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Chapter 146

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The Bradford-Grant Family Christmas Part II

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"Arch, would you please lead us in our Christmas prayer," asked Edward.

"My pleasure, Edward."

"Dear Father, we thank you for the most precious gift of your Son, brought to earth on this Christmas day so many, many years ago. We thank you for sweet Mary and faithful Joseph who answered your call and stepped out in blind trust to follow the path that was meant for them. As we open our many gifts today, let us never forget this true story, nor your magnanimous gift, the sacrifice you made in giving your own Son to offer us eternal life. Help each of us to re-evaluate where we are in our lives and where You would have us to be while helping each of us to somehow arrive at that very spot. We ask this for your glory and in your most holy name, Amen!"

"Amen!" chorused the entire family.

"Now, let's have the children pass out our Christmas presents," announced Edward to copious cheers, mostly from the excited aforementioned children!

First, the children, who were taking their new task most seriously, sorted through and passed out all the adult gifts, while making piles of gifts for themselves to conveniently tear into later.

Most of the adult gifts were practical items, such as clothes and accessories, but thanks to Victoria's eye for unusual items, and Sophia's artistic eye for handmade items, all were beautifully unique.

However there was also the odd luxury item thrown in here and there for each family member. But even those gifts were given in earnest with much attention to detail, need, and personalization.

And everything was simply given with the utmost love.

The same was true of the children's gifts as many were either practical or educational, having to do with their hobbies, whether that was art, photography, reading, skating, or even horseback riding.

However, it was riding where this Christmas's extravagance came in for the children, as there were three large packages that William, Pippa, and Richard brought in for the grandparents to give to their grandchildren. One package was for Allie, one was for Jackson, and one was for Margaret.

As the children excitedly tore into their packages, each was opened to oohs and aahs, to reveal three of the most beautiful English saddles and coordinating bridles, tailor-made to fit each child, as well as the horses they rode while at their grandparents.

"William tells us that all three of you have done exceedingly well with your riding, so all four of us grandparents went together to have these English saddles and bridles custom-made for you and your favorite horse," announced Archie.

"We also were thinking though," added Edward." "A saddle and bridle are not much good without a horse, so to remedy that, especially since the three of you have proven your horsemanship as well as your care and love for your respective horses, we are also gifting you your horses. Allie you now own Rapunzel, Jackson, you now own Bandit, and Maggie, you now own Buttons!"

"Do we get to take them home with us, Grandpapa?" asked little Maggie, thinking this was simply too good to be true.

"You most certainly do, my Little Princess," answered her Grandpapa.

There was a round of ecstatic cheers from all three children, followed by kisses and hugs for both sets of grandparents.

"May we go see our horses, Grandpapa?" asked Jackson. "And tell them the good news?"

"I think your Uncle William might be willing to make that happen after we finish here! Right, William?"

"Of course, Father! Always happy to squeeze in a quick ride."

"Jacks, before that, could you do your old Uncle a favor and peek inside the tree? I believe there are two additional gifts tucked in the branches that we've missed, about two-thirds up on the right-hand side," winked Nathan.

"Sure, Uncle Nathan!"

With a little added direction from his Uncle, Jackson soon found the two gifts, which appeared to be small, almost book-shaped boxes.

But as they were up a bit higher than Jackson's reach, Nathan ended up getting up to reach them down to his nephew.

"Wow, can't believe I found them, and I never even noticed them before because they're so plain!"

"Jackson!" cautioned his horrified Mother.

Nathan just laughed, then quickly explained.

"They are simply wrapped for a reason, mostly because I wrapped them myself," winked Nathan, which brought chuckles, especially from the men.

"Talk about a struggle!" he added self-deprecatingly.

The women however were charmed, thinking that simply made the gifts, whatever they were, even more endearing.

"But who do they go to, Uncle Nathan?" asked Jackson.

"The red one goes to your Grandmama and Grandpapa, and the green one goes to your Gramma and Grappa."

Jackson distributed the two presents as requested, with neither set of grandparents having any idea what was inside.

But as they opened the two gifts together, it was abundantly clear that both couples were deeply touched.

"Son, this is remarkable! How did you ever accomplish this?" marveled Edward as Victoria was overcome.

"Son, this is beyond anything we could have wished for! It's the story of our ranch, beautifully put on paper," noted Archie for him and Sophia.

"Millicent has been pushing me to write, and I did have a lot of nights missing her. So, I thought what better way to use my time productively and get started back writing than to tell our family stories? For Edward and Victoria, I wrote down all the Cree stories you taught me growing up, and for my father and mother, I wrote the story of the one thing that binds us together like no other, the story of our ranch and how it was started with just a whisp of a dream and little else, but has expanded beyond our little dream into what it is today!"

Both couples moved to embrace their beloved son, since a shy, almost reticent Nathan, as most good authors are, was unable to receive their accolades with spoken words, but instead could only show them his love and gratitude for all they meant to him via a heartfelt series of embraces.

There were tears throughout the room, but a joy too, another passing of the torch so to speak, in that these most important stories would somehow, someway, be told without remaining unknown, and now, live on forever to hopefully inspire others.

Edward, Victoria, Archie, and Sophia in a single glance, spoke their shorthand silently, as best friends do. Then with a nod, Sophia spoke for all of them.

"This is without a doubt the best gift we have ever received. On behalf of the four of us, thank you, our precious Son, from the bottom of our hearts!"

But knowing their son was inwardly begging for the attention to be removed from him, Victoria moved to the mantel and motioned Sophia to join her.

It was then that Victoria and Sophia began unlatching the stockings. First, they passed out the pair for each of the children. Then each adult was given their pair.

"Oh, I'm so excited! This has always been my favorite part of Christmas!" cried Auntie Luciana. "I just wish Mother and Father were here to share with us."

"Where are they?" asked Allie innocently.

"Well normally, they are right here with us," assured Auntie Luciana. "But this year, they are visiting Father's younger brother, who lives in Prince Edward Island for the holidays. Uncle Franklin had a rough year health-wise, so Father felt he and Mother needed to be there to celebrate Christmas with him, as he's all alone."

"But, Auntie Luciana, why didn't Uncle Franklin just come here and be with all of us?" asked Allie.

"I'm afraid he's not quite well enough yet to travel, Sweetheart. So, Father and Mother had to go to him this year."

"But you'll meet them soon, Allie! They wouldn't miss our Wedding for anything! They also have an invitation to your adoption and will be back in time for that as well," explained her Grandpapa. "Mother and Father never miss important family occasions, and these two are about as important as it gets!"

"You mean I have a Great Grandmama and Grandpapa?"

"Yes, you do! And although I have taken over the business responsibilities with Luciana's help managing the boards, our parents are still the Patriarch and Matriarch of this entire family."

"What do I call them, Grandpapa?"

"Great Mama and Great Papa is their preference, Allie! I must admit they are rather formal, given their upbringing. But they've softened considerably over the years! You'll meet them very soon, in just a few days' time, as they travel back to us from PEI. And I personally know they are very excited to meet you, Child!"

"Not as excited as me, Grandpapa. This is the best! My family just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I love it!"

Millicent's and Nathan's eyes met with a tentative look and sigh, both knowing if anyone could crack the Senior Bradfords' tough formal exterior, it would be their precocious daughter.

"Now that we've got that settled, listen up everyone. The stocking with your name and the word 'keep' on it is yours to keep, but the stocking with your name and the word 'give' on it is yours to be separated into individual items so that each item may be given to other people," instructed Victoria. "But the rule is your decision as to who receives each of the gifts has to be made this afternoon, right here before we leave this room! Just write each gift recipient's name on each individual "to and from tag" along with the reason you've chosen them to gift the item to. Let the stocking opening begin and enjoy!"

Auntie Luciana held court at a huge table where she could spread out all of her items, while the children spread out the contents of their stockings on the floor in front of the fireplace.

The adults moved about the area in couples to have room around them to unload first their "personal stockings," and then their "gift stockings."

"Grandmama, how did this tradition start?" asked Allie curiously. "I've never heard of this before."

"I'd better let Auntie Luciana answer that one," smiled Sophia.

"The tradition was started by Edward's and my parents, your Great Mama and Great Papa, when we were quite small. I'm afraid I am the reason. You see I was very delighted with what I received in my stocking and refused to share with anyone. Of course, I was only about four, but Mother saw an opportunity for a lesson, as selfishness of any kind was not a quality she wished to see in her children. The following year, Edward and I were given two stockings, but with the same stipulations you have been given today, that we had to match up and share the individual items with people who would appreciate them. Needless to say, there was never any selfishness again related to sharing stockings or even Christmas gifts in the Bradford home for that matter. But the funny thing was this activity instantly became our favorite Christmas activity of all! And so, it continued every year as a reminder for us to always share!"

"Luciana is right! Even our parents got involved early on, which was not like them at all, and we spent the entire afternoon together each Christmas as a family figuring out who should be gifted what, just like we are doing now. I agree it's been my favorite part of Christmas since we were children. And I can't imagine not doing this very same thing each and every single year, as we continue the tradition our parents started so long ago."

As the afternoon wore on, everyone was so excited to open and see the goodies in their own stockings. However, they seemed even more excited to tackle their plan for gifting the items in their gift stocking. It was hard to say who had more fun figuring out how to best share their gift stocking, deciding who should get what for maximal impact, the adults or the children.

To say it was a memorable Christmas day, was quite the understatement, as the two newest family members, Nathan and Allie, caught each other's glance and exchanged the broadest, happiest smiles.

With Millicent there between them and their two families surrounding them, both Nathan and Allie were finally home.

And that, without a doubt, was the greatest gift of the entire day…