𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐓- 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝟏

Express Christmas!

We were all sunbathing in the back yard around the pool and Gloria broke the calming silence. "At. Finally"! Gloria cheered as Uncle Cam, Mitch and Lily came into our view. "Look who's wearing her it's-bitty bikini" Uncle Cam smiled. "He can comment because he's gay" Phil mumbled to Luke. "He was talking about Lily" Claire whisper yelled. "So was I" Phil scoffed, even though we all knew who he was talking about.
"Ay Cam, you make her look so pretty" Gloria smiled as she spun Lily around.

"Guess who's not coming for Christmas"!? Mitch yelled. "And the spotlight shifts" Uncle Cam whispered. "Mom. . .she cancelled" Mitch complained. "What"? Claire gasped. " In a voice-mail no less" Mitch complained as he sat at the end of Claire's sun chair. "Unbelievable" Claire scoffed. "And by that I mean believable" She added.

The last time I saw DeeDee was when I first met Dylan. . .That was very eventful. "Why isn't Nana coming"? Hayley asked sitting up from her chair. "I don't know, something about her new boyfriend whisking her away on a cruise" Mitch explained.

"I just got my gift" Jay joked. "What boyfriend"? Claire asked. "Carl, the cruise ship captain" Alex spoke causing us all to look up from our chairs. "It was in her holiday newsletter" Alex sighed walking off.
"Oh, I can't read that whole thing No" Claire stated. "Yeah, after two pages of the bird she rescued" Uncle Cam sighed whilst rolling his eyes dramatically. "She didn't rescue it" I added.
"I don't think you can say you rescue something if it dies" Phil told us.

"It died"?! Uncle Cam gasped. "She wrote a poem about it" Jay added.  "A little too free with the free verse for my taste. But fine, we'll call it a poem" Manny sighed as he dipped his feet into the pool, me and Luke copying him.  "I stopped reading after she talked about suing her book club" Mitch began.

"Oh, I stopped reading after 'Dear friends, family and others. . .I'm sorry. Who are others"?! Claire asked as she waved her hands around in the air. "Me"! Me and Gloria smirked. "No, you're not. . " Jay began before I gave him a 'Really?' Face. "Uh, maybe you are" Jay laughed.

"Actually, she's kind of her at her best at Christmas. She's makes a mean cookie" Phil sighed. "What other kind could she possibly make? Come on" Claire grinned. "Ay, it's so sad that you guys are not gonna be with your mom this Christmas" Gloria frowned. "It's fine" Mitch whined, "Yeah, it's more than fine" Claire added with a small smirk. "Let's just. . . Can we move off of Mom"? Claire asked. "Yes please" Mitch added.

"Yeah, and the upside now, Mitchell, we can spend Christmas in Missouri, where it actually feels like Christmas" Uncle Cam suggested. "Wait. Hang on a second. Just because Mom isn't coming. . .doesn't mean we're not gonna spend Christmas together, I mean, it's about family" Claire explained. "Who do you think we're seeing in Missouri, Claire? The Oak Ridge Boys"? Uncle Cam asked sarcastically.

"Hold on. I though we we're all gettin' together on Christmas Eve this year. We're on a fight to Mexico the 25th" Jay explained. "What do you mean, you're getting on a flight on the 25th"? Claire asked. "You two needed time with your Mom. I already served my time with your Mom" Jay joked. "Oh Dad" Claire gasped. "Well, when are we gonna have Christmas then"? Mitch asked as my attention was being drawn away from them and it turned to Luke and Manny.

"I heard kids are getting snatched in Mexico" Luke whispered just so me and Manny could hear. "What"? Manny whimpered. "Kids are getting snatched here jut as much" I laughed. "It happens all the time" Gloria added. "Don't be scared" I smiled to Manny. "And when you say 'all the time'"? Manny began.