This was inspired by a piece of fanart by Tumblr user ninuuska of a missing scene from the Ghosts series 2 Christmas special - when the others are singing In The Bleak Midwinter, Humphrey's head is asleep in Jemima's lap in her pantry while she sings along
Fandom: Ghosts (Jemima Bone)
Day 8 prompt: Holiday songs
Christmas had always been an especially lonely time for Jemima. She could hear the cheerful voices and laughter and singing, music, dancing footsteps, and hustle and bustle of the holiday, but she could never join in; either she couldn't interact with the living, or the dead didn't want to interact with her. She couldn't help still feeling too shy to ask if she could be included, and she knew they'd likely turn her down, anyway. And if they didn't, they'd avoid her as much as they could.
There was always Humphrey, though. Maybe she could spend this Christmas with him.
It was clear that there were other living people – strangers – in the house right now. Visitors, for Christmas. She heard unfamiliar voices down the hall earlier. Even if they couldn't see her, Jemima didn't much like the thought of running into them. It only upset her to come across even more people who wouldn't talk to her, for whatever reason that may be. So she set off in search of Humphrey.
She eventually found him fast asleep in one of the bedrooms. In a crib.
Beside a baby.
Jemima hesitated. Babies could sometimes see ghosts, and she didn't want to risk scaring her, but she seemed to be sleeping soundly enough. She reached down to gently prod Humphrey's cheek with one finger. He scrunched up his brow, then blinked awake.
"Wha...? Jemima? What are you doing here?"
She shrugged, feeling a bit silly about it now.
"... Why is there a baby here?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, that's Nancy, she's Alison's niece. Her husband's family are here for Christmas," he explained and Jemima stared down at Nancy, "She was a bit upset, Julian brought me in to help stop her crying."
"Can you leave her now, then? Since she's asleep."
"Uh, I suppose so. Was there something you needed?"
"... Just some company..." Jemima said after a pause.
"Ah. In that case, absolutely."
She picked him up without another word.
Down in Jemima's pantry, the two chatted for a short while, until they heard something. It started out as one voice singing alone, and was soon joined by another, then another, then a whole chorus.
"In the bleak midwinter,
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone."
They sat in silence at first. Jemima recognised the tune; she remembered hearing it once or twice around this time of year a while after her death. She found herself singing along, very softly.
"Snow had fallen, snow on snow..."
"A little bit louder, Jem. I can't hear that lovely voice of yours."
She looked down at Humphrey's head in her lap, smiling warmly up at her.
"In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago..."
The singing from outside stopped then, but Jemima closed her eyes and kept going, finally smiling herself when she heard Humphrey singing along.