A Christmas in PBS Town

chapter 4

Back at the Read house, Jane knew that there would be a tough time to talk with DW about what she wanted the most for Christmas, so she tried to make it a bit easier on herself by giving her daughter some chocolate chip cookies to make it easier to tell her.

"I just remember when I was a little girl and I wanted the new Fantasy Darbie House with a new doll and her boyfriend Ben, I had a bit of a fit," Alexandra said to Jane. "But good luck with that."

"Thank you, Alexandra..." Jane sighed as that didn't exactly make her feel any better.

"I'd just say use the direct approach," Josie suggested. "Who knows? Maybe she'll understand. I have my own little sister."

"Yeah, but Tabitha's never been a DW," Alexandra replied. "That girl might like me, but she can be dangerous without warning from when I babysat with Henry the last time."

"Ooh! Cookies!" Melody giggled as she had some.

"Don't eat them all now," Jane told the blonde girl. "I need some of those for DW."

"Sorry, I can't help it," Melody smiled sweetly. "These are the best cookies I've ever had."

"Well, I'm glad you like them," Jane smiled back before she called out a bit. "DW, could you come in here, please?"

Eventually, DW came over to see what her mother wanted.

"This will be a challenge," Valerie said to Josie, Alexandra, and Melody. "I can tell. I have a new little step-brother around his age from when we lived in FOX Acres."

The teenage girls soon left the kitchen so that the mother and daughter could talk, but they listened in a bit.

"Now DW, you know that Santa can't always get exactly the thing you want." Jane started out softly as DW took out a cookie to eat it.

"Why?" DW asked worriedly. "Because I've been bad?"

"No, DW, you haven't been bad," Jane smiled softly. "It's just that... Well... There are a lot of children wishing for the same thing and--"

"It's because Arthur wrote my letter all wrong, isn't it?" DW glared as she broke the cookie in her hands in half. "Boy, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!"

Jane let out a small sigh from that while the girls looked to each other, but before anything else could be said or done, Arthur and DW's father soon rushed inside.

"Hey, everyone, I've got a big surprise," David smiled as he took out a video tape. "Uncle Fred's video Christmas card."

"Christmas cards come in video now?" Melody asked with surprise. "Gosh, I guess Judy Jetson makes a good point about technology taking over the future. Before we know it, we'll all be just like her family."

"Ah, Melody..." Valerie and Josie sighed from that while Alexandra rolled her eyes from that.

Everybody met together in the living room. The family sat on the couch while their guests sat on the floor with the pets. The video tape was soon put in the VCR so that they could all watch the video.

"Fred is my brother," Jane told the guests. "He lives far away from here, but sometimes he'll visit once in a while."

"That sounds nice," Henry replied. "I have an uncle who lives far away too. He's an archaeologist."

"Is this thing on? Oh, it is!" A male aardvark glared as he punched the screen before he smiled happily. "Hi, Sis! Hi, David, Arthur, DW, and of course, widdle Kate~"

Baby Kate happily cooed from that.

"It's me, your Uncle Fred!" The man beamed before a barking was heard next to him before he showed a dog with him, dressed like he was now with sunglasses and a flower shirt with a flower lei around their necks with shorts and sandals. "And Rory!"