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Grace stood on her tippy toes, hanging her stocking on her elf hook, taking its place next to her Daddy’s, Charlie’s and her Uncle Steve’s on the fireplace.
Her poppy was kneeling and shining his flashlight up the chimney to make sure it was all clear for Santa when he came in a few days from now.
Her Danno and Charlie were sitting on the sofa, reading a book and Uncle Steve was in the kitchen with her mom mom, making hot chocolate and popcorn for her and Charlie and eggnog for the adults for their movie night.
She was still a little tired, but it was only six in the evening here and she hadn’t wanted to miss a minute of the fun she knew she and her brother were in for.
Her Danno had picked them up from the airport the night before and she had kissed her mommy goodbye and told her Merry Christmas since her mom would be spending Christmas in Hawaii this year with her step Stan and his family.
This morning, she had slept in, but her mom mom had made them all pancakes when she woke, and she and Charlie were able to make and decorate her favorite sugar cookies before taking a little nap.
Poppy had told her she was a little sleepier, because there was a time change, and she knew she had needed more naps when she had been visiting her Gran this past week.
It was always fun visiting Gran and she and her brother were given lots of gifts and dressed in fancy clothes and took lots of pictures, but there was something different about coming to visit her Danno’s parents…just as fun, but in a different way.
Her poppy scooted back as she sat on the floor by the coffee table, declaring, “the chimney is all clear for the man in the red suit.”
“Poppy,” she protested because her pop never called Santa Santa…only the man in the red suit.
“What,” he asked, turning off the flashlight and stowing it by the sofa, “His suit is very fashionable, don’t ya think?”
“Yeah, Poppy…if you say so.”
“Well, I do…now, where is that popcorn? We have movies to watch before the little’s fall asleep.”
“Maybe Charlie, Poppy…” she looked toward her brother, who was already curled into her daddy’s side, yawning, but still pointing to pictures in the book they were quietly reading. “I want to stay up late with the adults.”
“We’ll see, Monkey,” her daddy closed the book and shifted Charlie so that he was resting on a pillow with his thumb in his mouth.
She was about to protest but stopped when her mom mom handed her a cup of cooling chocolate and sat on the arm of the chair her poppy had been sitting in.
Steve sat beside her daddy, handing him a mug, nestling a huge bowl of popcorn in his lap and so she waited as her Danno picked up the remote and turned on the TV, their movie already in the player and ready to go, with a touch of the button.
Steve passed her the popcorn as she waited for The Santa Clause to start playing and she leaned back against his legs once the popcorn had been passed around and settled in to watch one of her favorite movies.
It explained a lot…like how Santa got into houses with no chimneys, which was a big worry when she had moved to Hawaii with her mommy and step Stan.
No one needed a chimney in Hawaii.
And it explained how come Santa’s sometimes look different…not Santa’s helpers, of course, the ones in the malls, with the fake beards, but the real Santa she got to see some years…the ones with real beards and real bellies and rosy cheeks and nice and soft suits, like the one her Danno would dress in, even though he wasn’t the real Santa either.
She may have yawned halfway through the movie, but when she looked around, no one seemed to have noticed. Danno had already taken a sleeping Charlie up to the room they were sharing and now sat super close to her Uncle Steve, whom she was still leaning against and that made her smile and she wondered, maybe soon, she would have a step Steve, too.
Her poppy cleared his throat and her mom mom slipped from the arm of the chair and took the popcorn into the kitchen.
Tomorrow she and Charlie could make strands to decorate the tree because it would be stale and not good for eating. If they were lucky, Danno would let them use glue and red and green glitter to make some of the strands even prettier.
When her mom mom came back, she sat at the other end of the sofa and patted the cushion next to her, so she crawled over her daddy’s lap and tucked in close to her grandmother, feeling soft fingers in her hair and her mom mom asked, “what shall we do tomorrow, sweet girl?”
She had wanted to ask if they could go shopping because she wanted to get some gifts for daddy and Charlie and mom mom and poppy and for her uncle Steve.
Her mommy had given her fifty dollars to spend, but she would need some help picking out good gifts and she knew her mom mom would be the right person to help her.
She hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of the rest of her family, but her mom mom always seemed to know what she was thinking, because she said, “how about you and I get a little shopping in…let the boys here to watch movies and take naps? I need help with picking out a few more gifts anyway.”
She nodded her head and then scooted closer, watching the rest of the movie, stirring a little when her dad got up to put another one into the DVD player, asking, “Elf or Home Alone?”
Everyone said Elf, which was funny, but she was having a hard time keeping her eyes opened now, so she sat up a bit and waited until Danno was back on the couch between her and her uncle Steve and then leaned toward him, figuring he couldn’t see her face, so wouldn’t know if she fell asleep or not and wouldn’t tell her to go to bed now.
She saw how baby Buddy had found his way to the North Pole and how he started to feel like he hadn’t belonged and how his Papa told him the story of his other family, which was one of her favorite parts because it was sort of like her family too.
She had her mom mom and poppy and aunts and uncles and lots of cousins here and her mom and Danno and Charlie in Hawaii, but now she also had Uncle Steve and Aunty Kono and Uncle Chin and her Aunty Malia and their new baby girl, that would be coming soon.
She found her other family, just like Buddy in the movie and that was what she was thinking about when she had finally drifted off to sleep, only stirring when she was being laid down in her bed, reaching up to hug her Uncle Steve, who was tucking her in and then kissing her Danno, when he leaned in for his own hug.
“Sleep tight, Monkey…more fun tomorrow, baby girl…good night.”
“Night Danno,” she yawned, “night Uncle Steve.”
“Good night, Gracie,” and as her eyes closed again, she thought she heard him whisper, “sweet dreams.”
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When Danny made it back down the stairs, Elf was still playing and his ma and pop were now sitting on the sofa, sipping from a fresh cup of ‘adult’ eggnog.
Two more mugs and a plate of left-over Panettone waited on the coffee table, by the love seat, so Danny sunk down and picked up his cup, letting Steve settle close to him before taking a sip.
“I’m actually surprised she made it so far into the evening,” his mom told him. “I was sure she would have dropped off before the end of the first movie.”
“Well,” his pop piped in, “she is a little stubborn, like someone else we know.”
Steve stifled a laugh into his mug, but Danny elbowed him anyway, smirking when he choked a little on the generous helping of brandy.
“Anyway,” Danny said, “she is sleeping now and will hopefully sleep in a bit tomorrow to get over the jet lag.”
Steve was breathing normally when he asked, “what are the plans for tomorrow?”
They still had a few days before the party, but two of his three sisters were coming to dinner in the evening, his mom’s lasagna on the menu, so something to look forward too.
His mom said, “I promised to take Grace shopping…I think she has a few gifts she wants to pick up for some special people, so who knows how long that will take, but we’ll get on the road just as soon as she wakes up so I can get home on time to make dinner.”
“Yes, please,” his pop agreed. “You know with the kids coming, dinner can’t be late…nothing worse than a house full of hungry Williams.”
“Yup,” Danny agreed. “That would be bad.”
“I ah...” Steve started, but then stopped, rubbing a palm across the back of his neck, like he was nervous, “I ah, was hoping to get in a little last-minute shopping too.”
Danny was about to tell him okay, that they could go tomorrow, but his mom said, “you can come with me and Grace. Charlie is probably gonna need another day anyway and Danny and Dad can hold down the fort here, right, sweetie?”
It was his mother’s not so subtle way of saying she thought he needed a rest day, but now he wondered why Steve looked so relieved.
“Sure, ma,” he finally answered. “We are supposed to get a dusting tonight so between me and pop we can entertain Charlie with his first snow and get in some quality naps before all hell breaks loose.”
“Funny, Daniel,” his mom looked amused, even though her voice was stern. “I am sure your sisters say the same thing about you.”
“I don’t doubt it, ma.”
Steve had sunk back against the cushion so Danny had followed suit and they all settled in to watch the end of the movie, no doubt having to watch it again with Grace at some point this week, but that was okay, because Elf was one of Danny’s all-time favorite Christmas movies, it reminded him a lot of his own found family.
When the credits finally rolled, his mom was snoring softly against his pop’s shoulder and Steve’s head was heavy on his own.
His dad jiggled his arm, getting it up and around his mom, softly saying, “time for bed, babe.”
His mother stirred, then opened her eyes and looked around before leaning back into his father and giving him a soft peck on the lips. “Let’s head up to the bed and leave these two some alone time.”
He was about to point out that his partner was sleeping, but Steve stirred and said, “good night, Mel…good night, Jim.”
His mom stood and stopped on her way by to give both he and Steve a kiss on the head before making her way to the kitchen with the mugs and turning off the lights so that only the TV and tree illuminated the family room.
Danny heard them going up the steps, hitting each squeaky board, before tucking his legs under him and turning to give Steve a soft kiss on the lips.
“What was that for,” Steve whispered, but hadn’t pulled away, was, in fact, leaning in for another soft kiss.
“That,” Danny kissed him again and then again, “was for just being you,” and then kissed him one more time before standing and reaching down to help haul his lover to his feet.
He flicked the TV off but stood with his arms around Steve to admire the pretty lights from the glow of the tree and taking in a breath to smell the fresh pine and lingering popcorn.
This might be the last quiet moment they would have to themselves for the rest of this trip, but if he were honest, he was sorta looking forward to the chaos and showing Steve just how much a part of this family he was and just how much Danny wanted to make that a permanent arrangement.
He reached up and pulled Steve down for one more kiss, telling him, “let's get some rest…tomorrow is bound to be crazy.”
Steve hugged him closer for just a few more seconds, telling him, “I can hardly wait.”
And Danny felt that funny little twitch in his chest again, just like he had at the hospital all those months ago, when Steve had told him that he had loved him for a long time and that he would always be there for him, knowing then, as he does now, that Steve had meant each word.
Danny took Steve’s hand and pulled him toward the stairs and their bed, planning on telling Steve with more than words that he had felt the same.
The Christmas light twinkled as they climbed the steps, the house was quiet as they passed the room his children were sleeping in and the fireplace was on, the bedroom cozy as they both fell into the bed, snuggling closer to kiss and touch and to just love each other.
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