Out With the Old

This is it people! As of the publishing time of this post there is officially only 24 hours left of 2016 *cheers*.

I think I can agree with social media's general consensus when I say that this year really was not a great one. It was a year of growth, to be sure, but also a year full of many ups and downs.

I dealt with some growing pains when it comes to learning to be grateful where I am at, no matter how bored I get of something and how much I desire to move on to the next level. This is going to be something I will probably continue to struggle with into the New Year, as I am very tired of school and my job right now.

My family and I were also forced to move AGAIN! We have moved around the same city four times now. This is all because we either rent from missionaries, or in the last scenario, rent from a retired pastor who had to have his house back due to unforeseeable circumstances. God is good though, and we ended up finding a house both closer to the college my brother and I attend (like, within walking distance) as well as almost within walking distance of my dad's work as well. We even had help from a dear friend of mine and her family, when my dad was "lucky" enough to sprain his ankle during the move. We never would have gotten it done without their help, which just goes to show that God is always a provider when things seem bleak.

I also have a bigger bedroom, and a new full size bed, (not new per se, but new to me at least). Sometime this coming month I will be sure to take you on the long-promised bedroom tour.

Do I dare even mention the election on here? With me being a political science minor, and with as much of a drama and upset as this last, I feel as if I sort of have to. I just want to say though, that if you could vote, or whatever preference you had, our country needs to have a time of peace during this transition. Pray for President-Elect Trump and Governor Pence as they and their advisors take office, and pray that all this strife, division, and turmoil in our country can be healed.

Christmas was a fun time. It was great getting together to celebrate the Savior's birth, and to spend time with friends and family. My Uncle and Aunt got a new dog named Spencer (seen sitting on my lap in the image below). The crazy thing is, he liked to bark and growl at me for like the first half hour we were at my Uncle and Aunt's. Then, he suddenly hopped up on my lap, tail wagging, and refused to really move for the rest of the afternoon as he kept licking my hands to death. He was super sweet, and that probably ended up being the highlight of my Christmas.

However, around the Monday before Christmas, things ended up being not so fun. I had my first hospital stay, as I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my right arm. Pretty scary to go through, especially if you hate Doctors and hospitals to begin with.  I am fine now though. The clot is gone and I am on blood thinners until further notice. Thank you to all who prayed for me during this time!

I also have started to write more consistently, all thanks to NaNoWriMo. My goal is to hit 45-50k before I go back to school on the third of the month. I still have NOT quite gotten to the point where I am writing consistently on a daily basis, but that is something to work on. I am hoping to have my first book TOTALLY finished by the time Camp NaNo rolls around in April. *Crosses fingers*

Well, there you have it guys, a kinda sorta recap to my year! Stay tuned, as in 24 hours my New Years Goals post is going live!

2016 Bookish Recap Tag

I was nominated by my new friend Micaiah over at Adventures Beyond the Horizon for the 2016 Bookish Recap Tag!

 Rules:
1) Include the above button in your post.
2) Answer the 11 questions.
3) Use as many book covers as you like.
4) Tag 5-10 people and notify them that they have been tagged. (Probably not gonna tag THAT many, but I will get to a fe ;)

Questions:

1. How many books did you read in 2016?

I would have to approximate between 15-20. I AM a college student, so some of those were required reading.

2. What's five of your favorite books from 2016?



Star Wars: Ahsoka- Only people who have seen The Clone Wars tv series will really get this book. Yet, being a Star Wars fan since I was eight years old, and basically having The Clone Wars show to watch through middle school and I school, I LOVE the fact that there is a female Jedi character out there in the Star Wars universe (by the way, RIP Carrie Fisher).

Band of Brothers- This is a book about the unit who parachuted into France on D-Day. It is so good with how accurate it depicts the attack on D-day, and the brotherly comradeship felt among the unit. Word of warning though, it does depict war for what it is, which is why I think it was so good to begin with.

Why We Can't Wait- With all the turmoil and unrest going on today, it was helpful to see, or rather, read an explanation about the push for Civil Rights and why it happened the way it did.

Lincoln's Greatest Speech- This whole book is about Lincoln's second inaugural address. Being a Civil War buff and a writing nerd, this book does an excellent job at breaking down his speech and putting it into more of an overall historical contrast, which I found to be fascinating.

Heaven in Conflict- I know they professor who wrote this, and all I can say is if you know nothing and want to know something about Chinese history, Chinese religious history in particular, then you should read this book.

3. What's five of your least favorite books form 2016? I could only really come up with four, so here they are.



Mickey Mouse History- Overall just a collection of essays on how well certain organizations "did" history, including Walt Disney. Overall very dry, and not that great.

Surprised By Joy- This is basically an autobiography of Lewis's early years to when he turned from atheism to become a Christian. I have read better biographies about Lewis, and this was filled with unneeded detail that made the book boring.

Upon the Altar of a Nation- Very repetitive reading. You can honestly get the general theme of the book by reading the first section alone.

Allegiant- I LOVE Veronica Roth and LOVED Divergent and Insurgent. Allegiant is all right, and I would re-read it again for the sake of reading the first two, but aside from a major spoiler, it is not the best book of the trilogy. I really do not like the dueling perspectives Roth presents between the two main characters. The movie in my own opinion offered more of an exciting thrill than this book, and I even READ the book before seeing the movie.

4. What favorite author did you discover?

Steven Ambrose would be a new favorite author of mine. He has so much more written on the soldiers of WW2 that I have on my to be read list for next year. Again, I warn you that he can get graphic in his writings since it is of course warfare, so approach his books with that in mind.

5. What are your five favorite book covers this year?

This is slightly redundant, and I only have four, but here ya go.



A slightly older Ahsoka from the show is depicted here, with her new AWESOME WHITE LIGHTSABERS! This is also a good book if you want to learn about lightsaber lore and why there are different colors of lightsabers. Ahh I just love Ahsoka.



The cover really gives a good visual image of the brotherly comradeship depicted in the book.



I did not like the book, but I think the cover is an excellent example of how horrible the war was. It gets a really close up depiction that gives you chills.





I had to read this for C.S. lewis, and I love the cover! It really shows quite the contrast, with Aslan being the bigger "Jesus figure" and the Dawn Treader in his eye.

6. How many books did you purchase for yourself in 2016?

That I kept? Five, I believe.

7. What was the longest book you read in 2016?

Upon the Altar of A Nation at 576 pages.

8. What is the shortest book you read in 2016?

That would be The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at 208 pages.

9. What is your reading goal for 2017?

The answer to THAT, my dear readers, is coming up in a future post :D

Now I tag EMILY MCCONNELL! You're it!!!

Hope you guys enjoyed this. Feel free to comment!

A Finnish Christmas Part Three

Aiden glanced at his sister, who was busy studying the list of arrivals displayed on the screen in the terminal at the airport.

"They will make it Del. Just relax why don't you".

Adeline glanced over at him. "That is easy for you to say when your boyfriend's family, whom he has not seen in a year and a half I may add, is coming over to America to visit".

"May I remind you that you were the one to invite them over to begin with?" Aiden raised his eyebrows.

"I did it to surprise Armo!" Del protested. "He has not been acting himself lately, and I think homesickness for his family may be the reason why, even though he would never admit it to me".

"Okay, okay, you win," Aiden said with a brotherly smile. "Just don't start complaining when eleven people in our tiny house gets to be too much".

Adeline rolled her eyes good naturedly. Sure, she was an introvert who tended to tire of company after extended periods of time. As far as she was concerned though, this would be one big sleepover, with her sister and Armo's sisters staying in her room, Armo and his brother staying with Aiden in his room, and his parents taking her little sister Avana's room. Sure, it was a tight squeeze, but it was all worth it if it would put a smile on her blond Finn's face.

Adeline smiled at the thought, and did not notice when the Takala's plane had landed and started to disembark until her brother pointed it out to her.

"It that them?" he asked as a family of five who all looked similar enough to Armo stepped into the terminal and started to glance about.

"Del!" the youngest girl, roughly about 12, shouted as she ran into the arms of who she considered to be an honorary big sister, especially since her and Armo started seeing each other.

"Janeka!" Adeline laughed in delight at the younger girl's greeting. She had of course met Armo's entire family over skype before, but this was the very first time they were getting to meet in person.

"Adeline!" Mrs. Takala greeted her enthusiastically, stepping in to hug her once Janeka let go of her grasp. "It is so nice to finally meet my son's future wife in person!"

Adeline blushed, and locked eyes with her brother over Mrs. Takala's shoulder. The smirk on his face told her that he was clearly finding her discomfort amusing.

"Now, now my dear, there you go embarrassing the poor girl," Mr. Takala gently admonished his wife, before turning to Adeline and extending his hand to her. "All in good time my girl, no?"

"Um, yeah," Del shook his hand, unsure of what to make of that statement. It was then she spotted two other of Armo's smiling watching the whole exchange behind their parents with no small degree of amusement.

"Kielo? Reijo?" she addressed the 15 and the 17-year-olds respectively.

"Nice to finally meet big brother's girl," Reijo said teasingly with a smile.

"To be honest," Kielo said, grinning. "He is so quiet most of the time that we did not think he would meet someone here in America".

"Kielo!" Mrs. Takala admonished, clearly embarrassed for her daughter's loose tongue. "Don't speak of your brother in that way".

"Well," for the first time, Aiden spoke up. "My sister here is pretty quiet herself. It is no wonder those two were able to catch each other".

Adeline glared daggers at her older brother, while he just shrugged good-naturedly. "It's the truth," he defended, causing everyone around her to laugh.

"Anyway," Del said, turning back to the Takalas. "We should collect your bags and head back to the house. No doubt Armo is already there by now, and he thinks my brother and I are out shopping for groceries.

"Well then, lead the way to the baggage claim!" Mr. Takala said flamboyantly. Del smiled back at him as she prepared to make way to be sure all their guests left home with their essential travel items.

______________________________________________________

Armo glanced outside for what seemed like the billionth time to the snow covered medical clinic in front of the Frakes' home. If Delly and her brother REALLY had gone out to get groceries, they certainly had been gone for a long time.

"Hey Armo," a young voice behind him said. "Can you please help me fold these towels?"

Armo smiled ruefully as he turned and faced Del's youngest sister, Ava. Ava was a diehard gymnast, top in her high school's division, and was set to go to Seattle Pacific University next year on a full ride athletic scholarship.

"Sure, Ava," he smiled. He did not mind helping out around the Frakes house. In fact, he demanded no special treatment as a condition of him staying over for break.

His mind was just currently otherwise occupied.

After what seemed like an eternity, after all the towels had been folded and put into their proper places, Armo finally heard Aiden's car pull up into the driveway.

"Oh good, they are back". Armo was curious as to why Mr. Frakes went rushing outside to greet them with his wife right at his heels.

"What going on?" he turned to Ava, who was carrying the laundry basket back down to the basement.

Ava shrugged. "They are probably just going to see if they are okay and got everything we will be needing for the next few days," she responded a bit too nonchalantly.

Armo narrowed his eyes at her retreating back as she scurried off down into the basement. Something was up. The question was, what?

He got his answer moments later when a set of familiar faces entered the front door.

"Aiti! Isa!" he exclaimed, bolting over to embrace his parents with tears in his eyes.

"Poikani!" his mother exclaimed, hugging him back as she openly embraced him.

"How are you my son?" his father asked as he pulled away.

"Fine, hyva, now that you all are here," Armo grinned as he embraced his younger sibilings.

"How are you here?" he asked.

"Well, your girl could not help notice you feeling down. She guss this may be reason why," his youngest sister stated factually.

Armo turned to Adeline, who was grinning like a cheshire cat. "Your welcome," she said as he hugged her.

"Oh, pupu," he said, calling her by her pet name. "I cannot tell you how much this mean to me".

"Your expression speaks volumes to me already".

"So," her older brother remarked nonchalantly after an awkward pause. "When's dinner?"

This brought a round of laughter from the entire group. Now, that both families were together, the Christmas festivities could truly start in earnest.

After all, that was the way it was supposed to be, was it not?

A/N: Thank you all for reading my blog during this 12 days of Christmas Linkup. I would like to thank Faith for hosting. I hope you all will continue to follow my blog and have a Merry Christmas!

A Finnish Christmas Part Two

A/N: Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Enjoy part two of a Finnish Christmas and be sure to comment!

Adeline could not help but dance around her living room in excitement.

Tonight was the night she was going to get to not just see, but also meet her favorite band of all time, Christ and Country.

It had been only a dream to be able to see them live ever since she discovered them.

Now, well, that dream was becoming a reality.

If only Armo and his host mom would hurry up in getting here.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Del stopped her dancing when she noticed headlights shining through the curtains.

"Bye, mom," she called as she bolted out the door into the snowflakes coming down like white flakes of powdered sugar outside. She was to the point where she was unable to wait any longer, and therefore did not show any signs of her usual disdain for the evil cold white stuff.

"Have fun, hon," she could hear her mother calling after her.

She smiled as she saw Armo sliding out of the front seat of the car.

"Hi!" she greeted him, embracing him.

Armo smiled. The last time he has seen his girl get this excited was when she had surprised her for her birthday by taking her to see her favorite horse.

"You could either have front, or we both sit in back".

Del glanced through the window to the driver's side of Armo's host mother's silver suburban. A kindly woman appearing to be in her early fifties smiled and waved to her, and Del waved back.

"Let's sit in the back together," Del said confidently, her gaze shifting back to Armo.

Armo smiled and nodded, opening up the passenger door for her as his blond locks escaped his cap to fall rather adorably across his brow.

My Finn is so adorable, Adeline thought as she slipped into the backseat. A gentleman too, she noted as he waited until she was completely settled inside before closing the door for her and making his way to the other side.

______________________________________________________

Later, Armo and Adeline found themselves standing in quite a long line as they waited for their turn to be able to meet and get their pictures taken with the band.

While this whole fanfare was not something Armo was all that interested in, he was curious to see exactly what this band of his Del's was all about.

Apparently, these group of singers were an acapella sextet. While they were predominantly country, the singers were christian and also tried to focus their musical talents to hymns like How Great Thou Art and Amazing grace as well.

Del for one, according to her best friend Rene, talked nonstop about one particular singer in the group. Apparently, he sang bass, and Adeline had a "thing" for bass singers as her grandmother had taught her to have an appreciation for them.

Armo turned away from Del, who was busy trying to crane her short stature above all the other people waiting in line who were ultimately taller than either of them.

He berated himself for allowing himself to feel homesick on tonight of all nights, but he could not help it. He missed his family terribly, and would give anything to be able to go home and spend Christmas with them.

He could not, though. He had one thing to console himself over though. Adeline's family had invited him to spend Christmas over at their house. It was not like he was going to spend it lonely.

He felt Del reach down to take his hand, and glanced over to her questioningly.

"We are right after these people," Adeline said, grinning wildly. Armo glanced ahead of them and realized that they were indeed about to come up.

"Oh, I am going to say something stupid and embarrass myself," Del berated herself, her smile replaced by a look of anxiety.

Armo smiled. "You no be fool. You are smart and pretty. Just be yourself".

Adeline smiled at her blond Finn, noticing a flash of loneliness that troubled his expression for a moment so fleeting she thought that she was seeing things.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly as the people ahead of them went up to meet the band.

Her Finn nodded, brushing away the stray strands of blond hair that fell into his face as he did so. He smiled at Del.

"Still trying to get on regular sleep schedule after finals," he told her.

She seemed to buy that excuse for now, as their turn came up to meet the band.

"Um, hi," Adeline greeted as she approached the six band members, for guys and two girls.

The bass of the group smiled at her. "Howdy," he drawled in a voice that was deeper than the YouTube videos portrayed, nearly making Del swoon. "What are you guys's names".

After several seconds of silence that was beginning to grow awkward, Armo worriedly glanced over at his girlfriend. Once he saw she had been temporarily been struck with the inability to speak, he decided to speak up for the both of them.

"My name is Armo," he said carefully, remembering proper English. "This is my, ah, girlfriend Adeline".

"Adeline, that's a pretty name," The shortest girl of the group, who had shoulder length blond curls and was roughly about the same height as Armo, came up to Adeline to shake her hand. She sent Armo a wink that made him feel somewhat relieved. Obviously all of them must of had experience dealing with starstruck fans like Adeline.

"My name is Chloe, lead alto of these crazies". Armo was relieved when Del seemingly was able to snap out of her daze to shake the curly-haired woman's hand.

"The one who greeted you is my husband Ben, bass of the group" Ben raised his hand and smiled in greeting.

"The bald guy is Nate, our leader and baritone. The one who looks like he is up to no good is our tenor Chase," both Armo and Adeline smiled as a young man with his wavy blond hair tied into a ponytail protested her remark.

"Sadie is the only other female presence of the group here at high alto. Last, but most certainly not least, is our little brother, the heart, soul and rhythm of the group, Sam".

Armo looked surprised as Sam gave a demonstration of his beat box skills. He had never even heard or encountered someone who could make drumming sounds with their mouth before.

"How, um, do that?" he directed his question towards Sam.

"Practice," Sam answered simply with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you all," Adeline said quietly, very much starstruck. "I personally was wondering what it takes for you to get as low as you can".

The whole musical group of siblings laughed, then looked to Ben, who was smiling.

"Well," he drawled in a deep Texan accent. "Part of it was being blessed by God to be given a deep voice at puberty".

This remark elicited more laughter from the group, including Armo and Adeline and the people waiting for their turn behind them.

"For the other part of it," he continued, stroking his bearded chin in thought. "I suppose I would have to echo Sam. It takes practice to be able to hit those deep chest notes".

"It's dang sexy too," Del said, before looking around in horror as the band burst out laughing and Armo looked over at her, clearly concerned.

"Oh, goodness I am SO SORRY!" Del quickly apologized.

"Aw, don't worry about it," the man who looked almost too similar to Ben for it just to be family genetics said. "We are used to it".

"Trust me, other girls can oggle at his voice, but at the end of the day, he knows he is mine," Chloe went over to Ben, smiling up at him as he looked at her affectionately and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"How about a picture, guys?" Nate said in attempt to break the awkwardness, looking from Adeline and her beet red cheeks to Armo and his concerned, though somewhat amused look that he was giving Del.

"Okay," Del said meekly as her and Armo gathered around the band for their photo op.

Oh Delly, Armo thought as he smiled for the camera. How you amuse me so.

Now if only he could find a way to visit his parents earlier than this upcoming summer.

A Finnish Christmas Part One

Welcome to the next day of Twelve Days of Christmas, and the start of a new week! Christmas is officially SIX days away guys! EEEPP! I just finished all my Christmas shopping and wrapping over the weekend, so I feel as ready as I can be. This next week sure is gonna be exciting though!

Now, on to part one of my new Christmas story, A Finnish Christmas. Please feel free to comment at the end, and come back tomorrow for part two!

Armo Takala stared at the tickets in his hand, then back to the black lettered sign decorating the entrance to WhitmanUniversity.

He had yet to decide how to approach giving these tickets to her. Until of course he had boarded the bus from SFCC and had somehow along the way arrived at her college.

He knew she absolutely was obsessed with this band, thanks to a little bird in his ear.

He wanted to surprise her, but he could not think of a creative way to do so.

Was he really one of those people who was limited to one surprise a year when it came to doing something special for the people he cared for.

He walked through the entrance, and glanced around at the snow covered pines and among the buildings, again marveling at how small the campus was compared to the falls.

Apparently, according to Adeline, the students here had taken to calling this place Narnia when it snowed. Looking around he could see why, as the image of the school was very Narnian-esque.

Though he did expect Narnia to have more trees. Apparently the windstorm of last year had done a lot of damage on this place.

Cowles Memorial Library, the sign on the building to his left read. Where Adeline worked at. Armo silently hoped her bosses would not mind him interrupting like this. Del was down to her second to last day of school for 2016, and he knew she had a lot to get done before going onto her last semester ever in college.

Armo trudged across the white glittering lawn, delighting in the snow crunching under his boots while scrunching his nose at the bitter chill in the air. He loved winter, and he loved snow. It reminded him so much of....

Armo paused for a moment, trying to push away the feelings of melancholy from his mind. He knew good and well he would not be able to go back home once he had started school here in the United States. It was hard though. He had not seen his family in almost three whole years.

At least there was skype, he sent up a quick prayer of thanks for the ability of modern inventions that enabled him to stay close to his parents, despite the fact that they lived far away.

Once reaching the library, Armo stomped the snow off his boots, glancing from the sign that read Caution, Wet Floor, to the big winding staircase that lead to a second floor that was undoubtedly chock full of students studying last minute for finals. Despite having visited here several times for study sessions with his favorite girl, he was still quite baffled as to how big it was.

He turned left, and then proceeded to make another left, down a long hallway full of offices for all the librarians who offered their services to the students. Towards the end of the pale blue hallway, past a long line of miscellaneous artwork painted by the art students, Armo turned right into the back room the Adeline worked at.

"Hi, Armo," Adeline's boss, Sarah, greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hi Mrs. Gilbert," he greeted back, Sarah smiled.

"Armo, you know I told you before to call me Sarah, considering how close you are to Del and all," Armo turned pink, while the archival student gave him a sympathetic glance.

"Ignore her," she murmured. "Sarah has a knack for teasing other people when it comes to their relationships. Adeline just went shelving and should be back in a few minutes".

Armo nodded to the archival student, ashamed of himself as he could not remember her name, before he sat down to wait for Adeline to get back.

"How were your finals at the falls?" Sarah asked, tuning from her computer to address him.

"Um, good, they went. Still have one more. Then won't know until grades are officially in later this week".

Sarah nodded. "That was always the hardest part for me in college. The post final burn as well as the anxiety to know if I did well enough to have made it another semester".

Armo smiled. He really did like Del's boss, even though she sure could be talkative.

After several minutes of unavoidable smalltalk, Armo kicked himself for not messaging Adeline sooner and asking when she was actually free. He did not have to worry for long, though, as after a few more agonizingly long minutes, Del returned with her cart.

"I hate how squeaky these carts can get," Del complained tiredly, appearing to be very much in the state of sleep deprivation. "I feel like I am bothering the whole entire library when I go and shelve".

Sarah nodded sympathetically. "After the new year my husband said he would be in to give us a hand with fixing the carts, you will have to hang on until then though".

"All right," Del said, smiling ruefully as she put her annoyingly squeaky cart up against its place by the table. It was then she noticed Armo.

"Armo!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" she smiled as she came over to give him a hug, which Armo accepted gladly, relieved that his moment of small talk was over.

"Surprise," he said as he pulled the two tickets from his winter coat. "Happy Christmas".

Adeline blinked, then took the tickets from him. "You don't mean?" she started to squeal excitedly as she read the name of the band on the tickets.

“Oh my goodness, Armo!” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “How did you know?”

“Well,” Armo looked at her ruefully. “The very talkative Rene told me you have bit of obsession with group, no?”

Adeline smirked. “She called me out. Oh well, I cannot wait!”

“Let me guess,” Sarah said, smiling from her desk. “Christ and Country?” she knew her Senior student worker all too well. Whenever she got obsessed with something, it was hard for her usually quiet self to stop talking about it.

“How could you have possibly have guessed?” Adeline said over her shoulder, before her boss returned back to her work. Del’s green eyes returned to Timo’s blue ones.

“My host mother say she give us ride downtown. We could be there, say, 4:30? That will give us plenty of time to get down there for the VIP”.

“Wait,” Adeline trailed off as she looked at the tickets again. “Armo, the band’s regular tickets are fairly inexpensive, but VIP? I cannot imagine how much VIP must have cost you”.

Armo looked down to his feet somewhat shyly. “You are worth it, though,” he murmured.

Del leaned forward to give him a slight peck on the cheek. “You do so much for me, and I love you and thank you for it. Now, if you want to hang out here and study, I should be done with my shift in about an hour. Then we can work on school stuff together".

Armo’s eyes met hers as he nodded. Adeline saw a whole mixture of emotions in his blue irises, from happiness, to affection, to, could she really detect a hint of loneliness?

Something was bothering her Finn.

Just what could it be though? What could possibly be getting to him during his favorite time of year?

Emily was determined to find out.

The Christmas Kitten Part Three

Part three y'all! Hope you've enjoyed and be prepared for part one of A Finnish Christmas coming up tomorrow!

Chloe rolled over that morning, half out of it, only to come face to face with her husband grinning widely at her. She smiled sleepily.

“Since only a few months ago I was seriously doubting if we would have a first Christmas together as husband and wife,” she yawned, then fingered the scar on his chest that the bullet had left behind.

“I will forgive you for smiling creepily at me while I sleep”.

Ben’s response was to lean over to kiss her, his smile growing wider as he nuzzled her strawberry smelling curls.

“Let’s go open presents,” he said into her hair. Chloe smiled, her husband’s childlike enthusiasm rubbing off on her.

“Will you make me coffee?” she asked as she glanced at the clock on Ben’s side, where is was conveniently kept as they had found out early in their marriage that Chloe had the tendency to hit snooze one too many times.

Tim nodded, pulling her up out of bed and handing her some slippers as he dragged her upstairs to the kitchen in their matching flannel pajamas, which, believe it or not, was her idea to start with.

Nate was already there making their traditional meal of crepes. “Merry Christmas,” he smiled at Ben’s enthusiasm and Chloe’s half-asleep state. “Coffee is already on”.

Chloe mumbled a thanks and headed for the coffee, but not before pulling Ben into a kiss. “Merry Christmas, hon”.

She hugged Nate, wishing him a Merry Christmas,  and then went to pour a steaming cup of dark, liquidy goodness.

“When?” Ben started to ask.

“When everyone gets up, Ben,” Nate said patiently. Ben looked momentarily crestfallen until Chloe slid up next to him and placed a  cup of coffee in his hands.

“Come on, Hon. Let’s go snuggle on the couch until people emerge”.

“Okay,” Ben said, the smile appearing on his face as he pushed his brown hair back with his hand.

As Chloe and Ben disappeared into the living room, Sadie was the next sibling to emerge.

“Anyone else up besides Ben dragging a sleepy Chloe out of bed?”

“Nope. There is only a limited amount of time though before Ben goes into the room of the last two though and makes sure they get up”.

“I will go wake them up myself. Save him the trouble of doing so,” Sadie decided as she temporarily forgot about the prospect of coffee and skipped to Sam’s and Chase’s room.

Lord, have mercy on her, Chris prayed silently on behalf of his little sister. He knew for a fact Sam and Chase and stayed up just a bit too late after their concert last night, watching the Nightmare Before Christmas no doubt.

Sadie turned the doorknob, softly pushing the door open to her brother’s bedroom. She smiled as Sam stirred, shoving his head underneath the pillow. Chase was still out like a light, sleeping prostrate on his stomach. As she glanced between the two, she decided to have some fun with Chase first, as Sam was most likely awake but refusing to acknowledge the fact that it was morning.

“Wakey, wakey, big brother. It’s Christmas morning”. She started pulling the covers off him, which he immediately pulled back on tighter over himself.

“Five. Ben. Late. night.” he  muttered in his sleep as he rolled over onto his back. Sadie giggled. Ben and Chase, being twins and all, had been the two to share a room until Ben had married Chloe. She could hear her little brother stirring from the other bed behind her.

Glancing over, she still could tell he was trying to pretend he was asleep, but in the light filtering the room in between the curtains Sadie could see that from underneath the pillow, his blue eyes were open, watching her interactions with Chase.

Sadie once again tried to pull back his covers, only to have them gripped by an almost possessive tightness by Chase.

“Ben. Stooooppppp,” he whined, rolling back over to his stomach.

From the other bed Sam threw off the pillow and his covers simultaneously and stood up, making his way over to where his sister stood.

Sadie smirked as she let her little brother take over, watching as he crept closer and closer to Chase’s ear.

“P dom p dom p dom p dom p dom. Merrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy, weeeeehhhhhhhh ohhhhhhhh. Chrissssstttttttttttmaassssss, dehhhhhhhhh ohhhhhhhhh. P dom, p dom”.

Chase shot out of bed at Sam’s drumming/dj-ing in his ear, glaring daggers at him as Sadie doubled over laughing on Sam’s vacated bed and Sam grinned mischievously.

Ben appeared at the door out of nowhere. “You are awake!” he exclaimed, hazel eyes twinkling. “Now we can open presents”.

“I was having a nice dream that was interrupted,” Chase pouted at his twin. “No thanks to them two”.

Ben smiled. “Well, you are awake now. We can…”

“I know, I know. I’m coming,” Chase mumbled as he looked for his slippers.

“The Grinch muth (must) have thole your chrithmath thpirit (spirit),” Sam said over his shoulder as he followed Tim and Sadie out.

“That ain't all he took,” Chase said grumpily as he held up one of his slippers, covered in tiny teeth marks that could only have come from one orange feline. “Where is she by the way??”

Only Sam did not hear him as he had just left the room. Chase shook his head and went and rummaged through his dresser drawer, settling for a pair of Christmas socks over his slippers.

While Ben had gone to investigate the cause of the commotion , Chloe sat on the sofa in the living room sipping her coffee and studying the bottom of the tree. She could have sworn she was seeing things, as one of the brightly wrapped packages had appeared to have moved ever so slightly. Plus, if she studied it closely enough, she could swear she could see something move about below every so often.

It’s still too early, Chloe thought as she gave herself a little shake, taking a big gulp of hazelnut flavored coffee.

Nate appeared from the kitchen, carrying a couple of yummy-smelling plates.

“Nutella crepe?” he held a plate out to her.

Chloe smiled. “Thanks, big bro”. She took the plate and cut into the crepe with her fork, smiling as it oozed with chocolatey goodness. Her husband and the other three siblings chose then to reappear.

“Food!” Sam said excitedly as he turned on his heels and made a beeline for the kitchen.

“Wait, do I smell bacon?” Ben went and followed his kid brother into the kitchen. Chloe shook her head and smiled at her husband’s seeming ADD like nature.

As Sadie followed her brothers into the kitchen, Chase appeared looking at Nate and Chloe bleary-eyed.

“Sam?” Nate asked, trying not to laugh at his appearance.

Chase merely nodded as he took the proffered mug of coffee Chloe had retrieved from the tray on the table, settling down on the couch opposite her knowing Ben would want the middle. Chloe saw his eyes momentarily widen as he looked underneath the tree, but a split second later his expression was back to normal.

Maybe I am not seeing things after all, Chloe said to herself as she went back to studying the bottom of the tree.

Moments later, the other three reappeared with their plates piled high with food. Chloe smirked as Ben settled in between herself and Chase, his plate piled high with two crepes and enough bacon that would have caused Chloe to say something any other day, considering the fact he was still rehabbing his heart. She could let it slide for one day though. It was Christmas after all.

“So,care to do the honors, Sam?” Nate smiled once they had all had a few minutes to settle in with their food.

Sam smiled and nodded, setting his already half eaten plate of food aside as he headed towards the tree, shuffling the packages that had been carefully prepared around.

Meow.

Chloe glanced to Sadie, who looked back to her in equal bewilderment. It had been soft, almost inaudible, but she and Sadie had been situated close enough to the tree to be able to pick up on it. Chase was still sipping his coffee, expressionless. Nate and Ben were still digging into their food with gusto.

Sam finally retrieved a red package tied with a silver ribbon the shape of a DVD. Glancing at the name tag, he smiled as he tore it open.

Once open, he grinned wildly at Ben and Chloe.

“You're welcome,” Ben answered around a mouthful of bacon. “Chloe and I decided to get you a copy of the software I use to make our music arrangements so you don’t have to always borrow our computer”.

“You do have a knack for arranging, Sam,” Nate added. “It would be nice for Ben and I  to not to have to do most all of it for a change”.

“Thanks, guys,” he said quietly, almost shyly. He turned his attention to the package, his eyes reading over the back of the packaging as he took another mouthful of crepe.

Nate was next. He unwrapped a package covered in pictures of candy canes in the shape of a box. He smiled as he opened the box to find a hat.

World’s Greatest Band Leader, it read as he slid the hat over his bald head.

“Since it’s already in your head,” Chase said with the tiniest of smiles, his baby blue eyes twinkling with amusement. Ben and Chloe looked to each other, then to Chase and Nate. They all knew that what Chase had met as a joke was actually his way of being heartfelt.

Nate smiled at Chase. “I am gonna wear this on our next tour, bro,” he smiled in appreciation as he looked to Chloe.

Chloe handed her food to Ben, giving him a look that told him to not eat the rest of her bacon that she knew would end up being utterly futile in the end. It felt good to at least pretend to be the wife that cared about her husband’s health, though.

Ben smiled innocently, grabbing a piece of her bacon and biting into it as Chloe rolled her eyes and headed for the tree.

She grabbed a package that was super soft, squishy, oval shaped, and wrapped in paper with little Rudolph's all over it.

 Her eyes met Ben’s. “Open it!” he said enthusiastically, sitting up and setting her now almost empty plate on the table next to his empty one. Chase leaned forward as well as he helped himself to her few remaining pieces of bacon.

Chloe squealed like a little girl as she ripped the paper, only to find a stuffed penguin holding a jewelry box with embroidery on its white belly. She gently removed the jewelry box that had been taped to its wings so that she might be able to read the embroidery that was formed by a heart..

You are my penguin. Penguins mate for life and recognize each other by their own unique heart songs to each other.

Chloe smiled as she opened the jewelry box to find a necklace strung with half a quarter cut in the pattern of two penguin. She stood and went over to Ben, only to be somewhat taken aback when he pulled out another half of a similarly cut quarter hung around his neck.

“Aww baby,” she crooned, settling on his lap as their two half's of

Find the necklace on etsy here!

quarter met to form two penguins and one whole quarter. She kissed him, as Chase read the embroidery on the stuffed penguin that had rolled onto his lap with a smile and the other siblings looked on.

Chloe loved her gift. Not only did it completely fit with her obsession with penguins, it was sweet, unique, quirky, and quite simply had her husband's name written all over it.

After several minutes of cuddling, Sadie spoke up. “I have to interrupt you two lovebirds, but it is your turn bro,” she did not want to sound impatient, but knew that their kiss and cuddle sessions could last for a while if not stopped.

Chloe slid off Ben’s lap and into her previously vacated spot, smiling and squeezing her penguin to her stomach as Chase handed it back to her.

Ben  headed for the tree, looking at Chloe questionably.

“Brown paper with the Santa's,” she smiled as she answered for him.

As Ben went to retrieve the package that was the size and shape of a small box, they were all somewhat taken aback when an orange ball of fluff appeared clinging by her claws and teeth to it’s bow.

Sam looked panicked as no one said anything for a long moment. It was Chase who was the first one to break the silence.

“That is one way to introduce her to the family, bro,” he looked at Sam, laughing.

Sadie burst into a fit of giggles, Nate looked unsure, and Chloe joined her husband on the floor, carefully detaching the kitten from the bow.

Meow, it’s little tongue went out to lick Chloe’s hand, her seemingly signature greeting for anyone new she met, Sam noted, looking for Ben to Nate. They were the two who hates cats in the family, and would ultimately be the ones to determine if she stayed.

“She is so cute,” Chloe crooned as she went to read the gift tag.

To: My Family
From: Sam

“Sam?” five pairs of eyes turned questioningly to him.

“I found her abandoned in a cardboard box. The (she) wath tho cold and thared (scared). I took her and me and my new….friend went to the pet thore and got her thuff. I couldn’t leave her,” he looked to Nate, who appeared thoughtful. Tim had tentatively reached out to pet the orange fluff ball, and smiled himself when she also licked his hand.

“Y’all know cat’s are not my thing, but seeing as she is Sam’s little Christmas miracle. I say we keep her,” Tim looked to Nate.

“Did you know about this?” Nate turned to Chase once Ben had given his consensus.

Chase nodded, Joining Chloe and Ben on the floor. “She was hiding in our room for the past few days”.

“Chath thought the wath (was)a little orange alien at firth,”

“Yeah,” Chase smiled ruefully. The kitten had now been placed on the floor and was making her way between the foursome, curious about all the new people she had yet to meet.

Nate scratched his bearded chin, the only part of his body to have any hair, deep in thought. He looked to Sam, and how worried his little brother appeared.

“If you pay for her food and vet bills, you can keep her,” he finally said. “You can even bring her with us on the bus in the spring”.

Sam grinned, jumping up to hug Nate. Sadie, whom the kitten had currently chose as the next Ross member who seemingly needed a bath, giggled.

“Thank you, Nate. Thank you,” Sam said. Nate laughed ruefully.

“No problem, little bro. Does she have a name?” Nate pulled away from him, somewhat uncomfortable as he looked from Sam to the kitten.

“Nope,” Austin answered for him. “This little girl is currently nameless”.

“Miracle,” Ben mused.

“Huh?” Chloe looked to Ben questioningly.

“I said that she was Sam’s Miracle before. Why not name her Miracle?” he looked to Sam, who nodded.

“I like it!” Sam exclaimed. “It hath no th’ (s) in it either,” Nate smiled at his little brother’s enthusiasm.

“Well then,” he joined his family on the floor after a moment's hesitation. “Welcome to the family, Miracle”.

Everyone smiled as they continued to play with Sam’s kitten for several minutes, until Ben remembered his wife’s gift.

“Sorry,” he said ruefully as he picked it up again, pulling at the bow. Chloe smiled at him in understanding as she watched him open it. What was revealed underneath the wrapper as a brand new black leather wallet nestled in a gift box.

Remembering their conversation from a few nights before, Ben took the wallet out of the box and opened it up. A miniature image fell out of it, which he picked up to examine.

“I did the best I could,” Chloe said somewhat shyly. “I still think it could be better”.

“Chloe…” Ben’s voice trailed off as he swallowed, a lump forming in his throat.

“You think you coulda done better?” Sam broke in, sounding awestruck as he was studying the flawless, wallet-sized self portrait that Chloe had drawn in charcoal.

Tim studied his wife’s image, which was drawn softly at a slight angle with her head tilted toward him. Her chin length curls were framed around her face in a way that made her look positively angelic. That was not the only thing included, however. Tim noticed that there was writing on the back of the image, which he flipped over to read until Chloe stopped him.

“Save that for later,” She whispered. “Please”.

Ben’s hazel eyes, brimmed with emotion, looked at her in a loving understanding as he leaned into kiss her once more. He might have almost died this year, but this was the best Christmas he had ever had.

Later, the siblings were off doing their own things around the house while Ben and Chloe were snuggling on the couch. Ben’s eyes were pursuing the note on the back of the mini portrait, which turned out to be his wife managing to write in incredibly tiny, but still legible handwriting of all the ways she was thankful for him.

Bits of wrapping paper and ribbon still scattered the floor, and Miracle was having the time of her life darting to and fro, jumping into the wrapping paper that crinkled every time her little paws tread on it.

Chloe smiled as her eyes slipped shut, grateful for more than anything to have the chance to be in her husband’s arms, after she had almost lost him no more than two months before.

A knock at the door surprised them both

“Who could that be?” Chloe wondered, getting up to answer it. A red haired girl appearing to be about Sam’s age  bundled up in a blue coat stood on the doorstep.

“Excuse me,” she said in an almost angelic voice. “Is Sam here”?

Chloe had no chance to respond as Ben, towering over her, immediately said he would go and get him, smiling impishly as he hurried off to his task.

“Um, won’t you come in?” Chloe asked, opening the screen door. She was equally as curious about the red-haired wonder at their door, and secretly hoped Ben was not giving Sam too hard a time over it.

“Sorry about the mess,” Chloe said as she gestured around the living room.

“Oh, it’s fine,” The girl smiled. A loud crinkle distracted them both.

Meow, Miracle's blue eyes peered up at them both.

“Oh, there you are. I was hoping you and Sam were getting along okay,” the red haired girl  stooped down to pick up the kitten, who purred at her touch.

“You are the girl from the coffee shop?” Chloe asked, her eyes widening in surprise. The girl giggled.

“Yes, my name is Alice. Sam said for...” she did not get a chance to finish, as just then Sam appeared, flashing his dazzling smile to her.

“Hello. Good to thee you came by,” he said, coming over to her. Ben was staring at them expectantly, which caused Chloe to approach him and gently give him a shove out of the room.

“Hey,” he protested, earning a harder shove from Chloe.

“Leave them alone,” Chloe said as they disappeared into the Kitchen where Chase and Sadie were helping Nate clean up. “He was only gonna get nervous if you would have kept staring”.

“Me, stare?” Tim blinked as if the idea was totally foreign to him.

“Leave who alone?” Sadie, who was proudly wearing a Santa hat with a tail that was simply too long, looked to the couple questioningly.

“Sam has a girlfriend. She is here right now,” Ben answered with a smirk, causing his wife to roll her eyes and the two brothers to look at him in surprise.

“Where?” Chase said as he tossed his dishrag to the side. Soon, three sets of eyes were peering out of the kitchen into the living room, straining to catch a glimpse of this “girl”.

“Well, I’ll be,” Nate smiled as he spotted the two sitting on the sofa with the kitten in between them, having an animated conversation

“She’s pretty,” Chase commented.

“Adam sure knows how to pick em,” Ben finished.

Both girls were standing back, looking from each other to the guys, clearly annoyed.

“Will you big oafs give him some privacy,” Sadie protested. “I swear nothing can happen in this house without it being a sideshow”.

“Yeah..”

“But…”

“Let’s back off guys,” Nate,  always the voice of reason, cut into the twin’s protests. “The fact that Sam actually put himself out there to meet someone like her is a God thing. We need to give him some space to see how it goes”.

The twins sighed, and retreated from the kitchen door.

Soon, the dishes were finished and the kitchen was all spic and span. Ben approached Chloe, who was staring out the window at the freshly fallen snow, deep in thought.

“Merry Christmas, darlin’” he drawled as he kissed the top of her hair. “I love my picture, and that list, it was…” he trailed off, for once at a loss at what to say. Chloe turned to him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.

“I actually started the sketchbook a little after it happened. I needed something to keep myself sane as well as to remind myself that I had not lost you, and the doctors said you had a pretty good chance of making a full recovery”.

“Well, I don’t know if you have heard it often enough coming from me, especially since I have been home, but I love you". He rubbed her back as Chloe sighed with contentment.

A ball of orange fluff scuttled into the kitchen, meowing up at them. Ben smiled as Miracle circled their legs, rubbing her tiny head against them.

“You sure have a fitting name for all this year has been for us, little one,” Chloe glanced down, studying the kitten with soft blue eyes.

“I think Sam has helped us to remember we have a lot to be grateful for, and that Miracles can really still happen,” Chloe glanced out the kitchen door, where Adam and, Allison she believed were still in deep conversation on the couch.

“He does not talk to us that much in a single day. I wonder what it is about her”.

Ben followed her gaze. “He better expect 20 questions coming up,” he smirked. “I am happy for him though. I think we all found each other, as well as ourselves just a little bit more  this Christmas”.

Chloe nodded. “I can’t wait to see what the new year holds,” she smiled up at Ben as he bent down to kiss her.

“Neither can I, sweetheart, neither can I”.

The Christmas Kitten Part Two

Welcome back everyone. I hope you are staying warm wherever you are. It is currently -3 degrees as I am finishing up this poast on the west coast at 1:30am. Again, this story is all part of the following linkup!

It was late when Sam finally headed off to bed, the kitten having the time of her life nestled among his dirty laundry. He had no clue how he was gonna drop the news onto his other siblings, but he would have to figure out something. Soon, too. The kitten could not live among his dirty laundry forever.

He had finally started to drift off, when he was startled wide awake by his brother Chase’s - whom he just so happened to share a room with - yelling.

“AHHHH! ALIENS ARE INVADING!!!!” Sam bolted out of bed and flipped on the light, suspicious as to what had woken his brother up to begin with.

The sight before him was almost comical.

Chase was sitting up, staring wild-eyed at a ball of fur sitting on its haunches on his stomach. The kitten was also equally started, staring at Chase with big saucer eyes as she tilted her head to study him.

Chase looked from the kitten, to Sam, then back to the kitten.

“Are you not telling me something, bro?”

Umm, Sam wracked his brain to think of an explanation, before deciding on the truth.

“The (she) wath (was) abandoned in an alleyway, in a box left to die”.

Chase looked at the kitten, who had just decided Chase poised no major threat and had curled up on his stomach, purring in contentment. He smiled.

“Who would leave someone as precious as you to die?” Chase crooned, reaching out to stroke her fur. The kitten perked up, and begin licking Chase’s hand with its tiny tongue.

“I don’t know how to tell the others. You know Ben and Nate hate cath”.

Chase thought about this for a long moment. “Does she have a name?”

Sam shook his head. “That’th been a problem too”.

Chase looked to Sam. “Look, I will help ya think of something to introduce her to the others. In the meantime we will keep her in our room and come up with a name”.

Sam smiled, grateful Chase was as easygoing as he was. “Thorry the woke you,”.

“Aww, don’t worry about it,” Chase brushed him off. “Her and I are buds now. She just startled me at first”.

Chase  settled down into his covers, with the kitten still purring on his stomach, as Sam flipped off the lights and prepared to get a good night’s sleep, but not before saying a prayer of thanks for everything that had happened today.

____________________________________________________________________________

That same night, downstairs Ben was laying wide awake, staring at the ceiling. He had rolled his eyes when he heard his fraternal twin, Chase’s yells coming from directly above him. Obviously someone had watched a little bit too much UFO Hunters tonight.

He glanced over at Chloe, wondering how his pretty, petite wife could have slept through it. She was out like a light though, her back facing him as her short blond curls were scattered all over her face.

Austin had not waken him up though. Was what keeping him awake was a problem much more pressing.

He had only just gotten home from the hospital shortly after thanksgiving. Due to the fact he had barely survived a bullet to the chest, he was a little bit behind on his Christmas shopping.

Chloe in particular was a tough cookie to crack.

She had told him she did not want anything. That fact that he was home for Christmas, and was going to be okay, was plenty for her, she had claimed.

The problem was that it also happened to be their first Christmas together as husband and wife, and Tim thought he needed to get her something special.

What could he get her, though.

He slid out of bed, being careful not to disturb Chloe, then retrieved their shared Mac book from the top of the dresser, heading out to their downstairs living room.

She loved penguins, was obsessed with them in fact. Ben pondered this to himself as he booted up the computer.

Could he get her something heartfelt that was still penguin related? Something unique and quirky that could have only come from him. Something that reminded her of him every time she looked at it or used it.

Ben glanced down next to him and noticed at a black book had been discarded on the sofa. He picked it up, curious.

Flipping through it, he smiled as he saw several sketches of him done in various poses and angles. The sketchbook was filled with page after page of them in fact. They could not have possibly come from Chloe, could they?

“Oh, you have it,” his wife’s sleepy voice came from behind, starting him.

Ben glanced from the laptop, to the book, and back again, wondering what she could possibly be referring to.

"The laptop," Chloe said, smiling sleepily.

"Oh, ern, I was just," he looked down at the sketchbook sheepishly, which is when she recognized what was in his hands, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Umm, yeah," she said. Ben could see that in the computer light her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

"Come here," he said softly, holding his arm out to her.

Chloe did as he bid, settling down on his knee and studying the black book in his hands, laying her head down on his shoulder.

"Well, I got tired of designing shirts for our spring tour one day. I decided  to see if I could draw people".

"Or, one person in particular?" Ben asked rhetorically, his eyebrow going up in amusement.

Chloe snuggled into her husband's form, "They aren't very good," she said, blinking once, then twice.

"Chloe..." Ben was taken aback as he opened the book and began flipping through the drawings of him again. His wife still had the ability to totally underestimate herself and sell herself short, even after all this time they had been together.

"I think these are really good. You have a real talent," her arms snaked around his neck in a hug.

"As a matter of fact," he said, looking to her. "I would really like a drawing of you".

Chloe's head shot up, somewhat surprised. "Really?" she asked softly, almost mouse-like.

Ben nodded, his chocolate locks that fell almost to his shoulders bobbing.

"I want a picture of you, maybe even wallet sized, so that way I can take it with me and look at you whenever I am feeling lonely when we are apart".

Chloe giggled. "There are cell phone pictures, silly," she brushed his chocolate hair back so that he could kiss him on the cheek.

"True," Ben said with a smile, kissing her back. "But I don't think a cell phone picture can do your pretty face justice the way a self portrait from you can".

Chloe sighed, relenting. "Okay," she said, getting up from his lap. "I think I am gonna go back to bed now".

"Don't you need to use the laptop?" he asked, smiling.

'Ern," Chloe glanced around guiltily. "No thanks, you can use it," she retreated back to their bedroom door. "I love you," she called over her shoulder before disappearing inside.

"Love you too, darlin'," he called after her as she disappeared inside.

As she left, Ben clicked the Internet icon on the computer and typed in a browsing search, becoming inspired after his late-night conversation with his wife
___________________________________________________________________________

Christmas eve had finally arrived. Chase and Sam were no close to finding their new roommate a name, much less finding a way to introduce her to the rest of their family.

Chase was sitting on Sam’s bed, stroking her as Sam scrounged his closet for an acceptable shirt to wear onstage tonight at their Christmas Eve candlelight concert.

“I don’t know, bro. Nate and Ben may not buy it. I don’t wanna give her up though”.

“The (she) could be out tour mathcot,” Sam said, pulling out a green plaid shirt from his closet, which Chance nodded upon his holding it up for inspection.

“That could be fun, having a tour mascot for the bus”, Chase smiled.

“We don’t have time to think about it,” Sam said as he pulled on his plaid shirt over his thermal undershirt. “Nate ith gonna kill uth if we are late for thound check”.

“That is the understatement of the century,” Chase murmured to  himself more than Sam as he stood. “We will see you later, little girl,” he gave the kitten one last pat. Sam followed suit, smiling as she purred beneath his touch. That little kitten had stolen his heart in more ways than one. He just hoped that they could find a way to keep her.

_____________________________________________________

Later that night, Sam lay awake staring at the ceiling. He had to find a way to tell the others about his kitten in a way which they would all accept it. He looked over and smiled at the tiny shadow darting to and fro against the wall, no doubt working off some energy by chasing one of the toys Sam had bought for her.

Chase was sleeping soundly on his stomach, snoring softly in the next bed. Sam did not want to wake him. They had tossed around plenty of ideas in the few days leading up to Christmas since she had found her. All of them had been shot down as they had reasoned that none of them would work effectively like they had been wanting. Unless….

Struck with an idea, Sam slid out of bed and padded softly to where the shadow was, scooping the ball of fur up into his arms. The kitten, having had her playtime taken away from her, stated chewing of a stray strand of Sam’s straight blond locks as compensation.

Sam smiled as he quietly shirked down into the basement where Ben and Chloe were currently dwelling, and where we also knew that his sisters had been stashing the wrapping paper as they worked busily as Santa’s elves.

Finding what he was searching for, Sam placed the kitten down on the laundry room table as he cut off a length of silver ribbon, thinking it would look quite fetching against her orange fur. Selecting a gift tag, Sam quickly scrawled something on it before threading the gift tag onto the ribbon, and then somehow managing to hold the kitten down long enough so that he could tie it in a bow around her neck.

Scooping her back up, he headed upstairs, smiling at the thought of the surprise his siblings would have when they woke up in a few short hours.

______________________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed everyone. Again, feel free to comment, and thanks to those who commented yesterday. Part three comes tomorrow!

The Christmas Kitten Part One

Welcome one and all, to Creative Scribbles of a History Detective! I am so glad you stopped by on this brisk December morning :)

*Hands out virtual cookies and hot cocoa to everyone*

Today marks the first day, and first part, of the two stories I will be posting over the weekend and into next week. This is all part of Faith's Twelve days of Christmas linkup that can be found over on her blog if you just click the link below the image.

http://fireflysstoryspace.blogspot.com/

This first story, in a nutshell, deals with the youngest sibling of the Ross family finding an abandoned kitten, as other members of the family prepare for the holiday in light of all that has occurred in their lives over the past year. 

So without further ado, here is:

Sam took a deep breath in the crisp cold December air.

According to the locals, though, this weather was quite chilly for this time of year. The three inches of snow on the ground was also unusual as well.

The young man with his chin length blonde locks tied back with a reindeer bandanna did not mind though. He started walking briskly toward town, hands shoved in his pockets as he counted his icy breaths on the air. He did not have a particular destination in mind, only that he planned on trying to get some Christmas shopping done for his siblings.

It was so fun going out like this on his own. He normally hated interacting with strangers, but the fact that he and his sibling’s nutty acapella band had been somewhat successful in touring had gotten him accustomed to the fact that he was going to have to have these kinds of interactions in his life, lisp or no lisp.

Cashiers were usually easier to deal with, especially around the holidays. They were in such a hurry most of the time that they hardly paid any attention to him other than to tell him his total. Then he gave them the cash and that was that. No more, no less.

This was the very first time he had really gotten to explore the city on his own since moving here with his siblings so that he and they could pursue their music careers. He had told Chase he would be out for the day, and his older brother had smiled and slipped him his Starbucks gift card, which had enough left on it for a large peppermint hot coco. His sister Sadie had told him to bundle up, which of course he had ignored. Both of them never asked when he would be back. It was only 9:00am after all.

Upon reaching the city, a mere ten minutes walk from their new house, Sam immediately hooked a right and headed in the direction of the shopping district, eager for his hot coco before he started to window shop over at the mall, searching for anything that might inspire him for a gift. Plus, he just loved the decorations and magic of this time of year. His siblings were always too loud and noisy whenever he went out shopping with them. This way, he could enjoy the stores and the decorations at his own leisure before he had to get back home.

Finally spotting a Starbucks, he stepped inside, appreciating the warmth despite the fact he loved being in the cold. Inhaling deeply, Sam took in the aromas of brewing coffee and pastries. He always loved the smell of a coffee shop. He could never quite bring himself to stand the taste of it, but he loved the aroma of it. He hoped that his parents could smell coffee up in heaven too, for that had to be what heaven smells like.

“Hi, what can I get you,” a sweet girl who looked to be around Sam’s age, greeted him as he walked up to the counter. Sam, despite his reservation of strangers could not help but smile back at her. He was in the Christmas spirit after all.

“Peppermint cocoa, thmall,” the sweet barista smiled at him, writing his order down on a red cup as he paid.

“You must be new to town,” she asked, trying to make conversation as she brewed his drink.

This caught Sam off guard. What happened to the rushed salesperson persona? She must just be too sweet and was immune to it.

He nodded, unsure of what to say as he looked down to his feet. Sometimes he wished he was brave enough to overcome his speech issue and face the world. His siblings had still been awfully supportive of him though. Nate had even told him he was proud of him for coming out of his shell be trying to interact with the fans more in the VIP sessions. That was big coming from him.

“Here you go,” the girl said, handing his coca to him. Sam smiled his thanks before heading back outside, but not before he noticed the note scrawled in curly sharpie script on his cup.

You have a sweet smile. I hope you enjoy Nashville and have a Merry Christmas!

-Alice

Alice, that sure was a pretty name, Sam thought to himself, smiling as he made his way down the long lane of shopping strips, towards the mall, sipping his cocoa. He had purposely gotten a small so that he would have enough left to buy another one for his walk home. Maybe he would even refill Austin’s card as a Christmas gift to him, and a little thank you.

Sam smiled even bigger as he entered the mall to find it nearly deserted, a prime reason why he chose to come here at this time a day. He immediately veered toward the bookstore, knowing exactly what to get his sister-in-law. She had been eying the leather bound classic of Jane Austen’s most notable works, and it just so happened that it was priced at a bargain and within Adam’s budget.

He smiled. The money he had was yet another secret. He got his share of the band’s earnings from touring and album sales. He had wanted to make a little extra though, and had actually been working some extra hours at the kennel. He had almost been too shy to approach the kindly, grandmotherly lady at first, but as he went up to her and asked for a job, he did not know what it was about her that put him at ease.

Working with animals was fine. He could make beat box noises around them all he cared to, and no one, not even potential clients, seemed to mind. The best part of it was he actually had made enough to get each of his siblings decent presents, along with setting a little aside.

He prided himself of having money skills, with Tim helping him budget initially. For being as eccentric and random as his big brother was known to be. He was sharp as a whip with math, and actually held a secondary teaching certification that he wanted to update now that they moved. Not that he doubted their ability to make it in the music industry. He just wanted options so that he could still support Chloe if push came to shove.

He picked up the leather bound book of Jane Austen classics, noting that the price was cheaper than it was originally made out to be. Tucking it under his arm, he headed towards the CD section, as his curiosity got the better of him.

Sure enough, it was there. Sam was pleased to note that there were only three copies left. Hopefully that meant that there would be a big payday coming for him and his siblings at end of the year.

Something distracted him by tugging on his jacket. He turned and noticed a little girl who could not have been any older that eight, studying him intently.

“Thorry to bother you mithter, but you looked like the guy who makes the drumming noises with his mouth in that one band”.

Sam smiled, pointing to his band’s Christmas CD and nodding to her enthusiastically, giving her a quick little demonstration that made the little girl giggle.

“My name ith Sam,” he said, suddenly not so ashamed of his speech. The girls eyes lit up.

“You talk like I do,” she said excitedly. “I thought that I wath the only one! People alwayth are mainkin fun of me and being mean. Now I know I thill (still) can do good things dethpite how I talk”.

Sam was too taken aback to really know what to say at the moment. He looked down at the little girl, and she stared back at him with twinkling eyes. Suddenly, he grabbed a copy of the CD from the rack, shoved it under his arm with the book, and turned back to face the little girl.

“Ith...Ith anyone with you?” he asked. No way could a girl her age could really be traversing the mall all by herself.

The little girl tilted her head, studying him. “My grandma works at the candy thore. The (she) lets me come to the bookshop and read thince (since) the (she) knows the owner. All I have to do is thay (stay) out of trouble”.

Sam got down to her level and looked her in the eyes. “How would you like it if I got this CD here for you, as long as you take me to vithit your grandma”.

He did not think the little girl’s eyes could get any wider with delight, but they did. “Oh boy, that would be the greatht Chrithmth present ever”.

Sam’s face broke out into his trademark grin as he smiled ear to ear, not helping but feeding off her enthusiasm. He offered his hand to her as he straightened back up, which she gladly accepted as the pair made it on their merry way to the cash register.

Later, the two had finally made it over to the sweet shop where - Sam suddenly realized he had never asked for the little girl’s name - her grandmother was supposedly employed.

“Grandma, Grandma,” the girl shouted enthusiastically as she let go of Sam’s hand and ran into the store. An older women who appeared to be in her early 60s stopped in the middle of her task of straightening a rack of candy canes.

“What is it Mary,” the woman smiled sweetly at her overly enthused granddaughter.

“I meant, meet,” she contorted her face as she struggled to find the right word. “Thith ith my favorite drummer from that band I like,” she smiled as she gestured to Sam, who nodded in greeting, suddenly feeling extremely self conscious.

“Sir, I am sorry if my granddaughter bothered you,” she looked to him, concerned. “She knows that she is not supposed to”.

“Mam’n,” Sam cut her off. “The did not bother me one bit. I was just doing some Chrithmath shopping and got curious and wanted to see if our CD was on the racks. The came up to me and tharted (started) talking, and,” he gestured to Mary, unsure if there was anything more he could really say.

“He talkth like I do!” Mary told her grandmother enthusiastically. The grandmother smiled and nodded.

“I bought her a copy of the CD, I hope you don’t mind”, Mary pulled it out of the bag and was eagerly showing it to her grandmother.

“Mind,” the grandmother lifted her hand to her mouth, momentarily taken aback. “Sam, I don’t know how to thank you”.

“No thankth is needed,” he responded turning to Mary. “May I see that for just one moment?”

Mary smiled and handed the CD off to him. Sam immediately took it out of the plastic shrink wrap and opened it up, suddenly realizing something. The grandmother smiled and went behind the counter, bringing forth a red sharpie marker.

“Something festive for the season, you know,” she told him.

“And my favoth color,” Sam smiled at her as he uncapped the pen, signing a note to whom he considered to be his number one fan on the cd.

“Have a Merry Crthmath,” he told her as he returned the pen to the grandmother and the CD to Mary.

“Thank you Sam,” Mary said, hugging him.

As soon as Sam said his goodbyes, he turned to leave the candy store, still having plenty of shopping to do himself. He was stopped by the grandmother, who came hurrying out the store after him.

“You have no idea how happy you made my granddaughter. She is so sensitive about how she talks that,” the woman could not finish, too overcome with emotion. Sam went over to embrace her.

“The made me happy too, I,” he could not find the words to truly express the deep well of gratitude he felt for this woman and her granddaughter.

The grandmother pulled back, two pairs of blue eyes, one young, reserved, yet grateful. The other old and full of wisdom and unspeakable joy. Sometimes, words were just not needed to communicate.

The woman hurried back inside her store as Sam stared after her. His mind full of a dozen thoughts all at once.

____________________________________________________________________________

Later, Sam was headed back taking a shortcut through an alleyway so that he might be able to make it back to Starbucks for a second cup of cocoa and get home before dark.

Suddenly, a box rustled beneath a pile of trash as he was passing the Pizza parlor.

Sam paused, staring at the box warily, when it moved again.

Curiosity got the better of the 19-year-old, as he shoved the packages he was carrying underneath his arm and hurried over to investigate.

Scrunching his nose at the smell of the garbage, and taking a quick glance around to make sure this was not a ploy and no one was about to jump him, Sam then creeped over and peered into the box.

Meow, a tiny, mangy kitten looked up at him with sad, soulful eyes.

Sam’s heart broke at the sight. Who in their right mind would leave a little kitten to die, especially around Christmas time?

“Hey there,” he murmured, forgetting all about the time and the fact it was about to get dark soon as he stroked the kitten with his index finger. The little creature purred, rubbing it’s head into Sam’s palm in response.

“Who wath mean to you and left you to die?” Sam whispered, not really expecting an answer but knowing what he had to do.

Sam scooped up the kitten, carefully depositing it in the pocket of his army coat and making sure she was safe before continuing on his way back to the Starbucks. He would need help to do what he planned to do, and he knew just the person to ask.

Upon entering the Starbucks, he spotted the pretty barista who had helped him earlier that day. For a moment, he froze, realizing that he would have to talk with her, until he mentally kicked himself and approached her.

“Um, hi,” he said shyly.

“Hi, I see you have been Christmas shopping,” he looked confused for a moment, before she pointed out his bags, to which he glanced down at ruefully, then back at her.

“I wath wondering. I know we don’t know each other, but I could use thome help”.

Her green eyes twinkled merrily. “Daddy always said to never refuse help to anyone who asked, and that a stranger was a friend you just ain’t met yet. How…” Alice gasped when the kitten decided to make an appearance, poking it’s head out of his pocket and meowing up at Sam.

“I am new to town, and I don’t know where the pet thore ith (is),” Sam told her, gesturing down to the kitten.

“Oh goodness, she is so adorable!” Alice scratched the kitten on the head, which had only produced the same results as when Sam had done the same.

“Where did you find her?”

“In a box in an ally by the pitha parlour,” Sam said, cringing at his lisp.

“Oh poor baby! What meanie would do something like this to you? Around Christmastime too!”

Alice turned her attention from the Kitten to Sam. “I am off in 20 minutes. Let me make you another hot coco. Then I will drive us to the pet store. It’s Sam, right?”

Adam smiled and nodded, extending a hand to her. “Alith?” he asked in return. He may have hated to socialize, but he was not totally inadequate!

“Yes,” Alice said, smiling as she shook his hand. “Let me go make you a coco, my treat! Sit anywhere you would like”.

Sam did as he was told, staking out a table for himself in the corner of the coffee shop, smiling as he felt the kitten move within his pocket.
____________________________________________________________________________

Later, Sam and Alice entered the local Pets Mart, and looked around.

“We thoud (should) get her groomed firth (first),” he said, looking towards the grooming station.

Alice nodded, smiling as she followed Sam to the grooming station.

“Hello,” she greeted the middle aged lady. She had sensed Adam’s insecurity with facing strangers and caught his grateful look out of the corner of her eye.

“How can I help you,” she smiled.

“Well, we found this kitten left in a box in an alleyway,” Alice gestured to the kitten as Sam produced her from his pocket. “She could use a bit of cleaning up, as you can see”.

The lady took her from Sam, the orange ball of mangy fur shivered in her hands.

“Oh, you poor thing,” She crooned. “I will get her fixed up right away for you”.

Sam and Alice took a seat off to the side. “I hope the will be okay,” Adam murmured, not knowing if she would be one of those cats who hated water or not.

“I am sure she will be fine,” Alice said with a smile. “Why don’t we look around for some things for her while we wait.

Sam nodded, and together the pair headed off towards the cat section to buy all the essentials that were required for caring for a kitten.

Later, Alice drove into the driveway of Sam’s home. “It was nice meeting you, Sam,” she smiled as the kitten, now a vibrant, clean orange, was nestled snugly in Sam’s coat.

“It was nice meeting you, too,” he said, smiling. "Feel free to come by anytime".

Alice scratched the kitten on her head, smiling as she purred at the touch. “I think I might take you up on that”.

Sam opened the car door, raising his lanky form out into the cold night air. Alice handed him his packages after he had emerged.

“Take care of her!” She called as she drove off. Sam was too happy to respond verbally, giving her a wave as she drove off instead.

“Well, little un (one), looketh like I am gonna have to find a way to introduce you to my thbilingth (siblings),” Sam suddenly looked at the house, strung and lit brightly with colored lights thanks to the handiwork of Chase and Sadie, filled with a sense of foreboding.

At least two of his five siblings hated cats.

He looked down at the orange head. What was he gonna do?

A/N: I hope you enjoyed part one of this story. Part two is coming tomorrow. While you are here please feel free to look around my blog and check out some of the other stories I have done or am currently working on, Saving Camelot in particular!

Hope you guys enjoy your day and whatever holiday preparations you are busy with and come back tomorrow for part two! Please feel free to comment!