August 10th 2022

Chapter 222
Our Magic in the Morning

When they had put her to bed the night before, Marianne had expressed her curiosity on certain things that were about to happen, somewhere in the time when she went to sleep on the 24th and woke up on the 25th of December. In the past, she knew, and she had participated, they left out milk, and cookies – GiGi Babineaux' recipe, naturally – for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer, and in the morning, all of these would be gone, while presents would have magically appeared under the tree. That was all good and fine, but she knew The Truth now, that it wasn't Santa Claus who did all of this, because he wasn't real. The only logical answer now was that they left the presents, and they ate the snack she and her little sisters and niece had been so careful to leave on display somewhere that the dogs wouldn't reach it... right? Yes, yes, they did.

"But you said we're not supposed to have cookies late at night," she'd pointed out with a near accusing brow.

"Yeah, but special occasion, you know how it goes," Lucas had tried to shrug it off. It wasn't going to pass, so he'd laughed. "You want a cookie, is that it?" She'd nodded. "Well, you already got your teeth brushed and everything," he'd pointed out, and she'd given him a smile, showing now not just one but two gaps where she'd a tooth. "So, how about I bring it up here and, in the morning, you can eat it."

"When I wake up?" she'd asked, amazed with this power.

"Yes, when you wake up."

He had held up his end of the bargain, and she did, too. When she came padding into their room, fuzzy reindeer slippers jingling, she only had a bit of the cookie left in her hand, some of it being chewed, and some of it existing as crumbs on her lips and fallen on her shirt. She'd gone all the way around the bed, to see the faces of her spooned parents and find out if they were awake. Maya was still asleep, Lucas barely awake, but whether because of the presence of the child so close to her or the scent of the spices in the cookie, it only took a few more seconds before they were both awake and looking to find Marianne there, half-eaten cookie and crumbs and all.

"Merry Christmas," she told them, lifting her arm up to hide her mouth and the chewing.

"Mmm… cookie…" Maya mumbled. At this, Marianne approached and held out the last bite. "Oh, it's alright, it's all yours, pumpkin," she assured her, but Marianne insisted, so Maya sat up and accepted the gift. "Thank you very much," she tipped her head in gratitude while the girl dashed back around the bed and out of the room, heading to see if the triplets were awake.

"Where's my cookie?" Lucas mock complained, and Maya responded by turning his head with her finger, that she might lean in and kiss him. He might not have gotten a bite, but he could taste it on her lips, and he made her laugh as he kept on kissing her, as though chasing after whatever remained. "Merry Christmas," he finally told her, and she returned the wish, even as they could hear the rising chatter of the four girls across the hall, and the light stomping of Tori making her way down from above, and then Mackenzie calling from down in the green room…

"Time to get up, huh…" Maya nodded.

"Wait, wait," Lucas told her, scooting down momentarily, the better to nudge up her shirt and press one kiss and another to her belly. "Merry Christmas, Lucky." Maya laughed. Now they could get up.

They were never so aware of this as when they were in the moment, but the more years had gone by and their family had grown both in number and in age, they had come to see a shift in their perceptions of what they loved about the holidays. A lot of it was still very much about getting to see everyone, and the decorations, the music, the movies, the food, all of it… But nowadays they had a sweet spot for this, for all of them waking up on Christmas morning, here, together, and happy. Like at Thanksgiving, it made them remember how fortunate they were, but it was more than that.

This day was only ever going to be as special as they made it, and they were building those memories with their girls. There was no telling what the future held, for any of them, but they hoped that all of them could grow up and be able to look back on these days fondly, to carry on in these traditions that made them happy and continue to experience them, as much as they could, with one another. Today, it was all of them rising out of bed throughout the house, finding someone and exchanging wishes, continuing on in this way until they'd seen to every one of them.

"So…" Maya couldn't help but ask, innocent as ever, when she'd hugged her little sister. "No one else there this time, or…"

"Maya…" Eliza still managed to get red in the face at the suggestion.

"Hey, I'm just figuring, after the last two years… kind of doesn't feel like we're all here," she explained. Eliza may not have elaborated, but Maya could just see a hint of a look in her eyes, a thought, like she'd been figuring the same thing, too, and the fact that she'd woken up alone this morning was having its effects, whether she meant to share them or not.

Luckily, they had a knack for Christmas miracles around here… They were all still making their way down the stairs, Marianne, Tori, and the triplets having made it down first and now hopping in wait so they could go look at the presents, when the doorbell rang. Marianne whirled to look at her parents for permission to answer, and she got it, so she went and unlocked the door, opened it and…

"Ben!" she cried with happy surprise. The one name was enough to stall everyone on the stairs. They watched, and indeed there he was, stepping just inside, allowing Marianne to shut the door, where they could see him, looking a bit awkward as he found them all there, staring back at him.

"Morning, uh… Merry Christmas," he nodded at all of them, his eyes drawn inevitably to lock with Eliza's, already staring back at him, even as the little girls crowded with curious eyes and hands to see what he'd brought in the two bags that he carried. The group on the stairs responded in kind to his greeting. "I hope it's alright that I came, I just… Normally this is just another morning for me, you know? But… the last couple years, spending it with all of you… I, uh… I brought a few things, for breakfast, I figured it'd be the thing to do. Broke out some of my grandmother's recipes… Didn't do so well, so my sister helped me out, she's a much better cook than… Oh, and I have a few things, for your tree…"

He'd said all this mostly looking at his bags and into them, which had brought the girls closer to peer inside. They could smell food and they were hungry. When he looked back up, he could see amused smirks in variations across the faces of Maya, Lucas, Ella, and Emma, but most of all on Eliza's face, and she looked so much like she could barely keep her feelings contained that it launched the rest of them into action.

"You are more than welcome to join us, Ben," Maya assured him as she stepped forward, the others following behind her. "And thank you for these," she smiled when he presented her with the bag of food items he'd made with his sister. Ella took charge of the bag of presents, and she guided the little girls to follow her so they might add these under the tree. Emma went to grab him some of the guest slippers, while Lucas took his jacket. "Can you guys come and help me with these?" Maya called back as she moved toward the kitchen.

Much as they tried to give Eliza and Ben the moment entirely to themselves, they couldn't help but sneak a look back to see what was going on as Eliza came down the rest of the stairs, at last, while Ben was getting his feet in the slippers. When he lifted his head back up to look at her, she stretched up and hugged him, and he returned the gesture. They held on briefly before pulling back, only so far so that Eliza could kiss him, and after that, it really felt like snooping if they kept watching, so they went back to breakfast prep.

They all ate together, as they'd done the two years prior, and they opened the presents afterward. The situation with Eliza and Emma continued to reign in its mystery, though it could be said that they had moved into a stage of civilized disagreement, no more leaving the room with an excuse… most of the time. Today, everything felt on the whole happy, enough that it never occurred to any of them that there had ever been any issues between the sisters.

The past two Christmases, Eliza's friend and occasional 'undefined relationship partner' had politely bowed out after the meal and the gifts. But this year, being the first time his involvement in their Christmas started not with a semi naked surprise but a guest showing up at the door, they had another first: he stuck around. Ben spent the day with the Friars, with their guests… Very importantly, he met Abigail and James, and the rest of Eliza's brothers and sisters, who had all long heard tales of her Jewish friend and classmate without ever putting a face to the stories. Whether by those stories or his inherent kind charm, they all warmed to him with ease.

"You know, I think we might be seeing more of young Ben…" Maya spoke in Eliza's hearing, that evening, after the guests had gone and they were cleaning up in the kitchen. Eliza looked like she wanted to say something back but could not work the words past the smile that grew on to her face.

"I think so, too," Lucas slowly nodded, equally amused but also just happy for his sister-in-law.

It was a great Christmas Day, one for the memories, and what made it all the better was getting to see the good things that it had brought to others in their lives, like Eliza and Ben, and like Jenny Marshall. After what had happened the day before, even as they were enjoying this day with family and friends and so many little children underfoot, it was impossible not to spare a thought for the girl and her family. They got their answer in mid-evening, although they didn't see it until shortly before bedtime, when Maya looked at her phone and found a couple of texts and photos from her student.

The original plan had been for Andrew, Laura, and Jenny to head to Andrew's parents' house for the day. They weren't the problem. On the whole, they struggled with the transition, but they made genuine efforts. The true issue came from their other guests, some of them being of those who'd been kicked out the day before, and others who might have gotten kicked out, too, if they'd been invited in the first place. It had all promised to be another disaster, so… they'd decided not to go and instead have Christmas just the three of them, doing any and all things that they felt like doing, as a family. Jenny had loved every minute of it and did not regret for a second their original plans.

Jenny: I was thinking about trying to do a painting of one of these pictures, maybe a late Christmas present or just a random day present. I want it to be a surprise, so can I work on it in class?
Maya: You absolutely can. I'll take care of the canvas. How big do you want it?

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners