"Ring....Ring...

Noelle sighs as she rubs her head, driving towards Lightstone property. After leaving her job...or maybe she now should call it her former job. After that love tap, Dr. Goldman officially fired her. But, Grandma always taught her, always have evidence against an enemy when they try to make a move. She didn't go into his office without being prepared. She kept her cell phone on her and recorded their whole conversation. Not that she wanted to keep that job anyway. She loves being a doctor, but working with people like Dr. Goldman and people who only care about competition...not patients. She was tired. Emotionally, Mentally, and physically tired.

After sending the recording of Dr. Goldman to the board, she officially and verbally turned in her 2 weeks notice.

"Hello."

Noelle snaps her head up as she hears Linda's voice answer the phone, "Hey, Linda." She says as her cellphone rested on the holder while it was on the speaker so she could drive.

"Hey, Noelle."

"Hi, Noelle!"

"Hey, rugrat!" Noelle smiles big at her sister's voice.

"Are you coming home for Christmas?!" Trudy's voice shouts with excitement.

Noelle giggles, "You bet I am.  I'm homeward bound right now and heading to grandma's."

"YAY!!!!!" Trudy cheers.

Linda laughs, "I didn't know you were going to get off so soon.  With your job, your hours are always unpredictable."

"Well, I didn't want to miss any opportunity to come home." Noelle sighs.

"Okay, what happened?"

Noelle sighs, "I can never hide anything from you, can I?" She chuckles. 

She hears Linda fumbling with her phone, taking her off the speaker so she could talk to her in private, "After being married for so long with your father, you two are like peas in a pod.  Secrets aren't so secret with me." Linda scoffs. 

Noelle sighs, "Well, where do I start?" She scoffs and begins to tell Linda what her boss did and that she just lost her job, but she also told her how she got payback and that the board will be contacting her soon about how they were planning to keep this hush-hush.  No one will get fired, just reassigned to different hospitals or different departments, but she couldn't stay there anymore.

"Well, I'm so proud of you.  And if you tell your dad this, he'll understand."

"Not ready yet to talk to him about this.  He's already got so much on his mind." Noelle hints.

Linda sighs heavily, "Yeah."

"Lin, I know you still love dad.  And he loves you." Noelle says.

"But, he won't stop letting his mother get her way.  She's constantly forcing herself in between us." Linda sighs heavily.  "I don't want to do this in front of Trudy." She drops her voice to a softer tone.  "I'm picking up your dad and we're heading to the Lightstone Mansion."

"Okay.  But, I'm not dropping the subject." Noelle smirks.

"You never do." Linda chuckles. "I'm sorry that Nick couldn't be here.  I can't believe he has to work on Christmas Eve." Linda scoffs.

"Maybe he's Santa!" Trudy's voice calls out.

"You want your sister to date Santa?" Linda teases as she puts her back on the speakerphone.

"Yeah!" Trudy says excitedly.

"Ew, you want me to date a fat, old man who's older than grandma?" Noelle scrunches her face up and laughs as Trudy giggles. 

"But he'll keep you happy and you'll have pet reindeers.  And all the cookies and hot cocoa you want." Trudy says.

Noelle thinks how good that would be, "Ooh, I'll be treated like a queen. But I already have Nick and I absolutely love him." She smiles.  "And he treats me better than a queen."

"And we love him, too.  Just as long as he keeps you happy and always smiling.  I swear, ever since you met that man, you have a smile glued on that face.  I bet your smiling now because he's on your mind." Line smirks.

Noelle laughs, she was smiling, but for several different reasons.  Ok, maybe Nick was the main reason. She sighs and rolls her eyes. 

She begins to think back when they went on their 10th date around Valentine's Day. A big smile grows on her face as the memories float in her mind.

February 14th

Noelle giggles as Nick leads her while she was blindfolded. He wanted to surprise her tonight since it was a special night for the both of them. He always tried so hard to be romantic with her. No matter what he does, she falls harder for him.

"Okay. You promise you can't see?" He asks as she feels his hand wave over her face, feeling the breeze.

"Nick, I'm blind with this thing on me. I promise." She snorts.

Nick smiles and laughs softly as he moves to stand behind her, "All right then. And......." He begins to untie the blindfold. "Open."

Noelle blinks a few times before opening her eyes, she gasps in shock as she looks around her. String lights covered the trees around them, a picnic table was set up before them both with a feast for two and wine. She frowns as she looks around to see where they were. It was deep in the heart of a public park. She was familiar with this park. During the summers, she would jog through here and admire the roses. The rose bushes were not too far from her. And the lake, now frozen was just a few feet away. She couldn't believe he did this for her. Her favorite place to escape.

"What do you think?" He asks as he rubs her arms and shoulders.

Sighing softly, she smiles and turns in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck and pulls him down to kiss him passionately. Nick grunts, but kisses her back, wrapping around her waist and pulling her close against him.

As the kiss breaks, he grins down at her, "I'm gonna take a wild guess that you love it."

Noelle smiles and continues to hold on to him as he holds her, "It's perfect."

Throughout the night, they ate, drank, he fed her chocolate strawberries. It was a beautiful, perfect night, especially when the full moon was shinning down on them. Just completely perfect. When he drove her home, and he leaned in to kiss her, they ended up making out in the car. He hovers over her as she was pressed against her seat while he kissed her deeply and passionately. Noelle couldn't help but giggle against his lips, mostly because his beard always tickled her. Nick smiles against her lips and continues his kiss, he never wanted to stop kissing her. She was an addiction he craved for. As badly as she wanted this night to go further and so did he, but they both agreed that when they go that far in their relationship...it should be special. Noelle was actually surprised he agreed. Most men would be so impatient, but not Nick. He had such amazing patience.

Present Day

"There's Daddy!"

Noelle snaps out of her daydream and laughs as she hears Trudy beam with excitement as the sound of horn honking filled the speaker. She could hear Linda's car pull over and her dad's voice as he moves around, hearing the trunk open and close as well.

"Hi. Hi, hi, hi." Noelle and Trudy's father, Jason Lightstone's voice erupts from the phone with happiness as he greets Trudy. "There she is. Hello, Muffin." He says happily and shuts the trunk. "Let's go see Grandma." Noelle hears him getting into the car with Linda and Trudy. "Ooh. Merry Christmas." She sighs as she hears it go quiet, practically feeling the tension between them until Jason breaks the silence again. "Merry Christmas, Trudy." Noelle hears his scrambling in his seat and kissing sounds. "Merry...Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!"

"Merry Christmas, Daddy. Ya filthy animal."

Noelle burst into fits of laughter with Linda and Jason. Jason looks over and sees that Linda's phone was on. Linda laughs and looks over towards Jason.

"She spent the night with Noelle and they both stayed up late watching Home Alone." Linda says.

"And we had a lot of fun, didn't we, rugrat?" Noelle says.

"Uh-huh." Jason chuckles.

"It was so funny." Trudy giggles and mimics Kevin McCallister's famous scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Noelle winches at the loud sound, laughing with her parents, "She's been doing that all morning." She giggles.

"Yup."

"That...that hurts." Linda laughs. "Even when Noelle dropped her off. All morning."

Jason sighs and buckles up, smiling at the phone, "And how's my princess? Merry Christmas, Noelle."

"Merry Christmas, Dad. I can't wait to see you all tonight." Noelle smiles.

"You're on your way?" Jason asks in surprise.

"Yup, left an hour ago. I should reach Grandma's in about another hour or two." Noelle says.

"That's great! We can't wait to see you. Right, Trudy?" Jason says.

"You bet, Daddy. Can't wait to see you, Sissy."

"I definitely can't wait to see you, too, you rugrat." Noelle laughs with Trudy. "Love you, love-bug." She makes a kissing sound.

"Love you, Firefly." Trudy says over the speaker. "Mwah!"

"We'll see you soon, princess. I love you, too." Jason sighs.

"Love you, Dad. Love you, too, Linda. See you both soon." Noelle sighs softly and chuckles as she hangs up with her parents. Silently, she prays that things will go well tonight and...hopefully, she can get her dad to talk to Linda about fixing things. And she really hopes that Linda will give him another chance. She really liked Linda and didn't want Trudy to be stuck in between them.

Linda hangs up her phone and looks over towards Jason as he speaks to her.

"Thank you. For doing this." He says with a soft look, knowing how much Linda hated to be around his family.

"I'm not doing it for you." She says as she looks forward, away from him. Hinting that she meant it was all for Trudy and Noelle.

Trudy sighs softly, wishing things were better between her parents.

Jason nods and puts on his happy face for Trudy, "It's Christmas!" He cheers.

"YEAH!" Trudy cheers with him.

Linda chuckles and drives them all towards the Lightstone mansion, and hoping this night will go by fast. As much as she loved Jason, he's never going to change. No matter how badly she wanted him to, he's not going to cut himself off from his mother.

An hour later, Linda pulls up towards the front gate and slows to a stop as Al, the head security walks out of his booth to greet the family. He smiles big as he sees it was Jason and Linda Lightstone with little Trudy. He gives them a wave and a smile as he walks out to greet them.

Linda rolls her window down, "Merry Christmas, Al."

"Hi, Linda. Merry Christmas. Mr. Lightstone." He greets them both.

"Hey, Al." Jason smiles.

Al leans to the side, "You back there, Tru?" He teases. Trudy moves to stick her head out from the back seat, leaning on Linda's headrest with a big smile for him, making him chuckle, "Yeah, I bet you're excited for Christmas."

"What did you ask Santa for?" She asks.

"Not to work on Christmas Eve." Al sends her a teasing scoff, "Must've been naughty this year. 'Cause here I am."

Jason and Linda both laugh as Trudy giggles, "Mm-hmm." Linda giggles.

"Just make sure you let Santa through the gates later, Al." Jason states with a teasing grin. "And Noelle isn't that far behind either, she should be arriving soon."

"Oh, little Miss Noelle is coming. Is she bringing that big man with her?" Al asks.

Jason shakes his head, "Sadly, big Nick had to work tonight."

Al scoffs, "That's too bad. I know how that is, but I liked that guy. Funny guy, he is."

Jason and Linda both nod, "Now you have a merry one." Jason says.

Al nods at them both, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Al." Trudy smiles big and sits back down in the backseat.

"Merry Christmas, Tru." He smiles at her and moves to open the gate for them to enter.

Just as Linda pulls through the long road, the sun was beginning to go down and the catering company were preparing for the great family party. Gertrude always threw a big party even though the family was just Jason, Linda, Trudy, Noelle, Alana and her new boyfriend, and her son, Bert. There were the staff and security team as well, but they weren't celebrating with the family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noelle smiles big as she approaches the front gates, honking her horn as she greets Al with a big smile and a wave. Al chuckles from where he sat, waving back as he walks out to greet her.

"Well, well, well, little Miss Noelle Lightstone." Al smiles as she rolls her window down.

"Hi, Al. Merry Christmas. Am I the last one here?" She asks.

"Yup, all family members arrived. Best be prepared." Al grunts out a warning with a wink, making her laugh.

"Great." She scoffs.

"Sorry that your man couldn't be here tonight. Your dad told me. Was hoping you would have a bodyguard, at least. Wait till you meet your Aunt's new boyfriend. You'll see what I mean." Al scoffs.

Noelle rolls her eyes, "With Aunt Alva, I'm not going to be surprise. Let me guess: Model, Singer, or Wannabe Actor?"

Al chuckles, "Actor. Some action film star, or something." He snorts.

"Oh, great. Ugh." Taking a deep breath, Noelle sighs, "I better go in. Wish me luck. And..." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small wrapped gift, handing it to him, "Merry Christmas, Al."

"Now, you shouldn't have done that." He accepts the gift with a smile, loving her kindness. "Merry Christmas, Noelle." He moves away and opens the gate for her, waving her goodbye. He opens his gift as she drives away, smiling big at the box that carried his favorite cognac.

As Noelle parks in front of the mansion, she greets the staff as they carry her suitcase and bags for her while she carried the presents.

"Thank you." She nods at them, greeting everyone. She walks inside as they open the door for her, brushing past several people as they get the party ready and the house decorated. She could hear several people giving orders or scorning at the staff. "Excuse me." She walks around one guy, avoiding bumping into him.

A long haired cater wolf-whistles as she walks by, admiring her up and down until a tall middle aged Scandinavian man walks by, slapping the back of his head. The long-haired guy grunts and grumbles as he fixes his hat and continues to stand and hold the food tray. The large head Cater walks around the house, watching his people work, doing their job...until tonight. He checks his watch, setting the alarm. Half of the catering company were dressed in Christmas theme outfits.  Solider boys for the men and overall dresses with striped leggings for the women. 

As night fell, Noelle waited for Jason, Linda, and Trudy to come down to join the family. She already placed her presents under the tree. Mainly for grandma, that was the rule. The trees on the second floor were for family members, but the living room was all for Gertrude.

Noelle turns just in time as Linda, Jason, and Trudy walk into the room. She smiles big and sets her drink down, "Trudy!"

"Noelle!" Trudy cheers and rushes towards her.

Noelle catches her as she jumps in her arms, hugging her tight as she spins her around, "Oooh, I missed you!"

"You just saw me last night." Trudy giggles.

Noelle pulls away, "Yeah, but can't go through a day without that beautiful smile. Don't tell me you don't miss me." She pouts.

Trudy giggles, "Of course I missed you, Silly!"

Noelle smiles and kisses her cheek as she puts her down and walks towards her parents, "Hi, Daddy!" She smiles big and hugs him as he uses one arm while he carried the presents in his other arm.

"Hi, Princess." He kisses her cheek, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Noelle smiles and moves to hug Linda, "Hi! Merry Christmas."

"Hi, sweetheart. Merry Christmas." Linda smiles and hugs her back, kissing her cheek as well. "You look so beautiful!"

"Thank you. And you look amazing." Noelle sighs, "I'm really glad you're here, Lind."

"Me, too." Jason gives her a soft smile.

Linda sighs and looks around, seeing the fancy decor with the staff and the caters. She scoffs softly, "I'll never get over the fact that you grew up to this." Linda says to Jason.

"Yeah, my therapist says I'll never get over it either." He scoffs out the joke, giving her a smile, hoping for a laugh. He managed to get a small one, but she mostly just scoff at the joke.

Linda sighs, "I need a drink." She heads towards the small bar, grabbing some finger food on the way.

Noelle sighs and rubs his back, "Keep trying, Dad. Don't give up."

Jason sighs, "Thanks, sweetie." He kisses her head and walks with Trudy to places the presents under the tree. "Hey, look at that." He exclaims at the sight of a train that surrounded the tree. Trudy excitedly admires it while Jason nervously looks at the present he had for his mother. Manly, the note. What he had written...it'll change everything.

As Linda was heading towards the bar, Alva was already there. Linda sighs and prepares herself for Alva's comments. Noelle moves to join her, mainly to help her out.

"Hi, Linda." Alva gives them both a fake smile in greeting. "Noelle."

"Hey, Aunt Alva." Noelle chuckles dryly.

Linda raises her brows in greeting and sends her a fake smile back, chuckling softly, "How's it going, Alva?"

"Mm-hmm." Alva looks at Linda up and down, "You gained weight." Linda chokes on her olive and looks at her surprise, but Alva waves her off, "Looks good on you though."

Noelle presses her lips together as Linda holds back her annoyance, "Thank you." She coughs.

"And look at you." Alva looks at Noelle and frowns, "Are you ever gonna change that hair of yours? It makes you look so...old."

Noelle blinks and scoffs out a chuckle, "This is my natural color, Aunt Alva. Can't really change that."

"I know a great cosmetologist who could fix that. Hmm, and maybe even fix that bump on your nose." Alva says and points at Noelle's nose, which did not carry any bump.

Noelle sighs deeply and grits her teeth with a smile, "And it begins." She mutters to Linda as she tries to keep Noelle calm, but she couldn't stand this bitch either.

Jason walks over towards them as if he could sense their tension. Alva drops her fake smile at Jason, "'Sup, limp dick?" She laughs.

Jason grimaces at Alva, dropping his greeting smile.

"I got great feelings about this Christmas." Alva smirks at Jason. "You want to know why?" She continues to gloat.

Jason sighs heavily, "Yeah."

"'Cause I think this is the year that Mom's gonna kick herself upstairs and choose one of us to start running the show." Alva smirks as she sticks her thumb at herself, already confident that it was going to be her. "And I got to tell you, Jason, that I'm gunning for your ass."

Clicking his tongue, Jason shakes his head, "What would a Lightstone family Christmas be without groveling and infighting?" He remarks sarcastically.

Alva chuckles and looks over to the female server as she hands Alva her drink, "You're rosé, ma'am." She says.

Alva scoffs at her as she takes the drink, "Honey, smile. It's Christmas."

The server gives her a bitter smile, "Mm."

Alva nods, "Good. Good, girl." She chuckles and walks away to sit with her boyfriend. As soon as she leaves, server drops her smile and glares at her.

Jason sighs, "I am sorry about my sister." He apologizes to the server, Linda, and Noelle.

Noelle turns to the server, "Next time, just spit in her drink." She smirks.

Tilting her head, "What makes you think I didn't?" The sever smirks back.

Noelle laughs, "And you deserved a big raise for that." She holds a hand out, "Hi, I'm Noelle." But the server doesn't take her hand. Noelle slowly brings her hand away.

"I know. Everyone knows you." The server snorts.

"Please don't hold that against me for being a Lightstone." Noelle scoffs out a laugh.

The server chuckles, "What can I fix you?"

"Promise you won't spit in it?" Noelle scrunches her face.

"Get on my good side and we'll see." The server smirks.

"No problem." Noelle smiles. "I'll take Chianti, please."

The server pours the wine and hands it to her, "Here you are, Ma'am. Spit free."

"Thank you. And please, call me Noelle." Noelle takes the drink and sighs as she turns to face her parents. She watches Jason look at Linda with a soft look.

"It is really nice to see you." He says and watches Linda look at him, "To have you here." He gives her a soft smile.

But Linda didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to get through the night, "Okay. I'm behind. Catch me up on all the hot goss." She says.

Jason nods, "Hot goss. Okay." He sips his drink and sighs as he points over towards Bert, who was on his Instagram again, living streaming for his 'fans'. "Um, well, you remember Bert, my sister's pride and joy."

"Yo, yo, yo. This is the Bert Locker living the bling life on Christmas Eve." He laughs as he shows off his gold chains, throwing up signs that he made for his name and pounds his chest as he points at the ceiling. "Hashtags: 'Blessed'."

Noelle sneaks up behind him and grabs him by his shoulders while he was still live, "What's up, Bertrude?" She giggles and ruffles his hair, making his hat fall off him.

Grumbling, he snatches his hat off the ground and glares at her as she walks away, "I told you to never call me that, Cousin." He fixes his hair and exclaims in frustration that he was still live.

Jason sighs and looks over towards Linda, "He just got, what I can only assume will be his first of many sexual harassment accusations." He watches Linda's eyes widen, "Mom paid off the school." Jason scoffs, "And now the gymnasium is named after us."

Rolling her eyes, "Of course she did." Linda scoffs and sips her drink, she clears her throat, "What about Tragic Mike?" She scoffs.

Noelle chokes on her wine, giggles softly with Linda as they watch Alva's boyfriend, Morgan Steel, show off some of his 'karate' moves from his latest movie. Which Noelle believes was his first and only movie.

"All I'm saying is if I was on one of those planes, , 9/11 would've ended with a bunch of terrorists skydiving over Connecticut without their parachutes." Morgan smirks and starts punching the air and kneeing invisible bad guys. "Yeah." He grunts. "You like that?"

Alva was eating it all up, "Yes. Yes." She giggles. "Yeah, I do like it." She purrs.

Morgan sighs and moves to sit back down next to Alva, throwing his arm over her shoulder, "Ooh."

"Kiss me in front of my son." Alva demands.

"Now, huh?" Morgan chuckles and kisses Alva's cheek and neck sloppily.

Alva moans and giggles while Bert watches in disgust.

Noelle sighs, "I just lost my appetite." She downs the rest of her wine.

Linda sighs and chuckles, rubbing Noelle's back in comfort, "And I was starting to feel bad for Nick missing all of this." She scoffs, making Noelle giggle.

"Yeah." Jason sighs, "But, you know what? I think Morgan might be a decent actor."

Noelle scoffs as Linda snorts, "Hmm." She begins to sip her drink.

"He's been doing an Oscar-worthy job of pretending to find my sister appealing." Jason adds and laughs with Linda as she chokes on her drink, giggling in fits. "Now, he wants Mom to fund a film for him."

Noelle watches them with hope as they share a laugh together, but soon, the laughter dies down and they fall into each other's gaze. But, soon, the moment was ruined as Morgan speaks up.

"It's Gertrude!" He exclaims.

Jason sighs, "It's Mom."

Alva and Morgan scramble to get to their feet and rush towards entrance to welcome Gertrude Lightstone. Straightening themselves up, fixing their clothes and hair. Looking presentable as Gertrude walks back and forth while speaks on her cellphone.

Jason and Linda both finishes their drinks and set them down as Noelle does the same. As Jason moves away, Linda leans in close to Noelle, "And now, it begins." She sighs exasperatedly.

Noelle laughs and hooks her arm with Linda's, "At least we're here together."

Linda smiles and side hugs her tightly. They begin to move to join Alva, Morgan, and Bert, but Jason stops. Noelle frowns at him.

"Shall we jockey forward?" Linda asks sarcastically.

"No."

Linda and Noelle both look at him in surprise.

"No, we can hang back." Jason adds and turns to sit in one of the chairs. "Yeah. Trudy, honey?" He opens his arms for her to jump in his lap.

"I don't know what's going on with your dad...but I'm liking it." Linda leans in next to Noelle.

Noelle looks over her shoulder, "I'm actually kinda scared." She shudders dramatically, making Linda giggle.

Jason growls playfully as he tickles Trudy, making her giggle. Noelle and Linda both sat on the couch while the others were waiting by the foyer hall as Gertrude paces up and down the floor, yelling into the cellphone, cussing left and right.

"Threaten 'em or bribe 'em. This isn't rocket science." Gertrude scoffs sarcastically. "Same shit we always do." Gertrude walks into the room, but continues to argue with the person on the phone. "That's what? That's the best you can do?"

Linda leans in to smile at Trudy, "Excited to see your grandma?"

Trudy smiles big and nods.

"Me, too." Noelle says as she squeezes Trudy's knee. Noelle adored her Grandmother. She was nothing like regular grandmothers.

"Listen, you cocksucker." Cease point.

Noelle quickly covers Trudy's ears and stifles a giggle, 'Thank you' Linda mouths at her while Gertrude continues her business.

"It's Christmas, so why don't you take your best offer, gift wrap it and ram it up your fucking box." Gertrude snarks and walks out of the room to continue to pace. "Maybe you don't realize who I am..."

Alva clears her throat and looks over her shoulder to see Jason and his family just sitting there in the back. She silent scoffs at her brother, knowing he must have something up his sleeve if he was hanging back from greeting Mother.

Noelle removes her hands from Trudy's ears as Linda leans in to talk softly, "Those were Grandma words. You know, forget them."

"Exactly. Only grownups can say those words." Noelle says softly, then tickles her, "Besides, love-bug, you wanna stay on Santa's Nice List, right?" She says, giggling with Trudy.

"Yes." Trudy nods.

"Oh, boy. Look at Mr. Cool back there." Alva says sarcastically, propping her hand on her hip as she glares at Jason with suspicion.

"Yeah, what's your angle, man? Huh?" Morgan scoffs.

Jason shrugs as he continues to hold Trudy close again him, "No angle. I'm not doing anything." He shakes his head.

Alva scoffs loudly, "Oh, yeah." Not believing one word, but she turns fast as she hears Gertrude approach again, but she was still on the phone.

"No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No! Don't shit in my mouth and tell me it's chocolate cake." Gertrude sneers and turns back around to pace again.

Noelle covers her mouth, giggling softly, "God, I love Grandma." She clears her throat and looks at Trudy, "Again. Grownups only." She holds up a warning finger.

Bert was chuckling, "Grandma's cool." He begins to comment on his page.

"I can make that story go away..." Gertrude continues her argument while Morgan looks back over towards Jason, still suspicious about him.

"I think your brother's up to something." He points over towards Jason.

"No, I just decided to let you guys have all the sucking up to Mom today." Jason says, not caring one bit.

"Please! You are King Suck-up. You named your second child Gertrude. Noelle would have been Gertrude if it wasn't for..."

"Aunt Alva!" Noelle glares at her. "Cool it." She warns.

Alva scoffs again while Linda gives her a 'are you stupid' look, "Alva, you named your son Bertrude."

Alva shrugs, "Okay." Not realizing the obvious while Bert turns around with a frown.

"Sorry, Bert, but that's not a real name." Linda says.

"Sorry, Linda. We can't all be lucky enough to have daughters." Alva snarks.

"Mom, I can hear you." Bert scoffs at her.

Noelle rolls her eyes and giggles softly with Trudy, "Bertrude." She teases, making Trudy laugh softly.

Alva continues to look at Jason in accusation, "You know something we don't. What is it?"

Jason shakes his head, internally loving that he was making his sister suffer without trying, "No, I don't. I don't."

Morgan smirks, "I got it. Bingo!" He snaps his fingers in realization and paces to join Jason and his family, "I'm onto you, man. Come on!" He urges Alva and Bert to follow him. Together, he and Alva stay by the tree together with Bert, posing like a family.

"You big sack of shit!" Gertrude shouts into her phone as she heads for the room again, "No wonder your husband left you." She sneers. Noelle makes an 'O' with her mouth, covering her mouth in shock as she stifles her laugh. "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm." Gertrude nods as she listens to the person on the other line, "Merry Christmas to you, too, Senator." She cuts her call and looks up towards her family...who were way over by the tree.

"Merry Christmas, Mommy." Alva smiles big and holds her glass up.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Linda greets.

Gertrude scoffs at them all, "Why in the hell are you standing all the way back there?" She glares at her daughter and her family.

Alva drops her smiles and averts away in embarrassment while Trudy rushes out of Jason's arms to run towards Gertrude. Alva scoffs, "Little bitch." She sneers softly.

Noelle sighs and walks by them, "Alcoholic bitch says what?" She mutters.

"What did you say, dear?" Alva asks with a frown.

"Nothing." Noelle gives her a fake smile and follows to greet her Grandma.

"Merry Christmas, Grandma!" Trudy rushes to hug Gertrude.

Gertrude smiles big at Trudy and welcomes her with open arms, "Aw. Little Gertrude. And how is one of my favorite granddaughters?" She coos as she hugs her tight and pulls away to admire that beautiful face.

"Everyone calls me Trudy now." Trudy says.

Gertrude straightens in surprise, "Trudy?" She snorts softly and looks over towards Jason who shrugs with guilty look, knowing that this was going to bother her. "Well, that makes her sound like a whore."

"Okay." Jason pulls Trudy away, not in the mood of his mother's criticism.

Gertrude waves him off, "Oh, she doesn't even know the meaning of the word." She scoffs and smiles as she sees Noelle. "Ohh, Noelle, hello, my darling." She welcomes her with a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Grandma." Noelle smiles.

"Oh, Merry Christmas, sweetie." Gertrude smiles and pulls away to admire her up and down, "My, you are growing into a very beautiful woman. Hope you're keeping that man of yours on a tight leash." She winks and looks around, "Speaking of...where is that handsome man of yours?"

"Nick sends his love, he had to work."

"Work? On Christmas Eve?" Gertrude snorts, "Sounds like a code for 'I'm fucking my secretary'."

"And there's my grandma." Noelle scoffs.

Gertrude waves her off, "I'm just teasing, dear. Nick wouldn't do that to you. Hell, he turned down Alva. He turned down me. He hasn't even hit on your own stepmother. Why would he need any other woman..." She reaches up and caresses Noelle's cheek, "...when he has a beauty like you?"

Noelle sighs and smiles, "Thanks, Grandma."

"Now..." Gertrude turns towards everyone. "I'm starving. Let's eat." She states and guides everyone towards the dinning room.

"Great." Alva smiles as she goes first with Morgan and Bert behind her, "And, Mom, I think Gertrude is a beautiful name." She says as she throws a smirk at Jason.

Morgan turns as he agree with Alva, pointing at Trudy, "Mm-hmm. I only call her Gertrude."

Noelle rolls her eyes, "Come on, Bertrude." She says as she gently pushes him to follow his mom. She smiles down at Trudy, who walks up to her, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Now, I'm really not feeling bad for Nick missing all of this." Linda scoffs as she wraps and arm around Noelle who practically carries Trudy with her towards the dinning room.

Noelle laughs, "I don't know. Family entertainment vs work. Well, it's not a win-win cause he works with toys. But...I can't see the difference. Aunt Alva is like an alcoholic, spoiled child who is one drink away from pissing herself asleep." She scoffs and laughs as Linda giggles at how true that was but hugs her in comfort when she sees that sad, lonely look on her face. "Still...I wish Nick was here." Noelle sighs sadly, missing Nick every second.