It's Christmas morning and the steady chime of the grandfather clock down the hallway pulls her from the last vestiges of slumber. A soft pinging steady enough to annoy her just so. Robin can't fall asleep without the rhythmic ticking of the second hand and she can't stay asleep with the predictable rhythm. She's told him many times to at least wait until she falls asleep to restart the chimes. Unfortunately that means they can not go to bed together and they are both in such desperate need of sleep at the end of the day. Most of the time she succumbs to exhaustion before him, but that also means she has a tendency to wake earlier once her body has decided it has had enough sleep. Although she could drift back to sleep, the chimes of that damn clock disturb her sleep just enough that even though she sets her alarm a bit earlier for the express purpose of hitting the snooze at least three times, she never makes it past the first swipe. This morning it really irks her because Robin had to have known she wasn't going to get much sleep having stayed up to drag presents out after they wrangled the boys to bed.
Soft snores echo through the predawn silence of their bedroom. Stealing a glance at the pile of covers that Robin has somehow tucked around his body, leaving her with a slight chill, she swings her legs over the side of the bed. Sitting up, she reaches for the robe haphazardly tossed at the foot of the bed. It's Robin's robe and it dwarfs her tiny frame but it is nice and soft and most importantly it smells of Robin's pine scent.
She pads down the hallway checking on their children. A curve of a smile cracks her tired face. Roland's room is closest to theirs, so it's her first stop. Roland's covers are bunched on one side of his tiny twin bed. One half of his body dangles precariously over one side of the bed and it makes her chuckle a little to see the death grip he has on his stuffed monkey that grazes the floor. She steals quietly to right the tiny child into his bed, tucking the stuffed monkey into his grasp and tucking the covers around his frame. She takes a step back as he sighs audibly, burrowing his face into the monkey.
Thankfully the boy slumbers on as she steps back into the hallway, making her way to Henry's room. The preteen's room is quite the sight to behold. As expected, his flashlight is grasped tightly in his hand and his current issue of The Avengers resting on his chest. Shaking her head as she approaches the bed and ever so carefully takes the flashlight from his hand and places it on his nightstand. Next, she plucks the comic book from his chest and sets that beside the flashlight. Taking a step back, she takes in her eldest child, her baby boy who starts to resemble a more grown up version of the chubby cheeked child who welcomed bedtime stories instead of his current habit of falling asleep reading comic books long after lights out have been called.
Soon he'll be a freshman in high school and then a freshman at college and then he'll be all grown up starting a life of his own, without her. She shudders at the thought of that even though she still has at least eight years of him needing her guidance; she knows time is a thief. Quietly shutting the door she pads softly down the hallway to the stairs. She grasps the handrail and slows her steps so as to not wake the inhabitants of the house.
As jealous as she is of their ability to remain in blissful slumber, especially on such a day as this, she is quite eager to have a nice morning to herself. So much of her hours are occupied with other people's needs and wants and at this moment she has decided she will make herself coffee just the way she likes it, brewed in the french press instead of the automatic coffee maker Robin has programmed to start at precisely six o' clock in the morning. She'll even whip heavy whipping cream and dollop that on top and sprinkle Roland's chocolate sprinkles on top. While she waits for the water in the percolator to heat, she rummages about in the refrigerator deciding how she might like garlic scrambled cheese eggs and an English muffin to go with her coffee. It's not every day she can enjoy breakfast in peace and silence and damnit if she's up in the early hours of stillness she's going to take advantage.
The percolator clicks off, signaling the water has come to the correct temperature. She cringes a bit as she turns the dial on the coffee grinder, sending a silent prayer the noise doesn't wake anyone in the house. The machine stops and she removes the receptacle, letting the fresh grounds breathe for a moment before dumping the contents into the French Press. No need to weigh out the grounds, she likes her coffee strong and she has developed quite the knack for knowing how much will give her the jolt she needs to begin a day full of making breakfast for kids, packing lunches, double-checking completed homework and running the schedule for the day so all occupants of the household are well-informed of where everyone should be at any given time. The last thing she needs is for another mishap with the school calling her at work because Robin forgot to pick Roland up from kindergarten.
While she waits for the grounds to steep, she pulls out the frying pan and clicks on the stove top to a medium low. After years of practice on Robin during their early dating years she has finally perfected the art of scrambling eggs. She allows the pan to heat two minutes before slicing off two pats of butter to melt. Next, she peels two cloves of garlic to go into the garlic press. She drops the minced garlic into the butter, letting it simmer before whisking together two eggs with salt, pepper, turmeric and just a hint of crushed red pepper flakes. Just as the garlic butter mixture starts to bubble, she pours in the eggs and lets them heat for a moment before starting the scrambling process of raking in the folds and turning them over and over until they're just wet on top. Finally she sprinkles a handful of sharp cheddar cheese to melt on top before folding that into the eggs and then sliding them onto a waiting plate on the counter.
Deciding the coffee has steeped enough, she begins the process of pressing the grounds to the bottom. She pours herself a cup of coffee and sets it to the side while she toasts her English Muffin. The toaster pops up her muffin and she spreads a sinful amount of butter into all the nooks and crannies. Dragging the step stool over to the refrigerator, she retrieves a tray to set her breakfast on.
Despite it being Christmas, the weather, although chilly, is also unseasonably warm and Regina decides an early morning breakfast on the front porch is just what she needs. The moon is still brightly shining, the neighborhood deer roam the neighborhood in search of food in the wee hours before cars hit the road and it becomes a little more dangerous for them to be out and about. She sips at her coffee, letting the hot liquid warm her to the core, seeping into her bones to stave off the chill making its way through Robin's robe. She forks some egg into her mouth, devouring the cheesy goodness as Archie strolls through with Pongo as is his custom. He offers a wave and a "Merry Christmas!" shout as the pair make their way down the road. Regina tosses her hand in the air to return the greeting and then a creak of the front door draws her attention to a tiny mophead of a child that is Roland. Regina drops everything in her hand and makes quick strides towards Roland, dropping to her knees so she is level with him.
"Roland dear, what are you doing up so early?"
Roland rubs the sleep from his eyes as Regina envelopes him in a tight embrace.
"Momma I'm done sleeping And it's Christmas and Santa came! Can we open presents now?!"
Regina sighs under her breath, realizing her quiet morning to herself is now over. She swings Roland on her hip and takes him back inside.
"Sure thing bud, but first, why don't we get you a coat and maybe some breakfast, how does that sound?"
"Okay momma. Can I have my new cereal? The one with the Tiger on it?" Regina chuckles as Roland takes her hand and drags her towards the kitchen to the pantry that house the sugary cereal he picked out but can't quite reach, by design, of course.
"Alright, alright, we'll get you some cereal. Would you like some juice to along with it?"
"Or maybe hot chocolate?" Roland requests with a shy grin.
"Hmmm, I suppose so," Regina responds, carding her hand through Roland's unruly curls.
"And then after we eat can we open the presents?" Roland asks as he sits himself down at the kitchen table.
"What about your dad and Henry? Do you think they might want to join us opening presents and such?"
Ever the bashful child, Roland giggles, revealing a toothy grin with a few missing baby teeth, exclaiming, "Oh yeah! Santa prolly brought them stuff too! I'm gonna go get them!" Roland hopped
off his chair in time to run into his father who was sleepily making his way into the kitchen.
"Oi Roland, careful!"
"Dad! You're up! Did you get Henry too?"
"Eh? No, Henry's still sleeping looks like."
"Oh, okay, I'll go get him!" Roland exclaimed as he took off in a run upstairs to awaken his older brother.
"How grumpy do you think Henry will be after Roland wakes him up?" Robin asks as he makes his way over to Regina, hugging her from behind and peppering kisses along the back of her neck.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be pretty grumpy considering he stayed up late after lights out reading comic books."
"He did, did he? How do you know that?"
"I may or may not have checked in on my sleeping prince this morning before coming downstairs."
"Regina, we've talked about the boys and their privacy."
"I know, I know - but he won't be my little boy for much longer and I want to soak it all in while I can!"
Just as Regina finished preparing hot chocolate for both boys and pouring a cup of coffee for Robin, Henry stumbled into the kitchen with Roland trailing not too far behind.
"Hey Henry, late night?"
"What? N-noooo. I just need a lot of rest! And Roland just doesn't appreciate resting."
"Who can rest when Santa came?! Hurry up and eat Henry, I wanna open presents!"
"Yes Henry, let's hurry up and eat! Roland has chosen cereal, but there's also eggs or oatmeal, cereal? Or maybe pancakes?"
"Hmmm...what about cinnamon rolls?"
"Sure, I think I can manage that! Let me heat the oven. And Robin, is there anything special I can get for you?"
"I'll just help myself to a cinnamon roll to have with my coffee."
"Okay, I'm done with my cereal, can we go open presents now? Please?!" Roland exclaimed as he hopped down out of his chair.
"Alright, alright, carry your bowl to the sink first and then we'll meet out there. Don't touch anything!"
"I won't, I promise! Don't take too long though!" Roland plopped his bowl into the sink and ran off towards the living room.
"Maybe giving him sugary cereal for breakfast was a bad idea," Robin commented. "Come in Henry let's go make sure your brother doesn't destroy anything. You'll be okay love?"
"Yeah, go on, I'll just pop these in the oven and set a timer."
Roland wasn't very good at keeping his word about not touching any of the presents. In the five minutes it took for Robin and Henry to make their way out to the living room, it appeared that Roland decided to do some present arranging.
"Hey Ro, I thought you weren't going to touch anything."
"Well maybe I was just putting the presents where everyones is together."
"I see; except this pile only has presents for Roland. Where is everyone else's pile?"
"Oh, um...I haven't made it that far yet?" Roland answered with a shrug. "But since you're here you can make your own pile!" Roland suggested as he sat down in front of his pile. Henry and Robin simply looked at each other and shook their heads.
Not long after Regina breezed into the room with a plate piled with cinnamon rolls and fresh coffee and hot chocolate.
"Now, what do we have here?"
"Presents! Are you ready now Momma? I put all your presents by your favorite chair!"
"Hmmm, I see. Well, I suppose we can start. Whadya guys say?"
"Me first, me first!" Roland yelled, jumping up and down.
"Alright son, have a seat and pick out your first present." Robin coaxed the youngest member of their family into a seated position while he crouched beside him to help him open his first present.
"Oh wow it's a beyblade stadium!"
"Yes, now you can battle your beyblades and not lose them all over the house." Regina sighed, taking a sip of her coffee. "Henry, why don't you go next?"
Henry picked a rather flat package and ever so carefully peeled away the wrapping paper to reveal a sketchpad.
"Wow, a new sketch pad, thanks!"
"You're welcome! Now you can work on your comic drawings and stop borrowing the printer paper from my office."
"Sorry, dad."
"That's alright. Here Regina, this one is for you," Robin said, handing over a delicately wrapped box.
"Oh? Whatever could this be?" She asked as she tore open the paper. Untaping the box, she revealed what appeared to be the same exact robe she was wearing. Roland hopped up to take a look.
"Why did Santa bring you a robe like Daddy's?"
"Well son, I think Santa knows that Mommy really likes Daddy's robe and thought Mommy should have her own so she could stop borrowing Daddy's and then Daddy can finally wear his robe." Robin responded.
"Hmmm, well now, looks like I have two robes instead of one!" Regina smirked at Robin.
"Har har, very funny."
"Indeed, now why don't you open one of yours?" Regina suggested.
"Hmmm, let's see, how about this one?" Robin selected a present wrapped in wrapping paper that indicated it was not a present from Santa.
"Well what do we have here? Yet another copy of Robin Hood? Seriously Regina? How many does this make?"
"I don't know, I've lost count. Isn't the cover cute? The bookstore came out with a reprint!"
"Yes yes, as they do every year to get suckers like you to buy them," Robin joked as he flipped through the pages. He noticed an inscription written inside the front cover
To the thief who could not steal that which had been given to him, my heart, my love, Regin
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he nodded a silent thank you to his wife.
The rest of the morning was spent with Roland passing out presents and trying to help everyone else open the rest of their gifts after he ran out. By the time lunch time came around, they found themselves lethargic in front of the television for the third airing of A Christmas Story and while no one had seen the movie all the way through from beginning to end, the Locksleys were more than happy to pile onto the sofa and give this year yet another attempt. And if they all fell asleep thirty minutes into the movie under the glow of the Christmas tree, well were at least ten more hours left in the day to see Ralphie put his eye out.
Happy OQ Advent everyone!