24-Dec-2001
Title: The Babysitter - All I Want for Chrithmath!
Authors: Wufei is WHAT?!? Productions (Yoiko and Tzigane)
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Type: Humorous Fic-stuffs ~_^v
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13? Not sure.
Pairings: None, really. ^_^
Warnings: (PLEASE READ!!!) I know there's at least one very young fan of the Babysitter stories. Please read this over first, before you read it to your child. This story deals with Santa Claus issues in a way that you might not approve of.
Disclaimers: We don't own Gundam Wing, and the Gundam Wing characters are used here without permission. This is a work of fanfiction, intended solely for entertainment purposes, and is not meant to be taken as a claim to copyright for the elements in the story which were not created by us. Also, we intend no disrespect whatsoever towards the creators and rightful owners of Gundam Wing.
Archive: Gundam Wing Addiction
C&C: Please, feel free. ^_^
Notes: If you're already familiar with our Babysitter series, you should know about what to expect. Brace yourselves for cuteness, more tooth issues and some holiday fun, WiWP style! ^_^
It was amazing, Treize Khushrenada reflected, what a difference such a simple thing made -- and he had the children to thank for it. Alex and Mueller had been avoiding him like the plague, to the extent that, when he'd caught them terrorizing one of the freshmen, they'd run off at the sight of him.
It had been all he could do to handle the situation, and the freshman's effusive gratitude, with gracious aplomb and tact, when the truth was that he had an insane laugh bubbling up in the back of his throat. He'd managed to control it, though, and his cool acceptance had won him a bevy of admirers.
In short, he'd suddenly become The Man to Know. And the grateful freshman, a pathetically kind-natured fellow named Otto, had become his chief supporter. Everyone, it seemed, admired him and coveted his approval and friendship, and the change had happened overnight.
Luckily, Treize had been taught gracious good manners at his mother's knee; those manners served him well, now that everyone was looking to him for guidance. Suddenly, well-bred gentility was the popular thing at school; teenagers all over town began dressing well, speaking well, and in general behaving like civilized beings rather than rude, crude ragamuffins like Alex and Mueller.
It was enough to make his mother positively weepy with pride.
Of course, it was also enough to give Treize *ideas*. Oh, he'd always had them -- notions, thoughts, not-quite-made wishes involving things that he would *like* to do if he had the opportunity; theatre and chorus and gourmet cooking and half a dozen other miraculous ideas. He had never thought that he would actually *do* any of those things. After all, the things that were popular were football and cheerleading and *ugh* World Wrestling Federation *gossip*. No, no. Treize had never had any hope that such civilized passtimes as he preferred would possibly be something he could show the rest of the teenagers in town, for surely they would laugh at him.
Now, though....
*NOW*, they all seemed to be utterly fascinated by his ideas. He'd been nominated for class president. He'd been nominated for King of the Winter Formal.
He was, in short, making *plans*, and he called them Operation: Zenith!
Well, what else could one expect? He *WAS* Treize Aloicious Eustacius Ignatious Olivarius Ulysses Khushrenada!!!
"Good afternoon, Treize-sama," a gaggle of girls chorused as he headed down the hallway toward his locker.
"Good afternoon, ladies," he replied, smiling and nodding politely, and continued on his way, completely oblivious to the swathes of near-swooning females (and a few males!) he left in his wake. As he walked, he mentally reviewed the points of the speech he planned to make to the Principal; he was certain that the man would see things his way. He'd start small -- surely the Principal couldn't refuse his students the opportunity to form a Gourmet Cooking Club. After all, the Home-Ec kitchens were going completely to waste, and through his mother's connections, Treize had acquired the best chef in the country -- Chef Pierre of Chez Pierre's -- to teach the basics of gourmet cooking to the club!
And after the Gourmet Cooking Club was well-established, Treize would throw his efforts and growing influence into instigating a Drama Club -- a *serious* group of Thespians, who would perform productions worth watching! Just the thought of the lights, the costumes, the makeup... Shakespeare! Ah, it was enough to make a teenager such as Treize drool!
Of course, Treize wasn't exactly a *normal* teenager; no, no one accuse him of being such a mundane thing as *normal*, now would they? After all, Treize had always been exceptional; even his father said so, and he only saw his father three months out of the year! His father travelled on business with his companions, not even coming home on Christmas Day; but he sent for Treize every May, and the summer months were always spent in Europe learning new things, seeing all sorts of exquisite cultural heritage and often enjoying the company of his father's companions, as well. They were often interesting, and many of them had been Asian. Perhaps...
Oh, but there was his speech to think of and his books to fetch from his locker quickly! He hurried down the hallway giving close-lipped smiles to those who acknowledged him as he strode past, blue eyes shining brightly, shoulders back. There was just something about him that *screamed* self-confidence now that Alex and Mueller left him alone. Life was magnificent!
Mirialdo Peacecraft locked his door securely behind him, and flung himself on his bed dejectedly. Life was horrible! All these years, he'd been deluded! He'd bought into the whole twisted lie!
And the worst thing was, his PARENTS had been the ones to lie to him! And if it hadn't been for that kid Rashid and his big mouth, Miri would still be as clueless as his sister and the others!
And... he wished he still was.
"I'm never going to believe in anything again," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling up at the ceiling. "Ever, ever."
And that was that.
Chang Wufei peered at his family's Christmas tree. It was a pretend tree, which was all right -- Wufei wouldn't want to kill a tree, and besides, real trees didn't come in white! No, his was a lovely white plastic tree, and on it were white lights and in his little hands lay a white glass ball which he very carefully put on the tree. "There," he said with smug satisfaction, smiling at his father.
"Very good," Chang Wynn agreed solemnly, picking his little boy up. "Shall we put the ones up top on together, now?"
"That sounds good," Wufei replied with equal solemnity. "Then we can have white chocolate?" Even hot chocolate had to be white for Chang Wufei and Wynn!!
"And you're mother's making cookies to go with it," his father said with a nod, lifting him up onto his shoulder so that Wufei could reach the top branches. It was going to be a wonderful Christmas!
"Well, how's it going in here?" Mrs. Yuy asked cheerfully, walking into the living room with a bright, cheery apron covering her party dress and a plateful of Christmas cookies.
"The mission is 90% completed," Heero replied. He was busily adding tinsel to the Christmas tree, one careful strand at a time, making sure that the shimmering silver threads were evenly distributed over the branches. He and his father had already very carefully strung the lights and trimmed the tree, arranging the ornaments precisely so that no two ornaments of the same color hung beside each other.
"It looks lovely, darlings," his mother said, and while Heero didn't pause in his work, he did respond with a tiny smile.
"The babysitter will be here any minute," Mr. Yuy said. "Why don't you finish getting ready, dear?"
"Of course," Mrs. Yuy said, setting down the cookie plate and starting to untie her apron. "Now, Heero, while we're gone..."
"I'll mind my manners and obey Mr. Treize's orders," Heero replied stoically. "And I won't object if he doesn't want to see 'The Terminator,' even though he's never seen it and it's *good*. And I won't eat all the cookies or blow anything up or set the house on fire."
"That's the ticket, son," Mr. Yuy said proudly. "Look on it like a mission."
"Ninmu ryokai."
"Quatre! What are you DOING?!?" his father shrieked.
"I'm hanging ornamentth on the tree," Quatre replied matter-of-factly, holding up a pink glass ballerina ornament for his father to see before hooking it onto a branch of the shimmering, pink artificial tree, where it dangled between a Barbie Christmas ornament and a pearly-pink mermaid. "I like thith one; it'th pretty!"
"HONEY!" Mr. Winner howled.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" his wife asked, worriedly hurrying into the room.
"WHY IS MY *SON* DECORATING A *PINK TREE*?!?!"
"But Daddy, we've alwayth had a pink tree," Quatre said, looking up at his father with huge, confused eyes. "Ever thinthe thithter Thara wath a little girl!"
"I awways bewieved it was a vewy nice twee," Trowa agreed, holding a lavender star that dangled dizzyingly from his fingers.
"What...?" Quatre's father asked, looking to his wife for an answer.
"Sweetheart, we've *always* had a pink tree, ever since Sara was a little girl. Trowa believes it's a very nice tree. There's nothing wrong with having a pink tree...."
"But..." The man wilted visibly. "It's so *GIRLY*!! We should have a big *green* tree with lots of manly red ornaments!"
"But I like it, Daddy," Quatre protested. "It'th tho very beautiful. I bet we have the motht beautiful tree on the block. I wonder if everyone elthe knowth how beautiful our tree ith?"
Trowa nodded. "I'ww bet they aww know how pwetty it is, Quatwe."
"Besides," Mrs. Winner continued blandly, "Sara *loves* that tree, and Leigh, Anne, Cynthia, Lesley, Jane, Lynn and Lucille all love it, too. You wouldn't really want to break *all* of our girls' hearts, would you?"
"But..." the man whimpered a little pitifully.
"It will be all right, darling," she assured him, kissing his cheek. "Would you like some cookies? Quatre and Trowa helped to make them!" She held out a plate full of little pink-frosted Christmas-tree-shaped sugar cookies coated with lovely pink and silver sprinkles.
"AAAARGH!!!"
Mirialdo Peacecraft stared glumly at his plate, and sighed quietly. His parents and Relena were carrying on a lively conversation; they'd just returned from the Mall, and the annual photo opportunity with the Mall's Santa Claus, and Relena was positively aglow with all the toys and goodies she was positive that Saint Nick would be bringing her.
"Mirialdo, eat your broccoli," his father said, sternly. "Don't just push it around on your plate."
"I don't want it."
"*Eat* your vegetables, young man. They put color in your cheeks."
"I don't want green cheeks."
"Don't you get smart with me!"
"Mirialdo, do as your father says," his mother interrupted quietly. Miri scowled at the broccoli on his plate, speared a piece with his fork, and chewed and swallowed it quickly. His parents, satisfied with the show of obedience, turned back to their own dinners.
"Now, Relena," Mrs. Peacecraft said, hoping to rekindle the happy atmosphere, "tell me again. Is Santa going to bring you a *pink* Fairy Princess Barbie doll, or a *blue* one?" The question was enough to start Relena off on a breathlessly excited harangue about the merits of Fairy Princess Barbie dolls, and why it was important to get the one with the Magic Tiara and not the one with the Magic Wand, although of course, if Santa had enough she would want *both*.
"Humbug," Miri whispered. "If it was for real..." If it was for real, he'd have a puppy by now. He'd asked, earnestly, diligently, every year for as far back as he could remember -- a puppy he could keep for his own! He'd love it, and teach it tricks, and play with it every day!
He'd received all kinds of gifts for Christmas, footballs and BB guns and books and candy and treats... but there had never been a puppy under the tree, unless you counted the little stuffed dog he'd received last year.
This year, the little stuffed dog had gone into the Toys for Tots pile, to be given to some unfortunate boy who *didn't* get footballs and BB guns and books and treats for Christmas.
"...and what did you ask Santa for, son?" Mr. Peacecraft asked, willing to make peace now that Miri had managed at least *some* of the broccoli.
"What does it matter?" Miri asked glumly. "I won't get what I really want. May I be excused, please?" Without waiting for permission, Miri wiped his mouth, folded his napkin and slid out of his chair, headed back to his room to mourn his lost innocence, and the puppy that he just knew was out there, waiting to come home to him.
"DUO MAXWELL!"
Duo cringed, and yanked his hand away from the doorknob to his parents' room as quickly as if it had burned him.
"Duo!" his mother gasped, appalled. "Didn't I tell you that our bedroom is Off Limits until after Christmas?"
"I'm sorry," Duo said, hanging his head. "I was curious..."
"Well, it's Off Limits," Mrs. Maxwell said sternly. "And if you peek... Santa's elves will see you."
"You won't tell them, will you?" Duo pleaded. "I won't do it again, I promise!" He had both hands splayed out in front of him, demonstrating the lack of crossed fingers.
"Well, since you give me your word..." his mother said.
"My honest-to-goodness word," Duo replied fervently.
"I suppose we can forget about it just this once. Just keep in mind that curiosity killed the cat, Duo."
Duo nodded his little head, then burst into tears.
"Poor kitty!" he wailed. His mother raised one hand to her forehead, both rubbing at an ache and covering her expression at the same time.
"Well, what would you like to do, Heero?" Treize asked, hanging his coat by the door.
"I'm not supposed to pester you to watch 'Terminator,' but I'm allowed to ask you one time. Can we?"
"Wouldn't you rather watch something else?"
"No."
"Something... less violent?"
"You're worried about violence?" Heero asked, blinking. So Mister Treize had a weak stomach! That explained a lot...
"Well... yes, actually. Don't your parents have any Christmas videos for you to watch?"
"Yes. We have 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' But it has violence in it."
"There's no violence in Charlie Brown!" Treize said, astonished.
"Yuh-huh. Lucy threatens to pound Linus."
"Er... I see. How about 'Home Alone?' "
"That's violent."
"Yes, but I think I can handle that much," Treize said. "Nobody bleeds."
"Okay," Heero said, and shrugged. Mister Treize was a strange man, and that was all there was to it! What good was violence without blood? That was completely unrealistic and unScientific!
"The cookies are magnificent!" Treize said, having taken a nibble of one. "Your mother is a wonderful cook!"
"I made those," Heero said proudly.
"You did?"
"All by myself."
"Really?"
"Yes, except Mama had to put them in the oven and take them out. But I mixed the dough, and rolled it, and cut it, and put it on the cookie sheets, and told her when it was time to take them out of the oven. And then I made the icing and I iced them."
"But, Heero! I didn't know you knew how to cook!" Treize tried to control a smile that twitched at the corners of his mouth; the image of Heero Yuy *hovering* over the oven timer like a little hawk amused the dickens out of him!
"Cooking is just like Science," Heero explained solemnly. "If you follow the instructions precisely, you achieve predictable results."
"Ah. Well, that makes perfect sense," Treize replied. "You're a fine Scientist."
"Thank you, Mister Treize," Heero said, and gave him a rare, genuine smile.
Treize settled back on the couch and started the movie, and Heero snuggled up beside him comfortably. It was unheard-of, for little Heero Yuy to voluntarily come into contact like that, but Treize put his arm over the little boy's shoulders and gave him a warm half-hug, and Heero only smiled in reply. It was going to be a wonderful night at the Yuy house, indeed!!
"...and God bless Heero," Relena said, head bowed over her sweetly folded hands, "and make him so he's not so embarrassed about his underwear, because I'm going to wash them in the laundry when we're married. And God bless Duo, and make him not be so bratty. And God bless Quatre and Trowa, and fix it so they can talk. And God bless Wufei, even though he was mean and pulled my tooth out. And God bless Mommy and Daddy, because I love them. And... God bless Miri. Please help him not be sad. Amen."
Nervously, Treize fidgeted, glancing around the room despite himself, the magazine in his lap open to an article on early American heirloom design being utterly ignored. /What if they did something awful? What if it didn't work? What if I have to have *more*!?/
It was enough to make a babysitter have a nervous breakdown!
"Treize."
That was his name, all right. That meant it was his turn. That meant...
"Come right into the back, sweetie," the woman in white said warmly. "How is school? Are you glad it's the holidays?"
"School..." Oh, school had been WONDERFUL lately! "...has been just fine. Most enjoyable, as I'm sure the holidays will be. I hope yours will be nice," he told her politely.
/Such a nice boy!/ she thought. /I wish the others who came here were as sweet!/ "Well, you just sit right here. Would you like a comic book while you wait?" Obviously, being polite gained him much more attention than being impolite would.
"No, thank you, ma'am," he said with a nod. "I'll be fine."
And... he was.
"Mister Treize!" Wufei squealed, running to the door with his arms held up. Treize promptly lifted him with barely a groan and gave him a smile that sparkled so whitely it was almost blinding. "Ohhhhhh!!!" Wufei gasped, fingers promptly invading his mouth, black eyes open wide. "You got all of the METAL off!! You have *white* teeth!!" Oh, so *pretty*!!
"Yeth," Treize agreed, settling the boy on a hip and managing to get his fingers back out of his mouth. "I do! Do you like them?"
"I *love* them," Wufei said happily, peering at them. "They're so *white*! Will you smile a lot?"
"Lots and lots," the babysitter promised with a nod, and he *had*. He'd smiled all afternoon and he couldn't *wait* to go to school tomorrow!!
"Oh, good!" Wufei was so happy! "Want to see my tree? It's pretty. It's all white, too, and Santa's going to bring me all sorts of things! Even a white tricycle, Daddy says!"
And then Chang Wynn walked in, dressed formally in white tuxedo and...
*SPROING!*
"H-h-hello," Treize said, smiling shyly.
"Why, you got your braces off!" Wufei's father said warmly. "How lovely your smile is! Lei, come and see Treize's smile!"
Wynn's wife walked into the foyer, dressed just as beautifully in red as her husband was in white -- they'd look like candy canes if they hugged! "Oh, how very nice! I can see how excited Wufei is to see you, especially with such beautiful white teeth!"
If he blushed much more, he thought all of the blood in his body would go to his head! Well, most of it, anyway. "Thank you!"
"We've already given Wufei a snack. The two of you might want to go out in the backyard and play," Chang Wynn suggested with a sheepish smile.
That meant...
"NO!! I DON'T WANNA WEAR THE RED PLAYSUUU~IIT!!" Demon Wufei shrieked, squirming to get down and promptly running off to hide.
Braces off or not...
It was going to be one very bad afternoon!!!
"Dear Santa,
I'm going to give you one last chance. If you are real, please give me a puppy. That's all I want this year. You can give all the other presents to a poor little boy who doesn't have any, but please bring me my puppy. I will take good care of him and feed him and walk him and play with him, and I will be very responsible.
Your friend,
Mirialdo Peacecraft"
There was only one good thing about snow, Treize reflected, and that was the occasional snow day. Well, that wasn't true, really. The aesthetic delight of a snow-covered landscape was surely nothing to scoff at! But... but...
...he'd been looking *forward* to showing off his smile! And the Gourmet Cooking Club was supposed to have its first meeting this afternoon!
Why did it have to snow *now*?
"Hey! Let's have a snowball fight!" Duo cried.
"YEAH!" Duo and Heero scrambled up to Duo's castle and started pressing snowballs together, while Quatre and Trowa took shelter behind Mr. Maxwell's tool shed.
The first snowball smacked Heero in the face, and he fell over, laughing, and returned fire with deadly efficiency. Quatre ducked behind the shed, yelping as the snowball disintegrated and melted over his cheek. Heero, determined to press his advantage, scrambled up the ladder to the sentry's walk, cradling a snowball in one hand.
The wooden ledge was slipperier than it appeared; there was a layer of ice lurking under the harmless-looking snow cover. Heero made it to the top and threw his snowball, then slipped, lost his balance, and fell from the ledge, landing on the hard-packed ground below face-first. The impact completely knocked the breath out of him, and he was still for a long moment of shock.
Duo saw blood pooling under Heero's head, screamed at the top of his lungs, and went tearing down the hill to his house. He left the back door open and a trail of snow over the carpet as he made a beeline for his mother and flung his arms around her knees.
"HEERO'S DEAD! I KILLED HIM! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"
"Heewo? Awe you okay?" Trowa asked, peering into the castle hesitantly, half expecting a snowball in the face. Quatre hovered behind him anxiously.
Heero whimpered quietly, and pushed himself to his hands and knees. The snow where his cheek had rested was bloody, and there were two perfect white teeth laying there. Heero picked them up, and turned to face his friends, who were both looking at him with expressions of unguarded horror.
"Your mouth..." Quatre gasped. "Heero, doeth it hurt?"
Heero shook his head; his mouth and face were completely numb.
"You'd bettew wet youw Mothew wook at that," Trowa advised, and Heero quietly headed down the hill and back to his own yard, completely oblivious to Duo's wailing in the background.
Mrs. Yuy was just putting out a last plate of cookies for the party when her son marched in the door, his face half-covered in blood and one mittened fist clenched around the teeth he'd lost. The plate of cookies fell from nerveless hands and shattered on the floor, and Heero's mama scooped him up and carried him to the bathroom.
Once the blood had been washed away, it didn't look quite so bad; Heero had a fat lip and a few scrapes, and a still-bleeding gap where his two front teeth had been. Mrs. Yuy called the dentist to warn him they were coming in on an emergency basis, and carried her son out to the car. She'd argued against the ugly, utilitarian car her husband had insisted on buying, but for once she was grateful for four-wheel drive and huge tires that would travel over anything.
They returned from the dentist's less than an hour later; there hadn't been much he could do. Since the teeth weren't adult teeth, the best the dentist had been able to suggest was merely to wait until the adult teeth came in, and see then whether there were any problems. There was a good possibility they'd come in perfectly fine.
In the meantime, Heero looked like the loser in a championship boxing match. His left eye had a darkening bruise surrounding it, and his upper lip had swollen to nearly twice its normal size. He was also shivering; his clothes were soaked through with melted snow, and they hadn't thought to take time for him to change before rushing out.
"My poor baby," Mrs. Yuy sighed.
"It'th not tho bad," Heero said, and then gasped in horror. "I THOUND LIKE QUATRE!!!"
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," his Mama said reassuringly. "Your big teeth will come in, and you'll sound just like yourself again."
"What kind of Thientitht thoundth like thith?" Heero groused.
"I'm sure even Scientists can have lisps," his mother replied. "Now, let's get you inside and get you warmed up, young man." She parked the car and lifted him out of it, settling him against one hip as she secured the vehicle.
"I can walk," Heero said.
"Yes, but just humor your Mama," his mother replied. "It will make me feel better if you let me baby you, just a little bit."
"Okay," Heero agreed, and wrapped his little arms around her neck and his legs around her waist, and allowed her to carry him indoors. His two front teeth were neatly sealed in a clean plastic bag; the Tooth Dragon would be pleased tonight!
"All right," Mrs. Yuy said, once they were safely indoors. "I want you to stay right here and take off those wet clothes."
"But-! But-!" Heero gasped, covering himself with damp-mittened hands.
"But nothing. I don't want you catching cold, and I don't want wet footprints all over the house when we have company coming over tonight. I'll go into the kitchen, if it will make you feel better, and you can take those clothes off and wrap up in the afghan and get on the couch."
"I don't want to," Heero said, but he reluctantly shrugged his jacket off. His mother, true to her word, headed off to the kitchen, and he quickly stripped down to his underwear and scampered over to the couch, covering himself up before anybody could see him.
"All done?"
"Yeth." Heero's mother came back into the room and rubbed the afghan over his chilled legs, then went to carry his wet clothes to the laundry room and pick up a set of clean flannel pajamas, which he pulled on underneath the covers.
"Would you like some hot chocolate?"
"That would be very nithe." Mrs. Yuy smiled at her son and ran a hand over his soft, wildly thick hair. She knew he was attempting to comfort *her* by letting her take care of him this way; her son was so sweet and loving, in his own, strange way. She made him a cup of hot cocoa, very carefully not too hot, and let him nibble on a few cookies while "Mickey's Christmas Carol" played on the VCR. There was very little left to be done in preparation for the party; she cleaned up the broken plate and started heating up the foods to be served warm.
When she peeked in to see how Heero was doing, she found him curled up on the couch, fast asleep.
"Dear Santa Clause,
I have bin very good this yeer. I want a pink Fary Princess Barbie Doll with a Tiara, and if you hav a lot of dolls I want a blue one to. And a puppy for Miri. And money for Daddy and Mommy so they will be happy.
Miss Relena Peacecraft"
"There, see? He's just fine."
"His poor FACE! Is he going to be ugly now?"
"Duo, don't say things like that! He can hear you!"
Heero opened his eyes to the unwelcome sight of his mother, Duo and Mrs. Maxwell all looking down at him. Anxiously, he clutched the afghan against his chest.
"Don't look at me!" he gasped. "I don't have any CLOTHETH!"
"Oh, Heero!" Duo cried, and flung himself across his friend's chest. "I thought you were DEAD!"
"Mama..." Heero whimpered pitifully. Mrs. Maxwell pulled her son off of him. Duo was crying so hard, he didn't even think to protest when his mother picked him up and cuddled him.
"Thtop crying," Heero said. "I'm not dead."
"Heero!" Duo said, his tears forgotten. "You sound like... QUATRE!"
"Thut up."
"Dear Mister Santa Claus,
I would like a mermade and a Barbie doll of my own insted of boroing them and a bow to put in Trowa's hair. I wish I had a good prezent to give you. But I have good cookies so I hope you will like them. I made them pink just for you!
Love,
Quatre Raberba Winner"
"You losted *BOTH* of your front teeth!?" Wufei gasped, mouth opened wide. He was bundled up in his winter playsuit -- a little outfit which included a purple hat, purple mittens, purple down-filled jacket and, most adorably, a little red, blue and green dragon stitched onto the back of the thing.
He hated it just as much as he hated his green summer playsuit and his yellow spring playsuit and his red fall playsuit!
"Yeth," Heero replied. "We were having a thnowball fight and I fell off Duo'th cathle and they popped out."
"Wow," Wufei said, black eyes wide with amazement. "Did it hurt?"
"Only a little," he was informed, "but the Tooth Fairy came latht night and took them away. Thee? I got two whole thilver dollarth."
"Tooth Dragon," Wufei corrected.
Heero shook his head. "It mutht have been the Tooth *Fairy*, becauthe my Tooth Dragon trap wathn't thet off."
"Ohhhhh." Wufei nodded. That made sense, more or less. He sure hoped that the Tooth Dragon didn't send the Tooth Fairy after *him* if he ever lost any teeth. After all, everyone knew she was all pink and sparkly and disgusting, like Relena. Besides, who knew? The Tooth Fairy might just sell *him* to the Gypsies because he preferred the Tooth Dragon! "I guess the Tooth Dragon was busy that night. Wanna go to Daddy's dojo and play?" he asked Heero with a smile.
"Thure!" his friend agreed, and that was that.
"Dear Santa,
I want a microscope and a Bunsen burner this year. And some chemicals. I promise if you give me hydrochloric acid I will not burn anything up with it or blow up the house. And I want a Terminator poster for my wall. I will leave you cookies and milk and scientifically-engineered reindeer food just like last year.
Sincerely,
Heero Yuy
p.s. Is it the Tooth Dragon or the Tooth Fairy?"
Quietly, Treize sat down next to his sometime-charge Mirialdo and waited. After several moments of doing just that -- sitting, and waiting -- he spoke up. "So. What's on your mind?" he asked quietly, looking out over the snow-filled yard.
"This big kid," Mirialdo said. "Rashid. He told me Santa's not real."
"Ohhh." That was *serious*, then. "Someone did the same thing to me, once. I wouldn't believe them if I were you."
"But...!" Miri sighed. "But *all* I want is a puppy. It's all I ever wanted. If Santa was *real*, he'd give me what I really wanted, wouldn't he?"
"Well," Treize began.
"Don't tell me he wouldn't!" the platinum blond boy said sternly, frowning. "He *would*. He's Santa!"
That ginger-haired head nodded slowly. "You're right. He'd give you what you really want. I'll bet you'll have a puppy waiting for you Christmas morning, Mirialdo. What kind do you think you want him to bring?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"A labrador!" Mirialdo answered with firm inflection. "A pretty yellow lab! I saw one when I went to Walker's birthday party last month," he confessed. "It was the prettiest dog I ever saw."
"Then I'll bet that's just what you'll get," Treize murmured warmly. "With a red bow and everything."
"Do you really think so?" Miri asked.
Treize's hand squeezed his shoulder lightly. "I really do."
And the companionable silence returned.
"Deer Santa --
I would very much lack to hav a box of white color crayons and some white army men with liddle parashutes. Thoze should be white two. And if I cood have a white trisicl with a white wagun, I would like that, two.
Chang Wufei."
Mr. Maxwell sighed in relief as he heaved the last shovelful of snow out of the way; he was glad he'd begun his winterizing process early this year! A few more handfuls of salt, and he was finally done clearing the long, sweeping walkway from his house to the front of the yard. Once he'd stowed his shovel and the salt in the snow-covered shed out back, he stamped his way indoors, eager for the chance to get warmed up.
The house was quiet... too quiet.
"Where is everyone?" he asked. A muffled giggle from the hallway raised his suspicions, and he slowly padded in that direction.
The suit of armor that stood in a niche at the end of the hallway gleamed in all its polished glory, its gauntleted hands holding the traditional burden of holly branches. But...
There was a red construction-paper circle taped to the front of the knight's helmet.
"What's this?" Mr. Maxwell muttered.
Duo leaped out of hiding, flung himself into his father's arms, and yelled, "IT'S SIR RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED KNIGHT!!!"
"You little monkey!" Mr. Maxwell said, laughing and ruffling the boy's hair. "Did your mother put you up to this?"
"It was all his idea," his wife replied. "All I did was lift him up so he could do it."
"I made you laugh, Dad!" Duo chirped. "Was it a good one? Was it?"
"That was a good one, son!"
"Dear Santa --
Could I have a trampoline?
Thank you.
Trowa.p.s. There's some soup, but you probly don't want to eat it."
"Let's start at the Winner house!" Mrs. Yuy suggested. "It worked well last year."
"Sounds like a plan," Mr. Yuy replied, smiling.
"I don't wanna thing."
"Heero, we always go Christmas caroling!" his mother said. "It's a tradition!"
"I don't wanna thing *that thong*."
"Look on it like a mission, son."
Heero paused, and his lower lip started to protrude in a sulky pout, the effect of which was completely ruined by the fact that his upper lip was still twice its normal size.
"...ninmu ryokai."
The Winners opened their door, cheering and clapping as the Yuy family finished a chorus of 'Deck the Halls'. Then, after a poke from his mother and a prod from his father, Heero launched reluctantly into his big solo.
"All I want for Chrithmath ith my two front teeth..."
"Sweetheart, have you got the cider ready?"
"Yes, Mom," Treize answered solemnly, peeking out the front window. He could see them down the street, slowly making their way around. The caroling always started when the Yuys went across the street to the Winners' house. They went to the Peacecrafts', then, and the Maxwells' after that, picking up carolers as they went, the entirety of each family joining into the singing. Next to last was the Changs, where you couldn't even see the family -- they were all in white, after all. It sort of defeated the purpose of *looking* at them there against the snow...
"Here's the last batch of cookies," his mother said with enjoyment, setting down the freshly baked gingerbread men and smiling.
"Wufei won't eat those," he told her absently, still looking out of the window. She smiled and kissed the top of his head. "I made divinity and Pfeffernusse for the Changs, sweetheart. Don't worry."
The carolers trouped their way through the snow, and as they began to sing, Treize and his mother stepped out onto the front porch, listening as they laughingly went through a rousing version of 'Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer' -- admittedly funny, with Trowa singing.
"Wudowph the Wednosed Weindeew!!!"
It was all Treize could do *not* to laugh. Once they were done, all fell silent, waiting for the traditional return. They were not disappointed, for Treize and his mother both had beautiful singing voices, tenor and soprano melting into 'Carol of the Bells'. When they finished, all of Treize's children broke into applause, and Mirialdo had problems swallowing around the lump in his throat. It had been so *beautiful*!
"Come inside!" Mrs. Khushrenada invited. "We have cookies and cider and *even* hot chocolate -- white," she informed, smiling most specifically at the little Chinese boy who was even now waddling his way up the steps towards Treize, overburdened by his winter outfit.
One child meant two and then three and five, and Treize was shortly covered in children all crying for his attention, barely able to stand. "HELP!"
"Mithter Treithe! You have TEETH!" Heero said, delighted at the metal-free, beaming smile Treize shared with them.
"And it seems you have none," Treize replied, hugging each of the children and helping them doff their coats, scarves, mittens, hats and boots. "What happened?"
"He fell off the castle and we thought he DIED!" Duo said, watching as Treize struggled to disentangle Relena's hair from the little ties holding her pink hood in place. Apparently, Relena had tied it *herself.*
"Ow! You're pulling my hair!"
"Sorry, I'm trying not to," Treize said, patiently working the massive knot loose.
"I didn't think he wath dead," Quatre said.
"We thought he was just pwetending."
"It hurts!"
"Sorry. Maybe you should get your mother to help you next time."
"Heero, my head hurts! Come kiss it better!"
"I am NOT kithing your head! It hath COOTIETH on it!"
"Oh! Heero, I want you to sing your song for the Khushrenadas!" Mrs. Yuy said, as the sound of her son's voice raised in protest reminded her of his new lisp.
"I don't wanna!"
"It's just the most precious thing," his mother was saying.
"Treize, go get my camcorder for me, would you dear?"
Treize gave the little boy a commiserating look, but obediently went to fetch his mother's camcorder. Heero scowled and crossed his arms, wishing for miraculous intervention -- like the Terminator blasting through the walls and coming to his rescue! That would be cool! Unfortunately, the only intervention came in the form of a GIRL!
"Oh, Heero, you're so cute!" Relena said. "Come stand over here!" She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to the doorway, then pointed up at the sprig of mistletoe hanging overhead. "Now you HAVE to let me kiss you!"
"NO!" Heero gaped up at the mistletoe, his eyes welling with horrified tears. He couldn't just walk away! Those were the *RULES*!
"Don't worry, Heero! *I'LL* kiss you!" Duo cried, trying to push past Relena.
"No, *I* will!" Relena snapped, shoving him back.
"No, ME!"
"ME!"
"ME!"
"Twerps," Miri scoffed, and pushed past the bickering Relena and Duo, planted a light kiss on the top of Heero's head, and allowed the little boy to scamper away to safety. Heero dashed free of the Terrible Twosome's clutching hands... and ran right into his mother.
"There you are, sweetheart. Go ahead and sing your song; Mrs. Khushrenada is waiting."
Heero hung his head miserably. WHERE was the Terminator when he needed him? At least Christmas Eve would be over soon, and then there would be presents and *Christmas,* and maybe everyone would forget about making him sing the dumb tooth song!
Christmas morning was still several hours away when Duo Maxwell awakened.
"I think I heard reindeer paws," he whispered to himself, wide-eyed. With visions of capturing Santa Claus dancing in his head (to further his pursuit of Heero, of course; how could a scientist, lisping or not, resist the opportunity to experiment on *THE* Santa Claus!?), he struggled his way out from under the covers on his bed and hurried to the door.
There was no sign of Santa, elves, reindeer or parents present in the hallway, but that didn't stop Duo. Oh, no, he snuck instead to the head of the garland-wrapped stairs and peeked over the edge.
Still no sign of Santa!
Determined, he crept down the stairs one by one, peeking through the railings. There wasn't anything to see except for Christmas lights and... and...
PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"WAHHHH!!" he yelled, promptly turning around and running back upstairs. "MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!! SANTA'S BEEN HERE!!!"
There was nothing *quite* like a bundle of squirming hyperactive boy in the pre-dawn hours, particularly when said squirming hyperactive bundle landed upon one's groin.
"Oh, sh..."
"Hello, darling," Duo's mother said sleepily, smiling at him. "What are you doing up so very early??"
"I HEARD him! I *HEARD* Santa, and there are PRESENTS all downstairs! Come on, come on, come ON, let's go OPEN them!!"
"Erk..."
"As soon as your father recovers, dear. Until then, why don't I just go and fetch my robe so that we can go downstairs?"
"Right now!" Duo agreed. "Let's fetch it *right* now!!!"
And so, they did.
Dawn was surely a long time in coming.
Chang Wufei had decided that about the time the first creeping pink rays of sunlight peeked over the edge of the horizon. From Christmases past, he knew that it wasn't *really* the sun coming up; it was just a pretend sun, warning that the real one was coming.
It was hard to wait for dawn when what one *really* wanted was to hurry downstairs and find out just what Santa had left him for Christmas. Santa, he had long since decided, wasn't that jolly fellow in red that all of the stores had. No, he was definitely a Santa in *white*, like the one his mommy had in her kitchen that held cookies!
He watched next door as the Peacecrafts all trooped outside and climbed into the car. Wufei really felt sorry for them; they were all dressed up to go somewhere, and *he* was still inside with his little white pajamas on. That was good -- REALLY good!
Finally, *finally*, the sun began to rise -- he could see the edges of it peeking up over the horizon, and he smiled, that smile turning to a light hearted grin as he realized that he could see something very special creeping along in the Peacecraft yard.
/Mr. Treize must really love me,/ he decided, watching as the ginger-haired teen dressed all in white slipped away from the Peacecraft house, shaking his hand over a tattered silver card. /And he must have messed up his present trying to get it into Miri's house!/
The notion that it might be a present for Relena never crossed his mind as he slid out of the window seat and hurried into his parents' bedroom. "Daddy," he whispered. "Daddy?"
"Hmmm?"
"It's dawn," he answered promptly. "I can wake you up now!"
"Lei," Wynn mumbled, "let's go make coffee and see what Santa brought for Wufei."
"Mmmph," his mother agreed, beginning to crawl out of bed sleepily as Wufei took both of their hands to lead them to the tree.
Heero Yuy lay awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling tensely. He'd been awake for hours already, and he was sure that Santa had to have come by now, and that perhaps the jolly old elf had gotten caught in his Santa trap.
He dared not get out of bed to check, though, and the suspense was killing him. But those were The Rules. He wasn't allowed out of bed until his parents came to get him.
He fidgeted, and tried to concentrate on the journal he was keeping of his experiments... but he kept coming to the last page, which read, "Santa capture attempt #5, status undetermined."
The suspense was terrible!
Quatre Raberba Winner was suffering from a similar dilemma; it was Forbidden to go downstairs on Christmas morning without his parents. But the waiting was *horrible*! Finally, he settled on a plan. He slid out of bed in the manly Rambo pajamas he hated, pulled on his manly slippers and his manly robe (which he equally hated), and padded down the hallway to knock on his parents' door. At the sound, he could hear all his sisters opening their doors behind him to watch; naturally, there wasn't a child asleep in the house.
"What?" Mr. Winner grumbled through the closed door. "This better be good."
"Daddy, I have a tickle in my throat," Quatre lied. "And I need thome water, but I know I'm not thuppothed to go downthtairth without you and Mommy." Belatedly, he added a few lame coughs.
From the other side of the door came a few quiet chuckles and the murmuring of his mother translating his words for his father, and then Mr. and Mrs. Winner both staggered out of the room. Cheering, the whole passel of Winner children tore down the stairs, followed by a pair of wearily amused adults.
Miri sighed, and looked out the window, watching as it fogged over from the warmth of his breath. As they did every year, the Peacecrafts had arisen bright and early Christmas morning, put on their very best clothes, and gathered at the tree, brushed and scrubbed and ready for church. Relena and Miri had been allowed to open one present each; this year, they had brand-new watches to wear to morning Mass. Miri's was a heavy silver gleam around his wrist, the sort of watch a young man would wear if he wanted to impress people. Relena's watch was a pastel pink-and-blue monstrosity, sure to be the envy of all the other Cinderella fans in the neighborhood.
Miri tried not to sigh again. He'd peered at all the other packages under the tree, but there was no way any of them held the puppy he wanted so badly. He'd gladly have given up the watch, grand as it was, if only he could have his puppy!
He felt Relena's little fingers curling around his, and he turned and tried to smile for her. As bratty as she was, she could really be a sweet kid sometimes.
"Heero? Are you awake?"
Heero sat abruptly. "Yeth, ma'am!" he called.
"You can get up now."
Heero was beaming as he slid out of bed in his little footie pajamas and raced downstairs. There were PRESENTS under the tree! Christmas had finally arrived! Glorious, marvelous, wonderful Christmas!
The fact that the Santa trap was empty and the cookies eaten didn't bother him a bit; Santa was a sneaky old elf, and he really didn't know what he'd do with him if he caught him.
"WOW!" he crowed. "A MICROTHCOPE! Jutht what I alwayth wanted!"
"We'll *never* get him out of the house now," his mother murmured, grinning.
"I got a sword!" Duo said. "Cool!" He'd wanted a crossbow, and had asked for a crossbow for the past several years, but he knew that Santa was old and got confused sometimes, and he should be grateful to get anything at all! In addition to his sword, he had a new set of garb for those SCA events he was allowed to attend, and enough clothes, puzzles, books and games to keep him busy for a year... or at least ten minutes!
"I'm gonna go outside and play! Can I?"
"Not 'til you eat breakfast, young man," his mother said. "And before you ask, you may *not* eat candy for breakfast."
"Aww..."
"You got thome neat thtuff!" Quatre said appreciatively, and managed to hide his envy. Santa had given him dumbbells and a football, and he'd asked for a mermaid doll of his own! His sisters always got all the cool stuff!
"Oh, and you got a dart board!" Lucille said, managing to hide her envy. Quatre always got all the cool stuff!
Their parents, oblivious to the covetous glances the children were casting at each other's presents, merely looked on, beaming.
"I did!" Quatre cried, pleased. "Would you like to play dartth?"
"Sure! And you can play with my mermaid doll!"
"Thankth!"
Mr. Winner turned pale as his children swapped toys, and he put his head in his hands.
Miri was gamely trying to hide his disappointment when the car pulled up into the driveway. Santa hadn't come through, and that meant he'd never believe in anything again.
Mr. Peacecraft opened the door to the house, and a blur of pale yellow streaked out, bounding into the snow with a joyful, squeaky bark.
"MY PUPPY!" Miri cried, and knelt, not caring that his good Sunday dress pants were getting soaked through with melting snow as the puppy jumped in his arms, barking and wriggling and slobbering on him and wagging its tail. It was a yellow lab puppy, an absolutely perfect yellow lab puppy, with a red ribbon tied around his neck and a little tag that read, "Merry Christmas, Miri! Love, Santa," and Miri felt happy tears welling up in his eyes as the puppy -- *his* puppy -- licked his cheek in that frantic, earnest way that only a puppy can manage.
"A puppy?" Mrs. Peacecraft said, shocked. "But where...?"
"Santa brought a doggie!" Relena crowed. "What are you gonna name him?"
"I think," Miri said, looking up at them all and positively *glowing* with happiness, "I'll name him 'Aloicious.' But I'll call him 'Wishes' for short, because he was all my Christmas wishes rolled up into one!"
"Dear..." Mrs. Peacecraft murmured.
"Well... I guess there's no harm in it," Mr. Peacecraft murmured back. "I mean... look at the boy."
"Wishes," Miri said happily, and then scrambled to his feet, his arms full of happy, wriggling puppy.
"Oh, NO!" Relena's voice called from inside the house. "Look what the puppy did under the TREE!"
Miri hugged Wishes to his chest and pressed his cheek to fluffy golden puppy fuzz. He'd clean up the mess, and train Wishes to be the Perfect Dog he'd always dreamed of.
And he'd never doubt again!
Mrs. Khushrenada was sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee when Treize slipped in the back door, snow dusting his hair lightly. Hot rollers were in place and she looked at him curiously, shaking her head.
"Darling, where were you? I thought we'd unwrap presents before running to your grandmother's for Christmas brunch. Your aunt Belinda and cousin Dorothy arrived last night, you know." Aunt Belinda was in the midst of a messy divorce, so Christmas wasn't something to be celebrated at home.
"Oh, just taking care of some last-minute details," Treize assured her lightly, mangled credit card in hand. "I had... er... a late gift to drop off."
Blue eyes identical to those of her son gleamed with sudden understanding. "Ohhh. Well. Santa's been and gone, my dear boy, and your father should call any time now. He's in Japan this week, you know," she said easily. "Shall we go and open all of our presents?"
"Yes, ma'am," Treize answered quietly with a smile, reaching for her hand.
It was a very merry Chrithmath indeed.
~owari~
Merry Christmas!
Love, Tzi and Yoiko
(:./yoiko/sitter10)
