Carried Away

Jack returned to school after Thanksgiving and made things right with his teacher, and then life moved on. The just over three weeks between Thanksgiving and Jack's Christmas break went by at seemingly breakneck speed. Right after Thanksgiving, Kelly purchased a ridiculously large Christmas tree which ended up in a corner near the fireplace. Stella and Kelly had been surreptitiously shopping while Jack was in school for quite some time now, and since Matt had moved to a new place, the Herrmanns had cheerfully agreed to let them hide the gifts in the now-vacant garage apartment.

Soon, it was Jack's last day before the Christmas break. It was a Tuesday. Dismissal was at noon, and then they would all return that evening for the Christmas concert. Jack had a small solo, he told them, but that was all they could get out of him. That morning, Kelly and Stella stood in the garage apartment strategizing about how best to handle things on Christmas Eve. As they surveyed the ice skates, the bicycle, a veritable mountain of new clothes (which, to be fair, Jack mostly actually needed), games, puzzles, books, and an obnoxious number of Lego sets, Kelly commented dryly, "I think we might have gotten a little bit carried away."

"Ya think?" returned Stella. "But, hey, it's only a month until his birthday. I'm sure Herrmann will let us leave some of it here until then."

"Yeah, probably," said Kelly, then shook his head. "What were we thinking?"

"Well, I don't know what you were thinking, but I was thinking that this is his first Christmas with us, and that we don't have that many left, and that I want him to have all the things and have this magical time, and-"

"Okay, okay," laughed Kelly, raising his hands in surrender. "I hear you. First Christmas. All the things. Magical. Got it." Stella responded by punching him in the arm.

In the end, they decided on the ice skates, most of the clothes, about half of the Lego sets, several of the puzzles, and all but two of the books. It was quite possible that the bicycle would sit until spring, anyway, since Jack didn't know how to ride one yet, and the prospect of trying to teach him on an icy December sidewalk held utterly no appeal for Kelly; so they decided that could wait. That, along with the other things they were holding back, would be plenty for his birthday, especially because they knew there would be things coming from Jennifer, and there was virtually no doubt that a few of the folks at the firehouse would probably give him something for both occasions, as well. Kelly was fairly certain that Tony had bought Jack a tool kit, and Stella could have sworn she overheard Ritter, Mouch, and Gallo discussing going in together on an expensive baseball bat. He was going to have a wonderful Christmas and birthday, that was for sure.

That evening was pretty magical itself. Jack had been dropped off early for the concert, and Stella and Kelly went to grab a quick bite. Jack said he was too nervous to eat, although Stella had persuaded him to eat a sandwich and drink some milk. He said that was all he could handle. When Kelly and Stella got back to the school, it was full dark, and the building was beautifully lit inside and out. The auditorium was festooned with greenery, poinsettias, and twinkling white lights. When the main lights dimmed, leaving only the Christmas lights, it was breathtaking. Kelly and Stella settled in. The kindergarten choir came first. They sang three cute, short songs and then exited, to be followed by the lower elementary choir, made up of first and second graders. Then the upper elementary choir mounted the stage. This was the main event, of course, and apparently the choir director, Mrs. Hammond, had quite the reputation for getting impressive work out of her students. Jack adored her.

The choir began with a stirring rendition of "Sleigh Ride," followed by several other equally entertaining pieces. Then a novelty song called "Reindeer Rap," or something of that nature, which was hysterically funny and got a lot of laughs from the audience. Jack postured and clowned around with the best of them. This was followed by a sweet and moving performance of "Bless Us All" from A Muppet Christmas Carol. Then the stage went completely dark for a moment. In a few seconds, there appeared a single spotlight, which shone on none other than Jack. He stood there all alone in his black suit and red shirt with a red and green plaid bow tie. He was so precious that even before he opened his mouth there was an intake of breath around the room, and a few "Awww's."

Then he opened his mouth and began to sing in a clear, sweet treble: "Children sleeping, snow is softly falling; dreams are calling, like bells in the distance..." His "small solo" was the entire song "Believe" from The Polar Express. The choir did some background hums and ahhs, but other than that it was all Jack. There was hardly a dry eye in the house when it ended. The applause was wild. Kelly and Stella, barely able to see through their tears, heard the remarks around them: "He's really good." "Wow, that was impressive." "Talented kid." And so on. They were extremely proud.

"See," Stella choked out, "I told you he should join a choir." Kelly smiled at her and put his arm around her. The concert closed with the choir and the audience singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," but Jack's number was definitely the climax of the evening. Stella teased Kelly about how puffed up with pride in his son he was. "Careful, buddy. You might lose some shirt buttons."

"Maybe," he grinned. "Maybe."

When the concert was over, Jack ran to find his parents. He was greeted with hugs, but Kelly resisted the urge to pick him up, realizing how monumentally embarrassing that would be. He pulled Jack close, though, and said, "Small solo, huh? No wonder you were too nervous to eat. Great job, buddy." Stella echoed that. There were pictures and a few social niceties, and then they left, officially beginning Jack's Christmas vacation. "Pizza?" asked Kelly, and Jack's response was enthusiastic.

They went to their favorite pizzeria, and Kelly ordered a large pizza. He and Stella, having actually eaten dinner, had only one slice each, and Jack polished off the rest, to their frank amazement. "You're going to make yourself sick," Stella predicted.

"No, I won't," mumbled Jack through a mouthful of food. He was right. They went home, Jack showered and climbed into bed, and in a matter of minutes he was asleep. He stayed that way all night. When he woke the next morning, the first thing he said was, "I'm hungry. Can we have a big breakfast?" Kelly laughed and started looking for the eggs.

With Christmas only a few days away, Kelly and Stella pulled out all the stops that day. They took Jack window shopping, admiring Christmas displays; they went out to lunch and then to a matinee Christmas concert intended for children. Once it grew dark, they drove around looking at Christmas lights. When they got home, they ate a quick, light supper. Jack showered and got into his pajamas, then crashed to the couch. Halfway through the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol, he was out like a light. Kelly declined to carry him to bed, opting instead to cover him with a blanket and leave him where he was. Stella worried that he wouldn't sleep through the night there. "So?" said Kelly. "If he wakes up, he'll either decide to stay where he is or get up and go to bed. I can't keep carrying him to bed, Stella. He's nearly eleven. He'll be fine either way."

The next day was a shift day, and Kelly found Jack still snoozing away on the sofa, apparently having not so much as stirred during the night. He shook Jack gently. "Up you get, buddy. Gotta go to work with Mom and me today, remember?"

Jack sat up, rubbed his eyes, and realized where he was. "I slept on the couch all night?"

"Yep. I am done carrying you to bed, bud. You're getting too big."

"You carry bigger, heavier stuff than me all the time," scoffed Jack.

"Yeah, I do. But at a certain point, you just get too old for stuff. And I think you're just about too old to get carted around unless there's a particular reason for it. So there you go."

Jack shrugged. "Okay," he said.

Kelly actually felt a little bit sad, feeling as if he hadn't had nearly enough time to carry his little boy around and just cuddle him. But it was what it was, and as much as he hated that he had missed ten years with Jack, he didn't want to hold him back from growing up. So he, too, shrugged, and said, "Okay."

Kelly brewed some coffee, Jack went to get dressed, and soon the whole family was out the door and off to Firehouse 51.

Stella had sent Sylvie a video of Jack's solo, which Sylvie had in turn sent to pretty much everyone. Jack received so many compliments and back slaps and congratulations that he became a little weary of it. He remained polite, but Stella could tell it was wearing thin. After about half an hour of almost non-stop admiration and congratulations, she sent him out to the apparatus floor, where he sat down under the squad table and scooted himself back until he was between Tony's feet. "Hide me."

"I got your back, Songbird," grinned Tony, and Jack groaned.

"Et tu, Tony?"

"Huh?"

Jack sighed. "Never mind. Thanks."

Kelly observed all of this with no comment. He didn't know exactly how he felt about Jack going to Tony for shelter instead of him. He was glad that Jack had a wider circle than just him and Stella, but once again, the signal that Jack was growing up and moving away from him was another reminder of how short his time really was. He certainly didn't resent Tony in any way. In fact, he appreciated the way Tony just took Jack as he was. It was just...another sign.

Within a few minutes, Jack was shivering as he sat on the cold concrete floor. Tony felt the small body shaking, and he scooted back and leaned down. "You better get up before you freeze, little Sev. It's cold out here, and it isn't going to get any warmer today. White Christmas on the way, they say, but a front's moving through first. Come on out now. You'll end up with pneumonia or something."

Jack reluctantly rose from the floor, fist-bumping his favorite firefighter except for his mom and dad. "Thanks, man."

"Welcome."

The shift was surprisingly quiet. Generally, this close to Christmas, weird stuff happened as people hustled and bustled around the city. But aside from some minor traffic incidents and a couple of straightforward rescues, not much happened during the shift. As Stella was getting Jack settled into a bunk for the night, he smiled up at her. "Know what?"

"What?"

"A year ago this time, I was just trying to survive. I would come around when I knew Dad would be here, and stand across the street. I would wish that he wanted me, because Roseanne always told me he didn't, and I would wish I could have a family. Sometimes, he and Uncle Matt would sit outside or go up on the roof and smoke cigars. I used to like to watch them do that. Then I would go back to the homeless camp and try not to starve or freeze. It's weird, but the guy who shot me last January did me the biggest favor of my life. Everything changed after that. I have a lot to be grateful for. But one thing I didn't know was that I was about to get the best Mom in the world. I love you."

Stella sat down on the bunk beside him. "Turn over," she said. Jack complied, and she began to rub his back. "That guy did me a pretty big favor, too. The day we found out about you was the day your dad asked me to marry him. I didn't have much of a family growing up, and I always wished for one, too. You and your dad made that happen for me. I couldn't possibly love you more."

Jack yawned and murmured, "I know," and then was asleep.

/p