Old Time Christmas – Randy Travis

Year 40

"I disagree. Geneva was the best Christmas." Graycin argued with Erin, just like when they were kids. He thought about how the year and a half that they spent together in Switzerland was the best Christmas he could remember. They went skiing and touring the rest of Europe on holiday while they were there, every chance they got. "Pre-Colin." Graycin teased, looking at his younger brother. He didn't remember that much of it if he were to be honest, but he still liked to play the big brother card.

Erin disagreed completely, "I loved Geneva too, as well as the pre-Colin era, but you can't forget about the year Mom and Grandma Catherine got into it over Mom's overindulgence that year on wine. Remember?!" She chuckled, looking over at her mother who wasn't impressed by the turn in conversation.

April didn't look pleased. She remembered the year. Catherine had called her out on getting a little too tipsy while cooking Christmas dinner and Jackson didn't exactly come to her rescue. "Oh you kids were adults by that time, I didn't have to be completely sober."

That got her a look from Jackson. "But maybe you could have stayed even a little sober." He laughed, making fun of her just a little bit. She grinned and winked, "You know what wine does to me."

All of the kids' faces scrunched up in disgust at the look she had on her face when she said that. Jackson's face did the same as hers. "I certainly do sweetheart." And when he looked over at Colin, they all laughed. Everyone except Colin who made gagging noises, even though he was married with a two year old child and one on the way, so he clearly knew how the dirty was done.

Colin tried to change the subject, mostly because he wasn't around yet for Geneva. Though he was conceived there so it might have counted. "Or how about the year Dad got Mom that 'cool new vacuum that does basically everything' for Christmas?"

Rachel and Emily hadn't seemed to have heard the story but it felt like they'd made fun of him a million times for it. Scott didn't have to ask, Erin warned him right away that if he ever bought her a vacuum cleaner for Christmas then they would probably be divorcing. "You bought her a vacuum for Christmas?!" Both of the women asked their father-in-law, mildly amused at the image.

He nodded, not wanting to go back to that day. "The entire day was horrible. April didn't talk to me and I had to sleep on the couch. I don't even remember getting Christmas dinner." He rolled his eyes, he genuinely thought she would like the gift. It was the only time in their marriage he'd been that off-base. He was mostly a wonderful gift-giver.

All three of their kids laughed. "We got dinner Dad…"

He grumbled. "Oh that's right. I was the only one eating leftover lasagna from the night before after that."

After Colin's distraction with the vacuum cleaner story, they went back to their time in Geneva. "You kids were young, but do you remember that at all? Being in Switzerland?" They did.

"Of course. I remember Mom working all of the while we got to exploring." Erin grinned, thinking about the year that her Dad stayed home while her Mom did the working thing. It was untraditional and when she thought back on it, it surprised her that it happened at all. Her family was more traditional than not.

"Yep. And your mother implemented their trauma certification program." He turned his head to take a peek at his wife who was sitting next to him on the sofa. "Amazing."

She brushed it off. "I couldn't have done it without you."

They held hands, like usual. It was rare than they didn't show affection, especially in their older age. The kids all joked but they enjoyed seeing how close their parents were. It gave them hope and reassurance in their own marriages too.

After forty years of marriage, not much had changed. They looked different, they had aged. April's hair was gray from top to bottom and Jackson's hair grew in slightly gray until he buzzed it off again. Their wrinkles were prominent and they moved slower. April frequently wore Grandma sweaters that she got from the kids for Christmas and Jackson got caught waking himself up while snoring on the couch more than once. It was getting harder and harder for him to make it through a Celtics or Red Sox game.

Their wedding bands were the same one's that they'd had since they were originally married, but they wore them differently. At least they looked differently. Both of their hands and knuckles were slightly swollen from arthritis and were entirely fragile, at least compared to them pre-retirement. April still wore the rock of an engagement ring Jackson gave her shortly after they got married and Jackson rarely took off his platinum band.

So much was different but their conversations were still new. After forty years they had yet to run out of things to talk about. Sometimes they fought, but it was rare. It was more common for them to bicker about the volume of the tv or the amount of money Jackson spent spoiling the grandkids. Jackson had chosen to believe in God somewhere along the way and had an immeasurable amount of faith. But that didn't stop their science vs. medicine arguments or their cochlear implant disagreements. The fact that they were so different constantly brought them closer together.

"I'm going to check on the kids," Emily interrupted, jumping up to make sure their babies were all asleep. Graycin and Emily's kids were staying the night at Grandma and Grandpa's while they got the night off. The others had flights to catch early in the morning.

A few seconds later Emily came running back into the living room for her cell phone. "You guys have got to see this." She motioned for them to follow her into the kids' bedroom. At first they thought something was wrong, but they were completely wrong.

Graycin and Emily's girls Isabelle and Gracie had crawled into the same bed as Colin and Rachel's two year old son Mason. They were cuddled up together and the two huge Golden Retrievers Jackson and April had for years, Dolly and Happy were cuddled up against them tightly at the end of the full-sized bed. It was the most adorable thing they had ever seen.

They all pulled their phones out to snap a few pictures of the sight. It was a moment they didn't' want to ever forget.

Sorry I'm late to post again today. There are three more updates left, I'm going to try not to be sad for this to end lol