Trixie Frayne’s spirits were high as she crossed the living room of the old farmhouse she and her husband were renovating, taking note of the variety of creatures to be found. Hearing Jim’s heavy tread in the mud room, she raised her voice in improvised song.

“On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three fluffy bunnies, two hound dogs and a kitty cat in a Christmas tree.” On closer inspection, she found that she had miscounted. “Actually, make that a pair of cats. And five – no, six – bunnies.”

Jim entered the room, shaking his head. “I will take credit for the dogs, and maybe even the cats, since I’m feeling charitable today, but I was not the one who thought it would be nice to keep rabbits.”

She opened her blue eyes wide in a show of mock innocence. “This is a farm, Jim. There’s supposed to be animals.”

“Yes, that’s what you say every time,” he answered, a rueful smile on his face. “I’m sure you know, however, that rabbits are not farm animals. And I have no idea what your parents are going to say when we turn up at their place with the whole menagerie.”

“I did warn them.” The innocent look was still there. “And it’s not like we didn’t turn up with pets last Christmas, too.”

“There are rather more now than there were then.” He gave the rabbits a pointed look. “There was the unfortunate matter of Fang over there turning out to not be a boy.”

“Okay, so that was a slight miscalculation, but they know about that one. And her name is Fluffy; not Fang.”

“Not to mention your experiment of keeping goats,” he added, heedless of her interruption.

“But they’re cute, and they keep the weeds down. And I made doubly sure they were all the same gender that time; they’re all girls.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Which didn’t help when someone else’s billy goat got in.”

She looked away. “No, I guess not.”

“And then there is the matter of the piglet – or, should I say, pig.”

She sank down onto a chair. “She was so cute when she was little, with all those spots. I just hope Moms won’t mind too much.”

Jim smiled and dropped a kiss onto her lips. “Your mother is one of the most incredible women I know. She will handle everything. I don’t expect her to like it, but she always copes.”

Trixie snuggled against him, her lips curving upwards in fond remembrance of all of the times her mother had coped with the unexpected. “Yeah, she will.”

They broke apart as the telephone began to ring and Trixie dashed off to pick it up.

“Hello? Oh, hi Moms! How are you?” Her expressive face showed her dismay as she listened to her mother’s answer. “Oh, no! Is there anything we can do to help?”

Jim stepped closer, concerned. His brows drew together as his wife’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh! Yeah, I guess we could. I’m not sure how that will work, but yes, Moms, of course we will.”

The conversation continued for only a couple of minutes longer.

“Okay. I’ll let you rest now. I hope you’re better soon. Don’t worry; we’ll take care of everything. Love you! Bye!”

She replaced the receiver and turned to him, her face filled with dismay. “She’s got pneumonia! She thought she’d be okay, and that she didn’t want to worry us, and that she’d still be able to do all of the things she usually does, but she’s just too sick. And she’s asked us to host the family for Christmas! Here!”

Jim cast a glance at their surroundings. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, Trixie, but the house is not really in a fit state. There’s only one inhabitable bedroom, the bathroom is barely functioning and the heating is inadequate, to say the least.”

“Well, hopefully, the heating will be better with about twenty extra people here, because there’s some kind of problem at the farm and they can’t host it there, even if Moms gets better in time. I’m not sure what that’s all about; she wasn’t really clear on that and I didn’t want to make her talk any more than she had to.”

“Twenty?” His alarm showed on his face.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, exactly. That was kind of a guess.”

He rubbed a hand across his face. “This is going to be difficult, Trix. Are you sure there’s nowhere better to have it?”

“You mean, like Honey and Brian’s apartment?” She pulled the phone towards herself, eyes sparkling with mischief. “I could call them and ask. Ten people could sleep in the bedroom and the other ten on the sofa. It would be fun, like a sleepover. Or, we could all try squeezing into Mart and Di’s little house. I’m sure no-one would mind sharing a bed with a two-year-old.”

He shook his head and put a hand over hers. “No, you’re right. If Crabapple Farm is out, this is the next best thing. But it’s going to be difficult.”

She wound her arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

He nodded. “Well, no time like the present. Let’s get to work.”

After a few days of frenzied preparations, they were ready to receive their first guests. Mart and Diana would be arriving that afternoon, children in tow, and staying for the longest time of any of the guests. Under other circumstances, Trixie would have been overjoyed to spend so much time with her almost-twin. They had been living in different states and able to see each other only a few times a year for nearly a decade. The fact that she had to childproof their work-in-progress renovation took some of the shine off the occasion.

“Bedding, towels, crockery and cutlery,” she muttered, as she stalked through the house. “Lots of food. Did we pick all those nails and screws out of the carpet? And what about that loose board in the hallway?”

Jim heard the last few entries on her list and reached out to halt her progress. “It’s going to be okay, Trix. Everything’s under control.”

“I know.” She let out a sigh. “I’m just sure I’ve forgotten something!”

“Whatever it is, let’s hope it’s not too serious because I think I just heard them arrive.”

At once, her face broke out in a joyful smile. “You did? Let’s go and see!” Only a few steps away, however, she stopped short. “Oh, no! The hall closet! That’s what I’ve forgotten. You go ahead, Jim, and I’ll be along as soon as I’ve cleared this up.”

Jim looked at the mess Trixie had created earlier while searching for an extra extension cord and nodded once, before heading for the door. Trixie barely gave him a glance, but turned to the task at hand, bundling all manner of odds and ends back onto the shelves. No one would be able to find anything, but it was, in her opinion, better than leaving the things on the floor for the kids to chew on or play with.

Just as she finished, she heard the door open and someone enter. Hastily shoving the last few items away, she leaned on the door until the catch clicked and turned to greet her visitors.

“Oh, it’s wonderful to see you!” Trixie cried, hugging her brother. “It feels like ages since the last time.”

“You’ve done a lot of work since we were last here,” he commented, just as she released him in order to hug Di. “It’s looking good.”

She screwed up her nose for a moment. “It’s still a long way from being finished. Di, it’s great to see you, too.”

“I am so glad we’ve arrived,” Di added, squeezing Trixie for a moment and then letting her go. “The kids hate being cooped up in the car for so long and they were about to drive me insane!”

“Speaking of… where are Sam and Emily?” Trixie asked.

Mart gestured to the door through which they had entered. “Jim’s giving them the grand tour. He mentioned something about goats and a pig.”

Trixie smiled. “Oh, they’re going to have a great time here, I’ll bet. We’ve got a few animals, now.”

Diana looked pointedly at the rabbits that hopped here and there, the dog lying on the hearth and the rather bedraggled Christmas tree, in which two cats perched amidst a wide variety of novelty-shaped lights. “A few?”

Trixie nodded. “Yes, so far, it’s just goats and a pig and the house-animals. We’re planning, when the old stables are ready, to have horses as well. And maybe some other animals, too, but we haven’t decided exactly what.”

“So, where are we staying?” Mart asked, to change the subject. “I should put our luggage away.”

“You’re over this way,” Trixie answered. She gestured for them to follow her. “We’ve got a couple of rooms here that you can have. It’s not as good as the guest suite at Crabapple Farm, but it’s the best I could do on such short notice.”

“Where’s the bathroom?” Di asked, as they headed over to see their rooms.

Trixie grimaced. “Small problem there.”

Mart eyed her with suspicion.

“See, we didn’t know that we were going to be hosting,” she hurried to explain. “If we had, we’d have prioritised things differently, but we didn’t, so we didn’t, and – well, there’s just one bathroom for everyone.”

“One?” Di’s face showed her dismay. “For how many people?”

Trixie’s eyes squeezed shut. “Today, six. Tomorrow, eight. The next day… um, I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

“The entire family with just one bathroom.” Diana did not look at all amused.

“Not the entire family,” Trixie hastened to clarify. “The Abercrombies next door are going to their son’s the day after tomorrow and they’re letting us have a few people stay in their place.”

“I have little children!” Di reminded her. “When they need to go, they need to go right now – like, in the next fifteen seconds. This is not going to go well.”

Trixie gave a helpless shrug. “I can’t really do anything about it. We didn’t know that we were going to need a second bathroom and it was too late when we did know. The people who built this house had nine children and they coped somehow.”

“Well, I hope your laundry room is fully functional.” Di’s expression was stern, with a hint of underlying dread.

“Mostly,” Trixie answered. “Except for the bits that aren’t.”

Mart was struggling to hide his amusement behind a frown. “Not helping, Trixie.”

She slumped against the nearest wall. “Well, I can’t do anything about it, so we’re just going to have to make do with what we’ve got.”

“And the Abercrombies have lent us some things they have for their grandchildren,” Jim added, “including a potty. The kids will be fine, Di. It’s the adults that are going to have a problem.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better, Jim,” she answered, with a hint of a smile.

“We’re doing the best we can,” he answered. “And if there’s anything you need, just tell us and we’ll see what we can come up with.”

The setting sun cast an orange light across the upper portion of the house, while closer to the ground the shadows grew longer. Jim stowed the bucket he carried in the barn, before turning his steps towards the back door. The outside animals were settled for the night and it was time to get inside, out of the cold. As he neared the house he could hear Trixie and Diana making dinner preparations, with a lively conversation to speed the time. Mart had been given the responsibility of supervising the children, who were brimming with excitement at all of the new and interesting things to see and do. After washing his hands and hanging up his coat, Jim stuck his head into the kitchen to see if there was anything that needed to be done.

“… and then he said, ‘I think there’s something that you should see.’”

Jim grimaced at what he was sure was a spirited retelling of his discovery that all of the goats were expecting.

“Anything you need me to do?” he asked.

Trixie glanced around and seemed to be satisfied with what she saw. “Set the table?”

He nodded and headed for the dining room, passing by the doorway to the living room on his way. Mart and the kids were in there, sitting on the floor. Each child was cuddling a rabbit. Jim hesitated as he passed.

“I did warn you that Fang bites, didn’t I?” he asked Mart.

Mart’s face lit with mischief. “Trixie insists that rabbit’s name is Fluffy and that she’s the sweetest rabbit in the history of the world.”

Jim’s face showed his opinion on the subject. “That goes to show how much your sister knows about rabbits. It’s possibly the most evil rabbit in the history of the world.”

His brother-in-law laughed. “Well, I know which one is the spawn of Satan and I’m making sure the kids only play with the nicer pets.”

“Daddy, can we have bunnies at home?” Sam asked, a cherubic look on his face. “Please?”

“Pease?” repeated Emily, copying her brother’s expression.

Mart looked down into the expectant faces of his offspring. “Maybe we should leave playing with rabbits for a special treat when we come to visit Aunt Trixie.”

“Aunt Twisty let me have one,” Emily asserted. “I want that one.”

When Sam was first learning to talk, he had found the ‘Tr’ sound in Trixie’s name impossible to make. His best attempt had sounded more like ‘Twisty’ than ‘Trixie’ and Mart – after he stopped laughing – had done nothing to correct him. The name had stuck and Emily had picked it up from her brother.

“She’ll let me have one, too,” Sam added. “I’ll have this one. And then we can have baby rabbits.”

“Please, no!” Mart muttered under his breath.

“It’s almost time for dinner,” Jim told them, changing the subject. “Why don’t you let the rabbits go and you can wash up?”

Emily hugged her rabbit tighter. “Bunny come with me.”

“I’ll leave that for you to deal with,” Jim told his brother-in-law. “I need to go set the table.”

“Thanks,” Mart replied, with sarcasm. “Thanks a whole lot.”

The sun was dropping below the tops of the trees on the next ridge when Trixie’s parents pulled into the yard the next day. Several of the house’s inhabitants hurried out to greet them, including Trixie and the children.

“Moms, Dad!” She reached out with the hand that wasn’t holding Emily onto her hip and opened her mother’s car door. “How are you feeling?”

Her mother gave her a half-hearted smile. “Tired. I just don’t seem to have any energy at all. But, at least I don’t feel sick any more.”

She had, by this time, hugged both children and taken the smaller one onto her lap.

Trixie smiled at the picture her mother and the children presented. “Come on in. Don’t worry about the bags, Dad. Jim will get them in a minute.”

Peter Belden ignored the last directive and picked up their bags to carry inside. He followed along as Trixie led her mother into the house.

“You sit right here where it’s warm, Moms,” Trixie directed, almost pushing her mother into a chair. “I’ll just get you a nice, warm drink. And here’s the knitted thingummy that Aunt Alicia gave us as a house-warming gift. It’s nice and warm.”

“I’m fine, Trixie, and it’s crocheted.” Helen’s smile was gentle. “But thank you for wanting to look after me.”

Trixie smiled and went off to the kitchen to prepare the promised drink. Jim and her father, meanwhile, had gone up to drop the bags in one of the bedrooms. In a few minutes, Trixie returned to the living room with a tray filled with mugs. She handed one of them to her mother, who had a grandchild on either side of her.

“Sam and Emily have been telling me about all the animals,” Helen commented, after taking her first sip. “They say you have about a hundred.”

Trixie giggled. “There’s not that many. Definitely not.”

“And they mentioned baby goats. And a pig.”

“Her name is Ermintrude,” Trixie answered. “She was so cute when she was little.”

“Exactly how many pets were you planning on bringing home, Trixie?” her mother asked, aghast.

Trixie began calculating on her fingers, but decided it was better not to give an actual number. “There’s not that many of them. And Jim and I would have looked after them all. They wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Want a bunny,” Emily put in. “Grammy give me bunny?”

“I haven’t got any bunnies to give you, sweetheart,” Helen answered.

Emily slid off the sofa. “I get bunny.”

“I’d better keep an eye on her,” Trixie decided, excusing herself.

“I want to continue this discussion later!” her mother called after her.

“Sure, Moms! Later.” Trixie disappeared around a corner and Helen remained behind, shaking her head.

The next arrival was Bobby Belden, and he came with something of a surprise. Only the early risers were up and about when his old car pulled into the yard. Jim greeted his brother-in-law with an offer of coffee and breakfast, but stopped short as he noticed that the young man was not alone.

“Ah… is it okay that I brought Shelby with me?” Bobby asked. “She didn’t have anywhere else to go and, well, I didn’t want her to be alone at Christmas.”

Jim hesitated only a moment. “I’m sure we can find somewhere for her to sleep. Nice to meet you, Shelby.”

The slim, dark-haired girl smiled, looking nervous, and began pouring out effusive thanks.

“It’s no trouble,” Jim answered at the first available opportunity. “We didn’t know we’d be hosting until about a week ago, so there are a few things that are a bit disorganised, but I hope you’ll enjoy your time here.”

He renewed the offer of breakfast, which was gratefully accepted, and ushered the pair into the kitchen.

Half an hour later, Trixie bounced down the stairs in search of her own breakfast. As she passed the living room and saw the back of an unfamiliar head, she paused, then went in search of her husband. She found him feeding the goats.

“Who is that girl?” she demanded, in a low voice, as if they might be overheard all the way from inside the house.

Jim looked up from his task. “A friend of Bobby’s. Her name’s Shelby.”

“A friend of Bobby’s.” She glanced towards the house. “A girl, who is a friend of Bobby’s.”

“Yes,” Jim confirmed. “That is the impression that I got.”

“Well, is she a friend, or a girlfriend?”

Jim shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”

“Jim! This is important!”

“Well, maybe you should ask her,” he suggested, smiling. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.”

She considered this for a moment, then smiled in return. “Okay, then, I will.”

Turning on her heel, she returned to the house and marched into the living room. Her younger brother looked up with a guilty expression.

“Oh, hi, Trixie. Good to see you.”

“And you,” she answered, kissing his cheek. “I hear you brought a friend.”

As she watched, his cheeks tinged with a hint of pink. “Yeah. Shelby, come and meet my sister.”

“It’s so good of you to have me, Mrs. Frayne. I’m sorry to show up like this unannounced.”

“Call me Trixie,” she urged, shooting a questioning glance at her brother, who shrugged and looked innocent. “And it’s no trouble.”

After a few minutes of pleasantries, Shelby excused herself and left the siblings alone. As soon as she was out of earshot, Bobby turned on Trixie with a worried expression.

“It’s okay, isn’t it Trix?” he asked in a low voice. “I would have called, but–”

“You didn’t want me to say no,” his sister finished for him, grinning at his discomfort. “Yeah, it’s okay. I don’t know where she’s going to sleep, but I guess we’ll find somewhere.”

“She can have my bed,” he offered. “I can sleep on the sofa, or something.”

“Who says you were getting a bed?” Trixie teased. “And anyway, the sofa’s taken.”

“Fine. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

She shook her head. “The heating is a little bit… unreliable, I guess you could call it. You’d half-freeze.”

“Well, where do you suggest I sleep?” he asked, getting irritable.

“I said I don’t know. I’m working on it. I’ll get back to you, okay?” She rolled her eyes. “Now, there’s some things I need to know. First: is she a girlfriend, or a friend who happens to be a girl?”

Once more, his cheeks tinged pink. “We-e-e-e-ll, she’s kind of…”

Enlightenment came to Trixie, in spite of his lack of answer. “A prospective girlfriend? So this isn’t a meet-the-family thing in disguise.”

“What? No!” He shook his head, hard. “See, she was going to go to her father’s for Christmas, because she went to her mother’s for Thanksgiving, only then she found out that her step-sister would be there, and so she argued with her father, but after she said she wouldn’t go to him, her mother said she couldn’t go to her, either, because of something to do with her step-father’s uncle, or something.”

Trixie paused to digest that for a moment. “That answers my other question, I guess.” She sighed. “I guess we’re lucky that we don’t have one of those complicated families. I thought it was complicated enough figuring out where everyone should sleep.”

“Speaking of which,” he reminded her, “I still need somewhere.”

“I’m on it,” she answered, giving his arm a pat. “I won’t make you sleep on the floor; promise!”

Before the children’s bedtime on Christmas Eve, Trixie took great delight in preparing and helping them to set out what she considered to be the essentials.

“Now, what is it that reindeer eat?” she asked the pair. “Do you think they like cookies?”

“No!” they chorused.

Sam continued, “Silly Aunt Twisty. Reindeers eat carrots!”

Emily nodded her agreement.

“Oh, do they?” Trixie asked, wide-eyed. “I wonder, do you think they might like the feed we give our goats? I think I have some of that in this box.”

The children agreed and found a good place to set out the box of feed and a couple of carrots that Trixie supplied.

“What about Santa?” Sam asked. “He doesn’t eat goat food.”

“Maybe he’s the one I brought these cookies for,” Trixie suggested. “What do you think?”

“Yes!” they both cried together and Emily clapped her hands.

“Milk, too,” Sam told her. “Where’s the milk?”

Trixie placed a glass next to the plate of cookies. “What do you think? Is that everything?”

Both children nodded.

“Okay, then, the next thing we need is for everyone to be in bed. Santa won’t come if anyone’s watching, will he?”

Emily’s brow creased in confusion, but Sam took her hand and hustled her off.

“Good night!” Trixie caught up and kissed each child’s cheek. “See you in the morning!”

Diana took over from there and took her children off to bed.

Honey and Brian arrived last of all, some hours later. Sam and Emily had long been asleep and the household had settled into quiet conversation when the sound of their car broke the stillness outside. Trixie hurried to the door to let them in, ushering them into the warmth.

“Sorry we’re so late.” Brian guided his wife ahead of him into the house and set down the suitcase he carried. “I didn’t get away from work until later than expected.”

“You’re an hour earlier than we thought you’d be,” his sister answered, after kissing his cheek in greeting. “Have you eaten? Can I get you something to drink?”

“Warm drinks would be lovely,” Honey answered. “I’ll help you fix them. Brian, what do you want?”

“Decaf, please.” He picked up the suitcase once more. “Where’s our room? I’ll just take this up.”

“Here. I’ll show you,” Jim offered, taking the suitcase from him. “You’re next to us. I’m sorry it’s not more salubrious, but we didn’t have much time.”

The two men left the room talking about renovations and the two women entered the kitchen. Trixie set the water boiling and began pulling out mugs and other requirements.

“It’s so good to see you,” she told her best friend. “You’re looking great.”

Honey smiled and squeezed Trixie’s arm. “I can barely believe we’re finally here. It’s been too long since we got together and I can’t wait to see what you’ve done to the place, and meet all the latest animals. Was Jim really as annoyed as you said he was?”

“About the baby goats, or about the pig, or about the cute little bunnies?”

“Any of those.” Honey giggled. “I had a mental image of Jim turning as red as his hair, with steam coming out of his ears.”

“It was almost like that, all three times,” Trixie answered, joining in the giggling. “But he doesn’t mind, really. I’m thinking, for my next animal, that I might get llamas. Then I could say that my husband is a llama farmer.”

“Please, no,” Jim groaned, as he and Brian re-entered the room. “No more livestock until the place is finished, please, Trix. And, even then, the next thing we need is the horses.”

“I always wanted a horse,” Trixie remembered, brightening. “Maybe the llamas can come after the horses.”

“Or, just maybe, we can decide we have enough animals for the moment,” Jim suggested.

“Maybe what she needs is a baby,” Brian put to Jim, with a serious expression on his face. “She might be projecting her mothering instincts onto the animals.”

Trixie burst out laughing, but put her hands over her mouth almost at once. “Oops! If I don’t watch out, I’ll wake Mart’s babies and he’ll have my hide.”

“Besides,” Jim added, “I don’t think it’s so much mothering instincts as an instinct for mischief that she’s expending on them. I keep telling myself that the animals keep her out of trouble, but it’s hard to remember when they seem to be multiplying before my eyes.”

“You really like having all the animals around. Admit it.”

Jim gave a long-suffering sigh. “It might have been a bit nicer if you’d chosen useful animals, like, for example, chickens.”

“Chickens are boring,” Trixie replied. “And we don’t have a chicken coop.”

“That could have been remedied,” he answered, in even tones. “But I don’t suppose it matters. We’ll have bacon sometime very soon.”

“We will not!” His wife fixed him with a glare. “We will not be eating Ermintrude. She’s a pet.”

“A pet pig,” Brian noted, frowning. “Jim, it’s lovely to visit, but I’m so glad I don’t live here!”

After Honey and Brian retired to their room, Trixie set about moving the enormous pile of presents out of the storage area and under the tree. She had assured Mart and Di that it was no trouble, but now that the time had come, the job had assumed massive proportions.

“Need a hand?” Jim asked, poking his head around the door.

“Please,” she answered. “Where, exactly, did all of these gifts come from?”

He shrugged in reply and began gathering them up. “A few here, a few there, and it all adds up.”

“It’s going to take about an hour to move them all, and after that I have some things to do in the kitchen to be ready for the morning. I’m almost sorry I fed Santa’s cookies and milk to Brian; I might need a snack before I’m done. The way things are going, I’ll be lucky to get to bed before I have to get up again!”

He shook his head at her exaggeration and set to work. When they had more than half of the pile shifted, he laid a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Go and fix things in the kitchen,” he suggested. “I’ll finish up here and I’ll see you upstairs when you’re done.”

She stopped to kiss him for a fleeting moment. “Thanks. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

He smiled and continued moving the gifts, while Trixie headed for the kitchen, humming softly. He finished his task first and then leant against the kitchen doorway, watching his wife work. In spite of her claims to the contrary, she seemed to thrive on the challenge of housing and feeding the entire family.

At length, she ran her eyes around the room and nodded in satisfaction.

“Done?” he asked, smiling down at her.

Trixie nodded. “Let’s get to bed. I want to make sure I wish you a merry Christmas.”

Jim smiled and followed her upstairs.

“Wake up! Wake up!” The shrill voice rang through the house, rousing various sleepers from their dreams. “Santa’s come! It’s time to wake up!”

After the voice came a volley of small footsteps. Another small voice joined the first.

“Santa come?”

“Yeah, Santa came and there’s presents and he ate our cookies and the reindeers ate the carrots and everything! Come on, let’s get everybody up!”

Trixie groaned. “It can’t really be morning yet, can it?”

Beside her, Jim chuckled. “Just because you stayed up too late, doesn’t mean the morning gets postponed for everyone.”

“Remind me again why I did that.”

He snaked an arm across her waist and pulled her to himself. “Because you wanted the children to have a great morning and for everyone to have a good day today.”

She sighed against his chest and snuggled in. “I guess that’s worth it. But did morning have to come quite so soon? What time is it, anyway?”

“Nearly half-past five.” He paused a moment, listening. “I think Mart and Di have told the kids it’s too early. You might just have a reprieve.”

“Not a very long one,” she answered. “There’s lots to do this morning.”

“Well, let’s enjoy this while it lasts,” he suggested, pulling her closer.

“Mmm. Good thinking.”

Some time later, a small fist banged on their door and a voice yelled, “Get up, Aunt Twisty! It’s time for presents!”

This time, Trixie bounded out of bed. “Oops! I’d better get in that kitchen and get things started if we want to eat today and not tomorrow.”

She raced down the stairs in her dressing gown and slippers, only to find Honey already resident in the kitchen, fully clothed and with everything under control.

“Merry Christmas, Trixie!” she cried, on seeing her sister-in-law.

Trixie pulled her into a hug. “Merry Christmas, Hon. And am I glad to see you here. I thought I’d slept in.”

“No, everything’s fine. Go up and get dressed. I don’t think Mart will be able to keep those kids occupied much longer.”

Even as she was speaking, Sam raced in and grabbed Trixie around the legs. “Please, Aunt Twisty! Hurry!”

“Okay, I’ll be back down in a minute or two.”

His face puckered into an expression of woe. “A whole minute?”

“It won’t be long at all,” she promised, giving him a squeeze and detaching herself from his grasp. “Go back to the living room and leave Aunt Honey in peace. I’ll be there in no time.”

She took the stairs two at a time, barely avoiding a collision with her husband as he descended at a more sedate pace.

“Where’s the fire?” he called after her, not expecting an answer.

In her bedroom, Trixie threw on her clothes and hustled back downstairs. She arrived at the same time as Honey and only moments after her parents.

“I’ve got breakfast keeping warm in the oven,” Honey explained, as they found seats together. “We’ve got a few minutes to spend here before things start drying out.”

“Please, please, can we open presents now?” Sam asked, on his knees at Mart’s feet. “Please?”

Mart glanced around at the gathered family. Helen and Peter were there, as were Honey and Brian, Jim and Trixie, Bobby and Diana. The rest of the guests were either still upstairs in their rooms, or over at the Abercrombie house.

“I think we can let them open one present, now,” Peter Belden suggested. “I’m sure no one else will mind.”

“Present now?” Emily asked, wide-eyed.

Diana got down on the floor with her children and extricated one gift for each of them. Before she had finished wishing them a merry Christmas, paper was flying as Sam tore into his. Emily was a little bit more restrained. In moments, both children were crying out in delight, Sam at the train set he had received and Emily at her new doll.

While Emily was happy with her one present, Sam was eager for more.

“Can I have that one?” he asked, pointing to a large box. “Please?”

His grandfather leaned closer. “That one isn’t for you.”

“Or this one?” Sam asked. His eyes widened and he let out an exaggerated gasp, before reaching out and snagging some small item between thumb and finger. “Look! Look! Daddy, Santa left one of his beard hairs!”

Mart’s eyes darted from the fine spiral his son held to his sister’s head of blonde curls. “Is it really?” he asked, feigning surprise. “Aren’t you lucky to have spotted it?”

The adults suppressed smiles as Sam began babbling about what he might do with a genuine Santa beard-hair. He was still going when footsteps sounded on the stairs, heralding the arrival of the rest of the in-house guests. Only a few moments later, there was a firm knock at the door.

“That’ll be the ones staying next door,” Jim predicted, pushing to his feet.

“Time for breakfast?” Honey asked the family, as Trixie rushed to let the newcomers in.

“One more present?” begged Sam.

Mart scooped him up. “After breakfast, sport. We’ll all have presents together, then. But first, I think Aunt Honey made some pancakes.”

“Yum!” cried Sam and wriggled down in order to race off to the dining room.

“He’s his father’s son,” Peter noted, clapping Mart on the back.

Mart took the familiar teasing with good grace and followed Sam to the table. Diana had to urge Emily along, so intent was she on cuddling her new baby. They were surrounded by the laughing, talking crowd of extended family at the beginning of a big day.

Late on Christmas night, Jim and Trixie settled in front of the fire to unwind. The room was lit only by the flickering flames and the confused jumble of specialty lights that blinked on the Christmas tree. Some of their guests had left for the evening to stay in the Abercrombie house next door. Others had returned to their own homes. The rest had retired to their rooms. The exhausted children had succumbed to sleep hours ago. Even the pets were sleeping in their various resting places.

“Well, we survived,” Trixie noted, dropping her head on her husband’s shoulder. “I wasn’t sure we were going to, but we did.”

He smiled and kissed her hair. “You did a great job, under difficult circumstances.”

“If I never have to host Christmas again, it will be too soon!”

Jim chuckled. “That’s a pity. I’ve told your mother we can do this every year from now on.”

“You what?” she demanded, sitting up and facing him. “Jim! You didn’t!”

“Well, no, I didn’t. But she did hint that it might be a good idea.”

She shuddered elaborately and curled up in his arms. “I don’t think so, but ask me again after the renovations are finished.”

“Your mother did mention that your pets aren’t invited if next Christmas is back at Crabapple Farm.”

Trixie pushed back, outraged. “My pets? Don’t you mean, our pets?”

He laughed softly. “Our pets are the dogs – and, just maybe, the cats. Your pets are all the other ones and most especially that evil rabbit.”

She pouted. “You really don’t like Fluffy, do you?”

Jim pulled her closer and kissed the pout away. “For you, Trixie, I will even put up with the hell-beast known as Fluffy. However, I will not pretend to like her.”

Trixie laughed. “Well, if that’s the best you can offer, I think I’ll take it.”

The End