As Hanukkah progressed, David and Brie tried to teach their children a few other things they had done as children. David, on many occasions, made a fool of himself. He tried on one more occasion to teach his children the Hora with Brie’s help, only to fall on his ass and pull her down with him. They shared a laugh and David said, “Never again will I attempt to teach our children that dance. If they want to learn it I’ll have Ben teach it to them. I can’t dance”. He was being good natured about it.
“Well, maybe we should tell your little brother that he needs to get his ass out here next Hanukkah”, Brie laughed back.
Malachai and Jordan were immediately there to pull their parents to their to their feet. “Yeah, I agree. If you want us to learn that dance you had better call Uncle Ben to bring himself out here to teach us”, Malachai said after getting David to his feet.
“Yeah, that would be a really good idea. Though, I have to say watching Dad make an ass of himself is rather funny”, Jordan giggled ash she help her mother to standing.
That evening at sunset, David said the prayer and lit the second candle of the festival. After the gift exchange, all of the kids- including the other guys’ children- played with the Dreidel. David had a hell of a time finding the gelt every year, but that was the Hanukkah miracle for the Draiman family. It never failed. When the kids would break out the Dreidel, David would have several packages the chocolate candy for the kids to use. Either he or his wife- usually David as Brie was busy making dinner for the night- would slit the coins into equal piles every night for the kids to play. He was glad that he had decided to buy extra that year in preparation for his brothers in the band to come out to visit.
David and Brie stood back and watched everything that was going on. He had his arms around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. Her hands rested on top of his as they were clasped in front of her. They both heaved a sighed a sigh of content. “This is the life”, she said as she watched her kids all try to teach one simple Irish boy how to play with the Dreidel.
He pressed a kiss into the side her neck and smiled. “I know. We’ve got all of our closest friends around us, our entire family minus both of our brothers surrounding us, we’re expecting our first grandchild in about eight months; what more could we ask for?”
“I really can’t think of anything”, she said with a smile. She half turned in his arms to give him a kiss with the press of her lips to his.
The kiss wanted to be turned into more, but David wanted to wait until he got her upstairs in the privacy of their bedroom. He pulled away gently and whispered against her lips. “You know, I just realized something.”
“What was that?”she asked as she settled back into his arms, facing the scene in the living room and looking up at him over her shoulder.
“You never gave me my Hanukkah gift.”
“You’ll get your Hanukkah gift later, like after everyone’s in bed and we’re alone in the privacy of our bedroom in front of that really nice fireplace we had put in that first winter after we moved back in here.”
“Hmm, I like the sound of that”, he growled in her ear.
A shiver ran down her spine. “David, not now. I’ve got latkes and sufganiyot to make for everyone to snack on.”
David groaned in disappointment. “Damn it.” He released his hold around her waist and let her go back into the kitchen. He propped himself up against a wall and watched everything that was happening with a smile. He hated to admit it, but it was nice to have everyone together for the holidays.
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“Malachai, I’m starting not to feel very well. Would you be ok if I went to lie down?” Mandy asked Malachai.
“Go lay down, baby. I’ll be up here in a few moments. I want to ask Dad something really fast”, Malachai replied. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
She stood and made her way carefully up the stairs; stopping in the bathroom to throw up on her way to the bed room. She couldn’t wait until this part of the pregnancy was over. Always throwing up was getting old. She couldn’t eat many of her childhood favorites because they would just come back up.
After her fit was done, she made her way to the bed room after brushing her teeth to get the taste out of her mouth. As she lay in bed, her mind wandered from one thing to another. First, she thought of the kindness his family had shown her from day one upon meeting his parents. His mother was the kindest woman she’d ever met. His father was stubborn, but so was she so she could relate. His parents were perfect for each other. They were balanced; yin and yang. She could see how they’d been together for fourteen, almost fifteen years. They both complimented and opposed each other. She was rational, liked a quiet life at home out of the lime light, and spent her time making sure that he was on his toes. He was hot- headed, loved his job and the limelight, and spent his time doting on her. He liked to spend money showing her that he loved her; she liked to keep things simple. Mandy chuckled softly to herself as she thought of her boyfriend’s parents. She hoped that she and the young man she called hers would be just like his parents in their relationship.
Her thoughts then drifted to the child she carried in her stomach. She’d been feeling weird the past few days, like something wasn’t right. She was afraid to tell her boyfriend because she didn’t want to alarm him. She was going to ask his mother what she thought might be going on. But, then again, she was sure that her future mother in law might not know what was going on either. She was just going to have to wait until her next doctor’s appointment.
She recalled the conversation she had with his mother about doctors vs. midwives. The woman didn’t give a straight answer as to her opinion. Maybe it was because of her training. From what she understood of massage therapists they couldn’t tell a person what to do but they could tell the person their opinion. In the end, it was the client’s decision. She thought that was pretty funny, but it was a good idea in the part of her future mother in law.
She lay there in the bed she shared with her man and tried to quiet her mind. Finally, she turned on the TV that his Uncle John and Aunt Kristen had and the DVD player that Jordan given them for Hanukkah. She stood carefully to put a movie on and lay back down in the bed. It didn’t take long for her to drift off to sleep.
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He spun the Dreidel with his brothers and sisters a couple more times before surrendering his gelt to the pot and leaving the game. Meagan, Makayla, James, Jeremiah, Jessykah, and Marc all begged him to sit back down and play the game with them. “I can’t, you guys. Mandy is sick.”
“No I’m not”, Madison cried. “I’m right here.”
“Not you, Madison. Amanda, you goober.”
“Oh, sorry. Is she ok?”
“Like I said, she’s sick. Remember, Madison, she’s pregnant.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“The first trimester is full of being sick because her hormones are shifting and getting accustomed to the fact that she’s carrying another person inside her.”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know that part. I just thought the puking was a weird and not too fun part of having a baby.”
“Now you know different, Maddie.” Malachai walked away from the coffee table where they all continued to play with the Dreidel and approached the spot where his father stood. “Dad, I have a question for you”, he said.
David shook his head to come out of his trance and looked at his oldest son. “What’s up, son?”
“I’ve noticed that there’s a construction crew here every day and there has been for the past few weeks. What’s going on out back that you need a construction crew?”
“You’ll find out, Malachai.”
“When?”
“Soon. Now, stop asking questions. You’re on NTK status as far as that crew that’s been here every day for the past few weeks.”
“NTK? What does that mean?”
“Need To Know. You don’t need to know yet so you haven’t been told.”
“Ah, I think I get it. Do any of my brothers and sisters NTK?”
“No because they’ll tell you and you don’t need to know.”
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