Hi guys! So this is just a small one-shot of a scene I think should've happened during the episode maybe. Something small that was nothing but a pleasure to write. So this is basically Christmas Eve and the kids all stay up and listen to Jesus tell a good old memory from the twins' first Christmas.
Hope you all enjoy!
And Happy Holidays everyone!
The Night before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.
Callie couldn't sleep. She lay awake, her eyes staring aimlessly at the dull ceiling above her. The air in the house seemed to be filled with such excitement that it found its way through her veins, causing her not to be able to close her eyes for longer than a few minutes.
She was fighting an inner argument with herself based on whether or not she should go downstairs and get some milk. She didn't want to untangle herself from the cocoon of warm blankets, but she didn't really want to lay here staring at the ceiling he entire night.
Eventually, she came to a conclusion where she'd have to get up some time soon considering it was 3 am and she didn't want to spend the entire night doing nothing in her bed. Besides, a cold glass of milk was most likely going to get her to fall asleep anyways.
Unlike most children, who'd have a warm glass of milk to cure their excitement, Callie needed a cold one. In fact, she hated the way warm milk tasted. How could anyone possibly drink something that's been in the fridge warm? It was like not tying your shoes when you indeed had shoelaces.
So slowly, trying her hardest to not wake Mariana, Callie unfolded herself from the warm, loving sensation her bed would always hand her, and make her way down the stairs, feeling as though the glass of milk was awaiting her.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.
Making her way downstairs, she passed the window and stopped for a few seconds. The crystal snow fell effortlessly onto the soft, white ground, making the world seem like everything was moving in slow motion. It almost felt like that for her.
This was a luxury Callie thought she'd never receive again. The capability to be happy and excited for Christmas. To celebrate it with people she truly did love for the first time in a long time. Instead of being crowded in a foster home filled with plenty of other children, or abused by drunk or stoned foster parents who probably didn't even know it was Christmas, Callie was here. She was safe. She and Jude were safe.
They truly, deeply were. There was no fear, no stress. Nothing unpleasant, other than Stef and her mother bickering, which was slightly amusing in all honesty. It was home. It was signs of love and hope and home. It was home. Callie never thought she'd be able to say she'd be celebrating Christmas with her family until she got married and had children of her own. But, she could now. And it felt amazing.
Slowly, Callie walked over to the kitchen, yawning in exhaustion. No, Callie scolded herself intently. No, do not get tired now, right after I got out of bed. C'mon Callie don't be out of it.
"Callie?" A voice whispered tiredly, causing Callie to jump in surprise. Callie turned around, revealing a soft sigh once she saw who it was. "Why are you awake?" Jesus went to grab himself a mug, filling it with water.
"Couldn't sleep," she admit, pouring herself some milk in her own Christmas mug. "The energy in this house on Christmas Eve is too strong, you know." Jesus managed a weak laugh, sipping some water.
"Never thought I'd hear that," he laughs in irony, handing Callie a gingerbread man cookie from the box on the counter. "All I feel is pressure and stress and tiredness. Holiday's always get me tired."
"Yeah I feel that, too," Callie states. "But that's what makes this a real family, you know. Nothing is forced or fake. This is real. All of it. I guess I just forgot what real family Holiday's felt like."
Jesus smiled at her, Callie reflecting the same smile. It was the type of smile you'd give someone once they understand you. The smile of 'I know what that's like'. Callie almost forgot that Jesus and Mariana had been in the foster system. They've been here for so long, experienced more with the Fosters than Callie and Jude have, that it felt like they were here all along.
"I remember what it was like to spend my first Christmas here," he says, a different kind of smile forming onto his lips. The one that you wouldn't really notice you had on until someone told you that you've been smiling. The one when you remember memories. Good memories.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all"
"Mariana and I," he begins, sitting across from Callie on the table, slouching slightly. "We still believed in Santa Clause-" Before he can finish, Callie cuts him off.
"Wait," she says harshly, a hint of surprise coming along her voice. "Are you telling me Santa isn't real?" Jesus breaks into a few chuckles, Callie giggling as well.
"Anyways, where was I before you interrupted me? Which is totally rude by the way," he states in a joking voice, Callie nodding along, a smile plastered across her face. "We still believed in Santa, so Stef and Lena got Mike to dress up as him. I remember Brandon laughing hysterically all the way from the kitchen."
Callie starts laughing louder than before, covering her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Jesus begins to laugh slightly as well, the memory fresh in his mind.
"What's going on?" A stern voice asks, causing Jesus and Callie to look into the direction of where it came from. There, stood Brandon, Mariana and Jude, all clueless expressions upon their tired faces. Brandon's voice had been stern yet low, but it still seemed to boom around the room in echoes.
"Callie and I couldn't sleep," Jesus indicates. "So I'm telling her the story about when Mike dressed up as Santa on Mariana and I's first Christmas here." Mariana and Brandon started laughing at the familiar memory, and Jude wore a large grin.
"Mike dressed up as Santa?" Jude asked in utter disbelief as his three other siblings laughed hysterically. "Yup," Mariana confirmed, still giggling furiously. "It was crazy."
"I have to hear this," Jude began to laugh as well, making his way to the kitchen to sit next to Callie but instead Brandon insisted they go sit on the couch to be more comfortable instead.
They made their way to the living room, getting comfortable together. Jesus sat on the loveseat with Brandon, Jesus slouching and Brandon practically laying down. Callie, Jude and Mariana all sat on the big couch, Jude in between the two girls.
"So Jesus," Callie spoke quietly. "Please, continue." Jesus just nodded, getting himself comfortable.
"So anyways," he began once more. "As I told Callie, On Mariana and I's first Christmas here, we still believed in Santa, so Stef and Lena got mike to dress as Santa for us. I remember he came in with this bug red suit and a puffy beard on."
"At first, Brandon almost ruined it by almost calling him 'Dad' considering he was in on the whole Santa thing, which Mom almost slapped him on the head for. Anyway, Mike sat on the couch and got Mariana to sit on his lap first. I remember she wouldn't quit talking, it was so annoying. She kept saying she wanted all sorts of dolls and stuff."
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
"Eventually, Mariana finished telling him her list, which was as tall as Jude by the way," Jesus included, causing a small laugh from everyone but Mariana who glared at him harshly. "It was my turn. Of course, me being all ADHD and all, I sat on his lap and the first thing I did was tug onto his bead, which fell off."
Everyone begins to laugh, Mariana and Brandon remembering the memory as though it were yesterday, Callie and Jude seeing it so clearly in their head despite the fact that they weren't there. Their imaginations making out the image perfectly for them.
"At first I was totally shocked when his beard fell off, but the best was when I noticed it was Mike. Brandon started laughing even louder, Mariana started asking Mama why Mike was dressed that way, and Stef instructing me off his lap and telling him that he could leave," Jesus smiles and everyone laughs.
"Despite the fact that it was utter chaos when Moms told us that Santa wasn't real, and the intense crying coming from Mariana's part, it was still one of the best Christmas' I've ever had," Jesus stated, a smile forming upon his lips. "It was the first time we spent Christmas together, as a family. And it was the first time Mariana and I truly felt loved after being in the foster system and with Ana. And that's what made it special."
Jude and Callie shared a look, smiles across both of their faces. This was their first Christmas they would spend with their real family. It was odd to think of it that way. Their family. Callie never thought she would say that again in a long time. But it felt good.
"Well Jesus," Brandon smiled at him, a smug smile forming onto his soft lips. "I see you're quite the poet, huh?" Everyone laughed lightly, exhaustion slowly making its way into all of their bodies. Callie felt the excitement in her veins fade slowly as she laid her head onto Jude's right shoulder lightly.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
"Please," Mariana laughed lightly in irony. "Jesus could never create something amazing or creative. I mean, he totally paid me to help him with the decoration competition." Brandon gasped sarcastically in an over exaggerated manner.
"How dare you, Jesus Adams Foster," Brandon exclaimed, acting as though someone had hurt him deeply, his hands crossed across his chest. "I thought you would've paid me instead, traitor!"
"What the hell were you supposed to do with a broken arm?" Brandon shrugged lightly. "Well first I could wack you with my real one." Everyone laughs once again. Eventually, they all fall silent, absorbing each other's company.
"I never thought we'd have two more kids spending Christmas with us again. Two more siblings," Brandon states, a smile directed towards Callie and Jude. "I thought Mariana and Jesus finished us. Finished our family."
Jude and Callie stared at him, their eyes boring into his. "But I don't think I've ever been more wrong."
Another flash of smiles goes across the room one last time. And then the room falls silent, and they're all asleep. The only thing running through their veins right now, is love.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread
Lena and Stef made their way down the stairs, their hands clutched together tightly as they made their way to the living room. Once they arrived, the two women stopped dead in their tracks at the sight they were seeing.
Brandon was asleep, sprawled across the floor, Jesus on the couch, one of Brandon's feet by his face. Jude's head laid against Callie's shoulder, Mariana leaning against him and Callie's arm wrapped around Jude tightly.
Stef and Lena stared at each other, a smile forming on each of their faces. Slowly, Stef leaned in brushing her lips against Lena's.
"Merry Christmas, My Love."
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"
Hope you all enjoyed! Leave a review if you'd like!