Disclaimer: Don't own Rookie Blue or Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. This was posted on the McSwarek Advent Calendar.
A.N. Not sure where this one came from...Thank you to LAwoman for the suggestion and to SoWritten for reading this over and telling me I should post it anyway.
This is the result of writing something when I'm trying to finish all of my end-of-term papers.
Enjoy!
The alarm beeping woke her. She groaned as she nudged her husband. He moaned "five more minutes".
A sound came over the baby monitor. "Mommy!"
Andy sighed. "Seems someone is ready to get up."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Leave her. It's Christmas morning. She can stay in her crib for five more minutes." He turned over and fell asleep.
Andy sighed but let him sleep. He had drawn the short straw and had to work Christmas day. As soon as she found out, she had volunteered to work with him. Her father would take Kelly to St. Catharines and they would go after shift.
Kelly managed to entertain herself for a few minutes when she realized that neither of her parents were coming. Andy drifted to off, only to be woken by Kelly's singing.
"Gwandma got wun ova by a weindee, walking home fwom ow house Chwistmas eve, you can say thewe's no such thing as Santa, but as fow me and Gwandpa we bewieve"
Sam groaned as he woke. "Who taught her that song?"
Andy lifted her head. "The cartoon channel I left on for her when she was sick and I needed to finish some paperwork. There was a whole cartoon. I should probably get her before we hear the whole song."
Sam kissed her. "I got it. Besides, we need to get up so we can see her face when she opens her presents."
"Hopefully that word thing really works and helps her pronounce her 'r's" Andy muttered as Sam got out of bed.
Frank was in a generous mood (mind, he only stayed long enough to give out the assignments before heading home) and paired the two of them together.
They had been riding for an hour when they received a 9-1-1 call of a suspicious object. They met a man shoveling snow. He pointed to a spot in the snow.
Sam and Andy made their way over. Sam brushed the snow lightly and swore. "You have got to be kidding me.
When they found her Christmas mornin'
At the scene of the attack
She had hoof prints on her forehead
And Claus marks on her back
Andy raised an eyebrow. "Is that a hoof print?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. Call in Homicide."
Homicide found I.D. on the woman and left it up to Sam and Andy to break the news.
As they got in the cruiser, Andy looked at Sam. "What do we say? That someone was a little drunk and decided to take the song literally?"
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess, let's see what the family has to say first."
Grandma got ran over by a reindeer
Walking home from our house Christmas eve
You can say there's no such thing as Santa
But as for me and Grandpa, we believe
She'd been drinkin' too much egg nog
And we'd begged her not to go
But she'd forgot her medication
So she staggered out into the snow
When Sam knocked on the door, a woman answered the door. "Please tell me you found my mother. She left last night to get her medication and never came back."
"She had too much eggnog" a gangly boy muttered under his breath. "She was staggering when she left."
Andy almost choked. This story was sounding exactly like the song. She shook her head. "Can we come in Ma'am?"
The woman let her in and Sam and Andy found themselves in the middle of a family discussion.
Now were all so proud of Grandpa
He's been takin' this so well
See him in there watchin' football
Drinkin' root beer and playin' cards with cousin Belle
Andy thought that the woman's husband took it remarkably well. She wondered if he really got it that his wife was gone. One of the grandsons got really excited and told all of the other grandchildren that it was Santa. She glanced at Sam but the look in his eyes told her she'd better not roll her eyes. Instead, she started thinking about the grandfather. She pictured him watching football and playing cards and wondered if he had the same beliefs as his grandson. She gave an internal sigh as she realized that she had to get the picture of the cartoon out of her head.
They stayed with the family for a while until Luke called. They had caught the kid who jumped her and had decided to stamp her forehead with a hoof print. Not surprisingly, he was drunk and couldn't remember anything but his fingerprints were on the woman. The bigger issue, one that Sam and Andy didn't have to deal with, was whether or not the woman was alive when he 'branded' her.
The rest of their shift passed in silence.
It's not Christmas without Grandma
All the family's dressed in black
Do we open up her gifts or
Should we send them back?
Now the goose is on the table
And the pudding's made of fig
And the blue and silver candle
Would have matched Grandma's wig
After shift, they drove to St. Catharines. Andy stared out the window, thinking of her own grandmother. Her grandmother had died right before Christmas. After Grandma died, her mother had left within a year.
She remembered that Christmas. Everyone was dressed in black and the mood was not festive. Her parents had a long debate after she had gone to bed about whether or not to keep Grandma's gifts. Her father had won the argument, saying his mother would have wanted them to have her presents. Still, she remembered feeling guilty when opening the presents and how the candles reminded her of her grandmother's wig.
Sam grabbed her hand. "Hey, you okay?"
She smiled at him. "Yeah. Just thinking about my grandmother."
He squeezed her hand lightly. "It's okay sweetheart."
She rubbed a random pattern on his hand. "I know. It's just I feel like that silly song has been following me all day."
Sam pulled into Sarah's driveway. He saw Tommy holding Kelly and looking out the window. "Well, the day is over and it looks like someone is excited to see you."
Andy glanced at the window and saw Kelly struggling in her father's hold. She quickly got out of the car and headed towards the door, without waiting for Sam. She knew he would understand.
Of course, Sam spoke too soon. After Kelly hugged both of her parents, she dragged them into the den. Sarah's kids were all in front of the TV, watching a cartoon.
Andy groaned as the first picture came on the screen along with the strains of music. Sam just pulled her close and kissed her forehead as Kelly sat on her cousins lap on the cartoon began...
"Grandma got run over by a reindeer..."
A.N. Reviews make my day so let me know what you think.