The Gift of Love

Every year in the mall, there is a little booth with a Christmas tree next to it. On this tree are little Angel-shaped pieces of paper on which are written the wishes of one little boy or girl. One present, one simple present asked for by a child who is terminally ill. A present which might well be the last that child will ever get in their life.

One particular year, the wish of one Michael DeMarro, a 12 year old boy suffering from AIDS, was added to the tree at the mall. It was placed toward the middle of the tree, in plain view of anyone who came up to look at the tree. The women who worked the tree, however, knew that this boy's wish was most likely not going to be granted. They hoped and prayed that someone would come up, pick up Michael's wish, and grant it for this very sweet little child who had spent his entire life going in and out of the hospital. This year, their prayers would be answered.

The last day that the tree would be up, Michael's and a few other children's wishes were all that remained. Slowly, however, each of the others came off the tree and left with those who would go and purchase them until Michael's wish was all that was left. The women had all but given up faith that Michael would get his present, but they were wrong to give up so easily. For walking up at that very moment was a group of four teenage girls shopping for presents for their friends.

Christine Marriston, Nicole Gorritz, Jessica Berkman, and Jerry Collaré were walking around the mall, shopping for their friends. Each of the four girls was a senior in high school and all were eighteen (although Jessica would be turning nineteen that coming February), and each of the girls was more like the others than anyone else in the world. Jerry is, however, the one that notices the tree and sees that only one is left.

"Girls, look. There's only one of the angels left on the tree. C'mon, let's go get it," she said, pointing toward the tree. Fixing brown eyes on her friends, Jerry waited while they studied the tree for a moment.

"Yeah! We should do it!" Christine said, nodding her head enigmatically. The other girls murmured their agreement. Jerry grinned and nodded her head before the four of them walked over to the tree and smiled at the women working the booth.

"Well, guess we'll take this one, eh, Nikki?" Jessica asked, taking the little blue angel off of the tree and reading it. Her smile vanished and a sympathetic look came into her eyes as she passed the paper to Jerry.

"Michael DeMarro, age 12, suffering from AIDS. Wish: To feel loved for one day. Oh my..." Jerry said, bringing her hand to her chest.

"That is so sad. Ma'am, what can you tell us about this little boy?" Nikki asked, looking over at the women who were working the booth.

"Well, all we know about him is that he's wished for this every year since he was six and no one has ever taken his angel. He's spent basically his entire life in the hospital and he's about the sweetest little boy on the planet," one of the women, a stout African American, said, standing up and walking over to the girls.

"I know for a fact that he's always wanted to go to a Miami Dolphins game," the other woman said. "You might do that for him."

Jerry looked at the other girls and nodded. "I think we can do that. We'll take Michael to a football game. Don't tell him, ma'am. Let it be a surprise for him."

"Of course," the African American woman said, smiling. "It's wonderful that Michael's Christmas wish is finally going to come true."

*****

One week later, on Christmas day, Michael DeMarro awoke to find that all the other kids had gotten their presents but, once again, no one had tried to help him have his. Miss Brown and Miss Letiva, the two group leaders for the program which got them the presents, looked at him and smiled. Mike's amber eyes fixed on them sadly as he went over to the window to watch the people walking down the sidewalks of his city. Light brown, touseled hair fell into Mike's face as he sucked in the disappointment for one more year.

"Miss Brown," he said to the tall, blonde woman who stood just feet from him, "who are the Dolphins playing today?"

"I believe they're playing the Colts, Michael," Miss Brown replied, sitting down next to him. "Go on and get yourself cleaned up. It's not good to be unkempt on Christmas."

Michael nodded and got up to get dressed and cleaned. He looked down at the floor, so he missed the smile shared between Misses Brown and Miss Levita. Walking into his room, Mike got on his Zack Thomas jersey, some jeans, and put on his socks and sneakers. Entering the bathroom down the hall, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair before washing his hands and face. Then, he walked dejectedly back to the play room, where all the kids were having fun with their toys.

"Next year, I'm just going to ask for a toy...that way, I'll as least be pretty sure to get it," he mumbled, picking up one of the stuffed animals and cuddling it to his chest. This would be another sad Christmas.

*****

"Jessica! Nikki! Hurry up! You're going to a football game, not the gala of the stars! Pony-tail and clean face is fine!" Jerry called up the stairs. She and Christine were both ready; both had their brown hair up in a pony-tail, both wore jeans, and both wore Dolphins jerseys. The only difference is that Jerry's was a Chris Chambers while Christine had Randy McMichael.

"C'mon!" Christine shouted as well, putting her hand on her hips and rolling her eyes.

"We're coming, we're coming!" Jessica called back. A few moments later, she and Nikki stood at the top of the stairs; both decked out in orange and teal body paint. 'Go Dolphins' and 'Dolphins Kick Ass' was written on their arms and Nikki carried a poster board D while Jessica had a fence. "I'm glad they let us have front row seats," Jessica quipped. "Kinda pointless to have this stuff if you're not in the front..."

Jerry looked over the girls and laughed. "Ok, lather us up, too! We've got the posters, we need the paint. But hurry up! We need to leave in no more than ten minutes."

Nikki laughed and brought out her body paint. Handing Jessie the teal and taking the orange, they each did one half of one girl's faced and then switched. They painted 'Dolphins # 1' and 'Kick Ass Dolphins' on Jerry and Christine's arms. Soon, all four girls were decked out in Dolphin colors.

"C'mon, let's go!" Jerry said, picking up the keys to her car and putting the tickets in her purse. Taking hers and Christine's large sign that said 'Dolphins Whoop the Colts' with great pictures and designs all over it, she walked out the door and ran to the convertible.

Placing everything in the trunk, the four girls jumped in and they were off, headed for the DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

"So, Nikki, where'd you get the Ricky Williams jersey?" Jerry asked as she got on I-95 and headed south. "Did Jessie lend it to you and wear her Gadsen one?"

Nikki nodded and smiled before turning up the radio and shouting along to Greenday. The feeling of sheer kindness in their hearts was enough to keep them euphoric till the football game, at least.

"Hey girls, you know that we're not just in the front row, right? You know that I got us passes to have dinner with the teams after the game? When I was buying the tickets, I put the little blue angel on the counter to get out my cash and the lady said she could get us the passes for Michael. Of course, I agreed, right? So, we get to have dinner with the teams tonight!"

Christine, Nikki, and Jessie stared at Jerry in shock before breaking out into screams of excitement. They soon, however, saw the hospital and calmed down. Parking in the back and sneaking through the back door, as the two women had arranged, Brown and Letiva, their names were. Getting into an elevator, they went up to the floor where the Terminally Ill children stayed. Coming up to the door, the knocked and then opened it and walked in.

"Oh, hello girls! Welcome!" Miss Letiva said, smiling as the four girls walked into the room. All of the children stopped playing and looked up from their toys. Jerry scanned the room for a moment and found that her eyes settled on one little boy sitting by the window; the only one who didn't turn their way.

"Is that him?" she asked, pointing over toward where the boy sat.

"Yes," Miss Brown said, nodding. With a nod, the girls walked quietly over to Michael. Jerry, who had the angel in her hand, stood behind him and put the angel in front of his eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Michael!" the girls shouted happily, smiling and throwing Dolphins confetti all over him.

Michael had shot around happily when the Angel card he had filled out slipped in front of his eyes. Grinning madly as Nikki handed him a shirt she and Christine had made that said 'The Coolest Kid On Earth' and Jerry gave him a football autographed by the great Dan Marino, which her father had gotten to give to Mike. Finally, Jessica pulled out the tickets to the game and showed Michael that they would be going. Michael stared at the ticket, his eyes shining as if he had never had such a happy day in his life. The other children stared jealously as Michael got all this special treatment.

"C'mon Mike, we've got to get to the game," Nikki said, taking Michael's hand and leading him out of the room. The other three followed and as she left, Jerry told the women that he would be back by 7pm.

*****

By the start of the game, half an hour later, Mike and the girls were about as revved up as possible. They were right by the Dolphins' sidelines and had the best view of the entire stadium. Nikki and Jerry gave each other high-fives and then put on their Dolphins bandannas as the teams ran out onto the field. Watching as the Colts won the coin toss, Jerry ringed her hands around her mouth and shouted, "That's all you're winnin' tonight, guys!"

Looking over at Mike, Jerry winked and then gave him the sign she and Christine had made. Nikki had spent the trip down from the hospital painting the dolphins logo on Mike's face and it looked great; Nikki was a wonderful artist. As the game began, Mike's face lit up and he came to life suddenly, cheering along with the rest of the crowd when the kick-off return was stopped at the 11 yard line. The game was starting off well.

*****

By the end of the game, about three hours later, the Dolphins had romped the Colts, 35-10. All four girls and Michael were pumped up and Jessica had lost her voice for screaming so much. Jerry's voice was hoarse, but she still had it. The other three basically had their voices, but their throats hurt terribly.

Turning to Michael, Nikki smiled. "Ok Mike, we're going to hang out in a special place for an hour, or so, but then we're going to..."

"Oh, come on Nikki, he's not five! Tell him!" Christine said, smiling excitedly. "We're going into a waiting room to wait for an hour, or so, before we get to eat dinner with the Dolphins and the Colts. Jerry got the tickets for us."

Michael looked like he was on circuit over-load for a moment, he was so happy. "This has got to be the best Christmas present ever!" he shouted, running forward to hug all the girls, who hugged him back.

"Now, let's go out to the bathroom and wash this paint off of ourselves and stuff," Jessica said, walking over to the nearest bathroom. The other three girls walked in after her and Michael went into the men's side. Ten minutes later, the girls came out to find him waiting for them at one of the benches.

"Well, let's hurry up and wait," Jerry said, leading the other girls to the room where they were supposed to wait. In an hour, or thereabouts, the Dolphins and the Colts would walk into that room, make their introductions, and then let them on their bus to take them to the place where they ate after the Christmas game.

*****

"Whoa, it's Zack Thomas!" Mike shouted as the teams walked into the room, wearing civilian clothes. The girls stood up and smiled slightly as Mike stared up at his football idol.

"Hey Mike," Zack said, ruffling the kids hair with a grin. Mike's beaming smile afterward brought smiles to the rest of the team, who began to notice the girls in the room.

"Oh hey!" Jerry said, raising her hand and waving. "I'm Jerry."

"Hey, I'm Nikki!" Nikki grinned and did her usual half-wave.

"Christine," Christine said nodding.

"I'm Jessica! Nice to meet y'all," Jessie said in her usual endeering way.

In a pretty much unison greeting, each player said hey or hello, what's up, or how ya doin. Only one player stepped forward to shake anyone's hand.

"Hey, I'm Peyton Manning," he said, coming up to Jerry and offering a hand. Jerry smiled and took it.

"I'm well aware of that fact. The thing with being pro football players, a lot of people know who you are," she said, nodding.

"True," Peyton said before going on to introduce himself to the rest of the girls and Mike.

"Well," Nikki said, clapping and rubbing her hands together, "when do we eat?" That brought laughter to the room and murmurs of agreement.

"Now," Zack said. "We're heading out."

"Great!" Mike said, grinning. "Zack, can I sit next to you?"

Zack grinned. "Sure, buddy. You can sit next to me." That brought a giant smile to Mike's face that made the girls feel so good that they had done this for him.

"Well then, let's go," Peyton said, clapping his hands together. "Miss Jerry, woulds't thou like me to accompany you to our bus?"

Jerry chuckled. "Well, I kinda need to bring the car around..."

"Jerry, go! You're the football fanatic! We'll take care of the car!" Christine said. Jerry smiled and tossed her the keys.

"See y'all there, ladies!" She said, taking Peyton's extended arm and starting a very passionate argument about who was the greatest quarterback of all time.

*****

"Thank you guys so much!" Mike said as the girls walked him back to the Terminally Ill children's ward at the hospital. "You guys really made my wish come true!"

Jerry smiled. "You're welcome, Mike. Merry Christmas," she said, leaning down to give him a hug. Each of the girls did the same and Christine even kissed him on the cheek.

"Good night, Jerry, Nikki, Christine, and Jessica! Promise you'll visit me tomorrow?" Mike said, his eyes pleading.

"Of course, Mike. Good night and Merry Christmas! We love you very very much!" Jerry said, smiling softly. The way Mike's face lit up after that rivaled even when Zack Thomas had signed his game jersey and given it to him.

"Thank you," he said softly before running into the room and to his bed. Quietly, the girls said goodnight to Misses Brown and Letiva and walked out to their car. Jumping in, they started the engine and drove off, feeling better than they had ever felt before.

*****

"Hey Miss Brown! Miss Letiva! We're here to see Michael!" Jessica said, smiling. "We thought we'd take him outside for a pic..."

"We're sorry, girls, but Michael passed away in his sleep last night," Miss Letiva said quietly.

"Nic," Jessica continued, her face devoid of any emotion.

"Died? What do you mean died? He was just fine yesterday!" Jerry cried out, becoming frantic.

Miss Brown shook her head. "No, he wasn't. His AIDS had gotten progressively worse over the last few months..."

"No, no this can't be happening," Christine said, her eyes tearing up. "Not Michael!"

Miss Letiva nodded. "Yes, it's true, but believe me girls, you made him happier in those 7 hours than he had ever been in his life. Your Christmas present was what was certainly on his mind when he died and your kindness will live on for a long time."

Jerry nodded, the emotion draining out of her face. "Yes. He was happy. He knew he was loved. That was his wish, you know, to be loved. And, he knew he was loved."

"Yeah," Nikki said, nodding. "Yeah."

"Let's get out of here and go down to the beach, or something. We should just go down to the beach..."

Jerry shook her head. "No. We have to get to the Dolphins training camp place and tell them. And, I've got Peyton's number. We have to tell them. Michael deserves to have them at his...funeral. Come on, let's go talk to them," she said, turning around and heading out of the room, followed behind by the others.

As they reached their car and got in, Jerry looked up at the sky and envisioned Michael up there, looking down at them. Smiling softly, she kissed her hand and sent the kiss up to the clouds. "We love you, Michael DeMarro! We love you!" she cried out, knowing with all her heart that he had heard her and that he knew. "We love you," she said again, quieter this time, as she turned the ignition and they drove off toward the Dolphins' camp.