It was Christmas Eve. The day before the birth of Jesus.

We had chosen that day to have Wade baptized at the Mary Mediatrix Cathedral. At the same time, we had a lot of friends and family over for our housewarming party.

SInce most of our guests chose to skip the church ceremony and go directly to our new address, they were there ahead of us. We had to park our car at the end of the block and walk our way under the sweltering heat to our house, with our baby boy in tow.

After a hearty lunch of lechon baka, kaldereta and other cholesterolic dishes, we toured some of our friends around the house and were secretly pleased to hear positive reviews. Then i remembered that I forgot to pick up the dessert! So i hastily got my keys and rushed to get some, hopefully before everyone noticed.

Dinner was at Lola Salud’s with family. We binged some more on lechon baboy and Niño’s delightful cooking. Brandy, Beer and Magic Sing made stars of Cagases as we sang our way through the night.

Just before midnight, we went home to await our first Christmas at our new house. We turned on all the lights to ward off bad luck and honked the carhorns three times for good measure. By then, our two precious babies were sound asleep, oblivious to the sound of the firecrackers outside.

It was one fine day. A new beginning for us and for Christianity. The stars on the clear sky never looked brighter.