DM We Wish You A Despicable Christmas

[This takes place a year after the events of ''Falling Snow'' by Yipyop where Margo nearly dies due to hypothermia]

Gru watched the snowflakes swirling around in the deep snow outside. To think it was only a year ago that his oldest daughter had nearly killed herself going out into a blizzard all because she had wanted to find him.

Hopefully this year would be different. This was his second Christmas with the girls, but it was Lucy's first Christmas with both of them. They had only got married earlier on that year.

Gru glanced around the beautifully decorated house. He Lucy and the girls had worked pretty hard. Meanwhile Margo and Edith were finishing off the lab that Gru had started.

However not all the decorations would stay up, Edith noticed a that Gru had left his hammer lying on the counter along with some nails that he'd been using to fix the decorations into place.

''Why don't we use this Margo?'' she asked picking it up. ''Is that a good idea?'' Margo hesitated. ''Why wouldn't it be?' Edith retorted 'It's not a chemical that causes explosions''. Margo rolled her eyes, Edith was just one of those people who did things without thinking first.

Edith held a nail between her finger and thumb, brought the hammer back and swung it down THUUUNK! ''Owww!'' she yelped dropping the hammer on the floor. ''What have you done?'' Margo groaned. 'I've bashed my thumb!'' Edith moaned. fortunately Gru had heard the shouting, this brought him running into the lab.

''Ok what's going on?'' he asked with a heavy sigh. He went over to Edith who was now hopping around like a frog on a dance floor. ''I bet it's broken'' Edith whimpered. ''What is?'' Gru demanded. Edith weakly held out her hand to her adoptive father. Gru saw her thumb had turned purple and swollen.

''How did this happen?'' he questioned. ''The hammer slipped'' Edith answered. ''Hammer?' Gru gaped 'what were you doing with de hammer?''. ''Decorations wouldn't stay up'' Edith said. ''Oh Edith' Gru sighed 'you should never use my hammer, hammers can be dangerous''. ''I'm sorry'' Edith said quietly,

''That is ok' Gru replied 'but we'd better get that thumb checked out at de hospital''. ''Lucy' he called 'I'm off to de hospital, bit of an accident I'm afraid''. A few minutes later he and Edith sat in the hospital waiting room decorated for Christmas.

''Will I need to stay in hospital?'' Edith asked. ''Oh I shouldn't think'' Gru replied. He picked the book which he had read to Margo the year before from the table. After they had read for a few minutes. A voice called out ''Edith Gru''. It was a nurse with a Santa hat on her head. Her name ''Emma'' was written on a badge

Gru and Edith followed her into a little room. ''Okay young lady' Emma said 'What have you been up to?''. ''I hurt my thumb'' Edith whimpered. ''She hit it with a hammer'' Gru answered. ''Right then' Emma continued 'Let's take a look shall we?''. Emma asked Edith to bend her thumb back and forth. She winced at the pain.

''Is it serious?'' Gru asked. ''No' Emma replied 'It's just a bad bruise''. ''But will I have to stay in hospital?'' Edith asked. Emma laughed ''No don't worry sweetie, you'll be going home in no time,

you will need a plaster for that thumb though''. ''Please could I have a black one?'' Edith asked knowing that the colour black would remind her of ninjas. ''Sure'' Emma nodded. Seconds later Gru and Edith arrived home to find Lucy Margo and Agnes finishing off the house.

''Cool!'' Edith exclaimed when she saw all the colours. Lucy rushed over to give her a hug. ''Oh sweetie I'm so glad you're ok'' she said kissing Edith, ''Would you like to help your sisters decorate the tree?, I'm sure they would some help''.

Edith ran to help Margo and Agnes while Lucy asked Gru about what the nurse had said. ''Aw Edith only bruised her thumb'' Gru replied ''She'll be ok , It won't stop her being in the school play''. Next at Margo's secondary school and Edith and Agnes's primary school dress rehearsals were underway.

Margo was an angel in the nativity play, therefore she had the main part . She had practised really hard, but she couldn't help feeling nervous about doing it in front of her family. Soon the big night of the actual performance had arrived. Margo peeped round the curtain on the stage her stomach twisting.

She saw Gru and Edith sitting in one of the rows, but what had happed to Lucy and Agnes, They were nowhere to be seen. After the play Gru hugged Margo and told her how proud he was. ''But what happened to Lucy and Agnes?'' Margo asked, ''Didn't they want to see me?''

Gru looked exhausted, ''Margo honey'' he said quietly, ''Agnes has had an accident, she fell off the climbing frame at school, she hit her head and needs stitches. so she's staying in hospital tonight because it's a head injury, and Lucy's staying with her, we didn't know how seriously Agnes could have been hurt, Lucy got the call and she went with her to hospital in an ambulance''. Margo gulped that sounded really serious. ''Will Agnes be ok?'' she asked. ''She'll be fine'' Gru replied. ''I'm sorry they couldn't come, they were looking forward to seeing you as an angel''.

The next day after school Lucy went to pick up Margo after she had picked up Edith. ''Is Agnes still in hospital?'' Margo asked on the way home. ''No it's all right sweetie'' Lucy said gently ''She's at home with Gru, she'll be fine in a couple of days, she'll probably have a scar though,

Margo I've ordered a copy of the play on DVD, Sorry we couldn't make it for the real thing''.''You couldn't help it Mom'' Margo said bravely. ''Why don't you talk to Agnes when we get home?'' Lucy suggested, ''She'll like some company, and hopefully she can still be in the play with Edith in the Christmas play of Cinderella at their school next week ''.

When they got home Margo went into the living room to find Agnes lying on the sofa with a huge bandage on her head and watching the flat screen. ''Hey Agnes'' she said gently ''How's your head?'', ''Sore'' Agnes sighed . ''Look'' Margo said, ''I'm sorry about that''.

''You are?'' Edith asked, who was admiring her favourite ornament that was shaped like a mace on the tree. She was stunned that her older sister would say such a thing.

The following week was the Christmas production of Cinderella at Edith and Agnes's school. Luckily Agnes still had her part as a step sister. This time it was Margo's turn to sit in the row with Gru, only this time Lucy was there too. Gru thought Edith looked pretty amazing as Cinderella.

Soon the Christmas holidays had arrived. Lucy and Agnes enjoyed watching Margo as an angel on DVD. When it was Christmas Eve the girls hung up their stockings and put out some mince pies for Santa. That night in bed, Margo and Agnes fell fast asleep, but not Edith. Although her bed was warm and cosy on a cold snowy winter's night,

The excitement was too much for her to sleep. After tossing and turning for a few minutes, she heard a loud thump followed by a loud sneeze. Edith slowly got out of bed and put on her slippers, She tiptoed over to the door as not to wake her sisters. opened the door very quietly and crept downstairs.

Peeping round the door to the living room, Edith saw someone in a big red suit putting presents under the Christmas tree. ''ATCHOO!'' he sneezed. It was Santa Claus. ''Er bless you'' Edith said politely.

''Well thank you young lady'' Santa replied, ''But you should really be asleep''. ''Yeah'' Edith admitted, ''But the noise you made woke me up''. She couldn't really say that she had been too excited to sleep. ''Oh I'm sorry about that'' Santa apologized 'It would be nice to have a helper, Why don't you help deliver the presents?''. ''Cool! Really?'' Edith asked.

She quickly put on her coat scarf gloves boots and leggings. Then she followed Santa outside, where she saw his sleigh and reindeer. ''Come on then'' Santa said, helping Edith climb aboard his sleigh. As they took off into the sky. Everything seemed tiny like toys. Edith and Santa flew all around the world. When they got back. Dawn was just starting to break.

''All done for another year'' Santa said as he dropped Edith home. Edith quickly removed her boots, scarf, gloves, coat and hat and hurried back to bed as fast as she could. Edith slept in quite late on Christmas morning. When she woke up and went downstairs to join her sisters to open presents.

She noticed an extra special present waiting just for her. It was a rather shiny golden medal with engraved words. It simply read ''Santa's Little Helper''.

The End