Two nights before Christmas, after dinner, ten year old Dana had just settled into her room to watch a marathon of Friends when there was a knock at her door.

“Come in,” she called.

“Did you start already?” Jesse asked.

“Nope. Just getting ready.”

“Mom’s got the O’s cd going.”

“That’s why I came up here a while ago,” Dana said dryly. “She’s been listening to it all month! O Little Town of Bethlehem, O Christmas Tree, O Come All Ye Faithful. At least she doesn’t start them in November; I’d be totally burned out on them by Christmas and I love those songs.”

“It looks like she trapped Tim into helping her in the kitchen.”

“That’s why I raided it early,” Dana laughed. “Besides, Tim is probably hoping to stuff his face with whatever she’s working on. I’ve got the popcorn, and chocolate and plenty of soda.”

“Awesome. I snagged some Twizzlers, Raisinets and fudge covered oreos.”

Dana wrinkled her nose. “I’m not touching the Raisinets. You know how I feel about fruit and chocolate being mixed.”

“Yes, dear sister, I will eat the fruit-tainted chocolate for you.” Jesse parroted his sister. “Those are for me anyway. It’s a royal pain in the tail to keep Tim out of them so I know they’re safe in here. I think he goes looking for my stash of them, he’s turning into a bottomless pit!”

Brother and sister arranged their snacks and started their marathon.

***

Thirteen year old Aralyn Duke shook her cousin Tiffany awake.

“What? What’s wrong?” Tiffany asked groggily.

“Come on, it’s time. I saw the twins sneak back in about 15 minutes ago. They should be asleep by now!” came the enthusiastic answer.

Tiffany groaned. “I was asleep.”

She sat up to find her older cousin sitting on her heels on the bed, her blonde hair disheveled. The curtain was open and moonlight streamed in. Somehow she didn’t doubt Aralyn had been sitting there half the night.

“You really want to go through with this?” Tiffany asked.

“Yes. If we don’t, the twins will get the drop on us tomorrow during the snowball fight. Again.”

Tiffany sighed. “Ari, I’m warm and cozy and don’t care about snowballs right now.”

Aralyn rolled her eyes. “Tiff, come on, we decided last night! I watched the twins the whole time, I know where the stashes are.”

Aralyn scrambled off the bed and was pulling clothes on over her pajamas. “Come on! I couldn’t call Tim without waking everyone. It’s up to us.”

Tiffany sighed and reluctantly threw back the covers. “If we get caught sneaking out, there won’t be any Survivor for a month!”

“They’re on hiatus,” her cousin answered breezily. “Come on. I’ve got a stash of Godiva for you when we get back.”

The promise of her favorite chocolate perked Tiffany up a little bit as she reached for her clothes.

A few minutes later they carefully made their way downstairs. Skipping the fourth step down because it creaked, stepping to the left on the sixth stair because it squeaked, and sliding down the banister for the last few just because it was fun, they made their way to the front door.

Carefully they put on boots, jacket and gloves. Bo had been threatening to install a security system but he hadn’t done it yet. Tiffany made sure she had her key, just in case, and Aralyn carefully cracked the front door open.

They tiptoed out and Aralyn shut the door silently. With a grin she led Tiffany to the first stash of snowballs the twins had made.

It had puzzled them the last two years, how the twins were always so fast at making snowballs during the big snowball fight on Christmas Eve. They were like rockets, darting around the yard, scooping up snow and hurling them at their cousins and siblings. Tim finally caught on last year, after it ended, when he realized there were some already made snowballs stashed under one of the bushes.

This year the three oldest cousins had decided they were going to get the twins back. Aralyn had sat up most of the night watching them from her window, and making note of where the piles were.

She pointed to another one and mimed to Tiffany where to move them. The cousins set about, quickly moving the snowballs to their own desired locations. The four twins were in for a rude surprise come tomorrow!

After half an hour, Aralyn was satisfied they had moved and hidden the snowball piles sufficiently.

No one had realized they were out of bed, so the door hadn’t been locked. Letting themselves back in, Tiffany snuck into the kitchen, grabbing paper towels. They dried off the snow and dripping water from their boots, and returned their jackets to their spots on the coat tree.

Giggling, they grabbed cookies from the giant pile, and big glasses of milk before cautiously sneaking back up the stairs. Smothering their laughter, they shed their outside clothes and climbed into bed. Aralyn produced the dark chocolate Godiva truffles she had promised her cousin and they spent the next half hour stuffing themselves with chocolate, cookies and milk, before falling asleep as the sun crept up.

***

Christmas Eve day dawned clear and cold, with a few snow flurries drifting down. The cousins started arriving for breakfast and the snowball fight. Both sets of blond twins were smirking. Tiffany and Aralyn gave Tim a thumbs-up, and he grinned.

When it came time to choose teams, the three oldest cousins immediately formed one team, the four blond twins were another. It was part of their tradition, and then the others would join. Jace and Jesse joined Aralyn’s team, Dana and Rayma joined the twins. Riley opted not to play, and the Frayne kids were too young and small for what always turned into a rough and tumble sport amongst their rowdy cousins.

The adult men stood outside to watch, drinking coffee. The women stayed indoors to watch from where it was warm, sipping coffee and hot chocolate. Regan Frayne was inside with his cousin Sean, under the watchful eye of Moms Belden, while Byron and Valerra stood outside with their dad, longing to be old enough to join in. Their mother Hallie was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re gonna cream you!” Logan jeered. “Just like last year!”

“You wanna put some money where your mouth is, Curly?” Tim demanded. “You pipsqueaks think you’re gonna win this year but you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Just you wait!” Leif smirked. The grin he received from his older cousin unsettled him.

Dan just shook his head, smiling. “All right teams, line up!”

They squared off against each other in the yard.

“Ready, set, go!” Dan called.

Streaks of color from their jackets dodged around the yard. Logan, Leif, Miles and Mabon darted to spots in the yard and stopped short when they realized their stash was gone.

“Ha ha!” Tim yelled, hurling one at Logan.

Leif turned and got smacked in the face with a snowball from Tiffany.

“Dana! Get them!” Mabon shouted.

Dana was scooping up snow as fast as she could but her brother Jesse had been told where the stash was and hit her several times in rapid succession.

Realizing they had been thwarted, the twins’ team launched themselves into a furious return of sloppily made snowballs, everyone scooping and throwing as fast as they could, shouting insults and laughing hysterically.

The only rule was if someone hit the ground, they were out. No tripping or tackling allowed but body slamming was. You had to be faster, and preferably heavier, than the cousin or sibling coming at you.

Rayma and Jace were the first two out. Jesse took down Mabon, but ran right into Logan. Leif launched himself at Tim, but Tim dodged at the last second and Leif hit the ground. Laughing, he got up and joined the fathers and his cousins. Tiffany fell when she tried to dodge Logan’s attack, and then it was down to Aralyn and Tim versus Logan and Miles. Tim feigned running out of premade snowballs and startled Miles by turning suddenly and launching a full on attack of snowballs. The younger cousin went down.

Aralyn and Logan were hurling snowballs at each other as fast as they could, shouting insults to each while doing so. Aralyn pretended to stumble as Logan got closer but didn’t fall. Logan took the opportunity to throw two snowballs, not seeing Tim behind him. When Aralyn came at Logan, he turned to run and crashed into Tim. Logan went down.

“Aralyn’s team wins!” Dan called.

Tim let out a loud “YEAH!” with a fist pump.

Aralyn and Tim hugged as Tiffany, Jace and Jesse whooped and hollered.

Leif pulled his twin up from the snow.

“They found our stash!” Logan protested.

“And if you complain, Dad’ll say we deserved it for cheating,” Leif shrugged. “We’ll get ‘em next year.”

“Yeah, but I owe Tim twenty bucks!”

“I didn’t hear you two bet,” Leif said.

Logan scowled. “We set it up before hand.”

Dana came up behind them and ruffled Leif’s hair. “Come on, you two clowns. Let’s go get hot chocolate.”

The boys perked up immediately and made the obligatory stop to congratulate their cousins before running inside for hot chocolate.

A cat meowing stopped Tiffany and Aralyn from going inside.

“Did you hear that?” Tiffany asked.

“Yep, sure did.” The cousins looked around saw a beautiful gray tabby sitting near the mailbox, looking thoroughly unhappy.

“Hey, that’s Libby, Ms. Holding’s cat.” Tiffany frowned.

“What’s she doing outside?” Aralyn asked. The pair approached the cat slowly. Libby came right to them, weaving herself between their legs. Tiffany knelt and scooped the cat up.

“Hello, pretty one,” she crooned. “What are you doing out in the cold?”

Libby let out a loud meow.

“Hey, Dad, we’re going to go return Libby!” Aralyn turned and called over her shoulder. Bo waved to acknowledge it and the pair set off down the street.

They had just turned the corner when they saw their neighbor Ms. Holding, hurrying towards them.

“Oh, you found her!” Ms. Holding cried.

Tiffany held the cat out to its owner. “She wandered over to our yard.”

“She slipped out this morning when I went to get the paper,” the woman sighed. “Thank you so much, girls!”

“You’re welcome!”

“Anytime!”

After an exchange of holiday wishes, Ms. Holding hurried back towards her hat, Libby secured in her arms.

Tiffany and Aralyn headed back to Aralyn’s house to join the fun.

***

The Belden-Duke Clan woke to a fresh layer of snow on Christmas morning.

Dana bolted downstairs for the traditional present opening before breakfast. Dan and Daisy were already up and waiting while Jesse went to wake Tim. Their great uncle Regan was already in the kitchen sipping coffee by the time the three made it downstairs. After breakfast they would all converge on Luke and Honey’s house for the family gift opening.

As Dana was the youngest of the siblings, she got to open her presents first. She shrieked in delight when she saw the first two seasons of Alias dvd sets.

Bursting into laughter as she unwrapped Tim’s present to her, Dana read out loud, “365 Days of Moods. Hmm, January first says ‘Fuzzy. 1. Covered with fine hairs: Uh-oh, somebody's upper lip looks a little fuzzy. Are you trying to grow a 'stache? 2. Not clear; indistinct; confused: I'm a bit fuzzy about the details of last night. 3. Hung over: Can you please speak slowly and quietly? I'm still a bit fuzzy this morning. "I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop." ~Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot. "Mmm...fuzzy." Homer Simpson, The Simpsons.’ I love it, Tim!”

Moments later, Dana let out a loud squeal when she opened several new items of clothing. Daisy confessed they weren’t in stores yet and had been sized to fit Dana.

Dana loved having a fashion designer for a mother!

“Well, I guess that’s all. Let’s have breakfast now!” Dan announced. The long standing family joke was met with groans and protests, especially by Jesse, who was next to open presents.

Jesse was thrilled to find the newest Jasper Fforde book, and current dvds for Alias and West Wing, and a new computer.

“With as much writing as you’ve been doing, we thought it would come in handy,” Daisy smiled at him. Jesse had displayed a natural aptitude for both writing and computers in the last two years. While the family had one for everyone to use, Dan and Daisy had thought Jesse was ready for his own. He was on the school newspaper at the junior high, and was considering going into journalism.

“Well, I guess that’s all. Let’s have breakfast now!” Dan announced. Dana and Jesse laughed while Tim looked pained.

“But it’s my turn now!” he protested, keeping with the family tradition. He raised his voice into a high falsetto to mimic a certain family member. “I’ll just die if I don’t get to open them!”

“Well, I suppose so,” Daisy smiled at him, her green eyes sparkling.

Tim grinned and didn’t hesitate and ripped into his first present, the biggest one.

“Awesome!” he exclaimed, pulling out the leather jacket. He had been drooling over it for weeks, every time they were at the mall.

“You should be able to grow into it nicely,” Daisy said. “It’ll be a little big right now.”

“That’s ok!” Tim ran his hands lovingly over the black leather and metals studs.

Dan and Regan exchanged a knowing smile, both watching Tim and thinking back. watching his son. The black jacket wasn’t too dissimilar to one he had worn, many years ago when he first came to Sleepyside. His oldest son was a lot like him, which caused Dan a mix of pride and worry. But today, he focused on the beaming smile his oldest child bore.

Tim also had a collection of cds he had requested, and a book on motorcycles. He loved to sit on Dan’s Harley, waiting for the day he’d be old enough to ride it by himself.

While Daisy had prepared large amounts of food for the big family get together, Dan always made the scrambled eggs on Christmas morning. He wouldn’t reveal his secret to them, but his kids wouldn’t eat scrambled eggs anywhere else. They had learned early on that ordering scrambled eggs for the kids in a restaurant was a Bad Idea.

Daisy had set the muffins into the oven before they opened presents, and the heavenly mixed scents of cinnamon and blueberry were drifting through house.

“Blue Buffin Muffins!” Jesse almost drooled at the sight.

“Who started that silly name anyway?” Tim asked grouchily, grabbing one before his brother could.

“You did,” his parents answered in unison. Dan had a feeling Tim’s teenage years were going to be a bit of a trial. His oldest son was already moody and broody and he had just turned thirteen.

“You were four,” Daisy smiled at her oldest. “And you liked to rhyme everything. You just about drove us crazy but you liked saying ‘buffin muffin’ so much that you named them Blue Buffin Muffins.”

Tim grunted as he reached for another one.

“Save some for the rest of us!” Dana swiped the plate and moved it from her big brother’s reach.

“Like they’re any safer with you!” Jesse scoffed. He reached for a cinnamon muffin as well. Regan reached over and grabbed the plate, lifting it out of reach.

“Aw, Regan!” The kids protested.

“We’ll share!” Jesse said urgently, his eyes locked on the plate.

Only after Tim agreed to share did Regan set the plate down, being sure to grab muffins for himself.

Dan just shook his head as he poured more coffee. He took the plate of freshly crisped bacon from his wife and set it on the table. Daisy added the plate of fried potatoes next to the scrambled eggs platter and took her seat.

***

While Hallie downed a Bloody Mary or three in the kitchen, Jim sat with his children in the living room, next to the tree. Byron was already playing madly away on his new gaming toy, while little Regan was giggling as he balled up wrapping paper.

“One more for you, Val,” Jim handed his daughter an envelope with a card in it.

Puzzled, six year old Valerra opened it and pulled out the card. It was hand drawn, and not very good.

“It’s from Regan,” she said, recognizing his rough scrawl and name.

Jim leaned over. “It’s a coded message,” he whispered. “Take a good look.”

On the front was a drawn picture of what Val was pretty sure was a horse. She opened it and on the inside left was a drawing of a girl with dark braids. Her, she figured. On the right was a drawn picture of the girl sitting on the horse with a big smile, and a redheaded man standing next to her.

“Me, a horse and you, Daddy.” Then she thought for a second. “No, it’s from Regan so the man must be Regan. But why is he—” Val let out a screech of delight. “My riding lessons!”

Jim laughed. While for the last year Val had been riding on tiny ponies as Regan guided them around, Jim had promised she could start real lessons when she was seven. Small for her age, he worried about her tumbling off and getting hurt.

Val jumped up and threw her arms around Jim. “They’re early too, I’m not yet seven! Oh, thank you, thank you, Daddy!”

He hugged her. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Be sure to thank Regan today when we see him over at Honey’s.”

“Oh, I will, I will!” Val clutched the card to her chest, her dark eyes shining.

***

Brian Belden caught his nephew Logan as he dashed by, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, a giant muffin in the other.

“Slow down there, Tiger,” Brian took the food and drink from his nephew and then let him go.

Logan promptly took off after his twin, who had dosed his hot cocoa with salt. Logan hated salt.

Brian always joined one of his siblings for breakfast Christmas morning. Today it was Trixie and Bo’s turn. He had been greeted at the door by an impish, smiling twin and promptly ducked inside before the other could hit him with a snowball from outside. After all these years, he had learned to anticipate the “surprise” attacks when arriving at the chaotic house of his sister.

Aralyn was perched in the bay window, half hidden by the decorated tree as she gabbed to Tiffany.

“Aralyn, get off the phone! You’ll see her in ten minutes,” Trixie called. “Logan, stop chasing Leif. Leif, can you get Sean please? And tell your Dad to get in here!”

Aralyn rolled her eyes at Brian but said good bye and hung up the phone. The twins were still shouting insults at each other and Brian saw a brightly colored plastic water gun in the hand of one twin.

“No water guns in the house!” Brian shouted. He knew his sister’s head might explode if the twins reached the water gun fight stage this morning.

Trixie appeared in the doorway from the kitchen, looking thoroughly harassed. “Hey! I need a cake taster!”

The magic words. All of sudden there were three blonde Duke children running for the kitchen. One twin tried to trip the other, which gave Aralyn the advantage and she reached the kitchen first. Brian just shook his head and chuckled.

“I’ll get Sean, Trix,” he told his sister.

“Thank you. Now which one of you little heathens should get to be the taster?”

“I got here first!”

“Logan tripped me!”

"You salted my hot chocolate!”

“Well, I’ve been behaving,” Bo said cheerfully, coming up behind his children.

They all groaned.

“If you three can set the table without arguing, pinching, punching, kicking, tripping or any other form of physical attack, you can have cookies with breakfast,” Trixie told them.

“We’re on it!” Aralyn exclaimed. Cookies at breakfast were unheard of, except for Christmas morning. Right now there were platters heaped with cookies and brownies and candies just waited to be devoured by cousins.

“Bribery, sweetheart?” Bo asked, his dark blue eyes twinkling at her.

“Whatever works,” Trixie replied sarcastically, giving her much taller husband a smacking loud kiss. “Besides, don’t you try to tell me you haven’t resorted it!”

Bo laughed. “I most definitely have.”

“Moms and Dad should be here any minute. Can you supervise the Trio of Trouble in there? The boys seem extra rowdy today.”

“Don’t I get to taste the cake?” he asked.

Trixie’s blue eyes sparkled back at him as she stood on tiptoe and murmured something in his ear. Bo grinned broadly as he headed for the dining room to check on his children.

Trixie sent each child to the table carrying a dish of something, making a neat little parade. Aralyn, being the oldest and strongest, carried the platter of eggs, followed by Logan with the biscuits and Blue Buffin Muffins that were a family shared recipe, and Leif followed with the bacon and sausage. Bo carried the jellies and fried potatoes and guided Sean with the butter, while Brian got stuck with the orange juice and milk. Trixie watched with satisfaction as her “marching line” quickly had the table ready as the doorbell rang.

Just another Christmas morning in the Belden-Duke Clan.

Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!

***

Author’s Notes
- Merry Christmas, Bonnie! It was my pleasure and honor to write for such a good friend and I hope you enjoyed this custom written story just for you!
- A big yee-haa to my editor, the fabulous Ronda!
- Word Count, 3,558