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Maru's favorite holiday was Winter Star. Penny teased her about it a lot considering that she was a woman of science and relied on facts and logic more than emotions. Winter Star was different, ever since she was a little girl, Robin created magic for her and Sebastian. They always chopped a Winter Star tree together, the biggest, fullest one they could find. The house was filled with the wonderful pine scent all season long, she made decorating a fun game rather than a chore. They baked cookies, listened to holiday music, watched Winter Star movies and Robin always let them decorate the tree however they wanted, even if it was a little uneven or they put the ornaments all in spot. Robin would just say that it adds character. If her dad ever tried to rain on their parade by pointing out the improbabilities of Father Winter making it to every house in the world in one night, Robin would silence him with a look.
Robin kept the Winter Star magic going well into their teenage years, well after them being aware of who Father Winter really was. All Robin had ever wanted from her children was for them to enjoy themselves with no pressure, to have fun and want to spend time together as a family. Now that they were both adults, Maru and Sebastian still looked forward to their annual traditions. As soon as Winter 1 hit, Maru was already full of the holiday spirit and even a normally stoic Sebastian would dig out his black Winter Star themed pajama bottoms out of storage and have them ready to go.
Maru was daydreaming one day at the clinic, a week before Winter Star when Harvey came in behind the counter arms full of files for her to sort.
"What's your favorite Winter Star tradition?" Maru asked him. She was overly excited about watching holiday movies tonight and baking cookies, she had even invited Penny to come and join them.
"Hmm? Say again?" Harvey looked up from the files he was rifling through.
"What is your favorite thing about Winter Star?! The baked goods, the presents? Picking out a tree and decorating it? Sledding?! Making snowgoons and igloos?" Maru asked excitedly.
Harvey's brow furrowed as he contemplated Maru's question. His family didn't celebrate growing up. To his parents, Winter Star was just an inconvenient off day from their careers. One where they were forced to spend time with Harvey and his brother instead of at the university where they really wanted to be. It upset him as a child of course. What child wouldn't be sad going back to school and listen to all his friends talk about Winter Star shaped pancakes, hot cocoa and all the gifts they received. But as he got older, he understood that his parents were just not holiday kind of people, but that did not mean that they didn't love him. They showed him their love in other ways, even if they didn't voice it out loud, they kept a roof over his head, food in the fridge and clothes on his back.
"I guess I don't really have anything that I like about Winter Star. We didn't celebrate growing up. It's just another day for me." Harvey replied.
Maru's mouth fell open in pure shock. She could not fathom a life where Winter Star was just another day. She hated the thought of growing up without all their family traditions.
"What! Are you serious?" Maru asked incredulously.
Harvey shrugged his shoulders. At his grand old age of thirty-eight, he was way past over it. (With the help of therapy obviously) The only thing that still seemed a bit difficult, despite trying his best to get over it, was being alone this time of year. The last time he had seen any of his family was five years ago. His parents sent him a card every year, but they were in no hurry to visit or to ask Harvey to visit either. Harvey attended the feast in town dutifully. Sometimes with great difficulty, but it was always a good idea to socialize with the town. When it came down to sit down for dinner with family, Harvey found himself sat at a table with the other unfortunate souls that were alone at the festival.
"That's it! There's one week left until Winter Star and I'm going to make sure that you have the best holiday of your entire life!" Maru declared.
Harvey chuckled nervously, Maru had on that face she usually reserves for when she gets excited about a science experiment. The face that suggests that she will not stop until she does exactly what she said she will do. And now it seems that she has her intentions set on Harvey.
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Harvey walked down the stairs the next morning into a waiting room that was exploding with Winter Star decorations. Harvey gaped as he took a long look around the room to see every inch covered in red tinsel, garland and ornaments hanging from the ceiling. A Winter Star tree stood bare in the corner of the room with a grinning Maru standing right next to it.
"What's all this?" Harvey asked. "You know that key I gave you is for emergencies."
Maru rolled her eyes and handed him a cup of coffee that she picked up from the front counter. Harvey took a sip and instantly recognized the taste of gingerbread, he usually took his coffee black, but he had to admit that this was delicious.
"This IS an emergency! Decorating your first Winter Star tree is important and we only have an hour before you open up for the day!" Maru exclaimed. She turned around quickly to hit play on a small boombox behind her, Classic Winter star music started to play softly, he recognized the jazz version of a popular Winter Star song. When Maru turned back around she was holding a festive sweater that looked to be about Harvey's size and an eager look on her face. Harvey took another swallow of his gingerbread coffee and reached out to take the sweater from her. He set his coffee back down on the counter and shrugged his green jacket off to pull the sweater on. He grimaced as he accidently smushed his glasses against his face, he always did forget to take them off before trying to put shirts or sweaters on.
"Okay, great! However you want to decorate it Harv! Mom always let us go nuts, it didn't matter to her if all the ornaments ended up in just one spot, which they did one year, just as long as we liked what we did!" Maru exclaimed. She drug a box over to him and started to unpack strings of lights and baubles alike.
Harvey's parents never got them a Winter Star tree, but if they had, they would have insisted on every light and ornament be in order and at least 2 inches apart, they would've broken out the ruler and measured just to be sure. Harvey was trying to get over that feeling of everything needing to be perfect especially as he watched Maru start to drape string lights around the tree haphazardly. Harvey hurried forward to grab the string of lights to help her wrap it around the tree. There was no rhyme or reason, no pattern, just trying their best to wrap the tree in lights even if they criss-crossed over each other. The smell of pine filled his nose, the soft jazz holiday music washing over him. Maru hummed along and Harvey found himself tapping his foot to the music as they started to add ornaments. Harvey didn't try to look at the big picture or talk himself out of adding a green bauble next to a green bow, he just followed Maru's suit and filled the tree with as many ornaments and bows that could fit. When there were no more ornaments, they stepped back to admire their work. The tree was an explosion of green, gold, and red and Harvey smiled, his insides felt warm, but he didn't know if it was the holiday spirit or the gingerbread coffee. Perhaps both.
"Last thing to add!" Maru interrupted his thoughts. "Can't forget the star on top! I begged mom to get this one when we were younger, but we haven't used it in years!"
The last thing in her box of decorations was a gold star topper and attached to it with a thin, silver wire was a dark green model plane. Harvey's eyes grew wide as he took in the Father Winter riding in the plane. Maru quickly climbed up the step ladder and before placing it on top of the tree, she flipped a little switch on the bottom of the topper. Maru placed it on top and made her way back down to stand next to Harvey.
Harvey watched as the evergreen plane rotated around their decorated Winter Star tree. Father Winter smiling brightly and a hand raised in the air as if he was waving at them with each rotation. The lights were uneven, there were more gold baubles flocking together than there were red, candy canes lined the bottom, but to Harvey it was perfect. He glanced down at Maru who was looking triumphant, she met his eyes and gave him a huge grin.
Harvey had thought that decorating the tree would have been enough for Maru, but he had been wrong. Later that same night, after he had closed up the clinic, Maru showed up with Winter Star movies and gingerbread house making kits. Maru also unpacked a snowgoon themed pajama set and held them out for Harvey, nodding her head in the direction of the bathroom. Harvey took the hint and hurried to change into them. He appreciated everything that Maru was doing, but Yoba was he sleepy, he had been expecting an early dinner and to pass out before nine p.m., but he didn't want to rain on her parade.
When Harvey came back out, Maru had the first movie playing on his television set and all the supplies laid out on his table. After an hour or so, Harvey was having trouble getting the darn gingerbread house to stay up for longer than a few minutes. Harvey was growing increasingly frustrated at the damn thing. He was half-way tempted to use the glue that he utilized for his model planes. Finally, he was able to successfully keep two walls standing, he looked up triumphantly to show Maru and his mouth fell open when he caught sight of hers. Not only was her house two stories, it had icing shingles, a wrap around porch, pieces of peppermint candy canes to hold up the balcony, she even shattered lollipops and used the pieces to mimic a pathway to the house. Harvey chuckled, he should've known that her imagination and experience coupled with her scientific side would make for a top-notch ginger bread house.
"Great! You're half way there, Harv! look let me show you what I do to help the walls stay up! Sebastian and I have perfected the art of gingerbread houses over the years." Maru said kindly. Harvey watched as she used a cross hatch motion with the icing on the bottom of the gingerbread and on the cardboard he was using, she did the same with the other pieces of cookie and held them down firmly. Harvey had all four walls up in less than ten minutes and working on the roof with Maru's guidance. She popped on the next movie for background noise and told him stories of Winter Star from her childhood, like the time that Sebastian and her tried to stay awake all night to catch Father Winter. They had come up with an elaborate trap that consisted of a plate of cookies sitting on the floor in the middle of a net trap, they had really thought that they were going to catch Father Winter as he stepped out of the fireplace. As hard as they tried to stay awake, they ended up falling asleep and woke up in their respective beds. Along with their presents that year, Sebastian and Maru found a lump of coal under the tree with their names on it along with a note that said 'naughty children'.
"My dad was pretty mad that year, we didn't hear it but later on mom told us that he stepped in my trap and mom had to cut him down, I still can't believe it worked," Maru chortled. Harvey wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as he pictured a dangling Demetrius and Robin giggling as she cut him down.
By that time, Harvey's gingerbread house was complete and though it looked pretty sad compared to Maru's, he still loved it all the same.
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For the rest of that week up until Winter Star, Maru came over every day with different Winter Star activities. One day they built Snow goons and went sledding. Harvey's knees weren't built for the sledding, but she brought Penny and the kids along. Although he was huffing and puffing making it up to the tallest hill they could find, he had to admit that it was great fun sliding down the hill with the kids joyful laughter and listening to them come up with ideas for a snow goon.
"Look Dr. Harvey! It's you!" Vincent shouted as Harvey added the last pebble to complete the smile on his snow goon. He looked over and let out a hoot of laughter.
"It sure is a likeness." Penny giggled softly. The kids had fashioned glasses out of twigs, used moss to create his mustache and added a dark green scarf around the neck. Harvey went and stood next to his twin, Vincent and Jas were in a fit of giggles. He threw his arm around the snow goon and grinned at them. Maru snapped a polaroid of the two and handed it to Harvey who stuck it in his jacket pocket.
It was activities like those that had Maru knocking on his door every day. Ice skating on the pond, decorating the outside of his clinic with string lights and inflatables, making ornaments out of clay. One day he opened his door, and Maru had recruited Penny and Sam to carol for him… before having him join as they caroled for the rest of the town. Harvey trudged along behind them as they excitedly went door to door until they sang for every resident in Pelican Town. Twice for Evelyn.
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Harvey buttoned up his new blue winter coat and adjusted his red tie. This week had been filled with non stop Winter Star activities, he has had a great time, but he was also exhausted. He no longer had the energy he did as a young child, Harvey thought to himself with a loud yawn. He grabbed his gift for Leah from his breakfast table and started to make his way downstairs. Lewis didn’t exactly ask you if you wanted to participate in secret gift-giving, he sent you a letter in the mail who your person was and you were expected to participate. Harvey didn’t mind, he had wrapped up a bottle of wine for Leah and a fresh piece of goat cheese he bought from the farmer along with a loaf of fresh sourdough bread. He opened the clinic door, present in hand to the festivities right outside his door. Sometimes he was inclined to believe that the valley was magic at times like these when he went to bed one night and the next morning there was a 20 foot tree right in the town square. Dinner tables with red, velvet table cloths on either side of the tree, six-foot high candy canes decorated the square, smaller decorated trees around the perimeter, garland circling the light poles and even Pierre’s stand was decorated festively. Harvey made his way over to the tree in the middle of the square to add his present to the stack. He was just about to head over to the smaller dinner tables that he usually sat at for dinner when he heard his name.
“Hey! Over here!” Harvey turned to see who was yelling for him and saw Maru sitting at one of the bigger tables with Penny, Sam, Sebastian, and the farmer. Harvey checked on either side of himself to make sure that they were indeed signaling him over.
“Yes, we’re talking to you Harv!” Maru yelled again. The other diners also started to enthusiastically wave him over.
“Hello everyone,” Harvey said as he approached the table. Everyone said hello and Maru motioned for him to sit next to her. Harvey quickly took a seat and realized he had walked into a friendly debate about Winter Star songs.
“It’s definitely ‘Frosty the Snowgoon’!” Sebastian insisted. Sam shook his head back and forth furiously, bouncing in his seat from the heated debate.
“The best Winter Star song is ‘Last Winter Star’!” Sam shouted. Leah shook her head at the boys arguing, Penny let out a small giggle and the farmer said: “Watch this!”
The farmer put their hands around their mouth mimicking a bullhorn and shouted, “Both those songs suck! It’s Let it snow! or nothing.”
Sam and Sebastian let out shouts of indignation while everyone else laughed at their reactions. Farmer let out a booming laugh and turned to acknowledge Harvey.
“What do you think, Doc? What’s the best Winter Star song of all time?” Their lips turned up at the corners with amusement. Harvey felt his ears heat, he cleared his throat, after a week listening to nothing but holiday music, he felt like he had a say in the matter.
“I’m quite fond of ‘Run Rudolph Run’ myself.” Harvey replied with a glance at Maru who was giggling in her seat.
“Oh fuck, you’re right! That’s such a good one.” Sam exclaimed. “How could I forget about that one?!”
The farmer smiled at him and then passed him a cup of gingerbread coffee; Harvey accepted it with a grin.
“Okay, but can we talk about how creepy ‘Father Winter is coming to town’ actually is? What’s he stalking little kids for.” Sam smacked his palms on the table and looked at all of them wildly. Sebastian nodded solemnly while the rest of them laughed at Sam’s seriousness. The farmer drained the rest of their spiked eggnog in one swig before telling Sam to proceed.
The rest of dinner went much the same, after the song debate they had a debate over the best Holiday movie, then they moved on to holiday TV episodes. They ate Gus’ magnificent Winter Star feast, Harvey in particular stuffed himself until he couldn’t eat one more bite. They laughed and they joked around, partook in more of the farmers eggnog. Harvey has never had a better time at a Winter Star feast. Leah loved her gift from Harvey and to Harvey’s surprise, the farmer was his secret gift-giver. They handed Harvey a basket filled with jars of pickles, each one had a green bow tied around it.
“Wow! Thanks farmer! This is stupendous.” Harvey said gratefully. His face was flush, whether from the effects of the eggnog or the thoughtfulness of the gift, he didn’t know.
“Let me know how you like them, each jar is a different flavor! I’ve been experimenting.” The farmer smirked.
“I’m sure I’ll love them.” Harvey replied. It would have to be a really foul flavor to deter Harvey from his love of pickles.
“Yeah, Maru said they were favorite! Figured, you wouldn’t mind being my guinea pig.” They teased.
“That I do not mind.” Harvey chuckled. He resisted urge to pop a lid right then and indulge on the sour, salty, crunchy, delicious food.
Harvey put the jar back inside the basket and excused himself from the table. He looked around the square until he saw Maru standing in front of the Winter Star tree and made a beeline for her. Maru took her eyes off the tree as he approached and beamed at him.
“I want to thank you Harvey” Maru grinned.
“Me?” Harvey asked incredulously. “Maru, you’re the one who’s spent this entire week trying to recreate Winter Star memories for me. If anything, I should be thanking you! I’ve never had anyone go through so much trouble for me. You made sure that I didn’t spend dinner today alone. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
“It was no trouble at all Harvey! Everyone deserves happy memories and traditions in their life, I’m happy I was able to be a part of that.” Maru smiled. “And while I’m not your secret gift-giver, I did get you one last gift as a thanks for putting up with all my hi-jinks. I know you must be tired at this point, so this is just for you and one other person if you want.”
Maru handed him a red envelope sealed with a gold wax emblem. Harvey shook his head in disbelief and let out a chuckle.
“You’ve done more than enough for me, you didn’t have to get me a gift too.” Harvey said.
“Just open it!” Maru insisted. She was practically vibrating with excitement.
Harvey broke the wax seal carefully and took out the contents, two tickets to an air show at the aviator museum in Zuzu city next Saturday! Harvey’s eyes grew wide, his head snapped up to look at Maru.
“Wha-?”
“I remembered that you weren’t able to make it to the last airshow because you got sick with the flu! I called the museum, and they just happened to be doing another show next weekend. I got you two tickets, just in case you wanted to ask someone to go with you… you know, like the farmer?” Maru winked.
Harvey snuck a glance back at their table where the farmer was listening animatedly to Sam’s name ideas for his new band. Harvey blushed when they suddenly looked up and met Harvey’s gaze and smiled.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Harvey coughed. Maru smirked at him, a knowing look in her eye.
“Either way, you can go alone, or you can invite whoever.” Maru giggled. “I just happen to know that the farmer loves going to museums.”
“Maybe I can ask them then.” Harvey blushed. “Thanks Maru.”
Maru threw her arms around her friend and truly hoped that she made a difference in his life and here’s to hoping that they could continue at least one Winter Star tradition together for years to come.
Harvey hugged Maru back, smiling at the enormous Winter Star tree behind her, the gingerbread men that adorned the windows of his clinic, at the smell of hot chocolate and marshmallows. It wasn’t the decorations or presents that has made this holiday season an unforgettable one, but the fact that someone wanted to do all of this for him. That in the end all that mattered was family and the people you chose to spend the day with. Before this year, he always felt like he had no family, no one who cherished his company, but now he knew that was far from the truth.