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!

Gone with November, Into December (AND CHRISTMAS)

So, we survived NaNo.

Being the busy college student I am, I finished the month with a word count of just over 31k.

But you know what? I am happy with that.

31k = 110 pages is the most I have ever written of something. Ever.

This wonderful little book of short stories is only about 1/3 of the way finished, but I have utilized NaNo as a good jumping off point to finish this thing.

My next goal is potentially try to finish this project in the almost three weeks of break I have from school coming up. We will see if this actually happens as there are a few new tv series that have come out this fall that I am gonna catch up on. Then there are the Christmas movies and tv episodes. Plus, well, I have started watching Big Valley again for the first time in a year and let's just say, I am really getting into it XD

Yeah, maybe if I can get this book to the halfway point by the time my three weeks of break are up, that just might be a more feasible goal.

So, without further ado, here are some of my best NaNo snippits. Be prepared, as you guys may get more if I really convince myself to stick with this project. Plus, it's fun when you figure out how your NaNo characters can guest star in a totally different book idea....and WOW have I got off topic.

HERE are the snippets.

There was something that had been weighing quite heavy on her mind. He knew her too well by now to figure anything different.

What was it?

Was she nervous for graduation? The Good Lord knew that they all were. While they had some sort of sense of direction to glean from for at least the next year after college, none of them knew where they would be or end up in the next five years with the band. It could be the greatest success in the world of Country music, or even a total flop. That thought alone was intensely terrifying to think about.

There she is, Ben pondered as he noticed the blond 20-year-old entering their Starbucks, striding with purpose over to what had become their table.

“Hey,” Ben greeted with a simile, standing up to give her a small peck on the cheek.

“Hi, thanks for meeting with me this late,” Chloe said with a sort of an apologetic grin.

“You know it's never a problem,” Ben said as he slid a grande Mocha toward her. “What’s on your mind?”

“Well, life, to put in in a nutshell,” Chloe said, taking a few apprehensive sips.

“After college?”

“Yeah”.

Chloe set her paper coffee cup down with a thunk, against the granite tabletop and rubbed her eyes, before her blue met with his grey. “I wanna put my music on hold for a bit and go back into gymnastics”.

Ben nodded as he sipped his coffee, never taking his eyes off her, as he knew she had more to get off her chest.

“With how much time and commitment this will take, I don’t know if I can make the time I really want..”

“For us?” Ben asked.

“For us,” Chloe agreed with a nod. “Now understand I am not breaking up with you. But my training will take up a good ¾ of my time if I go through with this and..”

“Well, we will have to find a way to utilize the other quarter of your time to see each other”. Ben cut her off with a natural air of assurance.

Chloe blinked, somewhat taken aback by what the man sitting across from her-a man who she cared very much about-had proclaimed. “You mean?”

Ben nodded. “I think God had something in mind when he put us together two years ago. This is something I would like to delve more into now we are leaving college, regardless of the fact of how much time you will spend in the gym”.

Chloe sighed in an almost state of relief, glad to finally have this off her chest. “I want to explore this with you. I will admit though, I was preparing myself for the possibility of having to let you go and trying to accept that as God’s will. I did not like it though”.

Ben covered her hand with his. “Sometimes we feel a certain way because God wants us to go on a certain path or keep up with something for a while. I feel that’s what he wants with us”.

“Let’s pray, shall we?”

Ben smiled and nodded, as they both prepared to give this new pat of life they were about to set on completely and wholly to God.

________________________________________________________________________________

After making her rounds of congratulations, Chloe headed to the showers as the team was announced to the general audience. As much as she loved these girls and was like a big sister to them, she was also disappointed. She did not think she could handle the announcement whiteout letting her own emotions show.

She new she had been biased against since her injury. She thought she had came back stronger than before, but apparently the coordinator did not see it the same way.

She sighed, stripping the leotard from her body and turning on the water to hot, wanting to burn the emotions she was feeling from her mind.

It was very likely that shortly after Chloe had started her second comeback, word had gotten out that she was dating one of her band mates. Sure, Max did not kind her having a life outside of gymnastics it had seemed, especially since she was older than the others.

But a boyfriend had been a no no. Her and Ben had to fight for their relationship, to keep the spark alive since she had decided to come back to gymnastics at a competitive level. Somehow, along the way, the couple had managed to fall in love with each other. It had been Ben who had been there for her, and she for him, when no one else was seemingly on their side.

The water dripped down her body. While it would be scalding for some, to her it was nothing but relief for her sore muscles. She was a 21 year old with a 40 year old body. All because of gymnastics.

She could not go another quad, that much was for sure. Her body could not take it. If she was not at the gym or at the recording studio, she was at the chiropractor getting her problematic back straightened out or at the PT getting her knees worked on.

Sure, she had wanted to try after injuring her other knee that required surgery no more that three months before. She know she had a long show at making the Olympics, yet she wanted and needed to try.

Tim was right when she had said she would not be able to forgive herself if she had not at least tried.

Yet, that still did not help the concerned looks he had given her whenever she had come home from practice too sore or too tired to even move, let alone rehearse with the band. She felt so bad for letting her other love of music take the back burner while she pursued gymnastics. She felt as if she was betraying the others, but they had promised her to try to make it as a quintet for a while.

They had not been making it.

Their acapella band was made for the six of them, subtracting one or more of their voices just did not work.

Then there had been times where Chloe was in so much pain that she had to call Ben or one of his siblings to pick her up from practice. No doubt all five of them had come to be concerned for her well being at the end.

Well, at least she could retire with her mind at ease now.

She had not really planned a retirement speech to give to the press that was undoubtedly waiting for her appearance outside. She was just going to speak from her heart, and thank the people she loved most.

She ran her favorite (and Ben's too) strawberry shampoo through her dirty blond curls. As she worked on scrubbing her scalp thoroughly, her mind drifting to the man she loved.

It had been at the beginning of the year, during her 21st birthday in January that the two had confessed their love for each other, with Ben promising to remain by her side until she saw this crazy plan of hers through.

That was true love at it's finest right there.

She had been worried, claiming she had nothing to give back to him right now, and that she had been selfish in focusing so much on her gymnastics. He had assured her that she was giving everything back to him by pursuing her dream and being an inspiration to others, even himself.

All fresh and shampooed, Chloe turned the water to the shower off, reaching around the curtain to where her towel was currently hanging up.

It took her a while to completely towel off, as she continuously found herself staring deep into her refection in the mirror, looking into blue eyes and studying her damp blond curls.

Eventually, she brought herself to snap out of it, and pulled on her sweats, a team USA shirt that has fit like a charm since she got to the Olympics back in 2012, and her National gymnastics team jacket over it.

"Here goes nothing," she said to herself, turning from her reflection and heading out the locker room and down the narrow hallway to where the media was undoubtedly waiting outside.

________________________________________________________________________________

Chloe sat huddled in a dark corner f the recording studio, knees drawn tightly to her chest.
Such an unfeeling idiot, she thought to herself, burying her face in her knees.

They had to get the album done, she understood that aspect good and wel. Yet, they were better with all six of them as a group. Without Ben here...

"Ben," Chloe sobbed, the tears that had been threatening to come finally overwhelming her.

What it came down to was the fact of Chloe Just not having the motivation to sing, to be at her best when her husband was in the hospital.

Quite frankly, the others aside from Nate, felt the same way.

The sound of footsteps caused Chloe to look up, blinking a few times to clear her blurred, watery vision.

"Hey sis," it was Chase, Ben's younger fraternal twin brother.

"Hi, Chance," she managed to croak out. "Nate is an ass".

Chase smirked. "We established that fact a long time ago when we were kids. He means well though".

"Does he really?"Chloe protested. "Ben gets shot and is lying sick in the hospital and Nate expects us to carry on like nothing happened".

"It's his coping mechanism, Chloe. He does care and is upset about the situation. He just throws himself into his work to cope with it better".

Chloe sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "I don't want to record without Ben though. I miss him so much and it is so hard to not spend every moment of the day thinking about him lying in that hospital bed".

Chase slipped an arm around her. "This has been harder on you than for the rest of us," he murmured sympathetically.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I would disagree. You and I are almost equally close to him, just in different ways".

"Well, I suppose you are right," he responded, flashing her his trademark grin. "But you and Ben have a relationship, a love and bond between you two that has already proved to surpass all circumstances. Which is why I believe he will be all right".

"Yeah," Chloe mumbled, propping her chin on her knees. "I am trying to think that way. Ben always encouraged me to see the best in any situation, no matter how good or bad. it's just..."

"Some days are better than others," Chase finished.

"Yeah," Chloe said softly, flashing Chase an understanding smile.

"Well, if it helps, look at it the way I have been approaching it".

"Which is?" Chloe prompted.

"I don't think God would bring Tim back, twice of all things, if he still did not have plans for him and the both of you. That is why I truley belive in my heart that my brother will be okay".

_________________________________________________________________________________

“Oh, Chloeeee!”

Chloe sighed at her husband’s call from the bedroom. Snowden looked from the direction of the bedroom to her and whined, sharing in her sentiments.

“What is it now, hon,” Chloe asked upon entering the bedroom, sending up a prayer for patience.

“Can we pleease go to the park?” Ben asked, with the expectant look of a schoolboy.

Chloe sighed and rubbed her eyes, exasoerated yet bemused all at once.

“Ben, hon I told you that the medications you are on right now are producing some pretty weird side effects. Untill we go to the doctor tommorw you have to stay here and rest”.

“But I feel finnee,” he whined, “and I wanna go to the park now!”

“Why do you want to go to the park so badly?” Chloe prompted in a gentler tone.

“My favorite nuts are there, I am a squirrl, and I need to find them”. He flashed her a smile that would normally have made her weak in the knees had it not been for the riduculousness of the situation.

“And just who are your favorite nuts?” Chole asked, feeling a smirk spread across her face.

“You and Chase. You are my favoritest nut. Chase is my second favorite. Even though he is slightly craked, I still like him”.

Now Chloe was biting her lip to keep from outright laughing, knowing it would only offend him.

“Hon,” she said after forcing her laughter down. “Why don’t you sleep for a bit. Maybe later if you feel up to it we can go to the park to look….to look for your nuts”.

Ben thought this over for a seemingly long moment, then shook his head yes. “Only if you promise though”.

“I promise, hon. Now let’s get you settled in here”.

________________________________________________________________________________

Now that you have gotten through reading my insanity allow me to give you a preview of what posts you will be getting in December.

First and foremost, Kennedy is going to be finished this month. As of right now, for those of you who continue to faithfully follow my long-running story that has been getting slow updates for over a year now (thank you Faith :) we are ALMOST at the halfway point. This may mean a lot of updates between my Christmas fun and getting Kennedy finished. Hey, hopefully this will get me more followers.

Then, I got a couple of Christmas stories planned. The first will be about two college students who plan for a special Christmas together seeing one's favorite band.

The next story, along with the previous one, will be part of Fath P. Twelve Days of Christmas over at  Stories By Firefly! It will be a short little story that deals with the youngest of my characters from NaNo finding an abandoned kitten around Christmastime, then figuring out how to convince his non cat crazy sibilings to let him keep it.
                                                                                                     
Look for these Christmas stories sometime early this coming week!

By the way, I just wanna say I love the weeks leading up to Christmas almost more than the actual day. I just love sitting cuddling up reading, writing, or watching my favorite tv shows or christmas movies in front of the tree with a hot chocolate or peppermint mocha. I LOVE Christmas lights and decorations. I am always sad each year when we have to put them away. I do have a little tree for my room, which my parents usually let me keep up as long as I want. I am not one of those Christmas all year people. After all, Christmas all year would take the fun out of the holiday season. Plus, when the holidays are over this usually means my next favorite thing is about 2 months from officially starting, baseball. It is usually about the weekend after the New Year that I am ready to reluctantly relinquish my hold on my tree and decorations, saying goodbye to the magic they hold for another 10 1/2 months (rough calculation okay XD)

Speaking of Christmas decorations, a while back I noticed some of the blogs I follow were doing a room tag. While I don't think I was ever tagged, I plan to do something similar sometime this next week. I want to do a post taking you guys on a tour of my room. I think this will be fun as I just moved last August, so I got to rearrange everything. You will get to see all my wonderful Christmas decorations too, and I may even give some close ups of my favorite ornaments on my tree and the big tree my family has upstairs.

I honestly don't know what I will be posting after the first of the year, story wise at least. I may just start posting a story I have that is about a modern day small town whose people are sort of backwards-living in nature. They are not against technology per-se. They are just against forms of technology that they consider to be time-consuming, such as tvs and smartphones. They still utilize cars and cellphones, but prefer to ride their horses everywhere and communicate snail-mail or face-to-face the good old fashioned way.

If any of you have any suggestions as to what kinds of post you would like to see at the start of the new year, let me know in the comments. It will help get my creative juices flowing ;)

Anywho, thanks to whoever got to this point after reading all my NaNo snippits and somewhat lengthy (at least I think it is) rant. I pray that this next week and goes well for you guys. Please pray that it goes well for me too, and that I can be productive and finish my second to last semester of college strong, as I have had no motivation to do anything at all (senioritis is a real thing here people) XD