Stories by Firefly! : 12 Days of Christmas // A Carnathan Christmas {pt.2}

Part two has arrived! Featuring music and a clothing dilemma. ;)

By the time suitcases and gifts were hauled inside, amongst a dozen other conversations and bouts of laughter, it was time for a dinner which Bethany readily helped prepare. Working in the kitchen with the others made her feel all the more accepted and at home.

After the dishes were done and the kitchen cleaned, the family gathered in the living room.

Bethany sank into the couch next to David with a sigh. “Many more meals like that one and I’ll explode.”

David pulled his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Mom enjoys feeding people. If cooking and serving was a hobby, that would be hers.”

Lydia laughed as she took the rocking chair across from James and picked up her knitting. “Oh, David, how you joke.”

“So, I’m curious,” Raymond began, his booted foot setting his rocker in motion again. “How did you two first meet?”

Bethany grinned. “Which version of the story would you like to hear, Mr. Carnathan?”

Raymond laughed, his carefree guffaw much like his son’s. “Probably yours, dear.”

“I was working at the Cana Diner, my first day. This group of men wanted me to, uh, share their lunch break. But I wasn’t interested. When they persisted, David came to my rescue.”

“Always the knight in shining armour,” Michael jeered, which earned him one flying throw pillow from the ‘knight’ in question.

Raymond ignored his sons’ rivalry and nodded for Bethany to go on.

“I went back to work and David took a seat across the dining room. A few minutes later a young woman and a little girl came in and sat with him. I assumed it was his wife and daughter. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when he asked me out the next week.”

Erin and Luke snickered at the replay of the meeting in the diner.

“Wait, who was the woman and girl?” Lydia asked, obviously not getting the joke.

“Erin and Lenore, Mom.” David explained, snickering at the memory. “Who else?”

Now understanding what everyone else was finding so amusing, Lydia joined in the family's laughter.

“So that’s why you acted so strange that day,” David concluded as the laughter died down. “I don’t think I ever knew that.”

“I think we need some music,” Erin suggested, glancing around. “What do y’all say?”

“I’m wondering where on earth that though came from,” Raymond mumbled as Lenore crawled into his lap.

Erin shrugged. “You always did call me spontaneous. Michael, get your guitar. David, where’s yours?”

At their sisters requests both brothers went into action. Michael’s footsteps carried through the house as he mounted the stairs and plodded down the upstairs hallway. David left Bethany’s side and went out to the truck in quest of his own stringed instrument.

While the fellows got situated on the couch, Lydia gazed wistfully at the beautiful piano, festively adorned with doilies, pine boughs, and candles. "Erin, I always thought you should've learned to play that beautiful music maker. My mother tried to teach me, but I never had the desire it took to be very good at it.”

Bethany spoke suddenly, surprising even herself. “May I play it?” She’d been admiring the delicately detailed piano since she first laid eyes on it.

David looked up with a start. “You can play the piano?” he exclaimed, mouth agape.

“Yes…well, a little. I’m not very good.” Bethany glanced around, realizing how much attention she had unintentionally drawn to herself. “Is that…such a surprise?”

“In a way it is,” David said as he laid the guitar aside on the couch, stepping closer to her and snagging her fingers. “You’ve never told me that.”

“I guess I never thought of it,” Bethany smiled, memories flooding her mind and no doubt showing through in her eyes. "Mama was teaching me when she…when she took sick."

Shoving the melancholy memories to the far back of her mind, Bethany squeezed David’s hand and glanced around at the wonderful family that surrounded them. She took a hesitant step toward the piano and then stopped.

“Do you mind…?” Bethany asked of her mother-in-law-to-be.

“Of course not, dear.” Lydia moved forward to clear the piano bench of Michael’s guitar case. “You go right ahead; we’d love to hear you play.”

Bethany smiled and slid onto the polished bench. David returned to his spot on the couch next to Michael. “Like I said, I haven’t played for years. It may take me awhile to get the hang of it.” She nervously straightened her skirt.

“Don’t worry about it,” Raymond assured her, ignoring the pointed glare from his wife and settling into his viewpoint in the old grey rocker.

Bethany let her fingers rest for a moment on the smooth, ivory keys. Oh, it had been so long since she’d played. She pressed down a key, sighing at the beautiful vibration.

After running a few scales, Bethany twisted on the bench. “Any requests?”

“How about Joy to the World?” Michael suggested. He snatched a couple pages of sheet music from the top ot the piano, offering them to her.

Bethany just shook her head. “No, thanks.” She gave a playful grin to the two brothers seated across from her and started into the lively strains of Joy to the World.

~*~

Will she ever cease to amaze me? David wondered as he watched his sweet fiancé pound out a lively rendition of the age-old carol.

Probably not, he concluded. And he was rather glad of the fact. She was certainly full of surprises.
As she brought the second verse to an end, she paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Any feedback?”

“Beautiful,” David smiled.

“I’m a little rusty.”

“I was referring to the musician not the music, though the statement stands true for both.”

Beth smiled, blushing and glancing away. “Well… Think you fellows can keep up? I need some accompaniment.”

Michael grinned and positioned his guitar across his knee. It was already quite obvious than Beth had won him over. “You name it, we’ll play it.”

“How about Go Tell it on the Mountain?”

~*~

Later that night Bethany sighed as she closed the door to the small room designated as hers for the week.

She crawled under the heavy, handmade-with-love quilts and snuggled her face into the pillow. David… As many years as it had been his scent has subtlety lingered. A sleepy smile spread across her face and she pressed a kiss to the worn pillowcase.

She didn't figure she would have any trouble falling asleep here tonight.

~*~

Friday, December 20th, 1940

Bethany was roused out of bed the next morning by a loud knocking. Squinting at the morning sun as she rolled over, it dawned on her that everyone else must be up and about. And here she was lounging in the bed! What would the family think of her?

Throwing the quilts aside, she shivered appreciatively at the feel of the cold floor beneath her feet. Something that most people found to be uncomfortable, yet she enjoyed.

The loud knocking persisted.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Expecting David and at the same time knowing him more of a gentleman than to wake her up, Bethany skirted around her mostly-unpacked suitcase and crossed the room. She opened the door and took a quick step back when Erin nearly fell into the bedroom.

“What on earth is the matter?”

“Hurry and get dressed! We’re going sledding.” Erin’s wide smile displayed her girlish enthusiasm. “Lenore and the guys are out in the barn looking for our old sleds right now.”

“Sledding?” Bethany repeated. Uh oh.

Erin nodded. “Don’t even tell me you’ve never been sledding before, dear.”

“Gracious, no!” Bethany laughed. “I mean, of course I’ve been sledding before, but…” She bit her lip. What would be the best way to voice this?

“What is it?”

“Well, at least they’re your husband and brothers, but I can’t…do that.”

Erin’s left eyebrow arched upward. “Do…what?”

“I can’t, ya know, sled in a…ladylike manner. Without my skirt going…too far in the wrong direction.” There. She’d said it.

Erin snickered. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just that I used to have the same problem.”

“Used to?” Bethany asked quickly.

Erin nodded. “I found a remedy for it years ago, though. I’ll be right back.” She turned and hurried out the door, her footsteps echoing down the hall.

While waiting for Erin’s return, Bethany brushed her hair and wove it into a milkmaid braid across her head. She was digging through the dresser for her warmest clothes, when Erin knocked on the door and then stuck her head inside.

“Bethany?”

She spun around, thick wool socks in hand. “Yeah?”

“What do you think?” Erin sashayed into the room wearing a red sweater and an oversized pair of faded, denim overalls.

“You look the part of a farm girl, Erin,” Bethany giggled. “Those are absolutely darling! But I’m pretty sure they’re not yours.”

“Of course not, I borrowed them,” Erin shrugged. “Michael will get over it.” She held up a second pair of overalls in front of her. “Well?”

Bethany pointed to herself. “For me?”

“Of course! You're just as much a farm girl as I am.” Erin thrust the clothing into her hands. “Put them on, hurry! Won’t the guys be surprised!”