The Christmas Tradition

The Christmas Tradition

Griffin and Agatha sat at the long dining room table, he at one end and she at the other.  There were plates set out complete with the proper utensils, napkins, wine glasses and side dishes.

“Do you think they will show?”

“Someone will show up.  And if they don’t, then we will have food for the next three weeks.”

He smiled that comforting smile that had first warmed her heart.  After Agatha’s first husband Felix had died, the middle-aged woman never thought that Cupid’s arrow would ever find her again.

But, it did.

Griffin was warm and caring. He had a huge heart and a great smile.

The door bell rang and they both got up at the same time.

“We do this together no matter who is at the door.”

“Absolutely.”

They walked out of the dining room and he had his arm around her waist. They went to the door and opened it. Sally, Frank, and their two children stood there with a bag full of presents.  

She was Agatha’s daughter.

“Merry Christmas,” bellowed Griffin.  He held his arms out and the two grandchildren just fell in them. He shook Frank’s hand and there was a moment’s hesitation before Sally hugged him.

“Come on in, it’s cold outside.”

“Wait until you see what we got you for Christmas grandpa.”  Larry looked at his mother and she tried to smile.

“You shouldn’t have, I have been a bad boy all year long.”

He tipped a wink towards Agatha who playfully tapped him on the shoulder.

The doorbell rang before they had walked ten steps. The older couple turned around, while Sally and family stopped cold unsure of what to do or expect.  

“I know it isn’t Ted because he will be the last to arrive.”  She was the only one that laughed at the joke.

The older couple opened the door and it was Ryan, Barb and their three kids.  

They were Griffin’s family.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, grandpa and grandma,” blurted out little Olivia.

Everyone turned to Agatha to see how she would handle it.  The woman threw her arms wide open and swallowed Olivia.

“Dear precious child,” there was a quiver in her voice.

“Shall we sit in the dining room or in the living room and wait for the others to show up?”

“If we wait for Ted to show up then we will wait forever.”

Once again, she was the only one that laughed at her joke.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on your brother. He had a tough year.”

“It’s okay, my two pick on each other all the time.”

He put his arm around Agatha’s waist again and she blushed like a school girl.

The doorbell rang again.

“Anybody want to make a bet who that could be?”

“It is probably yours. As much as I hate to admit it, my Ted is always chronically late.”

The newly married couple turned around and went to the door and opened it.

Bethany and the two children, Petula and Jake stood there.

“Merry Christmas,” bellowed Agatha.

“Merry Christmas,” returned the three of them.

“Merry Christmas you two love birds!” Ted popped out from behind the bush.

“See, he’s not the last one here.”

They walked inside and the others all greeted one another.

“Did you guys come together?”

“We did. After all, we don’t live that far apart. So I bumped into Ted about three weeks ago and asked him for plans on coming up here and he said that he didn’t have any, but needed some because he didn’t want to be late since this is like our very first Christmas all together.”

“So Bethany graciously offered to give me a ride to make sure that I wouldn’t be chronically late.”

“Good girl,” remarked Agatha.

“Shall we eat?”

“I am famished.”

“What does famish mean?” Petula looked at Ted.

“It means that I am so hungry I could eat a Petula for supper?”  He ran after her and tickled the little girl who squealed with delight.

Jake laughed out loud. 

“Hey, you can’t do that to my sister.”

“No, okay, what if I do it to you?”

He chased after Jake while Bethany looked at lovingly.

Griffin winked at Agatha. The others stood there and could read between the lines.

They sat at the dining room table interspaced and smiling.

“I’ve been looking toward this meal for weeks.”

“Nobody knows how to cook a turkey like mom.”

“Our mom made a great turkey,” said Bethany.

There was silence.

Griffin nodded his head.

“It’s been quite a year hasn’t it?”

They all looked at him and smiled.

“There was one marriage, one divorce and one estrangement. But, the most important thing is that we are all together on Christmas Eve.”

“I propose a toast to this blended family.”

“A toast to the blended family and may we enjoy a thousand holidays together.”

Everyone clung glasses.

Ted was a little uneasy because his sister kept staring at him. Bethany caught the stare and smiled.

Agatha frowned and then her eyes were as big as a sauce pan.

“You two are an item?”

Bethany and Ted smiled, turned red and then nodded their heads.

“Really?”  Griffin looked at his daughter and she felt he could see through her.

“About four months ago, we bumped into each other.  We started talking and she claimed that there was this leaky faucet that was going to require a plumber.  Well, mom always thought us that family helps family. So, we are family after all. I went over and fixed the leaky faucet and the creak in the door and a couple of other things. We put the little monsters to bed and then had a couple of glasses of win together.”

“We were going to say something about all of this, but decided to keep it a secret.”

“Are you in love?” Rod, Sally’s boy looked at them.

“Rod we do not ask-

“Yes, we are and in the new year are going to move in with each other.”

“But, you are like step-sister and step-brother. Isn’t that a little creepy?”

“Don’t think we haven’t thought about that. But true love conquers all.”

“Besides the whole step-brother and step-sister thing is kind of silly.”

He looked at his mother. She nodded his head.

“Are you sure, mother?”

“Yes, I am.  Now would be the perfect time.”

“I am adopted.”

Sally looked at her brother and couldn’t believe it.

“You are what? How come nobody told me?”

“Because, your father wanted to keep it a secret.  We did for a long, long time, but on his death bed he told your adopted brother.”

“So technically, you and I aren’t blood brother and sister.  But, Sally, I love you with all of my heart and always will. I have admired you from the time I could remember your presence.  Nothing will ever change that opinion.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I think we should start new Christmas traditions.”

“Like what?”

Griffin thought for a while and shrugged his shoulders.

“I just think it would be great if we did.”

“I have one: The last ones to arrive for Christmas diner have to do the dishes.”

Ted laughed. 

“That is not something that bothers me. In our home, the new one we are building together dish time is super fun. We chase the kids around with a towel, we sing and it is awesome great.”

Sally started to cry.

“Honey, what is it?”

“This is so beautiful.  Look at us. When you two were married back on Valentine’s Day, the four adult children just looked at each other and wondered what was going to happen.”

Ryan nodded his head.  

“Absolutely, Sally is one hundred percent right. I was scared to meet you and Ted. You don’t believe me then ask Barb.”

“He was terrified. He thought that he and Ted would have a fist fight.”

“Dude, how could you think that?”

“Because we are so different. It is not easy doing what we are doing. You two had so much courage to plunge into marriage again after losing your respective mates.”

“It takes a tremendous amount of courage.”

“I’ll weigh in on this. I wasn’t sure that the blended family thing would work out. I mean long before we met any one of you, my gal pal here and I swapped stories about all four of you kids, plus the grandkids. We wanted to know what we were getting into.”

“That makes sense.”

“I love this,” exclaimed Sally.

“We all love this,” said Bethany.

“I think that everyone should try and figure out a new tradition.”

“So do I.”

They smiled at each other, held hands and sang Silent Night before digging into the food.