It was pretty late when the family got back home after the service. "To bed, everybody," Stef told the kids as they came inside.

"Come on, just a little longer?" Mariana asked.

"Yeah," Jesus added. "It's not like you can still tell us that we have to be in bed so that Santa will come."

"Why not?" Jude asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Jesus slowly turned around to look at him. "Wait…"

"Santa doesn't come if we're not sleeping, right?" Jude questioned, his voice small. "Or… are you saying that he's not coming at all?"

Stef shot her middle son a glare, hoping that he hadn't just shattered Christmas for his new little brother. "Of course Santa's coming," she reassured her youngest.

Jude's face went from total dismay to a bright grin as he started giggling. "Gotcha," he told them. Callie had her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"So you don't believe in Santa anymore?" Jesus questioned.

"No," Jude replied. "I'm not a baby."

Callie gave him a high five. "That was awesome!" she told her brother.

Lena wrapped an arm around Jude and tickled him. "Scaring your moms is NOT awesome," she declared.

Brandon shrugged. "Sometimes it is."

"You know," Stef told the kids, "We can take all of your presents back. The stores will be open bright and early on the 26th."

"Sounds like there are going to be a lot of coal-filled stockings around here," Sharon commented.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Jude got out between giggles. Lena finally let him go.

"Seriously, though, Moms," Brandon said, "Can we just stay up a little bit longer? There's something I wanted to do."

"What?" Stef asked. He stepped over into the living room and picked up an object off the coffee table. Once he'd handed it to his mother, she realized it was a 'The Night Before Christmas' picture book. "Oh, I haven't seen this in years…"

"We found it when we were cleaning up our old stuff," Brandon told her. "I thought it might be nice if we all read it together. Like when we were little."

Stef and Lena shared a smile. "Everybody get jammies on and meet in our room," Stef told the kids.

It took some effort, but all five kids and the moms managed to find a place on their bed or the ottoman beside it. Stef smiled at the sight of their family together as she opened the book.

"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter nap." She then handed the book to Lena.

"When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick."

Mariana was cuddled up in Lena's arms, and she took the next turn. "More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, and he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name: Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!"

Jesus took the book next. "So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, with the sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas too. And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, down the chimney Saint Nicholas came with a bound."

"He was dressed all in fur," Jude read, "From his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys was flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes, how they twinkled; his dimples, how merry. His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry."

"His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow," Callie continued the story. "And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face, and a little round belly. That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself."

Brandon took the book from her. "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew, like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight…"

"Merry Christmas to all," the whole family said together, "And to all a good night!"

Once the kids had all actually gone to bed, Stef slipped downstairs to check on her mother in the living room. Sharon was still awake, doing a crossword puzzle from the newspaper. "You okay down here?" Stef asked her as she sat with her on the sleeper sofa.

"I'm fine. And you were right; going to church tonight was very nice."

She smiled. "Yeah, it was." She set Brandon's book back down on the coffee table, and noticed that it completed a nice mix of traditions from all of their kids. A few weeks earlier, Callie and Jude had made an Advent wreath from green construction paper and some candles they found around the house. It was something they'd remembered from their pasts and wanted to share. A fake white poinsettia flower was in the middle of the wreath, an addition from Mariana. There were several more of the flowers in different spots around the house, one of very few holiday traditions that the twins remembered from their early childhoods. With Brandon's book sitting beside those items, it was a visual reminder of how much more rich their lives were because of all of their children.

"What is it?" Sharon asked, having noticed that her daughter's attention had wandered.

Stef shook her head. "Nothing. Just thinking."

Sharon picked up her cellphone from the side table and handed it over after tapping at the screen a couple times. Stef smiled when she realized that it was displaying a photo of the moms and all the kids reading together upstairs. "When did you take this?"

"I'm stealthy," Sharon replied with a smile. "You all looked so beautiful together, I couldn't resist."

"Can you e-mail it to me?"

"Already did."

Stef laughed as she got up. "Thanks, Mom. Sleep well."

"You, too, sweetheart."

TBC...