"Merry Christmas!" said Zoe and Michelle simultaneously into the phone that Zoe held between them.
"Merry Christmas! How was it?"
"Zoe almost burned the house dow--"
"That is not true, don't believe a word she says!" Zoe interrupted. "First off, that was before Christmas, and second, just because I accidentally set off the fire alarm doesn't automatically mean that I almost burned the house down."
"You set off the fire alarm?" asked Tony.
"Only a little..."
"There were flames a foot high!" said Michelle.
"Alright, how did you manage that?" Tony asked his daughter.
"I was trying to make Canard A l'Orange and something went wrong... I'm not sure what it was, but I tried making it again a few days ago and it worked fine, so that's course three of your getting-out-of-jail meal all planned out."
"Sounds good," he said. "If you manage not to, you know... set things alight."
Zoe rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I will. Anyway, on actual Christmas Day me and Uncle Joe made a wonderful meal with no flames at all, while Grandma sat there watching us and laughing every time something went wrong and Mom got to deal with kids throwing tantrums."
"Yeah, that was so much fun," said Michelle, slightly sarcastically.
"It's just 'cause you refuse to cook," her daughter told her.
"I can't cook! I'd be almost burning the place down on a daily basis!"
"And yet you got so upset when I did it once." Zoe turned back to Tony. "Mothers are strange people."
Tony laughed. "You two are incredible. In every sense of the word."
"Thank you." Michelle smiled.
"So," said Zoe, "Only one year to go! Only one more Christmas without you!"
"Ah, but are you sure you'll really want me there at Christmas? I might just try to take over the kitchen..."
"I really don't think I'll mind, especially if your cooking is as wonderful as Mom says it is."
"Well, compared to her cooking, 'wonderful' isn't really that hard to do..."
"True!" said Zoe.
"Hey!" said Michelle.
"Kidding," said Tony.
"But it's funny 'cause it's true..." said Zoe, and the three of them
laughed happily.