Christmas With the Calvins Two: Charlie and the Toy Factory

Chapter Two

As was always the case when the Calvins were in town, Neil Miller found his house erupting with chaos. Lucy, his twenty-five-year-old daughter, was in her room getting dressed for the party. Michael Jackson's Halloween classic Thriller could be heard blasting from behind her closed bedroom door. Nick and Noel, Neil's twin grandchildren, were sitting on the living room floor coloring Halloween print outs. Nick was dressed as a t-rex and his sister a was Simba from the Lion King. The twin's father, Bernard, was doing what he did best, working.

"Neil?" His wife Laura called to him from the kitchen. Neil's head pivoted in her direction. "You should put your costume on, everyone will be here soon." Neil glanced down at his watch. She was right.

"Alright." He sighed. "But make sure when Charlie gets back, he puts the candy out for the Trick-or-Treaters."

"I already took care of it, Dr. Miller!" Bernard called from the living room.

"You did? Well thank you Bernard that was very, thorough of you." Though Neil supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Given Bernard's line of work, he'd always been detail oriented. "Have you heard from your wife at all?"

"You know how things are this time of year." Bernard commented. "She'll be here as soon as she can. You know how important family parties are to her."

That's true. Neil agreed as he walked away. Bernard's wife, Jessica, took holidays and family gatherings very seriously. The oldest of the two Calvin children, Jess, was ten years old when her father and Laura were divorced. She and Charlie both grew up in a very divided family but, that was a long time ago. Now The Millers and the Calvins were a tightly knit bunch who tried to celebrate together as often as possible. There was a knock at the door and a familiar boisterous laugh could be heard on the other side.

"I'll get it!" Laura insisted. "Go change!" She pushed her husband down the hall. Laura was already dressed in her costume for the evening. The theme for this year's Calvin-Miller Halloween party was 90's characters, she and Neil decided to dress up as Elain and Jerry from Seinfeld. Neil wasn't exactly thrilled about the choice, but he'd failed to come up with a suitable alternative so Seinfeld it was. Laura answered to find her ex-husband, his wife, Carol, and their son Buddy.

"Are we too early?" Carol asked when Laura ushered everyone inside. "You'd think that after all these years I'd be better at converting North Pole time." Carol laughed.

"Oh no, it's alright." Laura waved her off. "You guys look great!" She exclaimed taking in Scott and Carol's costumes.

"It was Buddy's idea." Carol laughed, brushed a lock of curled hair out of her face. She and Scott had come to the party dressed as Woody & Bo Peep from the first Toy Story movie. Twelve-year-old Buddy was wearing one-piece zip up pajamas designed to look like Buzz Lightyear from the same movie.

"Well, Lucy and Neil are still getting ready and Charlie is out running errands, but Bernard and the kids are here." Laura told them.

"Great haven't seen them in forever." Buddy commented sarcastically before trudging into the living room.

"It's a phase." Scott commented. "I hope."

"I'm baaaack!" Charlie Calvin entered the house, returning from the errands he'd been running all day. "Hey Dad, Hey Carol." He nodded at his dad and stepmom.

"Did you get more candy, Charlie?" Laura asked him.

"Of course, Mom!" He held up a plastic shopping bag overfilled with the half-priced candy he bought that afternoon. "But there was a problem with the cookies..."

"Did you say a problem with the cookies?" Lucy, now finished getting ready, came loudly bouncing down the stairs.

"Yeah, they weren't ready when I went to pick them up. But don't worry, the owner said she'd bring them by." Charlie explained.