A/N: Season's greetings, everybody! If you've been following me on Twitter (ahem), I mentioned after the completion of Green With Envy and Little Miss Impatient that I would be taking a break for the holidays before resuming work on my next two multi-chapter Loud House fanfiction projects, Kiss and Tell and Relationship Roulette… and I still am – both of these projects are presently sitting dormant within my laptop for the time being. However, with Christmas fast-approaching, I had something of a plot bunny hopping around in my mind that I thought would not only make for a nice little treat for the holiday season, but also present me with something of a new challenge in terms of writing for the Loud family; I won't waste your time explaining any of this right now, but I will include a footnote in this opening chapter with more details.
For now, let's just get on with the festivities; and we'll say that this takes place late season four-ish. Also, this isn't really a spiritual story, I just couldn't think of any other suitable secondary genre that would apply.
There was hardly ever a period of tranquility in the Loud House, and this was especially true of the time of year where the notion of peace on earth and goodwill toward man was often encouraged, and, hopefully, acted upon.
Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year – and the celebration thereof was always a tremendous affair in the Loud House, especially for the children: the lights and decorations, the cookies and other treats (except for Dad's Figgie pudding, of course), the binge-watching of as many holiday movies and specials as possible. Certain siblings had their own personal holiday traditions that they would participate in, such as Leni wanting to make herself another new Christmas dress, Luna trying to write another new original Christmas song, Luan wanting to achieve her annual Twelve Puns of Christmas, and Lana setting up traps to try and capture one of Santa's reindeer to keep as a pet, just to name a few. And, of course, the big bonanza itself: the presents! As with any children, regardless of what their age was, each of the Loud kids always looked forward to opening presents under the tree the most every Christmas. With the number of kids in the Loud House having increased over the years, naturally, this meant that the number of presents under the tree also increased, as well. Needless to say, Christmas was not only the most wonderful time of the year, but in the Loud House, it was also the most expensive time of the year… at least with both parents working very lucrative, high-paying jobs in information technology and dental hygiene, respectively, their salaries managed to not only cover the family's budget and finances quite adequately, but also leave just enough left over that they could splurge a little to spoil their children with an abundance of presents from Santa at Christmastime… until recently, that is.
Within a rather short succession, both parents had decided to leave their previous day jobs behind to pursue their life-long dreams full time: although he had to work his way up the corporate ladder, Lynn, Sr. was able to obtain enough experience working in the restaurant industry from washing dishes and waiting tables (as well as a check cut to him from well-known investor, Timothy "Tim" McCole) to finally open a restaurant of his own, and leave the world of I.T. behind; likewise, Rita had been writing her first novel whenever she had the free time to do so, and not only had she recently finally completed it while she still tried to work out a deal to have it published, she had also seized a desirable opportunity to make writing her full-time career by signing on with the Royal Woods Gazette as the new author of its parental advice column, happy to no longer have to stick her hands into a bunch of disgusting mouths all day. While both parents were thrilled to be able to finally turn their old dreams into new realities, it was not without its drawbacks: to leave behind such lucrative, high-paying jobs, obviously, meant that money and finances ran much tighter than they had before. It took a while for Lynn's Table to build up steady business and draw in clientele; even so, it wasn't just his own wallet that needed to be filled, there were also the employees working for him who had to be paid as well. Similarly, while writing for the city's newspaper, even on a parental advice column, was certainly a prestigious position for a working mother to hold, it, too, was something of a significant pay cut for Rita just the same.
In the previous year, there were a number of rather close calls in which the Loud family was faced with the possibility of having their utilities or other amenities shut off because of the bills that had piled up. Although a whiz-kid like Lisa was almost always able to help her parents find suitable ways to manage their budget, and stretch their dollars as far as they could, the other working siblings soon saw that fractions of their own hard-earned money would go into supplementing the family's finances – whether it was the little bit that Leni had earned from working part-time shifts at Reininger's department store at the Royal Woods Mall, whatever donations Luna was able to bring in for gigs booked for the Moon Goats, the proceeds Luan brought in from birthday parties Funny Business, Inc. was booked for, any of the babysitting money that the five oldest sisters brought home, or even prize money that Lola won from any of her illustrious pageant victories, it became increasingly common for them to have to contribute to household expenses in order to keep the lights on, the heat and air working, or avoid having to do without entertainment for a while. Although all of the Loud children were well aware of how much it meant to both of their parents to be able to finally be able to live out their dreams, especially at their ages, a small part of them occasionally wished that their parents had stuck with their day jobs, if only because it ensured a sense of financial stability for the whole family.
The Loud House was aglow with festive décor and a sense of holiday cheer, and although each of the children were in high spirits, the parents felt somewhat grim: for them, there was nothing more satisfying than watching the sheer joy and delight of their kids opening their presents under the tree on Christmas morning, and seeing that Santa Claus had fulfilled their wishes… but, with tighter finances this season, they knew that this would mean that Santa might not bring in as much of a haul this year – if any at all.
One afternoon, while the children off to school, and Lily had been put down for a nap, Lynn, Sr. and Rita sat that the dining room table, with calculators, an adding machine, and paper bills scattered everywhere; at the present time, it looked as though that they could avoid slipping into debt and keep said bills and expenses paid… however, it could mean that there would not be the usual amount of presents under the tree this year.
"Well, at least our electricity isn't quite as high as it usually is this time of year since we've switched to LED lights," noted Lynn, Sr. as he looked over the electric bill.
"True, but our use of heat has nearly gone through the roof," added Rita while she looked over their heating bill.
"We'll have just enough to keep everything on without having to pool any of our resources…" Lynn, Sr. sadly sighed as he finished calculating the figures that he went over. "But, Christmas may not be as extravagant for the kids this year…"
"I was just coming to that conclusion as well," said Rita, as she ripped the roll of paper from her adding machine to look at how much of their budget would be spent on paying that month's bills.
"What are we going to do?" Lynn, Sr. asked. "Some of them had rather long wish lists this year."
Rita eased away from the table slightly, as she leaned back into her chair, folded her arms in front of her chest, and suggested, "Well, I suppose now could possibly be a good time for the kids to have a learning experience: we can set an example for them by being thankful for the things we have in our lives, rather than dwelling on the materialistic things we may want, but don't always get; we can still have a merry Christmas in our house filled with joy and cheer, even without presents under the tree."
Lynn, Sr. stared at his wife for a brief moment before he burst into a hysterical guffaw of belly laughter, while he also clutched his chest with one hand, and slapped the surface of the table with the other.
"L-O-L, honey! That was a good one; we needed a little bit of levity!" He wheezed.
Rita promptly frowned and furrowed her brow at her laughing husband. She had not even tried to bring any sort of levity to their situation whatsoever; she was as serious as a heart attack.
When Lynn, Sr. finally managed to calm himself down, he was suddenly struck with a small flash of inspiration, and noted, "Say, you know, you may actually have a point, hon…"
"Well, I certainly hope so…" muttered Rita in a somewhat annoyed tone.
"We could turn this into a learning experience for the kids," said Lynn, Sr. "Santa may not be able to spoil them like usual, but I think I know how they could still have presents this Christmas, and give them a better understanding of the true meaning of the season of giving…"
Later that evening, the family had sat down to a dinner of Lana-cotti; since it was one of the only times during the whole day that all of the siblings were together in one spot, the parents knew that it would have been the most apropos time to address how Christmas would be different for them this year… but, they would wait until after they had finished with their meal (and dessert for anyone who still had enough room for it), as they had figured that to say anything sooner than that would most likely upset the kids into not wanting to finish their meal. Sure enough, after dinner was finished, the parents chose that moment to address their children and inform them of the new plan for Christmas presents this year.
"Alright, kiddos," began Lynn, Sr. "Now that we're all gathered together, your mother and I have something we'd like to talk to you about."
"This sounds really serious," said Lincoln, who felt a little uneasy about what was about to be unloaded onto them.
"Is it bad?" Leni asked.
"No, not at all," assured Rita. "But, Christmas is going to be a little different this year."
As to be expected, this seemed to strike a nerve with most of the siblings; the usually stoic Lucy and Lisa appeared to be the only exceptions.
"What do you mean Christmas is going to be different this year?" A worried Lana asked.
The parents did their best to keep themselves calm as they proceeded to spell it out for their kids.
"Well, you see, kids, it would seem that… um, 'Santa,' will be unable to visit us this year…" explained Rita.
The parents received a mixed bag of reactions from their children upon telling them this. While certain siblings –such as Lincoln, Leni, Luan, Lynn, Jr., and Lana- looked visibly stunned by what had just been unloaded unto them, the others –Lori, Luna, Lucy, and Lisa- seemed rather skeptical.
Lola began to question the legitimacy of such a claim: "And how do you know this? I happened to have been on my best behavior all year! I even sent him my five-page wish list back in May so I could avoid the Christmas rush!"
Luckily for the kids, their parents happened to be rather clever, and had concocted the perfect cover story for their benefit.
"Well, we saw on the news today while you were at school," explained Lynn, Sr. "Apparently, Santa's workshop has fallen on hard times, you know, what with the melting polar ice, the elves going on strike, some of the reindeer falling sick…"
"Wow, sounds like they're getting sleighed up there!" Luan released an uncomfortable chuckle, but still pulled her Christmas pun counter from her blouse pocket, and gave it a click, which brought her total of this year's Christmas puns up to four at the present time.
As she had sat next to the comedienne, Lola grabbed her big sister by her collar, and began to lash out at her: "HOW CAN YOU EVEN SIT THERE AND CRACK JOKES, WHILE CHRISTMAS AS WE KNOW IT IS RUINED!?"
Being the oldest of the siblings, Lori had long grown out of her belief in Santa Claus, but at the same time, she, too, always looked forward to opening presents as much as her younger siblings (and usually unable to resist opening all of the presents before anyone else); wanting to try to bring a calm air to the table for the sake of her younger siblings, but also out of her own curiosity, she further inquired of her parents: "Okay, so, Santa won't be visiting us this year, it's not the end of the world… we'll literally still be getting presents, won't we?"
Rita nodded in assurance, "Of course you'll still be getting presents… but, come on, kids, let's settle down here for a minute, and remember something important: Christmas is a time of love and sharing, and as you've probably heard a thousand times before, it's much better to give than to receive."
Lynn, Sr. nodded in agreement, "Mom's right, which is why we thought rather than obsessing over what you want to get, you could concentrate, instead, on what you can give… so this year, we've come up with a Secret Santa Siblings program."
Many of the siblings were more than a little confused by this proposal; Lana, in particular, further questioned, "Wait, Santa's got secret siblings? Oh, so are they gonna bring us our presents this year?"
"Wait, I remember doing a Secret Santa in school one year when I was younger," said Lori, as she began to reminisce on such a memory. "The teacher had us all pick the names of our classmates out of a hat, and whoever's name we picked was the classmate we got a present for…"
"Exactamundo, Lori Lou!" Lynn, Sr. exclaimed. "You'll each pick the name of one of your siblings, and the name you pick will be the sibling you'll be getting a present for this Christmas!"
"This way, each of you will still get a present this year, but hopefully, you'll also experience the spirit of giving, and the pleasure of bringing someone else happiness for Christmas," added Rita. "Deal?"
The siblings all exchanged a variety of different glances with each other at the table; some of them –namely the younger siblings, such as Lana and Lola- still looked a tad perturbed over not getting presents from Santa this year, though most of them looked as though they were willing to go along with their parents' suggestion of participating as Secret Santa Siblings (while Lucy and Lisa still looked completely indifferent to everything).
Finally, with a few shrugs, and cocked heads, the siblings agreed to their parents' proposal, "Deal."
"Good!" Rita said with a smile, before she continued, "Now, just to clear up some things, we do have some terms…"
That further dampened the kids' spirits, as that was one of their mother's many lines that usually filled them with a sense of dread; more often than not, it was the terms and conditions of whatever deals she and/or their father were negotiating with them that soured said deal – at least from their perspective. However, neither of them felt this was going to apply in this case.
"Nobody can reveal who they will be giving a present to until we exchange them on Christmas morning," said Rita. "And, no name trading… you all should know each other well enough to be able to figure out what to give to your Secret Santa Sibling."
"Of course, you can't always buy happiness from a store," added Lynn, Sr. "If you're drawing a blank on what to get for your Secret Santa Sibling, you can always make them something… after all, it's not the gift that's important, it's the thought that counts."
The parents were on a roll with their clichéd sayings.
"Are we on the same page?" Rita asked her brood.
As with the previous query, the siblings exchanged looks with each other, before they shrugged and nodded, "Yeah."
With that, Lynn, Sr. produced one of his large mixing bowls, into which he dropped ten slips of papers, each of which contained the names of his kids written on them; he shook and rattled the bowl a little bit to shuffle them up, as it was then passed around to each individual sibling who sat at the table – each of them were instructed not to peak at whose name they picked, nor to reveal such information either, as per the terms and conditions of their deal. The only one who was exempt from the Secret Santa Siblings was Lily; Lynn, Sr. and Rita decided to concern themselves with giving her a present for Christmas, which left the other siblings to concentrate on whom they will have to get a present for.
After the bowl made its way back to its original owner, the siblings took a look at the names they had picked like a gathering of poker buddies studying the hand that they had been dealt. Already, certain siblings were visibly unhappy with the names they picked, basically because they knew the names they had picked were of siblings that they were not particularly close to, but like their mother had previously pointed out, each one of them should know all of their other siblings well enough to know what they could get them for Christmas; while both Lucy and Lisa still maintained indifferent expressions on their faces, Lynn, Jr. resisted rolling her eyes over the name she drew. All of the others at the table appeared pretty confident enough that they would be able to please their Secret Santa Siblings.
"Okeydokey! Now that we've gotten that out of the way, you kids have till Christmas Eve to find a suitable gift for your Secret Santa Sibling," Lynn, Sr. informed the cadets at the table.
"Like Dad and I said, you can buy your Secret Santa Sibling a gift you believe they would like, but it doesn't hurt to make them something special that comes from the heart," Rita reminded the kids. "You're clever and creative kids, so you should be able to come up with some ideas."
"And remember, each and every one of you have to keep things a secret until Christmas morning," Lynn, Sr. also reminded everyone. "After all, you're Secret Santa Siblings!"
With that being said, each of the siblings who sat at the table had slipped the names that they had picked from the bowl into whatever pockets or other holding places that they had on their persons to ensure that particular term that was imposed on them was acted on.
Unfortunately, Leni would be the first to basically spoil her secret.
Come bedtime, both of the twins had prepared to crawl into their respective beds for the night, but before they could do so, Leni had invited herself into their bedroom with a fabric tape measure, as she approached the tomboy twin.
"Hey, Lans! Mind if I get your measurements real quick?" She asked.
"Huh?" Lana responded after she had turned her covers back. "Uh, yeah, I guess so…"
Lana stood with her arms extended, as her big sister wrapped the tape measure around various parts of her tiny body, including her chest, waist, and hips, while she also measured the length of her arms, and her height as well; she then asked her little sister, "What's your favorite color?"
"Oh, I dunno…" said Lana as she was being measured. "I kinda like blue… but I also really like green, too… and red, especially if it's like red clay…"
Leni pulled away from her little sister to jot some notes down on a little notepad that she had tucked under her arm.
"Blue-green-red clay… got it, thanks!" The bubbly teenager turned tail, dashed out the room, and left the twins behind.
"What was that all about?" Lana asked.
"I guess we know who your Secret Santa Sibling is!" Lola surmised while she stifled a giggle.
Lana suddenly had a look of horror written across her little face, as she deduced, "What? NO! You think Leni's gonna make me a dress for Christmas?!"
The little princess got a little defensive at her twin's reaction as she rebuffed, "Hey, have you seen the dresses Leni makes? That Little Miss Maple Leaf dress she made for me was the most fabulous thing I have ever worn!"
"That's different!" Lana insisted. "You love clothes! I hate clothes! Clothes are the worst Christmas present a kid could possibly get! Don't you remember that TV special, The Boy Who Got Clothes For Christmas? That was depressing!"
"Oh, come on, Lans, you're overreacting!" Lola dismissed, as she nestled down into her princess bed. "I'd love it if Leni was my Secret Santa Sibling… I have no idea who I'm getting a present from, and the suspense is killing me!"
Lola was not the only sibling in the Loud House who really wanted to know who her Secret Santa Sibling was… in the next bedroom, Lucy and Lynn, Jr. sat atop Lucy's bed, surrounded by a circle of candles, and with a crystal ball between them; Madame Lucy attempted to peer into the future in the hopes that it would give them an idea of whom they would receive their presents from this Christmas.
"See anything yet?" Lynn, Jr. asked, as she stared into the glass sphere, but saw nothing other than an eerie glow.
"Nothing…" mumbled Lucy in disappointment.
"Man, this is a really dumb idea…" moaned Lynn, Jr. "Hey, you wanna trade? You'd probably have a better idea of what to get my Secret Santa Sibling than I would!"
"I'm at a loss of what to get my Secret Santa Sibling; I highly doubt you could come up with any ideas, either" said Lucy. "Besides, you heard Mom and Dad: no trading, no exceptions."
"Who says they have to know?" Lynn, Jr. asked with a shrug.
Although the jock made it sound rather tempting, the Goth decided against it, as she stated, "No… it wouldn't be very ethical… I may prefer to live life differently from the rest of the normie world, but even I have a moral compass."
"Ehh, fine…" groaned Lynn, Jr. "I just hope whoever my Secret Santa Sibling is knows how to shop for me… I'd hate to find something like a dress under the tree on Christmas morning… man, I hope Santa's back in action next year!"
Lucy said nothing, but merely stared at her older roommate for still believing in Santa Claus despite her age.
As I was saying, as this plot bunny was hopping around in my mind, I realized this could supply me with a unique new challenge in terms of writing for the Loud family. Obviously, it's easy to write plots centered around certain siblings who are already paired up with a roommate, or if the source material has provided us with episodes and stories that have brought certain siblings together in an unlikely pairing. This, however, prompted me to think outside of the box, and explore just how well each individual sibling knows a specific other… as a matter of fact, you may have heard of what TV Tropes describes as, "Enforced Method Acting." Well, for this, I utilized what I called, "Enforced Method Writing." You know how much I like to meticulously plan every little detail of my stories… for this, other than the basic plotline, absolutely nothing else was planned: just to ensure authenticity, I myself actually randomly drew sibling names for the results you will be reading about. Everything that will follow is about as close to being off-the-cuff as I have ever gotten before. We'll see what the Secret Santa Siblings have in store for one another…
Another little reminder, in case you didn't already know, I just recently opened a new discussion forum for us on FFN called Really Loud Discussions. Anyone's free to join; just add this to the end of the FFN URL:
forum/Really-Loud-Discussions/230717/