Home, but Not Alone

Author's Note- Well I had to write a Christmas story! And since someone stole my original title, I had to change it and hopefully this is unique enough so I'll be the only one.

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"We're going home!" Justin beamed as he grabbed Lance's shoulders and jumped up and down.

Lance shrugged him off. "Yeah, a whole five days. I'm impressed."

"Hey, it's still home," Joey said as he took a seat next to Chris, who was on the bus's couch.

"And it's Christmas," J.C. said. "I love Christmas."

"I'm just glad we don't have to do anything like last year. Whose idea was it to have a photo shoot on Christmas day, anyway?" Chris huffed.

"Uh, that would be Lou's," Lance recalled.

"Figures," Chris replied and crossed his arms.

"Let's sing a song," Justin said as he took a seat at their small eating area.

The others looked at him. "Sing a song? What has gotten into you?" Joey asked.

"Nothing," Justin shrugged.

After a very long tour, the guys were finally on the road back home. Christmas was in three days and none of them could wait. They needed to relax after the countless hours of rehearsals, concerts, and sitting on the bus.

"I still don't see why it has to be my house," Lance sighed. "J.C.'s is just as big."

J.C. placed a hand on Lance's shoulder. "But my house is trashed. You actually clean up after yourself, thus rendering your place as the most suitable for our families."

Joey leaned over to Chris. "He's using big words. Must feel important today."

Chris smiled but kept his eyes glued to J.C. "Wonder where he gets that idea from."

J.C. shot them a dirty look as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Well let's make out the guest list. Me and the guys will help you straighten up first and make sure everything will be okay."

Lance rested his forehead on the table. "Well let's see. Starting with my family, there's mom, dad, and Stacy. Justin has Lynn and Paul- hey Justin, is your dad coming?"

Justin looked up from his box of cereal. "I don't think so," he mumbled, spraying particles of Apple Jacks on Chris and Joey.

Lance continued counting. "Okay, so Justin has Lynn, Paul, Jonathan and Steven. Joey has Phyllis and Joe, Janine and I'm sure Steve will show up. Chris has Bev, Emily, Molly, Kate, and Taylor." Lance raised his head and looked at J.C. "You have Karen, Ray, Tyler and Heather." Lance counted again quickly in his head.

"That’s twenty people!" J.C. and Lance shouted together.

Lance's head fell back to the table. "Oh my God…"

Chris rolled his eyes. "If it bothers you that much then don't do it."

Joey looked at Chris. "Where'd that come from?" "I just am sick of hearing him whine about everything. He's worse than a girl."

Lance looked up at Chris with annoyed green eyes. "Are you PMSing or something? Take a chill pill, I'll still have this party at my house."

"Hey!" Justin yelled. He mumbled something that couldn't be understood and continued eating.

Chris slumped on the cushion and kicked J.C.'s chair leg. "You forgot all the animals. I'm bringing Busta and Korea and everyone else will have to bring their pets."

J.C.'s eyes widened. "You're right!" he exclaimed, making more notes. "Good thinking."

Justin's mouth dropped. "I just said that!" he yelled.

"No, you said," Joey said, mocking Justin's mumbles.

Justin squinted at the false blonde and went back to his cereal.

J.C. counted on his hands. "So there's Busta, Korea, Dirk, Justin's three livestock, Joey's sissy dog, and that Cocker of yours," he finished, pointing to Lance. "That's eight."

"You also gotta include Lance's chinchillas and J.C.'s dog," Joey said. "That makes thirteen."

"Well this oughtta be fun," Chris mumbled. Then he rolled onto his side and attempted to go to sleep.

J.C.'s eyes sparkled. "I think it will."

Lance looked up. "It definitely won't be a Christmas we'll be forgetting anytime soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe we're finally home!" Justin exclaimed as he bounced down the sidewalk to Lance's house.

Lance's mother, father, and sister were already at his house, cooking and helping to prepare the house for it's twenty-five occupants. Chris noticed his mother's car in the driveway also and knew that she was also inside helping.

"And we're actually going to have a white Christmas," J.C. noted. A fresh blanket of snow was covering the ground. The white yard sparkled in the sun and crunched under their feet.

Each guy was carrying a duffel bag or two and their breaths showed in the air. "It's freezing," Chris shivered as he ran along Lance, who was pulling out his keys.

"It's December, Chris," Lance replied as he rolled his eyes. Lance put the keys in the door and unlocked it, then pushed the door open.

As soon as the house's warm air hit them, a dark haired seven year old girl flung herself in Chris's arms, knocking him flat on his back in the snow.

"Chris!" she screamed, hugging her big brother.

The others laughed as Chris struggled to pick himself up. "Well hello Taylor," he smiled, giving her a hug as he picked her up also.

An older woman appeared in the doorway, shaking her head and smiling at the group of young men. "Welcome home guys, now get in here before you let all the warm air out."

The members of Nsync looked up and found Diane, Lance's mother, smiling at them and motioning for them to come in. "Hi mom," Lance smiled as he gave her a quick hug on his way inside the house.

The others echoed him on their way past, each guy mimicking Lance's action. Chris came in with Taylor clinging to his back with her arms around his neck, making his voice higher than usual.

Inside, they found Jim, Lance's father, along with Chris's mother Beverly and his three half sisters, Molly, Kate and Emily.

"We're home!" Justin beamed as he dropped his bags inside the front door.

"We're glad you guys are back," Jim smiled as he shook Justin's hand. Chris had gone to greet his family as Jim continued, "Have a nice ride home?"

Joey sighed. "It was the longest bus trip I've ever been on."

As the others quickly found themselves in conversation, Lance made his way to the kitchen where he found his older sister, Stacy. "Hey there stranger," he said as he gave her a quick hug.

Stacy jumped, nearly dropping the spoon she was holding. "Oh my God Lance, you scared me!" she exclaimed, but a smile crossed her face nonetheless.

"Sorry. So what are you making?"

"Guess you'll find out," she smiled, turning back around to face the stove.

Lance raised an eyebrow as he went back into the living room.

"Where did you go?" J.C. asked Lance.

Lance smiled. "I was making sure Stacy actually killed our dinner before putting it in the oven."

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As the hours rolled by, the rest of the families had arrived at Lance's house. Joey's parents brought a dish of lasagna, Lynn Harless and her husband brought some ornaments for the tree, and J.C.'s parents brought their two other young children. The next task was deciding where everyone would sleep.

"Guys, I only have four other rooms besides the living room," Lance stated. "I'm afraid we're going to be cramped for sleeping space."

"I say we put all the kids in one room," J.C. volunteered.

"Yeah, I'm not really looking forward to being kept awake all night by their whispering," Joe Sr. said with a smile.

"So that puts," Lance started, pointing, "Jonathan, Taylor, Heather, Taylor, Emily, Steven and Chris in one room."

"ME?!" Chris exclaimed as he entered the room with Taylor and Steven hanging off him. "Why me? I'm not a kid!" Chris deposited his little sister and Justin's two-year-old brother on the floor and stood with his arms at his hips.

The others looked at him and chuckled. "Right Chris," Phyllis said. "You have been a kid as long as I have known you."

Joey smiled at his mom as Lance asked seriously, "Do you mind Chris?"

Chris looked down at the pleading faces of Taylor, Jonathan and Steven. When he smiled they all three pounced on him. "Fine, I'll keep the ankle-biters company," he laughed.

Justin watched his brothers wrestle on the floor with Chris and smiled. "Guys, Chris is not a jungle gym."

"Chris is a jungle gym!" Steven yelled as he jumped on Chris.

Lynn put a hand on her son's shoulder. "Just let them go. Be thankful it's Chris and not you," she smiled, looking at Beverly.

Beverly rolled her eyes at her oblivious 'jungle gym' of a son and looked at Diane. "Well, do you need help with anything in the kitchen?" she asked, getting up from her spot beside Steve.

Most of the siblings were girls, thanks to Chris's four sisters. Taylor hung out with seven-year-old Jonathan and two-year-old Steven, and together they wouldn't leave Chris alone. J.C.'s twenty two-year-old sister Heather stuck by Chris's seventeen-year-old sister Emily. Emily had a crush on the nineteen-year-old Tyler Chasez. Stacy, Lance's twenty four-year-old sister formed a large group with Chris's slightly younger sisters, Molly and Kate. Joey's siblings, Steve and Janine rounded out the group of fun-loving twenty-somethings. The men of Nsync floated mostly between the group of brothers and sister to the group of parents.

The moms were busy in the kitchen while the others were busy talking and watching TV in the living room. Before long, the moms began talking about their popular sons.

"So Lynn, how's Steven's potty training coming along?" Diane asked.

"Oh, pretty good," Lynn replied, quickly running a hand through her blonde curls. "He's in pull ups during the day, but just in case, we give him diapers at night."

"I remember potty training Chris," Beverly smiled. "When he was done using the toilet, he'd wait for applause."

"That's so cute!" Phyllis laughed. "Joey would announce it to everyone."

Karen said, "J.C. was really easy to potty train. He even helped with Tyler and Heather."

"AHHHHHH!"

The mothers jumped out of the way just as Chris came sliding through the tile-floored kitchen, holding hands and forming a chain with his three playmates. The four were wearing socks and had came at the kitchen in a full run before sliding across the floor and landing in a pile in front of the sink, where Diane had been standing.

"Chris!" Beverly yelled. "Watch what you're doing!"

Chris blushed as he removed Steven from his chest. "Sorry, it was his idea."

"Oh let them go," Diane laughed. "They're having fun and no one's hurt."

"Yeah!" Taylor exclaimed. "I haven't seen Chris in like a really long time mom. Please?"

"Chris is a jungle gym!" Steven said.

Beverly threw her hands up. "Fine. But go play somewhere else. We're trying to make dinner."

"Yes mom," they echoed as the four filed out of the kitchen.

"Kids," Beverly muttered with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diane walked in the living room and found everyone crowded around the big screen TV, watching 'Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas'. Chris and the kids were on the floor, in a pile, while everyone else had crowded onto the couches and chairs. "Okay everyone, it's time to eat!" she announced.

Instantly, Chris and the kids were sliding into the kitchen and quickly took their spots. The others filed in close behind, and the chatter of how good the food smelled took place. The table had been set with turkey and numerous side dishes, and the silverware was also already in place. The five mothers watched with pride as their meal was praised.

Joey walked up to Chris and pushed him playfully. "Hey, you don't belong at the grown up table, go sit at the kid table," Joey said.

"That's not fair!" Chris argued. "I’m older than you are!"

"But I'm not a jungle gym," Joey shot back.

Chris rose to size up Joey, but found himself looking up into the familiar playful brown eyes of his best friend. With a tired sigh and a smile, Chris gave up. "Fine."

"Thank you Chris," Diane smiled, watching him push his way in between Taylor and Steven.

"Whatever," Chris grumbled, but he smiled when he looked at her. Then he looked down on his left side and found Steven smiling back up at him with blue eyes to rival Justin's. "What do you want?" Chris teased.

"I want milk," Steven replied.

"Do I look like a cow?" Chris asked, causing Taylor and Jonathan to laugh.

"Yeah," came Steven's simple reply.

Chris pretended to be offended. "Well fine then! See who's not getting a Christmas present now! And why is this table so short?" he asked, pushing himself closer to the table and finding his knees were at his chest.

"Because you are," Justin smiled from the other end of the kitchen.

"Okay junior, if I can get out of this Barbie chair, I'm going to kick your butt!"

"He said butt!" Steven laughed, smiling a small-toothed grin.

"Chris, don't cuss in front of my children," Lynn teased.

Chris waved her off and contented himself to handing out 'his children' their hot dogs. Sometimes, being at the kid table sucked.

For the next few minutes, the kitchen was buzzing with mixed conversation. Between the twenty-five people, the food was disappearing fast, much to Diane's happiness. They had to get rid of the food by Christmas or it would have to be dog food because Lance only had one refrigerator. "Speaking of which," Diane thought out loud, "Where are the seven dogs?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked directly at Chris. He stopped chewing and gulped, blushing slightly. "What?" he asked.

His innocent look was matched with twenty-one suspecting ones. "Chris," Beverly said, "Where's your other hand?"

Chris looked down at his left arm, which was below the table. "It's right here, still attached to my body," he smiled nervously.

"Let us see it," Joey beamed.

"Okay," Chris said. He pulled his hand out from underneath the table, wiped it quickly on his pants, then showed the others. "See?"

Justin got up and approached the kid table. "Lets take bets on what I will find under this table cloth," he smiled, reaching for the bottom hem.

"I bet it's alive," Steve said, raising his hand.

"I bet it's a them," Stacy added.

"Lets find out," Justin said, then after making a big show of it, he raised the table cloth, revealing all seven dogs huddled underneath it and gathered around Chris's lap.

"Christopher, what have you got to say for your self?" Beverly asked.

"I don’t know what you're talking about," he shrugged, then picked up his fork and began eating. At the soft clang of the silverware, Busta jumped on Chris's lap and Baron, J.C.'s Akita, moved forward. "Guys," Chris whispered, looking around.

Then Steven asked, "Mommy, is Chris in the dog house?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOING!

"SON OF A-"

"CHRIS!"

"Sorry." Chris groaned and he pulled himself out of the rollaway bed. This was the third time the damn thing closed up on him. Oh sure, Lance and his good hospitality…'my ass,' Chris thought. Lance had given him the cot from up in the attic while the kids slept on the floor. 'How sweet,' Chris sneered in his head. 'Damn thing must have been up there for a million years. Now the springs are rusted shut.'

Chris forced the bed back down with all his muscle power. He was dressed in his chili pepper boxers and a white T-shirt, and currently he was wearing a frown. The kids were all still asleep. They hadn't made a peep through any of Chris's emotional outbursts or squeaking of the springs. Of which Chris was grateful for because he REALLY didn't feel like explaining this to any of the kids.

Chris lay on his back. His muscle's tensed in anticipation. His mother lay awake in the next room with Molly and Kate. She always scolded him for cursing, or attempting to curse, in front of the little kids. But Chris couldn't help it. This God forsaken bed was bugging the hell out of him. And it hurt.

Chris began to relax a little. So far so good. The sounds of snoring floated into his room from the surrounding rooms. Chris did come out on top in the noise department. The kids had fallen asleep with hardly a word to each other after lights out, and Chris knew that J.C. was tossing fitfully in his bed right now. The younger man need total silence to fall asleep, but once he was out, J.C. was out. Chris wished he were out right now. He yawned and let his eyes fall shut.

BOING!

"HOLY SH-"

"CHRISTOPHER!"

A tear of frustration ran down Chris's face. He was breathing heavily, anger wracking his body. Yeah, he was in pain. Males weren't supposed to bend this way. Not even ice skaters or those gymnasts or any other agile guy. Chris's face was pressed into the mattress in between his legs. He was sick of being trapped by this piece of shit padded metal bear trap. His leg muscles were tight and on fire, and his tailbone was beginning to ache from the abuse it was taking. His knees were by his cheeks for Christ's sakes. This freaking hurt. It just wasn't normal.

With a muffled growl, Chris tightened his stomach muscles and forced his legs to push the bed back down. He lay there panting from exertion, and anger. One more time and Lance was going to wake up with this damn thing up his ass.

Chris closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. God, it smelled like dog in here. Or seven. Why did he have to sleep with the dogs too? This just wasn't fair. Chris wrinkled his nose in disgust as a long hiss escaped one of the dogs, preceding a retched stench.

BOING!

"GOD DAM-"

"CHRISTOPHER ALAN! ONE MORE TIME AND YOU WILL SLEEP OUTSIDE!"

Chris winced. Why didn't she go to sleep? God, it felt like his nose was broken from being slammed into the mattress so many times. Chris tried to push it back down but found all his energy had been sapped. In false panic, Chris whined to himself and put on a hurt face. This was driving him insane.

Chris dove out of the bed and pulled his legs out until he landed with a plop on the floor. His hands gripped the carpet and he debated just lying there. He outstretched a hand in desperation and felt something warm, followed by a yelp and whichever dog it was jump up and scramble away.

Sighing, Chris got up and turned around, facing the stubborn rollaway bed. With rare fury, Chris flung himself at the bed and pried himself in between the ends of the mattress, pushing the bed back down quickly. Chris quickly stretched himself back out, this time on his stomach.

Something jumped on his back, and Chris recognized the familiar way Korea licked the base of his hairline. Chris smiled and brushed the slobber off the back of his neck, then awkwardly pet the small female Pug. "Good girl," he mumbled, closing his eyes and relaxing as she walked in circles on his back. It was almost like a massage.

Chris felt another animal land on his ass. That had to be Busta. That dog had a scary habit of always jumping on you in the wrong places. But before Chris could do anything, the whole bed shook as yet anther dog jumped on the cot. Chris extended a hand behind his back and felt the huge tongue of Baron, J.C.'s Akita, lick his hand. Baron stretched himself out beside Chris, giving Chris a warm, furry body to snuggle against. Good old Baron. Always good for something.

But just as Chris closed his eyes again, the soft feet of Lexi, Lance's Cocker Spaniel landed low on Chris's back. As soon as Lexi settled herself, all five pounds of Nakita, Joey's Miniature Pincher curled up on the only available spot on the small cot.

'Well,' Chris thought, 'One thing's for certain. This bed won't be folding up any time soon. Probably got 200 pounds of dog.' Chris smiled happily and soon drifted to sleep, buried in a mountain of breathing fur.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay guys, time to go tree hunt-" Lynn stopped herself in the doorway of the kid's room. "Oh my God," she whispered in a smile, and grabbed Karen as she was walking down the hall. "Look at this," she whispered to J.C.'s mother, pulling the other woman to stand beside her.

Karen followed Lynn's astounded gaze to the sight before her. There on the rollaway bed, lay a mound of sleeping dog bodies. Baron was laying along the wall, Busta, Korea, Ozzie, Justin's Yorkie, and Bella, his miniature Poodle, lay down the center of the bed, and on the side closest to Lynn and Karen, Nakita and Lexi were curled up. Baron was the first to raise his large head and let out a small, single woof in alarm.

Instantly, the other six dogs raised their heads and perked their ears to study the two intruders. The smell of breakfast floated into the room and the dogs realized who the owners of the kitchen were. All at once, they jumped off the bed and planted themselves at Lynn and Karen's feet, expecting to be fed. The women laughed as they looked into the seven pairs of brown eyes.

BOING!

Lynn and Karen looked up just in time to see the bed snap up. Chris let out a yelp of pain and surprise and found himself bending in half backwards, so that the back of his head was only inches from his heels. It hurt more this way.

"Chris!" Lynn shouted. She and Karen ran to help him out of his painful situation. The suddenness of it had scared them, and the dogs, and it took a minute to realize that Chris was okay. In fact, they hadn't even realized that he was there at all.

Karen grabbed the foot of the mattress and Lynn took the front and together they pulled the bed back down. Chris lay there for a moment, trying to calm his racing heart. Then with great effort, he pulled himself up and tried to stand straight.

"Are you okay?" Karen asked as she watched Chris wince and hold the small of his back.

"I'm fine," he said softly, heading for the door. "Thank you."

Lynn and Karen watched as Chris limp past the dogs and out into the hallway. Then they turned to each other and Lynn said, "He's going to be sore for a while."

"Yeah," Karen nodded.



Chris walked downstairs holding his back tenderly. God he hurt. Just wait until Lance was alone. That boy was in for it.

"You okay?" J.C. asked as Chris entered the kitchen. The others looked up at him in question as Chris sat down.

"I'm fine," Chris said as he glared at the oblivious Lance.

"Well the kids want to decorate the house, so Lance said I can go get the decorations. Anyone want to join me?" J.C. asked.

The others looked sleepily at J.C. "No, that's okay, you go right ahead though," Justin yawned.

"Well okay then, to the attic it is," J.C. sighed as he left the kitchen. He walked out in the hall and straight for the pull down ladder upstairs. He knew Lance's house as well as his own, even though the guys weren't able to enjoy it very much. But that's what made times like these special.

J.C. began climbing the ladder and soon found himself in the warm, dim attic. 'So it's true that heat rises,' J.C. thought as he took a deep breath. He yanked on the chain that turned on the light and looked around. Lance's attic wasn't this crowded last time he was up here. Was it? "Well I'm just going to have to look around," J.C. said out loud.

He started to take a step when he looked down. 'Uh oh. Do I step on the beam or on the pink?' he wondered. 'It's the beam isn't it? The wood looks solid. Yeah, that’s it. You walk on the wood.' J.C. smiled to himself and took a step onto the long wooden beam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going to get a shower," Justin stated as he got up from the table.

"Was that enough breakfast?" Stacy asked.

"That was more than enough, thank you," Justin smiled as he set his plate on the counter. "But I still stink. Almost as much as Joey."

Joey looked up when he heard his name. He had been paying so much attention to arranging his cereal into the Nsync logo that all his surroundings had faded. "What about me?" he asked.

"Nothing," Justin smiled and quickly headed upstairs.

Joey looked at his brother. "Steve, what did he say?"

Steve placed a hand on Joey and sighed. "I'm afraid he said you stink."

"What?! I don’t stink! I smell like flowers!"

The kids cracked up as Lance sat down with his own breakfast. "Joey, that's getting kind of old."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay."



"I found them!" J.C. yelled. No one answered. J.C. looked around the attic, blushing slightly. Then he turned his attention to the box in front of him. It was marked 'X-mas' in Lance's sloppy handwriting.

Overjoyed at finally finding the decorations, J.C. grabbed the slightly heavy box and turned around, trying to keep his balance on the wood. But maneuvering his way back to the ladder was another story.

J.C. studied the light filtering up from the hallway and headed in that direction. All was going good until something caught on the bottom of his pant leg. J.C. stumbled and spun around; trying to shake whatever it was off him. With the large box in his arms, J.C. quickly tired and found himself losing his balance. Before he knew it, J.C. fell off the beam and landed on the soft pink insulation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin ran his hands down the ladder quickly as he passed it. Good old J.C., always good for something. Even if it is just getting decorations.

Justin continued to the bathroom, imagining how good a shower would feel right now. He raked his fingers through his soft blonde curls and yawned. Maybe he should keep a lookout outside the bathroom in case he fell asleep and drowned.

There was a noise above him. Justin looked up but didn't see anything out of the-

"HELP!"

Justin didn't have time to react before J.C. came crashing through the ceiling and landed right on top of the younger singer, knocking them both down in the hall. The box landed on its side and glass was shattered, making the fall even more dramatic.

"OW! Get off!" Justin yelled, pushing J.C. off of him.

J.C. sat up, rubbing his elbow and looked at Justin. "Wow, thanks for breaking my fall."

"What's going on out here?" Joe Sr. asked, coming out in the hallway. His wife and Diane followed him.

"J.C. fell on me!" Justin yelled, pulling himself up.

"I tripped and stepped on the insulation!" J.C. shot back. "It's not my fault I fell on HIM!"

The three parents looked up to the hole in the ceiling. A piece of plaster fell, hitting Justin in the head. "Well, I hope you guys know how to fix ceiling," Diane said, her hands on her sides.

"Yeah right," Justin said, rolling his eyes. Ozzie, his Yorkshire Terrier sat at his feet, smelling the plaster that was on his socks.

"Well I'll help you," Joe said with a smile. "That'll give us something to do while Chris and Joey take the kids tree hunting."

Justin and J.C. glared at each other. "Fine," Justin said. "But I'm going to get a shower now." With that, he turned and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chris, I can't feel my toes."

"We're almost there."

"You said that an hour ago."

"We gotta find the perfect tree. Don't you want mommy to be proud?"

"But Chris, I gotta pee."

Chris sighed. "Joey, you should have went before we left."

"I didn't have to then."

Chris rolled his eyes and did a quick kid count. Steven, Taylor, and Jonathan. "Good. We're all still here," he smiled.

Lynn had given them an Internet generated map to the tree farm, which proved to be more difficult than having Joey co-pilot. Once they finally reached Bob's Tree Farm, they realized they would need another map just to find their way around the place.

The tree farm was still full of live Christmas trees, just waiting to be cut down. The lot was one square mile of nothing but fresh, pure snow. The air was heavy with pine scent. Their breaths were crystallized in front of their faces as they walked, crunching the glistening snow under snow boots. Pine trees stood tall and proud as far as you could see. They were surrounded with Scotch Pines, Frasier Firs, White Pines, Silver Pines, and Blue Spruce…the list went on and on. According to their visitor's guide. All Chris, Joey and the kids knew was that all the greens and blues melted together, forming a visually stimulating forest of living Christmas trees.

And of course, each kid wanted a different tree.

"I still like my tree the best," Taylor announced.

"Yours was stupid," Jonathan replied.

"So was yours," Taylor shot back.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"HEY!" Chris yelled. "Knock it off or we'll cut down the tree I liked."

"We are not getting that 20 footer," Joey said, putting his hands on his hips. "How would we carry it?"

"I don't know," Chris shrugged. Then he looked at the kids. "We got three good workers though. We could do it."

"I want tree!" Steven said. His cheeks were red from being exposed to the dry, freezing temperatures for so long.

Joey bent down and picked up the two-year-old. "We're working on it," he said with a smile. "Your big brother can't make up his mind."

"Chris, I'm cold."

"I know Taylor, we're going to leave as soon as we find a good tree that we all like." Chris trudged ahead; swinging the ax mindlessly and chopping down the little saplings that were sprouting from the blanket of snow. "We've been out here for an hour and a freaking half. Isn't there one good tree here?"

"Let's just go get a fake tree from Wal-mart or something," Joey said.

"They're not fake, they're 'permanent'," Chris corrected. "Besides, what fun would that-"

Joey walked into Chris before he realized the older man had stopped. "What is it? A bear? A rabid raccoon? What?"

"That's it!" Chris smiled, pointing straight ahead.

In front of them was a tree. Not just a tree, THE tree. It might have very well been the PERFECT tree in the history of Christmas trees. The tree stood about nine feet tall, and was full of branches all the way down. It was probably six feet wide at the bottom and all the sides were even. The tree stood straight and had a beautiful dark green color and a strong but gentle pine scent. It's wonderfully tapered branches looked to be begging for ornaments.

"I like it!" Steven exclaimed from his spot against Joey's chest.

"It's so pretty!" Taylor smiled, hugging Chris.

"Chris, that is our tree," Joey said. "Quick, chop it down before someone steals it."

Chris looked around. "Joe, we're the only ones here. Don't worry."

"Well get going, don’t just stand there."

Chris glared at Joey, tightened his grip on the ax, and took his first swing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Taylor push harder!" Chris yelled. He took another hard swing and felt the ax sink into the tree's tough, sappy trunk.

After chopping for fifteen minutes, Chris had grown tired and sore. The tree wasn't budging. He was only half way through the trunk when he had Taylor and Jonathan push the tree while he chopped at it. Steven and Joey had retorted to building snow castles while the other worked. They sat on the ground a little ways off, talking and playing in the cold snow.

"AHHHHH!" Chris yelled, then swung at the tree with all his might. At this rate, they were going to be chopping this tree on Christmas day.

Taylor and Jonathan pushed, digging their small heels into the snow and sliding backwards. Finally, the tree snapped.

"YES!" Chris beamed, dropping the ax and giving the kids high fives.

The tree continued cracking, falling forward slightly, leaning until gravity took over and it plummeted to the ground.

Chris looked up just in time. "JOEY!" he yelled, but there was no time for Joey to react. He was sitting with his back to the tree and never saw it coming.

The tree free fell to the ground, and landed right on Joey with a soft, feathery thud. There was a muffled 'oomph' from Joey and Steven's eruption of giggles filled the air as Chris and the others came running forward.

"Joey, speak to me man!" Chris pleaded, grabbing the long-bristled tree and dragging it off his friend. Chris revealed Joey, face down in the snow, arms out at his sides, and not moving. Joey's jacket was sprinkled with pine needles and snow from the tree.

Slowly, Joey raised his head out of the snow and looked at Chris. "Aren't you suppose to yell timber or something?"

"Oh, yeah. TIMBER!" Chris beamed, grabbing Joey's hood and yanking the blonde out of the snow.

"They call me Timba Timba Timba Lake," Jonathan smiled, mocking Justin.

"Don't start that crap," Chris teased.

"Is Joey dead?" Steven asked.

Chris turned around and picked up the two year old Timberlake. "No, Joey is fine," he said. "See?"

"That was so not cool," Joey mumbled. "My face is frozen. I can't feel my chin."

Chris smirked and tried not to laugh. "Joey, you gotta admit, it was kinda funny."

"It was not," Joey argued, taking Steven out of Chris's arms.

Chris looked at the way Joey was wrinkling his chin from the numbness. He couldn't help but laugh. "Yes it is…" he laughed, chattering and pointing and Joey.

"Wait till it happens to you," Joey replied. He had started laughing too, but not because of what happened, more because of Chris's infectious laugh. "You know what? I say everyone with the last name beginning with 'K' has to pull the tree back to the truck."

"That's not fair!" Taylor whined.

"Is too!" Jonathan said.

"Guys, he was kidding. Relax," Chris said.

"I'm cold," Taylor repeated.

"Well let's go," Joey said, setting Steven on the tree. "You stay there and let us pull you. I don't want your shoes filling up with snow then having to listen to your mother lecture me on why she has to cut my toes off to get even because I let her youngest son's toes freeze off-"

"Joey, stop."

"Sorry."

Chris and Joey looked at each other and took a deep breath of the cold air before they each grabbed a large branch at the bottom and began pulling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"MOM! Look at our tree!"

Chris and Joey smiled with pride as Taylor, Jonathan and Steven ran in the house, shouting their arrival. The tree had been a bear to drag through the acres of trees, but it was well worth it. Loading the tree into the bed of the truck was the worst part. Joey pulled and Chris pushed, resulting in both of the guys landing on their butts more than once. They were covered in sap. The sap attracted pine needles. They were wet. They were frozen.

Chris and Joey stood proudly by the truck as the rest of the families filed out of the house.

"Oh my God," Diane said. "It's huge."

"Could you have gotten a bigger tree?" Joe asked.

"How did you get that in my truck?" Jim asked as he approached the guys.

"S-s-so you l-l-like it?" Joey shivered.

"Well yes but-"

Diane interrupted her husband. "You guys look like Christmas trees yourselves. Look at you shirts! You're frozen!"

"Guys, both of you get inside before you become terminally ill," Beverly said, taking Chris and Joey by the hand.

"Mom," Chris muttered, yanking his blue hand out of his mother's grip.

"Now I want both of you to take a hot shower and don't come out until you've thawed out!" Beverly continued, shoving the guys in the house.

"But don’t take a shower together!" Steve yelled after them, getting a chuckle out of the girls.

Joe turned to the other guys. "Well, what do you say we see what a mess they've made of the tree?"



Chris and Joey trudged down the hall towards their rooms. Up ahead, they spotted Justin and J.C., patching the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked as he and Joey stopped to watch.

"What the hell does it look like?" Justin snapped.

"It looks like you're patching the ceiling," Joey said.

"Good job Sherlock," J.C. mumbled.

"But the real question, my dear Watson, is why?" Chris asked, rubbing his chin.

"Because J.C. jumped on me," Justin stated.

"I DID NOT!" J.C. argued.

"Are you denying that the reason we are standing here is because you fell through the roof?"

"Well I did, but-"

"Wait a minute here, what happened?" Joey asked.

J.C. interrupted Justin. "I was getting the decorations for the kids and I tripped and fell through the attic."

"Oh, is that all?" Chris asked.

Justin dropped his spackle and glared at Chris. "What do you mean, 'is that all'? Wait, what happened to you?"

"You look like a damn Christmas tree," J.C. noted.

A pine needle fell to the floor. "But we got a tree," Chris smiled.

"One? You look like that and only have one tree?" J.C. teased.

"Well at least we didn't jump though the damn ceiling!" Joey shot back.

"I DID NOT JUMP!" J.C. yelled, throwing down his plaster.

"I'm leaving," Chris said, rubbing his hands together as he went to get fresh clothes.

"I think I wanna stay and watch," Joey said as he crossed his arms.

"You jumped on me because you're angry about the wardrobe thing!"

"I am NOT angry about that anymore!" J.C. replied.

"So you WERE angry about it."

"Yeah, a little. But that was a month ago. If I'm gonna hold a grudge, it would be because of something better than that!"

"Like what?"

"Like how you laid into that girl in St. Louis."

"Are you STILL mad about that?" Justin said. "That was so not fair. There was more to it than that. I thought you knew that."

Joey's eyes followed the argument like a tennis match.

"Of course I'm still mad about that! You can't do that to a fan! Who do you think got us where we are today?"

"It was one girl J.C. Get real."

"Every person counts Justin!"

"So sue me then! God!"

"I don’t want to talk to you right now."

"FINE! I don’t want to patch this hole with you right now!" Justin threw his rag in the bucket of spackle and a few drops splashed out and landed on J.C.'s shoes.

"Look at what you did!" J.C. yelled. "You moron!" J.C. bent over and grabbed some of the white goo, throwing it on Justin's shoes.

"You asshole!" Justin cried, jumping back. He too bent over grabbed some spackle, throwing it on J.C.

"Damnit I hate you Justin!" J.C. yelled. He bent over to throw some back.

Joey backed up. "Um, I'm getting out of here guys. See ya later."

Justin and J.C. were too involved in their fight to notice Joey leave. J.C. threw at Justin. Justin threw back and J.C. Before long, they were wearing most of the plaster mixture.

"HEY!" Lynn yelled suddenly, scaring the guys to a stop. "What the heck is going on here?"

Justin looked up from his seat on J.C. "Nothing mom, just playing."

"Boys, go to your rooms. I don't want to see either of you until you clean up not only yourselves but this whole hall AND finish the roof."

"But MOM-"

"Don't 'but mom' me. Why can't you be good little boys like Chris and Joey?"

J.C. propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Justin. The two burst out laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, all the guys were cleaned up and ready to start the next activity. The cartoon episode of the Grinch was playing again in the living room and all the kids were totally involved while Chris and Joey sat on the couch, reciting the movie by memory.

"Okay guys, who wants to put up the lights?" Jim asked as he came into the living room, carrying a big moving box full of strings of Christmas lights.

Chris and Joey pointed to each other as Lance, J.C. and Justin pretended not to hear.

Jim dropped the box on the floor. "Well you guys are going to have to do it anyway, so decide who does what. Two of you can untangle this mess then the other three can put the lights up."

"I am not getting up on the roof," Chris stated. "So I'll help untangle them."

"Thanks for volunteering," Jim smiled. "Who wants to help Chris?"

Joey, Justin and J.C. began picking at their clothing. "I'll help," Lance said, smiling back at the 'thank you' smile Chris was giving him.

"Okay, well, it looks like you three get to go outside later," Jim shrugged. "Thanks guys."

Joey rolled his eyes as Lance's father left. "Whatever."

Lance got up and went over to the huge box. He frowned, reached in the box, and pulled out a ball of lights just by holding on to one light bulb. Chris's eyes widened at the sight of the enormous ball of Christmas lights. Lance smiled tiredly and said, "Well, looks like we're going to be here a while."



"Attack!" Jonathan yelled, leading a herd of little kids to their target.

Chris barely had time to duck before three siblings jumped on his back, rolling him over onto the floor. Chris narrowly missed landing on the string of lights before him, and luckily the kids stopped him from rolling into their prize tree.

"We got ya!" Taylor squealed as she fell over Chris's shoulder and landed on the floor beside him.

"Yes you did," Chris admitted.

"Why don't you just rent yourself out as a jungle gym?" Lance laughed.

"Because they don't pay good enough," Chris replied, groaning as Steven bounced on his back.

"Kids!" Lynn yelled as she came in the room, carrying a plate of cookies. She frowned when she saw Chris under a pile of children. "You kids get off the poor guy before he gets black and blue!"

The whole room froze. Everyone stared at Lynn in silence.

"What?" she asked.

"I will NEVER get Black and Blue," Chris stated.

"Mom, why'd you have to bring them up? It's Christmas."

"Yeah, doesn't that go against our religion or something?" Joey asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lynn asked.

Taylor stepped forward and took hold of the bottom of Lynn's shirt. "Black and Blue is the new Backstreet Boy's CD."

"Oh…" Lynn nodded. Then she whispered, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

The room continued it's normal activity and the comment was forgotten.

Chris and Lance went back to work untangling the lights. Lance began singing the theme to 'The Grinch' as he pulled on the lights. Having the attention span of a hyperactive gerbil, Chris had quickly grown frustrated with the lights.

After throwing the down dramatically, Chris got up. "I hate this! How do you people expect me to sit here and pull the whole sting on lights through on little loop? This is insane! Don't they have machines that do this? How many strings is this anyway?"

Diane looked up from her paper. "Twenty five."

Chris paled slightly.

"Well you're the one with the height 'thing'," Steve said, teasing Chris.

"It's not a 'thing' it's a phobia and don't make fun of me!"

"Whatever…" Molly mocked as she drew tight circles in the air around her head before pointing to Chris.

"That's it! I've had enough of this mockery!" Chris yelled, then paused as if trying to understand what he had just said. After a slight shake of his head, he announced, "I'm leaving."

Chris stormed off, but didn't get very far. A string of lights was looped around his feet and disappeared into the ball of lights in front of Lance. On Chris's fourth step, the cord pulled tight and Lance was yanked forward, falling on his face as Chris's feet were pulled out from under him. Busta scrambled to get away, yelping in surprise as Chris hit the floor in front of the tree with a thud. A pile of pine needles fell on his back.

Chris turned red and sat up quickly, looking at the others, hoping no one had noticed.

They all sat there staring at him.

"I'm fine," Chris murmured as he pulled at the strings of lights.

"Wasn't worried," Justin teased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's that?"

"Shhh…"

"Chris, I'm scared."

"It's okay," Chris whispered. "Just be really quiet."

Chris, Taylor, Steven and Jonathan lay in their room in the dark. A little while after the lights went out, there was a scratching sound coming from the ceiling. The kids were immediately scared and were afraid it was a ghost. Chris had suddenly found himself protector of the little kids. They had all gathered around him, hugging him close as they whimpered.

"Guys, it's not really a ghost," Chris said, trying to calm them down.

The scratching started again, right over their heads. It was light but steady, as if someone was trying to dig their way out of a grave using only their fingernails.

"Maybe they need help," Jonathan whispered.

Whatever it was was beginning to scare the hell out of Chris also. He pulled the kids closer for both their comfort. "I'm not going up there," Chris replied. "Whatever it is will have to come down here."

"But Chris, what if it tries to eat us?"

"I want mommy," Steven cried.

Chris sighed. It was not going to work if they tried sleeping here tonight. No one would get any sleep. The wind had picked up outside and it blew branches against the window, causing shadows to play on the walls. Suddenly the room grew cold, and the only sounds were the scratching above them and Steven's whimpers.

"Okay guys, let's go," Chris said. He picked up Steven and went to stand up; finding that Taylor was clinging to his back in fright. Jonathan had found a plastic sword from somewhere and bravely led the group to the door.

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked.

Chris adjusted her grip on his neck and replied, "We're gonna camp out in your mother's room."

"Like a sleep over?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Yay!" Taylor squealed, bouncing on Chris's back.

"You're gonna have to stop that," Chris groaned, feeling the bruises already beginning to form.

"I'll cover you," Jonathan whispered as he placed a hand on the door.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Okay. You and your little stick can protect our lives. Good plan."

"Let's go," Jonathan said, opening the door slowly.

Chris set the kids on the floor and pushed the door open for Jonathan. "Okay, go on. But be careful." The hallway was dark except for a small splash of light from the night light in the hall. All the doors in the hall were closed. It was deathly quiet.

"What do we do now?" Jonathan whispered.

Suddenly a door creaked open. Busta appeared at Chris's side, ears perked and eyes fixed. The group was frozen in the hallway, searching the darkness intently for any movement. Taylor began to sniff.

A shadow caught Chris's eyes. Busta began growling. Out of pure, paternal instinct, before Chris could stop himself, he lunged himself at the form in the hall. He grabbed the intruder and Busta began barking madly, biting the stranger in the ankles and helping Chris bring him to the ground. Taylor was screaming and Steven had begun bawling while Jonathan was at Chris's side, stabbing the intruder with his plastic sword. The other person cried out a few times and tried kicking Busta away. Chris straddled the person and got in a good hit to the face.

Then the lights came on.

"What's going on out- CHRIS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JOEY?"

Chris looked at the figure under him. All assaults had stopped. There was Joey, on the ground and shielding his face from his attackers. "Oh my God, Joey, I'm so sorry," Chris stammered, getting up and pulling Busta away by the scruff of his neck.

Joey sat up, rubbing his ankles. "What the hell was that all about?" he asked, the pain and anger clear in his voice.

"We uh…we heard something and I thought you were a homicidal maniac or something," Chris replied, helping Joey up.

Joey looked skeptically from Chris, to Busta, to Jonathan, then to the kids. Busta looked at him with his ears cocked, Jonathan dropped his sword, and Taylor sniffed and wiped her nose. Joey put a hand on the side of his face and looked at Chris. "Well at least now I know if someone ever does break in, I'll be safe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Joey, for like the ten millionth time, I'm SORRY!"

"Too late for that Chris. It's pay back time."

"Joey, no, please…"

"Steve, you got him?"

Steve grinned. "The elf ain't goin' nowhere."

"Joey, Steve, guys, come on now-"

Joey approached Chris, arm drawn. "It's only fair, don't you think Steve?"

"Most definitely. Eye for an eye."

Chris thrashed desperately against Steve's iron grip. "Please Joey, I didn't hurt you that bad!"

"I'm sorry Chris. I won't leave a mark."

Chris winced as Joey swung at him. He closed his eyes just before he was hit in the face with an ice cold, hard-packed snowball. Steve released his grip and Chris sank to his knees before Joey.

"Next time, know who you're jumping before you jump them," Joey smiled, rubbing a gloved hand through Chris's hair.

Chris glared at him and spit out a chunk of ice.

"Hey," Steve said, bending over. "At least it wasn't yellow."

"Okay guys, time for you to put up the lights!" Karen smiled as she came out the front door. In her arms was the box that Lance and Chris had been working on earlier.

Chris picked himself up as Mrs. Chasez approached them. Joey took the box out of her arms with a courteous smile. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome. You guys have at it," Karen replied, then she turned and went back in the house.

Joey looked in the box as he turned around. "Well now all I gotta do is get Afro-Boy out-"

Chris exploded in giggles as his own chunk of ice disintegrated upon contact with the side of Joey's head. "Pay back!"

"Hey!" Joey yelled. "You can't get pay back on pay back! Steve, get him!"

Steve lunged for Chris, who took off running around the house. "Get away from me!" he yelled as he flew by the back door.



"I remember Joey's first time on Santa's lap," Phyllis smiled. "He was having a blast, but the next thing I know, Santa is handing him back to me saying that little Joey had spring a leak!"

"That's so adorable!" Lynn laughed.

"Santa had to quit a little early that day," Phyllis recalled as she took a sip of hot chocolate.

"Chris just sat there and cried," Beverly said softly. "That was the only time I could take him to see Santa."

"Justin was a little smart ass," Lynn laughed. "He tried to tell Santa that he wasn't real."

The other mother's laughed. They had been gathered around the kitchen table all morning, both cooking and waiting. The guys were in the living room were watching sports, and all the girls had decided to battle the mall's holiday crowds.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The women jumped as a flash that looked sort of like Chris flew by the back door. Right on his heels was Steve, then Joey. The mother's looked to each other, not impressed. "Well at least they're not burning something," Lynn sighed.



Justin stepped out into the freshly fallen snow. True to his word, he was coming out to help Joey hang the lights. J.C. and Lance were still inside, 'getting ready'. The snow gave way easily under his feet and he sank through the several inches of snow to the ground. "Shit," he mumbled, feeling the ice invade his sneakers.

"AHHHHH!"

Justin snapped his head up just in time to see Chris, Steve and Joey come barreling around the side of the house. He didn't however, get a chance to move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin found himself on his back in the snow, with Chris, Steve and Joey on top of him. He would have screamed, but the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Hey baby," Chris smiled, his face so close his breath crystallized on Justin's face.

"Get off," Justin groaned, trying to wiggle his way out of the dog pile.

Four hundred and fifty pounds later, Justin could inflate his lungs again. "What has gotten into you three?" he asked, glaring at them as he brushed himself off.

"Sugar," Chris beamed.

"I thought I told everyone in this house to lock up all the sugar," Justin pondered, looking into the distance for a moment. "Anyway, Joey, are you ready to hang the lights?"

"Yeah man. You got the ladder?" Joey huffed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Lance's dad put it out here earlier. I'll get it."

Joey went back to the box and pulled out the first string of lights. "You and Lance made sure these work, right?" he asked Chris. "Because I don't want to get up there and be done before I find out there's a bulb burnt out."

"Yeah, we did," Chris replied.

Joey stared at him skeptically.

"What? We did," Chris insisted.

"I swear Chris, if these don’t come on-"

"It'll be your own damn fault," Chris snapped as he began making a snowball.

"Hey guys, come on, let's quit the snowball thing," Steve started.

"I'm not making a snowball, well, I am, but it's for Willy."

Joey and Steve looked at each other. "Who's Willy?" Joey asked, staring at Chris.

"My snowman," Chris replied, his tone suggesting that Joey should have already known that.

Joey backed away slightly. "Oh…"

Steve leaned over and whispered to Joey, "Is he contagious?"



Joey stapled the last string to the gutter and nearly collapsed. "Done," he sighed, lying back on the shingles.

"Ha! Joey, man, come here. Look at him now!"

"Justin, you were of no help to me. All you did was sit there and watch Chris play in the snow."

"Well someone's gotta make sure he don't drown in it," Justin replied. "But seriously, come here and look at him."

Joey pulled himself to his feet and joined Justin. About twenty-five feet below them, Chris was putting the finishing touches on his snowman. Always the extravagant one, Chris had built the mound of snow seven feet high. It was wearing clothes, even. "Hey, wait a minute," Joey said. Then he yelled, "ARE THOSE MY CLOTHES?"

Chris stopped running around and looked up. "What?"

Joey sighed and cupped his hands around his mouth. "What is that damn hill of ice doing in my clothes!"

Chris looked at his snowman. "Oh, those. Well you had the only clothes big enough."

Joey's mouth dropped at the insult as Justin cracked up. "Hey Justin, aren't those your sunglasses?"

Justin stopped laughing and squinted at the snowman. "HEY YOU ASS! GET MY GLASSES OFF THAT THING!"

"He's like a damn crow or something," Joey noted. "Always gotta be stealin' shiny things…"

"What's he got now?"

"Look's like a spider."

"It's huge!"

"It's a mop!"

Both guys cracked up when Chris placed the dirty mop on the snowman's head and stepped back with pride.

"CHRIS! SNOWMEN AREN'T SUPPOSE TO HAVE DREADS!"

Chris looked up at them. "Willy can have whatever he wants!"

"I'm gonna beat his scrawny little ass…" Justin mumbled as he got up.

"I tried that, it don't work," Joey sighed.

"Yeah, well maybe you didn't kick it hard enough-" Justin was cut off as his foot was pulled out from under him. A loose wire had caught his shoe and now he found himself falling forwards towards the edge of the roof.

"JUSTIN!" Joey yelled, scrambling up to catch his friend.

"HELP!" Justin screamed as he slammed down on the roof, his head just inches from the edge.

Joey jumped and grabbed the younger man's shoes and hung on, digging his heels into the shingles. "CHRIS! HELP ME!" he yelled, pulling frantically on Justin but only slipping further towards the edge.

Chris was instantly at the bottom of the ladder, looking up. "Hold on, let me go get-"

"Chris, there's not enough time!" Joey exclaimed, tightening his grip on Justin's jeans. "I'm losing him!"

"But I can't climb up there," Chris said, looking frantically between Justin's flailing arms and Joey.

"Chris, you have to, now get up here and help me NOW!" Joey slid forward a little more, and the top half of Justin's body was dangling over the side.

Chris envisioned Joey's white knuckles losing their grip on Justin's legs, then the blonde boy falling to the ground twenty-some feet below, hearing his neck snap, being at the funeral…"I'm coming!" Chris yelled, spurring himself up the ladder. A wave of nausea swept through him as the ground became more and more distant under him, but Chris hurried to the top and was soon behind Joey, pulling backwards with all his might.

"PULL!" Joey groaned, his muscles tight with desperate strength.

Chris was pulling Joey around his waist. His legs burned as they inched their way back from the ledge, then finally hit the roof's peak.

Justin felt his chest scrape against the shingles and grabbed onto them. He pushed himself backwards, then yelled, "Okay! Stop!" Joey and Chris both collapsed behind him and Justin sat up, scooting away from the edge quickly. "Thanks," he panted.

"You okay?" Joey asked, his chest heaving.

"I am now. I'll be even better when we get down from here." Then Justin looked at Chris. "Thanks Chris. I was about to be a goner."

"It's okay," Chris replied. "I couldn't have let you fall."

"Well I think this has been enough excitement for one day," Joey sighed, getting up. "Let's go in and eat."

Justin rose also. "I second that."

Joey turned to help Chris. "Come on Lucky."

Chris let Joey pull him up. "Food sounds good right now-" Then he saw the drop. The ground was so far away. He was so high up. His heart beat frantically in his chest as if to say, 'I'll race you to the ground!'. His body locked up. He couldn't move. How did he get this high up?

Joey saw the deer-in-the-headlights look before Chris ever tightened his grip on Joey's arm. Shit, this was not happening now. "Chris, come on, wake up," he said, waving a hand in front of Chris's face.

"What's wrong with him?" Justin asked.

Chris remained perfectly still except for his constantly tightening grip on Joey's arm.

"I think he's having a panic attack or something," Joey mumbled, slapping Chris slightly. "See, this is why you tell people not to look down."

Justin sighed. "Well what do we do?"

"If he doesn't loosen up, I'm going have to amputate my arm," Joey whined, trying to pry Chris's fingers loose.

"Well I ain't stayin' up here all night," Justin said. "How we gonna get him down?"

"We could push him," Joey suggested with a smile.

"Hey!"

"Justin, no."

"No, listen, if we build a pile of snow down below, it wouldn't hurt him."

"That's stupid. He could still break an arm or something."

"I don't think so."

"Hey! I got another idea!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, keep her coming…STOP!"

Joey slammed on the brakes, halting the truck before it ran into the side of the house. Thankfully, everyone else was still occupied inside and no one knew what Justin and Joey were about to do. If they were caught, Justin had every intention of blaming it on Joey.

Joey got out of the truck and shut the door quietly. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" he asked, looking doubtfully at the snow-filled truck bed.

"How could it not?" Justin smiled. "It's ingenious."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Okay, well then you get up there and do it. I don't want the cops finding my prints on the body."

Justin glared at him and started up the ladder. "You worry too much Joey."

"Well he is my best friend," Joey replied. "I'd rather be down here to break his fall."

"Isn't that sweet. Well this is no longer the mid-evil times Joseph, and you don't have to be chivalrous."

"Shut up and get up there."

Justin reached the roof and walked over to where Chris had been frozen in terror. Joey had managed to pry his arm loose but now Chris's hand was clutching the air, in the same position it was when Joey had been standing there. Justin knocked on the back of Chris's head. "One last chance before I shove ya off," he said.

Chris's body remained rigid. He was staring off into space and his heart was beating a hole in his chest.

"Okay then," Justin sighed. He placed his hands on Chris's shoulder blades and called down to Joey, "Here he comes!" Then with a hard push, Justin shoved Chris.

Chris snapped out of his trance, only to find himself falling towards the edge of the roof. He yelled and reached out blindly, hoping to find anything to grab a hold to. His gloved hands swept through the air but caught nothing.

Joey watched as Chris fell. He tensed up, but the truck was in place and Chris was headed safely for the target. "I got ya Chris!" he yelled as the older man fell. In seconds, Chris landed in the snow-filed truck bed with a plop.

Justin scrambled down the ladder as Joey dug through the snow to find his friend. "Is he alive?" Justin asked as Joey found Chris's coat.

Joey pulled the coat up out of the snow, revealing the shortest band member. "Hey there Chris, glad to see you again."

Chris looked at them with a deadly look. "Who did that?" he asked, spitting out a chunk of ice.

"I just saved your life," Justin beamed, folding his arms over the side of the truck bed.

"Yeah, Justin was totally responsible," Joey agreed with a smile.

"I'm gonna kill you," Chris whispered as he tried to calm his racing heart. "I just about had a heart attack. I'm twenty-nine. Twenty-nine year olds don't have heart attacks. If I die from post dramatic syndrome or whatever the hell it's called, I'm going to sue your ass," Chris mumbled as he pulled himself out of the snow. "You know I hate heights. I hate them. I'm scared of them. You still made me go up there. I had to save your miserable ass." Chris fell out of the truck bed and started to the house. "I saved you so you could push me off a two story building. I love how that works. Yeah, when I get asked how I spent my Christmas vacation, I'll tell them I was free falling off a TWO STORY HOUSE INTO A TRUCK BED FILED WITH SNOW!"

Justin and Joey looked at each other. "You think he's okay?" Justin asked.

"I think his brain might have froze while he was up there."

"Yeah."

"We got to shut him up."

"I know. I ain't getting in trouble."

"Come on." Joey jogged up to Chris, who had his hand on the door. "Hey Chris, are you okay man?"

Chris looked at him. "I can't feel my extremities and you're asking if I'm okay?"

Joey noticed Chris's blue lips. "Sorry about that. But we had to get you down somehow."

Justin joined Joey. "Yeah, and thanks for saving my life," he said, batting his eyes.

"Yeah," Joey added. "This makes you the hero now, doesn't it?"

Chris's features softened. "Yeah, I guess it does."

"And wait till I tell Justin's mom that you saved her little boy," Joey smiled.

"Don't do that," Chris said. He smiled as he continued, "Then she might kill me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch…"

"If I hear this song one more time, I'm going to explode," Justin groaned.

They were all sitting around in the living room while the kids had put in the Grinch movie again. Most of the siblings were working on something else and trying not to pay attention to the movie, but Lance's singing along with the movie wasn't helping their concentration.

"You know Lance, we should throw you in a recording booth and tape you singing the Grinch song," J.C. noted.

Lance shot him a look.

"What? I'm serious. You're perfect."

Lance smiled. "Oh. Well thank you."

"Oh, well thank you," Chris mocked as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut up," Lance shot back.

"No."

"Shut up," Lance insisted.

"Make me."

Lance glared at Chris before jumping up. Chris was on his feet and fleeing the living room all in one motion. Steve laughed and cheered Lance on from his spot in between Stacy and Molly. "I'm gonna kill you!" Lance yelled after Chris.

"No you wont!" Chris yelled back.

Lance chased Chris up the stairs. "I hate you! I've always hated you! You are an annoying, self-centered, irresponsible, lice-ridden old FART!"

"Oh YEAH?" Chris yelled as he ran in Lance's room, "Well you're an over-bearing, boring, albino, Mississippian, neat control FREAK!"

Lance backed Chris up to his bed. "Do you have ANY idea what you just said?"

"Not a clue," Chris smiled. Then in one quick motion, he circled Lance and pushed the blonde on his bed, then ran to the doorway. "Tomorrow is Christmas, in case you have forgotten. If you continue misbehaving, you're not going to get any Christmas presents." With that, Chris slammed Lance's door shut.

Lance watched from his bed as his shelves collapsed and all one hundred perfectly preserved beanie babies jumped off their shelves and fell to the floor in a heap.

Slowly, the door opened again, getting caught on the priceless black cat beanie baby. Chris leaned his head in and looked at the mess he had caused. Then he looked up at Lance and grinned guiltily. "Did I do that?"



"Joey, come on, you gotta do it. You're perfect!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's an insult."

"Joey, being Santa is not an insult. It's doing something nice for the kids."

Joey crossed his arms. "No. I don't want to."

Chris grabbed Joey's head and turned it towards the kids. "Look at them Joe. They're so cute and innocent… they'd love it."

"Guys, no. I'm not being Santa. I'll just hire one. Besides, don't you think they'd notice if I was missing?"

"Joey, we don't need to hire one. It would mean more if you did it. Santa leaves after a few minutes anyway. You could just pretend like you just got out of bed."

Joey glared at J.C. Damn him and his logical reasoning. There was just no fighting it. But Joey sure as hell was gonna try. "Guys, no. I'm sorry, but no." With that, he turned on his heel and went into the kitchen.

"I think he was serious," Lance said.

"Yeah, me too," Justin agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a dream, Joey knew, but he couldn't stop it. He was driving to the grocery store for some reason. It was dark outside, and cold. Joey parked the car in the isle instead of pulling into a parking space. To his right, there was a man sitting in his car. The man had a gray coat. After parking the man in, Joey turned his car off and ran inside the grocery store.

Joey had forgotten what he came in for. After deciding that he wanted a piece of gum, Joey realized he didn't have any money so he began looking for Chris, who worked there. As Joey turned around, he saw that a woman cop was now sitting in his car while writing him a ticket.

But when Joey took off running for her, gravity finally claimed the body that had been teetering on the side of the bed and he fell to the floor, scaring himself awake. Joey, being too lazy too move, fell back asleep quickly to see if he could catch a glimpse of the woman in his car.



Lance opened his eyes in his own room and smiled. All his beanie babies had been replaced on the shelves again, and Chris was now forbidden to step foot inside Lance's room. Lance's smile grew bigger when he realized that it was Christmas morning.

He threw down the covers and swung his feet out of bed, narrowly missing Lexi. The Cocker Spaniel got up and looked back at Lance with eager eyes. "You ready to see what gift you got?" Lance asked her, and then he reached down to scratch behind the velvety ears.

Lance and Lexi walked to the door and before he even opened it, Lance could hear excited whispers from in the hall. Smiling to himself, Lance opened the door and found Steven, Jonathan and Taylor all gathered around his door. "What do you three think you're doing?" he teased as Lexi licked Steven's face.

"We're waiting for you so we can wake up the grown ups," Taylor smiled.

"Why were you waiting for me?" Lance asked.

"Because we knew you would wake up first," Jonathan replied.

"Ah, I see," Lance said. "Well what do you say we go wake everyone up now?"

"Yeah!" the kids exclaimed at once.



Lance and J.C. watched from the doorway as the kids crept into bed with Justin. The blonde had a smile plastered on his face and was moaning softly. J.C. and Lance knew what he was dreaming about, but the enthusiastically let the kids wake Justin anyway.

"…Get me some ass…"' Justin mumbled, rolling over. His arm hit something warm. It was another body. The girl in his dreams? Justin opened his eyes enthusiastically.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Jonathan yelled in his face.

Justin jumped and leaped out of bed, exposing the tent in his boxers. "JESUS CHRIST, ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!"

J.C. and Lance cracked up in their spot in the doorway.

"You let them do this?" Justin yelled, grabbing his robe and wrapping it around his waist.

"If only we had a camera," J.C. gasped as he hung on Lance's shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill both of you!" Justin screamed, starting for them.

Lance and J.C. moved quickly and shut the door behind them. "Let's go get Joey," Lance said. "Knowing him, he's probably got a women in there."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want the kids to see anything too graphic," J.C. smiled.

"Well then we shouldn't let them wake up Chris," Lance teased.

The guys reached Joey's closed door and slowly opened it; not sure what to expect in bed with him. They looked in, but didn't see anyone. "What the-" J.C. started, opening the door the rest of the way.

"Where is he?" Lance asked.

"Maybe he decided to play Santa after all," J.C. said with a smile.

"Good old Joey. I knew he'd pull through."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After all the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters had been woken up, the families gathered in the living room around the tree, with the exception of Joey. Lance unlocked the front door so Joey could come in when he was ready, and the other guys were building up to 'Santa's' arrival. Half way through the gift opening, there was a knock on the door.

"I wonder who that is," Lance smiled as he rose to get the door.

The kids looked at each other with wonder.

Lance pulled open the door and not to his surprise, there stood Santa. "Damn Joey, that looks real," Lance whispered as he moved aside. Then he yelled, "Look kids, it's Santa!"

Santa stepped inside, his brown eyes twinkling. "Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!" he said in Joey's barritone-tennor voice. But for the sake of Santa, there was no New York accent.

All the kids screamed in happiness and ran to Santa. "Hi Santa!" Taylor beamed, hugging the man's leg.

"Well hello Taylor, I hear you've been a good girl this year," Santa smiled, picking up the eight-year-old.

"Yes I have!" Taylor smiled as Beverly rolled her eyes.

"I've been good too Santa!" Jonathan said.

"I be good!" Steven added.

"Well I have something for all of you," Santa smiled as he put Taylor down. He reached in his red velvet sack and pulled out three wrapped presents. After reading the names, the bearded fat man handed out the presents to the appropriate recipients. "Okay kids, I have to go deliver other presents now, but you kids be good and I'll see you next year!"

"Okay Santa!" they echoed.

"Merry Christmas!" Santa laughed as he waved to everyone else. Then he turned on the heel of his shiny black boots and left.

"Well that was cool, wasn't it?" Lance asked, smiling as he shut and locked the door again.

"Yeah!" they agreed as they began opening the presents.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

Everyone turned in the direction of the familiar nasal sounding voice. "Joey?" J.C. asked, utterly confused.

Joey stood at the top of the steps, dressed in his long pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt, his hair messed up and one hand on his side. "'You all started with out me?" he asked again.

"Joey, I thought-" Lance started, pointing to the door.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Chris asked.

"What do you guys mean?" Joey asked as he started down the stairs.

"Where were you?" Justin asked. "You weren't in your room this morning."

"I must have rolled off the bed last night. I woke up on the floor this morning with a killer back ache," Joey said, plopping down on the couch by Steve.

The others stared at each other, spellbound.

FINISH!
EPILOUGUE:

"Don't you hear that?"

*Scratch, scratch*

"Yeah, I do."

"So what the hell is it?"

After spending all day relaxing and enjoying the presents, Christmas day had drawn to an end. A big turkey dinner had made everyone sleepy, and the next day the guys had to hit the road again for promotions. Everyone agreed on turning in early in order to get extra rest. But Chris and the kids had lain awake, worrying about the scratch sound over their heads. Chris dragged Lance out of bed and into the room so they could hopefully discover the source of the noise.

"I'll have to take the vent cover off. Give me a screw driver."

"Lance, you shouldn't be drinking at a time like this-OW! Fine, here. Ass wipe."

"Don't call me that," Lance muttered as he grabbed the tool from Chris's hands. "I'm doing this for you, remember."

"Hey, it's your house. If you want things digging through your roof, that's fine with me."

Lance rolled his eyes and worked on unscrewing the metal vent cover. The scratching had stopped for the time being as Lance reached inside the hole.

"Don't let it take your hand off," Chris asked.

"I need a flashlight," Lance said, taking his hand back out and squinting up into the dark hole in the ceiling.

Chris grabbed the Pokemon flashlight and handed it to Lance. "There ya go."

Lance gave the light a dirty look before turning it on and shining it up into the vent. After a few minutes, he sighed, "I don't see anything-"

"Oh my God, what IS that?" Chris yelled, backing up a step.

Lance looked back up and shone the light in the hole. There was the dirty, furry face of Dirk looking down on them. "Well how did you get up there?" Lance asked, reaching for the ferret and grabbing him with one hand.

Chris's heart was racing. "Jesus, that thing scared me," he panted.

Lance laughed and shoved the tan ferret in Chris's face. "This scared you? THIS little ferret?"

"Hey back off, ass wipe," Chris mocked.

Lance's smiled vanished and he glared at Chris. "What?"

"You heard me."

Lance dropped Dirk and took off after Chris, chasing the shorter man into his own room. "Oh no you don’t!" Lance yelled, realizing what Chris was going to do.

Lance skidded to a stop in his room, but it was too late, Chris was already going the other way, and giggling, he slammed the door shut.

Idea Contributors: Barbara and her little brother L-Ray: (emeraldsilver@hotmail.com)

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Email: jaysmyrascal@cs.com