I've decided to skip a little bit- its now Mattie's first Christmas! There's a few of my own family traditions in there- the sharing of the advent calendar (I get the third, reguardless), the sharing of Fatty Boomba (just putting it out there, its my year!), and of course, Chrissy can't past with a bombshell of some sort! Read and review, guys- not sure how this story is going to end, its got a few more chapters in it, at least... so R&R!

Rhyleigh xoxox

PS: Got to see one of my munchkins dance tonight... she's gorgeous! I was standing among a group of my friends going, "Hey! Shut up, I'm trying to record this!"


"We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!" Melissa, Ben and Carbo warbled, marching in the front door of the Rafter home.

Rachel honestly didn't know how the year had gone by so fast, but it had. It was Christmas once more- her first Christmas with a child of her own. Santa was making his long awaited return to the Rafter house (while presents had still arrived, Santa had stopped coming when Nathan was eight, Ben was ten and Rachel was twelve), much to Ben's delight ("Mum, Rach, Santa has to come! What's Mattie gonna say when she looks at photos and realises that Santa didn't come for her first Christmas?" he had protested. "I suppose that means you kids will want Santa presents too?" Julie had said dryly. "Of course! Mattie'll get suspicious when we don't get presents!").

Christmas was quite possibly the biggest holiday in the Rafter house, where everyone would take the time to step back and relax, after the whirlwind year they had experienced. It was a day for family (the most important thing, in the eyes of Dave and Julie Rafter) and a day for celebration.

"Mum, are we putting the tree up today?" Ben called, waving around the red fluffy Santa hats.

"Not yet, darling", Julie reprimanded. "Jake's not here yet!"

"Ooh, he's really become part of the family!" Melissa cooed, giggling, making Rachel blush a deep red.

"He'll be here soon", Rachel promised, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth, there was a knock at the door. "Jake!"

"Sorry!" Jake apologised, as Ted let him into the house. "Mum saw something when she was at the shops yesterday, and she wanted to show me before she bought it. Rach, I got Mattie an early Chrissy present!"

"Ooh!" Sammy said excitedly (she was more excited than a child, when it came to Christmas time).

Jake produced a tiny red Santa hat, fluffy pompom and all, with 'baby's first Christmas' embroidered on the front in red.

"Aww!" Rachel squealed. "That is so gorgeous!"

"Very nice!" Melissa giggled, as Carbo cooed over the hat.

"Thank you!" Rachel pecked a kiss to his cheek, before scooping Matilda off the floor. "Mattie, Jake got you a present!"

Her eyes lit up, making everyone laugh. The sight of the baby with the Santa hat on her head made her mother coo and Jake smile, Sammy taking the opportunity to freeze the image of the mother daughter pair in a digital print.

Jake didn't say anything, as the family decorated the tree. There was the usual arguments of who would place the angel at the top (Ted made the executive decision and said that Sammy could) and the yearly argument of who would place Fatty Boomba (a chubby little elf that had secretly always creeped out all three of the Rafter kids) on the tree. Ben argued that it was his turn, but Nathan disagreed, because it had been his turn the year before. Technically, Dave had explained, it was Nathan's –"Ha!" the youngest had screamed triumphantly- but Rachel would be the one to place the elf among the branches. Ben and Nathan had immediately protested, until Julie got sentimental and reminded them that the next year, they would have a fourth child to fight over Fatty Boomba (Ben had groaned. "That means we'll have to share the advent drawers, too!").

"Personally", Melissa whispered to Jake and Sammy (Carbo having joined in on the argument, taking the fat elf off the tree and placing it on triumphantly), "I don't see what the big deal is about that thing, its freaky weird".

"Tradition". Jake shrugged. "Mum, Alex and I have some pretty weird traditions".

At that moment, family traditions were the last thing on his mind. What he was thinking about was all the Christmases he spent without a father, the Christmases he still shared with just his mother and brother. His father had run out right after Alex was born, leaving Jake as the man of the house, at merely five years old. And what had hurt him the most, as a little boy, was not having a Christmas present for his mother. In the years before Alex was born- when they were a happy family of three- his father had always taken him shopping, to select a present for Grace.

After he left, it was up to Jake himself. He had tried so hard to find something for his mother, but more often than not had ended up making a card and a photo frame out of pasta.

It was the thought that counted, Grace had reminded him on many occasions, when he had moped over his unsatisfactory present. But he knew it was more.

So, when shopping, he made sure that he selected something extra for his girlfriend, wrapping them in pink paper and labelling them 'from Matilda'. There was nothing worse than a single mother not getting anything from her children on Christmas Day- all because their father couldn't care less.

If Daniel Griggs wasn't already dead, Jake decided, he would have killed the man himself. He had caused so much pain so someone Jake loved so much, and had abandoned one of the sweetest little girls he had ever had the pleasure to meet. He was not the biological father of Matilda Grace, but he was just as well as.


It was Christmas Eve when Matilda Grace first spoke.

"Mama", she had said proudly, grabbing at her mother's shirt. Rachel had nearly dropped the little girl in shock, as Ben had shrieked and fallen off the lounge. Nathan had howled with laughter, demanding the money Melissa owed him (she should have known it was a losing bet, she cursed, as she passed over the notes).

But it was Christmas Day that shocked everyone to the core.

"Mama", Matilda called playfully, as she had been doing throughout the whole day. Rachel simply smiled, remembering a saying that she had heard her father and grandfather say numerous times throughout her life. 'You spent the first three years of a child's life teaching them to walk and talk. You then spent the rest of their life telling them to sit down and shut up!'

But when Matilda didn't get the reaction she was hoping for, she tried a different tactic.

With her whole family in the same room, watching a classic Christmas movie, Matilda Grace Rafter spoke her second word.

"Dad!"