Chapter Text
Wednesday, December 23rd
Twas right before Christmas
And just after four,
Tony, finally got home for the store.
Groceries in one hand and gifts in the other,
He dropped half and ran to his room for some cover,
Hiding away what he needed, he emerged to quite the scene-
"Maria, why is my daughter all green?"
Little Val had heard her father and ran, best she could, toward him. Her hands and face and most of her clothes were sticky and green. Grazi yelled the answer from the kitchen. "We were about to start decorating cookies! Val got to the icing first."
Right. Tony remembered this. They'd used the recipe Tony had found for his and Maria's first Christmas together to make cookie dough for everyone this morning. It had to rest, so Tony had gone to run the last of the needed pre-Christmas errands during the wait.
Grabbing first his sugar covered daughter theb the groceries he'd set down by the door, he entered the kitchen. Maria was pulling a batch of cookies out of the oven. Grazi and Anita were mixing icing and dividing out cookies. Valentina sat with two eager little girls on her lap that she was quietly slipping chocolate chips to. The bowl of cookie dough was empty.
"Am I too late?" He asked.
"No," Maria greeted him with a kiss. "We just thought it would be easier if we baked everything then got the girls to help."
"So you're just in time. Did ya get sprinkles?" asked Grazi.
Tony sug through his paper sacks, putting away what he could in the fridge and cabinets as he went. Finally, from the bottom he pulled out a few containers. "Ah, right here. Red, white, and rainbow. What they had."
Grazi grinned. "Perfect."
"And did I see the ingredients for Coquito?" asked Valentina.
"Coquito?" Anita's head popped up.
"I got it," Tony answered Valentina, then, to Anita he added, "I tried to make it for Maria last year, Valentina said she's gonna show me how to do it proper for this Christmas."
"It was a good try last year. And very nice how you did it," Maria told him as she passed with the last of the cookies.
With everything there and spread out on the kitchen table, each mother took charge of a girl and let them at it. Even with Tony and Valentina helping where they could, the kitchen, and all three little girls were soon a disaster. Some cookies drowned in icing, some were only splattered. Sprinkles were everywhere and bright colored blobs of icing decorated everyone and even hit the walls in places. But it was fun.
The three little girls giggled and shrieked, waving their spoons and shoving fistfuls of sprinkles in their mouths. Then, when they inevitably lost interest with cookies still left to decorate, everything was set aside for a break, the girls were bathed, dinner made, and when they went to bed, the real fun began.
"Best looking cookie: who can do it?" was the challenge Tony posed. Grazi, who had a pretty decent homemade icing recipe, whipped up new batches and the adults circled around to decorate their own treats, swapping stories and enjoying each other's company.