Christmas 1978

"Okay, let me just find the breaker box. Where's the flashlight?"

"Lumos."

"I told you, Liv. No magic. You promised."

"I thought you were just joking."

"That's what you said last time."

Liam had already grabbed the flashlight from the supply drawer and handed it out to Conner, effectively ending the argument.

"Why, thank you, little brother." Conner grinned, flipping it on with a flourish. "Now, let's going find the breaker box." He grabbed onto Olivia's hand and led her down the cellar steps.

"So," Eleanor said from behind Liam, an eyebrow quirked. "Explain this tradition to me again."

Liam turned toward her, corners of his mouth turned up in amusement. "Well, fifteen years ago, we lost power on Christmas Eve and, of course, Sean and Conner made a big deal about how it was going to be the worst Christmas ever. My mum tried to fix it by making us spend the entire night together in the den and, I swear, Sean and Conner wanted to make everyone miserable, complaining about every little thing and blaming me for the power outage – which now, come to think of it, might have actually been my fault because of an accidental magic thing – but anyways, we started playing made up games to pass time and it was really nice, so, now we do it every year. We start with the ceremonial turning off of the lights." Liam gestured toward the cellar where Eleanor could hear Conner and Olivia's muffled conversation. "And then we all gather in the den where we play our favorite game."

"And what would that be?"

Liam grinned. "A game of chance and 'what if's." Suddenly, they were surrounded in darkness. "Come on." Liam's hand found her's. "It's time to play."

-x-

Mrs. Pritchard was already sitting in the den, holding a sleeping Alannah to her shoulder while Eireen sat next to her, eyes large in the darkness. The only light source came from the large candle in the middle of the coffee table, so Eleanor couldn't see anything other than the outlines and vague facial features. She didn't know how this game was going to work when they couldn't see each other.

"Mum, are you playing this year?" Liam asked, taking a seat next to her by scooping Eireen up into his arms. The young girl squealed and then started squirming to get away.

"I'm going to watch Alannah so Conner and Olivia have the chance to play," Mrs. Pritchard responded, "Besides, it'll make the teams uneven and you know how Sean likes everything to be fair."

"We could have three teams though," Liam started to say, but then his mouth clamped shut, "Sean won't go for that either." Eireen had wiggled her way out of Liam's arms and went back to sitting on the floor in front of him, giggling madly.

"Happy Christmas!" As if he had heard his name, Sean came around the corner. Eleanor only knew it was him because of his shape – broad shoulders and body that towered over everyone else. Lindsay and Graham were right behind him, but not for long since Graham made a beeline for the Christmas tree as soon as he saw it.

"Why no lights?" he asked, poking the tree branches.

"It will be all lit up tonight for Santa Claus," Lindsay explained, taking the boy's hand, "And we have to make sure we leave those cookies for his present, right?"

Graham's smile was big enough to see. "Yes! He'll like them because I made them."

"Yes, he will!" Sean agreed with a pleased tone.

"Okay!" Conner and Olivia emerged from the kitchen. "It is time to start – The Game," Conner announced, clasping his hands together as if we had announced a sinister plot. "Rules are simple. There are two teams."

"I choose Lindsay!" Sean interrupted.

"And," Conner shot his brother a glare, "It goes in turns. One team will take an event that happened in the past – like weddings or graduations or something trivial like learning to ride a bike which, may I remind you all, was ten years old for our dear Liam-"

"Really?"

"And the event has to be something that is known by everyone, which is why we made it a past event in the first place. Sean kept coming up with apocalypse scenarios and we just ended up getting really frustrated and yelling at each other and that really wasn't the best Christmas Eve we've had-"

"Okay, okay," Sean exclaimed, "Go on."

"So, then the team will take that event and change it. This year's theme, like every year coincidentally, is Christmas. We will change every event to be Christmas themed. For example, if you wanted to take Liam riding a bike-"

"You are kidding me right now."

"The team would go up to the stage, which is right in front of the Christmas tree, and one person would ride a pretend bike and then they would run into Rudolph and realize they had accidentally rode right into Santa's sleigh. Unfortunately, the Liam actor would still not be able to ride a bike correctly, but no fear, Santa's there. So the Santa actor would use his magic and that would be how Liam learned to ride a bike. And that would be a scene."

"So, the other team would guess what they just acted out? Like charades?" Eleanor asked.

Conner shook his head. "No, the other team just gets to watch and laugh at the absurdity of it all. We only really have teams because Sean likes to be competitive and then he grades every scenario and adds points and somehow, his team always wins. We just humor him."

"It's a game," Sean interjected. "There has to be teams and someone has to win. Otherwise, we're just entertaining each other with Christmas stories based on our lives. And that's just...lame."

"Fun," Conner corrected him. "Okay, so the teams are-"

"I want to be on Sean and Lindsay's team!" Olivia proclaimed.

Conner blinked at her. "But that means we're on separate teams."

"I'm doing you a favor!" Olivia said, "Eleanor's smart. With her, you'll probably win this year."

"Nope," Sean grinned.

"I'm not really that creative actually," Eleanor tried to say, but Conner was already being pushed toward her and Liam.

"Fine," Conner grumbled and sat down with a pout.

Sean, Lindsay, and Olivia went first to show Eleanor exactly how to play. They stood in front of the tree, flashlights illuminating their faces as they acted out Graham's birth. Eleanor knew the the basic details of that day – how they went to London for a vacation and Lindsay went into labor as soon as they got there – and that really was all she needed to know because they completely changed the story. Instead of going to London, they pretended that the Pritchards had decided on a trip to a famous ice rink in Ireland during the Christmas season. Since everything, including time and dates, could be changed in the game, they made up that Lindsay had been ready to give birth to a baby in December. There was something about Olivia being the only one there to help with the delivery (everyone else got stuck in a snow drift) and then Lindsay had given birth to a boy on Christmas Day. And, just as Sean was about to name the baby Jesus, everyone else came in and stopped them.

End scene.

"Okay." Conner gestured for Liam and Eleanor to come closer. "How are we going to beat that? The baby naming thing? Genius."

"A bit insensitive," Liam mumbled.

"Come on. You know Sean threw that in there for a plot twist. We need something better!" Conner glanced up, eyes falling on his brother, wife, and sister-in-law. Maybe he thought that they were eavesdropping, but instead, they were playing with the children, laughing loudly. "Aha!" He looked between Liam and Eleanor. "Your first meeting."

"You weren't there for that," Liam pointed out.

"Alternate universe, dear brother," Conner exclaimed. "What if you met Eleanor because of me?"

"It'd be a horror story?" Liam supplied.

"No, no, it'd be brilliant. Okay, so I introduced you to Eleanor. How?" He looked over at Eleanor with squinted eyes.

Eleanor bit down on the side of her cheek and then, with a shrug, said, "I might have an idea."

-x-

"I'm sorry for this," Liam said as soon as they stood in front of everyone, pulling a Santa hat over his hair.

"Shut it," Conner mumbled and then put on a bright smile. "So, Liam, Olivia says she knows a girl that went to that magic school of yours."

Liam, who before now hadn't been into the whole acting thing, changed his demeanor immediately. He straightened up and actually put a quizzical look on his face. "Conner, I told you I'm not going to date any of your "choices" anymore."

"Yeah, but it's Christmas!" Conner gestured around him.

"Really?" Liam deadpanned. "I would have never guessed from the way you forced me to dress up like Santa for your party tonight."

Conner waved him off. "You volunteered to wear that hat and beard if I remember correctly. Anyway, I've already met her so I know you'd like her. Just your type too. Smart and I think Olivia said she was in your house – something Raven-"

Liam paused. "Who?"

"Eleanor Bennett, I believe."

"She was in my year," Liam said, "But she dated Joseph Carrington all throughout school. I thought they were still together."

Conner's face lit up. "You mean, you fancied her? Perfect then!"

Liam shrugged. "I'm just saying, I thought they were still together. Maybe even married at this point. Wait a second, how did you already meet her?"

"We met at a Christmas party," Conner explained.

"We're at a Christmas party."

"How about that?" Conner said, false shock on his face. "What a coincidence. Oh, and I think I see her right now." He ran to the side, pulling on Eleanor's hand. She couldn't help but laugh. "Liam Pritchard, Eleanor Bennett. Eleanor Bennett, Santa Claus."

Eleanor tilted her head to the side. "Nice to meet you, Santa." Liam took her hand and shook it slowly. "It's kind of a busy this time of year. What are you doing here?"

"Uh, just delivering gifts to some of the kids here," Liam answered after a pause. "Eating cookies and drinking milk and being jolly and all of that too...I guess," he faltered, taking a deep breath before saying, "It's nice to see you again."

"What are you talking about? I see you every year," Eleanor joked.

"Yeah," Liam said after a pause. "Conner made me wear the costume. I think he's trying to embarrass me," he admitted.

"Maybe he's just trying to bring joy-" Eleanor was cut off as a spring of mistletoe came into view, carried by a stick. "Or maybe he's trying to embarrass you."

"He does this every year, actually," Liam said, "He also likes to find a pretty girl and watch me make a fool out of myself, so-"

Eleanor bit down on her bottom lip as the sprig of mistletoe started fluttering around, catching her hair. It took everything for her to keep character. "Yeah, um, do you just want to ignore this?" She pointed to the sprig which had nestled its way into her braid.

Liam took a deep breath. "I suppose. Santa can't be seen kissing someone under the mistletoe, after all."

There was a short silence, perfectly awkward for the Liam and Eleanor in the scenario and just long enough for the real Liam and Eleanor to gather their wits. "Here." Eleanor decided, leaning forward and stepping up on her toes to take the Santa hat from Liam. She put it on her own head with a shy smile. "He can be seen with Mrs. Claus, right?"

Liam hesitated for a second before allowing himself to smile. "I guess that would be okay. Is that okay with Mrs. Claus though? Sometimes, she doesn't like to be seen in public with her jolly, old man."'

"She makes exceptions," Eleanor responded, taking a step forward. "And I suppose this would be a good time for one."

They tried to make their kiss look like an awkward first one, but they knew each other too well not to fall into the familiarity. Liam's hands immediately cupped her face, pulling her toward him, and they only broke away when they remembered it was just for a scene.

"Ehhh," Sean finally spoke, "Festive, I guess, but Liam, you should have been wearing a real beard if you were going to be Santa and Eleanor, you had to react to the beard. Maybe pull on it or something. And Santa always has a twinkle in his eye. You were missing the twinkle, Liam!"

Liam rolled his eyes, giving Eleanor a knowing look.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Conner argued, crossing the room. "I didn't see you bring real snow in for your snow drift, so don't complain about twinkling and beards."

"And the mistletoe thing?" Sean added, ignoring the way Conner was practically dancing around him, complaining about his scene. "That was a rip-off of the whole Christmas party from two years ago. We already tried the whole Liam and Eleanor under the mistletoe thing. Try to be original, please."

"It was Eleanor's idea and completely original," Conner responded, "Santa and the missus under the mistletoe? Come on."

Eleanor laughed, watching the arguing brothers as she sat back down, pulling Liam with her. It would be awhile before the game resumed, but she was perfectly okay with it.

Liam wasn't even bothered; he shrugged when she looked at him and then leaned forward to say, "Nice acting."

"I don't think I would have been that bold with the teasing though," Eleanor mused, "But it wasn't supposed to be real anyway."

Liam nodded. "I sure hope so. I like to think you wouldn't have stayed with Joseph that long."

Eleanor turned to look at him. She was still wearing the Santa hat and it was beginning to drop over her eyes. Liam smiled, lifting it back over her hair. "I would have noticed you," Eleanor finally said. "Even if we weren't friends. Even if I was with Joseph. I would have."

He dipped down, kissing her on the forehead. "And I would have waited. Happy Christmas, Mrs. Claus."

She tilted her head up, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Happy Christmas, Mr. Claus." She paused, moving back. "Sean's right. Your lack of beard ruins this entire moment."

"No," Liam exclaimed with a snort. "Santa is clean shaven this year. He is not growing a beard."

Sean sighed, the argument between him and Conner finally coming to an end. "I am deeply saddened by your statement, Liam. I suppose one of his brothers will have to fill in for him." Everyone looked at him. It was evident he hadn't shaven in awhile. "I will take my duties seriously."

"Oh, no," Lindsay groaned.

"Now," the future Santa Claus exclaimed, "My team is seventy-two points ahead. For our next scene, we're going to need the Christmas crackers."

Happy holidays to all who celebrate!

Just in case you're confused by the timeline, this happens the Christmas after the wedding. I realize it's kind of a crack fic, but it's also fun and light-hearted and merry (I hope).

Thanks for reading!