The kitchen smelled of vanilla extract as the next batch of sugar cookies was under preparation. With one batch already baked and cooled down, it was time for the second batch to be placed in there for baking.
Nick watched from behind as his son Noah carefully pressed the cookie cutters into the dough that had already been rolled out for him. He made a couple of them in the shapes of stars and trees before placing them on the baking sheet to his right, which his father took after he was finished over towards the oven.
"Good job on those, buddy," Nick complimented. Walking over to the refrigerator and retrieving another baking sheet from inside it, he added, "And now it's time for the fun part."
"Sprinkles and icing?" Noah asked excitedly, clapping at the fact that the part he loved the most was about to begin.
"That's right," his father chuckled. "And since you did a terrific job on cutting them into those shapes, the duty of getting these cookies decorated is all yours."
"It'll be my honor, Dad," the fox kit replied playfully.
Nick laughed before grabbing some of the things would be used to turn the cookies from plain to festive.
A shaker of colorful sprinkles, a bowl filled with other candies, and a couple different colors of icing—red, green, royal blue—now laid out in front of Noah. This part of making Christmas cookies was so much fun for him, getting to decorate however he thought each one should look. He looked at the options laying before him, making a decision on what color icing the first cookie on tray should have on it.
"Let's make this one green," he said to himself, reaching for the piping bag filled with the mixture and making a swirly design with it.
"There sure is a lot of flour on the counter from when I was making that dough," Nick remarked as he tidied up the kitchen a bit. "Think you can help me get this place all cleaned up afterwards?"
"Sure thing," Noah replied with a nod of his head. As he continued working on decorating each cookie, he asked, "Hey, Dad?"
"Yes, Noah?" responded Nick.
"When's Mommy gonna be coming home?" the kit inquired.
"She shouldn't be too much longer, buddy," the tod said to his son. "After she finishes up at work, I'm sure she'll be here to enjoy the rest of Christmas Eve with us."
"Okay," Noah responded. "Do you think we can save one of these for her to do?"
"We sure can, son," replied Nick. "You leave one for her to decorate and she can do it with us when she comes home."
The phone on the table started to ring just as Nick was washing his paws. He dried them off and set the red and green paw towel to the side before heading over to see that Judy was calling him.
"Hey, Carrots," he said upon answering the call, "Noah and I were just thinking about you."
"I finished the report for Bogo and I'll be heading home as soon as I can," Judy said to him on the other end of the phone.
"That's good," responded Nick with relief.
"Gotta pick up that gift we ordered for Noah first from the store," added Judy, "and then I'll be home."
"Alrighty. Noah and I'll see you then. Oh, and he said he wanted to save you one of the cookies we made together for you to decorate."
A giggle came from the rabbit through the phone. "Okay, I'll let you know when I'm going to be home."
Some Time Later...
Nick looked back at the large clock that hung from the kitchen wall, concern starting to bubble up inside of him as the minute passed. The phone call he got from his bunny a moment ago, letting him know that the traffic was a lot worse than she expected, had him worried about her getting home okay. He knew how reckless or stupid mammals could be when driving on an ordinary day, let alone on Christmas Eve. He breathed a prayer in the back of his mind that she would be alright, getting back home safely to him and Noah.
It was Christmastime, after all, so a miracle was possible to come about and remedy the unanticipated situation.
The fox tried to dismiss his worrying, knowing that that wasn't going to make things any better for anyone. He made his way back and sat by the television that was playing in the front living room, familiar and nostalgic Christmas commercials being what was on in that moment. Taking a seat beside his son, they waited for the movie, the one the Wilde-Hopps family watched every year on Christmas Eve together as a family, to finally begin.
"Is Mommy coming home soon?" Noah asked once again. The look on his face told Nick that he was also wondering why she hadn't gotten home yet.
"She's dealing with the holiday traffic," he responded honestly. "It's pretty bad tonight. I'm sure she won't be too much longer, though, and then she'll be here to watch the rest of the show with us."
"But she won't get to see it all from the beginning," Noah returned with a glint of sadness to his voice. "It's her favorite movie."
And that it was. It was the one that she and her siblings back in Bunnyburrow used to watch each year when she was growing up, and she passed on the tradition of seeing it with her husband and child. They would be playing a great amount of times on just about every channel tomorrow, though, so she wasn't able to cath all of it tonight, she would be able to watch it with them on Christmas Day.
Nick tried his best to try and brighten the spirits of the kit. "Noah," he said to him, "I know how we can get Mom to come home soon."
"How?" Noah wondered, looking back up at his father.
"Have you ever made a wish on a star for Christmas Eve?" Nick asked him in reply. "My mother always told me when I was your age that when you make a wish on a star during the holidays, it would always come true."
"Really?" the fox kit said, intrigued by what his father had told him about.
"It's true," his father answered. "Matter of fact, it works every time I made a wish on Christmas Eve, I've always gotten exactly what I wish for. You want to give it a try?"
"Yeah, Dad!" Noah said enthusiastically, jumping up and down in his seat. "Let's go make some wishes!"
Nick chuckled before getting up from his side of the couch. "Let's head out onto the porch and go look at the sky for a star to wish on. Maybe by then the show will be coming on."
With that, Noah got up and followed him as they exited the warmth of the house and stepped out into the frosty night. Father and son, bundled up in their coats and festive gloves (a gift they got in the mail from the Hopps family), stood together and gazed up at the glimmering sky.
"Wow…" Noah remarked with eyes aglow. With science being his favorite subject in school, the stars were so fascinating to see. Everyday when he got home after learning something new about space in class, he could hardly wait to tell his parents over supper.
"Did you find one that looks good to wish on?" Nick inquired as he continued to look up at the expanse above them.
Noah focused on the stars with squinted eyes, eventually pointing up at one in particular that scintillated brightly to the east. "That one," he told his father, having made his decision.
"That's a good choice, buddy," replied his father. "What you have to do next is look up at it, fold your paws together, and make your wish."
Noah did exactly that, bringing his little paws together and saying to himself, "I wish that Mommy will get home soon and we can enjoy Christmas Eve together…"
He looked back over at his father, who also was doing the same thing as he just did. After he finished whispering the wish he was making then, he looked back over at the him. "You make your wish?"
"I sure did, Dad," replied Noah with a grin coming back to him.
Nick was happy that the smile was returning to the kit's face. "Now remember, Noah," he informed. "You also gotta believe that your wish will come true. Believing's the most important part. When you're done with that last part, you have to close your eyes and keep saying to yourself, 'I believe.'"
His father closed his eyes and continued to repeat those two simple words, and Noah did the same and chimed in. The kit believed as hard as he could that the star would grant his special Christmas Eve wish. He opened up his eyes after saying it several times and returned his attention back to his dad.
"Very good," Nick said, happy to share something his own mother taught him a long time ago with his son. "Now let's go head back inside."
"Wait, Dad," Noah responded, holding up his paw. "I wanna see if I can find those... those, uh... groups of stars in the sky."
"The constellations?" asked his father.
The fox kit nodded his head. "Yeah. I forgot what they were called."
Nick hadn't taken an interest in searching for constellations since he was really young, back when he shared a similar interest as his son did in outer space and the like. "Up there's one," he told him. "If you look over to the left and trace the shape of it with your finger, you can see the shape they're supposed to make."
"Cool," Noah simply responded.
They then made their way over to some chairs that had been placed out on the porch, sitting in them so they could lean their heads back comfortably as they continued to look at the sky for the constellations Noah wanted to find.
Some time had went by, the show that was supposed to come on forgotten for the time being, and the kit heard the sounds of tires coming to a stop in their driveway. This was followed the sights of headlamps casting a shadow behind where he and his father were sitting. Could it be? he thought as he heard the sound of a car door being opened and closed.
"Dad, I think it worked!" Noah said ecstatically, getting up and grabbing his father's paw to lift him form out of his seat. "My Christmas wish came true!"
With that, the fox kit ran up to the gate, reaching up on tippy-toes to unlock it, and running out into the yard to head over to the front house.
"Noah, wait up," his father called out behind him, walking over to where he was running to. "Be careful."
The family's car was safely parked in the driveway, and Judy was now making her way to the front door to enter the house.
"Mom!" Noah exclaimed with excitement, running up to his mother and giving him the biggest hug a kit his size could give.
"I thought you said the traffic was bumper-to-bumper downtown," Nick wondered as he walked up to his bunny, giving her a kiss.
"It was for awhile," Judy responded, "but an opening came up when I was least expecting it. It's almost like it was Christmas miracle or something."
Upon hearing the mentioning of a miracle, Noah started to joyous hop up and down as if he were a kangaroo and not a fox kit. "It came true! It came true!" he exclaimed effervescently.
"What came true, honey?" the rabbit asked him.
"Dad showed me how to make a Christmas wish," Noah answered with the widest of smiles. "I made one for you to come home so we could watch your show together, and it came true! I'm so excited!"
Judy placed a paw over her chest. "Awww, Noah," she said to the kit, returned the hug he had given her a short moment ago with one of her own.
"And I made a wish of my own as well, Carrots," Nick said to his bunny as he walked up closer to him, taking her paw and intertwining it with hers.
"And what was that, Slick?" the doe wondered, looking back at him with eyes that sparkled like the purple Christmas lights that were part of their home's holiday lights they decorated with.
"The same one I make every year," the vulpine remarked, looking around at his wonderful family. "For everyone to be happy and to get to spend the best holiday of the year with who I love the most."
Author's Note: Hey there, readers! Thought it would be nice to do a short and sweet holiday story like this, so I decided to get this one finished in time for all of you looking for something to put a smile on your face.
Hopefully I did a good job at doing exactly that, and I hope you liked this little story of mine. Also, I know I didn't write near as many holiday stories as I did the year before (had some terrible writer's block that I got past a bit too late), but I hope that you enjoyed those as well.
As always, your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated. And thank you to every single one of y'all that has given these little tales of mine a read. It really means a lot to me! :)
'Til next time! Hope everyone has a wonderful and very merry Christmas! :)