broadway, baby// andrew garfield

Chapter 30

Oh talking about the kids, we started to hear footsteps coming down the stairs. The footsteps started to quicken as we saw our kids running into the living room in their superhero onesies.

"Alright!" Mom clapped her hands together. "Who's ready to open presents?"

"Me!" The kids eagerly raised their hands.

"Alright, let's go see what Santa brought you." Dad gestured to the tree.

All of us laughed when the kids went to the tree that had piles of presents underneath. Each pile of presents had a sign and specific wrapping paper design so the kids wouldn't fight over presents. There's also an equal amount of presents so the kids won't complain over the amount of more presents a kid got.

Andrew and I sat down and cuddled on the couch while we watched the kids' faces light up in joy while they opened their presents. All of the adults decided to open presents when the kids go to bed. Opening presents while somewhat inebriated is something. Also maybe some of the gifts that we got are not really kid friendly. 

When there was a mountain of ripped up wrapping paper and the thanks from the kids stopped coming out of their mouths, it was time for breakfast. The kids got a quarter of a cinnamon roll, since we didn't want them to eat that much sugar, and a plate of waffles with eggs and sausage. The dining room was filled with excitement and chatter talking about the rest of the things we have planned later. While the kids were playing with the toys they got, I helped out Michael and Dad with cutting up the veggies while Mom, Andrew, and Lana, my sister-in-law, did some other preparation. Nonno, Lisa, and Austin, my brother-in-law, watched the kids so they wouldn't cause some trouble.

After spending a few hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking, some of us headed up to our rooms to get ready for dinner.

"You look nice." I looked in the mirror to see Andrew tucking his dress shirt into his black slacks.

"Thanks." He looked up from tucking his shirt in and gave me a wink and smile. "You look amazing."

"You've seen me wear this dress many times." I chuckled.

"And yet you look more amazing every time you wear it." He placed his head in the crook of my neck. "You know during this time tomorrow we'll be on a flight to London."

"I can't wait." I smiled while finishing my makeup. "I miss them even though I saw them last month."

Putting my makeup away in my bag, Andrew and I headed back downstairs where the festivities were taking place. Christmas music was playing throughout the house while the smell of honey roasted ham and roasted chicken filled our nostrils. We heard more chattering than we heard today and we saw Liz, Jack, and Liz's family in the living room. I forgot they were joining us for Christmas dinner.

All of us headed to the dining room to see things were almost set up. Decorations were placed on the tables with some of the dishes. Appetizers were placed on the coffee table in the living room if anyone wanted to snack. I walked into the kitchen to see if there were any last minute things I could do. I grabbed drinks for anyone who wanted one and made some for others.

After placing down the plastic Christmas table cover over the kid's table, and placing down the plates and utensils, it was finally time to eat. I made a plate for Kara and placed it down in front of her before heading to my seat. I sat down in between Liz and Andrew and we started to eat.

Throughout dinner all of us talked about our favorite holiday memory. All of us burst out laughing when this one memory came up. Let's just say it involved Michael in an inflatable Santa suit, a pair of ice skates, and a frozen lake with some hints of alcohol consumption. This was before all of us siblings ever got married and/or had kids. We were in college during that time. All of us were hanging out at a cabin in Virginia that my parents rented out. All of us college kids invited some of our friends to the cabin we stayed at since my parents rented two. There was drinking involved and Jake somehow brought an inflatable Santa suit. At the same time all of us were talking about ice skating since we went ice skating earlier and Michael was convinced he was able to do a triple axel. I mean he could, he was an ice skater for ten years but could he do it in an inflatable Santa suit? That was the question. All of us were putting in our hypothesis as Michael skated onto the lake. We were cheering when we saw him successfully executing the triple axel but all of us started to burst into laughter when he started to do a whole routine. I still have the video of him doing that on my drive. I even showed it at his wedding.

"You need to show me that video." Andrew whispered into my ear.

"Don't worry, I will." I told him before taking a sip of my wine.

Once everyone was finished with dinner, the kids opened the presents that our guests gave them and headed to bed an hour later. It was time for the fun stuff. Everyone got their gifts passed out and Nonno was the first one to open his pile of gifts. I got him a couple of books from a writer we both love while everyone else gave him some clothing. 

Andrew and I started unwrapping our presents at the same time. We decided to give each other's presents before we head to bed. As I opened my presents, I saw that I was given some leather bound journals, some stationary, and a dress. For the rest of the night, we drank some more alcohol before people slowly started to leave.

Waiting for Andrew to come out of the bathroom, the rectangular wrapped box sat on my lap. Hopefully Andrew likes it. Andrew soon came out of the bathroom with a pair of gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. I looked at his hands to see a wrapped box in his hands. He sat down across from me on the bed and we looked at each other. We passed each other our presents and counted down to open when. I unwrapped the gold wrapping paper and sliced the tape that was on the box with my finger nail. A laugh came out of my mouth as I saw my gift. I guess we had similar ideas.

"I love this." I chuckled when I held up my fake Grammy with a plaque saying 'Best Artist'.

"Glad we had the same idea." Andrew laughed at his fake Oscar saying 'Best Actor'. "We didn't know what to get each other didn't we?"

"Yeah." I nodded my head. "To be honest, this is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. Thank you."

"Me too, this is probably the only Oscar I'll ever get but it's worth it." Andrew kissed me.

After kissing, we took a couple of pictures of us with our gifts before heading to bed. This was the best Christmas ever.