Mari & Ilna: What can I say? I'm enjoying this adventure every bit as much as I was on day one. Maybe more.

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Little Sisters (1/1)

"Dat my Nonna and Gwandma Ang." From her perch in Steve's arms, Angie pointed across the mall towards the two older women sitting contentedly on a bench watching the happy families in line to see the mall Santa. "Nonna fwom New Jewsey. Dey get lots of snow."

"Is that so?" the amused woman in front of them in line asked.

"We made big snowmen and we dwessed them like ouw family." Angie put her hands over her mouth and giggled.

"We visited New Jersey last year at Christmas," Catherine explained. "It was Angie's first time seeing snow."

"Brrrrrr!" Angie said in an exaggerated manner much to the delight of the people in her general vicinity who she'd been charming since first taking her place in line.

As they took a few steps forward Angie noticed a low wooden railing, maybe a foot off the ground, that had been erected to help delineate the area of the mall set aside to act as Santa's village. "Beam!" She pointed excitedly.

"No, that's not a balance beam." Catherine shook her head. "Balance beams are only at the gym."

"I twy," Angie said determinedly.

"Not today," Catherine said with a tone of finality then had to try hard not to laugh at her daughter's angry scowl. "Santa's watching," she reminded the toddler with a nod towards the front of the line.

Angie huffed. "I see Gwandma." She pointed to Elizabeth who had arrived in the area with Joseph after a little last-minute shopping and squirmed to get down.

"Just for a minute," Catherine said as she put her daughter on the floor then watched as Angie made a beeline for her grandparents, curls bouncing all the way.

"She's adorable," the woman Angie had been talking to earlier said. She shifted her weight to her other foot trying to find a more comfortable position for her very pregnant belly.

"Thanks." Catherine smiled. "When are you due?"

Steve and DJ returned from the restroom and rejoined the line just as the woman replied, "Next Saturday, actually. I'm being induced. We have three boys and now we're getting a little girl."

Catherine smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." the woman beamed. "We're very excited."

She looked down at the young boy of about five standing next to her. "Well, most of us," she chuckled as the boy frowned.

"You're not excited about getting a baby sister?" Catherine asked.

The boy shook his head no.

"You should be," DJ jumped into the conversation. "Little sisters are awesome."

The boy looked DJ skeptically. "Really?"

DJ scanned the area until he spotted Angie, now talking animatedly to her grandparents. "That's my little sister, Angie. She's the best. We have lots of fun together."

"My friend Curtis has a little sister and she cries a lot and always takes his toys," the young boy said.

"If she takes his toys it probably just means she wants him to play with her," DJ said. "He should do it. It's fun."

Steve wrapped his arm around Catherine as her hand fluttered to her chest.

"Play with girls?" The young boy wrinkled his nose in typical five-year-old fashion.

DJ nodded. "Angie and me play lots of fun stuff together."

"Like what?" the boy asked.

"All kinds of things." DJ smiled brightly. "Sometimes I get to pick, and sometimes Angie does. We take turns. But we like a lot of the same games. We like tag, and building things, and hide and seek, and playing with Cammie and Pumpkin. That's our dog and cat," he explained.

"Curtis and me built a fort out of LEGO at his house and when we were almost done his little sister knocked it over," the boy said.

"Sometimes Angie knocks things over." DJ shrugged. "She's little and she's still learning. When you're a big brother you get to help teach things," he reported proudly. "If I'm working on something really important, like for school, I just do it where Angie can't reach."

"I think the bigger problem is he's been the baby for five years now and he isn't quite ready to give up the position," the boy's mother said softly to Catherine. "His older brothers were the same way before he came along."

Suddenly Angie darted back towards the line. "Mommy! Joanie he'we!" She pointed excitedly.

Joan ran towards Angie and the two met in a squealing, giggling hug.

"Dis Joanie," Angie told everyone around them in line. "She my cousin. She f'wom Cawifownia. Santa knows she at ouw house so he bwing hew pwesents the'we."

Mary chuckled as she joined the line. "My niece is making friends as usual I see."

"I'm from California too," a girl several places behind them in line squealed.

Angie and Joanie immediately went to the girl and the three began talking excitedly.

Mary shook her head. "No such thing as a stranger for those two."

"Did you get your shopping done?" Catherine asked.

Mary nodded with relief. "Aaron is hiding it in the car as we speak."

"Mommy!" Angie called out. "Can we do cawtwheel?"

"Not here," Catherine said. "It's too crowded."

"I see video?" she asked hopefully.

Catherine smiled as she pulled out her phone and handed it to Angie who immediately showed the film of her gymnastics adventures to her new friends in line.

"I fwip," she said. "But onwy at da gym."

After watching a few times, plus showing the most recent video of Cammie and Pumpkin, Angie returned the phone to Catherine and held out her arm, clearly unhappy that the sleeve of her new Christmas sweater had slipped down.

"Do you want me to fix that?" Catherine asked.

Angie shook her head adamantly. "DJ fix." She turned to her brother. "He do it good."

DJ beamed as he rolled her sleeve up.

"Tank-oo." She wrapped her arms around him in a spontaneous hug.

He hugged her back. "You're welcome."

"You see Santa wif me, wight?" she asked.

"I'll be right there with you," he assured her. "Do you know what you're gonna tell Santa you want?"

Angie nodded happily. "A yo-yo."

Steve and Catherine looked at each other with mild panic. "Yo-yo?" Steve mouthed.

Catherine chuckled. "It's the first I've heard of that."

"She might have picked that up from Joan," Mary said. "She saw a big display in the toy store and she's been talking about it ever since."

"I guess I need to swing by there before we leave," Steve sighed.

"No worries. We got you covered," Mary said. "I figured Joan would have everyone else wanting one the way she's talking about them so we bought a few extras."

Catherine laughed. "Thanks."

"You're a pretty good little sister," Steve teased.

Mary snorted. "You say that now, but you didn't think so when I used to follow you everywhere."

"I ask Santa to bwing you a yo-yo too," Angie told DJ. "Den we pway togef'ew."

"I don't know how to yo-yo," DJ told her, "But we can learn together. It'll be fun."

Angie clapped her hands. "I love you, DJ!"

"I love you too," he replied with a beaming smile.

As Angie ran back towards Joan DJ looked at the young boy he'd been talking to earlier. "See," he said proudly. "Little sisters are the best."

THE END

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