Chapter Five: And Afterwards

However at ease he felt about having finally resolved his inner turmoil, Cogsworth's contentedness did not last long. He desperately wanted to share in the spirit of the vibrant celebration that surrounded him, to partake in cheery banter with his colleagues and loved ones, but he was left to only observe while they enjoyed each other without him.

At about eight-thirty, as all were about to head to dinner, he decided that his situation was too depressing to continue standing on the sidelines. He had an adequate amount of confidence that the staff had reorganized everything in the kitchens. If not, he was sure the kitchen staff could steep the guests in enough wine and champagne for them not to notice anything lacking in taste.

He slowly made his way up to his quarters to turn in for the night, unavoidably gathering regrets along the way.

The dawn eased its way above the snow-topped pine trees and maples of the forest, and the castle's grounds sparkled under its light.

The majordomo slept on his side, facing the window as the sun's rays shined across the carpeted floor and his bed. Having maintained a built-in alarm that had been established even before his time as a mantel clock, he blinked his eyes open. He rolled over to stare drowsily at the canopy of his four-poster bed, a side of his mustache bent at an odd angle from his pillow.

He sat up, rubbed the extra sleep from his eyes, and slid out of bed, immediately fixing the covers like every other morning.

As he bathed and dressed for the day, glimpses of his dream started returning to him. He had been running around frantically during a ball, anything that could go wrong having happened, from burning food, to everyone being late. For a period, the orchestra couldn't even play their music. All the while, he hadn't been able to do a thing to prevent these disasters.

Cogsworth shivered at the thought as he adjusted his wig. He must have had too much brandy the night before.

That is why I don't drink, he iterated to himself. I never have these fear-inducing dreams otherwise.

Shaking off the remainder of the nightmare, he set out to begin his day. On the way to his office, he decided to check on the large parlor room the residents would be holding their own Christmas in to make sure their little tree and piles of presents were in place. At the double doors, he opened one only to peek inside, but he found a hearth ablaze, and...

Cogsworth furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you all doing in here?"

On the chaises and armchairs arranged in a circle before the fireplace sat Master Adam, Belle, Maurice, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumière, and Babette. All at once, they sprang out of their seats, making Cogsworth jump at their perfect synchronization.

"COGSWORTH!"

Before the majordomo knew what had hit him, they all bowled him over and caught him in a multi-armed hug that felt like a stranglehold.

"What… are you…" Cogsworth struggled for breath, his claustrophobia beginning to kick in. "Please… get… off."

The group relaxed and took a step or two back—not far enough for his taste—and stared at him, excited and wide-eyed, as they burst into a chorus of chatter.

"Oh, we were so worried!"

"Where have you been?"

"I'm so glad you're all right!"

"It's good to see you safe, monsieur!"

"Without you, the ball was… oh Dieu…"

"Tell us where you were, mon ami! We are all aching to know!"

"Did you vanish or something?!"

They all chuckled at Chip's sincere question that made Cogsworth take pause. Now that he thought about, he had been invisible in his dream. Like a ghost.

Had that nightmare been… real?

Cogsworth felt himself pale. "The ball…?"

A few glanced at each other, a bit perplexed. "The… ball was last night," Lumière clarified, keeping a wary half-smile on his mouth in case the majordomo was kidding. "Did you happen to forget?"

At the expression of dread that crossed Cogsworth's features, Mrs. Potts came over to support him. "Let's get you a chair now."

She and Lumière guided him to the nearest armchair facing the fireplace as he stared blankly at the ground, trying to organize in his mind what had been real instead of imaginary, but he rejected the idea of such a prestigious event like the ball having gone by so terribly. This couldn't have happened. It just shouldn't have.

Cogsworth came out of his thoughts to find them all replaced in their seats, looking at him with concern. He had to confirm the truth, as afraid as he was to know.

"I… I'm sorry," he felt he had to say. "It seems I might have had a... most horrible twenty-four hours." He gazed at each of them. "I have… some questions."

Adam and Lumière exchanged glances. "Um… sure, Cogsworth," the Prince consented, gesturing for him to proceed. "Please."

Cogsworth straightened in his armchair. "Yesterday… was the Christmas Eve ball, correct?"

They nodded their heads, though some more hesitantly because of their own confusion at Cogsworth even asking such a question.

The majordomo took a deep breath, gripping the chair's arms briefly as he cleared his throat. "Could you… tell me what had occurred during it? Did it go well?"

There were a couple shrugs, some grimaces, and aversions of gazes from the rest.

"None of those are reassuring!" he berated, but he reined in his growing frustration. "I would very much appreciate detail, if you please."

Everyone's gazes flew from him to either each other, the fireplace, or the floor, all wearing varying expressions of embarrassment.

Mrs. Potts cleared her throat, having gathered the courage first. "Well, even though we had some hiccups in the beginning, the ball went very well, and I believe everyone really enjoyed themselves." All of them bobbed their heads in agreement.

"What were the 'hiccups' exactly?" Cogsworth questioned, not to be dissuaded.

After a moment of their silence, the majordomo gave up, becoming too impatient to wait for their replies. "All right, I can see you are all too afraid to say a word." He heaved a huge sigh, hesitant to ask. "Did… Did we forget to assign valets?"

Collectively stunned, none didn't have a widened eye on him now. Taking this as ample confirmation, he rattled off the events he knew from his memory, becoming more frantic by the second. "And because there were less cooks in the kitchen, was the food burnt? And of course let's not forget Fife was late to cue the orchestra, having been off philandering—"

"Wait, wait, Cogsworth!" Adam called, coming out of his shock enough to speak. "How do you know everything that happened? You weren't there yesterday… were you?"

Losing his fumes, Cogsworth slumped in his chair with a groan, hiding his eyes with a hand. He slowly nodded, avoiding their eyes. "I regret to say I was, for every debacle."

But then it finally struck Cogsworth that he had truly been invisible for all of Christmas Eve, and that meant—

He straightened in his seat, a morose countenance snapping into one of awe. "All of you can see me!"

If the group hadn't been perplexed before, they all became epitomes of bewilderment.

Reacting to this with glee, Cogsworth grinned. "All of you can hear me!" He released a giddy laugh. "This is wonderful! Oh thank goodness!" he cried with relief, finally relaxing.

Looking around at his friends, he found himself laughing again. "I'm very sorry, you must be so terribly confused. I will be more than happy to explain, although… in actuality, I cannot quite explain everything… My, where to begin…"

He seemed to make up his mind before turning to Mrs. Potts, pointing. "Ah, yes, Mrs. Potts, you had brought in my breakfast yesterday morning, and had left my office with my tea."

Lines embedded the housekeeper's brow as she processed this. "Ye—Yes, I did. But you weren't in your office."

Cogsworth found himself getting excited as he corrected, "Oh, but I was! I was sitting at my desk, the entire time!"

Glancing at Lumière and Babette, he informed in a tone of mild chastisement, "And I happened to be walking by when you two were being… you, in the dining room that afternoon. I had thought both of you were purposely ignoring me!"

The amazed, amorous couple looked at each other and tried to refrain from giggling as another recollection came to the majordomo. He snapped his fingers at it, referring to Adam and Belle next. "And—And I had come to you during your lunch because I had thought it was a ridiculous joke - no one acknowledging me, that is. And that is when I realized I had become an apparition. Yes, I was invisible, inaudible, and intangible, as it would seem. Oh I was positively livid! Magic must have been afoot, there is no question. But…"

It was there Cogsworth seemed at a loss. "I am not sure how it all had occurred. A mere day was all it was… and I was there, for every little thing that went wrong and oh I was just mortified—I am mortified! We had seemed so prepared—you were all very prepared without my instruction, truly. I was most impressed."

Naturally, Lumière was capable of coming out of his amazement to quip, "Oh, this must be a Christmas miracle! If I am not mistaken, I do believe Cogsworth has just given us a compliment!"

As a few of them chuckled, Chip interjected with curiosity, "So you never left?"

Cogsworth turned from Lumière, whom he had looked about to scold, and replied, "Oh no, Chip, I couldn't ever leave during Christmas. I have to make sure everything goes smoothly, no matter what. That is my job, after all."

Adam rubbed the back of his neck, appearing embarrassed to ask, "Um… Cogsworth?"

"Yes, sire?" Cogsworth responded attentively.

The Prince started to look like he feared a reprimand. "How much of the ball did you see, exactly?"

Cogsworth smiled and soothed, "Quite enough to know what you are referring to. Might I assure that you handled the circumstances very well. Same to you, my lady," he addressed to Belle. "You spoke very lovely sentiments, and they did just the job."

Both royals looked relieved. Belle sighed as she grinned. "Thank you, Cogsworth. That really means the world, coming from you."

"It is the least I can do," Cogsworth promised, humbling. "Especially after your most gracious words of me."

Adam smiled at him. "We… really missed you last night."

"More than you will ever know," Babette annexed with a sly glance at Lumière, who suddenly felt the need to appear innocent.

Cogsworth felt his heart squeeze as he looked around at all of their sincere, loving faces. I am not going to get emotional, I have already embarrassed myself enough this holiday.

He took a deep breath to restrain any possible tears, and placed his hands on his knees before standing. "All right, since it is Christmas, and given the peculiar events of yesterday…" He spread his arms a bit awkwardly, doing his best to be as nonchalant as possible. I can't believe I'm doing this. "Let us… top this off."

Cogsworth looked to have been addressing the floor, and everyone hesitated at his obscure proposal in either confusion or astonishment. Lumière overcame his pleasant surprise before anyone else, having to laugh at the majordomo's way of initiating a hug, as only he would do.

"You really are one-of-a-kind, mon ami," the maître d' complimented before bringing his friend into a brotherly embrace.

Mrs. Potts stood, grinning broadly. "We wouldn't have it any other way," she agreed before taking her turn.

Cogsworth felt arms encircle what they could of his waist as Chip collided with him and the housekeeper. The two adults glanced down at him as Mrs. Potts chuckled, and Cogsworth just realized how Chip had grown nearly a half foot since the curse had been broken.

They both moved aside as Babette gave him a hug, kissing his cheek in the process. Though he was a bit taken aback at this gesture, the maid's only reply was a nonchalant smirk and a wink.

Maurice then approached him. "I think I should apologize for that little…" He let out a laugh. "Well, you know."

Cogsworth found himself having to chuckle at the once mortifying memory. It seemed ages ago. "Perhaps I should be the one to apologize, monsieur. The lesson is learned: I will never forget to knock first, I can assure you."

"Oh, no trouble, no trouble!" Maurice offered his hand and Cogsworth gladly shook it. "I'm just glad to see you're all right!"

Belle quickly replaced him, pulling away from her embrace to say, "I don't know what we'd do without you here! It wouldn't be the same."

"It really wouldn't," Adam concurred, placing a hand on Cogsworth's shoulder. "I hope you know that you always have a home here, for as long as you'll have us."

"Oh, that is just the reassurance I need, sire," the majordomo sighed with relief. "Thank you."

He glanced around at the castle members surrounding him, and an assured feeling of gratitude and appreciation for them pulsed in his heart. No, he would not regret serving with and for his surrogate family until his dying day. Of that, he was now certain.

Cogsworth took a deep breath, ready to get back to business. "Well then, my good men, ladies, Master, Mistress," he addressed, straightening his waistcoat. "We have guests to accommodate and send on their merry ways. We can resume our own celebrations later." Everyone mutually agreed, nodding and smiling at him before proceeding to their respective duties.

Checking his pocket watch, Cogsworth almost instantaneously glared at the maître d'. "Lumière—"

"The chefs have been preparing breakfast all the while, Cogsworth," Lumière interrupted calmly, but not without an eye roll. A few of their loved ones glanced back with humorous grins.

"Good," Cogsworth replied with a smile. "I expected nothing less."

"Really?" Lumière asked facetiously as they followed their friends. "You do not believe I will suddenly become incompetent after over twenty years of doing my job well?"

"Despite what you think, no, I don't." Cogsworth struggled to hide a smirk. "However, let us pray the kitchens are not burned to the ground before we arrive."

The maître d' eyed him sourly. "You are never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"And you will never let me forget that I was once a clock," the majordomo answered matter-of-factly. "Now we are even."

"What are talking about?" Lumière feigned, shaking his head as he lightly reprimanded, "Cogsworth, you really need to stop getting your gears in a twist over the little things. It really is unhealthy, getting as ticking mad as you do."

"Hmm, interesting," Cogsworth muttered, acting as though he hadn't heard his colleague.

Lumière bit. "What is?"

Like a sincere question, the majordomo asked, "Don't you think it the least bit ironic that you never burnt the food while you were a walking matchstick?"

A few belly laughs escaped Lumière. "Mon ami, we are far from evening the score."

Cogsworth shrugged, wearing a smile of confidence. "I promise you we'll have plenty of time to settle it, Lumière. That, I know."

A/N: Not even finals could stop me from wrapping up this story in a nice little bow! (Pun definitely intended.) I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it. I also hope I succeeded in showing growth in Cogsworth's character by putting him through an impossible test of wills. I think everyone needs to be reminded that they're loved and appreciated every once and a while, and isn't that what Christmas is all about? Therefore, in the spirit of this Yuletide carol...

Whether 'tis spring, summer, winter, or fall, Have a Merry Christmas, one and all!