All I Want For Christmas
by RL Kelly
A/N: Although this is a brand-new and genuinely in-progress story, it takes place a while back in continuity. Consider it a while after "It Came From Outer Space", the last of the five Webfoot Chronicles; before "The Bride Wore Black". Also, yep, this is inspired by the ubiquitous "All I Want For Christmas Is You", by Mariah Carey. (I hope this is formatted properly - I had some trouble...)
"Only '4' More Shopping Days Until Christmas!" the sign on the store window announced, and Beth Webfoot stressed over the fact that, for her, it was actually one day less. The usual Webfoot Christmas celebrations began by noon on Christmas Eve, and Beth was fully expected to be there, even though it meant a two-hour taxi ride since her mother had explained that no one could spend the four hours to go out and get her, then come back.
Therefore, she had only until 10 am on the morning of Christmas Eve to finish her Christmas shopping, and with each day that passed, she was increasingly certain that the finish would forever elude her.
It wasn't that she had too many gifts to get, or that she would be unable to find anything for most of the people she knew. It wasn't even the fact that she'd had put off most of her shopping until the last week before the holiday because she had to wait for her next paycheck from Fowler-Mergatroid to clear so that she had the money. It was the fact that there was no gift for Drake.
Beth zoomed through the body care shop she was browsing, trying to push her growing panic from her mind even as she agonized over every item in the store, trying to find the right thing. She admitted to herself that her standards might be a little high; but Drake was a very, very important person in her life. The gift had to give just the right message. Nothing ostentatious - it should be subtle, perhaps even understated. Nothing funny or trivial, only mature and intelligent. Not cheap, but she could hardly afford to blow a whole lot of her paycheck on him (yet - maybe in another year or so). It should catch his eye, make him smile, make him understand that she understood him. It should say, "You are special, and I got you this special thing because of that"
It should not say "I love you" outright, except maybe around the edges... Perhaps, he would put it on his dresser (or wherever the proper place for whatever she would get him would be) and look at it each day, taking a few moments every morning or evening to contemplate both the gift and the giver... Each day, growing more thoughtul, more intrigued by the woman who had found this gift that seemed to unlock his heart, and his happiness. Then at last, in January maybe, even February, a new light would seem to shine on Beth Webfoot as she stepped through his door, and-
Okay, she thought. Being stupid. Stop now. Blushing, Beth shook her head and found that she'd been staring at a rack of soaps for about fifteen seconds. She stepped away from them - too mundane - and hoped that she'd been quick enough to avoid any salesgirls popping up to offer assistance or advice.
She did one more quick once-over of the store in the hope of finding anything, but every item was wrong. Shaving supplies? Too personal, and he probably had his own shaving habits she knew nothing about.
Candles? Too boring, and slightly girly.
Cologne? Too generic. It was the kind of thing kids got their fathers when they couldn't think of anything else. Oh - right, Dad. Beth turned back to the cologne display and grabbed a bottle at random.
"Gosh, you put up decorations kinda late, Drake."
Drake pulled his head out of the box he was rooting through, where he seemed to be trying to untangle one massive knot of coloured tree lights from a second knot of clear lights, and gave Beth an even look. "Compared to what? It's still four days 'til Christmas!"
"Well, compared to..." Beth paused, clutching a garland in her hands which she'd just pulled out of the Mallards' decorations box. She'd picked it because it had what looked like tiny Christmas gifts on it. Now she wound it nervously between her fingers as she fidgeted under his gaze. "To, say, my family? Not that I'm saying we're right and you're wrong, just-" She gave him a small, embarrassed smile when he rolled his eyes.
"No one thinks you were saying that," he said impatiently, and nodded at her to finish her thought.
"Oh, well, just that we usually put up decorations at least two weeks before, is all." She felt anticlimactic, and shrugged sheepishly.
Drake buried himself back inside the box. "Well, the tree could conceivably die during those weeks," his muffled voice informed her.
"Yeah... it usually did," Beth said quietly, frowning at some unshared memory. She forced herself to brighten; Drake had been in an exceptionally good mood lately, and Beth wanted to match it. "Well, thanks for letting me come over and help you decorate! I don't get to do it very often, since my family doesn't usually wait for me."
"Think nothing of it!" he answered as he emerged at last from the box, momentarily triumphant. The short-lived triumph failed in the next moment, however, as Drake began to untangle the now-single knot of lights. "Everyone (drat it!) should have some time (why do they ALWAYS do this?!) decorating for the holidays! It helps get into the holiday spirit - YOU STUPID LIGHTS, WHY THE HECK ARE YOU ALL STUCK TOGETHER?!"
This was a tiny bit awkward. Beth took a step backwards, looping the garland around her wrist distractedly, and wondered if she should offer him any help. Drake didn't seem to be using actual words anymore; what little she heard was a general muttering of syllables, something along the lines of "rackin-frackin-grumble-grar". She was just about to clear her throat and offer assistance when Gosalyn walked in.
"Chill out, Dad, that's not much of a holiday spirit. Want me to do it?" She put down the stocking she had been intending to hang up - which, incidentally, was trailing a good two feet behind her as she walked - and held out her hand for the lights.
For a moment, Drake didn't seem to be willing to let the lights go. Then he relaxed. "Yeah, thanks, Gos. See what you can do with these." He hoisted the knot, which looked for all the world like a giant ball of yarn with a few random bulbs sticking out of it, into her hands. "Make sure all the bulbs are still working while you're at it," he instructed airily as he returned his attention to the box of decorations he'd been rooting through.
Gosalyn rolled her eyes and started nimbly pulling at the knotted cords, making much better time than her father had a moment before. "Yeesh, do a guy a favour..."
"That's awfully nice of you," Beth put in, and considered offering to untangle the other set. She couldn't quite escape the idea that she'd just tangle them up more, however, and the prospect worried her so much that she kept her mouth shut and let Gosalyn take care of it.
"Yeah, well, sometimes with Dad you have to step in before things go nuclear." She shrugged and indicated the stocking she'd draped over one of the armchairs. "Besides, the more smoothly the decorating goes, the better my chances of getting that filled all the way."
Beth blinked. "Oh." So that was how it worked. Maybe she should offer to do the lights.
"Got 'em!" Gosalyn announced, holding up the plug end of the straightened length of coloured bulbs. Drake's head emerged from the decorations box, his face alight.
"Way to go, sweetie! Now do this one," he said, and tossed her the other knot. Gosalyn dropped the line of coloured lights to catch the clears, and sagged slightly. Drake, oblivious, hummed as he began stringing the lights along the branches of the tree.
Beth looked sympathetic. "Um... want some help?"
"Nah," Gosalyn said, waving a hand. "This takes major technical expertise. No offense."
"Uh... okay." Beth stepped back and tilted her head as Drake plugged in the coloured lights and examined their presentation on the tree, tilting his head in opposition to hers. "That looks good!" she said encouragingly.
"Yep, yep, that it does." He was clearly pleased with himself. Then he frowned and stepped forward. "Wait." He squinted, then moved a loop of light onto the branch just above it. "There. Perfect." He turned to Beth expectantly.
"Oh! Ah, yes! Very perfect!" Very perfect? What the heck was that supposed to mean? She groaned internally.
Gosalyn held up the second strand. "Done!"
Drake tousled his daughter's hair as he thanked her and started stringing the clear lights. "This is the tricky part," he told Beth, his tone suggesting he wasn't really speaking to her but to himself. "You have to find just the right spots for the clears so that they set off the coloured ones the right way..."
"Wow," she said. Beside her, Gosalyn rolled her eyes and snorted almost inaudibly. "I had no idea so much thought went into this."
"Only if you're extremely Type-A," Gosalyn said.
Drake glared at her. "Gee, I sure hope a certain someone's stocking doesn't look strangely EMPTY come Christmas morning," he said warningly.
Gosalyn stiffened. "Gosh, maybe I oughta go help Launchpad with the lights OUTside, just see if they need untangling too?"
"Sounds good." Drake nodded as Gosalyn tacked her stocking to the fireplace mantle, and then turned his attention back to the tree as his daughter exited the house. "Now, lesson two about hanging lights. You don't want to OVERdo it."
"I see." Beth had no idea when this had turned into a lesson, and hated to admit that she wasn't very interested in receiving one. She tried to gently lead the subject on to something else, but couldn't find an appropriate segue. "Well, I... I hope I live up to your standards," she said lamely.
"Ah, you're doing fine," Drake said told her as he finished weaving the lights among the branches. He looked back over his shoulder at her, and stopped. "You do know you're supposed to hang the garlands, right Beth?"
She jumped as she realized she was still holding the string of tiny presents. "Oh! Yes! Of course! I was - I was waiting for you to be finished!"
He looked back at the glowing tree, then put his hand to his chin. "Y'know, you're right... this is taking too long." Before Beth had a chance to do more than sputter that that really wasn't what she'd meant, he'd pulled a garland out of the decorations box and grabbed the one she'd been choking out of her hands, as well. "You unload as many ornaments and things as you can. I'm going to get my gas gun."
"Uh..." He was gone before she could ask if those two statements had anything to do with each other. "Well, okay," she said with a shrug, and started digging through another of the boxes that Drake had littered the living room with. She'd removed two ornaments and placed them carefully on the couch before she found the little bundle wrapped in tissue. Curious, she picked it up - it was incredibly light - and delicately unwrapped it to reveal a sprig of mistletoe.
She stared at it for a moment before she began to realize just what she was holding. This small plant (well, it was plastic, but it was an accurate representation of a plant) was the ticket to her happiness this Christmas. This mistletoe was the equivalent of a "One Free Kiss" coupon that Drake could not refuse.
Blushing, she closed her hand convulsively around the plastic sprig and shook her head. It wasn't like that at all! Mistletoe could be refused - though to her knowledge very few people did it - but more importantly, Drake wasn't interested in her. Despite her heart's own longings, she knew very well that Drake did not have any interest in kissing her. Tricking him into it using plant life was not fair.
Then again...
She loosened her fist and peered at the mistletoe, which seemed to peer back at her, whispering platitudes. It's a holiday tradition, it said softly. The very best one. And you've done a lot to deserve this, haven't you?
Well, she could agree with that. After all, she had loved him quietly for months now, giving him constant support, waiting only for a kind word... ONE kiss, at Christmas, was not too much to ask for.
All she wanted for Christmas, all she REALLY wanted, was Drake. This was as close as she was likely to come.
"Okay, what'd you find?" Drake asked loudly as he came back down the stairs.
Beth jumped guiltily, clenching the mistletoe in her fist again to hide it. "I... uh..."
Drake was looking at the two ornaments she'd unloaded from the box, an eyebrow raised. "Wow, Beth, don't work too hard here."
"Oh, I..." She blushed. He wasn't talking about the mistletoe at all, of course. She was supposed to have taken out as many decorations as she could while he was gone. "I got - kind of overwhelmed and I didn't want to do it wrong so I, I..."
Drake shook his head, but a moment later gave her a half-smile. "Maaaaybe you'd do better feeding the light strings up to LP while he's up on the ladder," he said, a note of amusement in his voice. He stepped past her and started quickly taking out ornaments and loading them into his gas gun. "I can take care of things in here pretty well myself, so -"
"No!" Beth stepped forward; she wanted to spend as much time with Drake as possible while he was in this unexpectedly good mood. Plus, this was her best chance to get the mistletoe hung and put to use without a lot of overthinking. "I - can I watch you?"
As desperate as that sounded, it seemed to appeal to Drake's ego. He preened slightly, and then said, "Well, I can't blame you for wanting to see a master in action. Step back!" With a sudden air of drama, he waved her to his side. Beth, out of his line of vision, looked about quickly for an appropriate high spot for the mistletoe.
The gas gun fired suddenly, distracting her, and somehow the giant jumble of garlands, tinsel, and ornaments that Drake had shoved into the barrel composed itself during its journey and fell perfectly onto the tree's branches.
Drake turned back to her, grinning, something in his eyebrows suggesting the phrase "Am I great, or what?"
Beth had to admit that he was.
To be continued!