Of course everybody was going to think Marcia and Jan were wonderful; because of course, after a morning spent clearing the sidewalks and an afternoon at the church creating scenery, the two of them still had time and energy to prepare their entertainment for the evening; and of course Marcia could still remember the dance she had performed to the tune of 'White Christmas' at the dance recital earlier that month; and of course she had brought along her white leotard and ballet tights to Branders Town so that she could go through her dance exercises every day; and of course Jeff and Louise happened to have an instrumental version of 'White Christmas' on their record of Christmas music; so of course Jan was able to sing along to it while Marcia danced; and of course Mike, Carol, Jeff, Louise and the boys thought they did fantastically; and of course Cindy was jealous. But of course Cindy did her best not to show it as Marcia and Jan held hands and bowed while she and the rest of the family applauded.
As Mike carried her up the stairs, Cindy thought how ironic it was that when her sisters had been around the age she was now, she had looked up to them both and wished she could be like them. In her eyes, they had been gorgeous and sophisticated and graceful. Now they were even more gorgeous and sophisticated and graceful, and she was the fat clumsy monster girl sister with the zits and the braces. She'd better not have any of that candy – it certainly wouldn't improve her appearance. Meanwhile, among her brothers, Bobby had caught up to Greg and Peter in terms of looks. Why do I have to be the Brady left behind, she thought to herself.
The next day was Christmas Eve, and Cindy was able to move around the house that morning by limping. Nonetheless, her knee was still painful, and there was no question of her walking outdoors until it was time for the Christmas pageant. Even then she would have to ride in the car rather than actually walk.
However, Cindy did find out what Greg would be doing in the pageant or rather, what the boys would be doing. The family that was snowed in was also the family who performed a carol every year as part of the Christmas pageant, so Marcia had suggested to Greg that he should take their place. "Hey, Cindy", Greg asked her as she was sitting on the stairs. "How would you like to perform 'Silent Night' this evening?"
Cindy looked appalled. "You're not reforming the Brady Six for the pageant, are you?"
"It won't be all six of us", replied Greg. "See, Marcia and Jan got roped in to helping backstage, so they'll be too busy but I'm playing guitar and singing, Peter's playing second guitar and then the church has an electronic organ, and Bobby'll be playing that."
"I'm not getting up in front of all those people", said Cindy. "And it's not like I can play an instrument."
"You can sing, though", her brother reasoned.
"Who says I want to sing?" Cindy retorted in a loud angry voice. "You can't make me do anything I don't want to do!" and with that, she hobbled back up the stairs. Mike and Carol came in from the other room to see what all the fuss was about. "Why does she have to get off on being such a, a … monstrous little brat?" she heard Greg complaining. "All she does is sulk and whine. 'Oh Greg, you're such a male chauvinist pig; oh Greg, I don't want to look at myself; oh Greg, you can't make me sing at the pageant.' I was looking forward to us all doing things together and…"
"I heard all that!" Cindy hollered, before going into her bedroom and slamming the door. She limped over to her bed and lay down. She could still hear the voices from downstairs – now her parents were remonstrating with Greg. "You mustn't be too hard on her", she heard Carol saying. "For one thing, she's hurt herself; and for another, she's going through that temperamental teenage phase – and you know, there was one point when adolescence hit you pretty hard."
"That's right, do you remember your first year in high school?" asked Mike. The voices faded away – the three of them must have gone into the kitchen. Cindy's knee seemed to be hurting her even more. I'm having the worst Christmas Eve ever, she thought, and she started to cry.
She was still crying ten minutes later when Carol came into the room. "Are you ready to say sorry to Greg?" she asked. "I think Greg's about ready to apologize to you."
"I don't want to see anyone", sobbed Cindy. Carol wasn't about to take that statement too seriously. "You know, it's nearly time to eat", she replied. "Shall I bring your lunch to you here?" Cindy nodded. Lunch couldn't have been better if Alice herself had made it – it was a kind of fish pie with a mash potato topping and a creamy fish sauce underneath. Carol and Cindy ate their helpings of pie together. "We were talking about the time when Greg turned your father's den into a hippy-style bedroom for himself", Carol told her.
"Oh yes, I remember", smiled Cindy, who had stopped crying and was feeling a bit better. "And he didn't want to have anything to do with us, because he said we were just kids."
"Cindy, I hope you don't try and separate yourself off in the same way", said Carol in a soft voice. "Try and find it in your heart to forgive your brother, I'm sure he was only speaking in the heat of the moment."
"Maybe", Cindy replied, staring down at her plate. I not only look like a monster, I act like a monster too, she thought. At that point, Carol decided the best thing she could do for her daughter would be to distract her. "I've been thinking about what we could do for our entertainment", Carol told her. "Do you remember that Doris Day movie we saw on the TV?"
"You mean 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon'?" Cindy asked.
"We could do the title song from that", replied Carol. "Do you remember, Doris Day sings the main part of the chorus and Gordon McRae sings this kind of backing vocal?" Cindy shook her head but Carol continued. "So I'd sing 'By the light' and you'd sing 'Not the dark but the light.'" A smile spread over Cindy's face. "Oh yes, I think I remember", she said. "Shall we try it out after lunch?" asked Carol. Cindy nodded.
"Greg, are you there?" called Cindy as she and Carol made their way downstairs after they'd finished their lunch. Cindy had made up her mind to bury the hatchet with her brother. "You just missed him, honey", Mike told her. "He's gone over to the church with the others."
"Are they coming back for dinner?" she asked. "No, they each made themselves a packed dinner to take over to church", explained Mike. "The rehearsal process seems to be pretty intense." Cindy looked disappointed. "You'll see Greg later", Carol reassured her. She helped her over to the baby grand piano in the living room. "Now, why don't we get started on our own rehearsal?"
