‘I just want you for my own,
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you’

SARAH closed her eyes as the beautiful Christmas song on the car radio serenaded her mind. Her baby was asleep on her lap and looking at her adorable face, moments later, she wondered, “What would this Christmas be for us, Isabella? Will a star in the sky twinkle for us so we can feel joy and cheers, or will our path be dark and rough?”

Questions she had not the answers for, but in her heart she wished that she could have something new and special in her life this Christmas.

She sighed deeply, no tears left, just an ache in her heart from the tragedy that intruded in her life. She had gotten married to her childhood sweetheart from church and though they were both young, they had good plans for the future. A food business with his culinary skills was the venture; they had drawn out plans to start with a small loan. He had a few years experience as a cook at the Marriott Hotel and she, a server at the Pegasus hotel. They were a young couple with big dreams but one late night, three months after their baby was born, he was accosted not far from home, by two men on a motorbike, robbed and fatally shot.

She had screamed when she received the shocking news and had cried so much, she came close to a nervous breakdown. But the thought of her baby gave her the strength to hold on. That tragic loss brought drastic changes in her life, and now being a single mother, she had to give up the rented, comfy two-bedroom house that had been home. She couldn’t afford the rent alone and now she was going back to her grandmother – the one family she was close to, where there was love and warm comfort in her little home.

A loud voice aroused her from her thoughts, startling the baby in her sleep. It was a passenger, the driver had secured a heavy-set woman with a few heavy bags.
“I need two more, Sis,” he told Sarah, a little apologetically.

She smiled a little, understanding but hoping he could secure the other passengers, for she had been sitting in the car at the park for almost half of an hour. Not long after the driver came back with a pleased smile, saying, “This gentleman will pay for both seats so we can go now.”

“Thank goodness,” Sarah said with relief.

She glanced at the gentleman who got in the car beside her, as she made herself and her baby comfortable.

He was young with a business casual outlook but there was a tense expression on his face. He glanced at her briefly, said a barely audible ‘Good morning’ and turned on his laptop. His alluring fragrance compelled her to glance at him again and she could tell he was a confident and refined man.

As the car pulled out of the park, the driver asked him, “So how did your car break down, man?”

“I’m not sure what happened,” he answered in a deep, smooth voice, “The mechanics are working on it.”

His phone rang just that moment and there was a level of frustration in his voice, because apparently he was late for a very important meeting. He did not seem to be having a good day and a short while later, Isabella awoke crying. Sarah comforted her as best she could and after a bottle of milk, she became calm. All was well until the woman in the front seat changed the radio channel to music with explicit lyrics. It was not Sarah’s kind of music and after a while, she asked politely, “Can you please change that?”

The woman gave her a cross look, “What do you want to hear, girl? Gospel?”

“Not really, just softer music.”

The woman grumbled but changed the channel and the young man looked at Sarah and smiled slightly.

The warm feeling she felt from that look surprised her, but before she could dwell on it, Isabella, now in a playful mood, reached out her little hands to the stranger, laughing and bouncing on Sarah’s lap.
“Isabella,” Sarah said sternly, in a low tone, “Quiet down.”

“Let her be,” the young man said patiently, “It’s better she’s playing and not crying.”

Sarah relaxed her hold a little and in a flash, Isabella launched herself and clapped down on the man’s laptop.

“Oh my goodness!” Sarah exclaimed, “I’m so sorry.”

The woman from the front turned and laughed, “She probably wants to Google something.”

The young man said nothing, closed his laptop and laid back in his seat with a resigning sigh. It was a good while after Isabella fell asleep again and Sarah closed her eyes too, drifting off a little.

She was suddenly jolted out of her sleep by the screeching of brakes and a sudden impact as something hit the car. The baby almost fell out of her arms, the young man steadied her and they braced themselves as the car spun out of control, the woman in front screamed in horror as the driver tried to keep control with the steering wheel until he miraculously brought the car to a stop.

“Oh my God!” Sarah cried, scared and trembling.

“Are you and the baby okay?” the young man asked.

“I-I don’t know,” she answered in a little choked voice, and held onto his arm as he helped her out of the car.

He turned to assist the woman in front who was close to a panic attack and asked the shaken, distraught driver, “What was that, man?”

The driver shook his head, unable to talk and pointed to a minibus and another car involved in the accident.

“It’s always speeding and overtaking,” the young businessman stated.

He surveyed the scene from where he was standing and asked himself, “What the heck saved us?”

A curious crowd gathered as the police and ambulance arrived at the scene. The heavy-set woman was taken to the hospital and the young man spoke to an associate on the phone, “This is really a bad day, send someone to pick me up.”

He looked at Sarah standing there and asked, “How are you going home?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, an uncertain look on her face, “I’ll probably get a bus.”

He noted she was still shaken and he said, reaching to take Isabella, “Here, let me help you with her and when my ride gets here, I’ll give you a lift home.”

“Thank you,” Sarah said with deep gratitude, “Umm, I don’t even know your name.”

“Raj.”

“And I’m Sarah.”

Isabella made no fuss as the stranger held her while they waited on his ride.

The ride that came for him was a luxury vehicle and it was the first time Sarah was riding in such posh comfort.

She looked at Raj, his amiable personality igniting that warmth again within her, and she asked silently, somewhat perplexed, “What’s happening?”

She reached the village where her grandmother lived, a small community and she asked him to put her off on the main road.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to your home?”

“No, no, it’s not far in. I could walk, thank you.”

She walked down the potholed street, three corners away to her grandmother’s house. Her arms were tired with the baby and the bags, but it was like coming home and a joyous feeling filled her heart. Her grandmother’s eyes lit up at seeing her and the old lady helped her, tears of happiness in her eyes.

“It is so great seeing you and my great grand-daughter.”

That night after Sarah had put Isabella to bed, she sat down to talk with her grandmother. The old lady asked, with a worried look on her face, “How are you doing, my child?”

She smiled to hide the pain that was still in her heart, “I’m fine, grandma. I’ve come back home to you and this Christmas will be wonderful for us with what little we have until I go back to work.”

Her grandmother, a wise woman, knew she was still hurting from her shocking loss and said, “It’s God’s will, my child. Maybe your accident was fated to happen and maybe something new would find its way to you.”

As she laid in bed that night, her grandmother’s words replayed in her mind and Sarah thought of that new feeling within her when she looked at Raj.

She got up and opening the door, looked up at the sky, saying silently, “I don’t understand what’s happening but we are from such different worlds, I’ll probably never see him again.”

But she had made a wish and one never knows what miracles Christmas can bring.