The Gift of This

This.
This is my favorite part of Christmas. This twinkly, firelight quiet.
Monkeys are scrubbed and brushed and tucked away with books and kisses and hugs and drinks of water.
Little snores will be lilting down the stairs in a few minutes.
And this. It settles like a sigh over the house.
The planning is done.
No more shopping, no more traveling, no more making lists.
Just this.
We pad around and shush and giggle and shush again while we stuff stockings, wrap a few last presents and put them under the tree.
 No hurry, no rush. Just this.
This basking in my family.
This quiet teamwork with my soul mate.
The quiet pride in our little people.
The quiet time together to reflect on our year, our monkeys, our life.
This quiet, simple good.
The rest of the world melts away in the circle of warmth and light that surrounds us.
Nothing matters for a while  but the precious heads under this roof.
It's us and we're here and we're strong.
No matter what the year has brought us, we can always look back with joy.
We can always look ahead with peace.
There is faith here, there is love, there is safety, there is strength. There is this.
This is my favorite part.
This.