Archie's eyes opened slowly as his brain recognized what he was smelling: the traditional French Toast casserole his mom used to make every Christmas before things soured between her and his dad. He turned his head and found Betty's peaceful face next to him.
She'd finally found a restful sleep after getting up several times through the night to use the bathroom. Their little one liked to kick her bladder at all hours of the day. Fortunately, Betty had a sense of humor about her dashes to the bathroom.
He gingerly shifted on the bed so he could get out without waking her. He pulled on a pair of bright red flannel pants and the red and white checkered Henley shirt before stumbling down to the kitchen where both the casserole and the coffee brewing assaulted his senses.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead, and Merry Christmas," Mary went to kiss his cheek.
"You're frightfully chipper this morning," Archie reached for the coffee pot to help himself to the bitter brew.
"I am spending the holiday with my son and his beautiful girlfriend," Mary smiled, "I will be a grandma in the coming year. What's not to be chipper about?"
"You make a good point," Archie smiled as he gulped down his first bit of coffee, instantly feeling a bit more energized.
"Is Betty still asleep?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, hopefully for a bit longer," Archie replied, "She was up and down several times."
"Those bladder kicks when you're trying to sleep are the worst," Mary smiled, "You did the same to me. I guess Little Frederick is taking after his daddy already."
"Sorry," Archie snorted as he took another gulp from his mug.
"It's okay," Mary patted his hand, "I forgave you many years ago."
Archie smiled, "Mom, I'm going to ask Betty to marry me."
"You mean for real this time," Mary teased, "I seem to recall you getting on your knee for her when you were eight years old."
"This one's going to stick," Archie replied.
"Good," Mary smiled, "Your dad kept your grandparents' wedding rings. They're in his safety deposit box. I've been paying for it since he died."
"Glad you did," Archie replied, "I'm going to need to withdraw them hopefully sooner rather than later." He opened a drawer and reached all the way in the back where he'd tucked the engagement ring he'd had custom made for Betty. He showed it to his mother, "What do you think?"
"Oh, Archie, it's beautiful," Mary smiled, "Betty will love it. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks, Mom," Archie grinned and then looked towards the ceiling at the footsteps he heard, "She's awake."
"So how long are you going to make me wait before you give me a future daughter-in-law?" Mary asked.
"A couple of days," Archie quickly tucked the box back in the drawer, "I didn't want to do the typical Christmas Day Proposal. I've hired a horse drawn carriage to arrive on Saturday to pick her up with warm blankets and hot cocoa, and then we're going to ride towards the river, where I'm going to get down on one knee and pray to God she says yes."
"Archie, that sounds amazing," Mary smiled with glee.
"Something smells good," Betty smiled sleepily as she came into the kitchen, "Merry Christmas everyone."
"Merry Christmas, Betts," Archie went to her, caressed her stomach as he gave her a kiss.
"Have you been down here long?" Betty accepted a cup of tea Mary was handing her.
"Long enough," Mary replied, "How'd you sleep? Archie said Freddie has been using your bladder for soccer practice just like he did to me a few decades ago."
"I slept as well as I could," Betty poked her boyfriend in the ribs, "You owe your mother a million apologies and a dozen red roses on every holiday."
"I will remember that," Archie smiled, "Food or presents first?"
Before Betty could answer there was a knock at the door. She looked at Archie, "Could you get that?"
"Uh, sure," Archie frowned in confusion and then went on high alert. They weren't expecting anyone this morning, and Louis always seemed to ruin happy moments.
Betty smiled as Archie walked to the door and opened it. There was no one there and just as he was about to turn around, he noticed the box on the porch. He stared at it for a moment as panic settled in as he recognized his name written on top. Just as he moved to dial FP to come over and inspect it, the box moved a little.
"What the hell?" he whispered.
Throwing caution to the wind, he opened the box and was immediately taken aback by a young golden retriever wrapped in a festive red bow. "Einstein," he instantly recognized the dog, "How did you get here?"
"I got him for you," Betty appeared in the doorway, "When we were picking out the puppy with Polly for the kiddos, I saw how attached you became to him. I asked the owner if he was available for adoption, and they said they'd been searching for the right owner. Beverly noted how she'd never seen him attach to anyone like he did with you. I saw it as fate."
Archie pulled the dog from the box and plopped himself down in the doorway with Einstein in his lap. The one-year-old dog licked at Archie's face as he received a thorough rubdown. "How's this going to work?" he turned towards Betty, "We're going to have a baby in a month."
"That's the joy of having a slightly older dog. He's house broken and has gone through obedience training. He's a bit more mellow than the puppy the twins got," Betty was overjoyed to see the smile on Archie's face, "Cherry and Toni watched him for us for a couple of days."
"Betty, this is the best thing I could've gotten this year," Archie stood up and kissed her, "Thank you."
"You're very welcome," she smiled. "I'm sorry I made you think that he'd been adopted by another owner. Cheryl and Toni were supposed to pick him up after we went to get Hugo, but then they had to go earlier than planned."
"I don't care," Archie hugged the dog close again. The pup was more than willing to accept the affection as his tale wagged vigorously as he circled Archie over and over again before pouncing on him, sending Archie tumbling to the floor with a hearty laugh.
"Who is this?" Mary came into the entryway to see what all the commotion was about.
"Our dog, Einstein," Betty smiled as Archie picked him up and showed him off to his mother.
"He's gorgeous," Mary scratched at the dog's ears.
Einstein appeared to be soaking up all the attention like a sponge. He was going to fit right in.
"I guess we're going to start with presents," Mary guided the pair towards the tree and the presents waiting for them.
Betty had gifted Archie a bunch of necessities for a new dog owner along with the standard work shirts and pair of new work boots to replace the ones Hugo had gnawed on, "Those are from Polly."
Einstein dutifully sat at Archie's feet as wrapping paper flew all around. Dog and master were immediately bonded.
Archie took Einstein into the backyard to get him acclimated to his surroundings as Betty and Mary saw to breakfast.
"Einstein was the best gift you could have given Archie," Mary could hear Einstein barking in the backyard.
"I feel kind of bad that I made him think Einstein had been adopted by someone else," Betty sipped at her tea, "I overheard the two of you talking yesterday. I didn't expect Archie to be so devastated. I told Cheryl and Toni to bring him over early."
"Any depression he felt has been immediately wiped away," Mary assured her.
"We're probably a little crazy to introduce a new pet into the house so close to having a baby," Betty rubbed at her belly.
"I think you'll manage just fine," Mary smiled as Archie burst through the door with Einstein.
"Sit," Archie commanded his dog at the entryway. The dog dutifully obeyed as Archie shed his coats and boots. Archie grabbed the towel Betty was handing him and wiped at the dog's snowy paws. Einstein nudged his cold, wet nose into Archie's neck.
"Are you going to share the puppy love, or have we lost you?" Mary asked.
"Not sure yet," Archie patted Einstein's back as he finished wiping Einstein down.
"Are you ready for breakfast yet?" Betty motioned towards the kitchen table already set with their best dishes.
"Whenever it's ready," Archie shrugged.
Betty slid from her stool as Mary took the casserole from the oven where it was being kept to say warm.
Archie quickly poured Einstein a helping of his dog food and then joined Mary and Betty at the table.
"I'm really digging these new traditions we're starting," Betty stated as she helped herself to a serving of Mary's casserole, "I love my mom and all, but holiday traditions went by the wayside about the time I got to high school. About all we did was put up the tree and exchange a few presents. Shocked the heck out of me when we had that big fancy dinner last night."
"Yeah, our traditions fell away too," Mary replied, "It's tough when you're divorced and have to share holidays with your ex-husband. Fred always said I was welcome when it was his turn for Christmas, but it didn't feel right. Arch and I tried to do something while he was in college, but he only took a couple days away from campus because he was in training."
"I think we have a bit of incentive now," Archie reached for Betty's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"It's going to be so much fun next year," Mary added, "Having kids makes the holiday much more special."
"Yeah, Archie and I were talking about that last night in front of the tree," Betty smiled, "Freddie is going to be so spoiled."
Archie reached over and stroked her stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Einstein pushing his food bowl towards the table.
"I think Einnie wants to be a part of the adult table," Archie went to retrieve the water dish and set it next to the food bowl as the pup made himself comfortable next to Archie's chair as he ate.
"Spoiled already," Mary mused, "It's like déjà vu."
After breakfast was cleared, Archie gave Einstein the lay of the land. The dog followed his new master around with a spring in his step. Betty and Mary were curled up in front of the tree with a couple of books when they heard footsteps at the front door. Einstein must have heard them too as he ran to the door and began barking when the doorbell rang.
Archie ran to answer the door to both see who it was and shush Einstein. He was relieved to see it was Cheryl and Toni.
"Hey, guys," Betty waddled her way to the door to greet her friends. "I thought you were having Christmas with Toni's family."
"We did," Toni stepped inside, "We just wanted to stop by and see how Einstein is fitting in."
"You're just hoping he's creating chaos like his younger brother so you can reclaim him," Betty laughed, "He's been the perfect gentleman."
"He is a handsome little fella," Toni bent over as much as she could so she could pet his head, "And he loves cuddly naps."
"Who doesn't," Betty sent a wink in Archie's direction. "Arch and Einnie have been nearly inseparable since he found him at the door this morning."
"True story," Archie knelt down to give him a thorough rubbing, "Best Christmas gift I could have received."
"Yeah, well going into labor would have been my best Christmas gift, but no dice," Toni rubbed at her belly.
"Did you want to come in and have some apple cider?" Betty offered, "Mary and I are just chilling around the tree reading while Archie is monopolizing Einstein. We could turn on a Christmas movie and pop some popcorn."
"That actually sounds like fun," Toni looked to Cheryl to make the final decision.
"Whatever my TiTi wants," Cheryl smiled brightly.
"Christmas movie marathon it is," Toni stepped into the living room. Archie and Mary went into the kitchen to pop some popcorn while Cheryl, Toni and Betty made themselves comfortable in the living room and cued up a suitable movie to watch. Settling on a classic, Betty started up 'White Christmas' when Archie and Mary returned to the living room with bowls of popcorn and handed them out to everyone.
Cheryl and Toni were settled into the sofa. Betty was in one lounge chair with Mary in the other. Archie made himself comfortable on the floor next to Betty, with Einstein's head in his lap. It was a great way to spend the holiday.
After 'White Christmas' concluded, Archie requested an old cartoon, 'A Charlie Brown's Christmas'. By the time the movie ended, Toni was getting tired, and she and Cheryl went home.
"Remember when we were kids, on December first you and I would search out when 'A Charlie Brown's Christmas' was on and then we'd plan a sleepover, you, me and Jug," Betty recalled as they began folding blankets and picking up rogue kernels of popcorn that Einstein didn't snap up.
"Didn't matter if it was a school night or not," Archie agreed, "How we convinced our parents, I'll never know."
"We liked watching it too," Mary chimed in, "You seem to forget that movie is old enough that we grew up watching it."
"Your dad would help us make a fort in the living room after the movie concluded, and we'd camp out," Betty smiled.
"So much fun," Archie wrapped his arms around her waist as much as he could.
"I really hope that Toni and Cheryl's baby can be as close to our child as I was to you," Betty replied, "I'd hate to deprive them of the type of memories we have."
"Me too," Archie gave her a quick kiss.
Mary went to the kitchen to get dinner ready. Alice had sent home a plethora of leftovers the day before, and Mary was whipping them up in a casserole of some sort.
"Best Christmas ever," Archie continued to peck at her lips.
TBC…