Lizzie McGuire stared across the table at the man who had once been her boyfriend. "Once" being the key word, there. She followed his every move with her hazel eyes, noticing immediately that something was terribly wrong.
"I'm getting deployed," Gordo said finally, daring to look up at Lizzie.
"Oh," she said simply, avoiding his gaze. She didn't want to say that she was scared, but she was. And he knew that; her eyes gave it all away.
"I need you to do me a big favor." He reached across the table and put his hand on yours. She pulled her hand away.
"What's that?"
"I need you to take the kids for me. Just for a while. Please? I'll probably be home in a couple months."
"Probably? What does 'probably' mean? If you don't die?"
"Lizzie!" He exclaimed. "I meant if they don't make me stay longer!" Lizzie shook her head.
"Gordo, your kids hate me."
"They do not. They're just touchy because…well, you know." Gordo's wife, Kat had died a month ago.
"Oh." Lizzie said again. "Makes sense."
"Will you take them, then?"
"I can't," Lizzie said feebly, but she knew she would have to give in.
"What's happened to you, Lizzie? The girl I knew 7 years ago would have done this for me in a heartbeat." What happened? Lizzie thought, What happened? You broke my heart, Gordon. That's what happened.
"Hey," Lizzie said, trying to be as cheerful as possible. She stared down at the two young children sitting on her doorstep. The boy was about five, she guessed, and the girl about three. They stared up at her with Gordo's eyes. Those eyes. They taunted her. "Um, come in." The two kids walked in and put their suitcases down in the foyer.
"Where's the menorah?" The girl asked, looking around. Lizzie remembered suddenly, that her name was Rose.
"Um, well I'm not Jewish, so this year you're going to celebrate Christmas instead." She ventured into the kitchen to start dinner. The children followed her. Lizzie looked over her shoulder, straight into their vacant stares.
"What do you have against Jews?" The boy asked, with the same audacity his father had always had.
"Well, James…"
"Scott," he corrected.
"Scott. I don't have anything against Jewish people. In fact, I dated your father for several years. You don't have to celebrate Christmas religiously, because I don't either. I'm not Christian. I'm not anything, really."
"You dated Daddy?" Rose asked.
"No," Scott said, sitting down Indian-Style on the kitchen floor. "She's bluffing." He clearly had his father's brains.
"Would you like a chair?" Lizzie asked.
"No," Scott said. "I'm hungry. What's for dinner?"
"Pizza."
"From Pizza Hut?" Rose asked, eyes lighting up.
"No," Lizzie bent down next to the oven and scooped the pizza out. "Frozen." Scott and Rose both sighed.
"Shoot! It's burned!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"This is going to be a long, long stay." Scott stated, rolling his eyes at Lizzie's non-existent cooking skills.
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Lizzie wandered aimlessly around the toy store. Gordo had left her some money to buy the kids presents. "So, Scott, Rose. What do you guys want for Christmas?" Lizzie asked.
"A baby doll," Rose said. Scott, however, was a little more difficult.
"I don't celebrate Christmas." He said, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her away from a doll display.
"Scott, can I talk to you privately for a minute?" Lizzie asked, parking Rose back in front of some baby dolls, and grabbing Scott by the shirt collar to pull him aside. "Scott, I know you're just trying to look after your sister, but what harm is there in celebrating Christmas just this once?"
"We're Jewish!" He shouted, ignoring the stares of fellow shoppers. Lizzie glared at each lookie-Lou-er.
"I know. But there are lots of Jews that celebrate Christmas without all the Jesus stuff. You can, too."
"No," Scott said, blue eyes clouding over. "I miss Dad! He would never force me to do this! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" The first tears began to flow, and they seemingly couldn't stop.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Lizzie said, defeated. "If you feel that strongly about your religion, I won't make you celebrate Christmas!" She grabbed a baby doll off a shelf and handed it to Rose. "Happy Christ—Hanukkah." She said, leading the children to the check out.
That night, as Lizzie went to tuck Rose in, the little girl asked, "Why won't Scotty celebrate Christmas with us?" Lizzie sighed.
"Some people take religion very seriously, Rose, and your brother is one of those people. I saw he brought a little menorah with him, though, so he can just celebrate Hanukkah on his own." She exited the guest room and wandered down the hall to the living room, where she had Scott stationed on the couch. He had quite obviously been crying; his cheeks were wet and stained. He was absently spinning a dreidel on the hard wood floor. For a moment, Lizzie stood staring, amazed at how he could get the top to spin for so long. "Maybe later we can play dreidel together." Scott looked up, startled. "Your dad used to make me play that with him every December. It actually was really fun."
"Yeah. It is fun." Scott replied, wiping his eyes.
"I hope you forgive me about earlier today," Lizzie said, sitting down next to him on the floor. "I'm new to this whole Jewish thing. And I'm new to having kids around."
"I forgive you…did you really used to date my dad?"
"Yes. For three years."
"Why'd you two break up?"
"Well, he just didn't feel anything toward me anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"When you date someone," Lizzie said carefully, "they should bring out the best in you. I thought that Gordo brought out the best in me, but he didn't think I brought out the best in him." Scott nodded.
"I think I get it."
"Cool. You want to look at some photo albums?" Again, Scott nodded, and there they sat, looking at the pictures of Lizzie and Gordo for hours.
A/N: I've gotta hit the hay. This is a two or three parter, and it'll be finished tomorrow. I'll tell you all to enjoy the holiday again tomorrow, but Merry Christmas! And Happy Hanukkah, and happy Kwanza! I just realized that I have to post two chapters tomorrow, because I was sick a long time ago and never caught up…