Felix had just about had it. His sisters and brother really knew how to ruin an afternoon in the snow.

"Stay back, Felix," ordered Cynthia.

"You will wreck our snowman!" warned Phillip.

"You wreck everything, Felix," complained Teresa.

Felix felt like kicking their stupid old snowman. He would have, too, but Mrs. Jeffers called him to her back door. He smeared a couple of half-frozen tears from his cheek so she would not know he had been crying.

"Think you can help me roll out some cookie dough?" she asked, handing Felix a big rolling pin.

"Sure," said Felix, jumping up on the step stool that Mrs. Jeffers kept for him. A mountain of dark dough sat on the counter amid white sprinkles of flour.

"What kind are you making?" asked Felix.

"Gingerbread," said Mrs. Jeffers, patting flour onto the rolling pin. "They are for my brother William," she said, smiling. "He looks forward to them every Christmas."

Thump, thump! Felix banged the rolling pin hard against the mountain of dough. "I would not give cookies to my brothers or sisters," he grumbled. "They are mean!"

"So was William," chuckled Mrs. Jeffers. "We fought like cats and dogs. But he is still pretty special."

Felix stared at Mrs. Jeffers. It was hard to imagine her fighting with anyone.

Mrs. Jeffers got out the cookie cutters. She began cutting out boys, and Felix set to work cutting out gingerbread girls.

Next, Felix stuck raisin eyes and cherry smiles on each gingerbread child. They all looked like baby Joseph, his younger brother. Joseph was a problem, too—eating Felix’s crayons and stealing all the attention.

"I am not even little enough to be important," said Felix.

"That itty-bitty brother of yours is crowding you, is he?" Mrs. Jeffers asked as she shoved a cookie sheet into the oven. Then she got out another batch of dough.

"Yes," said Felix.

While Mrs. Jeffers flattened the dough, Felix pinched off a tiny piece of it. It felt like baby Joseph’s toes. Felix could remember playing with him that morning. Joseph was not a problem then. He was as cuddly soft as gingerbread dough.

Felix and Mrs. Jeffers began to cut out trees. They reminded Felix of presents, which reminded him of his sister. "Cynthia made a surprise for me and put it under the tree," he said, smiling.

"Oh, my!" said Mrs. Jeffers. "I wish I had a sister as nice as that."

Felix started to cut out rabbits. They looked like Phillip’s rabbit. "Sometimes Phillip lets me hold Whiskers," he said.

"Really!" said Mrs. Jeffers. "William never did let me hold his pets. He was always afraid I would drop them."

Felix cut out teddy bears and thought of Teresa’s stuffed bear, Jones. "Some nights when I get scared, Teresa lets me sleep with Jones," he remembered gratefully.

"Hmmm," said Mrs. Jeffers. "William never did that for me, either."

"I guess I am pretty lucky," admitted Felix.

"I guess you are lucky!" said Mrs. Jeffers, placing the beautiful gingerbread cookies in a box. "You came in singing the blues, and now you have turned those blues into lovely gingerbread cookies for your family! Here you go, sweetie," she said, placing the box in Felix’s hands.

"For me? Wow, thanks, Mrs. Jeffers!" said Felix. "But what about William?"

"You come back tomorrow, and we will make another batch for William," said Mrs. Jeffers.

"You bet!" promised Felix, leaping out the door. He hurried home to surprise his sisters and brothers with the yummy gingerbread cookies. After all, they were pretty special.