Merry Christmas to all!
**Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Bruce Springsteen**
Halsey was scratching at the door, Frankie was mashing a banana into his morning porridge with his spoon, and Kara had just sworn after taking a big swig of her coffee only to find out it was freezing cold, when the phone rang.
"Yo hot mama, it's your mother." Vince called from the living room. He had arrived from Kansas three days ago to spend the holidays. Initially he'd insisted on staying somewhere else, but Kara wouldn't hear of it. They had six bedrooms in this monstrosity of a house. Vince might as well use one of them, she'd insisted. Danny watched her plunk the coffee back down with a sigh as she waved a hand for him to pass the kitchen handset across the scarred table. At least she wasn't insisting on getting up for every little thing anymore.
"Hey mom." She twirled a glossy strand of dark hair around her finger as she chatted with her mother. Ever since they'd had the 3D ultrasound thing and found out the baby was a girl, he'd envisioned her having that silky hair. Of course, that brought on anxiety attacks about trying to brush that hair and put in bows and other little girl things. Sometimes he could barely manage four and a half year old Frankie, never mind a girl. What the heck was he going to do with a little girl? Still, he couldn't wait to meet her.
Across the table, Kara leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "No mom, not today." She rubbed her hands over the peak of her belly, smoothing the worn tee shirt she'd worn to bed over her round form. She frowned when she caught him looking. She kept insisting that she looked and felt like a whale. It was true, she certainly had a new shape, but she probably also didn't realize what stretching that shirt over her plump breasts like that was doing to him. He hadn't realized what glorious bounty he'd been cheated out of last time around until she hit the five month mark and stopped telling him they were sore. He got up and reached for the coffee pot. "Yeah, I know mom. Doc says there's no reason to believe she'll come early. Still, I'm trying to take it easy when I can." She smiled when he set the fresh cup in front of her. They'd had to switch to decaf, but some habits couldn't be broken.
"Nana!" Frankie figured out who was on the phone and began waving his sticky hands. "Tell Nana 'bout my parade! Can you come? Can you come to my school Nana?"
Kara laughed even as she said "Sorry mom, he just doesn't seem to get the idea of an ear piece. Let me put him on speaker." She handed the phone back to Danny and he pressed the speaker button on the phone base.
Debbie's cheerful voice filled the kitchen. "Frankie my boy! How are you kiddo?"
The little boy waved his spoon in excitement and Danny saw Kara cringe as a glob of fruity oatmeal landed on the wall behind his chair. He got up to grab a sponge before she had the chance. Better to head her off when she was distracted than get in an argument with her about doing too much. "Nana! I get wear my Halloween costume to school and be in a parade. Can you come? Can you come?"
Debbie laughed. "Of course. As long a it doesn't rain in the next few days, we'll be bringing in the soy early next week. Then I'll be headed back to visit you and help your mama get ready for your sister to arrive." At the mention of his sister, Frankie scrunched up his face in displeasure. "I'll be there before Halloween. I'm making your costume, remember?"
Frankie looked to Kara in alarm. "Does Nana know which one Rubble is? I have to be Rubble 'cause Benny is gonna be Chase and we can't be the same." He nodded his head emphatically and Danny had to bite back a laugh a he watched his wife roll her eyes.
"Don't you remember sending Nana a picture buddy?" He prompted.
Frankie looked blank for a moment but then his messy face split in the grin that Kara always said reminded her of himself. "Oh yeah. 'Member that picture Nana? I want to look like that."
"You will. You will. I've got to talk to Mama now. Be good kiddo."
"I will Nana."
Danny handed the phone back to Kara and she flipped it off speaker. As he grabbed a washcloth to clean up the oatmeal monster he heard her sigh. "Yes, I really did mean it when I said I wanted the Christmas lists for the kids by the start of November." She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a move he knew meant she was gearing up to argue about something. "Yes of course I'm serious mom." She stood and brought her plate to the sink while listening to something Debbie was saying. "Yeah, I know, but I had no warning that Frankie was going to come so early either. I just want to get the shopping done and squared away early, just in case."
Her face was getting red and he knew Debbie was probably telling her to relax a little and let someone else take care of things. But he knew that was exactly the last thing that would work with Kara. "Hey, can I talk to your mom for a minute?" He interrupted.
Kara's beautiful eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Hold on mom." She put her hand over the receiver. "What about? Don't think you're going to gang up on.."
He took the phone from her hand. "I'm not ganging up on you. I need to talk to her about your present." Kara huffed but she turned to the sink and began washing dishes. "Go sit. I'll do those later." She waved him off. God, his wife could be stubborn when she wanted to be. He sat back down in the ancient kitchen chair Kara insisted they keep, just in case the original owners of the 120 year old Victorian they had settled into ever came back. He was convinced the former owners had been 120 years old too so he doubted they'd be back, but it wasn't worth it to argue with her about something as insignificant to their happiness as kitchen chairs. "Hey Debbie."
"Can't you talk some sense into her. That boy will be 10% older by Christmas. He'll be changing his mind on what he wants the day before!" He smiled. Debbie was a lovely and charming woman, but he could see why drunk Debbie had been so difficult for Kara. Even stone cold sober like she was now, she was as strong willed as anyone he'd ever met.
"I'll try. But I mostly just wanted to remind you to bring the thing we talked about."
Debbie laughed with the exact same sound pattern that Kara used when she was sure he was losing it and he was again reminded of how much Kara took after her mother. "I'll bring it. But you are responsible for hiding it until Christmas."
It was his turn to grin. "You might have heard, I'm sort of good at special missions!"
Debbie tsk tsked. "Yeah, I hear you're going to be spending the next few weeks in South America. That's why she's freaking out you know, she's afraid you'll miss the baby's arrival again."
He looked over to where Kara was sloshing soapy water around in the sink. She hadn't expressed any worry about his upcoming trip to him directly, but as he watched her tense motions he felt in the pit of his stomach that Debbie was spot on.
"Just two weeks and nothing too involved for this one. Howard just needs an extraction team on standby since the embassy hasn't been reopened yet. And you'll be here for the second half of my trip."
"It's not the same." Debbie admonished. "I want you to be there, for both of you. You deserve to experience this together."
Well, if there was one thing he'd learned in all his years of service and through the Red Flu it was that what people deserved had absolutely nothing to do with what actually happened in their lives. "I know. I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen."
They said goodbye and he hung up. Danny was admittedly feeling a little smug that he'd managed to head off an epic Kara-Debbie tiff. There was something intimate in being trusted so much by his mother-in-law. His own family had never been so willing to accept each other unconditionally.
Kara swung around from the sink, the wet spot on the front of her tee-shirt showing her lacy bra underneath. Mmmm, maybe Vince could be convinced to take Frankie down to the park for a while. "What is my mother bringing for you?"
He grinned and sidled closer, gently pinning her hips to the counter so he could ply her lips with light kisses. "Nothing that you can't wait until Christmas to find out about."