Milk and Cookies

On the fifth day of Christmas....


BPOV


I sighed. The beginning of the week was always stressful. I had to get two kids up for school on time. A very mad fifteen year old, Maddie, and a nine year old, Matthew.

I swear, each year they get older; it is that much more difficult to wake them up. They used to be excited about school, but now all they want to be is in their bed sleeping. Then again I bet things would be different if they listened to me and went to bed when I told them. I guess they just have to live and learn.

I'm glad that my youngest, Alyssa, is still an angel. I'm dreading the day she might turn into her angry siblings. She's only three, so she spends the days with me. I appreciate all the time I can get.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 9:10 am. Alyssa won't get up for another twenty minutes; I have time to do some chores before she wakes.

I decided to clean the kitchen first and headed on my way. When I saw the mess I shook my head. I have no idea how a grown man and two kids can dirty the floor that much under thirty minutes. I cocked my head; then again Edward wasn't much of a tidy eater, so I can assume it's genetic.

There was only one thing that would help me clean this floor in minutes. I opened the garage door and grabbed it.

I fucking loved this thing! It's one of those Swiffer brooms that vacuum and wipe away dirt with a wet cloth. Saves me so much time. And you know I gave thanks to Edward when he brought it home. He was just as happy as I was.

So after I pulled it out and made sure it was ready, I wiped down the counters and dropped the crumbs onto the floor.

Before I got my Swiffer on, I turned on the kitchen iHome and set my iPod to shuffle. Once that was set, it was 'on like Donkey Kong'. I swept and vacuumed dirt away while dancing to Destiny's Child's “Survivor”. I was shaking my hips when I heard giggles.

I turned off the Swiffer and turned down the music before turning around.

There was my little angel, giggling away while trying to mock mommy.

I gasped and mock glared at her. “Are you making fun of mommy's awesome dancing? Hmm are you?”

She just giggled more and nodded.

I shook my head. “Well I'll remember that when you're Maddie's age and you still can't dance. You'll be begging me to teach you.”

She shook her head, her bed hair flying all over the place. “Na uh, Daddy already taught me,” she said proudly.

Oh.. my.. God! What has my husband done to her?

I looked at her with concern. “Honey, what did Daddy teach you?” I was worried. It surely wasn't her daddy's dancing moves that attracted me to him.

“Okay!” She started dancing like a little robot and attempted to dance on one leg while holding the bent leg up. I caught her before she fell. Good Lord, Edward. I bet boys had been on his mind when he taught her those moves, but those were his moves too, so who knows.

“Baby, those are not dancing moves. Do you wanna know a secret?” I whispered, leaning towards her. She nodded eagerly. “Daddy can't dance so save his life. So when you see him dancing like that, just laugh and join him so he won't be embarrassed.”

I did that and I never regretted it once. It brought me here today and I loved my life.

“Okay, Mommy I promise,” she said while hugging me tightly.

“Oh and never tell Daddy. Okay? It's a secret just between us.” She nodded rapidly. I laughed and held her face in my hands. “Okay. No more nodding like that. We don't want your head to fall off.”

I looked around the kitchen. Everything looked clean and spotless. I loved the way it looked, but of course it only stays like this for a few hours.

“Hey, I have a great idea. What do you say to making Santa some cookies? He'll be here in a few days; so why don't we get started on them early?” I barely had the question out of my mouth when she started yelling yes. “Okay, lets get you dressed so we can go to the store.”

I had her dressed and on our way to the supermarket in fifteen minutes. Not bad for a picky dresser. I don't know where she gets it from because Edward and I can dress really fast.

On the way I turned on the radio and we sang to Christmas songs. It's sad that kids these days aren't used to singing Christmas songs, kid songs, or even Disney songs. I grew up with them and they made my childhood a happy one. I do my best to give my kids the childhood I had and better.

I finally pulled into the parking lot. I noticing that there weren't many cars parked. Hopefully the lines will be fast.

“Alright Munchkin, let's head inside.”

Once we were inside, I grabbed a basket, and put her in the front seat after wiping it down.

We strolled around the market grabbing some groceries before finally making it the baking aisle.

“So.. what kind of cookies do you think Santa likes? Chocolate chip, snicker doodles, brownies, fudge?” I asked. All I got was smiles and nods. I sighed. “Well it looks like we'll be doing lots of baking today.”

Luckily, I had the recipe book my mother-in-law, Esme, had given me. I flipped through the pages and wrote down the ingredients we needed. I had most of them at home so the list would be much smaller.

Before we headed to checkout, I pulled us in to the holiday aisle. Edward hates when I go here. He claims that I buy too much. I scoffed, and told him that he's just jealous most of it goes to the kids. He pouted and shut up after that. I swear he and Emmett are more alike than either dares to admit.

I took in the sight of the aisle. So much to choose from. They had Christmas candy- which I had to tell Alyssa no, we already have the cookies- decorations, lights, candy canes galore, and so much more. Then I found what I was looking for.

Right there, on the shelf in front of me, was the perfect mug for Santa.

It was pretty tall and had Santa's face on one side and the words “Wish You a Merry Christmas” on the other.

“Hey Alyssa, do you think Santa will like this mug?” I asked. She looked up, her eyes lighting up, and started bouncing in excitement. I chuckled. “I'll take that as a yes.”

“Mommy, can we get one too?” she asked giving me my own puppy dog look. I wonder how she learned that. I know I didn't teach her that trick.

I sighed nodding. We spent about ten minutes first figuring out who gets what mug. Edward would get the gingerbread man, Maddie the snowman, Matthew the reindeer, and we would get the Christmas trees.

We got home thirty minutes later, and I let Alyssa carry in the light bags since she wanted to help. Why couldn't the older kids still act like this? I shook my head and put all the ingredients on one counter. Sweet Jesus, that is a lot. Thankfully this family eats a lot.

“Ready to get started, Alyssa?” She nodded. I held in a laugh. She looked so serious with her little chef hat and apron on. I set my recipe book on it's stand and we got to work.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I think for her first time helping me bake, it went pretty well. She only dropped one egg and I caught the bag of flour before it fell to the floor. Of course it was open when I squeezed it, so flour exploded on us. All that mattered was that we had fun together.

We were halfway done when the rest of the family came home. I looked at the kitchen clock and saw that it was already five o'clock. Edward gets off of work at 4:30 and the kids have sports till 4:45.

They came straight to the kitchen. I guessed they smelled the cookies when they came inside.

Just as they were about to reach for their favorites, I called out.

“Wait! You can have one after you shower and a few more after dinner. Now move it.” They all grumbled but followed my orders.

“Even me, Love?” Edward asked as he held me from behind and started kissing up my neck.

I let out a small moan. “Yes you. You stink the most.” I said as I quickly got out of his arms before he could tickle me. He mock glared but couldn't keep it up when I started laughing. “Alright, I'll go., but I'll be back soon.” He gave me a passionate kiss before leaving.

I took a deep breath and turned back to Alyssa. She had her eyes closed and was singing “la la la” over and over. I laughed.

“Sorry, Baby. Mommy and daddy were just saying hi. Let's finish these cookies so I can start dinner.”

Forty-five minutes later I was done with the cookies and had dinner started. Alyssa got distracted when her brother came into the living room to play video games, so it was up to me to finish. The final product was two dozen of each type of cookie. I made five different types of cookies.

I couldn't wait to put cookies out with Alyssa.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Christmas Eve

I motioned for Edward to meet me in the hallway.

“Hey, who's going to eat the cookies this year?” I asked. I did it last year and almost got caught by Matthew going to the restroom. They know Santa is not real, but Edward and I try to make them believe. So far they have not decided yet on what to believe it.

“Hmm, I'll do it, Love. Make it my favorite please,” Edward said as he leaned towards me and kissed my lips.

I smiled. “Chocolate chips it is.”

Just before bedtime, I asked Alyssa if she wanted help to me put out milk and cookies for Santa. She nodded sleepily.

“I know for fact that Santa loves chocolate chip cookies. Why don't you grab two for him and put them on the plate in front of the Christmas tree.” I told her.

I saw her carefully place them on the plate, and quickly pulled out my phone to snap a picture. It was too cute of a moment not to.

I grabbed Santa's mug, filled it halfway with milk, and placed it next to the plate.

“That looks beautiful, Honey. I know Santa is going to love it,” I said as I cradled her in my arms.

She was asleep by the time I laid her in bed.

“Good-night, Sweetie.” I tiptoed out of her room and headed to mine.

I couldn't wait for morning.