Author's Note: Happy December Sixteenth! I hope you enjoy this next chapter of "That Time of Year!" =D
Chapter Sixteen: Holiday Cooking
December Sixteen
Christmas feasts. They were grand, heartwarming, and filled with warmth. Jack remembered the nights he and his family would sit around their table with a large meal in front of them. His mother always made sure that everyone had washed their hands before they sat down. Jack would always try to sneak an early bite, but his parents always caught him. After praying, the entire Overland family would dig into the large meal. There were never any leftovers.
During his 300 years of loneliness, Jack had watched and seen families gathering around the table that was filled with many different kinds of food. Turkey, warm mashed potatoes, and more. Even though the winter spirit was immortal and wasn't required to eat, the very sight of the feast made his mouth water. Christmas dinner was something that Jack had wanted to participate in for a long time, but the best part of it all was what took place before the feast. The cooking. It was fun, chaotic, and seemed to contain even more laughs than the ones at the table. But since Jack was alone with no one but the Wind for 300 years, he never got the chance either.
Despite this, Jack would sometimes create a makeshift table with his ice and create a small family of snowmen to sit around it. He'd collect berries that he'd find on bushes surrounding his lake and placed them on leaves to use as plates. Jack would always pray first, like he had seen hundreds of families do before digging in, and the Wind would participate in the little Christmas meal by ruffling Jack's hair or knocking over her plate of berries. For some reason, the Wind didn't seem to like them. Jack would always laugh when the Wind did something silly like that; he could tell that she was trying to cheer him up. Christmastime was a time to spend with family, but Jack didn't have one. It was just him, the Wind, and his snowmen for 300 years.
"DUCK!" shouted Jack as a snowball the size of a boulder was launched toward him and Jamie. The two ducked their heads and hid behind a wall of piled snow.
"They're going to pummel us to pieces!" exclaimed Jamie as he peered over the mound of snow. He threw a snowball out into the battlefield and turned to Jack. "We need to fall back!"
"Fall back? Heck no!" said Jack. He looked out toward the battle that was going on in the middle of the park. It was another snowy day in Burgess. Christmas break had just started for Jamie and his friends, and they had begged for another epic snowball fight like the one they had had during the first few days of December. Jack promised that when he got the time to, that they would have a snowball fight even bigger than the one they had had then.
And when Jack said bigger, he meant a full-blown snowball fight war.
"Give up, Frostbite?" called Bunny from the other side of the field.
"Never!" shouted Jack. He ducked behind the snow fort when Sophie threw a snowball in his direction. Bunny and Sophie were on a team and were currently standing in the middle of the battle. Sophie chucked a snowball at Sandy, which nailed him straight in the face. Bunny cheered.
"That's my girl!" Bunny said.
Sophie smiled and then made two other snowballs and charged to whoever else was in the snowball throwing range.
"How are we gonna beat them?" asked Jamie.
"Don't worry, kiddo. We just need a distraction," said Jack.
"But how are we supposed to distract the entire battlefield?" asked Jamie.
Jack winked. "Just leave that to me." The winter spirit then flew into the middle of the chaos and shouted. "Hey! I'm a free target! Come and get me!"
"Free target?" Tooth said quizzically. She turned to her teammate, Pippa. "That doesn't sound like Jack."
Pippa shook her head in agreement. "Not at all. He's definitely up to something."
"Who cares?" said Cupcake from where she was standing. "Jack Frost the snowball making machine is standing in the middle of the field! If we take him out, we have a better chance at winning!"
"Who said anything about we?" asked Pippa.
"I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to me and North," said Cupcake. North chucked a snowball toward Tooth and the Tooth Fairy ducked just in time. Tooth threw a snowball back at the large man, but North and Cupcake were already off to start chucking snowballs at Jack.
"She does have a point," said Pippa. "Maybe we should hit him anyway."
Tooth and Pippa followed North and Cupcake to the center of the field. The other teams were slowly approaching the winter spirit and Jack smiled to himself. Things were going just as he expected them to.
"What are you guys waiting for? Come on and throw a snowball!" said Jack tauntingly.
"Do ya really think we'd believe that ya're givin' yerself up?" asked Bunny with a smirk. "Yer obviously hiding somethin'."
"I'm not hiding anything," said Jack, but the mischievous gleam in his eyes didn't go unnoticed.
"He has the look on! He's up to something!" exclaimed Claude.
Jack shrugged and casually rested his staff on his shoulder. "Aw, come on, you guys. I'm just trying to help you out. I obviously have the upper hand in this entire battle, and I thought it would be nice to give you guys a free target." Jack spread his arms out. "Go ahead. Toss your snowballs."
Even though they were supposed to be against each other, all of the teams of two glanced at each other. Jack was the most mischievous person they knew, so they all knew that he had something up his sleeves that was going to tip the entire snowball fight in his and Jamie's favor.
But here was Jack Frost, giving himself up as a free target! They couldn't pass the chance at pummeling the snowball fight master with his own snowballs.
"FIRE!" shouted Cupcake.
Everyone was about to start throwing when Jack suddenly flew out of the way and said, "Jamie, now!"
Jamie ran out behind the snow fort and started chucking snowballs at each and everyone. Jack quickly conjured up a couple and started throwing as well. The others were not expecting this at all and were taken aback by the sudden snowball attack. They back up, laughing and screaming as snowball after snowball hit them again and again.
"Stop, stop! You win, you win!" squealed Pippa.
"Ve surrender!" exclaimed North.
Jack and Jamie stopped throwing their snowballs and smiled.
"Team Jack and Jamie takes all," said Jack proudly. The two of them high-fived each other.
"Why did we let them team up?" asked Cupcake.
Claude shrugged. "We got to pick who we wanted to team up with."
"Next time, it should be everyone for themselves," said Cupcake. "That would be more of a challenge."
Jack laughed. "Don't beat yourselves up. You all did good. I say that this snowball fight was even better than the last one."
"Of course, it was!" said Monty. "The Guardians of Childhood participated. A snowball fight with them makes things more fun!"
The Guardians smiled. That morning, Jack had arrived at the Guardian meeting announcing that he and the children were going to have another snowball fight at the park. The Guardians knew about the last fight that had taken place; Jack couldn't stop talking about it for days. The winter spirit invited them to join, and the Guardians had all hopped into the sleigh and headed to the park. Just a few minutes later, the intense snowball fight had begun. It had been a long time since the veteran Guardians had been in a snowball fight, and they found that it was more exhilarating and fun then they remembered. They had many skirmishes, and the one that had just ended was the last. The sun was already dipping in the horizon, and it was almost dinnertime for the kids.
"I think it's time for you guys to head back," said Tooth. The Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies stretched her wings and then fluttered into the air. "You don't want your parents wondering where you are."
The kids nodded and Jamie took Sophie by the hand. The kids waved, said goodbye, and then walked down the park path back to their neighborhood. The Guardians still stood in the large park clearing, breathing heavily after all of the boisterous action, but smiles were on their faces. Jack turned to his friends and said, "Back to Santoff Claussen?"
North nodded. "I need to vrap up things in Vorkshop, but afterward, ve can do something together."
The Guardians each hoped inside of the sleigh and North cracked at the reins, dashing full speed for Santoff Claussen, much to Bunny discomfort. The Pooka clung to the side of the sleigh like it was his lifeline, and Jack couldn't help but laugh.
"Come on Bunny, we're just a couple feet in the air," said Jack with a smirk.
"A couple?! More like a bloody thousand!" exclaimed Bunny. The Pooka shook at the thought of falling from that height.
Jack chuckled and then walked to the front of the sleigh and plopped down next to North. The winter spirit watched as North held the reins in one hand and tapped the dashboard with the other. North noticed him watching and smiled.
"Does sleigh interest you?" asked North.
Jack smiled and nodded. "Can you teach me how to fly it?"
"Oh, no, no, no," Bunny said from the back. Jack and North turned to him. "Jack flyin' this thing would be worse than ya flyin' it, North."
"Don't worry, Kangaroo. I won't go so fast," said Jack, but North could tell by the look on his face that he was lying.
North shook his head and chuckled. "I vould be glad to teach you how to fly sleigh, Jack!"
"Yes!" said Jack happily. "I can't wait to learn how to do a loop-dee-loop and scare the heck out of Bunny one day."
"Oi!" Bunny shouted, and the Guardians laughed. It wasn't long until the village of Santoff Claussen came into view and North landed the sleigh inside. While the yetis and elves tended to both the flying vehicle and the reindeer, the Guardians headed inside, and North announced to the yetis and elves who were working in the Workshop that work time was over. The yetis and elves began to clean up and the Guardians helped out too, so the cleanup went faster.
After things were tidied up and put away, Jack and the Guardians headed to the library to discuss the upcoming Christmas party. The party had once again slipped Jack's mind; the winter spirit grew excited when it was mentioned but faltered when he remembered the threat that Autumn and the sprites had given him all those days ago.
But I'm still going, thought Jack. I don't care what they say. Jack felt that he should at least tell the Guardians about this encounter, but he couldn't bring himself to. Besides, all they did was wreck his gifts for the Guardians and threaten him. He had dealt with the Autumn sprites several times before he became a Guardian, but he knew that whatever they had planned for him if he showed up at the party, it wasn't good.
"Hey, Frostbite, are ya okay?" asked Bunny.
Jack jolted out of his thoughts and looked up. The Guardians were looking at him with concerned expressions.
"Ya kind of zoned out there," said Bunny.
Jack shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine," he said. "Just a little tired after that snowball fight."
Sandy nodded and created three zs over his head.
"Yer always tired, Sandy," said Bunny. The Sandman shrugged.
"Anyway," said North. "Party preparations are almost done. There iz just one last thing: the menu!"
The menu at North's Christmas parties had almost every type of food imaginable. There were the classic Christmas dishes and then there were other foods as well. Jack had seen this when he and the Guardians celebrated Jack's Guardianship and the defeat of Pitch Black. The food was so delectable that Jack couldn't stop himself from eating it during the party. He ate to his heart's content, but he did wake up with a pretty bad stomachache the next morning.
"Hopefully, Frostbite doesn't eat everythin,'" joked Bunny.
Jack smiled sheepishly. "I won't, I won't." He turned to North. "What do we do?"
North grinned. "Follow me."
North led the Guardians to the kitchen. Jack spotted the book of recipes sitting on the counter. The winter spirit had only used it once before while he was trying to make Christmas cookies, and he had thought that it had gotten splattered with cookie batter during the little fight that he and Bunny had in the kitchen, but it seemed as if nothing had ever happened to it.
North lifted the book off of the counter. "Ve are going to make a couple of the recipes in this book and test them. Then ve vill see if ve vant to add them to the menu." He handed the book to Jack and the winter spirit took it. "You can pick first recipe."
"I can pick anything out of this book?" asked Jack.
Tooth nodded. "Anything. The yetis have been adding new recipes onto it for years. There's a wide array of choices, so it's hard to run out of options."
Jack opened the book up and recognized a few of the meals that were on the first few pages. The last time he used the cookbook, he used the Christmas cookie recipe. But now that he and the Guardians were picking out meals for a Christmas party, Jack knew that he would have to pick something tasty and more filling than a plate of cookies. The winter spirit kept turning the pages until he came across a recipe for mashed potatoes. As simple as the dish was, Jack still wanted to make it.
"How about this?" said Jack as he held up the recipe.
"Let's do it!" said Tooth cheerfully. And the Guardians got to work. Mashed potatoes didn't take so long to make, but when cooking with the Guardians, things took a lot longer than usual. First, they had to take out the items they would need to make the dish. Jack grabbed the potatoes and the other Guardians pulled out cream cheese, butter, and the rest of the ingredients that would be added on to create the mashed potatoes. Jack placed the potatoes in the sink and began to wash them with Bunny while Sandy, North, and Tooth searched for a bowl, masher, and peeler.
As Jack scrubbed the potato he was holding, he vividly remembered him and his sister helping their mother out in the kitchen with Christmas dinner. Jack and Mary used to clean the potatoes together, and then afterward, they would help their mother smash them. Jack missed his sister and his family, but he was glad that he remembered them. He always thought of the happiest childhood memory when he was feeling down, which often comforted him a lot whenever he was upset or distressed.
Jack gasped when water splashed on his clothes. He turned to Bunny who was trying to stifle a snicker.
"Sorry, mate," he said. "It was an accident."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "An accident, huh? So, you wouldn't mind if I did this?" Jack splashed water back at Bunny and even though he tried to dodge it, water still got all over him.
"Really, Frostbite?" said Bunny, but his expression was playful. The Pooka splashed some more water in Jack's direction, and the winter spirit splashed water in Bunny's direction. The two suddenly initiated a mini splash war, and the potatoes weren't getting cleaned at this point.
"Boys," said a stern, feminine voice from behind. Bunny and Jack turned around and Tooth had her hands on her hips. Her eyes were disapproving, but she had a light smile on her face.
"If you two are done with your splash fest, we need the potatoes," said Tooth. Jack and Bunny eventually got the potatoes clean and walked over to the counter, peeling them with the rest of the Guardians. Jack didn't know how to use a peeler, so North had to show him how. The winter spirit had peeled his potato the best he could, but a lot of the skin still remained.
"I tried," said Jack as he held it up. North gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"Iz okay, Jack," he said. "Ve vill practice."
The Guardians eventually finished peeling the potatoes and moved onto boiling them on the stove just to make them softer. After that was done, the fun part came: mashing them.
"Can I do the mashing?" asked Jack. He was already holding the masher, so the Guardians said yes. The winter spirit took the bowl and began firmly smashing the potatoes. As he did so, the other Guardians added in the rest of the ingredients. After a while, a fresh bowl of mashed potatoes sat on the counter. Jack handed each of the Guardians spoons and they stared at the bowl in front of them. Realization hit each of them like a snowball, and Jack laughed.
"We forgot to make gravy!" he exclaimed.
Bunny shrugged. "We can still eat it."
"Still, the potatoes would've gone great with some gravy," said Tooth. Sandy nodded in agreement.
"Oh, vell," said North. He held up his spoon. "Shall ve taste?"
The Guardians each took a spoonful of potatoes and ate the small portion. The potatoes were warm, and even without gravy, they still tasted amazing. Jack closed his eyes in bliss.
"They're so good," he said through his potatoes.
Tooth nodded. "They're delicious! We're definitely putting these on the menu. With gravy, of course."
The Guardians made a couple more meals from the cookbook, including desserts. Jack had forgotten what it was like to help out in the kitchen. Cooking with the Guardians was fun and enjoyable. They often turned simple things into a competition when it came to preparing the ingredients or finding bowls and kitchen tools. Several different dishes and desserts were added onto the menu, and all of the small samples that were made were eaten and gone right after they were made. Once the Guardians decided that they had added enough things to the menu, they handed it to one of the yetis who worked in the kitchen to save until it was time to do the party cooking. The Guardians of Childhood headed back to the library, full and content after a night of cooking. Jack was especially content; the entire cooking session in the kitchen reminded him of when he and his family would cook together. The winter spirit sighed and closed his eyes.
"We should do this again," said Jack as he sank into his chair. "Cooking together. That was fun."
"Yeah," said Tooth. "We should help out in the kitchen once the actual party cooking starts."
North nodded. "Ve can get together and cook at any time. I'm sure yetis and elves vould be fine vith letting us borrow kitchen for a while."
"Mate, we cooked for over four hours. I think that 'a while' is going to be more like 'hours,'" said Bunny.
Jack chuckled. "It doesn't matter," the winter spirit yawned and rolled over. "As long as we're doing it together and we have fun, it doesn't matter how long it takes…"
The Guardians smiled warmly at what Jack had said. They knew that the winter spirit wasn't used to having company, but he was slowly adjusting. The Guardians were a family, and Jack was beginning to see that too.
Sandy's dreamsand created an arrow toward Jack and three zs over his head. The Guardians then realized that the winter spirit had fallen asleep. Tooth fluttered up to Jack and turned to the others.
"We should take him to bed. We've got a lot to do tomorrow," she said.
North scooped up Jack and the Guardians walked to his bedroom. North laid Jack in bed and pulled up the covers. Jack stirred slightly, but he didn't wake. North gave him a gentle pat on the forehead, Tooth ran her hand through Jack's hair, Bunny gave the winter spirit an affectionate nuzzle, and Sandy sent Jack streams of dreamsand that were packed with the most pleasant dreams he could think of.
"Sleep well, Jack," said Tooth softly. And the Guardians quietly left the room.
Author's Note: My gosh, this story is over 50,000 words. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you guys tomorrow for the next one! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203
