I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories and follows on from Better Dig Two.
It was a cold December evening in Trinity South Carolina, a icy sharp wind blew through the trees causing Christmas lights to rattle and a heavy rain befell the Town.
Lucas Buck forced a charming smile as he stood at the front of the class, glancing around at the excited children dressed in costumes. He was reminded of how much he hated this time of year and the falseness he had to project; however, when his eyes fell on Caleb and the boy stared back unimpressed through his Christmas pudding costume, Lucas had to hold back his laughter.
'Now remember, you all practised your lines and your parent's will be out there watching...well everyone but yours Caleb' Selena said in a sweet tone, with an underlining cattiness.
'Or Josh's' Caleb replied defensively and shrugged off the sharp intakes of breath all around him.
'Now, let's not lose sight of our Christmas spirit here' Lucas stepped in, feigning interest. 'Caleb's my boy now and I'll be watching both him and Josh proudly'
Selena turned to Lucas and shook her head in irritation, she hated his happy family routine and had hoped to at least throw Caleb off his game with her comment.
'Careful Teacher' Lucas leaned in close and whispered in her ear. 'My wife takes threats to our family even more seriously than I do and neither of us have any reason to hold back with you'
Selena gulped hard and forced a smile for the class, then signalled for them to head towards the gymnasium to take their places and followed close behind them.
Caleb held back and shook his head at his Teacher when she left. 'Did I do somethin' wrong to Josh?' he asked when Lucas came up beside him.
'Defendin' yourself when someone tries to bully you ain't wrong son, Josh will have to toughen up if he wants to get by in this world' Lucas shrugged, then signalled for Caleb to follow the others down the corridor.
'Do I have to do this?' he asked sulkily, as he waddled down the overly bright corridor with his Father.
Lucas bit his lip to hide his amusement as his son struggled to walk normally and tried to remain serious. 'Your family is here to watch you on stage, sometimes you gotta do stuff you're uncomfortable with please others' he explained.
'You wouldn't' Caleb said knowingly.
'I'm Lucas Buck son, now get on in there' Lucas laughed, then found his way to the stage.
The gymnasium was filled with approximately 100 people, looking to watch the abysmal plays that he was introducing. Usually this tedious task irritated him; however, with Caleb being involved this year he was actually looking forward to it.
Lucas waited for the Principle's speech to be over, then walked on the stage confidently to a round of applause when he was introduced. He waved at his townspeople and smiled charmingly at the old women dotted about the crowd, before searching the front row for his family and winking at his wife who had the Mayors Widow sat beside her.
'It's been a hell of a year ain't it?' Lucas smiled and waited for the applause to die down before he addressed the crowd fully. 'Now, these youngun's have worked very hard to bring us some entertainment tonight, hell I even have one up here this year...I know you all will join me and my family in this proud moment to celebrate their talent, I can't wait to see what the kids have in store for us. Break a leg!' he called to the children behind the curtain and left the stage to sit beside Gail.
'Proud moment? He's dressed as a pudding' Gail whispered in disbelief, as she leaned in close and laughed.
Lucas wrapped his arm around her and smiled. 'But he's our puddin'' he said, trying to keep a serious tone then laughed himself and pulled her closer.
Gail glanced over her shoulder and searched the crowd, then smiled and waved when she spotted Merlyn sat with Matt. Caleb did not want to perform for anybody; however, this was part of his childhood and they all had to do it at one time or another. It was nice that they had all made an effort to support him and she hoped he realised that.
The show lasted two hours as each class took their turn in acting out a short story. Each class exited the stage to a roar of applause, as everyone showed their appreciation to the children for having the courage to get up on stage and the atmosphere was buzzing with unity.
When Selena sauntered onto the stage, there was a murmur of quiet insults from several women and Gail rolled her eyes at disgust at them all. Selena stood tall on the stage and appeared unfazed by the whispers; however, Gail sensed the true impact of the hurtful words and shot the women around her a disapproving glance for bringing such bitterness to a children's show. She leaned back into Lucas and smiled to herself when the women decided to be silent.
Selena introduced her class and Mary gripped Gail's arm tight when Josh stepped out in a pilgrim outfit. She had been supporting Mary as much as possible, due to her participation in the death of the Mayor and she placed a reassuring hand over hers while they watched Josh proudly. Although he had not long lost his Father, Josh was the narrator of this play and kept his cool throughout the show. The room remained quiet for his parts, out of respect for his loss and Josh appeared the be handling the situation well.
When the other children came out and Caleb waddled on stage in his costume, Gail could not contain her laughter. She attempted to hide her reaction by resting her head on Lucas' chest; however, she caught sight of Caleb's unimpressed look and waved at him apologetically.
Lucas stood up when Caleb's class had finished and walked back up to the podium. He took Caleb by the arm and dragged him to the front with him, then placed his arm around him proudly. 'How about another round of applause for our brave kid's, weren't they amazing?' he asked to the crowd and everyone gave a standing ovation.
Caleb glanced up at Lucas and shook his head disapprovingly, for making him come to the front. He knew his Father was enjoying this and he was not happy to be the joke.
Lucas smiled down at him and gave him a wink, then squeezed his shoulder playfully. 'Seen as you've all been so good tonight, my lovely wife has organised a party for adults and children alike down at the Town Hall. Feel free to get your fill of free grub and presents before y'all head off home' he advised the crowd, then signalled for Caleb to go and dispose of his costume in any manner he saw fit.
Gail held her hand up to acknowledge the well wishes of the people around her for her generosity and leaned in closer to Mary, in the hopes of being left alone.
'Maybe you should run for Mayor' Mary joked bitterly.
Gail rolled her eyes at the comment, then stood up and took Luke out of his buggy when people started to leave the gymnasium. 'Go get Josh and take him to the Town Hall, it'll do you both some good to get back around people'
Mary let out a long sigh, then stood up and went to find Josh. She had been avoiding people since John had died and she supposed this was the time of year to accept people into her life.
Lucas came down from the stage and kissed Luke softly on the forehead, before turning to Gail and spotting her unimpressed look. 'Somethin' I said?' he asked amused, knowing exactly what was bothering her.
'You'll have no problems with re-election for life now being to dutiful family man, so why do you feel the need to throw me into the spotlight?' she asked irritated.
'Did you not organise this party?' he asked sarcastically.
'Because you couldn't be bothered to and for the children who may not have wanted to go home to their crappy families. Do me a favour and don't make me out to be Mother Teresa' Gail sighed, then headed out of the building with Luke to find Merlyn.
Caleb jumped down from the stage and caught sight of Gail exiting the gymnasium. 'Did I do somethin'?' he asked confused, hoping he was not in trouble.
Lucas laughed and shook his head. 'She just don't like bein' the peoples Princess' he advised amused, then signalled Caleb to follow him to his car.
Now that they were out of the public eye Lucas sat back in the front passenger seat police cruiser, with Ben Healy driving and stared in disgust at the lights hanging around the places that they passed. He had always hated this time of year, if it was not the religious zealots trying to claim the holiday it was the overly festive attention seekers who felt the need to spread the Christmas cheer. The last two years had not been so bad with having Caleb and Gail to entertain him; however, this time of year still left a bad taste in his mouth.
It was hard to be in the position he was and pretend the behaviour of the people around him was acceptable. Take Ben, he had been harping on for most of the day about having to figure out what presents to get for his family. Usually Lucas would nip this waste of his time in the bud; however, as it was the holiday season, he was required to show some empathy and understanding.
'...I mean how do you buy for a 1 year old? The girl don't even know what time of day it is until she's fed! But no, Rita expects the perfect gift for her when she don't even talk yet' Ben continued, oblivious to the fact that Lucas did not care.
'Can't you just get her a doll? Merly liked her doll when she was little' Caleb suggested from the back seat, looking up from his homework book.
Lucas looked at his eldest through the rear view mirror and shot him a playful wink. 'Or you could just feign ignorance and let Rita take control...works for me' Lucas smiled devilishly, then signalled for Ben to turn right.
Ben thought for a moment, then laughed. 'Are you kiddin'? She'd have my balls if she thought I didn't wanna help' he said irritated, then shot Caleb an apologetic look through the rear view mirror for his language. 'Don't Gail get mad at you for leavin' it to her?'
Lucas laughed and shook his head. 'She hates this time of year as much as I do, she's happy to take the lead on certain things to ensure it get's done quickly and efficiently. If I started hoverin' around her when she was plannin', then I'd feel her wrath'
'I don't know what y'all are harpin' on about, I love Christmas' Caleb stated, then turned his attention back to his homework.
Ben continued driving down the long road and let out a long sigh. 'Ben Jr loves Christmas, shame I don't get to see him until after it's over'
'Well it's about time we fixed that don't you think?' Lucas asked, happy for a task to take his mind off the festive season.
Ben took a sharp intake of breath when Lucas showed interest in his situation and shook his head. 'Nah, there ain't nothin' to fix' he started.
'A son should be with his Daddy' Caleb chimed in, not looking up from his book and smiled when he sensed his Fathers approval at his comment.
'The boy's right, it's about time you started considerin' what your son is actually gettin' from Barbara Joy and Hook' Lucas advised, amused at what he did to Barbara Joy's husband when he challenged Ben.
Ben began to get anxious and felt his heart pounding in his chest, he really did not want Lucas to get involved with his family and he did not know how to stop this. Before he had a chance to comment, Floyd's voice came over the radio and Ben let out a relieved sigh. 'Ben here, what's up Floyd?' he asked, picking up the radio.
'Are you anywhere near Jackson's Pharmaceuticals? There's a report of a robbery and I only just sat down to eat my burger'
Lucas shook his head at the incompetence of his staff and took the radio off Ben. 'Well heaven forbid we interrupt your dinner Floyd, I guess we'll head over there with the young boy we have in the car at the end of our shift...Buck out' Lucas said bluntly, then turned off the radio before Floyd could respond.
'We gonna arrest a bad guy?' Caleb asked excitedly, finally closing his book.
Lucas glanced at him through the rear view mirror and shot him a devilish smile. 'Only if you can keep it as our little secret' he warned and ignored Ben's disapproving glance.
Caleb knew exactly what Lucas was referring to and laughed. 'I promise I won't tell Gail, now come on!' he smiled and stared excitedly out of the window, looking out for the scene of the crime.
-To be continued-