"Wake up!" Marti jumped in between Casey and Derek in the bed, forcing them awake before the sun. Hell, it was even too early for Casey!
"Marti, if you don't get off this bed, I'm donating all your gifts to the annoying kid down the street."
"Merry Christmas!" Of course, the kid didn't listen and continued to jump.
"Merry Christmas," Casey mumbled into her pillow. She was so sleepy that she swore she would trade all of her Christmas gifts for five more minutes of sleep.
Pulling the comforter with him while leaving Casey in the cold, Derek wobbled to the living room. Casey had no choice but to follow him, as it was probably warmer in the living room.
Considering no one in this family had the patience to wait for presents, that was the first thing on the to-do list.
Derek pushed Edwin out of the way so he could be the first to open a gift. Of course, he coincidentally grabbed one from Casey.
"Derek, don't crumple the wrapping paper. We could reuse that," Lizzie insisted.
Derek tore through the paper regardless of Lizzie's plea, smiling when he saw what was inside the box.
"Ah, sunglasses! How did you know?" He tried on the pair of black shades, modeling for his family.
"You only said you wanted them like five times," Casey smiled at her stepbrother.
"Thanks, Case."
When it was Casey's turn, she didn't have to read the label to know the first gift was from Derek. His wrapping skills are so, so bad.
Inside, she found a halfway folded up Gaels jersey.
"A jersey?"
"Yeah, I figured if you're going to show up to my games, you might as well wear the merchandise," he shrugged.
"It has a stain on it. Did you forget to get me a gift? Is this something you threw in from your duffel bag last minute?" It's just like Derek to pull something like this.
"I can't believe I missed that opportunity, but no. It's one of my lucky jerseys. I'm superstitious, so if you're coming to my games, you have to wear it. It should have enough good energy to counteract your bad luck."
She did not have bad luck!
"So you did this for your benefit?" She rolled her eyes.
"The team's benefit. Besides, I saw you looking for a jersey; I'm not completely heartless."
It was true. Casey wanted to support the team by wearing their colors. She had to admit hockey was growing on her little by little.
"D, how could you? You didn't give your lucky high school jersey to me when I joined the team," Edwin complained.
"Casey, you don't come to my soccer games, but you're going to Derek's hockey games?" Lizzie shot in.
"Don't be such a baby, Ed. You already quit the team, so what use is it to you?" Derek chuckled.
"You have a whole family that watches your games, Liz. You know I try my best to be there for everyone when I can." It was true.
Edwin and Liz remained upset until they got their gifts from Derek and Casey, and then they were all smiles.
Derek gave Edwin a drone, both a sweet and irresponsible gift, if Casey had a say in the matter. Lizzie's gift from Casey was a personalized duffel bag for her soccer equipment.
While Nora traveled around with the trash bag for scraps, Casey decided to run to the bathroom to try on her new but worn-in jersey. Derek was wearing his brand new sunglasses and had tried on his pajamas, so it was only fair that she wore his gift for her. The shirt smelled just like him, and although Casey often told him he smelled bad, that wasn't true at all.
Derek never thought he would witness Casey McDonald in his jersey, but it wasn't the most hideous thing in the world.
"Derek, I need you and Casey to run to the store - any store - that is still open to grab me a ham. George forgot to defrost the turkey, which means it's not stuffed, which means I need your guys' help."
Of course, George forgot about the turkey. Casey and Derek should've taken charge over Christmas, too, or even Lizzie!
"Why do we both have to go? Can't Casey go alone?" Derek whined, still not over being woken up at the crack of dawn. Hell, if Marti could drive, he would make her go as punishment.
"I'm sending you for the dessert, Derek. Otherwise, I don't want to hear you complain about whatever Casey chooses," Nora said.
"I'm thinking a fruit salad," Casey grinned.
Well, that made his mind up.
"Alright, I'll go."
"Casey McDonald needed on aisle five. I repeat: Space Case on aisle five."
Derek swindled a sweet worker into letting him use the loudspeaker to find Casey by pretending he was looking for a lost child. The truth was that they had gone their separate ways to find items on Nora's list, and he was too lazy to search around the store for his stepsister.
"Really, Derek?!" Casey mumbled to herself, rushing to aisle five with every intention of ramming the shopping cart into her stepbrother's ankles.
"Hey, there she is!" He couldn't help but notice Casey was still wearing his jersey, in public, mind you. This was better than when she wore his orangutan t-shirt or his sleep shirt because this was by choice.
As much as Casey wanted to hit Derek with her shopping cart when she spotted him in the aisle, she swallowed her anger for the sake of the holidays. Plus, there were cameras everywhere, and she didn't want to go to prison because of Derek.
"Take your shades off; we are in a grocery store." Casey ordered Derek around as she searched the aisle for a couple of cans of corn, reading the ingredients before picking the best. She bent over to put the cans into the cart, but Derek already took over as he searched to see what was in it.
"That didn't stop you from wearing my jersey. Take that off," Derek ordered back.
Sure, a jersey was a little informal, but not as bad as sunglasses and pajamas; at least, that's what Casey thought.
"I would, but I'm not wearing anything underneath," she said.
Derek's knees buckled, and he nearly knocked the shopping cart into the pyramid of cereal.
How could she say something like that so nonchalantly?
Casey finally realized what she said and quickly tried to recover such a bold, irresponsible statement.
"I mean, I'm wearing a bra, but -"
Oh, God. Everything she said was coming out wrong.
Derek turned to look at her, mouth agape. Luckily, he was wearing sunglasses because his eyes were wandering where they shouldn't have been.
"Der-Bear!" Casey and Derek turned down the aisle to see Kendra giddily walking up to them.
Normally, Casey didn't like to meet up with people at the grocery store, but considering she just embarrassed herself in front of Derek, this was a blessing.
"Kendra?! Hide me," Derek pleaded for Casey to help him, but it was too late. No amount of sunglasses could hide his identity.
"I knew that was you on the intercom, Der! And Casey, nice to see you, too. Cool jersey...very...vintage..."
"Uh, thanks. How have you been, Kendra?" Casey asked.
With such busy schedules, the two girls had lost touch with one another, sadly, but they were still good friends.
"I've been better than great, other than some unwanted anxiety from the holiday season. I'm having my first Christmas with Ralph's family and -"
"Wait, go back. Did you just say you and Ralph?" Casey and Derek exchanged glances, remaining as quiet as mice.
"Derry, did Ralph not tell you? We've been dating since the summer, and he proposed to me last night on Christmas Eve! Oh, I bet he was worried about how you would react since you and I were once an item."
"I'd rather not be reminded of that. Tell Ralph he's an idiot. That...relationship...was a long time ago."
"Tell him yourself. We're having a housewarming party at our new apartment. You guys have to come," Kendra insisted.
"We'll be there! Thanks for the invite," Casey waved goodbye as they headed for the checkout area.
"Why did you tell her we would both go to their housewarming party? I don't do housewarming parties, and I most certainly don't care what the inside of Ralph's shack looks like." A housewarming party would be better than the pity party he was throwing himself.
"Ralph is your close friend, Derek. You have to go."
"I don't have to do anything. Besides, this relationship will end before the housewarming party begins."
"How do you know? Maybe they love each other. Come to think of it, Kendra and Ralph really mesh well together," Casey admitted, putting some of the items on the conveyer.
Ralph was kind, loved music, and was manly. Those were all qualities Kendra appreciated in a suitor.
"Ralph moves quickly in relationships and moves right back out. He dated Amanda, wanted to leave her for you, and then he went back to Amanda. Now he's with Kendra? I don't buy it. That's not to mention Kendra's questionable dating history; she went through all of the members of D-Rock within a couple of years," Derek said.
"People change. Ralph proposing on Christmas Eve is so romantic," Casey lit up like a Christmas tree.
"You mean stupid?"
Casey scowled.
"It doesn't matter what you or I think. They're our friends, and we should support them."
Derek hated when she was right. Personal opinions aside, Ralph was his friend.
"I'll think about it. Let's get out of here; I'm starving."
Dinner was moderately saved thanks to Derek and Casey's grocery run.
"Kendra is getting married? So soon?" Nora was shocked with this sudden news. Casey thought her mother would have her back on this, but she sides with Derek?!
"Oh, Nora, I think it's romantic. Some of the best relationships happen quickly." George was siding with Casey? Oh, the world has stopped turning.
"Are you referring to me or your first wife?"
George paused.
"You, obviously!"
"Thank you, George, for being reasonable," Casey thanked him.
"You know what's unreasonable? This fruit salad you snuck into the shopping cart." Derek mentally put the words fruit and salad near the words monthiversary and Der-Bear as words he hated.
"Behave, Derek." George cut his eyes at his son.
"Siding with the enemy, Dad? I should've known this day would come."
"Knock it off."
"Alright, fine, but only because it's Christmas," Derek said.
George rolled his eyes.
"That doesn't mean I won't ground you," he told Derek.
"I thought it was an unsaid rule that Christmas is a no-grounding day," Edwin chimed in.
"Here's the deal, sons: always get it in writing, or it's not legitimate." Kudos to George, who's still a lawyer at the dinner table.
The rest of dinner went on as peacefully as one could expect with this blended family.
As the evening progressed, Casey grabbed whatever wrapping paper she could salvage and started toward the game closet.
Inside, she found Edwin and Lizzie scheming as they often did together.
"Is this about the bet?" Casey asked.
"You told her about the bet?" Edwin cried.
"I told Casey there was a bet, but I didn't disclose anything about it. That isn't breaking the rules!" Lizzie defended herself.
"Is that what the notebook is for?" Casey wondered.
Edwin slammed his notebook closed and held it to his chest.
"It's a notebook for notes. Lizzie and I are studying... behavioral patterns. That's all you need to know!"
The next thing to be slammed was the door in Casey's face. She didn't have a chance to save the wrapping paper inside, so to the attic she goes!
"Ha! Not even the kids want to see you," Derek grinned, passing Casey down the hallway.
"What do you think those two are up to?"
"I don't know, and I don't care. Aren't you coming to bed? We better get some sleep if we want to make it to that housewarming party tomorrow."
Yeah, yeah. Derek wasn't the most romantic, but he wanted to be there for Ralph.
"Wait, you're coming?" Casey grinned.
"What can I say? It's the power of the holidays."