A 5 year old girl crept into her parents' room trying to suppress a giggle.
The little girl launched herself on to her parents' bed, "Mommy, Daddy wake up," she whispered shaking Opal a little bit.
Opal shifted a little bit, but didn't really wake up.
"Wake up, I wanna open presents," Evie continued to jiggle the bed.
"Evie, what did I say about waking us up early?" Opal asked.
"But Mommy, it's Christmas," the child protested.
Opal raised her head from the pillow, "Alright, go see if Santa ate your cookies we'll be there in a little bit."
Evie crawled off the bed and scampered into the living room. Bolin stirred next to her. Gradually, he opened his eyes and came to consciousness.
"Hey, sweetie," he said sleepily.
"Hey," Opal snuggled into his chest.
"So what's the agenda for today?" Bolin asked.
"Well for the day opening presents obviously and I'll make some more cookies for Christmas dinner at my parents' house," Opal said getting out of bed. "Come on, Evie's waiting for us." Bolin rolled reluctantly out of bed.
Opal and Bolin made their way to the family room and were greeted by their daughter holding out an empty plate.
"Santa ate my cookies!" Evie exclaimed.
"He did? He didn't save any for me," Bolin pouted.
"Silly Daddy, they're not for you," the little girl giggled hugging her father. "Can we open presents now, Mommy, please?"
"Hold on I need the camera," Opal said dashing off to the bedroom to find her camera.
Evie tore into her presents when Opal was ready. The parents treasured the look on their daughter's face when she opened her presents. It was worth all the holiday craziness in buying presents to see their little girl happy. Trying to keep the unwrapped presents hidden from curious little fingers was tricky also. When the presents were wrapped and put under the tree, Evie would poke at the wrapping and the bags.
"This is the bestest, bestest, Christmas ever! Thank you," Evie hugged her parents.
The rest of the morning the family settled down to watch Christmas movies. Evie curled up between her parents. Included in some of the Christmas movies were classics like A Christmas Story and A Christmas Carol.
After Tiny Tim said his famous line "God bless us, everyone" Opal said, "I've got to make cookies for tonight, want to help me?"
"Yes!" Evie responded eagerly.
Mother and daughter got out the ingredients to make the sugar cookies. With Opal's help, Evie mixed the ingredients and then used cookie cutters to make different shapes. Opal put the cookies in the oven to heat up.
"When these cookies are done and have cooled, we can decorate them," Opal said.
"So who all is coming to the get together tonight at your parents' house?" Bolin asked.
"Well pretty much everybody, so it's going to be a full house," Opal replied checking on the cookies.
Awhile later the cookies were done and once they were Evie used an array of colorful sprinkles to decorate the cookies. Later that day, the little family got ready to go out for Christmas dinner. They pulled up in front of a large mansion with Christmas decorations all over it. Upon entering the house, they were greeted by Suyin, who enveloped them in a hug.
"Merry Christmas, Mom," Opal said kissing her cheek.
"Merry Christmas to you my dear, I'm so glad to see all of you," Suyin replied.
"Grandma, I made cookies," Evie held out a tray of cookies.
"You did? They look delicious," Suyin said.
Evie ran off to play with the other children, while Bolin and Opal made their way to the family room to converse with the other adults. Opal wasn't kidding when she said that it was a full house. Her brothers were there, Huan was home from art school, the twins from university, and Baatar jr. was with his wife, Kuvira. Lin and Toph were there along with the rest of their friends.
Dinner was a noisy affair with the children at one table and the adults at the other table. Lively conversation took place. One of the dishes was kale, the food of Bolin and Opal's love.
"Every time I eat raw kale, I'll think of you," Bolin said to his wife recalling when they first met in college.
"That's sweet," she said holding the kale out to him, but then yanking it away before he could take a bite. Seeing his fallen expression, she gave it back to him and then kissed his nose.
After dinner, it was gift exchanging time. Kuvira and Baatar Jr. went first as a request. The young woman handed Baatar jr. a wrapped box. After finally getting all the wrapping off the box, Baatar jr. opened it and pulled out three stuffed badgermoles, 2 big and 1 miniature. At first Baatar jr. was confused, but then his face spread into a smile.
"You really are?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, I'm pregnant," Kuvira affirmed and then kissed him not caring that there were people watching.
Everyone started to talk at once, congratulating the young couple. Su brought her hands to her mouth in surprise and had tears of joy in her eyes.
"That was a creative way to tell him the news," Jinora commented.
"I wish I would have come up with a creative way to tell Bolin when I was pregnant," Opal replied to Jinora's comment.
Following the gift exchange, people started to go home. Wishes of a "Merry Christmas" were exchanged between parting guests.
"I suppose we ought to be going home too," Opal said. "Where's Evie?"
Su cocked her head toward the Christmas tree where the little girl was curled asleep under the tree, clutching her presents. Bolin lifted the child into his arms and carried her out to the car.
The couple arrived home and promptly tucked Evie into bed with hugs and kisses.
"Another Christmas come and gone, I loved your present to me," Bolin said holding up an ugly Christmas sweater. Opal had given Bolin a sweater and in turn he gave her some green earrings and a bracelet.
"I still have one more present for you," Bolin said holding up a piece of mistletoe.
Opal smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. Bolin deepened the kiss by pressing his body against hers until she was against the wall. Opal ran her hands through his hair and over his body. Bolin moved down south to kiss Opal's neck. The two lovers eventually made their way to the bed.
"Merry Christmas, sweetie," Bolin whispered into Opal's ear. Opal smiled in response as she was enveloped in his arms.