PhanPhone Sidestories

4

Christmas Special!
(Sorry if you don't celebrate Christmas)

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADS!" The voice of a young girl shrieked from the hallway. Both Dan and Phil sprung up and out of bed, thinking their daughter, Rosie, to be in some sort of danger. They soon realized this was not the case when they saw their excited, giggling daughter look up to them with eyes lit with joy. She was wearing a Santa hat too big for her five-year-old head and was springing up and down like she had just eaten a heap of extra sugary, caffine-infused candy.

"Shit it's Christmas," Dan said, finally figuring out why their daughter had been screeching around eight in the morning on a Monday. Phil jabbed Dan with his elbow for cursing in front of the young girl that was their adopted daughter.
"Dan, language."
"Hey, it's Christmas, give me a freebie!"

That's when it clicked for Phil, and he scooped up his small daughter and took Dan by the arm to the living room where a pile of presents sat waiting for the wrapping paper to be torn off and the contents within to be revealed. Phil, almost as excited as the small child who was bouncing around the room, screaming about how Santa had visited and how many presents there were.

"I'm gonna make coffee, and then we can do presents," Dan said with a grin he couldn't hold back.

Once there were two coffees and one mug of hot chocolate prepared and distributed, Rosie was finally allowed to tear into her first present, which just so happened to be an iPad, something she had been longing for ever since she could walk and talk.

"THANK YOU SANTAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, while Dan and Phil exchanged a look and then laughed at their young daughter's joyous reaction to the gift. Rosie ran over underneath the tree and retrieved a small box and gave it to Phil with a toothy grin. She had obviously gotten or made the present herself and was proud of her accomplishment. With a smile, Phil took the box and tore off the wrapping paper, and discovered a small ceramic lion, sloppily painted. Dan had remembered her going to one of those places where you just paint an already made sculpture, and her eyes lighting up when she saw the lion, exclaiming how she was going to give it to her father for Christmas.

"Thank you, Rosie, this is so great," Phil said, hugging Rosie who was beaming with pride. Later, the little lion would be put on a bookshelf in Dan and Phil's room.

Next, Rosie grabbed another wrapped gift and this time handed it to Dan with the same enthusiasm. He opened it to discover a obviously homemade picture frame that was decorated with foam hearts and such, and it had a picture of herself and Dan in it. On the frame, stickers had been stuck on to spell out "LOVE". Dan hugged Rosie, thanking her for the gift.

This went on for a while, the exchange of gifts between the small family, a magical morning for all of them. As soon as they were done, Dan taught Rosie how to put apps on the her brand new iPad and she was already fascinated with the device, seemingly addicted to it for the rest of the morning. Even on the car ride to Phil's mother's house, she was tapping away, playing various games.

The family had all bought ugly Christmas sweaters the previous day, on Christmas eve. It was a tradition that started around the time that Rosie was three years old. Phil was wearing a green sweater with a reindeer on it, you could press a button and the nose lit up red like Rudolph. Dan wore a black sweater with white designs like a typical winter sweater. Rosie's sweater was white with a penguin in a Santa hat on it, the first sweater she saw in the mall they went to, and the sweater she really really wanted. Since the penguin was her favorite animal, it made sense.

As soon as they made it to Phil's mother's house, Rosie sprang out of the car and ran up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. There was almost an automatic response from her Granny, who opened the door, hugging Rosie.

"Merry Christmas, my little bud!" She said. She had been calling Rosie a "little bud" ever since she had been adopted by Dan and Phil, and the nickname had just become habit for her. Rosie giggled and said Merry Christmas back to her.

"Phil! Daniel!" Granny Lester exclaimed, pulling them both in for a hug. "How was the drive?"
"It was okay, there was a bit of traffic, but it wasn't terrible," Phil said, entering the house, Dan trailing behind. They each took off their coats and hung them on the coat hooks. Phil's mom had her own little Christmas tree set up with presents for her granddaughter, her son, son in-law, and his mother.

Another doorbell ring came only a few minutes after everybody had gotten settled in. Ms.Lester opened the door and welcomed Dan's mother in. She smiled and hugged everybody, carrying her own bag of gifts with her.

"Merry Christmas, Mum," Dan said hugging his mother, smiling. Even though his mother had come to his wedding many years before, it was still really special to him that she came to see him during the holidays, especially since it was at her son's husband's mother's house. She kneeled down to Rosie who gave her a big hug.
"GRANDMA! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Rosie shouted, and her grandmother laughed at the young girl's lively spirit.

Rosie did not know of the struggle Dan and his mother had gone through for a period of his life, to her, Grandma Howell had always been around and had always been so nice and caring. She never thought that there could be a dark side to the family's history, she could sense no tension between Dan and his mother, because there wasn't any, anymore.

"It's snowing!" Phil pointed out, excitedly, motioning to the window. It was, in fact, snowing outside. It came down heavy and fast, sticking to the ground easily. Rosie gasped and grabbed her jacket and pulled on her boots in a flash, hurrying to get outside into the cold air and the seemingly magical winter miracle.

"Just like my first Christmas here," Dan said to himself with a smile. Both Rosie and Phil were outside, staring at the sky. Dan remembered how at home he had felt that Christmas. He glanced back to his mother and hugged her.
"Love you, mum," he said, letting go.
"Love you, too, Dan," she said with a genuine smile.

Then Dan joined his husband and daughter outside.

"Remember my first Christmas with you?" Dan asked Phil, who nodded, grinning. Dan took his husband's gloved hands between his own with a smile that filled Phil with a warmth even though he was out in freezing weather. Phil kissed Dan, smiling against his husband's lips.

"Merry Christmas, Dan."

Oof i haven't posted a story since Halloween.