Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Mommy lookit." Nick says and points to the cookie plate. The plate that held all the Santa cookies. Which Finnick, myself, and my Mom ate.

"Yup Santa came." I say and kiss him.

He giggles

"We have to wait for a little bit to open your presents though."

"No." He says.

"You have to wait baby." I kiss his forehead. "Let's have breakfast." I say.

"Hi Nana." He says while walking towards the kitchen.

She smiles and picks him up.

"Did you see that Santa came?" She asks and kisses his cheek.

He nods.

"That's because you're a good boy."

"No." Nick says and smiles.

"Yes you are, you're a good boy." My Mom says and keeps kissing his cheek which makes him giggle.

"Can you put the coffee on Annie?" My Mom asks and I nod. "I think with all the extra people it is best to start early." She says.

"Okay." I say and head to the kitchen. I see Finnick is there peeling an orange.

I kiss his cheek.

"Did you put out his presents?" I ask softly.

"Yes." He says.

"Even the Santa ones?" I ask.

"Yes." He kisses my cheek.

"You didn't sign them did you?" I ask worried.

He smiles.

"He can't even read Annie, I doubt he will notice the handwriting is similar. " He says.

I roll my eyes and start making the coffee.

"You drinking coffee?" He asks.

"No, making some for the heard of people that will be coming." I say and he smiles.

"Good because you're not really supposed to."

"I know." I say and kiss him.

"Yuck." I hear Nick say. My Mom is still holding him.

"Don't you like when you get Mommy's kisses?" I tease. "Don't you like them?" I ask and take him from my Mom and kiss him.

He smiles.

"Mommy." He says.

"Let's get you breakfast." I say and put him down, but he doesn't stay he scurries to the living room and sits underneath the tree.

I get him cereal, applesauce, and milk. I could give him something special for breakfast because it's Christmas morning, but I don't want to give him some sugary pancakes that will make him bounce off the walls all day. He will already be bouncing off the walls from all the excitement and new presents he will be getting.

"Nick come here breakfast is ready." Finnick says.

"Daddy-"

"Come on sweetie you need to eat to become a big boy." I say.

He growls with frustration.

"Don't make me count." I say which makes him come over. The whole count to three thing really does work for some reason. "There we go." Finnick says.

Nick starts eating slowly.

"When are them comin'?" He asks.

"Soon buddy." Finnick says and sits next to him.

"Just eat your breakfast baby." I say and he nods.

Within an hour Ella comes.

"Merry Christmas." She says while coming in she has snowflakes laced in her hair. She goes right to the coffee.

"Merry Christmas." Almost everyone says in unison.

She comes to the kitchen and places a container on the counter.

"What's that?" Mom asks.

"Eggnog; Pop Pops." She says.

"You want us to drink Pop Pops eggnog this early in the morning?" I say surprised. Our grandfather always puts rum in his eggnog. I always wanted it when I was a kid, but man when I was allowed to have a taste when I was sixteen I wasn't as excited anymore. It is very strong.

"It is Christmas." She smiles.

"You can put it in the fridge for later. I will want your help for dinner and I don't want you to be asleep. For now just drink coffee you can add nutmeg if you wish." She says and goes to the living room where Nick and Finnick are.

"Carter coming soon?" She asks.

"Mom got a text from him saying they were on the way." I say.

"I'm surprised they got Madeline to wait this long." Ella says.

"They went out for breakfast." I say.

"What place is open on Christmas?" She asks.

"24 hour places." I say.

She nods.

"Dad wants to see you today." She says.

"I talked to Dad the other day and he said it was alright if I came the day after Christmas." I say.

"Well, that's not what he told me this morning." She says.

"I'll call him later then." I say. I wanted to spend Christmas just at one place. I thought it would be easier for Nick.

"Alright." She says and sips her coffee and heads to the other room.

She sits next to Nick and smiles.

"Hi cutie." Ella says.

He nods.

"Did you see that Santa came?" She asks.

"Cause I was a good boy." Nick says and smiles.

"Yes you are." She says and kisses him.

I go to the living room to sit next to Nick.

"Mommy." He says and motions towards the tree.

"Almost sweetie." I say and kiss the top of his head.

"Why?" He whines.

"Why don't we watch some t.v." I say avoiding the questing. I place him in front of the television, luckily his favorite show is on.

When the show is over Carter, Tony, and Madeline are here.

"Look at the tree." Madeline says and sits next to Nick.

They smile and look at the presents. After a few minutes of this my Mom and Carter start to divvy out the presents to the right people.

"Okay you can open in three... two... one." Tony says and people start opening. Finnick and I need to help Nick with most of his presents, but it doesn't matter. I love the look on his face.


"Mommy can you help me?" Nick asks because he needs assistance putting together one of his new toys.

"Why don't you play with another one while I set this up, okay?" I say and kiss the top of his head.

He nods.

"Why are all the pieces so small." I mutter to myself.

Finnick sits next to me.

"Whatcha doing?" He asks with a smile on his face.

"Trying to put together one of Nick's new toys." I say.

Finnick smiles.

"You would think a children's toy would be set up already." I say.

"Do you want me to do it?" He asks.

I shake my head.

"No, because that would mean defeat." I say.

Finnick chuckles.

"Okay, but you can get me when you're too frustrated."

I shake my head.

After thirty minutes of fighting with the toy I finally get it set up.

"Okay Nicky I got it." I say proud of myself.

He claps his hands and runs over to me.

"Thank you Mommy." He says and hugs me.

"You got sprinkles on your face baby." I say.

"Daddy let me eat a cookie." He smiles.

I nod.

"Let's clean you up before you play." I say. I don't want him to get his new toy all sticky. "There we go." I say after I've washed his hands and face.

"Can I play?" He asks.

I nod.

"You can play now." I say and he runs to the living room.

By the time it is mid day Nick is lying his head on my lap and sleeping. I think Finnick let him eat one too many cookies. At least he got sleepy instead of hyper. I keep rubbing his back.

Everyone expect my Mom is in the living room. She is in the kitchen and has started to make dinner.

"What are you drinking?" Finnick asks Ella and Carter.

"Eggnog." Ella says. "It has milk, cream, eggs, nutmeg, sugar, and rum." Ella smiles. "Want some?" She asks with a strange smile.

"I'm fine" Finnick says. He surprisingly doesn't sound annoyed. I think I would be. It's not like Ella suddenly forgot he has a drinking problem.

"Can I get some help please!" Our Mother shouts from the kitchen.

Finnick goes first, then Tony.

"Not going to help Annie?" Ella asks.

Nick's head is on my lap so if I would get up it would wake him, which I don't want.

"I've got Nicky." I say.

"Right." She says and gets up to help out.

Carter opens his mouth about to say something, maybe about Ella asking if Finnick wanted a drink, but honestly I don't really care anymore. And I'm tired of people asking me about this.

"Leave it alone Carter." I say before he can add his two cents.

He smiles.

"I wasn't saying anything." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Course not." I say.

I run my fingers through Nick's hair.

"Mmmmh Mommy." He moans.

"You're okay sweetie." I whisper and kiss the top of his head. He looks up at me and kisses me then crawls on my lap. "Are you having a good Christmas baby?" I ask him as he wraps his arms around my neck. He nods.

"You?" He asks.

"Of course sweetie." I say and he leans into my chest. "Mommy loves you." I say and rub his back. He nods against my chest. "Dinners going to be soon baby." I say.

After dinner I pull out my phone to call Dad. If Ella was telling then truth then he is expecting me.

"Annie, Merry Christmas." He says.

"Merry Christmas Dad." I say.

"What can I do you for?" He says.

"Ella said you wanted me to come over tonight and I thought-"

"I'm seeing you tomorrow Annie." He says.

"Good that's good." I say.

"Did she tell you about Mimi and Pop Pop?" He asks.

"No, what about them?" I ask.

"They're going to be here tomorrow and they'd love to meet their nephew." He says.

"Of course, that's fine." I say.

"Anything else darling?" He asks.

You're over selling yourself I think to myself, either that or he's been drinking.

"See you tomorrow Dad." I say.

"That's right, love you Annie." He says.

"Love you Dad." I say and hang up.

"You okay?" Finnick asks me as I come to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say.

"Who did you call?" He asks.

"My Dad."

"He still okay to see us tomorrow?" He asks.

"Yeah and apparently my grandparents are going to be there. They're excited to meet Nick." I say.

"Who wouldn't be." He says and kisses my cheek. "But, you haven't seen them in awhile, do you think you'll be okay?" He asks.

"Do you?" I ask back.


"Calm down Nicky." I say as we get him situated in the plane seat. We have almost a whole new bag of luggage from all the presents Nick got. He didn't get that many it's just the size of the presents he got. We knew what he was getting so we were prepared.

"You okay?" Finnick asks when the plane takes off.

"Headache." I say. I always get them on planes.

He nods.

"Mommy what's that?" Nick asks.

"When your head hurts." I say feeling stupid. I need to work up better explanations especially since he seems to love asking those four 'w' questions.

He nods and squeezes his teddy bear.

"I don't like it." He whispers and holds Finnick's hand.

"You'll be okay baby." I say.

Probably twenty minutes into the flight Nick seems more comfortable. I think it is because he is coloring. Nick seems to be engaged in his coloring book so I think it's safe to talk to Finnick about what happened at my Dad's.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"Talk about what?" He asks.

"Mimi." I say.

He rolls his eyes.

"The first time I met her she said I was stupid because I was good looking which also met I just wanted to 'sin' with you. I wasn't surprised." He says.

Ella lying to Carter is fine because he can tell the she's lying, but Mimi is old and racist, and homophobic, really just plain offensive. It didn't help that Ella planted the seed that Finnick was a drunk. Let's just say dinner was uncomfortable for everyone, well except Nick. He seemed to be oblivious on what was going around him. Pop Pop seemed happy to meet him, Mimi did in her own way. She didn't treat him poorly unlike how she treats Carter. Mimi doesn't even want to see Madeline because she isn't really 'his' child.

"So you're okay?" I ask.

He nods and kisses my forehead.

"I'm okay." He says. "And it didn't ruin the trip." He says. I was thinking that because we left after lunch the next day. We got to see my Mom one last time so at least the last memory wasn't Mimi yelling at us.

"Good." I say and kiss him.

"So when is your first doctor appointment?" He asks.

"Oh." I say and place my hand on my stomach. "In a week, it's really just to confirm some things." I say.

He nods.

"How do you think we should tell him?" He asks and motions to Nick.

"I think we should wait for a bit. I don't think he would understand if something bad happened. I don't even know if he will understand the term big brother." I say. Finnick nods.

"Why do you always think something bad is going to happen?" He asks me.

"I've always been a worrier." I say.

"Yes you have." He smiles.

"What are you talking about?" I hear Nick ask.

"How much we love you." Finnick says.

"I love you." He says and goes back to coloring.

I lean my head against Finnick's shoulder.

"You're not worried about me are you?" Finnick whispers after awhile.

"Of course not." I say. "Why?" I ask.

"Because everyone else seems to be." He says.

"The only person that matters is me." I say.

He nods.

"You know that, right?" I ask.

"I know." He says and kisses my forehead. "And I love you."

"Good because so do I. So does he." I say and motion towards Nick.

"I know." He says.