Marianne woke to a loud knocking on her door.
"Rise and Shine!" Her father called.
"Aughhhhh…..Father…" Briony protested, pulling her pillow over her head. Jupiter poked his head in to see his two oldest daughters. He looked much too cheerful for six in the morning. "It's Christmasssss." Briony whined. Marianne chucked her book at her. "Ow! Marianne!" Marianne ducked Briony's pillow. Jupiter shook his head.
"Your brothers are already up." Jupiter said. "I let you sleep in." And he vanished. Marianne groaned.
"I bet he's talking about Evan and Smalls." She grumbled. "I heard them this morning-they're so loud."
"Evan's loud." Marianne corrected, sliding out of bed and into her slippers.
"Either way." Briony peaked out through the curtains and into the yard. "huh. It snowed last night."
"Great. Bet Father made Asher and Matthew go out a shovel it."
"I hope they did, I don't want to."
.
.
.
Marianne reached the kitchen to find her older brother, Winslow, standing over the most enormous cup of coffee she had ever seen.
"What time did you get here last night?" She asked, fumbling through the cupboard for more coffee.
"Three A.M." He replied.
Winslow was in college studying political science. What on earth he was going to do with a political science degree, Marianne had no idea. Apparently, their father didn't either, and it was a sore point.
"Why'd you drive through the night?" She asked. Winslow shrugged. He didn't always have a reason for why he did things; he just did them the way he did them, and nobody questioned it. She filled her cup with coffee and then went to see if her mother needed any help.
Glen was downstairs directing chaos. Even though there weren't any little kids left in the house anymore, there was still plenty of mess that need to be cleaned before the afternoon.
"Hey, where's Evan and Smalls?" She asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Lord knows!" Glen replied, throwing up her hands. "They left for there paper route two hours ago and still haven't returned!"
"Auntieeeee!" Lydia crowed. "It's snoooowing!" Glen rubbed her forehead.
"Yes, why don't you go out and play?" She suggested. Lydia's face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically, dashing from the room. "I want your rooms clean and the bathrooms deep cleaned." She ordered, casting a long look at Matthew, who was sprawled on the ground. Asher poked his head into the den;
"I've already been doing that." He said, disappearing back into his bedroom.
"Whit, I know for a fact that your room is a disaster zone. I want it clean. Now." Whit saluted, which got him a look, and then hurried upstairs. "Go help your brother, Matthew." Matthew groaned, sat up, and reluctantly wandered over to his room, where he promptly got into an argument with his twin. "Marianne, call Evan. Tell him he and Smalls need to get home now. I bet they're over at the Longtreaders even though I told them not to." Marianne nodded and went back up into the kitchen. Evan answered almost immediately.
"Hey, Mother wants you home, now." She said.
"Why?"
"To clean." There was a jumble of random noises on the other end, and then Evan replied,
"Well, we've got Heather, Picket, and Jacks-wait, no, we've got just Heather and Picket. Jacks went off to the neighbor's."
"Why are you with them?"
"There mother kicked them out."
"Ah, so you were over at the Longtreaders."
"Blame Smalls."
"I'm blaming both of you. Mother's in a mood. Get over here now." And she hung up the phone. Fifteen minutes later, Evan and Smalls burst through the door, bringing snow, cold, and wind with them.
"Shut the door, boys!" Glen called.
"Heather and Picket are with them." Marianne informed her mother. Glen appeared in the kitchen.
"Well, then they can help."
"Help with what?" Picket asked.
"Cleaning." Glen said promptly. "And you four can start in the kitchen. I want it spotless." Smalls nodded, taking his jacket off and hanging it up. Evan quickly followed. "Marianne, come help me wrap these last few presents." Marianne nodded and followed her mother.