"Daddy, Daddy! Wake up, wake up!"
I know that voice all too well. Teddy just loves to wake me up in the mornings by jumping up and down on the bed until I finally give in. I have to admit, it's a little funny. Especially when I pretend to still be sleeping and he feels the need to pull the eyelids back over my eyes. Today I let him know that I'm awake. I stretch and let out a loud groan and open my eyes to see him bouncing over on Ana's side.
"Mommy, wake up!" He shakes her shoulders. "Mommy I wanna go open presents!" Ana groans and I can't help but laugh. She manages to sit up and rub her eyes. My poor girl; she barely got any sleep with Phoebe being hungry all night. I love to help Ana with the kids during the early hours of the morning, but I'm a little helpless when it comes to feeding times.
"Okay, okay, I'm up." Ana lets out a loud yawn.
"Yay!" Teddy jumps on my stomach. I take the opportunity to grab him and pin him to the bed so I can start tickling him. "Ahh, Daddy!" He lets out high pitched, bubbly laughs. I stop so he can catch his breathe.
"Do you want to go get your sister so you can both open presents together?" I ask him. I know it'll get him even more exited to know that he'll be with his one year old little sister. Those two love each other so much.
"Yeah! Phee-bee! Mommy go get Phee-bee!" He goes to jump into Ana's lap.
"Alright Teddy Bear, let's go get your sister. I bet she's hungry." I smile and slide out of bed to grab a shirt off of the dresser. Teddy stands on the bed crouched in a jumping position.
"You wanna play horsey, Ted?" He loves it when I let him climb on my back so he can pretend he's riding a horse. Of course he also loves to choke the horse as well, but I'm not complaining too much.
"Yay!" He yells and jumps off the bed and onto my back. I catch him from behind and hoist him up higher so his head is right above mine. Ana walks by and just laughs at the sight. I lightly smack her on her ass as she walks out the door with us following behind.
"Just remember that he's your son." I say as she walks into Phoebe's room.
"Well our three year old son has a lot of energy. Where do you think he got that from?" She raises an eyebrow up at me and just continues to smile.
"We'll be downstairs if you need us." I yell to her as I'm already halfway down the flight of stairs. I hop down them a little more than necessary. Teddy loves it and can't stop laughing.
We make our way downstairs into the giant family room completed with a giant Christmas tree. Teddy helped Ana and I decorate it and even helped little Phoebe put an ornament or two up as well. The tree is brightly lit in all different colors and there's a tidal wave of gifts all wrapped and set underneath.
"How about we go grab something to eat while we wait on Mommy and Sissy?" I carry Teddy into the kitchen and set him at the counter. "What would you like Teddy Bear?"
He makes a very thoughtful face and puts a hand up to his chin. This kid cracks me up. I wonder where he gets all of his facial expressions from.
"I want pancakes." He shouts as if he just struck gold.
"Alright, I'll make you pancakes, buddy." I honestly suck at cooking, but these kids will eat anything.
"Daddy, I thought you couldn't cook?" Teddy speaks up from his seat.
I turn around quickly while holding a spatula in my hands. "What? And who told you that?" I say dramatically.
Teddy picks at his fingers. "Mommy." I should have figured. "And Gail." Okay, now that's a little surprising. "And Taylor." I'm going to fire him.
"What? Of course I can cook. Your daddy can do anything." I say and turn back to the stove.
"Besides cook." I hear Ana say as she enters the kitchen. She's carrying Phoebe in her arms and sits on a stool next to Teddy.
"Phee-bee!" Teddy squeals and leans over to kiss her on her tony little head. He kisses Ana on her cheek and hops off the stool. "Can we open presents now? Can we?" He hops up and down.
"Hold on, buddy. Let your father try to make you breakfast and then we can open a couple of your presents. We need to save some for when Taylor and Grandma and Grandpa come over with everyone."
Oh, good. The entire family will be over to celebrate. I can't even contain the sigh of joy.
I work hard at the stove and manage to make two non-burnt pancakes. "Here you go, Teddy." I cut them up, put them on a plate, drizzle syrup on them and hand him a fork. He digs in right away.
"Mommy was wrong. Daddy can cook." He says with syrup smeared all over his face.
I laugh and stick my tongue out at Ana. She laughs and pats the seat next to her. I make my wave over and sit down next to her.
"Good morning my two beautiful girls. Merry Christmas." I lean down and kiss Ana on the lips before I kiss Phoebe on her forehead. She squirms and reaches out to me. I grab her from Ana's arms and take her into mine. She looks just like her mother with her wavy dark hair, she has my gray eyes, but she is defiantly her mother's daughter.
"Merry Christmas, Daddy." Ana says and looks down at a stick Teddy. "Honey, you're going to need a bath before people come over." She licks her finger and tries to wipe his cheeks.
"Mom," Teddy wines and turns his head away. He shoves another bite into his mouth.
"Great, all you need is more sugar." Ana says and gets up to make herself some tea.
"Daddy, I'm done." Teddy grabs the empty plate and goes to put it in the sink. He runs into the family rooms and practically dives into the pile of presents.
"Alight, wait for us." I tell him and grabs Ana's hand and walk in with Phoebe still in my arms. The three of us sit on the floor in front of the tree. Phoebe sits in my lap and plays with the fabric of my pants.
"You can pick out one at a time." Ana says as Teddy pick out his first one. He unwraps the sparkly, red paper and finds a Lego airplane. His eyes bulge out of his head and he jumps up and down. "Mommy, Daddy, look at what Santa got me!" He runs up and shows up his present. He point to all the pieces shown on the box.
"Very nice, baby." Ana says. "I guess you were a good boy this year." Teddy frantically nods up and down without taking his eyes off his gift.
"Why don't you get Phoebe one to open, Teddy?" I say.
Teddy walk into the pile and grabs a small box that has Phoebe's name written on it. I put it in front of her and help her rip off the paper. It's a little pink hair bow with her name scribbled on one of the ribbons. I take it and tie it in her head of hair and turn her to face Ana.
"Oh, my little girl looks so pretty." She leans in and gives her a kiss on the nose. Phoebe laughs and throws her arms up and down.
"Before I forget, let me go get mommy's present." I hand Phoebe off to Ana and make my way upstairs into the bedroom. I come back down and hand Ana a long black box with a silver ribbon tied on top.
"Christian, you didn't have to get me anything." She says.
"Just open it." I say back and shove the box in her hands. She rolls her eyes and untangles the ribbon. She opens the box and gasps at what she finds. She pulls out a long silver chair with little charms on it. One is Teddy's name with his birthstone and the other is Phoebe's name with her birthstone at the end. Each letter and stone get their own sterling silver block.
"Christian," She gasps. "This is so beautiful." She rubs her fingers over the kid's names. "Are these real jewels?" I roll my eyes. As if I would get her something that wasn't real?
"Yes, Ana." I reply.
She hold out her hand and hands me the bracelet. "Put it on me." She demands.
I wrap the chain around her little wrist and snap it shut. "I'm never going to take it off. Thank you, Christian." She leans over and grasps my face in her hands and kisses me deeply on the mouth. I have to force myself to break the kiss before I do something that isn't G rated. "I'll have to give you my present later tonight." She whispers in my ear before leaning back. Warm shivers run up and down my body.
"Ewww!" Teddy says with disgust. "Can I open another one?" He goes over and grabs another wrapped box.
"Yes, Teddy. Go ahead." Ana says and slides over to sit on my lap with Phoebe in her arms. I rest my chin on her shoulder and run soft kisses up her neck while we watch our two children open up their Christmas presents.