Divas Prison Ch15

Although days, weeks, months seemed to take forever to pass in prison, Christmas seemed to come around surprisingly quickly. The first announcement regarding Xmas came when a notice was put up regarding the day itself. They were going to get extra time outside, a typical holiday lunch, cards from home would be given out, once they'd been inspected, and there would be some games and activities provided so that there could be some kind of celebration. Of course, that was accompanied by a very stern warning that if there was there kind of in rest or rule breaking from any one, that these were privileges that could, and would be withdrawn at any time. Fortunately for them all, nobody caused any problems during the run up to Christmas. Some were looking forward to the day itself and the more relaxed day that only came around yearly, others didn't want to be the one who was responsible for everybody missing out on the treats, as it would mean the other women would be so angry at them that their lives could easily be made miserable everyday till next Christmas!

Emma, Natalya and Becky, who had all been through the process before, did their best to explain it a bit better to Paige and to Charlotte, who were facing their first Christmas in prison. All three knew that it could be difficult for anyone. They talked about it the day before.

"So how are those two doing?" Emma asked, nodding towards Paige and Charlotte, who were sitting at a table while the other talked in the doorway of Natalya and Emma's cell.

"I've not really heard much from Charlotte about tomorrow at all." Natalya said. "I think she's just not bothered about it, like it's just another day."

"They don't appreciate it the first time, I didn't, not until I'd had a year of this monotony do you appreciate the little things." Becky thought out loud.

"Like lunch, which I lose my morning to preparing, and you WILL all enjoy won't you." Emma said, semi seriously.

"Of course we will, and we'll be sure to compliment the chef many times, not,that you don't love making it just as much as we enjoy eating it." Natalya gave her a little shove. "Anyway, I think she could be fine, she's still punishing herself for what happened and, as much as I hate to say it, it could help her get through tomorrow."

"Which is more than I think can be said for Paige." Becky said, drawing looks from the other two.

"I don't know, every time I bring anything about Christmas up, she changes the subject straight away, it doesn't matter what part of it. She either starts talking about something else, pretends to be busy doing something else, or worse. Once she got annoyed and just flat asked me to stop singing a Christmas song to myself."

"Maybe that's because your singing sucks." Emma said with a smile.

"Damn, you only just beat me to that." Natalya feigned annoyance. "Maybe you were just going overboard on the holiday cheer, you can get more happy about Christmas and any normal person should, inside or outside."

"What's wrong with having the holiday spirit flowing through me?" Becky asked. "I have always loved this time of year and I want to share it this time."

"I'm just saying, maybe it's too much for her? Maybe she just isn't a Christmas person?"

"No way, she's a Christmas girl, I know it, she's brought it up before when we've just been talking and swapping stories after lockup. I've been looking forward to sharing Christmas with her for that reason."

"Well don't think the worst, there could be a number of reasons she's been avoiding it. I'm sure everything will be fine tomorrow and we'll all have the day we want." Natalya was telling Becky what she wanted to hear but they were both thinking the same thing.

Becky was concerned for Paige. She decided to have one more try at getting her excited before they turned the lights out for the night, since the door would be locked so she couldn't walk away. She was doing it for her own peace of mind too. Knowing Paige was ok would make it a lot easier for her to enjoy the day tomorrow. She didn't want to get too in her face but that plan went away quickly.

"Ooh it's nearly here! Oh I'm not going to be able to sleep! I love Christmas! You ready for it all?" Paige just looked at the floor, getting herself ready to able to sleep. She moved to the wash basin, not looking Becky in the eye.

"Come on, it's ok to be excited for it, I know you are really! Let's enjoy ourselves!" Becky was practically dancing round the cell, as much as the limited space would allow. Paige tried to step round her but either couldn't pass or Becky wouldn't allow her. Eventually she just pushed her way past.

"Becky, I'm tired and I just want to sleep. Is that too much to ask?" Paige got onto her bunk and pulled her blanket over her head. Becky stopped her dancing and got onto hers as well. Paige didn't make another sound before or after the light went out. Becky was really concerned now. Her excitement was being overrun with concern for her best friend. She held onto to hope that being tired was all it was and she'd be back to herself in the morning ready to enjoy it all with her.

The buzzer that sounded when the lights came on was the same as always but to Becky it may as well have been the sound of sleigh bells as she jumped up. "Finally! Ohhhhh I wish it could be Christmas every day. Don't worry, I'm not going to sing, not yet anyway!" She turned round to see that Paige hadn't moved at all yet, her entire body was still wrapped under her blanket. "Come on now sleepy head, no grinchiness today." She started to move the blanket off but Paige pulled it straight back after it had barely moved an inch. Becky tried again but now she had a tight grip on it.

"Come on sweetie, it's the best day of the year, don't waste it in bed, I promise it'll be fun." Becky tried to roll Paige over but found her resisting with all of her power, Becky tried to overpower her still but had no luck into Paige suddenly flipped herself around.

"Can't you just leave me the hell alone?! You want to celebrate, you go ahead and celebrate, just go do it somewhere else and forget I even exist!" Paige then turned over again, facing the wall and wrapping herself up again. Her face was bright red, she'd clearly shed tears for a while before exploding at Becky in a way she hadn't done before. Becky was stunned into silence and crouched down with her back against the wall. She was devastated by Paige's outburst and didn't know what to do. When the cell doors were released she flew out the door as quick as she could, where she was met by Natalya right away, Emma had already been taken to help prepare breakfast and lunch. "I knew you'd be the first one out here, happy Christmas Bex" The two shared a hug and got startled when Charlotte grabbed the both of them, her taller frame giving her enough arm span to reel them both in. "Hi girls, how's it going? Merry Christmas"

"Hi Charlotte, you doing ok today? Becky wanted to put off talking about what happened with Paige as long as possible as Charlotte was in a similar position.

"Yeah I'm not too bad, kinda glad 'he's' not around today, that would have been more awkward than usual. But I'm really missing my brother though. I'm just relieved to not be on my own, I'm glad you guys are here."

Both Becky and Natalya gave Charlotte a half hug, the three of them almost linked together. "You got that right, I'm glad too." Natalya said, then looking around. "Um, Becky, where's Paige?"

Becky shook her head, "It's bad, she's not doing well at all, she wasn't responding, then suddenly went off at me, yelling at me, telling me to go away."

Natalya looked up, feeling the despair in Becky's voice. She knew Paige was struggling, but not to the point where she'd react like that. " Are you all right?"

"No, not really. She told me to forget she existed." Beckys voice cracked as she said it.

"Well you're not going to do that are you?" Becky shook her head. "You wanted to share today with her, not separated, with her cocooned in there right?" Becky nodded.

"Exactly, and we feel the same, so we need to get her back into life." Natalya's little pep talk was working on Becky, who was starting to crack a smile of hope.

"Let me go talk to her" Charlotte said. "Her and I are in the same boat here so if she doesn't come out for breakfast, maybe I can get through to her." The meal call came and went with so sign of her coming out so once Charlotte was done, she got up and headed for Paige's cell. Becky looked at Natalya. "I hope she manages this."

"Don't worry about it, even if she doesn't, I've got a last resort."

"Hi Paige!" Charlotte walked in and perched herself against Paige's bunk. She was still wrapped up and didn't respond to Charlotte any more than she had done Becky.

"So I guess you don't want to talk all that much? That's ok, I can talk enough for two. I'm sorry you're feeling bad, I am too, but there are three of us out there who really want you to join us. I don't know if you're missing friends or family, or maybe you just hate the idea of celebrating Christmas in a place like this, but I hope you don't hate the idea of spending it with us. I know how you must be feeling if any of that's true for you. We're missing you, please come out."

"You don't know how I feel, how could you say that?" Paige rolled out and threw the blanket off. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Why?"

"We just want you to join us, it's a special day."

"No it's not, it's just...not. Please Charlotte, I need you to go, now."

"Paige, please."

"Get out!"

Charlotte backed to the door and left, heading to the table where Becky and Natalya were. Becky was looking towards her, looking to see if Paige was with her, then looked to Charlotte as she saw she was alone. Charlotte shook her head at her as she approached the table and sat down.

"I couldn't get her to understand. She's really upset. I'm sorry Becky." Becky put her arm around her. "It's ok, thanks for giving it a shot, I guess it's just not going to happen. Not this year anyway."

"You're not giving up, not yet, I've still got one thing I want to try." Natalya was getting herself revved up. "What's that?" Charlotte asked.

"What's the easiest thing to do to Paige?"

Becky responded instantly "Wind her up!"

"Exactly, she's still just a kid compared to us."

"Hey! I'm only a little bit older than she is!" Becky said.

"Ok, sorry. But maybe if I push her buttons a little, I can get through to her."

"Worth a try, go for it." Charlotte said to Natalya, who went to start moving when Becky spoke up again. "Nattie?"

"Yeah?"

"Just, don't go too far, don't hurt her ok?"

"Of course not, don't worry about it, I'm going to give it my all though." With that Natalya went to Paiges cell. She found her sitting on her bunk in the corner knees drawn up and her head resting on them, but not wrapped up in her blanket any more.

"What are you doing? What's wrong?" Natalya sat down next to Paige, who pulled back as much as she could.

"Do you know what you've done? You've upset two of your friends, don't you care?"

No response.

"You're ruining Christmas for us, but you don't care do you?"

Still nothing.

"You know what, I don't know why we bother with you, you're just a selfish child."

"A child? You think I'm a child? Clearly I'm not a child!"

Bingo.

"Well you are certainly acting like one. Saying that to Becky, do you know how upset she is with what you said?

"Well if she does what I said she won't be, you should do the same, just get out of here and forget about me."

"Why would we do that, it's Christmas and we want you to be part of it? Why can't you come enjoy it?"

"I don't deserve it!"

Natalya turned towards Paige and moved her head up so they were eye to eye again. "Paige, you have got to get over this. You must forgive yourself. It's part of the way we survive in here."

"I can't, not today. Two years ago I had an amazing family Christmas, it's all that comes to mind every time it's mentioned, every time Becky gushes about it. I loved Christmas. Then we fall out big time, last year I got taken pity on by a guy who lived in a nearby building and his friends so I wasn't alone on Christmas. That guy was the reason I robbed that store, got arrested, and ended up stuck in here."

"You can't focus on how bad last year was for you. You've got people here who want to spend today with you, but can't because you're holing yourself up in here. Isn't that enough to make it a better Christmas? I know we aren't your family, but we can have a good time right?"

"I don't think so"

Natalya looked up in frustration, she thought she'd hit a home run with that speech but it looked like she'd missed the mark. "Why not, what's stopping you?"

"I think I offended Charlotte, and Becky probably will not want to talk to me after what I said to her. They won't want me now."

"You're wrong, Charlotte's a lot tougher than that and Becky told us how much she's looked forward to having Christmas with you. She seems to care more about your day than her own. In fact, I reckon she's outside the door trying to listen in hope I've gotten through to you. Right Becky?" There was no answer. "No way, I don't believe it. Charlotte, is Becky outside the door?"

"Yeah she's been here the whole...ow! That hurt!" Paige laughed at Becky having smacked Charlotte for giving her away.

"So you ready?" Natalya asked.

Paige nodded, "Just give me a second."

Natalya left Paige and headed out the cell, gave Becky a nod and took Charlotte away with her. Becky waited just outside, giving Paige space. A moment later Paige appeared at the doorway, looking at her feet. Slowly she looked up to meet Beckys eye. "I'm sorry. I'm...I'm so sorry." Becky cracked a smile for the first time since leaving the cell. She closed the gap and wrapped Paige up in a big hug, trying to make it as tight as she could, feeling a huge relief when Paige hugged her back.

"I really am sorry, I shouldn't have ever..." Becky put her hand up to stop Paige mid sentence. "No more of that for now, it's Christmas and today's about having a good time. You can grovel for my forgiveness later. Ready to go have fun?"

Paige nodded, Becky grabbed her arm, and the two went over to rejoin Charlotte and Natalya. Paige grabbed Charlotte from behind in a hug as well. "I'm sorry for being a miserable cow. Forgive me?" Charlotte put her arm behind her to return it. "Well it is Christmas."

The guards had actually gone a lot farther than had been expected. Maybe they were annoyed at having to be there on Christmas too, or maybe they were taking advantage of the bosses not being there, or a combination of the two, but they'd created scenes resembling a Christmas party. Of course, they did make it clear that it would all cease at the first bit of trouble. Indoors they'd put in some simple board games, nothing involving money to help stop arguments. Outside they had some Christmas music on. They had even brought some little spot prizes for winners, paid out of their own pockets. Becky got to pick the game and came back with Snakes & Ladders. "I guess I can act like a child now, right?" Paige said. "I think we all have have to." Natalya replied, grabbing the dice so she could go first. They all let themselves enjoy the game, until the end when Paige hit the snake on square 99 and Natalya won the game on her next throw. "Sorry P, looks like I win." Paige sat there pouting. A guard came over with a bag, "take a dip." Natalya reached in the bag and pulled out a can of soda. "That'll work, it's almost lunchtime right?" That snapped Paige out of her pout. "Ooh good, I'm starved."

"Well you're the one who missed breakfast." Charlotte reminded her. "Ok ok, let's just forget about that, I'm here now." Paige was back to her usual self now, but was looking towards where the food came, there was movement. The guards asked for the games to be cleared away ready to eat, which was done quickly by all, eager for the best meal of the year. When they were told they could go collect their food, there was a near stampede and the guards had to work for the first time that day to get them into some kind of orderly line, sending some to the back which brought some complaints but nothing too bad. Almost everyone was trying to get extra of whatever they could get but Emma and the others were too wise to the tricks. They really had done a great job, each woman got a turkey dinner with vegetables, stuffing, gravy, the works. It was simply better quality food too. There was little conversation at the tables as everyone was enjoying every bite. Nobody was going to have to lie to Emma about it when she joined them. When she did, "Hail to the chef!" Was called out and there was a small round of applause. Emma ate it up, took a little bow and joined them at the table. "There's going to be no living with you after that is there?" Natalya asked her. "If you enjoyed your lunch, and if it was as good as mine, you did, then you can live with it." Emma looked about as smug as anyone could get as she said that. The guards then said that they could return to the games. Emma went to pick one out for them. Natalya got up and grabbed Paige's hand. "Come outside with me." Paige was confused but followed on. They went out to the yard, it wasn't too cold luckily.

"What's up? You didn't bring me out just to enjoy the music right."

"Right. I've had an idea that I think will make you feel better about everything. I think you need to talk to your family." Paige was shocked.

"You can't be serious, it's been nearly two years since I left home and we haven't spoken since."

"Exactly, think how much better you'll feel afterwards."

"It'll just be an argument, nobody wants that on Christmas."

"That's why it won't be. And even if it is, then you'll know and can move on. Either way, this will help you."

Paige knew she was right "Can you stop being making sense, it's really difficult to argue with."

"I know, but I can't help myself. Do you want me to stay while you call?"

"No, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it alone if you don't mind?"

"Of course not, come find us when you're done ok?" Natalya went back inside, and joined the others in another game. She explained the situation to them while they played. Becky wasn't able to focus on the game as much once she knew and lost badly, with Charlotte winning this one. Post was brought around, cards for Natalya, Emma and Becky. Charlotte wasn't surprised not to get one, she was still ostracised from her family, the scars too fresh still. They happily opened their cards. But Nattie looked confused. "Huh, a card from my family. It says, 'sorry your presents are late, we are working on it and they should be with you soon'"

"What's wrong with that? Sounds nice to know they got you something."

"It's just they haven't before, and they know that if they did, it'd probably get intercepted before it got to me anyway. Weird."

Paige picked up the phone, luckily nobody was waiting after her as most were inside playing games or doing other things, as she took a deep breath and dialled. As she could hear the ringing, she started to hope nobody would answer and she definitely wasn't going to leave a message. That didn't happen.

"Hello"

Paige recognised her mother's voice immediately, her nerves , at an all time high upon hearing her voice for the first time in ages, made it hard for her to talk.

"Hello?"

"Mom? It's me, it's Paige."

"Well you're the last person I expected to be talking to."

"I know, it's been a long time."

"What, since you decided you didn't need us and walked out?"

"I never didn't need you. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, for everything, that I ever hurt you and everyone else. I still love you all, even if you don't forgive me."

"Oh my baby, you hurt us really badly when you left, but we never stopped loving you."

"Really?"

"Of course not, you're our daughter, no matter what."

"I love you Mom."

"I love you too, and Happy Christmas darling."

"Happy Christmas."

"So what are you doing today."

"What?"

"It's Christmas, you must be doing something, I hope you're not cooking."

"I'm, um, I'm spending the day with my friends. And no, I didn't cook."

"You've had a good day?"

"Yes I have. Mom, I have to go, they're waiting for me, but it was so good to talk to you."

"Same here, maybe you could come and see us soon? We can put all this behind us properly."

"Um, I don't know, it might be difficult, but I'll call you soon, I promise."

"Well at least think about it. It'd mean a lot to have the whole family together."

"I will Mom, I'll speak to you soon."

"Thanks for calling my girl, bye."

"Bye Mom."

Paige hung up the phone and moved for the next person, as a line had formed while she was talking. She walked away and sat down on the grass by herself for a little while to process it all before she headed back in. She actually felt a little better about life from the call, just talking to her mother had made a huge difference. She got moved back inside a little quicker than she hoped, as it was getting on for time and the guards closed off the yard for the night.

The others were still at the table, they were now clearly waiting for her as they stood up as she approached. Paiges smile put a lot of things at ease for them. "You're smiling, that's good right?" Natalya said. Paige just hugged her. "Thanks Nat, I talked to my Mom, I told her I was sorry, I told her I loved her and we mended some fences. I feel so much better, I'm glad you were there pushing me."

"That's great, so she isn't mad that you're in here or anything?"

"Well she doesn't know, I guess it didn't make the news where she is, and she doesn't know anyone here who would tell her, especially while we weren't on good terms. I know I'll have to tell her eventually, but for now it was just so good to hear her voice."

"Wow, you're a different person than you were first thing. If it helps, I like this Paige better." Charlotte said.

Paige smiled back at her. "I feel like a different person now. Thanks again for not giving up on me today, you could have left me in my misery but you didn't."

"And we never will, you're never getting rid of me, of us." Becky said, putting her arm around her as they sat down, sharing the seat again.

"I never want to. In fact, I want to suggest something. We all make a promise. One day, we will all be out of here. And when that happens, no matter what our situations are, we get together for Christmas, all of us together. How does that sound?"

"As long as that's not the only time we see each other, it sounds good to me."

"Me too"

"And me"

"I'm in."

"Thanks, I'm glad you like it, you guys mean a lot to me, now let's get one more game in before they shut down this party." Paige said as she got up to get one. She had a look around as she did, everyone was enjoying themselves as best they can. She even spotted Sasha doing a little dance as she won a candy bar in her game. Paige even smiled at that, nothing was going to get her down now. She brought back a game called Trouble, where the idea was to get round the board but if someone landed on you, you went back to the start. It was four players but Becky said she'd team with Paige. Friendly but competitive spirits took over with tokens continuously getting sent back. Having a teammate was a good idea for Paige as she was ready to take Emma's head off when she landed on their piece for a third time, only to pretend to be held back. Emma ended up winning the game too which didn't help when she won a candy bar of her own. "Next time we go shopping I'm getting loads of chocolate." Paige said, pretending to be mad.

"Ok, that's it, make sure everything is put back, we will be checking and if anything is missing there will be a full shakedown in the morning!" Guard Langston announced to groans. All the games were returned and everyone started to move toward their cells.

The five of them had a quick group hug and went their own ways.

Becky and Paige went into their cell and the door was locked. "I know it's back to what passes for normality tomorrow, but at least we've got the memories of today to keep us going." Becky said, throwing water on her face.

"Yeah, it's been a great day, thanks to you girls." Paige said, getting ready to sleep. "Thanks again for caring about me Bex, you're my angel. I'll make it all up to you."

"Your angel?"

Yeah, it's true, but you did say I had to grovel for forgiveness later."

Becky laughed. "You are forgiven, but don't ever ask me to forget you exist again. Ever. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good, now go to bed, I'm tired, the angel has spoken." Becky tried to keep a straight face but couldn't. Neither could Paige. They shared a smile and a look, then got into bed. The light went out soon after.

"Becky?"

"Yeah?"

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Paige."

A/N: Thanks for reading, hope that wasn't too long. I know it was quite feelgood but that felt right for Christmas, even in this setting. It won't always be this smooth sailing.

I read an article about prisoners getting extra time outdoors and extra games/prizes provided by officers at Christmas so I used that idea. I considered adding party games too but thought that was a bit much!

I got my view counter back! Thanks to you all for putting up with my moaning about it and for your support. Please do follow/favourite and/or leave reviews and let me know anything you might like to see. I really appreciate each and every one I've had so far.

The poll is still live on my profile page. Please do vote for any couple you'd like to see. I'm planning how to work in a couple of pairings that have been voted for already but any input is given thought for the future.

Hated the Miss Universe spoofing on Raw, but I though Paige handled it well and Nikki was a class act by sharing the stage and putting the divas division over.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!