He was woken with a start the next day by the sound of the doorbell and loud excited voices.
Looking around, he was shocked to see that it was almost 11am. His body ached, and he was pleased to see that someone had left his pills ready for him with a glass of water. He swallowed them hurriedly, and then went to get ready. He took the briefest of showers, and found Tony waiting for him when he came back to the room.
"Hey, Sleepyhead, you nearly ready?"
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to sleep so long. I'm trying to hurry."
"Well maybe if you took your time, you'd get somewhere," Tony observed, as Lucas dropped a pile of shirts. "Here, wear this one. I'll pick these up. Get some pants on! Anyway, don't worry so much, things usually start late on Christmas morning, everyone's tired after talkin' all night. We're still eating breakfast."
When they came out, Lucas thought to himself that it looked like the Ghost of Christmas Present had deposited his cornucopia of plenty in the middle of the breakfast table. He didn't think he'd ever seen so much food, it put all previous breakfasts to shame. Tony's Uncle Paulie shook his hand, and then turned back to talk to the boys, while his Aunt Rose gave Lucas a big kiss, and stared at him.
"Wow, look at you. We've heard so much about you! Tony talks about you all the time, my Angie had quite the crush on you! She's married now, with two beautiful babies, but boy, if she saw you now!"
Lucas blushed to the roots of his hair.
"Tony tells us you haven't been well, how are you feeling, Honey?" She put a hand to his forehead, "You still feel a little warm, you need some food in you! Here, let's get you started, you want some bacon?"
"Rose, he doesn't eat meat."
She looked horrifed. "Well, no wonder you look so frail, you need to eat meat!"
"Aunt Rose, he doesn't want any, trust me on this! Here, we got some meat substitute sausages, 'specially for you. Trust me, you won't have to fight anyone for them, they taste like shit!"
"Tony!"
He grinned. "Well, they do! And stop putting things on his plate, Aunt Rose, Dagwood would have a hard time finishing off that lot!"
After breakfast, everyone went to sit in the living room and chatted on the Vidlink to Tony's sisters and other relatives who couldn't be with them for the holidays.
Angie started to clear the breakfast things and set up the table for dinner. Lucas was beginning to wonder if she ever had the chance to do anything outside the kitchen. He started to help her clear the table.
"Lucas, you don't need to do that. Just rest for a while."
"Please, I want to. I'm so tired of not doing anything, I'm going to go crazy if I don't move around a little."
She understood. "Okay, but the minute you get tired, promise me you'll stop?"
"I promise," he said solemnly. And he meant it, there was no way he was going to overdo things and miss the rest of the day. Tony, Angie, Gina and Marie - all of whom were watching him like hawks - were all pleasantly surprised when a little while later, he put down the cutlery he was holding, and told Angie that he was going to rest for a little while.
Tony came into the room as he was lying down.
"Hey, look at you bein' sensible!"
"I don't want to miss anything today, I figure if I pace myself I can enjoy most of the day."
"See, that's why you're a genius! I'll come and get you when we're ready to open presents."
The gift giving was great fun.
Lucas had bought Tony a signed copy of an old Elvis album that he had spent months trying to track down. After Lucas' previous revelations, Tony didn't even want to think about how much it must have cost him.
The two of them had collaborated on a gift for Dagwood, a photo album already half filled, and a camera. They told Angie about their gift, and she gave Dagwood a series of pictures of himself with his snowman.
Everyone groaned at Tony's gift to Lucas of thick socks with non slip soles, but Lucas knew how often he had complained about his feet being cold since the accident. In fact, Lucas thought, there seemed to be a conspiracy amongst everyone to keep him warm. When Lucas gave Angie a small crystal angel, she gave him a thick, soft blanket, and Gina presented him with a matching hat and scarf.
Lucas, Tony and Dagwood had bought a video game for the boys, and Lucas promised to show them all the shortcuts.
Lucas felt his eyelids drooping, but was reluctant to leave the happy group. Surprisingly, this time it was Nick that rescued him.
In truth, Nick had been feeling guilty about the way he had spoken to the boy. He had got carried away, his mouth running away from him as usual, and he hadn't even realized what he was saying at the time. Now, without the worry of owing all that money, his head was clearer and he could see what he had done. The boy treated him like a threat, somehow even managing to never be near him, never looking at him and never speaking to him. When Nick spoke to him, he was polite enough, but Nick could tell that he was only doing that for Tony's sake.
And that was another reason why Nick felt guilty now. Marie had told him that it had only been because of Lucas that Tony had started to make an effort to repair their relationship. Even after everything that had happened, he was prepared to pretend to like Nick just so Tony could continue to spend time with his father.
Nick knew that had those things been said to him, he could never have forgiven the speaker, and, perhaps more importantly, would never forget the words. They would eat at that poor boy's soul in every dark moment he ever had.
And yet, he had given Nick the money. He had shaken his hand, and said he forgave him, and encouraged Tony to spend time with him still.
In short, he felt like a heel, and though Nick was many things, he wasn't a bad guy.
He'd been waiting for an opportunity to show Lucas how much he really meant his apology. So when he saw the boy rubbing his eyes and fighting to stay awake, he remembered how Tony had been as a child. So tired, and yet so determined not to be sent away to his room.
And he wouldn't have been Nick if he hadn't recognized an opportunity when he saw one.
Seeing Rose, Paulie and Tony chatting happily on the sofa, he realized that the first step was to get them to move. Inspiration struck.
"Say, Anthony, why don't you go over to the table and show Rose and Paulie the photo album you made for Dagwood - all those shots of you in your uniform?"
They thought it was a great idea, and immediately went to look at it. Determinedly, Nick grabbed a cushion from his chair and placed it next to the arm of the sofa. He looked around and found the blanket that Angie had given Lucas.
By now, the family was wondering what he was doing, and were waiting to see what would happen next.
He quietly walked over to stand beside Lucas' chair. "C'mon, Kid, I think you'd be a bit more comfortable over there, don't you?"
Everyone pointedly tried not to watch, and carried on talking with every semblance of normality while they waited to see what Lucas would do.
Lucas looked at him anxiously, as though he was waiting to see what the catch was.
"I'm not evil, Kid. I said some really mean, dumb things - things that weren't even true - and I'm sorry. You've done a lot for my family, and not just the money," he said quietly. "My boy wouldn't be talking to me now if it wasn't for you, I know that. So let me do something for you now. You're tired, but it's Christmas Day and you don't want to spend any of it alone in your room. So lie on the sofa for a few minutes."
"What if someone wants to sit down?"
"We have chairs. Ain't a person here who doesn't have enough padding on their rear end that they need it on their chairs! Just lie down on the couch for a bit. None of us want you to go to your room."
He looked around at that, and saw everyone studiously not looking at them, except for Tony, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Sure, thanks Nick." He moved over to the sofa and suddenly realized how tired he actually was. Nick threw the blanket over him, and he was asleep within minutes.
Marie walked over and kissed her husband's cheek.
"Times like this I remember why I fell in love with you."
Christmas dinner was always late in the evening, and Lucas was glad that he had slept for a little while.
Once again the meal was loud and boisterous, but this time Lucas and Dagwood felt included in the group and the conversation flowed happily. It was midnight when the party broke up and they all went to their beds.
Tony walked with Lucas and Dagwood to their rooms. Lucas could not stop yawning. Dagwood and Tony talked while Lucas brushed his teeth and swallowed his pills, and then, ignoring what little protesting there was, helped him get into bed.
He a slurred, sleepy voice, he said, "Tony, this was the best Christmas I've ever had. Thanks."
"Yes, Tony," agreed Dagwood, "Thank you. It was good."
"Hey, it was good having you guys here. Merry Christmas, an' all that!"
"Merry Christmas, Tony."
"Merry Christmas, Tony."
Tony thought about it as he climbed the stairs to his room.
When he first arrived on the SeaQuest, he had thought of Lucas as a spoiled little rich kid who got everything he wanted. He'd learned that wasn't the case as time went by, and he realized that Lucas had been working there full time since he was fifteen, for little or no pay, and that he never got calls from home, or spent time with his family on shore leaves.
On this trip, he'd learned a little more about Lucas' home life, but he still couldn't help but wonder how it was that this was the best Christmas he'd ever had? He was disabled, with constant nausea and pain, fighting the flu with a weakened immune system. He'd been belittled and insulted, by himself as well as Nick, and he'd experienced panic attacks so bad that he hadn't even noticed that he was freezing in the snow.
And this...THIS...was the best Christmas he'd ever had? It gave him plenty to think about.