Loving Family

Evalynn: Christmas

The run up to celebrating Christmas was in full swing and very soon I would get my first family Christmas. I was almost more excited than Ben, the two of us begging at every opportunity from the start of December to put the tree up as if it might make the magical day appear just that touch quicker. Finally when Mick got home from his work trip - much to Mamma's relief there was less drama over him getting back to the UK after the storm than either of them had anticipated - we got to. On Sunday morning mamma put on her Christmas cd, got out the boxes of Christmas decorations and the four of us set about trying to decipher how on earth the fake tree fitted together, as apparently Mick had wisely got rid of the instructions the year before. Well me, mamma and Mick tried to figure it out, Ben was just playing with the parts. It eventually turned out to be much less technical than Mick and I thought and mamma got it up much quicker than me and him would have done on our own. After that we had to put the lights on, which I was naturally too short for, Ben was deemed too young to be trusted with, and mamma kept getting the string of lights in a tangle so Mick took over. A team effort between mamma and I created a snaking trail of glitter through the tree as we wove in colourful tinsel and sparkly ribbons. Then we collectively threw other decorations at the tree in our own unique ways which led to a borderline hilarious mess of sparkles, Ben's home-made crafts, what few of my special decorations I'd brought and some slightly nerdy decorations I presumed belonged to Mick. All four of us had to have a laugh over how the tree turned out, but we never changed much of the things that were there, though mamma did move a few around so the sparkly decorations weren't so one sided and not all of Ben's were really low anymore, which evened it up a bit and made it slightly less funny. Mick and I carefully snuck the Steps bauble mamma had apparently gained last tour onto the tree, though we didn't mention it because we suspected it would likely get taken off and squirrelled away with all her other Steps stuff. The tree was beautiful, chaotic and so perfectly our family's work. To top it off Mick lifted Ben up and let him put the angel on top of the tree, though it ended a little wonky.

Throughout the rest of that day we decorated other parts of the house, mamma sticking tinsel to doorways and onto picture frames. It filled the whole house with a festive spirit. I helped Ben put his paper chain on top of his wardrobe with a little extra height help from a chair, bluetacking it in place as mamma had instructed and tucking his little Santa bear on top to watch over him. Mamma then helped me make a paper chain for my own room when she was done tinselling pictures, a job that took much longer than it should have done as we both kept giggling over everything. I enjoyed it a lot and eventually we had a paper chain we could hang over my wardrobe so my room felt a little festive too. It felt fun and special and I knew as we decorated together that this Christmas was going to be different from any I'd had before.

"Urhm Ev, sorry to put you on the spot but could you settle this?" Mick asked me as I walked into the living room that evening having fetched a drink.
"Maybe." I replied shyly.
"Do you have a preference over seeing my mumma and dad or seeing Mick's parents for Christmas? Either are happy with us seeing them and we can't agree between us." Mamma explained.
I bit my lip. I knew which my choice was because I was still more comfortable with mamma's family than Mick's (though matters were improving over time), but I didn't want to seem too hasty and accidentally upset Mick in the process. "I'd like to say mamma's if that's okay with you Mick?" I replied after a moment.
"Totally fine that's why we gave you the choice. We'll still see my family but over new year instead alright?" He replied.
I nodded. "I still just feel a little more confident with mamma's family." I told him.
"That's understandable. Ooh you'll get to do the world's worst roadtrip for the first time." Mick laughed and mamma playfully hit him.
She laughed a little too. "It's not the worst! It's pretty much one road most of the way for goodness sake."
"Well I'd argue it being mostly one road, that depend which way you go. I know you're an East Country local and have a passionate hate for the M1, but I'm not and don't. But yes it can be done almost all on just one road." Mick retorted.
I pretended I had any idea what was going on and just nodded. I knew roughly where mamma's family lived, like I knew the town was Dunstable but I'd have no idea how to get there and didn't even think I could find it on a map. Before the conversation could continue Ben called downstairs saying he was scared, and mamma sent Mick to deal with it, telling him that she wanted to talk to me. When Mick had gone she beckoned me over to sit with her on the sofa, which I did.
"Okay Evvy. I know this year is probably going to be really different for you so I was wondering did you have any Christmas traditions that we could do?" Mamma asked me. "Like is there a special movie you like to watch at Christmas or anything?"
"It sounds silly but I always watch The Snowman when it's on, that's normally on Christmas Eve. And I like to watch the Narnia films when they're on TV too." I told her.
She smiled. "I love The Snowman, Mick slightly hates that I always make him watch it. Have you watched the new one with the dog? And I don't know if I've watched any of the Narnia films, I used to like the books though."
"If I find out when the first Narnia film's on we can watch it together! And I liked the new one I thought it was cute." I replied.
"Well then, we can definitely watch those." She replied. "Urhm what did you leave out for Father Christmas? Or did you get too big for that?"
I was on the brink of the point where you stop believing in Father Christmas, where for another few years I was willing to pretend and do the leaving out food but I knew he didn't exist really. "We used to leave him biscuits and milk. But all my friends said he likes mince pies more! No-one liked them though so we never had any."
"Have you ever had a mince pie?" Mamma asked.
"Yeah, and I kinda like them, but no-one else I lived with did."
"Okay okay good. We leave him a mince pie and milk and normally we leave the reindeer carrots and water. So this year Father Christmas will get his favourite snack from you." She replied with a little wink at the end. She must know I didn't properly believe. "It's fine if you don't believe in him, but don't tell Benjamin just yet, let him believe a few years more." She whispered to me.
I nodded. "Of course I will."