The Fit

Collette began her morning with a breakfast of peppermint pie. It was too irresistible to resist, sitting there, white and fluffy, and full of peppermint. Before she knew what had happened, the plate was polished clean. But it was the Christmas season, she reasoned. She would slowly make up for not eating much at Thanksgiving.
Joe was pretty excited. The Snicketts’ new Honda Fit had arrived at the dealership. Slick and silver. And OLeif and Collette would be purchasing the old red Civic. It had already been about seven years since Dad had driven it fresh off the lot, and it had served the family well.
During Puck’s now daily practice-sitting-for-church session that morning, he was treated to a floor show by Francis, who was a little distracted from his history reading that morning.
“Check this out, Puck,” he said, tearing up two index cards into small pieces. “Confetti!”
The room was illumined with flying white. Puck grinned at his entertainment.
It wasn’t always easy for the kids to concentrate on their studies when Puck was around for the day.
“Man, I can’t get anything done when you’re here, Squishy,” Carrie would often say, burying her head back in her pilot’s training textbook.
Meanwhile, Joe was busy painting his final project for Art History. The requirement was to create something that involved both an ancient and modern twist. Joe had decided to paint a box in an Egyptian style, with an Egyptian modeled on the front, sitting before a television holding a remote control. The box would serve as a remote control box.
Christmas music was a regularity in the house by that point. Puck would stare at the Christmas tree, garnished in every sort of enticing bauble.
“Hot, hot!” he’d whisper in magic delight.
Then he would snuggle with the kittens underneath the branches.
That afternoon, Collette, Carrie, Linnea, and Puck headed out to the store for errands, including Target, where Linnea put together a Christmas present box for Libby.
The grocery store was still full of Christmas cheeses, wines, chocolate-covered pretzels, and cinnamon pine cones. And the air was bitter, gray, and wisped with sleet.
“So Grandma Combs was asking me what kind of job I was hoping for,” said Carrie on the way home, already laughing, “And I told her, ‘Well, I’d like to participate in a six-month expedition in the Arctic.’ And Grandma said, ‘Well, that’s good. Find yourself a cute boy there. But don’t be doing anything more than playing Solitaire under the Aurora Borealis. I wasn’t born yesterday.’”
That was a laugh. Grandma Combs was surely becoming much like Great-Grandma Jewel. Like mother, like daughter.
When they returned, the new car was sitting the garage. Silver and fresh. Joe was very pleased with Dad’s selection.
That evening, Collette made a pot of chili before OLeif left for practice at church.