Babbit listened to the bells of St. Mary's chiming for several seconds before he realized the significance of it. The church only rang its bell on Sundays or holidays....holidays like Christmas! He had often complained about the bells waking him up, now they were the sweetest of sounds to his ears.
Babbit pulled off his nightcap, with unsteady legs walked over to the window, and opened it. Putting his head out, he could hear the bells much better. It was early morning, but there was no one about. Babbit was about pull his head back in when a young boy of about ten started to walk past his house.
"Hey! You there boy!" Babbit yelled.
"Me?" The boy asked.
"Yes, you my lad. Can you tell me what day it is?"
The boy stopped and looked at Babbit as if he was crazy.
"Why, it's Christmas Day of course!"
"OH! Christmas Day!" Babbit shouted happily, "I didn't miss it after all! The spirits did it all in one night!"
The boy shook his head and started to walk away when Babbit called down once again.
"Wait, don't go!" He yelled, "Do you know the doctor who has his house and office two streets over from here?"
"I should, I live right next door to him." The boy answered.
"Oh, such an intelligent boy!" Babbit cried, "Please, go to him and tell him to come to this address right away!"
"Ahhh!" The boy waved his hand at Babbit and started to walk away again. Obviously this guy was nuts.
"No, please, I am in earnest!" Babbit replied, "I need him to take care of a very sick person." Babbit reached into a drawer near the window and pulled out a coin purse. He pulled out a Kennedy silver dollar and threw it to the boy.
"Here. If you come back with the doctor soon, I'll give you five dollars. Come with him within the next ten minutes, and it'll be ten dollars!"
"Yeah!" The boy shouted and ran off to the doctor's house.
Babbit chuckled, pulled his head inside, and closed the window. Not wasting any time, he walked into the next room where he had his office. Pulling out a phone book, he began to look up some numbers. Babbit knew that most places would be closed today; but he also knew though his long years in business that money talked...and he intended to do a lot of talking today. Finally finding what he wanted, Babbit picked up the phone's receiver and began dialing.
It was a long, sad Christmas Eve as Micky, Mike and Peter kept a vigil by Davy's bed. They had tried cold compresses and aspirin, but Davy's fever was getting worse. Christmas morning had come, and Davy was no better.
"We gotta take him to the hospital." Mike said, "They can't turn someone as sick as Davy away."
"Yeah, besides, all the doctors' offices will be closed today." Micky added.
"We'll probably lose everything trying to pay for Davy's care, but it'll be worth it." Peter said.
Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. Micky went downstairs to answer it, hoping it wasn't Babbit telling him he had changed his mind about work today. Opening the door, Micky found a young man in his thirties wearing a white coat and carrying a black bag standing there.
"Can I help you?" Micky asked.
"Yes, my name is Dr. Kildare. Does a Mr. David Jones live here?"
"Yes he does." Micky replied.
"Good. I've been told he needs to see a doctor very bad. Can I come in?"
"Sure, he's up here, but we can't pay..."
The doctor held his hand up as he walked inside. "Don't worry about that. It's all been taken care of. Where is he?"
Micky led the doctor upstairs to the large bedroom all four of them shared and the doctor quickly began to examine Davy. Mike and Peter looked at Micky but all Micky could do was shrug his shoulders. Babbit had told the doctor what was wrong with Davy, so he came prepared with the right medicine. He gave Davy a shot, then with Mike's help, gave Davy two teaspoons of cough syrup. Finally, the doctor moved away from Davy's bed and the other three followed him.
"The shot I gave Davy will reduce his fever and the special cough syrup will help control his cough." Doctor Kildare said quietly before anybody could ask anything. "I'm going to write out a prescription for more cough syrup and have it filled at the hospital pharmacy since the drug stores will all be closed today."
"Thank you Doctor Kildare." Micky said sincerely, shaking his hand, but who...how?"
The doctor shook his head. "I've been given strict orders not to tell you who sent me. All expenses are being taken care of. I'm going to stay until Davy's fever breaks and then get his prescription filled and have it sent over to you."
"Thank you again, Doc." Mike said.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning to check up on him as well."
The three men all hugged the doctor; they were so happy that Davy was being treated.
Not long afterwards, Davy broke out in a sweat. His fever had broken and he opened his eyes a little. The doctor and the others gathered around.
"Feeling better, shotgun?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, yeah I am..." Davy said quietly.
"You're going to be fine, Mr. Jones." Doctor
Kildare told him, "I'll be back to check up on you tomorrow."
With that, he bid the others goodbye and left the house.
Secretly watching from behind a tree across the street, Babbit smiled as the doctor gave him a secret 'thumbs up' sign as he got back into his car.
More surprises awaited the four men as Christmas day went on. Not long after Dr. Kildare left, a delivery truck from Balsamo's market arrived with boxes and bags of groceries. The deliverymen had been well paid not to tell who had ordered the food for them, despite the pleadings of the occupants, just that everything had been taken care of. Later, a young man from the hospital arrived with more cough syrup, followed by a yet another delivery truck. This one was from Wonder Appliances and it brought a washer, dryer and a new refrigerator to keep fresh all the food they had received. The guys were flabbergasted at all the things they had been getting, and had no clue who could've sent it all. The whole time, Babbit stayed behind the tree across the street and chuckled as he watched the stuff being delivered.
Inside the house, Davy was feeling much better. Micky, Mike and Peter all made very sure Davy took his medicine and stayed comfortable. As they all feasted on some of the new food, they talked about who might've sent the doctor and all the stuff. Davy had an idea, but said nothing since the others would think he was getting a fever again.
Outside, Babbit looked at his watch and with a shock, noticed the time. He discreetly walked away from the house he had been watching and hailed a cab. There was something else he needed to do today.
Babbit told the driver the address and soon they were on their way. A few blocks from his destination, Babbit spotted Smith and Wesson unloading a small car. It looked like they were unloading Christmas packages for the orphanage they were parked in front of. Babbit tapped the driver on the shoulder.
"Stop, driver!" He said excitedly, "Let me out here!" Babbit handed several bills to the shocked driver and jumped out of the cab. "Thank you and a Merry Christmas to you!"
"Thank YOU, sir!" The driver smiled, "And the same to you!"
The cab roared away and Babbit ran over to Smith and Wesson.
"Hello, gentlemen!" Babbit exclaimed, "Merry Christmas to you!"
"Oh, Mr. Babbit." Smith stuttered, "Merry Christmas to you too." Wesson just stared at Babbit, unable to believe the change in the man. He just nodded his head.
"Doing the good work of the U.C.C I see." Babbit smiled.
"Yes, these toys are going to be given to the orphans inside." Wesson finally said.
"Excellent, excellent!" Babbit said, clapping his hands, then turned serious. "I'm so sorry for how I acted yesterday afternoon gentlemen, and I'd like to make amends. You asked me for a donation, so I would like to give..." Babbit whispered a figure into Smith's ear.
Smith nearly dropped the packages he was holding.
"You...you mean that, Mr. Babbit?" He asked.
"Oh, yes I do. There are a lot of back payments in that amount!" Babbit said happily. "Come to my office tomorrow and we can make all the arrangements. Now, I must go visit someone. Good day gentlemen, and a Merry Christmas to you both!"
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Babbit!" Smith and Wesson replied.
When Babbit was out of earshot, Wesson asked Smith how much Babbit had promised. Smith told him and Wesson nearly dropped the packages he was holding as well. Smiling, the two men made their way into the orphanage.
Babbit practically skipped the last few blocks to his destination. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it was opened by his nephew Fred.
"Uncle Ebenezer!" Fred exclaimed.
"Hello, Fred." Babbit said, "May I come in?"
"Of course!" Fred exclaimed, opening the door wider for his uncle, "I'm so glad you decided to come after all!"
"Thank you, Fred." Babbit said, stepping inside, "I'm glad I was able to come."
Fred escorted his uncle to the living room. Inside, there were several other people sitting around talking. When Babbit and Fred came inside, everyone looked up. When they recognized the newcomer, they stopped talking as well. A young woman, Fred's wife Wilma, heard the sudden silence and came into the living room from the kitchen.
"Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden?" She asked, then saw Fred with his uncle. "Oh, hello there, Uncle Ebenezer." She said, unsure of how to act or what to say.
"Hello, my dear Wilma." Babbit said, crossing over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas to you and thank you for inviting me. The ham smells delicious."
"Why thank you, Uncle Ebenezer." Wilma replied, a little shocked. This was the first time she could remember him being so kind. She turned to the other guests. "Everyone, this is my husband's uncle Ebenezer Babbit."
"Hello, everyone!" Babbit said cheerfully, "I'm sure you all have heard of me, and by the looks on some of your faces, you must owe me back rent!"
Several people in the room started to look uncomfortable. Babbit stated to chuckle and looked around the room.
"But don't worry, I've got a bad case of Christmas spirit and it seems I've forgotten where I put my ledger book! So, it looks like I'll have to forgive any back rent due and in fact I won't be able to charge any rent next month, either!"
That remark brightened the room considerably and everybody began to laugh and relax once again. Soon, it was time for supper and Babbit sat down to a meal with other people for the first time in many years. As the meal drew to its end, Fred looked over at his uncle.
"Uncle, may I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course."
Fred hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Why the sudden change, why so..."
"Happy?" Babbit smiled, "So joyful and full of the Christmas spirit?"
"Yes, that's exactly it."
Babbit gave his nephew a loving smile. "You could say it came to me in a dream, Fred. I suddenly realized how I was wasting my life, my opportunities to do good for others." Babbit was silent a minute. "But that is going to change. Tell me, how is that dry-cleaning business going?"
"Ok, I suppose," Fred shrugged, "But I sometimes wish I could do something else."
"Yes, I always thought that was a waste of your talents." Babbit replied, "So I've decided to make you a partner in my business."
Fred's jaw dropped. "A...partner?" He stammered.
"Yes, indeed, a full partner." Babbit said, "I could use someone with your business skills to help me out. It's become a bit much to take care of by myself, and I'm not as young as I used to be." Babbit smiled. "Well? What do you say?"
"I say YES!" Fred nearly shouted, "And thank you so much, uncle, thank you!" Fred exclaimed, shaking his uncle hand.
"Yes to what, Fred?" Wilma asked as she came over to the table to serve the coffee.
"Uncle Ebenezer is making me a full partner in his business!"
"It couldn't have come at a better time!" Wilma said, then whispered in Fred's ear.
When Fred heard what his wife told him, he stood up and hugged her tight.
"Oh, that's marvelous, dear!" Fred said, kissing her.
"What's marvelous?" Babbit asked.
"I'm going to be a father!" Fred exclaimed to his uncle and the others in the room.
Everyone cheered and toasted the happy couple. The party went on for a long time, then Babbit realized the time. He hated to leave, but he wanted to make extra sure he got to his office earlier than usual. There was still one more thing he had to correct.
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
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