AN: Nope, no ownership yet… deal with it

A Letdown Christmas

Christmas wasn't exactly as she expected it to be. She hadn't celebrated Christmas in five years, so she had actually been looking forward to this. Especially since she was spending it with her family. But, it proved to be very boring and uneventful. They had gone to church again, at an ungodly hour, then come back home and exchanged gifts. She had received a sweater, a bible inscribed with her name, a nice hair brush, and a rather large cookbook.

After the presents they had a nice brunch and then relaxed the rest of the day. Raven found herself to be quite bored. She wished she had talked her grandparents into letting Beast Boy spend Christmas with them. There was never a dull moment when he was around. And that reminded her.

"Hey, would it be alright if my friend Beast Boy spent a few days with us?" asked Raven.

"Beast Boy?" said Peter. "You mean that Garfield fellow with the green skin and pointed ears? Why do you want him to come here?"

"Because he's a very dear friend of mine and we're both upset that we didn't get to spend Christmas together," said Raven. "And he's never seen Gotham in winter. Please, can he come?"

"Oh, I don't like the sound of a young man staying here," said Mary in a nervous tone.

"You let Paul come over all of the time," said Raven.

"Well, that's different," Peter chuckled.

"How so?" asked Raven. "I'm friends with both of them, and I've known Beast Boy, I mean, Garfield for years. And, he's a superhero, so you can trust him to do the right thing. If you set the rules he'll follow them. That's how it works at the tower."

"I still don't know," said Peter.

"Please?" Raven pleaded. "I really want him to come and if I have your permission it'll make me feel a whole lot better."

Her grandparents thought this over for a minute or two. Raven felt very nervous. She knew that if they told her no, she would have to go against them and tell them that he was coming any way. But, to her relief, they didn't tell her no.

"Alright, he can stay with us," said Peter. "But I want to make sure that you trust him enough."

"I'd trust him with my life," said Raven with a smile. "He's a really good guy, you'll see."

"Alright, we trust your judgment," said Mary.

Raven felt very relieved and the whole dull day seemed to be brighter now. She couldn't wait to tell Beast Boy. She knew the second she told him he'd be on his way. And she couldn't wait to give him his gifts. She also wondered what he got her. Usually, he got her something that was more for him self than for her. Like a new game controller that she would give to him since she had no need for it. Or a gift certificate to Tofu-R-Us, which she would donate to him and his tofu cause.

But he had grown up since then, and she could feel that he was sweet on her now. So maybe he got her a gift that would be worth keeping. And, even if he didn't, she really wouldn't care. This holiday was about giving, not receiving. She just couldn't wait to give him his gifts.

And, of course, before the end of the day Paul came over to exchange gifts. She was surprised her grandparents hadn't invited him to stay over yet. She figured he was like the son they never had. After all, they treated her like the daughter they had lost. They were still young, Mary was 59 and Peter was 60, so Raven could pass for their daughter and Paul for their son. She had been born when they were 39 and 40. She was sure that that was why it was hard for them to really consider her a granddaughter.

"Merry Christmas, Raven," said Paul with a shy smile.

"Merry Christmas," said Raven with a kind smile. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, it was alright," said Paul, looking slightly nervous. "I, um, got you this." He held out a gift to her.

"Oh, why, thank you," said Raven, taking it. "I got you one too."

"You did?" he said, slightly excited.

"Yes, it's under the tree, let me get it," said Raven. She went over to the tree and grabbed one of the unopened gifts. "Here you go," she said as she handed it to him.

They both sat down and waited for the other to open their gift. Finally Raven decided to just go ahead and open hers first, since it appeared he would wait forever. She ripped the paper away and what was revealed was a book. But, not any book. It was his book, the one he had been writing for years and let Raven preview.

"You got it published?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and we just got in a shipment of the first copies," he said. "Open it up."

Raven opened the cover and saw that he had written her a long note about how glad he was to have met her and how he thought God had meant for it to be. Then he signed it, 'Love Paul'.

"Thank you so much," said Raven smiling, trying not to look as awkward as she felt at the moment. "I'm sure one day it'll be worth a lot of money."

"I don't know about that," said Paul as he unwrapped his gift. He tossed the paper aside and found that it was a book as well. "Oh, nice, I've wanted to read this one!"

"I know, I thought you'd like it," said Raven.

"This is great, thank you so much," said Paul, kissing her on the cheek again.

"Oh, are we interrupting something?" asked Mary as she and her husband entered the room.

"No," said Raven, glad they had come in. "We were just exchanging gifts." Her grandparents smiled and sat down with the two. Raven knew that as long as they were there Paul wouldn't try to kiss her again.

"So, Raven, have you rethought about going on the ski trip?" asked Peter.

"No, I still don't want to go," said Raven. "Besides, Beast Boy will be here."

"Your friend? He's coming here?" asked Paul, slightly shocked.

"Yes," said Raven. "He'll be here tomorrow."

"Oh," said Paul. "I was going to see if you wanted to hang out this week, but if you're friends going to be here then…"

"Don't be silly," said Peter, cutting right in. "Just because her friend's here doesn't mean you two can't still get together."

"I'm not going to leave Beast Boy here all alone while I'm out with Paul," said Raven. "He'll feel ignored."

"Oh, he'll be fine," said Mary. "And please don't call him that name. It's so… outrageous. Call him Garfield."

"Around you, I will," said Raven. "But when I'm talking to him I'm going to call him Beast Boy."

"Raven, you know the rules of this house," said Peter. "If we want him to go by Garfield, then he's going to go by Garfield."

"But I never call him Garfield," said Raven. "He'll think he's in trouble if we keep calling him by his first name. And he's going to tell you to call him Beast Boy."

"If he respects the rules, then he won't," said Peter.

"I don't understand why it's so important that we call him Garfield," said Raven, who was growing frustrated.

"We just don't like nicknames," said Mary.

Raven had had enough of this conversation and decided to get out of there. "Excuse me, I have to call up Garfield and tell him it's okay for him to come," she said as she stood up and left the room.

"So, have you ever met her friend?" asked Paul.

"Yes, and he's bad news," said Peter.

"He can become rather standoffish," said Mary. "And he's a bit odd. He chooses not to eat meat."

"Not to mention that he has green skin and pointed ears," said Peter.

"I also noticed he has fangs," said Mary.

"What a strange guy," said Paul. "And Raven's friends with him?"

"Evidently," said Peter.

"But… they're just friends, right?" asked Paul, growing nervous.

"Oh, yes, just friends," said Mary.

"Don't worry, Paul," said Peter with a smile. "She's all yours; we'll make sure of it."

Raven returned, looking much more pleasant. "He'll be here tomorrow, but he's not sure if it'll be earlier or later. It all depends on how bad the day after Christmas crime is."

"I'm so glad you're here and not there to join the fights," said Mary.

"Well, I'm not," said Raven, sitting down. "If I'm not there I worry that one of them will get hurt."

"When you are there we're afraid that you'll get hurt," said Peter.

"I know," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "But, I like my job."

"But you'll stop one day, right?" asked Mary.

"I suppose," said Raven. "If I ever get tired of protecting the city or if something more important comes up."

Raven was unaware of the smiles that were shared by the other three in the room. She was far too busy thinking about how happy she was that Beast Boy was coming. She always missed him when she went to her grandparents and she knew that if she had had to go an entire week without being near him she'd go insane. He always made her feel safer. She wasn't sure why, but he did. Like, now, he could take control of a situation and make sure things went right.

After some more chatting Paul went home and Raven went to her room for the night. She was glad to be rid of him. He was always around and he was always trying to send her 'subtle' hints about the fact that he liked her. Evidently, he didn't know that she could feel others' emotions and that whenever he was near her she could feel the same emotions that Beast Boy gave her. But she only wanted to give them back to Beast Boy, not Paul.

"He gave you a book?" asked Beast Boy. They were having their bedtime talk.

"Yeah, it's his first novel," said Raven.

"Jeez, is he trying to impress you or what?" said Beast Boy.

Raven chuckled and said, "Yeah, something like that. I'm starting to get sick of him, though. He's always around and he's always trying to get closer to me."

"Closer to you?" asked Beast Boy, growing protective. "What do you mean by closer to you?"

"You know, trying to sit close to me or hold my hand," said Raven. "And whenever my grandparents aren't looking he kisses me…"

"He kisses you?!" Beast Boy practically shouted.

"…on the cheek," Raven finished. "He kisses me on the cheek. No need to get jealous."

"Jealous?" said Beast Boy, his voice cracking. "Who's jealous? I'm not jealous."

Raven laughed to herself. "Then why did you get so upset?" she asked with a smirk.

"Because, uh, you know," said Beast Boy. "I don't want him to take advantage of you or anything. Really, if he does anything wrong you just tell me and I'll set him straight."

"I'm a big girl, Beast Boy," she said. "I can take care of myself."

"Even so, make sure you tell me if he tries to pull anything on you," said Beast Boy.

"Will do," said Raven, smiling. "I really can't wait until you get here. It's supposed to snow tomorrow night."

"Really? Awesome," said Beast Boy. "It feels like forever since I've gotten to run around in the snow. I never get to change into an arctic animal."

"I'm sure you'll have a ball," said Raven. "Well, I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"'kay, goodnight Raven," said Beast Boy.

"Goodnight," she said with a smile and hung up her communicator. She giggled to herself as she thought about Beast Boy being jealous of Paul. She then realized that the two were probably going to meet this week. She suddenly felt very nervous. She knew something was going to happen. Both boys were going to end up fighting over her and, even if she wouldn't mind that, she knew her grandparents would never let Beast Boy come again. They wanted her to be with Paul.