Patricia Davids - Amish Christmas Joy

“Yes, I’ll be leaving, but not until I’m certain she can be happy here and that this is the best thing for her. If that takes two months or twelve months, I’ll stay that long. Honestly, I doubt she’ll even miss me.”

“How can she have such happiness without her father or her mother?”

“I’m her father in name only. She barely knows me. Her mother... I can’t even talk about Valerie without getting angry.”

He drew a deep breath to calm down. After a few seconds, he said, “I know Val had it rough. Joy can go from sweet to those horrible tantrums in five seconds flat. I didn’t know kids with Down could be that way. I thought they were always happy and loving.”

Having a special-needs child had been a rude awakening for Caleb. He’d had no idea what to expect. As he struggled to adjust, he found himself wanting to shout at the people who looked away when they saw Joy was different, as if seeing her somehow disturbed them.

Her step-grandfather had talked about her as if she wasn’t in the room with him, calling her stupid and a pain. Even in the few weeks she had lived with Caleb, a dozen people told him how sorry they were that he had a retarded child. Joy deserved better. He didn’t know how else he could give her a chance to be accepted for who she was.

Leah didn’t say anything so he went on. “Joy has learned not to trust people. Especially men. Her step-grandfather is a prime example. My attorney uncovered reports of abuse in the home. Her life when she was with her mother wasn’t any better. Val has a drug problem. I believe she tried to be good to Joy, but she couldn’t even take care of herself, let alone a kid.”

“I’m sorry Joy has known such unhappiness.”

“Do you see why I know she’ll be better off here? You’ll be her teacher. You’ll see her nearly every day. With your help, Joy can learn to trust again. She’ll be cared for and loved by the Amish community her whole life. She’ll never be made to feel inferior. I want her to have that.”

He’d tried to give Joy that kind of life in Houston, but he had failed miserably. He’d thought leaving the Amish was hard. It was nothing compared to the changes he had to make in his life when Valerie dropped Joy in his lap without so much as a toothbrush. Could he make Leah understand that?

“Joy can be a charming child, but she doesn’t adapt to change well. Her way of coping is to fall down and have a screaming fit or simply run away, which she did numerous times in the first four weeks with me. She wanted to go find her mother. She had it in her little brain that her mother would come get her if she went back to Nana’s house.

“The police officers in my part of town knew us on a first-name basis. I lived in a constant state of fear. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The last time, when Joy was found walking along the middle of a freeway, I reached my breaking point. Something had to give.”

Leah looked down and smoothed the front of her coat. “If you think so highly of our community, why haven’t you returned to us before now?”

He didn’t care to explain the complex reasons why he’d left and why he’d stayed away. “This isn’t about me. It’s about Joy. Do you honestly believe she is better off with me? I don’t think so. You believe she’ll be better off as part of the Amish community, too. Will you help her?”

Caleb studied Leah’s face as she considered his question. If only he knew what she was thinking. She looked out the window toward his daughter. Joy was grinning from ear to ear as she patted the horse. She took a step back and clapped her chubby hands together, then reached up to touch him again.

“The school board will have to approve her transfer to our school,” Leah said at last.

He hadn’t considered that. “Do you think it will be a problem?”

“Perhaps. She is Englisch, after all. They may feel she should attend the Englisch school in town. Your parents may need to plead her case and state their desire to raise her in the Amish way. Will they do that?”

“All I can do is ask.”

His mother would welcome Joy with open arms. He wasn’t so sure about his father. He had to believe they would agree with his decision to bring her here. If not, he didn’t know what he would do. Joy needed more than he could give her.

“I should tell you that Wayne is on the school board.”

“I see.” Would his brother block his efforts?

“No matter where she continues her education, you’ll need her records from her last school. Do you have them?”

“She was homeschooled by her grandmother.”

“Can you get copies of her curriculum and any test scores? Each state has different requirements. I’m not familiar with what Texas requires.”

“I’ll have my attorney get what he can and send it to me.” Caleb had already paid the firm a big chunk of his savings to gain temporary custody of Joy. Whatever it took, he was willing to do. His one overriding fear was that Valerie could get Joy back and all of this would have been for nothing.

Leah stared at him for a long moment. “What happens when Joy’s mother returns for her and wants to take her away?”

He shifted his gaze to his hands on the steering wheel. It was a question he couldn’t answer. He wanted Joy to know security and happiness. His attorney was working to sever Valerie’s parental rights on the basis of abandonment, but Caleb wasn’t sure what would happen if she returned to fight for custody.

“I left a letter for Valerie with her stepfather and one with my attorney if she should come looking for us. I let her know I was taking Joy to my folks. She knows they’re Amish. I’m hoping she’ll realize that Joy is better off with them and stay out of her life.”

“Shouldn’t you pray that she sees the error of her ways and wants to reunite with her daughter?”

“You can pray for that if you want. I won’t waste my time. God doesn’t listen to me.” Caleb had stopped praying a long time ago.

Sadness filled Leah’s eyes. “God hears everyone’s prayers. Perhaps you are the one who has stopped listening for His answer.”

He tipped his head to the side and tried for a lighter tone. “Maybe you should pray for me, then.”

Her chin came up a notch at his challenge. “I will, Caleb Mast. I will do just that.”

Joy finished petting the horse, picked up the grocery bag and came running toward the truck. He got out and held open the door as she raced around the hood.

“Did you see me? I touched a horse, a real horse. Not a pretend one. His name is Benny. He belongs to Anna. I want a horse.”

He smiled at her excitement. Taking the bag of groceries from her, he handed them to Leah and then lifted his daughter into the truck. “You’ll meet lots of horses at your grandpa and grandma’s farm. Cows, too, and chickens and ducks, but no elephants.”

“Do they have a dog?”

Caleb glanced at Leah. “Do they?”

“They don’t have a dog, but I do. Her name is Trixie, and she is going to have puppies soon. I’ve been trying to think of some names for them. Have you got any suggestions?”

Caleb breathed an inward sigh of relief. Leah seemed to be on board with his plan. While she might not like helping him, he had to trust that she would do what was best for Joy.

He drove out of town with a renewed sense of hope. This might actually work. If Joy was happy and safe, he couldn’t ask for more.

“If your dog has a girl puppy, you can call it Princess,” Joy said from the backseat.

Caleb smothered a grin and waited for Leah’s reply. She tilted her head slightly. “I think Princess is much too fancy a name for an Amish dog. She will be a working dog.”

“What kind of work can a dog do?” Joy asked.