"Cameron, hold still," Sam pleaded from his position, sprawled on his stomach on living room the floor. He chanced a glance up at his son, who was dancing along to a song that was clearly doing it for him. Cameron rocked and swayed, his eyes closed—and the Christmas tree he was supposed to be holding still as his dad tried to fasten it into the stand rocked and swayed along with his every move.
He took no notice of his dad's distress as he added some singing into the mix, rolling his body toward the tree as the song hit a particularly sweet spot. Cameron's smooth voice was usually a pleasure to hear—a sweet and soulful inheritance from his parents, but right then, Sam glared at him as the tree continued to slip and slide out of place.
Lilliana played in the space next to them, taking the Christmas stockings out of the box of decorations near them. She lay on her back, her feet stuck straight up into the air above her, and pulled the stockings onto her little feet. The five-year old giggled in amusement as the over-sized garments covered her limbs up to the knee. She looked toward her parents, dropping her feet onto Sam's back to show Mercedes what she'd done, and then dissolved into giggles again.
"Baby, it's you!" Cameron sang out above her, eyes still closed and the movement of his hips incessant, apparently declaring an unparalleled love for the Christmas tree he held in his hands. "You're the one I love!"
Sam sent an incredulous look toward his wife, who was struggling to hold up the tree along with their dancing son. Mercedes let out an amused giggle at the look on Sam's face and shook her head. Clearly this year's family decorating session would fare no better than it had on any other year.
Mercedes remembered the year before. Everything had actually been going smoothly—the tree had been fastened, Cameron waiting until after his dad was done to turn into a dancing fool. The lights and decorations had been hung, Lilliana squealing with delight as Sam lifted her onto his shoulders so she could fix the star to the top of the tree.
It wasn't until well after that things had gone south. Mercedes and Sam had been lying on the couch in front of the tree together, enjoying the soft glow of the lights—Cameron puttering on his cellphone in the love seat nearby. They'd all stopped as Lilliana dragged her toy chest into the middle of the living room.
Mercedes had been prepared to shrug it off, thinking Lilly just wanted to play near her family—but the four-year old had other ideas. She opened the top of the chest and started to unload her favorite toys—right onto the Christmas tree.
Barbie lounged in her swimsuit in a bed of gold garland. The Flower Power Light Show that followed drowned out the warm white lights of the tree. Dora the Explorer perched atop an over-sized purple glitter ornament, making the branch it rested on droop precariously. Tickle-Me-Elmo jittered right next to the ornate nativity scene below. Jolly Giraffe, the pillow pet, was about to find a new place to sleep, right above a gorgeous beaded snowflake.
Mercedes' jaw rested on the floor, eyes wide as she watched her daughter add her own flair to the tree that had taken her hours to get just right. She'd simply whimpered as a sparkling lavender ball crashed onto the ground under Jolly Giraffe's weight.
Cameron had immediately fallen apart at the sight, and flailed uselessly as he laughed. He'd gathered himself only to snap pictures of the destruction, then had promptly lost it again after he'd Instagramed his amusement for all his friends (and the world) to see.
It'd ultimately been up to Sam to do some damage control.
"Lilly Bean," he'd started, knowing he'd have to ease her into this news. "Your toys can't go on the tree, baby," he said, getting up and taking down Jolly Giraffe. Lilliana's immediate pout threatened to destroy him.
"Why?" she asked, poking out her bottom lip. Her eyes drooped to perfection. Puss in Boots had nothing on his little girl and Sam took a deep breath as he removed Barbie from her bed of garland. "Mommy put on her toys," Lilliana said pointing to a golden dove.
"Those are different," Sam tried to explain. "They're ornaments."
"Orramets?" Lilliana repeated, scrunching up her face in confusion.
"Ornaments," Sam said again. "They all have to do with Christmas—like the snowman and the elves and Santa," Sam said pointing at each ornament.
"But I got all these stuffs for Christmas!" Lilliana complained as she held up Jolly Giraffe again—a gift she'd indeed gotten for Christmas the year before.
"Yes," Sam explained. "But we don't put our Christmas gifts on the tree, baby," Sam said, pulling Dora the Explorer down. They both watched as the branch snapped back into place. The ball that'd been hanging from it crashed onto the floor, not breaking, but rolling toward Mercedes' feet. Mercedes made a strangled sound as she picked it up.
Lilliana had pouted as she plucked the Flower Power Light Show down, dropping it back into her toy chest, before she grabbed Elmo. Sam had watched in dismay as she trudged her way back down the hall, her toy chest in tow.
It'd taken the promise of a trip to the ice cream parlor to bring the smile back to her face, and she'd left with her father immediately, perched on his shoulder, happily chattering about all the toppings she'd consume. Cameron walked out behind them, not waiting on an invite—because ice cream. Mercedes took the opportunity to perfect the tree again.
It wasn't one bit surprising when Sam walked back into the house, a couple of hours later, a small pine tree perched on his shoulder. He smiled sheepishly at his wife as he set the little tree down next to the bigger one, while Lilliana walked in behind him holding a small bag of ornaments and simply beamed at him.
Mercedes didn't need to ask what happened. "You got her her own tree," she stated and Sam simply walked over with a sheepish smile and hung his head on her shoulder.
"She pouted at me," he defended. "You know what it does to me." Mercedes simply giggled and patted the back of his head before going off to help Lilly decorate her little tree. It wasn't long before Barbie found her way back to her bed of garland while Tickle Me Elmo danced below.
Mercedes and Sam had stayed up long after the kids had gone to bed, giggling as the Flower Power Light Show lit up the living room from its perch atop Lilly's tree, shining brighter than any star. It'd been Sam's suggestion to turn on the stereo and start dancing in the lights, and that had shortly dissolved into fits of laughter that had ultimately woken up both kids. Mercedes still had trouble containing her laughter when she remembered the confused look on their faces, while she and Sam just laughed.
With parents like the two of them, they couldn't even blame their children for being a little crazy—which they clearly were. Lilliana went on laughing as she lifted her stocking covered feet into the air again and Cameron had moved on to a new song, his hips still going. "The time is now, no time to waist. Turn up the love. Turn down the hate," Cameron sang, eyes still closed.
Sam shook his head as Mercedes continued to laugh. A moment later, he smacked the teenager in the leg, finally putting an end to the one man show. "Hold still!"
Cameron gasped as the contact pulled him out of the reverie he'd clearly been involved in, and turned an incommoded pout toward his father. "The song was almost done," he muttered grumpily, looking down at Sam. "And someone clearly wasn't listening to the lyrics. Turn up the love," Cameron moped. Sam's only response was a long blank stare and Cameron shook his head. "The violence, this one," he told his giggling mother, looking for sympathy. "Such a Grinch," he said, and then preemptively shifted his legs further away from Sam's reach. He held still, however.
Sam was ready to breathe a sigh of relief as Cameron finally resolved to hold the tree still, but it was short-lived. Just as he turned his attention back to the task at hand, he was choked by a swatch of red tinsel, pulled tightly around his neck. Lilly, who'd taken up a prime sitting spot on his back, kicked her Christmas stocking covered feet at her dad's sides and pulled on the tinsel she'd just thrown around his neck.
"On Rudolph!" she squealed in delight before dissolving into giggles and Sam sighed, hanging his head. Lilliana kicked her feet at his sides again as Sam just laid there. She pouted, clearly inconvenienced by his lack of participation. "You said we could play Santa's Sleigh! I'm Santa! You're Rudolph, daddy!" Lilly whined, pulling on the tinsel rein again.
"Lil, I need a second, baby," he pleaded. "Kinda busy here."
Lilliana let out a real diva sigh and let go of her "reins". She turned onto her back, stretching out against Sam's back and sticking her feet up into the air again. She pulled on the reindeer ears on the top of one of her stockings. "I'll be here when you're ready," she informed him.
Sam shook his head with a laugh and finally set himself to the task of fastening the tree. He worked quickly as Cameron's toes had already started tapping to a new song in the idle time.
A/N: Some LW Christmas lol and the return of Lilliana because I missed my girl. Cam was feelin' sassy and singing some Beyonce and Christina. He is his mother's son after all. Also, you should check out the video for the Flower Power Light Show toy on YouTube, cause the idea of Mercedes and Sam being goofballs to that and waking up their kids with it cracks me up. I mean, it's synchronized. It has Sam written all over it. Anyway, I hope people enjoy! Please review! :)
