Chapter 29: First Christmas

"I'm dreaming of a White Christmas..." Warren was crooning.

"Well quit dreaming, because you got one." Peg laughed, as she pointed out the window at the lightly falling snow. It was Christmas morning, and the Kelleher family was gathered around the tree, opening presents. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, and it was still falling. It was a perfect New England Christmas morning.

A car pulled up in front of the house, as Peg was looking out the window. "Here comes your favorite Christmas Present, Warren," she joked. Warren looked out to see Sophia and her mother getting out of the car. Mrs. Kovach grabbed a bag full of presents, and brought it up to the door. Warren greeted her there.

"Hi, Mrs. K. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Warren. Merry Christmas, folks!" she shouted into the room at the rest of the family. "Here." She handed the presents over, and Warren put them under the tree. "I've got to go, with all this snow it's going to take forever to get to my sister's. The nutcase is all yours," she said with a smile, pointing to the sidewalk, where Sophia was twirling around under the snow like a 4-year-old.

"Soph, what are you doing?" Warren asked, bemused.

"I love snow!" she yelled, giggling. "I especially like it on Christmas."

"Yeah, well, I'm still in my PJs and I'm freezing."

She ran up on the porch. "Spoilsport," she grinned at him. "Later you'll have to get dressed so we can have a snowball fight." She raced past him into the house, tickling him as she went by. He followed her in.

She had snow in her hair and on her face. She was wearing white earmuffs, and a big poofy white jacket. Her face was flushed from the cold, and she was smiling broadly. "You are gorgeous when you're cold and snow-covered, you know that?" Warren said.

"Awww. Does that mean you won't warm me up, Snugglebear?"

"Uh-huh, that's what the tea and hot chocolate are for," Jim interjected as he walked past them. "Merry Christmas, Sophia."

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Kelleher."

She went in to greet the rest of Warren's family, as he hung her coat up for her.

Sophia had sat for an hour, cuddled up against Warren, watching the Kellehers open all their presents. She was sipping tea and eating some of Peg's wonderful Christmas cookies. She was very happy, but a bit envious. She couldn't ever remember having a family Christmas like this-of course, she had never had a whole family, either.

Suddenly, Peg was handing her a gift. "Merry Christmas, Sophia."

Sophia was surprised. "Oh, Mrs. Kelleher, you didn't have to get me anything."

Peg just smiled. "I know. But I wanted to. I know you and Warren have gifts for each other, but Jim and I wanted to get you a little something, so you didn't feel left out."

Sophia tore open the wrapping. Inside the box was a pink angora sweater. "Oh, I love it! Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Kelleher. It's beautiful."

"I wasn't sure you'd like it."

"It's perfect. I don't own enough sweaters." She looked down at the short-sleeve blouse she was wearing. "And I should have one today. I'm cold! I'm going to go try it on. Hold my place, Snugglebear." She went upstairs to the bathroom, and emerged a couple minutes later, wearing the sweater. She was wearing blue jeans today, and the blue jeans with the pink sweater were a perfect match.

"Fits?" Peg asked

"Perfectly," Sophia confirmed.

"That looks real good on you, Sophie," Warren said admiringly. "Nice pick, Mom."

"Thanks, Warren." Peg said bemusedly. Sophia sighed happily and settled back in next to Warren, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the present-opening.

"OK, Snugglebear, my turn." Sophia said, as she went into the bag she had brought. "First, I've got a couple things for Ryan and Kristin."

"Really?" Warren's brother and sister said. "Wow, Sophia, thanks," Ryan said as he opened up the video game. "Yeah, this is really cool," Kristin agreed, as she opened up the latest Harry Potter book.

"And this one, Warren, is for your parents." Warren took the envelope and handed it to his mom.

"Sophia, you really didn't have to do this," Peg said.

"Didn't I just say the same thing to you?" Sophia giggled. "I really wanted to give you something, for how wonderfully you've treated me this year."

"We treat you wonderfully because you're a delightfully wonderful person, Sophia, don't forget that." Sophia blushed. Peg opened the envelope. It was a gift certificate to Peg and Jim's favorite restaurant. "Sophia, this is wonderful. Thank you so much."

"OK, and now for my Snugglebear." She handed over a box. "Warren, I thought about this one for a long time, because this present is not your normal thing. But it just screamed 'Warren!' at me, so I took a shot. I hope you like it."

Warren tore off the paper and opened up the large box. He withdrew from inside a leather coat. This wasn't a biker jacket or anything like that; it was a very sharp black leather coat, a bit longer than a leather jacket. It was very classy looking, but it was still leather.

Warren drew his breath in, sharply. It was perfect. It's something he never would have thought to buy himself, but he loved it, and coming from Sophia it was perfect.

Warren took it out of the box, and put it on.

"Do you like it?" Sophia asked expectantly.

"I love it! It's fantastic!"

"I can't believe how good it looks on you, Warren," Peg said. "It's very sharp."

"Oh, I'm so relieved. I wasn't sure you'd like it." Sophia grinned wryly. "Heck, I think it's the only thing in your whole wardrobe that didn't come from L. L. Bean." Everyone laughed at that.

"That's what you're here for, dear, to broaden my horizons," Warren quipped. Sophie playfully swatted him. "No, my love, it's perfect." He took the coat off and went into the foyer to hang it up.

"Now, Pookie, your turn." He placed a small pile of presents in front of Sophia. "This one last, though," he said, taking one off the pile.

"All for me?"

"Yeah, but trust me, there's nothing there as extravagant as that leather coat," Warren smirked.

Sophia opened up the gifts, to find a couple of books she had been wanting, and the two Beatles Anthology CD's she didn't yet have. The large box on the bottom contained a beautiful purple miniskirt and matching blouse. "Warren, I'm surprised. You have good taste in girls' clothes. I love this! In fact, I love everything. Thank you so much."