When Uncle Adam appeared in the living room on Christmas Eve morning, he found Wyatt hopping around on the furniture playing with Helen, Anna, and Sara. Wyatt would toss a ping-pong ball high into the air and the three would giggle and then race after it. Afterwards, Wyatt would hug the winner and toss it again to their delight.
Adam waved a new birth certificate and social security card. “Wyatt, you and me are spending the day together,” he announced. “We’re getting you a driver’s license, a bank account, a debit card, and hopefully a credit card, so bring your cash. We have to go now. Everything closes early today.”
Julie walked out of the kitchen eating a piece of toast. “Thank you, Uncle Adam,” said Julie sarcastically “Get him out of here for a while so his wives can recharge. We need a break from his constant insatiable sexual demands.”
She smiled at Wyatt. “Toss me the ping-pong ball. I’ll look after the girls while you’re gone.”
Wyatt tossed her the ball, and Julie tossed him the keys to her new BMW.
“His driver’s test will be easier in this,” Julie used her best fake French accent, “than Le Rouge Rocket. It’ll take les corners better!”
Wyatt walked to Julie and kissed her while the girls circled in the air around them.
“And when I return,” said Wyatt to Julie and the birdies. “I have a bunch of presents for my ladies to open this afternoon before the hoedown tonight.
Early that Evening
This felt good. This felt right.
Wyatt’s piloting the red rocket
into the Christmas Eve night. 🚀
Today he passed his driver’s test,
—just barely
Good enough for his adoring ladies…
Short, short skirts,
and faux fur jackets
💋Pouty red lips proudly wearing
cowboy hats,
and rhinestone boots
Bought by Wyatt and big bear Erin 🐻
These pretty belles didn’t mind the public a’starin… 👀
On the far edge of Newport gleamed a shiny retro-50s style nostalgia hamburger drive-in geared towards baby-boomers who refused to get healthy. When the rouge rocket arrived, heads turned to see what had just cruised into the burger joint’s harbor. Inside, as Wyatt parked, he saw a flurry of activity and a skinny nineteen-year-old waitress in a green and white uniform with her order apron flying, scampered out to meet the rocket.
Waving her arms and with a dramatic vocal flourish she exclaimed to everyone in the rouge rocket…
“Welcome to Little Billy’s Belly-Busting Burger Barn. Home of the gut-busting super two-pounds of pure beef, with bacon, bacon, and more bacon burger.
“It comes complete with five slices of cheese, two hotdogs, and overflows with onion rings and is saturated with our own Top-Secret special sauce. Yummmmmy!”
“Your heart won’t thank you, but your stomach surrrrre will!”
“And to celebrate the holidays, if you order five or more super belly-busting burgers, we will throw in a free bag of Oreo cookies and a two-liter bottle of diet Pepsi.”
The ménage cinq stared in shock at the young waitress until Wyatt broke the silence.
“Holy moly, lady!” exclaimed Wyatt. “How long did you have to practice to be able to recite that?”
The young girl grinned. “Almost a day.”
The girl stared into the backseat. Suddenly a look of recognition raced across her excited face. Jumping up and down, she wildly pointing.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! You’re Heidi Z! The Heidi Z!” she squealed. “I watch your father’s cooking show almost every day. I can’t believe it’s really you. Someday I want to be a great chef like you and your father and own my own restaurant.”
Heidi a little embarrassed, but highly flattered, smiled and waved. The young girl calmed herself down and…
“So, what can I get for Heidi Z’s posse?” she enthusiastically asked.
Everyone in the rocket, especially Gretchen, turned towards Heidi and in a chorus.
“Yes, what does Heidi Z’s posse want?”
Heidi loved the spotlight and the attention. “What your name?” she asked, very business-like.
“Cynthia Essen.”
“Cynthia, do you get to keep you tips or do you share them with the other girls?”
“I get to keep them.”
“Good. How long to cook one of those super-burgers?”
“Ten minutes.”
“How long to cook forty of them?”
“Probably half an hour to an hour, depending.”
“Ok, Cynthia,” said Heidi. “We have some things we need to do but we’ll be back in around two hours. You have forty super-burgers along with forty giant orders of fries boxed up and wrapped in Christmas paper with ribbon and bows, and there will be appropriate tips in it for you.”
Heidi tapped Wyatt on the shoulder. “Wyatt dear, please pay Cynthia.”
Cynthia scribbled frantically on her order pad, and after some quick math, Wyatt counted out the money.
“Ms. Z, is this food for your posse?” asked Cynthia curiously.
“Oh, good God, no!” answered Heidi swiftly. “I was hungry for a cheeseburger until you introduced us to the super-belly-busting-burger. But now our sugar daddy is taking us to dinner at Nye Beach around the corner.”
Wyatt, a little surprised, turned towards Heidi. “I am?”
“Of course, you are, my big, yummy wascally Wabbit,” said Heidi sweetly as she reached forward to rub Wyatt’s neck. “You have a credit card now.”
Cynthia shook her head. “The restaurants at Nye Beach are usually full on Christmas Eve, but I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” commented Cynthia, “my brother Herman is the maître d’ at La Forte Grenouille. Give me a few minutes lead time and I’ll call ahead he’ll get you in quickly with a view of the beach.”
“Thank you. Now you’re learning,” said Heidi, smiling at Cynthia. “Food is only half the equation of a good establishment. Service is the rest.”
“Speaking of service,” added Heidi. She tapped Wyatt on the shoulder again. “Onward Wabbit to the church.”
“As you wish, Frau Z,” answered Wyatt obediently while Gretchen, Claire, and Julie giggled.
Cynthia gazed at her order pad and the money in her hand and the cowboy hats in the red rocket disappearing in the distance. Contemplating the moment, she grinned broadly, and ran inside to place an order and make a call.
On the way to the church, Wyatt sported a goofy smile. It made him happy to hear his four ladies laughing together. It energized him, and made him feel alive, and more importantly—useful. He also liked the feeling of being able to pull his own financial weight and pay for supper.
Heidi couldn’t stop grinning. Usually Julie or Claire were the ones recognized and gushed over. “Every dog has its day,” she whispered to herself.
Suddenly, Heidi had a newfound pride in her family profession.
The bell at the Exceptionally Martyred Holy Body of Christ Evangelical Church tolled for early evening Christmas Eve Services when the Rouge Rocketship drove into the parking lot and parked. Next to the large open doors stood Evelyn and Trish Goodbody like polite sentinels handing out programs. When they saw the ménage cinq unloading from the Rocketship, they handed off their program duties to other volunteers, and greeted their arriving guests at the bottom of the steps. Wyatt followed as the designated mule carrying packages.
“Welcome. Good to see you here. Did you come to attend Christmas Eve Services?” asked an excited Evelyn.
“No, sadly we can’t stay,” responded Claire. “We have other commitments. There’s a wonderful bear at home who needs our attention.”
Trish smiled. “Say hello to Erin for me and tell her thank you for the book.”
“If you’re not attending services, why are you all here?” asked Evelyn curiously.
Heidi spoke first. “The four of us are feeling somewhat guilty about the way we have treated you, so we wanted to give you some presents to make up for it.”
“Make up for what?” pressed Evelyn.
Claire ignored the question and took two small packages from Wyatt’s pile and handed one to Trish and the other to Evelyn.
“No more stinky door-to-door perfume for you two,” sniffed Claire with a flourish. “If you want to smell like a woman, smell like a sexy, desirable woman, and not like a can of air freshener. There are two bottles of L’otarie perfume in these boxes. My favorite is L’odeur d’un poulpe, but you might also like the other, Puanteur de la mer. Both have their own distinctive alluring presence.”
Julie handed the pair two envelopes. “In these envelopes are memberships to the local health club along with a gift certificate for two hours a day with a personal trainer and nutritionist for the next year. Please take some time off from Jesus to be healthy so we can get more bundt cakes from you in the future.”
Julie slyly winked.
Finally, Heidi and Gretchen handed Evelyn and Trish two big boxes.
“We have selected for each of you several stylish dresses from the L’otarie Paris Fall Collection,” said Gretchen. “In the boxes are various sizes of two dresses to accommodate you for whatever size you decide you are most comfortable at.”
“Oh, and I almost forgot,” said Claire, taking the last package from Wyatt and handing it to Evelyn. “Here is the uplifting good book1 I promised the Reverend Goodbody. Merry Christmas.”
The five wished them a Merry Christmas and left. A confused Trish and Evelyn looked at each other, scrutinized the presents they held and waved as the ménage cinq walked away.
“Thank you. Merry Christmas…I think,” said Trish meekly while Evelyn curiously fondled the package containing the uplifting good book.
Jeremy glanced at his husband, always so fastidious about his appearance, primping in front of the bathroom mirror and smiled. Sensitive about his appearance but not to the peacock-like extent of Thomas, Jeremy loved him for that among a million other things on a list too long to review in his mind. Instead he watched and enjoyed. As an ex-military man who survived with his soul damaged, but intact, Jeremy had a delicate and razor-sharp appreciation of the small moments, and the tender in-betweens. Peace could not be defined, only felt, and when Jeremy gazed at Thomas every moment he had ever been small in his life, or destructive—every regret that he ever had existed somewhere else, but not there. Miracles happen, and the proof stood in front of him. He didn’t need Wyatt resurrected from the dead to show him that. But still he had questions. Not reproachful ones, but the kind a thoughtful man entertains during quiet moments and then with joy eventually throws into the wind, when he realizes that in the vastness of the universe we are all very tiny and only the personal moments mean anything.
“Thomas,” asked Jeremy, “do you ever wonder…”
He hesitated a few seconds as he thought.
“About…” asked Thomas.
“About this month, December?” said Jeremy. “It’s been such a short time, but if you think about it we’ve been through so much, Julie, Wyatt, our new friends…family, life, death, resurrection, Paris. Do you ever wonder about Wyatt?”
“Of course, I do,” said Thomas as he preened himself over in the mirror. “He gives me faith.”
“Faith? In what?” inquired Jeremy curiously.
“In that whatever awaits us is good…” said Thomas, “…wonderful, and it’s not reserved for straight white people who go to church every Sunday. That everybody has an equal part in the world in the universe’s eyes, and that you and I are a part of this family proves it. Past that I’m not going to question it. I’m going to hang on and enjoy our family and take care of Erin tonight. And afterwards, enjoy the rest of our lives together.”
Jeremy reflected for a moment as Thomas adjusted his collar. “I never thought of it like that.”
“Only one thing is important,” commented Thomas, “and The Beatles sang it best.”
Jeremy stretched his arms around a warm and inviting Thomas and together in perfect synchronicity their feet danced with a singular peace as Jeremy gently sang.
“…all you need is love, ta da da da dah, love is all you need…”
Sitting on the floor below them, Crush curiously looked upward at the happy pair.
“Arf.”
Kneeling on the floor in the garage, Wyatt scratched behind Erin’s big furry ear with his right hand while he held a bottle of L’otarie Champagne in his left.
“Wake up, Erin,” coaxed Wyatt softly. Erin snorted and rolled to her side on the mattress.
–Go away Wyatt and let me sleep.
“But it’s Christmas Eve,” said Wyatt sternly while he firmly pushed Erin’s giant muscular shoulder. “And I want to have a drink with my wonderful mother-in-law.”
Erin’s eyes opened.
–Ok, Wyatt, what have you got?
“I have champagne,” answered Wyatt with a dramatic flourish. “And not just any champagne—L’otarie.”
–Ummmm…Yummm…
“But you’ll have to take a walk with me.”
–Where?
“The beach,” exclaimed Wyatt. “There’s a wonderful full moon hovering above the ocean.”
–Too many steps up and down the cliffside stairway.
You go for a walk.
–Leave the champagne!
Erin rolled up into a tight ball and ignored Wyatt.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Wyatt laughed. “You’re not turning into a big lazy bear on Christmas Eve.”
He scratched Erin behind her stripped ear.
>Blue Light<
Erin uncurled and sat upright on the sandy beach. The moonlight drenched her like a misty rain and reflected off her fur in little sparkles, making her seem truly angelic thought Wyatt.
Erin frowned.
–You know I could always make myself reappear
back on my comfy mattress.
In Wyatt’s mind Erin emphasized the word “comfy.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Then why all the fuss about going up and down the stairs? You could’ve just appeared here with me.”
–A girl likes to be persuaded by a good-looking guy sometimes.
And right now, you’re the designated good-looking guy
unless there’s a spiritbearmatch.com website I don’t know about.
“Not yet,” joked Wyatt, “but maybe soon.”
Erin pointed at the champagne and grunted.
–Are you going to open that or hold it all night?
Tearing off the upper foil wrapper, Wyatt wedged the bottle against himself. He attempted to nudge the cork out between his thumbs, but no matter how much he twisted it remained stuck. Erin waved a large pointed claw in the bottle’s direction and with a loud pop the cork soared high into the night sky and kerplunk into the moon-lit surf.
“That’s a neat trick,” commented Wyatt. “It’s going to put you in demand at every party.”
Erin grunted. Opening her mouth she pointed. Wyatt obliged and poured until Erin closed her mouth sending a spray of champagne onto her fur. Afterwards Wyatt took a few refreshing gulps from the bottle himself and sat next to his friend in the sand.
Wyatt gazed upward at the stars.
“Erin, do you ever get lonely?” asked Wyatt.
The question took her by surprise.
–Uh…no…well—uh…sometimes.
“Well, my very dear friend,” said Wyatt as he rubbed Erin’s fur. “Your family has made a decision for you. Starting tonight, you are moving out of the garage and inside with us.”
–I am?
“We are not taking no for an answer,” said Wyatt. “We’re all agreed. Glorb-O’s techs have installed E-technology into the house and it will expand inside into other dimensions as we need it to. Sort of like what you did to my house in Whitefish. You will have a room as large as you want on the south side of the house. I want you to experience your grandchildren as much as you can. Your room will have a portal directly into the nursery just for you. And when our kids are old enough, they can ride on their grandmother.”
–Can I have a hot tub?
“A hot tub, a bear-sized shower, a refrigerator stocked with Dove bars and salmon, a cold keg of stout beer, TV, a super soft bed without silk sheets in front of a warm fireplace, anything you want. Your family loves you and wants you closer in their lives.”
–You haven’t told Julie who I really am, have you?
“No, of course not,” responded Wyatt. “Nobody knows but Gretchen and I. It’s another one of our special secrets. Though someday I wish you would tell her. She deserves to know how much her mother loves her.”
–I wish I could, but I can’t.
Not until it’s my turn to move on.
But I promise before I go, I will tell her.
“Thank you,” said Wyatt as Erin opened her mouth and pointed for Wyatt to pour her more champagne.
“No more champagne. Time to go,” announced Wyatt.
–Go?…go where?
>Blue Light<
The greasy warm aroma of Little Billy’s belly-busting burgers and giant orders of fries filled the air in the living room of la Belle Aurore when Wyatt and Erin appeared. Furniture had been cleared, and in the center of the room stood a large table on which lay the scrumptious beefy grill-fried goodies along with a keg of stout beer and dark chocolate dove bars on ice. Erin drooled as she surveyed the bounty. In front of her stood Julie, Heidi, Claire, and Gretchen ready to serve along with Konrad, Bambi, Adam, Dieter, Raelene, Dr. Collins, Jeremy, Thomas, Marta, Cody, Glorb-O, Molly, Mag-R, Tawny, a dozen scientists from the Heady Institute, Michael, and Rachel. Meanwhile her granddaughters, Helen, Anna, and Sara merrily flew around the room, without a care in the world, in child-size cowboy hats with big feathers and little rhinestone studded boots.
Julie picked up a large cardboard burger box with a bow on it. Unknotting the bow, she flipped the lid open and held it out for Erin. When Erin, about to scarf the burger whole leaned forward, she noticed Julie staring directly into her eyes.
Julie’s eyes widened, and her face broadened into an emotional quivering smile. Dropping the box onto the table Julie leaped into Erin. Then, wrapping her arms around Erin’s big furry head, Julie squeezed while Erin squeezed her back. Everyone stared in amazement. A few moments later, Julie disengaged and stepped away.
“Sorry,” said Julie, gazing at Erin.
“I know you’re hungry but it’s just so wonderful to have you around and I always wanted to thank you properly for well… for everything.”
Julie headed off to the kitchen to quietly cry.
Ten minutes later from the dining room balcony Julie watched Erin gobble burger after burger, beer and Dove bars as the family happily offered them to her. Wyatt gazed upward at Julie and smiled the Wyatt-bad-boy-half-smile that she loved, as she remembered over dinner Wyatt nonchalantly commenting… “has anybody ever noticed what beautiful brown eyes Erin has?”
And now Julie knew a secret, a very wonderful secret, and the secrets of the Morgen household were always hidden in their eyes. And when Konrad approached and Erin unexpectedly gripped him to her for a long loving hug Julie knew for sure that she was right.
Holding back the tears, Julie smiled at Wyatt. She couldn’t imagine ever getting a better Christmas present while Wyatt smugly conceded to himself with pride that he was…smarter than the average bear.
Meanwhile, Erin slyly watched Wyatt and Julie and grinned because she knew what they were thinking and she knew—she was no average bear.
It had been a long and tiring shift. Despite being Christmas Eve, people still had to eat and in the case of Little Billy’s Burger Barnyard, over-indulge. As Cynthia Essen walked to her old beat-up car in the drive-in rear parking lot, she looked upward at the starry night sky and reached into her pocket to pull out the night’s tips. She stared at the large wad of cash in her hand.
The ménage cinq’s bill for the burgers and fries tallied around $450. A normal 10% tip should have been $45. But Wyatt insisted that she had been a wonderful waitress and that she deserved to have it rounded up to an even $100. Claire admiring the ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper pulled another $100 from Wyatt’s hand for style. Noting that Cynthia got them their reservation at La Forte Grenouille on a busy Christmas Eve, Julie plucked another $100 from Wyatt’s open hand and joyfully presented it to Cynthia. Gretchen, for the sheer fun of it transferred another $100 from Wyatt’s hand. And when Heidi handed her a business card with a name and phone number written on the back, she became emotionally overwhelmed by their generosity.
“My advice,” said Heidi, “is to call this number and immediately apply over the phone for an Anna Z Memorial Scholarship to the Jacques le Frosch Culinary School in L.A. Do it the day after Christmas because classes start just after the new year. Use me as a reference in your application and tell Bobby if he has any questions about expediting it to call me personally. I’ll text him tonight to give him a heads up that you will be calling.”
Heidi hugged Cynthia. “Merry Christmas.”
And before a speechless Cynthia could say anything, Heidi jumped back into the Rocket and her posse drove away with the smell of burgers trailing in the wind from the trunk.
Stuffing the money and precious card into her purse Cynthia zipped it up securely. Then, looking up into the clear moon-lit night sky, she let her imagination roam.
“First, I will go to school, work hard and learn my craft,” she vowed to the stars above. “Then I will apprentice at a good restaurant and learn the business. I will save my money and when the time is right I will return to Oregon and open up a restaurant on Nye Beach. What should I call it?” she asked herself, looking upward at the moon.
A name popped into her head.
“La Rouge Rocket. Yes,” she shouted. “La Rouge Rocket. That’s, what I’ll name it—La Rouge Rocket. Thank you. Ms. Z. This former burger chick will make you proud.”
In the distance, Cynthia faintly heard the bell tolling at the Exceptionally Martyred Holy Body of Christ Evangelical Church. Christmas day had finally arrived.
As the bell tolled for the midnight Christmas Service, Evelyn and Trish sat quietly in the reverend’s office examining the presents they had been given earlier by the Morgen women. Located in the front of the church in back of the choir booth, the reverend’s office was private, spacious, but cozy. Evelyn and Trish, having already participated in three services today, decided that they had earned the right to sit this one out. In the sanctuary hall they heard the first hymn being sung and the final celebration began.
Evelyn held up a dress. “What do you think?”
Trish studied her plump, round breasts for a moment. “I can’t tell. Maybe you should take off your dress before you hold up the other dress.”
“You think I should?” said Evelyn.
Locking the door Trish strolled to Evelyn, and motioned for her to turn around.
“Let me help you with the zipper,” offered Trish. “It’s the Christian thing to do.”
And with a little help, Evelyn’s dress fell to the floor. Evelyn returned the favor and helped Trish with her dress. Then, for the next few minutes, clad only in panties and bras, the two held the various size dresses against each other and playfully critiqued them in between mischievous squirts of heavenly perfume. While Trish carefully folded their new dresses into their boxes, Evelyn ran her hand curiously across the reverend’s present.
“What’s that?” asked Trish, peering over Evelyn’s shoulder.
“I don’t know” said a puzzled Evelyn. “Claire said it was an uplifting book, La Kamasutra. Ever heard of it?”
“No, but if it’s anything like the book Erin gave me,” said Trish, “it’s really good.”
“Hey,” said Trish mischievously while rubbing Evelyn’s shoulder. “You want to open it? We don’t have tell your brother it was wrapped.”
Evelyn thought about it and she felt the sinful vice of temptation overwhelm her and—she liked it!
“Ok,” replied Evelyn with a naughty smile.
Evelyn sat in the reverend’s chair and tore off the wrapping paper and bows. With a quick flip, she opened to a page somewhere in the middle of the book. Trish rested her hands on Evelyn’s shoulders and leaned forward to get a better look. The two women stared intently at the image in front of them.
“Oh my,” sighed Evelyn. “I think the French have a much different meaning for the word uplifting.”
“Oh my,” repeated Trish as she massaged Evelyn’s shoulders. “I think you’re right—turn the page!”
Evelyn turned the page. “Oh my,” said an excited Evelyn. “These are very sinful images.”
“Oh my,” repeated Trish as her fingers continued to deeply massage Evelyn’s soft shoulders. “I agree, very sinful. Please turn the page!”
Evelyn turned the page. “Oh my,” said Evelyn. “I don’t think the reverend would ever do that with you.”
“I completely agree,” said Trish with a sigh. She slipped her fingers into Evelyn’s bra and massaged her warm, erect, and welcoming nipples between her fingers. “He would never do that with me—turn the page!”
Fifteen minutes later the Midnight Christmas service neared the end and the reverend invoked the last Christmas Carol of the night. The happy parishioners raised their voices joyfully to the heavens…
“O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant…”
Suddenly, from the reverend’s private office, they were interrupted by…
……Halle-fucking-lujah, baby!!!
The congregation stopped singing.
Reverend Goodbody, highly annoyed, motioned for everyone to resume the carol. Afterwards the righteous reverend Goodbody resolved to severely reprimand his wife and sister as soon as the service ended and remind them of a woman’s place. A Bible verse entered his mind…
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.
Revelation 3:19
Later, when the reverend unlocked the door to his office, the pair were mysteriously nowhere to be found along with the ménage cinq’s presents and one extremely interesting book.
2 a.m.
Trish quietly crept down the stairs and into her sister-in-law’s bedroom at the end of the hall. Throwing off her nightgown, she slid into bed and embraced her new lover.
“How many Ambien did you give my brother?” asked Evelyn between kisses.
“I crushed three into his tea. He won’t wake anytime soon,” said Trish as her mouth descended to her sister-in-law’s breasts while her fingers explored between Evelyn’s legs.
“Praise the Lord!” gasped Evelyn. “Did he believe your story that we were here the entire time?”
“He’d better,” stated Trish as she sucked an erect nipple. “It’s the only one he’s going to get.”
Trish stopped sucking.
“Hey, I just thought of something,” she said. “I think I know now what hauling ashes really means!”
“Oh, please stop thinking,” exclaimed an aching Evelyn, “…and sin me up!”
“Halle-fucking-lujah!” replied Trish as they rejoiced in the Lord’s gifts and rolled into a sensuous ball together.
As Wyatt finished brushing his teeth, he heard a bell in the distance tolling.
“It’s Christmas now,” whispered Wyatt as he listened. “A time of miracles. And I ought to know, I’m one of them.”
Wyatt, never a religious or praying man, said a quiet—thank you to the universe around him. When Wyatt opened the bathroom door, the bedroom lights had been dimmed. In the background the twanging melody of a romantic cowboy Christmas ballad drifted. Standing in front of the bed Julie tantalized wearing a silk cobalt blue nightshirt that accented her perky upper attributes. Next to her beckoned Heidi daintily sucking a lollipop in a short white baby-doll with bows that made her seem oh-so-naughty. On the other side Claire stood statuesquely erect in a long elegant, voluptuous black satin nightgown daring Wyatt to come into her web. To accent their lingerie, all three wore the sexy cowboy hats and high-heeled rhinestone boots that they had been given earlier.
Together, with arms raised, imaginary lassoes were thrown in Wyatt’s direction. Roped and tied by the three sexy outlaws, they threw their delicious cowboy onto the bed and roasted him, feathers and all.
“It’s a very nice tree,” said Wyatt, gazing at the beautiful fifteen-foot noble fir in front of him. “Who helped you decorate this year?”
Gretchen kissed Wyatt gently on the tip of his nose. “You’ll have to solve that mystery tomorrow, Inspector, when we have our other family over.”
Wyatt wrapped his arms around Gretchen.
“Is Serge coming?” asked Wyatt as he breathed her in. “I want to tell him about his tarps.”
“Anna, Sara, Serge, Pablo, Alan, Rod, John, Gaius…everyone. Even Helen in non-Erin bear form,” replied Gretchen enjoying Wyatt’s arms. “They all want to see our latest edition and take turns flying with our three birdies.”
Gretchen kissed Wyatt and took him by the hand.
“But before that happens,” said Gretchen. “I want to give my love his first Christmas present, now that the kids are asleep.”
Gretchen led Wyatt out the front door to the side of their house. Against the foundation lay a half cord of wood ready to be split. Gretchen unbuttoned Wyatt’s shirt. Her lips explored his chest as the shirt floated to the ground. Picking up an axe, Fräulein Gretchen handed it to her Inspector. After kissing him sweetly, she set a piece of wood on a stump. Then, sitting on a nearby log, Gretchen sighed deeply as she watched Wyatt’s sweaty back muscles ripple while he split wood for her.
Meanwhile, upstairs Helen in a cowboy hat mischievously peeked out a window along with her two naughty rhinestone sisters. She turned to Anna and Sara.
“Mommy Big Wings pretty,” she said, nodding her head up and down. “She and Daddy Big Wings clean bedroom soon.”
Sara and Anna nodded their heads in agreement as the three curious birdies watched their parents with great interest.
Merry Christmas to all…and to all, a good night!