A/N: I just want to say thank you all for supporting my little simple day to day fics. I know AHS is all about that horror and I have a few horror fics ( Wonderful Life makes me feel so shitty when I write it lol) but I just wanted to say thank you for the love and patience on such simple stories that just drag on forever.
Anyway, please enjoy this small chapter :) New chapters for Nutmeg, Dear Mother and The Cosmos are all in the works!

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CH 69

The King of Candyland

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Little Johnny kicked his legs, kicking the blanket off the bed as he tossed and turned in his sleep. After multiple games of Candyland, Lana had managed to put him to bed with the promise of a Christmas bedtime story. He woke with a jolt, finding himself in his own bed. His little chest rapidly rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. He had a nightmare where a man dressed in black came and took Lana away. His eyes filled with tears and he fumbled out of bed, rushing out of the room and straight to Lana's.

"Mommy!" He climbed onto the bed where Lana was in deep slumber. She had tossed and turned until she finally managed to doze off.

Johnny quickly scrambled under the comforter, clutching onto her for comfort. His crying woke her and Lana sat up with a start. "Johnny? What in the world?" She looked down at him and placed her hand on his back. "What's the matter?"

Johnny merely whined into her chest, holding onto her for dear life as if the man in black was still trying to drag her out of bed and out the door. It didn't take Lana long to figure out what was troubling the boy. Johnny had his fair share of nightmares and that night had been no different from the ones before. The boy's nightmares were often silly; there was usually a monster living in the toilet or carnivorous dinosaurs running wild in the streets but sometimes his nightmares unsettled Lana to her core. Especially the one about the man coming into their home to harm them.

It felt too close to her own demons. Not to mention the fact that it sounded like some bad omen and even though Lana knew it was just a child's dreams but something about it was disturbing to say the least.

Lana took in a deep breath and exhaled. She knew better than to fear dreams even though she often found herself cripled by the worst of them. Alas, she hugged Johnny to her chest and softly rubbed his back, "Dreams aren't real, Johnny Boy. You know that." Lana's voice was soft and comforting. She felt Johnny's body slowly stop trembling but he remained silent.

"Do you remember that dream you had about the old dummy? Hmm?" Lana referred to a ventriloquist dummy they had seen perform on a talk show host one night. As soon as it came on screen with it's wide, red lipped grin and moving eyes, Johnny froze and somewhere in his psyche, a new irrational fear was born.

Johnny settled a little more and slightly peaked out. He made a little sound as a response.

"Do you remember how silly it was after a little while?" Lana asked.

He nodded.

"See? This one too will feel the same."

Unconvinced, Johnny hid his face again, holding on for his mother's dear life.

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Lana carried him as if he were still a little baby to the living room to see the Christmas lights on the tree. All the lights in the house were off but the tree itself still illuminated the room. Lana turned on the radio where Christmas songs were still playing and lowered the volume down. She stood by the tree and rubbed Johnny's back to ease him. She could still feel his body tremble and her heart ached for her sweet boy.

Johnny wrapped his arms around Lana's neck, clutching to her like a baby koala. His big brown eyes looked at the light shining around the tree, silently watching.

"You're going to be too big for me to carry one day." Lana lifted him higher in her arms to get a better grip on him. She smiled sadly at the fact. "What do you think of that, hmm?"

Johnny stayed quiet, his eyes still on the tree. A few of his gifts were already settled beneath it but he paid no mind. Lana studied the little ornaments they had collected over the years, wondering where a few had gone or which had broken. However, her mind was ripped from her thoughts when she noted a figure from the corner of her eye. It stood silently still by the door. Her hold on Johnny tightened and she felt her heart skip a beat. The drumming started in her ears and she felt that all too familiar sickness in her stomach. She closed her eyes and listened to the Christmas music but it faded into nothing and she drowned in the sound of her own beating heart.

Lana forced her eyes open and looked up. No one stood by the door. Not even his ghost even though she swore he had been there just moments ago.

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It took another hour before Lana managed to get Johnny to go to sleep. They slept in her bed and when the clock struck sometime past seven in the morning, he was still asleep. Lana got out of bed and made herself some coffee. She finished putting out a few remaining gifts and sat on the sofa until Johnny awoke.

However, it did not take him long to do so.

"Well good morning, if it isn't the king of Candyland." Lana grinned when she saw Johnny stumble into the living room, rubbing his sleepy eyes. His hair was tousled and cowlicked from sleep. He had slept like a rock after the ordeal the night before.

Johnny hurried right to Lana and climbed on her lap without a word. Johnny always seemed a little solemn after a rough night. One of his pajama pants legs had ridden up to his knee; Lana pulled it back down and kissed his head. She wondered when kids grew out of smelling so sweet.

"No more bad dreams?" She asked.

Johnny sat up on her lap. "No." He answered and his chocolate eyes gazed over the tree with the presents sat proudly beneath it. He frowned at this. "Santa came?" He turned to Lana. His eyes were with wide surprise and mild concern.

Lana, not wanting to squash a child's imagination, forced a smile, "I believe so. Look at all the gifts he left you."

"When did he come?" Johnny asked, sliding off Lana's lap to make his way to the presents.

"While you slept." Lana answered, watching as he went from one side of the tree to the other, unsure of where to start.

"Did he knock on the door?" He turned his head to look at Lana.

Lana frowned slightly, a bit taken off guard by his question. "No, Johnny baby, he came down the chimney."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? That's how he does it. You know that."

"And the elves?" He asked with a little lisp.

"What about them?" Lana raised a brow.

"Did they come?"

"I don't know, baby."

"And Rudolph?"

"Johnny," Lana stood from the sofa before she lost her patience and sat with him, "Here, open a gift."

Johnny smiled giddily and sat down next to Lana, taking a hold of the medium sized gift she gave him. "How's Santa get to all the houses?"

Lana tilted her head, trying to remember the Christmas stories she was told as a child, "Magic, I think." She ran her fingers through his cowlicked hair.

Johnny ripped through the wrapping paper and into the box to find a brand new olive green coat. He lifted it out of the box and his bottom lip jutted out in a pout, "I think Santa gave us the wrong gifts."

Lana frowned at this and gave a little offended scoff, "Excuse you." She took the coat from him, "This is a very nice winter coat. Johnny, you need this." She looked at it and muttered to herself, "An expensive one at that…"

Johnny bit his bottom lip and grabbed another gift, uninterested in clothes.

"Hmph," Lana said, "You're going to miss the days where you got nice clothes for Christmas."

"That's okay."

She sighed, "Fine. Be a little porky mouth."

Johnny just laughed and opened another present. It was a new Lite Brite. After, he opened a few new books, more clothes, a G.I. Joe doll, Hot Wheels, a Viewfinder, crayons, an art pad, a Nerf Ball and something that caught Lana's eye called Suzy Homemaker.

Lana made breakfast while Johnny played with his new toys. She lectured him about the importance of new clothing and how he should be grateful. "A lot of kids don't get anything for Christmas, Johnny." She told him as she placed a plate of pancakes on the coffee table for him.

He was about to toss his Nerf Ball across the room when Lana came into the living room. He quickly lowered his hand and held the ball to his chest. Lana eyed him skeptically for that look of guilt on his face was too clear to ignore.

"What are you up to?" She asked suspiciously.

Johnny averted his eyes and pressed his little lips together, avoiding her question.

"Johnny?"

He looked back to Lana and gave her a tiny hint of a smile, "Nothin'."

She wasn't convinced but let it go, "Anyway, you're very lucky to have gotten the gifts you did."

"Why don't those kids get presents?" He stood up and walked over to the coffee table.

"Because they either don't have families or because their parents can't afford to get them gifts."

He frowned, "Santa doesn't get them the gifts?"

Lana's lips parted to reply to his comment but couldn't think of anything to say without spoiling the magic of Santa for him. She frowned and pressed her lips together for a moment. Sometimes Johnny was too smart for his own good.

"Well, yes, but I got you gifts too, right? Not just Santa Claus."

Johnny nodded slowly. "So Santa doesn't like all the people? Just some?"

Lana laughed at this and sat down on the sofa. Christmas movies were playing on the television but remained ignored for the moment. "What I'm saying is that not every child is as lucky as you are to have a home and a mother that cares for you and loves you. Not every child is that lucky."

Johnny picked at his pancake. "S'okay, Mama. We can give 'em my coat."

Lana's expression flattened. "Gee, that's so thoughtful of you."

Johnny grinned from ear to ear, very pleased with himself and returned to play. Lana watched him with a soft sigh. And to think that Johnny almost became one of those children himself. However, that was a secret Lana would take to her grave.

Lana snapped out of her deep thoughts when she heard something shatter. She immediately looked up to see Johnny standing on the other side of the room with his eyes open wide and the Nerf ball no longer in his hand, "Johnny, what in the world did you do now?" She stood from the sofa to inspect her son's latest shenanigans. "Oh, Johnny!"

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The Christmas holiday came and went and life seemed to settle down a little bit. The streets and the shops weren't as crazy and even the weather seemed less chilly. They spent the New Year at home, just the two of them while their friends celebrated with family or other friends. Johnny fought his hardest to stay awake until midnight but sometime around 11:15, he knocked out on the sofa, dressed in his khakis and sweater vest. Lana had managed to wrangle him down long enough to comb his hair and dress him for the occasion. She sat on the sofa next to him and watched the countdown on the television with a glass of wine.

A part of her hand thought of inviting Erin to join them but decided against it. She was sure Erin would prefer to spend the night with her friends and family at a party opposed to joining Lana and her little boy for a quiet night in. Not to mention the fact that Johnny wasn't too thrilled with the idea of her to begin with.

Lana had wanted to ask him what he thought of her having friends like Erin but she decided against that too. Lana was not ready to date and there was no sense in worrying the boy over nothing. Still, she knew that one day she would be ready and their family dynamic would change.

Lana set her glass down and stood from the sofa. She gently woke Johnny, "Happy New Years, my boy."

Johnny groaned slightly and lazily opened his eyes, "I stayed awake, right Mommy?"

"Mhm." Lana picked him up with all her strength and sat him on her hip, "You sure did."