It’s practically a godly entity of its own when it's awakened.
Every time I think my sexual credit card is maxed out, he touches me and I'm ready to go shopping again.
And we all know how much I love to shop.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24TH
Cookies for Santa.
12:30pm
“Kiki! Kiki! Gracie wants presents!” I wake up to the sound of Gracie screaming outside my door.
I crack one eye open, hoping she will stop so I can go back to sleep. I look at Aiden. He’s out. I smile smugly, loving the knowledge that it was me who made him so tired.
Gracie lets out a high-pitched scream, similar to the sound I think someone would make had they just been stabbed.
Aiden jumps up. “What’s wrong?”
I grab a robe, quickly wrap it around me, and throw open the door. “Gracie! Are you okay?”
She’s sitting calmly on the floor, staring up at me with an angelic smile. “Gracie needs presents. And cookies for Santa.”
I scoop her up and carry her into my room, noticing Aiden isn’t in bed anymore. “Gracie, when you screamed like that, I thought you were hurt. You need to use your inside voice.”
She puts her hand on her hip. “Gracie did use her inside voice but Kiki no answer. I scream because I need Kiki now!”
“What do you need?” I ask again, as I hear the shower running in my bathroom.
Dang. I want to be in there with him.
Gracie must see me looking longingly at the bathroom door because she stands on the bed and grabs my face with her chubby little hands and forces me to look at her.
“Gracie need cookies for Santa.”
“You can’t put cookies out for Santa until tonight, before you go to bed.”
Her face starts turning red, a sure sign she’s ready to have a meltdown. I glance at the clock, surprised to see it’s just past noon. The last time Aiden used my credit card was around six this morning.
Is it bad that I can’t wait to get him back into bed with me?
But it’s Christmas Eve and I’m here with my family, so I pull Gracie off my bed and carry her to my closet. “Why don’t you pick me out something to wear, and then we’ll go make some cookies. How does that sound?”
She gives me a broad smile, wraps her arms around my neck, and lays her head on my shoulder. I automatically pat her back gently and sway with her in front of the closet. “Are you tired, Gracie?”
“No!” she says, leaving her head on my shoulder.
I wrap my arm around her tighter, close my eyes, and keep swaying.
She smells so good. A mixture of baby shampoo and sweetness.
I’m so glad I got to come here. To watch Tommy and Mom finally say I do. To hear Damian profess his love for Peyton in front of everyone. To experience what Aiden and I shared last night. To hold my sister in my arms while she falls asleep.
I pray it’s not the last time. That I get to hold her like this until she gets too big. That I’m part of her life for a long, long time. That I’ll see her experience all the things she wants. That I’ll give her advice about friends and boys, so she won’t make all the stupid mistakes I did.
Aiden clears his throat. When I turn around to face him, I realize I’m in tears.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly.
I nod.
“You really think you might not survive this, don’t you?”
I nod again as he very slowly sits on the bed, my reality finally hitting him full force.
He sits there for a minute, processing it. Then he stands up and wraps both Gracie and me in a hug.
“You always know how to make me feel better,” I whisper.
“I love you, Keatyn,” he says, kissing my forehead.
“Gracie love Kiki too,” Gracie whispers.
Misty toes.
2pm
When we’re in the kitchen making cookies with the girls, Aiden asks me, “So what are your Christmas traditions? Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas day?”
“We have dinner, take pictures, then open all our presents from each other. On Christmas morning, we open our stockings, eat homemade cinnamon rolls, and open our gifts from Santa.”
Aiden smiles. “That sounds fun. I bet the girls will be up really early.”
“Usually around six. When the kids get up, we all have to get up.”
“Those are Grandpa’s rules,” Grandma Douglas says, adding a dollop of frosting to a cookie.
“Well, Christmas is for kids,” Grandma Stevens agrees, putting the finishing touches on a gingerbread man.
Later, I take a plate of cookies to the guys, who are in the library, drinking scotch and bullshitting.
Aiden and I go into the living room to sit down and relax.
“So, I get to give you your presents tonight, right?”
“You already got me a beautiful ring, Aiden. I don’t need anything else.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Too bad. Already bought them.”
The triplets come tearing into the room and about hit me in the face with a green leaf.
Thank goodness I duck fast.
“Slow down. What are you doing?”