goodbye. Sitting in their own cars, the girls waved to each other as they departed.

Holly reached over and took Cindy’s hand, “You did great sis. You really did. I am so proud of you. Dad set up with Sammie’s Mom a sleepover between Christmas and New Years at Sammie’s house, and another during Spring Break at our house. You’re not losing a friend Cindy, honest. The bond you two made during summer camp and this last week will keep you close forever.”

“Thanks Sis. Thanks.”