Beth looked around the Beach House kitchen and gave a shake of the head at the huge task in front of her. Placing the apron around her waist, she clapped her hands at her helpers. ‘Okay guys! Lets make sure today is the most awesome Christmas ever!’ she said turning to Mellie, Aaron, Faith and Tilly. Beth gave Aaron and Faith the task of one of the lambs, Mellie the roast vegetables and Tilly the dessert.
‘You guys alright out here?’ Beth said walking into lounge room where Neil and Chelsea sat with beers in hand and entertaining the children. Beth smiled when she saw Zelda sitting on the floor reading Max a book about airplanes as Addison and Dylan presented toy after toy to Jesse, who was sitting in on the floor in his play gym, for him to play with.
Turning around on her heel back to the kitchen, Beth stood stunned for a moment, taken back that Mia was standing there, Cockatoo behind her. ‘Hey…’ Mia said her eyes drifting off to the side, looking sheepish. The anger, Beth had for her daughter disappeared as the kitchen took an awkward silence. Beth pulled Mia in for a hug and whispered, ‘So glad you are here sweetheart,’ and handed her an apron. She gave Cockatoo an affectionate kiss on the cheek and sent him along to the living room where everyone else was entertaining the younger children.
The next few hours of cooking was filled with a lot of laughter and fun, consisting of Faith rolling around the kitchen on her roller blades, Mia flicking gravy at Aaron and Mellie and Tilly’s constant requests for help, which led to Chels coming in and giving a hand.
Finally, the house was filled with the aroma of roast lamb, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and Yorkshire pudding with thick gravy. Hustling everyone to the table, Beth’s heart swelled with pride ‘Thanks kids… and Chels.’ She said giving the kids a kiss on the cheek as they passed through and embracing Chels in a hug as they walked out to the table arm in arm.
‘Thanks everyone!’ Beth said as she took her spot at the table as Neil filled every one's glasses with wine or juice. She dragged Jesse’s high chair close to the spot between her chair and Neil’s. She smiled as Neil took a place beside her. ‘Merry Christmas Cowboy.’ she whispered giving him a kiss on the lips.
About Me
- Beth C
- Mother. Wife of Neil. Member of the punk rock band Delicious Liaisons.
I love how I'm the only girl who isn't helping to cook Christmas Dinner... I'm like the reject girl who's missing the cooking chromosome.
ReplyDeleteHearing Zelda's comment, Beth chuckled and put her hand on the girls arm. 'Oh Zelda, you kept Max very calm and quiet today. Trust me... you were a MASSIVE help today!'
ReplyDeleteBeth remembered how all over the place Max had been as of late, the refusing to settle at night was driving her absolutely crazy. Today was one of the rare days, he wasn't clinging to her legs and wanting to be picked up, or smacking someone in the face.
I think he needs a new book though because he has the one I read to him memorized. I could of handed it to him and had him repeat it to me probably..
ReplyDeleteIn the kitchen, Aaron worked hard, stepping around Beth and quietly checking to make sure everything came out right. He knew Beth wasn't a bad cook, but this was something special and he wanted it to be beyond awesome.
ReplyDeleteOut in the main room, Ryan and Neil laughed and hung out with the kids and the rest of the crowd. Beers and soft drinks were poured and shared as the smells from the kitchen made everyone's mouth water.
When they all sat down for dinner, Aaron took his seat beside Zelda, taking her hand in his and smiling. "Merry Christmas Z." he whispered to her, "and yeah, the food is safe to eat, you stayed out of the kitchen." he grined.
Ryan sat beside Racheal after helping to pour the wine. He glanced up and down the table, just amazed at the crowd and smiled. He leaned over to her and asked quietly, "So think you could handle this every year?" he grinned as he looked at the crowd around the table.
Neil took his seat beside Beth and stole a quick kiss. "Merry Christmas my love." he replied before he raised his glass in a toast. "To family." he said, pausing for a moment to look at Mia and smile. "I am glad you could all make it, I am touched that you all came and thank you for making this Christmas special." he winked at Faith as he raised the glass and clinked it with Beth and then Faith as he worked around the table as far as his reach would go.
Chelsea downed her first beer maybe too quickly. Neil didn't comment, just handed her another. She took a deep breath, let it linger long enough that her muscles gave up and were forced to relax. It was still hard to sit still and the commotion of the kitchen sounded welcoming. As soon as she entered Beth motioned toward Tilly who looked as though she might accidentally take someone's fingers off with the eggbeater. Chels stepped in to give Tilly a hand.
ReplyDeleteThe bustle of the kitchen gave her a welcome reprieve. It wasn't just the distraction, it was the family aspect, everyone working toward one happy goal. She surrendered herself wholly to it, was swept up in the parade of dishes being carried to the table, the rush of hungry kids to their seats. Her heart swelled as Addy and Dylan fought for the seat closest to mommy and she moved them to each side of her, pulling their chairs in as close as could be.
She blew a kiss at Beth after her Christmas toast, then whispered to Dylan and Addy. She counted down to give them the cue then they slowly, with childlike clumsiness, shouted to the table "Merry Christmas to our family!"
She couldn’t help herself. The comment Neil said made her burst into laughter. Any other time she would of pouted and bragged about the meal she had made for Aaron. But that was something private to her.
ReplyDeleteZelda glanced at Aaron and smiled. She had never been much of a family person. The only member she actually spoke to regularly was her older brother Jesse. But this, she felt she could get use to.
She laughed as she watched Mia fling gravy at Aaron while they were preparing dinner, and skated up beside him with a cutting board full of vegetables for the lamb they were preparing together for dinner. Grinning, she ran a finger across her cousin's cheek to catch some gravy and put it in her mouth for a taste. "Needs more pepper, Mia," she called over with a smile, trying to be helpful, then rolled on her blades to another counter in the kitchen, deftly spinning to dodge a flustered Mellie as she passed with a pan for the oven. She picked up a few spices and a hand towel so Aaron could wipe off the gravy, then skated back to her cousin, handing him the spices and playfully draping the towel over his head. "For you, Head Chef Aaron," she joked, smirking, then asked, "You know, you'll have to teach me some of the stuff you've learned from Alex back at the Hog."
ReplyDeleteWhen dinner was ready, Faith kept her roller blades on and skated over to the seat beside Max. "Hey there, Spud," she greeted him, and laughed when he nearly jumped out of his booster seat for a hug. Ruffling his hair, she kissed him on the head. "Too bad Ma and Cabbage couldn't make it this year," she said, using the nickname her mother's dorky boyfriend had coined for the new little brother she got for Christmas last year. "I bet Ma's pissed. She'd love to be here." She looked over at her Aunt Beth, trying not to grin. "You and Uncle Neil might want to avoid her for a couple days when we get back on tour."
Faith then looked around the table at the sea of familiar and unfamiliar faces, and wondered out loud, "Wow, is it just me or do we just get bigger and bigger every year?"
Beth giggled cutting into the tender lamb and ensured she had a bit of gravy on the meat before she put it into her mouth. She nodded at Faith, swallowing her food. ‘I think I will steer clear of your Mom and yes we do tend to get bigger each year…’ Beth pointed to Jesse, who was jamming a mushed up potato into his mouth and all over his face. ‘That’s attractive Jesse. Maybe you should try and grab a kiss from Daddy with that mouth!’ Beth said with a laugh, patting Neil’s leg under the table.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone dug into their meals, Beth felt a bit sad that her pseduo sister-in-law, Sylvia and her nephew, Cabot weren’t with them. Beth had grown so accustomed to seeing them every day; it was weird not to see them now. Beth made a mental note, to call her later. Beth wondered about Ashton and her kids, Drake, Ginger, Brookes, Demian, Rhiannon and Germaine.
Finally the last plate was finished and the older kids, cleaned up the table as the adults refilled their glasses. Beth looked over at Chels and leaned over to pat her hand. Giving Addi a kiss as she leaned back to her seat. She smiled at her friend, 'I am so glad you can spend Christmas with us...'
‘Faith, do you want to do the honours with the dessert?’ Beth called out as a commotion of noise came from the kitchen.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Mellie was laughing hysterically as Malaki had her pinned to the floor with a wet kitchen sponge dabbing her face. ‘Malaki! Ew!!’ She squealed as she struggled to get him off.
Mia watched from the corner of the kitchen, giving Dragon a hug. ‘Thanks for having my back…’ she whispered in his ear. She turned and looked at Hakan, and gave him a grin. ‘After dessert want to join Dragon and I for a walk?’ she said, slipping her hand into his and giving it a tight squeeze.
At the table, Zachary looks over at Holly snickering that they managed to get away from the table clean up. Putting his arm around his long-time girlfriend, he nudges her. ‘Glad to spend Christmas with you Hol. I hope we have many more!’