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“Don’t worry about it. She’ll like your traditions.”
“I’ll make a French toast casserole for breakfast tomorrow. It’s too rich for every day, though we all love it, so Mom began making it only on the morning of Christmas Eve. Will your mom get mad at that as well?”
“We have no traditions for breakfast on Christmas Eve, so hopefully, she’ll just accept and not throw a fit.”
Mom and Brit walked back into the house then. “Chicken and dumplings are on the stove!” Alexis called.
Her mom walked into the kitchen and sniffed deeply. “That’s not my recipe,” she said. “Good for you for finding one you like better.”
“I hope we all like it better,” Alexis said. “Joyce is upset that I’m making this and not grilled cheese.”
“Grilled cheese? For Christmas?”
“I don’t know where she got in her head, we should have that, but I certainly do not think grilled cheese should be on a Christmas weekend menu,” Kyle said. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“I’m sorry,” Alexis said softly. He nodded and headed up to his mother.
“Why is she being so difficult?” Brittany asked.
“I think she’s afraid she’s losing her only child to our family,” Alexis said honestly. “Kyle didn’t want her to come for Christmas, but I insisted. I didn’t think she should have to be alone. No one should be alone on Christmas.”
“I’ll do what I can to be friends with her,” Mom said. “Surely she’ll want an ally in the house.”
“I hope that works,” Alexis said.
They all enjoyed the new chicken and dumplings, and Kyle begged Alexis to make them every day.
“There’s no time to make them every day,” she said. “These took hours.”
“But they’re so good.”
Joyce sat with her bowl at the end of the table. “They are good,” she said, and Alexis smiled at her mother-in-law. “Thank you! This is a new recipe that I found, and I think I love it! Mom’s recipe was good, but not as good as this!”
Mom nodded. “Alexis is right. These are the best chicken and dumplings I’ve ever had.”
After supper, Alexis and Brittany did the dishes together, laughing the whole while. “I have our Christmas Eve Eve presents waiting under the tree.”
Brittany laughed. “Matching jammies?”
“What else?” Alexis asked. They’d gotten matching pajamas to wear all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for as long as Alexis could remember.
So once the dishes were done, they all gathered in the living room, and Brent climbed under the tree, looking for the packages wrapped with snowflake paper. It had been a tradition that all presents which should be opened before Christmas Eve were wrapped in the same paper, so they could easily be sorted from the others.
When Joyce was handed a present that looked much like the others, she frowned. “I didn’t get anyone anything for tonight.”
Alexis smiled. “Only I did as the hostess this year. It’s our family tradition, and I do hope you’ll join with us for it.”
Joyce smiled, nodding slightly, but Alexis saw a tear in her eye. “New traditions are always good,” she said softly.
Kyle who was sitting beside her, put his arm around her. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”
Joyce leaned her head against Kyle’s shoulder, seeming to have given up on complaining about how things were done. She obviously realized she wouldn’t win.
Once all the gifts were passed around, they all opened their presents at the same time. Each pair of pajamas was the same, yet different. All four women got different things. Brittany got shorts and a t-shirt with an elf hat. Joyce got a long nightgown with an elf hat. Mom got a mid-calf nightgown with an elf hat. Alexis got a pair of pajama pants, and a nightshirt that went to her hips….and an elf hat.
Soon, they all had pajamas, and Mom announced it was time to go change into their official Christmas wear. When Joyce came back in her Christmas pajamas, matching everyone else, she seemed much happier.
After everyone was settled around the tree, with Christmas music playing in the background, Mom pulled out a small gift and passed it to Alexis. “I know it’s early, but I want us to have time to craft with it while I’m here.”
