I heard the smoke detector go of... oh boy!
After putting on some socks and my robe, I walked carefully downstairs, making sure I didn't wake up Luke and Alexis. I saw smoke coming up from a tray off burnt cookies, which Michael held.
"You've got to be kidding me." I said, trying to hold in my laughter. Calum came out of his bedroom quickly.
"Michael," he groaned, his voice sounding raspy. I sighed and took some kitchen mittens and picked up the tray.
Calum opened the backdoor for me so I could toss them out (lol, who does that?).
"Michael, why don't we just put up a Christmas tree instead? At least you can't burn it." Calum said.
"Heck ya!" He stated, giving a fist bump towards the ceiling.
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"How the hell do you assemble this?" Luke asked, staring at the un- pieced Christmas tree.
I stared at him. "Language, Hemmings." I mumbled. He rolled his eyes in return. "Lemme see." Ashton said.
"This Christmas eve sucks!" Emilee said. I replied with a 'humph' noise.
"OKay, let's make a deal," Luke began. We all waited for him to finish. "We can split up. I'll go with Michael to get Alexis some presents. Emilee and Eliza bake. And Calum and Ashton put up the tree. When we are done, Alexis can help decorate the tree. Deal?" He finished. We all approved.
"Alright, the recipe recalls for one cup of flour, two cups sugar, two eggs, chocolate chips, vanilla essence, two cups flour, and a pinch of salt." Emilee said, whilst reading from a recipe book.
We were mixing the wet ingredients with the dry ones when we heard a victorious shout from the living room. "Hallelujah!" Calum exclaimed. We all rushed into the living room. To our amazement, a tall, white tree stood up. Emilee and I sarcastically clapped in approval.
Calum and Ashton stuck out there tongues and folded their arms.
About an hour and thirty minutes later, perfected chocolate chip cookies were made. Presents were also secretly wrapped.
I walked into Luke's room. Alexis was still sound asleep on the bed. "Alexis," I whispered. I saw her smile, but she still pretended that she was sleep. "I guess I'll have to tickle you to wake you up." I said, with a smirk on my face.
I started poking at her bottom. I tickled her all over her belly. She giggled and tried to escape my tickles. We both gave up. "Come on, we've got a surprise for you." I told her, whilst picking her up.
"Whoa," she said as we walked into the living room. Ashton had decorated the banister with lights.
We all gathered around to decorate the tree. To top it off, we all had cookies and milk!
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CHRISTMAS DAY
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Alexis yelled, jumping on Luke's bed. "Five more minutes." He mummbled. I followed behind Alexis, also jumping on the bed. "That's it!" Luke exclaimed, waving his arms to shoo us away. "Don't be such a buzzkill." I sighed.
He groaned and began to attack me and Alexis with a bunch of kiss and tickles. At the end, he had us both on the floor, dying of laughter.
"Dad, let's see what Santa got!" She chanted, dragging Luke down the stairs. "I'll wake up the others." I said to Luke.
"HO! HO! HO!" I yelled, knocking on everyone's door. There was a lot of cursing, groaning, and mumbling before we all were in the living room.
"Open up your presents," Ashton suggested.
Alexis began to rip open the presents. "Yay!" She exclaimed, giving a little clap.
"What is it?" I asked, knowing what it was already. "It's a dollhouse!" She replied.
10 minutes later, she was all done with opening her presents.
My present was seeing Alexis happy.
