Christmas with the Prentisses

Christmas Morning

Once again Ethan found himself being woken up way before his alarm. He almost jumped out of the bed when he came face to face with all five of the other kids, all still wearing the matching pjs Penelope had presented them the night before.

"What are you doing?" Ethan questioned them as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Ssh," Mattie scolded.

"We're going to go wake the moms up," Declan explained; whispering to avoid his older sister's wrath.

Ethan nodded, groggily, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. A few yawns and stretches later he was following them to the master bedroom. New to this, Ethan followed Declan as he walked to the right side of the bed; Emily's side. Mattie and Jo went to the left; his mom's side. Link and Emma carefully climbed on the bed from the foot towards Penelope, who was in the middle. Mattie held up a hand, ticking down her count. "1..2..3"

With warrior cries the kids, minus Ethan, jumped on the bed attacking its occupants with more jumping and shouting. "It's Christmas! Wake up!" They screamed.

Emily woke up with a groan at the abrupt wake up call; the small knee in her back didn't help. Penelope woke up with a smile quickly grabbing the nearest kid, who happened to be Link, and attacking them with hugs. Alex woke up in shock, but soon became victim to the laughter sweeping through the room. Emily was the first to notice Ethan still standing beside the bed. "Come on."

Ethan shook his head, this was their thing not his. Emily huffed, gently pushing Emma towards Penelope, before standing up. Ethan may have been taller than her, but much like his Uncle Spencer he was kind of a pipe cleaner. Emily also had her weekly gym visits with Derek to her advantage. Before he knew what was happening she had already grabbed him and threw him on the bed. Much like with the others, Penelope was quick to attack him in hugs.

Glancing around him, Ethan decided this was defiantly the best way to get up Christmas morning. The wide smile on his mother's face as she caught Emma and showered her with kisses only made the moment better.

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Ethan couldn't hide his shock as they ascended downstairs to the living room. He'd never seen so many gifts under the tree; though it had just been him and his mom for years and now there were six kids under one roof. Emma and Link ran the rest of the way stopping just short of the tree as the waited for everyone else to join them. Emily, Penelope, and Alex were the last ones down.

"You can start," Emily told them as Penelope picked up the camera sitting on the mantel.

Soon the sound of ripping paper and exclaims of joy filled the room. Some of the bigger items they had received so far included a doll house for Emma, a new bike for Link, new lacrosse equipment for Declan, and laptops for the twins. Link happily held up a kid's science kit for Penelope to snap a picture. "This is so awesome."

"I thought maybe we could do it together," Ethan suggested quietly.

Declan and him had bonded pretty quickly, being around the same age and sharing a room helped, and Emma liked everyone. And with the twins at college that left Link, who he hadn't really tried to form a bond with. He hoped the science kit would encourage this bond. "I'd like that," Link replied.

The next present Ethan unwrapped was a chess set. At first he was confused since they already had about three lying around the house. That was until he noticed it wasn't just any chess set; it was a Doctor Who chess set. "Thanks Dec."

There was more ripping of paper until all the kids were down to their last gift. So far most of Ethan's gifts had consisted of books and clothes. Opening the last box he had to double check who had given it to him. "How?" He asked in awe looking at Penelope and Emily.