Blaine smiled as he looked around the room at all of his friends in glee club as they decorated the christmas tree that had almost cleaned out their whole budget...but it was was worth it. After the New Directions won at Sectionals, Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany came back and rejoined the team. It was nice having everyone back together and not having a rivalry within the school anymore. Also, it was Christmas time so that just made everything better. Christmas was Blaine's favorite holiday. He loved seeing his friends faces as they opened up their gifts and the excitement that filled everyone when even a small snowfall happened. One thing that he did not expect to happen this holiday season was to end up in Coach Sylvester's office with Kurt and Artie.
"Wheels, Porcelain, Other Gay, the yuletide is upon us and everyone knows that Christmas is a time for forgiving, so I have decided to forgive you for having no talent and ruining the American Songbook one mash-up at a time." Sue said. "I've also forgiven you for forcing me to run in and impromptly lose a humiliating statewide election."
"We accept your forgiveness…" Artie replied hesitantly.
"Christmas isn't just a time when Jewish kids get slightly uncomfortable and dwarfs get jobs as Santa's helpers doing non-union commercials that make them quietly die inside." Sue began. "No, Christmas is a time to give back, which is why this Friday, I am volunteering at the Lima Homeless Shelter and I thought maybe you and your fellow glee clubbers might want to pitch in by giving the gift of song."
"Coach Sylvester, I've heard you say on several occasions that you don't believe in homelessness." Kurt interjected.
"You said you considered them urban campers." Artie added.
"Can I be honest with you, stumbles, gelfy, young Burt Reynolds? I lost my sister this past year and this will be my first year without her." Sue told them sadly as she looked out the window in her office. "Honestly, I'm just trying to keep myself occupied. I made plans to shoot reindeer from a helicopter with Sarah Palin, but she canceled. Apparently Todd gets fussy when she misses his ballet recitals." Blaine looked over to Kurt and Artie and gave them a signal that said, "come on. let's do it." and they nodded.
"We'd be happy to help." Kurt replied for all three of them.
"Oh that's great and in the spirit of Christmas, get the hell out of my office." Sue shot at them. Kurt and Blaine got from their chairs and Artie followed behind. They went back to the choir room where the rest of the team was waiting.
"We might have spent our entire decorating budget for the whole year, but with something that looks as absolutely fabulous as this I have to say, brav-ho,ho,ho." Rachel said as she stared at their Christmas tree.
"Hey everybody, listen up." Finn announced as he walked into the choir room with Rory by his side. "My man Rory Flanagan here wants to say a few things."
"Thanks Finn Hudson." Rory replied. "So guys, my mommy was going to come visit for the holidays, but plane tickets are expensive, so it's my first Christmas without any family. I'd like to cheer myself up by dedicating this song to them and to the King."
"Jesus?" Kurt asked with a confused look across his face. Blaine leaned over and placed his hand on Kurt's knee before whispering, "no" and Rory began to sing "Blue Christmas". That song hit Blaine hard. All of those years when he was little and in foster care, Christmas was not this happy occasion. He remembered crappy foster homes that gave him absolutely nothing and didn't do anything to make the season special.
"Gosh that song was so depressing. I may actually be dead right now." Santana said.
"I-I think that what Santana means is although that was mournfully beautiful, now that the whole glee club is back together. I think that we should focus on the more joyous and the pageant aspect of this holiday season." Rachel replied jumping in as Rory's face fell.
"Rachel's right. Last Christmas was super sad. Kurt was at another school, Coach Sylvester trashed everything and Artie got a pair of magic legs that broke the next day." Tina added. "We were the island of misfit toys. This year it's going to be-"
"This year is a brand new sprig of mistletoe!" Mr. Shue said excitedly as he walked into the choir room. "Guess who's not getting coal in their stockings for one...us." he announced. "Rory have a seat.I just got of the phone with Don Borowsky, the local station manager at Lima's PBS affiliate, turns out that their annual broadcast of the yule log burning has been cancelled. They can't afford the licensing fees anymore. But, thank you scrooges who own that copyright because Don came to Sectionals, he loved what we did, and he is offering us-"
"A Christmas special featuring all of us! Please say you said yes!" Rachel asked excitedly.
"Not only did I say yes, but when Don said they were looking for a director for the special, I nominated you Artie." Mr Shue said.
"Me?" Artie asked, clearly very surprised.
"Yeah, he saw West Side Story, loved your work and he want to take a meeting." Mr Shue replied.
"But, I swore I would never sell out and do TV." Artie told him. "I'm really going to have to think about this Mr. Shue." After that the last bell of the day rang and they all headed home. Kurt asked Blaine is he wanted to hang out, but Blaine told him he had other plans. Charlie just came home from the hospital and he just wanted to spend some time with his family. Plus, he wanted to tell them the good news about the Christmas special. He raced home and flew excitedly through the door.
"Whoa, what's got you so excited?" Kim asked with a smile.
"The glee club gets to do a Christmas special...on TV!" Blaine exclaimed.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Kim replied. "Guys did you hear that?" She said and signed so Lucas could understand. Annie ran over into Blaine's arms and he picked her up.
"Are you really going to be on TV?" She asked. "LIke we can actually watch you?"
"You sure can. You'll even get to hear me sing." Blaine said with a smile. Annie grinned at him, but from across the room, he could see Lucas's face fall. Blaine set Annie down and then went over to Lucas.
"Can you come with me?" Blaine signed as he extended his hand towards Lucas. Lucas nodded and took Blaine's hand. He led him out to the front porch and they sat down. "Tell me what's wrong?"
"I wish I could hear. I want to hear you sing." Lucas signed. Blaine sighed. He wished that there was something he could say to Lucas to make him feel better but there just wasn't
"I'm sorry buddy." Blaine signed back as he pulled him into a hug. "Why don't we go inside and read a book together." he suggested. Lucas nodded and reached his arms up to Blaine. Blaine smiled and pulled him into a hug and then lifted him up. Lucas nestled his head into Blaine's shoulder and wrapped his arms tighter around his neck. They went back inside and Blaine took Lucas up to his room to spend some time together. Later that night at dinner, the phone rang. Kim got up from the dinner table and answered it.
"Hello?" She said.
"Hello Mrs Adams, my name is Nick and I'm with the Christmas Wish Foundation. This year we have chosen Lucas to receive his wish and that was to hear. We've looked into it and Lucas is a prime candidate for a cochlear implant which will virtually allow him to hear again. Don't worry, all of the medical expenses including speech therapy after the surgery will be paid for by the Christmas Wish Foundation." the man on the phone said. Kim was just in complete shock. She didn't know what to said. Finally she pulled herself together and took a breath.
"Thank you, thank you so much." Kim replied before hanging up.
"Kim, what is it?" Charlie asked.
"Lucas has been chosen to get a cochlear implant!" Kim exclaimed.
"What is that?" Lucas signed.
"It's a device that will allow you to hear." Kim explained to him. Lucas's face lit up. He turned to Blaine with his enormous smile.
"I'm going to be able to hear you sing." He signed. Blaine smiled at his brother and pulled him into a hug. This Christmas was becoming one of the best that Blaine had had in years. After a week of rehearsals for the Christmas Special, it was finally the day that it was to air. It was also the day that Lucas was getting his surgery. As he left that morning, Lucas ran over and gave him a hug.
"I'll see you later bud. I promise I'll come and see you after the special." Blaine told him. Lucas nodded and waved to him as he left. Blaine went to school that day and couldn't focus at all during his classes. Luckily it wasn't too serious. It was the day before Christmas break and most of the teachers looked like they would rather be anywhere else, so it didn't really matter. After the last bell of the day rang, Blaine met up with Kurt before heading to the choir room to leave for the special. Blaine pulled him off to the side and pulled out a tiny red velvet box.
"I know that our relationship has reached a new level this year…" Blaine began.
"If that's an engagement ring, then my answer is yes!" Kurt interjected cutting him off."
"Kurt, just open the box." Blaine laughed. Kurt opened the lid of the little box and inside was a ring made out of gum wrappers with a bowtie on the front. "It's a promise ring. I made it out of gum wrappers, juicy fruit…"
"Wrigley's my favorite!" Kurt exclaimed. "Is that a bowtie?" He asked. Blaine nodded with a smile on his face. "But what are you promising?"
"To always love you, to defend you even if I know you're wrong, to surprise you, to always pick up your phone calls no matter what I'm doing, to bake you cookies at least twice a year and to kiss you wherever and whenever you want. But mostly, just to make sure you know how perfectly imperfect you are."
"I love it!" Kurt cried as he flung himself into Blaine's arms. "Merry Christmas. It's our first Christmas together.
"The first of many." Blaine replied as he took Kurt's hand and they walked into the choir room. Everyone was ready to leave for the TV station, so they gathered all their props and costumes and drove over.
"I love our bachelor shalette." Kurt exclaimed to Blaine when they saw the set. Blaine smiled back at his boyfriend and then took his hand to go and get ready. Just before the special was about to start, Blaine got a call. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Kim.
"Hello?" Blaine said.
"Blaine, I just wanted to first of all say good luck and tell you that Lucas is out of surgery, awake, and ready to hear you sing." Kim told him.
"That's amazing. Can I speak to him?" Blaine asked.
"Sure." Kim replied before handing the phone over to Lucas.
"Hey buddy." Blaine said. "I just want to let you know that my performance today is all for you. I love you bud."
"He says he loves you too." Kim replied. Even though Lucas could hear, he still couldn't talk. That would take some speech therapy.
"Okay, I have to go." Blaine replied as he hung up the phone. Then he heard Artie began to count and he ran to his spot on set with Kurt. The next three quarters of the special went according to plan, but then just as they were going to come back from commercial the TV producers shut them down. They had made a last minute deal with the yulelog people. So, with the special shut down, the glee club decided to make their way down to the Lima Homeless shelter. They had made a promise after all. They all went through the doors of the soup kitchen and Sue was waiting, her face showed how surprised she was.
"I know we're late but we were hoping there's still time to help. We brought the turkey from the special with all the fixins." Artie said as Miss Pillsbury pushed him from behind.
"Yeah, it's a prop but it's real." Mr Shue added.
"You can put it on the table over there kiddo." Sue said to Artie.
"We have a song too! We were going to perform it as the final number for our Christmas special, but we lost the final ten minutes of airtime when the station reached a last second agreement with the yulelog people." Artie informed her.
"As long as it's not jingle bells, it seems it's the only song our janitor knows how to play and I'm bleeding from the ears." Sue said with a sarcastic smile. The glee club took their positions and Mr. Shue started to play the piano as they sang "Do they know it's Christmas". Everyone was having a great time and all the little kids in the soup kitchen were bopping around and singing with them. Everybody there was really into the Christmas spirit. When the song ended, everyone clapped and the glee club spread out around the room. In the corner sitting at a table, Blaine could have sworn he knew the boy sitting there. He walked over and tapped the boy's shoulder.
"Ryan?" He asked. The boy looked up and smiled before standing up and pulling Blaine into a hug.
"Blaine! Oh my god it's so great to see you." Ryan exclaimed. "So...finally got adopted?" he asked.
"Nope, still foster care, but it's a good one. It feels a lot like a family." Blaine said. "What about you? You on the run?" he asked. Ryan nodded. Ryan had been one of Blaine's only friend over the years in foster care. They had met at a group home for boys and actually stayed together for a few months. But, then Blaine was more to another foster home.
"I ran away from my…eight foster home and never looked back. It's hard, but anything is better than the system." Ryan replied.
"I just want you to know that if you ever need a place to stay...this is my phone number and address." Blaine told him as he pushed a napkin over to him. "My foster mom Kim is really nice. I'm sure that she would let you stay with us."
"Thanks. For now, I'm good,but thanks." Ryan replied. Blaine stood up and gave Ryan another hug before saying goodbye and walking over to Kurt.
"Who was that?" Kurt asked.
"Just an old friend." Blaine replied. "Come on, we have to go see Lucas at the hospital." he added as he took Kurt's hand and they went out to Kurt's car. They drove to the hospital and went to the pediatric wing where Lucas's room was located. When they went in, Blaine saw that the whole family was there. Lucas's face lit up and he smiled at his brother. Blaine sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.
"I heard you sing. Sing again." Lucas signed, because even though he could hear, he still couldn't talk.
"Okay." Blaine said.
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you, yeah.
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
And I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas Day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
And I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even st you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby, all I want for Christmas is stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?
Baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Oh, all the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need?
Won't you please bring my baby to me?
Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see my baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh, I just want
You, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
Blaine last note was broken off, by his brother slamming into his chest with a hug. Blaine laughed and asked, "Did you like it?" without even allowing his brother to see his lips. Lucas nodded his head immediately. Before Blaine even knew what was happening the whole family and Kurt pounced on his with a group hug. This was why Blaine loved Christmas so much and this was by far the best Christmas that Blaine had ever had.