Perfectly Mean

With Dustin home, the week until Christmas passed so quickly that no one ever had the chance to be impatient.  Christmas morning was slow, everyone enjoyed the chance to sleep in and take their time coming downstairs.  At about ten o'clock Ava came downstairs wrapped in her favorite blanket. 

Her parents were snuggled on the couch together, sipping their coffee and chatting with each other. 

"Merry Christmas, Princess," Dustin greeted patting the couch beside him and inviting Ava to join them.  "Did you sleep well?"

Ava nodded sleepily.  "Once I got to sleep, at least."

"Oh?"

"Hayden and I stayed up until three criticizing Hallmark movies.  I think they've run out of half-decent plot lines.  There was this one about a dog who was actually Santa but the dog got put down and the kid had until midnight to find a miracle to bring the dog back...it was awful." Ava yawned.  "That one definitely wasn't worth watching."

"Let me guess," Her father said excitedly.  "Was it called...Santa Dog?"

"Yep.  So original right?"

"Santa Dog was awful," Hayden put in from the staircase.  "You are talking about that movie, right?"

Ava nodded and yawned again.  "But it wasn't any worse than the wedding one either."

"Hallmark Channel should be renamed Cliché Channel," Hayden muttered as he plopped down in an armchair, yawning.  "Remind me why we stayed up so late again?"

"Because we thought the Santa Spy one would be good," Ava yawned back.  "Honestly the best one was 'How the Grinch Saved Christmas.'"

"No, it was totally the one about the coffee shop.  That was the best."

"You just liked it because the guy kept hitting his head on the hanging pot."

Hayden smirked sleepily.  "Yeah, that was pretty good."

"Well," Gail put in.  "Are the two of you hungry?"

"No," they chorused, sharing a yawn. 

Gail and Dustin shared a look.  "I don't think they've looked outside yet," Gail said mischievously, smiling at her husband. 

Hayden sat up and craned his neck to see out the window.  "Hey, it snowed." Ava did the same, eyeing the blanket of white.

"Is the snow what you two are all secretive about?" Ava asked her parents.  "We've seen snow before, you know."

Her parents agreed, but their mischievous smiles remained. 

"What?" Now Ava was genuinely curious. 

Her mother gestured to the front door, and she and Hayden stood up and walked over, opening it and peaking out into the cold.  There in the snow sat two shiny, new, snowmobiles with big red bows on them. 

They turned around with open mouths, staring at Gail and Dustin in shock.  "Those are for us?" Ava finally squeaked out, realizing her mother was videoing them with her phone. 

"One for each of you," Dustin told her with a nod. 

Ava squealed and raced to her parents, Hayden not far behind.  Hugs and thank-yous were exchanged before Hayden and Ava tried to race upstairs to change. 

"Now wait just a minute," Gail stopped them and motioned for them to come back.  "Open those two big square presents first.  And please be careful around the tree."

The two shared a sheepish grin, remembering how much trouble the Christmas tree had caused them.  They took their respective boxes and tore off the wrapping paper, discovering a helmet for each of them.  Hayden's was brown and decorated with some leather strips while Ava was about as colorful as it could be.  She admired the blue and orange swirls and she headed upstairs.