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Disclaimer: Not mine, except for the kids. I do not own “We wish you a Merry Christmas”. Honey Nut Cheerios® is a registered trademark of General Mills.
Andrew and Atarah went into Kiya’s room. Atarah jumped beside the bed. Andrew jumped on the bed. Atarah shook it.
“Merry Christmas, Kiya! Let’s go open presents! Then, we’ll have breakfast, then we’ll go to Karone and Zhane’s for lunch and open presents there, and then we’ll come home and probably have dinner, and then we’ll go to bed, and then when we wake up, it won’t be Christmas anymore, but we’ll still be together.” Atarah said.
“Wow, you have the whole day planned out, don’t you?” Kiya asked, rolling over to smile at her cousin, whom she thought of as a sister.
“Well, that’s what we did last year.”
“Monotonous, don’t you think?”
“I don’t care.”
“Neither do I.” Andrew said.
“Is Darnell up yet?”
“No, we thought we could wake him up together.”
“Let’s do it.”
The three kids left the room, Atarah leading the way. (Right next door to her room.)
Opening Darnell’s door, they found him already up and dressed in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
“Merry Christmas!” he said.
“Merry Christmas!” they answered.
“Let’s wake Mom & Dad up and go downstairs.”
“We’ll help with Alex and Alexia.” Atarah said.
“Of course.” Kiya said.
Kiya led the way to their parent’s room, which was right next door to Kiya’s room.
Kiya opened the door to find that Alex was already awake.
“Hey there, big guy.” she whispered, going over to his crib and picking him up.
Alexandria woke up and stood up, as well.
“Aday-day!” she cried. Atarah picked her up.
“Let’s change them.” There were two changing tables. Atarah went to the left one. Kiya went to the right one. They both laid the babies on the tables and changed their diapers. When they were through, they went to the foot of their parent’s bed. Kiya held Alex and Atarah held Alexandria.
“We wish...” Atarah started, and the rest of the kids joined in.
“....you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas; we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” they sang. Andros woke up and pushed himself off of the bed.
“Oh, Ashley. It’s our little angels.”
Ashley woke up, sat up, and looked at the end of their bed.
“Oh, how sweet.” she said.
“We already changed the twins, so can we please go downstairs and open our presents now?” Andrew asked.
“‘We’ changed the twins?” Ashley asked, one of her eyebrows arching.
“He means Atarah and I did.” Kiya said.
“Okay. As long as they aren’t in poopy diapers,” Andros said, getting out of bed and slipping his robe on.
Kiya smiled.
“It wouldn’t do to leave our youngest siblings in poopy diapers on their first Christmas,” Atarah said.
“No, that wouldn’t do at all,” Kiya said.
“They aren’t your siblings, Kiya; they’re just your cousins,” Andrew said.
“Maybe I’ve started thinking of all of you as my siblings.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Kiya,” Ashley said.
“It’s about time, too,” Kiya said.
Andros laughed.
“I was hoping we could give you your long-awaited Christmas wish.”
“I’ve been asking for it since I was two.”
“Oh, sweet- heart. If we had been able to adopt you while we were Rangers, we would have,” Ashley said.
“That would have been too dangerous.”
“True. You know, I don’t think that even in her wildest dreams, your mother could see her nine-year-old nephew adopting and caring for her daughter. Well, caring for, maybe, but not adopting.”
“Well, as long as her nine-year-old nephew isn’t nine years old anymore.”
“And is married and can provide for his cousin,” Ashley said, going into the bathroom.
“All requirements filled.” Kiya said, handing Alexander to their father.
“Well, Merry first Christmas to you, little man.” Andros said, before planting a kiss on his youngest son’s head. Kiya went back to her room to get dressed. Since they live in California, she put on pants and a T-shirt. The T-shirt with the skull surrounded by the roses.
She came out just as Ashley and Andros were following the other kids downstairs. Atarah had handed her youngest sister to her mother. Kiya followed her mother.
Ashley didn’t even turn around.
“You know I don’t like that shirt.”
“Aw, come on, Mom. It’s not like I wear it just to make you mad.” How on Earth did Ashley know that Kiya was wearing that shirt?
“How did you know which shirt she was wearing?” Andros asked, as if he knew what Kiya was wondering, too.
“All mothers have eyes in the back of our heads.”
“Well, that explains how you know when we’re making faces at each other in the back seat without even looking in the rearview mirror.” Kiya said. Ashley laughed.
“How come fathers don’t have eyes in the back of their heads?” Andros asked.
“They do if they’re single.”
“Maybe I’ll get them one day.” he said.
“Not that I wish I was single again.”
They had reached the living room. Atarah smiled as she saw the tree. An impressive Douglas fir, which most live trees are, it had seven strings of lights, (“One for each bundle of joy,” Andros said, every year as he put them on,) ornaments galore, (All fragile ones near the top, so that the twins couldn’t reach them) and tinsel, tinsel, tinsel- both silver and gold. But underneath it, was the reason the younger ones were so excited. The PRESENTS!
The family sat down, with Andros being the closet to the tree.
“Now, before we begin, I don’t want anyone fighting, fussing, or complaining.”
“Do we ever do that, Dad? I mean, while we’re opening presents?”
Atarah asked.
“No, but I have to say that every year.”
“Can we just get on with it?” Andrew asked. Everyone laughed.
“Alright, then.” Andros picked up the first present.
“This one is from Mom & Dad, to Darnell. Merry Christmas, son.” Andros passed the present to his eldest son.
“Thanks, Mom & Dad.” Darnell was sitting next to Ashley, who was holding Alexandria. Darnell ripped into his gift. He had a little trouble with the box at first, but he got it open.
“Oh, Wow. Is this what I think it is?”
“Yes, son. It’s my blaster from when I was the Red Astro Ranger. It doesn’t work now, but I knew you’d like it.”
“Do I ever! Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Mom!” Darnell hugged both of his parents.
“This next present goes to....” Andros looked. “To me, from Kiya.”
Andros opened his present carefully. It was a red coffee mug with the words ‘I heart Dad’ painted on it in yellow.
“Ohhh, Kiya. This is the sweetest gift. You know I’ve loved hot chocolate ever since your mother introduced me to it.”
“I thought you might like your own mug. It’s dishwasher safe, in case you don’t want to wash it by hand.”
“I love this. Thank you.” Andros put his mug back in its box and set it beside his leg.
“And this one goes to...me, from Andrew.”
Andros opened the gift carefully. He wanted to set a good example for his kids. “A red tie. Well, I’m sure your mother and I will go out on Valentine’s Day.” He set the tie aside with the mug. “That won’t be the only time I wear it, but it will definitely be the first time. Thank you, Andrew.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And this one goes to....Mom, from Atarah.”
Andros passed the gift to Ashley, who passed Alexandria to Darnell. She opened her gift carefully, following her husband’s example.
“Yellow bedroom shoes. Thank you so much, Atarah. These I have on are wearing out.”
“You said you’ve had them since before you met Dad.”
Ashley slipped one of her old shoes off, and slipped on one of the new ones.
“And they’re the right size.”
“Dad helped me out with that.”
“The next gift is to....Andrew, from Mom and me.”
Andros passed the gift to Andrew.
“Thank you, Mom and Dad.”
Andrew carefully opened his gift.
“Wow, Dad. Did you have two blasters when you were a ranger?”
“No, son. That was your mother’s. That one also doesn’t work, but we knew you’d like it.” Andrew is at that age when most boys are interested in guns.
“Oh, boy. How many kids can say they have an original blaster from an Astro Ranger?”
“Only two that we know of.” Kiya said.
Andros passed a gift to Kiya with telekinesis.
“From Mom and me.”
Kiya opened her gift carefully. She held it up.
“A yellow shirt that says ‘Roses are a girl’s friend.’ Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.”
Roses are Kiya’s favorite flower. She even has rose-colored wall-paper in her room.
“This next gift is to ....Atarah, from Kiya.”
Kiya telekinetically took the present from her father and passed it to her sister.
“Thanks, Kiya. I couldn’t reach that far.”
Atarah opened her present with a little less care than Kiya, but far more than Darnell.
“A blue three-ring notebook?”
“There’s more.”
Atarah looked in the box again.
“Oh, I see. Pencils, erasers, a calculator, pens, envelopes, unlined paper ... a whole stationary set.”
“Mom said that you would enjoy that, and I figured with your own stationary set, you’d get more into writing.”
“The next present goes to.... Mom from me.”
Ashley looked at her husband sternly.
“We said we weren’t getting each other gifts this year, remember?”
“It’s more of a present for me.” He thought he knew how Ashley was going to re-act to that.
Ashley re-acted unpredictably, though.
“Shouldn’t I open it upstairs, then?”
Andros laughed. He thought she would argue, and then after she opened the present, he would ask her, “Aren’t you glad I got you a present?”
“Sure.”
The next gift was from Andrew, to Kiya.
“A nightgown?”
“Well, I figured that as long as it wasn’t frilly, it would be okay.” Ashley explained.
It was green flannel.
“Oh, it’s wonderful. It’ll keep me so warm.”
Ashley got a yellow coffee cup with ‘I heart Mom’ painted in red, from Kiya (“So you and Dad can have hot chocolate together in your own special cups.”) Darnell got a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers story written by Dr. Oliver, so did Andrew, requested by Kiya (“I told him you two would like them to be different, and that you two love reading about the original rangers.”)
Kiya got a blue sweater from Atarah, and a green shirt from Darnell.
Darnell gave his parents his painting of the family; Atarah got a blue picture frame and yellow shirt from her parents, and a green jumper from Andrew, and a pair of red jeans from Darnell.
“A whole two outfits except for the shoes in one day! And I didn’t even have to shop!” Atarah exclaimed.
“This doesn’t mean we have to go shoe shopping, does it?” Andros asked, laughing. He didn’t mind shoe shopping. It was clothes shopping he hated.
“I should have some shoes to match these.”
There was a knock on the door.
“I wonder who could that be at this time in the morning?” Andros asked, getting up and going to the door. He looked.
“It’s Ms. Helen, Kiya! It looks like she has something for you!” He opened the door.
“Ms. Helen! Come in!” Ms. Helen came in. She was holding a red pleather book.
“Mr. & Mrs. Vulcan, I am so sorry to bother you on Christmas morning, but I was going through some of the things at the orphanage when I found this. I realize I should have given it to you when you adopted Kiya, but I didn’t think of it. You see, one of my closest friends is a photographer, and every time there’s a baby at the orphanage, he takes pictures of that baby yearly until she or he is adopted. Then I give the pictures to the new parents. I think it’s a wonderful way for families to feel as if they remember the child’s early years. I have assistants now, who also live at the orphanage with me who are taking care of the children now. This book contains pictures of Kiya until she was twelve and you two adopted her. It also has her birth certificate.”
“Oh, Ms. Helen, this is so nice of you! I was just thinking of how I wish we had baby pictures of Kiya!”
“I know parents want pictures of their children as babies, and I decided to try my best to help them.”
Kiya had come and taken the book into the living room.
“Oh, this is adorable!”
“You were so cute then, Kiya!”
“Then? She’s cute now, too! You all are!” Andros called.
“Thank you so much, Ms. Helen. Merry Christmas.”
“You’re welcome. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
Kiya came in.
“Wait, Ms. Helen!”
“Did I forget something?” Ms. Helen turned from the door.
Kiya ran and hugged her.
“Oh, Kiya. You’ve grown so much.”
“It’s what kids do best.”
“Merry Christmas, Ms. Helen.”
Kiya let go of her first “mother”. Ms. Helen left.
The family went back to the living room.
“How about we look through the picture album after Alex and Alexia open their gifts?”
“Andros, you know I want to see pictures of our eldest child as an innocent baby.”
“I’ll get the camera, and you get the twins ready to open their gifts.” Andros went to the closet and got the camera out. Ashley picked up Alexia and sat back down with her.
Andrew got Alex. Kiya handed them the gifts. Andros snapped pictures as Ashley opened and held up Alexia’s first present- the squeaking swan from “Baby Blues- Power Rangers.” Her second gift was a plastic teething ring. Then she got a rubber ball. Then a bonnet and red crib shoes.
Alex got a rubber ball, a squeaking duck, and a teething ring. Then a hat and blue crib shoes.
“After we clean up, may we look at the picture book?” Atarah asked as everyone got up to start cleaning up and put their presents away.
“Breakfast first. And no rushing.” Andros said.
“Mom, Dad, I love you, but this is the first time I’ve ever been tempted to flat-out disobey you.” Kiya said, leaving to go up to her room with her presents. She knew better than to just leave them lying around. She put them up. Well, she sorted them into laundry piles. Yellow shirt in the lights, nightgown, sweater, and green shirt in dark. She needed to wash her darks today. She got her dark clothes in her basket, picked it up, and went back downstairs. She went into the laundry-room through the kitchen. She put the basket down and emptied the scoop of detergent into the washing machine. She put the clothes in, closed the lid, and started the machine. She went into the kitchen.
“Fix our own breakfast?”
“Yes. Normally, you wouldn’t, but we’re out of eggs.” Ashley said.
“I don’t mind.” Kiya got a bowl from the cabinet, and put it at her place at the table. She got a spoon out of the drawer. She got the milk and went back to the table. She opened the cereal box and poured some Honey Nut Cheerios®. She poured the milk. With that done, she put the milk up. After that, she used her telekinesis to put up the cereal.
”Kiya, you know I don’t allow you to practice at the table.” Ashley said.
“I practiced at Dr. O’s table and nothing happened.”
“Dr. O didn’t say anything, either. Oh, alright. As long as you’re careful, you can practice at the table.”
Andros opened the cabinet and put up the cereal, which Kiya had carefully placed on the floor in order to talk to her mother. Atarah came in and got the cereal as well. She got a bowl, spoon, and the milk. She poured the cereal in the bowl, poured the milk in, and put the milk up. Kiya was eating.
“No rushing.” Andros reminded her.
“Yes, sir.” she said. Atarah sat down next to her adopted sister and started eating.
“When we get finished eating, we can look at those pictures of you as a baby, and then we’ll have a photo album of everyone’s baby pictures.”
“Yes, we will.” Andros agreed.
“Darnell! Andrew! We’re waiting for you two to come have breakfast, so that we can look at Kiya’s baby pictures!”
Darnell and Andrew came downstairs. Darnell had cereal. Andrew had a piece of toast with jelly and a glass of milk.
“I’m not that hungry. I can’t explain it.”
“You better not be getting sick.” Ashley said.
“I don’t think I am.”
“Well, just eat what you can.”
Soon, they were all ready to go into the living room and look at the photos.
Atarah and Kiya were the first ones in the living room. They sat on the couch side-by-side, with the book open on their laps.
“Look at this. Your birth certificate. Three pounds, four ounces.”
“Is that me in the hospital or am I just posed?”
“I think you’re actually in a studio in all of these pictures, just posed. Ms. Helen didn’t say that her friend left the studio to take the pictures.”
“True.” They were all crowded around to see the pictures.
“Aw. Just look at that one.” Ashley said, pointing to a picture of Kiya in the bath tub.
“My first porno.”
“It’s not porno if you’re younger than eighteen.”
“I don’t think it matters about age.”
“I think it does.”
“What’s porno?” Andrew asked.
“Something very bad, Andrew. You don’t need to worry about it.” Andros said.
“Does it matter how old you are when someone takes a naked picture of you? ‘Cause my parents have nude pictures of me, Karone, and Valiant as babies,” Andros whispered to Ashley.
“Parents always have naked pictures of their babies. We do. Even of Alex and Alexia.” Ashley whispered back.
“I guess it’s universal, then.”
“Yes.”
“And there I am standing in a crib.”
“Chewing on the bars.” Andrew pointed out.
“Your second nude picture.” Darnell indicated a picture of Kiya on a changing table.
“How many nudie pictures are there?”
“You must be potty-training.” Ashley pointed to a picture of Kiya on the toilet.
“That is a very private moment.”
“I don’t think anyone leaves a two-year-old on the toilet by themselves.”
“But taking a picture of it?”
“We took pictures of all our children on the toilet when they were potty training,” Andros said, causing the kids to groan.