My Christmas Story this year is, to some degree, based on the NutCracker…
It's late, and for that I apologize. Hopefully it'll be done..maybe by new years. Lol. J
And of course, a big thanks is definitely required to Stayce, for once again taking my crap and making it Candy J
A Sugar Plum Christmas
Chapter 1
It was the middle of the afternoon on the 21st of December, and the malls were so crowded a person could barely move. I hated shopping when it was this busy - but I didn't want to leave the rest of my Christmas shopping until the last minute, so here I was. Mostly, I was done. But as usual, I was stuck on what to get Mary Alice and Angie. I knew Mary Alice would LOVE a horse, but really, a horse wasn't in my budget...and I'm pretty sure its upkeep wasn't in Valerie's. And Angie...well... she was easy to shop for if I shopped for miss perfect, but it was hard to get her something she'd like and that would broaden her horizons beyond her perfect child image. I didn't want her to be a wild child, necessarily, but I wanted her to live a little.
I was standing outside of the Disney store, trying to decide if there would be anything worth going in for, if I might find the perfect something for one of the girls - I certainly didn't want to wade through the crowded store if I didn't have to. It was nuts inside, people could barely move. I was still peering through the crowds searching for anything that might work when a light hand brushed my neck, and a soft voice whispered in my ear.
"Babe."
"Awww, man...Ranger, she didn't even jump." A young girl's voice I'd heard before said with the slightest tinge of disappointment, as I turned around to face the last man I ever thought I'd run into in a mall.
"Are you following me?" I asked, but my words were quickly drowned out by a shrill squeal from the voice beside him.
"STEPH!"
I looked down, and couldn't help but grin. Julie was practically jumping up and down, her face lit up like the Christmas tree by Santa in center of the mall. I started to ask Julie how she was doing, but she started talking a mile a minute before I could even start the first word.
"Wow. I asked Ranger if we could go see you and he said I'd definitely get to see you while I was here but I didn't realize he meant the very first day! Did he know you were going to be shopping? Is this my surprise?" She turned to Ranger, who shook his head.
"This is a surprise for me, too." He told her.
"Cool! I can't wait to find out what my surprise is. I think Ranger has tons of them. I made him take me shopping, though, because he doesn't know how to decorate. The 5th floor is bare and has no Christmas tree or decorations or even music! No wonder his men frown so much. And his apartment has nothing too. I mean, how can you have Christmas spirit without Christmas?"
I grinned at Ranger, who looked like he really, really wanted to be anywhere but here. I'd seen his apartment in the last week, and I'd made a couple of comments about the need for decorations myself. And if I remembered right, Ranger's last words were "Put any ideas in Ella's head and you'll pay."
I'd been off again with Morelli just long enough that the concept of Ranger's payment not only made my body want to melt into a puddle at his feet, but the guilt was gone, too. It was a nice feeling, but it did still leave the fear and concern that I might not survive when payment was over and we went our separate ways.
"Steph?" Julie's voice snapped me back to reality. "Steph? Don't you think Ranger's apartment needs to be decorated?"
"It certainly does." I told her.
"Babe." He said, in a tone that definitely conveyed that he thought I should be taking his side. Ha! Even I, who found this Christmas to be horribly depressing, had tried to dredge up some Xmas cheer by decorating my little apartment. Come to think of it, Ranger's reaction when he saw my apartment was pretty much the same as the tone he just used now.
"Babe."
"What?!"
"It's..."
"I was aiming for Christmas Cheer."
"It's definitely festive." Ranger said, as his eyes surveyed my living room. It was green and red with Santa's and snowmen and garland hung along the walls. He stopped his survey at my stocking, hung by the windowsill. Then, his eyes found mine, and he raised one eyebrow.
"And does Santa leave anything in it?"
"I've always done it. I grew up hanging stockings, and I still do."
I looked at the stocking, and couldn't help the sliver of sadness that filtered through me. "No... It's just something I've always done. Habit."
"So I made Ranger take me shopping." Julie's continued, snapping me back to today.
"Wow...a year ago even God didn't have that power." I said, shooting Ranger a sly grin, an attempt to get back some happy, and push away the sad.
"Ranger said that. And he said only two women in the world have any power over him, and it was my lucky day because I happen to be one of them."
"Julie." Ranger's voice held a distinct warning in it. Julie rolled her eyes and ignored him, continuing on about her plans to decorate the apartment. I couldn't help the thread of sadness that needled through me as I wondered who the other woman was. It had been crossing my mind more and more, as of late. After all, Ranger had needs, and when I was with Morelli, I certainly never met them. I'd also just finished reading 'He's Just Not That Into You.' and I had been wondering if maybe his life not lending itself to relationships just meant I wasn't the right person. The thought was sobering, and probably one of the reasons I was having a hard time being truly cheerful this Christmas.
Then again, I probably could call Diesel and do a long-distance thing with him. Could be fun. I'd never done it with a supernatural guy before.
"Babe. No Diesel." Ranger shook his head, but there was amusement in his tone.
"So what're you doing here, Steph?" Julie asked, still grinning like a loon.
"I have to find gifts for my two nieces."
"Are you going to look in the Disney store? I love the Disney Store. I've been to Disney World hundreds of times. We should go in, come on Ranger!"
"Julie, I think it's kind of crowded in there."
I opened my mouth to back Ranger up, but found myself being perverse. "Sure, Julie, lets check in there." Julie bounced on the balls of her feet, grabbed Ranger by the hand, and dragged him into the store.
"I hate shopping, this time of year." I sighed as I sank into the chair in the food court. Ranger slid onto the one beside me, and handed me my burger. Julie was still at Taco Bell, waiting in line for her food. We could see her, about 25 feet away, and Ranger kept a hawk eye on her even as he poured dressing on his salad.
"Why didn't you finish your shopping earlier?"
"I didn't know what to get them. I've been from one end of the mall to the other, more than once, and nothing seems right. I don't know what to do."
"What are you doing the 22nd and 23rd?"
I thought about it for a minute. "Nothing, I don't think. Why?"
"I'm taking Julie to New York. I've got a box reserved for the Nutcracker on the 23rd, and a large suite at the Waldorf. We'd come back Christmas Eve early afternoon. Why don't you bring Mary Alice and Angie and come with us?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude." I couldn't quite bring myself to look at him. And I certainly didn't want him inviting us just to solve my problem...again.
"I want you to come. And I'm sure Julie would love the company of the girls."
"Maybe she wants to spend time with you. This is the first time you have her for Christmas, isn't it?"
"She does. And yes. She wanted to come to Trenton for Christmas. Rachel and Ron took the other kids to California to visit Ron's family, but Julie begged to come here." He shrugged.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on your time together." I repeated.
"This trip is a surprise for her too. And I think she'd enjoy having some company nearer to her age." He seemed oddly uncomfortable, out of place. I was pretty sure that he left unsaid the part where he didn't really know how to keep Julie entertained on his own. Not that I knew how either.
"I'll talk to Valerie and think about it."
"You can come even if the girls can't." He suggested. I was saved from having to answer by Julie, who bounced over with her tray and sat down in front of me.
"I was thinking, Steph. We could go to Gamespot and Build-A-Bear and..."
"I think I'm shopped out for today." I admitted.
"Never thought I'd see the day." Ranger teased. I shot him a death glare and considered changing my mind and letting Julie continue to help me shop, and see how many stores we could drag Ranger into. Build-A-Bear sounded really fun for some Ranger torture. "I think we're done too." He added, shooting a pointed look towards Julie, who looked up and shook her head.
"Nuh Huh. I still don't have decorations."
"We took a whole load out to the car already."
"They're not enough!"
"I'm sure Ella has more you can borrow and use."
Julie scrunched up her face as she thought. "Weelll..."
"I have an extra container too. There's some cute stuff." I threw in. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to rescue Ranger, but he was looking just a little bit green at the idea of going through more stores. I really didn't blame him, the idea held no appeal to me, even, so I couldn't even fully comprehend how he felt.
"Ok..." she finally agreed after another pregnant pause. "Will you help me decorate?" She asked, turning her attention to me.
"I'd love to, Julie, but I can't tonight." Not if I was going to call Valerie and talk to her about taking the girls to New York for 2 days. And then make sure I had everything ready so I could. I would, of course, do it if Valerie agreed. How could I not? I'd never been to the ballet, and three days with Ranger, even chaperoned by kids, sounded like heaven compared to dealing with my mom's griping about Joe every day up to Christmas.
"Ella will help you decorate." Ranger told her. We had finished our meal, and Ranger carried the trays to the garbage then joined us outside of the food court. We walked with Ranger in between us while Julie chattered incessantly. She really was a sunny child.
They walked me to my car, and then Ranger leaned in and brushed his lips lightly against mine. Julie squealed and clapped, as Ranger moved to kiss just below my ear.
"Let me know if you guys are coming, Babe. We leave tomorrow."
Valerie was surprisingly amenable to the idea. She sounded relieved to be rid of the girls for a couple of days, and we made arrangements for her to drop them off at my place at 9 the following morning. Ranger would be picking us up at 9:30.
I had just gotten off the phone, confirming things with Ranger, when Joe called.
"Hey, Cupcake. Whatcha doin' tomorrow night? Bob misses you...want to come over for pizza and beer?"
I cringed. Pizza and beer and Joe's libido. Again. It wasn't that I didn't love Joe, because I did. It was just that this was so predictable. We'd fight, be off again until "Bob missed me" and then he'd call and we'd just fall back together. I really wanted to shelve that pattern, at least until after Christmas. I didn't want to spend Christmas alone, not really, but... there was always that stress of what's going to go wrong next?
"I can't, actually. I'm going to New York tomorrow."
"New York?"
"Ranger is taking Julie to New York for a couple of days, and he invited me and Mary Alice and Angie to come too. It's going to be the girls' Christmas present."
"You're going to New York." Joe said, his voice flat. "With Ranger."
"I've never been to The Nutcracker before." I told him.
"You know he wants something, Cupcake."
"Yeah. Someone to help break the ice with Julie." I pointed out.
"Stephanie, he can't be trusted. I wish you'd get that. Now you're running off for fun and games with him? Do you know how that's going to look?"
"Like two friends, taking 3 little girls to New York for two days of Christmas."
"Right. My girlfriend is just randomly going, friendly like, to New York with another man."
"I'm not your girlfriend right now," I reminded him on a sigh. "We're off-again, remember?"
"We need to talk." Joe said, his voice quiet and serious. "Really talk."
I knew we did. I just didn't think that my talk was going to go in the same direction as Joe's. As I hung up the phone, I wondered if things would be the same again. Certainly, the boys would miss me...but I didn't want to go running just because the boys missed me. I wanted JOE to miss me. And maybe he did, in his own way...but...was it really me? Or the ideal of me?
Haunted by my thoughts, I wandered to my closet and began to dig out clothes to pack. Probably I should go shopping for a couple of new outfits, but I didn't feel like braving the malls again. No thank you, for a rare change, what I had would do.
I was completely ready to go when Valerie dropped the girls off the next morning and picked up Rex. They were both bright-eyed and excited.
"Do horses go to New York?" Mary Alice wanted to know.
"Can we go down 5th Avenue?" Angie fired off just as quickly.
"We'll have to see what Ranger has planned, and yes, horses can go to New York." Based on my conversation with Ranger the night before, it sounded like Mary Alice would actually be in for quite a surprise.
The girls were still chattering excitedly, even Angie had lost a bit of her prim and proper attitude, when the locks tumbled and Ranger and Julie strode into the apartment. He eyed the giggling girls, then looked at me. "Ready?" He asked.
"Yup." We grabbed our stuff, and took the elevator down. By the time we reached the main floor the girls were fast friends, chattering together and already divulging secrets. We headed out side and I looked around for Ranger's vehicle of choice. Today, it was an Explorer.
"What, no Porsche?" I asked, teasing.
"I told Ranger we should take the Turbo 911." Julie informed me.
"You like the turbo too, huh?"
"Oh Yeah." Julie said. "It's my favorite. But Ranger said we wouldn't all fit. And Ranger won't go into the country and drive it really, really fast. He said maybe by summertime."
"Come summer, I'm hoping she's forgotten about it." Ranger muttered. Then he turned to the girls. "Okay girls, everybody in."
