The Christmas Wish

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord, my soul, to take. God, please bless Mommy, Daddy in heaven, Grandma, and Grandpa. And please God, can I have another daddy since you have mine in heaven with you. Amen.
Jordan smiled to himself as he got off his knees and crawled into bed. He looked at the picture on his nightstand and picked it up. “I hope you don’t mind if I have another daddy,” he said to the picture. “I don’t remember you but Mommy says I look just like you.
“Mommy misses you. I heard her crying one time when I got up to get a glass of water. I don’t want her to be sad. So you see if I had a daddy maybe she wouldn’t cry anymore.” He kissed the picture and placed it back on the nightstand.
The door slowly opened and Shelia peeked in. “Jordan are you asleep?”
He smiled and turned over in bed. “No, Mommy. I just finished saying my prayers.”
She walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Sorry. I would have come up sooner but I was talking to your Aunt Debra.”
“It’s okay Mommy. I’m not a baby anymore. I can say my prayers on my own.”
Shelia leaned down and kissed his forehead. She just stared at him and blinked several times. “No matter how big you get you will always be my baby.”
Jordan grinned happily. “That’s what you always say.”
She caressed his little face. “That’s because it’s true. Need anything before I leave?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Okay then. Goodnight.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.

"Mommy?"
Shelia Collins looked up from the book she was reading to stare down at her son playing on the floor at her feet. She thought he was concentrating on the electronic game he held in his hand. His tone indicated he had a question for her. Shelia hoped it wasn’t like the last one.
Last week he wanted to know where babies came from. Apparently, he had a classmate whose mom was expecting a baby in a few months. Jordan was a very precocious six-year-old who asked a lot of questions. She worried sometimes that being a single parent she wouldn’t be able to give him everything he needed to grow into a strong well-adjusted adult.
Even though he was only six, he was growing up so fast. Jordan was the spitting image of his father. He had Jack’s brown sugar skin tone and his eyes. He even had that cute little dimple in his chin. She missed her husband so much. It was hard to believe it’s been four years since he passed away.
Jack died of cancer when Jordan was only two years old. By the time the doctors discovered it, the cancer had already reached stage-four and they couldn’t save him. None of the treatments they tried worked. Shelia had watched her husband slowly slip away.
She had little time to grieve. She had Jordan to take care of. In a way taking care of him helped her get through it. Her mother and father wanted to take Jordan for a while to give her some time alone but Shelia didn’t want that.
Jordan was too young to remember his father so Shelia made sure there were pictures of him in the house. Especially in his room. As she looked into his eyes, it was like looking at Jack and that made her sad but it also made her happy too. Shelia would always have a piece of Jack with her. Jordan would never know what a wonderful man his father was.
“What is it, baby?”
Jordan got up off the floor and sat next to her on the sofa. “I was just wondering if I could have a daddy for Christmas.”
Shelia was stunned for a moment.