Thought you'd fool me, did you?

Here it is, my second favorite Christmas story. (First is Jonathan Toomey, of course.) It was written by Pearl S. Buck in 1955.

You know the story - they are poor farmers. The boy wants to get his father something really special for Christmas, but he doesn't have any money to spend. Then he thinks of the perfect gift to surprise his dad on Christmas morning!

He does all the chores early, all by himself, only they don't seem like chores this time. He just makes it back to bed before his father wakes up, and then he lies there, breathing fast, knowing that any minute, his father will discover the surprise. And when his Dad comes back . . .

His father was laughing, a queer, sobbing sort of a laugh. "Thought you'd fool me, did you?" His father was standing beside his bed. "It's Christmas, Dad!" He found his father and clutched him in a great hug. He felt his father's arms go around him. It was dark, and they could not see each other's faces. "Son, I thank you. Nobody ever did a nicer thing."

I just love it! And yes, it made me cry.