86 86- Doodles

"Alright Hot Stuff, you ready for this?" Scott asked.

Ryan sighed nervously. "About as ready as I'll ever be…"

They were in the driveway of Scott's parent's house, which had very helpfully been left clear just for them. Parked cars lined both sides of the street around them. Both Scott and Ryan were in matching and decidedly hideous holiday sweaters, with Ryan's being several sizes too big to make it easier to get on and off. It was a bitterly cold, clear, and bright Christmas Eve day, and the guest of honor had just rolled up to the annual Kranston Christmas Party and been unloaded.

"Cuddle Bug, what if the rest of your family doesn't like me?" Ryan got more nervous as he was pushed closer to the door.

"Impossible! They're related to me, so they're bound to love you!"

Ryan did his best to believe him. He really did, but he couldn't help fiddling with the ring around his neck anyway. They must have had a lookout posted for them, because as soon as the door came into view an entire little group of children Ryan hadn't seen before suddenly scattered, replaced quickly by Howard who came to hold the door open for them.

"Ah! There you boys are!" Howard called cheerfully. "Merry Christmas!"

Scott got Ryan into the warm house before turning to give his dad a hug. "Merry Christmas, dad!"

Ryan couldn't help but feel very out of place in this veritable sea of strangers. He stood out like a sore thumb in his clunky wheelchair, and all these people, though friendly looking, towered over him in their curiosity from various places in the main room.

"Uncle Scott! Uncle Scott! Uncle Scott!!!"

Suddenly a little girl came tearing around the corner, brushing right past Ryan to throw herself at Scott.

"Oh goodness Sophie! You've gotten so big!" Scott returned her bear-hug before addressing the rest of his family. "Everyone, this is my fiance, Ryan."

Ryan waved his hand timidly at the chorus of greetings. The little girl came around to stare at him intensely, making him even more uncomfortable.

After a weirdly almost too long time, Sophie finally announced, "You're really pretty! You look like the prince in my movie!"

It took everything Ryan had not to go "aww" out loud, but he thanked her shyly.

Scott got up real close and confidential like. "That's because secretly… and this is just between us… Ryan IS a prince!"

She gasped in delight, and Scott held a finger to his lips to remind her it was a secret. Ryan couldn't keep a straight face. It was Howard who finally got things moving and took over getting Ryan to his designated place while Scott went to go unload the gifts from the car. Scott's family members not-quite crowded around, almost like they were sensing his discomfort and waiting for Scott to get back to make their introductions. Almost everyone had a plate with little finger foods on it, and Ryan could swear he saw something very familiar he hadn't seen in a while on some of those plates. Then, he saw a kid walk by with a certain very nostalgic cookie in each little hand. Were those what he thought they were…?

"Okay, so I don't know if I got the recipe exact, but I wanted these to be a surprise." Howard suddenly appeared from behind him with a little plate of his own, which he set in Ryan's lap. "You'll have to tell me how close I got!"

Ryan would recognize those little powdered sugar covered cookies anywhere. He looked up at Howard in shock, just in time for Scott to come in from outside laden with the poorly-wrapped presents they'd brought.

"Aww dad, you gave him the cookies already? I was hoping to see his reaction…" Scott sounded disappointed, but Ryan could tell he was teasing.

"I haven't tried them yet!" Ryan replied excitedly.

"Go on, try it! Let me know how I did!" Howard encouraged him to eat one. "This was Scott's idea anyway. He thought it would help boost your spirits."

Ryan flashed Scott a look of pure love before sticking his tongue out at him teasingly. He bit one of the cookies in half, and damn was it close. It was so close. These had more filling than the ones his grandmother had made, and the spice balance was ever so slightly off. But, it was close. It was the closest he'd gotten to that precious childhood memory in a long time. He had to remind himself he was in a room full of strangers as he felt the pressure build up behind his eyes.

He heard the snap of a camera. Sure enough, Scott had taken a picture of him in all his awkward, nostalgia experiencing, powdered-sugar-faced glory. Scott was practically beaming, looking very pleased with himself.

"Howard, these are amazing." Ryan punctuated it by happily stuffing the other half of the cookie in his mouth. "How'd you eben know 'bout ma'amoul cookies?"

Howard stood straight and proud. "Great to hear! Eat as many as you like, I made sure to make a ton! And don't worry, I set aside some for you boys to take home, too!"

Gail made her appearance from somewhere deeper in the house laden with a few nicely wrapped gifts which she added to a large pile near the festively decorated Christmas tree that Ryan hadn't noticed before. She came over to give Ryan her greetings, and after Scott went to go drop off their gifts, whispered in Ryan's ear confidentially that she'd finished with "that important project."

After Scott and Ryan got settled in with drinks and something a little more substantial than date-stuffed shortbread cookies, the inevitable string of introductions and mini- conversations began. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, family friends… the little girl from earlier was actually Scott's second cousin. Apparently she'd decided when she was younger that since Scott was so much older than her, that he officially earned the name "uncle." Of course, she showed a bunch of curiosity towards her new "Uncle Ryan" too. At least things so far weren't as overwhelming as he was worried they'd be.

"Hey Scott, where's Elizabeth? I don't think I've seen her at all yet." Ryan asked when there was a break in the pleasantries.

"Oh, she's probably busy keeping most of the older kids entertained."

Ryan wondered if there really could be that many more children, given that he hadn't seen very many in the first place. Thinking about it, he'd seen pretty much all of them come and go from what he was pretty sure was Elizabeth's room down the hallway. Next thing he knew, all the kid's he'd seen so far, and a few he hadn't were ushered out of the room by Scott's sister.

"Okay everyone! Snack break!" Elizabeth commanded the children. "We'll start the next round in twenty minutes!"

She waved over at Scott and Ryan to acknowledge she knew they were here, then ducked back in her room and came out leading a small darker skinned child by the hand. He couldn't have been more than three years old. "Come on Damien, let's get some cookies! I promise the games will be here when we get back."

Ryan wondered briefly who the kid belonged too, since they looked nothing like any of the adults here… A few of the kids practically swarmed Ryan as soon as they saw him, bombarding him with questions about his wheelchair and casts. Ryan did his best to take it all in stride, but it was hard to pick out individual questions when they were all talking at once… Luckily it was Scott to the rescue, who somehow convinced everyone to take turns.

A little girl was the first one to speak up. "Did you know? Hey, did you know? Did you know that um… That a kid in my class umm… Hey, did you know that a boy in my class? He broke her arm too! And um… And! And he let me sign the cast!"

That triggered the obligatory wonder and jealousy noises from the rest of the kids gathered, and all of a sudden there were a cacophony of requests to have the honor of writing their names Ryan's casts.

"You know," Scott mused, "This is oversight on my part, but I didn't even think about signing your casts…"

"I didn't think much about it either…"

Ryan looked at the kids around him who were suddenly so excited at the chance to do something different. The casts were coming off in a few days anyway, what was the harm? He caught Gail's eye from across the room, and luckily she seemed to pick up on what he was thinking right away.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I have a pack of markers around here somewhere…" Gail said with a wink before going off to get them.

The kids got even more excited as Scott started rolling up Ryan's pant legs and sleeves, revealing just how much of the "special canvas" was available. Some of their parents had to remind them to calm down and not crowd Ryan too closely, but Scott couldn't help but notice how bright Ryan's expression was as he interacted with the kids. Soon enough, Gail came back with a box of markers, and after a bit of jostling over who would get the honor of using which color first, Ryan was surrounded by children happily doodling away. One of the parents made a point to apologize, but Ryan assured them he didn't mind at all.

At some point little Damien joined the group of kids, a half-eaten gingerbread man in his hand. Ryan gave him a friendly smile, asking if he'd like to draw something too, but he just kept staring with his confused little kid face.

Scott's little cousin Sophie from earlier spoke up since she was waiting her turn to use the pink marker to finish the flowers she was drawing. "Uncle Ryan! Damien doesn't talk much. Isn't he so cute, though?" She pulled the other child into a tight hug. "Our parents picked him out special! He's my little brother!"

"Oh?" Ryan asked, his curiosity finally satisfied. "And are you being a good big sister?"

"Of course I am!" the girl grinned from ear to ear.

Some of the other kids spoke up about their siblings, or asking Ryan's opinion on their drawings, trying to get some of Ryan's attention for themselves. Scott, along with a few of the parents, were not-so-discreetly taking pictures of the whole affair in the meantime.

Damien came up to Ryan cautiously, reaching up to touch a free spot on one of Ryan's casts oh so delicately with a single finger. "Ouch…?" he asked.

"Don't worry, It doesn't hurt anymore." Ryan assured him.

"Booboo… Ouch…?" He asked again.

"Yep, It's a booboo, but it's almost all better. It's okay now." Ryan said. "You can draw on it with everyone else, if you want."

One of the other kids asked what he did to get a cast on each limb, and when Ryan simply told them he had a very mean bully at work who caused an accident on purpose. He didn't want to get into too many details, since most of the kids were fairly young, but he basically told them that sometimes people can be really mean without having a reason.

One of the kids piped up with, "One time, at recess, I saw this big kid push down this little kid and the little kid started crying so I went to get a teacher."

"And that's exactly what you should do," Ryan praised.

It wasn't long before Ryan's cast was covered with colorful little doodles, scribbles, and well-wishes in crooked little handwriting. Even Damien had gotten in on the fun and scribbled a little. It was Howard who brought the whole thing to an end once it started winding down, with the kind of announcement every kid loves to hear.

"Okay everyone, time for presents!"