~* A Christmas To Remember *~ T’was the week before Christmas And all through the mall Not a business was empty Not one single stall…

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Fortunately or unfortunately for me, I was nowhere near the mall, instead stuck in class. Thursday, the last day of school before winter break, I had all but finished my end of semester tests. Outside the classroom window, just past Mrs. Ellis’ desk, snow had begun to fall again. It was just a light flurry, but with two feet blanketing the ground, and another two feet on top of that in snow drifts, I began to see why everyone else, even Jennifer, were so shocked that I’d never seen the stuff!

Too cold for anything lighter, I’d worn my favorite heavy white sweater, my bangs dangling loosely about my cheeks despite having pulled my hair back for the day, as I stared down at the final question before me, letting my mind wander just a little. The last question of the last test of the year, ‘What’s the most important thing you’ve learned this year?’

Mrs. Ellis was a sneaky one like that. I figured everyone else that had either cracked a smile or giggled dashed off some nonsensical answer or one-liner about the value of good writing skills, leaving only myself and my teacher. Finally, I smiled and began to write.

“What I have learned this year is not something that comes from textbooks. I learned this year that the world is not all black and white, nor even shades of gray. The world is a rainbow. There are good people and bad people, but for the most part, there are just people. I have also learned more about myself in six months than I did in my fifteen years prior to coming here.”

With that, I slid my disposable ink pen into my purse and stood, taking both it and my test to Mrs. Ellis’ desk. I could see the anticipation in her eyes as she smiled, accepting it. Her gaze immediately darted to the final question. I could have left then, but I think I was as curious to see her reaction as she was to see what had taken me so long to write.

“I expected no less from my favorite student,” she mused as she looked up again, her smile broadening. “I have something for you. Well, a couple of faculty chipped in for it, with Principal Rochelle’s blessing of course.” She set my paper aside even as she pulled open the top drawer of her bulky old desk. The anachronism of such a young, small-framed teacher being saddled with a piece of furniture that looked like it belonged in a 50s movie always amused me.

My eyes lit up though, as she offered me a box-shaped brightly-wrapped present. “Mrs. Ellis, you didn’t have to do this.”

“I know. It was Coach Wilson’s idea actually, but since there’s no final for P.E.,” she paused briefly, motioning toward me. “Well, go on, open it!”

I peeled the wrapping away only to be met with a nondescript, unassuming cardboard box, and as I opened it, brushing away the packing materials, I could see the very top of a glass dome. Mrs. Ellis reached under her desk, retrieving her small trash bin so that I could dump the packing materials without making a glorious mess of her floor. As I dug away the material, I could see more of the glass dome, until I finally had enough room to pull it out.

The snow globe had a very solid feel to its wooden base, the scene within depicting a little girl with conspicuously black hair, building a snowman outside a small cabin. Tiny ceramic trees dotted her landscape. I giggled as I shook it, creating a swirling blizzard around the girl. Across the front, the letters “R. S.” were carved. My initials?

“It’s beautiful!” I whispered. I could feel tears welling up. I didn’t even hear the door close behind me.

“Glad you like it,” Coach Wilson answered behind me. I gently set it down, turning to hug her.

“Thank you so much, both of you,” I managed through tears. It was just such a touching moment. Coach Wilson gave me a chaste hug in return, and as I let go to retrieve my gift, she answered.

“You’ve not had an easy year. We all know that. There have been times when I’ve almost lost my temper with Brittany, but you took it in stride. You are a remarkable young lady. I never thought I would be learning from a student instead of the other way around.” She chuckled. “You were right about her, though. You’d make a heck of a talent scout.”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” I giggled. “I should get going though. Nikki’s giving me a ride home. Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” they answered almost in unison as I rushed out. I’d at least had the foresight to put my fragile present back in its box before leaving. I closed it up as I reached my locker to retrieve my coat.

I had already cleaned out my notebooks, leaving only my textbooks, since my class schedule for the next semester would be largely similar anyway. The halls were almost startlingly empty. I didn’t think I had spent that much time writing, though maybe there were others still testing?

“There you are!” Nicole called cheerfully from behind me as I passed the girls’ room. “What’s in the box?” she asked as I spun around to face her. I grinned and opened it; her eyes lit up when she saw the little winter scene, and I just had to giggle.

“Coach Wilson and Mrs. Ellis got me a Christmas present. Isn’t it adorable?”

Nicole started giggling. “Oh man. That’s awesome,” she mused softly then nodded. “I need to see if I can get into AP English with you guys next semester.”

“You should. Not only will it look great on a college application, it’s also really not any worse than regular English at my old school,” I offered, as we turned to walk to her car. “In my old English class we hardly ever talked about literature. Instead we just covered the same basic grammar stuff we’ve been having drilled into our heads since second grade.”

“Oh gawd, you’re kidding right? We stopped doing that ‘parts of speech’ junk in junior high!” Nicole rolled her eyes and laughed. “Oh hey, did Moira call you too?”

“Moira?” I asked, and frowned. “No. Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. She just wanted to let us know she had a surprise for us this weekend. She wouldn’t say what though, and I thought maybe she’d said something to you, y’know, like accidentally let something slip.”

“Nikki, you’re terrible,” I laughed, giving her a light squeeze with my free hand as she pushed the large glass door open and proceeded through, holding it open for me. She grinned.

“Yeah, but you know you love me,” she shot back, stealing a kiss on my cheek as I passed.

~oOo~

Normally Saturdays were our traditional ‘sleepover’ night, but Jennifer’s flight would be leaving Saturday morning to carry her and her family off to Hawaii for the week, so we decided to make an exception: well, two exceptions, actually. With everything going on in my, Mom’s, and Margie’s lives, none of us had really had time to devote to decorating the house. The Jones’ looked spectacular of course, both inside and out. Joe even put a fake sleigh with plastic reindeer on the roof and a light-up plastic Santa buried upside-down up to his waist in the snow bank.

After Margie took a picture of us pretending to pull ‘Santa’ out of the snow, we piled into Nicole’s Mustang. We were four girls on a mission: rock the mall for great Christmas decorations. We would be having a slumber party at my house tonight, but only after we thoroughly put Mom and Margie into the Christmas spirit.

Of course, they had no idea what we were planning. Mom had a last-minute late-shift request, and since there were promises of overtime, she decided to accept. Margie and Kelly were going to New Haven to do some last-minute shopping, and would be gone for hours.

“So have you heard from Andrea yet?” Jennifer asked out-of-the-blue.

“Huh? She was on webcam this morning, remember?”

Jennifer chuckled. “No, I mean, is she coming here for the holidays?”

“Oh!” I answered with a light laugh. I had completely forgotten Andrea wanted to come back and visit over winter break. I shook my head. “She hasn’t said anything about it yet. I’ll e-mail her tonight and ask.”

Nicole smiled, glancing over. “My offer stands, if she needs a place to stay. I know it’s weird, new girlfriend offering to help old girlfriend, but I understand what it’s like when life kicks you in the teeth,” she offered, reaching over to squeeze my hand.

I smiled back at her, returning the squeeze. “Thanks Nikki. I still can’t believe Christmas is here already though. It feels like just yesterday I was just meeting you guys.”

Allison cracked a giggle. “Yeah, really. I’m so glad we got to meet the real you Robin. Bad stuff’s happened this year. I mean, what with that super-creep attacking us, and your mom and everything, plus Brittany and Jason, but the good’s totally outweighed it.”

“Like getting to hang out with Heedless freaking Despair?” Nicole chimed in, giggling as we pulled into Alpine Springs’ mini-mall parking lot.

~oOo~

Despite my arguing to the contrary, Nicole spared no expense. Fortunately Allison had already talked to her dad about their old Christmas tree. They decided to get a real tree this year, so with no need for the fake one in storage, they would generously let us use it. That still left lights, garland, wreaths, bows… Needless to say, a trip to the party supply store where we first met Josh was in order.

By the time we arrived back at home, Joe had just stepped out our front door. He smiled and waved as he approached, and Allison bounded out of the car, calling cheerfully. “Hi Daddy!”

“Hi Princess,” he replied as warmly, catching her in a hug as she rushed over. He laughed. “You’re sure in high spirits.”

Nicole laughed. “Shopping does that to her.” She held up one of the smaller bags as she popped the trunk, so we could get to the other, heavier shopping bags.

“Dad, can we borrow that removable glue stuff?” Allison asked sweetly. “We’ve got a bunch of stuff to decorate with, but we don’t want to put up a bunch of nails.”

“Sure. Your mother has some removable wall hooks left over too, great for hanging a wreath,” he answered with a grin.

“Oh, that’s perfect! Thanks Dad!” she replied, dashing off toward their house. I watched her expertly sprint across the yards, even despite the three or so feet of snow to negotiate, and shook my head.

“I think she should be the one running track next year.”

Joe laughed as he took a couple of shopping bags in-hand. “No matter how old you get, you’re never too old to be a kid at Christmas. You should have seen Kelly’s eyes light up her first Christmas with us, you know, after the big change. I’m not too proud to admit it brought tears to my eyes to see her so happy,” he offered gently, still smiling broadly.

“Jennifer, you’ll be leaving tomorrow right?” he asked. She smiled, nodding.

“Yeah. Usually I just spend a week with my grandpa in the summer, but this year my dad got a big promotion, so he’s flying us out to spend the holidays there too as sort of a treat. I’m going to miss the snow, but I always wanted to see what a palm tree looks like decorated up.” She grinned impishly. I had no doubt whatsoever that she meant it, and wholly expected a photo in my inbox before the week was out.

“I thought so,” he answered. “I was going to wait until closer to Christmas to give Kelly her present, but I really wanted you four to all be here. Plus this is the only time she’s going to be out of the house long enough for me to get it moved inside.” He grinned.

“What are we talking about?” Allison asked as she stepped inside, closing the front door behind her.

Nicole laughed. “Your dad’s up to something.”

“Oh, that!” Allison answered with a giggle. “Yeah, I might have to disappear for a few minutes to help with that. Daddy got an amazing deal on a baby grand piano!”

My jaw dropped. “Seriously? That’s awesome!”

Joe nodded his agreement. “I thought there had to be something wrong with it for the price. Turns out the previous owner was moving to a smaller house and just didn’t have room for it anymore, and wanted to see it go to a good home. I had to hire professional movers because it has to be disassembled to be moved, but with Kelly’s interest in music again, we decided to do something to encourage her.”

Allison nodded. “I was a little surprised at first, that they included me in the decision.” She smiled up at her dad, resting her head lightly against his shoulder. “Because it means when I turn sixteen, I won’t be getting a brand new car, but new cars are totally overrated. I mean, look at Nikki’s Mustang!” she joked, giggling. “Besides, I can always borrow Mom’s SUV. This is something Kelly’s always wanted though.”

~oOo~

By the time we had finished decorating, the house looked amazing. We put a fake candle light in the window, surrounded by plastic holly, with a wreath hanging down above it, and we set the tree just off to the side so it would be visible through the window when Mom and Margie got home. We also hung a wreath on the front door, and wrapped an extra-long garland rope around the banister leading upstairs.

Joe had bought the most adorable little miniature grand piano Christmas tree ornament that we hung on the front of the tree for Kelly to find. By the time Margie and Kelly arrived, well past seven, we had already had a light dinner, and we were sitting around the living room watching a DVD. It was all I could do to stay awake under the warm blanket I shared with Nicole as we cuddled on the sofa, but the hot chocolate certainly helped. I could hear the two gasp as they entered the living room, and I smiled, raising my mug.

“Wow, you girls really outdid yourselves!” Margie remarked excitedly. Kelly looked around in wide-eyed marvel, and I giggled, nodding toward Allison, sitting closest to the tree. She stood, approaching her sister and taking her by the hand.

“C’mere sis. I want you to see something.”

She tugged Kelly over to the tree, gently retrieving the miniature piano ornament. She placed it in Kelly’s hand, grinning broadly. “Merry Christmas!”

We all leaned forward and watched as she stared down at the ornament. She turned it over slowly in her hands, finally letting out a surprised but cheerful laugh. “I always wanted a grand piano. Thanks sis. It’s adorable.” She smiled, oblivious to its meaning so far, as she hugged Allison. Allison just giggled, grabbing her hand.

“C’mon. You too, Margie!” she called. The rest of us stood, grabbing our jackets as we ran to try and keep up with the sisters. Joe stood with the front door to the Jones’ house wide open now.

“What’s this about?” Kelly asked, confused. “Don’t tell me there’s like a car in the garage for me or something, is there? Because you need it more than I do.”

Allison giggled. “Nooooope! Not even close.” She pulled Kelly along, stopping at the front door where Joe stepped aside. Carol was waiting just inside, camera in-hand, and grinning like any proud mother would at that moment.

“Oh my God,” Kelly whispered. Margie echoed that sentiment a moment later. In the far corner of the room stood a newly set-up baby grand piano and bench. A gigantic red ribbon, tied in a bow, rested precariously on one corner just above the keys.

Kelly’s hand shook; she nearly dropped the miniature ornament as she stepped closer. She reached out to touch it, as if expecting it to just disappear any moment. She turned back to us, more specifically to her parents, tears streaming down her face. “How did you…? How could you afford this?”

Joe smiled as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his shoulder, holding him tightly as Carol and Allison joined in the family hug. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart. It wasn’t as much as you’d expect, even with the cost of tuning and getting it moved. The previous owner just wanted it to go to a good home.”

“Oh, Daddy…” she whispered, and turned to face Allison. “But this still had to cost a lot.”

Allison rolled her shoulders and grinned. “It was a family decision, and a unanimous one. Besides, now you can give Robin a proper lesson,” she teased, grinning over at me. I just giggled and shook my head.

“Hey, this is your moment. Don’t look at me.”

Kelly giggled as she stepped over to us though, pulling me into a hug. “Robin, I know my old keyboard’s not much, but I’d like you to have it. You’re more than welcome to come over and practice on the piano any time you want of course, but I still want you to have my old keyboard.”

I blinked up at her. I couldn’t believe my ears. “You’re… serious?”

She sniffed, wiping at her eyes with her index finger even as she nodded. “Absolutely. I want to keep it ‘in the family’ so to speak.”

We followed Kelly as she stepped closer and sat down on the bench. After a few seconds of scales, she began to play “White Christmas”. Nicole slipped an arm around my waist, and I leaned closer, resting my head on her shoulder. This was what Christmas was supposed to be about: giving warmth and joy to the people we love. This was, in many ways, my first real Christmas, and it would be one I would never forget.

~oOo~

The three of us, minus Jennifer, spent the entire morning lounging around in our pajamas. Needless to say, Mom loved what we had done with the decorations, but she agreed with me that we spent way too much. Still, it was an investment. Decorations can always be put in storage for next year, after all.

Somewhere around noon, just after I had finally gotten my shower, someone knocked at the front door just as I reached the bottom steps. I pulled my hair down out of its towel and opened the door to find Moira and another woman I didn’t quite recognize standing there. The other woman had beautiful dark brown hair lying in loose curls. Her brilliant blue eyes sparkled in the ambient light. She smiled innocently at me as Moira waved.

“Hi Robin,” she offered sweetly.

“Moira, hey! Come in!” I quickly stepped aside, motioning for the two to follow. The other woman, definitely older than Moira, but younger than Mom, continued to stare at me for another moment or two.

“You really don’t recognize me do you?” the woman asked. I admit I didn’t at first, until she spoke. I knew that accent instantly, even if she did try to hide it when she sang.

“Scarlet?!”

She giggled as she offered a slender hand. “Well, you can call me Jessica. I was starting to miss our lost sheep here. Kris and Lucia wanted to come too, but someone had to stay behind and deal with that creep ex of Kris’.” She shot Moira an apologetic smile at that, but the bassist shook her head.

“Don’t worry about him, Jess. Really, I’m okay now. I just needed some down-time.”

Jessica turned back to me with a nod. “Moira’s been catching me up on everything. At least, I think it’s Moira. It looks like her, but she’s far too cheerful. One wonders if she’s been replaced by aliens or daleks.” Dal-whats?

Moira rolled her eyes and laughed. “I guess it’s just the fact I never really felt like I ‘belonged’ before. This was always just a job for me. It was always a paycheck, and a chance to mess with people once in awhile, but after the way you all stood up for me-”

“And the way Kris knocked that creep on his butt,” I offered, causing them both to laugh.

“That too,” she continued. “It made me realize how much I do care about you lot.”

Jessica smiled, giving her friend a sage nod and a friendly hug. “You don’t spend six months on tour with someone without either bonding with them, or trying to kill them.”

“So what are you two doing in Alpine Springs?” I asked, causing the both of them to turn back to me and grin.

“Planning,” Jessica offered innocently. Moira elbowed her lightly and giggled.

“Oh, don’t tease the poor girl Jess!” She turned back to me. “We’re looking at possible venues for kicking off a full-fledged North America tour next Spring. Jessica’s been working on some amazing new songs.”

“I’ve got one I just need to put to music; it’s a romantic tragedy that will go great with Shadow’s reintroduction as the Lady in White,” Jessica added with a broad grin. Moira nodded.

“I’m not half the singer Jessica is-”

Jessica smirked, cutting her off. “That’s alright. Most of the top fifty pop stars aren’t half the singer I am,” she chided playfully.

“But there might be a duet in it for me,” she continued. I could hear the excitement in her tone. She glanced at her watch and frowned. “Speaking of which we’re due to meet with your city Chamber of Commerce in twenty minutes.”

“Uh-oh?” I asked, not really sure what that entailed. Jessica smiled as she shook her head.

“Nah, nothing like that; Nicole’s party turned out a bit larger a media circus than we expected. Not that that’s a bad thing, but we wanted to give everybody more time to prepare. Once we pick a spot we’ll let our manager handle the logistics.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Good luck with it!” I offered.

~oOo~

The rest of the week passed us by relatively uninterestingly. Andrea had decided to stay with her family for the holidays, as I expected she might. She was taking things more slowly now, one day at a time, but she finally met a new friend, in the least likely place. She was reluctant to talk about him because he happened to be the varsity quarterback, but she assured me that they really were just friends.

A sudden blizzard in the New York area kept Ash’s mother from coming in to visit as she’d hoped, but we spoke on the phone a few times, and she promised, despite my insisting otherwise, to send presents through the mail in her stead.

On Christmas Eve, our families minus Jennifer’s came together at the Jones’ for an impromptu celebration. Carol, despite the short notice, threw together an amazing meal. Nicole, Allison and I stayed in the kitchen to clean up, and as Nicole dried the last of the dishes, she grinned, glancing at Allison and me.

“So I’ve been thinking. Robin really needs to spend Christmas morning with her mom and Margie. Maybe we should exchange our gifts tonight?”

Allison nodded her agreement. “Good idea. I already put mine under the tree.”

“Mine’s out in the trunk,” Nicole added.

“And mine’s just next door,” I offered with a grin. Nicole and I stepped outside together while Allison filled the adults in on what we were up to. Needless to say, Carol had her camera out by the time we returned. We agreed on a twenty dollar limit each, but when I saw the sterling silver heart pendant necklace and chain, I immediately thought of Nicole. It was only five dollars over the limit, too.

For Allison, as odd as it probably sounded to outsiders, nail polish was something of a special and private joke between us. It all started with an offer to do my nails because she needed an excuse not to leave that strange, scared-witless girl pretending to be a boy by herself.

I carried my brightly-wrapped parcels inside where everyone had gathered around the tree, apparently waiting for me.

“Nikki, I know we agreed on a limit, but when I saw this, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. It’s only a little over the limit though.” I handed her the smaller parcel, and her cheeks began to redden as she smiled back. I turned to Allison with the larger parcel. “And Ally, you are a hard person to shop for,” I chided her playfully, “But I finally found something uniquely ‘you’!”

Allison and Nicole both giggled excitedly as they opened their gifts. Nicole’s eyes lit up as she opened the small, velveteen box containing her necklace. She immediately moved closer to wrap her arms around me, and I smiled, giving her a quick, chaste kiss in return as we embraced. I could see the tears forming already as she stared back at me for a long moment. “I love you,” she whispered. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

Allison squealed a moment later, giggling vapidly as the torn paper fell asunder, revealing a large nail polish caddy, already stocked with a few fresh bottles of her favorite colors and brands. She set it aside as Nicole side-stepped me, motioning for her to join us. After a group hug, and another round of giggles, Allison and Nicole exchanged their gifts and gave me mine.

I sat on the arm of the nearby sofa as I held the larger package from Nicole in my lap, opening Allison’s first. She smiled broadly as I pulled another snow globe from a box. This one, unlike the other one, depicted four girls having a snowball fight. She laughed. “When I saw it, I immediately thought of you and that first big snow.”

Nicole laughed. “Yeah, and when I saw the one Coach Wilson and Mrs. Ellis gave you, I had to bite my tongue ‘coz I was with Ally when she bought it. You’ve officially started a collection, now.” She added with a grin.

“I love it,” I answered, shaking it up. “I know just the place to put it, too. This is going on my desk so I can look at it every time I’m chatting with you guys.”

Nicole grinned as she watched me unwrap her present. “Now, to be fair, that’s WAY over the limit, but it’s something you needed, so I hope you’ll forgive me just this once. I promise never to do it again.”

I gave her a skeptical stare, but her pleading gaze melted my resolve instantly, and I cracked a smile, peeling the paper aside. She was right, though. A shoebox lid greeted me just beyond the thin wrapping. I pushed it aside to find a brand new pair of basketball shoes waiting for me. My old ones, though technically only about six months old, were completely worn out. I shook my head as I set them aside and stood to hug her tightly. By now she had put on her necklace and the matched silver hoop earrings Allison gave her. Great minds think alike!

“I’m not even going to ask how much you spent because I might want to lecture you if I did,” I teased, kissing her cheek. “Thank you so much. You guys have already made this the best Christmas ever, and it’s not even Christmas morning.”

Allison’s smile broadened as she wrapped me in a hug next. “You deserve it. You deserve to have a great holiday, to build some great memories. Besides, we love you, and it’s not like you haven’t changed our lives completely, either.”

Nicole continued where Allison left off. “She’s right. Even if we weren’t dating, you were still there for me when I needed you, when I needed a fresh perspective. Ally, Jen and I have never been closer than this last six months.”

I sniffed a little as I pulled them both close. “Thank you. Your friendship’s the greatest gift I could ever receive.”

“Best friends forever,” Allison chimed in.

Nicole giggled. “And ever.”

I had made it through my first semester of school as Robin, and the old me, the boy I now considered a facade at best, was a long-forgotten memory. As I looked forward to the New Year, I wondered what new adventures awaited us?