The magic of a childhood Christmas

[Jacob King]

"Stephen!" a familiar voice called out from several tens of meters away, reminding the boy that his dad was here right now and that he'd once again forgotten his instructions.
"I'll be right back," he said as he quickly turned around and hurried over to his father.
"Daddy, I want to help decorate the tree," Stephen reminded him as he reached the group of adults by the lights. He was speaking fast, eager to get back.
"Yes, I remember. But they appear to be done with it. I'm sorry, mate, but you stayed in the tent so long," Jacob answered gently. "Would you help me with this string of lights, just wrap it around this piece of cartboard as I untangle it," he asked though more of a task given to do than a suggestion to say no to.
"But--" Stephen began, staring up at his father, not really sure what he could say as he certainly could not speak of the star.

"I know it's not that fun, but I could really use your help," Jacob stated, trying to sound as if a little boy would be by far the best for this job. The man had observed his boy as the child had emerged from the tent, initially expecting him to head straight over but then after a while concluded he had a certain top decoration in mind. And there were no ladders in sight so he knew exactly what the scamp was thinking. Jacob had nothing against his son climbing trees as long as he didn't go too high up, but all the way to the top would be exactly that. Besides, even large spruce branches were too different from a maple tree or such and would not be safe for a little boy to climb with his short legs and still developing sense of balance--even as skilled as one might be. He also remembered Stephen had put on a pair of sneakers that had nearly smooth soles.

"Oh. Okay..." Stephen sighed and took the piece, disappointed but trying not to look and sound suspiciously much so, and looked back at Sam's direction. He wondered if Sam would use his idea without him. The possibility bothered him because it was his idea and he really wanted to do it, but on the other hand he felt that if it couldn't be him someone of the kids should get to do what he considered to be the best part of Christmas tree decorating.
"Thank you, Stephen," Jacob said cheerfully, He'd been fairly certain this distraction would work, the boy tended to be extra helpful just before Christmas. "After this, we'll think of something fun to do together. What else have you been looking forward to?"  he added in an effort to lift the little one's spirit.

[Samuel Connor Rees]

Before they could spring into action Stephen's dead came and called Stephen to him. Stephen said he will be right back, but even after some waiting he wasn't. Sam didn't hear them, but saw Stephen helping his dad. Typical. Why couldn't Sam's dad be here too? This was suppose to be their day. The plan was to spent some time together, do some fun stuff, but instead his dad was just talking to his friends somewhere. And now even Stephen left him. This wasn't fair!
There wasn't nothing wise about what he was going to do, but he decided! He will get their attention. He took of his cap and stuffed the star in his cap and hold it with his teeth. He will need both hands to climb the tree. He checked if his gloves were on well and jumped at the tree. It wasn't at all pleasant, the needles were stabbing him into face, but elsewhere he was protected by his clothes. And he started to climb. He was used to climb trees, but this one was different, and not the good way. They may have been some people yelling at him, but he didn't hear.
Sam was determined to climb the tree! He had good shoes, fingered gloves that didn't slide and he really really wanted to show Stephen and his dad. What were probably just a minute or two felt longer, but he finally reached the top. Sam held the tree with one hand and with other he pulled up the star from his cap. He yanked it onto the top of the tree with all the strength he could muster with just one of his hands.
"YES! I DID IT!" he yelled in his moment of triumph, loudly enough for both Stephen and his dad to hear it. While yelling his cap fell out of his mouth. He looked where it go and look down. He should've done that, the tree was way higher then it looked. In that moment his head start to spin. He really didn't know what happened. He heard a voice yelling "SAMMY!" and then he was lying on the ground, looking into the sky...

[Jacob King]

It all happened so fast and Jacob was focused on untangling the lights while keeping half an ear on his son's responses. Stephen was already running towards the tree before Jacob fully registered that his boy's new mate had taken upon himself to execute what he believed had been in Stephen's mind--and had the exact fate he feared his boy would have had. The man hurried after him, fearing the worst. That kind of a fall from more than three meters high could easily cause serious damage to the brain, and/or spinal cord, and be even deadly! People have downright died falling off just their bed and landing just the wrong way. Such was the fragility of a human body.

He reached Stephen just as the boy disappeared among the people who'd began crowding around.
"Okay, okay. Move back, people--no need to crowd and possibly injure him further," Jacob ordered before he even knew the extent of the damage. "Crowding him doesn't help. Has someone already left to call an ambulance?"
Of course he had no authority over anybody but his boy here in this kind of a situation, not now that he was off-duty and there hadn't even been any kind of criminal activity, but the instincts of a police officer on a scene of accident with curious crowds around just came naturally and for that very reason his voice was extremely commanding without sounding hostile and made most of the adults and children take a few steps back, giving better room for whom Jacob assumed was the boy's father, to deal with the situation.
Jacob picked up his son into his arms, when the boy was visible to him again and he reached him. Of course there was no danger to him but Jacob couldn't help the overwhelming urge to protect him anyway. From that fate. Not that he actually thought Stephen would try and climb the tree now, especially with his daddy right there but probably just with Sam's situation too. The boy was not quite that reckless.
"How bad does it seem?" Jacob asked, looking down at the man and the boy who at least appeared to be alive and conscious.

[Samuel Connor Rees]

Sam was lying on the ground, his head still spinning. He didn't feel pain, but more importantly he didn't quite feel anything. Everything was too hazy. Sam wasn't stupid though. He probably had to bump his head while landing. There were a lot of people standing around, but they were faceless.
"What happened?" he asked but wasn't even sure if the words came out of him. Sam noticed his dead right next to him. He had to be there for some time now, he was speaking, but Sam didn't understand what he was saying.
What were probably seconds felt like eternity, before the details started to sharpened and he finally started to hear something.
"... it hurt somewhere? Are you ok? Don't move if you feel pain." he heard him saying, he heard some other person calling an ambulance. He never saw his dad panicking so much.
"I am so sorry daddy... please don't be mad." Sam's eyes started to water. He messed it all up.
"I am fine..." Sam quickly added and tried to lift his weight with his arms noticing he couldn't. A sharp pain went through his left arm.
"Auch... it... it hurts..." the pain shocked him a bit. His hand started to swell.
"Shhhh... everything will be fine." dad told him, helping him to sit up very carefully. 
"Does it hurt somewhere else?"  he asked. Sam just shook his head.
"Be brave, hold your arm like this and don't move it, ok? It will be all good in a moment, I promise." dad promised. Sam just held his arm like dad said, sobbing quietly and trying to keep a brave face. 
Ethan finally turned his head to the man speaking at him. 
"I think he broke his arm... but he seems fine otherwise... will the ambulance be here soon?" the last part was an open question for everyone. He heard someone calling it.

[Jacob King]

 "My husband left a few moments ago, we live right across the street," a woman replied. "He's probably calling it right now, so I think it should be here in two or three minutes," she reckoned, as the nearest general hospital was four or five minutes drive away in a non-emergency vehicle. Jacob moved away from the crowd, still carrying his boy on his hip, who still looked unhappy and worried.
"Don't worry, Stephen, the doctors will check him up and fix whatever needs fixing. He's conscious which is a very good sign. I think he'll be fine. And it wasn't your fault, darling, Sam chose to do it all by himself," the man consoled, thinking the boy might feel bad if the climbing indeed was his idea. Of course there could be serious internal injuries not obvious right now. Some level of concussion would be certain after that hard fall. But still, the boy was lucky to have witnesses to the fall and thus medical attention available very soon. He had faith that the child would be fine.
"Do you think he would have been saved if he was a wizard?" Stephen pondered, at ease now, peeking at the scene from behind Jacob's arm.
"No," Jacob replied somewhat sternly and looked down at the child in his arms, "And don't you ever, ever try that."
"I won't," the boy promised quickly but sincerely. Actually, Jacob wasn't sure if accidental magic would help at all, but he didn't want to encourage the idea by even an I-don't-know answer. He thought it was likelier it wouldn't help, because though the fall was long it wasn't quite long enough for the person to realize what was happening and therefore not enough time to trigger a spell. Unless of course the person was constantly fearing that they might fall but children this young usually didn't concern themselves with such matters.
"How about you and I go do some Christmas shopping?" Jacob suggested, gently now, wishing to distract his son from the scary situation as they walked towards the main gate leading to Benhill Road.
"Yeah! Can we go to Diagon Alley?" Stephen responded with sparkling eyes and all the excitement of a little boy and a chance to get new toys.
"I was thinking we'd stay here in Sutton. But sure, why not," he stated, considering for a moment more and then--after turning left from the gate and making sure no muggles were in line of sight--he apparated away, a second later standing with his son on Charing Cross Road, in a small alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. It was always risky, of course, but the best possible option seeing to that one could not apparate directly on to either the Leaky Cauldron or Diagon Alley. And well, muggles who hung out in alley ways were usually not paying attention, or were drunk and people in such state seeing people popping up out of thin air wasn't such a big deal. He carried Stephen still, but put him down when finally stepping into the inn through the front door. There were some magical stuff he had been meaning to get for some of his friends and family, anyway. They were meaning to visit Diagon Alley on Christmas Eve, but better to do most of the shopping before that.

[Samuel Connor Rees]

The haze was finally gone but with it came the pain. It was bearable as long as he didn't move even a little. Even the slightest move shot strong impulses of pain from his hand. But his daddy was there with him, holding him, comforting him. Somehow, it almost seemed worth it, in a strange sense. He heard his daddy talking to some lady, thanking her for something before he turned his gaze back to Sam.
"Don't worry Sammy, the ambulance will be here soon and then everything will be fine, just stay brave, ok?" his dad said with a calming voice. 
Sam just nodded slowly, trying his best to keep the tears in, only sobbing quietly. Thanks to all the pain he completely forgot about Stephen! 
"B...but what about Stephen? I wanted to invite him to come and play with me, with us..." he said, not realizing, that his dad had no idea who Stephen is. Sam was quite sad about that. He finally made a friend and it everything went downhill because of... this. 
Fortunately, Ethan wasn't stupid and easily put two and two together. 
"Don't worry about that now. Once you are out of hospital we will ask this Stephen to come over and you can play all you want. Deal?" at this moment he would probably promise his son everything, to keep as calm as possible. 
"Deal." Sam tried to smile, though the pain changed his smile into a weird smirk instead. 
Fortunately, there was a sound of an ambulance in distance, getting louder every moment.

[Jacob King]

The next day came quickly, even for Stephen a Freya's young and eager minds. The family played muggle games enchanted with some magic as they found them often much more fun than what the wizarding shops had to offer. Stephen and Freya's favourite games to enchant was Barrel of Monkeys--to make the monkeys come alive. Though often that made the game too challenging, but then again somebody always won.

After lunch, around two in the afternoon, the Kings joined to the party which was planned to last from one to five and Father Christmas to arrive around three o'clock.
"He's not here yet?" Freya asked, sounding disappointed when not spotting the familiar jolly man with a beard so snowy white.
"No, it'll be another hour or so but there's plenty of fun here to pass the time until then," Carrie said, though sure their 3-year old could not really grasp the concept of time. "How about we go see what's in the tent," she suggested as she crouched down by her daughter and let go of her hand.
"Stephen, remember now, do not leave the tent without mummy.," Jacob reminded,, not letting go of their son's hand yet though the boy was eagerly pulling forward. He too was still excited to meet Father Christmas and hopefully Rudolph but right now he just wanted to see if Sam had come even with his broken arm. To see if he still wanted to build a snowman or perhaps even a castle if there ever would be snow this winter. The boy also wanted to show him some of the fun stuff daddy had bought him from Diagon Alley yesterday. This time he hadn't said anything about it to his parents, knowing they would likely say no. Even though they kept the most obvious magical toys away from even them and only let them play with them when supervised. 

"Yes, yes, I will," Stephen promised and hurried off when Jacob finally let go.
"There's a kitty cat!" he exclaimed as he just noticed a brown tabby cat by the tent door, lying there, excitedly pawing at the bell in the tip of a red elf hat that someone had secured on its head with a string. This got the little girl running too, for at the top of her Christmas Wish List was a kitten. Carrie followed the children, pacing quickly.

[Samuel Connor Rees]

Sam remembered little from the entire ordeal. He went to the hospital with the hand still hurting, his dad was with him the entire way. Once they arrived to the hospital they helped him changed into some hospital clothes and then they took him to a big clean looking room and after that? Nothing. He woke up in a hospital room with his hand in a cast. His arm still hurt, but less. For the briefest moment he panicked, before noticing his dad sleeping in a chair. He probably sat there the entire night. Had to be, because there was daylight coming in from the window. He really didn't want to wake his daddy up, partially because he was afraid, that he will be angry at him.
It felt like a long time, though it was probably just a half an hour before a nurse came in.
"Good morning, how do you feel?" she asked him quietly, so not to disturb his sleeping dad.
"Hello" he answered a bit sheepishly. "My hand hurt a bit." he said.
She nodded, it was understandable. He landed badly on his hand, fracturing it spirally. It seemed like he will have the cast for at least a month, if not longer. She just ended up assuring him, that the pain will go away soon and that someone will bring him some breakfast shortly.
"Are you fine, Sammy? Does it hurt?" dad asked once the nurse left. Her arrival had to woke him up.
"Morning daddy. It hurts only a little. I am so sorry daddy." he said sadly. He understood that he made daddy worried.
"The most important thing is, that you'll be fine. They should let us leave today, we will take a taxi home. We have Christmas to prepare to after all." he said. He wasn't angry at all, just worried.
It took some time before they got back home. By that time the pain was mostly gone and Sam was back to his cheerful self. The cast on his hand barely bothered him and he pretended like it was a battle wound. They had a lot of things to do, things that they should've done yesterday. And since Sammy was even smaller help then usual it was one hell of a hectic day, especially if they wanted to be at the party in time. But surely enough, when the party was about the start they both arrived. Fashionably early... if such thing even existed

[Stephen Hunter King]

Jacob stayed behind to chat with his next-door neighbours, a kind elderly couple who had become fond of their children in the past six months. This had worked out nicely as the couple's children and grandchildren lived far away and theý didn't visit very often whilst all of Stephen and Freya's grandparents had passed away long ago. Of course they didn't leave their children alone in the care of any strangers but they had started to build a warm, friendly relationship as neighbours and friends pretty much from day one.

The rest of the family reached the tent, Freya and Carrie stopped at the door to pet the kitty and Stephen hurried in. He liked cats but was more of a dog person and right now makinghuman friends was more important to him.
"Sam?" he called out, looking around for a familiar face. He had spotted children outside too, playing games, but chose to check the tent first as it was where he'd met Sam yesterday. The tent was quite full of children playing indoor games like Christmas Carol Pictionary, Christmas movie trivia, and Pin the Nose on Rudolph, or decorading gingerbread biscuits and sugar biscuits which were collected into a little basket to be given to Father Christmas.

[Samuel Connor Rees]

It started very similar to the last time. Once they arrived, dad told Sam that he needs to talk with "the others" but this time he promised, it won't be that long. Sam promised he will be careful this time. By the time he started to explore the place was full of people. And Stephen had to be among them... somewhere. The cast on his arm didn't bother him much. Fortunately it didn't hurt anymore and while he wasn't happy about it it wasn't something to frown upon either. To be honest his biggest worry was, that with just one arm he can't possibly open presents and he will have to ask dad for help.
As he was closing on the tent he heard his name being called. Normally Sam would run, but with the cast the young boy felt like he shouldn't. With that he waved with his other arm and walked closer quickly. By the time he arrived he couldn't find Stephen anywhere. He had to enter the tent. Inside he saw a lot of fun activities he normally would enjoy... not so much with the cast. It appeared that the stupid thing would be a bigger problem than he initially thought. Being distracted for a moment he didn't even notice, that Stephen is standing just few steps away.
"Hi there." he said as he came a bit closer. Sam wasn't quite sure how will Stephen react. After all he tried to finish their plan on his own and... well it didn't end well...