Ratings: G, Christmas Fic

Pairings: None

Disclaimer: They belong to Alliance, not me . . . Bah Humbug!

Note: Many thanks to Courser and Kelly for their incomparable beta-ing skills!!

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Fraser

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"They did really well," Ray Vecchio said, every inch a proud uncle.

Slowing to a stop at the signal, he put his hands up to the vents on the Riv's dashboard. The heater was warming the car quickly and it was getting harder to see his breath in the yellow glare of the streetlights, but his hands still felt like blocks of ice. As he sat there soaking up the warmth, he figured the car would heat up to a comfortable temperature just as he and Benny got back to the house.

They were returning from church, where they had been watching the Nativity play the children put on every year. Now he and Benny were the forward detachment sent ahead to the house; Ma, Frannie, Maria, and Tony were waiting while the kids changed in the madness of the back-stage wrap up. He and his Canadian friend, however, were assigned the important duty of getting the hot chocolate (Ma's super secret recipe, although Benny said he had some suggestions) ready, and, as Marco always said, "all marsh-mallowy." They were also going to do a quick stand-in for Santa and set out the one present each kid got to open on Christmas Eve.

Ah, the kids. Ray had been kind of dreading going to the play. He always did; it brought back memories of the year he had been the King with the Gold. The hay around the crèche had made him sneeze and he had dropped the gold. Broken the little chest too. His dad hadn't let that rest for years. This year, however, Marco had been the King with the Frankincense and Theresa had been Mary, so there was no way he would have missed this.

"Admit it Benny, the rug-rats did good."

"You'll get no argument from me, Ray; they both did very well." Fraser was feeling quite proud of both children himself. He had worked with both of them on their lines, and they had not only remembered all of them, they had projected beautifully.

"And I'm sure even people in the back could hear them clearly. I was also quite impressed with the way they handled their props."

Ray started to throw Benny a dirty look while accelerating away from the signal, but then he remembered he had never told the Mountie about his snafu with the gold chest, and Frannie wouldn't have told. The two of them had made an agreement years ago she wouldn't ever mention him dropping the gold, and he wouldn't ever mention how the nuns hadn't let her be Mary that one year because the hood didn't look right. 'Nah,' he thought, 'he's just being Drama Critic Fraser.'

He was just about to tease the Mountie about whether he wanted one marshmallow or two in his cocoa when the other man went on.

"You know, Ray, the kings following the star never arrive at a manger. The Book of Matthew tells of the Magi and the gifts, but they actually follow the star to a house of some kind."

'Oh, God,' the Italian cop thought to himself, 'on top of everything else, he's a Biblical scholar, too!' Out loud, he said, "Then where's the manger?"

"The baby Jesus being born in a manger is from the Book of Luke, and it also describes the shepherds. So, actually, having the Magi coming to adore the Child at a manger is not technically correct, and the fact that there is a star portrayed over the manger in most Nativity scenes is also not accurate. Also it is never specifically stated in the Book of Matthew how many Magi there are; there are three gifts mentioned, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and so, traditionally..."

Ray cut him off. "Benny, stop."

Fraser turned his head to look at his friend, "Understood, Ray. The spirit of Christmas and all that."

"Exactly."

They drove in silence for a few minutes, finally coming to a stop in front of the Vecchio house. The moon was almost full, and the snow lying on the sidewalks and lawns glistened in the pale light. Everything seemed pristine and clean as they sat for a moment and looked down the street. In front of many of the houses, multicolored reflections from Christmas lights sparkled on the snow, creating splashes of color against the white.

No one stirred, and even the wind had died down, leaving the street still. Craning his neck to look out the windshield, Ray thought he could even see some stars glinting down, sparkling in the crisp air even through the city lights. It felt like Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, Benny."

"Merry Christmas, Ray."

End

Happy Holidays, All!

Copyright Deborah Hann, Dec. 1999