Jose would always remember the year he played Joseph in the Christmas pageant at church. He was nine. Angelina played Mary. He was so nervous. His mother thought it was because he had a speaking part and it would be in front of the whole congregation and guests, but that wasn’t it. He’d admired Angelina since the first grade, but after she punched him for stealing a kiss at recess, he’d yet to figure out how to get close to her again. They lived on opposite sides of town, so they never saw each other outside of school, and his parents had made it very clear if he got into trouble at school, he’d be in twice as much trouble at home. He couldn’t risk her punching him again — the first time he’d been lucky nobody else was around. What if a teacher or the principal saw him? Or if another student reported him?

Then, this fall, Angelina’s family had started going to their church. They were in catechism class together. So far, they hadn’t had much time together. Until they had to rehearse for the Nativity pageant.

Rehearsals went just fine. Then, at the pageant, Jose decided to take a chance. No way she’d punch him in front of the whole congregation. So, he said his lines, then he ad-libbed a kiss on the cheek for Angelina, er…Mary. He was supposed to be her husband. That’s what husbands did, right?

Wrong. She punched him in the gut and doubled him over.

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