Christmas Bits and Thoughts and Midrasim -- #5

His Eyes

 She remembered their story in flashes :

 The first time she saw him, 
setting down a load of wood to lift a child from the dust where she had fallen, 
his voice tender, his eyes soft.

 The first time she caught his eyes. 
She had looked up from the well into his eyes. The world had stopped. Her breath had stopped.

 The look he gave to her across the room when her father had given his consent.

 But then ~ 
                 the look he gave her when she had to tell him she was pregnant.
Rage, 
          shock, 
                             grief. 
His eyes turned to stone.
He turned his eyes away and stumbled from the room. 

 She thought the world would end. 
 OH, God, I thought an angel would have come to him too. Why did you not tell him when you told me? 'May it be to me as you have spoken...??'  No ... no, I meant that. But I did not think...I knew in that one moment that I --  all I had, all I have is You.

 And then! 
THEN!! Then his eyes ~ the joy, the hope, the fear, 
"My Mary! I...I had a dream...an angel spoke to me too. Please forgive me, please!" his eyes raining into her lap. " I could not believe you then, but I have finished the house."

 Taking Joseph's hands, she placed them on her stomach. The baby kicked then, hard.
Joseph's eyes and hers mirrored awe, the awe they shared alone.

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