Queenie Baby: Pass the Eggnog (10 page)

As the sound of her footsteps faded away, my mom gave me a stern look. "I expect you to make an effort for your sister's play. She's got her hopes set on it, an' it's the least we can do. The girl pulls more than her fair share in this family."

I sighed. She had a point. "Maybe that's the third miracle—the Christmas miracle. Maybe it's Ashley's play," I joked.

My mom raised her eyes heavenward. "It'll take a miracle."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first thought when I woke was,
it's Christmas Eve
. And for the first time since I was a kid, I felt excited. Maybe it was finding Granddad or the six inches of snow that had fallen over the night, but I was in the Christmas spirit with a capital "S." Surprising, since I didn't sleep too well. Too many things going bump in the night. I hoped the ghosts would take a rest on Christmas Eve. I'd like to get some sleep tonight. Speaking of ghosts…I jumped up out of bed and looked at the mirror. Sure enough the word H-A-P-P-Y was spelled out clearly on the foggy surface.

"Certainly appropriate," I said out loud. This whole message thing was starting to feel pretty good. I still had no idea what they were talking about, but I was actually looking forward to see what was next.

 I dressed warmly and then dug around in my bag to find Max's reindeer sweater, complete with matching antlers. I don't think he liked it as much as his red sweater, but he sat patiently while I put it on him. Too cute! My first task today was to work on Ashley's play. After a cup of coffee, of course. With Max behind me, I treaded quietly down the back stairs towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty, but there was a fresh pot of coffee on. I praised the ever-efficient Victoria as I poured a cup and took that first delicious sip. With mug in hand, I opened the back door to let Max out, and we both stopped in our tracks. Wow! That was more snow that it had looked like from upstairs.

Max looked at the sea of fluffy white and up at me. "Well, go on. I know you have to go."

He walked tentatively to the edge of the door, and I gave him a push out with my foot and shut the door.

He gave a loud bark. I waved to him from the warmth of the kitchen and sipped my coffee.

"Whatcha doin' Aunt Di?" Jason asked, wandering in from the living room.

"Just watching Max in the snow. How 'bout you?"

He walked over and looked out the window. "Do you think Max would ride on a sled?" he asked out of the blue.

I thought about that for a minute. "Probably. He once rode in a basket on my bike."

Jason nodded. "Thought so. Circus dogs are good at stuff like that."

"I'm not sure Max was ever in the circus."

"Mom calls him a circus dog all the time. Thought that meant he was in the circus doin' tricks an' things."

"I don't think that's what your mom meant," I said with a smile.

Jason looked out at Max, picking his way delicately through the snow. "That's too bad. I bet he'd fit right in one of those clown cars."

I laughed and opened the door. Max came stalking in and brushed right past us. I made a note to offer him a treat to make up for my latest transgression.

"You ready for Santa?" I asked, refilling my coffee cup.

Jason made a skeptical face. "I guess. The whole Santa thing is kinda confusing."

I nodded sympathetically.

"But this morning when I came downstairs and saw what the elves had done, I figured there must be a Santa. What's the point of there bein' elves if there ain't no Santa?" he asked logically.

I raised my eyebrows. "Elves came here last night?"

He nodded.

"Show me."

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

The big grandfather clock in the hallway struck eight; otherwise the house was silent. I assumed The Grands were sleeping off yesterday's happy hour, and The Parents were taking advantage of being off duty a little bit longer. I was a little surprised that Ashley wasn't up yet. I'd hoped a good night's sleep would revive her flagging Christmas spirits.

I followed Jason into the living room and stopped short as I took in the elves' work. The chaos of costumes and set decorations had been transformed into an intimate theatre, complete with two rows of wooden folding chairs placed neatly in front of a raised stage with heavy red curtains attached to a brass and wood frame that fit perfectly in the throughway between the dining room and the living room. Poinsettias ringed the front of the stage, and a cheery fire burned in the giant fireplace.

"Wow." I didn't know what else to say. "Has your mom seen this yet?"

Jason shook his head. "Daddy said to let her rest 'cause she's sad about something. Grown-ups are weird. Who could be sad on Christmas Eve? That's just dumb."

I nodded. My nephew was quite the philosopher. "You didn't happen to see the elves, did you?"

Jason looked at me like I was a dufus. "You can't see elves, Aunt Di. They move too fast."

"Okay, so how do you know the elves did this then?" I know, I know not exactly a reasonable conversation to have with a kid, but I really wanted to know who did this. At this point, my bet was on the ghosts.

"Daddy told me. He was asleep on the couch." Jason pointed to the couch at the far end of the room.

"Your dad was asleep in here this morning?"

"Yep. He didn't actually see the elves 'cause they move so fast, but he said this was elf work." Jason waved his hand at the room.

"It certainly is." The work of a big, goofy elf. Who, up to this point, I hadn't given enough credit.

Jason lost interest in the elf talk and asked if he could give Max a treat. I told him where to find them in the kitchen, and he trotted off happy.

I took off up the stairs and knocked on my sister's door. "There's cereal in the kitchen. Ask your brother to pour your milk," Ashley called automatically through the door.

"Ashley, get your butt down here. We've got a Christmas play in twelve hours. Hippity-ho," I called back.

I heard some grumbling, and then the door opened. Yikes. Morning was not a good look for her. "Go ahead, say something about my hair. I dare you," she growled.

Nope. Not a chance. "Uh, I thought you should see what the elves did downstairs."

She glared at me. "You too? Jason and Justin have been knocking on my door for an hour talking about elves. I don't care about elves. In forty-eight hours this Christmas nightmare will be over. I'm counting the hours, Diana. Counting the hours," she repeated.

She went to close the door, but I stuck my foot in to block her. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. You need to see this. Might help you get that antler outta your butt."

"I don't have an antler up my butt. You're the Grinch around here."

"Not anymore. I'm Scrooge on Christmas morning. The spirit is in me, and I'm makin' the most of it." I gave a little hop and made ta-da hands.

She stared at me blankly for a couple of seconds. I was waiting for her to ask me if I was drunk already. "Fine," she said, stomping her foot. "This had better not be one of your lame jokes."

On our way to the stairs, we ran into Dan coming out of the bathroom, looking a little rough around the edges despite being freshly showered. The purple bump on his forehead was almost the same shade as the bags under his eyes.

"Going to see the elves," Ashley said to him.

"Want to join us?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied with a smile. "I heard they were busy last night."

We followed behind Ashley, who was still clad in her fluffy white robe and matching slippers. "Did you see Jake and Victoria this morning?" I asked Dan.

"Yeah. They left around 7:30. Said they were going to Harrisburg to do some last minute shopping and have lunch."

"Good for them. They need a break from this bunch of crazies."

"Oh-my-God!" Ashley shrieked when she walked into the living room. "Who did this?" She spun towards us.

"I heard it was elves," I said, adding, "but I suspect it was just one big elf."

Ashley's face had transformed into radiant love. "You did this, Dan? But how? Where did all this come from?" She stepped onto the raised stage and looked back at us.

Dan shrugged. "I was cleaning up the mess in here after everyone went to bed last night. Thinkin' that was the least I could do seein' how you've done so much. And I looked around the room and saw this in my mind. This." He pointed to the transformed room. "But like it might've looked a hundred years ago. Then I thought, maybe they used to use this room for recitals an' stuff back when there wasn't TV to keep you entertained. An' if they did, then maybe there was something leftover in the attic."

So that explained all the bumps in the night. Dan was digging through the attic across the hall from my room all night. "You found all this in the attic?"

"I know," he agreed. "Crazy, huh? It was like I'd just think of what I needed for the room, and I would see it sittin' back in the corner of the attic."

Ask and yea shall receive. It was Christmas after all.

Ashley practically leapt off the stage and into his arms. "You're the best husband ever!" she cried and kissed him.

"There's one more thing," Dan said shyly. "Hey Sis, can you hit the play button on the stereo?"

I walked over to the stereo and pushed the button. The music was cued to the song "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing." In the movie this was the big dance scene between Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen.

"I've been practicing," Dan said as he grabbed Ashley around her waist and started off with a slow waltz to the music.

As the tempo picked up, he spun her around a few times and mimicked a few of the signature moves. I watched my sister in her fuzzy white robe get swept off her feet by her husband of nearly ten years. I suddenly felt a longing for a relationship with this kind of staying power. A real relationship. The kind where it didn't matter if you were wearing your robe or had a big purple knot on your forehead, because once you were in your partner's arms you were transformed into Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen, forever young and beautiful.

Dan dipped Ashley as the music ended, and I clapped enthusiastically. Dan looked a little embarrassed, but Ashley was over the moon. She gave him another kiss and me a big smile.

"Does this mean the play is back on?" I teased.

Ashley looked around the room, taking it all in. "You better believe it! And we've got a lot of work to do."

I could see her mind working through all the things on her list. Okay, I was committed to making my sister's Christmas play dreams come true. "So give me my marching orders."

"Well, since you're volunteering…" she said slowly, "maybe you could be in charge of rehearsing with The Grands."

Oh, man. This Christmas spirit thing was harder than it looked. The movies didn't do it justice. I hoped there was fresh eggnog in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rehearsing with The Grands was like trying to herd a bunch of cats. Old, hung-over, cranky cats. But by the time we broke for lunch, I had them all dressed appropriately in their Army costumes and performing the "Gee I Wish I Was Back in the Army" dance number with enthusiasm if not accuracy. I even rigged a disguise for Aunt Pearl's walker by using brown tweed fabric over a square laundry basket to make it look like she was leaning on a crate. If the musician thing didn't work out, maybe I could go to work for Martha Stewart.

I was munching on a delicious turkey and Gouda cheese sandwich and watching the kids play on the hill behind the house with a sled. Max sat at my feet trying to hypnotize me into giving him a bite.

Ashley breezed in, saying, "I just got a text from Victoria saying something's come up, and they won't be back until later this evening."

"Probably on their way to Jamaica. Re-thinking the whole good ol' fashioned family Christmas." I stuffed the rest of my sandwich in my mouth. Max gave me a disgusted look and jumped up onto the window seat next to the kitchen table.

"I texted her back, asking if anything was wrong, and she replied that everything was fine and they'd see us around six." Ashley sighed. "I just don't want them missing the play. It would be a shame since they're really the reason we're even able to do it."

"So that means we're in charge of dinner," I said with a shudder. I was not the world's greatest cook. A few pasta dishes using sauce from a jar was about my limit. The thought of trying to make dinner for this crew was daunting.

Ashley put my fears to rest. "Like anybody'd ask you to cook." She made a face. "Mom and Anne are picking up lasagna, salad and bread from the Olive Garden on the highway after they're finished shopping."

Ah, saved by take-out.

"Your dog looks like he wants to go out," Ashley commented. "I'm not sure I've actually seen his tail wag before."

Sure enough Max's usually stationary curled up tail was wagging furiously. My first thought was he must have spied a squirrel. I followed his line of sight to the kids sledding down the hill.

"Do you want to go outside, boy?"

He barked and ran to the door, jumping up and almost touching the door knob. I opened it, and he raced over to the kids. Jason was pulling the sled back up the hill.

I stepped outside and cupped my hands over my mouth. "Jason!" I called. "Can Max have a ride on the sled?"

Max had reached the kids and was slogging his way up the hill behind them. "Sure," he called back. "But he ain't got hands, how we gonna keep him on the sled?"

He had a point. "Try holding him on your lap in front of you," I called back.

Jason shrugged and continued up the hill. I stepped back inside.

"This ought to be good," I said, joining Ashley at the bay window.

"If your dog bites one of my kids, I'm biting you," she warned.

"Wow, that's mature, Ashley."

"Just sayin'," she retorted. "I don't trust that dog. He's weird."