December 20th
The next day, no one really wanted to go anywhere. They were all occupied with things they had bought the day before. Instead, Connie and Hannah went out into the city to go Christmas shopping.
Most of the day was uneventful until early afternoon.
Sonny had decided to bake cookies from scratch, with the help of Caleigh.
"Okay, Caleigh. Can you hand me the wooden spoon?" she asked the younger girl, smiling warmly.
"Here it is!" she giggled, pulling it out from behind her back.
"Thank you!" Sonny said, taking it, scraping the last bits of cookie dough from the bowl.
As she and Caleigh finished placing the dough on the fourth large tray they'd made, the blond actor with bright blue eyes entered the living room. He smiled softly at the girls, who had flour all over their faces. Chuckling to himself, he pulled out his phone and backed up. Quickly, he snapped a picture of the two girls hard at work, rearranging dough on the three remaining trays, without them noticing he was there.
"Sonny," he said curtly as he approached them, looking at Sonny the way he always did.
"Chad," she said, mimicking his tone and returning the same gaze.
"Caleigh!" the bubbly 6-year-old added as she rinsed herself off at the sink.
A few moments later, Sonny's phone vibrated on the far end of the counter. She rinsed off her hands and wiped them with a rag before picking up her phone.
She opened the text from Twitter which read, "TheGreatCDC: Hahaha, look at the two little Christmas elves hard at work in the kitchen" followed by a link to the picture of herself and Caleigh.
"Really? 'Little Christmas elves'?" she asked skeptically, quirking an eyebrow.
"Well, you're baking cookies. And you are both short," he shrugged, which made her scowl.
"The far more interesting question is: do you get my tweets sent to your phone?" he smirked.
The brunette's face reddened beyond her control. "Everyone who I follow is on my mobile updates," she explained.
Just as Chad opened his mouth to make another smart comment, the smoke detector went off. Sonny whipped around to see black smoke seeping out of the oven.
Instinctively, she gently shoved Caleigh in Chad's general direction and grabbed an oven mitt while turning off the oven. Then she took the fire extinguisher from where it was mounted on the wall and aimed it at the oven as she pulled the door open. Chad pushed his sister towards the living room as he took one of the girl's magazines and fanned the smoke away from the smoke detector, finally silencing it.
Everyone began flooding into the living room, asking what happened.
"Oh nothing happened. Sonny just set some cookies on fire," Chad answered nonchalantly.
"I did not!" she defended. "You and your tweet distracted me!"
"Sure, blame the first person to walk in," he scoffed in return.
She pressed her lips into a firm line and wordless took the tray of blackened, foam covered cookies out of the oven, dumping them into the trash can as her friends returned to their activities. She was just about to place the dirty tray into the sink when Chad took it from her hands instead. Surprised, she watched as he began rinsing it, along with the other dishes in the sink. She raised an eyebrow, merely observing the situation. She never thought she'd see the day when Chad Dylan Cooper washed the dishes.
As Chad cleaned up the dishes and utensils, Sonny sanitized the oven. After about twenty minutes, she placed one of the three remaining trays into the oven. The pair watched them carefully, leaning back on the kitchen island, looking for signs of burning cookies.
Just then, Chase walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. He paused when he saw the two speaking civilly. Smiling deviously, he whipped out his phone and snapped a picture just as his friend had done before.
Right after Chase had exited the kitchen, both Sonny's and Chad's phones buzzed. Sonny left hers alone, not wanting to take her eyes off the oven. Chad glanced at the screen of his phone, reading a tweet from the boys' joint Twitter account, "Falls_Boys: Amazing. They're not fighting. Did I miss the wedding or something? –Chase" linked with the picture.
Without saying a word, Chad replied to his tweet.
"TheGreatCDC: I am going to get you for that, Alteau. Falls_Boys"
When the timer went off, Chad stood upright and slipped on the oven mitt to take the tray out. Setting it on the table, Sonny handed him the next tray. Confident that the cookies wouldn't burn, Sonny sat down at the table and picked up her phone. She proceeded to read her newest updates and rolled her eyes.
"SonnyIsSunny: What is it with you guys and creeping on people baking? TheGreatCDC Falls_Boys"
By the time all of the cookies were finished baking, everyone had congregated in the living, waiting for Sonny to give her okay for them to eat.
After about 20 minutes of cooling, Sonny looked at the clock and said, "Okay, you can each have one now. But only one for now."
Each person happily snatched one from the tray and devoured it.
Taking one bite of the cookie, Zora said, "Oh my gosh! These are incredible, Sonny!"
"Thanks!" she beamed. "I did have some help," she grinned at Caleigh.
"Ooh! Me! I helped!" the little girl shouted, taking another bite of her cookie, laughter filled the room.
As Sonny began placing the leftover cookies into containers, the group disbanded, only after each had finished their cookie, begged for another one, and was denied.
About an hour later, Connie and Hannah arrived back at the apartment complex.
"Something smells unbelievably good in here! Did someone bake something?" Hannah asked, setting her bags on the floor.
"Sonny and Caleigh did," Chad blurted.
The brunette raised an eyebrow at the boy, wondering what had gotten into him. Why had he given her the credit instead of claiming it for himself? Wasn't that the boy she always knew?
"You baked cookies?" her mother asked, smiling proudly.
She nodded in return, "Yep. We used grandma's recipe and added a few things in."
Taking a container off the counter, she opened the lid and held it out for the two women to try one.
Each gingerly picked one out and took a bite. Wide grins spread across their faces as they savored the taste.
"These are amazing, Sonny! You and Caleigh did a great job!" the housekeeper complimented.
"Thank you!" she replied happily, placing the container back with the others.
Looking at the clock, the blond said, "We'd better get ready to go or we'll be late."
"Where are you two headed off to? A date or something?" Connie joked, taking another bite of her cookie.
The two teens froze for a moment, their eyes meeting awkwardly before Sonny corrected her.
"Skyler, Chad, and I are taking Caleigh and Cassie to see the Nutcracker ballet."
"Oh," she said, smiling mischievously. "Well, I hope you all have fun!"
"Thank you. I'm sure we will," Chad replied before briskly out of the room.
Sonny shot her mother a look that said, "Please, don't ever bring that up again."
She smiled innocently in reply as her daughter left the room to gather her things before leaving for the ballet.
Meanwhile, after Chad had exited the kitchen, he made his way down the hall to the art studio to meet Cassie.
He poked his head inside the room and nodded "S'up?" to Luke, who shrugged and said, "Cassie, your brother's here."
The older blond seemed surprised that the 17-year-old spoke to her, since he was very shy around new people.
Turning around in her chair, Cassie said, "Oh, hey Dylan."
"Hey, Cass. I'm on my way to tell Caleigh about that surprise. Get ready to go."
"Okay, give me five minutes," she answered, swiveling back around in her chair to save her work on the computer.
"Alright," he said, leaving to find his best friend.
"Why do you call him Dylan?" Luke asked.
Turning around to face him, she said, "Chad Dylan Cooper is famous. So is Chad. Dylan isn't. The brother I know isn't famous. People just love him for who he is."
"Oh. That makes sense," he nodded with a smile, returning to his sketchbook.
After stopping to remind Cassie, Chad knocked on the bedroom door of the room he shared with the guys and heard Skyler say, "Come in!"
Standing in the door way, he said, "Hey, we gotta go soon."
"Where are we going again?" Skyler asked with a questioning look.
"Lincoln Center. You said you'd come with me to take the girls to see the Nutcracker."
"You were serious about that?" Skyler groaned.
"Yes. And you're not going to bail and leave me with Sonny and the girls."
Skyler looked at him quizzically and smirked, "I would've thought you'd like that idea."
"Shut up and get ready," Chad muttered, shutting the door as his friend laughed.
Continuing down the hall, he reached the pink door, now covered with a sign reading, "Princess Caleigh's Unicorn Land: No bad guys allowed!" obviously written by one of the older boys.
He smiled softly at her innocence and knocked.
"Who is it?" she said in a sing-song voice.
"It's your big brother. Can I come in?"
He heard quick footfalls from inside before the door swung open.
"Hi!" she said enthusiastically with a toothy grin.
"Hello, Princess. I have a surprise for you," he grinned, crouching down to her level.
"Ooh, ooh! What is it?" she demanded, jumping around the room.
"First, you have to clean up the castle. Then, come meet me in the living room," he replied, gesturing to the toys scattered around the room.
"Okay!" she nodded, scampering around and throwing things back into their toy bins.
A few minutes later, Sonny, Skyler, Cassie, and Chad were greeted by Caleigh, who was eager to leave.
"I finished cleaning the castle! Can we go now?"
"Mhm," Skyler smiled, handing Chad her bright pink coat.
After Chad helped her put it on, Sonny said, "C'mon, Princess Caleigh. Your ride awaits!"
When the five reached the lobby, Caleigh ran a bit ahead to the door and said, "Chaddy! Cassie! Look at all this snow!"
The doorman smiled and held the door open as they all followed her.
Parked out front was a black stretch limousine, finely dusted with snow. When they were all piled inside, Sonny shouted up to the driver, "Lincoln Center please!"
"You got it," he nodded, pulling away from the building.
"Is this a limo, Chaddy?" Caleigh said, looking out at the bustling city.
"Yes it is, Caleigh."
"Oh, yay! You always get out of limos when I see you on TV," she said matter-of-factly.
"She doesn't watch you on Mackenzie Falls?" Sonny asked, surprise evident in her voice.
"Nah," Cassie answered, rolling her eyes. "He's put it on for her, but she doesn't seem interested in it. She likes to see him on the awards shows though."
"Huh. Chad Dylan Cooper's youngest sister doesn't watch Mackenzie Falls, but loves So Random. That's some very interesting information. There are a lot of people out there who would love to know something like this," she smirked.
"You wouldn't dare," Chad smirked back, knowing very well she wouldn't.
"Wouldn't dare what?" Caleigh asked, looking up at him with her head cocked to the side like a puppy.
"Oh, nothing. Don't listen to them, they're just flirting," Skyler snickered, ruffling her hair.
"We are not," both chorused, turning their heads towards him, then back out to their windows.
The remainder of the ride to Lincoln Center was uncomfortably quiet, at least for the four teens. Caleigh gleefully pointed out everything she saw, amused by the tiniest things.
"Oh, look! They have a puppy dog! Aww, I want a puppy! Can we get a puppy?"
"I'm allergic to puppies, Caleigh."
"No you're not," Cassie scoffed.
"…Shut up, Cassie."
"Chaddy, pretty please can we get a puppy—Oh! What are they doing over there, Chaddy?"
"...Skyler—"
"Yeah, I got it," the older boy replied, covering Caleigh's eyes with his hand.
"Hey! I can't see!"
"That's the point, kiddo," he said with a look of disgust.
"And I thought downtown Los Angeles was bad," Sonny mumbled quietly to herself.
When the limo came to a stop, the driver rolled down the divider separating the two sections and called, "Here we are! Just call me when you're ready to leave."
"Thank you!" Caleigh chirped, hopping out onto the curb.
Once everyone was on the sidewalk, she asked, "Where are we? What's the surprise?"
"Alright, alright. Since you've been such a good girl, we're going to see your favorite ballet," Chad grinned.
"The Nutcracker? Oh goody!" she exclaimed, skipping ahead blissfully in the snow as they followed her.
"She's been to a ballet before?" Sonny asked, straightening out her jacket.
Cassie shook her head and shrugged, lowering her camcorder to look at Sonny, "We have a video of it though. She watches it every year around Christmas time. I swear I'll never get the music out of my head."
Sonny smiled to herself, reevaluating her impression of Chad. Was he really as much as a jerk as he led everyone to believe? She the trip had began, she was starting to believe otherwise.
Forty-five minutes later, the five were seated in the middle of the center seating section. From their seats, they could see the whole stage perfectly. The rows were angled so even the smallest viewers like Caleigh could see over the heads of the people in front of them.
"When does it start, Cassie?" Caleigh said, tugging on her sister's sleeve.
"If they start on time, two minutes," she replied, shoving the camcorder into it's case.
"Yay!" she smiled excitedly.
"Shh," Chad advised. "During the performance, if you want to say something, you have to whisper, alright?"
"Okay," she nodded seriously, speaking softly.
"That's my girl," he smiled, kissing the top of her head.
"Are you excited, Caleigh?" the brunette asked her.
"Mhm! I've never seen a real ballet before."
"Me neither. I'm sure it'll be great," she grinned back at the little girl.
Before they could say another word, the lights began to dim and the audience applauded. As the orchestra began the score, the audience fell silent, captivated by the scenery before them.
The ballet began with two small children sitting before a large door, looking bored and tired.
"This is the Silberhaus' house. These are the Silberhaus children, Marie and Fritz. It is Christmas Eve," a voice narrated through the speakers.
"Ooh, she has a pretty name," Caleigh whispered softly.
"What's going on in the other room?" he asked as the small ballerina pantomimed what was happening.
The screen used to portray the door lit up, revealing a large Christmas tree being decorated in the other room.
"Ahh yes! The tree!"
"Can we get a tree like that, Chaddy?" she asked softly, tugging on her brother's sleeve lightly.
"Maybe later. Now, pay attention," he replied quietly.
As she turned her attention back to the stage and listened, watching Marie, Fritz, and more dancers arrived in the main room.
Soon, each actor, no matter how small, was dancing across the stage gracefully, decorating the tree.
When the grandfather clock struck eight, the lights dimmed once again, and another figure entered the room.
"Who's that?" Caleigh asked her sister.
"Shh… You remember, don't you?" Cassie replied.
The audience watched intensely as the man was revealed to be Marie's and Fritz's godfather, Drosselmeyer.
The child dancers gathered around him and his nephew as mysterious boxes were brought in. The boxes were opened, containing dancers depicting wind-up toys. They danced across the stage, miming the movement of the real things.
When the wind-up toys ceased to move, Drosselmeyer gave Fritz and Marie their presents. Fritz received a wooden horse, while Marie was given a beautifully decorated nutcracker. Fritz and Marie chased each other nimbly across the stage, fighting over the nutcracker.
Caleigh gasped sharply when the object crashed to the floor and broke, but sighed with relief when Drosselmeyer repaired it for Marie.
As the party ended, the scene shifted to that night, when Marie is asleep. Near midnight, she awakes to retrieve her nutcracker doll from cradle where she had left it. When the clock struck twelve, she saw Drosselmeyer perched where a wooden owl used to be.
Suddenly, the Christmas tree began to grow. The audience gaped at the tree, now at least three times the original size.
"Can we get a tree that grows like that?" the naive child asked, looking up at her brother in awe.
He didn't answer, eyes fixed on the stage, watching as the mouse army assembled on the stage, scaring Marie into hiding.
Caleigh clutched onto his arm, only half hiding her eyes from the scary Mouse King. He kissed the top of her head and allowed her to keep holding on.
As the gingerbread men and mice fought around Marie, Chad glanced over at Skyler, Cassie, and Sonny.
Skyler and Sonny had their eyes fixated on the stage, watching every move intently, while Cassie was looking down at her phone to quickly check the time.
Turning his attention back to the stage, Chad watched as the Nutcracker Prince came to life and battled the Mouse King. After several minutes of intense fighting, Marie threw her slipper at the Mouse King, distracting him so the Nutcracker Prince could finish him off.
The Nutcracker Prince thanked Marie and the two traveled offstage as the scenery changed.
Soon, they arrived in a forest blanketed with snow. There, the snow faeries elegantly pirouetted and waltzed across the clearing through the glistening snow.
Cassie sighed softly to herself, murmuring, "And now I kind of wish I wouldn't have quit ballet…"
The story progressed with Nutcracker Prince turning out to be Drosselmeyer's nephew and the Sugar Plum Fairy leading the pair back to the castle. There, various dancers dressed as exotic foods frolicked about, putting on a show for the prince and his new princess.
In the end when Marie and the Prince are crowned rulers of the Land of Sweets, Caleigh grinned widely. Of course, Marie couldn't stay, so she and her prince left the Land of Sweets to return home.
At the very end of the ballet, the whole audience stood to give the dancers a standing ovation. Caleigh wildly jumped in place as she applauded.
After the ballet dancers received their final applause, everyone began to gather their things, getting ready to leave.
"So, how did everyone like the ballet?" Sonny asked with a grin.
"I loved it!" Caleigh giggled.
"Amazing," Cassie agreed, recording her sister twirling around, trying to mimic a ballerina.
"Yeah, it was pretty good," Skyler smiled sheepishly.
"What about you, Chad?" the brunette prompted.
He shrugged indifferently, "It was a'ight, I guess."
"Liar," Cassie said, punching her older brother on the arm. "You so liked it."
"Shut up!" he said, ruffling her hair.
As she tried to straighten it out, Sonny called their chauffeur.
After five minutes of arguing over if Chad enjoyed the show or not, he suggested, "We should go see if he's there yet," to which they all agreed.
Right as they stepped out of the building, a mob of reporters and paparazzi swarmed around the five. Immediately, Caleigh hid behind her brother. Cassie kept her head down low, and put in her headphones, blasting the music to block out their nosy questions. Sonny simply kept her eyes forward and refused to answer.
When they group could take no more steps, Chad turned around and picked up Caleigh. She hid her face in his neck as he pulled her hood up over her head. Skyler rested his hand on Cassie's back, gently guiding her after her brother as he muttered obscenities under his breath. Finally, they made it to the limo relatively unscathed.
"Everyone alright back there?" the driver asked before pulling away from curb.
"Yeah, we're good," Chad nodded, stroking Caleigh's hair.
As the limousine left the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, the boy with dirty blond hair and blue-green eyes was standing in the entrance, watching carefully.
He thought he had seen the blonde girl from FAO Schwarz. A few moments later, he waved the idea off and returned to the building in search of his mother and little sisters. As he waited for them in the front hall, he continued contemplating, running his finger over the charm in his pocket. Was it her? No, this girl wasn't with those boys or girls he had seen with her before. And why were those reporters crowding her and her friends? Were they movie stars he hadn't recognized?
"No…" he thought. "It couldn't have been her… Could it?"
"Hey guys! How was the ballet?" Hannah asked when the group of five arrived back at the apartment an hour later.
"It was amazing," Sonny smiled, hanging up her coat in the closet.
"Yeah, up until we got mobbed on the way out," Cassie said sarcastically, taking off her hat and smoothing down her hair.
"Who mobbed you?" Connie asked, walking out of the kitchen, sipping a cup of tea.
"A lot of mean people with big cameras!" Caleigh said, frowning angrily.
"Oh," she nodded.
Hannah shook her head disappointedly, "They should leave you alone when you're on vacation."
"That's the price of being famous," Skyler shrugged.
"Alright, I think it's someone's bedtime," Chad said, resting his hand on Caleigh's shoulder.
"Aww, but that's no fun!" she pouted.
"C'mon, Princess. You need the energy if you want to keep ruling Unicorn Land."
"Oh, it's not Unicorn Land anymore!" she stated seriously.
"Oh? What is it then?" Sonny asked curiously.
"It's the Land of Sweets, just like Marie's kingdom!" she grinned.
"Either way, a princess needs her sleep," he said with a stern smile.
Sighing dramatically, she nodded and ran out of the room to get ready for bed.
Later in the night around 2 AM, the little girl woke up close to tears. Looking around cautiously, she climbed out of bed and crept down the hall looking for her brother or sister.
The first room she came to was the art studio. Pushing the door open, she peered in, hoping to see Cassie inside. Instead, Luke was sitting in front of the computer, typing something, while a half finished canvas sat on an easel on the other side the room. Hearing her sniffle, he turned around and looked at her.
"Do you know where Chaddy is? Or Cassie?" she asked quietly, rubbing her eyes as she approached him.
He shook his head and paused before saying, "I think they're both asleep."
"Oh…" she said, turning to leave.
"Wait a second," he said a bit louder.
She stopped walking and turned back towards him.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I had a bad dream…" she said, inching closer to him.
He held his arms out for her, gesturing for her to come closer. She held her arms up and he picked her up, placing her on his lap.
"What was the bad dream about?"
"There were these big, scary mice with mean cameras chasing me…"
"Oh," he nodded knowingly. "Your brother told us about the paparazzi mobbing you guys tonight."
She closed her eyes and sniffled a bit. Pulling a tissue out of the box, he handed it to her and said, "There are no mice or cameras here. Nothing is going to hurt you, okay?"
When she nodded, he stood up and slowly carried her back to her room. He placed her back onto the bed and gently pulled the covers over her.
Just as he was about to leave, she whispered, "Can you stay until I fall asleep? Chaddy always does when I have a bad dream…"
Nodding, Luke pulled a chair over next to her bed and sat down. Holding onto his hand, she quietly said, "Good night, Luke."
A faint smile spread across his face and he whispered, "Good night, Caleigh," as she began drifting off to sleep.
A/N: Spencer ran away and now Caleigh is sad. He agreed to come back if you review this chapter... Do it for Caleigh?