Keep It Kasual

*Dec. 15th, 2013*

The guys had beaten the Wings last night 4-1, Kris had gotten in at 1:30 am. He was still up with our big boy at 8am. Today was the Penguins Christmas Skate and, unbenounced to him, Alex's first time on skates. He'd been skating with us holding him before but someone wanted to give him his real Christmas present early...

I wandered downstairs after getting dressed. "Bon Matin. (Good morning.)" I found Alex in his chair eating and Kris making something on the stove. I walked over and grabbed my morning jolt.

Alex giggled as I ruffled his hair and sat down next to him. "Matin Mama." He said a bit quietly as he leaned against me. "Quatre jours, Mama. (Four Days, Mama.)" He said in a more serious tone.

"Yes my snow loving otter, we will see Grandma Julie and Grandpa Marc in 4 days. In 9 days we see the rest of your Grandparents and family." I had asked my folks if they would mind having Alex and I for a few days before Christmas, they couldn't jump on it fast enough. I was going to have to spend more time with them this summer, my brothers too.

Kris put breakfast in front of me. "I am jealous of you both, I will only get a few hours." He winked at me, he knew that I was also taking care of some other things like wedding prep and a delivery for the house in Montreal. It was more an easy way to keep Alex entertained while I worked.

"Christmas Papa." Alex said carefully around his toast. Yep, he knew why we were going, to spend Christmas with our families. In fact this would be the first time I would meet two important people in Kris' life, one of his oldest friends Etienne and his younger sister, Julienne. I was kind of nervous about it. Speaking to Olivia, Etienne's fiancee, had helped. She knew them both and assured me that they were thrilled that Kris had found someone who loved both Kris and Alex, not Kris' money or job.

Kris smiled. "I know my son. We will also meet new friends of your mama and papa." We ate for a while in silence before I couldn't stand it anymore.

"You know Ciera already and you've played against JG before too. They're more like family than friends. JG and Frankie played on the same team a lot growing up so it meant Ers and I were hockey sisters."

Kris chuckled. "Is t'at how it started? I wondered. The guys were teasing me about having two women in the house like sister wives when she was here." I shook my head. They could be so wrong about things sometimes. He then continued. "Is our joint gift going to be on time?" We'd decided that instead of getting each other gifts, we'd get something we both wanted. We were getting a new bedroom set for the Montreal house, it's delivery was set for the 20th. What Kris didn't know was that I had been picking up some lucrative side work in the last month, since coming back from the birthday trip, so I had ordered other things we had both liked as well.

"The delivery is set and it will be on time." I answered. I kind of felt guilty about not telling Kris about how the Trib had found out about me and asked that I get various shots of things going on around town. I blamed Dave DiCello, the Pens photog. We got talking one day about photography and I showed him what I had on my phone. I got called by the Trib the next day. I was on a freelance contract which meant I had freedom to shoot what I wanted and if they wanted it, they'd pay me for it. I had been taking Alex to a lot of events outside, which both he and my pocketbook loved. I had also recently had a gallery showing of some of my work as well, in one of the small Sewickley galleries. I had been surprised at time time, quite of few of my pictures had sold. For that I had opened nearly all of my portfolio, the only things I kept out were anything Pens related and the picture of the leaves blowing around from that blustery day. Kris loved that so it would remain a Kallie's Camera Captures exclusive.

Kris smiled. "Everything else ready too?"

"Almost, I'll clean up and keep Mr. Trouble if you want to have your shower." I made Alex giggle. Truth was I had gotten a delivery yesterday that I needed to put together and get in place before we left today. I'd found the perfect bench for the foyer, it's box was in my work space.

Kris kissed us both and we finished breakfast as he bounded up the stairs. I had retrieved the instructions and read them so I had a clue as to what I was doing. We moved the box out to where it was going to live and began assembly. Alex helped out by handing me things I asked for, we were most of the way done when Kris caught us. "W'at is this?"

I grinned as I looked over my shoulder. "It's your surprise, well part of it anyway.." I kept putting the bench together as he moved next to me and helped.

"When did you get this?" I noticed he said when, not how. Boy was my surprise going to be a good one.

"Before you found me looking at that bedroom set. I do have another surprise, do you want it now or at the party?" The snort that came from him said it all. "Ok, you know how Alex and I have been going a lot of places. The pumpkin patch, apple picking and that stuff?" I looked over at him and found him nodding. "I've been paid to go there." His jaw dropped and I scurried to finish. "The Trib has me on a freelance photog contract. I've also had a small gallery opening of my stuff. I've sold quite a few shots. Trib knows I take my son with me too."

Kris stared at me agape. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have been there." Oh sure, make me feel _more_ guilty.

Hearing that also warmed my heart. "Because you were on the road. It was last weekend. I did keep some of my photos out of what I showed the gallery." I nodded towards the leaves picture that hung in the dining room. "That one and anything Pens related. The girls all knew, a few of them even came."

He pulled me into a tight hug. "I love you so much. I was worried you had not found many chances to do what you love with Alex around and you find a balance that I could no' even 'hink of."

I wheezed out a chuckle. "Then you'll love this. I have more surprises for Christmas as well as permission to show off the Pens pics at today's party." By now Alex was on the bench swinging his little feet.

That got Kris moving and we were soon at the rink. We weren't the first family there, but we were one of them. I'd brought my laptop and a notebook just in case. Kris had his Secret Santa gift and Alex's hand. In the car was Alex's first real gift of Christmas but that was to be a surprise. Kris had gotten Kuni as his recipient for Secret Santa so I had found a great pic of their family I'd taken and had it framed. I'd also included a newborn shoot with it as Maureen was pregnant. Sure it gave away who it was from, but that was ok.

I set up my computer and loaded the pictures up. I then laid out the sign I had made and the notebook. 'Candid pictures of our families, if there's anything here you like and would like a copy of, write down your name and the number and let me know. -Kallie' On the screen the various pictures I'd taken from all of our get togethers began fading across the screen along with an identifying number, for my own records.

Carole-Lynn noticed and came over. "Oh, look at those. How much?" Pascal was eyeing us from behind her.

I smiled. "It will depend on what you want and how big." I woke the computer up and showed her the picture I thought she'd love. It was a shot of her entire family and they all were looking at the camera. "This in an 8 by 10 would be." I thought about my pricing schedule for a second. "About $8 a print. It's professional quality paper and what little time it takes me to actually print it. Film prints would be more as I do more with them." That's when I remembered I had made up a pricing guide for this event and got it out. "This will be able to give you the best answer."

I heard a click behind me and turned in time to see Dave pulling his camera away from his face. "Not trying to take my job are you?" He teased me as he came around to see what the computer was displaying.

He whistled and I controlled a preen. "Nope, these are pictures from events you aren't invited to. Candids and more formal shots from our various get togethers so far this year. That gallery showing made me realize I could probably do more than just newspaper shots."

I stood there talking shop with Dave for a little bit, he was impressed that I had so many shots of the parties we'd had, well maybe parties was a stretch. "Did you bring your kit here too?" He asked. I smiled and opened my shoulder bag.

"Never leave home without it. I don't bring my lighting kit with me unless I know I'm doing more formal stuff. I'll probably get some shots today too. I just thought it would be a good thing to show off what I've been getting and letting them decide if they want it or not." I brought out my camera and showed it off.

Of course as soon as the kids saw I had it out, they were all trying to get my to take pictures of them. It'd quickly become a tradition we did, I took pictures of the kids at every event so that the parents would have a record of how the kids changed over the year for their families. The kids loved it and so did I. This time I had a plan though. "When we're all on the ice gang! This way I can get shots with your folks too." They cheered, Dave smiled and all was right with my world.

Soon enough it was time to go change into skates and enjoy the rink. Kris ran out to the car and grabbed Alex's surprise while I got my skates on and ready to take pictures as well. I positioned myself so I could grab Kris bringing in Alex's surprise as well as seeing clearly as they put them on. All of the guys in the room were excited when Kris brought the boxes in, they had been told. "My son, mama and I have decided that you get to open these gifts early." He set them down and I got a few pics of Alex's excited face.

Kris handed him the first one. Alex ripped into it and gasped happily as he saw a helmet just like papa's. The next one was also ripped into and revealed gloves like papa's. Alex was almost bouncing now. Kris handed him one that was difficult for him to open, but when he did he found a skating support bar. Now the guys had began crowding around watching excitedly.

The next package held something I knew Alex would love, an organizer for his new gear. Ok so it wasn't much gear but still, organization was key. Alex was nearly vibrating off of the bench now as Kris helped him open the last one, the precious skates. Alex's face lit up with joy and he looked right into my camera as it bubbled over from him. "Mama! Skates!" I captured the moment, let my camera drop from my eye and happily grinned at my big boy.

I nodded. "Skates, gloves, and a helmet. You wanna put them on?" Alex threw off his boots and held out his foot for Kris to put them on him.

Everyone chuckled at the sight. Kris was speaking to Alex. "You are such our big boy we thought today would be good for your first time on skates. We got special permission from Le Père Noël (Santa Claus) to give them to you early." I discreetly took a few more shots of Alex getting ready. I then picked up the support bar and followed them out to the ice. It went together easily as I knew it would. It was from Canadian Tire of course it was easy.

Kris stepped onto the ice, having set Alex down just outside the boards. "Temps à patiner mon grand garçon. (Time to skate my big boy.)" He held out a hand and Alex tentatively took a step onto the ice. He promptly fell on his butt but no one laughed. We were waiting for his reaction. Behind the bars of his helmet's cage I saw his little eyes narrow and a determined look come over his face. He rolled over as he'd seen Kris do a number of times and began trying to get up. Once he was close Kris helped him and then grabbed the bar. "J'ai appris à patiner avec un bar comme ça avant, j'ai commencé à jouer au hockey. Vous pouvez le faire aussi. (I learned to skate with a bar like this before I started playing hockey. You can do it too.)" He helped Alex get setup and then skated in front of him. "Come to me Alexander." He was only a couple feet away.

As I got the shots of Alex's first attempts to skate I hear everyone else cheer him on. They had given us the rink for this important occasion and were now coming onto the ice to congratulate him and help him. I took a couple shots with my camera phone and then texted my dad. 'Get the bar down dad, someone's got new skates!'

Aleks sidled up to me smoothly. "Nervous mom? Your baby is skating with his family." I looked out and saw Kris in front of Alex and Sid behind him both encouraging him. They were moving at a good pace for Alex's first time.

I shook my head. "Not really. I know they won't hurt him and I know he's well padded." I then stopped and sighed. "Ok, I can't do it. Yeah, I'm nervous. What if he doesn't like it?"

I hand touched my shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that Kallie. Look at that little one's face." Maureen said from the bench. I looked up in time to see the pure joy branded on my son's face. "You've got yourself another addict." She chuckled.

My phone then beeped with a message. I expected it to be from dad, but it was from Benji. 'Way to go little man! Bring those home and we'll go skating!' I loved that about my brothers, from the day they met Kris and Alex and got to spend time with them, never once had they treated Alex as anything but my son. If I was talking to them on Skype, they had to talk to him too. It was a natural extension of our family. Then I got one from Frankie in Quebec City. 'Mon équipe est jaloux de mon neveu. Vous ne pouvez pas attendre de vous voir tous dans quelques jours seulement! (My team is jealous of my nephew. Can't wait to see you all in a few days!)' Finally my dad's reply came in. 'You must bring those home with you so I can skate with my grandson at Christmas time.'

I sent the picture, with the same caption to Kris' side of the family. I then got told to put my phone and camera down so I could skate with them. Who could say no to that invitation?

*Dec. 19th, 2013*

Carole-Lynn had dropped Alex and I at the airport, today was game day and while we were leaving Kris still had things he had to do. I promised her that I would get the shots she wanted from everything done when we got home and she said that would be fine It turned out that everyone loved that I opened my photos to everyone for the holidays.

We were now in Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport waiting for our bags. Mom had taken today through the 5th off, which was pretty normal, and had met us. She was now entertaining Alex while I gathered our things. That entailed listening to him talk about everything from how he was a real big boy now to having to go potty to prove it. Mom took it all in stride, even taking him to the bathroom without blinking.

We were soon on our way home to Gatineau. "Kalista, do you think after everyone gets home tonight, that you could help me make some things for my gift baskets?" Mom asked as she drove across the bridge. I smiled, I knew what she wanted, my spa recipes.

"Of course mom, I'm sure Alex would love to watch the game with his Grandpa Marc and Uncle Benji while we did that." Those were the magic words for Alex, he giggled and got excited. "Of course he'll have to eat all of his lunch and be a big boy still." I looked in the mirror and saw him roll his eyes which made me giggle.

We had lunch at home, Alex was so excited about seeing everything all decorated. Mom got out the supplies she kept safe for me while I was away and began making sure they were ready for our use later. Alex crawled up on the stool next to her and watched, asking his questions as he did so. "Why that?" I heard yet again as I put the gifts from us under the tree.

"It's a mold to make things. Your mama uses them to make soaps and bath bombs." I came in then and began unpacking the rest of the box I had left here in September. It looked like everything was still intact and usable. I even found all of the recipes I used still safely encased in plastic at the bottom of the box. Good I would need those, they would be part of the gift I had for mom.

A couple hours of prep work, and a rest time for the big boy, later the house was a buzz with family. Kris had called to make sure that we had gotten in ok, apparently my text saying so wasn't enough for him. We were now finishing dinner and getting ready to put a game on. The debate was which one. Alex finally won and got to watch the Pens play The Wild. It sounded like a good one from the kitchen.

In the second mom finally got around to asking what she'd been putting off. "So, everything is going well?" She kept stuffing the bath bomb molds.

I smiled, knowing what she was getting at. "It's going wonderfully. Thank you guys so much for letting us come and stay. Not to mention getting my car so I can do the few wedding things I need to while I'm in town." I was working on a body butter recipe while mom made bath bombs that were cherry scented.

"It is no problem. You're even willing to take your brothers with you and give your dad and I some peace before everything hits. That in itself is payment enough. Seeing Alex, Kris and yourself is a bonus." The boys always drove mom nuts at this time of year. "So what do you have to do? I feel like we have barely spoken about the wedding." That wasn't exactly true, we had spoken about the planning many times. I continued to feel I was in excellent hands with Rachel and the team.

I stopped whipping and looked over at her. "I have to get the reservations blocked out for our out of town guests and double check that we're still a go for our cake tasting on Tuesday. Yeah I know tasting wedding cake on Christmas Eve sounds dangerous but it's the only time we have to do it without a special trip." Mom nodded. I then thought of something that mom could help me with. "You know, I could use some help finding the perfect wording for our invitations. They're really simple, I can show you on my laptop later." Kris and I had agreed that we both liked the ones we found.

Mom beamed. She loved to help where she could and I knew that. "I would love to see them. I am not even sure I know if you have a theme." I smiled and continued my whipping.

"Our theme is really simple. The colors are Teal, Silver and blush pink. The overall theme is you have the key to my heart. We'll have some special touches with our favorite things at the reception. Rachel, our planner, loves what we've come up with and how hard we've worked to get it all done in a timely manner." I couldn't help but gush, I truly loved what we had planned so far.

Dad came in during the third and let me know he had just put Alex to bed. Poor little guy, must be tired with all the excitement. I was cleaning up after our spa making spree. We talked about how life had continued to change for me and how excited they all were to watch the Sens and Pens game.

*Dec.20th, 2013*

Benji, Dom, Alex and I had just finished moving the old bedroom set out of the bedroom in the Montreal house when the doorbell rang. Opening it I found the delivery men for the furniture had arrived. "Bonjour, come on in." I said. The boys went up to the playroom so it was more than safe. I showed them where the bedroom set went and then the two surprises I had for Kris. Seeing that we were hosting Christmas at our new house I had moved the dining set closer to the living room so they could get both surprises in easily. In no time it was time for me to go run the errands I had in town. None of the boys wants to go with me so I got the most rare of time, mommy alone time.

I met Rachel at her office and went over the few details I hadn't shown her yet, like our invitations and such. She was surprised when I told her where we had found them, Zazzle.com. They were simple, elegant and straight to the point. I told her that I was going to be ordering based on our guest list adding 30 just to be safe. That was good for her.

"Do you want to hire a calligrapher? Addressing everything can be time consuming and your save the dates should go out sooner rather than later." She asked as we confirmed the hotel reservation block. Next came checking on the tasting we had scheduled.

"I don't think so. I have a lot of time on my hands right now. Kris is gone for work and such. This will give me something to do. My goal is to get the save the dates out by the end of January, then I start addressing the actual invitations and such and have them hopefully done by the playoffs." She looked at me funny as I realized how I was telling the timing. "Sorry, early April. Gives me really about 6 weeks to get them all done. I am going to cheat on the return address labels and have those printed."

"Why only 6 weeks? Sounds like you have 2 months." She was on hold with La Patisserie San Marco so it wasn't an issue. I opened my planner and showed her.

"It's really simple. It gives me time to find the right font to fake calligraphy with before the Olympics. We're going to Hawaii for 2 weeks. I won't take them with me so I can't lose them so when we get back I'll get going on them." Rachel nodded in understanding. "I've addressed invitations using the print and trace method before so I know what I'm getting into. That's another reason for the return labels on the backs. Cuts down on what I need to do. I mean hand addressing the main envelope and the reception invites is enough on top of being mom, photographer and hockey wife."

Rachel smiled. "I know I tell you this every time we talk but I love how hands on you are. Most women want the professional look for a calligrapher and you know how to fake it. Finding those invitations and all of that was lucky too. You'll have unique ones that's for sure. Are you allowing him to do anything?" She was teasing, she knew Kris was fully involved in the decisions.

"Oh come on, he's booked the DJ and is working on our honeymoon. I even told him only one song was completely off the table. I don't want White Wedding played at all, other than that I can deal with anything. So I guess he's doing the majority of the music too." That reminded me I had to find a song for my father/daughter dance and bug him about one for mother/son as well. I wrote them both on the list I had been working from.

We quickly confirmed that everything was a go for 11 am on Tuesday with San Marco's and got a few other details nailed down. She had a couple florists she wanted me to talk to. I had no idea what I wanted but I told her I would do so. I would even take swatches with me so they could see what the dresses would look like. She also asked about when we were going to talk to the priests about how we wanted our wedding to sound, what readings and such. That I had an answer for. "We're meeting with them Tuesday afternoon after the cake tasting. Hoping to at least get where they want us to look for readings and things so we can nail all of that down asap."

I got home to find my household had grown by 1 brother, Frankie had made it here. We decided that tonight was going to be for finishing up our shopping and doing a massive gift wrap night. I had a lot to wrap, seeing that we had shipped all of our gifts to Kris' family here without wrapping it. I sorted through everything and found the item I wanted to set aside for another time and did so. We then went to the mall and got the things we felt were missing and for me stocking stuffers. We'd always had some candy on Christmas and such but we all preferred to have healthier things or more useful things.

*Dec. 22nd, 2013*

We had made it back to mom and dad's place in the late afternoon of the day before and I had even made sure Frankie had called the Sens to ask them if they wanted him to come to practice while he was in town, of course the answer was yes. So we were now watching the Sens practice, Alex's eyes glued to the action. I was watching for signs of the Pens. I knew they were in town, Kris had texted me this morning, but I hadn't seen anyone yet.

We were moved to the home bench after most of the drills were done so we could get a clearer look at what was going on. Unfortunately it also gave the single guys on the team a chance to try and hit on me, even though I was clearly wearing an engagement ring. As the guys, most who had girlfriends, were hitting on me I saw JG getting more and more frustrated. I finally called out to him. "What? I was good enough to be your hockey sister years ago but now that you've made it I'm no one?! Fine way to treat someone who's known you forever!"

The guys started to get interested in what I was saying when JG got to me. "Ever think it's not that you're no one but rather that your taste in clothing has gone downhill?" Oh! That was _such_ a brother thing for him to say.

I looked down at the Pens hoodie I had stolen from Kris and then back at JG. "A girl's gotta support her man. I'm sure Cammy understands." I pulled off the hoodie and grinned. "But if it bothers you I'll just wear this instead." I had on my Remparts Shirsey with Frankie's number on the back.

He leaned over the boards and gave me a hug. "Ciera's in town too if you didn't know. God help me with both my sisters here for the holidays." I slugged him and coughed as I leaned away him his rank gear.

Soon the Sens practice was done and the Pens came on the ice. I told JG to stick around as we were going to be letting Alex s-k-a-t-e after the Pens were done. Yes I did have to spell it to keep the secret. He asked if he could invite some of the guys to stay and watch another hockey player be born and I laughed, which caught the attention of everyone on the ice.

I was quite strongly reminded that I was on the wrong bench and that I better get my butt to the right one. I stuck my tongue out at them and flounced off with Alex in my arms. Doing so meant I ran, almost literally, into Erik Karlsson. "Whoops! Pardon!" Of course it came out with a strong French accent than I normally had.

"It's fine. You're Brassie's sister right?" I nodded easily. "So why does Geej say he's your brother too and what's up with the Pens hoodie?" I had to chuckle.

I set Alex down and Benji came over to grab him from me. "Those are easy. Frankie is my brother by blood, JG is my brother by hockey and the hoodie means I'm _so_ not single." I opened the hoodie up again and showed him. "I stole my fiancé's hoodie when he wore it home one afternoon last week." Plain as day was Kris' number 58 on the chest.

Erik nodded, now understanding. "So you're related to 2 Senators but you're marrying a Penguin. If I didn't see your son and the lovely rock on your hand I'd be jealous." Frankie came out then, fresh from his post-practice shower. "Brassie, your sister is ok. Your nephew is too cute too."

I laughed and blushed while Frankie just smiled and shook his head. "Kallie is a great person and Alex is a joy. She's a great mom. Kris is a good guy too. I think Alex and Kris are in for a surprise with a Brassard Family Christmas, it's their first." He laughed evilly.

"No one is ever ready for our family's holiday celebrations. Especially Christmas." It was true too, it was often a contest to see who could outdo each other with a great gift with an awful package. It was something we took seriously as well. My brothers and I always traded horrible packaging with great things inside. "I'm going to win this year too Frankie, just you wait and see."

True to form the Pens all wanted to stay and watch Alex skate. A handful of the Sens stayed as well, they were even cordial about it. By now Ciera had joined us watching, I knew JG had called her. She leaned into my shoulder as Alex worked very hard to move around the rink. "Seems like yesterday we were watching the brothers do this. Now we're watching your kid." I chuckled.

"Ers, we both knew ours kids would be skaters. In our families how could they not be?" She shrugged and we changed topics. "So, when do you think you'll be coming over to Montreal before the big day?" I knew that I wanted to be done with the actual readiness by a few days before so I could enjoy the last minute rush

"At least a week early if not more. Do you know who Kris is having as his best man?" I grinned at that one. I did know who the best man was.

"Yep, Flower. V was happy when she found out, until she remembered Estelle was invited too. She then worried about who would watch her until I laughed. Kris and I agreed that if the kids want to come up and stand with us, it's fine. We're all family and families should celebrate together." By this time Flower had joined us by the wall.

"So, 'ave you given any t'ought to any restrictions on his bachelor party? I should get going on planning t'at if you 'ave." Yep, he knew what we were talking about.

I shrugged. "I hadn't actually. With most of us having kids I really want to limit how many times we need a babysitter for them. Other than that, what happens there is none of my business." It was how I felt about it. If he wanted to go to a strip joint, let him. I personally wanted to have a relaxing day followed by dinner and dancing, which I knew Ciera was on board for.

Ciera saw a chance to influence Flower and she grabbed it. "We could always forgo traditional parties and have a joint one. Something that's uniquely Kallie and Kris. What would you think of that?" I wasn't sure who she was asking so I stayed quiet.

Flower, on the other hand, nodded as if he was thinking about it. "We could do separate things and then meet for something fun." Then he seemed to get an idea. "Or, we could do similar things to help our poor friends relax and feel good before the big day."

Ciera giggled. "Well I know that Kals wants to have a relaxing day and go to dinner and dancing after. Maybe we could book things they find relaxing and make a full day of fun. Include the kids as much as we can until we go out for the evening." I could see her wheels turning.

By now Flower was on board as well. "Maybe mini golf and something spa-like?" Ciera smiled.

"Let's make it a complete surprise for them. I'll email Vero and we'll find something that is truly an enjoyable day." She skated off to enjoy herself.

Kris came over and leaned next to me as we watched my family skating with Alex. "Dan says I have to be back for bed check at 11, until then I am yours." He tried to make it sound vaguely dirty but it came off as sweet. I watched Alex fall for the third time in a few short minutes. It was time to go.

I took Kris' hand and tugged him down to me. "You're always mine, I just loan you to the Pens." I then kissed his ear and whispered in it. "Win or lose we're fucking in Christmas." I let him go and watched him swallow hard. Yep, no needing to explain what I meant there. I went to collect Alex and tell everyone the bad news. "Ok gang, someone's tuckered out, time to go have lunch and such."

We got back to the house and had lunch, nothing too heavy or big as Maman was cooking dinner as soon as we finished cleaning up. Alex yawned then and announced that he was tired and was going to go rest. I felt the tension level in the house drop after he went upstairs. What was going on?

I wandered into the living room and found dad and the guys checking things around the tree. "He didn't break anything did he?" I prayed not.

"No, everything's fine. We're checking to see that everyone has everything down here and ready to go, that's all." I smiled.

"Well if that's all, I'll go get the things I hadn't put out yet, namely our stockings. Babe, lend me a hand?" I had to give Kris a heads up as to what to expect, this was my only chance too. We went upstairs and got everything we needed and came back down. I added things to the stockings of my family and then tugged Kris towards the door. We went outside onto the back deck and settled into each other's embrace. "I need to warn you about something."

Kris kissed my temple and stayed close to it. "No, please don't. I want to be surprised about how your family does Christmas. I like the theme idea already, makes it easy and yet a challenge. I'm not sure why you added things to their stockings but I'm sure I'll find out and that too will be something fun." He wrapped himself tighter around me.

I sighed. "Fine but don't say I didn't try to give you some kinds of warning." I heard Kris' phone go off, it was a ringtone I had heard before but didn't know who it belonged to. He answered it but didn't move away from me.

"Hallo?" I heard the Joyuex Noel mon frere and knew who it was, Julienne. "Jules! How are you?!" Kris had told me that Julienne was in her last year of University. "Non, je ne pense pas que quiconque l'esprit si vous êtes venu sur. Permettez-moi de vous poser Kallie. (No, I don't think anyone would mind if you came over. Let me ask Kallie.)" He looked at me. "Jules wants to know if she can join us tonight as well as Wednesday." I held up a hand and went to the door and asked Maman.

I came back and took his phone from him. "Maman dit obtenir vos fesses ici. Vous êtes de la famille et toute la famille est la bienvenue. Ne vous inquiétez pas rien apporter, mais vous-même. (Mom says get your ass here. You are the family and the whole family is welcome. Do not worry about bringing anything but yourself.)" I heard her start to balk. "Arguing is not smart. Maman won't be happy if you worry about coming empty-handed. Though I will say that knowing your favorite scent would help."

Jules sighed. "I like most scents. What I use depends on my mood. Can I ask why?"

"You'll see. We're waiting on Alex to wake up before we start into everything so you have a bit of time. Probably an hour or so. I'll let Kris give you directions while I go help get dinner moving." I handed the phone back, kissed him lightly and went inside.

45 minutes later the house was just waiting Alex's waking to start our Christmas. Julienne came with gifts even though she was told not to worry about it. Maman clucked her tongue but didn't say anything more. It was another 15 minutes before I heard the toilet flush upstairs. "Oh look someone's awake." Everyone's smiles got bigger. "Alex, come down here. Someone came to visit and it's also time to have our first part of Christmas."

The next thing that happened was a 2 year old pounding down the stairs. "CHRISTMAS!" He came around the corner and ran straight to the tree. "Maman! Presents!" Everyone laughed at that.

"Yes Alexander but we need to do things right. You need to see who is here and say hello first." I turned him towards everyone else. "See, your uncles and aunt Julienne are here. So is Ers and her brother JG." He turned his face into my legs shyly.

Dad sighed. "Come here little man. Why don't you help Grandpa Marc." Alex all but ran to my dad. "Go sit down Kalista, you know the rules." I did as he said and sat in front of Kris on the floor. "Ok, on this special day we do things differently than most other families. Most families would open stockings first and then gifts but we've always done it the other way."

Once everyone had a gift we began opening. As usual we started with the ugliest cover winner from last year's gifts. That was Frankie. He got everyone Vanilla Bath salts. Well, everyone but Alex who got the bath set from Baby Spa. Next was Dom who gave Alex a different Baby Spa set and the rest of us a Warm Vanilla Body Scrub. Benji was after them with a Vanilla Body Lotion that was, like the other two, homemade. Alex got the third Baby Spa set and my parents laughed. My parents jumped the queue and went next. Alex got a full set of the Baby Spa, so we had plenty to last for a while. Kris got several sizes of the Art of Shaving Sandalwood collection. I got a large basket of citrus scented items.

Then it was time for my gifts. I handed out all of my gifts telling everyone to open them at the same time. As paper was ripped and gasps of delight and horror were heard, I smiled. Ciera came over and hugged me, I had given her the homemade spa things I made with mom. JG got a small kit from the Art of Shaving, unscented as I didn't know his favorite one. Julienne got the basket of peppermint scented items I had found in the things I had saved here. I had made them for an experiment and ended up loving them.

Kris laughed a loud and I turned to see him holding up a tin. "My love do you have something to tell me?" He turned it and I smiled.

"Yes." I opened the wrapping and then the tin.. "I love this scent. The name makes me laugh." It was one of the solid colognes I had ordered, specifically the Douchebag scent. That sparked everyone to check the names on their tins and start laughing. "You all have asked me where I get my scents, well now you know. The names are hilarious but the scents are amazing."

Frankie dumped out the rest of his bag and shook his head. "All in favor of Kallie winning this year? I can't show the guys this. The chirping would never end."

JG snickered. "It might not anyway. Rainbows and Unicorns, wow Kals. Dom's Crayons and Benji's paper clips are tame in comparison. What else is in there?"

I giggled. "I made my lip balm as usual and there's as many Badger products as I could find. There are also some travel candles, a travel manicure kit and a pouch for those items you want to carry on your person. I'm not completely heartless." I knew that the vote had been taken discreetly and I'd won. Of course with how I packaged everything I wasn't surprised.

From there Ciera gave out the gifts she had for us, still sticking with our theme, JG too. Kris had gotten everyone baskets of cool stuff. Turns out that he'd gone above and beyond and gotten the guys pedicures, hockey was hell on the feet. Mom and I both got mani/pedis. I also got a couple's spa day for Kris and I in a spa at home.

Kris had originally felt bad that he had forgotten Ciera and JG. Until Ciera smiled while opening the recipes I had included. They were mine but they were from him. In fact I had made sure Kris' name was on the gift to JG too, not knowing my dad was getting Kris the same.

I had given recipe cards to Mom and Julienne as well. "I hope you'll like them. I love making my own stuff when I have time and a good resource for the ingredients."

Alex was happily looking through his dino pouch at everything I had made or gotten for him. When everyone was ready, it was time for our stockings. Mom got them and passed them out. "I love what you've done Kallie. These are lovely. Why the Hawaiian fabric though?"

Kris leaned into me and kissed my ear. "Kris is taking us there during the Olympic break. It felt right." Kris brought out the detox bath I had made and smiled. Benji found the snowball maker I had put in his stocking and cackled with delight. "Gotta win the neighborhood new year's eve battle."

Dom shouted. "Yes! Sis you're awesome!" He had his build your own sonic screwdriver set in his hands. He'd been wanting one for a while. I grinned at him.

Kris dug through his own homemade stocking and found a glass coffee cup with a sleeve and cap that made it difficult to spill. Normally that would mean that there would be at least 1 more like that. Sure enough it was in my stocking. His was blue and mine was mint. They were 12 ounce cup, just perfect.

As we all dug through our stockings everyone was chatting happily. That's what was important, the family was together, but I had one more surprise for my family. Kris's too but Julienne would have to wait for hers as it was already in Montreal. Once everyone was done trading items to look at, I snuck upstairs and grabbed the frames I had chosen.

Kris met me on the stairs. "Are these?" I nodded. "May I give them?"

"Of course. Julienne will have to wait for hers, it's already in Montreal." He nodded and went back into the living room.

"We have one more item for each of you that did not fit this year's theme. We worked hard on these, well mostly Kallie did, but I did help. We hope that you love them." He handed each of my family members the final package. Mom gasped first. Inside each one was a special frame set of pictures for each of them. Pictures we had taken by a new friend of mine and also a professional photographer in Pittsburgh as well as candids taken by myself and Kris.

Dad set his frame down and pulled me into his arms in a tight hug. "Merci ma belle fille. Vous nous avez donné un cadeau que nous ne pouvons pas rembourser facilement. Avez-vous envoyé ce pour le reste de la famille? Je suis sûr que vos grands-parents, oncle et la tante aimeraient avoir ces. (Thank you my beautiful daughter. You gave us a gift that we can not refund easily. Have you sent this to the rest of the family? I'm sure your grandparents, uncle and aunt would love to have these.)" I nodded, tears in my eyes. It was important to me to share my family with the rest of them.

A while later, while my brothers were outside with Alex, Julienne found me. "Those are lovely pictures. I hope I will be getting one as well in a few days." I blushed and smiled, trying not to give anything away. "I hope that our family has welcomed you like yours has welcomed us."

I laughed and took her up to the room I was sharing with Alex and told her of how I met Kris and their mother. She ended up laughing so hard over how we had fallen head over heels for each other and been so sensible about how we wanted to do things. She traded stories with me about Kris growing up, things I hadn't heard from his mom. We were both laughing so hard we were crying when Kris and Alex came into the room. "Uh oh Alex, your tante and maman are laughing."

Alex crawled into Julienne's lap and got comfy. In the few hours she'd been physically here, he'd gotten attached. "My maman. My tante." He reached up and played with my ponytail end. His other hand reached for Kris. "My papa." We hugged Alex as a trio and then let him lead us down to dinner.

At the end of the evening, Alex was asleep and Julienne had been added to the list of tickets Kris was getting for tomorrow. In fact she was going to be riding down with us to Montreal for Christmas. She had a ride back with another friend who was already there. I walked Kris right up to his doorstep. I wanted to stay the night but knew I had to be with Alex.

We kissed slowly, ignoring everyone who was passing us. It seemed that the team had decided en masse that we had to be heckled. When we finally broke apart he tucked his head to mine and whispered. "Tomorrow night you are mine. We will break in our new bed properly." Oh I didn't want to leave, it took everything I had to walk away from him. Tomorrow night would have to be soon enough.