Christmas Pie ~ A Short Story

*This story was originally posted as part of Jovey’s Blogging All the Way. Check that out here!

Christmas Pie

The snow fell gently on a modestly decorated single family dwelling. A simple wreath of winter berries and evergreen sprigs adorned the door. A lovingly crafted snowman with drooping stick arms and a crooked carrot nose stood tall in the front yard, surrounded by fast disappearing snow angels. A peaceful atmosphere surrounded the Foster home. 

Inside, a small Christmas tree sat in the corner of the family room, decorated with twinkling lights, strings of popcorn, red berries, and gold stars.  Soothing Christmas music played from the radio in the kitchen. A Frosted Forest candle burned on the island, surrounded by four pairs of busy hands. The making of an apple pie was underway.

“Mama! The flour!” Kelsey screeched.

Eden winced as a fistful of flour flew full in her face. She blinked several times, trying to see out of the cloud of powder. Several small giggles pulled the corner of her lips into a smile.

“Rory, the flour is supposed to go in the bowl, not in my face!” Eden brushed the flour out of her eyes and ruffled her seven-year-olds curly locks. 

“I know, Mama, but Evie keeps throwing it!” Rory complained. 

“Come, sweetie.” Eden swiped up the two-year-old and planted a floury kiss on her pudgy cheek. She shifted the toddler onto her back and proceeded to skilfully tie her up in her ergo wrap. “You ride back here, and then you can watch all the excitement without messing things up. Kelsey, the salt goes in with the flour, not your hair.” 

Kesley giggled as Eden saved the teaspoon of salt from being totally sprinkled over the 4-year-olds blond pigtails. “Alright, we have the flour and the salt. Rory, please grab two sticks of butter from the fridge. And use the chair this time, don’t climb the shelves.”

Rory scrambled to obey. 

“Kelsey, please get me a knife from the drawer. Carry it point down and don’t run.” Eden quickly swiped her hair up into a messy bun, holding it together with a random rubber band she found on the island. 

Rory returned to his stoll with the butter and Eden helped Kelsey climb back onto hers. “Alright, I’m going to slice the butter into the flour and salt and mix it all up until it’s crumbly. Then we’ll add some water to hold it all together.” She spun away from the countertop as Evie made a mad grab from behind for the knife. “Evie, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.” 

Rory laughed. “You sound like a roller coaster driver.” 

“I feel like one sometimes too.” Eden smiled. “Can you get the glass pitcher and fill it with about a cup of water? Here, Kelsey, use your hands to help me crumble this.” Eden pushed up her daughters sleeves and they both plunged their hands into the bowl. Eden grinned at the wide smile that spread across the little girl’s face.

“It feels funny!” She giggled. 

Once the dough was good and crumbly, she scooted the bowl over to Rory. “Alright bud, dump the water in slowly, while I mix it. Oh–not  all of it!” Eden grimaced as the entire cup of water was splashed into the bowl at once.

Rory’s mouth grew round. “Oops, it came out fast!” 

Eden sighed. “That’s okay, bud. Nothing that a little extra flour won’t fix.”

Soon the dough was in the fridge and the timer was set for an hour. 

“Alright, troops! Time to prepare the apples.” Eden dusted her hands on her apron. “Rory, the apples are down in the cellar, can you go get them for me?”

“But the light’s broken, it’s dark down there!” Rory’s eyes held a look of terror. “And spiderwebs!”

Eden placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’re a brave man. You can do it. Besides, Daddy fixed the light last night. No more dark! Take your play sword to kill the spiders.” 

Armed with a pink dishpan and his small plastic sword, Sir Rory tramped toward the basement, prepared to battle any monstrous spiders in a valiant effort to win his mother a bowl full of apples. 

“Alright, Kels, let’s clean up this flour mess and set up our apple peeler!” Eden groaned as Evie flopped backward in an attempt to free herself from her prison. “Woah, sweetie, that hurts Mama’s back.”

She reached back to grab Evie’s hands and bounced around the kitchen, making silly noises to entertain the toddler. Evie chortled happily. 

Suddenly there was a screech from the other room and Rory came hurdling up the stairs, eyes wide with terror. He pushed the dishpan full of apples onto the island and darted back against the kitchen wall. “Spider! Huge spider!”

“Woah, calm down, buddy. Where’s the spider?” Eden picked up the dishpan and took it over to the sink.

“Mama!” Rory yelled. “It’s in there!” He pointed frantically to the dishpan in Eden’s hands. 

Eden calmly turned the dishpan upside down and dumped the apples into the sink. A giant house spider darted up the side of the sink and onto her hand. With a shriek, she violently shook her hand and clawed at it with her other. The offending beast dropped to the floor and scuttled toward Kelsey’s chair by the counter. 

“Mama, kill it!” Kesley screamed and danced up and down in her chair. 

“There it is! There it is!” Rory yelled from where he stood quivering against the opposite wall. 

Evie burst into tears as Eden grabbed for the nearest object her hands could get a hold of–an apple–and proceed to fall to her hands and knees and cruelly murder the wiggling spider.

“Eww!” Rory made a face. 

“Yuck, Maammma!” Kelsey squealed.

Eden wrinkled her nose in disgust as she tossed the apple and spider into the trash can. She slammed the lid shut and placed a hand to her pounding heart. Rory dropped his sword with a shaky sigh of relief and Kelsey slowly removed both hands from over her eyes. 

“Is it gone?” She whispered.

“Yes, it’s gone, sweetie.” Eden unwrapped a still crying Evie from the folds of her wrap and brought her around to her arms. “It was just a silly little spider, honey.” The last words came out in a snort as laughter bubbled up. Her shoulders shook and tears ran down her face as she cackled. Evie stopped crying and grabbed her face in both hands, staring at her with a confused expression. 

“Mama. Okay?” Evie asked with concern. 

Between moments of silent wheezing, she managed to suck in breaths and nod. Both Rory and Kelsey hesitantly stepped closer, snorting giggles of their own.

When she finally controlled herself, she glanced at the clock. “Well, kids, let’s get back to our pie, shall we. Daddy can’t have Christmas Eve dinner without it and we’ve only got two hours till he’s home. There aren’t any more spiders in that dishpan are there, Rory?”

Small hands scrubbed the apples clean before they were passed down the line to be slid onto the peeler and tossed with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and other goodness. Soon tummies were full with the good fiber from the peelings as Rory and Kelsey fought over who could find the longest one. 

The stove timer beeped and Eden pulled the dough out of the fridge, plopping it on the counter, as Rory and Kelsey’s chairs screeched across the floor to watch.

“Maaama, Evie’s trying to climb on my chair.” Rory complained, attempting to push the toddler off. 

“Whoa, honey, don’t push your sister. That’s not kind.” Eden swiped the little tyke from the chair and plopped her in the highchair by the table, turning it so she could watch the action. She tossed a few cheerios on the tray and planted a kiss on Evie’s velvety hair. “There, maybe that’ll keep you occupied.”

She returned to the island and dusted the surface with flour. “Alright, who will be first with the rolling pin?”

Kelsey and Rory both made a mad dive for the handles, each grabbing a side. A tug-of-war ensued. 

“No, Rory, I got it first!” 

“You’re too little!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Hey, sweeties, stop it.” Eden swooped in and confiscated the rolling pin from both contenders. “Enough of that or you’ll neither of you will get a chance. Apologize, please.”

“Sorry, Kesley.” Rory hung his head sheepishly. 

“I forgive you. Sorry.” Kelsey placed a hand in his.

“I forgive you too.”

Eden smiled warmly. “Alright, today we’re going to let Kelsey start, since she’s the youngest and Rory’s learning to be a gentleman. I’ll set the timer for three minutes and then we’ll let Rory have a turn. Okay, Kelsey?”

Kelsey nodded readily and Eden relinquished the pin to her. 

“Alright, honey. Place your hands on each of these handles.” Eden came around behind her and rested her hands overtop of Kelsey’s. “Then we’ll place the pin on the dough and push it back and forth to flatten it.”

“I can do it myself!” Kelsey insisted. 

“Let me just help you get it started. There, now you can do it yourself. I’ll set the timer.” 

When the timer had rung for both kids and Eden had finished smoothing it to satisfactory thickness, she placed it in a pie pan and began trimming the edges. Kels and Rory watched with chins on their hands as she deftly pinched and crimped until the crust was perfect. 

”Can we try some?” Rory begged, his fingers straying to touch the extra dough pile. 

“No, it won’t taste very good. You’ll just have to wait until after it’s baked.” Eden dumped the apple filing into the crust and began stretching pieces of dough across.

“Why do you do that, Mama?” Kelsey asked. 

“It looks pretty, doesn’t it?”

Kelsey nodded. “Just like you.”

Eden paused in her work and gave her a silly grin that wrinkled her nose. “And just like you too, sweetie.”

“But not like me!” Rory crossed his arms defiantly. 

Eden laughed as she beat a few eggs and egg washed the top of the pie. 

“No, you’re not pretty, Rory! You’re handsome!” Kelsey giggled. 

“That’s a very sweet compliment, Kelsey, and I agree. Rory is very handsome, just like his Daddy.” Eden tweaked his nose as he grinned and puffed out his chest. 

“And Evie and I are pretty, just like you, Mama!” Kelsey’s pigtails bobbed as she nodded confidently. 

“That’s right.” Eden laughed merrily and turned to slide the pie into the preheated oven. She dusted her hands off and punched in a forty minute timer. “Alright, troops, let’s clean up this mess, so I can start supper!” 

*****

Smells of candied sweet potatoes, seasoned green beans, garlic bread, mashed potatoes and honey-glazed ham filled the kitchen as Eden slid the apple pie from the oven. She pushed it to the back of the stove and covered it with a towel just as arms slipped around her waist and whiskers brushed her cheek. 

“Smells amazing in here. Are you trying to win a kiss, hun?”

“Everett!” Eden spun in his arms with a laugh. “I didn’t know I had to try and win them. I thought they were free.” Eden smiled mischievously as he placed a kiss on her lips. “Now you get out of my kitchen and let me get dinner fixed.”

Everett groaned. “Love you too, babe.”

Eden bustled around the kitchen, humming a christmas carol as she placed dishes on the table, filled cups of water and lit candles. Then she hung up her messy apron and slipped into the bathroom to smooth her dress and fix her hair properly for Christmas dinner. 

“Supper time, everyone!” She called over her shoulder as she carried the platter of ham to the table. Three pairs of small feet pattered into the kitchen. Eden slipped Evie into her chair and tied a bib around her neck. Taking her seat, she placed her hand in Everett’s and smiled warmly. 

“Looks amazing, hon.” Everett grinned.

“Well, the ham’s a little dry and the green beans are a little burnt but what’s most important is that we are all here as a family.” Eden smiled at each of her children with fondness. 

Everett nodded. “Let’s pray, then.”

*****

“And here’s dessert!” Eden placed the dish in front of Everett and dramatically flung the dish towel. Everyone one oohed and ahhed. 

“We helped Mama make it, Daddy.” Kelsey smiled sheepishly.

“Did you, princess? I can’t wait to try it.” 

“And it was quite an adventure!” Rory announced. 

“You’ll have to tell me about it, buddy.” Everett grinned.

Rory’s eyes shone brightly. “Well there was a giant spider in the apples and it ran onto Mama’s hand and then it was chasing Kelsey and then–” 

“Then, Mama smashed it with an apple!” Kelsey interjected. “And she got flour all over her face and–”

“And Evie kept getting in the way–”

“And Rory tried to grab the rolling pin from me but Mama made him stop–”

“And I got the apples from the basement, because it wasn’t dark and more–”

Everett’s eyebrows rose as their voices grew louder with each new revelation. “Woah, woah, slow down.” He smirked. “Sounds like it was an eventful afternoon. 

Eden smiled as she handed him the knife. “It was certainly busy. Will you do the honors, Sir?” Eden handed the knife to Everrett. 

“Of course, My Lady.” Everett winked as he sliced into the pie. Evie clapped her hands. 

All eyes watched as Everett served up the pie and finally placed a large piece on his own plate.

“Eat it, Daddy!” Kelsey squealed. 

Everett winked at Eden and slowly picked up his fork, inching it closer and closer to the pie. 

Rory groaned. “Daaad.” 

Everett chuckled and sunk his fork into the pie, cutting off a generous bite. Everyone held their breath as he opened his mouth and chewed slowly. He squeezed his eyes shut in a grimace and immediately reached for his water. 

Rory and Kelsey’s eyes widened. 

“Everett, don’t be a tease.” Eden rolled her eyes. 

Everett coughed. “Taste it, Eden. Something’s not right.”

Eden eyed him skeptically and reluctantly complied. Sputtering and coughing, she accepted the water Everett held out to her with a grin. “Told you so.”

“What is wrong with this?” Eden pushed the apple pie around her plate with her fork.

“I think you put too much salt in.” 

“Ugh. Kids, do not eat this. It tastes awful.”

Kelsey’s lip wobbled. 

Everett lifted her onto his lap. “It’s okay, sweetie. Baking fails are a part of life–you’ll make many more in your lifetime. Rory, son, why don’t you go get the ice cream?”

Kelsey blinked away her tears with a happy squeal as Rory jumped from his chair and ran to the freezer. Eden scraped the apple pie off their plates and dumped the whole thing into the garbage. Rummaging through the cupboards she found the tin of Christmas cookies her neighbor had dropped off a few days earlier. 

With a smile she rejoined her family at the table, reflecting on the lessons learned. Mistakes and mess-ups happened all the time in life and that’s why she was so grateful for her Savior’s birth. And she learned never to let a four-year-old add the salt while cooking. 

THE END

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