Everything about the season was magical for Cal. His parents usually took him down south for the holiday season, where it was warmer, but this year they'd left him at his aunt and uncle's while they took some personal time to get away.
And he was loving it. The days were shorter, but brighter with all the snow. He'd never really gotten to play in it before. Nighttime was even better. The Christmas lights on their front porch made the icicles turn all sorts of colors, and illuminated the falling snowflakes. He could go outside and touch the cold, see it firsthand and never be too far from the warm, cozy house, where there was always a fire going and holiday movies on the TV.
That Christmas Eve, Cal was restless. There was so much excitement in the air. The Christmas tree was decorated with a few perfectly wrapped presents gathered underneath it. Cal knew that fun things awaited him, and that he just had to be patient.
But he had very little patience. He sat parked in front of the tree and watched the lights twinkle around the bows and ribbons for a while. Then he'd zip over to the picture window on the other side of the room and watch big, fat snowflakes fall from the sky onto the already covered front yard.
"He's been runnin' in circles all day." Lynda told Strip, coming into the living room from the kitchen and joining him in front of the TV. "We need to wear him out so he sleeps tonight."
"I tried to keep him focused on the movies for a while." Strip told her. "He got bored real quick."
"Why don't you take him outside?" she prompted. "He's never really got to play in the snow before."
"You know I can't drive in the snow." he reminded her. "Last time I tried I was stuck in a ditch for hours."
"It ain't that deep." she didn't fall for his excuse. "Just take him out in the back yard and let him experience it. But not for too long, I don't want him to get too cold."
Strip sighed. "Yes, ma'am."
He started his engine, which immediately got the kid's attention. Cal whipped around and stared in excitement at the racecar.
"You wanna go outside, Cal?" Strip asked him.
"Yes!" Cal squealed, popping a wheelie in excitement.
"Come on, then." Strip led him towards the back of the house and out onto the back deck. "Now listen to me, I have some rules for you. Stay close to the deck and don't try and drive too fast, you hear?"
Cal smiled at him and laughed. He spun his wheels taking off for the white wonderland before him. The ramp leading off of the wooden deck and into the yard was wet and slippery, and Cal lost traction almost as soon as he started moving. He slid down the ramp sideways, laughing the whole time. He then spun around and plowed nose first into five inches of snow.
Not that deep, huh? Strip thought to himself. Five inches was pretty deep for a racecar, especially a very small one.
Cal revved his engine and started doing donuts right there in front of the deck, spraying snow all over everything, including his uncle. Strip shook the snow off and continued to watch from where he sat. Cal was having the time of his life. He was fearless, plowing into the snow and letting himself slide all over the place. He jumped out of the area he'd cleared by doing donuts into a small snowbank. It was an impressive leap for someone so small, but he paid for it. His rear wheels could no longer reach the ground, and he was unable to wriggle his way out of it.
"Help! Ship, help!" Cal yelled, flailing his tires around. "Stuck!"
"Really?" Strip groaned. "It's been five minutes, you're not ten feet away, and you get yourself stuck. And now I have to go down there and get you out."
"Stuck!" Cal repeated, just in case he wasn't making himself clear. "Ship, stuck!"
"I know, I know." Strip hesitantly moved forward onto the ramp. "I'm coming."
It was slick. Strip slowly edged his way down the ramp, but the moment his center of gravity was no longer above the flat surface of the deck, he quickly slid down to the ground, which in turn greeted him with a mouthful of snow.
Strip got himself positioned on the ground, spit the snow out, and analyzed the situation. Cal wasn't that far away, and all he needed was a little push. It couldn't be that hard.
"Alright, Cal." Strip crept up next to him. "I'm gonna push you back the way you came, and I want you to go back up on the deck. We've had enough fun for today."
"Awww." Cal pouted. "Okay."
Strip worked his way through the snow so that he was angled in front of Cal, and gave the kid a push off of his perch. Cal slid backwards into the semi-cleared area, and, happy to be free, did another donut before rocketing back towards the house. He gunned it for the ramp, but even at maximum effort, he lost grip about halfway up and slid back down.
Cal grunted and tried again, unsuccessfully. When he came to a rest at the bottom, he began to shiver. It was time to get him back inside. Strip waded toward him.
"C-c-c-cold." Cal stuttered, leaning up against his uncle when he arrived next to him.
"Let's get you back inside." Strip told him. "Keep your engine running. Do you think if I push you, you can make it up the ramp?"
Cal just looked at him, unsure. "Try." he answered, acting determined.
"Alright, now when I give you a push, I want you to drive as hard as you can." Strip backed up a little and found some traction.
He lowered his nose and moved as fast as he dare towards the pint-size car. It worked, he hit him square in the rear bumper and sent him flying up the ramp and into the side of the house. Cal recovered from the impact almost instantaneously and turned to face his uncle, still sitting in the snow.
"Inside!" Cal encouraged him with a smile. "Iss warm!"
Strip pushed himself up on the ramp. He soon found that he wasn't going anywhere anytime fast. His rear tires couldn't find an ounce of traction once they hit the wood. He slid back and forth trying to find some place that had grip, but there were none to be found. He was stuck.
"Cal, go get your aunt." he told the shivering kid.
Cal flew into the house, leaving tire tracks of snow all over the carpet. Strip heard Lynda scold him, and then the inevitable sound of her laughter. Moments later she came to the back door, smiling.
"What's this I hear about a ship bein' stuck?" she asked, choking back laughter.
"Just go get the winch. Please."
Later when they'd dried off and warmed back up, they watched it get dark outside. The TV station they had on started playing the children's Christmas movies, and despite being very tired, Cal wanted to stay up and watch them. This was the first time they'd ever made sense to him, what with the snow and the decorations and all.
Eventually, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Lynda took him into the room he was staying in and tucked him in, staying with him and telling him holiday stories until he fell asleep. When she was sure he was out, she came back to snuggle with her husband in front of the glowing fire.
"It's been a good year." she said, leaning up against him.
"One of the best yet." he agreed, leaning against her as well. He looked over at her, the lights from the tree reflecting off her glossy paint. "You know, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this."
"Of what?" she asked, looking back at him.
"You know, everythin'. Me 'n you, here. By the fire, with the cold outside." he explained, giving her an affectionate little wiggle. "It's just nice is all I'm sayin'."
She smiled. "I love you."
Later on, they went and unstashed a bunch of presents they'd hidden from Cal and put them under the tree. They then dampened the fire a little so that it wouldn't burn out of control, and went to bed.
The morning light was just starting to brighten the sky when Cal came creeping into their room. He woke Lynda first, as she was parked nearest to the door. He nudged her front tire a couple times and stopped to look to see if she was awake.
"Auntie Lynda!" he whispered much to loudly to be characterized as an actual whisper. "Wake up! Is Chrissmas! Wake up!"
He nudged her a little more urgently until she opened her eyes. She looked at the clock. It was barely seven in the morning. She then gazed down at the small, excited face staring back up at her.
"Is Chrissmas!" he repeated, wiggling excitedly.
"Mm-hm." she replied quietly. "And very early on Christmas, too."
"Wake up!" Cal insisted, driving around her to try and wake his uncle, still sound asleep. "Ship! Up! Now! Is Chrissmas time!"
"You're gonna hafta try harder than that." Lynda laughed softly.
Cal revved his engine and rushed forward to hit his uncle's tire as hard as he could. "Ship! Waaaake up! Wake up!" he yelled.
Strip moved a little, made a sound of discontent, and went right back to sleep. Lynda sighed, reached out, and smacked him in the side. He jolted awake.
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Cal was chanting, driving closer and nudging him. "Ship! Wake up!"
"Okay, okay, Ship's awake." Strip muttered hoarsely, looking down at the bundle of energy that had somehow manifested itself in the shape of a child.
Lynda told Cal she wanted to show him something out on their bedroom balcony, distracting the kid while Strip went down to turn all the lights on and get some holiday music playing. While Lynda was trying to get Cal to imagine the disappearing stars in the morning sky were reindeer flying off, Strip rekindled the fire and made sure everything was in place. Despite Cal not being his kid, he still felt strangely responsible for him, and wanted to give him the best experience a kid that age could have.
Cal came flying down to the living area ahead of Lynda, nearly plowing into the tree and presents underneath. He stopped just short of them and took a moment to again stare at the tree in all its glory. The lights reflected the hope and excitement in his eyes.
"Cute, isn't he?" Lynda commented, sidling up next to her husband. "He's so excited."
Strip just smiled and watched as Cal carefully looked for a present that had his name on it - the only thing he could read at that point. He found one, and excitedly pointed it out to them. "It say Cal!"
"Well, I guess it's yours then." Lynda told him, going over and pulling it out from under the tree. "Can you open it by yourself?"
Cal nodded and tore into it. It was a gift from his parents- removable racecar stickers that they'd had customized for him. He loved watching the races so much, at that age he knew he wanted to be one. Now he could feel like one.
Lynda kept his stuff organized as he tore through the presents. Most of them were for him, with only a few exceptions. They kept their own presents separate for when after he was done, so they could have time to open them while he was distracted with his new toys.
Strip helped him put the stickers on and set up a small tile track they'd gotten him, so he could run in circles in the middle of the room to his heart's content. It kept him occupied.
"Now, where were we?" he asked Lynda, coming back over to her.
"You tell me." she smiled, going and pulling a small box out from way behind the tree.
He went and retrieved her gift as well, and they traded. Buying gifts for each other was one of the hardest things they ever did. They both had everything they wanted for the most part, and as long as they were together, there was little they could ask for.
"You go first." she told him.
"No, I want you to." he argued. "I'm always first."
"Nope, I told you to first." she refused.
"But, I - " she cut him off mid-sentence with a kiss. He couldn't argue if he couldn't use his mouth.
"Ewwww." Cal commented from across the room, still making laps on his little track, watching them, but not missing a beat.
They both laughed at him. Strip gave in and opened his gift first. Inside the box were a couple pieces of paper. He glanced through them and suddenly was reminded of all the things he'd ever wanted to do and all the places he'd wanted see but hadn't had time to.
"I planned it all out." Lynda explained. "After next season is over, we're gonna hit every historic raceway, every national park you've ever wanted to see. And it's gonna be leisurely. Just the two of us."
It was very detailed, he noticed as he looked closer at the dates and destinations.
"You really outdid yourself, Lyn." he smiled. "This is great! Thank you."
She winked at him and went to open her present, which was considerably bigger. She tore the paper off and flipped the box lid open.
"Awww." she was in love. "Strip, you didn't."
"You like 'em?" he asked, watching her examine the case of new chrome finishings. If he knew anything about her sense of style, the fancier the chrome, the better.
"They're beautiful!" she exclaimed. "You have wonderful taste. Really."
"Can't wait to see 'em on you." he told her.
"Thank you." she said with a smile, moving in for another kiss.
Cal continued to make disgusted sounds until they backed away from each other, laughing at him. They looked at him, having an absolute blast, and then glanced back at each other. The snow had started to fall again outside, drifting along to the slow beat of the music playing in the background. Everything was at peace. It was the best Christmas they'd had together so far.