A Christmas to Remember

Danny’s POV

“Girls, get down here! You’ll be late for school!” I shouted up the stairs. Today was the day that my brother-in-law, Jesse, and best friend, Joey, were coming to visit. Naturally, I had spent the whole week cleaning, until Pam had to tear away the vacuum cleaner after I had vacuumed the same spot nearly a million times.

I walked into the kitchen. Stephanie was eating pancakes, while Pam was still cooking bacon. “Where’s DJ?” I asked Stephanie.

“She’s still upstairs fixing her hair. She had a rough night. You should’ve seen her hair. It was like a monster!” replied Stephanie.

“Hola, Tanners,” Kimmy Gibbler, our neighbor, said, bursting through the door, not even caring to knock.

“Speaking of monsters, Kimmy’s here,” remarked Stephanie.

“Kimmy, why are you here? You know we are expecting visitors,” I complained.

“I know, but I smelled some of Mrs. T’s cooking from my house, and Dad went to work early again. Mom cooked something, but she even burnt the cereal. So, what’s on today’s menu? Pancakes and bacon? Yum!” Kimmy said, looking over the counter.

“This is the reason why I left Kimmy out of the letter I sent to Jesse,” I whispered to Pam.

Pam let out a little laugh and said, “Grab some bacon, and the pancakes are right there, Kimmy. DJ is upstairs if you want to go get her.”

“Thanks, Mrs. T.” She reached over and grabbed a few pancakes. “I don’t need to go upstairs. DJ!!” she shouted.

Stephanie covered her ears and shut her eyes. I groaned. Jesse and Joey would not like this.

“Coming,” DJ said from upstairs, arriving soon after. “OK, Kimmy, did you finish copying the homework I gave you?”

“No, but I can finish it on the bus. Come on, I have enough pancakes for the both of us,” replied Kimmy.

“Cool. Thanks, Kimmy. Oh, and Dad, can I still have my own room when Uncle Jesse and Joey are here?” DJ asked.

I replied,
“Sure. So, Pam, I guess we won’t be needing that bacon?”

“Oh, we will need it. Joey will eat anything, and he’s bound to have an appetite from flying in here,” joked Pam.

DJ walked out with Kimmy to the bus while Stephanie continued eating, and then was finished.

“Steph, I’ll take you to preschool. Pam, watch over Michelle,” I said. Pam nodded. Stephanie put her dishes in the sink, and we walked out to my car.

Jesse’s POV

“I took an airplane, drove for 30 minutes, and why? To go to Peewee’s Playhouse,” I said to myself as I rang the doorbell.

Who else answered it than my loving sister, Pam? “Hey little bro. Come on in. Joey should be here soon. The girls are at school, and Danny should be home soon.”

I walked in, looking around. The house hadn’t changed much. Danny’s cleaning supplies were still out and the Christmas tree was up — no dust, of course. The usual decorations were up around the house too. The Santa face looked a little creepy to me; his eyes seemed to always follow me.

Pam looked at me and held out her arms. “What? No girl?”

“Danny forbade me from bringing a girl — another reason why he’s so evil. And, of course, all evil wizards need an evil witch,” I joked, and Pam punched me lightly on the arm and then laughed.

Joey arrived, making a little trumpet noise. He was carrying a suitcase which was overflowing with clothes. My stuff was just two suitcases and my guitar.

“Hey, Jess, good to meet you. Pam, nice to see you again. Finally, I’m in a house that has ice cream 24/7. Mine ran out last week. I think some animal got into it,” Joey announced.

“Nice, Joey. Good to see you again, too. Danny should be back in about 30 minutes. I’m going to watch my bacon. Jesse, don’t kill Joey,” Pam warned, eying me before she disappeared into the kitchen.

“So,” asked Joey, holding out his hands, “You like cartoons?”

I groaned.

Set forward to when girls return from school

DJ’s POV

Kimmy and I walked into the kitchen and instead of my mom cooking, it was Uncle Jesse. “Uncle J!” I exclaimed and ran over to give him a big hug.

“Hey, Deej,” he said. Then he noticed Kimmy. “Who are you?”

“I’m DJ’s best friend, Kimmy Gibbler. Most of the Tanners always say how much they hate me, but I know they really like me,” answered Kimmy.

“OK…” Uncle Jesse replied. He released me from his hug, and then called, “DANNY!”

Dad came rushing in. He looked frantic. “What? What did DJ do?”

“Hey! I didn’t do anything,” I said in defense.

“No, Danny. I didn’t mean DJ. What I meant was, you never warned me about… that,” Uncle Jesse said, pointing at Kimmy.

“I do have a name,” Kimmy said. No one paid much attention to her.

“Well… you’ll find out soon enough. Joey! Get in here!” Dad called out.

“What? I was in the middle of watching Bugs Bunny,” replied Joey.

“Hey, Joey,” I said, giving Joey a hug. Kimmy came in to hug too.

“Hey, DJ,” said Joey. Then he noticed Kimmy. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kimmy, DJ’s best friend and neighbor. You can read my bio on-line. I was hoping to meet boys with it,” answered Kimmy.

I smiled. Welcome to the holidays.