Title: The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot
Author: Sivan Shemesh
Beta: tpena19
Disclaimer: Neither the song "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" nor Mag7 are mine…
Warning: Angst, family.
AU: 7B
A/N: Josiah is 21, Chris and Buck are 19, Nathan is 18, Vin is 10, JD is 8, Ezra is 6. Vin & JD attend one school, Ezra another.
Summary: Ezra is the only one in the family who is not feeling surprise or excitement about the upcoming holiday.
The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
(Connor/Carr/Leach)
He's the little boy that Santa Claus forgot,
And goodness knows, he didn't want a lot.
He sent a note to Santa
For some soldiers and a drum,
It broke his little heart
When he found Santa hadn't come.
In the street he envies all those lucky boys,
Then wanders home to last year's broken toys.
I'm so sorry for that laddie,
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy that Santa Claus forgot.
Spoken:
(You know, Christmas comes but once a year for every girl and boy,
The laughter and the joy they find in each brand new toy.
I'll tell you of a little boy that lives across the way...
This little fella's Christmas is just another day.
He's the little boy that Santa Claus forgot,
And goodness knows, he didn't want a lot.)
In the street he envies all those lucky boys,
Then wanders home to last year's broken toys.
I'm so sorry for that laddie,
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy that Santa Claus forgot.
(sung by Nat King Cole)
1.
Josiah carried papers and pens, for his younger brothers to write letters to Santa, over to the table.
He watched Vin and JD as they excitedly wrote down their wishes, and yet he could see the sadness in his littlest brother, staring down at the blank paper not knowing what he should do with it.
Josiah moved behind the little one and reached out, Ezra jumped as a hand squeezed his shoulder, and Josiah could see, even if only for a blink of the eye, the fear that lit the green eyes of his youngest brother.
"It's ok, Ezra, it's just me," Josiah told him gently and then added softly, "I shouldn't startle you and for that I'm sorry."
Ezra sighed in relief and then set his eyes back on the blank paper before him.
"I noticed that you aren't writing anything," Josiah pointed at the blank letter and asked, "Don't you want Santa to bring you any presents?"
Hearing the conversation, the other youngsters stared over at their brothers but kept their mouths shut not wanting to interrupt.
"Santa won't come." Ezra told him simply, but kept his eyes on the white paper.
Josiah took a chair and sat beside his brother, then he used one of his hands to raise Ezra's chin to look at his face before he asked softly, "Why won't Santa come?"
"Because… because…" Ezra started to say, but no words seemed to come after his first.
Josiah scanned his little brother, noticing the glint of fear in those green eyes, and how Ezra's shoulders were starting to shake.
"Because why, little brother?"
"I'm a bad boy." Ezra's sad voice replies, as his chin drops and tears, being slowly released from his watery eyes, fall down onto the paper.
"You are not a bad boy, little one." Josiah told him, and wished he could visit the wrath of God on whoever told his brother such hurtful words.
Ezra didn't respond but continued staring at the blank paper instead, as the past started to replay in his mind.
But he was a bad boy, his relatives had all told him that again and again…
He was clumsy, again, and had let the bowl of water fall from his hands.
His uncle James was glad that the boy had not held any important drinks that were supposed to be for the guests.
"You are clumsy, and a bad boy, Ezra, and I am not surprised to see that no one wants you as a son or brother." Uncle James told him, and then slapped him in the face.
Ezra tried not to cry as he felt the pain from the hit, or from the pain of the hurtful words.
"Stay in the attic and don't come down until I or your aunt tell you otherwise," James ordered him, "Do you understand?"
Ezra nodded, knowing that he had failed to show how good a boy he was.
He stayed in the attic for more than a day. His belly growled as he felt hungry, and yet no one came. It was yet another Christmas that he spent alone, and that Santa did not come.
"Ez…" Vin called to his brother, noticing how his little brother seemed to be focused on something that only he could see.
"He won't come," Ezra snapped, "Why Santa would come now when he forgot about me before?"
With that, the boy got up and ran to his room, slamming the door.
"That went well." Buck said sadly from where he and Chris had watched.
"What are we going to do?" Chris asked Josiah, noticing that his older brother seemed both as curious and as concerned about their little brother as he was.
"One thing at a time, Chris," Josiah replied, then sighed heavily as he dearly wanted to follow the boy and find out what had happened in the boy's past to cause such a reaction, yet he had the rest of the family to take care of too, "We are going to prepare for the holidays to come."
Vin quietly slipped from the room. He wanted to speak with Ez, to at least try to ease the pain that probably ate away at him during past holidays.
Standing in front of the door, his heart seemed to be beating harder and louder, Vin hesitated to knock as his shyness threatened to overwhelm him, maybe he should wait for Chris.
To his surprise, the door was opened; Vin could see the tears still falling from the green eyes of the boy in front of him. Ezra handed him a belt with a metal buckle and then stared at the floor.
"Ez…" Vin said, not knowing what he should do next.
"I suppose that I did it again," Ezra soberly told him, not lifting his eyes from the floor as he sadly added, "Santa won't come, I'm a bad boy…you can send your brothers to punish me now, I'm ready."
Vin opened his mouth, but no words came out. Too shocked to notice what he did next, he actually took the metal belt from his little brother's hands and left.
"Vin," Chris called when he saw his younger brother return and noticed that his skin was pale. He also saw the boy was holding a belt of some kind, "Where did you get that?"
"Ez…" Vin replied, his voice shaken, his heart still beating hard and fast.
"Calm down before you collapse." Nathan advised from where he had just sat down next to Josiah.
"Ez got it," Vin said as he gathered his breath, and then he added while looking at his brothers, "He gave me that," pointing to the belt, "Then told me to tell you that he is ready for his punishment."
"What?" Chris and the others yelled.
"But he did nothing wrong." JD said softly.
"We know, JD," Buck assured him, "But Ezra must believe otherwise; we just need to correct him."
TBC…