Andlat's Story Spot

Liam smiled, feeling a warm glow as he finished what must've been his tenth watch-through of Luke's performance of the Reindeer Pokey from last December. He had zoomed in on Luke just to confirm his suspicions: Luke's blue and white Pull-ups peeked a few times, especially during his most vigorous butt waggles. Of course, Liam thought, if I wanted to see Lukey loo's Pull-ups... He looked down at Luke, who was sprawled on the floor, playing with Duplo, the LGMs from Toy Story on the butt of his Pull-ups. He sucked on his pacifier even as he noticed Liam watching him. "Come here, baby." Liam said, holding his arms out. Luke automatically grabbed Teddy before climbing into Liam's lap. Liam chuckled, hugging him close and kissing the top of his head. It was so interesting to him how the Luke in the video seemed so much more mature than Lukey on his lap, despite being a year younger and a few inches shorter. In the year since, Luke had grown enough that his blu...

“Go on. Ask him!” Jamie whined, tugging on his brother's hoodie sleeve. “We've still got time.” Kevin said with a chuckle. “Time for what?” “Granny said I gotta get ready soon.” Jamie mumbled into Kevin's sleeve. “Ask!” “Ask me what?” Gabe asked again. “Well,” Kevin smiled sheepishly. “Jamie wants to know if you'd be willing to be Baby New Year.” “What? No way.” Jamie detached himself from Kevin and looked up at Gabe with all the pleading energy a five year old could muster. “Please? Pretty please?” “I had to do it until you came along, Jamie.” Gabe said, which was mostly true. Kevin, being two years younger than him, had done it once, but had somehow managed to miss every New Year's Eve where it would have been his turn, leaving it to Gabe to fill in. “Why don't you want to?” “Cuz it's for babies!” “What?” “Well, it is in the name.” Kevin chuckled. Jamie nodded. “But if you don't want to do it since it's for babies, why me?” “Cuz you...

A collection of three Christmas stories I wrote and posted on Bluesky this year. A White Christmas Jake had always loved Christmas, but it felt a little silly for his mom to continue to insist the stockings were from Santa when he was a college freshman and his brother was a sophomore in high school. All the same, he smiled appreciatively as she handed him his red knit stocking. “And one for our guest. Santa never misses a beat.” His mom said, handing a stocking to Jake’s roommate Randy. “Oh, wow! Thanks!” He said with a chuckle. “Dig in, boys.” Jake did not need to be told twice, his hand plunging into the stocking. Oh, great. She put boxers right on top, he thought. He pulled them out and his face turned red. Boxers, they were not. It was a pair of white briefs! He quickly stowed them out of Randy’s sight and dug in. Ugh, another one. And another. Another! Another? Jake’s face grew more and more red as he pulled a dozen pairs of white briefs out of his stocking. Was there anything e...

“Ugh, forgot we're out of Choco Chunks.” Archie muttered, throwing the empty cereal box away. As if it wasn't bad enough that it had not snowed enough for school to be cancelled, now he did not even have his favorite cereal. “Frosty Sugar Balls or whatever it's called is just as bad for your teeth.” “Thanks, mom.” Archie said, flashing her a grin with a few spaces. He had just lost one of them a few days ago, so the hole still felt new! She smiled and was about to say something when the whole house seemed to shake. “Peppermint's here! Peppermint's here.” “Oh, Casper's up.” Mom said. “Maybe I should have proofread your-” Archie was already gone, eager to see what his stepbrother thought. “Archie!’ Casper exclaimed.”Look! He's up on the mantel thingy!” “I see that.” Archie said, not even sure if he could match Casper's enthusiasm. It seemed improper in a way for a boy his age to be nearly bouncing up and down. “I waited until you were here to read the ...

It was time for the family's annual Christmas card photo and David was in a sour mood. Every year, he and his sisters were forced to dress up in pajamas bought especially for the occasion and take what their parents called "a nice photo". As David grew older, he thought of the photoshoot as more and more of an imposition. He did not even wear pajamas to bed anymore. Try as he might though, he could not dissuade his parents. "It's tradition, Davey." His dad said. "Sorry, David." "Or is it Dave this week?" His mom asked, smiling. "It's still not fair. How come they get to pick?" The 'they' in question were his sisters. "Oh, I dunno." Daisy said. "You picked last year?" "Daisy, be nice to your brother. His idea was cute." Last year's card had seen the three of them barefoot in red union suits with Davey turning his back to the camera so everyone could see the Danger: Blasting Zone sig...

Tommy had woken up the morning after Halloween disoriented and only growing moreso as Janet had come and taken him downstairs. By the time Eric and Jake came out, Janet had him wearing a bib over his jungle jammies as she fed him waffles. He could only sit there as she told them everything, though the way they acted, he had a suspicion she'd already told them a lot of it the night before. "The only thing I can't really remember," Janet said in a tone that made it clear she really did remember it. "Was your song!" "You have to remember. I sang it like ten times." "Hmm, nope. Don't you think Tommy should show us?" Of course, Eric and Jake agreed. Janet stood Tommy up on a chair and he sang in his jungle jammies and the bib, all three of them recording his performance. "I'm a little pumpkin, short and stout! Here are my eyes, here's my mouth! When it's Halloween and you are out, lift my head and hear me shout! Boo!"...