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Christmas Afternoon—
Christmas Morning came in the afternoon this year at the Eppes house, though it was more crowded than it had ever been. Morning started when Jenny dropped Nena off at the park at 2pm. Colby was there to greet her with a big ‘Merry Christmas’ then sweep her into the car to go home, where everyone was waiting.
Monster met Nena at the door to the house, then led her and Colby into the family room. Nena oohed and aahed over the tree and the presents and the full stockings. At Nena’s insistence, everyone had been given a stocking – from Grandpa Alan to Don and Will to Charlie, Colby, Nena, and even Monster.
Colby pointed out the dining room table to Nena, which was covered with the Christmas Day smorgasbord. Alan handed Nena a plate and Nena looked overwhelmed at the array of food in front of her. Alan had gone a little overboard with the smorgasbord, including sliced meat and cheeses, dozens of different kinds of cookies, nuts, crackers, cold vegetables, fruit, spreads, chocolate, and a punch bowl brimming with sparkling punch. Taking pity on Nena, Colby took her plate and put on it a few cookies, some cheese and crackers, and several cashews. He ladled Nena a cup of punch and carried the plate and cup over to the tree.
After settling Nena into a spot on the rug, Colby handed Nena her stocking then passed the rest around. Everyone watched as Nena pulled handfuls of art supplies, stickers, candy and little games out of her stocking. Nena dumped the whole pile on the floor and began to disassemble a wooden puzzle shaped like an apple.
Colby watched her for a while, enjoying his first Christmas with his little girl, even if it was just half of Christmas Day. The night before, he, Charlie and Alan had celebrated a quiet Christmas Eve, slowly feeling their way into creating new Holiday traditions. They’d lit candles, sung some carols, played a Holiday trivia game and watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ It had been a good, low-key evening, and this morning had been as leisurely, with Colby and Charlie quietly making love upstairs while Alan cooked waffles downstairs. After breakfast, they’d spent an hour looking at photos of Christmases from Don and Charlie’s childhood. Colby never got tired of seeing pictures of little Charlie, his eyes too big for his face, like his body was trying to grow into his brain. Don always seemed to be hovering in the background, both his envy and his protectiveness of Charlie evident.
Back in the present, Charlie chuckled and Colby looked over to see that Charlie had pulled from his stocking the model of a chocolate molecule, made out of chocolate. Colby had filled Charlie’s stocking and visa-versa. Will and Don had celebrated their own Christmas at their home that morning but had enjoyed sneaking stuff over to the house for the other’s stocking. Nena had filled Alan’s stocking, which was why Alan was now pulling out a pair of green and turquoise-striped socks.
Don was inspecting a jar of chocolate mint syrup when Will leaned over and whispered something in Don’s ear that made him grin. Will pulled out a little figure of a dog which had DEA written on its collar. Will shoved Don in the shoulder and laughed. Reaching into his own stocking, Colby discovered a Creature from the Black Lagoon action figure.
Nena went to help Monster with his stocking. Monster had just been rubbing his head on it and rolling around. A catnip mouse was to blame, and Nena tossed it for Monster to play with. She pulled out some cat treats and a can of real salmon, but Monster was too taken with his mouse. Colby knew that he’d be finding pieces of that mouse around the house for weeks.
Eventually, Nena remembered that there were presents and she began to carry those around to the person on the tag. Most of the time she got it right, though she tended to give anything labeled ‘Colby’ to Charlie since Colby’s name was ‘Daddy.’ Colby glowed with pride that his little girl would be going into kindergarten already knowing how to read. All the presents were opened and exclaimed over, then Nena insisted on ‘Unka Wiw’ and ‘Unka Don’ helping her set up her new race car track on the floor around the tree. Monster abandoned his mouse and came to help knock the track pieces under the couch.
Charlie curled up against Colby’s side, sucking on a candy cane, just like he had as a kid in the photos. Smiling, Colby put his arm around him. Colby knew he should probably clean up and get into the kitchen. Megan, David and David’s new girlfriend were coming over for dinner later and it was Colby’s job to get the turkey started. But at the moment, he could just sit here, in his home, with his family, and enjoy the Christmas spirit for the first time in many years.