Julie was anxious, her palms were sweaty. Was she going to look like her? Would she be tall, fat, short, pretty, nice? These questions swarmed around in Julie's head. She was ever so nervous. She was about to meet her real mother.

Julie was fifteen years old. She had been living with her adopted parents all her life. Their names were Tom and Angela Outerbridge. She had found out that she was adopted when she was five years old. She remembered it clearly. She was a very clever little girl and noticed the difference in features between her and her adopted parents. For example, she had blonde hair, light blue eyes and freckles. None of her family had any of those features so she asked Angela why her mommy or daddy did not look like her. Angela and Tom did not want to lie to her so they told her about the adoption and that her real mommy did not have very much money then and was not ready for a child because she was too young. Julie was sort of confused and just did not really understand. She asked many questions which were hard for them answer. When she was older, she asked if she could call them by their first names, Tom and Angela. They agreed. Through the years Julie would sometimes be teased by peers at school because she was adopted. She would sometimes make up tall tales to comfort herself and to get the children to stop teasing her. She would say things like her mother was a rich lady and did not want to spoil her daughter and when the time was right, she would come back and get her. That would sometimes make her feel better. Later on in the years the family noticed other differences as well. Julie liked to get up late and eat spicy foods whereas Tom and Angela were early birds and ate more plain and bland foods. Julie loved dogs and Tom and Angela were nice enough, even though they did not care for dogs, to let her have a Pekinese. They fancied horses and owned a beautiful dapple grey.

Other than that, they were fairly similar and got along well. Sometimes Julie would do something wrong and when Tom or Angela would punish her, she would blow up at them and say something like, "You're not my real parents and you cannot tell me what to do.'' When she was about thirteen, Julie read a book called "Why Me?'' It was about a girl who was adopted and her kidney had failed her and even though she was on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, time was running out. Eventually, she tracked down her mother and her mom donated a kidney. That's when Julie decided she was going to start looking for her mom. She asked Tom and Angela about it and at first they were hesitant but then they realised how serious she was. They told her everything they knew about her, which was not much, and let her proceed. She started by going to Social Services and asked if they had any records of a Karen R. Morris.

Unfortunately, there was not much luck. Julie was determined and would not give up. Each Saturday she would go to Social Services and try to get as much information as possible. After a few weeks, she had only found out that her mother left Bermuda fourteen years ago to Greenland but they told Julie that by now, she probably would have moved somewhere else. Julie told Tom and Angela about the news and she sent a letter to the Social Services in Greenland asking if they had any records of her mother. A couple of months later, they sent a letter telling her that they did not have any known records of Karen R. Morris and that maybe she changed her name. Julie was extremely disappointed. One day she was walking down Front Street admiring all the beautiful Christmas decorations in the windows of Trimingham's, A.S. Coopers and all the other stores when she saw some homeless people. She thought that they probably did not have any family and that she was actually lucky enough to have people that care about her. That still did not seem to comfort her though. She wanted to find her mom. She was still very depressed and almost wanted to give up. Eventually she thought it over and decided to take a break from the situation for the time being. Tom and Angela were astonished at her decision. They tried to persuade her not to give up but nothing seemed to work. They decided to secretly do a search themselves and surprise Julie. They used as much free time as they could to work on finding Karen. They sent letters here and there and after about a year of writing letters and pretending to go on business trips, while actually going to Social Service offices all over North America, they found someone who fit the description.

Tom told her who he was and why he was there. They went inside for some coffee and he asked her if she would come back to Bermuda with him to meet her daughter. She was flustered and after she had recovered from her shock, she agreed. Tom called Angela and told her that Karen would be coming back with him and not to tell Julie anything about it. Tom and Karen arrived a day before Christmas Eve. Julie was not home and until she came home Karen was just going to stay at Tom and Angela's close friend's house so they could surprise her. Julie came home in the late afternoon and Angela called up their friend to bring Karen over. They told Julie about all their fake business trips and everything else that they had done. Julie practically fainted. She was so overwhelmed and shocked. This was it. After fifteen years, she was finally going to meet her mother. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Julie was nervous. Her palms were sweaty. What was she going to look like? Would she like her? Julie was scared. The door opened. In strolled a fairly tall blonde, with light blue eyes and freckles, just like Julie. Karen was the first to speak. She asked how Julie was. Julie replied shyly saying that she was fine.

Then Tom broke the silence and asked anyone if they wanted anything and to follow him into the living room to sit down. Karen and Julie were just so astonished. Julie started up a little conversation asking Karen things such as what did she do for a living, about her family like her aunts, uncles, grandparents and just basically what her life was generally like and what the "R'' stood for in Karen R. Morris. Karen told her that her grandparents were dead and she was an only child. She was a fairly successful lawyer. The "R'' stood for Ruby, which was also her birth stone. She had a fiance and was to be married next Easter. She had no other children. Then Julie asked about her father. Karen paused. She explained that when she had Julie, her father left them. That was another reason why she had put Julie up for adoption. Julie felt some hate for her father just then. She did not let it worry her though.

Julie's `best Christmas ever' Karen to the S.P.C.A tomorrow to see all the dogs because Karen, as well as Julie, loved dogs. Julie and Karen woke up on Christmas Eve to Angela calling them to wake up because it was late and there was much to do that day. They had breakfast and got dressed quickly. They went to the S.P.C.A. and there were some puppies there. Julie and Karen shared the excitement of seeing the adorable little pups. Some were Dachshunds and some of the puppies were Shitzus. After a few hours of "ooo'' ing and "ahh'' ing, they went to Dockyard. They went to "Sparky's'' and played some games, they went to the Maritime Museum, they went to the Frog and Onion Pub, and they even went parasailing. They had the time of their lives. They went back to their house in Paget in the afternoon and they put some Christmas presents under the tree.

They went to bed exhausted to wake up the next morning to Tom dressed up as Santa Claus. He was "Ho Ho Ho''-ing and making the girls ache of laughter at the sight of him. They opened their stockings and their presents. Karen pulled out a beautiful necklace which she had bought with Julie's birthstone in it, a sapphire. Julie pulled out a little china doll, which she had owned for a long time, for Karen. They thanked each other greatly and thanked Tom and Angela for what they had done and then they opened up the rest of their presents.

Later, they had Christmas dinner which Angela had prepared. It was a lovely juicy turkey. Karen told Julie that she had to go back to Winnipeg tomorrow.

Julie was extremely sad. So they tried to make the most of the rest of the night. The next morning everyone was not as cheerful as usual. They were disappointed that Karen was leaving. They drove to St. George's to the airport and waited for Karen to go through the X-ray machine. Karen told Julie to write soon and that she should come and visit her as soon as possible. She agreed and they bade their farewells. On the long drive home, their was not much conversation. When they were home, Angela unlocked the front door. When they went inside, Julie paused and said, "That was the best Christmas ever.

Thanks Mom, thanks Dad.'' CHRISTMAS SHORT STORY CONTEST CPN