Christmas Wishes TG

Christmas Wishes

Amber Grey hummed to herself as she made little sparrows out of what snow there was in the front yard. Her brother Denny ran back and forth and tried to kick bits of ice into the air. He missed and slipped on his back. Amber gave him a look and a solemn shake of her head.

Denny didn't bother to get up. He lay on his back with his heavy, blue jacket insulating him and scuffed his arms against the pathetic snowfall remnants. He'd just turned nine a week ago on the seventeenth of December. Amber was about to turn eight the day after Christmas. They both had fallen prey to unwise birthdays.

For Denny, being born a week before Christmas, he was often given something small on his birthday and told to wait for something big at Christmas. But the "big" never seemed all that big, especially at the expense of his birthday. For Amber, he had to admit, it was even worse. Being born the day after Christmas, she really only got one gift "for both" from everyone.

Amber looked down at her little snow sparrow and smiled. It looked more like a slushy lump but it was enough for her. Looking over at her brother, she folded the big, pink arms of her jacket and asked, "So…do you think we should go in?"

His hoodie crinkling as he turned, Denny flashed his sister a look. "So you really want to hear Great-Aunt Isabelle's stories again?" Amber grimaced and that was that.

It was the day before Christmas and their house was full of relatives several times their age. Aunt Debbie came from Florida with Uncle Cleve. Uncle Garry lived down state and had been recently divorced (former Aunt Jenny was a topic of many of his random, snide remarks). Widowed Aunt Emma had brought enough pictures of her cats to provide a marathon session of picture viewing.

There had been some hope for their cousins, Rodger and Harmony, who they were meeting for the first time. But Rodger was only concerned with talking about how interesting mathematics were between discussing all the government was doing wrong. Cousin Harmony lived up to her hippy name by questioning every trace of holiday food and evaluating its "natural content". Her vegan alternatives weren't particular bad, though Denny couldn't soon forgive her those bland chocolate soy cookies.

Great-Uncle Oscar always complained of pains or the fact he was going to fall over whenever asked to do anything. Most of the time, he just found the biggest couch in the living room and slept there with his bear-like snore and slumping head until there was the call for food.

Amber put two of her little snow sparrows together like they were kissing and smiled. Sitting up, Denny looked at the bits of snow around his feet and pondered making something. The only thing which came to mind was a snow snake, but he figured it would just come out lumpy like a turd. So he tried making a snow turd. It came out more like snow cow patty. Denny heaved it with a slushy plop and looked over at his sister. She rubbed her hands together and looked down at her birds.

Automatically, Amber noted before her brother could ponder anything about her birds, "Santa is still watching you…" Denny folded his arms and sighed. He glanced around the yard. Something caught his eye at the far end, white and shimmery. It looked like a dollop of fresh snow but in the shape of a small person. He frowned and walked closer.

Looking at the object, it seemed quite distinct. It was flat on the ground, sprawled like a little sculpture of a figure. The arms were spindly and almost transparent with very small little fingers. A bit of sparkle on the side resembled wings.

Crouching, Denny looked quickly back to his sister. She glanced up at him as he gestured with his hand and held a finger to his mouth. Amber grimaced and looked over at the figure. Quickly, she stood and crept over to where Denny was. She was about to speak but he held his fingers out at her lips. She glared.

Without a word, Denny put his mitten-covered fingers around the figure and picked it up. It shifted in his grip like an animal. He couldn't help but gasp. Turning the figure around revealed a small but icy face. Its little face was twisted in a frown and topped with snowy hair with the shape of a broken ice cube. The thing felt quite cold in Denny's grip. Its arms shifted on its own.

Denny asked, "What are you?"

Brilliant little eyes fluttered open on its face and it looked at both of them. With a voice as soft as falling snow, the little creature said, "Help me…need…cold. I need somewhere…colder."

Denny furrowed his lip but Amber reached over and grabbed it out of his hands. She cradled the creature in her pink, woolen mittens and said, "It's dying…it needs to be cold! Oh!" She rushed away before her brother could complain.

Hurrying into the garage, Amber pulled open the old freezer with one hand and tucked the creature inside. The freezer had been there for years and usually just took the overflow items from the one in the house. It typically just ran and collected ice along its rows. Watching the little ice creature, Amber was joined by her brother who nudged her in the side. She glowered at him a second then returned her gaze to the creature.

Slowly, the frost seemed to fill its lungs. A bit of ice in the freezer drew off and joined with it. The shimmering grew brighter and brighter and the form of the creature seemed to swell. It soon looked pure white like the brightest snow. Its hair was firm and dense. Its gaze twinkled as a slice of a smile showed on its face.

Its voice was strong, more like a snow-blown gust, "Thank you…I owe you my life…young miss."

Amber gave her name and the little figure bowed to her. Glaring at his sister, Denny noted, "Well…I found you…"

The little figure chuckled like snow shifting on a roof. "You did. Thank you as well. As you asked…I am a winter sprite. I had gotten lost and with the surprising warmth today, my magic was weak. In return for you both finding and saving me, I'd like to give you something in return. A special wish to share."

Denny and Amber looked at each other and both said, "Share?" Denny added, "You mean we don't get one each for helping?" Sharing was a big issue among them, as evidenced by the forgettable incident a couple months ago when they had to share the same room for week when Amber's was being painted. The result was tense enough to cause a neighbor who dealt with legal negotiations throw up his hands soon after getting involved. At least for Christmas they only needed to share the same room for a few days due to all the relatives needing beds.

The little sprite looked between them silently and then noted, "Well…let me hear your wishes first and I'll see what I can do…maybe a compromise."

Amber twisted her lips a little in thought. Denny tapped his foot. It hadn't really occurred to either of them to be all that surprised there had been an icy sprite on their lawn which was now sitting before them with its spindly legs crossed and waiting.

Denny started to speak but just made a few sounds before rubbing his coat-covered arms together. Amber spun in place a little, her red, crinkly hair dashing back and forth. Denny tapped on a freckle before brushing at the unkempt fluff of reddish hair atop his head.

Through the thin door separating the garage from the rest of the house, they could both hear sounds of the family. A smattering of vegan talk. Some cooing about shelter kitties. And, above it all, a harsh wave of snoring which sounded like a door sticking as it was swung.

Grumbling, Denny murmured something to himself and announced, "I've got it!...I want to have relatives for Christmas which are our age. A bunch of other boys I can hang around with and have fun."

Amber raised her eyebrows. "Boys? But what about me? I want some other girls my age I can have fun with during Christmas…although…I just wish things were a little different and fun for my birthday…the day after Christmas… too…"

The winter sprite's grin pressed along its icy features and it calmly asked in a voice like snow crunching underfoot, "The world would be a bit more fun if there were more kids in it…especially at Christmas, huh?"

Both of them agreed with a smile, Denny adding, "A lot more fun…although…" Amber rubbed her arms and continued, "Yeah…it's good to have mommies and daddies and a nice warm home. But…just more play at Christmas. Like the joyful songs. Jolly and fun. Our family is just…not it." Denny emphatically nodded and asked, "Can you do any of that?"

A brush of the sprite's fingers against its little chin sounded like tinkling ice in a cup as it answered, "Wellll…there's a lot there. But I'll tell you what. Christmas is the time when sprites like me…when we're strong and we're able to make amazing wishes come true. So…I'm going to let you both see a special sort of Christmas tomorrow…with all the joyful little things you've imagined. And then…I might even be able to throw in a little fun for the day after as well. Is it is a wish?"

Denny and Amber grinned at each other. That definitely sounded great. They both agreed and the little sprite rubbed its hands together in front. A swirl of ice began to glow, brighter and bright until they had to close their eyes a little. The sprite opened its mouth and blew against its hands like a sudden, howling wind. The glowing spread out from its hands and touched both of them. And that was it.

With a smile and a little wave, the sprite drifted out of the freezer like a snowflake on a draft, slipped across the room and out the open door to the side, which eased shut behind it.

A moment later, their mother Felicia walked in wearing a droopy gray sweater and teased a hand at her curly, red hair which fell over her shoulders and to her back. She stared at her kids and at the open freezer before asking, her eyes narrowed, "What are you two doing? You should close that. It wastes electricity….I thought you were playing outside…"

Amber and Denny looked at each other. Amber spoke first, "We were…but…" Denny jumped in, "There was…this weird thing on the lawn…" Amber offered, "An…animal…and we were going to help it but it ran away…" That was their story and they sold it with little smiles. Felicia looked at her kids. She knew they were fibbing somehow but she didn't see anything amiss and she was already too frazzled to worry about any of it too much. So she just told them, "Alright…Supper will be ready soon…Okay?"

Christmas Eve supper went about the same as it had gone for the last couple of days, only with the addition of hams and yams. Dad would snuck off about halfway through to deal with calls about editing jobs around the first of the year. Since their mother helped with that work, she vanished for a bit too.

This left Denny and Amber with the rest. Denny caught the attention of Cousin Rodger, who regaled him with stories about how math problems were long ago figured out. He'd preface it by saying something was funny but more often would botch that part by repeating it several times and laughing to himself over and over.

The main thing Denny learned this time was that Rodger, at age five, got a slide rule for Christmas and "got years of fun and academic use out of it". Denny felt a twinge of horror at the possibility that Rodger might think such a thing was a fun gift.

Amber learned the names of Emma's cats for the umpteenth time as well as a story about when she took one to work at her receptionist job. Despite her feelings, Amber listened attentively and solemnly, despite the fact her thoughts were really lingering on the possibilities of dessert till Cousin Harmony announced she'd made it. It ended up being some sort of chocolate dessert with a strange name which Amber found…okay.

It wasn't till after supper that their parents finally returned. There was some discussion about reading some Christmas tales or watching an old movie but no decision about which. Dad asked Isabelle, "You sung once, right? Perhaps maybe you could sing a carol and…we could sing along." Shaking her head gravely and brushing at the nearly-white curls of hair on her head, Great-Aunt Isabelle remarked, "I've not sung for a long time. Those times are past. Although way back when…around about New Jersey, I was highly regarded for my voice. You see, in those times…" And so went her story.

Though others tried to derail it a bit, it would continue for the duration. Denny clutched his cheek with his hand. Other bits of conversation filtered between the story. Mom looked over some written materials and made little corrections. Amber was stuck with Aunt Debbie, who pinched at her cheek with a firm, long-nailed grip and said, "You're getting sooo big. Why I remember when you were so small, in little blue jumpers and playing in the mud." Before long, Debbie was talking about a student she taught in her kindergarten class which reminded her of Amber. Her husband was going through the sports section of the newspaper and clenching a candy cane like it was a thin cigar. He only nodded when Debbie asked him to clarify this or that from her memory.

All the while, Isabelle talked about the old businesses and the record shop where she would first sing at in New Jersey. Uncle Garry stayed to the side of the room with a full cup of eggnog he kept topping off with a flask from his pocket. His full and crinkly beard was dappled with white. Somehow, Emma had come up with a story involving cats and record stores which managed to mesh with Isabelle's narrative. Rodger had the puzzles page of the paper and was rapidly going through the Sudoku puzzles. Harmony, who had volunteered for and was just finishing up cleaning the table, brought some food over for Mom and Dad while they did their editing work. Oscar looked deep asleep in the usual spot.

Denny squeezed his hand to his cheek and thought about the little sprite. He shook his head and hopped up from the couch. He looked to Mom and said, "I…think I need to lie down a bit…I'm kinda tired."

Felicia looked up from her work and, during a lull in all 'conversations', remarked, "Hope you didn't catch anything from being outside. Take a nap if you need but won't you be back for some Christmas fun before bed?" He was tempted to say, "What fun?" but pressed his mouth together and nodded.

Amber considered jumping up too but she wondered how it would look. So she bided her time till Debbie finally released her a bit. She stretched and gave a surprised little noise before noting to her mother a bit of reading for break she'd wanted to do. Felicia was skeptical. What kid shrugs off Christmas for reading? But Amber was quite insistent, went on about just doing a little and being back for the "fun" later. After a lingering look, she nodded and said, "Okay. And check on your brother." Before Amber had even left, Felicia and Mike scooted together and were doing husband and wife editing.

It didn't take Amber long to find her brother plopped down on his bed. She folded her arms and noted, "You just left me…" He gave her a look and said, "Sorry…so you think our wish will come true?"

Amber plopped on the roll-out bed next to her brother and gave a quick shrug. "I dunno. I hope you can trust a winter sprite. But I haven't heard of them before."

Denny rested his arms behind his head. "Me neither. But he was pretty cool..."

The two of them wasted as much time as they could. There were a few carols which almost came close to being fun. And they each got to open a present…of school clothes…from Aunt Debbie.

Once it was time to turn on the TV to play movies which no one had objected to, the main events were over. Amber hung over by the tree and watched the lights slowly undulate from one side to the other. She crept over to the window as the early parts of It's A Wonderful Life played in the background. The snow was mostly gone from the warm evening. Just some icy bumps remained of her little birds. She leaned her arms on the sill and breathed frost onto the glass. For a moment, as she looked out at one of the larger patches of remaining snow, she thought she saw the winter sprite again but the form moved so quickly and could well have just been a squirrel.

Denny and Amber both went to bed early, before anyone else. Felicia looked at them and admonished, "Don't go waking everyone up at 3AM just because you're excited for Christmas now." They both promised.

Amber's bed creaked beside her brother's. Eventually, feet shuffled outside the door. The house sounded so still even at so early an hour that Amber wondered if she might be able to hear sounds of the bells on Santa's sleigh chiming in the air. In the last year or two, her suspicions about Santa had grown due to mistakes made by her parents. Sneaking around with large packages, staying up really late last Christmas, and especially when they "called Santa"…how Amber thought she could hear the sound of the 411 operator. But all that changed with the winter sprite. She'd held it. It had talked to her.

Quietly discussing this thought with her brother, he answered back, "I dunno…I…guess it's possible." Pulling her covers up closely around her head, she pondered all the possibilities and tried to let herself drift off to sleep.

----

Denny woke to shaking and an excited girl yelling at him, "It's CHRISTMAS MORNING! Wake up!"

Blearily, he looked up. He furrowed his brow and asked, "What?" The face looking down at him almost looked like his sister, Amber. But her red hair was so much longer than Amber's and it was super curly, like Mom's. Also her eyes were bright blue like hers too.

Scooting up in his bed, the mysterious girl raised her thin eyebrows and looked at him before announcing, "We gotta open presents!" Denny brushed at his face a little and caught a bit of hair. No way that should happen…

He felt around his head and found more and more hair. It was long enough he could look at a full lock. It was red like usual and crinkly. Not quite as much as Amber's but still it seemed to twist as far as it went and it went a long way. Down his neck, around his back, and to his pink nightgown…

Denny jerked up in bed and brushed at the nightgown like it was a spider which had landed on him. Looking up at the girl, he asked, "What…what did you do?"

The girl raised her eyebrows and shot him a look. "What are you talking about?" She plopped her arms down on the bed.

Pushing his covers aside, Denny saw the full horror of what he was wearing. It was cute! It had frills and satiny little bows. It was girly…totally girly.

Leaning closer, the girl asked, "Why are you being so weird, Denise?"

Denny stared at her with his mouth open. Then it struck him about what Amber had said to the winter sprite. More girls her age.

Denny mouthed, "Oh no…" to himself and jumped off the bed. All he needed was a minute in his bathroom to know for sure. The girl waited by the door with her arms folded. Denny screamed and the girl plugged her ears and said, "If you don't want to open gifts then that's more for me!" She stuck out her tongue and scampered off.

When Denny finally staggered out of the bathroom, Denny's sister ran into the room from the hallway. Amber looked Denny over and said, "Hi…uh…sis…"

Denny focused a harsh glare at her sister with her arms folded. "You just had to wish…'I want more girls my age' didn't you? And who was she? New sibling?"

Amber bit her lip. "The girl who just ran out? Oh…uh…that was mom. I think…"

Denny's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

Grabbing Denny's hand, Amber explained, "Yeah…and that's not all." She dragged her down the hall. The screeches and yells were fairly ominous. Denny stopped in hallway at a girl sitting on the floor.

She was on her stomach with some paper. She had on a yellow top and red leggings with glittery black shorts. She kicked her legs about and was writing with a pink pencil. She had a few freckles and long hair in twin ponytails at her neck.

Denny had a hunch since yellow with red was one of her father's favorite color pairings. As well, he used to wear weird stuff with glitter in old photos of him back in the 80s. Leaning over, Denny asked, "Dad?"

The girl bent her head. "Huh? Noooo…I'm Mikayla, silly! And I'm making changes to my writing. I'm gonna give a story after Christmas supper." She went back to her work, kicking her legs in the air. Amber led on to where the noises were coming from, the living room.

They both had to stop and stare for a moment. So much going on…

A girl dressed in a red-and-green tree outfit (like Aunt Debbie's) with a long, dark ponytail of hair was pinching another girl's cheek. The other girl, who had long, dirty blond hair, pouted. She hugged a soccer ball to her chest and wore matching pink shorts with a top.  

In one corner with a coal-eyed dolly wrapped up in her arms sat a girl with a soft mop of brunette hair resting on her shoulders. She was dressed in a crisscross patterned dress decorated with lilies. She said softly, above the din, "I love you, Jenny and we'll be together forrrrever."

Another obvious person was the one with little black cat ears on a pink band in her long, black hair. She was twirling around in a gown which blended white, black, and brown in mottled colors. Her hair whipped around her while she held a pink-wrapped package.

A girl with long, brown hair sat in front of one of the couches. She wore a pink top with blue jeans. She had a big green marker and a book before her on the floor. She slowly counted to herself on her fingers.

And then there was the girl with what seemed to originally be brownish red hair but it had been tinted green and blue with braids and little flowers through it. She was listening to music and eating an apple. She had a long outfit more like a poncho with twisty colors.

Skipping around and digging through presents was a pale blond girl whose hair almost looked white. She was singing softly to herself and wore a pretty purple outfit with stars on it.

Lastly, sitting on the couch curled up and napping was a really young-looking girl with dark hair and a polka-dotted gown.

It didn't take long for the girl with flowers in her hair to see the two of them and announce, "Merry Christmas, Denise and Amber! You're late. We already started on presents but I'll help you get yours, okays?"

She tugged them both by the hand before they could say anything. She sat them by the tree, which looked about the same, and went digging under the tree for gifts.

Asking as casually as they could without sounding crazy, the flower girl revealed her name still to be Harmony. Felicia had just gone to her room to open a gift. Debbie was over there pinching and teasing Clare. Geri had gotten a dolly she named Jenny for Christmas. Emma had gotten some pretty new dresses but not the kitten she had hoped for. Regina had gotten a math book and her very first slide rule. Harmony had politely waited on her own gifts until Denise and Amber got up. Issy got a bunch of music tapes. Cara hadn't opened anything yet because she was still napping.

After explaining all that, Harmony smiled and passed two gifts each to Amber and Denise. Despite all that had happened, they looked at the gifts curiously and began to unwrap them. Amber got a curious game with dice and a notepad where one had to use images to come up with stories. She was quietly intrigued by it and noticed Felicia looking up from around the corner at her with a little smile. Denise got a pink little robot thing which danced when she talked. Issy hopped over and told her, "You need to sing!"

For the second gift, in both cases, it was clothes. Which left Denise much more bothered than Amber. Aside from the gifts were plenty of candy and cookies. Some of it definitely looked like it was made with a child's hand and the green trees were lumpy, though quite good. As they ate and Harmony fluttered around spreading cheer, Amber got a notion in her head. She glanced out the front window and scanned the street.

The amount of snow was even less than the day before. What there was more of, however, were little girls playing on scooters. Some were crafting little creatures like Amber had done. Grimacing as she looked out, Amber hurried to the TV in the corner and flicked it on. Denise soon joined her with a nudge in the shoulder, stuffing her new clothes back into the wrapping.

The first station was news. All little girls telling the local news. The topics were even fluffier than usual with the end of a tea party and what your kitty is thinking when he meows coming next. A national station had a bunch of pretty-dressed girls shouting at each other and saying, "Noo…my plan is better. You're dumb!" Amber wondered if it was some sort of political debate which her dad would watch from time to time. Old movies were fairly simple and all acted in by little girls. Sports didn't change much, if anything, Amber found some of them even more brutal. Denise folded her arms. Grimaced, and asked, "What if it's stuck like this?"

Flipping around a little, Amber paused on a news item about cutely-named countries which recently didn't want to talk to one another because each thought the other was "a meanie stuck up prissy pants". Resting her chin on her hand, Amber put on a Christmas movie which looked more like a grade school production.

Finally, Amber had to shrug and answered Denise's question, "I dunno. I guess it isn't…horrible…if it is. But the winter sprite promised it was only for Christmas."

Denise glared. "And you trust it? What if it lied and it's messed up everything?"

Rubbing her neck Amber sighed. "Maybe it'll be okay. I mean…we wanted this…"

Shaking her head, Denise noted, "I wanted all boys! Not all girls. And I certainly didn't want to become a girl."

Giving a glare of her own, Amber asked, "And what is so wrong with being a girl for a day?"

Denise slapped her feet on the carpet. "Would you like to be stuck as a boy for a day?....Or longer if the winter sprite makes it that way?"

Amber leaned back. It wasn't appealing but she didn't have anything against boys. Especially when they weren't being dumb. But she just wasn't one of them and to become one…would make her feel weird. Nodding slowly, Amber conceded her brother's point and said, "It wouldn't be right. We need to make things right…even if our Christmas is full of weird, older relatives."

However, neither of them had any idea how they might go about that. The only idea they had was that they might check the freezer in the garage again or the front yard for a sign of the sprite. It was a very slim chance but it was all they had. Before they went looking, Amber apologized to Denise and gave her a quick little, comforting hug. Denise tensed for a moment from the hug but accepted it and the apology.

Dressing up warmly in clothes too pink for Denise's taste, they made their way past the kitchen where Harmony and Felicia were trying to reach shelves for plates. They both happily said, "We're making breakfast." In a moment, they nearly dropped one of the plates. Amber desperately hoped they could make something edible but admitted it was likely the typical Christmas dinner wouldn't happen.

The garage felt cold, especially since the main icebox of the freezer was left open. It blew towards them. Approaching it, they soon recognized the little winter sprite resting on the ice like it was a cottony bed. Its spindly arms bent behind it. Amber ran over and said, "Can you change all this back?" Denise scowled at the sprite and clenched her hands for emphasis.

Bending its icy head towards them, the sprite regarded them calmly and asked, "But I thought you wanted all this? Plenty others your age to play with and enjoy on Christmas."

Amber tried to explain their expectations were different until she realized they hadn't really thought out exactly how there would suddenly be kids their age around but she noted, "But it wasn't supposed to be like this."

Denise chimed in, "And I asked for little boys!"

Stretching a little, the sprite noted, "Don't worry. I decided to divide up the day so there will be boys later for those that asked for them. And a special, different surprise tomorrow…"

Amber bit her lip and asked, "So…after today…and after tomorrow…that's it?"

The sprite laughed like ice chipping and asked, "Why? Want more?"

They both furiously waved their hands at it and denounced any possibility, much to the little sprite's amusement. Looking at the both of them, it said, "Oh, humans. You all think you know what you want so well and yet you're so fearful when you get it….you each will get eight hours of what you asked for. My magic isn't unending. But I'm not saying what you get tomorrow. It wouldn't befit the season to know everything that's coming. Hope you both enjoy your day."

Before they could ask any other questions, the sprite faded and the ice box slipped shut. They stared at it for a bit before Denise looked over at her sister and asked, "Eight hours?"

Thinking back to the time on the hallway clock, Amber suggested, "It must have meant that there are a little less than sixteen hours left to Christmas Day. Which means there are eight for little girls and eight for little boys." That sounded like it made sense to her.

Denise lamented, "You mean I need to be a little girl for seven hours more?" Amber gave a comforting pat on her brother's shoulder. Together, they made their way back to the kitchen to check on breakfast. Harmony and Felicia had actually done a good job. About as good as Amber did when she made breakfast on her own. It wasn't perfect but it was okay. Amber decided to help out with making sure everything was set up and she dragged Denise along to help.

Breakfast itself as barely-contained chaos with all the girls fussing with their new toys, dollies, or whatever. As Amber looked around, she immediately thought that they should all put their toys away while they were eating. Before saying it, she felt the words in her mother's voice and recalled all the times she'd been distracted at the table. She slumped a little and looked to her brother/sister. Denise was eating ravenously, only stopping to pick out some tiny bits of egg shell which had been left with the yellowy-grayish scrambled eggs. Then he added a lot of salt.

Mikayla got jam on her writings and glared at them. Felicia wore her apron as she ate. Debbie had finally let Clare go but they were both kicking at each other's feet under the table and alternating between giggling and glaring at each other. Geri play-fed some food to her dolly and made little "nom nom" sounds. Emma scooped her food into a form resembling cat food. Regina was slowly counting the pieces of sliced fruit she had (Amber winced as Harmony cut up some extra fruit with an especially sharp knife). While Amber expected some protest from Harmony about Felicia making eggs, she just hummed to herself and had a lot of fruit. Issy hummed too and ate slowly. Cara had to prop herself up by leaning on her fork and ate sedately.

It was definitely a different kitchen situation for Amber. Denise just ate until Emma came over to her and said, "I wanna see you in your new pretty dress! I'll give you cute whiskers and a total makeover!" Clinging to her last bit of charred toast, Denise was dragged away by catgirlish Emma for parts unknown. Amber sent her a sympathetic look. But it was Amber's turn when Harmony expressed the same hope for Amber. At least she didn't drag her away.

The dress-up session reminded her of a time with a neighborhood friend's sleepover. Only Harmony was deeply earnest, making sure Amber had little flowers tucked into her red hair at just the right places.

Denise with uneven black whiskers drawn on her face and little kitten stickers emerged later. Then came more game gifts. The math games from Regina were instantly boring to just about anyone else. Emma made it her goal to drag away Regina and make her nice and cute. There were some pen and paper games too.

Someone finally got Cara up and about for a game like Simon Says even though she yawned every so often. Felicia and Harmony helped to organize everything and make sure as they went from one game to another. Everyone had a chance to lead. Amber was impressed but then she'd been to some of Harmony's yoga classes and knew she could lead. For Felicia, she knew mom always made sure the house was in order. But this all was a couple steps outside of order.

By the time it was getting around noon, the rest of them still seemed so hyper (aside from the obvious exception) and Amber felt quietly tired. It wasn't that the games weren't fun and all the other stuff, it was just she wanted to do something else. She wanted to maybe help mom with the laundry or play with her toys. Some in the group were but it was just so chaotic and so much was going on. She liked quiet fun. She liked playing in the snow but this group was like they had way too much sugar, as her mom would sometimes say. Again, Amber gave a frown. Denise leaned towards her and asked, "What are you thinking?"

She looked at Denise, who had since wiped off the dumb whiskers but still looked plenty girly as she was, and asked, "Do you find this…fun?"

Denise creased her Emma-narrowed eyebrows, gestured at her current apparel, and said, "What do you think?"

Amber shook her head. "What I mean is…how things are…with all them?"

Denise looked at some current card game Debbie was leading with odd rules and sighed, "I do miss mom and dad. And the rest weren't too bad. It just…kinda stinks when it's all one or all the other."

Amber pressed her hands to her face and murmured, "This isn't the fun I wanted. I wish we could rewish…"

Denise added, "I wish that sprite thing hadn't taken this to extreme…" Amber almost wanted to clamp a hand over Denise's mouth in case the creature was listening and intended to make things even worse. But nothing changed…that was until in the afternoon.

It came when the clock struck four and thoughts of the big big Christmas dinner were starting to come about. As simply as a blink, everyone in the room changed into little boys. Soon after, things weren't that different.

Mikey seemed even more solemn. Felix was taller and kinda hovered over them more like mom would when she thought they were goofing around. Danny was pretty mean with pinching Cleve. Garry was now messing around with little robots and action figures. Emmett walked around like a tiger and would pounce on stuff on the floor and roll around. Rod still stuck to his little math stuffs. Harmony's name didn't change though. Isaac still had a lovely singing voice and Oscar had suddenly turned into someone on sugar, nearly toppling the tree over with a head butt.

For Amber, she tensed up for a good while and tried not to sense anything on "herself". He accepted the name Andy pleasantly enough but it was disconcerting to try to associate himself with another name. He kept wanting to correct everyone who used that name.

Andy looked to his brother, who appeared quite relieved to be finally out of that dress. Their clothes were pale blue with a lot of corduroy. The games weren't that different but there was a quick smattering of arm-twisting and tackling which may or may not have been intentional.

Andy scooted to the side of the room and tried not to look at the clock. At least Emmett had put the TV on to watch a nature documentary which was narrated by an overzealous little boy who couldn't get over how cool tigers looked.

Denny got into some games and felt quite comfortable as Andy hugged his legs and winced. He really didn't want to learn about the differences between boys and girls this way and he absolutely didn't want to see what he looked like. He could imagine from the short feel of his hair and his slightly-smaller hands. Blinking slowly, he felt warm, hot tears on his cheek. He tried to wipe it away, his heart racing. He tried to hide his face but Harmony noticed.

Scampering over, Harmony ducked down over by Andy and asked, "What's wrong?"

Andy didn't want to talk. Denny looked over and scooted closer. Inside, Andy worried about what they would do. They were a bunch of boys, after all. But, as he looked up, he noticed that Felix was sitting next to him and slowly put his arm around him. Felix asked, "You okay?"

They were all clustering. They were quiet and watchful. Cleve picked at his nose a little but he still watched. Glancing around, Andy wasn't sure what to say but tried, "I…just. It's…this Christmas wasn't like it was supposed to be. And I'm scared and worried and I dunno…" Denny grimaced and leaned towards Andy.

That was all he said before ducking his head down. Then, Harmony gave a giggle and said, "Duhhh. Christmas is never like you expect. Maybe it's better. Maybe the last one is better. Maybe you hope the next is better. Maybe it really sucks turtle balls and you don't get anything you want or everything is crazy like today and it's too cold to really have fun outside. But there's one cool thing about Christmas I want you to know…"

Andy waited and listened. Harmony grinned. "We're all here! We're your family and it's cool because it's Christmas and we're all here! Maybe you get pinched a lot by some of us..." Danny stuck out his tongue.

"…Maybe some of us don't pay too much attention to you because we're so busy with other stuff…" Mike glanced up from some writing and Felix looked down at his feet a moment.

"…Maybe some of us are weird…" Garry made a little "boom" sound as he was still playing with his figures. Harmony glanced over at Emmett on four legs and then bowed his head a little with a smile.

"…And others aren't the kind you want to hang around with allll the time…" His eyes scanned the room for no one in particular before coming back to rest on Andy and finished, "But we're family and this is Christmas and we'll make sure it's the totally coolest one you can have!"

From that point on, Andy was treated like the center of attention with traded gifts and little chores and all sorts of weird and fun little things. Denny got roped in as well and definitely smiled a bit with his brother.

Andy tried on a slight smile from time to time. As Harmony gave him a hug from behind, Andy glanced into his eyes and saw a calm little twinkling in them. Harmony whispered, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. After all, it's a magical day and tomorrow will be magical too…Amber."

Surprised, Andy bent his head towards Harmony. For the briefest of moments, possibly with the twinkling of the Christmas tree nearby, Andy thought he saw a strange but familiar sparkle in Harmony's eyes, like moonlight reflecting off ice. Then, it drifted away.

To Harmony, Andy asked, "You said…Amber?"

Blinking to himself, Harmony looked at Andy and asked, "Hmm? What? Amber? Did I?...Weird. I must've spaced out there. Sorry!" He squeezed Andy's shoulder and hurried over the kitchen to work with Felix on supper.

Settling against the carpet, Andy looked at his brother, who flashed him a look but gave a quick hug. Andy just chuckled. Despite it all, despite a Christmas where everything was messed up, a warm calmness filled his body.

He knew it was right. Everything would be fine.

And he couldn't wait to see what would happen on his birthday!