A faint patch of sunlight gleamed through Claudia’s window the next morning, shining onto her face. She moaned and stirred slightly, coming out of her deep slumber. Rolling over, her eyelids opened slowly, exposing her groggy, green eyes. She lay in bed for a moment before stretching her limbs out across the bed. Relaxing once again, she glanced out the window.

        Snow was falling steadily from the sky and at the same time, the sun shone rather brightly for this time in the winter. Finally, it dawned on Claudia that today was Christmas morning.

        Suddenly, energy filled her, and she sat up in bed with a joyful smile on her face. She stretched one more time before hopping out of her warm bed. Putting slippers on her small feet she padded out of her bedroom.

        The house was quiet. It was only 8:00 in the morning, so Claudia concluded that Nicole would, undoubtedly, be sound asleep in her bed. A sly grin crept across her face, as she headed for Nicole’s bedroom.

        When she reached the door, she pushed it open slowly, and poked her head inside. Claudia watched for a moment as the large form on the bed, rose and fell steadily with each deep breath she took. Nicole was fast asleep. The grin remained on Claudia’s face as she ran into the bedroom at full speed, pouncing onto Nicole’s bed.

        “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Claudia exclaimed loudly.

        A loud groan came from under the covers.

        “Come on, wake up! It’s Christmas morning!” she prompted, shaking Nicole’s shoulders and pulling the blankets off of her roommate’s bed. “Lots to do today! Better chop-chop!” she urged in a motherly-tone as she opened the blinds to let in the bright sunlight.

        “How in the world can you be so damn chipper in the morning?” Nicole growled, shielding her eyes from the blinding light.

        “Because it’s Christmas!” she cried, sounding like a six-year-old girl. Claudia jumped back onto the bed and shook Nicole’s shoulders, trying to wake her up. “Come on, get up you lazy bum!”

        Nicole groaned again and buried her face into the pillow. “Go away, and get off of me,” came her muffled reply.

        “Don’t make me get out the hose,” Claudia threatened. “I’ll dump a bucket of ice water on you if that’s what it takes to get you out of that bed.”

        Knowing that her friend wasn’t kidding, Nicole finally gave in. “All right, all right, I’m up!”

        Claudia hopped up off the bed. “You go get in the shower, I’ll start breakfast.”

        Claudia bounced her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, humming as she went. Before she began to make breakfast, she was going to give Josh a wake up call.

        “Hello?” came Josh’s slightly groggy voice after three rings.

        “Merry Christmas!” Claudia greeted, cheerfully.

        “Hey, Merry Christmas,” Josh replied, as he came to.

        “Just thought I’d give you a cheerful wake up call and discuss our plans for the day.”

        “Yeah, my sister mentioned something last night about having dinner plans. Mind informing me of what’s going on?”

        “If you didn’t already know, your family is staying here for another night. I’m going to spend the early afternoon at my grandmother’s but then your family is invited to my house for Christmas dinner.”

        Josh was quiet for a moment. “Wait a minute, we’re coming to your house for dinner? You’ll be cooking for all of us?” he asked with surprise.

        “Yes, is there something wrong with the idea of me cooking?”

        “No, it’s just…I can’t believe you’d go through all the trouble…even after everything last night…”

        “Don’t worry, it’s my Christmas present to you,” she assured him as she greased a frying pan and pulled the carton of eggs out of the refrigerator.

        “You are…amazing I can’t believe you’d do all this for me.”

        “The church sermon begins at about ten-thirty. Then we should be heading over to my grandmother’s to begin the traditional Jenkins activities. So unless you’d rather not attend the sermon, I’ll pick you up in about two hours.”

        “I’ll see you then,” he agreed.

        “Okay, great. And then we’ll come back here with your family for dinner. I’ll see you later.” Before Claudia could even return the cordless phone to it’s cradle, it rang again.

        “Merry Christmas,” she answered cheerfully as she picked up the phone once again.

        “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” came Jacob’s voice.

        “Jacob, hi,” she said with surprise. “How are you?”

        “I’m doing well…looking forward to the rest of the day.”

        “Oh me too, I just love Christmas,” she bubbled, continuing with her preparation in the kitchen. “So what are your plans for today?” she inquired.

        “I’ll be heading over to my grandmother’s cottage in the afternoon to have dinner with the family, but that’s about it.”

        “Do you think you’ll have time to come to my grandma’s? You know how much my family adores you, they’d love to see you,” she prompted.

        “All right, maybe I’ll stop in on my way to the cottage.”

        “Great! I’ll see you later then. Good-bye sweetheart.”

        A little while later, the freshly showered Nicole made her way down the stairs. “Mmm, it smells good in here,” she commented. “Whatcha cookin’?”

        “Sausage, eggs and French toast,” Claudia replied as she prepared the two plates.

        “There’s a nice greasy meal to start off Christmas day,” Nicole teased and she pulled a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator. “I don’t know where I’d be without your generous cooking ability. I’m so lucky to have found a roommate who not only likes to cook, but is also good at it.”

        Claudia brought the two warm plates to the table, and sat down eagerly to eat her meal. The two ate in silence for a brief moment.

        “Mmm, girl, you make the best French toast in the world,” Nicole complimented with a mouthful of food.

        She just smiled in appreciation. “Are you coming over to my grandmother’s today?” Claudia asked.

        “Maybe I’ll stop over for a while before I go to my aunt’s house,” Nicole agreed. “Your family is always a blast on holidays. I swear you guys act like the Brady-Bunch sometimes, but it’s always a fun time.”

        “We’re not like the Brady-Bunch! We’re just close, that’s all,” Claudia defended, as she poured herself some orange juice.

        “Will Jacob be visiting your family at all today?” Nicole wanted to know, ignoring her friend’s defense.

        “He said he would try to stop over at some point. Why do you ask?”

        “I dunno, I just thought it’d be interesting with both Jacob and Josh there.”

        Claudia stopped chewing for a moment to study her friend. “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked with a mouth full of food.

        “Oh nothing,” Nicole replied nonchalantly. She picked up the morning paper, to show that the topic had been dismissed.

        At ten-thirty, Claudia and Josh had arrived at the church and were searching the crowd for Claudia’s family members. Claudia greeted the church members and introduced Josh to a few of them while they waited for her family to arrive.

        “There’s my little Claudia,” a voice came over the crowd. “Come over here and give your grandmother a hug.”

        Claudia turned to the direction of the voice and smiled broadly when she saw the big, black woman a few feet in front of her. “Big Momma Jenkins! How are you?” Claudia asked, hugging the gray-haired woman.

        “I’m doing just fine my dear, living each day to my best. And how are you my child?” she asked in a gentle voice.

        “I’m good, it’s so nice to see you again.”

        “And just where is my hug Little Miss Claudie Marie?” a round-bellied, gray-haired man asked as he came up behind Claudia’s grandmother.

        “Hey Big Poppa, how are you?” Claudia asked as she hugged him also.

        “Well now, who is this fine young gentleman you’ve brought with you on this beautiful morning?” Big Poppa asked, referring to Josh. “He’s not in placement for Jacob, I presume?”

        “No, of course not,” Claudia giggled. “Momma, Poppa, this is my friend Josh. Josh, these are my grandparents.”
 
        “Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” Josh said shaking their hands politely.

        “And it’s very fine to meet you, son,” Big Poppa replied.

        After that, Claudia’s family continued to arrive. Josh discovered that Claudia’s dad’s side of the family was black and her mom’s side was mostly Hawaiian. He was reacquainted with her siblings that he had met at the party the previous night; her oldest brother Trevor, his wife, Destiny, and their daughter Mackenzie, and Claudia’s other brother Damian, his wife Adrienne and their son Caleb. Shortly after meeting everyone, they all headed inside for the Christmas morning sermon.

        Josh felt slightly out of place when he realized that nearly every person in the church was black. Noticing his discomfort, Big Momma spoke up.

        “Don’t you worry about a thing, my child. We welcome everyone here, and I promise they’ll make you feel at home. I think you’ll loosen up after a little while,” she said with a wink.

        Josh just smiled nervously. Claudia leaned in and whispered to him, “It’s a very relaxed atmosphere. You’ll do fine.”

        A moment later, a tall, black man took the stage while the church members applauded in greeting. As the pastor began to give his speech it was often that someone would shout out, “Praise the Lord!” or “Amen” The people cheered and clapped enthusiastically, completely engrossed in the sermon.

        Then the choir broke out into song and everyone stood up and began clapping and singing along. Claudia nudged Josh with her elbow and winked, as he began to clap along too.

        Indeed it was a very relaxed atmosphere, and very energetic. Josh found himself smiling as they began to file out of the pews.

        “See, it wasn’t so bad now was it?” Claudia teased.

        “Not at all. I enjoyed myself very much,” he admitted, honestly.

        It wasn’t much later that everyone had arrived at Claudia’s grandmother’s house. The place was very tidy, with many photographs on the wall and fire was started in the large fireplace. Big Momma headed straight for the kitchen.

        “I’d better get right to work if we want to eat on time,” she insisted as she tied her apron.

        Drinks were served, and everyone sat around in the living room, chatting amongst themselves. The radio was turned on and cheerful Christmas tunes floated softly throughout the room.

        It was only a few minutes later that the doorbell rang, and Claudia bounced to the door to answer it. A moment later, she returned to the room with none other than Jacob on her arm.

        He looked warm and stylish, wearing a leather coat, dark gloves and a dark gray scarf that hung loosely around his neck. He held a large paper bag that, no doubt, had Christmas gifts inside.

        “Jacob, you made it!” Claudia’s mother cried, hurrying over to hug him.

        “Of course I made it Isabelle, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “You look absolutely magnificent as usual.”

        Claudia’s mother blushed slightly and shook her head at him.

        “It’s nice to see you again, son,” Claudia’s father greeted in his deep voice, shaking Jacob’s hand firmly.

        “And it’s always nice to see you, sir. How is everything going down at the office?”

        “How are you Big Poppa? Have you lost weight?” Jacob made his way around the room, greeting all of Claudia’s relatives, brown-nosing every chance he got, dishing out compliments right and left.

        “Now where are those little munchkins that I love to pick on?” he asked teasingly, searching the room for Claudia’s niece and nephew. He found the four-year-old, Mackenzie hiding behind her mother’s leg, with a big smile on her face.

        She tugged on her brown curls, then tucked her hands behind her lacey, red dress, which she looked absolutely adorable in.

        “Come here, you,” he cried, picking her up quickly, before she could run away. “The tickle-monster hasn’t visited you in a long time…” he teased, raising his fingers in the air.

        He certainly knew how to get everyone’s attention. The entire room had turned to watch with adoration in their eyes, at the man who appeared to love children, when Claudia and Josh both knew otherwise.

        “No, no! Don’t tickle me!” the girl exclaimed, but it was too late. Jacob’s large hand attacked her belly, tickling her sides until she had laughed so hard she was out of breath.
 
        “You messed up my hair!” she exclaimed defiantly, bringing laughter from everyone who was watching.

        After teasing her for a few more minutes, he set her back down onto her feet and she immediately hid behind her mother again.

        “Hey there little guy,” Jacob greeted Claudia’s 6-year-old nephew, Caleb, who approached Jacob with excited, almond eyes. “Give me a high five.”

        Jacob laughed and gave Caleb a soft noogie. Then he reached into the paper bag he brought with him, tugging at the young boy’s curiosity.

        “I got a present for you and your cousin.”

         The boy’s eyes widened and he tried to peek into the bag.

        “Do you think your mom would mind if I gave them to you now?” Jacob looked up at Destiny, asking for her permission.

        “I suppose it would be all right,” she agreed with a smile.

        “Yay!” the kids cried.

        Jacob pulled two, neatly wrapped packages out of his bag and handed them to the kids, who immediately ripped into them, tearing the colorful paper into shreds.

        “Look mom! My very own football!” Caleb cried, holding a small, cushioned, football over his head.

        “Mommy, Daddy, look! I got a dolly!” Mackenzie mimicked her cousin.

        “Ooh, how pretty! Are you two going to thank Jacob for the presents?”

        “Thank you, Jacob,” the kids said in unison.

        “What do you say we head outside and work on that throwing arm of yours,” Jacob suggested to Caleb.

        “Can I mommy? Please?” Caleb begged.

        “As long as you bundle up! And don’t get your church clothes dirty!”

        “I won’t!” he cried as he ran to get his coat.

        It was then that Jacob finally noticed Josh sitting quietly on the couch, watching the adorable scene Jacob had created for everyone to watch. He stared at Josh for a long moment, as if he recognized him, but couldn’t put his finger on it. Finally, Jacob approached him.

        “Hello, I’m Jacob,” he said extending his hand. “Have we met before?”

        “Yeah, I’m Josh, Claudia’s friend. We met at that restaurant a few weeks ago.”

        “Oh, that’s right,” Jacob realized with slight distaste in his tone. The nasty tone continued. “And why aren’t you with your family on this holiday?”

        Surprised, Josh opened his mouth in effort to make a response, but Jacob interrupted him.

        He lowered his voice so as not to be heard by anyone else. “It’s okay, I’m sure the Jenkins’ don’t mind you mooching off of their benevolence just this once.” He spoke even lower with more snootiness in his tone. “Those fools clearly felt obligated to let the stray dog in. You know what they say, once you feed them, they never go away.”

        “I’m ready to go outside, Jacob!” cried Caleb, who was now decked out in his coat, hat and gloves.

        “All right! Let’s go!” Jacob cheered, jogging after the young boy out the back door.

        Josh sat in shock as he watched Jacob disappear into the backyard. What nerve he had to say something like that to a man he barely knew and to speak so poorly of the Jenkins!

        “Is something the matter? You look kind of upset,” Claudia’s sister-in-law, Adrienne noted a few moments later.

        “Oh, I’m fine,” Josh insisted. “I think the eggnog might be getting to me,” he joked with a smile.

        “All right everyone,” Claudia’s mother spoke up a few minutes later, as she turned the radio off. “It’s time for the annual, Jenkins gingerbread-house decorating contest. As usual, it the men versus the women and the most creative one wins. Gather ‘round everyone!”

        Everyone began to gather around the large dinning room table, which was covered with candies and icing and all sorts of delicious looking things. Two already-made gingerbread houses stood tall on the table, just waiting to be decorated.

        As everyone began bustling around, shouting out ideas and gathering materials, Josh suddenly felt out of place. He didn’t want to intrude on a family tradition. For a few moments Josh remained standing uncomfortably behind everyone else, watching them organize their creations.

        “Heads up!”

        Suddenly a bag of M&Ms came flying towards Josh. Luckily, he was able to react quickly and catch the bag before it hit him in the head.

        “Josh, come over here,” Claudia’s oldest brother, Trevor called, waving him over. “You’re in charge of the M&Ms.”

        Josh did as he was asked, making his way to the table, unsure of what he was in for.

        The next hour consisted of a lot of decorating, much playful arguing between the opposing teams and many cries of despair from the men. It turned out to be a fun activity. The Jenkins didn’t exclude Josh at all, he felt welcome the entire time.

        Not surprisingly, Jacob seemed to take over as soon as he entered the room. He didn’t act particularly bossy; he just became the leader of the group, trying to keep things orderly. He was determined to produce a well-decorated gingerbread house and was a little too serious in comparison to the rest of the group. While all of the men joked and teased each other about the mistakes they made, Jacob was hiding his frustration and annoyance.

        So far, one side of the men’s house was smeared with frosting, the chimney was tilted nearly falling off and the roof was caving in due to an elbow collision.

        “All right, time’s up!” Claudia announced.

        “No! Just a few more minutes!” Damian pleaded.

        “Nope, that’s it! You’re all done.”

        “We demand five more minutes!” one of the other men objected.

        “Sorry, we can’t give out additional time for you men to try to redeem the harm you’ve done to your poor house,” Claudia said, trying not to laugh at what she could see of their house.

        “Anyone who laughs at the gingerbread houses should be disqualified for bad sportsmanship!” Josh cried, pointing at Claudia.

        “Overruled!” Destiny spoke up. “We don’t need to worry, no one will be laughing at ours.” She grinned broadly at the men who glared at her from across the large table.

        “All right men, would you like to present your…well, what’s left of your house?” Adrienne teased.

        The men shamefully turned the gingerbread house around to display their creation. The women put hands over their mouths to muffle the giggles.

        “Well, effort counts for something, right?”

        The women turned their house around to display a beautiful, well decorated house. Gloating over their beautiful creation.

        And of course, the women won, again.

        A few minutes later, Jacob emerged with his coat in hand, signaling that he was ready to leave.

        “Jacob, leaving so soon?” Claudia’s mother asked sounding disappointed.

        “Yes, I hate to leave, but my family is waiting for me at the cottage and I still have an hour long drive.”

        She leaned in to hug him good-bye. Claudia’s father spoke up from the other side of the table. “You’re welcome anytime, son. Claudia should bring you by more often.”

        Jacob made his way around, saying his good-byes and brown-nosing once again. You’d think this man was schmoozing at a business dinner, with the way he’s acting Josh thought to himself.

        Finally, Jacob approached Claudia. “I’ll see you later, honey.” He made sure to take extra long with his good-bye, hug her real tight and look deep into her eyes, appearing to be the perfect gentleman.

        He kissed her one last time before he made his way to the door.

        “Actually, we should get going too. I’ve got a dinner to start,” Claudia said anxiously.

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