True North: part 18

By Jaclyn Parker

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose."

- Tennessee Williams

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Before they all knew it they had finished decorating, eaten dinner, and were gathered in the living room once more. They watched as Emma stood in front of the fully decorated tree and smiled at them.

"I would just like to take this moment to say, how happy I am that you are all here tonight. Even the ones who can't be here on this Earth with us physically are around this tree in spirit. And of course, there are several other lazy bums who couldn't make it tonight to help with the hard stuff but will show up tomorrow for gifts." Emma paused as everyone laughed, knowing that she meant Luke and Brad.

Luke was with Noah and friends at a holiday party tonight, the young duo wanting their first real Christmas Eve as a couple to be a little more exciting. Luke had promised to keep the partying down to one beer and Noah had eagerly accepted the invitation to the farm on Christmas Day when Holden and Lily had extended it. After coming to terms personally about Luke coming out, they had reacted like any parent; they wanted only the best for their son to date. Thankfully, Luke seemed to have excellent taste and they all liked Noah very much. Yet, more importantly they liked who Luke was when he was with him.

Meanwhile, Brad had only gotten permission to take Katie out of the hospital for Christmas Day and even then it had been with some major help from Lee and their special friends, doctors John Dixon and Bob Hughes. Brad and Katie would come to the farm first thing in the morning to watch the kids open gifts and hang out before heading over to Tom and Margo's house. There they would join them for a late Christmas Day lunch or early Christmas dinner, depending on how you looked at it. After that, it was right back to the hospital for a few more days before her actual release. Unfortunately, they would have to have an undercover cop around at all times once that happened.

Even though the forensic evidence at the scene of Katie's stabbing indeed proved that Spencer was still alive, she still hadn't been caught. And since it was pretty obvious that someone was setting Brad up, along with the fact that there was now a baby on the way to consider, Brad was being particularly cautious. He was also driving Katie particularly nuts in the process. But everyone knew that both adults were over the moon at the news of the impending arrival despite the circumstances surrounding receiving it.

"As you know, Snyder tradition states that the youngest child has the honor of putting the angel on the tree." Emma started again and Holden proceeded to lift a grinning Ethan into his arms before carefully climbing up the small step ladder at the base of the tree. The little boy placed the golden angel on the tree as if it was the most important job in the world. Then he broke out into an even bigger smile when they all started to clap when he was done.

"You'll have to give that job up next Christmas, kiddo, when your new little cousin is here." Paul said jokingly as Holden turned his youngest son around in his arms.

"Not uh! The baby will be too littles Uncle Paul. But…I can help her!" Ethan replied, excited at the prospect of helping someone littler than he was.

"Deal, buddy."

Paul held out his hand and Holden leaned forward so Ethan could give him a small shake. The adults all exchanged amused looks and Lily reached out her arms so that Ethan could happily topple into them. He hugged his mother tight around the neck and she kissed her toddler's pudgy cheek.

"And of course the tree lighting duties go to the oldest. So if you would, Parker?" Emma said and nodded to Jack, who turned off the lights.

"Three, two, one…" they all counted down and then suddenly the room was lit with glow of the twinkling Christmas tree. Oohs and ahhs of delight circulated around the room as they all took in the beautiful sight for the next few minutes.

"Okay, I guess that's it, right?" Meg joked around, leaning on Paul who kissed her cheek.

"No way!" The kids cried and Meg laughed, knowing full well that the night wasn't over yet.

"Gingerbread cookies and Christmas Eve presents, Aunt Meg. Duh!" Natalie said and then with a look from Lily quickly apologized.

"Oh yes, what was I thinking?" Meg said and they all laughed, moving to gather the supplies.

Parker wandered over to where Jack, Carly, Sage, and J.J. stood in a small group. Carly reached out and hugged him tight.

"Very good job, honey." She said and Parker gave her a weird look.

"Mom, I plugged the tree lights in, not cured cancer." Parker said and Carly wrinkled her nose at him.

"Well you still did a great job." She said and he rolled his eyes at her, but a small smile stayed on his lips.

"Hey, what about me? I turned the room lights off. Without that you wouldn't have even been able to tell the tree was even on." Jack fake pouted and they laughed at him.

"You did a good job too, Daddy." Sage said, patting his arm.

"Yeah, Dad, a real Einstein." J.J. added on, his voice sarcastic, but playful.

"Wow, I feel the love." Jack said and this time it was Carly who patted his arm in faux sympathy, causing him to grin at her.

"Hey, Parker and J.J., you guys want to help me build the fire?" Holden called over and before anyone could say anything, J.J. was running over to help. Parker rolled his eyes and followed his fire enthusiastic brother.

A catchy tune sounded from the coffee table and Sage pounced on the opportunity to answer her mom's cell phone. Seeing the name on the screen she grinned, speaking even as she hit the answer button.

"Hi Lee!" She cried into the phone.

"Hey, Luv." Lee said, pulling the phone away from his ear at her excited greeting but grinning all the same. "I am just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas."

"It's not Christmas yet though." Sage said and then remembered what her mom had told her. "Oh yeah, it's already tomorrow over there, right?"

"Yep, it's three in the afternoon here with us and the kangaroos."

"Oh, then Merry Christmas!" Sage giggled.

"Hey Sage, Ethan's trying to eat your Hannah Montana gingerbread man!" Faith called from the kitchen.

"Gotta go! Bye Lee!" Sage said into the phone, football tossing it in Carly's general direction before doing her best imitation of Speed Racer to get to the kitchen.

Carly laughed and put the phone to her ear. "Hey, you."

"I just got the shaft for a cookie, didn't I?" Lee asked, incredulously.

"Welcome to my world." Carly said, laughing again. "So how is Christmas in the land down under?"

"Not bad. It's about 82 degrees and we just got back from seeing a Christmas Carol in Brisbane. I think we're going to lounge by the pool for a while before going to a friend's house for a Christmas Day barbie." Lee said and he could practically see Carly rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone.

"Lee, there are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin." Carly said making Lee laugh.

"Yeah, well, how are things down at the Snyder farm?" Lee asked and Carly frowned.

"How did you know…?" Carly started then realized he must have figured it out as he was talking to Sage. "It's going okay, actually."

"How are things with Jack?" Lee causally threw in and Carly's eyes shot over to the man of discussion.

Jack had subtly left the vicinity when he had heard the name of the person Sage had greeted on the phone. He tried to pay attention to what Paul and Meg were talking to him about, but he couldn't help but flick his eyes over to Carly every so often. Seeing that she was now looking in his direction he frowned. She quickly turned away and went back to her phone conversation.

"They're fine." Carly said and she heard Lee scoff.

"Better than fine, I can hear it in your voice, Luv. Not to mention how happy Sage sounded."

"Yes, the kids are very happy to have us both here." Carly admitted.

"Carly, why can't you admit that you're happy too?" Lee asked, blowing out a sigh of frustration. "How many times did you tell me that this was how you wanted to spend Christmas? With Jack and the kids? You have it right in front of you. Don't throw it away."

"Lee, I do not want to have this conversation right now, okay? Please." Carly said, trying to curb her own frustration. Lee sighed again and there was silence for a moment.

"Fine, darlin'. I'll let it go…for now. But you and I will have this conversation again." Lee said.

"Not if I can help it." Carly muttered and Lee chose to ignore it.

"Well, Luv, I'm pretty sure that if I don't hand the phone over to my niece she might actually physically combust." Lee said, looking at the very annoyed Mattie standing next to him, tapping her foot impatiently.

Carly laughed and her eyes searched out the room for Parker. He saw her looking for him and without even being called, he hurried to where she stood with his hand already out for the phone. She smirked as she handed it to him and stepped away into the kitchen to help everyone finish getting their snacks together.

"Hello?" Parker said the moment the phone was to his ear.

"Merry Christmas, Yank!" Mattie said happily into the phone and Parker grinned, not only at hearing her voice but at how strong her accent was coming through now that she was back in Australia.

"A little early, aren't we Oz?" Parker joked.

"Nah, you're just always late." Mattie said laughing.

"I'm always late? Who was the one who told us she'd be ready in ten minutes for the new Vince Vaughn movie then made us so late we had to catch the next one?"

"Blah, blah, blah." Mattie said, grinning from ear to ear. "At least I got my Christmas presents already."

"Anything good?" Parker asked.

"Yeah, Uncle Lee got me a huge gift card so I can get some new school clothes and the Resident Evil trilogy DVD set which, no, you cannot borrow to burn copies. I got a new watch, a couple of Wii games, and um, a few other little things here and there. Oh! He bought me a new iPod! I already downloaded some music so that my mum could hear…" Mattie said, her excitement trailing off.

"How was it? Seeing your mom?" Parker asked quietly.

"It was okay. Not as bad as it was before." Mattie said, tears forming in her eyes, but wiping them away before Lee could see. "I don't know what I would do if Uncle Lee wasn't here."

"I'm sorry, Mattie." Parker said, wishing he could take some of the pain from her situation away but all the while knowing that there was nothing he could do to help her.

"Thanks, Yank, I know you are. It's nice to have someone to talk to, ya know?" Mattie said, hearing the sincerity in his voice.

"I know the feeling." Parker said and he heard her sigh to shake it all off. Deciding to help her along, he put a lift in his voice. "Well, at least we know if the DJ sucks at my party to just plug in your new iPod."

"Are you kidding? There's no way your mum would let the DJ suck! She's been planning this thing for months remember?" Mattie said, grateful to Parker for changing the subject. "I mean, how cool is it that we get to have the VIP section of Metro for New Years Eve? It's all everyone's talking about online, even the people who aren't invited!"

"Well, it's kinda easy when your mom owns half of the club!" Parker said, but they both knew that he was genuinely excited about his 16th birthday party. "Now if only I could get my dad to let us stay past midnight."

"Good luck with that one! I think he'll be picking kids up by the collar at the twelfth chime and booting them out the door. We already know he's gonna have guard dogs and men with rifles standing at the bars." Mattie laughed. "Hey, speaking of your mum and dad, how are things on your end?"

"You wanna know something weird? They're getting along awesome. Everyone is. It's kinda creepy, actually." Parker said causing Mattie to laugh again.

"You love it, Yank." Mattie said, hearing the happiness in his voice that he couldn't hide from her.

"Yeah, maybe." Parker said, giving a small laugh of his own when she let out an over exaggerated sigh at his nonchalant words. Then, seeing the rest of his family file back into the living room, he frowned. "Hey, I gotta go. We get to open one present now before everything goes crazy tomorrow."

"Oh, well have fun. Make sure you are fast asleep in time for Santa." Mattie joked. "I'll call you when we take off on Friday, okay?"

"Def. Catch ya later, Oz."

"See ya, Yank."

Both teens handed the phones back to their respective adults, who were now waiting again.

"Well, at least that was shorter than most of their phone conversations." Lee said and Carly laughed.

"Yeah, only because you made Mattie leave her cell phone back here in Oakdale. I shudder to think what those phone bills would have looked like if you let her take it."

Then, thinking of the young girl who had quickly become her son's best friend, her voice got quiet. "How was everything down there, really?"

Lee took a moment and then responded. "It's tough. Especially for Mattie. She's trying very hard not to let it get to her, but…"

"…how could it not?" Carly finished for him. "Well, from what you said earlier, you're at least keeping her busy."

"I'm trying, Carly. I just can't help but wonder…what if it's not enough? What if I am not doing enough to help her get through this?"

"Lee, you love that girl like she is your own. I've seen you two together and trust me, you're doing everything you can and she knows it."

"I hope so. I can't let Lisa down. Not again." Lee said, his voice was soft and she knew he was struggling to hold back tears.

"Lee, what happened to your sister was not your fault. You know that!" Carly said and realized that she had spoken too loudly when some of the others shot her a curious look.

"You know what? It's fine. I don't really wanna talk about this, okay?" Lee said, somewhat stiffly.

"Fine, we'll talk about it when you come back." Carly said and Lee smirked on his end.

"Not if I can help it." He echoed her words from before and she couldn't help but smile.

"Smartass." She muttered and he laughed.

"Merry Christmas, darlin'. Love you," Lee said.

"I love you too. Merry Christmas." Carly repeated and with a goodbye she hung up the phone. Staring at it for a moment, she sent a silent prayer to the two people in the Australia whom she considered family.

"Mommy?" Sage said, coming to join her. "Are you ready?"

Carly ran a hand over Sage's hair and bent down to hug her tight. Straightening again she grinned.

"When am I ever not ready for presents?" She said and let her happy daughter lead her to join the others.

She sat down next to Parker and put a hand on his shoulder briefly. He looked at her, smiling softly, as she whispered something into his ear. He pulled back and nodded, before leaning over and giving her a quick hug.

And ever observant, Jack's eyes never missed a beat.