Joyeux Noël
I was relaxing in my favorite chair when Amandine climbed into my lap.
"Demain is Christmas, Papa!" she announced.
"That's right." I kissed the top of her head. "Why don't you and your brother go make sure the servants have plenty of Christmas spirit?"
She smiled and went to find Beau.
"Do you have Christmas spirit?" Beau asked Lumière.
"Of course," he replied. "The other servants and I are going to build a snow beast! That always fills all our hearts with holiday cheer!"
Amandine frowned. "Don't you mean a snowman?"
"Come. I will show you."
To my chagrin, the servants began teaching my children how to build a snowman in the shape of a monster that looked like I did during the spell.
Angelique touched a piece of cloth to the snow beast's arm. "If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much! If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away! You should learn to control your temper!" She smiled at the sculpture. "By the way, thank you for saving my life."
The servants laughed.
"Remettez-vous au travail!" I ordered.
Although they would rather have used the snow beast to make jokes at my expense all day, the servants obeyed and got back to work. Meanwhile, my children were still on a quest to make sure everyone was feeling the spirit of Christmas.
"Will you sing us a Christmas carol?" they begged Maestro Fife.
"Which one?" he asked.
"How about the one about bells that jingle?" Beau suggested.
Fife thought a moment and began:
Dashing through the snow
To the horse's frightened neigh,
Through the woods I go,
Fighting all the way.
Belle was in the West Wing,
And self-control I lack,
So though I'm France's future king,
I face a wolf attack!
Saving Belle, saving Belle
I'm saving her life
How I pray
She will someday
Agree to be my wife…
"You're about three seconds away from snow down the back of the shirt," Loup warned.
"Oh, let him be!" Louve argued. "It is kind of catchy."
She smiled and began her own version:
Dashing through the woods,
Leaving marks on the Beast's hide
I've been up to no good
Attempting regicide!
That was too much for Loup. He began chasing her through the castle, and although Louve is one of the fastest people in France, no one outruns Loup. He soon caught her and dragged her outside.
"Any last words?" he asked.
"You forget I fight better than the beast," Louve replied.
"Don't you mean 'better than the best'?"
"Non." She wriggled out of his grasp. "I meant if you try cramming snow down the back of my shirt, you're going to suffer the same fate. I'm not le maître, you know."
Loup nodded. "Alright, I guess I'll spare you. It is Christmas Eve, after all."
I ignored their rivalry. Like most siblings, those two tease each other a great deal, but neither means any actual harm.
The other servants were singing their usual version of "Deck the Halls":
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
There must be much, much more holly
'Tis the season to be jolly
Wait. What's this? There's too much holly
Don we now our bright apparel
No, no, no, no more mistletoe
They've been singing it that way ever since the first Christmas after we became human again. Then there's La Plume's version, which starts out: "Wreck the halls with bouts of folly," but that's a different story.
Angelique had been busy all week, making sure the castle was properly decorated for the Yuletide season. As Mrs. Potts always say, there is no more beautiful place in the world than our castle during Christmas. However, even the joy of the holiday and the beauty of the festive decorations failed to bring peace to the castle.
As usual, Cogsworth and Lumière were bickering. Mrs. Potts scolded them both, saying that Cogsworth should be celebrating his infant daughter's first Christmas rather than fighting with Lumière, who will also be a parent in the coming year.
"Where's mine?" Louve asked her brother.
He frowned. "Where's what?"
"I shall never be a parent," she explained, "so I want to be an aunt. I want my own baby to cuddle and kiss and rock to sleep."
"Shouldn't my wife get a say in this?" queried Loup.
"Have you asked her about it yet?"
He nearly chuckled. "Yes, we've talked about it. She says there must be something in the water, and you'll get your wish this summer. I didn't tell you until now because I thought it would be a nice Christmas surprise for you, Tante Louve."
Louve spent the rest of the day saying, "I'm going to be an aunt!" after every single one of her sentences.
Later that evening, Beau came to talk to me. "Maman was singing about a night that was silent."
"Was she?"
"What does 'silent night' mean?" he inquired.
I sighed. "Around here, not much."
"The servants sing a song called 'On the first day of Christmas… you've got to be kidding me!'"
"Knowing the servants, I don't doubt it."
"If you want to see a silent night, mon prince, you should visit the forest," Louve remarked as she walked by.
"We'll all go," I told him.
As Louve left the room, I heard her whisper in disbelief for the three hundredth time that evening, "I'm going to be an aunt!"
Belle and I took both children into the woods. Everything was calm, bright, and still with the full moon shining on the newly fallen snow, which covered the evergreens like a blanket.
How was it possible that it was on Christmas years ago that I became a monster? Now I was with my wife and children. I must have changed more than I realized.
I enjoyed the serene feeling until we returned to the castle, and I noticed that all the servants were standing around quietly, grinning at me. This is never a good sign because it usually means they're up to something, and this time proved to be no exception, but that's another story.
A Merry Christmas, one and all.