It was the first day of Chanukah in town. Everyone was finishing up their Christmas decorating. The trees were up and decorated with lights, ornaments, and a star on the top. Didi was Christmas baking with Kira. Chazz was now serving hot chocolate at Java Lava.
...And the Rugrats are in downtown, waiting for the city bus to take them back to their neighborhood in a perfect tweenage moment...
Tommy: "Man, is it cold."
Dil: "It certainly is."
Tommy: "It is certainly cold."
Dil: "Yes, it's freezing cold."
Tommy: "You said it Dil."
Dil: "It is cold alright."
Chuckie and Kimi, loaded with packages, came up to the bus stop.
Chuckie: "Hi guys."
Kimi: "Cold enough for you?"
Tommy and Dil: "Oh yeah, oh yeah!"
Chuckie: "It is cold alright."
Dil: "It's really cold alright."
Kimi: "They said it was going to be cold!"
Tommy: "They were right."
Chuckie: "Well, that's what they said."
Phil and Lil came up to the bus stop, also stocked with gifts.
Phil and Lil: "It is cold out here."
Tommy: "You said it!"
Chuckie: "Man is it cold!"
Kimi: "If I was looking for a word to describe today, that word would be...
[shivering] cold!"
Lil: "I would say so."
Phil: "It's freezing cold!"
Dil: "You got that right."
Tommy: "You bet."
Susie and Angelica joined the others.
Angelica: "Bus late again?"
Susie: "They're so slow in this weather."
The other Rugrats were looking at Angelica and Susie strangely.
Angelica: "It's so cold."
The other Rugrats said something along the line of "Oh yeah, oh yeah!"
and "Oh yes, is it ever cold!", simultaneously.
Then, the bus came.
Samantha, on the bus, looked at the shivering Rugrats and told Timmy McNulty, "Now that's a tweenage moment."
"Tell me about it," said Timmy.
After the bus parked, the Rugrats boarded, paid their fares, and took their seats.
The couple moments later, the bus pulled back into the street and took off.
At the DeVille house, Howard had just put the star on top of the tree, when suddenly, the phone rang.
He picked it up. "Hello?"
"Howard, it's me, your sister" said a voice on the other end.
Howard could not believe what he had heard. "Bertha?" he asked.
"Yes Howard. I'm calling to say that I'll be spending Christmas with you and all your friends, if that's ok with you."
"Sure it would be ok" said Howard. "I'll see you soon. When are you coming?"
"Actually, I'm on my way right now. I'm on an airplane bound for your city."
"Great!" said Howard. "I'll see you soon!"
He hung up.
Betty came into the living room. "Who was that?" she asked.
"My sister" said Howard. "She's going to be spending Christmas here with us!"
"That's great!" said Betty. "Who's she bringing?"
"Well she's bringing her son over."
"What about her husband?"
"Didn't you forget Betty? Bertha got divorced six months ago after her husband left her for a woman he met over the internet!"
"Oh that's too bad."
Just then, Phil and Lil came in, their coats slightly covered with snow.
"Don't get it on the carpet kids" said Betty.
"Sorry mom" said Phil.
Phil and Lil put their coats away.
"By the way" said Howard, "my sister is coming over for Christmas. You two will finally meet your cousin!"
Phil and Lil could not believe what they had heard.
"I didn't even know that we had a cousin" said Phil.
"And I haven't seen my sister for years!" said Howard. "Twelve years that is!"
Later that night, there was a knock on the front door.
"I'll get it!" said Howard.
He opened the front door. Outside stood an attractive blonde woman several years younger than Howard.
"Bertha! So good to see you!" said Howard. "Betty! Phil! Lil! She's here!"
Howard's family came into the living room.
"Bertha, this is my wife Betty, my son Phillip, and my daughter Lillian."
"Nice to see you" said Bertha. "And Betty, have you been putting on weight?"
Betty was quite suprised. "It's muscle!" she said. "I work out alot! But the biggest workout I got was when I had Phil and Lil!"
Just then, a shy looking thirteen year old boy with brown hair came into the living room.
"Everybody, this is my son Johnny" said Bertha. "He's going to be spending Christmas with us. Back home in sunny Florida, we never got any snow. This will be Johnny's first white Christmas!"
"Well there is going to be a snowman building contest on Christmas Eve," said Howard.
"Johnny, why don't you go play outside with your cousins" suggested Bertha.
"Yes mom" said Johnny.
Phil and Lil went outside after putting on their coats. Johnny went with them.
Outside, they met the other Rugrats.
"Hey Phil, Lil, who's your new friend?" asked Tommy.
"He's our cousin Johnny" said Lil. "He's going to be spending Christmas with us."
The other Rugrats seemed to like this thought.
"Hey Johnny" said Tommy, "we're entering the Snowman Building Contest on Christmas Eve. Wanna participate with us?"
"Sure ok" said Johnny.
A little later, the kids were building a snowman in their backyard.
"Who'd you come with?" asked Chuckie.
"Just my mom?" said Johnny.
"What about your dad?" asked Kimi.
"My parents are divorced."
"What's a divorce?" asked Dil.
"It's when you live with your mom and you never see your dad again. Mom says dad left her for a woman he met over the internet seven months ago. One month later, my parents got divorced. I haven't seen my dad since."
"That's too bad" said Kimi. "I had a stepfather. My real daddy is dead."
"Sorry to hear that" said Johnny.
Meanwhile, back inside, the Devilles had invited their friends over.
"You all remember Bertha, my younger sister" said Howard.
"We didn't know you had a sister" said Didi.
"Can you actually believe that she thought I was overweight for a woman?" asked Betty. "Bertha never has liked me during my courting days with Howard. And I don't think she'll ever like me."
"Where's Bertha's husband?" asked Stu.
"Ex-husband" corrected Bertha. "He left me for another woman he met over the internet!"
"Kind of reminds me of Jennifer from Adam Sandler's new animated movie" said Stu. "I never stopped laughing throughout the movie! However, because of all the gross comedy including belching and lots of other stuff, our kids can't see it until they're thirteen."
"I liked that movie too" said Chazz. "Even despite all the inappropriate content. It's nice to see that the guy Adam Sandler played as eventually got into the Christmas spirit and reformed. He hated Christmas because his parents died in a car crash on Christmas day."
"Christmas does sometimes bring out the best and the worst in everyone" said Betty. "Maybe during the Christmas season, Bertha will change her attitude towards me?"
"I think it's good that Johnny came up here for Christmas" said Howard. "He lived in Florida where it never snows. And he never got to build a snowman like other kids."
"Kind of reminds me of a certain Christmas carol" said Chazz. "Now how does it go again?"
"Please send some snow, some snow for Johnny. He wants to build a big snowman" said Stu.
"So that's how it goes" said Chazz. "I remember now. Let's all try to make this Johnny's first White Christmas. And we'll also try to make it the best Christmas ever!"
To Be Continued
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