DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR
A/N: Heyy all. Basically, there's this unseen scene from Operation: SECRETSANTA, which is centered around Abby at her house. I was looking forward to showing this scene to people, but, obviously, I didn't get that far. Well, I was digging around on my laptop, and I found the first draft of said scene. It's shorter, lacking detail, noticeably different from the final product, and, well, incomplete, but I still kinda like it, and I feel like I can totally justify calling it a oneshot and sharing it with y'all. lol
Please excuse the title; I had no idea what to call it.
Hope y'all enjoy it!
THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH ABIGAIL LINCOLN
The Lincoln residence. Abby was sitting indian-style in the middle of her bed, with a small box and three different rolls of wrapping paper laid out before her.
"Hmmm..."
Which one to use? Red with reindeer and sleighs, green with large snowflakes, or white with various snowmen? Sure, it may seem insignificant, but for the gift to have the greatest effect possible, it needed to get the person excited as soon as they see it, and the wrapping paper could make it or break it.
Wait... did't Abby see some wrappin' papuh in the livin' room? Bettuh go check that out!
She uncrossed her legs and slid off her bed. Her intention was to check for any wrapping paper which could top the selection readily available, not that that would be too difficult. As she opened her door, she heard a similar creaking noise at the end of the hallway; Cree's door. She looked that way, and sure enough, Cree was approaching from her room.
"Cree," Abby said flatly, pulling her door shut behind her.
"Abigail," Cree said, just as flatly.
"Where yah goin' to?"
"None of your business, li'l sis."
Abby tensed. Her gut told her that her dear older sister was after the same thing she was. It was a long shot, but her gut was uncannily accurate when forecasting these things. So, she turned to the stairs, which her room was conveniently located right next to, in the interest of reaching the living room first. Hopefully she hadn't tipped off Cree.
Unfortunately, her keen instincts ran in the family. As soon as she turned her back to Cree, she was pushed off her feet. She stumbled for a second before hitting the ground.
"Why don't you go back into your room, Abigail?" Cree shouted, balling her fists.
Abby recovered quickly, pushing herself up off the ground and twisting around to face her sister.
"Abby'll go back in a moment," she said, balling her fists as well. "Just gotta grab somethin' from downstayuhs."
"Oh, no, you don't!"
Cree lunged at Abby, and caught her by her shirt.
"Hey! Let-!"
Before she could finish her demand, Abby was thrown halfway down the hallway, landing on her back. Being the natural fighter she was, she jumped back upright, only to see Cree disappear down the stairs around the corner. She growled, determined not to allow herself to be outdone by a teenager; by Cree, no less.
"Aw, heck naw!"
She sprinted forward. Once close enough, she leapt onto the railing, and rode it to the bottom, as if on an invisible skateboard. Upon reaching the bottom, she had almost caught up to Cree, so she jumped off the end of the banister, arms outstretched toward her sister.
Cree looked back over her shoulder just in time to see her sister fly at her, and tackle her to the ground.
"Oof! You really wanna start this, Crabagail?!"
"Abby ain't startin' nothin', sis! Just grabbin' some wrappin' papuh from the livin' room!"
"Sorry, sis, but that wrapping paper belongs to me!"
"Says who? And who'd wanna exchange gifts wit' you anyhow?"
Cree knocked Abby off of her, and got to her feet. By the time she turned to face Abby, the young operative was already in a fighting stance, ready for her next move. But Cree had one move Abby could never quite prepare herself for, and the sinister smile appearing on her face showed that she was not above using it.
"Try Maurice."
Abby's eyes widened some, and her aggressive stance faltered noticeably.
"Ma... Maurice?"
"Yep," Cree said, her snide smile widening. "You know... my boyfriend!"
Abby's eyes narrowed, and, before Cree could continue, she dove at the teenager, rolling and kicking her feet out from underneath her. Before Cree even hit the floor, Abby had already run off to the living room.
"Ow! Why, you little-! When I get my hands on you...!"
Abby tried to ignore her sister's yelling as she ran. It wouldn't take Cree long to catch up, so she had to take full advantage of her head start.
"Alright," she said to herself as she reached the living room. "Where is that stuff?"
As soon as she posed her question, her eyes locked onto the prize: the roll of wrapping paper, sitting on the edge of the sofa at the far end of the room. Its red, green, and white striped design was simple, yet elegant. It was perfect.
"YAAAAH!"
Before Abby could even turn around, Cree tackled her. The operative dug her elbow into the teenager's side, causing her to retract her arms reflexively. Abby rolled away and pushed herself back to her feet. Cree, still holding her side, snarled at Abby as she stood up. They exchanged glares, glanced at the wrapping paper, and glared back at each other.
Abby shot Cree a mischievous grin, and the two raced for the paper. There was some shoving, some tripping, some tugging, but Abby managed to get ahead. The prize was so close now. She reached for it, aaand...
Got it!
...but so did Cree! Stupid teenager, having longer arms...
"Leggo!" Abby shouted, coming about and trying to pull the roll away from Cree.
"Nuh-uh!" Cree yelled indignantly, trying to claim the prize for herself. "This wrapping paper is mine!"
"No way!"
"I saw it first!"
"Abby got it first!"
"Abby's about to get my fist first!"
"Hello, girls!"
Abby and Cree twisted their heads around to look at their father, who had just entered the room from the kitchen.
"What's all the ruckus about?"
The two girls yelled indecipherably, pointing at each other while maintaining their grips on the tube. Mr. Lincoln raised his hands and stepped back, as if being sprayed with a fire hose.
"Whoa, whoa, girls! Stop! Please!"
The two sisters stopped pulling, but still held onto the roll, glaring at each other.
"What's with all the fightin'? It's the Christmas season! No one, especially a couple of sisters such as yourselves, should be arguing like this! It's a happy time of year, what with the gift giving, and the carols, and-"
"I am trying to give someone a gift, dad!" Cree said. "But Abigail here won't let go of the wrapping paper!"
"That's 'cuz Abigail got here first!" Abby retorted. "Abby needs to wrap her gift, too!"
"So why don't you two just share it? There's more than enough there to wrap the whole darn house with!"
The two girls looked down at the roll. Sure enough, it was a pretty new roll, hardly been used at all. They looked back at each other and chuckled awkwardly.
"Heh... uh, right, well... you can go ahead, sis," Abby said, rubbing the back of her head. "Abby will just, uh, come by yo' room in a bit for it..."
Cree held the roll in both hands, like a little girl holding a teddy bear that she thought had been lost. "Um... yeah... alright."
A knock at the door.
"Um, I'll get it," Cree said, leaving the room.
Mr. Lincoln turned to Abby. "What's goin' on with you two? You've always gotten along just fine."
Abby simply shrugged. "Must be a girl thang. You know how dramatic we get as we grow olduh."
Mr. Lincoln laughed. "Ha! Isn't that the truth?" He chuckled some more, and left the room. Once he was gone, Abby could hear the front door open.
"Hello?" she heard Cree say with a chipper tone, and then follow with a flat, "Oh. It's you."
"Well, hello there, Cree," said a boy, trying to be smooth. "Might I say, you look quite lovely today."
"Ugh. What are you doing here?"
"Maybe I came to see you." WHAP! "OW!"
Abby sighed. She knew that "OW!" anywhere. She readjusted her red cap, and headed to the door.
"That's okay," said a suave Hoagie in the doorway, rubbing his pink left cheek. "Numbuh 2 likes a little spunk." He saw Abby coming his way, and his smug grin grew into a warm smile. "Hey, Numbuh 5!"
"Hey, Numbuh 2."
Hoagie stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Abby stopped a couple feet away, reached for the tip of her hat, and promptly smacked him over the top of the head with it.
"OW! What is it with the girls in your family?!"
Abby frowned, considering smacking him again, but decided against it and donned her cap once again.
"So, what can Numbuh 5 do fuh you today?"
Hoagie resumed his usual composure. "Well, I was just in the neighborhood, so I figured I..."
"...Would stop by," Abby finished his sentence for him. "How thoughtful. So this random li'l visit wouldn't have anythin' to do with the cupcakes Numbuh 5 mentioned she'd be makin' today, would it?"
Hoagie grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Well, uh... heh heh... did you mention making cupcakes? 'Cause if you did, I completely missed it."
"Right. What were you doin' in Numbuh 5's neighborhood, then, hm?"
"I was going home from, uh, grocery shopping for my mom, and-"
"Nope."
"What?"
"Where yo' groceries, then?"
Hoagie just stared at her for a moment. "...I was leaving from the arcade-"
"No way."
"...from the treehouse-"
"Nuh-uh."
"...from football practice-"
"Negative."
"...from the archery range-"
"Nope."
"...from Narnia-"
"No- wait, what?"
"Okay, you got me. So are there any cupcakes in here?!"
Abby chuckled. "Yeah, there are some in the kitchen. C'mon."
A/N: Like I said, this was a draft; an incomplete one at that. But, I hope y'all liked it nonetheless. If you have a moment,I'd ask that you leave a review and lemme know what you thought. Guests too. Regardless, thank you for reading.
Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a great rest of 2012.
Cheers,
- Marty
