On Christmas day, the Ayunkili's spent their first Christmas together with A Christmas Story playing continuously on the television. Christmas music played softly in the background. Carmella was fine with Perry Como and Elvis Presley but would jump up and sing or hum whenever a Motown Christmas song played. The wolves would howl and Raj would clap, but Bilal—he just smiled.
Christmas dinner consisted of roast suckling pig—they were going to be bombarded with pigs because the first two births had brought them a whopping twenty-five piglets, forcing them to render all but two males incapable of breeding. Bilal took care of that non-surgically.
Their new and improved garden added to the feast with corn, collard greens which had been flavored with smoked ham hocks, sweet potatoes, mashed pot
