Outside, a thick layer of snow covered the roofs of that small village. Inside their home, Joseph and Mary had already decorated the room where a Christmas dinner would be offered to their friends. They invited Mr Thompson, a smart lawyer who only served whealthy clients; Mrs Louise, a housewife who lived caring for her sick mother for twenty years; Mr Taylor, a blind writer since the age of five and Mrs Janet, a state judge who had the power to decide when and how someone should be executed or acquitted. Everything was going as they had planned when Mary realized she had forgotten to buy nuts for the filling of Panettone. “No shop is open on Christmas. What do we do, Joseph?” “There is nothing to do, Mary. Let’s move on!” – answered her husband.
Someone had been ringing the bell when Joseph opened the door and he saw a beggar freezing cold and asking for something to eat.
- I have no place to spend Christmas Eve. Could you give me some food? – he asked.
Joseph looked at this poor man and thought of all the people around the world who did not have a home to celebrate Christmas Eve. Then he said: “You can spend Christmas Eve with us, if you want”. “You are our guest” – completed Mary.
- Oh! I am very grateful. By the way, I collected some nuts as I walked in the park this morning. Let me offer some to you as a way to thank your generosity – the beggar said.
Mary accepted the nuts and remembered her Panettone. So when Joseph accommodated the old man in a chair, she had been making a filling for her Panettone and spread over it.
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The guests arrived on time. After dinner they all sat around the fireplace to talk while everyone ate a slice of Panettone that Mary had served as dessert. At midnight the beggar rose from his chair and said he’s leaving that home to make some deliveries. Nobody understood why he said that but they heard him ask what everyone would like to receive as a Christmas gift. The guests took that as a joke and decided to play:
- My good man, what I’ve got do to have a baby next year? We have been trying this for a long time – Mary said as she hid a shy smile.
- Well, all I want is to see my mother in good health again – said Mrs Louise.
- For me, it would be enough to contemplate the world as I imagine it is in my writings - confessed Mr Taylor.
- What about if I just have to work for poor people? – asked Mr Thompson.
- I would like to know how to judge between right and wrong – Mrs Janet completed.
“Well, if that’s what you want so it will be” said the old man while he was leaving Joseph and Mary's home.
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Three months have passed when the phone rang at the house of Joseph and Mary. “Hello” – said a male voice – Mrs Mary’s ? “Yes, I am. Who’s talking?
- Congratulations, Mrs Mary. Who’s speaking is Dr Will Robinson. The samples were positive for pregnancy. You will be parents of beautiful twins.
Mary was stricken with that news but she decided to call her husband. He was surprised and asked his wife to tell their friends. She called Mrs Louise and to her surprise she said that her mother was miraculously healed. “Nor the doctors know how it happened” – said her friend. Mary was confused by so much happiness and asked Mrs Louise about the friends who were in her house on Christmas Eve.
- You will not believe, my dear. Yesterday I spoke with Mr Thompson and he told me he only had been getting contracts with the poor customers – said Mrs Louise – On the same day, Mr Taylor came to my house and told me that when he awoke the day after Christmas he was able to see everything around him again. Is not that wonderful?
- What can you tell me about Mrs Janet? – asked Mary.
“That’s the unbelievable of all” – she said – “I heard she quit her job because she could not deal with human nature” – concluded Mrs Louise. Mary looked thoughtful for a few minutes and remembered the words of that beggar over desires of each one on Christmas Eve. “Maybe it all started because of a Panettone – she thought - or maybe the sweet magic of Christmas is really going on. Who knows?"
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