Disclaimer: It still belongs to the Mouse, and I'm still not making any money off of it.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! You guys are the best! :)
The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear
Kelsi leaned back against the couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table in front of her, her head spinning just a little from the pain killers the hospital had given her mother at the hospital yesterday. The TV was tuned into one of those inane Christmas specials they loved to run at this time of year, but Kelsi was cheerfully ignoring it. Her mother had been watching it, but she had gone to get the Indian take out they had ordered for dinner.
With any luck, her mother would relent about her decision not to let Kelsi go to school tomorrow. It was a Monday, but they got out of school for Winter Break on Wednesday, so it wasn't like they would be doing anything important. They'd finished their semester finals on Friday, so the next two days were basically an extended party and an excuse to hand out the candy-grams the student government sold every year.
She closed her eyes, just as the people on the TV started singing. The song itself wasn't that bad, she just wasn't in the mood for Christmas carols at the moment.
Kelsi snorted, her wounded brain presenting her with the image of Ryan Evans decked out in his Santa suit, declaring that she was lucky he hadn't decided on Christmas Carol for her "elf-name". She was quite glad he had chosen to go with the slightly less ridiculous—but not by very much—Mistletoe. At least the kids at the hospital had gotten a kick out of it.
Kelsi could feel her rueful smile soften when she thought Ryan and the pediatrics' ward of Our Mother of Mercy Hospital. It wasn't that she's ever thought that Ryan was a particularly bad person—when he wasn't changing her songs that is—she'd just never pictured him as the type to play Santa Claus to a bunch of little kids. But then again, Ryan did love to perform; and the little kids, both at the Center and the hospital, had been one heck of an appreciative audience.
But how had the Center even found Ryan? Kelsi pondered this for a moment, as the Christmas special went to commercial. Kelsi muted the TV in annoyance; jiggles tended to give her a headache even when she didn't have a head injury.
Just as she was returning to her pondering of Mr. Ryan Evans, soft singing—steadily growing louder—reached her ears. Kelsi turned her attention to the TV, but it was still muted. For a minute, she wondered if this was one of the delusions the doctor at the hospital had warned her about. She was going to have to remember to tell her mother.
Just as she was thinking this, Star Nielson flung open the door into the living room from the front hallway, her cheeks still rosy from the chilly wind and the bag of take out from the Indian place in her hand.
"Kelsi, come quick!" She beamed, dropping the food on the coffee table and gesturing at her daughter. "Christmas carolers!"
"What?" Kelsi asked, pushing herself up off the couch and following her mother to the front of the house, where she stopped to put on her jacket before joining her mother on the front porch.
Just like her mother had told her, a group of people—ranging from old enough to be one of her grandparents to barely toddling age—were standing on their neighbors yard, singing. And, as was not the case with many of these roving bands of carolers, they were actually singing well. Really well, actually.
The group finished with their cheerful rendition of "Deck the Halls" and launched into a beautiful version of "Hark! The Harold Angels Sing", with a leggy redhead belting out an impressive solo. Star clapped like a little girl, and Kelsi giggled at her mother's enthusiasm, but joined in on the applause as well. The carolers definitely deserved it.
As soon as the more grown up carol was finished, several of the smaller children—including a suspiciously familiar little girl with long black braid sticking out from under her purple toboggan, shuffled their way to the front. A young man, wearing a festive red and green knit cap, stepped out in front of them and dropped to a knee on the grass. He held out his hands and the children promptly began belting out a loud rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer".
Kelsi laughed happily along with her mother, cheering even more enthusiastically for the little ones than she had for the adults. For some reason, her eye was drawn back to the children's conductor, taking in his stance and the hat on his head. He was too far away for her to make him out clearly, but something about him was familiar, and her brain just wasn't putting it together.
As soon as their song was done, the children returned to their parents—all but the little girl with the dark braids. She clung to the young man's leg until he lifted her on to his hip, dropping back into the line with her. She lost track of them for a few songs, as they blended in with the happy carolers, who sang their way through "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Good King Winslow", "Jingle Bells", and "The Dreidel Song".
The carolers quieted down, and for a moment, Kelsi thought they were going to go on their way.
"O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining." A beautiful tenor began, and Kelsi gaped. She might not always recognize his speaking voice, but Kelsi would have to be deaf ten years before she forgot what Ryan Evans's sounded like when he sang.
The carolers stepped to the side—and of course, there he was, holding the little girl with the braids and the purple hat, singing his heart out—just like he always did. Kelsi laid her head on her mother's shoulder and listened to the beautiful voice ring through the night air.
Everyone—the carolers and listeners alike—burst into applause as the song came to an end. Kelsi watched as he sketched a bow for everyone around him, the baby still up on his hip.
She was just making a mental note to tell him how beautifully he'd sang tomorrow at school, when he looked over in her direction. She watched as he held a quick, whispered conference with an older black man who seemed to be in charge of the carolers. The man smiled and nodded, and Ryan shifted the little girl over to another girl who looked to be about the same age—and height—as Kelsi herself.
A moment later, Ryan jogged over to her yard and to her front porch. He paused at the bottom of the three steps that lead onto her porch, grinning up at her.
"Hey, Kels!" he said, before addressing her mother. "Hi, Ms. Nielson."
Kelsi could tell her mother was having a hard time placing Ryan, and she opened her mouth to help her, when Star's expression cleared. "Oh, hello! I didn't recognize you…out of costume." Star said, carefully avoiding any sensitive Santa related statement for the benefit of the little ones still in earshot.
Ryan beamed, and Kelsi wanted to giggle. She'd never breath a word of it, for fear of vast and rapid retribution, but Ryan—when he happy—always put her in mind of an overeager puppy. And his puppy like qualities were in full effect at the moment.
"It's okay." Ryan assured her mother, still beaming. "I get that a lot. How are you, Kelsi?" He directed the last part of his question toward her, and she grinned.
"Okay, I guess." She said, rubbing her forehead a little.
"That's good." Ryan said. "Are you going to be in school tomorrow?"
"Yes." Kelsi declared, just as Star said, "No."
Mother and daughter glared at each other, and Kelsi looked back at the blond boy. "Maybe."
Ryan nodded in understanding, before flashing a brighter smile at her. "I gotcha. Well, listen, I was wondering if—"
"Ryan! DUDE!" A voice suddenly shouted from the cluster of carolers still standing on Ms. McKnight's front yard. "Time to go!"
Ryan turned back and gestured vaguely at the carolers, and a muscular young man—about the same age as Kelsi and Ryan—stepped out of the crowd and gestured back.
"Hang on!" Ryan shouted, before turning back to Kelsi. "Anyway, I was wondering—"
"DUDE! We're leaving!" The muscular young man shouted again, and Ryan sighed, looking down at his feet for a long second, before shaking his head.
"I gotta go. Can I talk to you about something at school tomorrow? I mean, if you go." Ryan asked, looking up at Kelsi, and she blinked, before nodding.
"Sure." Kelsi agreed, her minding spinning about what it might be.
"DUDE! Quit flirting and come on!" Muscular Boy shouted again, and Ryan sighed again, his facing turning red in the dim light. Kelsi's cheeks got hot as well, and she thought she heard her mother muffle a giggle.
"I'm coming!" Ryan spun around and shouted, before looking back up at Kelsi. "I'll talk to you later, I guess. Nice seeing you again, Ms. Nielson. Good night!" He called as he loped across the yard, looking back over his shoulder to wave again.
Kelsi smiled and waved back, watching as he caught up with the other carolers. As soon as he was out of earshot—Kelsi hoped—her mother turned to look at her, her eyebrows lifted.
"He's a cutie. I couldn't tell yesterday, with the beard and everything, but…" Her mother grinned, and Kelsi groaned, covering her face with her hand.
"Mom!" She moaned.
"Wonder what he wants to ask you?" Star asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
Kelsi opened her mouth, shut it, and then saw her opportunity. "I don't know—but you should let me go to school tomorrow, to find out what he wants."
Star frowned at her, before studying her closely, before sighing. "If you feel alright in the morning."
Kelsi grinned, before heading inside. "Honestly, I've never seen a child who wants go to school when she can get out of it." She heard her mother mutter behind her as she followed. She then added, at a much louder volume, "And you have to tell me what the singing cutie wants!"
Kelsi groaned. Why couldn't she have a normal mother? A mother who freaked out about boys wanting to talk to her about things, not one that demanded details?
"I heard that, Kelsi Johanna!" Her mother teased from behind her, and Kelsi turned to stick her tongue out at her mother, before flopping back down on the couch to eat their only slightly cold take out.
Kelsi looked down at her curry, her mind spinning from something other than the pain medication she'd been taking. What did Ryan want?
