Chapter 57

Christmas Morning!! When I opened my eyes, the sun was shining and I couldn't wait to go down and open the presents. First, I had to empty my bladder.

I snuck out of bed, took care of my business and went back to bed. Now, I usually don't want to wake my better half, but that was a normal boring morning. This was Christmas morning so I acted differently.

I jumped on the bed and started bouncing. "Ashlee! Wake up!! It's Christmas!" Bounce Bounce Bounce!! "Come on sleepy head, Christmas!"

Grumble groan, "Go away let me sleep."

"Come on honey don't let Christmas pass you by." I dropped down next to her, and started pulling the covers off of her. I got them down to her waist when she got a chill and moved to be back under the covers moving back down the bed. I moved the covers more, she moved more. I moved more, she moved until she finally ended upon the floor and I pounced on her and kissing her face and neck which caused her to start laughing and fighting back against me as I tickled her, kissed and repeated wake up its Christmas.

"Fine! Stop I give."

I got up, offered her my hand and she stood up next to me. "Are you always like this on Christmas?"

"Yes." I pulled her to the bathroom and shoved her inside. I closed the door and went to Brenda's room and did the same thing. She was easier to wake up but a lot less clothed. She rolled over and her breasts came into view. I pulled the blanket up her body instead of down like I had done with her mother. "Come on B, its Christmas. Time to wake up." I bounced her mattress several times and she finally gave up and instead of hiding under the covers she got up.

"There, I'm up. Happy now?"

She had only her panties on so I reached down and picked up her sleep shirt and fuzzy pants, "Here honey. Get dressed and we can go downstairs so that we can open presents!" I said with extreme joy.

"Fine." She grumbled and took the offered clothing put them on and I made sure she went to the bathroom and I went back to my room to make sure that Ashlee wasn't back in bed. She wasn't there so I went downstairs.

The tree was turned on and dad had beaten us downstairs and was working to get a fire going in the fireplace. The amount of presents under the tree had increased and I got down on the floor to look at the labels. For me, for dad, for mom, for Ashlee for Brenda, for me, for Ashlee, for mom and on and on.

"OK my son. Enough of that. You haven't changed in all of these years." Dad laughed and pulled me to my feet. "Go and help your mother with breakfast."

"Ok dad." Mom was dressed in fuzzy pants and a sweatshirt. "Good morning mom." I one arm hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas honey."

"Merry Christmas mom. Can I help you with breakfast?"

"Sure, get the mixer out and help me with these yummy-licious eggs."

Ok, for those of you not from my family, I'll explain yummy-licious eggs. Take eggs, one per person eating, and separate the yolks from whites. Put the whites in a mixing bowl and mix them until they are stiff and will hold a shape on their own. You don't want these runny. Once the whites are ready, pile them on slices of toast making a small indentation in the whites so that you can place the yolks in the middle of the whites. Take these and put them in the oven and toast them so that whites are toasted light brown and the yolks are cooked to your liking. Hard boiled or still runny.

While you have one person doing this, make a cheese sauce with Velveeta cheese and milk. Also, you want bacon cooked and ready to be used with the toasted eggs.

To serve all of this, put one slice of toast on a plate, put two slices of bacon on the eggs in a cross pattern and then pour your cheese sauce over the top of it. Men can usually eat two of these while women usually eat only one. The cheese sauce tends to be rather rich and fills people up really quickly. This is what we had for breakfast. When the family sat down for breakfast, Ashlee and Brenda looked at their plates and tried to figure out what it was. Mom helped them saying "They are called 'yummy-licious' eggs. Try it."

The two ladies took their forks, cut into the whites and yolks and after putting their bites into their mouths, they took a bite of bacon. Ashlee tried to talk with her mouth full,"oh mom, feese are so vood." she mumbled with a bite still in her mouth. Brenda said the same thing. Once their plates were empty, Brenda started in on the questions. "How did you make these? Can I have another one? Is this a family recipe? Is there more bacon?"

You get the idea. Mom was gracious and told her the whole story of the eggs. "Let me tell you a story. When I was a kid, I went to my grandparents' house with my sister and brother and my grandmother was a horrible cook. I mean she could burn water. She just didn't have the knack for it. About the only thing she could do was make eggs for her husband. She could do something fancy and I so looked forward to breakfast when we were at their house. I just can't tell you how much fun it was there and how good her breakfasts were. Anyway, one year she was trying something new and grandpa had brought home bacon from the market as a special treat for the family that year. Well grandma just about burned the bacon but she had cheese lying around and with my help we made a cheese sauce that we used to disguise the burned bacon. The eggs were supposed to be a food slash art project. I thought they were supposed to be nests for the egg. Grandma put the bacon on the top and smothered it with cheese sauce and in the end, we ended up with this." She motioned to the plate in front of here. I hadn't heard the story in years and having mom tell it again was really special.

"Did you grow up on a farm?"

"No honey. I grew up in Chicago, just a few blocks from Lake Michigan in a tiny apartment."

"What did your dad do?"

"He sold cars and was pretty good at it as well."

"Really?" Brenda said. "What kind?"

"Cadillac. Only the best American steel was what he used to say."

Ashlee asked, "Is he still alive?"

"No, he died a few years ago and my mom died a few short hours after he went. They were both in the hospital sharing a room and once dad left, mom went right along with him."

She wiped her eyes with her napkin. "Sorry. I didn't know." Ashlee said.

"Don't worry about it Ashlee." She reached across to her and took her hand. "My parents, just like Mark's, were together for a long, long time and after that amount of time together, you simply find yourself unable to live without your other half. At least that is what I imagine happened to our parents."

"Thanks mom for telling me that story. I'm sorry that it was so sad." Ashlee said to her while holding her hand.

"Honey, if I couldn't handle that story, then I wouldn't have told you. Now finish your breakfast, we have presents to open."

I piped up and agreed with her. "Presents!!"

Ashlee leaned over to her and in a loud stage whisper asked, "Has he always been such a big fan of Christmas?"

Mom went along with it and said in the same manner, "Yes he has. I think it's hereditary."

"Great." She sat up and just smiled at me.

"Brenda, we got you these." Mom said handing Brenda a brightly wrapped package. She tore the present open and pulled out a long sleeping shirt and matching pants. "We didn't want our only granddaughter to be cold at night."

"Thanks grandma." She held them up to her and they looked like they will fit her.

I got one for mom and we had given her new spatulas since she had a habit of burning hers or they wear out; a very useful gift.

Ashlee got a sleep shirt and pants in a very similar style to Brenda's but in a different pattern. She loved them. I gave dad his cutting tools and he was thrilled and almost brought to tears. "Paul, how did you know I wanted these?"

"A little birdy told me."

When we had gone through all of the small gifts, I pulled mom's big gift out of its hiding place in the tree. She opened the little box finding the gold watch inside. She was awestruck. "Paul, you didn't have to get me something so expensive."

"I know, you deserve it after all that you have done for me. I wanted to get you something nice."

"Yeah grandma, you need this and besides, I helped pick it out." Brenda said trying to encourage her put it on.

Dad came over and helped her out. It fit her very nicely and when the light from outside hit it, the diamonds really sparkled.

Dad picked up the big box under the tree. He presented it to Ashlee and when the weight of it was pressed on her legs, she asked what in the world it was. Dad just stood back and let her, us, open it. Under the wrapping was a plain cardboard box and once that was opened, she found 10 wooden objects. She lifted one out and found she was holding a bowl. "Dad, what are these?"

"Those are a full set of handmade wood bowls made by yours truly." He said proudly. I reached in and pulled out a bowl and found that it was many different layers of different colors of wood. I mean it was beautiful. The next one was also the same thing, but the pattern was different. Bowl after bowl came out of the box and the three of us passed them around looking at each one in turn. They were amazing.

"Dad, these are amazing. How long have you been working on these?" Ashlee asked him.

"Oh, for a few months now. This is a pretty simple pattern to make so it doesn't take me long, but it was a gift that I thought you three could use and since they were handmade, I was hoping that it would make the correct impression."

"Oh, they do." I said.

We put them back in the box and set aside but I still reached back into the box and held one in my hand. I turned it over and inspected the bottom of the bowl. "Dad, is this your signature here?" I held the bowl out to him and he looked it over.

"Yes, that is my signature for these bowls. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yes it is. Which reminds me, I have one last gift for you dad. Brenda, could you help me bring it in?"

We put on our coats and boots and went out to the car. We lifted the box and hauled it in. I kept the blanket over it so that it would be a surprise. Once it was inside, dad came over and lifted the blanket and gasped! "How, what?" He looked to me with a question "What is this?"

"Dad, this is the new motor for your wood turning. Don't you recognize it?"

"Yes, I recognize it, which just brings to mind one question, how did you know this was the one I wanted?"

"Dad, I went to the wood turning hobby shop where you go and I talked to a nice guy who sold me the tools I gave you and this."

"But ... But."

I grabbed my dad by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes, "Dad this is my gift to you. If you don't want it, I'll take it back. I hope that you will love it and use it and win more awards."

He looked at me, looked at the box and then wiped the tear that was forming in his eyes. "Thank you Paul, you have no idea how much I am going to use this and love it; even more so that you gave it to me."

I open my arms to him and he opened his to me and we exchanged father son hugs.

The rest of the morning progressed happily. I got several nice shirts from them, along with socks and boxer shorts; pretty typical for gifts from my parents. Dad made me and Ashlee hardwood pens since the ones I used to have were lost in the fire. Ashlee was so moved by the gift, she cried and had to give dad a big old hug. I loved the one he made for her it was layered with light and dark wood, absolutely beautiful.

I gave Ashlee a really nice pair of earrings along with the things I bought for her at the Vicky Secret store. Brenda got a bunch of little things all of them were nice. Ashlee gave me a new watch, nothing fancy, but very functional. She also gave me a new computer game card for WoW.

When we were done, we worked together to clean the family room and restock the fireplace. Mom pulled out food for lunch, just simple sandwiches. While we made ourselves lunch, she put a rather large ham in a pan and prep it for the oven. I mean, it was pretty big and we were only 5 adults.

"Mom, how big of a ham did you get?"

"10 pounds."

I whistled in amazement. "Why so big?"

"We are having some friends come over for dinner so I have to make a big ham."

"Really? Who's coming?"

"Dan and Linda are coming. You know them."

"Yes, I know them. Are they going to bring Annette and her husband?"

"No. From what I heard from Linda, they are going to his parent's house this year. Sorry."

"No worries, I chat with them all the time through Facebook anyway. I'll post a quick photo of Christmas and play catch up that way."

The ham spent the afternoon in the oven getting all warm and yummy and juicy. Late in the afternoon, I helped mom mash up the potatoes and get the green beans warmed up.

ding dong

Caesar went off bark bark, woof woof. "I'll get it." I said and headed for the front door.

"Hey!" I exclaimed with happiness. Dan and Linda have arrived. "Welcome! Come in!" I let them in and we exchange hugs and handshakes. Dan and Linda are my parents best friends and had been for a very long time. Their daughter had gone to high school with me and we had dated for a short amount of time but we were not destined to be together. "I'm so glad to see you guys. How have you been?"

Dan - Doing good. Annette is pregnant again and our son is still happily married down in Tennessee. Couldn't be happier.

Linda - How have you been? Your mom said that you were dating again. Is that true?

Me - Well, kind of true. I did meet someone, we hit it off immediately and we are scheduled to get married in the spring.

Dan and Linda - Married?

Me - Yes. Come on, I'll introduce you.

Dan and Linda followed me through the house and into the kitchen where Ashlee and Brenda were with mom working on dinner together.

Me - Dan, Linda, I'd like you to meet my fiancé Ashlee Jones and her daughter Brenda.

Ashlee turned around and used a dish towel to wipe her hands and extend a hand, but since Linda is who she is, she ignored the hand and pulled her in for a hug. Please understand, Linda is a short woman and Ashlee is much taller so the two of them hugging did look a bit funny. Ash had to stoop down to hug her and Brenda did the same thing.

Linda - I'm so happy to meet you. Sam was a dear soul. We had met her several times over the years and they even stayed at our house one time. A dear soul.

Ashlee - Yes, Paul has been telling me all about her. I'm just glad that I was there to help him pick up the pieces.

Dan - We made it up for the funeral. That was amazing if you ask me. Were you there?

Ashlee - No. I knew Paul from work at that time, but we had not yet started seeing each other until after that when he came back to work.

Linda - Oh, you knew him from work? Where is that?

Ashlee - We both worked at the college where he was a teacher. I was in, am still in, academic advisor department at school.

I moved them out of the kitchen encouraging them to move their discussion into the living room. Mom stopped what she was doing and greeted them as well, but she had food to prep for eating so she got them something to drink and went back to cooking. Dad came in when we were in the kitchen and he took Dan into the family room to show off his gifts and the two of them got to talking. Brenda wandered into the family room with Dad. I heard him introduce his granddaughter to Dan and so with them occupied, I went with Ashlee into the living room to talk.

Linda - Well that is wonderful. What do academic advisors do at your school?

Ashlee - We help the students, who are mostly non-traditional students, through the schooling process. We help them get tutoring, help with retention, arrange transportation and generally keep them in school. It is hard but has its rewards when you see someone succeed.

Linda - That is wonderful. How did you two start dating then?

Me - Do you want to tell the story?

Ashlee - No you go ahead.

Me - Ok, here goes. You know how broken up I was at the funeral. Well, once I got home from that I spent a week or so just sitting around not really living, just being alive. Mom and dad had written me a note pretty much kicking my rear-end verbally making me get on with my life. So, I did. I went back to work, and asked her out to a lunch. We started hanging out at school during our lunch hour and eventually started dating seriously. When I decided that I was going to travel and have an adventure, I invited Ashlee and her daughter with me and the rest is history.

Linda - So, excuse me for asking, but Ashlee, how old are you?

Ashlee - 33.

Linda - And how old is Brenda?

Ashlee - She turned 18 in the fall. And Yes, if you do the math, I was a teenager when I got pregnant and gave birth to her.

Linda - Oh honey, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just putting the pieces together so I understood what was going on. I'm sorry to offend.

Ashlee - No offense taken. I was just going to save you the time in doing the math is all.

Linda - So where is the father?

Ashlee - He died years ago after Brenda was born. Car accident.

Linda was taken aback by that. She fell back against the couch.

Linda - So let me get this straight. You lost the father of your daughter in a car accident and you lost your family in a car accident. You both have suffered through two traumas in your lives and managed to find each other.

Ashlee and I exchanged a look and agreed that we had and then smiled at how similar we were.

Linda - Ashlee, how did you managed to finish school with a baby?

Ashlee - I have wonderful parents who fully supported me and were as much her parents as they were mine. Without them, I wouldn't be here today.

Linda - You know Jill worked with teens that get pregnant years ago. I have heard her talk about some of the girls and very few of them come out as well as you seemed to have come out of it. This is wonderful. So where do you live now?

Ashlee - Well, Paul and I bought a condo together in Kansas City.