Chapter 95

A few hours had passed since the appearance of Santa Claus. The Kankers residence was much quieter than it had been over the last few hours, for all of the members of Rods family had taken their leave; the intent to put their small children to bed in preparation for the big day. The adults of the cul-de-sac had taken their leave as well, leaving their children to hang out amongst their friends in the Kankers den.

The only three adults remaining were Tabby, Rod, and Chuck, (who had finally been introduced to the former). The three adults had taken their place around the dining room table. To Tabby's chagrin, Chuck and Rod had spent the last half hour in a fit of laughter regarding stories of the adventures shared between Tabby and Tiff as children and teenagers, including a botched joy ride of Chuck's Mustang. Tiffany had inadvertently left the parking brake on at Tabby's direction, burning out the pads; in addition due to her lack of experience with the concept of the manual transmission, she had burnt out the clutch as well. At the time, Chuck was quite annoyed at the thought of his "baby" being damaged by his girlfriend and her friend, but eventually was able to look back on the moment and laugh.

Downstairs in the den, the teenagers of Rethink Avenue were having quite the rowdy time themselves. However, just as fatigue had begun to set in for many of the adults and their children, the same lethargic feelings were beginning to overtake some of the teenagers. With a slight yawn, Nazz took a glance at the wall mounted "cuckoo clock"; the time was 10:30, and the younger Van Bartonschmeer sister decided to take her leave.

"Well, I think I'm gonna turn in," said Nazz, as she rose up from the couch, "Kevin, will you walk me home...?"

Kevin, still seated on the couch, adopted a wide grin; Nazz had leaned into his ear to deliver her final line in the whisper register, slightly exciting the football star. Misinterpreting Nazz's amorous statement, the red hatted jock rose up off of the couch, adopting a standing position at what seemed like light speed.

"Sure babe," said Kevin, "Let's kick it!"

The couple thanked everyone for a wonderful time, at which point they made their way towards the stairs leading up to the upper level. As the remainder of the teenagers returned to their conversations, Lindsay remained focused on Nazz, seemingly deep in thought.

Just as the pixie-cut blonde placed her foot on the bottom stair, Lindsay decided to take action. The tall girl rose up from the couch, briskly making her way toward Nazz's position.

"Excuse me," said Lindsay as she tapped Nazz on the shoulder, prompting the girl to turn around, "van Bartonshmeer...no, Nancy. Sorry, force of habit. I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry for taking over the cheer squad and forcing you to quit. I know how much you love it, and you're way better at it than I could ever be. In fact, I hate cheerleading, I was only doing it to appease someone else. But that's not an issue anymore, so...here, take this."

At that point, Lindsay reached into her coat pocket and retrieved a small golden key. She lifted Nazz's right hand into the air with her left, placed the key into her palm, and used her right hand to gently close her fingers.

"What is this?" asked Nazz.

"Hello, didn't you read the charter?" asked Lindsay, "It states 'when the current cheer captain resigns her position, she reserves the right to appoint the new cheer captain, and must immediately turn over the key to the cheer locker room to the new nominee'"

Lindsay leaned down to eye level with Nazz.

"I officially resign," said Lindsay, "And I'm nominating you Nancy. Go make that cheer squad great again."

Nazz paused for a few moments; the fact that Lindsay had turned over a new leaf was still quite alien to the blonde girl, especially after months of living under her tyrannical shadow as cheer captain. Nevertheless, Nazz eventually managed to muster up a smile, and decided to respond.

"Thanks Lindsay," said Nazz, "You bet I will. Oh, and you can call me Nazz...it's way better than Nancy."

"Sure thing Nazz," said Lindsay, "Merry Christmas!"

Nazz thanked Lindsay again, at which point she and Kevin continued on their way towards the front door. Lindsay smiled as she observed Nazz complete her journey up the stairs, after which she turned to begin her trek towards the cooler for a drink.

As these events unfolded, Eddy and Lee had taken their position on the pull-out sofa; sharing jokes as they sipped soda from their red cups. As Lee giggled at one of Eddy's jokes, (nearly spitting out her soda in the process) she took notice of Lindsay, swaying her hips as she slowly walked across the room. The sight of her friend drew a smile from the tall redhead, as well as remembrance of her Christmas wish; the desire to rekindle her friendship with Lindsay. As thoughts of her fulfilled wish filled her head, she was reminded of some unfinished business regarding the holiday; perhaps the most important to her of all.

"Hey Eddy," said Lee.

"Yeah," said Eddy.

"Can you come upstairs to my room for a few minutes?" asked Lee as she rose up off of the couch, "I have something to show you."

"Sure," said Eddy as he followed Lee's lead, and proceeded to follow her to the stairs.

A few seconds was all it took for the couple to reach the entrance to Lee's bedroom. The eldest Kanker proceeded to gently push the door to the open position, causing it to emit an audible creak. With the flick of a switch, the lights mounted on the overhead ceiling fan came to life, bathing the red walls in a soft glow.

As Eddy entered the room, Lee closed the door behind him, leaving it slightly cracked rather than latching the handle as usual. Lee turned back towards Eddy, at which point the stout boy decided to break the silence with a joke.

"So Babe," said Eddy, "Whatcha got for me?"

Lee clicked her tongue.

"Sorry to disappoint ya," said Lee as she twirled a portion of her red curls, "As much as I would like to take advantage of us being alone in my room...I have something more important to take care of right now."

Eddy watched as Lee made her way towards her vanity; using a key drawn from her jeans pocket, she proceeded to unlock the left most drawer, and remove a small, rectangular shaped object, wrapped in shiny red paper. On top of the box, in the vicinity of one of the corners, was a small sticker depicting the likeness of Santa Claus, as well as the words, "Merry Christmas Eddy", written in Lee's handwriting.

Lee blushed slightly as she made her way back towards her boyfriend, her heels clicking loudly on the floor with each step.

"Merry Christmas Hun," said Lee as she held the gift out towards Eddy, "It isn't much, and it most certainly isn't an expensive custom ball gown, but I've been working on it for the past few weeks. It's something I've been wanting to get for you for a while, but...well you'll see let's keep it a surprise!"

Lee leaned down towards Eddy's face, adopting a cute smile as she placed her hand up to the side of her mouth.

"No peeking until you get home, okay sweetie?" said Lee.

Eddy smiled.

"You got it babe," said Eddy, "Thanks a lot, you're the best."

Lee delivered Eddy a quick kiss on the cheek, at which point Eddy placed the gift into his jeans pocket for safe keeping. The two teenagers then joined hands as they made their way out of the bedroom, and back downstairs to the lower level to join the party.

As these events transpired indoors, Nazz and Kevin had completed their trek down Rethink Avenue. The two were currently standing at the foot of the Van Bartonschmeers garage door. Nazz had directed Kevin to stand a few feet away, and to close his eyes, as she placed her hand on the small handle.

"Okay, no peeking until I say," said Nazz in a playful manner.

"Alright babe," said Kevin, "Let's get this show on the road, it's cold."

Nazz adopted an annoyed expression as she playfully slapped Kevin. She then proceeded to turn the handle to the unlocked position, freeing the door to open.

"Okay, here it goes," said Nazz as she suddenly flung the garage door upwards to an open position, "SURPRISE!"

Kevin proceeded to open his eyes, at which point a large smile appeared on his face. The jocks eyes seemed to glass over with tears of joy, as the boy suddenly dashed into the garage towards the object of his affection: his prized low rider bike, completely restored to factory conditions.

"My Bike!" yelled Kevin as he took hold of the bikes chrome frame, caressing the fabric of the banana seat as he did so, "My baby! I thought you were gone! I'm so happy to see you."

"I had it restored at the dealer in the city," said Nazz, "Sorry for scaring you, Merry Christmas Kev!"

Kevin slowly turned towards Nazz, his eyes beaming with joy as he did so. He then proceeded to stand up, slowly walking towards his girlfriend with a smile.

"Thanks babe," said Kevin as he placed his hands on Nazz's hips, "You're the greatest."

The couple proceeded to share a passionate kiss under the glow of Nazz's porch light; at the conclusion of the kiss, snow began to slowly trickle from the skies, beginning the process of blanketing the neighborhood in it's powdery texture. The couple remained silent, observing the snowfall, in addition to the flashing lights of the neighborhood Christmas display with radiant smiles.

By this time, nearly all of the holiday guests had vacated the Kanker residence. The three Ed boys, Lindsay, and her father were the only individuals remaining; the teenagers had relocated to the upper level, where they joined in on the adults conversation while enjoying holiday cookies.

In the midst of their fun-filled conversation, Double Dee decided to chime in with a compliment.

"Well Mr. And Ms. Lonergan," said Tabby, "I must say, you have put together an outstanding and wonderful celebration, and I am most certainly ecstatic that you have graciously invited me, and my family to take part."

"Hey, it's our pleasure," said Tabby, "You guys are like family after all, so it's only natural."

"Much appreciated," said Double Dee, at which point he glanced at his cell phone, "My oh my, look at the time. I must be getting home, mother and father expect me for our traditional Christmas breakfast at 6:00 a.m. sharp, and I would absolutely abhor being inactive due to lack of sleep."

"No problem cutie," said Marie as she made her way towards the upright piano (which had been relocated back upstairs following the winter talent show), "But before you go...how about a little song?"

At that point Marie touched her hands to the piano, played a few arpeggios in b flat as a warm up. She then proceeded to play a familiar melody, as her beautiful voice filled the air.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year

At that point, the three Ed boys, Lee, Lindsay, May, Tabby, Rod and Chuck, all rose from their seated position. They proceeded to gather around the piano, all with smiles on their faces as they leant their voices to the famous Christmas tune. As they did so, May and Ed joined hands, beaming with joy as they gazed into each other's eyes; Double Dee took a seat next to Marie, placing his arm around her as she gazed towards him with loving eyes. Lee placed her arm around Eddy's shoulder, as he pulled her closer towards him by placing his arm around her waist. Lee simultaneously placed her other arm around Lindsay, who responded by returning her friends loving embrace.

The three adults stood in the back of the crowd, all with smiles on their faces as they observed the love shared between their daughters and their friends. All three shared joyous expressions as they opened their mouth to join the chorus.

Good tidings we bringTo you and your kin;We wish you a merry ChristmasAnd a Happy New Year!

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!