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Chapter Eight

Nothing's Like Christmas

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" Grace exclaimed, as soon as she woke up. Of course this woke all the kids up in the room and they all started to jump around the room yelling, "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!"

Ruthie who was sleeping in the room next to the kids woke up because of their yelling. She sat up and stretched and then got out of bed groggily. She opened the door that connected the two rooms and saw that all the kids were running around and jumping on the beds.

"Merry Christmas guys!" Ruthie said excitedly.

"Merry Christmas!" all the kids exclaimed. A couple of seconds later Annie and Eric came into the room and they were soon followed by Peter, Sam, and David. They all sat in the room for awhile until everyone was awake. Then they all went downstairs.

There was a mass of confusion as all the kids tore open their presents. Screams of, "Mommy and Daddy look what I got!" and "Yeah, that's just what I wanted" and "Look what Santa brought me" filled the room for about fifteen minutes. When all the presents for the kids were done being opened a large amount of wrapping paper littered the floor. Grace, Zack, Charlie, Connor, Maggie, and Rebecca played with their new toys as Mary, Carlos, Matt, and Sarah opened the presents that were for Jake and Nolan.

"Honey, I got this for you," Eric said to his wife and he handed Annie a box wrapped in paper that had Christmas trees on it. She opened it to find new plates, cups, glasses, and bowls that all matched.

"Thank you honey! This is exactly what I wanted," Annie exclaimed and she kissed her husband. Everyone exchanged gifts for a little while and when they were done Annie, Mary, and Sarah all went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Mommy and Daddy get up! Get up!" Noah, Luke, Lizzy, Tommy, and Caleb chanted as they jumped on Lucy and Kevin's bed. They both stretched and then sat up.

"That was a very nice wake up call," Kevin said sarcastically.

"Do you guys want to go downstairs?" Lucy asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah!" all five kids yelled.

"Okay. Your father and I are getting up," Lucy said and she and Kevin both got out of bed and they followed the kids downstairs.

"Oh my gosh a puppy!" Lizzy yelled as she ran into the living room. All the kids followed their sister into the living room after hearing what Lizzy said. When everyone got there they saw that sitting under the Christmas tree was a golden retriever puppy that had a big red bow around its neck. They all ooed and ahed over the puppy for a little while and then went to open the rest of their presents as Lucy snapped pictures of everybody. Lucy and Kevin sat on the floor watching the kids opened their presents, as they sat there the dog crawled into Lucy's lap and fell asleep.

"So what should we name the doggy?" Lizzy asked.

"Well, is it a boy or a girl?" Luke asked.

"It's a girl," Kevin said.

"Let's name her Barney," Caleb suggested. Everyone giggled at what Caleb had said and then Noah said, "No way. That's not a good name." The Kinkirk family talked over names for awhile and a half an hour later they still had not decided one.

"Why don't we have breakfast, we can continue trying to decide on a name while we eat," Lucy suggested. She got up from where she was sitting on the floor and went into the kitchen. She was followed by her family and their new puppy and everyone chipped in to make breakfast.

"Can I feed the doggy?" Tommy asked.

"Sure. Here's the bowl for her and here's the food. Just pour a little food into the bowl," Kevin told his son. He watched Tommy as he carefully poured some dog food into the dish. Then Kevin filled the other bowl with some water and put both bowls in the corner of the kitchen. A couple of minutes later breakfast was ready and everyone sat at the table.

"How about cupcake?" Lizzy suggested.

"No too girly," Noah said.

"It's a girl dog her name is supposed to be girly," Lizzy almost yelled at her brother that was only thirty seconds older than her.

"How about Sandy?" Lucy suggested.

"Yeah, I like it," Kevin said.

"Me too," Noah said.

"Yay we picked a name. Our puppy's name is Sandy!" Luke yelled.

"Come here Sandy. Come here!" Lizzy yelled and then when the dog did not respond she said, "I don't think Sandy knows her name yet."

"She will soon though," Kevin said and he tickled his daughter who was sitting next to him, as Lizzy giggled everyone couldn't help but join in the laughter. The Kinkirk family finished breakfast and then Lucy said, "alright Noah, Lizzy, Luke, Tommy, and Caleb get in front of the Christmas tree. I want to take your picture."

"Come on mom," Luke groaned.

"Come on go," Lucy said and she ushered the kids into the living room. All five kids gathered in front of the tree and Lucy took a picture of them all in their Christmas pajamas. After the picture was taken the kids all ran off to play with their new toys and Lucy left the room to clean up from breakfast. Kevin followed her and then grabbed her hand and turned her around.

"Merry Christmas!" Kevin said and he kissed his wife.

"Merry Christmas," Lucy said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kevin said. "And I got this for you." Kevin said this and he gave Lucy a small box wrapped in Christmas paper.

"Thank you," Lucy said. "And this is for you." Lucy said this and then ran into the living room and grabbed Kevin's present from underneath the tree. She returned and then gave Kevin his present. First Lucy opened her present and found a necklace and matching ear rings. "Oh my gosh, Kevin they are beautiful. I love it." Then she quickly kissed her husband and said, "now, open yours."

Kevin opened his present and found a new leather jacket. "Thank you honey. I love it!" Then Kevin kissed his wife and said, "Do you know that this is our last Christmas with five children?"

"Yes. It's wonderful," Lucy said.

"Mommy can we give daddy the present we got for him now? We gave you the one we got for you already?" Tommy asked.

"Sure. Go and get your brothers and sister and we can give daddy his present," Lucy said and Tommy ran from the room. He returned with Caleb, Noah, Luke, and Lizzy holding the present with Sandy on his heels.

"Here Daddy," Tommy said and he gave Kevin the present. All the kids watched intently as Kevin opened the present and when he did he found a picture frame that held a picture of his wife and children. Each of them were wearing t-shirts that said "I Love Daddy."

"Thank you," Kevin said and he hugged each of his children and wife.

"Mommy I made this for you, with a little help from daddy," Alex said and he gave Kate the present that he had just gotten from underneath the tree.

Kate opened it and found a plaque. It had Alex's hand prints on it and his name underneath. "I love it!" Kate exclaimed and she pulled Alex into a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Alex said.

"Alex, we have to start getting ready for church, go upstairs and I'll meet you up there.

"Okay," Alex said and he ran from the room.

"Merry Christmas honey. It's our last Christmas with only one child, I don't think everything will be as calm next year," Simon said and he kissed his wife.

"Yes but next year we will have Emma Noelle, Hannah Meghan, Andrew Eric, Kenneth Adam and Alexander Matthew. I think it will be better this way," Kate said and she kissed Simon. Then he left the room and walked down the hall to his son's room.

When Simon got there he found his son dancing around the room with his pajama pants on his head. Simon laughed at his son and this made Alex realize that someone was watching him. Alex turned around and when he saw it was his dad he turned a dark red.

"Hi dad," Alex said.

"Come one. Let's get you dressed," Simon said and he helped his son to put on a pair of khaki pants, white shirt, sport jacket, and a clip on tie that had candy canes on it.

"Can you do my hair?" Alex asked.

"Sure," Simon said. Simon got out some gel and a comb and spiked his son's hair in the front. "You're all set. Go play but don't get dirty!" Alex ran off to go and play with his toys. Simon took a shower and then got ready to go to church. When he was done he helped Alex to get his jacket on then he too got a jacket on.

"Sorry you can't come to church with us mommy," Alex said and he hugged Kate.

"Its okay honey," Kate said and she kissed the top of Alex's head. Then Simon and Alex got into the car and drove to the Glenoak Community Church. When they got there they saw the entire Camden family sitting on the right side. Now that the family was so much bigger they didn't only take up one row but three. Simon and Alex both took seats next to Mary and Carlos and their kids and the service started.

"Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas!" Eric started. "This is an especially great day for me because as you can see my entire family is here. This doesn't happen very often and it always makes me really happy. Many people believe that Christmas is about getting presents but having my family here has showed me that it is not." Eric continued his sermon and when he was done everyone stood up to leave.

"Good sermon dad," Matt said once Eric had reached his family.

"Thanks Matt," Eric said. Everyone left the church and once they got outside Simon said, "Everyone can come to my house around five o'clock. We'll have dinner around six."

"Okay," everyone responded and each of the families got into their correct cars.

"Mommy can I take this dress off?" Maggie asked her mother. Maggie was a little bit of a tomboy but this was believable because she had two older brothers.

"Why would you want to do that? That dress is very pretty?" Mary said, of course Mary thought it was pretty she had picked out the dress. It was black velvet and it had lace around the collar and sleeves.

"Well I hate it," Maggie said.

"Sorry you can't take off the dress. We haven't even left for Aunt Kate and Uncle Simon's house yet," Mary said and Maggie ran off to play with her cousins.

"Mary, she's so much like you," Annie said as she remembered back to when Mary was little. "You used to hate wearing dresses too."

"We better get going," Carlos said after he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, you're right," Annie said as she looked at her watch.

"I'll go get the kids," Sarah said and she went upstairs and into the attic. When she got there she saw all seven of the kids and Sam and David playing Candy Land. "Time to go," Sarah said. All the kids put down the toys they were playing with and ran down stairs.

When Sarah got downstairs she saw that her brother-en-laws, sister-en-laws, and husband were all helping their children to get their coats and shoes on. They were soon joined by Annie and Eric who ushered them all out of the house. Sarah took the car seat carrier that held Nolan from Matt and then attached it to the base in the back seat of their rental car. Once all of the kids were seated in the car they started to drive to Simon and Kate's house.

When they got there they were greeted by Alex who ran to the door as soon he heard someone knock. "Hi everybody!" he exclaimed. "Merry Christmas!"

Everyone said hello and they entered the house and the kids followed Alex to go and play. The adults went into the living room where they found Kate, Lucy, and Kevin. "Where's Simon?" Matt asked.

"He's probably in the kitchen making dinner. He refuses to let me help him, it's really annoying," Kate explained.

"I'll go and help him," Matt said as he got up from where he was sitting.

"I don't think you'll be much help honey. You're not much of a cook," Sarah said to her husband.

"Are you trying to say that I stink at cooking?" Matt said in mock seriousness.

"Yup," Sarah said.

"Yeah, I knew that already," Matt said.

"Well I'm not bad at cooking I'll go and help him," Kevin said and he left the room.

Then Matt got up and Sarah gave him a look so he said, "What? I promise I won't try to cook. I'm just going to supervise." Eric and Carlos also left with Matt so the women were the only ones left in the living room.

Nolan started to cry in his car seat carrier that was right next to where Sarah was sitting so Sarah went to get him. She picked him up said, "Nolan I don't know what I'm going to do with you." Then she sat down as he started to stop crying.

"Can I hold my grandson?" Annie asked and Sarah handed him to her.

"He's all yours," Sarah said, happy to be able to talk for a little while with out her son tugging on her necklace or ear rings. Even if it was just for a little while.

"I can't believe that you're already seven months pregnant," Lucy said.

"I can't believe how large I am," Kate said. "At times I have trouble breathing because the babies are pushing against my lungs and it feels like they are always kicking. It's like indoor soccer of something."

Everyone laughed at what Kate had said and then she said, "I'm just really excited for the babies to be born. I mean I have been waiting so long to have a baby. I can't wait to hold one of those little babies in my arms right after they are born and know that him or her is mine. I know that I'm Alex's mom but I'm not really. I didn't come into his life until he was five months old and I didn't become his actual mother until he was like a year and a half. I never got to experience those sleepless nights that you have when a baby is first born. I love Alex with all my heart but I can't wait to experience everything that happens when you first bring a baby home from the hospital."

"Yeah nothing is like holding a newborn baby," Sarah said. "I don't know why but I think the baby always cries a lot less when they are at the hospital."

"Here you want some practice," Mary said and she handed Kate her one month old son.

"Hey Jakie," Kate said. "You are so cute." After Kate had said this Jake smiled up at her and Kate couldn't help but laugh. A little while later dinner was ready and since they were having a buffet type dinner everyone got their food and then went into the living room. Luckily the food tasted wonderful, not that anyone doubted Simon or anything.

"So Caleb what did you get for Christmas?" Simon asked his two year old nephew.

"Puppy!" Caleb exclaimed.

"Really? What did you name the puppy?" Simon asked.

"Sandy but she doesn't know her name yet," Caleb explained. "She's very cute."

"Cool," Simon said. When everybody had finished eating they exchanged gifts, which was of course very exciting for the kids.

At about eleven o'clock everyone was becoming really tired and it was time to go home. They all got into their cars and drove home. Once again the Camden house was quiet.

"Come on Alex lets get you to bed," Simon said and he picked up his son who had fallen asleep on the couch. They went into Alex's room and Simon laid him on the bed. Since Alex was asleep Simon took of his shoes, socks, pants, suit jacket, shirt and tie and dressed him in his pajamas. Then Simon pulled up the comforter that had trains on it so that it kept his son warm. Simon left the room after turning of the light and went into the living room where his wife was. They talked for a little while until they both became really tired. Since Kate was allowed to walk for about two minutes a day she and Simon went upstairs and they went to bed after putting on their pajamas.

"Mom do we really have to go to bed the same time as kids who are three years old?" Sam asked.

"I guess you can stay up for an extra half an hour," Annie said.

"Yes," Sam and David exclaimed. They both ran downstairs where their brothers, sisters, brother-en-laws and sister en-laws were.

"I can't believe how much you guys have grown up," Mary said. "I remember holding you right after you were born."

"So you guys got girl friends yet?" Matt asked.

"Not yet," David said.

"We will soon though, hopefully," Sam added.

"That's a scary thought," Eric said to himself. "Sam and David are starting to date, Ruthie is getting married. I must be getting old."

"Nah, its just your children who are getting older," Matt joked. At about one o'clock it was time for everyone to go to bed and everyone went to their specific bedrooms falling asleep quickly.

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