1982
On Christmas morning, Holly is up at the crack of dawn and immediately wakes each member of her family. Mike jumps up eagerly, Ted and Karen are slower to get up and Nancy smashes her face into her pillow and begs to sleep longer. Holly is two and a half and it's the first time she has any understanding of the holiday. Two hours later, wrapping paper litters the living room floor and Karen serves fresh cinnamon rolls before they dress for church.
Lucas' father has always been an early riser, leftover from his military days, but he lets his family sleep a little longer while he makes coffee. He's still full from his wife's fantastic Christmas Eve feast. Not long after he sits with his steaming mug, there's a padding of small feet in the hall and Lucas pokes his head into the kitchen. There's a hopeful look in his eyes and his dad chuckles.
"Go on, go get your mother so we can see what Santa brought." Lucas is up the stairs in a flash.
Dustin's house is a frenzy of siblings and cousins and grandparents and other relatives. Everyone talks over each other and wrapping paper is flying everywhere. His aunts make breakfast casserole and his grandpa plays Christmas songs on the piano and all the kids sing along, most of them off-key. Dustin carves out a space for himself in the corner and sings between bites of candy from his stocking.
Jonathan wakes first and makes a special breakfast of eggs and pancakes and their holiday splurge of bacon. The smell wakes Joyce, still yawning from the busy Christmas Eve shift. Will is the last to emerge, but he bursts from his room excitedly to inspect the boxes under the tree. Joyce lets him look through his stocking but he has to have breakfast before any presents. She's feeling weary and worn from the long year, but her heart warms as she sits with her two boys.
Santa brings each boy a Supercomm and they almost believe in him again (somehow it's more believable for him to exist than for their parents to have all coordinated on gifts). They spend the afternoon trying to contact each other, alternating between phone calls ("ok, try channel six this time") and the radios ("Lucas, Lucas, come in"). Will, still able to wander on his own at this point, slowly walks along Mirkwood, testing the connection every few steps as he passes Hawkins Lab.
Behind the fence and deep in the building, Project 011 proceeds as usual, although she notices there are fewer scientists here today. She thinks about asking Papa why, but decides it's safer to keep quiet.