Nine Months - Month Six

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"Mammy! Mammy! Wake up wake up wake up!"
Caroline grunted and rolled over, pretending to be asleep. But, from four years of experience, she knew it wouldn't work.
"Mammyyyyyyyyyyy!!"
Caroline sighed, and sat up slowly. There wasn't much point in keeping on pretending. "What?" she asked sleepily.
"Look at our hats!" shrieked Hannah. "We're ready for Christmas decorating!"
Guys..." murmured Caroline, too tired to even get some pleasure out of their goofy looking Santa hats. "It's 7:30. In the morning. Don't you remember the rules for Christmas decorating from last year?"
Elle looked at Hannah. Hannah looked at Elle. "Nope," they replied.
Caroline sighed again. So tired... "... We don't start until 10. No whining about not being able to start earlier. No throwing things. Never, ever get in daddy's way while he's trying to untangle Christmas lights..."
"Oh yeah, those rules." said Elle dismissively.
"We're not decorating until 10. That means I don’t have to get up until 9:50. Now go away." Caroline pulled the covers over her head.
*******************************************************************
Jim folded his arms and watched Nea, who was digging in a cardboard box. "No, no, no."
Nea glanced up. "Yes," she replied firmly and went back to rummaging.
He frowned. "I don't know where you got the idea from, but I'm not doing it."
Nea grinned as she pulled a photo out of the box. "I got the idea from here." She handed him the photo of him sitting on Santa's lap when he was younger.
"Nea! I was like five! That's a big age gap there."
She handed him another one. "You must have been what, twenty-five there?"
Jim looked at the photo. "Yeah. Twenty-five and drunk."
Nea pouted. "You mean...you wouldn't have just one photo taken for me?"
Jim groaned. "Aw...don't cry on me. Or that puppy-dog face. You know I can't stand it when you do that..."
Her lower lip trembled.
Jim threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! Fine! I'll do it!”
She launched herself into his arms and kissed him. "Thankyou, Jim! I love you!"
"Yeah, yeah. We just better make sure we do it in private. I don't want my entire family seeing me with Santa!"
"Oh. That. Well, we're going with everyone else when they take the kids to see him."
She sauntered out of the room.
"Nea!!!!"
*******************************************************************
"Look at meeeee!" cried Lily, who was twirling around the room draped with tinsel.
Sharon looked up from winding the lights around the tree. "Uh... honey?" she said. "Save some tinsel for the tree, okay?"
"Okay Mammy," said Lily absently, trying to hang baubles from her ears as earrings.
"Oh, hell," groaned Gavin. "I just got these damn things untangled. How do they DO that?"
Sharon peeped around the other side of the tree, where her husband was attempting to re-untangle the lights.
"How did you do that?" she asked wide eyed.
Lily, looking like a glittery marshmallow, waddled up to Gavin. "I'll help, Daddy!" she offered.
"I have an even better idea for you," said Sharon, crossing her fingers behind her back. She took Lily's hand, and walked over to the box of decorations. "How about you put hooks on all the decorations so that they're ready to hang on the tree when we're done with the lights?"
Lily wrinkled her nose. That sounded kind of boring. "Why can't I help with the lights?"
"Remember that Barbie Christmas story I read to you last night?"
Lily nodded.
"Do you remember who put all the hooks on?"
Lily thought a moment. "Stacey!" she cried, her eyes wide.
Sharon nodded. "Exactly. Don't you want to be just like Stacey?"
Lily nodded eagerly, and plopped down on the floor to start hooking the ornaments.
"As much as I hate to admit it, that was pretty smart," said Gavin, as he continued to struggle with the Christmas lights.
"Uh... Gav?" Sharon unscrewed one of the bulbs of the lights, and the knot slid undone.
"So was that."
********************************************************************************
Andrea ran around the house she shared with Giles like a chicken with its head cut off. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," she repeated, over and over.
Giles watched her curiously, wondering if she had finally succumbed to wedding stress and had gone insane.
“Andy? Hon? Um...are you okay?"
Andrea whirled around on him. "Do I look okay? No, I am not okay!" She pointed a finger at him. "And DO NOT blame this on PMS!"
Giles sighed. He sensed that there would be a long explanation for this. He needed a drink. "Uh, okay. Would you like a drink?"
"No," she replied, continuing to pace.
Giles nodded and quickly grabbed one from the fridge. "Want to talk about it?"
"No," Andrea replied.
Giles nodded and began mentally counting. Three...two...one....
"I mean, I can't believe I didn't see this earlier!" Andrea burst out.
Giles nodded to himself. Right on time.
"It's Caroline's turn to have Christmas at her place this year, but how the hell is she going to cook? She's six months pregnant. And for the first time, so is Sharon! You know what this means, don't you?!"
Giles had an inkling but he remained quiet.
"It means that I'M going to have to cook!"
The pacing continued. Giles was getting a headache.
"Me! Me who cannot cook anything except beans on toast! And who eats beans on toast for Christmas dinner! No one! I will bring shame to my family! I mean, Gavin might as well be cooking!"
"Um, Andy...may I ask a question?" Giles dared.
"What?"
"Um...have you spoken to your sisters about this? Maybe they have every intention of participating. And somehow, I can't see your dad not helping."
Andrea hmphed. "I think I need that drink now."
********************************************************************************
Caroline smiled, helping her daughter's build buildings with their Lego. Frank had gone in to work a little earlier, to get ready for the Christmas close up.
"We could be monsters and stomp it all down!" Elle cried.
"Yeah! Like Reptar!"
"But you'd ruin your beautiful city," Caroline said, gesturing to the buildings.
"That would be a bad thing," Hannah nodded.
Caroline rubbed her stomach as she nodded. She'd had a pain there all morning. She smiled wryly. At least she knew she wasn't in labour. "Okay, you guys be good for a couple of minutes. I'll be right back." She had every intention of visiting the bathroom until a squeal from Elle turned her quickly. "What? What's the matter?"
"Mammy? You hurts yourself!" Hannah told her.
Caroline saw the blood and immediately paled. A sick feeling came over her. She saw her two daughters, looking scared. "Uh...it's fine. But I need you to do something very important for me, okay?"
The girls nodded.
"Okay. I need you to call Daddy...it's number 3 on the speed dial...and tell him that Mammy wants him to come home right away, okay? Can you do that?"
"Right away, Mammy," Elle said, grabbing her sisters hand and running for the phone.
****************************************************************************
Andrea Corr rounded the hallway, dragging Giles behind her. She discovered her older sister, Sharon, looking scared, sitting in a waiting room with three agitated children.
"Sharon?"
Her sister stood up and hugged Andrea. "I'm so glad you're here."
"What's going on?"
"Elle and Hannah told me that they were playing Lego with their Mum and when she stood up she looked as though she'd hurt herself and then asked them to ring Frank."
"And?" Andrea pressed.
Sharon glanced at the three kids. Giles took the twins by the hands. "Hey guys, how about we go get something to eat, hmm?"
Once the kids were gone, Andrea turned expectantly to her sister. "Well? What's going on?"
"She went into premature labour," Sharon murmured.
"She WHAT!" Andrea cried.
"It's okay, they stopped it. She's going to be fine according to the doctors. Frank is in with her at the moment and Gavin went to see if he could get some more coffee."
"Where's Jim?"
Sharon shrugged. "I couldn't reach him. His answering machine's broken again."
Andrea groaned. "Remind me to kill him later." She tugged on Sharon's arm. "Can we see her?"
"Let's just leave alone for a little bit, okay?" Sharon commented. "We'll see her soon."
*******************************************************************
Caroline folded her arms and watched as her husband fumbled around the room, smoothing things down and cleaning things up. "You better stop doing that very soon."
"Huh?" Frank said, popping his head up from where he was smoothing down the doona.
"I won't be treated like an invalid," she warned him. "I'm perfectly healthy. The doctor wouldn't have let me go home otherwise."
"I'm not treating you like an invalid," came the reply.
She rolled her eyes. "Frank, honey, you're looking for lint balls under our bed. That's a tad extreme."
Frank stood up and carefully dusted himself off. "Caroline, you went into premature labour. Forgive me if that worries me a bit."
"I fully intend to participate in getting ready for Christmas. The doctor said to continue things as normal..."
"But to take it easy," Frank finished.
"Don't baby me," she warned.
*********************************************************************************
Sharon was lying on the couch, trying to have a snooze. Trying being the operative word. It's hard to sleep when there's a six year old wrapped around your stomach, and an unborn child relentessly kicking you.
"Lil?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
Lily nodded, still not letting go.
"Are you sure you wouldn't want to go and play Barbies?"
"Positive."
Sharon shrugged, and lay down again, and Lily put her head back on Sharon’ stomach.
After a few minutes of silence, and Sharon could finally feel herself drifting off, Lily gasped.
"MAMMY! MAMMY!"
Sharon jumped. "What’ wrong? What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up.
Lily's face was chalk white, and she was on the verge of tears. "Mammy! Baby isn't kicking anymore! What if it's sick like Auntie Caroline's baby? I don't want our baby to be sick, Mammy!" She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and started sobbing.
"Ohh, sweetie..." Sharon gave her distressed daughter a warm hug. "It's okay, really. There's nothing wrong with our baby, and Auntie Caroline's baby is going to get better. Even if our baby does get sick, it doesn't mean we won't still have the baby... okay?"
Lily nodded, still sobbing quietly. Sharon kissed the side of her head. "Do you want to stay here with me and the baby while I have a sleep?"
Lily nodded, and rested against her mothers shoulder with her pinky finger in her mouth.
*********************************************************************************
Hannah and Elle crept upstairs to their mother's room. They carefully set the tray on the floor and Elle opened the door and peeked in. Caroline was asleep under the covers.
Elle nodded and the two carefully carried the tray into the room.
They placed it on the floor and Hannah climbed up on the bed beside her mother. She lay down beside her and whispered. "Mammy? Mammy? Time to wakies. Elle and me has got a surprise for you."
There was a slight moan and Caroline rolled over. Hannah frowned and carefully stepped over her mother's sleeping body and lay down again. "Mammy? It's Hannah. Your beautiful, sweet, precious, adorable daughter."
Elle made a coughing sound. "Just wake her up, idiot."
"Don't call me an idiot! You're the idiot!"
"Shh!" Elle said, putting her finger to her lips. "Wake her up nicely."
Hannah rolled her eyes. "Then stop interrupting me!" She shuffled a little closer to her mother. "Mammy? I..."
"I'm awake," came the tired voice.
"See what you did, Elle! You made her wake up badly!" Hannah accused her sister.
"Me? You were the one who was supposed to wake her up nice!"
Caroline sighed and opened her eyes, shielding them from the light. "What is it girls?"
"Daddy went to work and said not to wake you...but we made breakfast!" Elle said excitedly.
Caroline sat bolt upright. "You did what?"
"We made breakfast," Hannah repeated, helping Elle carry the tray onto the bed.
Caroline tried not to think about what her kitchen looked like and concentrated on the display in front of her.
There was two pieces of bread, one with peanut butter, one with jam. A glass of juice, some cereal with sloshed milk and a flower.
"You don't eat the flower," Elle whispered.
*********************************************************************************
Frank peeped into the bedroom, hoping Caroline had gotten enough sleep during the day. He groaned to himself when he saw Hannah and Elle curled up on the bed practically on top of her, their thumbs in their mouths.
Caroline's eyes blinked open, as though she had felt him watching her. "Hi honey," she smiled.
He kissed her forehead. "I told them to leave you alone," he sighed.
She shook her head. "It's okay. They bought me food."
He glanced at the twins jam covered fingers and milk moustaches. "I see."
She shrugged. "I wasn't hungry anyway. I let them eat it." She paused. "Well, I let them get their fingers jammy and sticky and play strawberry monsters..."
He chuckled. "Want me to get them out of your hair?"
Caroline ran her fingers through her hair. "Nah, I got most of the jam out, Hannah didn't have very much on her hand at that point... oh, you mean the girls. Please."
He carefully picked up Elle. "Go back to sleep okay?"
Caroline nodded, and put her head back down on the pillow.
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"Did you call your mum?" Andrea asked, as Giles wandered back into the room.
He nodded. "Yeah. She said not to worry about coming to stay for Christmas. Maybe next year."
Andrea smiled. "I really appreciate this. I know you wanted for us to go stay with your family on Boxing Day, but I really want to stay around Caroline."
"It's fine," Giles promised her. "I don't mind, honestly. Actually, I'm rather relieved. My brother is bringing his kids and they're nightmares."
Andrea narrowed her eyes. "But you don't mind kids, do you?"
"Depends whose kids they are," Giles said, looking in the fridge for a beer.
Andrea raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot. "Really?"
Giles could almost hear something saying "danger, danger," but being the foolish man he was, he ignored it. "Yeah. I mean my brother has absolutely no control over his kids. Lily on the other hand, is an angel for her mother."
Andrea frowned. "What if we were to have kids?"
Giles almost fell over backwards. "Huh?"
"You know, kids? Those little things that grow up into adults? The ones that are like mini versions of yourself? The things that spit up, poo in diapers and cry all night? The things that..."
"Okay! Okay!" Giles replied. "I know what you meant. We just...never discussed it before, that's all."
"Well don't you think we should?" Andrea tapped her foot. "Perhaps we should decide BEFORE we get married!"
Giles folded his arms. "You seem slightly...agitated about this."
"Of course I'm agitated! I'm more than agitated! I'm concerned!"
"Concerned?"
"We're getting married and we've never even discussed having children!"
"Well, let's discuss it now," Giles suggested.
"Huh?" Andrea said.
"Having children. Do you want to?"
"You want to discuss it now?"
Giles felt like whacking his head against a wall. "Yes, Andy. I want to discuss having children right now. You're obviously upset."
"I'm not upset! I'm...I'm..."
"Agitated?"
Andrea frowned. "Yes." She gestured toward the couch. "Should we sit down?"
They sat down together.
"So," Giles said.
*****************************************************************************
Caroline hummed to herself and flipped through the t-shirts in her cupboard.
"Hey," she greeted Frank, who was standing in the doorway.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Climbing Mt Everest. What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked. "I'm choosing something to wear"
"Wear where?"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "To the shops... do the words 'Santa photo' mean anything to you?"
He blinked. "But... you're not going."
She blinked back. "Twins. Santa. Christmas. Photos. You can’t handle them by yourself! Besides, I'd never miss the Santa photo! It's the best part of Christmas!"
"But I wouldn't have them by myself, there's be Jim and Nea and Andrea and everyone... The adults outnumber the kids!"
Caroline picked her Larry Mullen shirt off the rack. "I don’t care, I'm going. I'm not missing the Santa photo!"
"Caroline! You need to take it easy!"
"I've been taking it easy for four days! I'm going stir crazy, I need to get out of the house!"
"But..."
"I'm warning you, don’t make me mad! I'm a pregnant woman, feel my wrath!"
There was a scuffle outside the door. "Mammy and Daddy are fighting," whispered a voice.
"I hope Santa doesn't hear them," another voice whispered back. "Cause then he won't give them presents!"
"We aren't fighting!" Caroline called out to them.
"Yeah, we're just discussing something," added Frank.
Elle poked her head around the door. "Are you talking about us?"
Hannah's peeped into her parent’s room from behind Elle. "What did we do?"
Frank crouched down to their eye level. "Guys, we might have to postpone the Santa visit."
"No we aren't!" yelled Caroline from the ensuite.
Hannah looked blank. "What's a post fone?"
"It means we'll have to go another day."
Elle’s eyes widened. "Why?"
Caroline flung the ensuite door open. "It's okay, we aren't postponing it. We're still going today."
"Caroline!" Frank said, exasperated. "Honestly, I swear..."
He was interrupted by his wife kissing him deeply, in an attempt to shut him up.
"EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!" the twins cried.
"We're going downstairs," Hannah said, in disgust. "When you two are quite finished fighting, or kissing...whatever you're doing, you can tell us if we're going to see Santa or not."
There was no reply from their parents...who were quite happy with the current liplocked state.
****************************************************************************
"I WANNA SEE SANTA NOW!!!!!!!!!" Lily cried, stomping on the floor.
Andrea glanced at Giles, an eyebrow slightly raised. Giles looked at his feet.
"But...." Lily began.
Sharon stopped her from continuing by handing her a candycane, which Lily eagerly unwrapped and began sucking on. Gavin gave his wife a withering look.
"What? It's times like these that extreme measures are needed."
Two excited four year olds barrelled down the corridor and launched themselves at the other members of the family. Frank and Caroline came quickly behind them.
"Where were you guys?" Andrea asked, attempting to stop Elle from crawling up her body. "Lily almost threw a tantrum."
"Well, uh, we, uh..." Caroline began.
Jim had been running an eye over his sister and over Frank, both of whom looked very uncomfortable. He chuckled.
Sharon picked up on it and looked closely at her sister. "You didn't!"
"Didn't what?" Caroline asked.
Andrea picked up Elle. "Elle, honey, what were you Mammy and Daddy doing before you came here?"
Caroline buried her head in Frank's shoulder, knowing they were done for.
"Well, they was arguing, which they called discussing, and then they was kissing, which I think was more discussing. Then me and Hannah left and went to watch cartoons."
"Busted," Jim grinned.
Caroline felt herself blushing. "Can we go and do the Santa photos now?"
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"Me first! Me first!" cried Lily. She ran exitedly past the giant candy canes and up to Santa, sitting on his chair.
"Hello Santa" she grinned.
"Ho ho ho," replied Santa. "And what's your name?"
"Lily Georgia Bonner."
Lily crawled up onto his lap. "And what do you want for Christmas, Lily?"
"Um, I want a Barbie deluxe hotel suite, Art Critic Barbie, Barbie as Rapunzel on DVD with never before seen footage, Queen Cleopatra Barbie, the Fashion Avenue outfit that looks like a big pink marshmallow, and a Barbie hula hoop. Oh yeah, and a little sister. Called Barbie. Or Skipper. Or Kelly. Or Stacey."
Santa blinked. "Okay Lily, I'll see what I can do."
Lily stared at the giant candy canes. "Are those real?"
Santa chuckled. "Not those ones, but I have ones back at the north pole that are twice that size!"
Lily's eyes widened. "Wow!"
A slightly bored looking teenager, dressed in an elf costume, came up with the camera. "Okay, smile!"
"Are you really an elf?" asked Lily. "What do you do? Do you feed the reindeer? Are you each assigned one reindeer? I wish I was an elf, I want a reindeer. Playing in the rain is fun, and reindeers make rain, don't they?"
The elf looked slightly bewildered. "Yeah..." she answered, and held up the camera. "Smile," she said again.
Lily smiled sweetly for the camera, then hopped down.
Santa smiled at her, and handed her a candy cane.
"Thanks! See you next year, Santa!" she said. She glanced back at where her family was waiting, and whispered "Be careful of my cousins, they'll probably break something!"
She skipped back to her mother. "Look! Another candy cane!"
Elle and Hannah walked up to Santa, Caroline right behind them.
"Elle has pink bows, Hannah has purple," Caroline whispered to Santa, who nodded.
"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! And what are your names?"
"I'm Elle," Elle said. She pointed to her sister. "That's Hannah."
Hannah looked at the big jolly man, her thumb firmly in her mouth. Her lower lip began to tremble and she looked at her mother.
"Uh oh," Caroline said, as her daughter began to cry.
"Aw, what's the matter little girl?" Santa asked.
Hannah cried harder and Caroline scooped her daughter up. "She's a little afraid of Santa."
Elle looked worriedly at her sister. "Don't worry, Hannah. He won't hurt you. He's Santa Claus. Right, Santa?"
Caroline spoke a few quiet words in her daughters ear and showed her how much fun Elle was having. Elle was bouncing up and down on Santa's knee, probably high on sugar.
A little quieter, but nose a little redder from crying, Hannah sat on Santa's other knee and peered at him curiously. She looked at her sister, then at her mother, then back at Santa, and promptly pulled her jumper over her nose.
"So, Elle and Hannah, what would you like for Christmas?"
Caroline gestured for Elle to begin, as Hannah was still shellshocked.
"I want a Barbie to not share with Lily, a puppy, a jumprope, a baby brother and lots of toys like the pictures in the Christmas books!"
Santa turned to look at Hannah, who was still wide eyed. "What about you, Hannah?"
Hannah looked at him and took a deep breath. "A puppybarbiejumpropebrotherandtoys," she jumbled. Catching her mother's glance, she added "please."
"Ho, ho, ho. I shall see what I can do," Santa told them. "Would you like to have your photo taken with me?"
Elle nodded. "Yeah!"
As the bored helper got the girls arranged, Frank got a gleam in his eye. Which Caroline knew meant trouble. She folded her arms. "What?"
He placed a hand on her tummy. "It's only fair that all three of our kids be in the photo."
Caroline raised an eyebrow. "You've gone slightly loopy, haven't you?"
Frank nodded. "Yeah. It's the effect of having two four year old terrors and a nutty pregnant wife...OW!"
"You deserved that," Andrea piped up. "You should know not to mess with her when she's pregnant."
Caroline ignored her younger sister and turned to her husband. "You have got to be kidding."
"Of course I'm not. Come on, Caro. It'd be sweet, and hey, it's not as if it's a question of being photogenic. You're the most beautiful woman in the world."
"You may have just saved yourself with that comment," Andrea told him.
"I do not need my photo taken with Santa," Caroline informed Frank.
"I didn't say you did. Our baby does."
"Would you two just hurry up!" Jim cried, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Some of us want to keep going."
"Just because your wife talked you into having a photo with Santa," Caroline told him, poking her tongue out.
"Right back at you Caroline," Jim replied.
"Uh, guys!" Sharon called. "There are other kids here."
"Yeah, tone down the rudeness till later," Andrea agreed.
Elle giggled. "Mammy and Uncle Jim are being rude."
Caroline decided to give in. Hannah was getting antsy and she wanted a Santa photo.
The photo taken everyone looked expectantly at Jim.
"Fine, I'll have my photo taken. But I draw the line at sitting in his lap!"
Nea pouted. "Aw, you're no fun."
"You'll get yours," her husband told her.
Caroline hopped up the step to Santa's throne. "Hello, Santa," she greeted him.
"Hello Caroline," he greeted back.
Caroline frowned. "How did you know my name?" she asked, forgetting for a moment she was on a poster in the CD shop on the level below.
Elle rolled her eyes. "He's Santa, mammy. He knows everything."
Caroline shrugged, and took Hannah's hand. "Can me and baby be in the photo too?" she asked.
Hannah nodded eagerly, and clasped her mothers hand.
The bored teenage elf positioned the camera, and took the picture of Santa, and the three Woods women smiling sweetly.
"Here you go," said Santa, holding out a candy cane to the twins.
Caroline frowned. "What about me? I mean, um this kid," she asked patting her stomach.
"You wouldn't have gotten away with that if you weren't pregnant," said Santa, handing her a candy cane.
"Thank you Santa," smiled Caroline, and went down the step back the the rest of the family.
She poked Jim's shoulder. "Your turn," she grinned. She turned to Sharon.
"Hey, when you're pregnant, you can get candy canes off him."
Sharon's eyes lit up. "You can?"
Jim whined. "I don't want to..."
Hannah clasped her uncle’s hand. "It's okay Uncle Jim," she said, looking up at him. "I was scared too." She paused for a quick gnaw on her candy cane. "Maybe mammy can hold your hand."
Jim smiled at his niece. "I think I'll be okay. But thanks, Hannah." He turned to his wife. "At least SOMEONE is nice to me."
Nea rolled her eyes. "Oh don't be a baby. Santa won't bite you know."
"Thanks for the tip," Jim replied, heading towards Santa. "Hi," he said, raising a hand.
"Hi," Santa said, raising an eyebrow.
"Listen, I know this is kinda weird, but I need to have my photo taken with you. It's for my wife."
Santa looked worried. "Do you want to sit in my lap?"
"Uh, no, thanks. Just standing beside you will be fine," Jim assured him.
As Sharon, Caroline and Nea went to pay the elf, Caroline glanced over her shoulder and grinned at Andrea.
"No," Andrea replied, shaking her finger. "I'm too old!"
"Aw, come on Andy. It's tradition!" Sharon told her.
"Yeah, ickle Andy needs to have her photo taken with Santa," Caroline teased.
"I did, and I'm WAY older than you, as you made clear in an interview once," Jim told her.
"Giles," Andrea hissed at her fiance. "Do something."
Giles fidgeted and looked at his feet. "Actually, I uh...think it would be kind of cute."
As the kids decided to lead Andrea up to Santa, she gave her fiance a look that only spelled certain imminent death.
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“Now, you guys have to be really good,” Caroline told her daughters.
The Corrs were going on the Irish morning program to sing “War Is Over.”
“Very good,” Sharon nodded to her daughter.
“Hey! Why tell me? Shouldn’t you be impressing that on them?” Lily said, pointing to the twins.
Hannah and Elle blinked at their cousin for a moment, until they realised what she had said.
“Hey!” Elle cried. “That was mean!”
Caroline looked tiredly at her husband. “Have fun.”
The rest of the family went out to the studio and The Corrs waited for their cue.
A few moments later, the announcer called their names. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Jim, Sharon, Caroline and Andrea…The Corrs!”
The group walked out. Jim sat at the piano and the girls occupied the three stools set out for them.
“Hey guys,” Jeff said. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” they all smiled.
“Now, you’re going to sing John Lennon’s amazing Christmas song, “Happy Christmas, War is Over” for us, isn’t that right?”
“Yep,” Andrea nodded.
“But before we let you take us to the break with that song, what are you guys up to this Christmas? Spending it with family?”
Sharon nodded. “Yeah. Basically we’ll spend Christmas at home with our families, and then have Christmas dinner altogether.”
“That sounds great. And your families are here in the audience tonight, right?”
Jim nodded.
“Great, great.” The cameras focused on the group in the front row. “Now, I’m hoping I’m right here in working out who everyone is. Jim, that’s your wife Nea, right?”
“Yep.”
“And, of course we all know Giles Baxendale, Andrea’s fiancée.”
Andrea blushed slightly.
“And that’s Gavin Bonnar, and your daughter Lily, right Sharon?”
“That’s right.”
“So, that just leaves Frank Woods and Hannah and Elle must be the bundles of energy, right Caroline?”
Caroline chuckled. “Yep.”
“Now, congratulations to you Caroline, and to you, Sharon, on the impending births.”
“Thankyou,” the two girls said.
“Okay, so now we have The Corrs, singing “Happy Christmas, War is Over”.”
The kids sat entranced as Jim, Sharon, Caroline and Andrea sang the song.
“’Tis bewdiful,” Hannah said, leaning against her dad.
“So’s Mammy,” Elle reminded her sister.
“Duh!” Hannah replied.
“Shh,” Frank said.
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Andrea looked mournfully at her older sisters. "I have a dilemma."
"What is it?" Caroline said adjusting her denim overalls.
"I don't know what to get Giles for Christmas. I mean, what do you buy someone you're about to marry?"
Sharon frowned. "I think I bought Gavin a book."
Caroline smirked. "I bought Frank a pair of boxer shorts with Daffy Duck on them before we got married.”
"Very deep," Andrea said, frowning.
Sharon frowned at Caroline. "Hey, are you sure you're alright to come out with us? Hasn't Frank been saying...?"
"Stop," Caroline said, putting her hand up. "I came out to go shopping with my sisters. Also, I needed to get away from Mr Overprotective who thinks that I am a china doll."
Sharon and Andrea exchanged glances. Caroline sighed.
"Andy, I think you should just get something that you know he'll like. Don't stress over it," Caroline told her.
Sharon detoured past a supermarket and grabbed a shopping trolley. She handed it to Caroline. "Lean on that."
Caroline glared at her. "Don't make me hurt you."
"Let's go shopping," Andrea suggested, leading the way.
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"I still think you should have stayed at home," Frank told his wife.
"Kill him for me," Caroline pleaded to her older sister.
"Why do I always have to do the dirty work?" Sharon asked.
"Because you're my older sister. You have to look after me," Caroline informed her.
"I like toy stores," Gavin interrupted.
The other three turned and looked at him.
He shrugged. "Well, I do."
"Have you got the list?" Frank asked Caroline.
She nodded. "Mhm."
"Let's get to it then."
Gavin looked at Lily’s list. “What the heck is a fashion avenue outfit that looks like a big pink marshmallow?”
The group looked at the aisle filled with Barbie outfits. Caroline looked at Andrea. Andrea looked at Sharon. The three men just looked confused.
“They all look like pink marshmallows,” Giles commented.
“That’s not very helpful,” Sharon told him.
“No, but very true,” Andrea told her.
“And how are you supposed to know which pink marshmallow to choose?” Caroline asked.
Sharon grabbed one off the shelf. “Like that.”
*******************************************************************************
Sharon and Gavin wrapped the last couple of presents and put them under the tree.
"All done," Sharon sighed, leaning back onto the couch.
"Finally," Gavin agreed. He placed a hand on her tummy. "This time next year, there'll be two kids to wrap for."
Sharon yawned. "Yep." She took his hand. "Happy and healthy. All of us."
Gavin nodded. "I know this is going to sound terrible...but I'm so glad it wasn't you in the hospital. I was so scared..."
Sharon placed a finger on his lips. "Shh. I'm fine. The baby's fine. Lily's fine. Our entire family is healthy." She tugged at his hand. "Let's go to bed."
********************************************************************************
Caroline and Frank snuggled on the sofa, as the fire crackled. They had finished their present wrapping and everything was ready for the inevitable early wake up call the next morning.
"We did good," Frank said, looking around the room.
Caroline nodded. "Indeed we did." She grinned. "I particularly think it was funny watching you eat the turkey and icecream sandwich."
Frank frowned. "Just because you were too chicken to eat it."
Caroline chuckled. "You know what?"
“What?”
She smirked. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Or a toddler. Or a twin."
Frank stood up and in a swift movement, picked his wife up. "Let's take advantage of that then."
******************************************************************************
Hannah rubbed her eyes sleepily. She yawned as she pulled the covers back over her head, and put her thumb back in her mouth. Then her eyes flew open. She sat up like a shot. It was Christmas!!!
She kicked the covers off and leapt onto her sisters bed. "Elle!" she cried. "Wakeup! Elle, wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas Elle, wake up!"
"Owwwwww," whined Elle. "You jumped on my toe!"
"It's Christmas!"
"Huh?" Elle squinted up at her sister, still half asleep.
"CHRISTMAS! Get UP!"
It suddenly dawned on Elle. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" she shrieked.
Hannah grabbed her sisters wrist and ran down the hall to her parents room. They banged on the door with their fists.
"Maaaaaaammy!" sang out Elle.
"Daaaaaddy!" joined in Hannah.
No answer.
Elle rolled her eyes and opened the door.
"I can’t believe they're asleep," frowned Hannah. "It's Christmas, who can sleep on Christmas?"
In efforts to prevent the twins from wandering downstairs by themselves when they were two, Caroline had told them that Santa's presents are magic, and if they go downstairs before their parents told them they could, then their presents would turn into broccoli.
The girls stood at the top of the stairs, wishing the doors to the lounge room were open so they could see inside. "I wonder if Santa liked the sandwich we made him," mused Hannah.
"Of course he'd have liked it," said Elle. "Who wouldn't like a turkey and ice cream sandwich?" she paused for a moment. "What if he's still downstairs? What if he's not finished eating and putting out our presents?"
Hannah’s eyes widened. "H..h..here? N...now?" her lower lip trembled.
Caroline groaned and sat up when she heard Hannah's crying. She should have known they'd get her out of bed somehow. She stumbled out of bed and into the corridor, where the twins were sitting on the top step. She sat down behind them, and pulled a sobbing Hannah into her lap. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking at Elle.
"I didn't do anything!" cried Elle defensively.
Hannah sniffed. "Mammy?" she asked. "Is Santa downstairs? Right now?"
Caroline kissed Hannah’s forehead. "Of course not. He only comes when you're asleep."
Elle crawled into her mothers lap. "Why?" she asked sleepily.
"Well," Caroline replied, thinking quickly. "Santa doesn't want you to see your presents until morning, and he thinks that if he's there while you're awake you might hear him and come downstairs..." she paused, and she realised her little story had put her daughters to sleep.
********************************************************************************
Lily woke up with a start, clutching her Sweet Dreams Barbie. She glanced at her Barbie alarm clock. 7.30am. She screamed.
Sharon and Gavin raced in, bleary eyed. Sharon immediately took her daughter in her arms. "What is it? What's the matter?"
Lily began talking, through her sobs and hiccups. "I...*hic*...slept in *hic* on Christmas morning!"
Gavin groaned and Sharon fell back onto the bed with a sigh of relief.
"We thought something terrible had happened to you!" Gavin told his daughter.
"And you think this isn't terrible?!" Lily cried, throwing her covers off. "Let's go!"
Lily took the stairs two at a time, and jumping over the last four. She scrambled into the loungeroom, and looked around in awe at the lit up tree, stuffed stocking, and the letter Santa had left behind. “Wow!" She pounced on the letter first of all, and read out what was written, in handwriting suspiciously similar to her mothers. But she didn't notice that.
"Dear Lily,
Thank you for the drawing of myself and Rudolph, I'll put it on my fridge back home at the North Pole. I hope you like your presents. Love from,
Santa Claus"
She looked up at her parents, wide eyed. "Wow! He wrote to me!"
She shrieked delightedly when she saw the Barbie deluxe hotel suite set up under the free, with Art Critic Barbie and the Barbie as Rapunzel DVD propped up against it.
"It's the hotel suite!" she cried. "Look! It has a queen sized bed... a minibar... a widescreen plasma television... and real doors... and an indoor inground swimming pool..."
***************************************************************************
Frank looked out into the corridor at 7:45 on Christmas morning, wondering why the twins hadn't barged in already. He smiled to himself when he saw Caroline asleep against the wall, with the twins asleep in her lap.
Caroline woke up to a camera flash. "Heeeeeey!" she protested groggily.
Frank grinned sheepishly from behind the camera. "Sorry," he apologized "but it was too good an opportunity to pass up."
Hannah gasped. "Is it still Christmas?" she asked frantically.
"Mhm," murmured Caroline.
"Yaaaay!!" cried Elle.
"Can we go downstairs now?" asked Hannah worriedly. "We dont want our presents to be broccoli..."
Frank hid a smile. "No, it's okay, you can go downstairs now.”
Amid screams and squeals, the twins thundered downstairs.
Frank helped Caroline to her feet, then kissed her gently. "Happy Christmas, honey."
She kissed him back. "Happy Christmas."
*******************************************************************************
Andrea lay back in her bed. “You know what’s so great about this Christmas?”
Giles looked over at her. “Mhm?”
“The fact that we could have gotten up at anytime we wanted without anyone bashing at our door telling us Santa’s been.” She looked around the room wistfully. “I bet Caro and Sharon were up early this morning.”
Giles looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He knew his fiancé better than anything. “You want to have a baby, don’t you?”
Andrea widened her eyes. “Not right now I don’t!” She sighed. “Yeah, I think this whole pregnancy thing is getting to me.”
Giles smiled and pulled her into his arms. “Okay. So after we get married we’ll see about having a baby.”
Andrea smiled. “Really?”
Giles nodded. “Sure. With your looks and my brains, she’ll be perfect.”
Andrea raised an eyebrow. “What if HE has your looks and my brains?”
Giles pondered that. “I suppose we could work with it.”
Andrea playfully punched him. “You’re such an idiot.”
“And that is why you love me,” Giles grinned winningly.
*************************************************************
Elle looked around the lounge room. Hannah was rolling around in the used wrapping paper, her dad was sleeping on the couch, and her mother was half cleaning up and half flicking bits of sticky tape at Hannah, making her giggle even more.
Elle crawled over to her mother and tugged on her sleeve. "Mammyyy?"
"Mhm?"
Elle's lower lip trembled. "Santa... Santa didn't bring my puppy!" Elle sobbed and reached up for a hug.
"Elle, honey," began Caroline, hugging her daughter. "Santa doesn't always bring everything you want. You're going to get a little brother or sister already, I think Santa knew that a puppy would be too much."
Elle sniffed and nodded.
Hannah giggled, and picked up the loungeroom bin and tipped the contents over her sister. “Let’s play paper monsters!”
"Heeeeeey," complained Caroline. "I just cleaned that!"
*****************************************************************************
Nea stood over her sleeping husband, hands on her hips. She checked her watch. 8.30. They had to be at Mass soon for goodness sakes!
"James Steven Ignatious Corr, do you plan to sleep through Christmas?"
"Not the Christmas dinner part," came the muffled reply.
"Jim, if you don't get up right now, I'm calling your sisters and telling them to get over here and get you up."
Jim sat bolt upright in bed. "Please don't do that. Merry Christmas darling."
Nea grinned at him. "Merry Christmas." She nudged him playfully. "Want to see what Santa brought you?"
Jim raised an eyebrow. "Santa?"
Nea chuckled. "Okay fine...me sneaking down after dark stuffing presents into your stocking. Happy?"
“Extremely,” Jim replied, following her downstairs.
**************************************************************************************
Elle fidgeted with her dress. “Damn.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. “MAMMY! Elle said Damn!”
“Shh,” Caroline warned them, listening to the priest.
Elle nudged her sister. “Where do we go if we don’t go to heaven?”
“Hell,” Hannah replied, with a ‘duh’ expression.
Elle grinned. “MAMMY! Hannah said hell!”
Lily reached around her mother. “Shh! We’re in church! You can’t say hell or damn in church!”
Both the twins widened their eyes. “MAMMY! Lily said hell AND damn!”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Oh please.”
Caroline glanced at Frank. “Have you got the bag?”
Frank looked back at her. “Are you sure we need it?”
Caroline gestured to her twins. “Is there any question?”
Frank tugged a canvas bag out and handed it to the twins, who dived on it. They pulled out crayons and paper. Frank took Caroline’s hand. “We’ll try without the bag next year.”
Lily looked adoringly at her mother. “I don’t need the bag anymore. I listen like a good girl.”
Sharon nodded absently. Lily rummaged in her backpack and pulled out her Barbie colouring book with matching Barbie crayons.
“Hippopotamus,” Elle hissed.
Lily raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
“You’re a hippopotamus,” Hannah told her.
Lily finally caught on. “I am NOT a hypocrite!!! As if you two know what that is.”
Elle nodded. “That’s what Mammy calls Daddy when he tells us to clean up.”
Frank glared at his daughters. “Hush. Don’t make me take you outside.”
The girls “hushed” and went back to their colouring. Elle grinned and showed Lily her picture. Lily whacked her with a crayon.
“Hey!”
"Lily," Sharon hissed.
"She drew a picture of me as a monster in hell!" Lily complained.
"Lily said hell!" Elle chuckled.
Thankfully, it was time for a hymn, and everyone stood up (except Lily and the twins) as the music for O Holy Night began. Elle and Hannah were instantly silent, transfixed by their mother’s singing voice.
Frank noticed this and grinned. After the hymn was over, he looked at his wife. “Perhaps you should just sing for the entirety of the mass. We wouldn’t have any trouble them.”
Caroline fixed him with a glare as people got ready to go to Communion.
The twins walked up with their parents. As they went up, the twins peered with wide eyes at everyone in the congregation, and they giggled at an elderly woman’s blue hair. The priest made his traditional sign of the cross over the girls. All went well until Elle decided to do it back at him. The priests eyes widened even more when Hannah decided that she didn’t want to miss out on the fun, and did a sign of the cross as well. Caroline blushed and picked up Hannah as Frank picked up Elle and they scrambled back to their seat.
As Lily went up with her parents, she kept nagging about why she couldn’t get Communion as well.
“I’m a big grown up girl, Mammy. You said so!”
“Yes, but you haven’t had your first communion yet.”
“But it’s not FAIR!!!!”
Sharon sent her a warning look and Lily was silent as the priest stood over her and made the sign of the cross. She looked up at him and frowned. “Over my head? My hearts down here!” She crossed her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die. Duh!”
Sharon looked apologetically at the priest and whisked her daughter away.
********************************************************************************************
“Pudding!! Pudding!!” the twins chanted.
“No Christmas pudding until after you’ve had Christmas dinner,” Caroline told them. She gestured to the toys strewn across the living room. “Why don’t you play with your toys for awhile?”
Elle looked at Hannah. Hannah looked at Elle.
“Okay, Mammy.”
“Caro,” Frank said, peeking around the door. “Come here.”
Caroline wandered into the hallway. “Mhm?”
“Andrea and Giles are here. I snuck them into the kitchen so we can get some work done.” He glanced at the twins. “I suppose there’s no way we can get them to have a nap?”
Caroline shrugged. “I’ll give it a go. If they don’t, it probably won’t matter. They’ll find a spot on the floor and plop eventually.”
Frank nodded. “Okay. I’ll go back and keep working in the kitchen. Are you okay handling our two monsters?”
She nodded and headed over to where the twins were playing with their new Barbies. “Hey girls, do you want to take your Barbies and take them upstairs for a nap?”
Elle looked at Hannah. Hannah looked at Elle.
“We’re not completely stupid, Mammy,” Elle told her.
“Yeah, we know that what you just said is code for “I want you and Elle to have a nap,” Hannah replied.
Caroline frowned. Damn. “It’s going to be a big day. The entire family is coming here for lunch, and you were up early this morning. I want you to be well rested.”
Elle scratched her chin with her finger. “Can we sleep on your bed?”
“Sure.”
“And Mammy too?” Hannah asked, tugging her mother’s hand.
Caroline glanced at the door to the kitchen. “Um, okay. You guys go upstairs and I’ll be up in a minute.”
“Pomise?” Elle asked.
Caroline nodded. “Promise.”
The twins scampered upstairs and Caroline headed into the kitchen.
“Are they lying down?” Andrea asked, putting on a pair of Rudolph oven mitts.
“On one condition,” Caroline replied, eyeing the mitts suspiciously. “That they could be in our bed and I would go with them.”
“That’s two conditions,” Andrea pointed out.
“So says the woman wearing Rudolph oven mitts.”
Andrea pouted and held them up. “They’re cute. Get into the Christmas spirit sis!”
Frank chuckled slightly. “Caro, maybe it’s a good idea that you have a rest. God knows we need the twins out of our hair for a while. I’ll come and get you before we finish, I promise.”
”Giles is a good cook,” Andrea assured her, as Giles looked up from tipping the cranberry sauce out of the container.
“I can see,” Caroline said dryly. “Okay, okay. I’ll go and lie down. But get me up in an hour, okay?”
*****************************************************************************************
Frank answered the door and saw Sharon and Lily standing there. “Hey guys.” He looked around. “Where’s Gavin?”
“Here,” Gavin said, carrying Lily’s new Barbie motel.
Frank raised an eyebrow as Sharon and Lily went down the hallway. “Uh…why?”
Gavin shrugged. “Lily whined and begged and in the end it was easier. Where are the twins and Caroline?”
“Asleep,” Frank replied.
Gavin placed the motel down on the floor and Lily immediately went to work on it. “Lily, aren’t you going to go and say hello to Auntie Andrea and Uncle Giles?”
Lily looked mournfully at her motel and sighed. She got up and went down the hallway. “Hi, Auntie Andrea. Hi, Uncle Giles.”
“Hi, Lily,” Andrea said. “Like my oven mitts?”
Lily glanced at them curiously. She nodded. “They’re cool.”
Andrea smiled triumphantly at Frank, who had just come into the kitchen with Gavin. “Lily likes my oven mitts.”
Sharon peered at them. “I think I’m more interested in seeing how the turkey is going.”
“Spoil sport,” Andrea replied, turning the light on so they could see in the oven.
“It looks good,” Sharon nodded, turning the light off. She turned to Frank. “How’s Caroline?”
“Asleep with the twins,” Frank replied.
***********************************************************************************
Caroline was, in fact, no longer asleep. She had been awoken by something tapping along her stomach and little giggles. She looked up to see two Barbie dolls walking up and down her bump. Caroline frowned. “Hannah? Elle? What are you doing?”
“Barbie is hiking up the mountain,” Elle grinned.
Caroline groaned and leant back on the pillow. As she did, she caught sight of the time. "Girls! Up! Dressed! Let me help with your hair! FRANK!!!!!! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!!!!!!!!!"
Frank looked up to where the voice had come from. "Sounds like Caro's awake."
********************************************************************************
Lily was conducting Christmas dinner in her new motel with the Barbies that she had managed to sneak into the car.
“Lily?” Sharon said, coming into the room. “Honey, we’re almost ready to eat.”
Lily glanced at the Barbies. She sighed. “You guys are on your own. I’m hungry!”
Following her mother into the dining room, she joined everyone at the table. She was sitting next to her mother and beside Elle, something that she wasn’t sure was a safe thing.
Andrea looked dubiously at the Christmas crackers seated beside Elle and Hannah. She glanced at Caroline. “Uh, Caro, have you explained the intricacies of the bon bon to the twins?”
Caroline nodded. “Of course I have. They know not to explode them in anyone’s face.”
“That’s comforting,” Sharon muttered.
Caroline ignored her and turned to her father. “Daddy, will you say grace?”
Gerry nodded.
After grace was said, the twins clamoured for everything. Hannah even attempted to climb onto the table, before Caroline put a stop to it.
“Mammy, will you pull my bon bon with me?” Lily asked sweetly, handing her mother the cracker.
“Sure sweetie,” Sharon replied and with a loud “crack” the bon bon had deposited goodies on the table that Lily quickly scooped up.
The twins finally understood what was so good about these new toys. Elle picked hers up and shook it.
“It’s rattling!” She rattled it some more and then whacked Lily on the head with it.
“HEY!” Lily cried. “That’s not how you open it, dummy!”
“Don’t call me a dummy!” Elle cried back.
Caroline turned her attention to Hannah. “Would you like Mammy to help you open that?”
Hannah nodded and held her bon bon out to her mother.
“Hold really tight to the other end, okay?”
“Okay, Mammy.”
Another crack and Hannah’s was open.
“Cool!” Hannah said. She picked up Elle’s. “Wanna play?”
As the twins amused themselves, the adults began to get their food.
Andrea passed the cranberry sauce to Caroline. “Giles made it.”
“Andrea,” Giles groaned. “It came from a can.”
”I know,” Caroline nodded. “I had one in the kitchen which is now gone.” She turned to Andrea. “You are a worry sometimes.”
“This turkey is wonderful, Caroline,” Gerry told her.
“I owe some of the credit to Frank,” she replied. “I haven’t been…allowed…to do much in the way of cooking.”
”Honey, when you have the baby, you can do as much cooking as you like,” Frank assured her.
“Thanks, I think,” Caroline answered.
Lily quietly ate her turkey with cranberry sauce. The twins were creating patterns with their mashed potato and cranberry sauce. Lily wrinkled her nose.
“EWW! Mammy! Auntie Caroline! The twins are making drawings with their dinner!”
Elle put her hands on her hips with a shocked expression. “Lily Georgia Corr! You’re a rattlesnake!”
Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s tattletale stupid!”
”I’m not stupid!!”
”Yeah, she’s not stupid!” Hannah agreed, putting some mashed potato in her spoon.
Caroline deftly removed the spoon. “Hannah, Elle, don’t play with your food. Lily, don’t call the twins stupid.”
“But we made pretty pictures!” Elle protested.
“I made Santa,” Hannah said, showing an interesting picture of Santa done in cranberry sauce, mashed potato and peas.
Caroline peered at the plate. “Very nice, but next time, use crayons and paper.”
”I got Jim’s photo from Santa back the other day,” Nea said.
Jim frowned. “I thought you promised that you weren’t going to say anything?”
“Well, I wasn’t…but it is a funny picture.”
“Oh, we have to see it then,” Andrea said, nodding her head.
Nea put it on the table.
Jim stared at it. “Have you no shame?”
Andrea looked at the photo and giggled. “You obviously don’t, Jimmy.”
Sharon took it from her sister and chuckled. “Jim, you look like a deer stuck in headlights!”
“Thanks a lot,” Jim said to his wife. “I’ll never hear the end of this.”
Nea squeezed his hand. “I’ll pay my dues later,” she said, winking.
“With what?” Elle piped up. “Uncle Jim doesn’t like photos with Santa. You’d have to pay him a lot of money.”
“What if you don’t have a lot of money? What do you do then?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah!”
“Money isn’t the most important thing in the world,” Gavin told them.
“Then how do you pay Uncle Jim back Auntie Nea?” Elle inquired.
“Yeah! If you don’t use money, how do you pay Uncle Jim back?” Hannah said.
"Um...Well..." began Nea, looking desperately around the table for help.
"Flowers," blurted out Caroline. "She's going to give Uncle Jim flowers."
Nea nodded in agreement.
"I gave my boyfriend flowers last week too!" announced Hannah.
"WHAAAAAAT?" cried Caroline and Frank.
Hannah nodded. "Elle said that dandelions are weeds..."
"They ARE!" interrupted Elle."
"... but they're pretty anyway!" declared Hannah.
Andrea smiled to herself. "You have a boyfriend, Hannah?" she asked.
Hannah blushed and put her thumb in her mouth.
"His name is Steven," announced Elle.
Hannah kicked her under the table.
"Ow!!"
Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Steven? As in, the poo head?"
"As in, the one that you kicked in the groin and then got yourself suspended, Hannah?" asked Frank.
Hannah slid down in her chair, going even redder.
Elle nodded. "But now she likes him." She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, Elle!" yelled Hannah.
"Hannah," scolded Caroline.
Hannah mumbled sorry around her thumb.
"And Hannah said yesterday that..." began Elle.
"Elle likes Timmy!" cried Hannah.
"I do not!" protested Elle. "I just helped him a-cause he felled over!"
"Nuh uh," said Hannah. "You were hugging him!"
"I wasn't! I wasn't!" cried Elle.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Kill me when they turn 12," she told her husband.
*********************************************************************************
Caroline carefully tucked the covers around Hannah. The three children had all conked out after lunch and had been taken upstairs and put to bed for the afternoon.
"Peace and quiet now," Sharon said, tucking Lily in.
"For a while, anyway," Caroline said, yawning slightly.
Andrea took Caroline's hand. "Come on my two mummies. Let's go have a girl talk."
"Andy, the guys are all downstairs and there's cleaning to be done," Caroline protested.
"Connect those two together," Andrea told her.
Sharon narrowed her eyes. "That's pretty much impossible, Andrea."
Andrea frowned. "Come on guys! Five minutes! PLEASE!!"
She barrelled down the hallway and before Caroline could stop her, had opened the door to Caroline and Frank's room. "What happened in here? It looks like a cyclone hit it."
"We don't have cyclones in Ireland, Andrea," Sharon told her. "You were the one that aced everything at school, remember?"
Andrea frowned. "It's a metaphor, Sharon. You didn't do too badly in English."
"Stop arguing," Caroline replied, racing in and trying to sweep up all the clothes that were around the room.
Sharon peered at the clothes that Caroline was picking up. "Missed opportunity or close call?"
"The former," Caroline replied, grabbing the last few things.
Sharon smiled wryly. "A little frustrated are we?"
"Shut up, Sharon," Caroline told her, placing the clothes in a pile in the corner.
Andrea sat on the bed and bounced up and down. "Oooh...Caro's frustrated."
"Why are we having our discussion in my bedroom anyway? There are other rooms in the house you know."
"It's more intimate," Andrea said eloquently. She realised what she had said and burst out laughing.
Sharon also caught on, and laughed as well. Caroline glared at them both and sat on the bed.
"Is this going to be a pick on Caroline session?" she asked.
"Sorry, Caro," Andrea said, composing herself.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door and squeals and yells from the kids. The three girls looked at each other in confusement and noticing the kids were gone, went downstairs.
"Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!" came a burly voice.
"Santa's here, Mammy!" Lily cried, tugging her mother's hand."
The three girls looked curiously at the man. He looked familiar...but they couldn't quite place it.
"Santa" chuckled. He started singing. "When the stars go blue."
"UNCLE BONO!!!!!" the kids yelled.
Bono nodded and pulled his beard down a little. "I only came to drop off some presents and to say hi." He grinned. "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight."