Sorry for any grammar issues...my grammar cop went on strike.... On to the story! Enjoy!

Sits in a big room eyes glancing around nervously. Spins around in black chair looking for the source of the electricity sound. Dr. Madden appears with shokers raised with an evil look in his eyes... OKAY okay... I don't own Next to Normal _ *Runs*

It was the holiday season in the Goodman's house. It was Christmas Eve, the decorations had not been touched and the wreath on their front door had been stolen by some of the jocks it Natalie's grade. It was just another average Christmas at the Goodmans.

Natalie sat stubbornly on the stairs in an attempt at 'looking nice.' She was wearing a red scoop neck shirt and a pair of jeans. The shirt was wrinkled from disuse. She had worn it to her eighth grade piano concert and surprisingly it still fit. Her father rushed around the house cleaning the living room. He pushed the unopened box of ornaments out of the way and moved the coffee table. Natalie watched him, unenthused. She heard her mother scrambling to find her other shoe upstairs. She did not want to know the current state of her parent's bedroom. Finally, Diana emerged at the top of the stairs. "Okay, I am ready." She announced.

"Great, can we get this over with?" Natalie asked, not moving. Her chin was rested on her knees. The doorbell rang and her father rushed to answer it. He let the photographer in and led him to the living room.

Diana managed to get around Natalie without falling down the stairs and went to sit on the couch next to her husband. "Natalie? Aren't you coming?"

Natalie stood up reluctantly. "Honestly mom, I don't see the point of taking family Christmas pictures on Christmas Eve. It's not like you can send them in cards…then again you never remember to send the cards."

"Natalie." Her father scolded her. "This is important to your mother."

Natalie let out a melodramatic sigh and rolled her eyes standing next to her father, who was sitting on the couch.

"Now," the photographer said, "Ma'am, would you scoot a bit to your left?"

Diana looked at the empty spot on the couch next to her wide-eyed.

"Di?" Dan questioned.

After a few minutes, she shook her head no. "I can't, that spot is for my son."

The photographer raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Diana. You said…"

"Dan…" She cut him off.

Dan let out a shaky breath and turned towards the photographer. "Our son, he won't be joining us tonight." He explained.

The photographer nodded stiffly, still unsure of what to say.

Diana glared at her husband. She refused to move over, so the photographer obliged to her wishes and took the photo, leaving a big empty spot next to Diana on the couch. He pulled the photo out of his ancient Polaroid camera. He passed the photo to Dan, who bought that copy along with other prints, which would be delivered in a week. The photographer packed up and rushed out of the house.

Diana picked up the photo, which had been left on the couch, already forgotten. She examined each family member in the photo, her eyes finally resting on her sons face. His blues eyes shone making him seem so youthful for eighteen. Her hand brushed over his face.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around.

"Mom? What are you doing?"

Diana gazed up at her son's comforting eyes. "Look, it's our family photo for this year." She handed him the photo.

"It looks great mom."

"I know. We all look so…happy." Diana smiled a bright smile, which was rarely seen.

"We do, don't we?" He handed the photo back to his mother, who looked at it another time, her gaze staying fixated on it for a few moments before setting it down.

Natalie walked by the living room and saw her mother talking to the emptiness of the room. She became frustrated and ran up the stairs, slamming her door. She stayed there until dark. She snuck back down into the kitchen to eat dinner and saw that in the living room her dad had put up a makeshift tree. It was a two-foot fiber optic tree. She rolled her eyes and their pathetic attempt at decorating and opened the fridge, grabbing the lunchmeat. She closed the fridge door and came face to face with their family photo. They all had fake smiles pasted on their faces and at a glance; they would be able to pass as your everyday average family. Her gaze followed her family's faces until her eyes were met with an empty space on the couch next to where her mother was sitting. She stared at it the emptiness for a while. She held the picture closer to her face and for a moment she thought she saw a pair of stunning blue eyes staring back at her. When she blinked, they were gone.