Zach and Shaun make Cody's reindeer costume for the Christmas play.
Title: Making Christmas Memories
Author: rendrag45
Holiday Fest 2008 Entry
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Whole movie
Mood: Fun!
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Shelter ( but wish I did)!
"Shaun! Hey, Shaun!” Zach yelled from the workroom. “C’mere a minute!”
Shaun was greeted by Zach’s sweet behind sticking up out of a huge, brown cardboard box affectionately termed the “You never know” box. Being of an artistic temperament, Zach never threw away anything that had an ounce of potential in it. Thus, every little scrap of fur, velvet, ribbon, gold or silver foil, colorful paper or cloth eventually found its way into the “You never know” box where it nested with all the other dibs and dabs of possibility until one day the creativity muse struck Zach and he went box-diving in search of just the perfect piece of trash. Tonight his arms were flailing in the box, slinging items hither and yon, all in search of one little, fuzzy red ball he had saved off a Christmas card last year. This was the moment for which the ball was made. It would become the coup d’etat of Cody’s Rudolph costume!
“What d’you need, Babe?”, Shaun asked as he walked in, playfully smacked Zach on the butt, and settled himself on Zach’s old painting stool, the one thing Zach had to bring with him from San Pedro. He’d spent many hours sitting on that stool out on the patio where the looming specter of the bridge and the ships and heavy machinery in the harbor had inspired him to draw with impeccable precision and captivating imagination. He and this stool understood one another; the stool carried literally thousands of paint specs from Zach’s brushes, and was almost museum-worthy in itself. Shaun couldn’t possibly ask him to leave it behind.
All of a sudden, Shaun realizes someone is missing from this party. “Where’s Cody? He should have some input into this whole thing. After all, he’s the one who volunteered to be a reindeer when the teacher asked.
Hey, Codes! Where are you?” Shaun yelled. Within ten seconds, Cody was standing by him, stark naked and dripping wet.
“I was in the shower, Uncle Shaun. What d’you want?” Cody asked.
“First of all, I want you to march right back into the bathroom, dry yourself off real well, then put on your pj’s, then get back here to help us with your costume for Saturday night.” When Cody ran out of the room Shaun could hear Zach laughing from somewhere deep in the box. He had to join in; they never knew what Cody would do next. He was such a good little boy, but sometimes he just got so enthused, he lost track of what he was doing - like jumping out of the shower and running into the living room bare-assed naked without a care in the world. There wasn’t a day went by without a special “Cody Moment” in it.
In two minutes flat Cody came back, dressed this time in his favorite pj’s with pictures of dolphins on them. Cody was stuck on dolphins this month; last month it had been starfish and the month before, everything was dinosaurs. Shaun had a mental picture of the state of the bathroom after this little hurricane finished showering. Oh, well, another joy of parenthood, Shaun thought.
Finally Zach’s upper torso and head appeared from the box, then his hands loaded with items of question, including a little, red fuzzy ball which Zach flourished in front of Shaun’s eyes. “Voila! A Nose! Rudolph’s Nose!” Shaun had to admit it was a fine nose. The only thing missing was a light. “I guess you’re thinking it needs a light in it, aren’t you?” Zach asked, as if reading Shaun’s mind.
“Well, yeah, that thought did pass my mind.” Shaun replied. “Don’t tell me you’ve thought of a way to light it up!?”
“Of course I have”, Zach answered. “You think I would let any kid of mine dress up as Rudolph without a BLINKING red nose? Well, think again. Remember that old Valentine’s Day heart pin we got last year at “Chuckie Cheese”? You didn’t think I threw that away, did you?”, Zach teased. “You never know when something like that will come in handy, so into the box it went. And today! It’s its time to shine once again.” Zach slowly advanced towards Cody, speaking in a high-pitched, mock-threatening tone. “I’ll just glue the red fuzzy ball onto the heart and we have a blinking nose!” Closer and more “menacing” he came. “Then, I’ll just glue it onto Cody’s nose, and…"
“No!”. yelled Cody, jumping up and flinging himself into Shaun’s arms. “Save me, save me, Uncle Shaun. Don’t let him glue my nose! Pleeease!” Such a cry of distress was a sure signal for a good bout of tickle, so Shaun rose to the occasion with Zach joining in to make it a free-for-all worthy of any family making love-memories.