SF Chapter 146: Christmas Eve III
Everyone was still getting organized into groups.
Prudence walked over to Berta and joked, "Sorry, Nana. I couldn't resist," she said innocently, patting her padded belly.
Berta snorted. "You will be. If your kid inherits even half of yours and Dani's talent for causing trouble, you'll be very sorry."
"Maybe Daniel will write a new Dennis the Menace as inspiration."
"No way, Grandma," Prudence whined. "Our kids would be incredibly cute and well-behaved."
"They'd inherit our talent for singing... and the taste for women... like their parents," she smirked at the end.
Berta was unfazed by the information and smirked back. "You're not thinking you got that from your mother, right?"
The girl opened and closed her mouth. "Nana?!"
Meanwhile, Lisa, who was nearby and listening to the conversation, glanced at her fiancé out of the corner of her eye.
"What?" Charlie inquired. "They are not our family..." but then he murmured, "...yet," not knowing what his brother was about to do.
Dani walked over to them. "Hey, let's get going?"
"What are you talking about, anyway?" he asked, noticing their expressions.
Charlie decided to poke his brother. "About kids," he smirked.
But Dani quickly hugged the blonde before his brother could continue the joke. "Oh, congratulations, Lisa."
"Not ours!" Charlie quickly clarified, which earned him a look from his fiancée.
He paused for a moment and then added, "...yet," trying to smooth over the confusion.
"Better," Lisa remarked.
Dani ignored his brother's glare, since he felt he wasn't at fault at all. He then pulled everyone along toward the trailer, according to how they had split into groups.
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The first group had arrived at their first stop, a children's home with a few dozen young kids.
They had already handed out the presents, and now they were playing with the children.
Prudence walked over to Lexi, who was standing a bit off to the side.
"He's really good with kids," Prudence commented, gesturing toward Dani. He was taking a picture with one of the kids sitting on his shoulders.
"Maybe because he has the same mental age," Lexi jabbed, though she had a small smile on her face.
"Huh," the other girl thought for a moment. "We should have a kid with him," she proposed.
Lexi slowly turned her head toward her, completely deadpan.
Prudence chuckled. "No wonder Dani likes to annoy you so much, Lexi. Your expressions are the best!"
Lexi ignored her and called out to the kids. "Kids, there's another Santa here for you to play with," she said, gesturing toward Prudence.
"Yeah, come here, you little stinkers," the girl didn't mind at all. "I've got chocolate, candy, and much more."
"Ahh, Prudence, you're stealing my minions!" Dani complained, seeing some of the kids heading in her direction.
This repeated itself a few more times throughout the day.
In one of them, Daniel started singing to the children.
♫♪Once, I was seven years old, my sis told me
Go make yourself some friends, or you'll be lonely
Once, I was seven years old ♫♪
Claire, who was nearby, gave a small smile.
♫♪ It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger
Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker
By eleven, kissing girls and drinking burning liquor ♫♪
"Daniel! What are you singing to these kids?" Claire quickly pulled her brother aside, scolding him.
"Who's Daniel? I'm Santa."
This interaction made the kids laugh, leaving Claire conflicted, torn between being happy for them and even more annoyed at her brother.
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Later in the afternoon, everyone was heading back to Dani's house in the rented trailer for Christmas Eve dinner.
"Only after all that running around and jumping for him to finally calm down," Claire said with a hint of affection mixed with resignation, looking at her brother, who was sleeping all twisted on the trailer's couch.
Prudence was asleep, leaning against his shoulder, while Alex was doing the same on the other side.
Phil walked over, grabbed a camera, and started taking some photos to remember the moment. Lexi was also sneaking a few photos.
After a while, Claire woke him up. "Dani, we're already here."
"Mmm," he muttered groggily.
He looked to the side and saw the two girls sleeping on him.
He gently woke Prudence, but not his niece.
Dani carefully moved Alex's head to the side, stood up, and picked her up.
But he carried her like a sack of potatoes (or like a sack of presents, the way he'd been carrying them all day.)
"Oof," Alex woke up from the impact. "Dani! Couldn't you carry me like a princess?"
"Yikes, Alex! I'm your uncle. What are you thinking?"
Alex tried to throw a few punches at his back as a response.
"Sis, I've got a present for you," Dani said, ignoring his niece whining on his shoulder.
Claire joked, "If it's her, you can keep it."
"Mom!" Alex complained.
"Obviously, it's not her," Dani shook his head. "I always give awesome gifts!"
Alex headbutted him a couple of times.
"Oh, I also bought you a present, my beautiful niece," he added. "I got you a science kit, with a microscope included."
"I'm not a kid, Dani!"
"It's a semi-professional. The same kind they use in college, according to Leonard," Dani revealed.
Alex went quiet for a moment, until she awkwardly tried to hug him while she was still upside down, being carried.
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The whole family gathered for dinner. They were all wearing pajamas.
[Jay, Gloria and Dani commentary]
"This is another family tradition," Jay said, already in his new pajamas.
"On Christmas Eve night, at 9:00 sharp, we open one present each... pajamas, which we sleep in. And tomorrow we open more presents."
"But this year, we have a new addition-"
Gloria finished. "Fireworks! We do that in Colombia. At night, we set off fireworks. The sky looks beautiful, very Christmassy."
"Are you sure it's not just people shooting into the air?" Dani asked.
Jay chuckled, and Gloria shot him a glare.
"It's not!" she made a face, then murmured, "but there might be some during the fireworks..."
[Commentary ends]
Everyone watched the fireworks show in admiration.
"Ay, this is so beautiful," Gloria praised Dani.
"Of course! I hired a mini boat full of fireworks!" He revealed. "We are in America! Nothing feels more Christmassy than spending a lot of money!"
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Everyone went back to their homes, with some of the adults having to carry the already sleeping kids to their rooms.
Aside from Dani, only two girls quietly snuck back into the house.
"Really, Dani?" Prudence made an amused face, seeing that he had fallen asleep again.
Lexi stepped closer and whispered in his ear, "Dani, I'll let you do it-"
Before she could even finish, Dani's eyes snapped open like a robot that had just been switched on.
It was almost like watching his battery recharge in real time. "I'm full of energy!" he declared, jumping to his feet with both arms raised.
"You two took your time-" he complained but stopped when he saw what they were wearing. They weren't wearing the pajamas Jay had given them, but rather very sexy outfits.
"You were a good boy," Prudence said as she stepped closer and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Dani."
It wasn't exactly socks that were stuffed that night at his house. And Santa wasn't the only one coming.