The next morning woke up around 8:30, and went downstairs. She sat on the
couch watching television, until Cate came down the stairs. Mary then went
into the kitchen to cook breakfast. She made pancakes, and went upstairs to
wake Hailey.
"Sweetie, its time to wake up." Mary whispered to her daughter.
Hailey groaned, and rolled over. She opened her chocolate brown eyes, and smiled.
"I made pancakes."
"Pantcakes!" Hailey squealed.
"Yep, come on." Mary said laughing.
Hailey hopped out of bed, and ran out of the room. Mary then proceeded into her own room, and attempted to wake her sleeping husband. She nudged his arm, and stroked the side of his face. He opened his eyes, and starred at her.
"Breakfast is ready." She told him.
"Okay." He mumbled.
She walked out of the room, and downstairs. Cate had gotten Hailey some pancakes, and were both eating and talking.
"Thanks for getting her the pancakes."
"Oh, no problem. She is my granddaughter." She said smiling.
"Cate, I have to do some Christmas shopping today. You can come with me, or you can stay here with Robbie and Hail."
"I think I will stay here, but thank you for asking."
Mary got her coat on, and went upstairs to tell Robbie she was leaving. Like she suspected he was still sleeping. She sat next to him, and kissed his cheek lightly.
"Baby, I am going Christmas shopping. Hailey and your mom are downstairs."
"Okay. When will you be back?" he asked.
"Around 2 or 3 maybe."
"Alright."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She went back downstairs, and left. She drove to a nearby mall, and went in. Today she was shopping for Alicia, Lucy, Cate, Scott, and Sarah. She started with Lucy. She bought her an outfit from Filenes, and then went to Sam Goody. She bought her 3 DVDS, Dirty Dancing, The Wedding Planner, and Miss Congeniality. She also bought Scott a CD he said he wanted. She crossed both of them off her list, and then went to Walden Books. Sarah loved to read, and was always talking about this series of books that she always wanted to read, but never got the chance. So Mary bought her that series of books, and left the store. It was then 12:00, she continued shopping, and went to a store called Things Remembered. She went inside and immediately saw what she wanted. It was double picture frame. She also bought a little picture frame that had three wallet size slots. She crossed off Cate, and went on shopping. After a couple more hours she finally finished her shopping. She had everyone but her beloved husband Robbie, and her baby girl, Hailey. She drove home with all her stuff, and went inside.
No one was there, but she saw a note on the counter. It said:
Mary, We went ice-skating, and then we are going out to dinner. Sorry to leave you out, but we had to go. I am sorry baby, but I promise I'll be home at around 8:30. Love you always and forever. ~Robbie
She was actually kind of happy she was by herself; she would get to wrap all the presents she had bought, without Robbie and Hailey nagging her. She got the tape, scissors, name tags, a pen, and of course the wrapping paper. She went upstairs to get all the other gifts she had bought, and brought them back into the living room. She started with Ruthie's stuff. She always loved opening multiple presents, so she was going to wrap every part of everyone's gift separately. She had 6 different kinds of wrapping paper, 2 with snowflakes, one with teddy bears, one with snowmen, one Christmas trees, and one with little dogs with Santa hats on. She finished wrapping everyone's gifts, and carried them to her closet. She hid them under a stack of clothes, and went back downstairs.
It was now around 6:00. Mary wasn't that hungry, but she knew she had to eat. She made herself frozen pizza, and sat on the couch. She watched a movie until around 8:30. She called Robbie, and asked him when he'd be home.
"Umm. We will be home in around a half hour."
"Okay, well I will probably be in bed. I am tired. But I wanna kiss goodnight." She whined.
"You'll get it, don't worry." He said laughing, "I will try to speed them up in eating." "Okay. Love you."
"Love you too."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone, and went upstairs. She showered, and changed into a pair of Robbie's old shorts, and a t-shirt. She settled under the covers, and watched television for a while. She was half asleep, when she heard the door open. She got out of bed, and went downstairs to the foyer. Hailey was asleep in Robbie's arms, and Mary went over and kissed her head.
"Do you want me to take her up?" she asked, whispering.
"No, I'll do it."
"Okay."
Robbie went upstairs, and changed her clothes, and tucked her in. He kissed her cheek and went downstairs. Mary and Cate were drinking tea in the kitchen, and Robbie went and sat down next to Mary.
"Did you have Hailey use the bathroom before she went to bed?"
"No, I forgot." He said sipping Mary's tea.
"Robbie she is going to wet herself."
"She has a pull up on."
"Yeah, but still I want her to get in the habit, and I don't want her to pee in those things." She said now a little annoyed.
"God, sorry. Do you want me to go wake her up, and have her go?" he asked, now also annoyed.
"No, she is already tucked in, and situated."
"Mary, what do you want from me? God, sorry for even bringing her up."
He left the kitchen, and went upstairs.
"Damn." Mary muttered under her breath.
"Why don't you go talk to him?" suggested Cate.
"I'll try." Mary sighed, as she walked upstairs.
She went into her room, and heard the shower running. She tried the door, but it was locked. "Robbie never locks the door." She muttered to herself.
She took a hanger from the closet, bended it, and stuck it in the lock. It popped open, and she went inside.
"Robbie I need to talk to you."
"You know I purposely locked the door." He said over the water.
"Yeah, and I purposely opened it." She said back, "I am sorry. I acted bitchy, and you were just doing me a favor."
"Its alright. You just annoy me sometimes."
"You annoy me also sometimes."
"Well anyways don't worry about it, I love you, and get out so I can finish showering."
"Okay chief." She said laughing, and leaving the room.
She crawled into bed, and waited for Robbie to come out. He finally did, and crawled into bed next to her. He put his hand on her stomach, and rubbed it lightly. She smiled, and put her hand over his.
"Robbie, am I fat?" she asked.
"Mary, you are pregnant with twins."
"So I am fat?"
"No, you are pregnant." He answered.
"Robbie give me a straight answer." She whined.
"Okay your stomach is big, but its because you are carrying our twins. But everywhere else you are fine. You just have a big big stomach."
"Thank you for everything, but the big big stomach part."
"No problem hun." He said laughing.
"I love you."
"Love you too."
"Night."
"Goodnight."
For the next couple of days Mary, Robbie, Cate, and Hailey did the last of their Christmas shopping. Mary would go off with Hailey, and buy Robbie's gifts, when he was with his mother. And when Mary and Robbie went to get Hailey's gifts, Cate kept Hailey. By Christmas Eve everyone was done shopping.
It was now Christmas Eve morning. Mary had gotten up early to put the roast in the oven. She cleaned up some around the house, and got everything ready for her and Lucy to cook. Hailey watched as Mary buzzed around the kitchen. Cate and Robbie were watching television, and talking. Lucy arrived around 12:45 and they put the things in that would take long. Everyone would be coming around 5:00. They cooked and cooked for hours. The house was full with sweet aromas, and Robbie couldn't help himself. He kept coming in the kitchen saying he was the food critic. Mary shooed him out, but he kept coming back.
"Mommy I have bed please?" asked Hailey.
"You want to go to bed?" Mary asked her.
"No. I want bed." Hailey pushed, "Bed." She pointed to the homemade loaves on the counter.
"Oh bread."
"Yes."
"Okay, but don't tell daddy, he'll get jealous." Mary laughed.
Hailey took the bread and ran off to where Robbie was.
"Look, daddy look. Mommy gave me bed and not you." She laughed, running around the room.
"You little stink." Robbie pouted. He then started laughing, as his daughter continued to run about.
They finally finished cooking and baking by 4:45. Just in time. Mary set the table, while Lucy finished cleaning up. Scott arrived first, with Alicia, and soon everyone else came. They all sat down to eat. They ate laughing, and talking gaily. After dinner they all gathered in the living room, and ate desert.
"Mommy I want presents." Hailey whined.
"Baby you have to wait until morning."
"Okay." She sighed walking off.
"So Mary did you finalize your names?" asked Simon.
"Well we already have Justin Gabriel, and then we don't really know. We are still thinking."
"Oh."
The rest of the night went on happily. They sang Christmas songs, and enjoyed each other's company. Lucy had to leave kind of early because of Alicia, and Annie, Eric, and the twins left at the same time. Simon and Ruthie stayed.
"So Simon how did your date go with Carly?" asked Mary.
"Well she is really pretty and all, but lets just say Alexa got the brains of that family."
"I see." Ruthie giggled.
"But I did meet a girl named Cecilia, she lives in my friend's dorm, and she is really cute and smart. We are going out next weekend."
"That's good."
"So Ruthie how is that boy you liked?" asked Mary.
"He is going out with someone else, and I am over him. But there is this boy named Anthony. He is really cute."
"That's cool."
"Mommy I tired." Hailey said rubbing her little eyes.
"Let me put her to bed, and I will be right back." She said getting up.
"Sweetie I'll put her down, why don't you stay here." Robbie suggested.
"Okay."
"Mom, do you want to go up too?"
"I am actually tired also, so I will be heading to bed as well." Said Cate following Robbie up the stairs.
"Mary are you coming to our house tomorrow?" asked Ruthie.
"Yes, I will be there around 12:00, and I will have all your presents with me." She giggled.
"All?" Simon asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, I got you more than one."
"I am liking the sound of that." Ruthie laughed.
"You better."
Simon and Ruthie left at around 9:00, and Robbie joined Mary downstairs to fill the stockings, and put all the presents under the tree.
"Robbie there are two more gifts in the closet. Could you get them?"
"Sure baby."
He ran up the stairs, and went into the closet. He picked the gifts up, and carried them downstairs. Mary was looking at an ornament. Robbie went over to see what it was, and saw it was a homemade one, it was a picture of their whole family under the tree.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"I miss Matt. He couldn't come for Christmas, and he won't be here when he babies are born."
"I am sorry sweetie."
"Its okay. I'll just have to take lots of pictures, and send them to him. I will also call him tomorrow."
"That's good."
"I guess we're done." She said changing the subject.
"Yep. I am tired, how about we go to bed."
"That sounds great." She said smiling.
They walked upstairs hand in hand, and went into their room. They laid down in bed, and shut off the lights. They cuddled in the other's embrace, and fell asleep.
"Sweetie, its time to wake up." Mary whispered to her daughter.
Hailey groaned, and rolled over. She opened her chocolate brown eyes, and smiled.
"I made pancakes."
"Pantcakes!" Hailey squealed.
"Yep, come on." Mary said laughing.
Hailey hopped out of bed, and ran out of the room. Mary then proceeded into her own room, and attempted to wake her sleeping husband. She nudged his arm, and stroked the side of his face. He opened his eyes, and starred at her.
"Breakfast is ready." She told him.
"Okay." He mumbled.
She walked out of the room, and downstairs. Cate had gotten Hailey some pancakes, and were both eating and talking.
"Thanks for getting her the pancakes."
"Oh, no problem. She is my granddaughter." She said smiling.
"Cate, I have to do some Christmas shopping today. You can come with me, or you can stay here with Robbie and Hail."
"I think I will stay here, but thank you for asking."
Mary got her coat on, and went upstairs to tell Robbie she was leaving. Like she suspected he was still sleeping. She sat next to him, and kissed his cheek lightly.
"Baby, I am going Christmas shopping. Hailey and your mom are downstairs."
"Okay. When will you be back?" he asked.
"Around 2 or 3 maybe."
"Alright."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She went back downstairs, and left. She drove to a nearby mall, and went in. Today she was shopping for Alicia, Lucy, Cate, Scott, and Sarah. She started with Lucy. She bought her an outfit from Filenes, and then went to Sam Goody. She bought her 3 DVDS, Dirty Dancing, The Wedding Planner, and Miss Congeniality. She also bought Scott a CD he said he wanted. She crossed both of them off her list, and then went to Walden Books. Sarah loved to read, and was always talking about this series of books that she always wanted to read, but never got the chance. So Mary bought her that series of books, and left the store. It was then 12:00, she continued shopping, and went to a store called Things Remembered. She went inside and immediately saw what she wanted. It was double picture frame. She also bought a little picture frame that had three wallet size slots. She crossed off Cate, and went on shopping. After a couple more hours she finally finished her shopping. She had everyone but her beloved husband Robbie, and her baby girl, Hailey. She drove home with all her stuff, and went inside.
No one was there, but she saw a note on the counter. It said:
Mary, We went ice-skating, and then we are going out to dinner. Sorry to leave you out, but we had to go. I am sorry baby, but I promise I'll be home at around 8:30. Love you always and forever. ~Robbie
She was actually kind of happy she was by herself; she would get to wrap all the presents she had bought, without Robbie and Hailey nagging her. She got the tape, scissors, name tags, a pen, and of course the wrapping paper. She went upstairs to get all the other gifts she had bought, and brought them back into the living room. She started with Ruthie's stuff. She always loved opening multiple presents, so she was going to wrap every part of everyone's gift separately. She had 6 different kinds of wrapping paper, 2 with snowflakes, one with teddy bears, one with snowmen, one Christmas trees, and one with little dogs with Santa hats on. She finished wrapping everyone's gifts, and carried them to her closet. She hid them under a stack of clothes, and went back downstairs.
It was now around 6:00. Mary wasn't that hungry, but she knew she had to eat. She made herself frozen pizza, and sat on the couch. She watched a movie until around 8:30. She called Robbie, and asked him when he'd be home.
"Umm. We will be home in around a half hour."
"Okay, well I will probably be in bed. I am tired. But I wanna kiss goodnight." She whined.
"You'll get it, don't worry." He said laughing, "I will try to speed them up in eating." "Okay. Love you."
"Love you too."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone, and went upstairs. She showered, and changed into a pair of Robbie's old shorts, and a t-shirt. She settled under the covers, and watched television for a while. She was half asleep, when she heard the door open. She got out of bed, and went downstairs to the foyer. Hailey was asleep in Robbie's arms, and Mary went over and kissed her head.
"Do you want me to take her up?" she asked, whispering.
"No, I'll do it."
"Okay."
Robbie went upstairs, and changed her clothes, and tucked her in. He kissed her cheek and went downstairs. Mary and Cate were drinking tea in the kitchen, and Robbie went and sat down next to Mary.
"Did you have Hailey use the bathroom before she went to bed?"
"No, I forgot." He said sipping Mary's tea.
"Robbie she is going to wet herself."
"She has a pull up on."
"Yeah, but still I want her to get in the habit, and I don't want her to pee in those things." She said now a little annoyed.
"God, sorry. Do you want me to go wake her up, and have her go?" he asked, now also annoyed.
"No, she is already tucked in, and situated."
"Mary, what do you want from me? God, sorry for even bringing her up."
He left the kitchen, and went upstairs.
"Damn." Mary muttered under her breath.
"Why don't you go talk to him?" suggested Cate.
"I'll try." Mary sighed, as she walked upstairs.
She went into her room, and heard the shower running. She tried the door, but it was locked. "Robbie never locks the door." She muttered to herself.
She took a hanger from the closet, bended it, and stuck it in the lock. It popped open, and she went inside.
"Robbie I need to talk to you."
"You know I purposely locked the door." He said over the water.
"Yeah, and I purposely opened it." She said back, "I am sorry. I acted bitchy, and you were just doing me a favor."
"Its alright. You just annoy me sometimes."
"You annoy me also sometimes."
"Well anyways don't worry about it, I love you, and get out so I can finish showering."
"Okay chief." She said laughing, and leaving the room.
She crawled into bed, and waited for Robbie to come out. He finally did, and crawled into bed next to her. He put his hand on her stomach, and rubbed it lightly. She smiled, and put her hand over his.
"Robbie, am I fat?" she asked.
"Mary, you are pregnant with twins."
"So I am fat?"
"No, you are pregnant." He answered.
"Robbie give me a straight answer." She whined.
"Okay your stomach is big, but its because you are carrying our twins. But everywhere else you are fine. You just have a big big stomach."
"Thank you for everything, but the big big stomach part."
"No problem hun." He said laughing.
"I love you."
"Love you too."
"Night."
"Goodnight."
For the next couple of days Mary, Robbie, Cate, and Hailey did the last of their Christmas shopping. Mary would go off with Hailey, and buy Robbie's gifts, when he was with his mother. And when Mary and Robbie went to get Hailey's gifts, Cate kept Hailey. By Christmas Eve everyone was done shopping.
It was now Christmas Eve morning. Mary had gotten up early to put the roast in the oven. She cleaned up some around the house, and got everything ready for her and Lucy to cook. Hailey watched as Mary buzzed around the kitchen. Cate and Robbie were watching television, and talking. Lucy arrived around 12:45 and they put the things in that would take long. Everyone would be coming around 5:00. They cooked and cooked for hours. The house was full with sweet aromas, and Robbie couldn't help himself. He kept coming in the kitchen saying he was the food critic. Mary shooed him out, but he kept coming back.
"Mommy I have bed please?" asked Hailey.
"You want to go to bed?" Mary asked her.
"No. I want bed." Hailey pushed, "Bed." She pointed to the homemade loaves on the counter.
"Oh bread."
"Yes."
"Okay, but don't tell daddy, he'll get jealous." Mary laughed.
Hailey took the bread and ran off to where Robbie was.
"Look, daddy look. Mommy gave me bed and not you." She laughed, running around the room.
"You little stink." Robbie pouted. He then started laughing, as his daughter continued to run about.
They finally finished cooking and baking by 4:45. Just in time. Mary set the table, while Lucy finished cleaning up. Scott arrived first, with Alicia, and soon everyone else came. They all sat down to eat. They ate laughing, and talking gaily. After dinner they all gathered in the living room, and ate desert.
"Mommy I want presents." Hailey whined.
"Baby you have to wait until morning."
"Okay." She sighed walking off.
"So Mary did you finalize your names?" asked Simon.
"Well we already have Justin Gabriel, and then we don't really know. We are still thinking."
"Oh."
The rest of the night went on happily. They sang Christmas songs, and enjoyed each other's company. Lucy had to leave kind of early because of Alicia, and Annie, Eric, and the twins left at the same time. Simon and Ruthie stayed.
"So Simon how did your date go with Carly?" asked Mary.
"Well she is really pretty and all, but lets just say Alexa got the brains of that family."
"I see." Ruthie giggled.
"But I did meet a girl named Cecilia, she lives in my friend's dorm, and she is really cute and smart. We are going out next weekend."
"That's good."
"So Ruthie how is that boy you liked?" asked Mary.
"He is going out with someone else, and I am over him. But there is this boy named Anthony. He is really cute."
"That's cool."
"Mommy I tired." Hailey said rubbing her little eyes.
"Let me put her to bed, and I will be right back." She said getting up.
"Sweetie I'll put her down, why don't you stay here." Robbie suggested.
"Okay."
"Mom, do you want to go up too?"
"I am actually tired also, so I will be heading to bed as well." Said Cate following Robbie up the stairs.
"Mary are you coming to our house tomorrow?" asked Ruthie.
"Yes, I will be there around 12:00, and I will have all your presents with me." She giggled.
"All?" Simon asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, I got you more than one."
"I am liking the sound of that." Ruthie laughed.
"You better."
Simon and Ruthie left at around 9:00, and Robbie joined Mary downstairs to fill the stockings, and put all the presents under the tree.
"Robbie there are two more gifts in the closet. Could you get them?"
"Sure baby."
He ran up the stairs, and went into the closet. He picked the gifts up, and carried them downstairs. Mary was looking at an ornament. Robbie went over to see what it was, and saw it was a homemade one, it was a picture of their whole family under the tree.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"I miss Matt. He couldn't come for Christmas, and he won't be here when he babies are born."
"I am sorry sweetie."
"Its okay. I'll just have to take lots of pictures, and send them to him. I will also call him tomorrow."
"That's good."
"I guess we're done." She said changing the subject.
"Yep. I am tired, how about we go to bed."
"That sounds great." She said smiling.
They walked upstairs hand in hand, and went into their room. They laid down in bed, and shut off the lights. They cuddled in the other's embrace, and fell asleep.