Well, here’s the third and final installment of this weird Christmas. Forgive me if it seems odd. I am writing this on 3.5 hours of sleep.

Constantine01: What a way to end the story…yes…Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I know what you mean, about both of them. I could write forever about the two of them. Well, maybe. You never know whom I will throw in there. Tough then soft…awesome! Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Tin Lizzy80: Damn straight it does! We used to listen to Christmas records on the Gramophone every Christmas, pops, clicks, fuzz and all. You’re not that old. I would go nuts if I were in Rock’s position, too. The Jewish thing just made me smile, so I’m glad you like it, too! Yay! I’m glad you have your brain back! Hope you enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!

Part 3: We wish you a…Merry…Christmas

I felt the bed move under me and scrunched my eyes shut tight. I was by no means ready to get up and West was just going to have to bugger off before I gave him a kick to remember. I snuggled into the blankets deeper and someone tucked hem up around my chin. I didn’t mind, but it was very un-West like behavior. Someone pushed the hair out o my face and stoked it for a minute. I was well beyond suspicious when I finally cracked an eye open. The other one flew open and I took a deep breath in surprise.

“Shh,” he hissed softly, putting a finger to his lips

“Ranse?” I asked quietly feeling a smile tug at my lips

“Yeah, it’s me,” he answered “Merry Christmas, Baby girl.”

“Don’t you ‘Merry Christmas, Baby girl’ me,” I said forcing my tone to be stern “First you go off and won’t tell me anything, then you just show up a few years later with that stupid smile on your lips and expect everything to be hunky dory again? Well, I got news for you, buster-”

“Cali, please. It’s Christmas. I’ll explain on Boxing Day,” he added

“Boxing Day?” I asked puzzled

“Yeah, it’s a…out of country thing. I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he repeated

I stared at him for a moment, feeling my mouth forming that traitorous smile. He let a small one of his own slip and before I knew it, I had him in a crushing hug that he returned whole-heartedly. When he finally let go of me, I held him at arms length for a minute and took a good look at him.

His auburn hair was a little longer than I remembered it and his eyes seemed a little bluer. The shy hint of laughter around his mouth was bolder and he did seem more confident than I ever remembered him being. He had put some muscle on his shoulders and it suited him. He was definitely between Rock and West when it came to height, making him and everyone else taller than me. I sighed, figuring that was the way of the world. He gave me a funny look that was all too familiar. I smirked at him and he grinned at me, too.

“Now, what happened to that scrawny brother I used to beat on?” I asked looking him over again

“Well, to be honest, I don’t have a clue,” he answered with a shrug “But I’m sure you can still beat on me, if you want to,” he added

“Well, that one-” I hit him on the shoulder “- Is for leaving without saying goodbye. This one was for not writing and this one is just because I know you and Rock have been conspiring.”

“Any more?” he asked rubbing his shoulder

“I’ll think up some later.” He laughed and I shook my head “Does Rock know you’re wandering around his building at this ungodly hour?”

“Nope. I haven’t run into him yet,” he answered “I haven’t run into West and I’m not looking forward to that, either, but if we’re going to be friends again…‘tis the season.”

“Tatton, Tell and Aries are here, too.”

“Well, it looks like the whole family has got together for Christmas. How’s that been going?”

I laughed then and hoped that was answer enough. He smiled and leaned against the headboard of the bed. I spent the next hour or so telling him all about our Christmas this year. He’d laughed along to most of it, which was a welcome sound. Finally we heard the floorboards creak and I knew Rock was up. West usually made too much noise in the morning. I said as much to Ranse and was proven right when Rock popped his head through the door, still tying his bathrobe.

“West has started piling the presents. You two should get down there,” he suggested

“Yeah, sounds good. Merry Christmas, Rock,” Ranse offered walking over to him with his hand extended

“Merry Christmas,” he replied pulling him soundly into a hug “That don’t forgive the rest of the year.”

Ranse nodded and followed Rock down the hall. I scrambled out of bed, shoving my hands through the sleeves of my own robe. Ranse smiled at me when I caught up to them outside the door to the main apartment where we had spent Christmas Eve telling stories and singing songs. Some how I knew it wouldn’t be so relaxed this morning.

“Hey! It’s about time! I even got the poppycock lawyer down here ‘for you two lazy…” West trailed off looking over at where we were standing at the door

“Hi, West,” Ranse offered

“Did you all here something?” West asked looking around

“So this is how Christmas is going to be this year?” Ranse actually looked amused “Well, fine then. Merry Christmas, Tatton.”

Tatton looked over the edge of yesterday’s paper and lowered his eyes again. You could tell he was in a bad mood. Ranse shrugged, expecting that. Tatton always was in a bad mood, anyways.

“Ranse!” Tell smiled coming in from behind us “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” he replied hugging Tell

“Tell, you look awful silly hugging thin air, but talking to it?” West said almost lightly

Rock walked past us and over to where West had his back to us now. He smacked him on the back of the head and waited for the retaliation we all knew was coming.

“What the hell was that for?” he asked standing up so he could at least try and meet Rocks eyes- he was a few inches taller than West.

“That is for being a twit on Christmas,” Rock paused, hitting him again “And that is for swearing.”

“What the hell?” West cursed and Rock smacked him again

It was like a western stand off. Rock was clearly the boss, but West had a reputation to maintain among all the other cowboys, so he had to put up or shut up. So they stood there until West figured he had proved his point. I sighed and sat down on the couch beside Aries, leaving enough room for Ranse to join us. He did, after throwing West a sympathetic smile that was returned in the form of a glare.

“Merry Christmas, Ranse,” Aries managed timidly, looking over at West

“What happened to calling me ‘Baba’?” he asked as Aries’ ears burned

Aries had called him Baba until…well he was at least 8. I suppose it was a pet name of sorts. Ranse grinned at him and wished him a Merry Christmas while his ears got redder, if it was possible.

“Enough with the Merry Christmases,” Tatton ordered from where he was seated “There is nothing Merry about this Christmas.”

“Of course there is. There’re presents,” West stated the obvious

“And the whole family is together,” I added, receiving a dirty look from the pair of them

“It is a Merry Christmas. If anyone wants to argue, I’m right here,” Rock offered from his chair

West grumbled under his breath and Tatton retreated behind his paper. Tell, who had been industrious in his avoidance of us all, started handing out mugs of coca with cookies. I thanked him, subdued like everyone else after that threat. I figured Rock could do a lot of things, but it would take a miracle to make this a merry Christmas.

After the awkward Christmas present opening, I retreated upstairs under the pretences of dressing in something other than my nightclothes. No one noticed and the tension was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. This Christmas was getting complicated.

Rock was mad at West because West was mad at Ranse because Ranse had dislodged himself from the family and thus Tatton was also mad, but just because he could be. I suggested to Tell that he, Aries and I should set up a boxing ring and let them all go at it. Tell, always the humanitarian, had decided against it, but you could tell he was thinking on it while West was busy pretending Ranse didn’t exist and Rock was grinding his teeth at the rude comments Tell was making towards everyone. I take it my brothers had never heard of the phrase ‘Good will towards all men’ or ‘love thy brother’.

“You’re sure making an effort at dressing.”

“I had to wait until you showed up, Joe Rielly. Then, once I have set my brothers on you for being a Voyeur, I can get dressed in peace,” I answered

“Very funny, Layne.”

“Why are you here? You have your own dysfunctional family to bother today.”

“I do, but I made the strategic mistake of locking all my Christmas presents for them in the basement. I heard it from Rock that you where the last one down there and that you had the keys,” he explained

“There were some big words in there, Joe. You’re starting to sound more and more like Shakespeare every day.”

“Don’t mention that name! Mom loves poetry and Will spouts it out like mad. I’m about to stuff the turkey with their heads and ask them if they think that’s poetic enough.”

I giggled over the image of that one and reached for the set of keys on my bedside table. The keys to the basement generally stayed on the first floor, along with a bunch of other keys you needed a key to get to - don’t ask, I didn’t design the system and I thought it was too complicated for it’s own good.

“Thanks, Layne. Have a Merry Christmas.”

“Only if you take me with you,” I muttered

“What?”

“Nothing. Merry Christmas, Joe.”

-/-/-/-/-/-

“Come on, Cali!” Tell called from down the hall “We can’t have the annual snowball fight until you get down here and call us all idiots for having it.”

“I’m coming!” I called back digging out a dusty glove from under the bed

The Lupin annual snowball fight had gone ahead every year since we were little. Nothing could stop it, even the year we were in Mexico. West and Tell had raided the hotel laundry room and ‘borrowed’ all the pillows. We’d wet down the feathers and made a fairly effective snowball, but it wasn’t the same. This year, there were mounds of white, fluffy snowflakes and we were all excited, for one reason or another. For some of us it was a matter of having fun, for the rest of us it was an opportunity to pummel others good and finally to let off some frustration. Whatever the reason, I could tell it was going to be one for the history books.

I met everyone outside a minute later where the teams had squared off. Rock West, Aries and I, against Tell, Tatton and Ranse. I pulled Aries off to the side a bit, like I did every year he knew as well as I did that the sides never stayed that way. It would turn into a free-for-all in a few minutes and he always got trampled. So did I, but I was going to rectify the situation this year.

“Well, you all know the rules,” Rock shouted over Tell and Ranse “No starting until Cali has her say.”

“You’re all idiots!” I yelled throwing my first snowball right at Tatton who took it on the shoulder and threw one right for Rock.

I ducked down after that snowball, rolling a few more for ammunition. Aries grinned at me and hopped up to throw a few of his own. I saw West take one full in the face and he roared loudly before throwing a few more in both frustration and fun. Rock was crouched behind a car, throwing snowballs at random in any direction. West cursed as one landed on his head, but you could tell he was out to get Ranse and he wouldn’t bother with Rock. I smiled as a snowball caught Aries in the face. He glared at me and hit me in the face. I sputtered and threw all my ammo back at him. We were both just flinging snow when Ranse jumped over the mound of snow we where hiding behind. He stated throwing snowballs at us while we were stunned by his entrance. Suddenly West tackled him and the two of them rolled through the snow.

I looked for Rock, who was glaring at the pair of them, but he had his arms crossed like he wasn’t going to do anything about it. I sighed and watched, like everyone else seemed to be doing. West rolled on top of Ranse and raised his fist to hit his baby brother. Rock seemed to move faster then possible because he suddenly had his hand in between West’s fist and Ranse’s face.

“That is enough! Both of you grow up!” Rock ordered “You’re brothers and you shouldn’t ever be fighting.”

“He needs to loosen up,” Tell whispered from my other side

“Good luck,” I offered

Rock opened his mouth to say something else when snowball caught him in the face. It was his turn to sputter and glare at the person who had thrown it. Then, just as fast as before, Rock was across the street to where Tatton was still throwing snowballs. He aimed a punch at the poppycock lawyer, who managed to duck it before throwing one of his own. I sighed, seeing Ranse and West where back to it.

“Rock sure doesn’t practice what he preaches,” Tell commented thoughtfully dropping a handful of snow in Aries’ hair

“I think this officially means the snowball fight is over,” Aries concluded shaking the snow from his hair

“Should we break them up?” I asked

“Not unless you want to get right in the middle of it.” Tell shrugged turning towards the apartments “I for one don’t think it’s worth a black eye. Coca, anyone?”

Aries nodded before following Tell while I sat on the front steps watching all the fun. Tatton and Rock weren’t an even match. Rock would have been killing him, if Tatton hadn’t got his legs in between the two of them. I could tell from here that his goal was to get under the car Rock had been using as a snow shield. I figured it was a smart plan, but then he would be trapped until Rock calmed down. I don’t know about anyone else, but I wouldn’t want to wait it out.

West and Ranse where closer paced. They where both throwing punches and sharing the advantage. They both looked pissed off at each other, too, which was the only reason why they where fighting. West wound up to hit Ranse a good one, but paused. Ranse took the opportunity to shove his hand away and off balanced West, who was straddling his middle. They both rolled away from each other, bloody, sweaty and pretty bruised. West grinned slightly at Ranse and Ranse laughed, flopping back into the snow. The effect was contagious; for West was laughing so hard he looked like he was going to wet himself. This went on for another minute, while Rock was dragging Tatton out from under the car kicking and screaming. He was done with fighting, but Tatton had got this far in life by always suspecting everyone of everything. He would come out on his own or he wasn’t coming out, no matter how hard Rock pulled on his arm.

I started laughing then and all four of them looked over at me, two laughing with me and the other two shocked. Tatton knew his chance when he saw it. He punched Rock across the face and pushed him down before running right at me. Ranse tripped him on the way over and the two of them started brawling on the stairs by my feet. Rock, checking his nose for blood, just watched with West at his side. They looked each other over, but they didn’t fight. I wasn’t surprised. Rock and West where evenly matched, but it would have been a long, drawn out fight that would have ended badly between the two of them. West even extended his hand to Rock and they shook on a silent pact.

“I’ll sue you for assault!” Tatton finally hollered at Ranse, who was sitting on Tat’s elbows and shoving snow in his face

“And I’ll counter with self defense,” Ranse answered, “Give.”

“You bast-” Tatton started, but Ranse shifted more weight onto his knees making Tatton wince

“Give?”

“Give!” he yelped

Ranse let off on him and Tatton scrambled out from under him. He glared at all of us and started towards the door. His pride always was easily wounded, but being beaten by your kid brother of 3 years was almost as bad as it could get in Tatton’s world. I suppose me beating him would have been worse, but I kept my trap shut on that one.

I glanced over at my three remaining brothers and smiled at them. The looked like they’d been at war with an army of snowmen and I fought down my laughter. They looked each other over and started sputtering themselves. West put an arm around Ranse’s shoulders and howled into his chest while Rock was bent over with laughter. I let myself laugh, too, not caring what the old lady down the street thought or what the two tough guys walking across the street were whispering. This was turning out to be a Merry Christmas after all.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/

“I think you knocked one of my teeth loose,” Ranse commented to West by the fire later

“Well, it serves you right. I won’t be able to use my finger for a week,” West answered smirking at the Popsicle stick splint I had constructed for his spranged finger“This is good work, Cali. Where would we be without you and Tell to patch us up after a fight?”

“Still out there?” I suggested from my perch on the couch

“It’s too cold to be out right now,” Tell commented dabbing at a cut on Rock’s forehead with iodine “Look at the frost on the windows. I would have to bring you all down to the hospital and treat you for hypothermia on top of all the superficial wounds you’ve inflicted on each other if you where still fighting.”

“You’re just sore that you couldn’t join us,” West teased “Have to keep those pretty boy doctor hands in girly condition.”

“Laugh it up. You’re next for the iodine,” Tell answered

West scowled a bit and Ranse affectionately patted his shoulder

“I’m happy you became a boxer, West,” Ranse offered “I’d hate to think I wasn’t getting professional treatment out there.”

“Well, I’m glad you aren’t a boxer. A few lessons and you could contend with me,” West answered

Tell smiled and shook his head as he moved from Rock to West. I glanced over at where my oldest brother was watching us all with a satisfied look on his face. We were all getting along, except Tatton who was busy licking his wounds and thinking of ways to get back at us. We’d all come around from where we had been this morning. He knew as well as I did that this was as good as it gets in a family of boxers, businessmen, actors, doctors, lawyers, toughs and kid sisters, especially when they all have tempers. I smiled over at him and he smiled back moving one of his shoulders stiffly. I got up and went around the back of his chair so I could rub it for him. We were both silent, watching West and Ranse act like old friends, while Tell doctored them and Aries added his own little points to the conversation. I felt Rock sigh under my hand in a contented way.

“It really did turn out to be a Merry Christmas, didn’t it?” I whispered

“I told you it would.”

I smirked. More liked threatened until he got his way, but I wasn’t going to argue. In fact I wasn’t going to say a word. No about Christmas, not about how silly everyone had behaved…and not about the guys who where walking up the street towards us expecting the turkey dinner that never got cooked. I counted the figures from the window, still rubbing Rock’s shoulder and sighed myself. Well, right now it was a Merry Christmas...

Christmas wasn’t supposed to be perfect. The tree, the dinner, the company…if it all flowed with feeling and we all loved each other; that was all that mattered. Maybe we would never have a perfect Christmas, or a semi-sane one where everyone came out of it un-maimed, but we always seemed to end at the right place and that was loving and caring for each other, even if one of us was a little surly. It didn’t get better than this.

“Hey, they’re early,” Aries pointed out looking out the window as well

“The Turkey! I completely forgot!” Tell yelped running for the kitchen

“Damn it, Tell! That was nearly my eye!” West roared clutching his forehead where the iodine was smeared across it

“West! My Coca!” Ranse yelled jumping up to brush the burning hot liquid from his pants.

“Watch where you swing your cup!” Rock minded

I sighed, smiling.

“Merry Christmas.”

The End

Any comments at all are welcome and flames are accepted.

See ya in the funny papers and a Merry Christmas!

Sonah