The Gathering, Chapter 68 - Christmas Morning 5 of 5
Title: The Gathering
Rating: Adults Only (NC-17)
Characters: Brian, Justin, and other canon characters
Genre: Fanfiction, Humor
Warnings: None
Timeline: Future – More than 1 year after episode 513
Summary
When Debbie and Carl have their first real date In QAF Episode 214, Carl showed Debbie pictures of his daughter, Vicki, who lives in Salt Lake City, and his son, Carl Jr., who was in the Air Force. I kept waiting for an episode where Carl’s family would actually appear. It never happened, so here’s my version of what happened when Carl’s adult children and their families come to Pittsburgh to meet Debbie and the gang. This is the first Christmas after Brian and Justin legalized their relationship, and they are now living in New York City. Ben and Michael are estranged…with Ben and Hunter living in an apartment and Michael living alone in the house. This story was intended to be a standalone story. This is just a little holiday fluff, but it takes me a while to tell a simple story, so I will update frequently.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lois, Kathy, and Shadownyc…thanks for the beta…you’re the greatest!
Previous Chapters
Author’s Comment: Sorry everyone for the delays. Thanks for your patience. Here is your next installment of one chapter.
Chapter 68 – Christmas Morning, Part V
Later Christmas Morning, December 25th
Returning to Carl’s Old House
Chaos abounded in the living room as the kids, including Debbie and Carl, became acquainted with their initial cache of Christmas presents.
Debbie leaned over to Carl. “Elise and Vicki must be working very hard getting breakfast ready for all of us. Listen to their fucking footsteps. Maybe I should go and give them a hand.”
CJ was nearby and overhead the comment. He gently touched Debbie’s arm. “Trust me, they have everything under control.”
Philip couldn’t resist chiming in. “And they mentioned something about a surprise for us.”
Six pairs of ears were suddenly attuned to every word being uttered between the adults.
“What kind of surprise?” Carl asked just loud enough for his grandkids to hear. “Maybe I should go and investigate? After all, I am the detective in the family.”
“Homicide Detective,” Debbie was quick to remind him. “What’s needed here is sneakiness.”
Carl laughed. “I see. In other words, it’s unfortunate that Brian and Justin aren’t here.”
“Exactly…” Debbie said with a nod.
Mark tiptoed over to join the conversation. “If you want, I can crawl over to the kitchen door and see what’s going on.”
“Now, see what you’ve started?” Philip looked over at Debbie and Carl with a pretend glare.
“Will you leave Debbie alone?” CJ had to insist while trying to hide a smile.
“You may not be afraid of Elise…but Vicki is a stickler. When she says it supposed to be a surprise, she expects it to be delivered as such.” Philip wanted to be sure everyone understood the risk. “So we’re all going to wait until we’re called. It’s Christmas. We still have to be on our best behavior.”
CJ leaned over to whisper to the kids. “Don’t worry. Your Uncle Phil is as curious as the rest of us. He’s just afraid. See?”
The kids all smiled in that special way of children, for they had just been made privy to some major secret.
“Okay, I’ve had enough of this.” Philip said as he stood up. Then he called out, “Vicki. What’s going on in there?”
“Just a few more minutes…” Vicki replied. “We’re almost ready.”
“That’s right,” Elise echoed. “In fact, if you would all go upstairs and wash your hands, we should be ready by the time you all get back.”
“Well, that was clear enough,” Debbie said as she reached for Gretchen, who already had her arms up in the air ready to be picked up.
There was the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Then, the final echo of them returning to the living room by Trey, Ricky, Mark and the twins followed by the adults: CJ, Philip, and Carl with Debbie, bringing up the rear, carrying Gretchen.
When they got to the kitchen Elise and Vicki flanked the door with their own special Christmas greeting.
“Merry Christmas!” Vicki said.
“Froehe Weihnachten!” Elise added stepping away from the doorway.
The standing crowd parted to let Debbie and Gretchen go through first.
“Oh my goodness!” Debbie said as she beheld the now decorated kitchen. Garland had been strung around the wall just below the ceiling. “It’s so festive.”
“And look at the Christmas breakfast table.” Carl said with glee, behind her.
The table had been set in a festive manner with a special red and green Christmas tablecloth with printed garland trim with each place setting was gleaming in place. In the center of the table was a gingerbread house - complete with sugar glazed windows and elaborate decorations of gum drops and candy canes along the house and the roof. To add to the holiday mood of the centerpiece, on either side of the house were special holiday cookies stacked to form little sugar-dusted Christmas trees.
“You’ve really outdone yourself this year,” CJ said, leaning over to gently kiss Elise.
“This just seemed like the proper setting for chocolate chip pancakes,” Elise replied with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders.
Vicki was smiling as well. “Okay, everyone take your places.” She motioned to the seats for Debbie and Carl. “These are for you. We’re so glad you could join us. The pancakes are on the table.”
Debbie laughed. “I’ve been hearing about chocolate chip pancakes since Carl came here for breakfast. I’m really looking forward to this.”
Elise added assorted berries to the table. “You’re going to need these.”
Trey easily settled into his seat. “And you’re going the need the whipped cream.”
“Spoken by the resident expert on chocolate chip pancakes,” CJ added with a grin.
“Here you go,” Vicki said, handing over the bowl of whipped cream.
Gretchen clapped her hands to make sure everyone knew she was there. She was particularly fond of these pancakes, and Shannon and Kerry made sure she was served.
A few moments later, the family attacked their Christmas breakfast.
***
After breakfast, while everyone was still sitting at the table, CJ stood to make an announcement. “Okay, using Phil’s chaotic system for present distribution…” he paused and scowled over at his brother-in-law. “We only managed to get through the first round of present-opening.”
All the little faces turned in CJ’s direction.
“First round?” Trey asked.
CJ smiled. “Yes, you forgot to check your bulging Christmas stockings.”
“But I thought those were just for decoration…” Ricky added.
“Obviously, not this year,” Carl whispered as an aside to Debbie. “Maybe we’d better investigate,” he suggested with his comment directed at the little ones.
“We have to check our stockings?” Mark whispered to Trey.
“We were very good, so Santa filled our stockings too.” Kerry whispered to Shannon, sitting next to her at the table.
CJ assumed control, once again. “So line up!” he said and then looked over to see what Philip was going to say.
Philip displayed an evil grin. “Your grand line-up scheme might work this time. After all there is only one overstuffed stocking per Munchkin. As screwy as it sounds…this might work.”
The Munchkins didn’t need to be told twice as they quickly stood up and headed for the living room again with Trey stopping long enough to take Gretchen’s hand.
“I’m glad you agree with me.” CJ began leading the adults into the living room.
“Consider it a Christmas present.” Philip paused a moment. “I thought I’d be nice to you, just in case Santa only filled your stocking with a lump of coal.”
CJ growled at Philip.
“See that’s the behavior that probably earned you that lump of coal in the first place.”
Elise put her arms around CJ. “You were very good this year. Don’t pay any attention to mean old Philip. You know how he can be.”
The kids were watching CJ and Elise with impatience.
Philip felt the need to interrupt. “Elise, you can cuddle CJ later to make him feel better. We have work to do. We have another gift brigade ahead of us.” He turned to the kids. “Okay, Munchkins, stake out your territory again.”
And six little ones instantly scattered, with Gretchen holding tightly to Trey’s hand. This was a time when a little girl felt she needed her big brother.
Carl and Debbie followed. They were as curious as everyone else to see what would happen next.
“Wait a minute!” CJ called out. “Stake out your territory? What about my orderly lines? I just thought…” CJ began with a pout.
Philip stood for a moment shaking his head. “CJ, you saw their faces!” He motioned in the direction of the kids. “Do they look like they’re in a let’s line up kind of mood” to you?
Vicki called out. “Don’t open anything yet. You have to give Elise and me a moment to clear the table. Then we’ll join you.
“She’d better fucking hurry,” Debbie whispered to Carl.
And at that comment, for some unexplained reason, all the kids snickered.
“Phil and I will get everyone ready. In the meantime, they can just fondle their stockings. But no one will peek inside or open anything until you arrive.” CJ insisted. “Isn’t that right?” he directed his question to the kids.
Six little Munchkin-heads nodded in unison.
Philip moved over to the mantle, very carefully removing the first stocking. He added extra drama as he pretended to collapse under the weight of one of the stockings before he handed it to CJ. “What’s in these stockings? I need two hands just to lift this one.”
The kids became even more excited when they heard that remark.
CJ continued with the struggle as he too needed both hands to maneuver the stocking he held. With each step he silently decided Philip had been right, if everyone had simply lined up, they’d never be able to carry their loaded stockings. He delivered the first one to Kerry.
“Now that we’re in the middle of this process, I can see that my system wouldn’t have worked,” CJ reluctantly said to Philip.
“I’m glad you finally realized I was right,” Philip couldn’t resist gloating.
One by one the stockings were distributed. The names written in glitter on each one made the delivery process go very smoothly.
The tension and excitement built as each one wanted to know what was in their particular stocking. All sorts of theories were floated about the room as they waited for Vicki and Elise to join them.
When the two women finally hurried into the living room from the kitchen, there were cheers all around from with each waiting kid hugging their stocking.
“Okay, we’re here. Let’s see what’s in those stocking,” Vicki said. She didn’t have to repeat the request.
Six sets of little fingers, with help from the adults, started to search through the stockings. They found the little packs of cookies, candies, clusters of small toys and other interesting gadgets.
Mark was the first to find an envelope with his name on it in his stocking.
“I have one too,” Trey lifted his too.
One by one, the kids found the envelopes in their stocking. Inside each envelope was a card signed by Santa with special photograph attached.
“I don’t understand,” Shannon said, turning confused eyes toward Carl.
Carl looked at the card and showed it to Debbie. “What did Santa say?” she asked.
“Look at the pictures,” Carl said with a smile. “Santa didn’t want the new Christmas toys to be broken on your plane ride home,” he began reading the pictograph drawings. “So…”
“So what?” Philip asked.
“From what I can tell, Santa delivered a dollhouse for you and Kerry to share to your regular house. Here’s what it looks like. See the picture. See the red bow. It will be waiting for you when you get back to Salt Lake City.”
Shannon looked at Kerry with confusion before scurrying over to her mother.
Vicky hugged her daughters. “We’re going to have another Christmas when we finally get home. Your Barbie dollhouse will be waiting for you there. See the picture. That looks like our living room in Salt Lake City.”
Shannon was as excited as any five-year old could be once she understood how this worked. She then nudged Kerry over in the direction of Carl for a reading of her card.
Kerry had the identical card with a different Barbie dollhouse to share. This one was a vacation cabin.
Mark finally opened his envelope and found the picture of a new bike inside. But he didn’t want there to be any mistakes, so he brought his card over to Carl to be sure his impression was correct. He wanted to hold on to the hope that Santa might bring him a new Bike for Christmas.
Carl continued process of explaining the cards from Santa.
Trey found out he’d have a new computer waiting for him in Germany.
Ricky discovered he received the new skis and poles he’d been asking for.
Gretchen didn’t find any cards at first, but she did find her own Barbie doll with a few outfits tucked inside the stocking.
“You’ll be able to play Barbie with us now,” Kerry said to Gretchen.
“Wait until Daphne and Auntie Em find out about this,” Shannon added.
“You’ll be able to show them at dinner,” Debbie reminded them.
Trey took a look in Gretchen’s stocking and found a card at the bottom. He showed the card to Carl, who confirmed that she had a new tricycle waiting for her at home in Germany.
For some reason Trey took great pleasure in explaining this to his little sister, whose eyes grew larger and larger with excitement as she listened to her brother describe all the details.
Carl and Debbie stayed and watched the kids play with their new cache of presents for a while.
Eventually, Debbie had to say, “This has been fun, but Carl and I have to leave. We still need to add the final touches to few dishes. Then, we should get an early start. We don’t want the food to arrive late for dinner.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Em and Drew to give us a hand,” Carl said. Then, his eyes started to twinkle. “This year is going to be the biggest Christmas dinner ever.”
“I can’t wait!” Philip added, as he thought about the other surprises in store for everyone. He couldn’t wait to see all the faces when Mac and Laurie joined them for Christmas dinner. And for just a moment, he was so glad he knew how to keep a secret.
Author’s Comments: This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected, I have the next chapter done, which continues with events of Christmas Morning at Bri-tin. I will post it later today.
Next Chapter
Rating: Adults Only (NC-17)
Characters: Brian, Justin, and other canon characters
Genre: Fanfiction, Humor
Warnings: None
Timeline: Future – More than 1 year after episode 513
When Debbie and Carl have their first real date In QAF Episode 214, Carl showed Debbie pictures of his daughter, Vicki, who lives in Salt Lake City, and his son, Carl Jr., who was in the Air Force. I kept waiting for an episode where Carl’s family would actually appear. It never happened, so here’s my version of what happened when Carl’s adult children and their families come to Pittsburgh to meet Debbie and the gang. This is the first Christmas after Brian and Justin legalized their relationship, and they are now living in New York City. Ben and Michael are estranged…with Ben and Hunter living in an apartment and Michael living alone in the house. This story was intended to be a standalone story. This is just a little holiday fluff, but it takes me a while to tell a simple story, so I will update frequently.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lois, Kathy, and Shadownyc…thanks for the beta…you’re the greatest!
Previous Chapters
Author’s Comment: Sorry everyone for the delays. Thanks for your patience. Here is your next installment of one chapter.
Chapter 68 – Christmas Morning, Part V
Later Christmas Morning, December 25th
Returning to Carl’s Old House
Chaos abounded in the living room as the kids, including Debbie and Carl, became acquainted with their initial cache of Christmas presents.
Debbie leaned over to Carl. “Elise and Vicki must be working very hard getting breakfast ready for all of us. Listen to their fucking footsteps. Maybe I should go and give them a hand.”
CJ was nearby and overhead the comment. He gently touched Debbie’s arm. “Trust me, they have everything under control.”
Philip couldn’t resist chiming in. “And they mentioned something about a surprise for us.”
Six pairs of ears were suddenly attuned to every word being uttered between the adults.
“What kind of surprise?” Carl asked just loud enough for his grandkids to hear. “Maybe I should go and investigate? After all, I am the detective in the family.”
“Homicide Detective,” Debbie was quick to remind him. “What’s needed here is sneakiness.”
Carl laughed. “I see. In other words, it’s unfortunate that Brian and Justin aren’t here.”
“Exactly…” Debbie said with a nod.
Mark tiptoed over to join the conversation. “If you want, I can crawl over to the kitchen door and see what’s going on.”
“Now, see what you’ve started?” Philip looked over at Debbie and Carl with a pretend glare.
“Will you leave Debbie alone?” CJ had to insist while trying to hide a smile.
“You may not be afraid of Elise…but Vicki is a stickler. When she says it supposed to be a surprise, she expects it to be delivered as such.” Philip wanted to be sure everyone understood the risk. “So we’re all going to wait until we’re called. It’s Christmas. We still have to be on our best behavior.”
CJ leaned over to whisper to the kids. “Don’t worry. Your Uncle Phil is as curious as the rest of us. He’s just afraid. See?”
The kids all smiled in that special way of children, for they had just been made privy to some major secret.
“Okay, I’ve had enough of this.” Philip said as he stood up. Then he called out, “Vicki. What’s going on in there?”
“Just a few more minutes…” Vicki replied. “We’re almost ready.”
“That’s right,” Elise echoed. “In fact, if you would all go upstairs and wash your hands, we should be ready by the time you all get back.”
“Well, that was clear enough,” Debbie said as she reached for Gretchen, who already had her arms up in the air ready to be picked up.
There was the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Then, the final echo of them returning to the living room by Trey, Ricky, Mark and the twins followed by the adults: CJ, Philip, and Carl with Debbie, bringing up the rear, carrying Gretchen.
When they got to the kitchen Elise and Vicki flanked the door with their own special Christmas greeting.
“Merry Christmas!” Vicki said.
“Froehe Weihnachten!” Elise added stepping away from the doorway.
The standing crowd parted to let Debbie and Gretchen go through first.
“Oh my goodness!” Debbie said as she beheld the now decorated kitchen. Garland had been strung around the wall just below the ceiling. “It’s so festive.”
“And look at the Christmas breakfast table.” Carl said with glee, behind her.
The table had been set in a festive manner with a special red and green Christmas tablecloth with printed garland trim with each place setting was gleaming in place. In the center of the table was a gingerbread house - complete with sugar glazed windows and elaborate decorations of gum drops and candy canes along the house and the roof. To add to the holiday mood of the centerpiece, on either side of the house were special holiday cookies stacked to form little sugar-dusted Christmas trees.
“You’ve really outdone yourself this year,” CJ said, leaning over to gently kiss Elise.
“This just seemed like the proper setting for chocolate chip pancakes,” Elise replied with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders.
Vicki was smiling as well. “Okay, everyone take your places.” She motioned to the seats for Debbie and Carl. “These are for you. We’re so glad you could join us. The pancakes are on the table.”
Debbie laughed. “I’ve been hearing about chocolate chip pancakes since Carl came here for breakfast. I’m really looking forward to this.”
Elise added assorted berries to the table. “You’re going to need these.”
Trey easily settled into his seat. “And you’re going the need the whipped cream.”
“Spoken by the resident expert on chocolate chip pancakes,” CJ added with a grin.
“Here you go,” Vicki said, handing over the bowl of whipped cream.
Gretchen clapped her hands to make sure everyone knew she was there. She was particularly fond of these pancakes, and Shannon and Kerry made sure she was served.
A few moments later, the family attacked their Christmas breakfast.
***
After breakfast, while everyone was still sitting at the table, CJ stood to make an announcement. “Okay, using Phil’s chaotic system for present distribution…” he paused and scowled over at his brother-in-law. “We only managed to get through the first round of present-opening.”
All the little faces turned in CJ’s direction.
“First round?” Trey asked.
CJ smiled. “Yes, you forgot to check your bulging Christmas stockings.”
“But I thought those were just for decoration…” Ricky added.
“Obviously, not this year,” Carl whispered as an aside to Debbie. “Maybe we’d better investigate,” he suggested with his comment directed at the little ones.
“We have to check our stockings?” Mark whispered to Trey.
“We were very good, so Santa filled our stockings too.” Kerry whispered to Shannon, sitting next to her at the table.
CJ assumed control, once again. “So line up!” he said and then looked over to see what Philip was going to say.
Philip displayed an evil grin. “Your grand line-up scheme might work this time. After all there is only one overstuffed stocking per Munchkin. As screwy as it sounds…this might work.”
The Munchkins didn’t need to be told twice as they quickly stood up and headed for the living room again with Trey stopping long enough to take Gretchen’s hand.
“I’m glad you agree with me.” CJ began leading the adults into the living room.
“Consider it a Christmas present.” Philip paused a moment. “I thought I’d be nice to you, just in case Santa only filled your stocking with a lump of coal.”
CJ growled at Philip.
“See that’s the behavior that probably earned you that lump of coal in the first place.”
Elise put her arms around CJ. “You were very good this year. Don’t pay any attention to mean old Philip. You know how he can be.”
The kids were watching CJ and Elise with impatience.
Philip felt the need to interrupt. “Elise, you can cuddle CJ later to make him feel better. We have work to do. We have another gift brigade ahead of us.” He turned to the kids. “Okay, Munchkins, stake out your territory again.”
And six little ones instantly scattered, with Gretchen holding tightly to Trey’s hand. This was a time when a little girl felt she needed her big brother.
Carl and Debbie followed. They were as curious as everyone else to see what would happen next.
“Wait a minute!” CJ called out. “Stake out your territory? What about my orderly lines? I just thought…” CJ began with a pout.
Philip stood for a moment shaking his head. “CJ, you saw their faces!” He motioned in the direction of the kids. “Do they look like they’re in a let’s line up kind of mood” to you?
Vicki called out. “Don’t open anything yet. You have to give Elise and me a moment to clear the table. Then we’ll join you.
“She’d better fucking hurry,” Debbie whispered to Carl.
And at that comment, for some unexplained reason, all the kids snickered.
“Phil and I will get everyone ready. In the meantime, they can just fondle their stockings. But no one will peek inside or open anything until you arrive.” CJ insisted. “Isn’t that right?” he directed his question to the kids.
Six little Munchkin-heads nodded in unison.
Philip moved over to the mantle, very carefully removing the first stocking. He added extra drama as he pretended to collapse under the weight of one of the stockings before he handed it to CJ. “What’s in these stockings? I need two hands just to lift this one.”
The kids became even more excited when they heard that remark.
CJ continued with the struggle as he too needed both hands to maneuver the stocking he held. With each step he silently decided Philip had been right, if everyone had simply lined up, they’d never be able to carry their loaded stockings. He delivered the first one to Kerry.
“Now that we’re in the middle of this process, I can see that my system wouldn’t have worked,” CJ reluctantly said to Philip.
“I’m glad you finally realized I was right,” Philip couldn’t resist gloating.
One by one the stockings were distributed. The names written in glitter on each one made the delivery process go very smoothly.
The tension and excitement built as each one wanted to know what was in their particular stocking. All sorts of theories were floated about the room as they waited for Vicki and Elise to join them.
When the two women finally hurried into the living room from the kitchen, there were cheers all around from with each waiting kid hugging their stocking.
“Okay, we’re here. Let’s see what’s in those stocking,” Vicki said. She didn’t have to repeat the request.
Six sets of little fingers, with help from the adults, started to search through the stockings. They found the little packs of cookies, candies, clusters of small toys and other interesting gadgets.
Mark was the first to find an envelope with his name on it in his stocking.
“I have one too,” Trey lifted his too.
One by one, the kids found the envelopes in their stocking. Inside each envelope was a card signed by Santa with special photograph attached.
“I don’t understand,” Shannon said, turning confused eyes toward Carl.
Carl looked at the card and showed it to Debbie. “What did Santa say?” she asked.
“Look at the pictures,” Carl said with a smile. “Santa didn’t want the new Christmas toys to be broken on your plane ride home,” he began reading the pictograph drawings. “So…”
“So what?” Philip asked.
“From what I can tell, Santa delivered a dollhouse for you and Kerry to share to your regular house. Here’s what it looks like. See the picture. See the red bow. It will be waiting for you when you get back to Salt Lake City.”
Shannon looked at Kerry with confusion before scurrying over to her mother.
Vicky hugged her daughters. “We’re going to have another Christmas when we finally get home. Your Barbie dollhouse will be waiting for you there. See the picture. That looks like our living room in Salt Lake City.”
Shannon was as excited as any five-year old could be once she understood how this worked. She then nudged Kerry over in the direction of Carl for a reading of her card.
Kerry had the identical card with a different Barbie dollhouse to share. This one was a vacation cabin.
Mark finally opened his envelope and found the picture of a new bike inside. But he didn’t want there to be any mistakes, so he brought his card over to Carl to be sure his impression was correct. He wanted to hold on to the hope that Santa might bring him a new Bike for Christmas.
Carl continued process of explaining the cards from Santa.
Trey found out he’d have a new computer waiting for him in Germany.
Ricky discovered he received the new skis and poles he’d been asking for.
Gretchen didn’t find any cards at first, but she did find her own Barbie doll with a few outfits tucked inside the stocking.
“You’ll be able to play Barbie with us now,” Kerry said to Gretchen.
“Wait until Daphne and Auntie Em find out about this,” Shannon added.
“You’ll be able to show them at dinner,” Debbie reminded them.
Trey took a look in Gretchen’s stocking and found a card at the bottom. He showed the card to Carl, who confirmed that she had a new tricycle waiting for her at home in Germany.
For some reason Trey took great pleasure in explaining this to his little sister, whose eyes grew larger and larger with excitement as she listened to her brother describe all the details.
Carl and Debbie stayed and watched the kids play with their new cache of presents for a while.
Eventually, Debbie had to say, “This has been fun, but Carl and I have to leave. We still need to add the final touches to few dishes. Then, we should get an early start. We don’t want the food to arrive late for dinner.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Em and Drew to give us a hand,” Carl said. Then, his eyes started to twinkle. “This year is going to be the biggest Christmas dinner ever.”
“I can’t wait!” Philip added, as he thought about the other surprises in store for everyone. He couldn’t wait to see all the faces when Mac and Laurie joined them for Christmas dinner. And for just a moment, he was so glad he knew how to keep a secret.
Author’s Comments: This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected, I have the next chapter done, which continues with events of Christmas Morning at Bri-tin. I will post it later today.
Next Chapter