"Reunion"
Holy Week 2014
"Do you think He wanted
kids?"
"Well...
sure.
Probably. I mean I
think He understood why
He couldn't have kids
but growing up and
seeing all His friends
start becoming
parents... The
longing might have been
there."
"I wonder... how did He
deal with that?"
"I'm
sure He's over
it now.
He's got tons of
kids!"
JenniAnn
remembered this
conversation as she sat in
a rocking chair in Cora's
living room with Belle
asleep in her arms.
Yes, Jesus had tons of
kids... JenniAnn knew that
now in a way she had never
expected to while still
enjoying her earthly
life. But Joshua...
he looked anything but
'over it' as he peered out
the window... waiting...
with Fawn and Lulu loyally
sitting at his feet.
If Joshua had ever wanted
to father children, he
didn't any more. He
had them... so many only
he could count them.
But that didn't mean he
was over longing for
them... to recognize him,
to love him, and to, above
all, see how much he loved
them. And at that
moment, Joshua was longing
for Ivy.
JenniAnn mused over the
irony of it all.
Shortly after Andrew had
announced that he was
going to be on assignment
as the director of a local
production of Jesus
Christ Superstar
and, oh by the way, he
could really use massive
amounts of help...
JenniAnn and Kemara had
become determined to fly
Ivy in to see the
show. They
remembered her speaking of
listening to the CD with
her mother. Further,
they'd been so impressed
by the actor playing Jesus
that they couldn't resist
the impulse to invite as
many people as they
could. And so it was
decided.
Arrangements had been
made, given approval by a
grateful Doreen, conveyed
to an ecstatic Ivy, and
then... first JenniAnn and
then Kemara had come to
discover that there was no
actor playing Jesus.
There was simply Jesus...
Joshua. They'd felt
then that Ivy absolutely
had to come visit them,
had to see the show, had
to meet Joshua. It
would mean so much to the
girl if she could just
talk with him even if she
didn't know who he
was. What JenniAnn
hadn't counted on was how
important, and potentially
painful, the meeting would
be to Joshua. She
had come to recognize how
hard it was for him to
walk among them as the
considerate acquaintance
when he felt so much
more. She prayed Ivy
would see who he truly
was.
Deep in his own thoughts,
Joshua glanced at the
clock on the mantel.
3:34. Forty five
minutes earlier, Andrew
had called to say that
Ivy's plane had landed
safely. She'd found
her welcoming party and
all they needed to do was
collect her luggage and
make their way back.
They'd be there
"soon." Joshua
half-smiled when he
thought of "Aslan's" quote
which he had co-opted more
than once: "I call all
times soon." That
certainly didn't seem to
be the case today!
Joshua recalled the day,
shortly after Andrew and
JenniAnn had moved him
into Cora's house, when
he'd gone to the kitchen
in search of tea.
He'd found JenniAnn and
Kemara chattering about
Ivy and how much she was
going to love his
performance. They'd
turned to him, smiling
shyly over being caught
gushing, and explained
about inviting their
younger friend who was a
big fan of Superstar.
He'd taken a while to
reply then felt badly when
he realized they feared
they'd embarrassed
him. He hadn't been
embarrassed, only
surprised. Ivy...
his Ivy... was coming to
see him.
In the days that followed,
Joshua would sometimes
happen upon one of the
girls or Andrew talking to
Ivy on their cell phone,
making plans. Each
time he had wished he
could say something but it
would have made Ivy
uncomfortable so he
didn't. But now she
was on her way and he'd be
able to talk to her, even
if it was only
pleasantries.
Soon. At least he
didn't have to wait
alone. Joshua
noticed JenniAnn
contemplating him.
"What are you thinking
about?" he asked as he
approached and caressed
the baby's downy hair then
clasped her mother's hand
in his. He was so
very glad some of them
knew now.
JenniAnn smiled at the
familiar question.
She knew he missed simply
knowing. "About
you. Well, really a
conversation Kemara and I
had last year about you."
Joshua smiled. That
didn't really narrow it
down much. "Which
one?"
"The 'do you think He
wanted kids... how did He
deal with that... He has
tons of kids' one."
"Ah... And what did
you conclude?"
"That having tons of kids
doesn't mean you stop
longing."
"No..."
JenniAnn squeezed his hand
when Joshua looked back
over to the window.
"You wanna take Belle for
a bit and I'll give Kemara
a call and see what's
up? They probly just
got delayed at baggage
claim or something.
JFK can be a nightmare
with that."
Joshua nodded.
"Please."
Once she had carefully
transferred Belle and
allowed herself a moment
to enjoy watching Joshua
cuddle her daughter,
JenniAnn called her
friend. She put her
on speaker so Joshua
wouldn't have to remain in
suspense any longer than
absolutely
necessary.
"Hi JenniAnn!"
"Hey Kemara, Joshua and I
are here wondering
whereabouts you all are."
"Hi JenniAnn!" Ivy
shouted.
"Hey Ivy! Where are
ya'll?"
"Two blocks away,
Laja. Keep an eye
out for us."
JenniAnn smiled when
Joshua moved back to the
window. "Will
do. Thanks,
Andrew. See ya very,
very soon!" She
ended the call then
approached Joshua, setting
her hand on his
shoulder. "Doing
okay?"
The man nodded. "Do
I have any crumbs in my
beard from those cookies
earlier?"
Giggling, JenniAnn shook
her head. She felt
like she could write a
book entitled Things
You Never Expect the
Messiah to Say.
"You look wonderful."
Joshua wanted to hug her
but Belle complicated
that. He settled for
briefly stroking her
hair. "Thank you."
"Welcome. Now... you
should give Belle back."
"Actually, I was hoping
maybe I could keep her
until... til the
introductions are
over. Keep my arms
full so I don't..."
Joshua frowned.
Maybe it was just wishful
thinking... But
JenniAnn kept remembering
Ivy setting her hand on
the Pieta and the poems
and... she more than any
of them had maintained a
childlike faith.
Surely she would recognize
Joshua. And Joshua
needed to be ready when
she did. Drawing in
a deep breath, JenniAnn
pressed her case. "I
really, really feel like
you're going to need your
arms free, Joshua.
Call it women's
intuition... a very nice
gift given to us by, well,
you."
Joshua's eyes
twinkled. "Okay, so
I did give you that but...
but I didn't make it
infallible and...
JenniAnn, I don't want
to... I mean... I'll want
to hug Ivy and no teenage
girl wants some strange
guy suddenly hugging
them." He snuggled
Belle closer.
"Yeah, I totally get
that. Cause that
first day we 'met', I
didn't wanna be the crazy
girl lunging at the new
guy. But looking
back, I probly... I
shoulda gone for
it." JenniAnn rested
her hand on his arm.
Joshua smiled. She
had a point. "All
right." After
kissing Belle, he
relinquished her.
"You don't give up easily,
you know that?"
"Family trait."
JenniAnn's pointed smile
made Joshua laugh.
Then they heard the Jolly
Green's familiar honk.
"They're here. She's
here," Joshua
murmured.
JenniAnn nodded, smiling
reassuringly.
"I'll go unlock the
door."
Watching Joshua, JenniAnn
wished that she could run
out of the house and yell
to Ivy that Jesus was
inside. She believed
that Ivy would recognize
him but she wished she
could be absolutely
sure... for the girl's
sake but even more for
his. JenniAnn kept
watching as Andrew,
Kemara, Violeta, and Ivy
trooped in and the dogs
went berserk. Joshua
held open the door and
nearly disappeared behind
it.
"Welcome to New York!"
JenniAnn cried when she
got a good look at their
guest. "It's so
wonderful to see you,
Ivy! I missed you!"
The teenager ran to her
and hugged her, mindful of
the infant. "I'm so
glad to be here and to see
you and oh..." Ivy
peered down at
Belle. "JenniAnn...
she's even more beautiful
than in the photos."
"Thank you. Later
I'll let you hold her as
much as you want but
first..." JenniAnn
peered over at
Andrew. He looked as
anxious as she felt.
Andrew managed a calm
smile. "Ivy, we'd
like you to meet Joshua
Davidson. He's
playing Jesus in our Superstar
production." He
stepped nearer to Violeta
so Joshua could move past
him.
Joshua smiled warmly and
held out his hand.
"Hi Ivy. I'm so glad
you had a safe trip.
Welcome!"
Not moving, Ivy gawked at
the stranger. His
eyes... She knew
she'd seen them somewhere
before.
Lulu and Fawn returned to
their spot on either side
of Joshua.
Kemara held her breath,
waiting... hoping for
something to happen.
Violeta contemplated
taking Joshua's hand
herself. She hated
seeing him holding it out
and awkwardly waiting.
JenniAnn stared at Ivy,
willing her to see.
Andrew watched as Joshua
reverted to an old nervous
habit long abandoned.
Joshua withdrew his hand
and began to rub at the
birthmark on his right
temple.
Ivy's heart began to pound
in her chest. She
knew him. "Yeshua,"
she whispered.
Joshua's arms closed
around the girl when she
collapsed against
him.
Teary-eyed, the two angels
and the two women moved to
the kitchen so Ivy and
Joshua could reunite in
private.
Ivy at last managed to
pull away enough to look
into Joshua's face.
Beyond the eyes, she could
see traces of the
four-year-old he'd been so
many, many years
before. "I... I
can't believe it... it's
really you b-but... it
is."
Joshua brushed some tears
from her face. "I
meant it when I said I
would always be at your
side, Ivy. No matter
where you go, even... even
when you can't see
me. But... I'm very
glad you... you saw me."
Ivy nodded
vigorously. "Me...
me, too. You... you
held my hand in... in the
hospital."
"Yes."
"A-and left me the
lion..."
Joshua smiled. "Yes
and..."
"The hair sticks!
Violeta said a friend made
them but she always had a
weird look to her when she
did."
Joshua laughed.
"Also me."
Ivy
marveled at the extent to
which her life had been
benignly haunted by the
extraordinary man holding
her so gently. She
once again rested her head
against his
shoulder. "Thank
you. I... I love
you."
Joshua kissed her
hair. "I love you,
too. So much,
Ivy. And I promise
that later we'll talk,
just the two of us.
But right now... you've
had a long flight.
You're probably
hungry. And the
others are probably really
wanting to talk to
you. Let's go in the
kitchen. We'll get
you something to tide you
over until dinner."
Ivy was too overwhelmed to
say anything to
this. She took
Joshua's hand and let him
lead her into the kitchen.
Soon the room was filled
with the sound of the four
girls talking.
JenniAnn and Kemara took
turns filling Ivy in on
all that had occurred
since the fateful day that
Joshua Davidson had
arrived. Violeta
piped in, laughing over
all the near-slips and
awkward cover-ups she had
made.
As they talked, Andrew
watched Joshua make up a
plate for Ivy. He
refused any help, wanting
to do it on his own.
Soon Joshua had finished
and placed a sandwich and
other snacks in front of
Ivy. "Enjoy."
The teenager placed one
hand over Joshua's and
picked up the sandwich
with the other.
"It... it's just how I
like my sandwiches."
"I know."
A tear rolled down
Andrew's cheek upon
hearing the
exchange. The angel
of death thought back to
all those months ago when
he and Joshua had been in
the chapel at Our Lady of
Hope and he'd promised to
tell Ivy that Joshua loved
her. He had told
her. Now Joshua had
shown her. Ivy had
gone from feeling
orphaned,
incomprehensible, and like
she didn't have a friend
in the world to knowing,
feeling, and seeing that
she had a Friend and
Father who understood her
and loved her with a love
that knew no limits... the
same love He had for them
all.