I decided to go to my parents' house for Christmas. Back in the fall, Dad invited all of us to come home for the holidays, but I wasn't keen on the idea, especially since Mum and I weren't seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of things. Recently, I've been missing my parents quite a lot, and when I told Sini about it she suggested that we take Dad up on his offer. When I told Dad that we were coming, he sent us money for our bus tickets, which I'm almost positive Mum doesn't know about. I haven't spent Christmas with my parents in a couple of years. Initially, I didn't know how I'd feel about staying here this year, but the more I thought about it, the more I started looking forward to it. I called Dad on Thursday night to tell him we'd be arriving on Saturday, and he promised to meet us at the bus station.
So, on Saturday, Sini, Skyla, Pax and I took a bus trip together. We're at my parents' house now, and I'm going to tell you more about that later, I promise. I just want to update you on everybody else's comings and goings first.
Michael and Rommie were invited to spend the holiday with our parents as well, but they decided not to come. Michael is going over to our house to be with Rommie and the kids for Christmas. I'm hoping they'll be able to work some stuff out.
Dylan is going skiing with Zoe. We're all wondering if it's just supposed to be a fun trip or if Dylan has another motive for asking her to join him in a ski lodge in the mountains. Rest assured, I'll be getting all the details about that as soon as all of us are back at home in the new year.
Beau has a bit more money than the rest of us due to the fact that he has a full-time job, doesn't have a family and doesn't go to school. He bought himself a ticket to Atlanta where he plans to pass the festive season with his girlfriend Georgia, and possibly convince her to come back with him. I hope that works out. I can't imagine how hard it would be to carry on such a long-distance relationship. I'm really interested to meet Georgia. I think it'd be awesome to have her come and live with us.
Xander and Remi have managed to scrape together enough money to buy themselves some fancy clothes and to spend a night in a nice hotel. They're going to be at home on Christmas day with Rommie and the kids. Remi has to work between Christmas and New Year's, so I guess the hotel plan is for New Year's Eve.
Radek's parents sent him money so that he could fly home to the Czech Republic for Christmas. He left as soon as school was over and he won't be back until sometime during the first week of January.
Nobody knows what Hunter is doing. She doesn't believe in Christmas. My opinion on that? It's definitely her loss.
We decorated the house on my birthday, which was last Monday. Sapphire had originally wanted us to do it on the weekend, but we were all way too trashed from my most excellent birthday party to do much of anything except the obligatory after-party cleanup on Sunday. I spent most of Sunday afternoon in bed with Sini, where we cuddled and listened to an audiobook and basically tried to move as little as possible. Things were more or less back to normal on Monday, and so the decorating commenced.
Everyone helped with the decorating, even Pax, who was more a hindrance than a helper for some tasks.
Rommie got so frustrated with him that Sini literally had to drag him away from the mess he'd made of the garland. She set him to work putting ornaments on the tree. We figured there was no way he could mess that up. I can't see what I'm doing, and even I can't mess that one up.
Once all the decorating was done Rommie made popcorn and hot chocolate for everyone, and Sapphire gave us all cookies and jumbo candy canes. Pax liked the candy cane best, I think. Mint is one of his favourite flavours.
I've happily discovered that holidays with Pax are tons of fun and worth any potential chaos that might ensue from either a cultural misunderstanding or his boundless enthusiasm (or both). The Christmas season has already been great and we haven't even gotten to the part where we unpack the stockings and open the presents. Pax has wholeheartedly embraced the entire idea of Christmas and thinks it's the best Earth holiday ever. I agree.
Pax is deliriously excited for his first visit from Santa Claus. Truth be told, I was a little amazed at first that Pax believed the story of Santa so readily, but when I thought about it later, it occurred to me that he has no reason not to believe it. The concept of Santa is all new to him. Eris doesn't have anything like that, so as far as he's concerned, Santa Claus is just as much a part of life on Earth as wearing clothes and driving around in cars.
To my surprise, Pax doesn't seem overly bothered by the fact that Saint Nick has never visited him before. In fact, he has a clever explanation for why Santa never gave him any presents when he was living with that other Earth family. He figures that since he wasn't born on Earth, he wasn't on Santa's list and, since he'd never written to Santa before, the jolly old guy didn't even know Pax was there. This year, thanks to Canada Post, Pax was not only able to write a letter to Santa but also received a reply. I wish you guys could've seen how thrilled he was about that. His letter to Santa was really cute too. He asked for socks, which wasn't much of a shock to any of us. He also asked for a new soccer ball, candy, instant noodles and some funny boxers. Every time I picture the reactions of the volunteers at Canada Post who read that letter I want to laugh.
Pax's worldly and sophisticated eight year old friends, Oliver and Sammy, don't believe in Santa any more although, apparently, Oliver pretends to believe for the benefit of his baby sister and younger cousins. Pax isn't particularly worried that his friends don't believe, and commented philosophically to me, "It their choice, but they missing out on all the cool Santa magic."
The only part of the Santa story that Pax doesn't buy into is the flying reindeer bit. He says it's impossible for reindeer to fly because they don't have wings, and all the magic in the world can't make an animal without wings able to fly. He has a great theory about how Santa really manages to go all around the world delivering presents. According to Pax, jolly old Saint Nick has a starship which is able to fly all over the world in a single night. I have to say, I'm rather fond of this version of the tale. It amuses me to think of Santa orbiting the Earth in his bright red starship and beaming into people's houses to put presents under the tree.
Before we left for my parents' house, Pax got his first present, which was something from Sapphire. Naturally, he wanted to open it right away but we told him that he'd have to wait. We'd pack it with the rest of our things to take to Grandpa and Grandmonster's house, and he could open it with all his other gifts on Christmas day. (Mum, by the way, is none too pleased that Pax calls her 'Grandmonster' and that we haven't told him not to.) Pax wouldn't let us pack up his present until the night before we left. Every day he took it out from under the tree and tried to guess what might be in it. It's under Mum and Dad's tree now, and he still hasn't figured it out, although some of his guesses have been pretty funny.
So, I guess this brings me around to our trip to the country, doesn't it? I've travelled by bus lots of times, but I've never travelled by bus with my family before. Let me just say it was an adventure none of us will soon forget.
We woke up really early on Saturday morning. Pax was up before any of us and, in an attempt to be helpful, made breakfast for himself, Sini and me. He managed to make coffee for me and Sini which was pretty good. The rest of our morning meal was unusual to say the least. He made toast which he covered liberally with chocolate hazelnut spread, and he fixed us a salad that consisted of spinach, tomatoes, raisins, peanuts, bananas and raw potato. I've never had a salad for breakfast before, and I've never had one with such seemingly random ingredients at any time of day. Nevertheless, I thanked Pax for his very grown-up and largely successful effort and ate everything on my plate, with the exception of the potato bits, which I picked out and gave to Sini. She loves raw potato for some reason, and gladly ate all the pieces I couldn't bring myself to put into my mouth.
After breakfast, I'm embarrassed to admit, we left the dishes for someone else to do. It took us a while to get Skyla and Pax and all our baggage organized. We took a cab to the bus station.
By the time we got to the station, Pax was so wound up that no amount of reasoning, coaxing or scolding could make him sit still and behave himself. He was running all over the place and making that chirping sound he always makes when he's excited. I could hear him going up to random people and telling them, "Merry Christmas!" Most people seemed to be responding in kind. I heard one woman tell him to get out of her way, to which he replied "Bah humbug!" much to the amusement of several other people nearby.
I left Sini and Skyla with our luggage and got into the lineup to buy our tickets. I called Pax over to stand in line with me, but he only stayed by my side for a couple of minutes before he got bored and wandered off again. His voice was getting farther and farther away, and I wondered if Sini could see him. At the rate he was going, he'd be out of my earshot soon enough with the crowd and the babble of voices all around. I was stuck in my place in line, and couldn't do more than call out a warning to my precocious boy.
"Pax, don't you dare get lost!" I yelled. I was probably wasting my breath, though, because I'm pretty sure he didn't hear me.
Luckily, Sini had been keeping her eye on him the whole time. Once I had our tickets, Sini collected Pax and we made our way out to the platform where our bus was loading. Our driver put our bags in the compartment under the bus. I carried my guitar on board with me though, and Sini carried our backpack with things that Skyla and Pax might need during the trip. It would take six hours for us to reach our destination and we'd have to change buses at least once. It was inevitable that we'd need diapers and associated stuff for Skyla and that she and Pax would both want snacks and juice. We had a Thermos of coffee and some sandwiches for Sini and me as well, and Sini had packed Pax's teddy bear for him and a book for herself.
We were organized. We were prepared.
It should've been a totally uneventful voyage.
Let me remind you once again. I live with aliens.
When we got on the bus, Pax and I sat in one seat and Sini and Skyla were in the seat behind us. If i'd hoped that Pax would stay in our seat for more than twenty-five seconds, I would've been hoping in vain. As soon as the driver entered the bus, Pax hopped up from his spot.
Without even asking if it was okay with me, he started for the front of the bus, calling out, "I be right back, Tyler. I have to ask the bus driver something."
"Pax, no. I need you to come back here right now," I said, but it was pointless.
I heard him say, "Excuse me, Mr. Bus Driver. I have a question."
"Yes," said the voice of a man, presumably our driver. "What's your question?"
"Can this bus go at the speed of light? I going to my Grandpa's house."
"Uh..." said the driver.
I slumped down in my seat, trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible and hoping people would not immediately connect me with Pax. I know, that sounds pretty insensitive, doesn't it? We'd already had a lot of attention inside the bus station, and all I wanted was to keep the craziness on the bus to a minimum.
That, as you might have guessed, was far too much to ask.
"Does it?" Pax persisted.
"No," said the driver.
"Why?"
"Because it's a bus. Now, you'll have to return to your seat. I'm going to collect tickets."
A moment later, Pax flopped into the seat beside me and sighed. "He not very helpful at all. I just ask a simple question."
"He gave you a pretty simple answer," I said.
"It a silly answer," Pax said. "You always tell me 'because' not a proper answer. When I ask why this bus not go--"
"Doesn't go."
"When I ask why it doesn't go at the speed of light, he only say 'because'."
"It doesn't go at the speed of light because nobody on Earth has figured out how to make things go that fast yet," I said. "Nobody except Santa, that is."
"Oh," said Pax, and then after a couple of seconds, "You way behind. Earth going to be very late for the party."
"What party would that be?"
"How can you go to other planets if you not have....don't have...things that go at the speed of light?"
"Most people on Earth don't even believe there is life on other planets, so going to them hasn't really been a big priority," I said.
"I like this planet," Pax said, "but it very stupid sometimes."
I was saved from having to make any kind of response to that by the bus driver stopping at our seat and asking for our tickets. I handed mine over and waited until he removed the appropriate portion of it and handed the rest back to me. I assumed Pax gave the driver his ticket too.
The driver said, "Same destination. Are you travelling together?"
"Yes," Pax said eagerly. "We all together. My soul mother and my sister back there. We going to Grandpa's house. He has a farm. Oh...and my grandmonster lives there too, but she doesn't like me. They have horses and cats and a dog. And guess what else?"
"Pax--" I began.
"Sir," the driver said, and I knew he was addressing me. "Is this person with you?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Can you please make sure he stays in his seat once the bus starts moving?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
"What if I have to use the bathroom?" Pax said.
"Let's hope you don't."
He leaned in close and said in a stage whisper. "I drink a lot of apple juice at breakfast today."
I groaned and sank even further down in my seat. It was already shaping up to be a long trip and we hadn't even left the bus station yet. I warned Pax that he would be in big trouble if he left his seat for any reason other than to go to the bathroom and, since it would be a challenge for us to give him a time out while we were on the bus, I'd have to think of some kind of creative way to discipline him later. I suggested that if he misbehaved, he wouldn't get any candy for three days.
The prospect of having no candy for a full seventy-two hours must've been sufficiently frightening to make him sit still and be quiet. For the first half-hour or so, he played with his bear and chatted about what he wanted to do when we got to the farm. I thought he was doing great. I allowed myself to relax a little and congratulated myself on my brilliant parenting strategy.
You know that old saying about not speaking too soon? I should've remembered that one while I was giving myself a hearty pat on the back for convincing my rambunctious child to be quiet. I mean, really, I should've known better.
It was all good until Pax started singing.
Courtesy of my dear friend Beau, he now knows all the words to Jingle Bells and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town which are, in my opinion, quite possibly two of the most annoying Christmas songs ever. Pax is a good singer. He has a sweet voice and I think he may have perfect pitch. Lovely voice notwithstanding, however, a guy can only tolerate so many solo performances by his kid of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town before he starts to lose his mind.
I didn't really want to tell him to stop singing, but I was worried that I wasn't the only person he might be bothering. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out an elegant solution. I said, "Pax, how would you like to learn a new song?"
"I like this song," he said. "Beau teach it to me, except he sing it like this. He's makin' a list an' checkin' it twice...He's gonna find out who's naughty an' nice..."
I laughed in spite of the situation. Pax was doing an almost flawless imitation of Beau's southern accent. I said, "Yeah, that's pretty much how Beau sings it. He didn't happen to teach you any other ones, did he?"
"He try to teach me one about a snowman, but I don't like that one. I don't like snow."
"I'm going to teach you a new one," I said. "You can sing it for Grandpa and Grandmonster, okay?"
"Okay," he said. "What it about?"
"It's very special. It's a song all about going home for Christmas."
"That sound nice. Any presents in it?"
"There's a line about presents under the tree."
"Okay. You teach me that," he said. "I learn it really good and sing it for Grandpa."
He did learn it really well, too, although he refuses to sing the line that goes 'please have snow and mistletoe' because he doesn't like snow and he doesn't know exactly what mistletoe is. Pax's version goes, 'please have cake and apple juice, and presents under the tree'. Whatever. If it makes him happy, it makes me happy.
After Pax sang the song all the way through all by himself, the people across the aisle from us clapped and told him he was doing a great job. Pax laughed and thanked them, and then he said, "They like me, Tyler! They really like me!"
"Seems that way," I said, smiling.
"I sing something else?"
"What else do you know?" I said.
"Um...I do Jingle Bells again."
That was the point at which the man in the seat ahead of us turned around and said, "You're a beautiful singer, young man, but I think we'd rather hear something else. Do you know Silent Night?"
"Can you teach me, please?" Pax asked.
"I think so," said the man. "Maybe your friend will sing along, too."
"Oh...you mean Tyler? He my father," Pax said cheerfully. "Not my real father, but my soul father. I adopted, and now I have grandparents and everything. We going there for Christmas."
"That's wonderful," said the man. "I'm going to visit my daughter and grandson."
"I hope you have a nice Christmas with lots of love and presents," Pax told him.
The man laughed. "I hope the same for you. How about that song, then?"
"Yes!" Pax said.
After we sang Silent Night with the man in the seat in front of us - we learned his name is Gordon - the people across the aisle wanted to sing Away In A Manger. Pax's new friend Gordon sang along for that one, too. We found out the people across the aisle are called David and Judy, and they're engaged to be married. They were on their way to visit David's mother and tell her the good news. Next, the woman in the seat in front of David and Judy requested a different Christmas song. She told everyone her name and where she was headed, too.
By the time we'd finished the fourth song and found out where the person who'd suggested it was off to, we had almost everyone on the bus singing along. It was amazing and I loved it. If ever there was a real life example of togetherness and the Christmas spirit, we had it right there on that bus. By the time we reached our transfer point, practically everyone had chosen a song for all of us to sing and had shared a little bit about themselves. The ride that I'd thought would be far too lengthy for my mental comfort didn't seem nearly long enough once we started getting to know each other a little. When the bus finally arrived at its destination, everyone spent several minutes saying goodbye to each other before we all reunited with our families.
Somebody once said there's no such thing as strangers, only friends you haven't met. We met a lot of friends on Saturday, and I feel confident in saying we owe that in large part to Pax.
Dad was there to meet us when we got off the bus, just as he'd promised. He helped us find all our luggage and then he and I piled it into his van. It was a relatively short ride from town to the farm. I sat up front with Dad, and he described everything to me as we drove along. The road home was just as I remembered it.
You'll be pleased to know that our visit has been going really well so far. Mum seems to be making a real effort to get along with Sini, and it's obvious Sini has noticed and is trying to repay the kindness. It makes me happy to see that. I want Mum and Sini to like each other at least, even if they never become close friends. Mum is trying hard to connect with Pax, too. She took him to a pie social on Sunday afternoon, and I heard her reading to him last night. Right now, she's in the kitchen with him and Sini and Skyla. Evidently, Mum is teaching Sini how to make apple pie. Pax is decorating the cookies that he and his Grandmonster made yesterday afternoon.
I'm going to end this post here. My dad just came into the room and asked me if I want to go out on a house call with him. A lot of my father's patients are cattle and horses and it's not exactly easy for them to come to him, so he often goes to them. Like a people doctor, it seems as if an animal doctor's work never takes a break, not even for Christmas Eve.
When I was still living at home, Dad often took me along on calls when he had to look after a horse. I can't do a lot to help Dad with his work, but he says the horses always seem much calmer with me there. He says I have an affinity with horses like nobody else he's ever known. I love horses, as you guys know, and I like to believe what Dad says about me in that regard is true.
I think I will go with him. Sini and our kids are busy in the kitchen with Mum, and I think I've told you guys everything I wanted to tell. Besides, I really want to spend some time with Dad, and there's nothing quite like being in a barn on Christmas Eve, surrounded by gentle animals, the sounds of a winter night and the sweet smell of hay.
I'll be back after the holidays to tell you all about our Christmas celebration. For now, I'll just wish you all a peaceful, happy, blessed holiday, no matter which one you observe. I hope you find yourself surrounded by the people you love and that you make wonderful memories together.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
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