"It's a beautiful Birmingham morning and the holiday season looks merry and bright. Are you ready for the holidays? Not me. Man, I got five kids. Four of them are mine. Allegedly. Have you been naughty? Or have you been nice? So many people are coming into town. What about you? You got family or friends coming to town? Me? I hope it's not my in-laws. Unless they're listening. If so, I can't wait to see ya! On the way, a little music to get you in the holiday spirit. Merry Christmas!"
The DJ says on the radio as Walter Myers, a seventy-five year old retired mechanic who lost his wife a year ago plans on making the best Christmas ever. He grabbed every omament out of the garage and placed it inside the house and got Rooftop Santa and dragged it in the front of the lawn. As he trimmed the bushes and painted the porch white while whistling Jingle Bells.
At the dentist office, Cheryl Myers, Walter's eldest daughter, was with a patient when her father decided to call. "I'm sorry. I need to take this. Here." She handed a clipboard to her co-worker. "Daddy, what's going on? Your message sounded urgent." Cheryl said as she placed the phone closer to her ear so she could talk to her father. "I can't find the tin of hers." Walter muttered, as he looked throughout the kitchen for the recipes.
"The ones with mama's recipes? They're where the pots and pans are, daddy. Now, you're not trying to cook are you?" Cheryl questioned her father as she knows her dad isn't a great cook and can go crazy while trying to make one dish. "Not without those recipes, I'm not." Walter joked as he continued searching for the recipes.
"Okay good. Now, don't drive yourself too crazy with it, all right? You know how you can get. I can't wait to see you all." She replied sweetly to her father. "Even your sister?" Walter asked knowing that the girls don't get along too well because of their differences. "I can count on you two to be civil with each other, right?" Walter asked. "Yeah, I can't wait to see Rachel. I'll be civil with her as long as she's civil with me. You know, I'm looking forward to it." Cheryl said before hanging up with her father to get to work.
Christian, the second oldest, who is running to become a congressman was talking to Rachel, the third youngest on the phone. "Rach, can I please finish what I'm saying? Look, I'm just saying that we all want to spend as much time as we can with Dad. What's wrong with me trying to get you there faster?" Christian asked on the phone. "I'm not some charity case! Just because I'm in law school doesn't mean I can't afford to buy plane tickets."
Rachel argued while her eleven year old daughter, Niya, recorded her and her car had a flat tire in the background. "We talked about this." Rachel gritted her teeth at her daughter and pointed her finger at her phone. "Ma'am! This tire's got a hole in it." The mechanic said as he rolled the tire for her to see it. "Just put on a spare." She tiredly spoke to the mechanic, not being able to take care of the cost of it. "You mean, one of the two you're already using?" He asked as he pointed to the tires. "Hey! Yeah, I gotta go." Rachel said to Christian before Niya replied. "Well, there's always the bus." She smiled.
