Once Upon a Storybrooke Christmas Carol
Chapter One
The morning of Christmas Eve arrived in Storybrooke as it arrived all over the world, and the Wicked Witch was still at large. Most of the townsfolk were excited and busy as they were preparing for the holiday by decorating their homes, shops, and the square, while others were more apprehensive about doing so, so long as Zelena was free to roam around and cause trouble for whoever might be her next intended target. Despite being among them, Mary Margaret and David were determined to celebrate Christmas the way it always should be celebrated.
The Charmings walked from their loft to the diner for breakfast, where Granny had prepared for everyone a special old fashioned Christmas breakfast. Popovers, homemade bread and butter, and sausages, with fresh coffee or hot cocas with cinnamon to drink. Ruby happily helped her grandmother to cook and then serve it all as she always has once David, Mary Margaret, Emma, and Henry were seated.
Mary Margaret was the first to speak up as both women served them saying, "My goodness, Granny. This food looks delicious! You and Ruby must have spent so much time on it."
The old woman laid her hand on her hip after she picked up the empty serving tray and responded, "Perhaps so, but Christmas only comes once a year and I thought this year I'd try to do something a little different. Besides, with all that's happened with that witch and losing someone close to…"
"I'm sorry," she quickly stated apologetically upon seeing both Emma and Henry look away from everyone sadly at the mention of Neal's death that occurred only days ago and then she continued. "It's just that everyone here deserves what I hope will be a distraction from all the fear we've experienced since she's come to town."
"By 'witch,' I take it you mean that woman who killed my dad?" Henry questioned despondently, then to avoid his mother's gaze he turned to David who simply nodded yes to answer his grandson without another word about Neal or Zelena.
"You are absolutely right, Granny," Mary Margaret replied excitedly to Granny's sentiment about trying to bring a little hope back into their lives, while everyone else began to eat. "We're going to have a wonderful Christmas. And that's why tonight we're going to have ourselves a grand celebration. We've never done so before and not since we've awakened from the curse. I think it's about time we did. I've called a few others to join us in a bit so we can plan the festivities. Belle, Ashley, Kathryn, Aurora, and uh… Tink. That's a uh… a nickname we have for…"
Henry didn't appear to be paying any attention to the names the princess had just spoken because if he had been, he might have noticed that most of them were the same as their fairytale personas and the thirteen year old boy who was still without his memories of magic or the fairytale world, might have looked at everyone at the table like something even more strange was going on there than he already suspected, or worse… just thought them all to be crazy.
She quickly looked between her best friend and Ruby's grandmother as she added, "Of course I'd love it if you would both join us too."
The young woman known by most of those in the diner as Red Riding Hood smiled eagerly as she exclaimed, "Are you kidding? We'd love to help plan a big Christmas party. But if we're going to be inviting the entire town, we're going to need to find a bigger place to have it at… rather than right here."
"We'll talk about that," Mary Margaret responded, then turned to look up at her daughter with concern as Emma stood up when she finished what little food she actually ate and began to bundle up again in her coat, scarf, and gloves before leaving. "Emma… what's wrong? Aren't you going to stay to help us?"
"I can't," she answered quietly, once again avoiding her mother's gaze while she finished getting ready to go out into the cold. "I have things to do down at the station and then I have to go out on patrol. Someone's got to."
David stood up even though he hadn't finished eating and replied, "I can go make the rounds. I'll enlist Leroy, Robin and John, or maybe even Ho… Killian to help. You ought to stay here with your mother and the others to enjoy making plans for tonight's party."
The Savior put on her knit hat, then responded, "I'd really rather not. I'm not really one who enjoys celebrating Christmas like most people. I'd just prefer to do my job. I'll be around if you need me. And I'll see you after the party tonight. Have fun."
"She's not wrong," Henry said to the others again despondently after his mother left the diner. "Mom would celebrate with me a little. At least back when I actually still believed in Santa Claus so I wouldn't feel left out, or be made fun of by the other kids in school. But that was really all she could bring herself to do. She wouldn't ever tell me why she was so put off by Christmas, but I have a feeling it has to do with growing up on her own for so long. And in the foster care system. I think things were pretty rough for her."
"That's… that's certainly understandable," Mary Margaret answered sadly as she looked down at her plate of food ashamedly, knowing the real fault belonged with her and David, while the prince reached down to take his wife's hand in his own to try to offer her some small comfort.
He then spoke up again when he too finished eating and began to pull on his own jacket while saying, "I think that I'm going to go see if I can help out some of our friends finish decorating the square and anywhere I might be needed. Henry, what do you say? Would you like to join me so that the women can discuss the plans for tonight's celebration without us? I can say with a certainty us men aren't needed here."
The teenager smiled and quickly finished his hot coca, then quickly got ready to go outside as well while he replied, "That'd be great."
"Tonight's party is going to be just what everyone needs right now despite Zelena being out there lurking about," Ruby exclaimed after David and Henry left, then took a seat in the booth across from her best friend as she reached out to lay her hand over the top of Mary Margaret's. "You'll see. And do you know what? Christmas is the season for miracles. Have hope that Emma will come around and join in the celebration tonight."
"Is Emma not going to be joining us tonight too?" Tinker Bell asked after she, Belle, and Regina walked into the diner through the back, while Kathryn, Ashley, and Aurora entered through the front door.
Thomas walked in behind his wife with their daughter Alexandra in his arms, as did Philip behind Aurora with their son Phillip, and Frederick came in with Kathryn. However, the men with the two children took a separate booth from the women so they could eat breakfast and leave their wives alone to talk and plan.
Mary Margaret looked over at the Green Fairy as she responded, "I'm afraid Emma isn't really much in the mood to celebrate tonight with Zelena still at large. But let's not talk about that right now. We have a celebration to plan. First of all, we need to decide where we're going to have it, seeing as everyone will most likely be attending and Granny's certainly isn't big enough to hold us all."
Regina didn't need to take a moment to think as she immediately answered, "I think the town hall is the obvious choice to have a Christmas party for the entire town. It's big enough and there will be plenty of room for people to dance as I suspect they'll want to."
Her stepdaughter smiled at her as she replied, "Well… look at you. You're positively beaming. This wouldn't have something to do with a certain archer now, would it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Mayor responded, yet she couldn't stop herself from smiling once again. "Robin and I are finally at the point where we can admit there's something between us and we've decided to start slow. Right now, I'm just too worried about Henry and Zelena to allow myself to be completely happy. But enough about me. Let's get back to planning."
"All right," Ruby then stated. "What's next? Should we talk about the music?"
Mary Margaret thought back to the balls they used to have in their old lives within the Enchanted Forest and then answered, "If only we could have a grand celebration where there was an orchestra playing. Even if we knew of people here in Storybrooke who can play all those instruments, there's no way they could be prepared in time for tonight."
Kathryn looked towards her husband, then she replied, "We could have our men carry the jukebox from here over to the town hall… or Regina could simply use her magic to transport it there. Or if anyone knows anyone who could DJ for tonight, we could hire them."
"We could have some of the dwarfs play," Mary Margaret suddenly exclaimed upon thinking back to her first night staying with them in their little old cabin within the woods after the Evil Queen first tried to have her killed, as they celebrated Snow White's arrival with music and dance. "I can't believe I didn't think of them right away. Believe it or not, they're really good. And both Happy and Dopey can DJ for us as well. They've dabbled a little bit with the equipment at the music shop down the street. David and I have both heard them. And if all else fails, we have the jukebox as backup."
"It sounds like we've got all that taken care of," Regina responded almost as though she was checking off an item on a list. "What should we do for food? Granny, would you be up to cooking for this shindig, or should we hire someone to come and cater? We can certainly get plenty of more people to help you with the cooking and anything else you need."
Belle quietly answered, "If you'd be willing to let me help, Granny… I'd like to. I doubt I'll be doing too much dancing, seeing as Rumple is still Zelena's prisoner."
Aurora nodded her head as she added, "And so would I. Both Phillip and I could help cook and clean up. We've already hired someone to look after our son for us for tonight. We'll still get a few dances in, but I've been wanting to learn how to cook."
"Seeing as I'm used to the food I had to hunt while living in Neverland all those years, I could learn myself," the fairy continued. "I'd like that. And appreciate it."
"It looks like we've got ourselves some people to make the food," Granny replied and then looked over at Ruby as her granddaughter smiled at her. "Roast beef, ham, cranberry orange relish, turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, and all the works. Not to mention some good old fashioned Christmas punch. And if that witch chooses to crash tonight's celebration, she won't be getting any. I don't care if it is Christmas."
The women all laughed and then continued to discuss more plans for their Christmas celebration. They asked the men still sitting a few booths away what they thought and if there was anything they wanted on top of everything else they had planned. Not wishing to interfere with their wives' and friends' plans, they simply shook their heads and disinclined to say more in fear of contradicting them. Once they finished their meal, the men left and the women laughed again as they continued to talk.