The Long And Winding Road

Chapter 29 -- That's What I Want For Christmas

On Christmas afternoon at the Nelson/Simpson home, JT was sitting at the kitchen table when Spike entered.

"How's Jack?" JT asked.

"Sound asleep upstairs," she replied. "Playing with his new toys took a lot out of him."

"You mean playing with the boxes that all his new toys came in."

"True," Spike laughed. "And Snake's in our room on the phone with his brother. They hardly get to see each other so I'm sure they'll be playing catch-up for awhile. Where's Emma?"

"Bathroom. Thanks again for having me over for lunch and everything, Mrs. N."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm glad you wanted to. I know you haven't had the easiest year and I was hoping that wouldn't dampen your spirits about celebrating the holidays."

"There were some rough spots. Really rough. But in other ways it's been the best year yet. Anyway, thank you for the gifts. It wasn't necessary."

"I'll decide what's necessary, thank you very much," Spike said, trying to sound stern but smiling.

"Like mother, like daughter," JT joked.

"It was really easy. Emma mentioned a DVD you might like. She said as long as I didn't try to find it at the mall I'd be okay."

"And the socks?"

"Hey, I was already in a store. There they were. I figured a person could always use another pair. It seemed like a very…"

"A very motherly thing to do?"

"Well…yeah."

"Yeah, it sounds like one of those items my mother would pick up on the spur of the moment while getting other things."

"I hope I didn't cross a line or anything."

"Not at all. You and Mr. Simpson have both been really helpful this year. That means something."

"Hey and thank you, too. Snake and I love that Greek restaurant, but hardly ever get to go. That gift certificate will come in handy."

"When I asked Emma what the two of you wanted most, she said a night out alone. I thought she meant you each wanted to go to a separate place. After smacking me in the shoulder, she said she meant you wanted a night out alone together. Like I told the two of you earlier, just let me know what night you want to go. I'll make sure I'm off work, and me and Emma will take care of Jack for the night."

"That'll be great. Say, JT, since it seems we actually have a moment where things aren't hectic around here, there's something I've wanted to say to you."

"Sounds ominous."

"Nothing too bad," Spike responded. "You know how fond I was of your mother. Doesn't mean I always understood her. Maybe Jillian should have taken a different approach when it came to handling the distant relationship between you and your father. I think she loved you both and was trying to find some way to keep everyone together. But I know she would be very proud of you. How you've handled things in her absence, balancing school, work and your personal life, as well as how you handled your father's visit last month."

"Thanks, Mrs. N."

Emma then entered the kitchen.

"Ah, there you are, JT."

She went over to where JT was sitting and put a hand on his shoulder.

"And now I think I'll leave you two alone and go up and look in on Jack," Spike said, and then she left the kitchen.

"How are you doing, JT?"

"Great, Emma."

"Having a good day so far?"

"A warm house. A free meal. No school or work. How could I not have a good day?"

Emma frowned, which made JT laugh.

"And you're a reason for that good day too, of course. Hey, I had to save the best for last, right?"

"Okay, that's better," Emma said, now smiling. "But watch it. Care to walk with me into the living room?"

"I could do that."

JT stood and they made their way into the living room and sat together on the couch.

"Yes, so far it's been a great day, Emma. I got a kick out of Jack getting all confused over your dad wearing that Santa hat earlier. He had this look on his face like 'Hey, you mean Dad is Santa? Who knew?'"

Emma laughed.

"Thankfully, Mom managed to get Archie to take the hat off before we ate."

"Awww, you're not still anti-Santa after all this time, are you, Emma?"

"I have never been anti-Santa, JT. I don't know where you come up with this stuff."

"Emma…"

"Okay, sure, the name 'Santa' is an anagram of 'Satan'…But I've never made a fuss about it."

"I remember that you once told me how relieved you were when you first learned the truth about Santa Claus. You said it was good to know he wasn't real because otherwise he should have been locked up long ago."

"JT, we're talking about a very out-of-shape old guy who forces those poor mistreated reindeer to spend the night hauling his fat self around the world just because he has no sense of time management, puts everything off until Christmas Eve and apparently has never heard of UPS or FedEx. Also, he's an enabler. The lead reindeer Rudolph? The one with the red nose? Obviously a drinking problem. But does that old guy care?"

"It's the North Pole, Emma. I'm sure there aren't any sanitariums for all the alcoholic reindeer to check into up there. Besides, you're only concerned about the fictional animals in this story."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't forget that there are also fictional people being affected. Santa's basically running a sweatshop. He's kidnapped all those midgets, put them in strange clothes and forced them to work constantly and even live with him, calling them 'Santa's Little Helpers'. Santa's a taskmaster with an elf fetish."

"That's a very good point, JT. I never even considered that. Anyway, it IS good that it's only a fictional character. Though you have to question whether it's a character you really want to tell kids about in the first place."

JT laughed and then kissed her.

"Is it any wonder why you're my favorite person, Emma?"

"I'm so glad you're here, JT. I mean, I know we're together every day anyway and we've always gotten together at some point on Christmas, but I'm really glad today."

"Me too," JT agreed. "Even if I'm STILL waiting to see what you got me."

"I'm cruel. I know. But I thought it would be nice to wait and we could exchange our gifts to each other in private. Hope you didn't mind too much."

"Romantic and suspenseful at the same time? What's not to enjoy?"

Emma stood and walked toward the Christmas tree and grabbed a large package leaning against the wall, then she returned and handed it to JT.

"Thanks Emma."

JT started to open the envelope that was attached to the package, but Emma stopped him.

"Hold off on that, JT."

"What's going on?"

"It's not a card in the envelope. I know we've always gotten crazy, silly cards for each other every year, but this year I decided to do something different. I wrote you a letter."

"Uh-oh. This is one of those chain letters, isn't it? Now I'm going to have to send copies of it to ten people or face tons of bad luck. Thanks a lot, Emma."

"Don't worry, JT," Emma responded, rolling her eyes. "You're safe. No, it's just some things I wanted to write down for you to read, to keep. Thoughts about you…me…us. Most of it isn't anything you haven't already heard me say. Other things I haven't said before but they've been in my heart. Don't look at it now. Later, when the time is right, you can read it."

"See, now I want to read it more than ever."

"Just hang onto it, okay?"

"Okay, if you insist."

"Besides, you've still got the gift to open."

JT put the letter to one side. Emma laughed as she watched JT waste no time ripping through the wrapping paper to get to his gift.

"Wow."

JT held the gift out and looked at. This was a framed reproduction of a movie poster for Charlie Chaplin's film 'The Gold Rush'. JT's facial expression turned from surprise to happy.

"You like it?"

"Emma, it's great. How…?"

"Me and Manny were at the mall a week or so ago. I wasn't having any luck finding something to get you. Then we passed the mall theater and I looked to see what was playing. Looking over at the various posters, it hit me. I'd try to find a poster for one of the movies we've watched together over the years. I was hoping I'd find a poster for one of your favorites.

"So I checked the Web and found that there's a little movie memorabilia store on the other side of town. I called and, unlike anyone at the mall, the guy I spoke to seemed to know his business and the kind of thing I was looking for. Although he did laugh at me briefly because I was afraid the posters couldn't be in good condition considering the movies were made so long ago. Okay, so I hadn't thought about them being reproductions and not the originals. I didn't know how it all worked. I guess I wouldn't have had the money for an actual original anyway so it's just as well.

"Anyway, the next Monday afternoon while you were working, Manny and I drove out to this place. They had a decent selection of posters from all through the years, and then I saw this and how could I NOT get it."

"Emma, not only is this one of my favorite films, but it's the first one we saw on the Saturday when…"

"…When we finally got smart and got together. Yeah, I'll never forget it. I was sitting there with you watching. Half of me was really enjoying the film. And half of me was annoyed that I was going to be stuck going on that double date. And half of me was wishing I could just get my tongue and vocal chords all working properly so I could tell you that we should forget our dates and go somewhere for the evening just the two of us.

"Emma, that's three halves of yourself you just listed. I don't think it works like that."

"Hey, you said it yourself – we're not in school today. Cut me some slack on the math."

JT laughed.

"Anyway, the man said that there were several different posters designed for this film. He had copies of two of the versions. Oh, I wish I could have gotten both, but I could only afford one. That is, if I wanted to be able to take it and get it framed. Which I wanted to and did. As you can see. This looked like the better design. Not that the other one wasn't nice, too. It was. But I think I'm a good judge of what you'd like and what you wouldn't. Still, tomorrow I can take you and show you the other one and if…"

"Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Breathe."

JT put the gift down and then reached over and hugged Emma. Afterward he grabbed hold of her hand.

"This is great, angel. Like you said, you're a good judge about what I like, so don't start second-guessing."

"I also figured that it's about time you have something that's yours to hang up in your living room. Something that's not your mom's or that guy's. I know you'll be getting another place next fall, but for the time being that house has become all yours and it should look the part."

"That's a good idea. Come over tomorrow and help me hang it up?"

"You bet. After all, someone needs to be there to make sure you don't hammer your thumb instead of the nail."

"Cute, Emma. Anyway, as much as I enjoy having all the attention focused on me, I suppose it's only right that I get your gifts."

"Gifts? As in more than one?"

"Never hurts to carry a spare."

JT went over to the tree and brought back to Emma one small box on top of a larger, heavier box.

"We were on the same wavelength as far as lack of cards. I wanted to do things right and, well…start with the smaller box."

Emma saw there was a little note folded over and taped to the package. She removed the small piece of paper, unfolded it and read it silently to herself.

Emma –
With all of my heart. Always.
– JT

"JT, you're going to make me cry, and I haven't even opened the first box."

"Sorry, Emma. I knew I should have just gone for the bizarre and bought the card that showed the Christmas turkey climbing into the oven while singing 'I'll Be Home For Christmas.'"

"No!" Emma replied, laughing. "Not bad crying. Good."

She opened the package and found a jewelry box.

"I saw it in a store and knew it was for you," JT explained.

Emma opened the box and found a silver necklace with a heart attached.

"JT, it's beautiful."

"Not as much as the person who's going to be wearing it, but it is rather nifty."

"Here, put it on me," Emma said while handing the necklace to JT.

"Now I wasn't sure about the exact size of your neck. I mean, your neck's not big or anything, but it's probably the one part of you that I really haven't paid that much attention to. The woman behind the counter looked at me like I was nuts, but she promised that neck size wasn't going to be a problem and that this would fit."

He placed the jewelry around her neck, then she looked down at it and lifted up the heart.

"I hope you know that you've got mine, Jamie."

"So I did good?"

Emma smiled thinking about JT's unusual display of uncertainty.

"Yes, I'd say you did pretty good," she replied.

"Good. I'm one for one. Time for the other gift. And just remember, if you can't stand it, at least you've gotten one good gift."

"Quit worrying already and let me open the box," Emma said, pretending to sound annoyed.

She opened the box in her lap and found a thick dark-green hardcover volume.

"Looks nice. I'm curious what book it could be, since I don't ever remember telling you who some of my favorite authors are at the moment."

Emma lifted the book out of the box and turned it around to the front. The front cover stated – in gold lettering – the title, 'The Writings of Emma Nelson'.

"This was a clever gift, JT. I had no idea there was a published author with the same name as me."

"Open it up, Emma. Any page."

She picked a spot toward the middle of the book and opened it. As she looked on, an expression of surprise came over her face.

"Um, this isn't someone else's work. This was me. Is me. I wrote this."

"I know," JT smiled. "I kinda thought the title explained all that."

"Huh?" Emma asked, clearly confused.

"This book is a collection of all the editorials you've gotten published in the school paper, as well as the two – out of however many you've submitted – which you've written that made it into the local paper."

"How did you…?"

"Naturally, I've kept a copy of the work that made it into the local paper. But I've also saved all your editorials from The Grapevine from the last couple of years. The older stuff was a little trickier, but I found most of those back issues buried at various locations in that one closet of mine that you like to call 'The Realm of No Return'. You've always complained that I don't throw anything away. Well, it's a good thing I didn't.

"Anyway, I made copies of all the editorials I had. I was still missing a few, including that one you wrote early on that got ripped out of most of the copies. But since Liberty has archives of all the issues, she was able to get me copies of the stuff I was missing.

"I got everything together in chronological order and took the copies over to this printing and binding place that Liberty's used in the past. It wasn't like the copy place a few blocks from here. These guys didn't seem stoned out of their minds. They do custom binding at this shop. So they made up some nicer printouts and put this collection together as one big book. I knew you'd written a lot, but this came out to a couple hundred pages. Oh, and just so you know, your book has a print run of two. I had a copy made up for myself as well as yours."

"JT, I don't know what to say."

"From the looks of this book, you could have fooled me. Kidding. Last month I told you not to start putting your work down. I was talking about those petitions you write, but it's the same with stuff like this. You're good at this. And you can tell how much better you keep getting just by looking through here. The early ones are okay, but…Well, the farther you get into this book, the better the writing gets.

"Emma, you know that sometimes I don't understand what you're talking about, but even when I don't get it, I get it. If that makes any sense. Oh, and…well…I'm very proud of you."

"JT…"

"But then I'm kind of crazy, Emma, so what do I know."

Emma laughed.

"JT, I notice on the spine that it says this is Volume 1."

"I'm sure in a few years there's going to be more than enough material for a sequel. After all, we have one more semester to go at Degrassi. Then I'm sure your opinions will find their way into the university paper.

"Anyway, I hope you like this. I don't know, maybe you'd rather have gotten an autographed picture of Skippy the Endangered Sea Turtle or something. But if you don't like it, at least you've got the necklace. And I suppose you could always recycle the paper that was used in the book, so it won't be a total loss. But…"

Emma interrupts JT with a lengthy kiss.

"So," JT begins after the kiss, somewhat flustered, "I guess that means this wasn't that bad of an idea?"

"I didn't need anything, yet you managed to give me two of the best possible gifts."

"Hey, you did a great job, too. I can't believe you found this movie poster. And I like the frame job. Sometime you're going to have to show me this shop you found. I didn't know there was such a place around here."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Hey Emma, could you do me a favor and get me something to drink?"

"Oh. Sure, no problem. What would you like?"

"Surprise me."

Emma left the room. JT double-checked to make sure she was completely gone, then he grabbed his envelope and opened it. Emma's letter to him was several pages long, front and back. After a minute, Emma started to return with drinks in hand but noticed JT busy reading.

She stepped back enough so that she could still see him but he would hopefully not notice her. While standing and observing, she saw him start to laugh. She hoped that he was laughing at one of the humorous comments she made rather than one of the serious comments. After another minute she saw what looked like him wiping a tear from his eye and then he was smiling. Soon, he finished and started to fold the letter and put it back in the envelope, so Emma stepped back further and prepared for her official return.

"Sorry it took so long," Emma called out as though had been in the kitchen the whole time. "I couldn't make up my mind what to bring back. Here I come."

JT, having heard Emma's voice, kept moving the envelope around on the couch, hoping it wouldn't look like he'd already opened it. Emma then entered with a cup of coffee for each of them.

"Thanks," JT said, taking one of the cups. He took a sip. "What happened? It's not very warm."

"That's funny," Emma responded. "They were still warm a few minutes ago when I brought them in…err…I mean…Hey, are you okay? Your eyes look a little watery."

"They do? Oh yeah, well…I, uh…Okay, don't tell your mom, but this room must be really dusty. I think the dust got into my eyes and nose. I started sneezing and, well, the eyes do get a little watery when you sneeze."

"Uh-huh. But I didn't hear you sneeze."

"Sneezes are quieter in the winter. I thought you knew that. So quiet that I'm sure you couldn't hear them from in the kitchen."

"Yeah, that's right. From the kitchen. Where I was the whole time. Um, okay, except for when I was almost in here watching you."

"Oh? Yeah, well…You just said wait til later. You didn't say how much later. So my failed sneakiness doesn't count against me…unlike a certain person who it seems was spying on me."

"Okay, okay. You're impatient and I'm nosy. It's not like we haven't known this since we were 4 years old. So, was it a good tear, or an 'Oh my God, I'm dating a whacko who's writing me all this deep personal stuff about us that I don't wanna know about' tear?"

"A good one," JT said laughing. "Like you said, most of what you wrote wasn't exactly a secret to me, but…Hey, I told you that you were a great writer. This is just more proof. I'm glad you wrote me this, Emma."

Emma then kissed him.

"You're great at that, too," JT told her.

"We definitely don't need any mistletoe around to encourage us to engage in a kiss," Emma remarked.

"Thank goodness. I don't trust mistletoe."

"JT, not this again," Emma rolled her eyes.

"You mock me, Emma, but you can't explain it either."

"For the last time, JT, I don't know why it's called mistleTOE, but I promise you there are no toes involved."

"You don't think maybe they sneak into people's homes and cut off someone's toes while the person is asleep? Then they take the toes, grind them up and mix it with fertilizer when it's time to plant the mistletoe crop each year?"

"That's disgusting, JT. By the way, I love you. Merry Christmas!"

"I love you, too, Emma. But don't change the subject. Maybe you should write an editorial on the dangers of mistletoe and the threat of a toeless society."

"How about we watch some TV instead. I think 'It's A Wonderful Life' is about to come on again. I love that one."

"Oh no, Emma. Not that!"

"It's a sweet movie, JT."

"Ugh. And you thought the story of mistletoe was disgusting…"

Next Chapter – Hit The Road

Notes: Thanks to PsYcHoJo, Fearless Dreamer, radiance x, cutiepye06655, almost-never, Dark Spell, blondenbeautiful, Kristine & CastingCrownsFan for the recent reviews and encouragement.