Good Tidings, Toys and Other Things.

There were two Christmas trees at Millie’s Boarding House. One was in the lounge area for the residents to share and one was in Steve and Millie’s apartment. They were both beautiful as were the decorations that Millie applied throughout the business.

She may not have been a great cook but she had a keen eye and it showed. There was no way she’d forget a nice mistletoe kissing ball which she hung in the doorway to entice the residents. It would be interesting to see who took advantage of it.

Under the tree in the lounge were presents for all of the guests. Mille thought it would be a sad Christmas indeed if someone went without and after all, with their business doing so well she figured it would be a nice gesture to everyone who helped bring about the success of Millie’s Boarding House and Pub.

Brooklyn was up until nearly two in the morning. This was the first year that she was really aware of what was going to happen tonight. Steve did everything he could to get her to go to bed so he and Millie could wrap presents but she fought sleep until the sandman got frustrated enough to dump a shovel full of his enchanted dust on her.

"I can’t believe how fast she is growing. Two weeks ago she was in her walker, now she gets around faster than I do." Millie stated.

"I wish she never figured out how to get out of her crib. I guess its time we got her a big girl bed."

Millie nodded. "I think you’re right. She’s not even two yet and she sat on the potty this morning as well. I think she’ll be out of diapers before long."

Steve put his arm around Millie. "Its bittersweet watching her grow. I’m not sure if I want to celebrate her independence. It makes me feel more and more useless.

Millie bumped her forehead against his. "Don’t worry, daddy. You’ve still got a lot of years before she flees the nest and speaking of …"

Before she finished her sentence, Steve interrupted. "That reminds me. Do you think the Sheriff is still up?" Steve asked as Millie moved away. She grabbed the roll of paper and began to struggle to wrap a big pink ball.

"Yep. I bet that present he’s watching has kept him awake. I sure hope it didn’t make a mess.

"I sure hope it doesn’t make a mess here. Remember, this one was all your idea,"

"I think it’s about time Brook had one. Speaking of it, you better go get it before John does call it a night."

Steve hiked up his flannel pajama bottoms and pulled his tee shirt down. Hours of sitting on the sofa with Brook had him slightly disheveled. At this point he didn’t really care if the Sheriff teased him about the way he was dressed.

A few minutes later he returned with Brooks’s pressie. Handing it to Mille he sat beside her. "I think he was in a hurry to get rid of it."

"Aww well things will change for John soon. I feel it in my soul. He’ll find what we have, Steve."

"I sure hope so. He’s a great guy."

Steve picked up where Millie left off. He wasn’t quite as good as she was at wrapping but he managed to get the job done. "You think Brook will like this little camera? It’s made for kids her age. Looks like it’s indestructible to me. "

Mille laughed a little as she repositioned herself to support what was on her lap. "Too bad you didn’t have one when we first met. Remember what happened to your camera that day you were taking pictures at the candy factory in Pennsylvania?"

"I’ve been trying to forget that, Mil. They tried to make me pay for that vat of chocolate and it cost more than the damn camera."

"Just think of what we could have done with it." she replied

"Umhm." his imagination ran a bit wild as he came up with the wittiest reply he could. "Chocolate covered bananas for me to shoot."

They wrapped and laughed until every last package was placed beneath the tree, all but the one Milled still held on to. They sat down on the sofa to admire their handiwork but before long, fatigue took over and they were all cuddled together and sound asleep.

It was Steve who awoke first at the sound of Brooks little voice. Millie got up to fetch her and Steve took the special gift in his arms. He carried it off to the bathroom to hide it behind the closed door.

Milled dressed the child and walked with her into the living room. Brooklyn stood in awe of the pile of brightly colored presents. Her mind was full of stuff to say but since she was just a toddler all she could say was…."Santa Cwase, ball."

Millie picked her up and said "Yep honey. Santa brought you lots of presents last night."

Steve was rubbing his hands together as he came up behind them. "Where should we start, Punkin? Did I hear you say ball?" He moved to the tree to retrieve the package Mille had a hard time wrapping earlier. It was a simple pink plastic ball. The kind all kids love. Brook reached for it and tore off a piece of paper. She offered it to her daddy and uttered one word…"gaw-bage"

It made her parents laugh. "Do you think she’ll keep her room neat when she’s older?" Steve asked.

"Doubt it." Mille responded as she set Brookie down on the floor. Out of habit, Millie combed the little girl’s hair up while daddy handed the tyke another package. Brook tore the paper off of it, looking at her dad as if she might be doing something wrong for a moment but he encouraged her by ripping at it and throwing the paper aside.

"Go for it, honey!" he giggled

It didn’t take long for Brook to get the idea. She opened the next one then another but stopped after hearing a sound come from the bath.

"Ah." Steve said as he got up from the floor. He smiled at Millie then went to retrieve the one thing they’d got. When Steve returned, cradling the pup Brooks eyes lit up. He set the little pup on the floor in front of her.

Within moments the little dog was all over her, licking her face, making her giggle. She fell backwards, laughing madly as the pup nuzzled her neck.

"I think they like each other." Steve giggled again in that interesting way he did. It was contagious to Mille. She called it his ‘man giggle’. "Mill, its great isn’t it. We have another baby in the house now. Here we go again. No diapers with this one but we’ll have to housebreak him."

He sat down beside Brook to play with the little bulldog. "He needs a name now that he has a home. What do you think, Brook?" Its not like he expected her to answer but she did managed to say "Doggie."

Millie joined them on the floor and tried to pet the squirming evasive dog. "I think we should call him Christmas."

"Steve cocked his head. "Christmas? It sort of suits him with. Chris for short, huh?"

"I don’t know, I guess as long as Brookie approves,  but we couldn’t name him after you. By this time next year we’ll have another little one in the house and that may turn out to be a Steve Junior."

..that was not very subtle.

"You mean…."

"Yeah, Steve. I mean Brook is going to have a little brother or sister. Merry Christmas, dad."