And so as Mary esorted the Chandlers, she informed them, that Jacob would begin his recitation shortly, and would be seeing them afterwards.
To which Catherine and Charles thanked Mary for the great seats, and humbly she replied, "Well, Father wanted to be certain you would have a nice view and wanted me to assist in making it so. Hmm, I do have a seat saved for Peter too...have you seen him?"
As Charles looked about, he told Mary they had come together, but somehow they lost track of him!
Just then Peter caught up, and said, "Sorry you two, I got to gabbing over there, hey, great seats!"
To which Charles replied, "That's what we said, and it's all thanks to Mary!"
With an approving nod, Peter said to the Matron of the Tunnels, "Thanks Mary."
Blushing a bit, Mary replied, "Well, to be honest, Father told me where he wanted you to sit! Front and center with a good view!"
And then Peter remembered to mention, "Oh Mary, I heard you have a list of the medical supplies we're short on in the Hospital Chamber."
Reaching into her pocket, Mary said, "Oh Dear YES! Thank you for reminding me!"
And so Mary handed the list to Peter, and said, "Here is the itemized list, and you might note, they are posted in alphabetical order!"
With an appreciative nod, Peter put on his glasses,and read, "Let's see here, a jug of Lilac toilet water, a crock of Bag balm, a jar of Jonteel face cream, a bottle of J.R.Liggett's Shampoo, a tube of Humphrey's Cream for Hemroi...uh?!"
Upon hearing what Peter was reading off, Mary, screeched, "Oops! Give that back! Oh Deary Me, that list goes to someone else, and needs to be re-alphabetized!"
And as she dug into her other pocket, Mary tried to sound efficient, as she handed the correct list to Peter, saying, "THIS is the newly compiled supply list for the Hospital Chamber."
And so after giving Mary a sideways glance, Peter cleared his voice, and read, "A gallon of rubbing Alcohol, a case of baking soda, a box of cotton balls, a carton of cotton swabs, a supply of gauze, a case of gauze tape, and a supply of Goody's headache powder, well now this sounds more like it...yeah, I can bring all this with me tomorrow, and ya know, I can get that other stuff for ya too if you want Mary..."
Feeling quite embarrassed that Peter and the Chandler's were now privy to her health and beauty regimen, Mary curtly smoothed her hair, and firmly declined, saying, "No thank you Peter."
And then Mary quickly excused herself, saying she had THINGS to check on.
To which Peter humorously noted, "Hmm she seemed to be in a rush!"
Trying not to laugh at the situation, both Charles and Catherine kept their giggles to themselves.
As Peter sat down, he stretched out his long legs, and sighed, "Ah now to relax and wait for the show."
When just then, Kanin called out to the good Doctor, saying, "Oh, Dr. Peter!"
Startled from his laid back pose, Peter sat up and saw Kanin, baby Lukey, and a very concerned Olivia heading his way!
And so he kindly asked the little tunnel family what could he do for them.
To which Olivia, who was holding Lukey, began to explain her version, of how little Lukey was cranky and crying a lot lately, and then Kanin added, they were worried, because this was so out of character for their little chap.
Well it didn't take a detective (or a doctor) to figure out what the problem was. As Peter took out his handkerchief to wipe Lukey's face, he asked, "Does he always drool this much?"
Looking at one another, Olivia and Kanin both said, "Lately Yes!"
Then Olivia elaborated, "Sometimes he drools so much, he gets his shirt soaking wet."
Digging into his medical bag, Peter brought out a tube of medicine, and handing it to Olivia, he told her, "Lukey is just sprouting a new tooth. Just rub some of this numbing gel on his gums and it will make him so much more comfortable. I bet he'll even stop growling at ya."
The two fretful parents looked at one another, and then thanked Peter admitting they both felt very foolish, for not thinking of this themselves!
And so they thanked Dr. Peter once more before saying they had to get some seats, and then Olivia added, "Well so sorry for the interruption everyone."
To which Catherine kindly said, "Oh not at all. It's always nice to see the both of you, and little Lukey too."
With that said, Lukey smiled back at Catherine, and tried to reach out for her, but knowing his drool pool would drench Catherine, Olivia tried to discourage the interaction, saying, "Oh Lukey no. Catherine is dressed so nice."
And because a little drooling wouldn't keep her from wanting to hold Lukey, Catherine sweetly said, "Oh if I may, I would love to hold him."
With a nervous smile, Olivia looked to Kanin for approval and then back at Catherine saying, "Well...If you really want to."
Reaching out for the little rascal, Catherine nestled him in her arms, and laughed with the rosy cheeked fella, who was cooing and gurgling in baby language.
Laughter rang all through the little group gathered there, as Lukey seemed better already with the extra attention he was getting.
Lukey then reached back for his Mama, and as they gathered up their boy, the little family left to find some seats.
Smiling, Catherine sat back down, and commented on how cute Lukey was, and of how much he had grown since she last saw him.
To which Peter agreed, and as he settled back again, Charles looked over, and joked that maybe now he could relax since the teething mystery had been solved.
Meanwhile, Vincent and Natalie walked up, and with a wide grin, Natalie greeted Catherine along with Charles and Peter!
To which after they happily greeted her back, they each expressed their concern for her injury.
In reply, Natalie bravely said she would be fine, cuz Vincent told her so.
"Well how do you like that?" Peter chided Natalie, "Here I am, a doctor, and you don't even ask for my opinion!"
Looking up at him, Natalie sincerely offered, "You can look at my knee too if you wanna Dr. Peter...cuz I know how much you like looking at yucky stuff."
Clearing his throat, he amusedly looked around at everyone before he went into his doctor mode.
Slipping his glasses back on, he officially slid them down to the end of his nose, and looked at the scrape. With a professional tone, he told her, "I think you're gonna live kiddo, and it looks like Vincent already put a little medicine on it uh?"
Nodding Natalie replied, "Yup! Vincent put some cream he got from his Auntie Biotik."
Peter contemplated for a moment, thinking about all the helpers and tunnel residents, knowing none of these people were ever referred to as an "auntie" to Vincent! And so as what Natalie said resonated, with a howl, Peter said to Vincent, "Oh my goodness she means antibiotic cream!"
Everyone laughed along, as they were all entertained by Natalie's cute interpretation of a word she had not heard before.
It was then Brooke, and Laura came up to say hello, and to also fetch little Natalie, saying it was time she joined the other children.
And so after they walked away, Vincent asked if they enjoyed Elizabeth's tour.
To which Catherine answered, "It was wonderful...I love visiting there."
With a nod, Charles agreed, saying, "Intriguing to be sure, and after checking out all the murals, I can say that I received a history lesson of the tunnels."
With an affirming nod, Vincent then shared, "Elizabeth is always in a state of documenting, and rarely leaves the painted tunnels, not even for celebratory events such as this."
To which Catherine said, "Speaking of celebratory, the decorations...just everything is so beautiful."
Assessing the Hall as if by a newcomer, Vincent had to agree, the hall did look festive. Giving credit to the community for working very diligently to make it so, he replied, "Yes the Christmas Season has officially arrived here today in the tunnels."
Charles looked about, and said, "I sure enjoy the vintage bulbs, and eclectic assortment. Stunning."
Nodding, Vincent explained, "We utilize what we have, we use discarded decorations found up top, and also use what is given to us. And each year we..."
Vincent just then, saw Mary poised for an announcement, and so with a nod in her direction, he said, "It appears Mary is about to speak..."
"Merry Christmas everyone! Welcome one and all to our, oh my, what shall I call this celebration? Hmm, let's see, I guess it shall be called...eh..."The First Annual Celebration of Father's Recitation of The Tunnel's First Christmas Story". Golly, that is a bit wordy now isn't it? Well...eh..."
Nervously smoothing her hair back and adjusting her bun, Mary cleared her throat and continued, "Any way, what ever we call this celebration, what a treat for us that Father is going to tell us the story of The Tunnel's First Christmas, as it really happened back then. Yes and that isn't the only treat! You see, the children, who I see are all very colorfully clad tonight, will be singing for us as well...and..."
Just then the children began to shush Mary, because it was going to be a surprise!
Well once Mary understood her faux pas, she apologized saying, "OOOPS! I am sorry children..."
And then turning to the audience, Mary explained, "Everyone, evidently the children hoped to surprise us with the songs they have planned...my bad!"
Apologetically, Mary then added, "Oh, my, well though it won't be a surprise, it will certainly be a treat!"
And with that everyone clapped in agreement, and so once the children heard the expectant accolades, they smiled thinking that Mary's goof was really no big deal!
As the cheers died away, Mary continued, "And William has baked his special oatmeal raisin and his sweet ginger cookies, to go along with the vat of his hot coco! Oh what a festive evening we have planned, so come on up and fill a mug with hot coco and load a plate with cookies, and then once we settle back, Father shall begin!"
And so after Mary left the floor, to direct the cookie traffic, Vincent heard Rebecca call his name from across the hall! And as he looked over, he saw Rebecca frantically waving for him to come her way!
And because he saw it seemed urgent, Vincent turned to Catherine, and explained, "I apologize for stepping away once again, however it looks as if Rebecca has an issue of some sort, and I better go and see what is wrong."
Expressing her hope all is well, Catherine told Vincent, "I understand...go on ahead, we are fine."
Meantime, as Vincent approached Rebecca, he urgently asked "What is it?"
Looking back in the direction of the kitchen, she worriedly answered, "Father is in the pantry taking inventory of our food supply!"
Confused, Vincent noted, "Why would Father be taking inventory, William does that! And more importantly, why would he be doing it NOW?"
To which Rebecca hysterically replied, "My point exactly! I think Father has lost it! For God's sake, please go talk to him Vincent! Its almost time for him to begin! If Mary gets wind of this..."
Assuredly, Vincent offered, "Perhaps a case of stage fright...hmm, don't worry...I will speak to Father."
With a hopeful nod, Rebecca replied, "Good luck."
As Vincent entered the cool stone storage room, he tepidly crossed the clay bricked floor, approached Jacob, and softly addressed, "Father?"
Nervously turning to his son, Jacob grumbled, "Oh now you made me lose count!"
Stepping up closer, Vincent questioned, "Father? What are you doing?"
Feeling annoyed by the obvious question Vincent posed, Jacob groused, "Just what it looks like I am doing! I am doing inventory!"
Turning his father to look at him, Vincent calmly said, "But Father, William does the inventory, and besides, it is time for you to tell the story of our first Christmas."
Feeling both annoyed and embarrassed his son could see through him, Jacob guiltily said, "I know! I know, Vincent I know! If truth be told, I suppose I am stalling."
Kindly Vincent expressed, "I have never seen you like this before Father. What is it?"
Nervously looking up at his son, Jacob confessed, "I don't know! I have never been nervous to speak to our community before. In fact most times I enjoy it. But tonight...tonight everyone's expectations are heightened so, and it's my entire fault! Well now look at me! Me The Old Showboat is too nervous to speak! And I am not sure how to regain my composure!"
Standing before his father, the man he was so proud of, Vincent was humbled to know that he too had moments of self doubt.
And so searching for something to say to help him through this tough spot, Vincent told him, "Simply DO, what you always do, BE who you are. You are Father...a man who's calm bring us warmth, security, and strength, and who's words...inspire us..."
As Vincent laid his hand on his Father's shoulder, he assured him, "You can do this Father. You must!"
Adding a touch of humor to the situation, Vincent inserted, "Need I remind you...this IS your chance to get back in Mary's good graces?"
With a trembling smile, Jacob nodded and said, "You are right about that! God knows for no other reason, I do need to achieve that very deed. It's unbearable when I feel Mary's...or anyone's disappointment in my judgment. And the children...I cannot let them down, not to mention all our helpers who traveled to be here with us this night, Catherine, Charles, Peter and the others! Oh my! The list of reasons to get it together is endless now isn't it?"
Nodding, Vincent cautiously agreed, "At the risk of adding more pressure, I must agree Father."
Taking in a deep breath, Jacob gave his son a trembling smile, and said, "Don't worry Vincent...I always perform better under pressure, I recall the time I had to operate on an old chum of mine, and..."
Because time was of the essence, Vincent butted in, and suggested, "Perhaps I can hear your old chum story at another time Father..."
With a nod, and steadier voice, Jacob replied, "Of course...I believe I am ready."
With an assuring embrace, Vincent said, "I will tell Rebecca."