Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's Note: This is from The Twelve Days of Christmas. This is the first in a series of one-shots for Christmas. You don't have to read them all to understand it. But each is based off of a verse in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, so the first will have A Partridge in a Pear Tree in the story somewhere and so forth for the rest. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and a Happy New Year.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

Tori looked out at the water. It was getting closer to Christmas and Blake still hadn't come back yet. It was true that he was supposed to be back for the holidays it was just a matter of when. Looking out to the water she contemplated about the fact that she really wished they could go somewhere where there was snow. She enjoyed the beach, completely loved the water, but snow and Christmas…

Turning around she looked down the beach and saw Hunter heading her way. He wasn't smiling, but again that didn't necessarily mean anything, Hunter didn't always smile. Instead of waiting for him to come to her she moved over and met her brother in law halfway, "Hey."

"You're out here?"

She shrugged, "I like it out here."

A small smile tugged at his lips, "Yeah, I know."

"Then why are you surprised?"

The smile left his face again, "Tori, I talked to Blake."

She looked at him without any hope. The way he had said those words did not sound like a good thing. "He's not coming is he?"

Hunter looked out at the water, "He said they want him to do some more promotional things…so…that's it."

Blake had gone out to do a promotional tour but he was supposed to be getting back the day after tomorrow. Now it wasn't going to happen.

"Of course. It makes sense." Tori felt her heart fall a bit. She was disappointed but at least it wasn't their first Christmas together, it wasn't even their second or third. It was just…nice having him there for the Holidays. And he had been more than not, but she really wanted him to be here. So of course she was still disappointed that he wouldn't be there. It was Christmas and not only she but their kids would also want to see him. Maybe she could bring them out to see Blake…then again if it was all promotional stuff…

Hunter interrupted her thoughts as he put his hand on her shoulder, "Come on Tor, we all decided that we're going away for Christmas. We're going to go to that cabin that Erika's family has. You all should come with us."

Jesse also worked for motocross and he was currently with Blake. "So then Erika's bringing all those kids?"

Her brother in law gave her a look, "Alright so it's not a cabin…that's what Erika called it, but let's face it I'm sure it's big especially since she said it can easily fit all of us."

"Alright, we'll go. It sounds like fun and I'm sure the kids will have a blast."

"Good. Now come on, we should head away from here, there's a lot to do."

Tori and Hunter began walking, "Well I'm sure Shane and Dustin have already worked things out at the Academy."

"Yeah, they did. Even for you. But there still is your store."

Tori frowned. She hated leaving it all alone and yet, perhaps that was a good thing. Besides it wouldn't be completely alone there was Tracy; and she knew that she could trust Tracy. She hadn't disappointed her yet and she had been working there for the past two years. And she knew that Tracy wasn't going anywhere for Christmas. "When are we leaving?"

"Today, after everyone's packed."

"Thanks for telling me now."

"Come on Tor, it's not like it'll be hard for you to pack everything up."

She sighed, "You're right." As they continued walking she hated having to ask Tracy this on such short notice. Though truth be told she wasn't going to have the store open for that much longer before the holidays. "I'll have to talk to Tracy, but it'll be fine."

They reached the parking lot and Tori noticed that Hunter's truck was parked next to her van. He looked at her, "Alright, let me know as soon as you're ready. I got to go and make sure Kelly has things settled at Stormchargers, I'll see you later."

"Bye Hunter."

She got in her van and headed over to her store. It was located close enough to the beach but still close to some of the shops in town. After parking she got out and walked over to her store. She looked in a few different stores that she passed on her way to her own. The first was a clothing store; the second was a law office. The last caused her to stop for a moment because she was sure this had been empty yesterday. There was a sign on the door:

Band Rehearsal in Progress

For Renting call 555-3652

Peering in she saw a bunch of people with instruments, there were drummers, flutists, trumpeters and right close to the window stood Eleven Pippers Piping. She could hear their music reaching out to her, it was quite beautiful. She smiled as she stood there for a few minutes but then turned and continued onto her store.

As she entered the store she saw Tracy finish fixing one of the boards and then she leaped across to the other side singing, "Ten Lords a Leaping!" She set of the jars of wax down and then startled to twirl. Just as she opened her mouth, presumably to sing another phrase, she saw Tori and stopped short.

"Tori! I…uh…I…well…umm…"

"Tracy, it's fine." She smiled as she walked over to the counter, "I'm glad you were having fun."

"Thanks. There were a couple of customers in the morning, but none else."

"I figured business would be a bit slow." Tori looked at Tracy, "Are you going anywhere? I mean you didn't ask for any days off, but I just wasn't sure."

"Nope, just staying home this year. Dad thinks it's a good idea you know?"

"I understand. It's fun sometimes to just stay at home and not rush everywhere. Though I did want to ask you. I do actually want to go out of town and I was wondering if you'd be able to open the store for the next couple of days. I wasn't planning on having it open next week, it's Christmas. And only for a few hours tomorrow."

"I could totally do that! That would be awesome."

"Alright. Thank you. You remember everything about opening and closing?"

"Yes, I definitely do! Thank you for trusting me."

"No problem."

Tori wasn't at her store much longer before giving Tracy last minute instructions reminding her that she could call her about anything that she needed and then she was out the door.

There wasn't too much traffic so she was able to get home without much of an issue. She pulled into the driveway and after grabbing the mail went inside. She could hear the distant noise of the TV upstairs and then also down in the living room. She flipped through the mail, most was junk but there were a few Christmas cards. One was from one of her Aunts and another was from Trent and Kira. Smiling she set it down on the counter in the kitchen.

She was glad that there weren't any signs of any kind of destructive behavior around the house, at least that she could see. That meant James was behaving himself, she hoped.

Her first stop was the living room; she had heard the TV so she figured that someone was in there. Walking in Tori found her youngest daughter, Miriama, sitting on the floor. She was surrounding by construction paper and markers and stickers. Currently she was cutting a piece of paper into a tree.

"What are you making?"

Miriama looked up and smiled, "Hi Mom, how are you?"

"I'm good. What are those for?"

"I'm making one for everyone for Christmas."

Tori knew that when she meant everyone, she didn't just mean the immediate family, "That's very thoughtful."

Her eleven year old shrugged, "It's fun. Besides I'm close to being done I think." She pointed to a few piles that were on the other side of her, "That one is for Uncle Hunter, Aunt Kelly and all their sons. The one next to it is for Cam, Hayley and their kids. And that one has Dustin, Marah, Rose and Eliza. I'm working on Nick's."

"You are getting there."

Miriama smiled and then set down the scissors and picked up the remote turning the volume up a bit more, "This is what I was waiting for."

Tori looked over at the TV, "What is it?"

"The Nine Ladies Dancing is going to be on this program. I love their different dances."

Tori watched as her daughter's favorite group started performing. She stood up, "I'm going to check on everyone else."

"Alright."

"By the way Miriama, we're going to go to the cabin, so we are going to have to pack soon okay?"

"I know, don't worry."

As Tori walked out of the living room she heard something that took her completely off guard, "Hey Tor."

She looked up and saw Blake coming down the stairs, "Blake? What…I thought…you weren't going to be home."

"I know that I originally wasn't going to be home for a couple of days but," he shrugged as he got off the last step, "I got done early."

"Done early? So you never had to end up missing Christmas?"

He raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Hunter said that he talked to you…and Hunter talked to you?"

"Well yesterday we talked; he came and picked up Jesse and me at the airport today."

Tori shook her head, "He told me you were missing Christmas." She shook her head, "I should have guessed he was only joking around."

Blake laughed and then put his arms around her, "I missed you."

"I missed you too. I love you."

He leaned in and they kissed. "I love you too."

Together they walked upstairs. Tori looked over at Blake, "Let me guess you know about the 'cabin' already?"

"Yep, all the kids are packed. It's just us."

"Alright."

After they had everything packed in the car Blake called Hunter to let him know. It turned out that Jesse, Erika and their family was not ready yet. Shane, Kapri and their kids were going to head up after Kapri was done at work. Dustin, Marah and their family had already headed up.

Hunter had said that they were all ready, so now all Blake and Tori had to do was get their kids in the car. By the time they were ready Miriama had almost finished doing all of her cards so she had packed them up and she got in the car. Even though Dan was only six he got in the car easy enough. He and Miriama were in the back seat. James would be the third occupant if they could find him. Blake was looking upstairs again as Katrina got in the car followed by Steve.

Finally Blake emerged with James right on his heels. After locking the house the last two members got in the car. They pulled up by Hunter and Kelly's house and watched as Hunter got Tyler into the car.

As they were driving down the road Steve, who was fourteen, spoke up, "So the cabin is in the middle of nowhere?"

Blake frowned as he followed Hunter, "I wouldn't say in the middle of nowhere. I mean there are things out there."

"Like what Eight Maids a Milking?"

Tori looked back at Steve who had his arms crossed, "Come on Steve, this will be fun. Some time away from everything, just us. It'll be fun."

Steve looked at her, "I don't want to go."

"I know you don't want to, but…please give it a chance?"

He sighed, "Fine."

"Uncle Hunter is going to be there right?" Katrina asked.

Katrina had a bond with Hunter, he was her hero. She loved spending time with him. Tori nodded, "Of course he will be there."

"Really?"

That response was not from Katrina but from their ten year old son James; when Tori looked back there she saw a huge grin on his face. "James what are you thinking of doing?"

"Me? Why Mother, why would you think that I would do anything to anyone? That hurts."

Tori looked over at Blake, "He's your son."

"He did not get that from me."

"My parents are trying to get rid of me, for shame."

"Mom and Dad would never get rid of you." Miriama said patting James on the shoulder before returning to her book.

It was another couple of minutes before Dan spoke up, "So we can't go surfing there?"

"No Dan, it's going to be cold there. But there will be snow."

"You know the Tommy Swan and his family went swimming today." Katrina said.

James spoke up, "So you mean there were Seven Swans a Swimming?"

"Ha ha. Very funny. Don't you want there to be water?"

"Hey snow is water. So there."

"Shut up."

"Katrina, we don't say shut up." Tori said, "And James, don't goad people."

"Goad?" He asked.

"Try to push them to the edge, like you were doing with Katrina."

"I like that word…" He trailed off and looked out the window.

Tori looked over at Blake again, "And how many hours do we have?"

"Just a couple. We'll survive."

"Not if the power dies while we're up there and we sit in there and slowly waste away." Steve said.

"Steve we are not going to lose power and even if we did Uncle Hunter, Mom and Dad can fix it."

"I don't think any of them got degrees in that."

"Oh shu—stop talking."

Tori reached over and turned on the radio, "Let's listen to Christmas music." When she turned it on Frosty the Snowman was playing. Dan started to sing along with Miriama. It wasn't until a few songs later that Katrina joined in. Steve just sat there looking out the window. And Tori could hear James singing in spurts.

They finally made it up the mountain. They passed by a bunch of houses and cabins that were situated alongside the road. The snow was everywhere; the trees were covered in it and some of the houses and cars made it obvious that more snow had fallen overnight. And every single house that they passed was huge. This was definitely a crowd that Erika's family would be around. Jesse had told them that she was rich Tori just hadn't really thought of it until now, though that was probably because Erika was one of the sweetest, kindest, most innocent person she had met.

Tori looked at Blake, "Well we can't be that much farther."

"No, I'd imagine it's somewhere around here."

"Look Mom! There's Six Geese a Laying!"

Tori looked around at Miriama's comment wondering why there were still geese around in this area and that's when she saw that there were Six Geese a Laying but they were made of snow and they were fairly big. As they continued on they found more of the days of Christmas in different areas where there were open fields.

After a while Hunter pulled into a parking lot of what looked like a ski lodge. Kelly got out of the car; Tori looked at Blake, "I'm going to go see what is going on."

"Alright."

Tori got out and caught up with Kelly, "Is everything alright?"

Kelly looked over at Tori, "Mostly. Hunter must have left the rest of the directions at home because this is where it brings us to. Erika's cabin is called something…odd."

"Oh." Tori thought about it for a minute; Hunter hadn't told her the name of it; "I don't even know what it's called."

Kelly and Tori stepped into the lodge which was quite impressive. It was huge; there were a couple of stone fireplaces with couches surrounding them, giving it a very homey feeling to it. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. There were garland and silver lights wound around the poles that were around the room all the way to the ceiling.

They were able to find a desk that was right near the front door. A gentleman was standing there writing in a book. As Kelly and Tori started to walk up to the front desk a tall, blonde woman walked in front of them. Right behind her another woman walked up carrying a car seat. She set the car seat onto one of the tables next to the counter. As she set it down they could see a baby nestled amongst what looked like green silk. Once the woman moved her hand away from the handle a red ribbon fell down with Five Golden Rings clinking together.

"Excuse me. We seem to have a problem here." The woman said to the man behind the desk.

"Mrs. Smithson, what is the problem?"

"Our dinner tonight is supposed to be a very specific item, one that you have seemed to neglect to make sure we have."

The man began typing on the computer, "And what is it that has been forgotten?"

"I asked for there to be Cornish Hen, not Danish. We require Cornish."

"Very well; I shall have it taken care of."

"Good." Mrs. Smithson turned to the other woman, "Martha, let's go."

The two took off.

Kelly and Tori exchanged a look before moving up to the man. Kelly smiled, "Hi, we're coming up to spend some time at the Robertsons cabin."

"And you are?"

"Bradley."

He began typing into the computer, "I see. Yes of course." Looking back at them he asked, "And what can I do for you?"

"We needed direction there. We're not sure on the way to get there."

"Of course."

The man gave them directions and soon they were back in their cars.

It turned out that they had about half an hour more to drive before they got there. It was beginning to get dark but all around them the different houses and cabins' lights came on. Some had very simple white lights, other lights were multi colored. There were trees covered in lights of all different colors. There were many decorations in the lawns. Some had reindeer; others had Santa with the sled. Each house was distinctly different and Tori would venture to say that they all had been done professionally.

"So, where did the guy say it was located?"

"It's the fourth house on Calling Bird Lane."

She heard a laugh. Turning around at the kids she heard James speak up, "So we're going to be staying at Four Calling Birds?"

Tori closed her eyes as she realized it and laughed, "I suppose we are."

"Aren't we there yet?" Steve asked, "I thought we were supposed to be there already."

"We should be there soon Steve, don't worry." Blake said looking ahead at the sigh coming up, "And here it is!"

They turned onto the lane and the first big cabin they saw was covered in white lights with a star at the top above the chimney. It was a little ways before they came across the next house.

"I'm hungry." Dan said, "Can't we eat?"

"Here Dan, I still have my roll from earlier." Miriama leaned across James and gave Dan the role.

"Thank you Miriama, that was very nice." Blake said. He looked across at Tori and smiled at her.

"Thanks." Dan said.

After passing the next house they came across a driveway that was only visible because the trees on either side had been lit up with brightly covered lights. Hunter had slowed and turned into it and Blake followed after.

It was a straight way up to the house. They could see Dustin and Marah's car parked in the driveway. As soon as they parked Steve and Katrina were both out of the car. "Hey! Come on guys, let's grab our things." Blake said stopping both Steve and Katrina in their tracks.

Slowly the two oldest turned back around and headed back to the trunk where Blake handed them their bags. Tori made sure the other three got out; Dan went to the back and looked up at Blake, "What do I need to carry?"

"Well there is your bag."

Dan frowned, "Can I carry one of those pillows?"

Blake looked at the pillows and then smiled, "Sure Dan, go ahead."

He grabbed one and headed inside. Blake and Tori were grabbing the last of the bags when they heard someone shout. "What do you think that is about?" Tori asked.

"Do you suppose we need to ask? I'd imagine it's…"

Both Tori and Blake then said, "James."

Once they got inside they saw that Marah was holding onto Eliza, their fourteen year old. James was sitting on the bottom of the stairs looking completely innocent which most likely meant that he wasn't at all.

"What's going on?" Blake asked.

Dustin who was standing near James looked over at them, "Well…Eliza…James got her wet."

James shook his head, "I wasn't even by her. How could I get her wet? I brought in my bags just like you asked."

Tori looked over at Eliza whose shirt was wet, "James. You need to apologize if you did that."

"If?! He did do it! I know he did!" Eliza said.

Blake went over and sat on the stairs next to James, "Son, if you did it you do need to apologize like your Mother said to. Besides do you want to spend time worrying about this or bring in the presents and put them under the tree?"

He sighed, "Alright, fine. Sorry Eliza that you got water on you."

"James."

"Sorry I got water on you?"

"Was that so hard?"

Eliza frowned, "I'm going to change."

Marah wouldn't let her go, "Eliza, what do you say?"

"Thank you."

Eliza disappeared upstairs while James went off into the living room.

After they got all of their things in the house, Blake helped get the kids something to eat while Tori went upstairs to make sure that the kids' things were all situated. She found Steve lying on his bed while Chase, Hunter and Kelly's sixteen year old son sat on the floor throwing a ball up in the air. "Aren't you two going to get something to eat?"

Steve looked at her, "I'm not hungry right now."

She nodded and then looked at Chase, "What you about?"

"Nah, Aunt Tori, I'll wait a little bit."

"Alright."

She left the room and checked where the rest of the kids were going to be sleeping and found that the rest of their things were situated but that none of the kids were in their rooms, apart from Steve and Chase.

As Tori made her way downstairs she met Dustin on his way home, "Kapri and Shane should be here soon, just got a call from them."

"What about Jesse and Erika? And Cam and Hayley?"

"Cam and Hayley are actually going to be coming in a bit later. As for Jesse and Erika…I'm not sure when they'll get here. Blake was on the phone with him for a bit. But I didn't ask…"

"It's fine. Thanks." She smiled at him.

She headed downstairs; looking in the living room she saw Miriama sitting in a chair by the tree. She walked over and sat in the chair next to it, "How are you doing?"

"Wonderful. It's really quite lovely. This whole house and this tree, they're just beautiful. I mean the other trees are really pretty too."

Tori looked away from the tree and back to her daughter, "Other trees?"

"Have you not been able to look at the rest of the house?"

"Not yet, I saw more of the upstairs then down here."

Miriama looked at Tori, "You should check it out. There are five total trees in here."

"Five of them?"

"Yes. They're all decorated differently."

"That's cool."

"This one is the best one, in my opinion of course. It's got ornaments that correspond with The Twelve Days of Christmas."

"Like all of the Twelve Days of Christmas?"

"Yes, see look there over on the right side of the tree. It's Three French Hens."

Tori looked closely at the tree and noticed that there were Three French Hens. They were all individual ornaments but they were grouped together. "Wow, that's pretty cool."

"That's not all, they do have them scattered throughout as well, though I've only seen two of them. I can't seem to find the last."

"Let's see if we can find it." Tori stood up and started looking around near the top of the tree while Miriama got up and started looking around at the bottom half of the tree. Tori reached out her hand, "Come here, I think I might have spotted it."

She picked up Miriama and soon her daughter was able to spot the last one. "Thank you Mom."

"No problem."

They both sat back down on the chairs and watched the Christmas tree. After a little while Miriama ended up falling asleep. Tori picked her up and brought her up to the room she was staying at. Kids were already sleeping in there. Tori left the room and saw Blake exited the room across from her. She smiled at him, "Are all the kids asleep?"

"Well Steve is still up with Chase, but Katrina finally fell asleep. Dan fell asleep at the table actually."

"That makes sense; he didn't go to bed until late last night."

"James took a bit longer. In fact I think that he and David will probably just end up getting up in a little bit. You missed Shane and Kapri coming in though."

They made it into their room, "So Shane and Kapri are here? That's good. What about Jesse and Erika?"

Blake sighed as he picked up Tori's bag and handed it to her, "Jesse was finally able to get Meena, Julianne and Alexis' things in their car. Apparently Meena had figured she needed to pack five bags. Jesse had to tell her that she had to narrow it down."

"Did they remind her that the longer it took her to get her things together the less time she'll see Tyler?" Blake laughed. Meena was Jesse and Erika's twelve year old daughter and Tyler was Hunter and Kelly's fourteen year old son. Meena had a huge crush on Tyler. Tori stepped into the bathroom and set her bag down. "I am still amazed at this. It's really nice here."

Blake stepped into the bathroom, "It is."

"Two Turtle Doves."

"Okay, that was a little random."

Tori smiled, "Look." She pointed at the spot on the wall near the sink. There were Two Turtle Doves that were holding up the hand towel.

"So there are."

He pulled her in for a kiss. After a few minutes they pulled apart, "I love you." Blake said.

"I love you too."

Before Blake said anything else there was a knock at the door. He walked over and opened it; Hunter was there, "Hey, what's up?"

"Jesse and Erika just pulled up. They didn't have to worry about traffic so they were able to get here faster than we were."

"Alright. Let's help them get their things up."

Hunter, Blake and Tori all headed downstairs where Shane, Dustin and Kelly were just about to head outside. Once they got outside they saw Jesse helping Erika out of the car. She saw them and smiled at them, "Hey you guys! I'm so glad you were all able to find it just fine."

"Thank you for inviting us," Kelly said.

Jesse had moved around to the trunk and had opened it, Dennis and Randy, the fourteen year old twins were there waiting to grab their things. With everyone's help they were able to get all their bags in and to get the other five sleeping children inside and into the different rooms that they would be staying in.

They talked for a bit before they all separated and went into their own rooms to go to bed. Blake and Tori headed back into their room and got into the bed after getting ready. They laid there talking for a bit; they hadn't had much time to talk since he had come back earlier that day. Tori had finally gotten to the part with all the Christmas trees when Blake shifted closer to her, "I saw one of the trees when I was trying to find James, and it was white. Like there was snow or something on it. It was different."

"Miriama did say that there were five completely different trees in here. And you said it is always decorated each year?"

"That's what Jesse said that Erika said, even if they don't use this place."

Tori shook her head and then remembering what she wanted to say continued, "One of the trees is themed The Twelve Days of Christmas. It's actually quite cool. They have them grouped together but also separated."

"That is cool. So is there a Partridge in a Pear Tree, or is the tree it?"

She shook her head, "Miriama pointed that ornament out to me too."

"Well that answers that."

Tori moved closer to Blake, "I missed you."

"I missed you too. I'm glad that we're doing this, and that I'm here for this."

"Me too, and the kids are as well, you know that."

"I'm glad to see them too; it's not the same just talking on the phone with them."

"No, it's different."

Blake leaned down and kissed her cheek; then Tori moved so that their lips met. It didn't take long for them to continue celebrating.