Frithmas at the Haynes

First posted 29 December, 1998 on alt.devilbunnies
©1998 by Scott Bernier
First HTML-ized 3 January, 1999 by Scott Bernier

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Frithmas at the Haynes 1

Mariel stared out the window into the night and sighed. "Mom, when's Jerry going to be home?"

"I don't know, dear, but he never broken his promise. Taffy said he'd be here for Christmas and it's not Christmas yet."

"But it will be in just a few hours...."

"Patience, love. He'll be here, besides, it's your bedtime."

"But I don't want to go to bed without Jerry." She stomped her good foot bunny-like and put a big pout on her face.

"Now, now, Santa's not going to visit the home of a naughty girl..."

"Mom, you know I'm too old for that. I know the..." (yawn) "truth behind Santa."

Kristina hugged her daughter, "Even so, it's past your bedtime." (coygleamineyes) "And we're not going to wait for you in the morning to open presents if you sleep in." She brushed her hand in Mariel's hair briefly and kissed her on the forehead. "Now go on. I'll send Jerry up as soon as he gets here, I promise."

Mariel reluctantly complied.

Mariel stirred in her sleep and felt a gentle tugging at her ear. She rolled over and recognized the furry touch.

"Jerry, you did make it..." she stated still half asleep.

"Of course, Mariel." He nipped her gently on the ear again in affection being careful not to pierce the skin. When it was time for that he wanted Blackberry to be present to make sure there were no complications. "You think I'd not come home for Frithmas?"

"Why do bunnies call it Frithmas instead of Christmas?"

"Bunnies call God, Frith, hon, thus the holiday Frithmas."

Mariel started petting Jerry on the back and down his front paws. Front paw_S_!? Mariel's eyes widened as she turned on the lamp on her nightstand.

"You've got two front paws again!"

Jerry put a clawtip to his muzzle. "Sssshhhhh. You'll wake your folks, it's 3am. Taffy told you I'm now the head bunny around here. This was a gift from everybun else to me. It's a long story and it will have to wait for I'd have to keep you up all night and then some explaining everything. It's one of the reasons I couldn't come home sooner. I had to go through therapy to get use to having four paws again, and I still have a few weeks of therapy to go, but I can move around alright as is."

"It's a miracle, Jerry." There were tears in Mariel's eyes. "It matches your other paw." She hesitated a moment. "If...if they could do that for you, is there a poss..."

Jerry hushed her. "We'll talk tomorrow, Mariel. We both need to get some rest. Santa left a lot of gifts under the tree."

"Santa isn't real," she replied as she shut the light and lay back in bed with Jerry snuggling up next to her left shoulder.

"If that's the case, then I guess I'll be getting all those gifts for I do believe. Maybe I should tell you about Santa's db helper, Santa Claws. You know that a bunny grows up in about a year so each kit only gets one visit from SC so it's extra, extra special..."

".....but that was between two adults, one who had died in a car accident. It was a very expensive operation and the man who got the new hand will probably be paying for it the rest of his life..." (droopears) "It's beyond what Mentat Blackberry could do even if we had a donor, Mariel, I'm sorry. A human's foot is more complicated then a bunny paw. Blackberry knows bunny anatomy, um...body parts much better then human anatomy."

"Maybe someday..."

Jerry (bunnyhugged) Mariel as her parents wiped a few tears from their eyes. (noddle) "Yes, little one, maybe someday." There was a quiet moment.

"So how did you become the new bun commander, and what does that entail?" Robert asked. "Taffy was a bit vague, just said you were the new bun commander for all the warrens in Maine."

"It is equivalent to your governor, except it is usually a position for life, unless I do something really stupid that endangers the lives of other buns or I choose to retire. It means a lot of extra desk work placing my pawsignature on a lot of documents and making decisions that affects everybun between Bangor and the Canadian border." (sighfluff) "It also means I won't be able to spend as much time at home...at least not for the next few months.

"The bun capitol is currently in Bangor, but I'm having the facilities moved to Cherryfield so I can be closer to home. The warren in Cherryfield needs to be expanded first, though. So, for the next few months I'll be in Bangor and I probably won't be able to come home every night." (sniffle) "Since, I'm new at this, I still have a lot to learn, but hopefully, once things settle down and I've delegated some of my duties to those who can do a better job at it, I'll be able to come home more often, especially, since there are a few things I hope to still teach all three of you about us." Jerry drifted off a moment as he felt Mariel's tears dampen his fur.

He stared into her wet eyes. "Come, come, cheer-up. This is suppose to be a happy time. It's Frithmas. I've been given a small miracle, we shouldn't be wallowing in sorrow, we should be happy."

Mariel tried her best to smile. "But I don't want to loose you, Jerry."

"You aren't loosing me, it's just that my job is going to take up more of my time for a few months. But we can worry about that later. As I already said, it's Frithmas. Let's go unwrap some gifts. I'll race you to the tree!" Jerry and Mariel charged into the living room.

"To Jerry from Mariel..." Robert handed the gift to Jerry.

(SNICK! RIP, RIP, RIP) (pausefluff) "No...you wouldn't...." Jerry pulled out a two-eared knit red hat with a jinglebell on each eartip.

(giggle) "Put it on, Jerry, I knit it myself," Mariel begged.

(resignedfluff) "Well, since you made it, Mariel, it must be extra special." Jerry donned the hat over his head and ears and shook his head making the bells jingle. Mariel and her parents laughed. Jerry played along wiggling his ears and making the bells jingle even more.

"To Mariel from Jerry..." Robert handed the small jewelry-size box to his daughter.

She tore the wrapping off and opened it. Inside were two pink satin bunny earbows. She pulled them out and looked them over to find little diamond studs in them.

"They kept me very busy up to Bangor, but I still found a moment to get you these. All does where some form of earbows. I'm sure they'll look lovely in your hair..."

As Jerry spoke, a couple of tears came to Mariel's eyes as she placed them in her hair and hugged Jerry. (jingle) "They're beautiful, Jerry," (sniffle) "thank you."

(FLASH!) Both were blinded a moment by the sudden surprise picture taken by Kristina, Mariel's mother. Jerry blinked a few times while awaiting the white blindness to go away. It could have been worse, she could have had one of those evil 'red-eye' reduction cameras.

"I don't mean to cry," Mariel whispered into Jerry's ear. "I just wish..."

(jingle) "Wish what?" (curiousfluffjingle)

"I just wish in some ways we were bunnies too. Then I could wear your gift in my ears and we wouldn't miss you for so long for we could live right there at the bunny capitol with you and...I'd have a real foot like you got."

Jerry hugged her close and whispered (jingle) back. "I know, Mariel, I know. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. We must except what is before us and live with it. Maybe someday, but for now, the bows look lovely in your hair."

Mariel stared into Jerry's eyes. "You think so?"

(noddlejingle)

End