Merry Christmas! I hope who celebrate are having an amazing day filled with loved ones, fun, gifts, food, music and movies. We’ve made it through another year and have reached my last Christmas movie of 2021. While I’m not sure I’ll be doing these monthly in 2022, I’m sure I’ll have more to write about throughout the year.
For now, we’re going to finish 2021 with one of the new movies Hallmark introduced this year, which is a sequel to one of their 2014 movies – “The Nine Lives of Christmas.” I’m fond of it so I was very excited to see it got a sequel and wanted to know what happened to the characters.
Let me just quickly recap the first movie: Firefighter Zachary and Vet Student Marilee cross paths after he ends up inheriting a cat named Ambrose. They develop a friendship that blossoms into something more as Christmas approaches but they both have their own issues to work through in order to be together.
Presents and cards are here/My world is filled with cheer and you/This SPOILERS!
The movie starts by quickly establishing that Zachary Stone (Brandon Routh) and Marilee White (Kimberley Sustad) are no longer a couple. We find out that Marilee has moved to Miami and owns her own veterinary clinic. We also learn that her cat, Queenie, has passed away. She is getting ready to return home for Christmas and is looking forward to it as she doesn’t get a lot of time off since she’s been busy building a thriving practice. But she has managed to find romance with her partner Miles (Nathan White), who will be following her to Oregon a couple days after her so they can spend Christmas with her family.
Back in Oregon, Zach is still at the firehouse. He confirms with his father-figure and chief Sam (Gregory Harrison) that he will be going skiing with his friends for Christmas again. Sam offers to let Zach come to Christmas with his family before the firehouse gets ready for pictures with Santa. We meet Sam’s daughter, Gabi (Victoria Dunsmore), who is the newest member of the firehouse and find out that Ambrose is still the firehouse cat. Zach is less than thrilled when he is given a costume and realizes he is going to be an elf.
Marilee has arrived back in Oregon and is reunited with her sister Jaclyn (Stephanie Bennett) as well as Jaclyn’s husband Kyle (Carey Feehan) and their daughter Sierra (Linden McMillan). Sierra loves Duchess, asking her aunt about how the cat got her name. Marilee explains that when she adopted Duchess, she wanted to honor Queenie but still give the cat her own identity. Hence the name Duchess.
Jaclyn then reveals that she cleaned out the cabin their parents owned and found an unopened Christmas present. Sierra is shocked her mother and aunt let a present go unopened but Marilee says that the Christmas they lost their parents was a bit crazy. They let Sierra open the gift and reveals an Advent calendar. Honestly, this subplot has absolutely no bearing on the main plot and is pretty shoehorned in. Basically, they realize that each day contains a charm that was on the bracelet their mother used to wear.
The family then heads down to get Sierra’s picture with Santa. As they walk, Jaclyn asks Marilee how her relationship with Miles is going. Marilee first talks about their clinic before realizing her sister was talking about their relationship. All it gets is “good” though she says that Miles is the first person she’s dated that is more ambitious than her and she likes it. Though sometimes he tends to put the business before everything else.
Jaclyn then pivots to Zachary when Marilee realizes that they are at the firehouse. Her sister tells her that he’s still a firefighter but she likely wouldn’t run into him since he goes skiing at Christmas. Marilee insists she’ll be okay if they do run into each other. They wanted different things and it was best for them to part. We’ll find out more about their breakup later.
Speaking of Zach, Marilee runs into him at the picture event. They have an awkward but sweet reunion and they are really mature about it. Zach expresses his condolences about Queenie and informs Marilee he’s now captain. She congratulates him and they part.
It’s really nice to see a mature reaction to a breakup even though it’s pretty clear that they still have oodles of chemistry with each other.
Anyway, Zach is ready to head out on his ski trip and Marilee buys tickets for the fire company’s charity gala to raise money for the children’s hospital. She forgets about Miles but Jaclyn reminds her so she gets an extra ticket.
This doesn’t bode well.
Zach goes to drop Ambrose off at the firehouse, saying the cat will enjoy spending his time at the firehouse than at a kennel. As he walks into the firehouse, he hears little meows and finds a box of kittens outside the firehouse. He summons Sam, who has to leave his wife Harriet (Robyn Bradley) to go help Zach. They decide to get the kittens checked out before looking for homes for them.
Meanwhile, Marilee and Jaclyn are walking around town. It sounds like Marilee really misses being home and being around her friends and family, especially as she hasn’t had much time to make friends in Miami due to getting her animal clinic started and running. She and Jaclyn then collide with Zach, who is rushing to the vet. Jaclyn reminds him that said vet retired and Marilee volunteers to look over the kittens.
They all go back to Jaclyn’s house and Marilee determines the kittens are ten weeks old and healthy. She says she can get their shots overnighted to her but otherwise they could be adopted quickly. Marilee and Zach decide to work together to get that done, hopefully by Christmas in about a week.
Plenty of time to fall back in love!
Especially as Marilee gets a call from Miles, who says he can’t leave the clinic. The vet covering for them is too new and the system crashed that day – though Marilee points out that the system crashes every day and that it’s an easy fix. It’s just clear that Miles feels better being there and working, that to him “work-life balance” is a dirty word. But Marilee clearly has reached a point where she wants a work-life balance and that she wants to build a life outside of work with him. He then talks about seeing if he can make a later flight but she tells him forget it because she can tell he’s now coming because he feels he has to not because he wants to. She realizes that they are on different paths and breaks up with him.
Way to go, Marilee!
The kittens stay at Jaclyn’s house since she has the most room. Sierra loves taking care of the kittens and names them after all the reindeer. She’s pretty adorable with them.
Sam and Harriet decide to adopt two of the kittens, so that leaves seven to be adopted. Sam also decides to retire and to make the big announcement at the charity ball. He tells Zachary and then asks Zach if he will be chief. Zach wants to think it over.
He and Marilee decide to have an adoption event in a local cafe, which has a good turnout as his fellow firefighters showed up for the food and women came for the firefighters. One man seemed to flirt with Marilee but she was not interested. She did manage to convince the shop owner to adopt two cats and two more were adopted as well, leaving three to be adopted.
They then find someone to adopt the remaining three shortly afterwards by hanging out outside a church.
Could it be that easy? Of course not, we’re only like halfway through the movie!
In addition to getting kittens adopted, Zachary and Gabi lead the other firefighters in creating a gift for Sam as he leaves. They refurbish the old fire truck he bought and present it to him. Sam is absolutely thrilled and takes it for a spin as everyone watches. He also gets his kittens as Zachary and Marilee drop them off. They then stay to help put up the Christmas tree with him, Harriet and Gabi.
And then the woman who was going to adopt the kittens is unable to do so as she needs to help another litter of kittens. So now Marilee and Zachary still have three kittens that need to be adopted. She mentions taking a billboard and it gives Zachary an idea.
Marilee arrives at the firehouse and meets up with Zachary. He reveals that he got a banner printed with the three kittens and advertising that they are up for adoption. He put it on the side of Sam’s firetruck and plans to have it outside the charity event. Marilee is very impressed and is so overwhelmed she kisses him. She then freaks out and runs away.
Things are getting good!
Marilee talks things over with Jaclyn, who asks her about the end of her relationship with Zachary. It’s a bit clunky – this should be old history between the sisters – but it’s for the audience so it slides. Marilee says that Zachary was scared of change, which is consistent with what we’ve seen of him in the first movie. He thought that things were good and didn’t want to change them up when Marilee wanted more. So she chose to go to Miami hoping it would shock him into stepping up and stopping her but he didn’t. That pretty much told her the relationship was over and she went on her way. But now that she’s back, she can’t deny the attraction and chemistry is still there – it feels like no time has passed at all. And she’s just very, very confused.
For his part, Zachary goes to talk with Sam and his story matches Marilee’s so this isn’t a case of miscommunication. It really was that Zachary’s fear of change and commitment got the best of him. He says that letting her go was the biggest mistake of his life and Sam tells him to tell that to Marilee. But Zachary isn’t sure they could be together again, even if she kissed him. He does learn his lesson and decides to embrace change by accepting the offer to be fire chief.
Way to go, Zachary!
We make it to the charity ball. Marilee wears an amazing green dress as she and Zachary enjoy time together. He’s also very sweet with Sierra and it’s just nice to see how he and Marilee fit so well together. She is proud when he’s announced as the new chief and they share a nice dance together.
Which means it’s time for Miles to re-enter the story!
Marilee goes out to talk with him while Sierra and Zachary look on. Sierra is surprised Miles is there and Zachary asks if she knows him. She replies she only knows him from her aunt’s Christmas cards and Zachary puts two and two together. He leaves Sierra to watch her aunt and heads out of the party, brokenhearted.
It’s like when Marilee misread the situation between Zachary and a woman who turned out to be the mayor’s wife and fled a holiday party in tears.
Outside, Marilee and Miles talk. He’s there to win her back but Marilee realizes the relationship has run its course. They want different things from life. He enjoys Miami and the hectic pace of their clinic there. She wants to move back to Oregon and take over the vet practice where she could set boundaries and spend more time with her family. They have an amicable parting and hug it out. Marilee returns to the party to find a nervous Jaclyn there. Jaclyn asks Marilee if she ever told Sierra that she and Miles broke up. Marilee figured Miles was hardly in her niece’s life that she didn’t have to. Jaclyn says they need to talk.
We next see Marilee rushing down a street with her sister as she tries to call Zachary but it keeps going to voicemail. She wishes he would talk with her and that they wouldn’t repeat history. Marilee gets home and talks with Duchess, who pretty much throws her phone at her. Marilee decides to call Zachary one more time.
At his house, Zachary plops down in a chair and talks with Ambrose, feeling foolish that he hadn’t considered that Marilee had moved on. Her call comes through and he’s determined not to answer it but Ambrose has other ideas. Zachary sits there silently as Marilee takes a chance and confesses that she still loves him and that Miles is her ex-boyfriend. She ends the call and Zachary thanks Ambrose.
Christmas Eve arrives and Jaclyn, Kyle and Marilee surprise Sierra with an early Christmas present – they’re adopting two of the kittens for her. Jaclyn says that she showed she was responsible enough to be a pet owner with how she took care of the kittens over the week and they are proud of her. That just leaves Rudolph to be adopted but Marilee assures her niece that he will go to a good home.
Zachary then pulls up in the old firetruck and says he found a family for Rudolph so he invites Marilee on a home inspection. She goes, cuddling Rudolph the entire time as she hints that she might be interested in adopting Rudolph. She asks Zach about the people adopting Rudolph and he says that they are couple without children…yet. He then pulls up to the house and she climbs out to realize they are at his house when he says the mailbox with “Stone” written on it and little cat paw prints on it. Confused, she turns to face him and he asks her to adopt Rudolph with him. He also gets down on one knee and proposes, which she accepts. They share a kiss in front of their house with Rudolph cuddled between them.
Aww.
So that was The Nine Kittens of Christmas. It was a lot of fun seeing Zachary and Marilee together again and it reminded me of how adorable they were the first time around. While I was bummed they started the movie broken up, I’m glad they found their way back to each other. I’m also glad we got to see more of Sam and his family as well as Jaclyn and hers. My only complaint was that there was not enough Ambrose or Duchess but there were cute kittens so I guess that makes up for it.
There were a few scenes that were mostly there as callbacks to the first movie. Zachary and Marilee run into each other at the same grocery store where they first met in the first movie. And then they both go Christmas tree shopping and declare the same tree to be the perfect one. (Marilee wins it and makes a quip about Zachary acting faster to hold onto something he wanted).
Anyway, I recommend having a double feature if you can and enjoy The Nine Lives of Christmas along with The Nine Kittens of Christmas. Or you can just enjoy this on its own. I don’t think you really need to watch The Nine Lives of Christmas to understand this.
I hope you all have a great Christmas and a happy New Year!
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