Chapter 7.11 - December 2022: Part XI – What day is this?

The Piano Guys – What child is this?

What morning is this, where every child is laid to rest
In their cribs and beds they're sleeping
While angels sing with anthems sweet
And the shepherds watch are keeping...

This, this is christmas morning
That shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to get out of bed
And see, what hangs there on the wall...

So turn your gaze, child, and look the other way
It might not be incense, gold, and myrrh
Instead a christmas stocking, brought to you for this day...

Bodils notes:

Christmas stockings! Looks like "Santa" came for me after all! I hope there's a computer inside! I have been wanting my own computer all year! Ever since we had to read books at school I have been wanting to learn writing too!



Hmm, this can't be a computer. It's much to soft.. maybe it's candy? A big bag of marshmallows? Or a scarf and a pair of gloves?



Aww, it's a teddy bear! He's very red, like a strawberry!



"How are you today Mr. Strawberry? Would you like to have a tea party?"
"Yes, yes, Queen Bodil. I would really love a tea party! Strawberry tea is my favorite! With tons of sugar!"
"Of course it is, Mr. Strawberry!"



"Thanks, Santa..."



"..the teddy bear was really nice, but I would still like to have that computer so I can learn how to write books..."
Narrators Shepherds notes:



After a while, her mom and step-dad also woke from their slumber, and everyone (except one that was still asleep) gathered in the hotels kitchen area to have breakfast.. but not without bowing down to the Queen herself, and thanking her for the meal that she had so gracefully bestowed upon them. ;)


..and finally, the last born of this family also woke up. This would be Orinders second christmas, and his first as a toddler. He knew he wasn't at home, that this wasn't his usual crib, and that something was different, but he still didn't have much of a concept of what was going on and why. Santa to him was still a strange and scary man, the moon an unknown far away object and mommys arms the safest place on the planet.



"Do you know what day it is today, Orinder?"
"Da!" "It's christmas! The day where everyone is happy, celebrates and spends time together with family and friends!"
"Da!"



"It's the day where everyone gives gifts to each other, and look... maybe someone has a gift for you as well! Do you want to open it and see what it is?"
"Da!"
And so Leya took the stocking from the wall and held it in front of him while slowly pulling out it's contents revealing a little turqoise knitted plush teddy bear.
"Oh! Look! It's a .. moon boy!" she said while turning it around to face him.
"Hi, there little boy" she said in a play pretend voice. "I'm a little teddy boy that came all the way from the moon!"
Orinder looked at the moon boy with a slightly skeptical face and tilted his head as if he wanted to see if there was something more behind it. Anything new had to be examined carefully to determine if it was an object that could be trusted, before doing any kind of interaction with it.
"I like to play, it's very fun. Do you want to play?" Leya said with the voice of a little toy from a place far, far away.
Orinder took one more look at it, before giving his sign of approval to the strange new toy by stretching out his arms and exclaiming a short "Da!".



"Oh, my little darling... You be a good boy and play with your new friend for a while, and mommy, daddy and sister are gonna get ready to visit grandma and grandpa! Today is going to be a big day..."



**********



Just as fast as the old year appear to have passed, Bodil ran for the door when they came to grandmas house. Wow, their house was so nicely decorated with christmas lights and boughs of holly – so much nicer than yesterday! They must have gotten help from the neighbours – or how did they do that? ;)


"Merry christmas, grandpa!"
"Merry christmas Bodil! You came here early – we just got out of bed!"
"Yes, grandpa! Of course I did, it's christmas!"
And christmas morning is no excuse to share a bit of gossip about things from earlier this year...


"Psst! Hey, grandpa! Last time we visited my aunt Udisha, she went into the bedroom and made noises with my uncle! Hihihi, I know what they did in there! Mom was so embarrassed!"
"Oh? Did she really..? Maybe I'll have a word with her..."
"No no! You must not tell her I said that!"



Laranya: I'll call Palash and give him a reminder that the christmas party starts at 15.. just in case he should forget..
Deepak: Good idea.. he's the only one I know that would forget about his own birthday party – that he arranged! And tell him to put on something nice for a change...
Laranya: Shh, not so loud.. he could hear you!
Nitya: I'll be occupying the kitchen for a while. I'll make christmas lunch for everyone!

**********



While everyone was inside eating lunch and getting dressed and ready for the christmas party to start, a shift in the weather occured outside.. Yesterdays cold temperatures and snowfall had to give way for milder winds and rain, but such was winter on the islands just off the Simbrian west coast.



The elders in town would tell you, this wasn't a new phenomena. Some would even say that one christmas it rained so bad they had to use row boats to get around, but maybe we should take that last one with a grain of salt...



It looks like Laranyas reminder to Palash had the desired effect, as he and Sofia were the first guests to come over and ring the doorbell. They even beat the pizza delivery girl by a few minutes. ;)



Nitya went downstairs to answer the door for the pizza delivery while Dudleif and Udisha came through the door with their two sons Nishit (7 years) and Ole Christian (3 years). They thought it best not to bring their daughter Madhunisha (9 months) along, and so they had hired a baby sitter for her. As they gathered upstairs, Sofias face got a little pale as she held on to her stomach.
"Ooh, I hope there's a toilet a nearby..."

Bhavan: Is everything ok? We got a bathroom right behind you if you need it..



Well, Bhavan was friendly and guided Sofia to the bathroom and she did what she had to do, as more guests arrived and the pile of gifts grew larger. Here is Beate Curious, Bhavans girlfriend, contributing her part to the party. :P



Udisha followed Bhavan and Sofia into the bathroom to see if everything was alright, to find that they had shifted to discuss work. Both Bhavan and Sofia are employed at the fire station, and Sofia just happens to be his boss. ;) Sofia has always been very proud of her job at the fire station, and most of her hours go by there, either working out or maintaining the fire truck and overseeing that everything runs smoothly.. it's almost like she's trying to impress someone by following in their footsteps....
"Look, daddy? Do you see me now? Are you proud of me now, daddy? Daddy...?"



..and speaking of management, Laranya does her best to oversee all the guests, so she invites them to sit down for a meal before the highlight of the day, atleast for the kids, can take place.. It's a little tricky, as everyone goes around on their own accord, but during the next couple of hours everyone has sat down to eat atleast once, some twice... Christmas music fills the room, all the bellies are full and the kids are getting increasingly impatient. ;)



Someone might just be serving themselves twice with good reason, as Sofia was about to eat her first plate, she thought she felt something in her stomach.. something different from the feeling of constant hunger.. "Aww, mommys little one..." she said to herself feeling her stomach as she got up from her chair to change into her formal pregnancy wear...



Ever since she discovered she was pregnant, Sofia has had her fair share of mixed feelings and ups and downs.. and today is no different, because she quickly turns around as her husband walks by and loudly voices excactly what she feels..
"This is your fault! You did this to me!"
Christ, I was about to say, and this is what she says now, still a good six months away from actually delivering...



"Booo! Palash, listen to me! Why did you do this? Why are you putting me through this!? LISTEN TO ME!"
What can I say? I don't really know, but I admire Palashs ability to ignore his wifes shouting and focus on his meal.. This must often be the situation in their home, I imagine.. He probably knows this will pass in just a few minutes..

Laranyas notes:

My oh my, my sons got a handful... Now, as a woman, I can understand Sofia.. up until a certain point.. being pregnant sure has its ups and downs and moments of anxiety about the future, but.. I don't know, I think this is just a little to much.. I didn't love being pregnant all the time, I did not, but I was never like this..
    First time I was pregnant with Udisha was definately the worst and most anxiety ridden, but thanks to ample support from my husband and a little bit of professional counselling, I went through it alright.. By the second time around – when I was pregnant with Palash – I had already been through it all, so it went a lot easier. Of course, I still got sick every now and then and got back pains, but my anxiety was a lot less.. I think.. Sofia would definately benefit from.. talking to someone.. I don't know her that well, so I don't know what's the underlying issue here, but there's gotta be something.. I don't think this is normal behaviour, not at all.. and I would rather not see anyone act like this on my Christmas eve party, pregnant or not...



Deepak: Dibs on not doing the dishes!
Bodil: Me too! Grandma can do them! She is much better at it then any of us! Or maybe auntie Sofia can do it, since she's yelling so much!
Deepak: Haha, I agree!



Beate: Haha, yeah Sofia sure is a noisy one at times...
Sofia: (...) ..and kids toys! I don't want to see a single kids toy under that tree! If Palash wants to buy kids toys, it's gonna be with his money! He's not gonna buy them with... (...)
Udisha: Oh Brahma... here we go again...


Bodils notes:

This is what I hate the most about christmas eve.. why does everyone always take so long to finish eating.. just eating and eating and talking and talking for hours! It's soooo boring! I want to open the presents! When I grow up and have children, I'm not gonna be like this! I'm gonna say that everyone can open the presents FIRST, and then we'll eat! This is sooooo boring!



Laranya: Oh, don't say that Sofia, you know how much the kids love their presents and their toys.. and it looks like everyone is finished eating, so I think it's time we start to open them..



Shepherds notes:

Now you might have expected the kids to get up and cheer, but the most excited one is actually the second oldest. ;) (Laranya is the oldest). However, it's not really the presents that excite him the most. Deepak is a true family man, and being surrounded by this many family members, it doesn't get any better than that. Such a stark contrast to white boring hospital walls.. just be careful with that cane, you don't want to send anyone back there with a black eye or something. x_O

Opening the presents:





In the world of sims, toddlers are to young to open presents, so it all starts with the third youngest. Nishit, the first born son of Udisha and Dudleif gets to open the first present to reveal a teddy bear.



Finally, it's Bodils turn. She has been waiting all day for this, and most of all she hopes to find the latest Simbook Pro underneath the christmas paper so she can get to practice writing as soon as possible..



"What did you get? Is it a Simselangelo painting? I have always wanted a Simselangelo painting..." Nitya said with a bit of a hopeful wonder in her voice. "No..." Bodil replied with a frown. "It's a sack of coal".



Bodils notes:

This is already the worst christmas EVER! I waited this long and I have done my best to be good all year, and what do I get? Coal! Coal!? This is probably Sofias fault! I'm sure she was the one that brought the coal in a bag, because she said earlier she doesn't like kids toys! But she could have bought a computer! A computer isn't a toy, and it's also very useful! Not like coal! Coal is just trash and can't be used for anything! I want a computer, not coal! I hate this!

Shepherds notes:

What a lousy gift to give.. who could it be, that would do this to a child? And is that all Bodil will get for christmas this year? I don't know.. yet, but.. maybe we will find out in part two of this update, to be posted tomorrow right after this one.. ;)

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