Naguabo: Thank you!
Author's Note: This chapter is basically just Christmas fun, so of course, no drama.
"Okay," said Matt. So it's all settled."
"And?" said Julie.
"They can come."
"Who can come?" asked Lily, who had just walked into the room. Lexi was taking a nap and Landon was receiving a breathing treatment, necessary for CF patients. Not only had they gotten Landon a feeding tube in the hospital, but they had began breathing treatments with the nebulizer, chest therapy and medications to reduce the infections in his lungs.
"Jason."
"Who's Jason?"
"One of my old friends from school. He played football with me. Actually, he was the big star in high school. But he got hurt, so I took over."
"Oh," said Lily, not really interested. Changing the subject, she pulled out a paper from her backpack and said, "Look, Mommy. Look, Daddy. Look what I made at school today." It was Lily's last day of school before Christmas break, and the class had made a special art project.
"Look," said Matt. "Those are your hands!"
"Yeah," said Lily. "The left hand is the red one and the right hand is the green one."
"Wed means 'top and gween means go," said Landon, taking off his nebulizer mask.
"Landon, put that mask back on right now!" said Julie. "And how do you know that?"
"Daddy." Landon shrugged and put the nebulizer mask on.
"Mommy, is it Christmas yet?" demanded Lily. She asked this question at least ten times a day.
"No, Lily. It's still December 17th, just like it was when you asked when you woke up, before you got in the car to go to school, and after school. There are still eight more days, okay, sweetie?"
"Okay," said Lily. She walked out and said, "December is sure slow."
Two days later, Matt, Julie and the kids were making plans for all the guests they would be having for Christmas.
"You said your friend Jason was coming with his family, right, Daddy?"
"Right, Lily."
Lily counted on her fingers. "So it'll be them, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Gracie, 'Uncle' Landry-" Lily and Landon called Landry "Uncle" even though he was not really their uncle-"G.G. Mama-" G.G. Mama was the name Lily and Landon had given to Matt's grandmother, who was still in Texas, but managed to visit Matt on holidays-"me, Mommy, Landon, Lexi, Teddy and you."
"That's right, Lily. We are going to have a full house at Christmas this year, " said Matt. Teddy barked upon hearing his name and went back to sleep. "Now," said Matt, picking up Lexi, "we need to set some rules for behavior when all the guests are here."
"Wike what?" asked Landon, who was receiving chest therapy-it was Julie's turn to work on him.
"Well," said Matt, "first of all, Lily, don't say things that aren't appropriate or are embarrassing that you think are funny. My immature friends might laugh, but some things, you're not supposed to say, all right."
"All right," said Lily.
"Also, Jason is in a wheelchair, so I don't want to hear any comments about that, okay?" Lily nodded. "And Landon, please don't act like a baby or be shy."
"I not a baby. I a big boy."
"Right," said Matt, very proud of his kids.
"What about Lexi?" asked Lily.
Matt looked at Lexi and said, "Lexi, do whatever you want. Since you're the youngest and a baby, you can get away with murder. The only rule for you is don't touch the Christmas tree." Now that Lexi was mobile, it was quite a challenge to keep her away from the Christmas tree. Julie had finally suggested putting a baby gate up to keep Lexi away. It worked pretty well, but Lexi was mesmerized by the tree.
"Oh, Daddy, are you coming to the Christmas play?" asked Lily.
"I don't know."
"But I'm a sheep this year."
"You were a sheep last year."
Julie took a break from the chest therapy and said, "Another one of our kids is in the play, too."
Matt said, "What? Landon's not in the play."
"I wasn't talking about him," said Julie. "Think younger."
"What?"
"Lexi is playing baby Jesus. It's a surprise."
"Then why are you telling me now?"
Julie smiled and said, "Because I signed her up last week and forgot to tell you. Surprise!"
Matt rolled his eyes and said, "Okay. If Lexi's playing baby Jesus, I'll go."
"Yay!" said Lily, obviously delighted.
December 21st
"When are they going to get here?" asked Lily. The Streets were supposed to be arriving that day and Lily and Landon had decided to watch for them.
"Any minute," said Julie. "More hot chocolate?"
"Yes, please," said Lily. "My hot chocolate is now cold chocolate."
"Mine too," said Landon.
Matt came down and said, "Hi, guys. The Streets should be here in about a half hour."
"How long is that?" asked Lily.
"As long as a TV show."
Lily took a bite of animal cracker and said, "Come on, Landon. Let's watch SpongeBob!"
Sure enough, just as the show was ending, a car pulled up. "We're here!" called Jason.
"Hi!" called Matt. He saw Jason, Erin and their kids all come in. "Is this Noah?" asked Matt. "I haven't seen you since you were five years old."
"Five years old? That's how old I am!" said Lily.
"I'm two!" said Landon, happy to play.
"Then you're in luck," said Jason, "because my girls are also five and two. Jacey-Lynn! Emerson! Come here!"
Jacey-Lynn, who was five, started immediately talking to Lily, but two-year-old Emerson was quite shy. She kept hiding behind her mother, obviously not sure what to make of it all. Just then, Teddy ran up.
"Look! A doggie!" screeched Jacey-Lynn.
"No, Jacey-Lynn! We don't run up to a strange dog," said Erin.
"Why not, Mommy?" asked Jacey-Lynn.
"Because we don't know if he likes kids or not," said Jason.
"Oh, Teddy's very friendly," said Julie.
"Teddy. That's a cool dog name," said Erin. "How did you come up with it?"
"Long story," said Matt. "What about your girls?"
"Well," said Jason, "we chose Jacey-Lynn as a variation of my name. She looked so much like me when she was born, it only seemed natural. And for Em, we obviously wanted an 'E' name for Erin, and she just looked like an Emerson." He looked around and said, "So, what about yours?"
Matt said, "Oh, this Lily and Landon. We also have a baby, Lexi, but she's asleep."
With that done, the families spent the rest of the day socializing and catching up.
Christmas Eve
"Are you ready?" asked Julie. She was backstage helping Lily get her sheep costume on.
"Yeah," said Lily. "I love being a sheep! Are Grandma and Grandpa watching?"
"Yep. And Aunt Gracie. And Landry and G.G. Mama."
"Yay!" screeched Lily. She joined her fellow sheep and said, "And I'll see you later, Lexi!"
In the stands, Coach Taylor said, "I can't wait to see my granddaughter perform. "
"Me, too!" said Tami.
"Me three!" said Gracie.
The curtain rose and the Christmas play began. Matt just kept waiting for the shepherds so he could see Lily.
The play was a huge success. Lily did great and Lexi was a perfect baby Jesus. Soon, everyone was singing "Joy to the World" as they were leaving the church.
"What a play," said Landry. Lily ran up then.
"Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king! Let every heart prepare-"
Matt picked her up and said, "Lily, we heard the song. Okay?"
"Okay, Daddy."
After a great party, Matt noticed that Lily, Landon, and Lexi needed to go to bed. Lexi would be easy. Matt just picked her up and put her in her crib, where she immediately fell asleep. "Good night, Lexi, and Merry Christmas," said Matt.
Landon went to bed next. Before putting him to sleep, Matt put Landon's CPAP machine on. The CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) was a machine that would give Landon oxygen while he slept. It was worn as a facial mask and Landon hated it.
Once the mask was finally on, Matt said, "Good night, Landon. Merry Christmas."
Lily was the hardest. She kept trying to stall by singing as many Christmas songs as she could. Matt finally decided to give up and simply said, "Good night, Lily. Merry Christmas," above Lily singing "Jingle Bell Rock."
***
"It's Christmas!" screeched Lily. She ran into Matt and Julie's and sang, "Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock! Jingle bells ring and jingle bells-"
"Okay, Lily, we're up," said Matt.
Julie said, "Are you really ready to get up? It's only seven o'clock. "
"No," said Matt. "I just didn't want to hear Lily sing 'Jingle Bell Rock' anymore."
Once Landon and Lexi were up, they all went downstairs. Lily and Landon got a lot of presents. So did Lexi, but she preferred the wrapping paper. Even Teddy got some dog biscuits and tennis balls.
"It looks like Santa was sure good to you guys," said Julie.
"Yeah," said Landon. "I good boy."
"And Lexi and me were good girls!" exclaimed Lily.
Once the Christmas present unwrapping was over, the Taylors, the Streets, Landry and Matt's grandmother all came over for breakfast.
"Oh, look at the cinnamon rolls," said Lily. "Do you like cinnamon rolls, Jacey-Lynn?
"I love them!" Jacey-Lynn exclaimed.
As everyone ate breakfast, Matt thought about the struggles his family had faced over the past year. Now, it was all forgotten in this brief holiday bliss. For a moment, Matt even completely forgot that Landon and Lexi were sick.
