Not a Creature was Stirring
Part 1
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... Or, not a creature should be stirring...
But this was the Beilschmidt house. Also known as the home of one of the most mischievous, naughty little children ever born in this little town.
Who happened to currently be perched on the bottom step of the staircase, bouncing up and down excitedly—each bounce upsetting a tiny chick that was sitting on her head, attempting to rest and failing rather miserably. This child was Gillian Beilschmidt—five years old and already a tiny little terror.
And it was Christmas Eve! Which meant one thing in the mind of tiny little terrors... Tonight was the night when Santa Claus came!
And tonight was the night when Gillian finally caught Santa in the act. She'd pretended to be asleep when her mother had come into her room to check on her what seemed like hours and hours ago. It'd been super hard too, since Mutti had come in and kissed her on the forehead and Gill had wanted nothing more than to start giggling at that. But she hadn't and now she was sitting on the bottom step of their staircase with Gilbird and her bright blue flashlight with the light shaped like a lion and her chick-printed sleeping bag. And her little brother, Ludwig.
Who was definitely not being very helpful, as he was leaning against the wall beside her and dozing off. He'd actually been asleep when Mutti had come in to check on them, but Gill woke him up as soon as Mutti had left. After all, she doubted that she'd be able to catch Santa if she were all alone. She hadn't been able to catch him last year after all...
"Wake up, Luddy!" she hissed, elbowing her brother in the side, startling him wide awake. "We gotta catch Santa!"
"But, Gill..." He was interrupted by a rather large yawn. "Mutti said we're supposed to stay in bed..."
Gill waved his words away and then slid down the last step, earning a disgruntled chirp from Gilbird. "Come on, Luddy!"
He pouted for a moment, but then the pout was broken by another yawn. And then he slowly followed his sister as she crawled forward on her stomach. Using her elbows to scoot along just like a super spy!
She could hear voices coming from the living room. Too soft to immediately identify, but she'd bet you anything that one of them belonged to Santa Claus!
"Can't I go back to sleep, Gill? I don't want to catch Santa..." Gill turned to frown at her brother, who was now rubbing at his eyes and looked like he was about to fall asleep right where he was standing. Ludwig was really bad at being a super spy.
And she could see into the room now! She could see the Christmas tree, all decorated with the ornaments and tinsel that she and Ludwig and Mutti and Vati had hung up. With an angel on top that was tilting slightly to the right. She'd put the angel up there; Vati had held her on his shoulders so she could reach.
And there was Santa Claus!
He was right there! In real life! Sitting on the couch and drinking the milk that she and Ludwig had left out, all dressed in his bright red suit with his white beard and red hat. Just like how he looked in all of the pictures on the Christmas cards that she and Mutti had sent to their friends!
And he was in there with Mutti, who was eating one of the cookies that they'd left for Santa.
She'd totally known that Mutti and Santa had to be friends. Because Mutti was awesome and Santa was awesome and they had to be friends because they were both awesome!
She and Ludwig were peeking out around the corner now. Ludwig finally looked interested; his eyes were wide as he stared at Santa, who now yawned and glanced toward their mutti. She was leaning against the windowsill and smiling...
Oooh, and Gill could see that there were a whole bunch of presents under the tree now!
"So is that it?" Santa suddenly asked. "You know those two are going to be up insanely early..."
Mutti laughed and pushed herself away from the window, walking over to where Santa was sitting and then she grabbed his glass out of his hand. Which wasn't very awesome, because that was Santa's milk. And she took a drink of the glass before she handed it back. "Just have to finish up the stockings. Then you're done being Santa for the year."
Did that mean that their house was the last house on Santa's route? Awesome! Maybe that meant that Santa could stay and have Christmas with them tomorrow morning!
"Told ya we'd catch Santa." She poked Ludwig in the side, which led to him jumping really high. Which was super funny to see. "You didn't think that we would, but I knew we would. Because I'm awesome!"
Oops, and that last little exclamation had been a little too loud. She hurriedly jumped back as Santa and her mutti turned toward them, grabbing onto Ludwig's shirt and tugging him backwards too so they didn't get caught.
"Did you hear something, Santa? Like a couple of naughty children out of bed when they should be fast asleep?" Gill held her breath as she waited for Mutti to come and catch them. Would Santa take their presents back if they were bad on Christmas Eve?
And she was slightly startled when she noticed that her brother had disappeared. Especially when she turned to see him climbing up the stairs as quickly as his little legs could hurry. Gill would have yelled for him to come back, but then Santa and Mutti would definitely know that she was out of bed.
She should ask Santa for a new little brother for Christmas, since Ludwig was awful at being an awesome little brother.
"I don't think I heard anything, Leni," Santa responded. "I'm sure, after all, that all of the good little children who want Christmas presents are fast asleep in bed right now."
Gill knew that she probably should go back to bed, but how many chances did you get to see Santa Claus in the flesh? And she knew that the Santa in the mall wasn't the real Santa. The real Santa would be way too busy to spend the weeks before Christmas sitting in a big chair in the mall.
So she stayed, holding her breath so they wouldn't hear her. So they'd think she'd gone back up to her bed.
And it worked, since the two didn't come over to check. Instead, Mutti walked over to Santa and then set her hands on the armrests of his chair and leaned close. Which Gill was a little confused by, since she usually only did that with Vati.
And then she leaned forward and kissed him, which she definitely usually only did with Vati.
Gill watched, horrified, as Santa slipped his arms around her mutti's waist and then tugged her forward, earning a soft gasp and then giggle. "I think you should keep the beard."
"So it feels like you're kissing your grandfather? I'm surprised that appeals to you."
She laughed again, moving closer and kissing him again before she slid down so she was now sitting on his lap. "There are a lot of things about me that might surprise you."
Santa must have bewitched her mutti! That was the only explanation that made any sense! Because Gill knew that Mutti would never ever kiss anyone who wasn't Vati. So Santa must have bewitched her with his Christmas magic.
Gill wasn't entirely sure what she should do. Maybe she should go get Vati? But then what if he were upset because Mutti was kissing Santa Claus? He might not understand that Mutti was bewitched with Christmas magic.
Which meant that she was going to have to save Mutti all by herself.
Well, with Gilbird too, but he wasn't particularly helpful when it came to these sorts of things.
A/N: And here's part one of my little Christmas story. I wanted to do it all in one part, but I wanted to get at least one part out right after Christmas (since I didn't get it out on Christmas itself) and I'm really busy for the rest of today and tomorrow so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to if I didn't do it in two parts. Sorry it's late, but such is life when you're me.
I totally did this same thing when I was little, except that my dad wasn't dressed as Santa and I'd already suspected that my parents were really the one bringing out the presents. Haha. And my little sister didn't even have a chance to believe in Santa since we put our presents out as we wrap them now and not all on Christmas Eve.