The Christmas List
by Yvette


            Drip, drip, drip! This sound seemed to resonate the tunnels where Andrew had retreated. Things had progressively gone from bad to worse since his disastrous assignment. He had mistakenly returned to Dyeland where a comedy of errors seemed to be set forth between one of the ladies there and him. He wanted nothing more that to sit down and resolve it. He also figured that instead of sticking around, he would return to the tunnels where he could get some semblance of peace.

Ever since the first of the year, Andrew had put forth a great deal of effort in trying to get along with Vincent. He knew that a certain amount of protectionism was warranted in this environment. Vincent was, after all, the guardian of sorts for all the tunnel inhabitants, so it would stand to reason that he would also be watching over Lady JenniAnn, simply because it was the way of things. Well, now Lady JenniAnn had been stuck literally between two chairs, all for the crime of having helped him.

The other person in question was Princess Yva (although the name seemed rather unfitting to the rather annoyed angel.). Princess Yva had recently returned to Dyeland after having been absent for the first part of the year. He had seen her off and on throughout the past four or so months but never really got close to her. She seemed distanced from him and always seemed to spend her time in Adam’s company. She was also known to have what Lady JenniAnn would have dubbed as a stubborn streak, especially when it came to things being put right. At any rate, both he and she had left Dyeland to recover from all of this chaos. Although they had resolved the bulk of the problems, they still had a very unstable relationship and he figured it would stay that way until long after the holidays had ended.

“Andrew!” Lady JenniAnn’s voice suddenly erupted, his thoughts shattered as she came into the chamber where he sat. In her arms were lists outlining everyone’s past year. “I have the lists you wanted me to bring, but I have something important to discuss with you.”

“What is it?” He asked, the earnest expression on her face causing him to swallow and the lump that went down his throat seemed to be in perfect time with the dripping water coming from the distant pipes.

“I know that this is a crazy time for you, and I also know that it would seem totally wrong for me to ask you about this, but the person who volunteered to work with you on the Christmas list for the party is going to need you back in Dyeland with this material this afternoon,” Lady JenniAnn said, her words literally stumbling out and she seemed to be somewhat out of breath. She raised her head and looked at Andrew; a sort of secret dwelling in her gaze.

“I understand, but there’s something else you’re not telling me. Who is this person I’m supposed to meet?” Andrew asked, his eyebrows arching as he raised his head and waited for her to speak. When she didn’t, he continued. “For some reason, you are conveniently not mentioning a name.”

“It’s Yva,” Lady JenniAnn said as she diverted her gaze from him and waited for the outcome. Tick, tick, tick, he’s going to lose it, she thought, but the ensuing silence that followed could have been cut with a knife. Finally, she raised her head and spoke his name. “Andrew?”

“What?” He said with his lower lip sticking out as it did whenever the word ‘Halloween’ was mentioned. She knew this look and knew it well.

“You have to do this,” Lady JenniAnn insisted. “You can’t just run away from it because you and Yva don’t always see eye to eye. Yva was the one who volunteered two months ago to help with the list and you seemed OK with the appointment at the time.”

“Yes, but that was before…” his voice trailed.

“I know, it was before you and she went into a virtual war of words with each other,” Lady JenniAnn said. “I tried to defend you and probly ended up shooting myself in the foot for it, but you can’t go back on your word. You made a promise to me, and if you don’t do it, then I’ll have about two hundred and twenty five different things to do on top of that…” Her voice trailed. “Look Andrew. If you don’t want to work with her, then you will have to tell her and then go out and find someone else to do it. But, I happen to know that Jess O. has been in and out this year, her latest endeavor involves some new espresso machines at Monica’s café. Countess Jennifer is trying to find all those old episodes of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ to play at the next sleepover. Nigel is trying to plan an outing for Vincent, Catherine, and Father. Lady Beth is still sort of recovering from that Amnesia deal back in October as well as deciding what she is going to do regarding Dyeland. Adam is still on assignment in Canada working with the Mounties. I’m sure you remember, he’s been singing that song ‘When I’m calling you’ as though he is an expert working in the Yukon in November. I don’t envy him one single bit, either.”

“Yes,” the Angel of Death muttered. “How about Father, or William?”

“Which William, there are two you know?” Lady JenniAnn asked. “There’s the guy here in the tunnels, and then Nigel’s friend. Neither of them are really involved in what is going on in Dyeland so that would be inappropriate. As for Father, he’s in charge of the tunnel world and you can not expect him to make up a list because you’re too upset to work with Yva. Besides, if we tried to get Nigel’s friend to help, he’d probably freak. Dyeland is hardly Victorian England you know.”

“OK, OK, but you drive a hard bargain,” Andrew groused. “I’ll head back to Dyeland and try and work with her, but you owe me big for this one.”

With that, Andrew disappeared and Lady JenniAnn smiled impishly. It worked, oh goody! Maybe this will resolve this whole issue between Yva and Andrew after all. “I should hope so,” she muttered as Vincent came into the chamber and looked at her, a question looming.

“How did it go?” He asked as he raked his hand through his long golden mane-like hair. “The others are in Father’s library waiting to see if you have managed to spread your Christmas cheer to Andrew.”

“Well, he went back to Dyeland, but I think he’s going to be so angry with me for telling him all those stories about everyone,” Lady JenniAnn said with a hand covering her mouth and a soft giggle emerging.

“Yes, but JenniAnn, everything you did tell him was the truth. Everyone has had a very busy year, and this has been a trying one for them all,” Vincent said rationally.

“I don’t know,” she mused. “When Andrew finds out that everyone is here conspiring against him, he’s going to have a fit.”

“Let him,” Countess Jennifer said as she ambled into the chamber. “Look at it this way, I know I offered to help him, but he has not been himself since their falling out. For what it’s worth, neither has Yva. She’s been feeling miserable since November, and it’s just not right. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and if she can’t deal with working with him, then she’s not the strong willed person that I thought she was.”

“She’s right,” Vincent said. “Blunt, but right.”

“Yeah, and besides that,” Countess Jennifer continued. “If we toss out Yva from the Dyeland Christmas list, then we might as well cancel the party and resort to hibernating.”

Lady JenniAnn groaned. “I know, I know, but I’m more afraid for Andrew and Yva than I am about that other stuff.”

“We know, JenniAnn,” Vincent said soothingly. “We know.”


~~~~~


When Andrew appeared in his office, he took a deep breath. I don’t really know if I can deal with this, he thought as he took in the place. It was anything but neat; papers were strewn about, the pages fluttering in the breeze that seemed reminiscent of Dyeland for this time of year. He went over and pulled down the window and then jerked the curtains closed. The last thing he really needed was to catch pneumonia on top of all of this.

Sighing, he sat down at the desk and began to go through the list. How does Lady JenniAnn manage to keep track of all these people? He asked as he ruffled through the papers. “Let’s see, Duchess Bunny pretended to be Gloria during the April fool’s joke, and Jess O. ate a chocolate cheesecake with her bare hands.”

“No, that was Adam,” A voice emerged and he raised his head to see that Yva was standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a long flowing dark green gown, and it looked as though she had just returned from Nigel’s time and had not yet changed clothes. “Jess O. was the one who serenaded you on the saxophone.”

“When did you get back?” He asked.

“Just now,” she said. “Sam showed up at Nigel’s and said that I needed to get back as soon as possible, so I dropped everything and came back.”

“Where’s Nigel?” Andrew asked casually. He figured that she would still be with her guardian and it surprised him to see Yva was alone. Generally she had the entourage of Nigel, Adam, and Alexander in tow.

“He’s still in London,” Yva said, but did not offer anything else, instead she sat down opposite him and began to look at the stack of papers that he was thumbing through. “Andrew, I know that you’re not overtly thrilled with working with me, but we did promise to do this, so we might as well swallow our pride and get on with it.”

Andrew nodded. “You sound like Nigel,” he said more to himself than to her. If truth were known, he had never really gotten along very well with Nigel, but he knew that Adam sort of linked the two of them together. It also came as no great surprise that Yva was closer to the two of them than to him. Now that Nigel was in Dyeland and had met Vincent, he had become an almost intricate part of the place. Andrew was not happy about it, but it was one thing that the Angel of Death had to accept.

He swallowed, but lowered his head, his throat now felt as though he had swallowed a bag of cotton. Everything felt dry and distorted. He closed his eyes for a moment. “Father give me strength,” he mumbled under his breath.

“It’s about time you talked to Him,” Yva remarked boldly as he snapped his head up and looked at her, his green eyes level with her brown ones.

From the sarcastic edge in her voice, he could tell almost instinctively that although the argument between them had ended week’s ago, there was still an icy edge in both of their demeanors and this put Andrew more on edge than before.

“Yva, why do you want to do this, you’ve been absent from Dyeland for most of the year,” he said.

“I know,” she whispered and lowered her head. “I don’t really want to talk about it, though.”

“Why? What happened?” He asked. “You were very quiet when you came back.”

“I know, and the reason for that was I had a falling out with someone close to me, and didn’t want to hang around and depress everyone. No one in Dyeland knows that person that it involved, and…” her voice trailed off.

“You seem to attract confrontations like bees to honey,” he mused.

“Look, I figured that if I did the Christmas list this year, I could talk about everyone else’s year and forget about my own,” she said. “Besides, talking about Adam’s beach party during the summer, or discussing Lady JenniAnn’s visit with Tess in January is a lot more interesting than why it was I didn’t really come back to Dyeland until the middle of the summer.”

“What happened to you?” He asked. “Everyone thought about you and wondered where you were.”

“I know, they said as much when I got back to Dyeland, but I didn’t really want to talk about it too much. I was just getting to know Lady Beth and reacquaint myself with Countess Jennifer. I did try to keep Lady JenniAnn informed as to what I was doing.”

“What were you doing?” He pressed. “You know, part of trust means telling your friends what is going on. You said that to me when we had our fight, and now it’s time for you to tell me what has happened.”

“I decided to take a break from everything and went into seclusion. I have been rather discouraged since early this year, and felt that the best thing for me was to go away. I met some people from a local monastery and spent some time there trying to sort everything out. After all of that happened, I finally returned to my home and tried to make heads or tails of things. It wasn’t anything bad nor is it anything to be alarmed about. It’s just that sometimes I need some time to myself so that I can work through certain issues. Real life is not always what its cracked up to be, and so the time that I was away gave me the chance to reflect on who I am and where I am going. When I came back to Dyeland, I realized that perhaps I should never have gone away.”

“Is that why you didn’t leave last month?” He asked.

“Yes, I didn’t want to leave anyone hanging, and I didn’t want Lady Beth to leave, that’s why I wrote that letter,” she said sadly. “Andrew, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and now that you know that my absence was nothing horrific. I think now we can get started. There’s a lot of news to report and these lists need to be finished before the Dyeland Christmas party.”

“Yes, Lady JenniAnn expressed an interest in having it in the tunnels this year,” Andrew said. “Vincent said it’s called ‘Winterfest’.”

Yva nodded. “I remember hearing about it when I was younger, but never thought much about it.

Andrew took a deep breath. “Here, let’s get the list started.”

“OK, should we go by month?” Yva asked.

“That might be easiest,” Andrew nodded.


~~~~~


Yva picked up the first page. “OK, what happened in January? Since I wasn’t here, I could only pick up bits and pieces, so maybe you can tell me and I’ll type it in.”

Andrew nodded as he turned the laptop around and began to offer her dictation. “OK, Lady JenniAnn was at Tess’ place and from what I heard, she did not have a very pleasant time. I later found out that she was planning a surprise party for me regarding the anniversary of the assignment called ‘The One that Got Away’. Her relationship with Tess has always been somewhat strained, so it surprised me that she survived it.”

“Got it,” Yva finished typing and looked at him. “What about the others?”

“Well, Adam was sort of low key at the time, he was bouncing from one assignment to another. Jess O’Neill was busy. After having played some football with us, she broke out her saxophone and began to play a song for me. Finally, she honored us with a story that she had written. She also went ice fishing in Northern Canada. Lady Beth was on my arm for the New Year’s party, because she had just come and was getting to know everyone.”

“I take it Duchess Bunny and Karen were around?” Yva asked.

“Yes, they were, but I don’t really remember what they did in January.” Andrew said.

“Maybe Duchess Bunny was in her burrow sleeping. I think winter and hibernating go hand in hand.” Yva said as she finished typing. “Well, that should do it for January. It’s almost a year ago and not very many people can actually remember what they were doing back then. Moving on to February?”

“OK,” Andrew looked down at the list, his face growing sad.

“What’s the matter?” Yva asked. “Are you alright?”

“I was uninvited to a wedding during February,” he sighed. “It was not a very happy time. Nadia decided that she didn’t want me there after all.”

“Bah Humbug,” Yva snorted with a wave of her hand. “I know the feeling all too well, I’ve been uninvited to lots of things, mostly parties from my youth,” she got up and went over to him. “If I had known you back when I got married, I’d have invited you. In fact, you would have sat next to me at the reception.”

“Not Adam?” Andrew asked.

Yva shook her head. “Adam is a very dear friend, as you know, but I would have picked you, not out of pity but because I really do like you, Andrew.”

Andrew smiled and squeezed her hand. “Thank you. Now let’s get February behind us.

Yva nodded. “OK, my fingers are primed and ready, shoot!”

“OK, Karen was the bridesmaid at the wedding, Jess O. took me fishing and actually she caught everything while I simply sat there looking goofy in a fisherman’s hat and a green colored scarf. After that, Lady JenniAnn came and got me and we went to crash the wedding. That bit was fun, but the bus incident was rather like the film ‘Speed’.”

Yva giggled but continued to type. “I missed a lot.”

Yes, you did,” Andrew said. “In March, Jess O. spent the month working on her book: When to Fish, When NOT to Fish: The Story Behind the Sport. The others were doing various late winter / early spring activities.”

“I remember coming back for a short break and planting some flowers around my house at the ‘Heavenly Playground’, but by April, they had died off. I guess I’ll stick to indoor plants like Orchids,” Yva said with a slight giggle. “Countess Jennifer did check on things there now and again, though.”

“Countess Jennifer began to banter with Adam and that went straight through till August or September,” Andrew said. “She’d been sort of low key during that time, but has been really having a great time; at least that’s what she told me.”

Yva nodded. “This brings us to April, then?”

“Yes, and April was busy for all of us,” Andrew nodded as he flipped through the pages. “Let’s see, Jess O. was still hard at work on her book, but made time to come to the April fool’s party. The biggest confusion was with Lady JenniAnn, Lady Beth, Adam, Jarrod, Bunny, Miss Miriam and I switched personalities. I remember all too well how Jarrod was running around talking turkey, while Lady Beth was overdosing on mocha lattes, and I was thought to have been in charge of JABB.”

“I thought you were,” Yva smiled coyly.

“I was the President of Dyeland, but resigned, and I most certainly don’t run JABB. I may be patient, but I’m not that patient,” Andrew said with a coy smirk. “As you can see, I can’t take the blame…uh I mean of course, the credit for that.”

Yva laughed. “OK, now I know that you at least have a sense of humor. If I had any doubt about that, then that is now gone.”

“Anyway, Bunny was pretending to be Gloria, and so on,” Andrew said.

“That sounds like so much fun, I really wish I had not missed it,” Yva said.

“Maybe next year we’ll plan something like that, and you’ll be here for it,” he said.

“Did anything else happen in April?” Yva asked.

“Well, we celebrated Easter and Adam hosted a Turkey egg hunt. There were various games, but not very many people could come because they were out of town visiting family and friends. So, it was mostly Tess, Monica, Gloria, Adam and myself. The Father even popped in for some chocolate eggs and to join in the party.”

“What does He look like?” Yva asked.

“Rather like Michael Caine,” Andrew said with a chuckle. “Of course, He can look however he wants, but I seem rather fond of him looking that way. Makes it easier for me to call Him ‘Father’.”

“But, that’s still not what one would expect, is it?” She asked.

“Not at all, but moving on. We played some music and Henry showed up with his guitar. He can play some mean licks on it, which really surprised me,” Andrew said. “With Adam on keyboard, the Father on drums, Tess and Gloria harmonizing on lead, we had a real band going. Monica got the best instrument of all though.”

“What did she get?” Yva asked.

“Cymbals,” Andrew said and Yva began to laugh.

“You’re kidding,” she said between giggles.

“Not at all, it was a fun gig,” he said smiling. “One I’ll never forget. It’s too bad the others couldn’t get there for it.”

“What did you play?” Yva asked.

“I was backup guitar, it was fun, but my fingers were sore afterwards,” he admitted.

“That sounds like quite an Easter celebration,” Yva said smiling.

“Yes, but we need to move on to May,” he said.

“OK, Jess was on the road again, this time to Minnesota. There she did some camping and hiking. In Dyeland, Lady Beth was being told about the time when I was put on trial for murder,” he cringed.

“Yes, but you were innocent,” Yva said. “No cause for alarm there. Sounds like they wanted to commemorate that day.”

“I guess so,” he said.

“So what happened in June?” Yva asked.

“I told everyone about the witch trials and Lady JenniAnn finally found the courage to tell Adam how she felt about him. That was a big step for her,” he said.

“Sort of like what I did when I wrote that letter?” Yva asked.

Andrew nodded. “Anyway, she also interviewed our band, that is, she talked to Adam, Henry, and myself about what we are doing and if we planned to do anything in the future. I suppose in hindsight I should have told her about the gig in April, but was afraid that she would feel hurt by that.”

“I can imagine, especially since I would have loved to have been there myself,” Yva said. “So did anything else happen?”

“Yes, Lady Beth helped with the Dyeland production of ‘The Crucible’ which Duchess Bunny helped out with by acting as assistant director,” Andrew related. “Lady Beth has become a real backbone in Dyeland, she has helped so many people open up and tell one another how they feel. I told her once that she’d make a great ‘Caseworker’, and I really think she would. It sort of reminded me of when she pretended to be Monica. I think that she has a lot of those qualities.”

“What was Adam doing?”

“He was in and out during that time. I got asked more often than not to watch out for the turkeys in his absence,“ Andrew said.

“So July, I don’t remember if I came back in July or if it was August,” Yva said.

“Neither, you returned in June, you just couldn’t be too active until August because of the catching up that you needed to do,” Andrew said. “I noted that in my calendar because I was glad you came back. Your first message appeared around the first of the month.”

“So refresh my memory, I don’t remember what happened in July,” Yva said.

“Well, JABB celebrated its anniversary and Lady JenniAnn led the group in recalling some funny and embarrassing events with me. She also made a scene when I was ‘shot’ at a Civil War reenactment scene. It was rather strange series of misunderstandings, but the best part was the party,” he said. “Bunny and I danced the bunny hop and Jess O. told the group about the first time we went fishing together and her line got caught on my shirt, and I became the ‘catch of the day’.”

“And what a catch,” Yva purred.

“What was that?” He raised his head.

“Oh,” she choked. “Nothing…” As she tried to recover, someone knocked at the door and Andrew got up.

“I wonder who that could be?” He pondered. “I thought everyone was busy.”

“Well, go check, and I’ll finish editing up what I have here,” Yva said as Andrew went over to the door and opened it. Standing outside was Lady JenniAnn and Lady Beth.

“What can I do for you ladies?” Andrew asked.

“We wanted to see how the list is going,” Lady Beth said.

“It’s going,” Andrew said. “Getting quite long too.”

“Was there anything you guys wanted to add?” Yva asked.

“No, actually we wanted to see if you both had killed each other yet. Adam’s not at the tunnels anymore, and we figured that we’d check and make sure he didn’t have any ‘extra’ assignment that we were not made aware of,” Lady Beth said with a smirk. She cast a glance in the room and watched as Yva turned around.

“We’re just about finished up to July,” she said. “I think that now that we have that month pretty much wrapped up, then we can take a quick break and have some apple cider.”

“Sounds good,” Lady Beth said. “Did you remember to write about the reoccurring dreams I had that brought me to Dyeland? That happened in July.”

Yva scrambled over to the laptop and began to type furiously. “OK, now it’s in. I will tell you both though, there will be some surprises in this list, some things that you had no idea about.”

“Sounds like fun,” Lady JenniAnn said happily as she grabbed Andrew’s hand. “Now for that cider, and then you two can get back to work.”


~~~~~


Outside in the hallway, Yva and Andrew ran into a group of Dyelanders who were anxiously awaiting news about the Christmas list. “How is it going?” Countess Jennifer asked.

“It’s fine, we’re only about halfway finished, and this is proving to be a lot of fun,” Yva said. “I didn’t know going into it how things were going to work out, but they seemed to have gone alright.”

“That’s good to know,” Adam said. “Because, we all have a confession to make.”

“You planned it, didn’t you?” Andrew asked. “You made it seem as though Yva and I had to work with each other to save our friendship.”

“Maybe it worked,” Yva said. “We did become closer as we did the first seven months of the year. Perhaps there is something to be said for their sneakiness.”

“Perhaps,” Andrew relented as Nigel appeared. “I figured that you would be with Yva during all of this. Where have you been?”

“I was getting all of your Christmas presents,” Nigel said. “I’ll give them to you later once the list has been done.”

“We have to wait that long for it?” Lady JenniAnn feigned a whine as she came closer to the angel. “Oh Nigel, that feels like forever.”

“You’ll survive, Love,” Nigel said as he patted her hand. “Do either of you require any assistance with the Christmas list?”

“No,” Andrew said. “Yva and I have it well under control. Now, Lady JenniAnn said something about cider, and I’m really in the mood for some.”

“Ditto, that’s harder work than I anticipated. Let’s get something hot to drink and then get back to work, Andrew. We still have a ton of stuff to do before the list is finished,” Yva said as she offered her arm to him.

Andrew smiled and looked at Nigel. “She learned that from you, didn’t she?”

Nigel bowed with a nod. “Yes, Sir Andrew, I believe she did.” As a soft chuckle emerged from the Victorian angel, they headed towards the great hall, where Lady JenniAnn and Lady Beth (along with others) had set up tables with sweets and a large pot of fresh apple cider.

“This looks wonderful,” Yva said as she and Andrew went over to the pot and poured two ciders. As soon as she had handed a hot mug to Andrew, they began to sip the warm substance inside. As they did, both of them were smiling as Yva continued to speak. “You know, Andrew, they are going to positively love how the list is turning out. I know I wasn’t a part of things during the first part of the year, but I’ve got to say that this is really some good stuff.”

“Well, you’re a part of it now, and it looks like everyone is going to be really happy with it,” Andrew said and held up his cup. “Cheers!”

Yva tapped her mug against his as the hall broke into loud and thunderous applause. She looked around and began to laugh when she noticed that everyone present was smiling at them. “I don’t do the center of attention very well,” she remarked as the applause died down.

Andrew chuckled. “Neither do I, but they’re all happy, so let’s not rain on their parade.”

Yva nodded and took another sip of cider.


~~~~~~


As Lady JenniAnn watched them from the other side of the room, she looked at Lady Beth, Vincent, Adam, Nigel, Countess Jennifer, Jess O., Duchess Bunny, and Karen. “It’s working just like you said, Vincent. They are happy and getting along with each other.”

“Yeah,” Lady Beth said happily. “Perhaps that was all they needed, to be put in a situation where they had to work together. Maybe we should have thought about that in November.”

“Maybe we should use that the next time Dyeland experiences a riff of some kind. Lady JenniAnn, you could use that as a new Dyeland decree for 2007. Anytime two people, or angels get annoyed with one another, then they have to work together for a time and through that, resolve their conflicts,” Countess Jennifer said.

Lady JenniAnn nodded. “Maybe I should do that.”

Nigel watched as Yva and Andrew left the room together. “I wonder where they are going,” he mused.

“They probly want to finish the Christmas list. They are both rather involved with it, so maybe instead of standing around here, we should get back to the tunnels and help Father and Vincent continue decorating for Winterfest.”

“Sounds good,” Nigel said as he looked at Adam. “Perhaps we should check on the turkeys before heading back there.”

Adam nodded and the two angels disappeared.

“I wish we could travel that way,” Lady JenniAnn said.

“Maybe one day you will,” Vincent said with a soft chuckle. “Come on everyone, there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done. The decorating is not yet completed.”

The Dyelanders nodded and followed Lady JenniAnn and Vincent. Nigel and Adam would join them as soon as they finished getting Nigel’s Christmas presents stowed at Adam’s place.

When they returned to the tunnels, Nigel went over to Lady JenniAnn, who was hanging streamers through a light fixture. “Is everything better now, Love?” He asked. “You are not sad anymore, are you?”

“Not at all, in fact, I feel really happy now,” she said, but from her place on the chair, she began to wobble and fell straight into Nigel’s arms.

“This is why it is important to have someone watch you when you climb on the furnishings, M’lady,” the angel said as he put her back on her feet. As he did, he took in the work that they had done in the chamber. “I think this will be a lovely winter fest,” he said intentionally dividing the two words as he often did when it came to celebrations.

“I think so too,” Lady JenniAnn said smiling. “It really will be the best Christmas that Dyeland and the tunnel community has seen in years.”

“Well, it will be the best Christmas in well over a hundred years,” Adam said as he came over and nudged Nigel. “But, if you two don’t get busy, Duchess Bunny is going to be awfully upset with you. She doesn’t fancy having to do all the work, especially with all these extra pairs of hands around.”

Nigel bowed towards Duchess Bunny and Karen, who were busily blowing up silver balloons. “M’ladies, I shall not leave you both to do all the labour here.” He executed a formal bow, and the two of them began to giggle. He went over to where some tinsel with star shaped decorations hung from it and began to unwind it.

Adam and Lady JenniAnn were soon hard at work, yet in the back of everyone’s mind, they wondered how Yva and Andrew were fairing with the Christmas list.


~~~~~


Back in Andrew’s office, and feeling much more comfortable with their allotted task, Yva and Andrew were hard at work trying to remember to add everyone’s yearly activities into the list. “This is a lot more complicated than I anticipated,” Yva said as she checked over the entries for the list. “I would feel awful if I forget anyone.”

“I know, but they will understand if you don’t get every last detail. They are a caring group, and they will be happy with whatever you come up with. That’s how they are. Try not to worry,” Andrew said.

Yva nodded and looked down at her work. “Where were we? July?”

“No, now we’re in August, and there were a lot of things that happened during that month,” Andrew said.

“Yeah, Adam’s beach party,” Yva said. “Adam had all these huts put together and each person got one. Lady Beth was the bartender and she mixed drinks and provided us with some wonderful mixes. Jess O. couldn’t be there because she was on tour playing her tenor sax. That would have been so cool to see. I love music.”

“Yes, but we had enough stuff going on in Dyeland,” Andrew said.

“The second half of the month I was gone again, this time in Rome,” Yva said. “It was a nice trip, but I was glad to be back. That trip was the comedy of errors.”

“They sometimes are,” Andrew said. “I do remember in August, Adam hurt his finger while trying to hammer something.”

“He had everyone’s undivided attention while Countess Jennifer bandaged it up,” Yva giggled. “I felt sorry for him, I’ve squished my fingers before and it’s not fun.”

“So the beach party was all that happened in August?” Andrew asked.

“I think so because a lot of people were on vacation,” Yva said. “So, moving on to September, that was a busy month.”

“Yes, was that when Nigel came?” Andrew asked.

“No, his first posting was on October 18,” Yva said. “I was so thrilled when he came.”

“I can imagine, so first we have to get through September. Do you remember what you were doing then?” He asked.

“Not really, I know that we celebrated your birthday and that happened in the Fields of Gold, but I don’t remember much besides that. Wasn’t there a rumor going around that you were going to leave Dyeland?” Yva asked.

“Yes, I ended up getting tackled by both Lady JenniAnn and Jess O., which was rather a surprise, but they both did that so that I wouldn’t leave. I got a lot of greetings from everyone, and was surprised that Jess O. stopped by because she had been on tour,” Andrew said. “Perhaps it seemed like a lot had happened, but not very much did.”

“No, it did, you were just the center of attention again,” Yva said smiling.

“Let’s move on to October,” Andrew said.

“Halloween,” Yva giggled and began to wiggle her fingers around as though a ghost. “Whoooo….”

“Oh don’t you start,” he said. “Halloween’s over and it’s still coming back to haunt me. I can’t win.”

“Oh come on, you have to admit the party this year was so great, Sir Lancelot,” Yva giggled. “The costumes were really fun this year. Duchess Bunny was the Big Bad Wolf, Lady Beth was Marilyn Monroe, Lady JenniAnn was dressed from that musical Rent, and Jess O. was an Air Force Colonel.”

“Yes, and Countess Jennifer went as a tornado,” Andrew added.

“How does one manage to dress up like that?” Yva asked.

“I don’t know, but she definitely managed,” Andrew said. “But, what I won’t forget any time soon is how you and Nigel came dressed as Robin Hood, and Maid Marian. Not to mention Adam going as King Arthur. It was a great party, and not a reaper to be seen anywhere.”

“Thanks to the Father for that, but it was also a hard month, Lady JenniAnn and I had another disagreement, and Vincent ended up getting involved. Of course, that meant you and Lady JenniAnn were given the chance to go to the tunnels. That was your first trip there, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and I was so nervous. I had never met Father and was so scared that he was going to think I was a threat. I ended up trying to learn to play chess so that I would get some time to spend with him.”

“You learned to play chess just to get along with Father?” Andrew asked.

“Yes, but it worked because now we get along famously,” Yva said smiling. “Was there something else?”

“Lady Beth got amnesia,” Andrew said. “How could we forget that? We spent weeks trying to help her remember who she was and what an Angel of Death is.”

“November was not as fun as I anticipated,” Yva said with a sigh. “I generally like Thanksgiving and stuff, but it didn’t work out that way.”

“Well, Adam did throw you a surprise birthday party, that can’t be forgotten, and the time at Nigel’s friend’s place was really special, too,” Andrew said. “Our fight wasn’t the only thing that happened during that month.”

“I know, but it was not easy, I don’t like fighting with my friends,” Yva said sadly. “I mean; I know that it was hard for you, too.”

“It was hard for all of us, but what doesn’t kill us always makes us stronger, doesn’t it?” Andrew got up from where he was sitting and came around the desk and sat down next to her. “You and I both became stronger, and we did it through the loving support of our friends. We recapped the year, not as an ending of anything, but a beginning. We are in the process of starting over.”

“I know,” she said. “And those tricksters who got us to work together on this list. I didn’t want to do it, but I had given my word.”

“I know, Lady JenniAnn told me that I had to work with you, but I was also hesitant. It’s sometimes not very easy to do something that we don’t really want to do. But, we were put into this position and look at how great everything turned out.”

Yva nodded. “You’re right, it is great. I better save this puppy before the computer crashes.”

“Do you think it will?” Andrew asked.

“With my luck, it might,” Yva laughed as she saved the file and looked at him. “It’s really been fun remembering everything that happened and how far we’ve come.”

“Yes, and even those people of Dyeland who are sometimes less remembered still can do their part to hold this place together,” he said as he reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Now, what’s say we print this out and get it to Lady JenniAnn?”

“Good plan,” Yva said. “A very good plan. Thanks Andrew.”

The Angel of Death smiled as the printer hummed to life. All that was left was for them to join the other Dyeland residents in the tunnels and celebrate the Winterfest with Vincent and his extended family. From what Lady JenniAnn had said, the party would be a great adventure for all of them.

In the back of both their minds, however, both Andrew and Yva could not help but ponder what sort of Christmas surprise Nigel was cooking up for them.


~~~~~


Upon returning to the tunnels and giving Lady JenniAnn the list, Andrew and Yva went to the dining chamber and sat down for some of Mary’s homemade cake. The list had taken its toll on both of them, and Father had assured them that they would not have to do anymore work. Andrew felt relief at that and Yva was simply exhausted. She borrowed a dress from Mary and retreated to change from her 19th century clothing into something more suitable for the tunnels.

Soon, the other Dyeland inhabitants joined them, and they were all smiles as they informed the list makers that the Winterfest would be a night for all of them to remember.

Nigel, being unable to contain himself, disappeared only to reappear loaded down with packages. “Everyone, I have a gift for you. These gifts are very special because many of them are from my time, and they are reminiscent of a symbol I identify with each one of you. Since you are all here, I thought that it would be right for me to give you these now so that they can be hung on the tree. My dear Lady JenniAnn, my humble thanks to you for helping me to pick out these gifts. Some are from London, and some are from today’s time, but they are all selected with you in mind and heart.”

Lady JenniAnn nodded as she went over to Nigel and helped him to pull the packages out of a large red velvet bag. Once they had managed to unpack everything, Nigel began to pass them out.

As those assembled began to open the packages, each person found a Christmas tree ornament inside that seemed to fit their personalities. Yva found a teddy bear inside hers and squealed with delight. Andrew received a football, Jess O. smiled as she recognized a fishing hat inside her package. “This is too cool,” she beamed as she showed it around. “I never would have thought that there would be an ornament with that on it.”

Lady JenniAnn laughed heartedly when she pulled out a small frog. Adam chuckled softly when he found a turkey in his package “It’s Alexander’s little brother,” the Angel of Death said smiling as he tried to cuddle the small glass ornament.

As Nigel handed Vincent his package, the tunnel guardian smiled brightly when he pulled out a small ornament with a red rose. “I’m not really as much a part of Dyeland as you all are,” he objected, but Nigel responded to these words with a shake of his head.

“You are, Vincent, you were the one who helped to bring peace to our home, just as you have made this such a peaceful and loving place,” Nigel said as he finished handing out the last of the packages.

Countess Jennifer happily ripped into hers and pulled out a decoration with a paintbrush. “This is really great, Nigel,” she said appreciatively as she looked around the room and noticed that Lady JenniAnn was nodding in agreement. Instead of speaking, the young woman with the frog ornament walked over to the angel and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Santa Nigel, we cannot forget you,” she said smiling as she handed him a brightly wrapped package.

“That sounds better than Father Christmas Nigel,” Yva supplied laughing and Nigel’s face flushed crimson. In response to that, all the women in the room began to laugh.

“He’s cute when he blushes,” Lady Beth said as she pulled out a tiny book from her package and nudged Lady JenniAnn.

Nigel’s face went even redder, but instead of commenting, he watched as Duchess Bunny pulled out a small bunny rabbit and smiled. At the same time, Karen pulled out a small ornament similar to Vincent’s only this one had a yellow rose. “This is perfect,” she said smiling.

At that moment, three more individuals appeared in the chamber and Nigel raised his head. “Just who we were waiting for,” he said smiling as he went over and handed Tess, Monica, and Gloria their packages. “It’s a delight to meet you three. I’ve heard so much about you.”

The three angels smiled and nodded as they unwrapped their packages and found a musical note, a coffee mug, and a small flower. “These are lovely, baby,” Tess said as the others nodded.

“It is only right that everyone here receives a gift,” Nigel said shyly as he stared down at the package that still rested in his hands.

“Go ahead and open it,” Lady JenniAnn said smiling at him. She watched as he carefully began to open the package.

As the last of the paper fell away, he found a small ornament with a grandfather clock and before he could say anything, Yva leaned over and looked at it. “Nigel, that looks just like the one in your parlor,” she said. She wound her arm around him from the side, and gave her guardian a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She said, but then looked over at Andrew. “That you’re all here.”

Vincent looked at Lady JenniAnn and silently the two of them nodded as he spoke up. “We can all hang our decorations on the large tree that Father has brought from above for the festivities. Come with me.”

Each person stood up, and with their ornaments tightly in their hands, they followed…