1)
Nick burst through the door with a wet breeze, bouncing against the wall in his rush. With him came a growing puddle; rivulets poured out of his unkempt hair, off his clothes, out of the tops of his boots. Jess thought he looked like one of those bearded seals at the zoo, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "What on earth were you doing out there in this weather?"
Nick had shucked his jacket, but his shirt and pants were soaked through, and it was clearly going to be a process to get out of the boots. He grunted, and Jess turned back to her mixing bowl. "Do you ever think we should move somewhere more temperate? Like, I don't know, one of the deserts in Arizona?"
Nick, half listening, perked up. Dessert was his favorite meal, and by this time of year he was always hungry. "How long until it's ready?"
"What's ready?"
"Dessert...?"
This time Jess couldn't stop herself from snickering; Nick was always thinking with his stomach. He was a good man, but the first thing everyone saw was his paunch - then his beard, which had already started to fluff in the warm kitchen. But he worked hard, and even though he kept to himself people spoke highly of him. Nick tried again: "Are those chocolate?"
"Pumpkin." Nick was no fan of pumpkin, but he knew Jess was teasing. Nobody, but nobody, made pumpkin cookies at Christmas - he'd just have to wait and see. "You ought to change out of those wet clothes before dinner."
Dinner was simple, as it always was by this time of year. It was tough to keep food on the table, what with Nick's seasonal job and his insatiable generosity. The end of the year always had taxes due, and winter clothes, and food to buy, and of course the Christmas gifts. It was easy to worry about how it would all work out, and especially so with Nick having been out of work for so much of the past year. Jess sighed.
"Nick, have you considered pulling it back this year? The kids won't mind, if they even notice. Can't we just take it easy on the presents?" Jess already knew the answer, but she at least wanted to hear it.
"Oh, no, no. We can't do that; the kids expect to get something from us, they would be heartbroken, and anyway you know work picks up at the end of the year. I know we don't have a lot, but we've never gone hungry." Nick did a little belly dance and Jess smiled despite herself. She knew he was right, they had the same discussion every year and every year there ended up being just enough. But it was always hard - hard to look at the accounts and see so few digits, hard to imagine they would have enough this time, hard to trust that things would work out.
Nick gave Jess a big hug and then he cleared the table, and over the next days they did it again, and again, and again.
2)
Nick had found, pressed, and donned his uniform, but it was already too cold. "Dear, have you seen my jacket?" Jess pointed absently to the closet, where Nick was certain the jacket had not been a moment before. He shrugged it on. "How do I look?"
Jess turned and frowned. "Perfect," she said unconvincingly. "You might have lost a little weight, you should really wear a belt."
Nick grinned. "I'm everything you ever wanted, a nice slim fellow in uniform." But he got the belt.
Nick hurried out to the van with his umbrella, but he needn't have bothered - the rain had finally let up, and the moon was just cracking over the horizon. He went around the front to check the lights, especially the front fog light with its huge red bulb. He fussed about in the back, making sure everything was tied down. Content that everything was ready, Nick opened up the schedule, checked over it one last time, and put the van's eight cylinders into motion. "Good night!" yelled Jess toward the door, but Nick was already gone.
With Nick out of the house Jess started preparations for the friends and family coming on Christmas morning. She started up the Christmas music, vacuumed the carpet, pulled down the nice dishes and pitchers and spoons. She changed the towels, swept the kitchen. Finally she laid out the cookies, and too late realized there was no more milk. It was too late to go to the store, tonight of all nights; there was nothing to be done for it until morning. Jess pulled out her book, a classic about a horse and a boy, and settled down into her reading chair.
A few hours later Jess awoke to the clatter of tire chains and the van's snorting exhaust. It was nearly morning! Soon the kids would arrive, and their families, and they would need milk with their cookies, and they would be so disappointed if she didn't have it all ready! She sprang up, desperately looking for her wallet - when Nick appeared carrying a pitcher filled with pure white. Jess thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, such a big jug would be enough for everyone! She ran to hug Nick - he always knew just what she wanted! - and dashed around the room making final adjustments. Satisfied everything was finally perfect, Jess collapsed back into her chair.
"So, how did it go last night?" she eventually thought to ask.
"Everything just like you'd hope - one, two, three, done. And everyone we ran into was so generous - so much milk, so many cookies, so many carrots that they left out for us! I drank and ate and drank and ate and there is still so much left for later. There is so much I don't see how it will ever run out - I think we must be set for life!" Nick gestured excitedly toward the drive like the wall was a window, and even though Jess couldn't see she was absolutely certain he was right.
Prayer: God our provider, thank You for St. Nicholas' example of prodigious generosity, and how so many centuries later it still reminds the world of Your unquenchable supply of good gifts. Thank You for Your grace and sustenance throughout this past year, and the generosity Your Spirit has inspired in us. Even as we are distracted by the world and its cares remind us this Advent that You are giving us the most precious gift, Jesus, and that we can afford to offer ourselves unquenchingly to those around us.