From Our House to Bob's Conclusion

For the rest of the day, everyone was festive. There was talking and telling stories and memory sharing amongst the adults; there were games, contests and singing amongst the children; and eventually there was Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner.

After the early lunch, Bob went upstairs and removed his bathrobe. When he came back down, Larry, Petunia and all the children were dressed to go play in the snow. Even other adults were ready to go out, holding up their sleds.

And they did just that. Everyone headed out to the small forest and hills behind Bob and Larry's houses, and began a sledding contest that lasted nearly three hours. Pictures were taken, music was played, laughs were collected. There was a snowball fight and snowmen building.

When they came back in, everyone gathered in the living room and entrance and watched Bob open the mountain of gifts he had received. He read every card and thanked everyone for their wonderful gifts.

Then they sang carols together. The children sang the songs from their Christmas Pageant while Archibald played the piano – he had played in Bob's place for the Pageant. Afterwards, they insisted that Bob played a few tunes as everyone sang along. And then Larry and a few others, including Mr. Lunt, sang silly songs and then began a game of mimes – which happens to be a very funny game when you have no arms or legs to mime with. There were loads of laughter and plenty of smiles.

While some of the townspeople that Bob did not personally know incredibly well went back home around four that evening to go celebrate the rest of the day with their own relatives, all of Bob's dearest friends – from Larry to Mr. Nezzer, the entire original Veggietales Gang – promised to stay until whenever they were tired. And for all Bob knew, that could be hours from then.

They would have dinner around six o'clock. It was nearing five when those who had cooked the meal went to check on their things and begin preparations. The children passed around more of their cookies and continued to share stories about Bob's generosity and even Larry's spoofs. The duo had become celebrities in their little town since the day they had first founded the Veggietales Bible Program.

When the sky began to darken, the sea of Christmas lights on Bob's house and all around his yard became visible. Everyone went outside to marvel the work and congratulating Bob on having the brightest house on the block.

Bob often joked about it later on; the reason his was the brightest was because it was the only one with lights in the entire town!

When dinner was almost ready, Bob went upstairs to be alone for a minute or two; he wanted to contemplate on the day's events while drinking some more of Larry's hot chocolate.

He stared out the window of the small library room he had upstairs. This room was one of the two that looked out over the front yard of his house. Across the street were hills that stretched for miles and forests in the horizon. The ground was draped in white snow that glistened in the lights from Bob's yard or the moonlight that was just breaking through the clouds above that had begun to role in.

And within seconds, white snowflakes began to fall from the sky above. They floated down slowly and gently, without a breeze to blow them by.

Bob stared at them in silence and realized that Larry was right; a gentle snowfall really did make Christmas more beautiful.

The sound of the door creaking told Bob that someone was coming in. He continued to stare out the window without looking back; he knew who had come to see him.

Larry stopped beside him and stared out the window as well. He grinned. "Told you it would look pretty," he said.

Bob rolled his eyes amusingly and chuckled softly while putting down his hot chocolate.

Larry looked at him. "Whatcha thinkin' about?" he asked.

Bob shrugged. "Everything," he replied. "The lights, the manger, the songs, the gifts, the cards… the people…" He shook his head in disbelief. "It really made me realize how much I've truly got to be thankful for. And how much… I would have lost, had I sat through this day feeling sorry for myself… God really does work wonders on Christmas."

Larry smiled and stared out the window again, glad to have his best friend back to normal. "He sure does," he whispered.

Bob looked up at him. "Thank you, Larry," he said.

Larry looked at him, pretending to look confused. "For what?" he wondered.

Bob laughed softly. "Come on, Lare," he said. "I know you're the one that was behind all of this." He stared out the window again. "I mean, all the decorations, the neighbours coming over… the cabbage eating squirrels…" He raised an eyebrow and looked at the cucumber sarcastically. "Petunia was just trying to keep me from looking out the window, wasn't she?"

Larry choked on a laugh.

"Did she know I didn't believe her?"

"Well, I knew that," Larry replied. "But what else could we say to keep you from looking out the window?"

Bob laughed again and watched the snow fall down. He then pulled out the Bible Larry had given him and handed it back to his best friend. "I did listen to His story this time," he said. "But I was so deep in my own problems, I didn't let Him do any healing… I must have made things more difficult for you when you tried to cheer me up."

"You were always difficult to understand," Larry replied. "I was just worried to see my buddy so down. You never looked that sick or that sad around Christmas before. Everyone was worried for you."

Bob looked out the window once more. "But today really made me realize that no matter how far my parents are from me, I'll always have a bunch of other friends here who are willing to cheer me up," he went on. "No matter the distance between here and California… I'm never alone on Christmas Day… not even for one second… Christmas was meant to be celebrated with those you love, not only to forget the difficult times, but to remember the reason we celebrate in the first place." He looked at the floor. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son… Not only for everlasting life, but because He wanted to show us just how much He truly loved us, and how much we truly are part of His family… If only I had remembered that, then maybe spending this Christmas without my parents again would have been easier to bare."

"We're not perfect; we worry about silly things all the time," Larry replied. "God's probably up there laughin' at us whenever we start worrying about the silliest things ever…"

"And then you tried to keep me from humiliating myself that way…"

"No; I just wanted to have you realize that you'll never be alone on Christmas. Not only because I'm always gonna be here, but because God will always be there too. That's what being part of a family is all about, Bob; we're never alone. I just wanted you to see that… And finally give you a Christmas gift I was sure you'd like."

Bob chuckled softly. "Well, it wasn't on my list," he said, "But it was definitely the best gift I've ever gotten." He looked up at Larry again and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Larry. This turned out to be the best Christmas I've ever had in my life, and it was all thanks to your perseverance and friendship… Thank you so much."

Larry smiled warmly. "You're welcome, Buddy," he said.

They both fell silent and continued to watch the snow fall outside and the lights glow on the roof and in the yard. For a while, neither of them wanted to go back down to the noisy laughter and music downstairs.

But then suddenly, Jerry's questioning voice pulled them back down to Earth:

"Hey," the gourd's voice announced from the floor below. "There's two tomatoes out there, walkin' up to the house."

"I've never seen them before," Petunia added.

"Who do you suppose they are?" Jimmy wondered.

Bob and Larry had already frozen when Jerry had spoken. As the music stopped and everyone began whispering curiously, the tomato and cucumber quickly shared astonished looks and immediately leaned towards the window to get a better view of the ground below.

Because of the roof, it was impossible for them to see the porch. But they did see a stylish limousine that was parked just outside the front yard of the house. Two green onions were busy unloading the few suitcases from the trunk.

Bob gaped in surprise.

"Hey; there's only one tomato couple I know who are rich enough to drive around in a snazzy car like that!" Larry announced.

Bob gasped softly and immediately dashed out of the room. Larry, grinning excitedly, turned and ran after him.

The Veggies were whispering excitedly amongst themselves as the two tomatoes Jerry had spoken of earlier walked into the house while greeting everyone they met. The man had grey hair and a grey beard and moustache. He was wearing a bowler hat on his head. The woman had white hair that was tied in a bun and had reading glasses over her nose. She wore a white knitted throw around her.

Bob and Larry hastily hopped down the stairs while everyone gathered around to see the newcomers.

The man chuckled softly while looking about. "Goodness; he never said he had the whole town living in here," he whispered to his wife.

Bob leaped over the last two steps and ran into the hallway. "Mom? Dad?" he said in surprise as Larry landed behind him.

The two tomatoes looked and smiled brightly. "Hello there, Bob!" the man said cheerfully.

"Merry Christmas, Robert," the woman added sweetly. Both had heavy English accents.

Bob looked at both of them in confusion. "What are you two doing here?" he asked.

His mother laughed. "Why else, silly?" she replied. "To celebrate Christmas with you!"

"B-but Dad had a case to tend to."

Bob's father nodded solemnly. "Yes, I did," he replied. He looked at Bob with gentle eyes and smiled warmly. "But I thought thoroughly about it and came to the conclusion that missing a case was not as dreadful as missing spending Christmas with our only son."

Bob stared at him in wonder while some of the neighbours "awed" softly.

"So we got on the earliest plane we could get on Christmas Day and flew straight up here to Illinois to spend the next two weeks with the boy that we haven't seen in over ten years!" Mrs. Tomato added excitedly. She smiled brightly at her son. "And now we're here! Merry Christmas, Bob!"

Bob finally broke away from his surprise trance and smiled. He immediately ran up to his parents and embraced them like he had never done so before. The children cheered happily and shook bells in the air.

Junior leaned over to Larry. "I guess Bob's Christmas turned out to be perfect after all!" he said.

Larry smiled back and then hopped over to his best friend.

After Bob had managed to break free from his mother's shower of kisses, his father looked up at Larry and gasped in surprise. "Good Heavens!" he exclaimed. "Is that your friend Larry Cucumber?"

Larry smiled proudly and nodded. "It sure is, Mr. Tomato!" he replied.

"Well, he's certainly grown since the last time we saw him! Just look how tall he is, Dear; certainly overshadows Bob completely!"

The house filled with laughter as Bob made a grimace. Larry laughed as Bob stuck out his tongue.

"Are you two still adventuring together?" Mrs. Tomato wondered while looking at her son.

Bob smiled back. "We teach Sunday school together for the children of this town," he replied.

Pastor George took the opportunity to push his way through the crowd and walk up to the tomatoes. "And what a splendid job they've both done," he said. "Bob is the official Storyteller of this town, Mr. and Mrs. Tomato. His generosity certainly has no end, and the children look up to him like a hero… and Larry makes a wonderful companion. You two should be proud to have such a boy as Bob."

Mrs. Tomato smiled at him while her husband nodded and looked at Bob. "We most certainly are, Good Sir," he said.

Bob smiled back.

Junior hopped up to them and squeezed between Bob and Larry. He smiled brightly at the two tomatoes. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Tomato!" he greeted. "My name's Junior Asparagus! I'm Bob and Larry's little buddy! They're the best teachers I've ever had! They tell great stories; is it true that you told Bob that God made him special and that He loves him very much?"

Bob's father laughed and looked at his son again. "So you have been using that catchline, eh?" he said.

Bob shrugged. "The kids love it," he replied.

"And it has a nice ring to it too," Larry added.

Mr. Tomato chuckled softly before looking at Junior. "Yes, Lad," he said. "It most certainly is true."

Junior smiled back and looked at Bob. "I can see where you get your wisdom from, Bob," he whispered.

While Bob looked at the boy, Mrs Tomato sighed loudly and looked at all the Veggies present. "Bless me, Robert," she said, "But I do hope that you've been taking good care of yourself. You felt a little on the cold side."

"He just had a bit of a… cold streak," Larry joked, making a few Veggies laugh.

"Larry!" Bob exclaimed, only making everyone laugh even more.

His parents did as well. "Well, at least we know you two have not changed very much in personality," Mr. Tomato replied.

"Do you two share this house together?" Mrs. Tomato wondered.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Tomato," Larry replied. "I live just next door to him. But we do most of everything else together. Isn't that right Bob?"

"Well, I do hope you haven't found another mud hill to slide down again; or else I may need to move here and clean my boy's clothes all over again!"

"Mom, come on!" Bob moaned, making a few other people laugh again.

His mother giggled and looked at the faces around her again. "But I do see several faces here, Dear," she said. "Unless they all live under the same roof, I would assume they are the here for a Christmas party." She looked at her son again. "Tell me, Robert; would they all be your neighbours?"

Bob looked at all the Veggies that were still present. Everyone, including Larry and Junior, smiled back at him warmly.

Bob smiled in reply and looked at his mother again. "No," he said. "This… is my family."

Mrs. Tomato smiled back and nodded gently. "God's bless you with much, my boy," she said softly. "I was right never to worry about you. You've become such a fine young man."

"Good thing you haven't forgotten anything I taught you," his father added. "I'm very proud of you, Bob. I do hope our Heavenly Father continues to bless you and keep you."

Bob chuckled softly and leaned against Larry and Junior. "No need to worry about that, Dad," he replied. "As long as God's around, I won't ever need to worry about being left alone again."

His parents smiled back until Mr. Tomato cleared his throat and looked about hastily. "Well, enough dawdling!" he exclaimed. "I had a long trip here and I'm quite famished! I believe that it's time to eat Christmas dinner, no? Unless I'm mistaken, I can smell turkey in the kitchen!"

Larry giggled uncontrollably.

"Oh, Dad," Bob laughed.

"Come, come, Lad!" Mr. Tomato insisted as he pushed his boy forward and had him lead the way to the kitchen. "Let's start this meal and then you can all tell me what good my boy's been doing for you! I want to hear everything from the start!"

"Bob!" Junior shouted as he and everyone else followed them off. "Do you think you, Larry and I could sing that song we practiced together after the meal? Mr. Archibald knows the notes on piano! It could be a Christmas gift to your parents!"

"That would be a great idea, Junior," Bob agreed.

"Okay, Veggies!" Larry exclaimed. "Who wants some turkey?"



(For Unto Us a Child is Born)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzsYZd…