A New Tradition

"Ted, can you take this bowl to your mom? Auntie Eve and Uncle Tim should be here soon, and we need a snack table ready." Gloria hands him a bowl of chips, and his eyes go wide, and toldlers off to Carol. 

Maxy and Felix come out of what used to be the girls' room, "Gran! We finished setting up for the sleepover!" 

"Good! And your dad finished setting up his and Mom's room, so we're almost ready to ring in the new year. Gloria leads everyone to the living room, where her tree still glitters in the room. She set up the trucks for the boys to play with while they waited. 

Soon, Tim and Eve enter the house, "We made it!" Eve hollers. 

"Uncle Tim!" Ted and Maxy race to the entryway.

"Did you get our cards?" 

"Did they help you feel better?" 

"Whoa, buddy, give the man some room to breathe!" Eve giggles, scooping up Ted, and Tim lifts Maxy, and they carry them back to the living room.

"But yes, they did help." The boys wriggle out of their arms and return to their toy trucks. "Hello everyone!" Tim waves as Eve hugs her family. Tim shuffles awkwardly halfway between the hallway and the living room. Gloria stands and heads to the kitchen, motioning for him to follow.

He walks in, "Sorry, I shouldn't feel so awkward, I just-"

Gloria gently stops him, "Son, it's okay. We understood, nobody is mad you missed Christmas. You made it to the boys' Christmas show, and I was very proud of you. How are you really doing?"' 

She hands him a cup of hot cocoa, "It feels like I'm drowning. I don't know if I'll ever feel like myself again." He stares into the cocoa.

"Tim, your mom was so proud of who you grew up to be and would be even prouder of how you are handling all this." She reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder.

He gives her a nod, "I hope you're right, Mama G." 

“One day you won't feel like drowning, and Felix and I will always be here for you." He nods, "Now, here let's go see who wants some punch!" She hands Tim the pitcher of juice, and she takes the cups. 

While the kids play games with the boys, Felix and Gloria move the clocks ahead a couple of hours so that the boys think it's 11:30 instead of 8:30. The boys win their third round of Candy Land in a row, when Gloria and Felix return to the living room, Carol notices. 

"Boys! Look at the time! It's almost midnight. 

"Already?" Maxy whines clearly, already feeling overtired from the late bedtime and refusal to nap. 

"It's almost time for the ball drop!' Teddy yells. 

Felix turns on the TV to find a ball drop, and the boys clap and dance to whatever band is on. Everyone joins in creating a cacophony of singing and laughing. 

Then the countdown starts. "10" Felix starts. 

"9" Gloria joins in. 

"8" Adds Will.

"7," Carol calls out.

“6” Tim follows after.

“5" Eve shouts. 

"4” Maxy jumps.

“3" Franky screams. 

"2” They gather close together. 

"1!" They toss their hands in the air. " Happy New Year!” They cheer together. 

"Daddy! You need to kiss Mom for the new year!" Maxy grabs his dad's hand and leads him to his mom.

"You too, Pop-Pop!” Maxy pulls Felix to Gloria. They both share a kiss, and the boys cheer. 

Tim and Eve stand on opposite sides of the room, hoping the boys don't get any ideas. 

"Alright, boys, say goodnight. We have to go get settled." Will taps his wrist. They whine a bit but give everyone hugs and follow Will and Carol to bed. 

It takes 30 minutes to wrangle the over-tried sugared-up boys into their beds. Will and Carol snuggle with one of them while Carol tells them a story. Soon they fall asleep. 

Will and Carol sneak out of the room. Carol glances in the dining room and sees her parents, Eve, and Tim playing a card game, so she pulls Tim into the guest room. "Ah, quite," she flops on the bed.

Will sits beside her, "I am so tempted to suggest we just crawl into bed and wake up in the new year." He chuckles.

"Why don't we? I can text Eve. Mom and Dad are here, we could sleep without worrying about the boys." Carol takes a deep breath. 

"That does sound lovely..." Will glances at the door, "You don't think they mind?"

"I doubt it. Come, let's enjoy the quiet." Carol picks up her phone and texts her sister, and they call it a night. 

Eve doesn't check her phone till they start their third game. She only looks because her mom asks, "Where are Will and Carol? Surely the boys couldn't have fought bedtime that hard."

"Oh, Mom, looks like Carol texted me thirty minutes ago. She and Will called it a night." She giggles, "I can't say I blame them. Those boys are a handful.”

Tim snorts, "What, the tiny tornates? No way." Everyone chuckles. "Goria, Felix, are you in the mood for another game?" 

"I think I would like to ring in the new year reading, so I'm going to curl up in my spot with my book." Gloria stands and moves to the living room.

"I think I'll join her. You kids, have fun." Felix follows his wife and soon his favourite record sings from the living room. 

"Well, Eve looks like it's just you and me. You up for a lit one v one?" Tim leans back as he shuffles. 

“Oh, you are so on!” Eve steals the deck and deals. After winning the tie-breaking game, Eve glances up at the clock. "Hey, it's 11:45, we should go see if mom and dad want to watch the ball drop again."

Tim stretches and gets up from the table and joins Eve in the living room. "Looks like they couldn't make it.”

Eve tosses a blanket on her parents, while Gloria's head rests on Felix's shoulder. Tim and Eve quickly and quietly tidy up so there is less work for Gloria in the morning. "Hey, grab our coats. We can stand on the back porch and see if anyone shoots off fireworks." 

Tim slips to the entryway and brings back their boots and coats, and they slip out to the back porch. They lean against the railing. "We have about five minutes." Eve points to someone definitely appearing to launch something.

"Just enough time for my favourite New Year's tradition. When I stand here in a year from now, I hope to not feel like I'm drowning every day. What about you, Eve?" 

"Selfishly? I hope not to celebrate this season alone. But practically? I want to be content with where I am in life." Her sigh is deeper than she meant it to be.

Tim shuffles closer and nudges her slightly. "Hey, it's not a selfish hope." Across the back alley, people start counting down and cheering. Soon fireworks fly, and Tim wraps his arm around her shoulders and kisses her cheek, “In fact, it's a pretty sweet hope. Happy New Year's Eve." 

Eve's cheek ting pink and not just from the cold, "Happy New Year, Tim."