With the help of reviews, the Fff Wall, and my two favorite men (no, not Ben & Jerry, lol), I present you with the long-awaited next chapter… finally…
The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Season of Surprises
"Max! Max!"
My eyes whipped open as I flung the sheets and blankets off of my body. Looking around, half-dazed with a mixture of sleep and anxiety, I found Angel, Celeste, and Total looking up at me with humored expressions. Yes… even the bear…
"What happened, sweetie?" I asked her, wondering where the crazed wolf-men were that I expected to see…
"It's Christmas Eve," she announced with a winning smile.
"We must rejoice," Total added.
I stared at them both with a new sense of irritation. Sure, I wanted them to enjoy themselves, but was it so much to ask that I be left to sleep in until noon just once?
"But it's already half past noon," Angel said, hearing my thoughts.
I stared at her incredulously for a moment. Not possible…
"It really is, Max. You must have been having your favorite dream again."
My brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? I don't remember having any dreams at all last night."
"Just because you don't remember it, doesn't mean you didn't dream it," she giggled, prancing out of the room, like a small, happy woodland creature.
I sighed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, as the momentary adrenaline-produced high faded away.
Total was still in the room, looking up at me with a spark of curiosity in his expression.
"Get going, ya silly mutt."
Of course, he looked appalled at my statement… but he turned and strutted out the door, muttering something like, "Can't get any respect from the kids these days."
I rolled my eyes.
Minutes later, I was dressed in my usual sweatshirt and jeans as I walked out to the living room.
I found Angel playing around with the cardboard tube left over from the wrapping paper roll, pretending it was a telescope, while Total napped lazily beside her.
I smiled at her. If this six-year-old girl could spend the majority of her life being hunted by mad scientists' experiments, living in caves, eating from dumpsters, and then be able to find enjoyable entertainment from recyclable garbage like a normal little girl would, maybe we all still had the chance to find normality somewhere down the road.
Nudge was chatting up Ella about some holiday special that was on the TV, and Fang was on a different couch with his laptop balanced on his knees. I looked around and listened for the others…
"Sweetie, where did Iggy and Gazzy go?" I asked Angel.
"They went outside. I think they took some knives with them."
My eyes grew wide when I processed her statement. Oh, God. They're going to make something explode with knives…
"Thanks, Ange," I said, quickly darting to the front door and out to the porch.
"Gazzy!" I shouted, but didn't hear any reply. "Ig, where are you guys?" I tried again.
I still didn't hear an answer, so I cautiously walked around to the side of the cabin.
Oh, they are so dead…
Relax, Max. Let them be kids, the Voice suggested.
Do you let your kids play with explosives and sharp objects?
It didn't say anything else…
Yeah, that's what I thought, I chided.
And then I saw them, both with their backs facing me. Gazzy was holding up a knife in each hand, looking like a ninja turtle, minus the shell.
Iggy was standing suspiciously close to a tree, doing… something…
I walked over to the two boys gingerly, not wanting to spook Gazzy and have him whip a knife at my skull. How would they explain that one to my mom?
"What are you doing?" I asked, slowly and quietly.
I flinched when both of their heads turned to me. But the knives remained firmly gripped in the Gasman's hands, thankfully.
"We're leaving our mark," Iggy said.
I stared at him momentarily, then peered closer at the tree he was standing near.
There, in sloppily carved letters, read the words: THE FLO
"Iggy, what is the flo? Some kind of new dance craze?"
Gazzy laughed and answered for him, "No, Max. You're so weird. We're writing 'The Flock Was Here' to leave behind proof that we spent the greatest Christmas ever here."
I sighed. "Do we really want to let everyone know we were here? They might track us down somehow," I suggested.
Iggy looked like he was going to counter the argument, but quickly changed his expression and sighed.
"Yeah. I guess," he said.
"Let's go back inside then, before you both freeze and turn into birdcicles," I told them.
As I turned to walk back to the cabin, I tripped over my own feet, but caught myself before I face-planted in the snow.
Of course, it didn't go unnoticed… Gazzy cackled with insane laughter and I felt my cheeks grow hot.
"That looked like some kind of stupid dance move, Max," he choked out.
Iggy snickered. "We can call it the flo."
"Ooh! Montana… Birthplace of The Flo," Gazzy said.
"Thanks, guys. I'm glad I humor you," I muttered, walking off alone and annoyed…
That night, Iggy was in the kitchen making figgy pudding. Ella stood by, watching with an awed expression as he created a mixture of perfectly measured ingredients.
The two of them made me want to barf up rainbows.
"You know, if Santa was real, Nudge could totally hack into his computer and change his naughty and nice list," Iggy mused.
"He's not real though…" Angel said, sounding bored.
"But if he was, Nudge could put all of the Whitecoats on the naughty list if they weren't there already."
"If Santa was real, he'd put a big angry lobster in your stocking on Christmas morning," Angel said, gently petting Total's fur as the dog sat in her lap.
Before dinner, Iggy had tried to use all of the leftover wrapping paper to gift-wrap Total for amusement. It didn't go over so well when Angel found out and she still hadn't forgotten about the incident.
"Hey, everyone, do you realize we get to open presents tomorrow?" Nudge asked, elated and enthusiastic. "I can't wait. Really, I can't. We've never had Christmas before! This is going to be the happiest day ever. And we're all together! It wouldn't be the happiest day ever if we weren't. I love you guys! I'm so excited! Oh, my God!"
"Nudge, you freak, calm down," I chuckled softly.
On the table, there was a sprig of mistletoe with a small bell attached by a festive ribbon.
"Hey, where did we get mistletoe?" I asked, picking it up. I shook it in my hand and listened to it jingle.
"No, Max!" Gazzy warned, lunging at me.
He grabbed the plant from me and streaked to the door, hurling it outside in a haste. I watched, dumbfounded, as the mistletoe burst into pieces midair.
"Someone better give me an explanation. Now," I said.
Iggy chortled next to me and I elbowed him.
"Ow. What, did the Grinch come steal all your holly jolly feelings?" he asked, rubbing his arm.
"Just because you can make something explode, doesn't mean you need to."
"Sorry, Max," Gazzy said. "If it makes you feel any better, you wouldn't have died. You probably only would have lost a finger or two."
I took a deep breath.
It's Christmas, I reminded myself. Just let it go…
I got up and turned around, only to see Fang standing there with a smirk.
I let out a frustrated sigh for the umpteenth time today…
"Alright, everyone to bed, now, or no presents in the morning," I said, ready for this day to be over.
After a set of grumbles and complaints, the kids, Iggy, and my half-sister were off to their rooms.
I was about to ask Fang why he wasn't going to bed, but Angel came bursting back into the room, bearing a grin wider than the Pacific Ocean. Suspicion sparked when I noticed her holding something behind her back.
She made eye contact with me and, impossibly, her grin grew even more prominent.
"Ange, you need to get some sleep. What are you-"
"I think Fang should wear this," she said, revealing a bright red Santa hat.
I looked over at Fang and couldn't bite back my chuckle. Fang… in a Christmas hat…
Now this, I had to see.
"Sure, maybe tomorrow," he told her, probably trying to buy time to find some way to make the hat suddenly disappear…
She frowned and looked up at him with big, blue, pleading eyes, sure to make even the hardest stone turn to complete mush.
"Okay. Fine," he sighed.
Angel's face lit up and Fang crouched down to her level, making a face as she stuffed the hat over his head.
"Thanks, Fang," she said, giving him an Angel-sized hug before turning to me again.
"Max, can you tuck me and Celeste in?"
I smiled at her.
"Of course, Ange," I said, taking her hand and leading her to her room.
Walking down the hall, back to the living room, I yawned. Tucking Angel in had meant making up bedtime stories about Christmas for 45 minutes…
Standing in the entryway was Fang, the red Santa hat still sitting atop his head, black hair escaping in tufts from under the white cuff.
"Hey there, Saint Nick," I teased.
He offered me a half smile as I approached and stopped in front of him. It was like the Christmas spirit had spread like malaria. Er… in a good way, of course. I smiled back.
"Did you know that mistletoe is a poisonous, parasitic plant?" he asked.
"Yeah?" I raised my eyebrows, wondering why he felt the need to tell me that and why he knew that little fact at all.
"Mhm. And it's sometimes called a vampire plant because it sucks the water out of the tree it's living on," he continued.
"And why are you telling me this?"
"Saw it on a TV show last week."
"Okay… So then, why are you spouting me the facts now?"
"Because…" he mumbled, looking innocently towards the ceiling.
Oh Lord. We were standing right under a piece of mistletoe.
Here's a question to ponder… Who hung the explosive mistletoe?!
"It's the real stuff," he said with the corner of his lips curving up a small bit, most likely amused by my expression.
I took a more scrutinizing look at it and noticed that, yes, it was, in fact, real. There were no wires protruding from the edges, no deceptive plastic-y pieces… Which meant…
"Oh."
"Yep."
See that? That's eloquent bird-kid talk right there.
My eyes locked with his and, immediately, I wanted to high-tail it out of there. But before I could make any snap decisions, he was already leaning in towards me. My heart raced in my chest like a young bird's after being pushed out of its nest, trying to fly for the first time.
He hesitated as his face drew close to mine, still not breaking eye contact, almost as if he was wordlessly asking my permission… which would be a first…
Should friends really be doing this? I didn't think so.
Then again…
Just a peck wouldn't hurt, would it? Not really, I figured…
But this is FANG! I argued with myself, as the battle of teenage hormones ensued within me.
He was waiting for me to make a decision, hovering in front of me with his dark eyes and that silly hat.
And for some inexplicable reason, it seemed okay. Maybe it wasn't as much of a big deal as I had always made it… It was just a kiss… A small, paralyzingly terrifying kiss…
"Merry Christmas," I whispered before I could change my mind again, though my words seemed to boom in the silence.
He took that as approval, closing the remaining distance, gently touching his lips to mine.
My sensible thoughts flailed and screamed, Run away! Run aw-
But… actually, it was… kinda nice…
I found myself about to lean into the kiss, but Fang's mouth was leaving mine as abruptly as it had approached.
All that inner turmoil just for that?
Almost as if I'd lost control of my actions, I tilted my chin up, catching his lips again for barely a second.
I laughed nervously, embarrassed and thrilled at the same time, before Fang stole another short, sweet kiss from me. Oh, God, this was so much better than that dream I'd had a few nights ago. His hands found mine, interlacing our fingers carefully as this back and forth affection continued.
It was like… playing kiss tag…
Oh, jeez. I quickly shooed that stupid thought away.
…just in time to hear Angel's youthful, sing-song voice in my head.
"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Clause…"
Great.
So that was a strange chapter, huh? That's what happens when I wait four freaking months to update… I am so sorry about that. Really, I am. That said, I can't promise the next chapter will be written any time soon, but there's the slightest possibility. Just don't get your hopes up. Actually, after this spastic chapter, I'd be surprised if any of you stuck around for the next one. XD
Review, please? Please? Please?