Thaddeus braced himself for the explosion, but the combined force of Annie and Katie upon him was still almost strong enough to knock his chair backwards.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" He wrapped an arm around each girl and pulled them onto his knees.
"Whoa now! Calm down, you two!" They snuggled briefly against his shoulder, but they were too excited to sit still for long.
Christine stood in the doorway, smiling at the sight of her father and daughters laughing and giggling as he struggled to settle the girls onto his lap.
"You won't be able to do that much longer, Daddy. They're growing up too fast."
"Well, I can't allow that, can I?" he said. "You girls have to promise me you'll stay little forever, alright? I can't have you getting too big for my lap."
Katie nodded, unconcerned, but Annie frowned.
"I have to grow up sometime, Grandpa," Annie said.
"If you ask real nice, maybe I'll let you grow up," Thaddeus told her. "After all, I did let your mother grow up."
"Eventually you did," Christine agreed, laughing. "After Mama and I wrestled you to the ground a few times."
"Mama," Katie asked, "Did you like to sit on Grandpa's lap when you were little?"
"I sure did, sweetie," Christine said, even as the memory of doing just that with Patrick last night brought another smile to her face. "But I think I'm too big to do it now."
"There's only one way to know for sure, isn't there?" Thaddeus gently pushed his granddaughters off his lap and spread his arms wide. "Well? Are you still my little girl or ain't you?"
Christine crossed over to her father almost as quickly as her daughters had done. She sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her and pulled her close.
"Guess I'm not too big after all," Christine said.
"You'll always be my baby girl, sweetheart, no matter how big you are," Thaddeus whispered in her ear. "Ain't no help for it."
"Don't never let that change, Daddy," she whispered back, slipping back into the bad grammar of her childhood. They held each other tightly for another moment, until Christine pushed herself away from him and stood up.
"We've got a lot of things to do today, Daddy. You know why the girls are so excited about today?"
"Couldn't say," he replied. "Seems like any old winter day to me."
"Grandpa!" The girls were as exasperated as two children could be. "It's Christmas Eve!"
He slapped his own head in mock surprise. "No! Is it really?" he said. "Guess it just slipped my mind. That happens when you get old. You start to forget things."
"Not just Christmas Eve," Christine said. "Do you remember the promise you made to the girls?"
"A promise?" he mused, frowning. "That don't sound like me. Did I promise something?"
"Grandpa!" Annie said. "You promised to take us out to get a Christmas tree!"
"Did I? Now why would I do a silly thing like that?"
The girls were insistent. "Yes you did, Grandpa! Can we go now? Can we?"
Christine's expression sobered. "Daddy, I know the ankle is really bothering you. Don't deny it! I see how you're hurting when you think I'm not looking. Do you think you're well enough to do this?"
Thaddeus looked at the disappointed faces of his granddaughters.
"Yeah, I do, sweetheart. I can drive the horses just fine. I might need a little help swinging the axe, though."
The girls' looked awestruck.
"Do we get to ride in the sleigh, Grandpa?" Katie asked. Annie stood silently with her mouth wide open and her eyes big, thinking about what it would be like to ride in the old wooden sleigh through the snowy woods. Her mother had told her about taking sleigh rides back in Montana, when the snow lay deep at Christmastime. She'd heard how her mother's family huddled together under buffalo robes while Grandpa guided the big Percheron through the drifts till they found the perfect evergreen tree. He and his sons cut the tree down and loaded it on the sleigh, and the whole family stayed up late, decorating the tree and laying the gifts out below it. It sounded like the most wonderful thing you could ever do. She wanted to go out with Grandpa and find their tree so badly, she could hardly breathe.
"Sure you do," Thaddeus answered. "I can't have you running behind it. You'd probably trip and fall like your old grandpa did."
"Pat can go with you," Christine suggested. "He's better at handling an axe than the horses anyway. It'll give him more time with the girls, and give me and Kathleen more time to get everything organized at home."
"Ain't he supposed to go to the train and pick up his parents?"
"Tommy can do that," Christine said. "He won't mind."
Thaddeus looked at her doubtfully. He knew Tommy was perfectly capable of driving to the train station, but he figured the O'Connors might feel a little slighted if a hired man came to pick them up instead of their own son.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Christine?"
"Yes, I am." Christine insisted, pointing her defiant little chin at him. That meant she was going to be stubborn. He felt pretty sure this decision was going to lead to hurt feelings and some trouble later, but he wasn't about to get into an argument with her about it, especially in front of the girls. He'd already done all he could to teach Christine about making good decisions and living with the consequences of the bad ones. Besides, he liked the idea of Pat coming along on this ride. If his ankle gave him fits, Pat would help him out without making him feel like a burden.
"Okay," he conceded. "As long as Pat thinks it's alright." If there was going to be an argument about this, he'd let Pat handle it. It concerned his parents after all. If anybody had a right to object to this plan, it would be him.
The girls were almost quivering with excitement.
"But first, how about you girls rest a bit. You probably were up all night talking with your friends."
"Yes," Christine agreed, "I think they were. Let's feed you two, and then you can take a nap. Grandpa and I will get the horses ready while you sleep, and then you get dressed real warm and go out for a sleigh ride. How's that sound?"
Annie and Katie protested that they were ready to go right then and there, but Christine held firm and escorted them to the kitchen for some breakfast. Thaddeus leaned back in his chair, suddenly tired. Maybe he'd take a snooze too. Sometimes those girls just wore him out, but he didn't mind one bit. Fact was, the thought of getting out with them and Pat and the horses sounded real good. Especially if Christine was bound and determined to cause trouble with her in-laws. He'd just as soon be far away when that happened.
0000000000
"Are you kidding me, Chris?"
Patrick O'Connor stood with his hands on his hips, facing his equally determined wife.
"I don't see what the problem is," she complained. "You say you want to spend more time with the girls, and I came up with a way for you to do just that."
"That's not the problem, and you know it," he said. "Mother and Dad are coming here to see the family. If Tommy shows up at the train station instead of me, they're going to feel like we don't want to see them."
"Oh come on, Pat! We've invited them to stay till after the New Year! Doesn't that prove we want to see them? They're going to have plenty of opportunity to spend time with you and the girls."
"Me and the girls?" he said, his voice rising. "Me and the girls? Did you purposely exclude yourself from that statement, or was it accidental?"
Chris took a deep breath. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground.
"You know what I mean. They can see me any time when we're in Chicago. You're so busy with your practice and teaching that you hardly ever get to see your own parents, and the girls are always in school or busy with homework and their friends. They're coming here for you and the girls, not for me."
"All the more reason why I should go to the train station and pick them up."
"No, honey. We all promised the girls that Daddy would take them out to find the perfect Christmas tree. With him being on crutches, he can't hardly walk through the woods. He needs someone to actually cut the tree down and lash it on the sleigh."
"Tommy can do that," he protested. "And what about the horses? You know I don't know the first thing about hitching them up. I'd probably put them in the harness backwards, and they'd run off and leave us out in the woods."
"You don't have to. I can hitch them up, and Daddy can drive them. All you have to do is cut down the tree and load it on the sleigh."
He sighed and scratched his head. Christine sensed victory. She went in for the win.
"They're your daughters, honey, and they're growing up fast. You've been complaining how you hardly get to see them. Now you've got an opportunity to take them out on an adventure they'll never forget, and you're going to pass on it?"
"No," he said, reluctantly. "I guess not."
She moved forward to hug him around the waist. He pulled her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're going to have a great time," she said. "I always loved going out for our Christmas tree, and I know they'll love it, too. The girls were so excited; I thought they'd never fall asleep."
"I can't believe you actually got them to take a nap without using ether," Pat told her.
"They were exhausted. Once their heads hit the pillows, they were out like a light. I think Daddy took a nap, too."
"Well." Pat cleared his throat. "If I'm going to do this, you better get the horses ready."
"Will do." She didn't move. They stood, holding each other, without speaking.
"You probably should get started," Pat said.
"Yeah, guess so," Christine agreed. Neither moved. After another long moment, Pat pushed her away.
"You better leave before I start getting ideas."
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I've got lots of ideas, too. Save them for tonight."
"If I don't freeze my butt off first going out for the tree."
She reached behind him and squeezed.
"Don't let it freeze. It's a nice butt. I have plans for it later."
"Don't make too many plans," he said, sourly. "I expect my parents to tan my hide after they find Tommy at the train station instead of me."