So as promised it's time to return to the farm and see what's happening with Alex and co. The chapters are pretty short in this but there's only four of them which I'll try to post every week in the lead up to Christmas. As usual don't forget to donate to nifty to keep reading this and other stories. https://donate.nifty.org/
Part 1
"Ok guys, here we are, now which one should we get?" I asked looking down at the twins. They looked at each other then pointed together.
"That one!!" They said in unison.
"Ok so remember, it's important that we plant one in its place so this tradition can keep going for years to come." Josh said, holding up the sapling for them to see.
"Yeah, we know DJ." I still smile when I hear Lucas say that, even if he did roll his eyes this time. Since they were born we struggled with what the kids should call us so I became Dad and Josh became Daddy Josh, which then got shortened to DJ.
"Right, so who's gonna take it down?" I asked. Lucas immediately went sprinting for the tree before his sister could even move. "Woah hold on there little fella, what about asking your sister?" Lucas stopped in his tracks while Sammie just looked up at me and said.
"It's fine, let him get messy. I'll help plant the new one." Lucas took off for the tree then stopped in front of it as if thinking about how to bring it down. When we caught up to him he was still lost in thought.
"Isn't it a bit big?" He asked as we stood next to him. I looked up at the tree towering above us and thought the same thing, but that would give him more of a challenge.
"Sure it is, so you'll have to make it fit in the house ok?" He nodded up at me then went back to looking at the tree. "Ok, so our ceilings are about ten feet high, so how tall is that?"
"About three metres." Said Sammie before Lucas could answer.
"Close enough." I replied, beaming with pride. "Ok, so we'll probably need to take about fifty centimetres off that so how tall will the tree need to be in feet Lucas?" He stood there pondering the answer for a while as I could feel Sammie tugging on my hand, clearly knowing the answer.
"Just over eight feet tall?" He asked so I just nodded with a smile. He seemed to be filled with a bit more confidence about the task ahead of him now and decided to get started.
"You're such a nerd." Josh commented.
"I'm just checking our home schooling's been effective, they'll be going off to a proper school in a few years so I just want to make sure they'll be able to keep up." I replied as I watched Lucas peel off his jacket. Even though it was quite cold he knew he didn't want to ruin it by potentially scraping it against the tree bark. "You sure he's going to be able to do this?"
"Yeah he should be able to, one of us might have to give it a little push to help him but I remember Gramps bringing me up here when I was their age and I didn't struggle, at least not with the weight of it, they're just a bit difficult to get a grip on when you're that size." We watched Lucas approach the tree which looked even taller in front of the little eight-year-old. He tried to wrap his arms around as much as he could to get a better grip and then tried pulling it upwards. As it started to lift we could see the ground beneath him bulging as the roots were so entrenched that they lifted as well. Feeling himself losing his balance he let go and the tree settled back into its original position. He stood back and looked at it for a moment then wrapped his arms around it again.
This time we could hear the sound of wood beginning to crack as he applied more pressure to it. Rather than lifting the whole tree out of the ground he'd decided to break the trunk instead. It was an interesting idea but I knew we'd have to remove the stump afterwards. I watched as he applied more pressure and the sound of cracking wood intensified until suddenly the tree began to tilt forwards as his hands inched closer together. Lucas obviously hadn't realised what was happening until it was too late when the trunk cracked completely and fell forwards with him still hugging it.
I wanted to yell "TIMBER!!!" as it went down but we were all laughing too hard at his screams as he was catapulted into the air followed by him face planting into the tree as it hit the floor, all the while still clinging to the trunk. We all walked over to him while trying to compose ourselves, as he staggered to his feet. We knew he wouldn't be injured by the fall but his face was bright red from the exertion and embarrassment.
"Well that's one way to do it." I joked. "Ok, so now we just need to get this home and cut it down to size. Want me to carry it back or do you want to?"
"Nah, we'll take it, right Sammie?" Lucas replied, grinning proudly at his sister, who clearly wasn't pleased at being volunteered for the job but she grudgingly agreed.
"Alright then, let's get this new one in the ground and go home." I walked over to the stump that Lucas had left behind and wrapped my arms around it. Rather than lifting it straight up as Lucas tried to do I pulled it towards myself so that I could move backwards as the roots were forced out of the ground.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Asked Lucas.
"This comes from years of experience." I replied. "You should've seen what happened the first time I brought down our Christmas tree. I decided to do a running tackle on it but didn't count on charging straight through the trunk and then having the tree land on me."
"Yeah I remember that." Josh said though his chuckles. "You were all tangled up in the branches with some really angry squirrels trying to bite you." By this time I had the stump fully out of the ground and moved off to the side. I tossed it on the ground out of the way where Josh would probably collect it at a later time and craft it into something incredible like he usually does. Josh then handed the sapling to Sammie who tenderly placed it into the ground and packed the earth around it.
When it was all in place the twins went over to pick up the tree. Lucas took the lead at the broken end of the trunk and Sammie went further back to where the lower branches started. Once they were in position they lifted the tree above their heads in one, synchronised movement while Josh stayed at the rear to help out if needed.
"You guys ok with that?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's not heavy." Lucas replied making me smile as I knew men twice his size would probably struggle with it.
"Ok then, let's go."
We started the walk home and I looked down at our twins, thinking about how lucky we were to have them. I never thought about having a family when I was younger but as Josh and I started our married life together we decided we wanted our own kids rather than adopting. It wasn't cheap to fund the treatment or the surrogate but we were able to afford it easily enough and when the doctor gave us the news that we'd be having fraternal twins we were thrilled. It was funny how it was done though; Josh's sperm was used to fertilise one egg and mine was used to fertilise the other so technically Sammie was genetically my daughter and Lucas was Josh's son but as far as we were all concerned we were parents to both of them. We did decide to give them individual surnames though so they weren't always placed together as twins when they started school.
When we arrived back at our yard they placed the tree down gently so as not to damage any branches and then set about making it fit into the house. Lucas ran off to the barn to fetch a tape measure as Sammie kept looking between me and the tree. Before I could ask what she was thinking she walked towards the broken end then jumped up and crashed her foot down on and through the trunk, almost cracking the floor beneath.
"That looks about right, Lucas can tidy the rest up." She said, grinning up at me. "Come on dad, let's go in and get the decorations ready." She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the house as I just shrugged my shoulders at Josh who was trying not to laugh while he waited for Lucas.
"Aww what?!? I wanted to do that!" I heard behind me as I was dragged into the house.
After a few hours, and a few minor disagreements, the tree was finally decorated. Lucas had decided to leave the decorating to us after he'd brought the tree in as he set about breaking up the leftover branches and trunk. I kept checking out the window and was amused to see all the creative ways his little mind came up with to break down the wood. From snapping big branches like twigs to cracking the trunk over his knee, I even saw him tearing a few logs in half in front of his chest like Superman tearing his shirt open. No matter how he did it though he seemed to be enjoying himself all the while, even if he was getting really messy.
This year's Christmas was going to be different to the previous ones as this was the first one since Lauren, Josh's grandmother, had died. Even though we lost her earlier in the year this was still one of `the firsts' we'd have to get through. We'd already had Bryan's first birthday without his wife as well as the first anniversary of their marriage without her, so there were still a few more of those to come yet.
Every year we had a big get together for everyone who knew our secret, so there would be our family, including my parents and Josh's mum and Gramps, as well as the twins; Luke and Sam, Sam's wife Becky, and their little boy called Benny, who was a few months older than our twins. We usually had Sam and Luke's parents over but they decided to take a cruise this year to see what the festivities were like in other parts of the world, so there would be a few less people at the table this time, not that any of the food would go to waste though.