Chatter

    "You were talking in your sleep again.  Well, more like moaning….still sore?"  I don’t want to answer, not yet, because he’s still massaging my blown shoulder and if I answer then that means I’m awake and if I’m awake, then that means I have to get out of bed.  Stubbornly, I bury my face deeper into the pillow.  

    "Shsssh!"  Maybe I can shoo him gone.

    "Come on, darlin’," he persists, "if you stretch a bit you’ll be able to move better."

     I don’t think he’s going away and I smell coffee nearby so with a sigh, I try to stretch it out.  "You know, I’m just not healing from the car accident like I thought I would."

    "Honey, you weren’t in a car accident."  He’s bemused.

     "Well, not technically," I retort.

     Now he’s amused and laughing!  "Not technically is right.  Darlin’ I hate to break this to you but you might be getting too…….mfmpmmfpmmffff."  Just real hard to keep talking with a pillow stuffed in your mouth, isn’t it?

*****

    He’s been peering intently at the same spot for a solid four minutes.  And why not, this is some very serious business.  Finally, he nods as if to assure himself and says, "Okay, Lama, it’s gotta go right here.  Are you holding me tight?"

    "Yes, baby, Lama’s holding you tight.  You stretch out there real long now and get your ornament on, I ain’t lettin’ go."  He always makes me smile, my Bubby.  It’s his first year up on the ladder and he’s real intent on doing it big.  I’m up there with him – behind him so he thinks he’s on his own, but still holding on so he’s brave enough to stretch his five year old body all the way to the near tippy top.  Perfect job!

*****

    Something’s tugging at my shirt.  I lean down to hear Chloe whisper, "Lama, I know we shouldn’t put two ornaments together but I want to put mine with Nevaeh’s cuz she’s my best friend and she isn’t here with me anymore.  Can I do that just one time?"

    "’LoBug, I think that would be a fine thing to do."  Goldilocks, I think. She always reminds me of Goldlilocks.

*****

    "Mommy," Danielle worries as she looks at the ornaments laid out neatly on the couch.  "How come Lama has so many ornaments with pictures of Bubby on them?"

    "Those aren’t Bubby, honey," Mommy scoops her up and starts showing her the ornaments one by one.  "These are pictures of your daddy and Uncle Chuck that Lama has had for a long, long time.  All the boys here look the same."

    Not impressed, Danielle replies, "Well, then, if they are all going to like alike, how come she just don’t put up just ONE and it can be for all of them!"

*****

    Something zooms by Papa and he shouts, "Noah! No flying in the house!"

    He’s answered with a crash from the dining room.

    And a teeny, tiny, all too familar, "I sorwy!"

*****

    The bottom third of the tree is filling up pretty fast so Kali and Carly busy themselves quietly redirecting ornaments from the lower branches and moving them up when the little ones aren’t watching.  Amy asks the girls, "What are you getting for Christmas?

    They take turns going over their mental wish list and then Kali says, "We’re adopting an orphan this year too."

    "Another kid!"  Chloe exclaims, "Seriously?"

    Kali ruffles those long blonde locks, "No, squirt, not another kid for here.  Carly and I are taking part of our Christmas and part of our allowance to adopt a kid in a poor country and be their big sister sponsers.  We will be able to provide their water, send them to school, and get them clothes this way.  We can write them and they can write us, but they will still live in another country."

    Danielle chimes in, "Hey, can you adopt Bubby and SEND him to another country?"

    A pinecone flies across the room.

   *****

    Uncle Lonnie is teasing Chloe about talking to young Jack a whole bunch at our Thanksgiving shindig.  Chloe, face red, is having none of this.

    "Uncle Lonnie.  I don’t like Jack.  He’s like a boy from a planet with an alternate reality where people whine all the time!"

    "LoBug," Lama’s gentle, but firm, "We don’t call people whiners."

    "Lama, technically I wasn’t CALLING him a whiner."  I don’t know where she gets this from.

    "Technically, darlin’, youwere calling him a whiner.  Hot cocoa?"

*****

    The hot cocoa comes out just fine and we carry our cups outside to sit in the yard and watch Papa and the neighbors turn on all the lights.  Noah, worn out from another full day of flying, comes in for a landing on my lap to snuggle up and gaze serenely at the glitter all around.  If he holds still long enough he’ll fall asleep like he always does but first he takes in everything his little eyes can take in and then proceeds to let his eyes start to droop.

    "Lama, " he whispers, full of little boy wonderment.  "Is Christmas magic?"

    "Well, Doodle, something very magical happened at Christmas, that’s for sure," I whisper back, petting his head and holding him close.

    Chloe whispers to everyone, "Listen, everybody, Lama’s going to talk about Jesus again."

*****

Lama