The Harlem Way

39. Christmas With the Morgans & Hamptons{Part 1}

December 25, 2016
Christmas Day

Narrator's POV

Clouds of snow continued to fall on Christmas morning, covering the streets of New York. Some people were already shoveling their cars out of the snow, while others roamed the streets. The city never slept, no matter what the weather was.

It was quiet inside the Morgan residence, everyone still asleep except for Lacee', who was overly excited about today. She had asked Santa for a bunch of gifts so she hoped that they were under the tree, awaiting her. She had spent all of Christmas Eve yapping about how good of a girl she's been and Santa knew it too. "Daddy!" She whispered, patting his face softly. "Mommy!" She did the same to Saire', looking between the both of them to see who would get up first. When neither one of them moved, she frowned, getting down from the bed.

Going over to the night stand, she hit random buttons on the alarm until it blared. "Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" She shouted as she jumped up and down. Saire' and Lance both shot up at the sound of the alarm, shooting Lacee' a look of disapproval. "Lacee' Bug, really?" Lance asked as she nodded with a smile. "Really Daddy! We have to open gifts!" She insisted. "Can you at least brush your teeth and wash your face first?" Saire' sleepily cut in as she removed the sheets from her body.

"You have to brush too Mommy, come on." Grabbing her hand, she used her toddler strength to pull her mother out of bed. "We gotta wake Auntie Rai' and Uncle Mar! Oh! And Grammy and Poppa too!" Her excitement continued to show as she led her mother all the way to the bathroom. Every Christmas holiday was spent at their family home, just the same as Thanksgiving. Instead of dinner, Sage and the twins cooked a big breakfast. This was the one time she didn't mind the girls being in the kitchen.

"It's so early Lace, mommy is still sleepy." Saire' whined as she grabbed their toothbrushes. "Mommy, you can't be sleepy, it's Christmas!" She replied in an innocent tone. That was her excuse for everything today. "What does that mean?" Saire' giggled. "I don't know." Lacee' responded with a shrug as she continued to brush her teeth. Lance entered the bathroom, grabbing his things to do the same. "We should be used to this by now." He stated. "You're used to early call times, not me." Saire' pointed out, making him chuckle as he moved beside her to the other sink.

"I don't even get up this early for work." She added. "All done!" Lacee' announced as she hopped down from her stool. She wiped her face again and put her washcloth back in its place. "Did you get your tongue?" Lance looked down at her. Nodding, Lacee' stuck it out. "Yes! Hurry Daddy!" She rushed him before dashing out of the bathroom. She raced down the hall to her Uncle's room, pushing the door open. "Uncle Mar! Uncle Mar!" She called, running to jump on his bed. The sudden feeling of her body being thrown down on his made him flinch. "Ahhh...Lacee'." He groaned groggily. "Get up! It's Christmas!" She giggled. Removing the pillow from his face, he sat up in bed.

"You know...Santa doesn't want us up early in the morning to open gifts." He claimed. "Yes he does." Lacee' responded in a sure tone. "How do you know?" He challenged her. "Because it's Christmas Uncle Mar, get up!" She demanded. "Is Bubba up yet?" Nodding, Lacee' climbed down from the bed. "Yes! Her and Daddy! Now I gotta get Auntie Rai' up!" She remembered before running out of his room to the next. This time, before she could enter Sarai's room, she had opened the door. "I'm already up." She smiled down at her niece before picking her up.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Lacee' asked as she looked up at her aunt. "I did. Did you?" She responded. "Yes! Now can we open gifts?!" Now that everybody was awake, they could finally go downstairs and gather around the tree. "Let's go." Sarai' picked her up, heading down the hallway and to the stairs. Saire' and Lance coming soon after. Christmas music could be heard coming from the radio in the living room as they approached the kitchen.