The first Noel

It was Christmas day, and we had been awake and out of bed for less than thirty minutes. Sue asked me if I wanted a drink. It was 10:00 in the morning. I declined. She said she had Sam Adams light. I changed my mind. As I said, it was Christmas.
There were kids opening presents and stockings being passed around. Mine had my name in cursive painted on it with gold sparkle fabric paint. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The boys would open a package, tear the wrapping paper, remove the sword with flashing lights and realistic battle sounds out of the box and totally forget that the living room was littered with presents. They were done. They had their swords and readied themselves for combat. There was a baby also, with blond hair and footie pajamas. Actually I think they were all wearing footie pajamas. At first I was positive that the baby was probably dumb. It couldn't talk or add and subtract or order for itself at a restaurant. But he let me hold him and I changed my mind.
We ate cheese and crackers and drank eggnog. It was perfect. BJ's grandma went on to tell me never to fake it with him. It only gave him a false sense of confidence. And she wasn't talking about a smile. There were snow flurries the night before but only the cold remained. Sue played Oh Night Divine on her guitar and the boys watched as she sang. I held the baby on my lap and sipped my sam adams. My boyfriend kissed me on the lips and brushed the hair out of my face.