149: Somebody Call Hallmark

“I’m proud of you,” Jon whispered in Charlie’s ear as he stacked dishes beside the sink where she washed pots and pans.  Everyone else had adjourned to the Christmas tree, but she wanted to get a head-start on these while they were still reasonably easy to clean. “Dinner was great.”

Happiness seeped through her veins at his compliment, blossoming into a radiant smile that was wasted on the dirty dishes.  She did it.  She really and truly fed thirty-seven freaking people a decent meal.  It wasn’t quite the traditional Italian or traditional American Christmas dinner, but there was something for everyone and there was nothing burned!

Tipping her cheek into his kiss, she cooed happily, “Thank you.  I’m pretty proud of myself.”

“You worked your ass off for a month making this happen.  You have every right to be.”  With a solidly affectionate tap on the back pocket of her jeans, he advocated, “Come join the family before they start opening gifts.  The boys and I will finish this later.”

As if on cue, Lilah’s head popped into the kitchen. “Charlie!  Get your butt in here, girlfriend.  You performed a Jesus-worthy miracle by feeding the masses, so the rest of us will clean up – after we open presents.”

“Okay, okay!”  With Jon and Lilah both pursuing the same objective, there was nothing to do be concede and Charlie laughed over “Jesus-worthy” as she dried her hands.  Anxious to finally clear her debt and conscience over the Hamptons house, she allowed herself to be hustled down the hall to where a multitude of Bongiovis and Del Vecchios gathered into one happy and loud group. 

Jon evicted Jesse and Noah from the couch so that he and Charlie could take their spots, and as soon as she sank to the cushion, someone was pushing a gift into her hand.  Glancing up, she saw that someone was Lilah.

“This one has your name on it,” she announced with a wide smile, although it was wasted breath, since there was a big tag that quite plainly read “Charlie”.

“Okay, thanks.”

Flipping the tag over revealed that, in a strange twist of circumstance, Matt was her Christmas benefactor.  The two of them had gotten each other’s names in the drawing, and while Charlie was quite comfortable with the assorted case of wine she purchased from his favorite vineyard, she wasn’t sure she would feel the same about what he chose for her.  

Leaving it unopened in her lap for the time being, she cheerfully observed what was going on in the rest of the room. 

The younger kids – Isabella, Rocco, Cassie, Maggie, Lucas and Micah Jane – were squealing as they tore open wrapping paper on an assortment of toys and clothing from their aunts, uncles and grandparents.  Baby Gracie was doing her best to keep up with the help of Mama Holly while the bigger kids weren’t far behind.  Noah and Caleb were completely engrossed with their growing assortment of car accessories, and Jake and Romeo was more interested the bounty than their own collection of gifts.  The two had been asking for rides in the new cars ever since arriving to find them in the driveway.

Jesse seemed a little bothered by the vehicles at first, maybe because they were more extravagant than the gifts he and his siblings received this year, but Charlie overheard Jon casually say that she’d used the boys’ trust fund for a good thing and it made his shopping easier.   Six months’ worth of car insurance didn’t require his presence in a department store, and Jesse smilingly agreed that his dad had done an admirable job of avoidance. 

Jon's eldest was quite happy to fawn over seat covers and speakers with Noah and Caleb now, while also drooling over the new sound system for his car supplied by Uncles Matt and Tony.  Joseph was a little bit of an electronics freak and was providing advice on how to maximize the effect of the factory installed speakers in Jesse’s car.  He swore that by the time the tweaks were made, nobody would know that he hadn’t dropped a load of cash on Bose.

Stephanie was just like her mother, who had declined their invitation to spend the day with her sisters and their families.  Jon’s daughter was perfectly Zen and equally appreciative of every piece of apparel, gift card and footwear she received.  Sydney, who sat in the floor next to Steph, smiled at her own collection of girl paraphernalia, readily allowing little cousins to wear mittens, hats and a fuzzy scarf from the pile. 

Adults were equally as happy as the kids, Charlie noted with satisfaction.  Mr. Bongiovi enamored Dom with the set of gourmet olive oils that was his gift, and Dom’s assortment of specialty spices to his mom carried on the culinary theme. 

That wasn’t the only theme in the house.  Charlie’s wine gift to Matt – which he acknowledged with a solemn gaze and sincere thanks – was complemented by a beer making set-up to Izzie’s husband Aaron from Luke, while Vince crowed over the fancy bottle of whiskey from Desiree and his son Hunter was ready to crack it open.

Luke ended up with NFL playoff tickets from Lilah that were more likely acquired by Jon, and Vivi was fawning over a new Coach handbag from Izzie.  Anna, Holly, Mrs. Bongiovi, Izzie and Desiree received Broadway tickets, jewelry, and spa treatments as their pieces of the Christmas pie.

A loud squeak from Lilah drew the attention of half the room, and Charlie could only shake her head with a grin.  Jon's sister-in-law was happily situating a pair of rhinestone reindeer antlers atop her head to grin in the direction of the couch.  “Jon Bon Jovi, you do love me!”

“Unbelievable, Kentucky,” he griped with a twinkle in his eye.  “I get you a pair of designer boots that you’ve supposedly wanted for two years, and you’re excited over the tacky bit of glitz I threw in as an afterthought.”

“Well, of course.”  A sassy twist of her head had chocolaty hair flipping behind her shoulders.  “Somebody else told you I wanted the boots.  You chose the antlers because you just knew I’d like ‘em.  That makes ‘em special.”

As quirky as Lilah was, she got was really important and Charlie loved that about her.  What Charlie didn’t love was finding out that Vivi was in charge of Jon’s gift.  It gave her a mild anxiety attack to watch him open the package, because God only knew what the brazen woman would deem appropriate.

It turned out that there was no need to wait with bated breath in anticipation of a train wreck.  Vivi chose a sexy pair of sunglasses that Jon immediately proclaimed “kick ass”, along with a black t-shirt that read, “And on the Eighth Day, God Created Jon Bon Jovi”. 

While Jon and Charlie laughed out loud, it earned a groan of disgust from his brothers.  They, in turn, received the bonus gift of a Jersey salute that they took in stride as Jon grinned at Vivi and announced how he was looking forward to his next encounter with the paparazzi. 

“Open yours,” he encouraged with a nudge, nodding at the package still sitting in Charlie's lap. 

With a subdued smile, she untied the pretty bow and eased the festive paper away from.  It was about the size of a pizza box but deeper and, when she lifted the lid and folded back the white tissue, it was to reveal a black leather book embossed with an elegant gold, “Family Album”. 

Darting her eyes across the room, she found Matt watching her as the cover was opened.

The first page held only a single picture.  It was of Jon and her looking at one another, laughing and looking as happy as anyone had a right to.  Charlie thought it might have been snapped at Matt’s birthday party, but the shot was a close-up so she couldn’t be sure. 

Turning the page, she found not only pictures of her and Jon from Matt’s birthday, Tony’s birthday and Thanksgiving, but an assorted combination of family members.  There were several from the Hamptons – one where she held Lucas in her lap, another where her boys and Sydney laughed and horsed around with Jon’s kids, and yet another that showed she and Lilah sharing a hug. 

The snapshots went on like that for several pages – pictures of her and her family interacting with Jon and his clan – and then they stopped abruptly.  Flipping through the remaining pages, she found that there were just as many blank ones at the back of the book as there were filled ones at the beginning of the book. 

“I thought you could do the rest as you go along,” Matt said from where he leaned against the sideboard filled with framed Bongiovi photos.  Lifting his wineglass in her direction, he offered a gruff, “It’s good having you in the family, Charlie.”

“Somebody call Hallmark!”  How any one person could sound so excited yet painstakingly drawl out their words, Charlie had no idea, but Lilah somehow managed.  “We’ve got us one of those holiday movies in the makin’ here!  I don’t know about y’all, but I’m all warm and fuzzy inside, and I like it.  Anybody else want another glass of wine?”

Laughter and boisterous agreement filled the room and Charlie’s heart.  This was the perfect time to give Jon his gift, and after setting the photo album in his lap, she rose gingerly to her feet.

It took a little maneuvering to pick through the through the sea of family assembled in chairs and on the floor, but she finally reached the sideboard that Matt was still lounging against. 

“Thank you,” she murmured while sliding open one of the drawers to withdraw a cheery red envelope.  “I’m glad we’re on the same side.”

“Don’t hurt him and we always will be.”

Love and joy hung in the air as abundantly as the scents of pine and peppermint, and Charlie reveled in both while closing the drawer with a light click.  She patted the biggest Bongiovi on the arm as Lilah worked her way around to fill wineglasses, and smiled serenely up into his face to assure, “I don’t plan to.”