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Major Andrew Jackson Greene, known as Drew to his family and friends, stood outside the office door of his superior officer, Major General Anthony Nelson. His knees weren’t knocking, but that was only because of the discipline drilled into him at the Academy. Discipline, however, couldn’t keep his mouth from being dry or his heart from pounding in his chest.
The general was always friendly in a reserved sort of way. He listened and paid attention to the men and women who served under him. He was a stickler for the rules, but he was a man who followed them himself, and he always applied them fairly. The people who worked under him for years might not think of him as a close friend, but they all admired him. Everyone called him a good leader who was willing to roll up his sleeves and help when needed.
Of course, a few of the officers, the ones who had been read the riot act by him a time or two, called him a few less savory epithets. But even those were usually said with respect. Not that the general had to perform much disciplinary action. This was, after all, NASA. The cream of the crop was here, with the absolute best being able to call themselves “astronaut”.
But there was only one nickname the older man was known by that mattered to Drew right now. It wasn’t said often and when it was, it was always whispered. When General Nelson’s usual aide, Colonel Williams, first used it in front of him by accident, Drew took it as a joke. It was only after time, after he earned their trust, that he was invited to hear the stories, to hear how a man that was already a legend to the world became a bigger legend to the people serving under him.
While Tony Nelson was a name known across the globe, the Santa Claus of NASA nickname was known only by a select few, who fiercely guarded the knowledge that the head of NASA liked making wishes come true. And Drew could really use the help of someone that liked to grant wishes right now.
Gathering his courage, Drew knocked briskly on the door. The silence within made his stomach drop, and then he realized that the general was used to his aide—him, in this case, until Colonel Williams returned from his emergency leave—using the intercom to announce visitors and getting permission for them to enter. When the general finally called for him to enter, Drew let out a shaky breath and almost said it was a mistake.
But like they had all day, his wife’s quiet sobs echoed in mind, pushing him to open that door and enter. Michelle had thought he was still asleep that morning as she hid her pain, but he’d been standing outside that bathroom door with a hand and his forehead pressed against it listening to her cry. He knew his wife, knew she didn’t want him to give her comfort, not then. Later, after she had time, she would turn to him. And he also knew exactly why those tears were falling.
Another pregnancy test. Another negative result.
The general didn’t smile when he entered, but his face wasn’t unfriendly. The desk was covered in paperwork, and the general’s sleeves were rolled up, a pen in his hand and a calculator by his elbow, but that was no surprise. Even before he stepped in as his temporary aide, Drew knew the man liked to work. He showed up early every day. Drew originally believed he was a workaholic until he and Michelle saw him with his family at a local restaurant. Unlike Drew’s dad, who was at work even when he wasn’t, General Nelson had been engaged and listening to everyone at the table. Michelle thought they looked like a sweet family.
It was after that night that he learned General Nelson came in early after dropping both of his kids off at the local high school. The time they spent together every morning was apparently sacrosanct as far as his superior officer was concerned; NASA always tried to schedule any work trips during school holidays. He was also willing to leave early to attend various school events. The man knew how to balance work and home well.
“Is there something I can help you with, Major?” The general flipped his hand over and looked at his watch. He still wore the face on his wrist, a holdover from when he needed to use it as a stopwatch, Drew was sure. “Are you needing to leave early?”
“Oh, no, Sir,” he said as he stopped in front of the desk. He looked down as he tried to figure out what to say. It’d been years since he talked to any Santa at the mall, and he was pretty sure General Nelson would not be amused if he tried to sit in his lap. As far as he knew, no one else had outright asked for their wish, but Drew was desperate to see Michelle smile again.
He heard the ink pen fall on the desk as the general sighed. “Have a seat, Major.”
Drew looked up, startled. “Sir?”
The general’s smile was sincere, and his eyes showed concern as he waved in the general direction of the two seats setting across from his desk. “Have a seat. If we’re going to have an uncomfortable conversation, I want us both to be as comfortable as possible.”
Squaring his shoulders, Drew sat down. His back was ramrod straight. He put his hands on his knees and kept from rubbing them against his thighs by sheer willpower. He could feel the heat of his palms through his trousers. “My wife, Michelle, and I have been trying to have a kid for over a year, Sir. Almost two.” The general’s brows drew together, but he said nothing. “My wife wishes to be a mother more than anything in the world, Sir. It’s been hard on her.”
Drew saw a flash of understanding before the general lowered his eyes, hiding his response. Hopefully that was a good sign that the general wouldn’t blow up at him for being so forward. Or be worried that Drew was going to expose his good deeds to the world. Because most of those deeds were technically unethical as far as the Air Force was concerned. But Drew didn’t care about technicalities. And he could really use some help.
Because of the demands of life, he and Michelle had waited to start trying for children, but neither of them had been worried that it wouldn’t happen quickly when they decided it was time. While Michelle’s mom died before Michelle was old enough to discuss such things, the women in her mom’s family always joked that getting pregnant only took a look from their husbands. And with all the kids running around at the family gatherings, Drew didn’t think the jokes were that far from the truth.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Major.” The general grew up in a northern state, Drew knew, but he couldn’t remember which one. Probably Ohio—it seemed like a lot of the astronauts came from there. But the general had lived long enough in Texas that he had a slight drawl in his voice now. “But I’m not sure why you’re telling me.”
Drew thought about not saying anything else, just excusing himself and getting back to work. Maybe just letting him know instead of asking would be enough, but he didn’t feel as if he could take that chance. He was desperate to get his wife’s biggest wish granted. He would see Michelle smile again, even if it cost him his career.
“I-I know your secret,” he blurted before he thought about it.
His superior officer’s face went white beneath his tan. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open for a split second before his face became a study in steely-eyed inscrutability. Drew would believe he was completely calm except for the fact his Adam’s apple bopped up and down when he swallowed, telling Drew that the general was slightly panicking. “M-my s-s-secret?”
Nodding, Drew rushed to reassure the other man. “I know that you’re Santa!”
The general blinked and then blinked again. “P-pardon me?”
“I know you’re Santa Claus. Don’t worry, Sir. None of us would ever say anything to the brass.”
General Nelson gave a broken chuckle as he leaned back into his chair. He looked around the room as if searching for something. “I am the brass. Did, did Rog—Colonel Healey put you up to this?”
Drew had only seen Colonel Healey a few times since he transferred to NASA early last year and most of those times were only from a distance. He occasionally showed up at lunch, sometimes with Mrs. Nelson and sometimes not, to drag the general out of his office. From a distance, the general and colonel appeared to be polar opposites. They even walked differently: the general’s steps were calm and controlled, as if he were in formation, while the retired colonel bounced, his arms swinging, as if there were kinetic energy inside him wanting to rush out.
But their friendship was legendary enough that Hollywood and the publishing houses swarmed as soon as Colonel Healey retired, everyone told Drew. Many were stunned at how quickly he shot down the chance to stroke the flames of his popularity. But those that really knew him, said that the colonel was savvy enough to know that the beautiful vultures didn’t just want to know about him but about the man everyone knew to be the most private of all the original astronauts. And those same people all agreed that no one would get any information about Tony Nelson from Roger Healey without General Nelson’s express permission.
“No, Sir! I don’t think Colonel Healey even knows my name, Sir.” He’d seen the retired astronaut talking to Colonel Williams several times though. Fran, from purchasing, told him those two often golfed together. If Colonel Healey ever did decide to pull a prank, he’d use the general’s regular aide to pull it off.
The general leaned forward, and Drew could tell that he didn’t know rather to laugh or to get angry. “I admit that my wife helped me play Santa a couple of times when the kids were little, and I have orbited the earth at incredibly fast speeds, but I don’t know any reindeer, and I don’t know who’s been naughty or nice.”
Drew tried to regulate his breathing. Passing out in front of a general would not help his career. “I’m sorry, Sir. It’s what a group of the old timers here call you.”
General Nelson lips twitched. “Really? I-I expected something a little less pleasant.”
Drew smiled and relaxed a little. “Well, I can assure you that some also call you less flattering names.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” the general joked. “I just don’t understand why ‘Santa Claus’? I don’t have a beard, and I’m not completely grey-headed, yet. And my belly doesn’t jiggle like a bowl full of jelly, although Jeannie tries.”
Drew couldn’t help but smile. Mrs. Nelson was a friendly face he’d grown used to seeing around NASA. Besides taking her husband out to lunch some days, she was also heavily involved with the Officers’ Wives Association. She was never a part of the board though; Miss Lilly in the cafeteria heard she was forced to be recording secretary soon after she married the general and that experience put her off ever being in a leadership position with them again. She liked to do a lot of work in the background, which suited Admiral Bishop’s wife, who liked to take all the credit but do none of the work.
Like her husband, she helped a lot of people around NASA. All the wives and husbands of the astronauts knew where to find a willing ear to hear any complaints or fears or a steady voice who could offer support and information. She’d dropped off a great many casseroles over the years to families with sick family members or newborns. She’d also done a few emergency school pickups here and there. She had an odd sense of humor, but the group said she fit the role of Mrs. Claus perfectly.
“I-I know about all the good things you’ve done for everyone, Sir,” Drew admitted. “But don’t worry, Sir. Only a few know, and I’m not sure why the few who do know let me know, but they did.”
A decision he wondered if they’d regret. He already broken the rules, letting the general know that there was a group of NASA employees who knew everything he’d done since he transferred to Houston almost twenty years ago.
General Nelson just stared at him for a moment and then shook his head. “Major, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Sir, I know you can’t really talk about it. It’s against the regs, and you are a guy who likes to follow the rules, but people notice, Sir.”
The general’s eyes widened, and he again sat up straight. “Against the regs? Major, I’m not sure—”
“Sir, no one will ever say anything. They admire you for it.”
General Nelson pinched the bridge of his nose. “Major, maybe you could tell me exactly what people are admiring me for.”
“Your generosity, Sir.”
“My generosity?”
Drew nodded. “When you first transferred to Houston, you and Mrs. Nelson swung by to say hello to General Fitzhugh and walked into the wrong office.”
“I remember. Roge made fun of me for months for getting lost in a building I’d been in dozens of times before,” he admitted.
“The office you went into had three airmen working in it.” The general appeared to be trying to remember, but Drew bet the man was just pretending. Or maybe he really had helped so many people that they all blurred together. “One of the airmen was moaning about how hard of a time she was having trying to feed her two teenage nephews who’d just came to live with her. Well, you know how empty the stomach of a teenage boy is. People told me that when the airmen realized you were in the room with them, she was really embarrassed that you heard her, but you didn’t act like you had. You just asked for directions to the general’s office—this office, Sir. But when she got home, there were bags of groceries on her porch. It helped her through the next couple of months until she got some other help and was able to start a garden.”
The general smiled. “I’m glad to hear that someone helped her, but it wasn’t me. I’m not even sure why anyone would think it was.”
“Well, no one did, not at first. But then there was Linda Holsten’s mom’s puppy.”
“The phone operator’s mom’s puppy?” The words were said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. If Drew didn’t know better, he’d believe that the general didn’t know anything about the puppy. He’d never realized the other man was such a great actor.
Drew nodded. “Her and her husband were trying to find a corgi puppy for her mom who’d just moved in with her.”
He hesitated for a moment before asking, “Why—?”
“Her mom had a corgi growing up, and Linda was worried about her mom being lonely. Moving here to live had been hard on her, and she was just sitting in the living room all day doing nothing while Linda and her husband worked. Linda didn’t think anything about it at the time, but one day, she was talking to her husband about it on the phone when you and Mrs. Nelson stopped by her desk and talked to another officer on your way out to lunch.”
“I don’t ease drop on conversations, Major.” The general’s look was stern, but not as stern as his voice.
Drew felt his stomach drop. “Oh, no, Sir! I’m sure you don’t. And Linda wasn’t upset. She didn’t think anything about it until everyone started realizing what you were doing.”
He waved his hand. “I assume her mom got a corgi?”
Drew nodded. Linda’s desk still had several pictures of her mom and that dog, including one taken the day the dog showed up. “Yes, Sir, that very day, she took her mom to the beauty shop to get her hair set, and when they returned, there was the corgi sitting on the porch, wearing a red ribbon and tied to the railing. Linda said she couldn’t keep up with her mom after she got Princess; she was always off to the park or meeting up with friends she met there.”
“I remember Jeannie telling me when Mrs. Holsten lost her mother,” the general murmured.
“Yes, Sir. Just three months after they lost Princess. Linda believes the only reason her mother lived as long as she did was so that she could take care of her dog, Sir.” He’d heard a few of the stories Linda shared over the years about the adventures of her mother and Princess the Corgi. Many of the staff loved sharing them as new staff cycled in: many of them were worth a few laughs while others were worth a few tears.
“That’s a lovely story, Major, but I assure you I had nothing to do with Mrs. Holsten’s puppy.” General Nelson sounded slightly exasperated.
Drew tried to hide the frustration in his tone, but he wasn’t sure he succeeded when he saw the general’s eyebrows shoot up at: “You can’t deny the Martins’ plane tickets!”
“The Martins’ plane tickets?”
He nodded so enthusiastically that his neck muscles twinged a little. “The Martins were talking to you at the Christmas party your first year here. Mrs. Martin tried to hide it, but she was upset. She’d just found out that her mom was sick, and that it would probably be her last Christmas, but they couldn’t afford to fly out to Hawaii to see her for the holidays.”
Everyone who knew the now Lieutenant Colonel and his wife said Mrs. Martin was usually a very reserved woman, who knew the Air Force regs even better than her husband. Normally, she would never have shared something so personal with the wife of a superior officer. But Mrs. Nelson was a good listener, and Mrs. Martin had shared her worries.
A flash of discomfort crossed General Nelson’s face. “I remember.”
“The next day, you and the colonel somehow ran into each other in the foyer. His briefcase popped open and some papers fell out, and you helped pick them up. When he sat down at his kitchen table that night to do that paperwork, he found two first-class tickets to Hawaii mixed in those papers.”
“He found two plane tickets?” He really was a good actor. The way the question ended on a high note made it sound like he was truly surprised.
Drew nodded. “And when he showed up at work the next day, you’d already approved of leave for him, even though he’d not asked for any.”
The general’s mouth dropped open. “I-I approved leave?”
“After all that happened, some of the officers and personnel started noticing what was happening and began calling you the Santa Claus of NASA.”
“The Santa Claus of NASA?” General Nelson shook his head and leaned forward. “I’m honored that people think I’ve done all this, but I can assure you that I haven’t.”
Sighing, Drew shook his head. “He was a new second lieutenant, Sir. He was triple checking everything, and he looked at every piece of paper before putting it in his briefcase that night. He didn’t stop anywhere; he drove straight home. The only time that briefcase was opened outside his office and his house was when it opened in the foyer and you helped him. He said no one else was even around.”
The general gave a small shake of his head and was obviously busy thinking, probably trying to come up with an explanation. Drew didn’t know why he desperately wanted his superior officer to admit his good deeds, but he did. “Sir, how else could the tickets have gotten in there? You don’t think they just popped in by magic, do you?”
“Of course….” The general closed his eyes and swallowed. “Not.” His denial started out strong, but his voice was far weaker by the last word. He ran his hand over his eyes, then over his mouth, then back up to his eyes. He sat up straight and looked at Drew.
He sounded slightly stressed as he carefully enunciated, “Major, can you tell me more acts this so-called Santa has done over the years? The ones you all believe I’ve done?”
“I just know what the Elves have told me so far,” Drew admitted.
A slight groan escaped the general. “The Elves?”
Drew winced. He really was giving away all of the secrets. “That’s what the group that know what you’re doing call themselves. They try to help you out when they can.”
He opened his mouth to ask a question and then appeared to think better of it. He waved his hand and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes while rubbing his right index finger just above the bridge of his nose.
“Well, Sir, I know you’ve given away a lot of groceries when they’re needed. Bills have been paid. Especially utility bills. Some rent. People have randomly found phone cards when they’ve been homesick and unable to afford to make long-distance calls back home. Money’s been found in pockets over the years, though people can’t figure out how you do that trick so easily. No one’s ever felt you slipping it in.”
He sighed and shifted slightly in his chair. He now had both hands up, his fingers rubbing his temple in slow circles.
“Of course, the Elves think it’s amazing how much time you must spend looking for information. People have found booklets on scholarships they didn’t even know existed when their kids were about to start college. Or news articles about new medical techniques for sick family members. There have been flowers sitting on desks after an officer or staff member expressed feeling a little blue or unappreciated. The Elves really can’t figure out how you sneak those in without security seeing you.
“Or how you knew to leave Airman First Class Brown’s son some new cleats on top of that trashcan in an alleyway that even she didn’t know her son was using to walk home. And how you made it look like the Airmen Malone won a radio contest they didn’t remember entering for an all-expense paid trip to the Alamo for their honeymoon was also impressive.”
General Nelson chuckled and cracked his eyes open. “The Alamo? That’s what? Three, four hours from here? For a honeymoon?”
He really was going to pretend not to know. “Yes, Sir. Both of the Malones are big US history buffs, and both are from big families that they help out a lot, so money’s always tight. I’ve known people who spent two weeks in Paris who weren’t as happy as those two were with a three-day two-night stay at the Crockett Motel. And if you’d done it any longer, they wouldn’t have gone. Their time is even more tight than money from what I hear.” Those two were good-hearted people who ran themselves ragged looking after their elders.
The general smiled and nodded, but before he could say anything, Drew wanted him to know how much he and the Elves looked up to him. “Sir, I know you didn’t want anyone to know, but we all think that someone who wants to make this world a better place by trying to help people when they’re down and make some wishes come true is amazing.”
He didn’t appear to hear the unspoken “You’re amazing.” His eyes were unfocused and the soft smile on his lips spoke of a deep love for whoever he was thinking about. Maybe the person who taught him to be so generous? Probably his mother and father. “Yeah, they’re amazing alright,” he agreed in a tone Drew never heard from the general before and doubted he ever would again. But he bet his family heard it often.
General Nelson sat up straight, the tension that had shown in his face and shoulders was gone. “While I can appreciate that people think I am this generous, benevolent dream maker, I can assure you, Major Greene, that I have had nothing to do with it.”
Drew felt his heart fall into his service dress shoe. Melissa’s smile wouldn’t be found in these four walls. The general noticed. “You were hoping I could help you with a child.” He wished General Nelson was still sitting across from him, but he had a feeling he was now dealing with Tony Nelson, a loving father.
“Silly, I know.” Crazy might be a better word. “But I heard about Bobby Wildes’ book this morning.”
The general didn’t even pretend not to know what he was talking about this time. “The one his grandfather gave him when he was a kid? The one he lost during his last move over four years ago?”
Drew nodded, looking down at his hands. This morning it had seemed like a miracle. It still did, but not as big of a miracle as Drew needed. “Yeah, he found it at the Goodwill downtown. It was just sitting on top of a table he glanced at. The inscription his grandfather wrote him was still in the flyleaf.”
He’d had to pay five cents to get it back, and he’d been choked up talking about in front of the coffee pot that morning. Drew had seen the Elves glancing at each other and knew what they thought immediately.
“I’m glad he found it. I knew it meant a lot to him when he talked about it the other day. I even told Jeannie about it when I got home.” He sighed while smiling and shaking his head.
“When I met my wife, Michelle, she didn’t want much in life, and I promised to make all her dreams come true.” And he had helped her fulfil most of her dreams. Her sister Virginia lived with them during high school while Michelle earned her degree. The Air Force had ordered him to move before both of their final semesters; those six months living apart had been hard all around, but they’d done it. Then, they kept their finances a little tight to help her sister get through her four years of college. When the Air Force promoted him and offered NASA as a duty station not long after, it felt like fate. It was time to fulfill that last dream.
Instead, she spent the occasional morning in the bathroom hiding her tears from him. While slowly losing her smile.
“And all she thinks about is having a child that you can’t give her,” Tony Nelson said, the general still put away for the moment. Drew remembered then that the Nelsons took a few years after marriage to have their first child, even though the General had almost been forty when they married. No one knew Mrs. Nelson’s exact age, and no one was brave enough to ask.
He stood up, saying, “I am sorry that can’t help you, Drew. I am. But even people who can make wishes come true can’t blin—make new life suddenly appear. Trust me, I know.”
Drew expected that was the closest he was going to get to a confession. He nodded. The older man stuck out his hand. Drew stared down at it as if he didn’t know what it was before realizing his superior officer was willing to shake his hand. He grabbed the offered hand and shook it. “I really do hope you the find what you need.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Drew watched as Tony Nelson again put on the cloak of General Nelson, hiding away the compassion behind a professional façade.
He walked out into his temporary office, feeling like a failure, but still happy to know that his commanding officer was a good man. Sighing, he leaned back against the door. Michelle’s smile wouldn’t be delivered for Christmas by any Santa Claus. He would have to figure out a way to get it back on his own.
The phone rang, reminding him that, at least for a few more minutes, he was at work. He answered it, struggling to put on his professional mask, but stopped trying when he heard the voice of his sister-in-law. His work number at every duty station had been given to Gin even before he married her sister, but she never, not once, had used it before. He could tell she was trying to hide tears from him.
Michelle filled the role of both mother and father to her sister after her mother’s death while their dad tried to find comfort in a bottle and in the arms of various women. Unfortunately for Michelle and Gin, he never found a good one after their mom. Maybe because he knew no good woman would want to be with the pathetic excuse of a man he crumbled into after his wife died. It took Michelle a long time to trust Drew, and it took Gin even longer.
Having seen her grow up and helping Michelle raise her those last four years of school left him with a paternal instinct to protect her from any harm. Hearing her broken voice made him wish he could travel over the phone line. He somehow found the strength to comfort her, even though he wanted to cry himself after hearing the news she shared with him. He hadn’t even sat back down at his desk, yet. After he hung up the phone, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Fortunately, the end of the workday was almost here. He couldn’t remember the last time he stopped after work and drank a beer but today felt like a good day to drown a pint or two.
“Are you okay, Major Greene? Can I help?”
Drew decided then that he must have pissed off some higher power; he hadn’t even heard her open the outer door. He opened his eyes and hoped the smile he plastered on his face looked natural instead of the grimace he was afraid was showing. He reached towards the telephone, ready to use the intercom he failed to use earlier. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Nelson. Let me inform the general you are here.”
She put out a hand to stop him. “Please, do not. I am early, and Anthony said he had a lot of paperwork to complete today.”
Drew looked over his shoulder to the office door and winced. “I may have put him behind,” he said before he thought.
Mrs. Nelson looked back and forth between him and the office door. “How so?”
All of his discipline as an officer failed him for a moment. Mrs. Nelson obviously saw his distress. “Anthony says you are doing a wonderful job filling in for Colonel Williams. He says you will make some general a wonderful aide when you are a colonel.” Drew felt a genuine smile touch his lips at the complement. “Even if you messed up today—”
He shook his head. “No, Ma’am. I didn’t mess—Well, I mean I’m sure I messed—” Drew stopped talking and made himself stay quiet for a moment. He knew his smile, while not large, was sincere this time. “I simply talked to him for a few minutes.”
She looked down at the phone and then at him before taking a step closer. “Is there something I can do to help?”
The Nelsons really were great people. “No, Ma’am. Not unless you know a mechanic close to Wright-Patt who works for free and has a lot of spare parts he wants to get rid of.”
“Wright-Patt?” Her eyebrows twisted in thought. “You transferred here from Wright-Patterson, did you not?”
He was only partially startled that she remembered that fact. She was the wife of one of the first astronauts. And even though they weren’t married during the earliest years, she was part of a group of people that were very close and knew everything about each other, at least the wives did. Sometimes the husbands were so busy training, they didn’t even know what was happening in their own families.
“Yes, ma’am. My sister-in-law, Gin, had already started her life there and stayed. She’s a social worker, and she’s been saving since we left to be able to fly down here and surprise her sister for Christmas this year. But her car blew a head gasket, and the garage just told her it’s going to take every bit she saved to fix it.”
Michelle always encouraged her sister to major in something that would earn her a huge salary when she got out of school, but Gin had been set on being a social worker since her sophomore year of high school. She’d admitted to him once that she wanted to make sure no other older sisters—or brothers—had to step up and be parents when they were just kids themselves. She was angry that no one helped Michelle, so she was going to help the Michelles of the world. He never told his wife, knowing it was a conversation the two sisters would have when they were both ready.
Which left Michelle not knowing why her sister chose the career she chose, or why her sister wasn’t as close to their maternal family as Michelle was. She understood that their hands had been tied back when they were children. She once told him that the only option they had to get them away from their father was to kidnap them. He suspected Gin would say they should’ve kidnapped them then. And he agreed with her.
But he could also see with a detachment that Gin didn’t have, that he and Gin never knew the younger version of their dad, who had been strong enough to still fight back when Michelle was young and Gin was almost a newborn. Michelle’s uncles talked about a man who’d been as tough and as dependable as a mountain before his wife’s death shattered him, leaving cracks in the man they thought could handle any problem. And, over time, the whiskey acted on that mountain of a man just like water, filling cracks and breaking off chunks until there was nothing but pebbles left where a mountain once stood.
“Well, Christmas is still a few months away…” Mrs. Nelson said, bringing him out of his thoughts.
He shook his head. “The price is only going to go up, and she had to watch her pennies to save what she did. And she won’t accept any help from us. She’s just like her sister: stubborn.”
Mrs. Nelson smiled at him. “Unlike her brother-in-law, I am sure.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’m as docile as a mule,” he answered with a grin. Her laughter told him she understood his joke. Michelle told him his stubbornness was one of the reasons she married him. He sighed. “I’m just glad Michelle didn’t know so she can’t be disappointed; she’s having a hard enough time right now.”
And he finally understood what the then Lieutenant Martins’ wife meant about Mrs. Nelson being a good listener. He never meant to share what he said earlier with General Nelson, but something about the woman just made you feel as if she’d do anything she could to help you. Even if all she could do was listen.
“We’ve been trying for a baby for a couple of years now,” he said.
Understanding lit her eyes. She bit her lip and looked away, towards the door hiding her husband from her. “I know it can be hard. It is one of the many things we ladies are not supposed to talk about.” He heard a bite in her words; she was usually so happy and pleasant, her anger struck him as odd. Even though he knew his superior officers and their wives were human, it was easy to forget sometimes.
Silence filled the room for a moment. He started to offer her coffee when she turned to look at him. “May I make a suggestion, Major? From experience?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” His granddaddy always said experience was the best teacher. Unfortunately, man was usually too stubborn to learn from everyone else’s experience and had to go experience it for himself. Drew had still been small enough to sit on his knee the first time his granddaddy told him to be a smart man and learn from other’s experiences. It was quicker and easier.
“Tell her the truth.” He couldn’t stop the flash of anger that crossed his face, but he hid it as fast as he could. Mrs. Nelson seemed unfazed by his response. “I know you do not lie.” She glanced at her husband’s office door and smiled. “But you have not told her that you are sad and mad and wonder why it has not happened for you, yet. And all those other emotions you are feeling. You have not told her that you do not blame her—”
“Blame her? Why would I blame her?” The words were out of his mouth before he second guessed his choice to interrupt a superior officer’s wife. Not that she had any authority over him, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t make his life miserable via her husband is she wanted (and he was willing).
“Why are you blaming yourself?” Again, Mrs. Nelson’s eye flittered towards General Nelson’s office door. He reminded himself that she was speaking from experience. “I have only met your wife—Michelle?—two or three times, but I can tell she is a tough lady. If I ever need a nurse, I hope I get someone like her. I think she would fight for her patients.”
Michelle didn’t ever hesitate to challenge the doctors if she thought they were wrong about the treatment of one of her patients, but most of the doctors never got angry at her for it. She could hide her fierceness behind sweet smiles and a beautiful Georgia draw. Not that she disagreed often; most of the doctors she worked with were brilliant and willing to listen. But working in hospitals were stressful, and sometimes people could fall through the cracks if someone like Michelle wasn’t keeping an eagle eye on everything.
He opened his mouth to argue that of course he was blaming himself. But his brain wouldn’t supply his mouth the necessary words to make his arguments. He couldn’t find any justification for his feeling. Michelle would box his ear if he told her it was because he was responsible for her. She would argue that they were partners in their marriage, which meant they were both responsible for and to each other. Of course, she wasn’t blaming him, and of course, she was blaming herself, just like he was doing. And an almost complete stranger had to point it out to him.
He smiled at the blonde woman standing quietly in front of him, giving him the time to think. “Thank you, ma’am. I will talk to her. Tonight.”
The intercom buzzed. Drew easily slipped back into his professional mode, his spine straightening out of habit. He started to frown when he noticed the stress in the general’s voice, but the frown quickly became a smile when the general told him what he wanted him to do. “I don’t need to call downstairs, Sir. Mrs. Nelson’s meeting has ended, and she is standing in front of me.”
A soft click was his only answer. Before he or Mrs. Nelson could say a word, the inner door swung open, revealing a disheveled general. He’d never seen the man in his shirt sleeves outside of his inner sanctuary, but there he stood, his shirtsleeves still rolled up and his service coat and cap in hand. The general didn’t appear to even notice Drew standing at his desk, his eyes completely focused on his wife.
“Hello, darling,” Mrs. Nelson said while walking towards her husband. She held out her hand and took his coat and hat from him. It was the first time Drew had seen the two of them interact up close.
“Hello, sweetheart,” the general answered. His voice was again softer than Drew was used to hearing. “I was afraid you had been talked into doing too much again.”
Mrs. Nelson laughed. “Today was only for Baylor and the children’s hospital to talk about everything they are doing and letting us know where they would like us to help. Our next meeting will be where we decide how we think we can help.”
“Well, you need to say ‘no’ more than you have been doing,” the general said as he finished buttoning up his sleeves.
Mrs. Nelson helped him slide on his coat. “I know, Anthony.”
“I mean it. Lisa Bishop takes advantage of you.”
“I know, Anthony. I just really love helping the children.”
The general smiled as he tucked his hat under his arm. “I know you do.”
Turning to look at Drew, his superior officer put away the face of the loving husband he’d been showing Mrs. Nelson and put on the general’s face Drew was used to seeing. “Remember, I won’t be in the office Monday until after lunch.”
“Yes, Sir. Colonel Williams left me a complete itinerary of your tour with Senator Byrd. I have a list of callers to tell that you will return their calls that afternoon, as well as a list of subjects you will want to tackle when you return. All other callers are to be informed that it will be a few days at best before you can answer their message. I have a list of who can be told where you are, but all others are to be told that you cannot be interrupted on this tour.”
“There’s a list of people who can interrupt?” The edge of General Nelson’s lips curled.
“It is a very short list, Sir. I have also been informed that I am not to aid Colonel Healey in finding you, but to not be upset when he does.”
The general and his wife laughed. “Sounds like Colonel Williams is trusting you with all the secrets.” Drew looked down, remembering the big secret he’d shared with the general earlier. He must’ve lost his mind. “I think he’s made a good choice.” Drew looked up in surprise. “Have a good night, Drew.” The couple was gone before Drew could lift his jaw back into place.
He stood there, looking around an office that he hoped would one day be his permanent assignment. The general serving behind the inner door would probably be a different man by the time he moved up the ranks, but he hoped he was as great an officer as General Nelson.
As he looked around the office to make sure everything was in its place, he thought of Mrs. Nelson’s words. Instead of stopping for a beer, he decided he would stop for a bouquet of flowers. Michelle loved flowers.
When the general walked in on Monday afternoon, Drew had a hard time hiding his appreciation. Following the general into his office, he recited all the information the man needed, handed off the stack of messages he had in hand, and asked the general if he would like him to make a fresh pot of coffee.
“I would like a shot of vodka,” the general answered as he hung up his coat in his closet.
Drew spun on his hills, and the general let lose a chuckle, letting him know he was joking. He realized that the man in this room with him wasn’t the reserved general he’d known until now, but he also wasn’t the open Tony Nelson he saw for a few minutes on Friday either. It was a mix of the two that he suspected a few around NASA was allowed to see, including Colonel Williams. Drew was honored and happy to know that his faux pas on Friday hadn’t destroyed his relationship with his commanding officer. “Rough tour, Sir?”
“Oh, the tour was fine,” he said, picking up a stack of folders from his inbox as he moved to sit down behind his desk. “I joined NASA so I could go into space and increase man’s knowledge. I always hated my time in the barrel, glad handing the politicians. I enjoyed showing my appreciation to the American taxpayer, who was footing the bill, far more.”
“I read some of those meet-and-greets were terrible.”
The general laughed. He signed his name on the bottom of a page and tossed the file folder aside. “They were all terrible, but they were better than meeting the politicians. Why I took this job, which is almost all time in a barrel, I don’t know.”
Drew knew his words didn’t require a response, but he felt the need to reply anyway. “Because you love NASA, Sir. And you believe in the mission.”
“That I do,” he said with a sigh and a smile. “What else can I help you with, Drew?”
He flinched in surprise and then wondered why. General Nelson was an observant man. “I-I just want to thank you, Sir.”
He smiled even as he let out a sigh. “Thank me?”
“Yes, Sir. My sister-in-law’s plane ticket. Don’t worry; I didn’t tell Michelle or Gin that you were responsible when she called to tell us about winning it from a radio station.”
“I don’t think you mentioned that your sister-in-law needed a plane ticket to me, Major.” Drew was happy to see that General Nelson still looked relaxed, none of the tension he showed the other day, when talking about his good deeds.
“I told Mrs. Nelson, Sir.”
The general chuckled and opened a file. “I’m sure you did, but I didn’t know.”
He could appreciate that the general needed plausible deniability if the brass ever asked any questions. Drew didn’t know how he was going to thank Mrs. Nelson, but he would find a way. Besides letting her husband know about the needed plane ticket, she’d given great advice. The weekend had been rough, with a lot of sadness and tears shared between them, but Michelle was smiling when she left that morning for her shift. Not that their long overdue talk was the only reason for that smile.
“We also got some unexpected news in the mail on Saturday. And I know there is no way you had a part in it, but it feels like you did.”
The general just looked at him. He wasn’t really smiling, but something made Drew feel as if he was amused. His eyes expressed interest in what he was saying, so Drew smiled and explained. “Thanks to one of her doctors submitting us, we’ve been picked to take part in trial at Baylor. There is going to be a lot of testing to make sure we actually have fertility problems, and then we will be presented with some options. I mean, I know you couldn’t have done it. You wouldn’t know anything about any trials at Baylor.”
Nodding, the general said, “Jeannie may have heard something at one of her meetings, but I wouldn’t know anything about what they are doing.”
Maybe he would have known about the trial then. “But you couldn’t have gotten us into the trial and had a letter delivered to us by the next morning,” Drew said.
“Wouldn’t be humanly possible.” He didn’t understand the amusement in the general’s voice, but he was glad it was there.
“And you couldn’t have made Mr. Whittman drop into our backyard.”
The general’s eyebrow snapped up. “Mr. Whittman?”
“Our neighbor, Sir. Mark Whittman’s dad.” Drew had been surprised to hear Michelle laughing when he walked into their home on Friday night, but he’d loved the way she looked at him when he found her sitting at their kitchen table, an empty coffee mug in front of her, and an old man he vaguely recognized as the guy he sometimes waved at while getting in the car in the mornings sitting beside her.
They usually tried to get to know their neighbors, but this move had been unexpected. Their last landlord promised to sell them the house when he was prepared to get rid of it, but unfortunately, the executor of his estate had chosen instead not to renew their lease. After having to quickly buy a house and move, while wrapped up in their own misery, they hadn’t made any connections in the neighborhood until this weekend.
A gentle sadness replaced the amusement in the room. “How’s George doing?” Of course, the general would know Mr. Whittman.
“Better than I would be doing.” Mark Whittman would’ve been an Apollo astronaut if he’d been born a couple of decades earlier. He flew shuttles instead of capsules, but his attitude was larger than life. He would’ve fit right in with the original astronauts with their daring risk tasking, like driving their matching gold Corvettes too fast around the Cape. Maybe because he had grown up surrounded by those men. His mother Marie had been a secretary at NASA from almost the beginning, from before the Mercury program ever fired off one of those rockets from Huntsville. And even though Marie had retired several years ago, she had remained as loved around NASA as her son.
A drunk driver careening through a red light took them from everyone who loved them. Being new to the area when it happened, Drew could remember the picture in the paper of George standing beside his grieving daughter-in-law, with his two grandsons, too young to truly understand, standing in front of him. He’d never connected that man, while aged, who looked like he could still play football with the thin stooped-over old man who was their neighbor. Almost two years of mourning had withered away his vitality.
“And Becky and the boys?”
George said she’d tried to stay in the area, wanted to take care of him, but he’d encouraged her to return home to Oregon, where her big family could help her out in ways he couldn’t. “He said they’re doing well. She apparently keeps trying to get him to move out there to live with them.”
“Becky is a good woman.”
“That’s what Mr. Whittman said. I think he’s afraid she will spend too much time taking care of him instead of moving on,” Drew said.
General Nelson nodded and then looked down. “How did he get into your backyard?”
Drew had to laugh. “None of us can figure it out. He says he wasn’t paying attention during his afternoon walk, but he swears one minute he’s in front of our house and the next thing he knows he’s in our fenced-in backyard. Michelle saw him trying to figure out the gate and went out to talk to him. The two of them really hit it off.”
The old man had tried to get up and leave Friday night when he saw the flowers in Drew’s hands. He assumed Drew had been an idiot and needed to apologize, but Michelle had smiled and said Drew was simply a romantic. They’d asked the old man to stay for some pizza and cards. Friday ended on a far more positive note than it began with three people laughing, telling tales and playing cards late into the night.
“George is a good man. I’m glad to hear that he’s found some good neighbors.”
“Michelle said that she helps people all day at the hospital, but she’d forgotten there are a lot of people around us that need love and someone to help them.”
General Nelson smiled. “I remember Jeannie saying something like that when we moved here.”
“Anyway, Sir, I just wanted to say thank you.” Drew kept talking when he saw the general start to protest again. “I know you couldn’t have had anything to do with most of it. I don’t even know how you could have done the plane ticket, but it feels like you did. Maybe you were born under a lucky star or something. Do you believe in magic?”
A light chuckle and a small shake of the head was the only response he expected to get. “The only magic I believe in is my Jeannie,” the general said after a moment.
Thoughts of Michelle played through Drew’s mind. She was the magic in his world, too. “I understand, Sir.”
He nodded, sat up straight, and asked: “Ready to get to work?”
“Yes, Sir!”
The rest of the afternoon, Drew was run ragged, but he was expecting it. Colonel Williams warned him that the general was a man who worked efficiently, but not in a way that always made sense to someone else. It only took a little bit for Drew to understand his system though, and the general looked pleased when Drew handed over the folders just as he finished asking for them, having already figured out what would be next. He sat aside the files that took more effort to peruse, knowing that the general liked to start his days with those, when he had time to concentrate before so many others demanded his attention as they started their day.
It was at the end of the day that Drew had to go take care of what everyone on the entire top floor left for him to fix. NASA had bought a top-of-the-line copier that did everything. It was large and it was beautiful. It copied—front and back. It correlated. It stapled.
And it jammed. Way more than it copied, correlated or stapled. It was part instinct, part know-how that guided Drew’s hand to find the newest jam. Xerox seemed to put in a lot of hidden corners for paper to smoosh into. Sometimes, after he managed to yank the latest jam out of the copier, he admired what almost looked like a work of art, folded like origami and painted by Xerox.
Rushing to get back to the office before the general left, Drew found himself a few steps behind Mrs. Nelson. Colonel Slayton was walking towards them, the briefcase by her side letting everyone know she was heading out for the day. The usual brooding face Drew knew broke out into a friendly smile when she saw Jeannie. “New dress, Jeannie? It looks great! Where did you get it?”
“Thank you, Sarah! It’s from that boutique at The Galleria I told you about,” Mrs. Nelson said as she stopped to talk to the colonel. Not that Drew had ever had the chance to see Colonel Slayton outside of uniform, but everyone said that she and Mrs. Nelson were true clothes horses. Of course, they were in second and third place for the best dressed of NASA. Rumor had that the Director of Flight Crew Operations, Richard Allen, had four walk-in closets full of clothes. People joked that his bespoke suits had their own bespoke suits to wear.
Drew walked around the two of them and headed towards the office. He heard the colonel’s amused, “Better not let Tony know you started shopping there again.” Mrs. Nelson laughed and said she wouldn’t. He then heard footsteps walking away and towards him. He opened the office door and spun so that he was holding it open for the general’s wife. She smiled her appreciation as she sailed into the room. Looking down at the height of her high heels, Drew was thankful that men gave them up a couple of centuries ago. He wouldn’t be able to walk a straight line with heels that tall.
He took a couple of steps towards his desk. “I’ll let the general know you are here.”
The sound of a door opening over plush carpet announced the general’s presence just a moment before he spoke. “The general knows she’s here.”
General Nelson glanced in his direction and then looked at his wife with an expression that Drew could only think of as the “Really?” look. Mrs. Nelson’s eyes darted in his direction before she gave her husband a sheepish grin and a one-shoulder shrug. The general gently rolled his eyes and then returned her grin. Drew felt as if he’d seen a very intimate conversation even though neither of them spoke a word.
Drew was impressed. Apparently, the general recognized that Mrs. Nelson’s dress was new immediately. As much as Drew tried to pay attention, he never knew when Michelle brought herself a new frock.
“Good night, Major.”
“Oh, yes, good night.”
Drew smiled. “Good night, General. Mrs. Nelson.”
The two of them turned in sync towards the outer door. “Oh, I hope Scottie’s team wins tonight. Grrr. Scott. Scott’s team.”
General Nelson chuckled. “Roger says he’s not getting mad when people mess up now. He just moans ‘dad’ at him when he does.”
“Oh, I know, but I should remember to call him what he wants to be called. Even if he has been Scottie to me since before he was even born.”
The general’s reply was muffled as the door closed behind them. Drew stood there for a minute and thought about how much had changed in the short time since he asked his superior officer for a miracle. And while no true miracle had been given, Drew felt as if the Santa Claus of NASA had paid him a visit, even if it was a couple of months early. Michelle was starting to smile again, even though he knew it would be a while before her smile came as freely as it used to do. They were at least out of the loop they seemed to have been stuck in for months. They were even starting to discuss their options if it never happened for them.
Drew briefly considered calling his Mom and Granny and asking for them to pray for General Nelson to get his own blessings. Those two women loved to pray, but he decided against it. Thinking of the way the general looked at his wife, Drew didn’t believe those prayers were needed. He had a feeling that “Mrs. Claus” had already made all of General Nelson’s wishes and dreams come true.
Thanks for reading!