EZRA'S CHRISTMAS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them and I don't expect to get them in my christmas stocking either.

A/N It's all been done! Everything - sick Ezra, angsty Ezra, missing and runaway Ezra, cute Ezra, hurt Ezra and just plain christmas fluff Ezra. It's been done in adult gen, slash, kidfic: It's been done in old west, modern AU, ATF and other au's. I should know since I reckon I've read them all. So since there's obviously no original idea to be dredged from my tired and tinseled brain (although someone out there may have something to contribute... go on, there's a serious lack of Ezra fic out there lately - do you want JD Chris and Vin to take over completely?) I have decided what the heck and just go with some of my favourite cliches, so expect some sick! Ezra (but nothing serious because it's Christmas) some fluff, nothing even remotely original... and absolutely NO pumpkins! This isn't a long fic, just two or three chapters over the Christmas week. Oh, and...

MERRY EZMAS TO YOU ALL!

Ezra had a cold. It wasn't a surprise - everyone in the family and most of the town of Four Corners either had it or had just gotten over it. Of course for most people a simple cold was all it was

Unless you were Ezra.

At least that was Ezra's opinion. As far as the seven year old was concerned whatever deity was in charge of making small boys lives a misery always had the name Ezra at the top of it's list.

He gazed out of the window at JD and Vin playing in the snow and sighed in frustration. Not that he desired to be out in the freezing precipitation - and who in their right mind would? - but choosing not to get cold and frostbitten was one thing; being told that you couldn't was something else entirely. Unaware of his actions he pulled his cuddly tiger closer to him. He would no doubt deny the need for the comfort it brought, dismissing the affection for a stuffed toy as childish (acting like a child being one of Maude's more important no-no's) but sick little boys tended to operate on instinct rather than intellect. And mother was hardly there to enforce her rules.

Ezra, of course, was used to being told what to do. His mother had a strict list of do's and don'ts, most of which were neither legal or moral but still to be obeyed. The diabetic nurses had whole pamphlets, books even, filled with medical and health do's and don'ts and now he had six brothers with their own set of rules.

The trouble was that all those sets of rules were now clashing and Ezra felt confused. According to Maude one should never show one's vulnerability so he had endeavoured to hide his malady but it was difficult to hide sneezes and coughing fits at the best of times - and downright impossible when your blood glucose readings shot out of control as they tended to do when ill. Now he had Chris, Nathan and Josiah hovering over him like momma bears, especially Nathan who saw it as his duty, with his future career as a doctor in mind, to watch over every aspect of his illness and administer foul potions to aid his recovery. Ezra had quickly learned that Mary Poppins had been correct in saying that a spoonful of sugar helped the medicine go down because the sugar-free stuff that he had to swallow was more foul than... than pumpkin juice!

Ezra glared down at the book he had been reading. How on earth Hogwarts could provide the juiced remains of such a vile squash as a beverage made him glad that Mother's threats to send him to boarding school were sidelined. As if enduring the pumpkin fest at Halloween hadn't been bad enough he had discovered that the very same vegetable was included in the tradition of thanksgiving. An event that had been, he suspected, celebrated in a low-key manner by his adopted family this year due to their bereavement but had still given him the warm feelings he had always thought should be present at such an occasion but so far in his young life hadn't been. Thanksgiving was a time for family and usually the family that Ezra was with at this time of year was one that Maude was busy conning, marrying or divorcing so the feelings were often strained and seldom genuine. This time, however, when each member had declared at the dinner table their reasons for being thankful they had each professed HIS inclusion in their family as that reason. Well that had never happened before and considering that they had lost their parents for them to be thankful for anything at all was quite amazing. He, of course, had a whole list of polite, ingratiating and appropriate responses to give when his turn had come, which one he used usually depended on the situation or con being run at the time, Mother had made sure of that so he surprised himself when he discarded them all and announced that he was thankful that...

He was a keeper.

He was even more astounded that everyone seemed to know what he meant. All in all it had been a very satisfying celebration... except for the pumpkin soup and the pumpkin pie. He doubted that if the world of Harry Potter celebrated thanksgiving, which being British it didn't, that nobody would claim to be grateful for pumpkin juice!

Ezra sighed again which triggered a violent coughing fit, his tiger coming in quite handy as a pillow to soften the pounding his ribs were getting from his lungs and he wondered if just the sight of the cold weather could aggravate his symptoms. Perhaps he should get another book from the bookcase. Potter didn't seem to be cheering him up at all. Not surprising really. He suspected that Josiah had given him the books so that he would identify with the character of Harry and that was never going to happen. It didn't take him long to acknowledge that he was a Slytherin through and through. Maybe he would read one of Buck's westerns, they had proved to be quite enjoyable especially when living in the same kind of landscape as the cowboys did - mother would be appalled... which somehow didn't fill him with the dismay it would have a couple of months ago.

Having decided to select a new book Ezra had just begun to rise from the window seat when instinct stilled him. He was being watched. It was one skill that hadn't been taught to him by his mother, in fact she had been quite proud that it was an inborn thing - one of his God given talents. He checked the glass pane in front of him, not seeing JD hit Vin with a well aimed snowball but using it as a mirror to catch the reflection of his secret observer.

He relaxed slightly when he recognized the tall blond figure by the door. Chris. No doubt the older brother had been drawn to him by his coughing. He sighed once more but in exasperation rather than boredom. The novelty of being cared about could wear off pretty quickly.

"Was there something you wanted Chris?"

E * Z * M * A * S

Chris had been lost in thought as he popped the chicken casserole into the oven. It had worried him, worried them all in fact, that Ezra had attempted to hide his cold from them. So many of the normal actions of small boys, actions that he had seen repeated in his younger brothers time and time again were absent in the little southerner. What kind of life and what kind of parent led you to fear admitting that you were ill? Chris shook his head in sadness but anyone looking into his eyes would have seen the flash of anger hidden deep within them. Once again he felt like slowly throttling the creature called Maude Standish. If only...

A sudden fit of coughing coming from the nearby lounge distracted Chris from thoughts of retribution and he waited for the call for help, assistance, company or whatever a sick little boy would need... nothing. With a sigh he headed across the hall grabbing a bottle of sugar free cough mixture from the kitchen counter as he went. They had all been surprised at the need for different products for diabetics - he snorted as he thought that the description cough syrup should have given them a clue. Stopping at the kitchen door he turned back and grabbed a handful of cherries. He'd tasted the vile concoction - the kid was going to need a nice taste afterwards.

Chris took the opportunity to watch his little brother unobserved. He smiled at the body language which screamed boredom. Nice to know that some things were universal to kids. He knew he'd been busted when that same posture stiffened and the little boy was replaced by the little gentleman. He frowned as Ezra, without turning round addressed him by name. How did he do that?

"Was there something you wanted Chris?"

Heck yes, thought Chris as he entered fully into the room. I want you to stop tensing when we come near... I want you to trust us enough to take care of you when you're ill... I want you to be seven years old not seven going on thirty.

"Bought you your medicine" was all he actually said. Kid couldn't help being raised the way he was and he had come a long way since that night he had been dumped on their doorstep like unwanted baggage.

"Ah'm fine" An assertion which rang with sincerity that could have been believed if it hadn't been for the hacking cough that followed it.

"Uh huh... here, drink" Chris held out a measured amount of the dark brown liquid, resisting the urge to exhibit a sympathetic shudder as Ezra forced it down. The look of gratitude he received as he handed over the fruit would have surprised him had he not tasted the medicine himself.

"So where were you going? Not outside I hope" Chris asked, not wanting to embarrass Ezra further.

Ezra glared at his older brother and sent a scathing glance at the snowy landscape.

"Hardly!" he croaked as he swallowed the last of the cherries, placing the pits tidily in the nearby wastebasket. "I was simply going to retrieve a fresh book."

Chris's eyebrow went up as he looked to the indicated half read book on the window seat.

"Didn't like it?" Even the older boys had enjoyed Harry Potter.

"He's an idiot."

Well that put an end to that topic of conversation! thought Chris with an inner chuckle.

"Okay" he acknowledged "But I want you to make sure to have a nap this afternoon, you didn't sleep well last night."

Ezra blushed. "I am sorry if my coughing kept y'all awake"

Chris winced at the misunderstanding . "Can't help being sick Ezra and we've all been there. What I meant was that if you don't take care of yourself you won't get better in time for Christmas. We'll be getting the tree next weekend, that's always a lot of fun."

Ezra was curious. The few Christmases he had been a part of had varied from the austere - staying with Great Uncle Augustus, whose attitude to Christmas was puritanical in the extreme and had resulted in him being able to repeat large chunks of the bible by heart - to the extravagance of Maude's second husband's household where little boys were to be paraded about the soiree and then packed off to the attic room where they were to be neither seen nor heard. But fun? No, fun had ever been part of the proceedings... especially in connection with Christmas trees. Why getting them out of the box and assembled alone was a task that had caused much swearing amongst the household staff.

Chris noticed the confusion on Ezra's face but ignored it. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know just what Christmas entailed in the Standish household. Instead he asked a question that he really needed an answer to but didn't want to ask too bluntly.

"And I'm betting that you haven't even written your letter to Santa yet let alone posted it?"

The look of total disbelief on the flushed and delicate features spoke volumes.

'Well that answers that' Chris sighed wordlessly.

"You expect me to believe in..."

"JD does."

"Ah."

Chris was very impressed at the understanding shown by the seven year old. At eight this was likely to be the last Christmas that JD would believe in Santa and even now his suspicions were roused, mainly due to the older kids at school. Chris didn't want Ezra's natural cynicism to spoil things for JD but another part of him wondered if the southerner had EVER believed in the man in red. Somehow he doubted it.

"Never fear Chris, JD's faith in Santa will not be ruined by me. I will endeavour to make my own missive to Mr Claus as believable as possible."

Ezra noted the look of relief on the older Larabee's face and he was pleased that he had done something correct - being a member of a family was more difficult than he had thought - but he WAS a Standish and so couldn't resist a little manipulation.

"Thanks Ezra, I..."

"Of course" Ezra interrupted and Chris was intrigued to see a wicked little smirk appear on the usual poker face. "Since I am going to all the trouble of writing a letter to this mythical miracle worker he would be rather obliged to grant my wishes wouldn't he? After all my actions would most certainly put me at the top of his 'nice' list wouldn't they?"

Chris smiled which rather surprised the little con artist who had rapidly regretted his teasing. He still wasn't sure enough of his security within the Larabee household to play at extortion.

"I reckon that Santa would take any good deeds into account" Chris agreed, hoping that the sneakiness universal to all boys, or at least all boys of Larabee blood anyway, was a good sign. Seeing a flicker of doubt enter the green eyes he rushed on so as not to spoil the moment. "I'll go get JD and you can write your letters together"

Ezra nodded and wondered how he managed to get himself into these situations. JD would be as hyper as usual which wouldn't do his headache any good and he would be expected to actually list things he wanted when experience had told him that wanting got you nothing but disappointment... better not to expect anything at all. And he didn't want the family to think he was greedy. They already paid for his medication, his education and his food and clothes. It was more than anyone else ever had done... willingly anyway.

M*E*R*R*Y

Ezra thought hard as, with tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth, JD wrote in furious concentration. His own letter to Santa seemed to be going swimmingly.

Ezra stared at his own almost blank piece of paper; the 'Dear Mr Claus' standing out starkly in it's isolation. This was ridiculous! His educators had labelled him a child prodigy for goodness sake, surely a few well composed lines to a fictional character were not beyond him?

But therein lay the problem. For his letter WOULD be read - by the people who had given him so much. By the people who, if he proved himself to be too greedy or selfish, had the power to send him away.

Not that they would; he was certain about that... well almost. A lifetime of seven years (and nearly twelve months) experience had taught him that people were unpredictable. That's why he preferred science and numbers.

And what would they expect him to ask for? Toys? He had already received more toys in the last months than in his whole life and while there were things he had seen on the tv and in the shops that had attracted his attention he didn't actually NEED any more. So to ask would be greedy wouldn't it? And he didn't dare factor in his upcoming birthday. It would be best to leave that well alone. Besides he had learned to expect nothing on that particular day - it had been made quite clear to him over the years that having a birthday on December 24th was just plain inconvenient. Not that it had mattered much since as far as Maude was concerned his birthday was whenever was most judicious to her latest scam - he'd already had three birthdays this year and 'celebrated' the ages of 6, 7 and six again. The expensive gifts bought by her suitors tended to disappear as soon as he'd opened them and her purse became a little heavier as a result. Ezra chuckled in remembrance.

"How you doin' Ez?" JD was brought out of his avarice led scribbling by the sound. He frowned as he glimpsed the blank page.

"Too many ideas to make your mind up?" JD nodded sagely as he wrongly surmised Ezra's problem "Don't worry, just put down everything... that's what I do. Santa won't always bring you 'em all, but he needs to know - otherwise you could end up with socks!"

Ezra grinned; one of his 'real' smiles as JD had come to think of them. They were rare and he was pleased that he could help his younger brother avoid the horror of getting clothes for Christmas. He shuddered at the thought as he went back to his opus.

Ezra immediately began to write. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it himself! JD was a genius - it must run in the family. While it was true that he wanted all the toys he had seen he did not need them. He DID, however, need clothes. Not that Josiah and Chris hadn't been most generous upon his arrival - well after they had finished being horrified at his very existence - they hadn't exactly filled his closet and it was promising to be quite a hard winter. He could do with some thicker clothes, including socks.

'Dear Mr Claus',

While I am aware that it is your normal mission to provide small boys and girls with the toys of their choosing my providers have already been most generous in this regard. So may I humbly request, instead, some new apparel? In particular I would like a warm winter coat as my own jacket is not up to the rigors of the Colorado weather. A new pair of boots and some socks would also be quite welcome.

Thank you for your attention and Merry Christmas to both you and Mrs Claus, your elves and reindeer.

Yours most faithfully

Ezra P. Standish (Larabee) Esq.

Ezra re-read his missive and bit his lip uncertainly. Since he was being quite good in his requests he wondered if he could be just a little bold - besides he was sure that Santa (or most probably Josiah) would appreciate as much clarification as possible. So he once again picked up his pen and added a postscript.

P.S

Whilst I would, of course, appreciate whatever lands in my Christmas stocking I would be extra grateful if it were possible to provide

1. A jacket more in keeping with the fashion worn by skiers than lumberjacks.

2. A little cashmere in the socks (and no cartoon characters)

3. A decent brand of boots (but Timberland would do at a pinch)

Thank you once again.

Ezra.

He sighed and gazed out the window to the stables.

P.P.S

My pony would appreciate a new grooming set.

He signed off for a final time and hoped that he hadn't pushed things too far.

"Wanna read each others letters?" JD tried and failed to see what Ezra had written but his curled arm was obscuring the view.

"Most certainly not JD." Ezra quickly folded his sheet of paper so that JD wouldn't see how little was on it. "Letters are private and privacy should always be respected."

"Ookay" JD shrugged as he reached for the envelope he had already decorated for the purpose. Ezra sure had some funny ideas!

X*M*A*S

Later that evening, after the boys were in bed Josiah, Chris and Buck sat and went through the letters to Santa. JD's was no surprise since he'd been dropping heavy hints since the end of August. They immediately ruled out two thirds of it; mainly things that the kid had seen once and decided he just MUST have it. Then they chose a half-dozen items to arrive 'from Santa' and something from each of them.

Vin hadn't written a letter, he'd gotten past that age, but he had made a list. It was far shorter than JD's and they were pleased to see a marked improvement in his writing skills. It looked like the extra dyslexic tuition was working well.

Comparing JD and Vin's wants Chris was reminded of himself and Buck when they were younger. Buck's letters had almost reached novella length whilst his own requests tended to center around either his horse or his bike.

Josiah sighed as he re-read Ezra's letter. He had hoped that by encouraging the young southerner to write to Santa he would learn something of the boy's true self. And he supposed he had in a way - just in a very disconcerting way.

"At least he's feeling secure enough to be a little specific in his requests" Buck grinned at Josiah's expression.

Josiah chuckled. "You can almost see the word 'designer' screaming from between the lines" he acknowledged.

"Nice to see him thinking of his pony" Chris added, remembrances of his own first pony still in his head.

"We ARE going to get him more than this though aren't we? I mean c'mon guys... socks?"

Yep, Buck and JD were certainly cast from the same mould.

"We'll just have to keep an extra eye on him to see if we can spot any tells as to what he really wants."

"Good luck with that" muttered Buck to Chris's suggestion. He'd seen professional poker players with more tells than the seven year old.

Later, in bed, Josiah began to get the feeling that he was missing something important but for the life of him he couldn't remember what.

M*E*R*R*Y

The next few days went by without incident. Ezra's cold had almost gone leaving him with just a little cough - and a big problem.

Money.

How on earth was he going to buy presents for his brothers, not to mention Miz Nettie with virtually no funds? The money left over from Maude's parting gift was almost gone and what remained was nowhere near enough to buy seven presents and christmas cards. While Judge Travis and his wife Evie would not expect a present it would be rude not to send a card. Maude may not have equipped him for a normal life but he had been well versed in keeping up appearances within polite society, and the techniques needed to fund his efforts.

Unfortunately all of her fundraising methods would prove unacceptable to his new family. For example they still allowed him to play poker but only for fun, not cash; it was a distinction that he couldn't understand. Surely the fun was in winning the cash? Conning money out of the locals was also out and he was hardly conversant with manual labor even if he were recovered enough. Besides Vin had already cornered the paid chores market.

There had to be a way to earn money but since it was immoral to use illegal means and illegal for a seven year old to use moral means such as paid employment he really couldn't see one.

Vin had suggested that he make gifts for everyone. He was under the impression that home made presents went down rather well. It was what JD was planning to do. Ezra sighed... he seemed to be doing an awful lot of that lately... his God given talents didn't extend to crafts. But his conundrum would have to wait as another puzzle had just this morning been solved. It appeared that the Larabee Christmas tree, unlike his step father's, did not need to be assembled; rather it needed to be chopped down!

Good Lord. Did he look like a woodsman? And what use would he be. He was hardly big enough for tree felling... maybe he would be expected to keep a watch for dangerous animals, or possibly squirrels. Did squirrels hibernate?

"Come on Ezra, time to go get the tree." came JD's enthusiastic cry

"Oh joy."

TBC

Next part up in a day or so. Hope you enjoyed.