Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Disclaimer/Setting/Summary: See chapter 1.

Chapter 9

The guest in question entered the room and Karen's jaw dropped. "Steve?"

Jack's eyes lit up. "Is this the other half of my Christmas present?"

"Forget you," Grace snorted. "Is it mine?"

Karen stood and waved these two man-hungry mongrels off. "Steve, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Mrs. Walker, I just felt awful," Steve admitted. "It is Christmas."

"I'm well aware," Karen replied coolly.

"As such, I'd like to give you a present, if I may," Steve said.

Karen fought with herself. Her great dislike for Steve was battling with her fondness for presents. She pursed her lips as she contemplated this decision. "All right, Steveo, I'll take a present." Karen held out a perfectly manicured hand expectantly.

"Uh, Karen, who is this guy?" Jack asked.

"He's a security guard at the prison, poodle," Karen replied.

Jack looked at Grace and Will, who bothshrugged. This didn't sufficiently explain why he was handing out presents to one of the inmates' wives.

"Actually, Mrs. Walker, I think you should close your eyes," Steve suggested.

Karen sighed and obliged, her hand still in the air,eager to receive her present.

Steve waved his hand in front of Karen's face. Assured that her eyes were, in fact, closed, Steve quickly walked to the door of the living room and motioned for another to enter the room.

Will immediately covered both Jack and Grace's mouths as each prepared to gasp loudly. Grace's eyes widened and looked at Will, first confusedly and then accusingly. She put the situation together surprisingly quickly and wondered why Will hadn't told her about any of it. Meanwhile, Jack moved his lips soundlessly against Will's palm, gesturing wildly with his arms and even stomping once.

Steve's guest walked over to Karen and grabbed onto her stretched-out hand. Will and Grace watched as Karen's face contorted in confusion and then her back stiffened and she froze.

Stanley Walker pulled his wife's hand up to his lips and kissed it softly. "Hello, sweetheart."

Karen stood in the center of the living room, her free hand against her heart. She still kept her eyes squeezed shut. She was afraid that it wasn't true, that it was all some sort of sick joke, that if she opened her eyes, the sight she wanted to see more than anything would dissipate and prove to be unreal.

"Honey, it's all right, I'm here," Stan said carefully. "Open your eyes."

Karen slowly pried her eyelids open, looking more vulnerable and raw than any in the room could remember her being before. "Stan," Karen whispered. It was simultaneously a statement and a question.

Stan felt an intense need rise within him. Before him stood the love of his life, the woman he'd been kept from for too many months, and in her black Chanel dress, no less. But they had an audience, he had yet to see his children, and Karen was still looking at him, half-afraid.

Stan glanced over at Will, who still had his hands clasped over Jack and Grace's mouths. Will looked from Karen to Stan and shrugged. He slowly lowered his hands and was thankful that Grace and Jack knew enough to keep quiet right now.

Of course, Will didn't expect that to last forever. Moments later, Jack cleared his throat and said, "Uh…hi, Stan."

Stan smiled at his wife's best friend. "Hi, Jack."

"Welcome back, Mr. Walker," Grace greeted in a small voice.

Stan grinned at her as well. "Hello, Grace." Stan then turned back to Karen and looked into her hazel eyes. If nothing else, the fact that she was still holding his hand and had not yetreared herself back to slap him seemed to be a good sign.

"Karebear?" he asked softly. He gently squeezed Karen's hand and felt his heart sink when she slid it from his grasp. Stan didn't have a moment to process much when Karen threw herself into his arms and kissed him soundly.

Grace watched the scene unfold with a wistful, romantic look on her face. Jack, however, gagged behind Will's back. Will nudged him.

"You're being ridiculous," Will admonished. "Can't you imagine how happy Karen is now?"

"Of course I want Karen to be happy, but does she have to rub her sick lifestyle in our faces?" Jack said with a grimace. When Will turned to quietly discuss this turn of events with Grace, Jack smiled grudginglyas he watched his best friend cuddle up with her sweetie. Jack was certain that this, above all else, was what Karen had wanted for Christmas, and he was so happy she'd received it.

Karen pulled away from the embrace and lightly tapped the end of Stan's nose with her finger. She smiled sweetly at him before turning to the rest of the group.

"All right, Wilma, what's the story?" Karen wanted to know.

"What do you mean?" Will asked innocently.

Karen rolled her eyes. "I know you had something to do with this."

"All right, all right, I confess," Will replied mock-dramatically. "I facilitated the proceedings, gave it a little push to go that much faster, and bargained for Stan to give some of his time to community service and some of his money to charity. But I wouldn't call me a hero, per se, no."

Karen spread her arms and looked to and fro, confusion upon her face. "What? I didn't call you a hero, Mary!"

Will shrugged and winked at her. "Sure, Karen."

Karen looked at Grace, who simply shook her head. "You'll have to excuse Will; he just took a trip to Gayville, where he's the mayor," Grace told Stan.

Stan chuckled. "Well, don't underestimate him too much. He did play a pretty instrumental role."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Karen said, waving this off. She turned to face Stan. "Aren't there two people you'd like to see?"

Stan smiled, his eyes bright. "I haven't seen Olivia and Mason in so long. Come on, let's go talk to them."

Karen glanced down. "Those weren't the two things I was talking about." She gave a dramatic tug to the neck of her dress and sighed, slipping her hand into Stan's. She smiled at him and he knew, even if the others couldn't tell, that she was kidding. "Let's go see the kids."

Author's Note: I'm not quite done yet! The rest of this will be admittedly anticlimactic, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. Keep on reviewing, you know they keep me going! Thanks to those who have reviewed so far, you have no idea how much it really means to me!