One More Surprise

"Hey Mike!" Susie greeted happily. "Last day working here before we close up for the season! Can you believe it?"

"It's not that bad, Susie," said Mike. "We'll be open again after New Year's."

"I know, but still…" She looked around sadly. "I'm really gonna miss this place until then."

Mike nodded. "I know the feeling. Well, I need to see the boss again. Have a great Christmas, Susie."

"You too, Mike!" she wished. "And make sure you say goodbye to the gang tonight!"

Hopefully, I won't need to, Mike thought. Before he attended to that little matter, he went into the dining room. The band had just finished a rendition of Santa Clause Is Coming To Town with enthusiastic applause and were setting down their instruments to interact with the audience. Mike's appearance didn't go unnoticed.

"Well hey, if it isn't our good buddy Mike!" Freddy strode up and shook his hand. Oddly, his body was sparkling. "Glad you managed to drop by!"

Mike could see the children's amazed expressions out of the corner of his eye. The fact that he was on special terms with their favourite characters was a source of awe and envy for them.

"Thanks, Freddy. Have the kids been good?" he asked.

"As gold! Except for little Georgie over there," he said, pointing to the boy in question. "He filled my Santa hat with glitter and now it's all over me!"

"It wasn't my fault!" the boy cried. "Foxy told me to do it!"

"Mutiny, lad!" accused Foxy, popping out from his curtain. "How could ya betray yer captain like tha'?"

"I'm only joking, Georgie. No harm done," assured Freddy. "I'm sure that Santa won't count it as bein' naughty." The boy looked relieved. "Foxy on the other hand…"

"Hey, I'm a pirate!" protested the fox. "I'm supposed ta be naughty!"

"And that, kids," said Bonnie, "is why you shouldn't let yourself be labelled or you end up like Foxy: on the naughty list all year round and with enough coal to fill his head with more hot air than he already has."

A few kids laughed at her remark while Foxy grumbled.

"Oh, don't feel bad, Foxy," comforted Chica. "We all still love you, right children?"

A good majority nodded and cheered in agreement.

"That's up for debate on my part!" put in Bonnie.

Freddy chuckled. "Hey kids, why don't we all get a big photo together?" Mike started to back off while the kids crowded around the gang until he felt someone gently pushing him to the centre.

"He did say together," whispered Chica in his ear.

Mike felt a smile tug at his lips and he let it come onto his face as the camera flashed. The kids then broke up and ran around to play with Freddy and his friends. Mike began to take his leave but not before something tugged at his trouser leg.

He looked down to see Mr Johnson's youngest daughter with a drawing for him. "Merry Christmas, Mr Michael."

"Thanks, Annie." He took the crude drawing of him and placed it in his pocket. "Merry Christmas to you too."

She beamed and scampered off to Chica, who knelt down and caught her in a hug. She looked at Mike over her shoulder and even though she had her mask on, Mike could tell she was smiling. He waved to her and went to go about the reason he came.

He climbed the stairs to Mr Johnson's office and offered Mel another polite smile. Once again, she ignored him. He knocked on the door and his boss let him in, allowing him a seat.

"Top job, lad, top job indeed," he said at once. "From what I've heard, your little excursions with the band were very well received."

"I'm glad they were, sir," said Mike sincerely. "I was happy to do it."

"Looking back on it, so am I." He smiled proudly. "You've given a lot to this restaurant, Mike. We're all very grateful for all the work you've done."

"It was my pleasure, sir. This place has given me a lot too. I want to make sure I give as much as I get."

"Bang on," he chuckled. "Well, I suppose this'll be goodbye until we're back at work in the New Year. Hope you have a good Christmas, Mike."

"Actually, sir…" Mike leaned forward in his chair. "That was something I wanted to talk to you about. I wonder if you couldn't do me one more favour…"

Mike had made sure to bring his CD player to work that night. No sooner had he locked the doors, Freddy and the others appeared and pulled him inside for one last night of fun.

He plugged in the CD player and a very excited Bonnie inserted her mix CD. Moments later, she was dancing to Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Before long, they all were while the CD played through its selection.

Foxy danced a little pirate jig. Freddy showed himself to be adept at a form of tap dancing, complete with his cane. Bonnie was head banging with air guitar and real guitar and singing along when she could. Mike's dancing left something to be desired and Bonnie remarked he looked like he was wading through waist deep water while swatting off bees.

Chica ended up saving him there. At first, she danced alone as graceful and fluid as she had been on the ice. With the exception when her clumsiness came through and she'd bump her hip on a table or totter and almost fall on her heels. But she ended up dancing with Mike. The look on her face made it hard to say no. It was nothing really special, just a few twirls but it was still fun.

To wind down afterward, Freddy read to them from his new books. He'd finished the first one and had moved onto the second. He proved to be a very good storyteller, affecting different voices for each of the characters and providing the right inflections and proclamations for his reading. The readings from his joke book were a little hit and miss. Bonnie ended up walking out on it but that didn't stop him.

Chica showed them the drawing Mike had done for her. Mike had, of course, been correct about Bonnie teasing him about the fact he'd inserted himself into the group.

"I think you're more like a doggy," she smirked. "Hold on, I think I have some treats here for you."

Mike didn't say anything, but he smiled when Chica laughed. Despite what ended up happening on their night, Mike didn't want his feelings on the matter to spoil it. From the look of it, neither did she. It had just been because they'd had to. She'd understood, of course she did.

After finding some cups, Foxy got out the flavoured fruit rum to share around. They clinked their cups together and drank. Reactions were mixed.

"Hmm." Freddy licked it on his mouth. "Sweet, yet it still had a bit of a kick."

"Yeah, not bad," agreed Bonnie. "The vanilla flavour is pretty nice."

Chica ended up coughing the instant it touched her throat and Bonnie had to slap her hard a couple of times.

"G-Goodness!" she hacked. "It's… different."

"Yeah, not really my thing," said Mike, shuddering after drinking his. "I've never been big on alcohol anyway."

"More fer me then!" Foxy snagged their cups and chugged it down. "Aye, that's a fine drink!"

"You just be sure to keep that hidden or Aaron'll be after our blood. Or liquefied energy fluid if you want to be technical," said Freddy.

"Don't ye be worryin', Freddy. He won't see this." Foxy shook his head. "I'm still havin' trouble graspin' that this be yer las' nigh' here until after Christmas, lad."

"Me neither," said Chica sadly. "We're really going to miss you."

"Speak for yourself." Bonnie looked away, but smiled sincerely. "Just kidding. It's not gonna be the same without you around, Mikey."

"But we sincerely hope you have yourself a wonderful holiday and a very merry Christmas," wished Freddy warmly. "We're just sorry we won't be able to join you."

"Yeah, about that." Mike leaned back and cupped the back of his head in his hands. "You see, me and Mr Johnson had a talk. We decided that even at Christmas, it's better if a security guard remains present in the building. We wouldn't want anyone to try and make off with everyone's beloved characters. Then what would we do?"

Chica gasped. "Does that mean…?"

"Yep," nodded Mike. "You guys are stuck with me for the holidays."

"Aw, come on! Just when I thought we'd finally gotten rid of you!" Bonnie came around and grabbed him in a headlock. "You just can't keep away from us, can you?"

"That's grand news, laddie!" Foxy roared, wrapping an arm around him too. "I'll drink ta that!" And he did.

"It's so nice that you can!" squealed Chica excitedly. "In that case, I may have a treat for yoooou. I'll just need to make sure I have enough chocolate."

"We're happy you can join us, Mike. Are you sure this is okay?" asked Freddy.

"Believe me, Fred, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," answered Mike. "Now, who wants to play our little game?"

Aaaaand that's the end of the show. I hope you guys enjoyed this little Christmas gift from me to you. Now again, I still have bigger projects and later I have my exams to revise for but keep your eyes open. I may just return to this again in future.

Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, have a great holiday anyway.

Be strong, be swift, be just.