It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Way

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

From upstairs in the master bedroom of a certain two-story home in Sparta, a father squinted at the ceiling, listening to the sound of little feet, pitter-pattering down the hall on a quiet Christmas morning. Just hearing that sound was one of the greatest gifts he could receive on any given day, though. And as the footsteps stopped outside his bedroom door, he smiled to himself.

After attending an early Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's with his family the night before, then tucking his son in with the traditional "Twas the Night Before Christmas", Mr. Way stayed up well into the night...assembling a red Radio Flyer toddler bike in the garage. Oh, he'd muttered a few choice words during the process, as he still did from time to time, but it would all be worth it just to see the look on his little man's face.

When the bedroom door slowly creaked opened, Gerard pretended to be asleep, and he waited as his favorite, moppy-haired wonder poked his head inside.

"Daddy...?" three-year-old Logan Michael whispered, though his father didn't make a sound. Instead, Gerard was maintaining his position...for a perfect ambush.

Sure enough, the toddler's fuzzy, Thomas the Tank Engine slippers scuffed the floor as he made his way over to the four-poster bed. And Mr. Way hid his grin in his pillow...before he sprang to life, visibly startling his son.

*Soundtrack: "It's the Most Wonderful Time Of the Year" by Andy Williams*

"RAWR!!" Gerard loudly exclaimed with wild eyes, making the boy's icy blues grow to twice their size. The youngest Way...at least so far in our story...literally shivered in his pajamas a moment, before he gave his dad a frown.

"Daddy!" Logan scolded his daddy with a grin and a smack of his hand on his arm...just before one of the other occupants of that bed stirred on the other side.

"I swear to GOD, Gerard..." his wife complained lightheartedly, as her rest had once more been interrupted that night. And yet again, it was entirely Mr. Way's fault...or so she would claim.

"What?" Gerard innocently asked, though Ruby seemed to disapprove as well. The King Charles Spaniel, who typically took her mommy's side, repositioned herself with a huff.

As Mrs. Way covered her face with her hand, Mr. Way grabbed his son from under his arms, helping him onto the bed between them...then blaming him.

"It was his fault, anyway. He's a MONSTER. Just LOOK at these horrible fangs and claws on him..."

Logan growled in return, though it was a high-pitched version of his dad's. Pawing the air and playing along in their game...he completely forgot his purpose for coming into his parents' room. But his big blue eyes shifted to the other occupant of that bed as she rubbed his arm affectionately, then pulled back the covers with a sigh.

Despite how badly she wanted to sleep just a little bit longer, Andie would need to use the restroom anyway...for the third time since she'd laid down the night before.

"Oh no! Look what you did!" Mr. Way teased his son...and his wife. "You woke up the BIGGEST monster of them all..."

The very expectant, thirty-four-year-old woman turned to her husband with a scowl as the boy snickered, knowing his daddy was in trouble now.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, but ONLY because it's Christmas," Andie replied to her mischievous husband, then winked knowingly at her son, her remark reminding him of as much.

"That's right! Daddy! Mommy! Hurry! We hafta go downstairs an' see if Santa came!" the tyke exclaimed, exciting Ruby in the process. The dog now stood on the bed on all fours, waiting for her favorite little boy to lead the way to such fun.

Logan Michael then scrambled off of the father he'd been crawling over, causing Gerard to lurch forward with a groan. The three-year-old hopped down to the floor, running over to the bedroom door with Ruby in tow, where he proceeded to flap his arms wildly in his impatience.

"C'monnn!"

From inside the bathroom, Andie sat on the commode, looking up as her husband appeared in the doorway.

"Everything alright?" Gerard double-checked. He did love her so.

"Yes. I'll be there in a minute," she assured him.

When Andie stood at the vanity washing her hands, she listened to the muffled sound of Gerard talking to Logan in the hallway bathroom.

"Whatever Santa left downstairs isn't gonna go anywhere. You HAVE to go potty first," Mr. Way was insisting.

"Just like Mommy hadda go potty?" Logan asked in that little boy way. "What about Ruby? Does she hafta go potty, too? Do YOU hafta go potty first, Daddy?"

Andie rubbed her hand over her swollen belly, shaking her head at her ever-inquisitive son as Gerard assured Logan that, yes, he would go potty before they went downstairs, and that he would take Ruby out soon.

"I sure hope you're a girl..." Mrs. Way softly remarked to the little one who only now had enough room to stretch out a limb, and who was due any day. "I don't know if I can take three of them. Your nana must be a saint."

Her somewhat unconventional awakening had reminded Andie how...rambunctious...Gerard and Logan could be together. While she loved them more than anything, and just the way they were, the thought of attempting to appease THREE Way men in one household was more than a little concerning, and she had no idea how Donna had done it.

*Soundtrack: "I Believe" by Frank Sinatra (of course!)*

A few minutes later, Gerard and Andie stood together in the living room doorway, both in their bathrobes, and both smiling at their little boy...who was in awe of his shiny new bike that sat next to the Christmas tree...completely assembled. Gerard wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, and she rested her dark head against him, before he kissed the top of it.

This family certainly had so very many things for which to be thankful over the past three years, notwithstanding holidays such as this. And Gerard considered this as his wife turned into him, then lifted her hand to his cheek, and her face to his ear.

"You did good, Santa," Andie whispered to her husband.

Gerard could only smile at first, recalling the night before, and how worried she had been that something would go wrong.

"I got it, An'," he'd reminded her...several times, in fact. But she was allowed. As it was, Andie had been "nesting" for six months straight, including obsessing over the Astroland mural she'd helped her husband create in the new nursery down the hall.

"I told you I had it," Gerard now repeated, and she slid her hand around to his bottom, squeezing him there.

"Yes, you do..." Andie playfully agreed, and her husband grinned hard.

Days like these were absolutely Gerard's favorite part of raising a family with this muse. As a matter of fact, he couldn't wait to meet their newest member.

But it was just possible, like the miracle that had brought Mr. Way to this place in time...where he belonged...someone else had a hand in this, too. And as one might expect in the years since his life changed...since he discovered his wife was in fact cancer-free...Mr. Way had learned a great deal about patience.

As the morning progressed, the living room turned into a mess of colorful wrapping paper, bows, and action figures that still needed freed from their packages. But Gerard sat next to his wife on the sofa, and he finished another cup of coffee as Logan enjoyed a handheld toddler video game system...from atop his new tricycle.

"No, Donna. No signs yet," Andie reported to her mother-in-law on the phone, as Ms. Way had been so sure they would have a Christmas baby. "Yeah, c'mon over. Don and Vicky are on their way, too. Just be careful in the snow."

"Merry Christmas, Nana!" Logan yelled before his mommy hung up the phone, then he studied her belly curiously through her open bathrobe.

He couldn't help it, though. Her big tummy was peeking out from under her "I'd rather be Vixen" tee.

"Mommy, your shirt's too little," the toddler informed Andie. "Santa should've brought you a bigger one..."

Gerard lowered the corners of his mouth and raised his brows, fearing his wife's reaction to their innocent young cub. But Andie only looked down at her belly, before she gave Logan a pout.

"Aw, but I like this shirt," she replied to her son, who then decided he did, too...because it had one of Santa's reindeer on it.

Andie made one more phone call, this time to her own mother in Tinley Park. The Ways wished Diana a Merry Christmas, and assured her they couldn't wait until Thursday when both her parents and Charles would come to Sparta. But Mrs. Way's tummy was aching. So she closed the call, then patted her husband's thigh next to her.

"I'm gonna go make breakfast," Andie announced, before she lifted her chin to kiss Gerard's cheek.

"Are you sure you don't want me to?" Gerard asked, though she shook her head...then she used his leg for support to climb out of the sofa.

As his wife gradually stood, Mr. Way leaned to the end table, returning his coffee mug there so he could open another toddler-friendly Batman toy. But what his son said next would cause Gerard's eyes to nearly pop out of his head.

"Mommy! You peed in your pants!" Logan Michael exclaimed, placing his hand over his gaping mouth...completely shocked that his mommy, too, still had that problem once in awhile.

But Andie turned to her husband, both of them sharing the same look...as they knew exactly what this meant. Gerard's whole face then beamed at his wife and their son.

"No, she didn't!" Gerard declared with the same excitement his little boy had earlier at seeing his new bike. "Mommy's water broke! The baby's coming!!"

Now knowing for certain what that dull ache in her stomach had been, Andie's thoughts somehow turned to their annual Christmas party that evening with Mikey and Alicia, Evan and Sam, the Toros, the Ieros, Bob, Misty, Cory, and MORE. Everyone would need to be notified. The food would need to be stored. And the event would need to be rescheduled to...when?

But she watched as her son dropped his jaw once more, and he hopped to his feet, where he started jumping up and down on the living room floor.

"I'm gonna be a big brother! I'm gonna be a big brother!" Logan proclaimed as his daddy stood, holding onto his mommy's arm and rubbing her lower back. "I knew it! I knew it!"

Little did his parents know...it was EXACTLY what he'd asked Santa for that year...