Hello everyone! I am back with Chapter 4! In this chapter, you will notice that Ike has a little bit more of a vocabulary than he did last chapter, as he is now 18 months old, and thus is becoming slightly more active as he ages. You will also get to see Audrey's family again, as well as Marianne's family and her and Arthur's new baby. Anyway, Enjoy Chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Christmas in Skid Row

It was a cold and snowy December day in 1965, a day like any other. Well, other than the fact that Christmas was coming soon. Christmas music could often be heard on the radio, and many houses and shops were decorated for the upcoming holiday. Skid Row was like Disneyland during this time of year. There was a giant Christmas tree up on display near the strip mall, which had live carolers and Santa Claus! Families were with their children who would wait anxiously, and often impatiently in line to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. This was exactly the case with Seymour, Audrey, and Ike Krelborn.

"I wanna see Santa!" screamed Ike as he flung his stuffed Charlie Brown doll in the air. He was sitting on Seymour's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Ike. You'll see Santa soon." said Seymour.

"No! Now!" Ike continued to yell. A little girl of about six or seven was now having her turn telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She and her family were just ahead of the Krelborns, meaning that Ike was next.

"Hey, Ike. Guess what? You're next!" said Audrey.

"YAY!" screamed Ike as he flung Charlie Brown around some more.

After the little girl's turn was over, Seymour and Audrey went with Ike to talk to Santa and tell him what Ike wanted for Christmas.

"Ho, ho, ho!" said Santa as he sat Ike down on his lap. Ike looked up at the jolly old man dressed in red and let out a little coo in response. Santa then asked him "So, what's your name little buddy?"

"His name's Ike, and he's 18 months old." said Audrey. Ike was a little shy to talk to Santa, so Audrey and Seymour had done most of the talking.

"Hey, Ikey. Why don't you tell Santa what you want for Christmas?" said Seymour.

"Dino!" chirped Ike, his stuffed Charlie Brown clenched in his hands.

"Dino? I'm afraid I don't know who that is!" said Santa.

"He means Dino from The Flintstones." explained Audrey. "He wants a Dino stuffed animal for Christmas." Aside from Peanuts, Flintstones was his second favorite cartoon, Tom and Jerry being his third.

"Oh, I get it! I get it!" said Santa as he laughed jollily. He then asked little Ike "Anything else you'd like Santa to bring you?"

"No." Ike replied.

Seymour and Audrey both looked at each other and laughed.

"That's all right. Audrey and I are going to get him some presents too." said Seymour.


After talking with Santa, the Krelborns all left the mall and went home so that Seymour could finish decorating the tree. They drove back in Audrey's Ferrari and listened to the radio, which was now playing songs such as "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", "Santa Baby", and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". Per usual, Seymour and Audrey sang along, until they got home.

After getting home, Audrey finished fixing dinner, and Ike was playing in the living room with his Charlie Brown dolls whilst watching some cartoons on TV. First, it was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer then it was A Charlie Brown Christmas.

"Hey, Ike. Look! That's Charlie Brown!" said Seymour, who had been watching TV with Ike.

"Chawee Bwown!"

Meanwhile, Audrey was fixing a chicken and steamed vegetables for dinner and listening to some Christmas music on the radio. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" was playing when the telephone rang. Seymour then walked into the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" he said. He then picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Seymour! I just called you so that I could have a little getaway!" This was Arthur. A loud baby's cry could be heard in the background.

"Oh hey, Arthur! Why do you want a getaway?"

"Oh! Mari's gotten tired of tending to little Claire and so now I guess I'm in charge of her."

"Well, she's only a month old, with colic. Babies like that are often very hard to handle."

"I know," said Arthur, who then added "In that case, little Claire's not going to grow up to be a masochist! Colicky babies are often in a lot of pain."

"Well don't worry! She'll grow out of it soon, I'm sure! I mean, Ike had his moments and he still does sometimes, but he was nonetheless a fairly easy baby to deal with when he was little."

"I have to go!" said Arthur anxiously. He then hung up on Seymour. Seymour tried to say something, but then he realized Arthur hung up on him, so he went to talk to Audrey.

"How's Arthur and Mari doin'?" asked Audrey.

"Oh, they're having trouble with their baby. Just be thankful that Ike wasn't too bad!"

"Yes, well hopefully, this little boy or girl won't be too bad either." said Audrey as she rubbed her five-month-pregnant stomach.

"Yeah. Well, we have another four months to find out." replied Seymour.

Seymour and Audrey continued to talk for a couple of hours until dinner was ready. Seymour went over to get Ike and he turned off the TV, which was now playing It's a Wonderful Life.

"Hungwee!"

"I know you are, Ikey. We're going to have some dinner in just a bit!"


A week later, Christmas Day arrived. Seymour, Audrey, and Ike all woke up early to open their presents. Ike got a stuffed Flintstones Dino from Santa (Seymour really got it for him, but since Ike was just a little kid, he was pretending that Santa got him the toy instead), as well as some Tom and Jerry dolls. Audrey got Ike the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Seymour got a new lamp from Audrey, and he had also given her a necklace.

Later on that afternoon, Ike played with his new stuffed animals, including his Charlie Brown, and Tom and Jerry dolls. Audrey prepared the Christmas ham along with mashed potatoes and gravy, Brussels sprouts, buttered carrots, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Later on, Maude, Harry, Carl, Judy, Arthur, Marianne, and 1 month old Claire all came by for dinner. Also present was Marianne's mentally disabled brother, Frankie.

"Merry Christmas, Seymour and Audrey!" said Arthur as he shook Seymour's hand.

"Same to you!" said Seymour.

"Don't forget about Ike!" chimed in Audrey. "He is, after all, your nephew! Well, technically, he's your cousin in law, but I think he looks up to you and Mari as aunt and uncle."

"Merry Christmas!" said Maude as she picked Ike up and kissed his cheek.

"Gamma!" squealed Ike.

"Come here, Ikey!" said Harry as he gently took his baby nephew from Maude's hands. He then sat on the sofa with Ike and started bouncing him up and down, whilst doing goofy Elvis impressions and singing "Blue Christmas."

"Hey, Harrison." said Audrey as she ruffed Harry's hair and sat next to him. "When are you ever gonna get out of your little 'stuck in the 50s' phase?"

"Never," replied Harry. "I'm going to be singing 'Hound Dog' for the rest of my life!"

"Good luck with that!" joked Audrey, who then went over to join the rest of the family, who were now fawning over Claire. Harry and Ike went over to join them as well.

"Aww. She looks just like Arthur, and she has your eyes!" said Audrey.

"Yes, she's a charmer." replied Marianne. "But she's also a handful!"

"Well, just give her a few months, sweetie." chimed in Judy. "Colic usually only last for the first three to four months of a baby's life. I remember when you had it when you were a baby, and it only lasted a short amount of time."

"I had colic as a baby?" asked Marianne surprised. "I guess it must run in the family."

Meanwhile, Seymour had gone to turn the TV on for Frankie, who was enjoying staring at the TV and randomly flipping the channels.

"Hey, Frank. I think we're going to start opening gifts in a little bit if you want to join us." said Carl as he approached his son.

"Oh. Kay." replied Frankie. Even though Frankie was 24 years old - which was two years younger than Audrey and Marianne - he still had the cognitive impairment level of a six year old, and needed 24/7 care. While Frankie lived in a group home in Brunswick, NJ, he always saw his parents for every holiday and birthday.

"Who wants to open presents?" said Seymour, calling everyone over near the couch where the tree was set up and there were presents stacked on top of each other.

Everyone crowded over toward the Christmas tree and started helping themselves to some gifts.

A few hours later, everyone sat down to an amazing Christmas dinner and talked with each other. It was a grand old time.

"Hey, Audrey. We never did talk about baby number two! When's that going to happen." Maude asked her daughter.

"Oh, probably not until mid April." replied Audrey. "I sort of feel like it'll be a girl, and I'm sure you would love to have a granddaughter."

"I'm kind of hoping for another boy, and I think Ike wouldn't mind having a little brother." chimed in Seymour.

Audrey then remembered something that was completely off topic from what she had been talking about.

"Oh! I forgot about the Martinelli's!" she said to herself. She then went to open the refrigerator door and she got out a bottle of Martinelli's, which she served for her family members. She even poured some in a little cup for Ike. When that was all finished, she went to sit back down in her seat.

"Anyone want to make a toast?" she asked.

"Oh, yes!" said everyone in unison.

"Count me in!" chirped Seymour.

So everyone, except for Ike who just glugged his whole drink down, raised their glasses and made a toast.

"Merry Christmas!" said Audrey joyfully. "And here's to a prosperous '66!"

YAY! I love happy endings to chapters, don't you? And yes, you can tell Audrey is pregnant with her and Seymour's second child, in which the next chapter will be about the birth of their new baby. By this point, Ike will be 22 months old and will probably even have a bigger part in the next chapter. I also liked the idea of having the Dentons and Krelborns all together for the holidays. I hope anyone who read through this enjoyed it so far, and I'm sure you will enjoy it even more as it progresses.