"Oooh la la this French toast looks bueno." Linda half sung as she flipped the finished toast onto a plate and set it on the kitchen table. Usually Bob does most of the cooking for the family, but he had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Between falling off of the band shell and climbing the over engineered Mole Hill ride at the Wharf yesterday, his body was a mess. He really appreciated Linda helping out. Unlike Bob she wasn't the best cook though. Sure she can handle the basics, grilling a burger or cooking spaghetti, but she wasn't as creative as her husband. She tends to struggle with breakfast foods, but this meal actually seamed edible.

"Um I'm pretty sure Bueno is Spanish." Bob laughed.

"What's bueno Spanish for?" Tina sat down and poured herself some apple juice. Just like her Spanish, her aim was no bueno. She ended up pouring about a cup and a half of juice onto the table.

Bob sighed. It seemed as though the Belchers could not get through a single meal without a spill. He handed Tina a rag to clean up with. "It's good."

"Oh really? I thought I hardly wiped any juice up." Tina inspected her work. "Huh I think I'm getting better at wiping."

"Brag." Gene sat down and pulled the entire plate of French toast towards him.

"Oh my god." Bob muttered. He picked up the rag and finished wiping up the juice that his daughter failed to clean. At least she tried.

"Ah ah ah!" Linda swatted Gene's hand away with the spatula. "That plate is for the entire family Gene."

"Hmmf." Gene hummed and sulked down in his chair. He wasn't upset for too long though. He picked his napkin-holder instrument and worked on adjusting the sound. He had to have just the right pitch for his concert at the Wharf next week. Mr. Fishoeder may not have been very generous with his parents' rent, but he was kind enough to agree to (after a lot of begging) let Gene and his band open for Jhonny Jazz Hands.

Bob pulled 5 plates out of the cabinets and set them on the table. He looked at the clock, it was getting late and their youngest child still wasn't up. If it wasn't the end of the school year he would consider letting her stay home and catch up on sleep. "You guys get started, I'll go wake Louise up."

"So what other similarities do you think Louise has with grandma?" Tina asked her brother and mother. As the kids pointed out the night before, Bob doesn't mention his mother often. The kids didn't really know much about her, until last night they didn't even know her first name.

"How bout her weird attached ear-lobes or long E.T fingers?" Gene admired his own seemingly perfect fingers.

"Or maybe grandma was short like Louise." Tina suggested. Louise had always been a tad on the short side. If it hadn't been for pocket-sized Rudy and Arnold Evans who skipped a grade, Louise would be the smallest kid in her grade. Growing up she was always around the 3rd percentile for height, while her siblings were tall for their age and reached percentiles over 80.

"Hey be nice to your grandma and sister." Linda scolded her older children. "Her long fingers are cute and she's great at typing."

"Hmm." Gene added.

"You know I've always wondered if it was her attitude that she got from your grandmother. I know she didn't get that from me."

"Well you're kinda right." Bob returned to the kitchen carrying Louise again. He set her down in an empty chair and sat down next to her. "That wasn't easy, she did not want to get up."

Louise closed her eyes and laid her head down on the table, determined to go back to sleep. Bob reached over and shook her arm.

"Louise come on you need to wake up. Look your mom made French toast, and it's actually..." Bob took a bite out of his breakfast. "It tastes alright."

"Thank you."

"Maybe another story about her and grandma would wake her up." Gene hinted.

"I don't know kids, it's getting late." Bob checked the clock it was already 7:45. The kids still had to eat, get dressed and brush their hair and teeth. They weren't great at getting ready when they weren't in a rush.

"Please?" Tina begged.

"I promise, I'll tell you kids more about grandma when you get home."

Louise popped her head up and looked at her father with puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeeeeeease?"

Bob sighed deeply. How could he say no to those eyes? "Fine, I'll have to give you guys a ride so you're not late though."

Louise silently celebrated. Once again she persuaded Bob to give in.

"Let's see... I guess I noticed another similarity between you two on your first Christmas." Bob started.

"You were 8 months old."

"Yeah I know mom, I can do the math."

"Oh yeah right."

XXXXX Flashback 8 years ago XXXXX

Linda stood in front of the tree inspecting it. Something didn't seem right. She rearranged the ornaments, the lights and added more tinsel. The angel on top had been dusted numerous times and Linda even applied make up to it. She was moving the branches around when Bob walked in.

"Bob do these look perky enough?"

"Yeah they look fine, why are you not wearing a bra?"

"No I'm not but I'm not talking about... Really? You think?" Linda posed for her husband. She realized she got off track. "No Bob, I meant the tree. Are the branches perky enough, or do they need something else? Should I add more tinsel?

"Lin Christmas is almost over, why are you redecorating the tree?"

"Your father, my parents, and Gayle will be over soon for dinner. Everything has to be perfect."

"Why? What's the worse that could happen? They decide never to come here again? Because that sounds great actually... why don't you take a break."

"It has to be perfect because my parents are thinking of moving to Florida.. and"

"Really!?" Bob shouted excitedly, scaring the kids a little.

"Bob!" Linda scolded. She went over to where Tina and Gene were playing on the floor and checked on them. They seemed to quickly get over their father's outburst. She walked over to Louise who stayed asleep in her playpen.

"I couldn't put her to sleep in the girls' room because Tina was playing in there, and I couldn't put her in our room because you were busy looking for your leather jacket..."

XXXXXXXXX Flashback Paused XXXXXXXXX

"Wait dad had a leather jacket?" Gene shouted. "Why have I never seen it?"

"Yeah, it would make you a lot cooler." Louise pointed out. "I mean it wouldn't make you cool per se, but it'd at least make you somewhat normal."

"No it wouldn't. It was hideous. It was fire truck red. What man buys a red leather jacket?"

"A firefighter?" Tina had that dreamy look on her face which means she was probably fantasizing about the firefighter calendar that she saw at the mall last week.

"Elton John?" Gene suggested. He wondered if that would be a good look for his concert at the Wharf. He and Linda were going to have to have a serious talk about costumes later.

"Stop! We're getting off topic." Bob tried to start his story over.

"It also had fringe." Linda laughed.

"FATHER!" Gene shouted.

"Oh my god can we just get back to my story?" Bob nearly whispered. He sounded exhausted.

XXXXXXXXX Flashback Resumed XXXXXXXXX

"So why is it a big deal if your parents move? Isn't that what old people do? They move to Florida."

"Does that mean you guys will be moving to Florida soon?" Present day Louise asked, interrupting her father's story once more.

"Hush." Present day Bob scolded his daughter.

"If my parents move we're going to lose our free babysitters. It's not like we can stick the three of them on your father. He couldn't even watch them when there was just two of them. Or one."

"Well that's fine, it's not like we go anywhere. Also your parents were horrible babysitters. The last time they watched the kids they let Gene eat an entire bottle of Flintstones vitamins. Just saying."

"They were expired vitamins." Linda exaggerated the word 'expired'.

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"The other problem about them moving, is my sister. Where will Gayle go? She can't move into the retirement home with them, and she's not ready to live on her own just yet."

"I mean she should be, she's 34. Oh no she's not going to try to move in with us will she?"

"Well..."

"Linda no! This apartment is crowded enough. Our daughters already have to share a bedroom. What's Gayle going to do? Share a room with Gene?"

"That's why we have to make this the best Christmas eva! We need to show my parents what they'll be missing when they move to Florida."

"Sure Lin. Let's make it the best Christmas ever." Bob said skeptically. It wasn't that he thought that his wife couldn't host a great holiday. He just knew that no holiday would keep his in-laws from moving. Al and Gloria only lived 20 minutes away from the Belchers, and yet they weren't fans of visiting their family often. They usually only called or came over if they wanted or needed something, which bothered Bob to no end. How could they not want to spend time with their amazing daughter? Or their adorable, sweet, and somewhat odd grandchildren.

The extended family arrived an hour later and they were served an amazing Christmas dinner of maple glazed ham, seasoned baked brussel sprouts, green bean casserole with parmesan and bacon bits, pork sausage apple stuffing, and corn bread. Bob really outdid himself this year. Even Big Bob was impressed, although he tried his best to hide it.

XXXXXXXXX Flashback Paused XXXXXXXXXXX

"Dad what does this all have to do with Grandma and I? So far this just sounds like a typical Belcher Christmas."

"I'm getting there I swear."

"Can you make the pork sausage apple stuffing again soon?"

"Gene." Bob scolded.

XXXXXXXXXXX Flashback Resumed XXXXXXXXXXXXX

After dinner and dessert the family retired to the living room to exchange gifts. Tina got a few dolls and a new porcelain horse to add to her collection. Gene got a batman action figure and some G.I Joe's. Currently he was entertaining the family with his new bongos and maracas that he tried to play simultaneously. Bob helped Louise unwrap her gifts, but she seemed less than impressed by them. Al and Gloria had bought her some princess costumes and Barbie dolls. Gayle gave her a doll with a stroller and Big Bob gave her a pink Care-Bear. Baby Louise found the wrapping paper far more interesting than her actual gifts. She crawled over to the discarded wrapping paper, rolled it into a ball and threw it at her dad hitting him square in the face. She thought this was hilarious so she did it again. Bob smiled and lightly tossed it back to her thinking that they would just play a game of catch. She managed hit him in the face again, Bob didn't mind though. Her giggles were contagious, he could do this all day. She repeated the process over and over again until it tired her out. Linda was able to catch the exchange on tape, she and Bob would treasure that moment forever.

"Ugh the baby isn't even playing with the toys we got her. What an ungrateful kid. If I knew she was just going to play with the paper, I would have just given her the paper from the older kids toys and saved us a few bucks." Gloria thought she was whispering to Al but Linda's family had no idea how to whisper.

"She's a baby Gloria. She's 8 months old, she can't even talk yet. Give her a break!" Bob reprimanded his mother-in-law. It was bad enough that she talked to Linda that way, but he was not going to stand by and let her talk to his own children this way. "If you got to know your grandkids a bit you'd know that Louise doesn't really like girly toys."

"Bob! Can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Linda dragged her husband by the ear before he could answer her.

"Oww Lin! I know you want every thing to be perfect so your parents will stay in New Jersey, but your mother was being rude to one of OUR KIDS. To our child who isn't even a year old yet. I'm not going to let the kids grow up thinking that it's normal for family to treat each other like this."

"What about the Gayle issue? You don't want her to move in with us do you?"

"Bob, Lin, you should come see what the baby is doing now." Big Bob motioned for his son and daughter-in-law to follow.

They followed Big Bob back to the living room where Louise was building a fort out of the wrapping paper and toy boxes. It was an impressive fort considering she couldn't even stand up yet. Gene and Tina helped her make it higher so they could fit in too, soon enough all three kids were in the fort together.

"Aww our babies made Fort Belcher! Alright let mama in." Linda tried crawling in the tiny opening but Louise quickly crawled over and put her hands up to stop her.

"Louise don't you want mama to come in?"

Louise blew a raspberry in Linda's face and giggled after.

Bob chuckled. He turned to his father. "Louise is so funny sometimes, she can make a game out of just about anything. She's really good at finding different ways to entertain everyone. Just like mom used to do."

Big Bob hadn't noticed it until now, but it was so obvious. "Remember when the power would go out and your mother would make us play flashlight tag. When the power came back on you'd get upset and we'd turn the lights back off and keep playing."

Bob smiled.

"Or how she'd make up a scavenger hunt when she'd make you clean the basement or do yard work. She could make anything fun."

"Mom used to build forts for me every time I was upset and we'd hide in there and watch TV or read together." Bob tried not to tear up at the memory. "Louise builds forts all the time now, she invites me in and we'll hide from Linda together."

Big Bob and Little Bob enjoyed a rare bonding moment together. Usually they can only talk in small spurts of less than 15 minutes before they start to argue, but Louise reminded them of some great memories with Bob's mother.

XXXXXXXXXXX End of flashback XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So grandma and Louise are similar because they're both weird?" Tina asked honestly.

"Heh, they're not weird Tina, well maybe they're both a little weird." Bob noticed Louise's face light up at that comment. "It's that they make their own fun. My mom wasn't really into girly things either. She'd much rather make up weird games, she was a lot of fun." Bob lifted Louise's chin up. "Just like you Louise".

"So what about that part about Gran-Gran and Gramps moving? You didn't really sum that plot up." Gene pointed out a flaw in his father's story.

"Oh yeah, you kinda stink at telling stories Bob."

"Lin." Bob should be insulted but he knew it was true, he didn't have a knack for story telling like his children do.

"It's alright, fortunately for you kids I'm an amazing story teller. After everyone opened up their gifts..." Linda tried to finish Bob's story.

"No Linda, the kids have to get to school. We're good parents, remember?"

"Oh yeah right."

The kids groaned and headed to their rooms to get ready for school. When Louise thought no one was looking she went over to Bob and gave him a quick hug. "What do you say dad, I'll ditch school, you ditch the restaurant, we'll build a fort and talk more about grandma."

"That sounds like a great offer, but it'll have to wait until after school." Bob pulled her in for another hug.

"So who's going to tell mom that she's actually a terrible story teller?" Louise asked.

"Noses!" Bob shouted and placed a finger on the tip of his nose. He was too late though, Louise beat him to it. "Crap!"