Charming's Queen

25. Christmas Eve (2)

Lynne selected the Grinch, per Jax's request, and moved Thomas' playmat closer to the couch, where she sat down next to Jax with Abel curled up in a blanket in between them. Lynne occasionally looked down at Thomas, who was giggling and playing with the toys above him, and then over at Abel, who was focused on the movie.

"The, the," She looked up at the movie, giggling as the grinch mocked, "The GRINCH!" She looked down at Abel, who flinched, yet laughed.

"He's a mean guy!" He exclaimed.

"That he is," Lynne said softly, kissing Abel's head. "I mean, who doesn't like Christmas?!" She exclaimed.

Lynne looked back down at Thomas, then checked the time. It was just now ten, it was about time for Thomas nap. She watched as Thomas started to close his eyes, almost on cue as ten fifteen rolled around.

She smiled and looked back up at the movie, then once he was fully asleep, she stood up off of the couch and picked Thomas up, transferring him to the swing that was in the corner of the living room. Lynne set him in it and placed a blanket over him after buckling him in and turning it on the lowest setting. She walked back over to the couch and sat down, smiled as Abel leaned into Jax.

...

As four thirty rolled around, Lynne looked over at Jax who got up and went into the kitchen to order pizza. She looked down at Thomas, who was comfortable laying in her lap and sucking on his pacifier. She then looked over at Abel, who had just woken up after dozing off for an hour or so, then she lifted Thomas and stood up. "How about while Daddy's ordering pizza, why don't we go get the mail?" She asked and looked over at Abel who nodded.

"Okay, mommy!" He said and stood up, following Lynne to the door where he pulled on a pair of shoes. Lynne slipped into a pair of flip flops and opened the door, following Abel down to the mailbox. With her free hand, she opened up the mailbox and pulled out the numerous pieces of mail, including two small packages. She handed Abel all the envelopes and watched him run back towards the house. Lynne once again followed, slipped her shoes off by the door and closed it, then watched as he handed the mail to Jax.

"Thank you, buddy." Jax spoke up and shuffled through the mail, before setting it on the counter to deal with it all later.

"We got two packages." Lynne cleared her throat as she walked into the kitchen. "I'm assuming they are gifts for Gem and Clay from the kids." She said and set them on the counter.

"More than likely." Jax nodded, "Pizza will be here at five thirty,"

"Sounds good," Lynne nodded and walked back into the living room, sitting back down on the couch. Jax and Abel followed, sitting down next to her as they resumed the movie that they were now on.

Within five minutes, Jax noticed that Lynne dozed off with Thomas in her lap.

...

A knock on the door about forty five minutes later woke Lynne out of her sleep. She registered Jax's voice, then heard the door close. She stretched and looked over at Thomas who was now beside her, watching him gnaw on the blanket he was wrapped in. She stretched again and sat up, lifting Thomas with her, then walked to the kitchen where Jax and Abel were, grabbing plates for the pizza.

"Good morning, sunshine," Jax teased Lynne, with a wink.

Lynne rolled her eyes, but smiled and walked over to the counter, preparing a bottle for Thomas with her free hand. "You did tip the pizza man this time, right?" She teased back, looking over at Jax with raised eyebrows.

It was now his turn to roll his eyes. "That was one time." He spoke up, "You were the one who decided to get me drunk off my ass." He chuckled.

"Hey! First of all, that was your choice." Lynne shot back and shook the bottle, then tested it on her skin. Once she let it cool, she tested it again and then took Thomas' pacifier and put the bottle in his mouth.

"How many slices do you want?" Jax asked and looked over at Lynne, after setting Abel's plate with half a slice of cut up pizza on the table.

"One's fine." Lynne said and walked over to the table, sitting across from Abel while she continued to feed Thomas. Jax came back with two plates, setting one in front of Lynne and setting the other down where he sat. Lynne looked over at Abel as he ate, then took a few bites of her pizza and set it down once Thomas finished his bottle. She took the bottle and set it on the table, starting to burp Thomas before she continued to eat.

"Abel, what kind of cookies do you think Santa would like?" Jax asked as he finished his pizza, then got up and set his plate in the sink.

"I think chocolate chip! With sprinkles!" Abel spoke up and continued to eat his pizza.

"I think mommy is going to have to make some homemade dough," Jax spoke as he searched through the cabinets.

"Easy," Lynne smiled and finished up her dinner, then stood up and set her dish in the sink as well, adjusting Thomas in her arms. "I'll start once Abel finishes up," She said and kissed Thomas' head, handing him over to Jax as Abel finished up his dinner and walked over to the sink, setting his plate in.

Lynne walks over to the table and picks up a chair, bringing it over to the counter. She watched as Abel climbed up and sat down, then quickly looked for the ingredients. Lynne quickly preheated the oven and then measured out the three cups of flour, two teaspoons vanilla extract, water and chocolate chips, two eggs, a cup of butter, sugar and brown sugar, a teaspoon of baking soda and a half teaspoon of salt. She watched as Abel poured in all the ingredients into the bowl, then combine them until they became a dough, with a little bit of help.

"It looked good, mama!" Abel cheered as they dropped the cookies onto the greased cookie sheets. Once the oven beeped, Lynne opened it and slid in the cookie sheets, then set a timer.

"While those are cooking, do you want to open a Christmas present?" Lynne asked as she helped Abel off of the chair, then put it back at the table. When Abel nodded excitedly, she walked towards the living room, followed by Jax and Abel, then reached under the tree for the two presents that were marked with stars. "This one is yours." She said softly to Abel and passed him the present, then handed Jax Thomas' present, after they all sat down. As Abel tore open his present, she smiled and took her phone out, taking a few pictures.

"Woah!" He grinned and held up the green pajamas, "That's my name!" He said as he pointed to his name, spelled out across the chest of the green long sleeve. "Ooh, stripes!"

Lynne took a picture of Abel holding up his pajamas. "Why don't you go change before we go see the Christmas lights?" She asked softly, and nodded as he ran to his room with his new pajamas. Lynne looked over at Jax, who opened Thomas present and smiled down at the red onesie with the matching striped pants. "Aren't they cute?" Lynne asked.

"Adorable." Jax responded, "I didn't even know you got these." He chuckled and changed Thomas into his pajamas, then sat him up against his chest.

"He's so handsome," Lynne said softly and leaned down, picking up pieces of the wrapping paper that Thomas was trying to get his hands on.

"What can I say?" Jax chuckled, "I make cute kids."

...