Thank you for reading! This story is about Ronnie Anne , Bobby, and their Mother, I find their dynamic interesting because Maria has been shown as a hard working nurse who isn't at home with her family much, so that's what this story is about in that way. I hope you enjoy!

Story 12: One Christmas Lunch

Prompt/Premise: Ronnie Anne and Bobby journey to surprise their mother for Christmas

It was Christmas morning, Maria Santiago finished getting dressed for work after spending some time with her family. She looked in the mirror, letting out a sigh. Then she grabbed her coat and put it on over her nurse's uniform. As she exited the room, she found saw her son, Bobby, and daughter, Ronnie Anne, with depressed looks on their faces.

"I wish you didn't have to work on Christmas, Mom," Bobby said.

"Yeah, especially our First Christmas being in Great Lakes City," Ronnie Anne said.

"I know," she said patting her daughter on the head, "I wish I could stay too, at least I'll be off for New Year's."

The rest of her family were spending Christmas Day at home, Hector was sleeping in a chair, Carl was playing with his new train, C.J was playing with his new pirate sword, Carlota was live streaming her gifts, Carlitos and Lalo were both playing with the same squeak toy, and Serigo was looking at himself in the mirror with his new jacket.

The distinct scent of tamales cooking whiffed through the apartment. Rosa came from the kitchen to see her daughter off.

"Have a good day at work, I'll save you some dinner," Rosa said.

The family surrounded the woman with a group hug.

Ronnie Anne watched her mother walk away before she closed the door. She was used to it, but Christmas was a different day than say a Tuesday in April, it was a special day, everything was closed, yet her mother had to work. She knew accidents and medical procedures didn't stop on Christmas, but she wanted someone else to take the spot of her mother.

"Are you alright?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, I just wish Mom could have stayed all day," the young girl said.

"It's been a while since she's had Christmas off, it's more tradition that she works than not," Bobby replied.

"Are you hungry my nietos?" Rosa asked.

"No thanks, Abuela, not right now," Ronnie Anne said.

She solemnly walked to her room.

"She was hoping this Christmas was going to be different and Mom was going to stay home," Bobby replied.

"Ah, I see, then we must find a way to cheer her up," Rosa said.

"First, could I eat?" Bobby asked.

While eating, Bobby was still thinking about Ronnie Anne. Sergio swooped down and grabbed a tamale. Rosa gave him a threating stare while holding her shoe up.

"Hey, it's not for me," the bird squawked, "It's for the pigeons outside."

"Alright, you're lucky I have plenty more," Rosa said.

That gave Bobby and idea, he jumped from his chair and yelled, "I got it!"

"Bobby, no shouting in the dining room!" Rosa corrected.

"Sorry, but I got an idea!" he said.

"Wow, this truly is Christmas Day if Bobby got an idea," Carl remarked.

Ronnie Anne was laying on her bed, she wanted to be happy for Christmas, it was supposed to be a joyous time. It was her first Christmas seeing her extended family in a few years, she even got to see her father on Christmas Eve for the first time in years. She didn't know why she felt this strange way. Bobby knocked her door.

"Yeah, come in," she said.

The teenager opened the door with a insulated lunchbox in his hands and a smile on his face. He walked over to her.

"Get your coat and stuff on," he said.

"What why?" she questioned.

"We're going to visit Mom for lunch," he said.

"Huh?"

"I packed a lunch, and we are going to see Mom for Christmas lunch."

Quickly, she grabbed her coat, gloves, and boots. She was so fast that Bobby forgot that he still had to put his coat. Outside, he realized that the truck had been snowed in, thanks to the plow.

"Dang it," he said, "Well maybe we can take the bus."

They walked to the bus stop. After a long wait in the cold, Ronnie Anne realized something.

"It's Christmas, Bobby," she said, "The bus schedule is reduced."

"Maybe we could take the subway," he said.

"Same scenario," she said.

A pickup truck pulled up and the back window rolled down; Becky, a girl from Ronnie Anne's Schooled waved, so did her twin brother, Ricky.

"What are you doing?" Becky asked.

"Hey Becky, we're trying to go to the hospital," Ronnie Ann replied.

"You broke something?" Ricky asked.

"No, we want to go see our Mom, she's a nurse," Ronnie Anne replied.

The blonde twins were turned to their parents who were sitting in the driver and passenger seat, who had heard Ronnie Anne. There was some nodding; Becky turned her head again and poked it out of the window.

"We'll take you!"

"Aren't you guys going somewhere, already?" Ronnie Annie asked.

"It's Christmas, right?" Ricky asked.

"Thanks, you two, guess you aren't so bad after all," Bobby said.

The back door opened, and the brother and sister got into the truck; Becky and Ricky scooted down. The radio was playing Christmas music and truck's interior smelled like someone left sweaty clothes in there too long, but they were appreciative of the generous ride.

"So, what's in the lunch box?" Becky asked, her unibrow furled.

"Food for our mom," Ronnie Anne said.

"So, your mom works at the hospital, so she sees tons of blood?" Becky asked.

"Ugh, I guess so," Ronnie Anne answered.

Bobby turned green, he hated descriptions of medical stuff and his mother's hospital stories grossed him out. The conversation some how turned to one about Ricky talking about how he once broke his arm when he jumped from a tree. The details got gorier and Bobby got greener until he ordered the truck to stop.

"Is he alright?" Becky asked.

"He might be car sick," Ronnie Anne used as a cover story.

"Maybe we should stop and let him get some air," Becky's father said.

"Ugh no he's fine," Ronnie Annie said, her worry that they wouldn't get there rising.

"Are you sure?" the man asked.

"I think if we just listen to the music and not talk, he'll be fine," Ronnie Anne said.

The green color left Bobby's face and they made it to the hospital. The brother and sister got out of the truck. Becky, Ricky, and their parents wished them a Merry Christmas and waved to them. They returned the sentiment and watched as the truck drove off. Then when Ronnie Anne got a good time to catch her thoughts, she noticed something.

"Uh Bobby, I think we should have specified which hospital," she said.

"Wait what?" he asked.

"We went to the wrong hospital," she answered.

They were at the hospital on the east side of the city, they wanted the one on the north east side. They didn't tell them which one and just assumed one, they must have used before.

"And they are far gone," Bobby said.

"Do you have any money?"

The teenager grabbed into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and pulled out twenty-three dollars. Ronnie Annie looked in her own pocket and she had fifteen dollars.

"Do you think this combined is good for taxi?" she asked.

"Guess we have no other choice, better than freezing out here," Bobby replied.

They waited on the side of the road for a taxi to come by. Ronnie Anne was holding the lunchbox close to her chess, as a futile attempt to either keep it warm or keep herself warm. Finally, a taxi pulled up after seeing Bobby's waving.

"Hey, do you think we can get to the hospital on the north east side part of town in under 38 dollars?" Bobby asked.

The driver had fair skin, white beard and hair that was balding on top, kind of chubby, and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a dark red beaten-up jacket. He gave a stone-faced look.

"Are you two kids hurt?" he asked.

"No, I just we just want to see our mom and have lunch with her for Christmas, since she's working on Christmas Day," Ronnie Anne answered.

The wind was blowing hard it stung on her face, her eyes were watering.

"That's an admirable cause, how about you give me $12.25 and I'll give you a ride there; I'm feeling the Christmas sprit and I don't want to be the kind of guy who told kids no they can't see their ma, on Christmas day," he said.

"Really, ah but we don't have twenty-five cents," Bobby commented.

"I'll handle this, Bobby," his sister said.

She gave the man her fifteen dollars, a ten-dollar bill and five-dollar bill, and he handed her back some change, that included 3 quarters. They got in and rode the mostly quiet streets of the city. It was kind of strange yet, nice to see, the new snow had coated the sidewalks and greenery making it feel more Christmas than it did before.

The man was kind of interesting, himself, he liked to sing with the Christmas music and laugh a lot. He exceptionally happy for someone who was working on Christmas Day.

"Isn't this weather lovely?" he asked.

"I guess so," Ronnie Annie answered.

"It makes it easier to show us where the real warmth is; so, you're Ma, is she a nurse or something?" he asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Bobby asked.

"You said she was working at the hospital, it was a guess, she could have been a doctor, or one of those people in the front you go to when you ask to see someone," he replied.

"We're bringing her some tamales to have for lunch, they were made by my grandma," Ronnie Anne; confused on why she was telling him this.

"That is very nice, I've had tamales yesterday, visiting a family, a little different to my normal Christmas Eve diet, but nice," he said.

The other thing about the drive that was strange was there was no red light stops, it seemed they had been moving the whole time without waiting, was it some sort of Christmas thing?

"So, you're working on Christmas too, don't you miss your family?" Bobby asked.

"Well, I know I will be seeing them later; Christmas is my busiest time," he said.

"Christmas, the busiest time for taxi drivers?" Ronnie Anne thought, she couldn't doubt it she knew nothing about taxi driving, so maybe it was their busiest time of year.

"We're here!" he said.

"Wait that was a seven-minute ride?" Ronnie Anne asked, "That felt much longer."

"Time feels longer when you're riding a taxi," the man said.

"I've never heard that before," Bobby replied.

"Don't forget your lunchbox," he said.

"Thank you, uh, we didn't catch your name," Ronnie Annie said.

"It's Kris, and I hope you and your Ma, have a Merry Christmas," Kris said.

"Thank you, hope you get to see your family!" Bobby said.

The brother and sister turned around and walked towards the doors; Ronnie Anne looked back for a moment, and the guy was already gone. The car that was in front of him was still there and it was narrow path. She rubbed her eyes and looked forward again.

A moment later, they found a woman named Grace who knew them, and their mother and she told them to wait in a break room, there mother would be on her break in a couple minutes. As they waited, Bobby watched the strange show on the TV and Ronnie Anne kept thinking about the day.

"Kids?!" a voice said, Maria, that is.

"Merry Christmas!" Bobby and Ronnie Anne cheered.

"This is such a surprise!"

"Well, we wanted to spend some part of Christmas Day with you, so we brought you some lunch," Ronnie Anne explained.

"That is so sweet, come here," she said.

Maria hugged her kids. They sat down around the round table and shared in the nice still warm tamales; she got some drinks from the vending machine to complete the meal. Bobby looked over at Ronnie Anne who had the largest smile he'd ever seen. Maria had one too.