Author's Note: Okay, so since I love Christmas, I decided that I wanted to make a Christmas story for this year. This story will be updated once every day for the twelve days leading up to Christmas. I also decided that since I usually write Spinelli/TJ fics, that this new one would be a Gretchen/Vince fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Day One

"Christmas is in twelve days," a tall girl spoke into her phone, idly flipping through channels as she did so, "and he won't even be here."

"But," the girl on the other end replied, "I'm coming down to be with you, along with TJ and the rest of the gang. Come on Gretch, you don't need Vince there to have a good Christmas."

"Having him there would help," Gretchen said miserably, "not to say I can't wait for you guys to arrive Spinelli. The five of us together will have fun."

"Yeah, plus you'll absolutely love the Christmas gift I bought you," Spinelli encouraged her. Before Gretchen could respond, she heard a knock on the door.

"Can you hold on a second Spinelli?" Gretchen asked, "someone's at the door."

Gretchen quickly walked over to the door and opened it to see a man holding out a letter to her.

"Are you Gretchen Grundler?" the man asked. She wordlessly nodded and he handed her the letter.

"This letter is for you," he explained.

She quietly ripped open the envelope to read the letter.

Hey baby,

I know that your disappointed that I can't come see you for Christmas. And I really wish I could, but with team practices taking up so much of my time, I can't get off. I still love you and I want you to know that I remember you every second of every day. So, as a token of my appreciation for you and our love, I decided to show you that I still remember Christmas. And that today is exactly twelve days before it starts. Well ... at least until Christmas Eve. Try and remember me at Christmas, but have fun with the gang and be happy. I love you.

Love,

Vince

Gretchen then looked up at the man standing in the doorway. The man grinned widely and handed her a bouquet of roses. Gretchen's face broke out in a grand smile. The man then left and Gretchen hurried back over to her phone to tell Spinelli.

"Oh my gosh! Vince just sent me a dozen roses!" Gretchen exclaimed. Vince had never done anything this romantic before in their entire two years of dating.

"Why?" Spinelli asked.

"Because its twelve days before Christmas and he wanted to let me know that he remembers me," Gretchen sighed.

"TJ never bought me flowers," Spinelli grumbled, "who would have thought you would have ended up with the more romantic of the two."

"Hey, I heard that," Gretchen could hear TJ say through the phone.

"Good, you were supposed to, you lazy boy," Spinelli retorted.

"Excuse me Spinelli, but could we please concentrate on the fact that my boyfriend just did the most romantic thing he's ever done for me," Gretchen tried to catch her best friend's attention.

"Sorry Gretch," Spinelli said, "I think its really sweet and romantic and sounds like you have the best boyfriend in the world. However, I have to go get ready to come see you tomorrow. Don't forget to pick us up at the airport. Because I don't want to have to get a taxi. And you know how cranky I get with taxi cabs."

"As if I could ever forget about you guys," Gretchen waved off, "have fun. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Gretchen and Spinelli hung up their phones and Gretchen started humming to herself as she ran into the kitchen to put her dozen roses in a vase. She could hear the door being opened and shut and figured her room mate must have come home.

"Nice flowers," Tessa observed as she walked in the room. Gretchen and Tessa had met their first day of medical school and decided to move into an apartment together. The only weird part of their relationship was that Tessa didn't exactly approve of Gretchen and Vince's relationship. She thought that they were too young and too far away to be a good couple.

"They are from Vince," Gretchen said, satisfied at finally having something to throw in her room mates face about how good of a guy Vince really was.

"That's sweet," Tessa said, passively, "so, the plan is that I'm leaving right after you get back from the airport with your friends."

"You don't have to leave," Gretchen protested to her room mate for what seemed like the hundredth time, "they won't mind if you celebrate Christmas with us."

"It'll be good for me to see my family," Tessa assured her, "besides, you should be alone with your friends since Vince decided he can't take off a couple days to come up."

"You are a great friend and a great room mate," Gretchen informed her, "but you are going to stick around long enough to meet them, right?"

"Why would I miss meeting the infamous gang that is plastered all around your walls?" Tessa mockingly said.

"This could turn out to be a really good Christmas," Gretchen decided, turning back to her flowers with a big smile on her face.