It's Christmas in Beacontown! For realsies this time. It's actually winter.
Timeline: Three months after "Petra's Babysitting Service"
Snow sparkled as it fluttered down from the clouds. It wasn't the first snow to hit Beacontown this year, but it definitely was the prettiest. Lukas drew back the curtains on the den window to get a full view of the flurry. He watched the forest and fields outside their house turn into a snowy dreamscape.
He smiled. "Cue the music!"
Across the room, Jessie chuckled and reached for a record sitting on a tabletop. She swept it up and slid it into the record player, and within a moment, smooth Christmas tunes floated through the air. Instrumental piano - Jessie's favorite. She sat back in her chair and went back to her project.
"I never knew you could knit," Lukas said. "When did you learn?"
"I don't really remember." Jessie finished a row and switched the needles in her hand. "It was some time when I was 12, I think."
"That long ago?"
"Yes. You guys never saw me knit because I've hardly had a chance to for years! I used to do it off and on back when I lived in the tree house, but Axel teased me for it once and I was too shy to do it in front of anyone."
"Axel teased you?"
"Yeah, he called me Grandma and demanded that I make him a scarf. That annoyed me, so I chased him around the tree house, caught him in a headlock, and gave him noogies."
Lukas chuckled as he imagined it. Jessie was tougher than she looked, this he well knew, and she could be almost as feisty as Petra when she was annoyed. He liked that about her. Heart of kindness, but not afraid to stand up for herself.
"A few more rows and then I'll be done," Jessie murmured. "Good."
"What are you making?"
Jessie held up the mostly-finished project. "A Christmas sweater for Zeke. How does it look?"
It was a soft, Zeke-sized sweater made in blue yarn. A cute little snowman graced the front. She'd also stitched a green Z on the back for his initials.
"D'aww!" Lukas said. "He's gonna look so adorable in that!"
Zeke, who was playing with his toys on the den floor, glanced up when his mom mentioned his name. When Jessie showed Lukas what she was knitting, Zeke looked at it in puzzlement, likely wondering what the fuss was. What was so awesome about a bunch of knotted-up yarn? Especially when Dewey came slinking into the den.
"Hey, Dewey." Lukas bent down and patted the ocelot's head. "How are you, boy?"
Dewey gave him what could best be described as a sarcastic glare, and then he turned his back, tail held high in indignation.
Lukas sighed. "You're still mad about how I had you declawed, aren't you?"
"Mrow!" Dewey responded, waving a clawless paw at blondie. "Mrow."
"I'm sorry! I didn't want to do it to you. But I had to make things safer for Zeke."
"Pfft!" Dewey made an odd spitting sound.
"Oh, come on!" Lukas complained. "Work with me, Dewey. Here, want a treat?"
The ocelot ignored Lukas's peace offering, turning aside with an air of feline grace. His display of superiority, however, was interrupted when he ran into Zeke. The baby giggled and clapped his hands. He crawled forward and captured Dewey in a big hug.
"Mrow!" Dewey protested. His tail went bushy in shock.
Zeke babbled happily, likely saying "I love you, Kitty!" in baby talk. Hugging a real ocelot was so much cooler than his soft toys. Dewey, who had been so haughty and independent just a moment earlier, now gave his owners a helpless look. Neither of whom made an attempt to rescue him from his adorable plight. Lukas just laughed, and Jessie went back to working on her knitting. She finished the last row and cast off, producing a freshly-made Christmas sweater.
"Zeke. Zeke, honey, come over here," she said, patting her lap. "Can you crawl to Mama?"
The baby cooed and let go of Dewey. The ocelot scrambled off to another part of the house. Zeke rolled over on his hands and knees, then scooted across the floor to Jessie. She picked him up, put him in her lap, and fit the sweater over his head. Zeke stood stunned for a second, then pulled on the sleeves and examined the snowman on his sweater. He didn't seem thrilled by his new threads, but he didn't try to remove the sweater either, so perhaps it was okay after all.
"Cool! He likes it," Lukas said. "At least I think he does…"
Jessie said, "Well, good. I hope the others like theirs, too."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I either made or bought a cheesy Christmas sweater for everyone in the New Order. You included."
Jessie opened up the box that her basket of yarn was sitting atop, revealing a collection of folded-up sweaters. Lukas had a sinking feeling that the one blaring "I LOVE COOKIES" in big green letters was his. He lifted it out of the box and held it out in front of him.
"It was me and Jesse's idea," she said, grinning. "He picked out the ones for Petra, Axel, Harper, and Ivor."
Lukas held up a white sweater that said "FOXY GRANDPA" on it, just like the T-shirt.
"Yeah, that one's for Ivor." Jessie looked a little embarrassed. "Like I said, Jesse picked that one out. Not me."
"Jesse's pretty excited for Christmas, isn't he?"
"Judging by the way he screams Christmas carols and throws tinsel on people on the street? I'd say yes."
"Uh oh."
"Yeah, be careful if you need to go do something at the Order Hall anytime soon, because he's lying in wait. He'll attack you with glitter-"
Lukas got the thousand-yard-stare all of a sudden.
"-ahem." Jessie remembered that she wasn't supposed to mention glitter around Lukas, not after his traumatic experiences with it. "I mean, he'll attack you with festive anything."
"Isn't he supposed to help you decorate around Beacontown?"
"Well, we already did most of the decorating. When I went to town last Saturday to do some holiday shopping, he asked me to help him with it. We hung up lots of wreaths and streamers, put salt on the sidewalks so they wouldn't get too icy, helped assemble the town Christmas tree, and a bunch of other stuff. Olivia is helping people string up their lights, because she's better with electricity than us. The only thing left to do is to hang up the banner over the Order Hall."
"Do you need me to help you with that?"
"Thanks, but I already told Jesse he had to do it with me. It'll give him something to do. I've had it with him singing carols while I'm trying to write records in the library. Do you know that he knows how to sing every verse of Veni Veni Emmanuel in Latin?"
"And given the Order Hall's acoustics, it likely makes the place sound like a monastery."
"Yes, exactly. It creeps out the guests. Anyway, I was going to stop by later today so we could hang up the banner. We'll be hosting the New Order Christmas party at the Order Hall this year. Is that okay?"
"Mm-hmm, that's fine." Lukas nodded. "I feel bad for saying it, but I really didn't want to have to go to my mom's Christmas party."
"I remember going to it that one year. Was that the one where you-"
"Fainted on the floor, I know."
Jessie laughed. "It was because your mom mentioned babies! And now that we actually have a baby…"
"It's all she talks about when I visit her, Jessie!" Lukas tugged on his hair in frustration. "'How's the baby, Lukas?' 'You need to bring Ezekiel to my house sometime, Lukas. I want to see him.' 'I'd be more than willing to babysit, Lukas.' 'Let me know when you're having your next child, Lukas.' She just won't let up!"
"Well, she did really want grandchildren."
"Yeah." Lukas sat in a chair. "I guess. But anyway, so we'll be having the party at the Order Hall? That'll be fine."
"Cool. I was thinking we'd go to the Christmas Eve service, then stay overnight at the Order Hall with everyone."
"I'll bake the cookies!" Lukas offered.
Jessie grinned. Blondie was the best at baking in the New Order. He couldn't cook to save his life, but he made the best cookies in the world. She could already imagine the crispy cake and the slightly-melted chocolate chips...the gingerbread spice...the delicate sugar cookies…
Christmas Eve
A light Christmas snow congealed on Beacontown's sidewalks and buildings. A cold winter sun hung over the west horizon, and window icicles twinkled in the low glow. The city itself blinked and shimmered with an array of festive colors. All the businesses were closed for Christmas, church bells rang in tune to favorite carols, and everyone whom Lukas and Jessie (and Zeke) passed on the street seemed to be charged up with holiday energy.
"Best time of the year," Jessie remarked to him. Her scarf and skirt fluttered in the wind.
"Oh, definitely." Lukas adjusted Zeke's hat to make sure his head wasn't getting cold.
Jessie had a feeling that she, Lukas, and Zeke would be the last ones to arrive at the New Order party, but that was okay. Being fashionably late was fine! They'd get to skip that awkward part at the party when no-one knows what to do, so they just stand there awkwardly and talk about dumb stuff. Who wants to do that?
Besides, this gave them an opportunity to greet the other Beacontowners and wish them a good time. They dropped bits of treasure in the charity buckets whenever they passed a bell ringer on the street. Giving feels better than getting. They were at the Order Hall in a few minutes, just in time to see Jesse attempting to hang up a large banner over the front doors. He balanced precariously on a ladder; Olivia stood underneath and directed him.
"Do you need any help?" Jessie asked. "Jesse was supposed to wait until I got here to hang up the banner."
"Jesse? Wait for Christmas? Don't be silly," Olivia said. "He insisted on doing it now."
"I waited all month for this!" Jesse shouted from the ladder. "Olivia, where do you want it to go?"
She made a rectangle with her fingers. "A little to the left...smidge right...whoops, went too far. Scoot it a bit to the left...ah! That's just right. Okay, string it up."
Jesse hooked the corners of the banner on pegs fixed to the wall. The red fabric unfolded, revealing "Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays!" embroidered in pretty silver letters. Pleased with the result, he sighed and shimmied down the ladder.
"Love it," Olivia said, giving him a nod of approval.
"Awesome sauce!" Jesse smiled his trademark cheesy grin.
"Ah, it turned out good. Excellent," Jessie replied. "I had the banner made to say Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays. That won't offend anyone, will it?"
"I don't think it will…" Olivia brushed her hair off her shoulders. "But let's get inside. It's too cold to stand out here talking."
"My fingers are gonna freeze off!" Jesse complained.
"Okay, everybody inside!" Olivia yanked the doors open, and her friends shuffled inside. As soon as they were inside, a wave of warmth hit them. Jesse sighed in delight and pulled off his silly fluffy mittens. Then he looked over at his sister, pointed at the backpack she carried, nodding.
"Yes, Jesse," she said. "I brought the sweaters."
"Yay!"
"Zeke's already wearing his," Lukas said, taking off Zeke's hat so he wouldn't get too warm in the Order Hall.
Sudden dread filled Olivia. "Sweaters? What do you mean, you brought the sweaters?"
"You'll see them in a second." Jessie shrugged off the backpack. "Can Lukas and I change out of our church clothes first? I'm not running around in a skirt anymore tonight."
It wasn't until she mentioned it that Olivia and Jesse noticed their clothes. Jessie was wearing a proper dress and cardigan, and Lukas had on dress pants and a matching jacket. Judging by their stiff postures, they didn't like their Sunday best.
"Oh. Right." Olivia pointed to an off-the-hallway room. "The w.c. is over there."
After taking a quick moment to change, Jessie, Lukas, and Zeke were back on the scene, now sporting their silly Christmas sweaters and more casual attire. Jessie's having reindeer and snowmen to match her son's sweater, and Lukas's to proclaim his love of cookies.
"And you brought one for everyone in the New Order?" Olivia unfolded her sweater and examined it. "A cookie wearing nerd glasses. 'Smart Cookie.' Hmm. I appreciate the sense of humor, but do I really have to wear it?"
"It's Christmas, Olivia. Work with us."
"Fine." She slipped it on, then adjusted the sleeves and waistband. "I guess this isn't so bad. Correct size. No itchy tag. Good cotton yarn...It's not so bad at all. Hey, I kind of like it!"
"Good." Jessie unpacked the rest of the sweaters. "Now we just need to make sure everyone has theirs on by the end of the night…"
Olivia checked her clock. "Well, it's early afternoon right now and Christmas Eve ends at midnight…"
"That'll work." Jesse winked. "What do you think of mine, Olivia?"
She looked at it. "Oh, again with the bad puns!"
Jesse's sweater had the front half of a dog plushie sewn to the front. "HAPPY HOWLIDAYS" arched across the top in blue letters. Jingle bells on the shoulders made for the finishing touch. Now he couldn't take a single step without jingle-jangling.
"Ring-a-ling. Hear them ring!" He spun in a circle to make the bells rattle.
"More like ding-a-ling," Olivia muttered to herself, but she couldn't help laughing anyway. "Okay, you guys. Let's get this Christmas party started. Lukas, you said you'd be baking the cookies?"
"On it!" Lukas handed Zeke to Jessie. "Hold on to Peanut, please?"
"Got him." Jessie huddled her son close. Lukas pranced away to the kitchen to start baking. Literally within seconds, the aroma of sugar and cinnamon floated through the air.
"Whoa! How did he do that so fast?" Olivia sniffed. "That smells delicious."
Jessie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Where are the others?"
They walked into the main room of the Order Hall, and she got her answer. The rest of her friend-family sat around the Round Table, chattering and laughing. Board games, holiday crafts, coloring pages, and pairs of reindeer antlers were strewn across the table.
"Hi, Jessie!" they shouted. "Happy Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas, you guys. Glad you could make it!" She went around the table, hugging everyone. Even Ivor couldn't resist a hug this time. Axel plopped a holly crown on her when she went over to hug him.
"Aw, thanks, Axel. I didn't know you did arts and crafts."
"Petra showed me how to make one." He chuckled and knotted together another branch. "Now I can't stop. I'm gonna make sure everyone has one by the end of the night."
"Oh, that reminds me." Jessie got out (from hammerspace? Eh, don't question it) the biggest of the sweaters and tossed it at Axel. "Got one for you, too."
"You got me an ugly sweater? Dude, these are so crazy." He put it on. "They're great. And mine has TNT on it, too!"
T'was true. Axel's featured dynamite sticks and "Naughty List" in goofy red letters. It had an itchy "Made in Boom Town" label on the neck, but other than that, Axel thought it was "killer awesome," whatever that meant. He kept bragging to Petra about how cool it was.
"Don't even think about it!" Petra gave Jessie The Look. "You are not putting an ugly sweater on me."
Jessie tried to say something, but-
"Not even if it has a Miss Butter pattern on it. I don't want any goofy sweaters."
"We'll see about that!" Jessie made the I'm-watching-you sign at Petra.
"Okay, who's all in on this scheme to put silly Christmas sweaters on?" Ivor asked, standing up. "Jessie, you're wearing one. Zeke has one. So does Olivia...I saw Lukas go by and he had one on...and now Axel."
"Jesse and I," Jessie replied with a smirk. "I didn't even tell Lukas about it until a while ago."
"Say, where is Jesse?"
Right on cue, Jesse's singing voice blasted through the Order Hall.
"DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF HOLLY! FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!"
"There he is!" Axel declared.
"How to have your favorite carol ruined for you," Petra muttered. "Have this dweeb singing it 40 times a day!"
"Tell him to sing something different," Olivia suggested.
"Okay. I'll do that." Petra waited until Jesse came charging into the room, throwing tinsel and glitter stars everywhere. She grabbed him by the back of his silly sweater.
"Dude, sing something else. I'm tired of that song."
"Okedokee. Anything for you, Petra." He blew a kiss at her. "See you under the mistletoe."
Humming the jingle bell rock, he waddled away to hang up more decorations in another room. Petra watched him leave, not really sure what to make of that comment or the blown kiss.
"That was...oddly flirtatious of him." She blinked.
"Yay, Jetra! Make that my Christmas present, you two." Olivia got the stars in her eyes. Bethlehem stars, to be exact. While everyone was distracted by Jesse's flirting and Olivia's fangirling, Jessie took advantage of the moment to get her next victim. She snuck up on Harper and slipped on Team Mom's sweater.
"Whup! Jessie!" Harper yelped in surprise. "What's this? Oh, you made a sweater for me, too? How thoughtful. And it's got reindeer and snowflakes on it. How sweet. Ivor, look! Now I can start a sweater collection like yours."
A sudden silence fell over the room. All eyes were on Harper and Ivor.
Petra tweaked her ear. "Did I hear that correctly?"
"No!" Ivor fibbed. "I don't have a sweater collection."
"Oh, my...Are they normal sweaters or…" Olivia made some bizarre faces as she tried not to laugh. Meanwhile, Ivor's complexion started to wheel through a spectrum of reds. Harper covered her mouth, realizing that she'd said too much.
"They're not...I meant that I...It's not really a collection…" Ivor sputtered, trying to come up with an excuse. "Ah, bother it! Say what you want, they're warm and comfortable!"
"Guys, guys, don't laugh," Jessie scolded, although she was holding in some giggles herself. "Be nice."
"I suppose you got one for me?" he asked her, arms crossed.
Very meekly she got out a white sweater (from hammerspace, I guess) and passed it to Ivor.
Ivor started to unfold it, then thought about it. "This had better not be a sweater version of that silly Foxy Grandpa T-shirt you got me for Hallowe'en."
"I didn't get you that T-shirt," she defended. "Lukas and I were on honeymoon just before that party."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know. That will just be a family mystery."
"I hate family mysteries!"
"Be a good sport, Ivor," Harper said. "Everyone else is wearing one...where's your holiday spirit?"
"I have lots of holiday spirit, thank you very much!" he bluffed as he shoved it on. "So there!"
While they went back in forth in one of those petty old-married-couple quarrels, a small sprig of leaves and berries on a string descended from the ceiling towards them. It took the others a second to realize that the mistletoe sprig was attached to a fishing pole. They followed the line and found…
"Olivia, what are you doing?" Petra looked quizzically at her.
"Just kiss already!" Olivia goaded Ivor and Harper.
"What are you talking about - Mistletoe?!" Ivor looked up in alarm at the little plant. "You used the mistletoe trap on us. Now that is just sneaky, young lady! Whatever happened to respect for elders?"
"Come here, you." Harper took him by the hands. She pulled him into a nice kiss. A ripple of applause went up from the kids, and Olivia squealed for joy.
"Christmas! Hooray for mistletoe!" She pumped a triumphant fist in the air. "Score one for Olivia."
Lukas came trotting into the room right about then, carrying a platter of freshly baked cookies. He'd done a splendid job - they were crispy on the edges, but still pliable enough to gently break apart, and of course the delicious half-melted chocolate chips sealed the deal. He couldn't cook worth a hill of beans, but he was a master baker.
"Hey, everyone, I brought the cookies and-" He paused and surveyed the scene. "Aw, I always miss all the fun!"
"Not true! I still have the mistletoe on a stick." Olivia threw the fishing pole over her shoulder as if it were a musket. "There are more ship moments where that came from."
Lukas's plate of cookies didn't survive very long. They didn't stand a chance against a group of hungry New Order members, especially when Axel was involved. Axel chowed down four in a row. Lukas watched his cookies disappear so quickly, it was almost a Christmas miracle.
He got a hope spot when Olivia dropped a whole cookie back on the plate. But then Jesse came running back into the room.
"HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING!" he sang at the top of his lungs. "GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING! PEACE ON EARTH AND - Oh boy! Cookies!"
"No, wait, Jesse-I was going to-" Lukas protested, but it was too late. Jesse swiped the cookie off the plate before Lukas so much as reached for it. He munched on his snack before striking up the rest of the song and running off again. Lukas gazed, forlorn, at the empty plate.
"I didn't even get one…" he muttered.
"Sorry," Axel said, not really sorry at all. "Tough break, bro. You could always make more."
"But I just finished baking those!"
"Don't fight, boys." Harper unfolded a napkin.
"Harper!" Lukas said, sounding remarkably like a tattling child. "Tell Axel to stop eating all my cookies."
She gave him a mom-stare. "Lukas Porter-Taber. You are a married man and a father. Don't tattle on Axel like you're seven years old."
"Sorry." He looked down at the floor. "I guess she's right."
"Just like I'm right." Axel puffed out his chest.
"No, you're not. We need to mediate this dispute."
"We need to what the what-now?"
"We'll settle this like men."
"True." Axel stood up, pulled off one of his gloves, and threw it at Lukas's feet. "In that case - Lukas, I challenge you to a snowball fight!"
Lukas scooped up the glove. "I accept!"
Olivia frowned. "That's not really that manly-"
"Shh," Jessie interrupted. "This is gonna be good."
"Your husband and your friend think that the best way to settle a dispute like men is to have a snowball fight?"
Apparently no-one else agreed with Olivia that the idea was stupid, because everyone soon vacated their seats and headed outside to watch the fight.
"We're burning daylight," Jessie said. "We need to get this snowball duel hashed out before it gets dark."
Olivia sighed and followed them outside, hastily zipping up her winter jacket and putting on a hat. It was still light out, but the snow had stopped falling a little while ago. A thick white blanket covered Beacontown, largely undisturbed. It was so pretty, so pure, that the gang felt a little bad about ripping it up to make snowballs.
"Here's a good spot!" Axel waddled out into an almost knee-deep layer of snow over the Order Hall backyard. "Okay, I'll build a fort and you can make one, too. Then we'll start the fight. Give me plenty of room, 'kay?"
Lukas sort of half-walked, half-hopped through the snow until he was a couple meters away from Axel. "Is this okay?"
"Yeah, that's good." Axel started pulling up snow into a mound for his fort. "Okay, first to surrender is the loser and the guy who's wrong about the cookies."
"I think the stakes should be higher than that," Blondie replied. "How about...if I win, I get the whole next batch of cookies to myself?"
"And if you lose?" Axel put his hands on his hips.
"Then...um…you get the whole next batch."
"Deal!"
Axel bent down to finish up his snow fort. He was better at wrecking things than building them, so his fort wasn't much more than a mound of snow formed into a crude wall shape. But it would hold, he figured. How hard could little Lukas throw, anyway? He glanced up to see what Blondie was doing.
"Holy wow!" he yelled when he saw his opponent's snow fort. As opposed to Axel's silly mound of snow, Lukas had practically built a miniature castle. It had towers, battlements, turrets, and everything. And he'd built it in no time flat!
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Lukas cackled, standing well-protected behind his fort. "Knock this one down, buddy!"
Axel swept up a chunk of snow and wadded it into a large snowball. "You're gonna eat those words, haybale hair! UGH!"
Axel heaved the snowball. It missed Lukas's castle by a good two meters.
"Nice shot," was all Lukas managed. He was trying to be a good sportsman, but it came off as just patronizing.
"Dang it!" Axel whipped more snowballs at Lukas.
"Overly competitive," Olivia said to Jessie.
Axel ducked and dodged as Lukas unloaded a barrage of snowballs at him, pausing occasionally to throw some of his own. The others watched the barrage of cold ammo fly back and forth, impacting the ground like little bombs. It was hard to tell who was winning. Lukas had the stronger snow fort, but Axel had a better arm. Blondie was better at shooting a bow and arrow than throwing things. The war raged on for several minutes, until the tides started to turn.
How? Well, Petra was standing a little too close to Lukas's snow castle. Axel mis-threw a snowball. By the time anyone realized the impending doom, it was already set on its course.
WHAM! Petra got the snowball square in her face. A gasp went up from the others! Axel covered his mouth with his hands. The snow slipped off Petra's face, revealing a furious expression. Axel stammered a stream of apologies, but Petra bent down, scooped up a bunch of snow, and whipped one right back at him.
And everything went pell-mell from there. Within seconds, the rest of the group was in on the fight. Jesse cackled like he'd lost his mind as he flung snowballs every which way. Petra jumped and dodged out of the way with ninja precision. Harper joined in on the fun, too, and she had a surprisingly good arm for someone who wasn't used to snow.
Only Ivor and Jessie held back. Ivor because he was an ol' stick in the mud (or would it be stick in the snow?) and Jessie because she was holding on to Zeke. She still cheered Lukas on, though. Zeke, blissfully unaware of the ferocity of the battle, held out his tiny hands as a flurry of snow started to fall from the clouds again. He tried to catch snowflakes. He sulked when they melted before he could get a good look at them.
"Snow is so pretty. Isn't it, Zeke?" Jessie asked, bouncing him in her arms a bit.
"Ga da ba da ga ga," he babbled back.
"That's right." She adjusted his hat.
Meanwhile, the fight started to wear down slightly. Olivia had somehow, while no-one was paying attention, built a snowball cannon. Snowballs poured out of the dispenser, and she spun it around to make sure everyone got a share from it. Lukas ducked for cover behind his snow castle. The others started running for shelter.
"That's not fair!" Axel bellowed. "Olivia's cheating. She can't use a cannon."
"Untrue!" she countered.
"It is. There's nothing in the rules about building a cannon."
"Oh, yeah? Is there anything in the rules about how I can't build a cannon?"
"Well...no…"
"Loose interpretation!" Olivia threw up her arms and did the jazz hands. "Eat snow!"
She threw the lever to spit out a new round of ammo, but instead, the dispenser just clicked.
"Oh, no!" she squealed. "I'm out of ammo. Medic!"
Jesse threw a snowball at her. "You don't call a medic when you're out of ammo. Geez, woman! Don't you know anything about war?"
Olivia didn't like that comment. She told him so by throwing a snowball right at his mouth.
"Pfft! Ugh!" Jesse doubled over, spitting.
"Ha! That's what you get."
The spat continued, even though Olivia lost her high ground. But not for much longer. Ivor took a snowball to the face. The game screeched to a halt, and an ominous silence hung over the group. It was a long, tension-filled moment. And then they realized that it was HARPER who threw it…
"Oh, very funny." Ivor wiped off the snow. "Betrayed by my own wife. How could you do that to me?"
"Don't be so dramatic, dear." Harper chuckled. "It was just a snowball."
"Hmmph." Ivor trudged back towards the hall. "Let's go back inside."
"You know, I second that." Jessie followed him.
"Yeah, me too," said several others.
"My nose is cold." Lukas abandoned his snow castle. "I could go for another batch of cookies."
"It's getting dark out, too." Olivia looked at the red western sky.
Jessie took advantage of the lull to get her last sweater victim for the night. She caught Petra off-guard and shoved the sweater over her head. Petra gasped and flailed her arms out. Zeke clapped and giggled.
"No!" Petra wailed. "I promised myself this wouldn't happen to me and - Oh, hey, this isn't so bad. Aww, it really does have little Miss Butters on it. You think of everything, Jessie."
Petra was more happy than she'd like to admit about her red sweater with a golden sword pattern on it. She smoothed it and adjusted the sleeves as the group filed inside. They sighed as the heat washed over them. After shedding their jackets, the gang went not to the main room, but to the fireplace room. Lukas wandered off to the kitchen to bake some more cookies.
It was a cozy, cute room in just the right size and mood for relaxing after the holiday hijinks. It had a wooden floor, soft couches, green wallpaper, and tall bookcases. A pretty fire crackled behind the fireplace flue. The gang flopped on the couches to take a load off. Jessie entertained them with stories - some Christmas tales, some not, but all fun. Zeke charmed the group by being his cute little self.
A few minutes later, Lukas paraded into the room with a plate full of warm-from-the-over cookies. This time, he got a good taste of his own handiwork. The sugar cookies were too crisp on the edges, he thought, but the chocolate chippers were just perfect. That was his best recipe. Olivia prowled around the room with her mistletoe on a string, but she was in for a little surprise when she tried dangling it over Ivor and Harper.
"Wait a minute...Are they asleep?" She pulled the mistletoe away. "Wowza! They fell asleep, you guys. I guess it's been a long day for them."
It was true. Ivor and Harper had nodded off in the middle of one of Jessie's stories, falling asleep in each other's arms as they sat on the couch. Jesse had to shush Olivia to keep her from waking them up with her fangirling.
More people started reclining on the couches, Jessie and Lukas included. They snuggled up next to each other, holding Zeke in their arms. Jessie rested her head on Lukas's shoulder. He hooked his arm around her back and held her close. He glanced up and looked around the room. The others were dozing off, curling up on the couches and throwing blankets over themselves. So peaceful. So sweet. He could almost hear Silent Night playing in his mind.
"Hey," he whispered to Jessie. "Happy Christmas, sweetheart."
She smiled. "Happy Christmas, Lukas."
HAPPY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!
With love from TealEmpress