Chapter 13

A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn

"O Holy Night", traditional carol

A loud banging startled him awake, sitting upright in shock. "Tim, Calleigh, come on!" Matt's voice called. "It's Christmas! Come on already!"

Tim slumped over his knees. "Damnit, Matthew," he sighed.

"I see your family does the crack of dawn insanity," Calleigh said drowsily as she raised her head to look at the clock.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'd forgotten."

"Are you up?" Matt yelled from the other side of the door.

"Yes, Matthew. We're up," Tim called back.

"Good. Mom says we can't do anything without you," Matt replied.

Tim groaned as he got up and stumbled towards the door. "What are you, six?" he asked Matt as he opened the door.

"Yup!" Matt said, bouncing on his heels.

Tim just stared at him for a long moment in foggy disbelief. Then he did the only thing you could possibly do with an annoying younger brother: he reached out and pulled Matt into a headlock and dragged him down the hall. "Hey!" Matt said. "No fair!"

"It's plenty fair," Tim said, wrestling his brother into the living room.

"No, it's not, I can't hit you back!" Matt protested.

"So? You're bigger than I am, anyway" Tim said. It was true. Matt definitely outweighed Tim, even though he was still probably an inch or two shorter. Not for long, Tim thought to himself. His "little" brother was definitely going to wind up being the bigger of the two. "And you can hit back. Just don't punch me in the stomach or the face."

"Boys," his father said, sternly. "No one is hitting anyone on Christmas Day. Tim, let him go. Matt, apologize for being obnoxious."

"Yes, sir," they said, simultaneously. Tim let Matt go and slumped down on the couch between his parents.

"Sorry, Tim," Matt said as he scooted into the kitchen.

"S'ok," Tim shrugged. He glanced around. "Hey, where'd the tree come from?" he asked, confused.

"I put it up," Calleigh said, as she entered the living room.

"Oh," Tim said, blinking. "All right, then."

"Here," his mom said, handing him a glass of juice. "Calleigh, would you like some coffee?"

"Oh, please," Calleigh said, accepting a mug from his mom. "Thank you."

"We tried to convince Matt that Christmas could wait until a more reasonable hour, but he saw no reason to break with tradition just because we don't have to go to Mass and dinner," his dad sighed.

"You'd think that he'd be the one willing to sleep," Tim mumbled into his juice.

"Too many early morning swim practices," his mom sighed.

Matt reappeared with a pan of cinnamon rolls, which he plunked down on the table. "Ok, everyone's up, there's coffee, there's food, so we're set, right?"

"Yes, Matt. You can hand out the presents, now," his dad said.

Tim was amazed at how excited Matt was. He couldn't remember ever being that excited over Christmas. But then, Matt seemed excited over just about everything, which used up considerably more energy than Tim thought he'd ever had. He picked up a cinnamon roll and took a bite as Matt handed everyone a small stack of gifts.

"So how do y'all do this," Calleigh asked, looking slightly stunned to have a pile of her own. "One at a time, or everyone at once?"

"Oh, it's a free-for-all," his dad said. "No one's ever had enough patience to go one at a time in my family. There's just too many of us." His dad shook a box speculatively. "Full steam ahead whenever you're ready."

Matt and his mom were already unwrapping gifts. "Wow, thanks, Tim," Matt said.

"You're welcome," he said.

"What'd you get him?" his mom asked, looking up from her own pile.

"A couple DVDs. Monty Python and Ferris Bueller. I figured every college kid needed 'em," he replied.

"Good idea," his mom agreed. She finished unwrapping a sweater. "Oh, Danny, thank you," she said.

"You're most welcome, love," his dad said.

Calleigh laughed suddenly. "Look what your brother gave me, Tim," she said, gleefully. "A scarf!"

Tim laughed. "Now you have two." Calleigh's entrancement with winter clothing and the snow had been the only detail of their trip to North Carolina he'd shared with his parents.

"I do!" she said. "Thank you!"

"Tim, those presents are for opening, not just looking at," his dad said, amusedly.

"I know. I'm getting there," he said vaguely, watching Matt open a package from their parents. It was more fun watching everyone else open their gifts than opening his own. Besides, he was still eating the cinnamon roll, and he didn't want to get his gifts sticky. He'd really rather just sit back and watch everyone else.

The Christmas tree lights twinkled above them and there were cats batting at discarded wrapping paper and ribbons. The house smelled like coffee and cinnamon and was snug and cozy. He was comfortably ensconced between his parents on the couch, watching everyone's faces light up with joy. This isn't such a bad thing, he thought. Not such a bad thing at all. He wasn't sure, but he thought he might even be a little bit happy, sitting there in the middle of Christmas morning chaos, surrounded by hope and joy. It really was a wonderful morning, full of the promise of things to come.

End

AN: Whew! I have to say, it's hard to write about Christmas in May. But everyone's in one piece! I'm glad you all have enjoyed it!