//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Can I Please Have One More Minute? // Story: Heaven’s Not Too Far Away // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// “Why are we doing this again?” a brown, spice-haired, 13-year-old boy asked as he helped First Base and Micro Chips untangle Christmas lights one nippy mid-November afternoon. “It’s not even Thanksgiving yet.” “Grandma saw a story on UTube about a kid who was dying of cancer and how his whole town celebrated Christmas two months early so that he wouldn’t miss it,” Base explained. “Then, she asked all the other adults in the neighborhood if they wanted to celebrate Early Christmas with us instead Black Friday.” “None of our families even partake in Black Friday anyway, so I’d say it’s a good tradeoff,” added Micro Chips as he handed a string of detangled lights up to Flash who was standing on a ladder hanging lights around his house. Flash’s favorite thing about his neighbors was how they all celebrated the holidays together like one big extended family. One of the many traditions that the three families shared was helping each other put up decorations. The women in their families would hang ornaments, tinsel, and such while the men would work on the outdoor decorations. Button Mash’s father happened to be working today, and Micro’s dad was out running errands, so the boys decided to start hanging the lights while they waited for the adult men to return. “The only downside is,” Micro Chips continued with a frown, “all the dirty looks that we’re probably going to getting from other people.” “You mean the people who can’t stand people who start celebrating Christmas early?” Button asked Micro for clarification. “We have a pretty darn good reason for celebrating Christmas early this year,” Flash retorted. “I’d rather celebrate Christmas a month early with Mom than celebrate it on the actual day without her. If that’s a crime, then somebody better call the cops and arrest me.” “Be careful what you wish for, punk,” a male voice called out to them jokingly. The boys turned towards the voice and saw Twilight and her brother walking up behind them. “Hey, Shining Armor,” First Base greeted. “Hey, Twilight.” “Hi,” Twilight returned the greeting with a smile. She looked up as saw Flash just staring at her with a goofy smile on his face. After Lantern Heart got her surprise last week, Flash had deduced that Twilight’s drastic hair change had something to do with it. Ever since then, Flash had been having a hard time taking his eyes off her. Not that Twilight would know any of that. “So,” Shining Armor spoke again, jolting Flash out of his reverie, “just what are you punk kids up to?” “Getting ready for Early Christmas,” Base answered matter-of-factly as he handed another string of lights up to his brother. “So I heard.” Shining Armor then turned his attention towards Flash, his expression becoming more serious as he did so. “Anyway, how’s your mom?” Flash had gotten more open about letting other people know about his mother’s condition within the last week. After crying his eyes out in front of Twilight, he had decided that self-consciousness was not a luxury that he could afford anymore. His closest friends now know about it, and when Flash discovered that Pinkie Pie had already guessed it, he had given her, Twilight, and Sunset permission to tell their four other friends. Additionally, with Flash opening up more, Twilight decided to finally tell her family the real reason why she had cut her hair. “She’s gotten a lot more tired lately, but she’s still got plenty of life in her,” Flash replied. “That’s good,” said Shining Armor. “Every minute you boys have with your mom is worth its weight in gold.” “Aw, come on, Shining,” Flash ribbed. “Every minute with Mom is worth WAY more than that.” “Not that we’re not glad to see you guys,” First Base began while attempting to undo a particularly stubborn knot, “but what are you doing here anyways?” “Well, Mom kicked us out of the house to run some errands for her,” Twilight deadpanned as she pulled out a sheet of paper from her jacket pocket, “and one of the items on her list was to invite your family to have Thanksgiving with us next week.” “Yeah, I guess Mom figured that you guys aren’t going to want to do a lot of cooking,” Shining Armor added. The brothers turned to each other and their friends, unsure what to say. Flash was about to speak, but his brother beat him to it. “We kind of already have plans for Thanksgiving.” “Oh?” uttered Twilight, disappointment just edging her voice. Wait. Why was she disappointed? “Yeah,” Button Mash butted in as he handed Flash another string of lights.“Our families potluck for Thanksgiving every year.” “Except for when Micro Chips’s family has Thanksgiving with his grandparents in Texas,” Flash pointed out. “Well, almost every year,” Button sheepishly amended. Micro Chips wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that Twilight looked a bit sad when she heard that Flash’s family won’t be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with hers. However, Flash had been too focused on hanging the lights to notice. Micro Chips looked from Flash to Twilight and back and forth between the two. Then, his eyes lit up as his brain sparked with a brilliant idea, an evil genius level of brilliant idea. “My mom pretty much unofficially organizes the whole potluck,” Micro Chips mentioned. “I could see if she’s okay with celebrating with an extra family.” “Really?” Twilight gasped, suddenly excited. Why was she suddenly excited? “Would we be able to fit an extra family in any of our houses?” said Flash, asking what seemed to him was an obvious question. “Aw crud,” Micro Chips internally cursed at himself for forgetting the obvious and at Flash for shooting himself in the foot. “My place is pretty big. We should be able to all fit there,” Twilight offered rather impulsively. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Twily, wait,” Shining Armor interjected. “We can’t just start inviting random families to our house without asking Mom and Dad first. I mean, they probably wouldn’t mind making a few new friends, but we should still ask.” Twilight’s face fell yet again before changing to a look of annoyance directed at her brother. This time, Flash had stopped stringing lights long enough to notice her face change. He couldn’t figure out why, but Twilight seem to really want to spend Thanksgiving with his family. “Raincheck on both our ends then?” Flash asked Shining and Twilight, mostly Twilight. Twilight’s eyes lit up as she answered, “Yeah, sure, raincheck.” Shining Armor looked from his sister to the punk kid stringing Christmas lights and back again, suspicion creeping into his face. “Well, we’ve got other errands to run, so we better get going. Come on, Twily.” He took his sister by the hand and started pulling her towards his car which was parked further down the street. “Micro and I will call you as soon as we get an answer from our families, okay?” Flash called after Twilight. “Yeah, I’ll call you too. Bye,” Twilight waved before she got into the car. Shining Armor started the engine and sped away, just barely within the legal limit. Much to the older teenagers’ delight, all four families liked the idea of inviting Twilight’s family to the yearly potluck and having it held at Twilight’s house. Furthermore, Twilight’s parents expressed interest in celebrating Early Christmas along with the other families. The plan did hit one minor hiccup however. On Wednesday, Flash suddenly remembered that his family’s Boston terrier Banana usually accompanied them to the annual potluck, so he had to call Twilight and see if her folks were okay with having another dog in the house. Luckily, Twilight’s parents said yes. The next day, the Flash’s family, dog and all, piled into Aunt Flare’s army green mini cooper with 2 trays each of green bean casserole and cheddar biscuits and 3 loaves of Grandma Birdie’s homemade cinnamon bread wrapped in cellophane, topped with a big red bow, and tagged with the names of the families that each one was meant for. Unsurprisingly, First Base sat on the hump again, sandwiched between his older brother and grandmother. On a positive note, he had a dog with him to make the experience more bearable. Additionally, Twilight’s family didn’t live too far from them, so the car ride wasn’t long. Just as Flare Burst was parking her car, Flash’s phone pinged. Flash took it out of his pocket and opened the message that he received. Then, he laughed. “Everyone, I just got a mistletoe alert from Twilight,” he announced, still laughing. “She says to be careful walking in the door.” “Thanks for the warning,” Base sighed in relief, getting another round of laughter in response. After Flare parked, the family piled out of the car, Aunt Flare and First Base carrying the food for the potluck while Grandma carried the bread that they were going to give as Early Christmas presents. Flash held Banana on a leash with one hand, and with the other, he supported his mother as she leaned on him. Lantern Heart needed to be on portable oxygen now and had trouble staying steady while standing. Despite her worsened condition, she had a warm, bright smile on her face as she prepared to celebrate her two favorite holidays of the year at the same time. Since everyone else had their hands full, Grandma Birdie had to ring the doorbell. “I’ll get it,” they heard Twilight call. Shortly after, the door opened revealing the bespectacled girl on the other side. She had dressed up for the occasion with a navy-blue sweater embroidered with snowflakes, and her face had a warm pink glow underneath her normal skin tone. “Come in.” Grandma had gone in first, and First Base was about to follow when he looked up and saw a green twig with white berries hanging from the doorframe. “Uh, ladies first,” he said as he stepped aside to let his aunt pass. He refused to enter the house until he was sure that the doorway was entirely free of any females. Flash rolled his eyes as he escorted his mother inside. Since he and his mom couldn’t walk in single file, he bent down and kissed her on the cheek as they entered. Twilight didn’t know why but seeing Flash treat his mother so well made her heart flutter a little. Twilight directed Flash and his family to the living room where her family was waiting for their guests to arrive. Twilight’s parents got up and took the food from First Base and Flare Burst, setting them on the dining room table. Also in the living room was someone Flash was not expecting to see. “Principal Cadance?” Flash whispered to Twilight catching sight of the tall pink woman with tri-color hair sitting arm-in-arm with Shining Armor. The pair of them got up and approached Flash and his family, giving loving smiles at each other every so often. “Flash, Base, Ms. Lantern, Ms. Flare, Ms. Bird, this is my fiancée, Cadance,” Shining Armor introduced. “Hi, pleasure to meet you,” greeted Cadance as she shook hands with everybody. While she was shaking hands with Flash, Flash looked down and caught sight of something shiny on her left ring finger. Cadance must have noticed him staring because she suddenly lifted her left hand to show everyone her ring. “I know, right?I can’t believe it either.” “Congratulations,” Lantern said to the younger woman with a smile. “That explains the mistletoe,” Base whispered to his older brother. Flash responded by bumping the younger boy on the shins with his foot. “By the way, this one’s for you,” Grandma Birdie grabbed the bread labeled for Twilight’s family and gave it to Ms. Velvet. “Merry Early Christmas.” Twilight looked to Flash in confusion as the older teen boy explained, “Neighborhood tradition. Instead of presents, each family exchanges baked goods on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas morning we eat them from breakfast while we open the rest of our gifts. Our family always gives out bread, Micro’s family gives out cookies, and Button’s gives out pie.” “Sounds yummy,” exclaimed Night Light as he inhaled the scent of cinnamon, yeast, and love through the cellophane wrapping. “I almost can’t wait until tomorrow.” “Hey, Flash, Base, come on,” called Twilight, pointing to the plastic pine with multicolored lights near the crackling fireplace. “Your presents are over there.” “Sweet!” cheered First Base as he rushed to the tree with Twilight, Banana, and Spike following him. Flash helped his mother seat herself on the couch first before joining them. “You alright, Mom?” Flash asked his mother as she released his arm. “I’m fine, honey. You go ahead,” Lantern replied, shooing her son with a smile and a wave of her hand. Flash met up with the group of dogs and teenagers under the tree. First Base had found the gifts with his, Banana’s, and Flash’s names written on them. Base placed Banana’s gift in front of the dog and handed Flash his gift. “I picked out your gifts and Micro’s and Button’s gifts myself,” beamed Twilight, “and Fluttershy and Spike helped me pick out Banana’s.” “Thanks,” said Flash returning her smile, “I can hardly wait to open mine.” “Why don’t you just open it now?” said Spike, causing the women in Flash’s family to do a double take. “You heard the dog talk too, right?” Lantern said to her sister. “Unless twin sisters having matching hallucinations are a thing, I think we’re both still sane,” Flare replied. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it,” assured Cadance, chuckling. “Don’t we have to wait until tomorrow morning to open presents?” Base asked Twilight, still clutching his present. “When Twily was little, she didn’t want to wait to open presents,” explained Shining Armor, “so we used to let her open one present on the night before. I guess it sort of ended up turning into a family tradition.” “You mean we can totally open these right now?” Base exclaimed. “Double sweet!” However, as First Base tore into his present, his excitement quickly disappeared when he saw exactly what Twilight had gotten him. “A book?” The expression on his face and the tone of his voice bluntly showed how unimpressed he was with his gift, earning him a blunt poke in the forehead courtesy of his older brother. The party finally began when the other two families arrived. First Base was especially happy with his best friend’s arrival since Button Mash was the only other teen his age. Twilight wasn’t quite comfortable having so many people inside of her home but enjoyed soaking in the warm, lively atmosphere nonetheless. Everybody filled up on laughter and delicious food until their hearts and stomachs were close to bursting. Traditions, recipes, stories, and kind words were exchanged freely along with the gifts. Although, like First Base, Button Mash was rather unimpressed with the gift that Twilight had gotten him. Hours later the party began to wind down as the families began to return home with Flash’s being the last to leave. “Bye!” Twilight called as she waved. “I’ll see you at school on Monday, Flash!” Flash waved back at her as his aunt drove their car away from Twilight’s house. “Whoo! Was that fun!” Velvet exclaimed flopping herself on the couch and stretching. “We ought to have them over again next year.” “Yeah, but maybe next year, we should just get each family a gift basket instead of buying individual gifts,” suggested Night Light as he picked up the torn wrapping paper strewn on the floor. Meanwhile, in the car ride with Flash’s family, everybody had settled into their seats as a peaceful tiredness washed over them. “Mom,” First Base asked as he and Flash leaned on each other, “can we celebrate Thanksgiving and Early Christmas with Twilight’s family and our neighbors every year?” Lantern Heart smiled as she watched her two boys from the rearview mirror.“I don’t see why you can’t,” she answered, closing her eyes in blissful contentment. As happy as she was, she couldn’t help but feel exhausted from the festivities, so exhausted that she could just fall asleep in the car. By the time Flare Burst pulled her car into their driveway, every single one of her passengers had fallen fast asleep.