A/N: Probably my last new work of 2023, but no promises or guarantees, but next week will be very busy for me and my family and the week afterward I'll be going on vacation, so I'll check for messages, but I might not update or upload anything for a while. Thank you for understanding if you're a civil human being.
It was a couple of weeks before Christmastime, but Christmas Break was still pretty close by. LJ was in his last class of the day, busying himself until the bell rang by doing some drawings in his notebook. Other students seemed to be talking excitedly about what they would be doing for their Christmas vacation.
"And I want you all to remember to do some reading and share what you did over the break..." Mr. Trivia said to his students, speaking in a very dull and drawn out tone of voice that could put anyone to sleep. "You should all know that life isn't all fun and games, you should do work once in a while..."
The students stared blankly at him before they went back to talking amongst themselves.
"Kids these days, can't live with 'em..." Mr. Trivia sighed and shook his head as he decided to sit down behind his desk.
"So, Kimberly," LJ asked, glancing at the dark-haired girl. "What've you got planned for this Christmas break?"
"Hm?" Kimberly blinked as she looked over at him before smiling. "Well, the usual things... Sending Christmas cards to beloved relatives back home in Monte Macabre, sometimes I bake cookies with my Mama and we'll deliver them to some neighbors while singing carols and looking at lights... Plus of course, there's the fireworks after we open the rest of our presents after opening one each on Christmas Eve night."
"Biminy, that sounds primo! Never heard of Christmas fireworks!" LJ commented, before turning to face a blonde girl with pigtails. "How about'chu, Penny? You have any plans for break?"
Kimberly beamed and giggled.
"Christmas? Me? Hmm..." The blonde girl replied thoughtfully, speaking in a slightly raspy voice. "I guess I'll just do what I can only do... Celebrate the day with my uncle since Christmas is all about family and all." she then said with a small shrug.
"Oh, primo!" LJ beamed. "Shot in the dark, but... wouldja want to hang out after school today?"
The blonde girl, Penny, looked forward before she looked back at him with a small smile. "Well, I suppose I could do that as long as I make a phone call before we get settled." she then said calmly.
"Good idea," LJ nodded. "It'd be a smart move to do that."
"Don't I know it?" Penny smiled.
"Now before the final bell rings and lets you out for your vacation, are there any more questions?" Mr. Trivia then droned to his students, still sounding rather slow and winded in his usual boring tone of voice.
"...no, Mr. Trivia." responded a boy with dyed-purple hair, who goes by the name of Ted Scolex, but his associates call him 'Talon'.
"I see..." Mr. Trivia replied.
The clock's hands seemed to move very slowly.
"Well, in that case, I wish you all a wonderful vacation and I'll see you next year." Mr. Trivia finally said, but even that sounded so slow.
Ted put his face in his hands and let off a groan of annoyance before the last bell finally rang.
"Awright!" LJ beamed eagerly. "It's go time!"
"Have a nice vacation, class... see you next year..." Mr. Trivia told them before his eyes widened as his students suddenly rushed right out the door, nearly trampling him in the process. "And hopefully you have better manners after January." he then added in a low mumble.
"Ugh, finally." Ted said as he left.
LJ whistled to himself as he waited outside the school for Penny. Sandra and Ichabod waved at LJ who waved back at them as they went to do what they were going to plan for Christmas vacation.
"It's that time, Christmas time is here, Everybody knows, there's not a better time of year, Hear that sleigh, Santa's on his way, Hip, hip hooray, for Christmas vacation~" A group of kids began to sing while leaving school for the winter holidays. "Gotta a ton of stuff to celebrate, (Jing-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-ling), Now it's getting closer, I can't wait, (Jang-a-lang-a-lang-a-lang-lang), Gonna make this holiday as perfect as can be, Just wait and see this Christmas vacation~"
"Brother, my friends and I are going to get some hot chocolate at Ms. Hilda's coffee shop," Zofia said as she walked up to LJ. "Would you like to come with us?"
"Hmm... in a bit," LJ said. "I'm waiting on a friend!"
"Suit yourself." Zofia replied before she went to see her good friends: Anne Boonchuy, Marcy Wu, and Sasha Waybright.
LJ looked around as he continued to wait until Penny was coming out of the school.
"Hey, uh, LJ... How do you feel about visiting Santa Claus at The Mall?" Penny asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"Oh, well that's alright," LJ responded. "I mean, we're not too old for it yet, yeah?"
"I'm certainly not, no matter what some people might say or think about it." Penny shook her head and smiled.
"Attagirl!" LJ nodded. "Nuts to those uptight snobby kids!"
Penny chuckled and smiled at him. "So, are we going to your house? My uncle wants us to see Santa when it gets closer to Christmas day." she then asked and added.
"Oh! You wanna get some hot chocolate first?" LJ asked.
"Hot chocolate? Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun." Penny smiled as her eyes lit up at that idea.
"Then awaaaay we go!" LJ declared as he headed off to catch up with Zofia and her friends.
Penny smiled at LJ as they went over to Zofia and her friends.
"So, did I miss anything in Science Class?" Anne asked Zofia.
"We're gonna dissect frogs next semester." Zofia replied.
"Ugh... Frogs are so gross..." Anne grimaced and groaned.
"Hey, Zo! Wait up!" LJ's voice called out.
"Looks like your brother's coming along with us." Marcy told Zofia.
"Yeah, he can come along anyway." Zofia smiled.
"If he's cool enough." Sasha muttered to herself.
"Gaaaaaangwaaaay!" LJ called as he and Penny were catching up.
"Glad to see you decided to join us, LJ," Zofia smiled at her brother. "As well as your friend."
"Name's Penny." The blonde girl replied.
"Right... I knew that..." Zofia remarked and nodded. "I think you're new in town."
"Relatively," Penny responded. "My uncle and I have been here for a couple of months."
"That explains a lot," Zofia nodded. "Welcome to town, it's really nice to-"
"Zo, I hate to cut this short, but can we go inside for hot chocolate now?" Anne asked as she started to shiver along with Sasha and Marcy. "We're freezing our assets off over here!"
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Totally. Let's go." Zofia replied before a page was turned and taking them straight to Hilda's coffee shop to have some hot chocolate.
They were suddenly inside the shop together, sitting beside each other as they waited to have their hot drinks.
"That's better." Anne sighed and smiled in relief.
"What just happened?" Penny asked as she looked around as she seemed to be new to how LJ and Zofia did things with their friends. "We were just outside school a second ago and now we're suddenly here."
"Don't worry about it," LJ shrugged. "Think of it as narrative convenience!"
"Meh... I guess I shouldn't complain when it gives me hot chocolate right away." Penny shrugged with a small smile.
Hilda then came by to give the kids their hot chocolate as she smiled at them on the way.
"Thank you, Ms. Spellman!" said LJ.
"Certainly!" Hilda smiled. "You kids enjoy."
"Oh, I'm sure we will." Marcy nodded.
"And you two enjoy the Unicorn Shakes." Hilda then told Anne and Sasha.
"No problem." Anne and Sasha replied before they both took a sip of their drinks.
"Huh... So that's what a unicorn tastes like." Anne remarked after she took a taste.
LJ took a sip and sighed. "I dunno WHY, but somehow hot cocoa tastes better with whipped cream," he beamed. "Anyways, I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that I'd like to read a Christmas-centric tale once we get home."
"As a tribute to someone or something?" Zofia asked her younger brother. "Or would this be just for fun?"
"Little of both." shrugged LJ.
"Well, okay, that sounds nice either way," Zofia replied. "I'm sure the teenagers would like to experience it too."
"Especially with that summer vacation we had." LJ agreed.
"Teenagers?" Sasha's eyes widened before she grinned bashfully while trying to look innocent. "You mean like including that one guy Jay?"
"Well, sure, of course, Sasha," Zofia nodded at the blonde girl. "He sticks together with Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Felicity after all."
"But... yes," LJ nodded. "They will most likely be there too."
"I just thought I would say hi to them of course," Sasha grinned bashfully. "Ya know... I care about other people~"
LJ smirked. "Of course," he responded. "I think they'd appreciate it. Sooooo, Penny... what's your uncle do?"
"It's sort of a long story." Penny chuckled and smiled bashfully.
"Is he some kinda unique guy?" Marcy asked. "Is he creative and adventurous?"
"You could say that, but there's a lot more to it than that." Penny nodded.
"Well, if it's a long story, maybe you oughta whittle it down," joked LJ. "Like... just keep the bare essentials."
"It might be a little unbelievable for some people to understand." Penny replied.
"Try us," Sasha smirked. "We love a good story, especially Marcy."
Marcy glanced over before smiling at Penny.
"All right, well, this is kind of a very big secret, though I guess I could tell you guys if you promise not to get into too much trouble with it once I tell you," Penny began to tell them. "...you guys have heard of Inspector Gadget, right? And how he has a young girl and a dog with him on some missions?" she then asked just to see how they would react.
"Oh, yeah, the cyborg supercop!" LJ responded. "My dad likes to browse the papers for news of his escapades. He thinks he's cool!"
Penny smiled and blushed a little at LJ's excitement.
"Why do you ask?" Zofia asked the pigtailed girl curiously.
Penny paused before glancing back over.
"...you're The Gadget Girl who helps Inspector Gadget out on missions, aren't you?" Zofia asked then.
"Well, actually, yes, I am," Penny admitted bashfully before she took out her phone to show a picture she took with Brain the Dog and Inspector Gadget himself who was her uncle and legal guardian. "Or as I like to call him 'Uncle Gadget'." she then added.
LJ let out a quiet gasp. "Whoaaaa... that is sooo AWESOME!" he gushed.
"I don't want the wrong people to know too much about it, but I know that I can trust you, LJ," Penny replied. "I saw something special in you that I didn't see before in other people I've met and known before."
"Aw... thanks, Pen," LJ smiled. "You're pretty cool yourself!"
Penny beamed as she began to look happy and excited before sipping more of her hot chocolate.
"So, any other plans about Christmas vacation we should know about?" Anne then asked.
"Well, we just know that Mal won't be around this year for the holidays." LJ replied.
"Really?" Marcy asked. "How come?"
"She's going on some kinda tip with her father," Zofia explained. "We were really unsure about her father when we first met him, but we all realized he was a much better parent than her mother, so we thought it would be nice if she spent some time with him once in a while after he was never there for her when she was a kid."
"Well, I hope she'll be okay." LJ said as he took another sip of his cocoa.
"We can only hope, but we shouldn't try to bust Hades this time since even though he was kind of a jerk when we first met him, he really does love and care about Mal, unlike her mother." Zofia then advised her brother.
"I guess that's a good point." LJ said as he put down a $5 for his cup of cocoa.
"But hey, maybe you could read your story to Mal for before she leaves and when Hades comes to pick her up?" Zofia suggested to LJ to help make light of their situation of having Christmas without the purple-haired girl.
"Oh! Hey, that's a great idea!" LJ nodded. "Sure, I could do that!"
"It might be a nice little goodbye gift for her." Zofia smiled.
"I like that idea." LJ smiled back.
"I thought you might." Zofia agreed.
Soon, everyone else began to finish up their hot chocolate.
"I also think that this year that we should ask the teenagers what they used to do so that they can have even more fun with us this year." Zofia then said.
"Oh, yeah... they used to live in that bad neighborhood Auradon Heights, right?" Marcy asked.
"Yes, they did," Zofia nodded. "That's part of the reason why they stay with us nowadays."
"They're not bad kids," LJ nodded. "Just needed better role models, is all. This way they've got a chance at a decent future."
"Goodness knows I could use one of those too." Anne muttered to herself.
"You torn up because of that essay you have to do from the principal?" Zofia asked.
Anne nodded in response.
"Essay?" LJ and Penny then asked.
"The principal assigned Anne an essay about how to better herself as a person over the break," Sasha explained before smirking. "And here I thought I was the troublemaker of the group."
"What'd you do to deserve that?" asked LJ.
"Apparently I need to grow up and figure out what I wanna do with my life," Anne shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I'm only 10!" she then added.
"Well, I guess people tend to be like that," LJ shrugged. "Never understood the point."
"Like that kid whose teacher made him read 'War and Peace' over Christmas break?" asked Penny. "Then gave him a D because 'no 8-year-old could have possibly read the whole thing', and then made him read 'Crime and Punishment' next?"
"Yeah," LJ nodded. "But at least it's not as bad as that."
"Yeah, I guess my assignment could always be worse, but still, I don't know what I can possibly do for this," Anne shrugged. "How am I supposed to know what I wanna do with my life. It's not like you guys do or anything." she then added.
"I once considered going to school to be a psychiatrist." Zofia spoke up.
"I wanna make my own webcomic or graphic novel series." Marcy beamed hopefully.
"I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be working with my uncle for a long time for years to come." Penny remarked, much to Anne's frustration.
"Well... life is strange and complex," stated LJ. "And let's just say that things might end up revealing themselves when you least expect them to."
"Spoken like a bunch of blabbedy-blah malarkey," sneered Titus, who was sitting nearby with a smirk. "Bummer for you, cuz I already know what I'm gonna be doing with my life!"
Penny groaned slightly in disgust.
"Oh, no..." Zofia frowned.
"Oh, yes~" Titus smirked. "Good afternoon to you, my classmates~"
"Hey, Titus." The group greeted rather flatly and in annoyance.
"Oh, hey guys," smirked Titus. "Like I was saying, I'll be taking over my Uncle Sanford's company one day."
"OMG, that's so impressive~" A pretty girl said as she was then shown.
Everyone else then saw the girl as she had long black hair with a pink hairclip in it, emerald eyes, and wore a pretty pink fluffy coat with white trim and a pink beret on her head with white pants and black shoes.
"I would love to see it sometime~" The girl cooed as she came closer to him.
"Of course, Janet~" Titus said to her, trying to sound boastful. "You're definitely invited."
"Oh, brother... I've had enough of these two already..." Zofia complained. "We better get out of here before they turn our holiday cheer into lumps of coal." she then suggested.
"Hear-hear!" LJ nodded.
"I don't think there's enough room in here for us and Titus's ego." Penny responded.
Anne, Zofia, Marcy and Sasha agreed as they each paid and left the establishment.
"Don't listen to them, they're just jealous." Janet told Titus as she seemed to be sucking up to him.
"Eh, it figures," Titus shrugged. "Anyone would be jealous of yours truly. I'm like an Adonis!"
"Actually, that would be me." said a tan-skinned, blonde-haired young man sitting at a nearby table.
So, the kids headed back to the Moltenschwartz house. Anne, Marcy, and Sasha waved goodbye to LJ and Zofia before they went to head off to their own homes. Zofia waved them away as well before going with LJ and Penny back home. When the kids got home, Thor was shown to be asleep on the couch while David and Elyse were watching a show called Mary Moo Cow on TV that was left on for them.
"I don't see the appeal." David commented as LJ and Zofia came inside with Penny.
"We're hoooome!" called LJ as he took his shoes off.
Elyse nodded before looking over and then crawling to LJ and Zofia's feet.
"Hey, Ellie." Zofia smiled as she scooped up the baby girl, nuzzling with her.
Elyse giggled and smiled back at Zofia.
"Hi, Uncle Thor." LJ said as he came into the living room.
"I'd like to buy a vowel!" Thor cried out in his sleep before looking over at LJ and Zofia. "Oh. Hey, kids. I see you brought a friend over." he then smiled.
"Sure did!" LJ said. "This is Penny, she's from school."
"Hello there, Penny," Thor smiled at her. "I'm Uncle Thor to LJ and Zofia, but Daddy to Felicity, David, and Elyse."
"Nice to meet you, sir, but how exactly does that work?" Penny replied. "Are you Mr. or Mrs. Moltenschwartz's brother or something?" she then asked.
"It's a funny story, ya see," Thor replied. "I'm LJ and Zofia's honorary uncle, but I'm also the father of their other brother and sisters, Felicity, David, and Elyse while the Mr. Moltenschwartz you're thinking of is LJ and Zofia's father and Mrs. Moltenschwartz is everybody's mother. Does that make sense?" he then asked.
"Uh... I guess..." Penny shrugged. "It's nice to meet you either way."
"Good to know you too, Penny," Thor smiled before looking at LJ and Zofia. "Your parents are doing last minute Christmas shopping with Jay, Carlos, Mal, Felicity, and Evie, but they should be back home in time for dinner."
"Oh, cool!" LJ beamed as he went rifling around for his book that he was going to read from.
"Make yourself at home, Penny. I'll make you kids some snacks." Thor told the blonde girl as he decided to go into the kitchen.
Zofia then came into the living room to put Elyse back down next to David, then decided to change the channel, rolling her eyes at Mary Moo Cow.
"Your uncle seems nice at least." Penny commented to LJ and Zofia.
"Yeah, he's pretty great!" LJ said. "Ah, here it is!" The book he pulled out was entitled 'The Duck Family Memoirs'.
"Oh, good! You found the book you wanted," Penny said before taking a look. "'The Duck Family Memoirs'?" she then wondered.
"Yeah, Scrooge figured it was about time to try his hand in the world of publishing." LJ responded.
"Scrooge?" Penny asked. "Oh, Scrooge McDuck, right?"
"The one and only!" LJ nodded.
"Well, I'll have to see if I have time to hear about it," Penny smiled. "Uncle Gadget might need me back home, ya know."
"Of course, Penny," Zofia replied. "This means a lot to LJ though and hopefully Mal can hear before Hades comes to pick her up for their vacation together as father and daughter."
"Yeah," LJ said as he went to check the window. "Are they back yet?"
"Soon." Thor replied as he came back into the living room with snacks for everyone to share.
LJ groaned a little bit as he tried to be patient.
MEANWHILE AT THE MALL...
"Okay, I think we have about everything we can get from here," Cherry said as she checked her list while shopping with Lionel and the teenagers. "Anyone else need anything they absolutely need here?" she then asked.
"Nope!" Mal, Evie, Jay, and Felicity replied, though Carlos seemed to be distracted.
"How about you, Carlos?" Cherry asked the freckled boy, though he didn't answer her right away. "...Carlos? CARLOS!" she then called to him.
Carlos was shown to be staring at the kids in line to see Santa Claus at the Mall before he shook his head. "Huh? Oh, sorry," he then said once he snapped out of it. "I just had a childhood flashback."
"What happened, son?" Lionel asked as he went over to him.
"It's kind of a long story... probably the only time I really enjoyed Christmas as a kid." Carlos said before smiling a little.
"You wanna tell us, dear?" Cherry offered as they were going to make their final purchases so that they could go back home.
"This should be good." Mal smirked a little.
"Oh, you know, just that time of year when the Santas come over on Christmas morning." Carlos then said like was a normal sentence.
"The Santas? Like, plural?" Lionel inquired. "From what I learned, there's only a singular Santa, and he comes at night to leave presents and/or coal."
"Come on, man!" Carlos said to them. "The Santas that come over on Christmas to cheer my mom up."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mal asked Carlos.
"Language, Malissa." Cherry reminded the purple-haired girl.
"Sorry, ma'am." Mal then said quickly since she was trying not to swear as much.
"Oh, dude. This was, like, the best tradition ever, man." Carlos began to explain to them.
A flashback was then shown of a very young Carlos as he was drawing with crayons until he heard the doorbell and began to look excited as he answered the door to find a man in a Santa suit, complete with beard and a hat with a gift for the oblivious young boy.
"Every Christmas morning, I would run to the door and I'd open it, and I'd find the first Santa Claus," Carlos explained as his young self accepted the present while Santa would come upstairs to join Carlos' mother, Cruella who greeted him with a glass of gin. "Then he'd go in the room with my mom, and cheer her up for a while. Then the doorbell would ring, and the next Santa Claus would come. And he'd give me a present or something or other, and he'd go cheer my mom up for a while," he then added as other men came to the door, looking less and less like Santa Claus and even one time, two men came to the door with a rubber ball and a banana for the freckled boy. "I didn't always understand the presents, but I always found a way to have fun with them."
"Ya don't say..." Felicity's voice replied thickly.
"Wait, dude. One year, Santa even brought one of his elves." Carlos then narrated.
"It's like a goddamn sauna up there." A pantsless short man mumbled as he came downstairs, passing by Carlos on the couch as he went to get an ice cold beer from the fridge.
"At least I think it was an elf," Carlos then commented. "The memory's kind of blurry for some reason."
"Merry Christmas." The elf then muttered as he walked by.
Carlos then smiled nostalgically as he finished his flashback while everyone else looked at him with horror on their faces and wide eyes.
"...ohhhh," Lionel blinked in realization. "Oh, my God..."
"What? You guys don't have Santas coming to your house?" Carlos asked out of confusion.
"Uh... Carlos... I don't know how to tell you this... Uh... Can I even say it?" Jay spoke nervously with a sheepish smile.
"...I'm gonna tell you this much: those were not Santas, and I'm pretty sure that last guy wasn't an elf." Lionel stated with a sigh.
"What're you talking about?" Carlos asked out of confusion.
"Let's not dwell on it right now," Cherry suggested as she began to bag up everything. "Let's get to the car and go meet LJ and Zofia at home before it gets dark and since it's winter, darkness isn't far away."
"I agree, let's go." Felicity added.
"Hmph." Carlos shrugged and pouted as he followed them to leave the Mall together.
The group left the mall and climbed into the minivan. Lionel started the engines, and they drove back home.