Growing Up Nelson: Book 3

Chapter 7

After the awkward but informative meeting in daddy's office I was free to go tear through wrapping paper with Joey under the tree. This was the best Christmas ever! Between the two of us we got about 7 gifts a piece. As Joey's last present I surprised him with the remote controlled dinosaur I bought him from the toy store at the mall. Joey got me a new hot pink scarf and with matching hat and gloves. It looked really warm and it's a good thing. Chanhassen gets really cold this time of year. My dad as his dream girl sat and watched us open our gifts when Regan jumped up excited remembering that she got us gifts.

  "Hey guys come to the courts I got you guys something!" She said as she ran out of the main living space.

Me and Joey looked at each other with big smiles and followed behind her. My dad ran after us complaining that we shouldn't be out in the snow without coats but he pretended that we didn't hear him and kept running. Once we got outside and to the gate Regan stopped us at the opening.

  "Close your eyes!" She said excited and slipped though then entranced.

We closed our eyes and waited as we shivered in the cold.

  "Ok! Open your eyes and come inside!"

We ran through the entrance and to our surprise we saw two huge sleds with our names on them sticking out from the snow along with safety gear and new coats.

  "This is the coolest thing ever! Thank you miss Regan!" Joey screamed as he bolted for his royal blue sled

  "This is so amazing! This is what you had to ask our dad about?" I asked as I ran my hand down my name.

  "It took a lot of convincing but.....I got him to cave." She said with a wink.

She looked over at my dad and smiled as he watched us marvel at our new gifts. After seeing Joey's rosy cheeks and light blue lips he cleared his throat and pulled our attention to our coats that he had raised in the air. It didn't take much for us to remember that we were standing in 15 degree weather. We walked over to him and put our coats on. He looked at us and then at Regan as he helped Joey zip his coat up and put up his hood.

  "Alright guys what do you say?" He said to know reminding us to be on our P's and Q's.

  "Thank you!" We both said.

  "You're very welcome! Anything for you guys." Regan smiled.

  "Alright now lets get inside we don't want anyone getting sick before school starts back up." My dad said being the parental unit that he is.

We all went back inside and daddy had requested the kitchen aid to make some hot chocolate and some of my dad's favorite batches of cookies. As we waited for the cookies and hot chocolate we sat in the living room by the huge fire place and talked about a bunch of nothing. My dad and Regan told us stories of their summers spent away at camp in Minnetonka. We laughed so hard when Regan told us about the time when Morris dared her to break into the old cabin and get a box of candy. When the shelves collapsed she fell to the ground and was buried in rubble and my dad and his friends thought she was dead but they felt better when she came out in once piece. Then they told us about the time when he played a gig in downtown Minneapolis and they made $500 in a single weekend. That explains the performance in the leopard underwear. When the cookies and hot chocolate arrived we continued to share stories and snack on sweets until dinner time. This truly was the best Christmas ever. Around the next childhood story Regan was about to tell her cell phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and looked at the screen when her face lost its smile and she seemed concerned about something.

"Sorry to stop but I gotta take this." She said as she jumped up from her spot on the couch.

"Is everything alright Mouse?" My dad asked her concerned.