Chapter 91

It was now 6:45 p.m.; night had befallen the town of Peach Creek over an hour ago, and with it the spirit of Christmas Eve seemed to kick into high gear. All of the homes around the town were lit up; yellow daisy chained Christmas lights adorned their eaves in various patterns, as other lawn decorations glimmered in the likeness of Santa Claus and other famous holiday figures.

Of course, Rethink avenue was no exception. The large fir tree that was collectively decorated by its residence was fully lit, shining brightly as the centerpiece of the blocks light display. Along with the center tree, each and every lawn gleamed with the holiday spirit, literally and figuratively; so bright in fact that the amplitude of the holiday lighting seemed to eclipse the cream-colored glow of the street lamps.

Ed, Edd and Eddy had just emerged from the Van Bartonschmeer residence, each carrying a stack of five boxes containing the families signature sugar cookies. For the occasion, each of the Kanker girls had purchased six "ugly Christmas sweaters", three for the girls themselves, and a matching set for their men to wear. Accordingly, Ed has donned a blue sweater, depicting a male snowman meant to match a similar one to be worn by May tonight. Double Dee had opted to wear a sweater of his own, red in color; his however was much more technologically advanced than the ones. It depicted the words happy holidays in gold lettering, with embedded sound activated fiber optic lights that would initiate a chase sequence around the letters. For Eddy, Lee had purchased Eddy a thick green turtleneck sweater, decorated with gold lettering and various patches depicting Santa Claus and his reindeer. The small boy appeared quite unamused with his attire, maintaining a stoic scowl as he carried the boxes around the cul-de-sac with his friends.

As the boys passed Jimmy's house, on their way to the Kanker residence, Double Dee decided to initiate a conversation.

"Well gentlemen, it appears the big night has finally arrived," said Double Dee, "What joy! A party at our beautiful ladies house, serving as a welcome reminder of the love shared among our beloved cul-de-sac."

"All's I know is that these cookies better taste good given all this work we have to do to get them to the party," said Eddy, "How the hell did we wind up becoming cookie delivery boys anyway?"

"Due to Julia's inevitable forgetfulness, she had to make a quick trip to the convenience store to acquire a pack of utensils," said Double Dee, "Marie had requested my assistance in delivering the cookies to the house in her absence, and mathematically speaking three times the person power means three times the work. It was only natural for me to request assistance from my two best friends."

"Whatever," said Eddy as he performed a neck roll, attempting to quell a serious itch brought on by the wool turtle neck, "I can't wait to get this thing off, this wool is driving me nuts!"

"Come now Eddy," said Double Dee, "Lee handpicked that sweater just for you, I'm sure you can bear the inevitable itch for the sake of making Lee happy. If last night is any indication, you have proven yourself to be quite the romantic!"

Double Dee giggled as Eddy groaned under his breath.

"Hey chicks like getting dressed up!" said Eddy, obviously raising his emotional guard, "I figured it was the right thing to do."

"Whatever you say Eddy," said Double Dee, at which point he turned towards Ed, "Why Ed, you've been awfully quiet tonight, quite unusual for you around the holiday season. May I ask what's on your mind?"

"Double Dee, what's a Poland?" asked Ed.

"Poland is a beautiful European country, located between Germany and Belarus," said Double Dee, "Population 38.43 million I believe."

"Oh, okay!" said Ed, "That must be where Santa Claus is from, Chuck has been such a good little boy. Too bad somebody's grandma is sick, I hope she feels better."

"Sound like you've been dippin into the egg nog already lumpy," said Eddy,

As the other two Ed boys giggled at their eccentric friends seeming absent mindedness, they had come to the gravel pathway leading up to the Kankers house. The boys made their way up the winding path, admiring the bright decorations peppered throughout the lawn, as well as the flashing multicolored lights adorning the house. The boys approached the wooden door, decorated with an ornate wreath, at which point Double Dee proceeded to ring the illuminated doorbell button.

Around five seconds passed, at which point the door was answered by May. As planned, she had donned a blue sweater, completely matching the pattern of Ed's. The standard blue bows that typically held her two ponytails in place were gone, replaced with shiny silver ones adorned with white snowflakes.

"Well it's about time, all of your families beat you here!" said May in an exuberant manner, her adenoidal inflections most prominent, "Come on in guys, everyone's downstairs we've been waiting for you!"

May proceeded to reposition herself to the left of the doorway, smiling as she signaled the boys to enter. Without hesitation, Ed, Eddy and Double Dee entered, greeting May with smiles of their own as they carried their boxes of cookies to the snack table.

Sure enough, the Christmas party was in full swing. All of the adults of the cul-de-sac had gathered within the living level, spread out between the living room, dining room, and kitchen. In addition, a large portion of the crowd also consisted of the Lonergan family. All of Rods brothers and sisters were happily conversing as well, as their young children horseplayed in the living room, rough housing and otherwise frolicking as all young children typically did at parties. Of course Sarah and Jimmy were among these children, both quickly making friends with the Kanker sisters younger cousins. Rods elderly mother had taken a seat in one of the living room arm chairs, sipping a cup of tea as she conversed exuberantly with Rolf's Nana, the only other woman present who was within her age group. While Nana was not the best when it came to English, the two never-the-less bonded over common ground involving culinary arts (including tips on butchering various farm animals and cultural recipes)

Rod himself stood near the dining room table, leaning his arm on the China hitch as he conversed with Mr. Van Bartonschmeer, Ed's father and Eddy's father. Tabby was in the process of reigniting one of the buffet burners, beings assisted by Ed mother, Jimmy's mother, and Rods sister as classic Christmas tunes played softly in the background.

As promised, the three boys dropped the Van Bartonschmeers cookies off on the buffet table, greeting various adults guests as they did so, at which point May directed them towards the stairs leading to the lower level. All of the teenagers had gathered down in the Kankers den, throwing a proverbial "sub party" just for their age group.

As the boys entered the den, all of their friends came into view. Kevin and Rolf were in the midst of a conversation on the far side of the room; while Kevin appeared to be happily telling a few jokes as he cradled a red cup of soda in his hand, Rolf seemed to be less than amused. The lanky boy simply stared forward, his face adorned with a melancholy expression, still apparently hurt over the loss of his "Sweet Babushka". On the small love seat, (that also served the purpose of a pull out bed) sat Jonny and Nazz, immersed in an exuberant conversation of their own; Nazz giggled slightly as Jonny seemed to speak a mile of minute, telling a nonsensical, exaggerated story regarding his day.

The two oldest Kanker sisters, Lee and Marie had taken up post near the far wall. The girls had retrieved a wooden fold up table from the closet, and had set it up in the corner of the room adjacent to the computer. They had dropped a red and green table cloth over the wooden surface, and populated the table with several bowls, containing cheese curls, chips, pretzels and other snacks. In addition, they had just completed filling a large blue cooler with ice, an assortment of soft drinks, and bottles of water; and had placed it underneath the table within easy reach of their guests.

May led the three Ed boys towards her two older sisters (who's backs were turned to the area of the basement stairs) playfully tapping them on the shoulder as she smiled.

"Hey," said May, "Look who finally decided to show up!"

At the sound of Mays voice, both girls immediately turned around; their neutral expressions turning to smiles.

"Hiya Boys!" said both girls simultaneously in their usual flirty manner.

"Greetings girls!" said Double Dee, "How are you two doing on this wonderful evening?"

"Great," said Marie as she walked towards Double Dee, wrapping her arms around her neck as she kicked her left leg backwards, "It is our first Christmas after all, so how could I not be happy?"

From a few feet away, Lee watched as Marie leaned her face towards Double Dee's eventually touching her lips to his for a few seconds. She then turned her attention towards May and Ed, who had found their way to the snack table. The couple was currently shoving various snack foods into each others mouths, not unlike a bride and groom would do with their cake during the reception.

As Eddy took his place next to his redheaded girlfriend, Lee decided to initiate a conversation.

"Well there they go," said Lee, "Youse haven't even been here five minutes, but Marie's already making out with her boyfriend and May and Ed are turning our snack display into low tide at the pier."

"Yeah," said Eddy, "Lumpy and May are perfect for each other, and for being such a nervous nelly Sockhead doesn't seem to mind public displays of affection."

"That's a Marie thing," said Lee, "Ever since they started dating she can't resist trying to eat his face every chance she gets."

The two teenagers shared a laugh, at which point Eddy decided to play a joke of his own.

"So, where's my kiss babe?" asked Eddy.

"You'll get it when I feel like giving it," said Lee with an angry inflection.

Lee's response seemed to illicit a sense of sadness in the small Ed boy who, despite dating Lee for months, could not grasp her somewhat dry sense of humor. Accordingly, he turned away from his girlfriend, staring forward with a melancholy expression. He was quickly roused from his thoughts by Lee, who delivered a playful nudge to Eddy's arm. The boy turned toward Lee's direction, at which point she suddenly removed a piece of mistletoe from her pocket and placed it over Eddy's head, smiling down into his eyes as she did so. Eddy simply smiled, and leaned upwards to deliver Lee a quick kiss on the lips.

As Eddy and Lee completed their kiss, Double Dee, Marie, Ed and May rejoined Eddy and Lee in conversation. After a few more moments of jovial banter, Lee decided that it was time to bring up the surprise she had in store for all of her friends.

"Alright you morons," said Lee, "Just to let yas know, I got a special guest that's gonna be joining us tonight for this shindig."

"A special guest?" asked Double Dee.

"Yeah," said Lee, "A friend of mine from school, and I expect you all to make her feel welcome and special."

"Yeah right," said Marie sarcastically, "What the hell are you trying to pull, you don't have any friends at school besides us Ms. Resting Bitch Face."

"Oh I'm serious," said Lee, "I hope you like surprises!"

"I for one think it's wonderful that Lee has graciously invited a friend of hers to this lovely party," said Double Dee, "I most certainly look forward to meeting this guest, and welcoming them into our circle of loving friends."

At that point, in a speak of the devil like manner, the sound of the Kankers doorbell filled the air, indicating that a guest had arrived at the front door.

"That's her now!" said Lee with a smile, "I'll go get her, be back down soon!"

The remaining group of five watched as Lee exuberantly climbed the stairs, her heels clicking rapidly on each tread as she did so. There was a slight period of silence as the group each contemplated Lee's rather uncharacteristic display of bliss, something usually kept hidden by the rather stoic girl.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Marie, "All of the sudden Lee's making new friends."

"Yeah," said May, "She seems very happy tonight too, I haven't seen her smile like that in years!"

"I will admit, overwhelming general bliss is not a characteristic typically exemplified by Lee," said Double Dee, "However, while strange and unexpected, I highly doubt that being exuberant, especially around the holiday season, could be considered a terrible thing."

"I guess," said Marie, "Oh well, nothing to do but wait until Reds gets back down here. Who wants sodas?"

At that point Marie proceeded to make her way to the cooler, where she retrieved canned sodas for all of her friends. While she, Double Dee, Ed and May conversed happily, seeming to put Lee's demeanor out of their mind for the time being, Eddy remained fixated on the stairs, displaying an expression of curiosity.

As these events unfolded on the lower two levels, an entirely different scenario played out on the upper level. Within the Kankers parents bedroom, Rod had retrieved the Santa Claus costume (which he intended to wear as entertainment for the young children per Kanker-Lonergan tradition) from it's carrying bag and had laid it out on the king sized bed in preparation for changing into it. It's neatly pressed wine red satin folds shined under the the light emitted from the ceiling fan mounted fixture, and it's white trim appeared as soft a rabbits fur.

After admiring the suit for a few moments, Rod proceeded to slide the red pants over his legs. He then donned the signature red fur coat, slipping his arms into the sleeves, and connecting the two half of the zipper at the bottom end in preparation for closing the fastener. However, upon attempting to raise the zipper, Rod ran into a slight problem; a combination of not being used for years and interference from the white trim caused the zipper to bind, preventing the man from fully closing the suit, while simultaneously preventing him from removing it.

As Rod attempted to free the zipper, a small rap sounded at the bedroom door. In an instant Tabby slowly opened the door and, after ensuring Rod was decent, opened it fully to allow herself entry.

"Hey Santa," said Tabby as she closed the door, "All of the guests are here, ready to make your grand entrance?"

"As soon as I can get dressed I'll be ready" said Rod, "Having a bit of trouble with this zipper, the fabric keeps getting caught."

"Do you need me to get Annalee?" asked Tabby, "She could probably fix it."

"No let her spend time with her friends," said Rod, "Besides even though she's almost sixteen, I want to see the surprise on her face when Santa walks in the front door on Christmas Eve just like he did when she was five."

"Alright then," said Tabby, "Let me know if you need any help, when you are ready sneak out the back and ring the front doorbell, we'll be waiting."

Tabby delivered Rod a long drawn out kiss on the cheek, at which point she made her way towards the door. The two adults shared a loving smile as Tabby took her leave, leaving Rod to continue working on the costume.