Chapter Text
Belly had no idea what she was thinking when she offered to host Christmas for the whole family. With a two year old and a six-month old, she already had her hands full. Cleaning, and decorating, and cooking to host 7 guests on top of that was probably, in hindsight, a bit too ambitious.
Her mother had tried to warn her. “That's a lot of work, Isabel. Are you sure you want to take it all on?” But Belly had stupidly insisted it'd be fine. One of these days she would fully learn that her mother was typically right, and her instinctual hard-headedness in knee jerk response to her mother's reason should be checked. This Christmas was not that day, she was in too deep already. Her first guests were arriving tonight. She moved another set of flannel sheets from the washer to the dryer. She picked up the laundry basket and began walking upstairs.
She consoled herself with thoughts that Lily and Daphne would have their first Christmas together, with their whole family, in this house. Their house. The house where all her childhood dreams had taken place and where they'd all come true. This beautiful, magical house. She couldn't believe she got to live here all of the time. She hoped she'd never lose the feeling of magic that at times felt baked into the walls and the floorboards. She took it in as she climbed the stairs.
Much of the furniture was the same as it had been, except the couch, which was too worn out. They'd replaced it with an almost identical one. New art hung on the walls in places, new trinkets and books lined the shelves, anything breakable of value had been packed away to avoid Lily's wrath. Belly had changed the curtains in the living room. She and Conrad had decided they wouldn't leave everything the same. There had been a time where the idea of anything changing was painful, in the immediate aftermath of Susannah's death. But they were older now.
-
“She wouldn't want it to be frozen in time,” Conrad had said, as they decided what they wanted to pack up from their condo in Cambridge. “She'd want us to make it our own. Plus, it'll hardly stay pristine with two little kids running amok.”
“Good point,” Belly had laughed, then sighed. “She'd have been the best grandma in the world. Could you imagine? She'd spoil them rotten.”
“I think about it every day.”
-
Upstairs, the changes were more noticeable. Belly and Conrad had taken over the master suite she had once occupied. The rooms that had previously been theirs were their daughters’. Steven and Jeremiah's rooms had been packed up and converted into more mature, tasteful guest rooms, still available for their use. She made her way into Jeremiah’s, and began making the bed. Fresh, warm flannel sheets for him and his fiancée, Denise, who were arriving first, from Jacksonville where they had moved last year. She even had extra blankets for them, knowing they wouldn't be accustomed to the cold.
When she thought about it, this wasn't even the most ambitious thing she'd done since giving birth in June. Conrad had finished his residency in the summer shortly after Daphne was born. With Daphne just three weeks old, they'd all moved from Cambridge to the Cousins house, and enjoyed a few weeks together as a family before Conrad began his attending position at Cape Cod hospital.
If she could handle a full move with a newborn and a toddler, she could handle Christmas. She just had to get through the prep. Once everyone started arriving, Belly knew they’d all be considerate and helpful. Especially her mom, but also Steven, Taylor, Denise, and maybe even Lindsey, Adam's girlfriend. Belly didn't know her very well, and she didn't have any kids of her own, but she seemed serious and organized. As for Adam, he was useless with kids. His only suggestion was to hire a nanny. Belly was hesitant to give Jeremiah any real responsibility, but he could definitely entertain Lily, which counted for something.
Daphne wailed from the other room and Belly sighed. Her nap time productivity was over.
///
Conrad pulled into the garage, which they had finally cleared of boxes last month, and cut the engine, exhaling. He was officially off the clock, at least until December 26th. He enjoyed his job, but he was excited to spend Christmas with his family. His boss had been generous in scheduling for him to not be on call for Christmas, understanding he had a new baby. Although it was probably for Belly's sake more than his. His supervisor, Linda, like everyone, was utterly charmed by his wife. He of all people could hardly blame her, of course.
He grabbed his work bag, and the takeout they were going to have for dinner before Jeremiah and Denise got in that evening, then walked into the house, making his way to the kitchen.
Belly came in shortly after, Lily on her hip.
“How are my girls?” He asked, grinning and placing the food on the island. Belly walked up to him and gave him a quick peck.
“Hi Daddy!” Lily beamed, she looked at him with her big brown eyes, just like her Mom's. Conrad resisted the urge to muss her hair, knowing how much she hated having them comb it. Instead, he booped her nose, then grabbed cutlery out of the drawer, including a kid spoon for Lily.
“Starving,” Belly sighed, depositing Lily into her booster seat at the table. “You missed Daphne, she knocked right out. A minor miracle.”
“Can’t complain too much, then,” he said, although he was sad to miss her. She'd be up soon enough though. He made up a plate for Lily, and handed it to Belly, then went to work on their own plates.
Finally, they all sat down and began eating, Belly had already gotten Lily to eat most of her veggies. She was such a good kid. Conrad asked about Belly's day.
“Everything is ready in the guest rooms. Groceries should be delivered tomorrow morning.” She tapped her fingers along her glass of water and then took a sip.
“Remember, this is a holiday and it's meant to be relaxing, Belly. People will get it if everything isn't perfect.”
“I just want to make it special, I always wanted to throw parties like your mom.”
“I doubt she was throwing really nice parties when Jere and I were in diapers.” Lily knocked over her sippy cup and it clattered loudly on the table, but she picked it up.
“Oh she almost certainly was,” Belly said.
“She was human too, Belly.” Conrad said. He looked at her, right in her eyes.
Belly met his gaze. “I know.” She smiled at him slightly
Just then the doorbell rang. Belly groaned, visibly sighing.
“I told him not to do that.”
“I know.”
It rang again. Conrad got up to get it, rushing over to the front of the house to hopefully spare the needless noise that might wake a sleeping Daphne. They really had sent reminders to everyone not to ring the doorbell. They were welcome to let themselves in, but the doorbell was so loud, it echoed through the whole house.
“Doorbell,” he heard Lily say.
“That's right Lily, the doorbell is ringing. Your Uncle Jeremiah and Aunt Denise are here.” Belly said to their daughter, her voice fading as Conrad moved further away.
He flung the door open, and Jeremiah was standing there, a duffle bag flung over his shoulder. Denise came up behind him, a pale pink beanie tucked over her curly brown hair, which was flecked with the wet snowflakes that had begun to fall.
“You weren't supposed to ring the doorbell, Jere,” she chastised. “Oh, hi Conrad! Sorry about that.”
Jeremiah didn't seem to register his fiancée’s critique. “Hey man. How are my nieces?” He stepped inside, past Conrad.
“Don't forget to take your shoes off.” Now that they lived here all year round, they didn't want to track snow and mud all over the floors, if they could avoid it.
“Sorry about him, he was getting a little stir crazy on the plane and in the car. It's nice to see you.”
“Glad you guys could make it,” Conrad said, shutting the door as Denise crossed the threshold. He grabbed her bag from her as she took off her shoes. He set it down at the foot of the stairs, to take up later when he'd finished eating. “We were just eating dinner, we weren't expecting you guys so early.”
“Oh, we decided to stop in Boston to see my dad on the way back, instead of today, sorry. And sorry for interrupting dinner. We ate on the road.”
Conrad and Denise walked into the kitchen, where Jeremiah was now seated at the table, eating a breadstick and making faces at Lily, who was giggling. Conrad looked at Belly, who looked exhausted, but was taking advantage of Lily being distracted to finish her food.
“Hi Denise!” Belly started to get up, but Denise gestured at her and shook her head. Belly, likely needing little excuse to not have further disruption to her meal, easily complied. Conrad smiled to himself and sat back down in his own chair.
“Hi Isabel, thanks for having us.” Denise was a very matter of fact person. That's why she worked well with Jeremiah, Conrad thought. She provided him with the structure he needed, and Jeremiah provided the fun. “Jere, why don't we go upstairs and settle in, while they finish up dinner?” Conrad looked up at Jeremiah to see him making another face at Lily that made her laugh. “Fish!” Jeremiah looked back at Conrad, making brief eye contact, then they both looked at Belly. Conrad's eyes met his wife's, and he could tell she wanted to talk to just him.
Jeremiah must have gotten a similar idea, because he jumped up out of his chair, popping the last bit of his breadstick in his mouth. “Alright! See you in a bit, kiddo!” He mussed up Lily's hair affectionately and bounded out of the room and up the stairs.
“Well that was eventful,” Belly said, when they were alone. “Did Denise say why they were here early?”
“She mentioned they had a change of plans. They'll visit her dad after the holidays.” Denise’s dad had been in a bad accident at work and had to receive 24/7 care. She often discussed it with Conrad, seeking affirmation on any medical information they called her to discuss. Her mom had died when she was young and she was an only child, so she had to handle it all alone.
“It's so awful to think of him alone for Christmas.” Conrad hummed his assent. A beat of silence passed, as Conrad took another bite of his food.
“I can't believe he didn't wake up Daphne. I had to pull up the baby monitor just to check she was still breathing though.” Belly showed him her phone screen and sure enough Daphne was there, sleeping soundly but clearly still breathing.
“Who is this angel of sleep and what did she do with our fussy baby?”
Belly laughed. Conrad smiled and had another bite from his plate.
“God, that must be cold by now. I can heat it up for you.”
“It's fine, I'm almost done anyway and we need to get Princess Lillia her bath.”
Lily, hearing her name and “bath” in the same sentence, began to pout. Lily was rarely fussy or threw tantrums, she was so quiet and sweet, very much unlike her baby sister. But lately she really didn't like the bath. She'd rather do anything else.
“I can go run it now, while you finish eating.” She said. Before he could respond, Belly was up and halfway out the kitchen.
“No bath,” Lily said, in that cute almost-lisp of a toddler.
“Yes bath,” Conrad said back. He looked her dead in the eyes and they stared at each other.
“No,” she replied. Conrad could hear the water running in the upstairs bathroom.
“It'll be nice and warm, Lilypad, then you can curl up in your nice warm bed and I'll read you a bedtime story.” She brightened up at this.
“Lion book?”
“Yeah, we can read the lion book.” He and Belly were sick to death of the lion book, in which a lion was tricked by rabbits into eating vegetable soup instead of rabbit soup. But with everything else going on, pushing her to read other books was not a fight worth picking.
Conrad finished the last couple bites of his dinner, then closed up the takeout containers and shoved them in the fridge. He'd rearrange it later.
“Alright Lily, bath time.” He marched back over to the table, scooped her up, and took her upstairs.
///
Bath time went relatively smoothly. Minor protests from Lily were quickly subdued and Belly left Conrad to it, stopping by Jeremiah and Denise’s room to chat briefly. They were sitting on the bed, scrolling on their phones. Belly invited them to make themselves at home and to ask her if they needed help finding anything. Jeremiah had looked a bit annoyed by this, as if she were insulting him by suggesting he didn't know where everything was. But things had moved, in some cases. He could be such a child sometimes, she thought. She had no clue how she almost married him. When she left them, they went downstairs to find something to watch.
After storytime – the lion book again – when Lily had been tucked in and the lights turned off, Belly and Conrad joined Jeremiah and Denise in the living room. Their Christmas tree sparkled with multicolored lights by the window. They'd put on Love Actually, and Denise had her head resting on Jeremiah's shoulder. Conrad sat down on the loveseat and pulled Belly down onto his lap. She settled in next to him with her legs across his lap. She pulled a throw blanket, one she had carefully folded and draped on the loveseat earlier, over the both of them. They sat there, quietly watching the movie, even though it was already half over. Each of them interjected commentary from time to time, mostly about how horrible Alan Rickman’s character was. Belly and Conrad hadn’t spent much time with Jeremiah and Denise, especially now that they lived far away, but Belly thought this was actually quite nice, and she wished she could see them more often. Denise shared a tidbit about how they filmed an alternate version of the airport scene where the little boy did actual gymnastics, which Jeremiah couldn't believe, so they of course had to pause the movie to look it up.
When they made it to the end of the movie, Belly was exhausted. Conrad was getting tired too. Belly could tell, because his remarks in the conversation grew more sparse and less witty. It occurred to her she hadn't gotten a chance to ask about his day. Her stomach tightened in a knot and she squeezed his hand. He squeezed back and smiled sleepily at her.
Not long after, Belly took an easy segue to excuse herself to bed, and Conrad went along. They left Jeremiah and Denise to their own devices, muttering good nights and well wishes for sleep.
In their room, Belly and Conrad quickly got ready for bed. They had gotten quite efficient with it in the past few months, not wanting to waste any second they could be sleeping. They'd be up in a few hours, when Daphne woke up hungry.
“I love you,” Conrad said, pressing a kiss against Belly's hair in the dark. He smelled like mint toothpaste. Belly smiled to herself.
“I love you, too.” She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.