Chapter 5
Christmas morning is a bit of a madhouse. When we walk into the great room, we find Jake and Annie and their bunch had beat us downstairs. The grandparents are already here, as are Elly and George. The others haven’t stirred from their rooms yet.
Luke gets one look at the small mound of presents beneath the Christmas tree and races over to the tree. “He came! He came!”
Aiden hands Luke a wrapped gift. “This one is for you.”
“Can I open it, Mama?” he asks me.
“Not yet. Let’s wait for everyone to come downstairs.”
“Can I go get them?” he asks.
I laugh. “No, you can’t. They’ll be along shortly, don’t worry.”
While the boys are waiting for everyone to come downstairs, they check out the goodies that Elly left out for Santa and his reindeer. Miraculously, the cookies are gone, except for a few crumbs, and the glass of milk is empty. The carrots are nowhere to be seen.
“Santa ate the cookies!” Luke cries. “And he drank the milk.”
“He sure did,” Aiden says, winking at me once more.
Fortunately, within twenty minutes or so everyone is gathered downstairs. The adults all find seats on the sofas and upholstered armchairs, while the kids sit around the tree, all except for Hazel and Henry, who are too young.
As Aiden is the only grandchild who can read, he hands out the gifts to all of the kids. There are two presents for each child.
“These are for you, Luke,” Aiden says as he hands two gifts to Luke. “And these are for Mia.” Aiden sets two packages in front of her.
Mia, who’s a little over one, picks up one of her gifts and starts chewing on the paper.
“Here, let me help you with that,” Sophie says as she joins her daughter on the floor and rescues the present. “Presents are for opening, not eating, sweetie.”
“These are for Hazel,” Aiden says as he hands the gifts to Molly. “And these two are for Henry.”
Aiden passes out gifts to Emerly and Everly as well as to Ava, who is sitting on Shane’s lap.
Once all the gifts have been distributed, the kids tear into them. The youngest ones need a little bit of help.
After he opens his gifts—a toy firetruck and a set of building blocks—Luke comes to sit on my lap. “He found us, Mama,” he says as he leans back against me. “Just like you said he would.”
“Of course, he did.” I give him a hug and kiss the top of his head.
The adults are having as much fun watching the kids open their presents as the kids are.
Santa—otherwise known as Bridget and Calum and my mom—agreed to a strict limit when it came to the gifts, both in terms of numbers and dollar value.
Two gifts for each child—no more. And a firm ceiling on the dollar amount.
The shrieks of excitement are proof that Santa did a good job selecting the gifts.
While the kids sit on the floor around the tree and play their presents, the adults watch from the sidelines, taking turns holding little Henry.
When Luke hops down to play with his firetruck, I get a chance to hold Henry. I cuddle him close and gaze down into his dark blue eyes and wonder if they’ll eventually turn brown like both his parents’ eyes. He gazes up at me, almost mesmerized as he stares at my face.
“Hello, Henry. I’m your Auntie Beth. Welcome to the family.”
I couldn’t be happier for Molly and Jamie.
They tried for a while to get pregnant and had no luck.
Then, out of the blue, they were offered the opportunity to adopt Hazel.
And when Hazel was just six months old, Molly discovered she was already three months pregnant.
And now they have two babies under the age of two.
Henry blinks a couple of times before he starts sucking on his fist.
I soon realize somebody has a wet diaper. “Molly, he’s wet. If you’ll hand me his diaper bag, I’ll change him.”
“Do you want me to do it?” she asks as she rises from the floor, grabs the baby’s bag, and brings it to me.
“That’s all right. I’ll do it.”
As I’m changing Henry’s diaper, Luke comes to stand beside us. He gently touches the baby’s face, first his nose, then his cheeks and his forehead. “He’s so little. Was Sissy this little, too?”
“Yes, she was. In fact, she was almost exactly this size when she was born.”
“Was I this small when I was born?”
“Actually, you were even smaller. You came a little bit early.”
“I guess I was in a hurry.” He gazes at Henry in fascination, watching as I change the baby’s diaper. “He’s a boy because he has a penis like me.”
I bite my lip, trying not to laugh. “Yes, he is.”
Luke turns his attention to Shane, who’s sitting beside me. “Daddy, I really want a brother.”
Shane manages to keep a straight face. “You’ll have to ask your mother.”
Not surprisingly, Luke turns his attention back to me. “Mama? Aunt Annie’s having another one.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say as I finish dressing Henry after his change.
Shane gives me a small smile before he leans over to kiss my cheek and whispers, “Our son wants a brother.”
“I heard,” I say, knowing full well my biological clock is ticking once more.
When Hazel notices the small crowd hovering around her brother, she abandons her new gifts—a stuffed kitty and a soft cloth baby doll with strawberry blonde hair—and crawls over to us. Using the sofa cushions for support, she pulls herself up onto her feet.
I watch as Hazel gazes at her new brother. Her blonde curls are starting to show strawberry highlights. Her eyes are like the bright blue of a clear summer sky.
Hazel reaches out and gently pats Henry’s cheek. “Bee-bee.”
“Yes, he’s your baby brother. Can you say Henry?”
She looks at me and says, “Bee-bee.”
Molly, who scooted over to join us, leans in to kiss Hazel’s cheek. “That’s close enough, sweetie.”
“Bee-bee,” Hazel says as she brushes his hair.
Not wanting to be left out, Ava leans over from Shane’s lap and pats Henry’s foot. “Baby.”
“I don’t know about the rest of you guys,” Shane says, “but I’m in serious need of coffee. And food. I’m starving.”
He receives rousing agreement from the adults, who rise and collect their children.
* * *
Elly has breakfast so well organized. Parents bring the kids into the kitchen and seat them around the big table. There are now five high chairs around the long table for the little girls, plus a booster seat for Luke, and a regular chair for Aiden.
“Now the rest of you go to the dining room and eat before the food gets cold,” Elly says, shooing us adults out of the room. “The grandmas and I will take care of feeding the little ones.”
Henry joins his parents in the dining room, where Jamie holds his sleeping son cradled against his chest while he eats.
“We’re going to need another highchair before long,” I say as I watch Jamie gently rock Henry in his arms.
“Elly told me she already has one on order,” Molly says.
There’s a bountiful spread on the buffet table. There are warm platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and buttered toast, along with pancakes. The coffee is flowing freely.
After we’re done eating, we head back to the kitchen to wash all the sticky little hands and faces and put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.
Afterward, we all gather in the great room to visit. George adds more wood to the fireplace. Lia turns on the sound system, not too loud, but enough to fill the big space with quiet notes of familiar Christmas songs. Then she sits on Jonah’s lap and closes her eyes.
I walk over to where Elly and George are sitting together on a small sofa and lean down to hug them both. “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank you for taking such good care of us and this home.”
Elly turns tear-filled eyes to me. “You don’t need to thank us. It’s our pleasure. But, still, you’re welcome, sweetie.”
Shane joins me, discreetly handing Elly an envelope. “Merry Christmas to the both of you, from the McIntyres.”
Just as he does every year, Shane tucked a sizable check into a holiday card to thank them for everything they do for us.
Jake takes a look out the back windows at the clear blue sky and announces, “Who wants to go outside to play in the snow?”
Luke and Aiden both jump to their feet. “We do!” they yell in unison.
Shane and Jake help the boys get back into their winter gear, and outside they go, accompanied by a number of aunts and uncles. We end up with a backyard filled with snow people of all sizes and shapes.
A major snowball fight ensues, of course. There’s no way the McIntyre siblings can get together in the snow without the event devolving into a snowball fight. Lia, Jonah, Liam, Jasmine, Hannah, and Killian get in on the action. Even Jamie joins in, along with Calum and George.
The moms and grandmas are content to stay inside and sip hot chocolate in front of the roaring fireplace while the little girls play with their new Christmas gifts.
I catch my mom’s eye, and she smiles at me. I think she loves being part of this big family as much as I do. When I was growing up, it was just the two of us, since my big brother Tyler was already grown and out of the house. Now we’re surrounded by family and now children, and we love it.
* * *
When the sun begins to set, all the revelers come inside to dry off and warm up.
Soon after, we have an evening meal of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted veggies, and homemade dinner rolls.
In our post-dinner coma, we gather downstairs in the movie theater to watch our favorite old-school Christmas cartoons—Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.
I think the parents get the biggest kick of all just observing their kids watching the same holiday movies we loved when we were their ages.
After a long day, everyone retires for the night. Morning will be here too soon, and then it’ll be time for us to pack up and head home.
There will be lots of tearful good-byes in the morning, lots of hugs, and then we’ll all depart for our respective homes, which ironically are located in the same gated community. Fortunately, Hannah and Killian will be staying a few more days at Bridget and Calum’s house.
It’s the perfect way to end the perfect family holiday.
* * *
Thank you for reading this McIntyre family holiday story. I hope it’s the first of many others to come.