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“Ok, the popcorn is ready”, Bozer called from the kitchen. “The crock pot is full of hot chocolate, and the eggnog is cooling in the fridge”. He walked the short distance to where the rest of the group was gathered in the living room. The Phoenix team had gathered at MacGyver’s house for an evening of holiday movies, missing only Riley, as she was in Louisiana celebrating the holidays with Billy and the rest of the Colton family.
“Good”, Angus “Mac” MacGyver called back, “because we need to finish the voting for which movie to watch first”.
“I still say Die Hard is a Christmas movie”, Jack said from his place on the couch between Matty and Kaitlyn.
Matty rolled her eyes. “In what universe, Dalton?” She asked, a trace of playfulness in her voice.
Before Jack could answer, Kaitlyn said, “well, it wasn’t intended to be a Christmas movie, but over the years, fans have decided that it should be considered as one”.
“Thank you, General”, Jack said, with a nod.
“But, not for tonight”, Leanna said from her seat on the hearth, next to the fire. She was petting a large, orange striped and white purebred Norwegian Forest cat, whose loud purring almost drowned out the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. “We need more of a family theme for tonight, right fur daddy?” She addressed the question to the cat, who squeezed his green-gold eyes closed in reply.
“How about something new?”Kaitlyn asked the group.”Kurt Russell as Santa”.
“Snake Plissken? Escape from New York ?” Jack asked, perking up. “That Kurt Russell?”
“The same”, Kaitlyn replied, grinning at Jack. “It’s on Netflix”.
“Even better”, MacGyver said, picking up the TV remote beside him. “I don’t even have to get up and get into the DVD collection”. He pressed a few buttons on the remote and the TV came to life, then displayed the red Netflix logo on a black background.
“Wait, Mac”, Bozer said. “Let everybody get their snacks before we start this”.
A short time later, the group had their choice of snacks and drinks and were settled back into their seats, ready for the show to begin. The lights were turned off, so the only light was from the strings of Christmas decorations. No one spoke during the opening, but there were giggles as they watched the siblings setting up the “trap” Santa in the act.
When Santa got into the sleigh, MacGyver was about to explain how falling from a great height, but stopped when the sleigh was shown going into a greenish tunnel. “That’s it”, he said quietly, then shouted, “That’s IT!” He started bouncing on the couch like an excited puppy. “Einstein-Rosen bridges!”
Kaitlyn grabbed the remote in mid-air during one of the bounces and paused the movie. “In English, for the rest of the class, please?” She asked.
MacGyver stood up and took a breath to calm himself before speaking. “Einstein-Rosen bridges, otherwise known as wormholes. One of the theories for them is that they can be used to travel through the space-time continuum”. He looked at Jack. “And that would explain how Santa Claus can go all around the world in one night”.