CHAPTER TWELVE~

As a rule of thumb, when you get charged by a reindeer, run to the side, don't stand stock-still. You probably won't win.

Dion obviously didn't know that rule. He simply stood there and watched slack-jawed as the reindeer charged.

So, Sydney had to take the reins on this one. She also charged at Dion and screamed out battle cries as she ran. With her arms out, she tackled Dion just milliseconds before the reindeer trampled the spot Dion was just in. Sydney landed hard on top of Dion as they fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Her cheekbone hit his shoulder, her stomach was hit by Dion's sharp hipbone and her hands were trapped beneath him.

She lay there for a moment, catching her breath. It really was exhausting to yell. Finally, she realized their position and she shoved him away from her as she scrambled up. Her face was redder than the blood-red jacket hanging from the calm reindeer in the corner.

When had he become so calm?

Sydney shrugged and approached the beast, holding out a gingerbread cookie from a nearby plate.

"Here you go lovely," she coaxed as she held out the treat. "Want a gingerbread cookie?"

The reindeer snorted softly and followed her. Once he was close enough, she removed the jacket from around his antlers and allowed him to eat the cookie. His nose snuffled her hands gently as he crunched down on the cookie.

"Dion! Toss over another cookie!" she hissed. Dion, who was staring at Sydney with wide eyes nodded dumbly and threw over another cookie.

Sydney caught it, thankfully, and held it in front of the reindeer. He looked at her with his soulful eyes and followed her. Sydney led him out the front door and into the blistering cold. She shivered since she was only clad in a thin sweater and jeans. The reindeer kept in close pursuit.

"Good boy," Sydney murmured, daring to pet his thick coat. She made sure to lead him a fair distance away. By the time she deemed herself far enough, her fingers were frozen and she couldn't feel her toes. She dropped the cookie on the ground and ran back into Sugar Sweet Café as quickly as she could. Sydney entered the café and slammed the door behind her, locking the fort for good measure.

"How did a reindeer get over here? And how did you do that?" Dion asked once she turned around. He was busy straightening everything.

"Who knows?" Sydney muttered as she hugged herself tightly. Shivers wracked her body and her fingers were red from the cold.

"Jeez Syd! You're freezing!" Dion exclaimed, rushing over.

Sydney let out a breathy laugh as another shiver caused her whole body to convulse. Dion frowned and grabbed his thick, fleece-lined hoodie. He ordered her to lift her arms and jammed the hoodie over her sweater. He grabbed her winter jacket and pulled it around Sydney. Then, he ran to the drink machine and filled up a cup of hot chocolate.

"Here Syd, drink it. Be careful, it's really hot."

Sydney chattered out a brief thanks and sipped at the scalding drink. Her fingers wrapped around the mug carefully, absorbing the warmth it offered. Dion was wondering how she would react if he hugged her. Transferring his body warmth was probably the fastest way to warm her up. But she had confessed to liking him. A shiver lanced its way down his spine as a small smile lifted one corner of his lips. He quickly turned away from her and began shifting the tables and chairs into one corner while stacking the rest away.

It was a good thing they had to host the Christmas celebration tomorrow. The chairs and tables that had been knocked down by the reindeer and Dion could simply be put away. Any dents or scratches could be explained after Christmas.

"I am never doing that again," Sydney said, once she was sufficiently warm.

"That, my dear Syd, would be a very smart idea," Dion turned back from the chairs he was stacking and offered her a lopsided smile.

"Where do you think it came from?" she asked.

"I have no clue."

At that moment, a knocking came from the closed door. Sydney and Dion exchanged horrified looks.

"He's back to kill us," Dion rasped dramatically as he raced to check the door. "Or not!"

There was a man at the door, wringing his hands worriedly.

"Hello sir! How may I help you?" Dion asked cheerily.

"Hi son, this might sound weird but have you seen any loose reindeer around? My fence broke a few miles up the road and a few reindeer escaped. I'm still missing one of them."

Dion's mouth dropped as his eyes spotted the trailer attached to a huge pickup in the parking lot. "Errr... yeah, my friend let one of your reindeer into the café and eventually... it left... with the help of some gingerbread cookie," Dion's voice lowered at the last part.

"Well, his name is Gingerbread. He happens to like the cookie a lot. We don't feed it to him often. Sometimes a small piece at Christmas. How much did you give him?" the man asked, chuckling lightly.
Dion grinned, "Syd gave him two cookies. I hope he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine. Thank you for your help. Gingerbread didn't cause too much harm did he?"

"Ah... it was alright."

"Thanks again!" the man waved and walked off towards his truck. "Merry Christmas son!"

"Merry Christmas sir!"

Dion returned to the café and grinned. "Well Sydney, I figured out why we found a reindeer wandering around the town."

"Yeah?" Sydney looked up from her drink.

"Yeah. There's a man who owns some reindeer, he lives a few miles down the road and they escaped through a broken fence."

"Oh."

"Yup! Oh and his name was Gingerbread because he likes eating gingerbread cookies."

"And I guess that explains why he liked me so much," Sydney said with a little smug smile.

"So... you're a reindeer whisperer?" Dion asked, grinning innocently.

Sydney shot him a glare and he simply laughed in reply.

<<∞>>

"Do you need any more help?" Sydney offered once the rest of the Gallenger family got home.

"Yes, one more thing!" Kaila chirped enthusiastically. "Sugar cookie decoration. And then, we eat a few things to sample it and make sure it tastes fine."

"By that she means, eat as much as you can and screw dinner," Dion whispered into Sydney's ear. Sydney's eyes widened and she shot away from Dion faster than a speeding bullet.

Kaila and Dion both laughed at her response and Sydney shook her head, trying (and failing) to stop the blush from rising in her cheeks.

"You scared me, you ass," Sydney grumbled.

"Oh yeah Syd, did you like my creation?" Kaila asked suddenly. Sydney offered up a curious look. "The red paint spill? I turned it into something else."

Sydney glanced over at the floor by the mural she had helped paint. True to Kaila's words, the red paint splotch on the ground was something else entirely. She had painted a Santa Claus hat on the ground. A big, fat, slightly disproportionate Santa Claus hat.

Sydney smiled, nodding her approval. "Nice Kaila. It's really pretty."

"Thanks! Now? The cookies?"

And with those words, everyone tromped to the kitchen.

Kaila and Sydney chopped the chilled cookie dough logs into even slices while the other three worked on finishing the various yule logs. Once they had begun baking the first batch, Kaila and Sydney sat on two chairs, talking.

"So, you like my brother?" Kaila said, without beating around the bush.

Sydney blushed and, knowing the blush had given her away, nodded. "Yeah."

"Awwww, honestly, you guys are the cutest."

"Thanks? I think."

"You confessed to him already, yes he told me. But, you going to do anything about it?"

Sydney sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose gently. "I'm already trying to get over him. It's not working at all."

Kaila smiled, "I kind of noticed."

"Thanks."

"You could always try going with the flow of things you know?"

"I've tried that for like four years. Look where that got me?"

Kaila's eyes widened and Sydney nodded. "Wow. That's a long time."

"He's taken over enough of my thoughts. It's not healthy for me and I'm getting rid of these irritating feelings."

"You didn't have to confess to him you know?"

"I know. But I figured it'd give me some closure so I can properly move on with my life."

"I see. So, why exactly are you here instead of at home, watching horror movies or distracting yourself from your feelings?"

"One, I'm stupid and a selfish idiot. Two, I don't do horror. Three, I don't even know why," Sydney answered easily.

"You're not an idiot. Maybe it's a bit selfish and maybe it's not the greatest thing to do but you've done it. What do you want to do now to fix this problem?" Kaila asked as she moved to the oven and switched the trays so they could make evenly.

"I don't know."

"Whatever happens, you can always talk to me and I promise not to tell Dion anything alright?" Kaila offered with a gentle smile. "Sometimes it helps to talk things out."

Sydney had the sense that Kaila's last words packed more meaning than the surface value. "Thanks Kaila. Maybe I will."

"Good."

"Hey... Kaila?" Sydney asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly happened to cause you to... uhhhh," Sydney trailed off awkwardly.

"Freak out when the Christmas tree burned?" Kaila interrupted knowingly. Sydney nodded. "I was in an accident a long time ago. It brought back unwanted memories," she replied shortly.

Sydney nodded, accepting the answer for what it was. Kaila turned to the stove again and took out the first batch of cookies.

"Lay these out on the cooling racks and wash your hands. Then, help me lay out another batch," Kaila instructed as she placed a huge tray of sugar cookies onto a mat.

Sydney took the cookies and quickly transferred them onto the cooling racks. After a thorough hand wash, she quickly placed the raw cookies onto the hot tray. Kaila popped the new batches into the oven and began preparing the icing. By the time she was done, the cookies were cool.

She handed Sydney a bag of icing and showed her how to ice the cookies then add sprinkles.

"Feel free to draw a little character or something on the cookies if you're good at drawing with icing. You can make different patterns with the icing as well. Knock yourself out."

Hours later, when night was falling, they finished making the cookies and the yule logs were all done.

Sydney helped with the cleanup –she refused to leave until she had helped with the cleanup –and then they were ready to try out the food.

Kaila quickly grabbed a sugar cookie, one with a blue snowflake inked onto it by Sydney and popped it in her mouth, chewing quickly.
"You dead yet sis?" Dion teased.

Kaila sent him a deadly glare. "No, I'm not because I made these and I have baking skills, unlike you. I don't know about the logs though..." she trailed off devilishly as she gestured to the logs Dion had made.

Dion looked beyond insulted. Kaila winked at her brother and motioned to Sydney, who quickly followed in Kaila's footsteps. She bit down on the cookie and munched away. The delicate cookie crumbled in her mouth and filled her senses with a delicate, sweet taste.

"That," she said, "Was beautiful."

The Gallenger family burst out in cheers and applause.

"Mission accomplished!" Mrs. Gallenger whooped.
They cut up a chocolate yule log and offered Sydney the first slice. She took a bit and another smile spread across her face. "Urg, can I just eat this for life? It's so good!"

Dion smiled smugly as he took a slice for himself.

"I'd say the secret treats for this year are well done," Mr. Gallenger commented as he bit into yet another sugar cookie.

When Sydney finally got sent home, she had a whole yule log in hand as well as a box of sugar cookies. The Gallengers had insisted that she take some home for her family since she had helped make them.

"Bye Sydney!" Dion yelled as she got into her mother's car. "Don't feed anymore reindeer!"

She laughed and nodded. "Only if you don't get charged by another reindeer."

Dion grinned and nodded his assent. "See you tomorrow then?"

"Maybe."

"It'll be fun!"

"I'm sure of that much."

"So? Tomorrow?" he pressed hopefully.

Sydney sighed, "Yeah, yeah whatever."

A/N~
Alright! We're almost there! Two, maybe three chapters left. I didn't go over the thirty days by that much. This novel will be done within a week. One update per day. Then, maybe another book? Possibly.
~CB