I don't own Home Alone

A/N: Hello CrimsonCommander688! Thank you for your reviews! Marv may still hold just a small grudge towards Kevin and Becky, but not as much as Harry.

Enjoy!

It was unbelievable how quickly days flew by when a person worked. During his first week on the job, Marv was getting adjusted to the way that things worked at the diner. Everything happened so fast. Customers would be seated be the waitress, he would go and fill up their drinks if they asked, they would get their food delivered, and he would clean up after them and set the table to its original state. Then he would jump onto another table and get that ready. All this for a minimum hourly wage? Although it was a generous amount considering how much was made at other places in these positions; not to mention the tips.

"How's it like being on the job?" Amy asked as she poured him a cup of coffee when they were on their break.

Marv had his head down on the table and he slowly lifted it up at the sound of her voice and at the aroma of the caffeine. He was exhausted. "Anything beats being in jail." He mostly said this to remind himself. He could feel that he was slowly slipping back to his old ways even after he had swiped away that bouquet of flowers from a vendor. Thank goodness that Amy hadn't suspected anything.

"You look tired," Amy pointed out to him. "Guess you've been doing quite the good job to reach that."

"You think?" Marv asked her. "I have to be tired to show that I'm capable of my work?"

"That's Tom's philosophy," Amy said to him. "I quote 'if you ain't tired, you ain't doin' the job right,'" she imitated him, slipping into a Brooklyn-accent. "But you survived your first week and now it's onto the second."

"Think I can survive the month?" Marv asked as he took the mug in his hands.

"I hope you're not doubting yourself," Amy said as she set the coffeepot on the table.

"I'm not," Marv answered her as he took a sip of coffee, "it just looks...weird that I was able to do it…considering things."

Amy shook her head. Ever since he had decided to stay with her, he had begun to doubt himself and his abilities. It was the same story each time. He would doubt himself and Amy would find ways to cheer him up. There was only so much that she could say to him, but even she felt she was running out of words. "Look," she said as she looked him squarely in the eyes and didn't break contact, "this has gone long enough, Marv. I keep saying to you that you've come a long way, you believe it, and then go back to thinking the same thing. Don't let your past dictate your future. Yes, having a…" she whispered into a low tone, "criminal record is not good for you, but you didn't hurt anyone, now did you?"

We almost did Marv thought, thinking back on those two kids when they had invaded their home for the first time in Chicago.

"Think of this as your way of showing others, and yourself, that you are able to make it through," she continued, "and we're in the holiday season. Have a little faith in yourself. What happened to the Marv I knew who was always so happy during the holidays?"

"I am happy," Marv said to her, "just not as much as before. These are my first holidays after six years. Try celebrating it in jail and see how that goes."

"No, I'm good," Amy declined his offer upon that.

Thinking back at her home in Chicago, especially around the holidays, she would decorate her home with small cheap ornaments that she was able to find. Of course, her decorations were unappreciated by Harry, but Marv had found them to be very delightful. He would even turn up the radio, much to Harry's dismay, and would sing along to the Christmas music that played.

"You know," Amy said as she tapped a fingernail on the counter, "I have done something for the past couple of years that have made me forget about what happened back in Chicago. It's helped me out during the holiday season and basically became a personal tradition."

"What do you do?" Marv asked her.

"I start celebrating Twelve Days of Christmas," she said to him as her eyes shined brightly. "And it's the thirteenth of December. This is when I usually start."

"Don't the Twelve Days of Christmas actually start on Christmas?" Marv asked her.

"Traditionally, yes," Amy nodded her head to him, "but I like to start a countdown towards the days of Christmas. Get a little bit into that Christmas spirit and joy."

To others, it sounded childish but having that child-like personality, this seemed like a fun idea. His only hope was that on Christmas Eve, he wouldn't find himself inside a home with traps set everywhere. "How do you start it?" he asked her.

"The thirteenth is when I start making the Christmas Tree," Amy said. "After moving here, even in the first year, I skipped out on it. Worst decision."

Marv shook his head. "Even back in prison there would be a Christmas Tree set up in the main room."

"I didn't have anyone to build it with," Amy said to him, "but on my second year, I decided to go ahead and do it myself. It was a lot of work, but I had fun. And seeing a little tree with all those decorations just bought some warmth in the apartment."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Marv asked her, "let's go and do it!"

Amy was thrilled that Marv had agreed in helping her out with the Christmas Tree. The two had gotten off work early enough to head home and take out the decorations from the basement. "How many decorations do you have in here?" Marv asked as he bought up a large box labeled 'fragile' and placed it on the floor with a thud.

"Careful, those can break!" Amy said as she headed over to the box and opened it up. "At least they're in one piece." She reached in and held out a red ball ornament. "It's just one box but more than enough to decorate." She reached back inside and pulled out the box of ball ornaments and walked over to the tree that Marv had helped her set up.

Marv slightly flinched at the sight of those decorations. Last time he'd been in contact with those, he was picking out glass from his injured feet. He looked inside the box and reached inside. His fingers touched something that felt feathery, and he pulled it out. It was a boa and he had it wrapped around his arm like a snake. He tried to find the right side where he could pull it off, but the boa caused a bit of constriction on his arm. "Uhh Amy," he called over to the woman, "a little help here."

Amy looked over and chuckled, seeing that Marv had gotten himself into a bit of a dilemma. "Here," she said as she knelt next to him and unwrapped the boa.

"What are you even doing with that thing?" he asked her.

"I like to add a little snow effect on the tree," she said as she got up from the ground and walked over to the tree. She threw one side of the boa on the tree and began to walk around it, allowing the boa to slither around the branches. "Can you hand me the lights?" she asked him.

Marv reached inside the box once more and pulled out a set of lights that were tied around one another. Great he thought as he began to undo the lights that he gotten themselves in a knot. His fingers tried to work their way around the knots, until his index finger was tied into one of the knots.

"Having fun over there?" Amy smiled as she walked over and took a hold of the lights. She took a hold of his hand and began to untie the stubborn knot that had caught his finger. "This is part of the tree decoration that I hate," she said with a shake of her head, "but the tree needs to have lights to shine."

Soon enough, his finger came loose. That was it. No more dealing with these small traps that would incapacitate him. "How about I just help you decorate the tree with the ornaments?" he suggested. "And you take care of…everything else."

She knew that he meant well. With a gentle shake of her head, Amy nodded her head and said, "sure."

Once the Christmas tree was all set with the fake snow and the lights, Marv begun to hang the ornaments around the tree. Once he set up the last ornament, there was one interesting decoration that stood out to him. "I think you really like birds Amy," he said as he held out a small turtledove ornament.

That decoration had a special place in her heart. Amy smiled at the sight of the little bird and took it gently in her hands. "I adore this one," she said as she hung it on the highest branch of the Christmas tree. "It has it's little story behind it."

"What's the story?" Marv asked her.

She turned her head and gave him a secret smile. "Some stories are not meant to be told."

Whatever did she mean by that? How could something so small have such a significant value on a person? Unless this was passed down to her from a family member, but Marv didn't think that family members would pass down Christmas ornaments. He looked back at the turtledove, trying to find that meaning behind it. Whatever that meaning was, it did make it seem like the Christmas tree had a small bird perched on the branch; and he was glad it wasn't the type that would swarm towards him for seeds.

Amy took a step back from the tree and placed her hands on her hips with a smile. "Would you like to do the honors?" she said as she held up an extension cord towards Marv.

Marv looked at the cords and reluctantly took them in his hands. Please don't electrocute me he said, thinking of what had happened to him six years ago when he had tried to turn on the sink. Taking a deep breath, he connected the two cables together and waited for that shock. Though…he felt nothing. Phew he thought as he placed the cord on the floor and looked at the beautifully lit Christmas tree.

"It's gorgeous," Amy said as her eyes shined brightly than the lights on the tree. She turned around and looked at Marv with a smile upon her lips. "Thank you. The first day of Christmas is done."

"Or the second," Marv said as he pointed at the two turtledoves.

Amy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at the turtledoves. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"It's how that song goes. On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Then on the second day, its two turtledoves."

Amy shrugged her shoulders and gently shook her head. "I guess the little partridge got lost on its way here and the turtledoves beat him right to it."

Marv lightly chuckled at that. It was nice to start a joke and not have it shot down immediately. He glanced over at the tree and secretly smiled to himself. It was nice to see a tree in a place other than jail, and she was right. It did add warmth to the apartment. "So, what do you do the day after?" he asked her.

"I do some window shopping just looking at some decorations. I like to take a walk by the skating rink, the park. Enjoy the time outside before it starts to snow," she said to him.

He wondered if he could contribute to some activities that they could do through these 'Twelve Days of Christmas.' Also, why not make it enjoyable for himself? "I really like the idea of chestnuts roasting over the fireplace, singing Christmas carols," he said to her.

That sounded very relaxing. Maybe something to do on a Sunday evening to finish off the week. "That would be lovely," she said to him. "I believe we have some fun activities planned out for the remainder of the week."

Was that a bright smile that she had always seen in him whenever he became joyful about something? She hoped so; and she hoped that it would help in bringing back that joy that he had around this time of the year.