The Dunhams (Sequel to Better or Bad - Lizzy Walker)

Mom's Kissing Santa Vol. 2

(Their cookies up top)

Christmas music played in the background. "1, 2, 3!" I cheered, holding my Instax camera. We smiled happily as I snapped the photo. It slid out underneath the camera. The picture of us behind our Christmas tree was in my hand. "Another picture for the family scrapbook?" Bella asked, smirking. Bryce chuckled and nodded. We have our own family scrapbook of memories. Dad and Jasmine only has one for the whole family. I carefully taped it on our empty page which isn't filled of Christmasy pictures yet. Breanna hugged me from behind. "When are we making cookies?!" She asked, smiling. I snorted with a giggle. Bella crossed her arms. "Which box?" She asked. There was three cookie boxes on the kitchen counter. All holiday-themed. I closed the book and smiled. "Any box! They're all Christmas cookies!" I told them. Bella cheered happily, clapping. "Yay! We'll bake cookies!" She squealed. Jace and Breanna looked down sadly before going upstairs. What the—what happened? We shared confusion. "Guys?" Bryce called. Nobody answered back. "What was that about?" She asked confusedly. I patted her shoulder. "Don't know. Stay here. We'll go talk to them." I told her. She nodded as we walked upstairs. In Jace's room, they sat on his bed quietly. None of them said a word. Complete utter silence between them. But I could see the sadness through their eyes. He fiddled with his fingers while Breanna was in her world. "Can we come in?" Bryce asked softly. Jace nodded. I rubbed his hair and sat between them. "Everything ok? What happened? Why are you both so quiet?" I asked. Breanna snapped out of her thoughts and wiped an incoming tear. Bryce put her on his lap and took her spot beside me. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. I wrapped an arm around Jace's shoulder. "Every Christmas...we never got to bake cookies or play in the snow. Most of the time we was afraid of Sabrina coming home drunk. We tried baking cookies one time but she invited a few friends over and trashed everything. It's like we spent a—He paused due to tears falling on Breanna's face. I laid his head on my shoulder and squeezed her hand in mine. Bryce hugged, kissing her forehead. This would've made me angrier because of Sabrina but I didn't wanna startle them. "Do you wanna continue?" I asked. He nodded his head no. She laid her head on Bryce's shoulder and sniffled. "We're so so sorry this reminded you of it. But you're with Dad and Mom, remember? You both can do anything worth fun for Christmas. It's about family coming together to love and celebrate. Bake desserts, snowball fights, Christmas movies, wearing PJs all the time we'll do lots of things! The most important part is we're doing them as a family every year. Ok? We love you three so much." He said. She smiled warmly. Jace returned the gesture. "Don't forget hot chocolate with whip cream and chocolate syrup." She added. We laughed. He wiped her tears and smirked. "Yup!" He said. Another pair of arms wrapped around our necks. Bella. She smiled happily. "Oh what a wonderful world!" She squealed. We laughed but parted. Breanna cheered, putting her arms up. "Cookies!" She beamed. We returned the gesture and got off the bed.

******No one's POV******

"You're the reason Santa even has a naughty list." Bella grumbled. Jace low-key smirked while licking Hershey chocolate off his fingers. While the cookies were in the oven, he and Breanna decided to bake s'mores. Soon they would have loads of dessert after dinner. Bella was only determined to not get in trouble for letting them waste half of the desserts before dinner. Breanna, wearing her pink cooking apron, smiled delightfully. "I'm a baker, not a eater." She said. He lightly scoffed. "Beg a differ." He mumbled. Bella turned off the stove once her s'more was warmed up. She placed it on the plate of four s'mores. Secretly, Lizzy was wrapping gifts for her closest friends and Bryce 'supposedly' gathered wood for the fireplace. But he was secretly working on a machine that blows snow everywhere in the backyard. A huge surprise for the kids on Christmas Day. He promised Breanna it would be greater than the last Christmases they had with Sabrina. Bella, for sure, hadn't had a good Christmas living in foster care most of her life. Her first Christmas with them is equally important as theirs. Lizzy wanted nothing more than for them to extremely happy, even during the wonderful time of the year. She finished wrapping and brought them downstairs to put under the tree. A loud ding suddenly went off. Breanna smiled. "The cookies are done!" She beamed, opening the oven and grabbed the hot platter—"Breanna, no!" Jace shouted. Too late. "Ahh!" She screamed, dropping the platter until Bella caught it with mittens on. He breathed a breath of relief since the cookies weren't spilled. The commotion made Lizzy rush to the kitchen. "What happened?! Anybody hurt?!" She asked worriedly. Bella placed the platter beside the s'mores. "Bri accidentally touched the plate." She told her. Lizzy looked at her in awe. "Come here. Let me see." She said softly. Breanna held out her burnt hands dearly while hissing in pain. There was red small patches. Jace cringed painfully. She walked her to the sink and switched to cold water. "Let them cool off." She told her. Breanna nodded but took small breaths from it's aching feeling. "Are you ok?" Bella asked. Lizzy sighed. "She's alright. Just need cold water and some ointment too." She said. As predicted, Bryce entered the room and took off his gloves before noticing Breanna's pained look. "Is everything ok?" He asked concernedly. "She burnt her fingers when she touched the cookies." Jace spoke. Lizzy already came back with a bottle of ointment and nursed her hands. "Well, I'mma go shower. Need help preparing dinner?" He asked. She smirked. "Go ahead. It's only chicken soufflé." She said. Bella smiled. "Can I help?" She asked sweetly. "Yes! Also, put on your PJs. It's our family tradition to have Christmas dinner with PJs and movies." She continued. They smiled happily. "Yes!" They cheered. It quite makes up for having to get dressed all the time and just have a cozy Christmas binge-watch. He chuckled. "That's what's up." He said and left the room.

The PJ-infested family were eating their dinner plates while watching Home Alone on Disney+. Lots of teary laughter echoed the house. The movie took Breanna's attention off her red-patched hands so they can heal properly. Jace stared toward the hotel suite Kevin stayed in New York. All he imagined is himself taking a trip to New York, go see Times Square, and vacationing in a Plaza Hotel. A small dreamy smirk crept on his lips. Another laughable scene popped up which interrupted his thoughts. Lizzy laughed until her phone began buzzing on her lap. "Excuse me." She said, getting up and walking to the kitchen. The kids still enjoyed the movie with Bryce. "Hello?" She answered. "Lizzy! Merry Christmas!" A feminine voice said cheerily. She recognized it as her adoptive Mom's. She couldn't think of a time when it wasn't cheerful. Lizzy smiled warmly. "Merry Christmas Mom! How are you?" She asked. She giggled. "Good! Have you heard anything from Valerie?" She asked. The mentioning of her third sister left her smirking. They've became even closer since she returned home. She was also present at Meadow's wedding. But her schedule and the kids took up most of her time. She felt bad over not visiting last month or this week. "Not recently. I really should though. Why?" She said. Her Mom sighed happily. "Valerie...she's...she's..." She trailed off. Lizzy waited patiently until two words echoed through her head. Her eyes slowly widened and hadn't moved an inch. She mentally knew Bryce came in. "What's up?" He asked. Lizzy ended the call and turned to him. "Valerie...Valerie's pregnant." She told him.