The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona - Volume II

Do You Hear What I Hear? Part II

Callie's POV:

"Mom, it's Christmas! Time to wake up!"

"Mammaaahhhh-mmmaaaah! Mahmmammahhh..." 

I was gently snapped out of my slumber by my daughters on the morning of December 25th.

"Callie, sorry to wake you, but the girls are ready to start our Christmas together."

Sophia, Madelyn and Arizona had come in the bedroom to lightly stir me into consciousness. It was 7 am and I couldn't believe I actually slept in for a change. I sat upright, but leaned up against the headboard so Maddy could crawl to me from where Arizona had set her on the bed. Sophia had already plopped down next to me so we could snuggle.

"Merry Christmas family and I'm sorry I slept in! I can't remember the last time I was able to sleep this late. Thank you ladies for letting me get some extra Zzzz's, it's been a long couple of weeks for me."

"We figured you could use the extra hour this morning, so the three of us already made the pancake batter for our Christmas Day Treehouse breakfast. I also made the scrambled eggs and bacon that are sitting in the warming trays and waiting for transport to the backyard."

"Thank you girls for your wonderful Christmas gift to me this morning. Breakfast is almost ready and I got an extra hour of sleep. In my opinion, that's a Christmas miracle!"

Arizona and Sophia laughed at my humor as Maddy was busy bouncing up and down in my arms while still babbling her version of, "mama." She had a growing vocabulary that she was slowly building up and was close to being able to stand-up while holding onto something, any day now. 

"Callie, the girls and I are going to head out to the treehouse. Come join us after you've bundled up. My Mom texted a couple minutes ago, so they should be here soon. Your sister and Renee are already out back. 

With that, my family filed out of the bedroom at the same time I heard a knock on our front door. Christmas had become a bigger family holiday in the last few years, thanks to my sister and Arizona's parents moving to Seattle. During our last couple of holidays, we'd spent Christmas Eve together for dinner and then, all of Christmas Day. We'd also started a tradition of having Christmas breakfast in the treehouse with our group. It's a day where we encourage our family to wear comfortable clothes and relax. My immediate family always wears our pajamas for breakfast before changing into causal clothes for the day. 

By the time I got out to the treehouse, 10 minutes had elapsed from my wake-up and I was ready for some coffee and a mimosa. I was delighted to walk-in and discover Arizona's parents, Ari and Renee, were all there.

"Well, it's about time you woke up!" Ari was laughing as she walked over to embrace me and wish me a Merry Christmas. I took turns with the rest of the adults wishing them a Merry Christmas and exchanging hugs before we sat down for breakfast.

Renee and Arizona had coordinated their efforts that morning, so each woman was running a griddle and making pancakes at a rapid rate. In no time, all of us were fed and given how full we felt, the adults looked ready for a nap. The syrup in the meal did the opposite for Maddy and Sophia as they looked ready to go from the carbohydrate spike in their bloodstreams. I'm sure the anticipation of opening gifts didn't hurt Sophia's energy level either...

After quickly cleaning up, we headed back into our house to open presents as a group. It was fun watching our daughters rip through the wrapping paper on their packages (Arizona and I helped Maddy open her gifts). Sophia, as always, had a great Christmas in terms of the haul of things she walked away with. Most of her gifts were from her Moms, but her grandparents, Aunt and Renee, also lavished her with gifts. By the time everyone was done opening presents, the mountain of wrapping paper was a few feet high.