Half past eight came round far too quickly for Alexs' liking. She was awoken by Molly running into the room she was sharing with Smithy, screaming happily at the top of her voice;
"Come on Mummy get up. Get up please." She pleaded.
"Oh come on then. I guess I can't complain too much about the time." Alex answered as she stood up and put her dressing gown on.
Smithy on the other hand was not prepared to get up just yet, so he rolled onto his side and refused to move. Alex looked from him to Molly and then back again. Molly looked at her Mum excitedly and Alex nodded her head. They both lunged for Smithy, tickling him and pushing him until he finally gave in.
"Alrigh', alrigh' I give up. I'll come down now." He said as he dragged his legs from under the warmth of the duvet.
Through in Gina and Davey's room, they too were being disturbed by Nicola.
"Can we get up now? I want to see what Santa has left me. I bet Molly's up." Nicola whined.
Gina looked at Nicola with one eye. She was still laid on her side and didn't feel like getting out of bed and into the cold air of the bedroom.
"Pleeeese." Nicola tried to add sweetly.
Davey didn't look at Nicola, but grabbed her wrist and pulled her playfully down beside him and Gina. He blew kisses onto her cheeks and smiled as she wriggled and laughed. Gina enjoyed watching Davey with his daughter and she really enjoyed playing a key role in the little girl's life.
"Come on then, shall we go see what Santa has left for you?" She said as she picked Nicola up and headed towards the door with her, closely followed by Davey.
Outside in the hall way they bumped into Alex, Smithy and their children.
"I reckon it's a conspiracy against parents you know." Alex commented to her Mum.
Gina smiled at her daughter.
"Well if we have to be up so can everybody else." Davey said as he banged loudly on everyone else's doors.
"Everyone has to be up and downstairs in five minutes." He shouted.
At that moment Heather came out of one of the nearby bathrooms looking pale and unwell.
"You alrigh' darlin'?" Alex asked comfortingly.
"Yeah I will be, it's just my morning sickness getting me down a touch. So if you don't mind I'm going back to bed for a while." She said as she made her way back to her room.
"Right that's fine, but as for the rest of you, downstairs." Davey replied.
Everyone walked sleepily from their rooms and into the hallway. They were pulling on dressing gowns or trying to quickly get dressed. All of the children were waiting impatiently at the top of the stairs. Finally they started to head down, the kids went down first, closely followed by the adults.
Once they got into the living room and the light was switched on, they were all amazed by the amount of presents that spilled out on to the floor. They had to tip toe round every one of them before they could get a seat. In a matter of seconds the frenzied sound of ripping paper had filled the air.
Davey disappeared upstairs to get some more presents that hadn't gone under the tree. The first present he came down with was very large. He walked back into the mass of paper, kids and presents, and placed his present in front of baby Gina who was sat on Alexs' knee.
"Come on then little one; let's see what we have here for you." He said as he took her from Alex.
He sat down on the floor with baby Gina and helped her unwrap the bright red, shiny paper. After a couple of minutes the picture on the front of the box was revealed, and Alex was surprised to see a photo of a pink tricycle on the front.
"What are you two doing buying such expensive gifts for them?" She exclaimed.
"Well they're our Grandchildren so we can buy them whatever we like." Gina replied, playfully reprimanding her daughter.
Davey headed back to get the rest of the gifts for Cara, Molly and the twins. Gina helped Molly to unwrap hers, Alex unwrapped the present for the twins, and Cara unwrapped her own. Molly was overjoyed to receive a lovely Victorian styled dolls house; complete with furniture and a family. Gina loved seeing the look of pleasure on her Granddaughters face. Cara loved her present as well, a new iPod with iTunes vouchers. Alex unwrapped a lovely activity play set for the twins. It was bright and colourful with flashing lights and a fantastic array of touch and feel characters.
Once everyone had opened their gifts, the adults started to clear away the mess that had been created, whilst the kids began to play with their new toys. Alex, Gina and Susan were in the kitchen cooking a large breakfast for them all. The Christmas dinner wouldn't be until much later that evening, so they needed something substantial to keep them going.
The whole house was bustling with noise and chatter. The kids screamed and ran around as Smithy chased them in the house. He had been very pleased to receive a new Nintendo Wii from Alex and he had been trying to set it up when he was pounced on by his daughters.
"Come here you." Alex heard him shout playfully. She walked into the living room to find him holding Molly upside down. She was laughing and screaming as he tickled her. She was enjoying watching her family as they played happily together. It wasn't too long though before her mind wandered back to the problem that awaited them when they got home. Gina noticed that her daughter didn't seem her usual self and was quieter than usual.
"Is everything alright darlin'?" She asked.
No matter how hard she tried, Alex knew she would never be able to hide anything from her Mum. She sat down at the kitchen table and Gina sat opposite her. Alex explained what had happened the day before, and Gina felt her daughters' pain. She knew how much her family meant to her and understood how much this affected them all. Gina tried to comfort Alex the best she could when Smithy came bouncing into the kitchen, unaware that Gina knew about Caroline.
"The kids want to go sledging after breakfast. How much longer until it's ready?" He asked cheerfully.
Alex smiled at him and stood up beside him. She wrapped her arm around his back so he placed his hand on the small of hers.
"It should be ready now actually." She said. "Is there a lot of snow?"
"Yeah, have you not looked outside?" He asked excitedly.
"No I haven't. If you haven't noticed, I have been a little busy." She replied with a smile.
At that moment everyone came running into the dining room laughing and talking loudly. They all sat down to the breakfast that had been prepared for them. Alex pushed the thoughts of Caroline out of her mind again, sitting down to enjoy her breakfast with her family. Plates and dishes with hot food on were being passed quickly round the table from person to person.
Once they were happily fed, Smithy and the kids went to get washed and dressed. Gina and Davey decided to join them on the hill at the back of the cabin as well. It wasn't a very steep hill but steep enough for sledging. Alex wrapped herself and her daughters in several layers to try and keep warm. Baby Gina didn't quite know what to make to all this white stuff. She had never experienced proper snow before.
Alex put her onto the ground and showed her how the snow melted in their hands. As she knelt beside her younger daughter, Molly and Nicola came running up to her and pounced on her back. She playfully pushed them into the snow and then showed them how to make snow angles. Baby Gina tried her best but she just flailed her arms and legs in the air instead. Alex laughed at the sight when something wet and cold hit her on the side of her head. She spun round to see Smithy standing smugly with another snowball in his hands.
"Right you, you're in trouble now." Alex said as she scooped a large pile of snow into her own hands.
She ran towards him and threw the lump at him. Smithy ducked a little too late and the snow went down the back of his neck and t-shirt.
"Aw, that's cold." He screeched like a girl.
Alex laughed and screamed herself when he lunged at her playfully. He rugby tackled her to the ground and tried to pelt her with more snow. They were slipping and sliding as they tried to stand up. Gina and Davey were enjoying watching them.
"Don't you even think about aiming that at me." Gina said to Alex as she came towards her with a small ball of snow.
"Too late I already have." Alex replied, throwing it at her Mum.
Luckily it missed and hit the tree behind Gina, causing Alex to laugh and for Gina to glare at her with her hands on her hips.
After being outside for a couple of hours, they walked back into the warmth of the cabin. The fire was lit and emanating a wonderfully warm glow. Smithy flumped down onto one of the armchairs next to it. Alex saw him as he rested, exhausted from his excursion up the hill. She walked over to him and he pulled her onto his knee. She cuddled up close to him, curling her legs over his. She ran her hand under his t-shirt as he held her close. She rested her forehead against his and he looked up at her, pressing a kiss on the end of her nose.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" He whispered.
"I'm having a fantastic time. This was such a great idea; it's wonderful to spend time with your family." She replied cheerfully.
"Yeah I agree, but I don't think any of us will be staying up late tonight." He said referring to the fact that almost everyone was sat sleepily in a chair.
Later on, once everyone was rested, the dinner table was set. The kids danced gleefully in the living room to some Christmas music.
"Rocking around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop..." Alex sang to herself as she placed cutlery on the table.
Susan, Liz and Pauline were in the kitchen preparing the meal. They had been cooking for most of the day and they too were feeling tired and hungry.
"Alex, will you tell that lot to come and get it before it goes cold?" Susan asked her.
"Right those of you who want feeding had better come and get it, or else it's going in the dog." She shouted.
Doing as they were told, they all ran into the dining room and took their place at the table.
"But we haven't got a dog." Nicola said as she walked past Alex.
Alex didn't reply but smiled at her and laughed instead.