Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello all! Happy 2014! Hope your New Year has started off greatly! I know the holiday season is just about over and most of you are going back to school next week but I did want to squeeze in two more installments to this collection before putting it up in the attic with the rest of my Christmas decoration…so yes that means my Christmas decorations stay on till I finish the collection lol. This installment is actually kinda different from the previous ones, it's a bit sadder but it's something many people sometimes face during the holiday season. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to Nim and A1995C for their help when I first got the idea and another big thank you to Marla for helping me finally pick a place to post it and letting me know it was good enough to post…though if you really wanna see a story good enough to post go check out her latest one! Again I really hope you all like this installment and don't mind the sadder melancholy like tone. It would really mean a lot to hear from you all so if you have the time please review. Thanks for reading, I hope you like and as always, Enjoy!
Dedication: This installment is dedicated to the memory of my grandma who we lost in November, this past holiday season was out first one without her. I would also like to dedicated this story to those who were like my family and had a first holiday season without a loved one. *hug*
Warning: You might want a tissue or two near you just in case.
Eric Forman pushed open the swinging door and stepped into the next room but when his eyes quickly caught the sight of the contents of the room it felt like he'd stepped back in time and not just into the living room of the house he'd grown up in.
The Christmas knick knacks that had been collected over the years were all in their rightful places, the happy Christmas bells hung on the back of the front door, on the rail of the staircase was a strand of garland with several red stocking hanging from it, and in front of the bookcases—in it's traditional spot—was the Christmas tree. It was a large and fresh cute tree this year, decorated with all the yearly ornaments and a few new ones too. The colorful lights glittered with hope among the ornaments and tinsel.
It looked beautiful and even brought a smile to Eric's face.
'She would've loved it.' he thought to himself before feeling his smile droop.
His attention turned to the bottom of the beautifully decorated tree where he found the largest pile of gifts he'd seen since he was a kid. There were boxes and gifts of various sizes and shapes under there. The presents were all wrapped up in different festive paper just begging to be ripped open; of course the gifts would have to wait a few more hours till morning.
Looking at the gifts, Eric started to wonder and hope that big red one in the corner was for him then suddenly he stopped thinking about the gifts that could be under there as he realized that there would be one gift that wouldn't be found under the tree this year.
Things may have looked like Christmas but it sure didn't feel like it.
"Eric?"
The booming voice calling his name startled Eric until he found that it had only been his father and he felt relieved…well somewhat relieved.
"Oh hey, Dad." He greeted the older man as he descended down the stairs and into the living room, "I was just looking at the decorations. It really looks great. I actually thought you weren't gonna decorate this year."
A set frown could be found on Red's face, "I didn't." he said, "Jackie and the other misfit toys broke in here while I was at work. I came home and they were halfway through building this damn Santa Village."
"It's nice you let them finish." Eric said—which was actually very true.
Red only nodded as he sat down on the gold colored sofa. Eric watched him carefully until he began to fear that his father would make one sharp turn of his head and catch him staring, so he swiftly turned his head back to the tree. This time he focused at the top of the tree and found a very pleasant surprise.
"Hey, they found the angel!" a new grin stretched on his face at the sight of the homemade angel at the top of the tree.
"I found it." Red corrected and then paused, "But I didn't put it on. That was always you know, your thing with her."
Eric nodded at his father and then looked back at the angel as Red continued on.
"I had Laurie put it up."
"That actually makes sense." Eric agreed, "With all the Christmases she missed before I guess it was technically her turn to put it up."
It was a joke but Red didn't laugh, not that Eric was expecting him too. Carefully, Eric walked towards the sofa before slowly—very slowly—lowering himself into the seat closest to the sofa's right armrest. Once he was seated, he counted five Mississippi's to make sure he wasn't barked at to get up and out; when nothing came he figured it was safe to proceed but with caution.
"So Dad, how're you doing?" he asked causing Red to turn to look at him with a frown that made Eric scramble for a sort of recovery, "You know with…it's been…I mean…you…"he swung his head into the opposite direction and back at the tree, "The angel really looks great doesn't it?"
Red stared at the back of his son's head before joining him in looking up at the angel on the tree top. He closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. He hated that question. But this time it was his son asking and it was Christmas…and she would've wanted him to answer Eric's question.
He open his eyes and gave one last look at the angel before speaking.
"I'm doing…alright."
Eric was more than a little shocked to hear his father answer his question and the look on his face when he turned back to Red clearly showed his surprise. He had been expecting some sort of avoidance or maybe a festive foot in the ass threat but Red had given an actual, real, and true response! Christmas really was a time for miracles!
"Yeah?" Eric asked but as he realized he might be sounding too eager he turned it down some and quickly remembered his brother, "That's…that's good."
The second reply made a faint frown begin to crawl onto Red's forehead but then he turned away from his son and looked straight ahead. Eric wasn't sure if it was an action that was done to keep him from frowning or just his father trying not to show too much of his human side all at once but Eric noticed something when his father was turned away. Though he could only see the right profile of the elder Forman's face he could see the way his features sort of dropped looking to be done not out of relaxation but sadness.
"I still miss her…it's hard not to. She always loved Christmas." He said, still staring straight ahead missing Eric's nod of agreement, "This'll be the first Christmas in thirty six years I've spent without her."
Hearing this Eric's brows scrunched together, "Wait…thirty six? You and Mom were only married thirty years weren't you?"
"Thirty one." corrected Red, "Didn't make it to thirty two."
Eric nodded solemnly, feeling like a jerk for not only forgetting that detail but making his dad remember it.
"I'm counting the Christmases before we were married. The one when we were engaged, the year we met, and when I was in Korea…" the corner of Red's mouth twitched as a memory began to fill his mind, "You know, when I was in Korea your mother would send me some of those care packages and for Christmas…I don't know how she did it…I would get her packages on Christmas. Not the day before not the day after. It made feel like I was spending the holiday with her."
The story wasn't one that Eric had heard before but it didn't surprise him very much sound like his mom. What did surprise him though was when Red continued on, this time even turning to face his way.
"She'd put in one of her letters and a jar of M&M's but only the red and green ones and a batch of her Christmas cookies."
The grin on Eric's face grew just like his father's, "Mom always made the best Christmas cookies."
Red nodded and then moved his head again going back to looking at the wall behind the TV set. Eric couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, but if it had happened once maybe it would happen again. It was worth a try.
"I saw the guys made some in the kitchen." Eric said, not sure if his dad was aware of the plate of a dozen or so cookies in the kitchen a very small number compared to previous years. "There's a plate of them I can get you one…"
"They're not the same." Red said with a shake of his head.
Having tasted the cookies himself, Eric had to agree. "Yeah, they're missing Mom."
Again Red turned to look at Eric and again Eric could see the somber look on his father's face as he spoke his response, "We all are, son."
"At least we're able to miss her together though right?" Eric's voice was hopeful as he moved his head up and down a bit, "It was really nice of you to let everyone stay over here like this for Christmas, Dad."
"Right well it was nice of you dumbasses to invite yourselves over."
Red may have grimaced when he said the words but Eric knew it was just the tough outer layer of his talking and his dad really was happy about not having to spend this Christmas along. He could feel a small smile wanting to break onto his lips and fighting back the urge to tell his dad that he knew that he really wanted them here was hard enough, so he quickly looked the opposite direction and towards the Christmas tree.
As silence fell on the room and Red stared at the back of Eric's head his frown faded from his face. If loosing Kitty had taught him anything it was that you needed to tell your loved ones that they were loved. You never knew when the day would come where you wouldn't be able to anymore. And even when you did know that the days were numbered and you tried to make the most out of each day you had left you'd still find that you still had so much to say.
Slowly Red put his palm over Eric's knee, "Thanks for being here, son. I'm…I'm glad you're home."
He patted his son's knee and by the time Eric turned around Red was already on his feet and heading towards the staircase he'd come down from moments before. Eric was touched by the words but knew he had to be careful with how he let his father know this.
"Aw, the Grinch does have a heart." He said with a smile and his hand over his heart.
His father just continued up the stairs but not before giving one last, "Can it."
Once Red was gone, Eric had a few moments to himself that he spent watching the brightly shinning lights of the Christmas tree. The moments were short though as the kitchen door swung open and a familiar young woman walked into the room.
"Hey Eric."
"Jackie, hey." He greeted and then scooted to his left, making room for her to sit in his previous spot—he wanted to look at her and the tree. "You did a great job decorating the house. Mom would've really loved it."
Wearing a smile Jackie sat in the open spot and glanced at the tree before turning to Eric, her smile staying in place, "That's probably the greatest compliment I've gotten." She paused, "Well today anyways."
Eric couldn't help but laugh lightly at her words that could very well have been true and not the joke she made it into.
"What're you doing?" she asked suddenly, though in a soft gentle tone.
"Just sitting here. Looking at the tree." He replied, "It's peaceful, you know."
Jackie nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I did the same thing earlier. I even caught Steven doing it too. Don't tell him though, he'll only deny it."
"Yeah?"
"Mmhmm. Like you said, it's peaceful and calming. It almost makes it feel like everything is the way it should be." her voice softened even more, "Almost like she's still here with us."
"Yeah. But she's not." Eric pointed out, his tone was cheerless and he slumped his shoulders. He was silent before swallowing hard and looking down at his clasped hands. "It's just not the same without her, Jackie."
Though she knew it wasn't much, she reached over and rubbed his back in what she hoped was a soothing manner, "I know." she could feel her own tears starting to brim at her eyes but if she could be strong for Red and Steven she could be strong for Eric too, "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate Christmas, she'd want us to."
"I know." he agreed, still looking downwards.
Jackie was happy to hear him agree with her, it was a good sign. She still needed to cheer him up a bit and she knew just the thing to do it with!
"Hey why don't you open up one of your gifts?" she suggested and before Eric could protest she was at the tree picking out the first gift she saw with his name on it. It was a semi large box wrapped in blue snowflake wrapping paper and white ribbon tied around. She handed it to him, "Here open it."
He looked at her then the box and back at her, "It's not Christmas."
"So?" she asked "It's Christmas Eve. It's a tradition to open at least one gift on Christmas Eve."
"Not in the Forman House." Eric replied.
"Why do you think I waited until your dad left the room?" Jackie asked with a playful smile and shoved the gift at him again, "Take it."
But Eric just wasn't in the mood for opening presents. "No Jackie…"
"Come on," she tried again and brought the box up to her ear, shaking it lightly, "It sounds like it could be a new Star Wars Lego set."
"Gimme!" Eric said and without another moment of hesitation he snatched the present from Jackie's hands and into his own.
A smile had crawled onto his face by the time he'd placed the gift in his lap. He swiftly pulled off the white bow and the ribbon that made it. Once the ribbon was off he discovered that the wrapping of the box didn't need to be ripped off to get to the actual gift instead it was only the top of the box that needed to be take off. With a swift yank he pulled off the top of the box to and when he saw the contents of the box his heart nearly stopped.
A rain coat.
"Jackie," he started to say, his throat already feeling tight.
Eric wanted to tell her that the gesture was nice but it wasn't the same, however when he finally managed to take his eyes off the gift and look at Jackie he found that the raven haired beauty was rapidly shaking her head back and forth with shinning wet eyes. He frowned at her behavior but didn't say a word and instead followed her gaze back into the box where he found something he'd missed.
With a shaking hand he grabbed the small card that had been tucked into the collar of the brown coat. He slowly opened the card and found the same cursive writing that he used to find on the small notes inside his school sack lunches.
He read the card aloud, "Merry Christmas, My Little Snicklefritz. Love… Mom." His voice cracked with emotion at that last little word and he closed his eyes tightly as he clutched the card in his hands.
Jackie's arm instantly went around Eric's shoulder but just as he started to lean his head on her shoulder she pulled back a bit.
"Look Eric, I know you're hurting and I'm gonna hug you, but remember this is cashmere." She reminded pinching the teal sweater she wore, "If you get all bugery and snotty, you're on your own."
She ended her words with a smile to let him know she was joking and Eric was thankful for it. Jackie even managed to catch the smile—a weak smile—on his face before she reached over and pulled him into a much needed hug.
Author's Note: So what did you think? Yay? Nay? Lemme know in a review.
I really hope you all were okay with me posting the story here, I'm gonna try my very best to add one more to the collection and it will be one that is much happier one I promise.
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, have a nice day, and remember only 356 days till Christmas 2014!
