David Matheny

Christmas With Kids David Matheny

A wealthy couple who swore they would never have kids watch rowdy kids over Christmas. Kelly and Roger Carter, sit in their favorite coffee place making fun of the parents hustling and bustling to give their kids a good Christmas. Kelly's cousin arrives with her talkative girl of 7, Calley, and her 4-year-old, one-man-wrecking-crew, Tommy. Things look up for Kelly's poor cousin and her husband, with a new job, and a once in a lifetime Caribbean cruise. Kelly volunteers to watch the kids over Christmas. At first, it goes rather easily in their elegant home, but Calley has a meltdown, and Tommy brings the tall Christmas tree down. They decide to watch the rowdy kids in her cousin's comfy home. The next door neighbors get neighborly, and they meet, Tessa, a very sassy teen. Roger spends more time with Tommy, and in an ice cream shop, runs into his old flame. Before and after Roger covertly covers up Tommy tying up a bully with a jump rope, it comes out his old sweetheart is now ready to do what he left her for not wanting to do - have children! He doesn't waiver from his commitment to a relationship committed to having no children, but he is conflicted. If only he knew Kelly was too!Kelly gets Tessa out of trouble at the high school, when she points out her behavior was a response to bullying. She takes the girls to the mall to buy a dress. At the mall, Tessa's bully shows up and shows off. Later, Kelly discovers the mean girl's bullying was all a front, and she confronts all that drama quite deftly. Roger shows up at the mall, and he and Kelly discuss how well they are parenting, until they realize they lost the 2 youngest ones. They follow the yelling to see that Calley is driving a runaway choo-choo-train in the mall, that only stops when it hits a giant 2-story tree. Roger protects the children in the emergency. Kelly protects them against the ire of the mall manager. But it's the sweet moments of the children on Santa's lap that fill them the warmest feeling. A work emergency for Tessa's father, prompts the Carters to agree to watch the teen along with the youngsters they're already watching. It turns out the work emergency was prompted by a lawsuit filed by Roger, a consummate lawyer. That lawsuit threatens the jobs of all the kids' families. Roger finds a way out, and gets out of the suit. That way out pulls him into some legal trouble. The thrown together family works like a family to overcome that bit of trouble handily. They have more adventures at the ice-skating rink, the fast-food restaurant playground, the small amusement venue, and other places, which all include plenty of scary moments, belly laughter, and fairly intense drama. Kelly and Roger cap off the child-sitting adventure by chaperoning the Christmas Dance for teenagers. During a slow dance, they talk of the return to their childless carefree life. She can't handle that. He runs after her. They talk about what happened the night they pledged to never have kids. They discover they both dream the same dream. And maybe, that dream might come true.