None of these characters belong to me, but I'm open to buying them!!! LOL…also, I don't have the rights to either of the songs in this story, I just wanted to have some fun…
Comments are greatly appreciated. And, I'm sorry that there are no lyrics to "My Grown Up Christmas List" but my computer is not running properly, and I could not look them up, and I wanted to get this in before time was up for Christmas!

My Grown Up Christmas List

by

Casey
(SingC25@aol.com)

"Whaddaya mean there's no such thing as Santa???Of *course* there's a Santa!" Fran tried to convince young Grace, but she was wise beyond her years.

"Fran, There's *no* such thing! Stop trying to convince me!" Gracie yelled as she stomped up the stairs.

Fran was bewildered as to why a six year old wouldn't believe in Santa. She threw her arms in the air and trotted into the kitchen, where she found Maxwell sipping his coffee at the counter.

"Uh, Mista Sheffield, can I tawk to ya?" Fran asked.

Max looked into the air for a second, as if to think about her question. "Yes, I suppose Miss Fine. What is it?"

"Will ya marry me?" She looked at him with a smile.

Maxwell's coffee came like a tidal wave out of his mouth. His face was overcome with shock. "Excuse me??!!" He demanded.

Fran raised her eyebrow. "Just making sure ya were listening...but is that really your reaction? We're gonna need to work on that." She joked.

Max brushed off his jacket, and ran a hand through his thick black hair. "Oh, now what is it Miss Fine?" She heard the annoyance in his voice.

She perched herself in her usual position on the edge of the counter that Max was standing at before she answered his question. "It's ya daughter."

"Oh No. What did Margaret do now?" He looked at her inquisitivley.

"Oy, not her. Ya otha daughter. Gracie." Fran corrected.

"Grace?" Max was confused now.

"She doesn't believe in Santa Claus." She stated.

Maxwell looked into Fran's big chocolate brown eyes for a second, before he went weak in the knees and had to look back down. "And...?" He said weakly.

"Whaddaya mean 'And'? Ya don't see a problem here?" She was quite serious.

"Well, you *know* Grace is wise beyond her years, and she kind of figured it out for herself."

"Uh-huh." Fran nodded her head. "And what exactly do ya mean 'kinda'?" She asked, doing her best to impersonate him, and not succeeding.

"Well, she asked..."

"And ya *told* her? What the hell is the matter with you?! Telling a *child* that there's no such thing as Santa?!" She screamed.

"You are the *nanny*! You have no right to tell *me* how to raise *my* children!" He argued.

"Oh! You are so *mean*!" She yelled her child-like comeback, and stormed up the stairs.

****

The living room was only half decorated, and Niles, the butler, was standing at the Christmas tree with a large amount of ornaments at his feet. He hated this. He had to decorate a Christmas tree all by himself *every* year. Meanwhile…it would give him a chance to sing his heart out. He loved to sing, and he certainly could belt out a tune…

Niles finished his song, and whirled around to find Fran standing at the foot of the stairs clapping and smiling. He jumped. He had no idea that she had been standing there. "Oh, Miss Fine, you scared the hell out of me!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry Niles, but ya know I can't resist it when ya start singing…" She explained herself.

Fran took a seat on the couch and looked at Niles. "Can I ask ya a question Niles?"

"Only if ya help me with this." He said, eying the half-decorated tree.

"Alright…ya know, I neva got to decorate a tree when I was little. It might be kinda fun."

"Fun…" Niles muttered under his breath.

"Aw, Niles…" Fran complained.

"It's just, decorating the tree…it's supposed to be with family…friends…and none of the kids want to do it anymore, Mr. Sheffield's always at work, and that leaves me…" Niles actually sounded sad.

"Wow Niles, I've never seen this side of ya before." Fran said.

"Yeah, well…" Niles snapped himself out of it. "Now what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Fran placed an ornament on the tree, and peered through the branches at Niles. "Gracie doesn't believe in Santa."

"I see…"

"Why does everyone keep saying that like it's no big deal?! The girl is *six*!" She exploded.

"Calm down Miss Fine. I didn't say it was no big deal."

"Oh, sorry, I kinda get carried away sometimes…and now I'm scared."

"Scared?" Niles asked.

"Well," Fran cocked an eyebrow, "Yeah, because I sounded like my mother!"

Niles smirked at her comment, and turned back to the tree.

"I want her to believe in Santa…say Niles…do ya think…" Fran's imagination was running, she had an idea.

Niles spun around, eyebrow in the air. "Me? Dress up as Santa? You gotta be kidding me." Niles said, half not meaning to mock how Fran really talked.

"Why not?!" she whined.

"Oh, come on Miss Fine, you don't honestly think Grace would fall for that! She's much to smart to be tricked that way." He said as he bent a branch for an ornament to rest on.

"I guess you're right, Niles. But I feel so bad! Mr. Sheffield *told* her that there was no Santa! What kind of father does that? And since I didn't celebrate Christmas as a child, I always thought that I had been bad, because Santa neva came to our house." Fran meant what she said, and felt deeply about what she believed for Grace.

"Hmm…" It was Niles' turn to come up with an idea. "We'll think of something."

Fran and Niles decorated the rest of the tree together, and took a step back to admire their work.

"Doesn't it look fabulous?!" Fran exclaimed.

Niles looked into Fran's eyes. "And decorating it wasn't half bad. I had a friend to help."

*****

Maxwell sat in his room mulling over the day's events. "Christmas." He said aloud. "It doesn't feel like Christmas." His face started to burn up, and he felt his eyes well up with tears. He blinked to hold them back. *This is your problem* he thought to himself. *You can't show any emotion. Now what the bloody hell is the matter with you?* He asked himself this question over and over, but inside, he *knew* what was bothering him. He would be alone for Christmas.

*****

As Fran lay on her bed, the radio was softly playing Christmas songs. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and she wanted to get into the spirit. All of a sudden, "My Grown Up Christmas List" came on. Fran listened carefully to the lyrics, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "What's the matter with you?" She asked herself again and again. She knew what was wrong with her. She was running away from it. She stuffed her face in her pillow and started to cry. When she finally rolled back over, she held her now hot, red face in her hands. "All this because ya don't have a man on Christmas? What the hell is the matter with ya?" She didn't want to run anymore, she just wanted somebody to love.

*****

Finally, Christmas Eve was here, and it seemed like a happy household, until Fran found Grace. She was walking through the house, making sure none of the kids were out of control. Maggie was underneath the Christmas tree, shaking her presents to try and figure out what they were. Brighton was doing the same, while he was bugging Maggie. Fran raised an eyebrow at the two, and kept walking. She finally walked into the dining room, where she found Niles cooking and Gracie sitting at the kitchen table, quietly drinking a glass of milk. Fran wiggled over to Grace and sat next to her.

"Honey, why are ya all alone on Christmas?" Fran asked.

Grace was grumpy. "I could ask you the same question."

Fran put a hand to her heart as if she had just been stabbed, and Niles laughed softly. "Ouch." Fran quipped. "Now, why don't ya wanna hang out with ya brotha and sista?" Fran looked at Grace solicitously.

Gracie took another sip of her milk and leaned into Fran. "Christmas isn't fun anymore." She sighed.

She wrapped her arms around Grace. "Oh, honey." She said, softly stroking her hair.

*****

That night, Grace was a difficult one to get to bed. "There's no such thing as Santa, Dad, so why don't you just put out the presents now?"

Niles snickered in the background. "Yeah *Dad*…"

When they finally got Grace to bed, she lay still. She wasn't tired yet, and she had no reason to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. Santa would have to come regardless of whether she was sleeping or not. Santa was her dad.

Suddenly, she heard sleigh bells on the roof. "What the…? Aw, shut up Grace. You're imagining things now." She didn't convince herself that someone really could've been up there until she heard a thump in the living room. "Oh God." She murmured, as she stepped out of bed to go see what was down stairs.

She saw a person's figure. She almost let out a scream before she covered her mouth with her hand. "Santa?" she thought to herself. "Yeah right." She said aloud. At this, Santa whirled around from the tree. "Ho,Ho,Ho. Um, is there something I can do for you little girl?" Santa asked.

"Aw, shut up Niles." Grace warned.

"I'm not Niles. Did you just tell Santa to shut up?"

She was silent.

"That's a check for you on my naughty list!" Santa laughed.

"it's not possible that you're here." Grace stated.

"Oh? And why not?" Santa asked.

"You're not real." Actually, Grace felt quite dumb talking to a figment of her imagination.

Santa looked puzzled. "Oh really?" He paused for a moment. "Would you like to take a sleigh ride with me?"

Grace knew she was dreaming, and decided to take her chances. "Alright." She huffed.

The two walked over to the chimney, where Santa threw some magic dust. They were on the roof in no time.

"You're going to be cold." Stated Santa, as he pulled a jacket out of his toy bag.

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Cool." She said softly.

Santa called out the reindeer's names, and they flew off into the sky.

"Where are we going Santa?" Asked Grace.

"Why to the North Pole of course. I left some presents back home."

Grace laughed at his unbelievable comment, as she stared at the street below. "No more unbelievable than what's happening to me right now." She thought.

Santa looked over at Gracie. "Now what is it that you want for Christmas dear?" He asked.

"Heh." Gracie half-laughed. "Like you could really give me what I want. I'm dreaming."

"You're not dreaming." Santa explained.

"Right. And Fran wears a wonder bra because she sprained her breasts." Grace laughed.

Santa shook his head. "Fran is a wonderful Nanny. I'm glad your father chose her."

"Me too." Grace sighed.

Santa scratched his head for a moment. "I know what you want for Christmas." He stated.

Grace raised her eyebrow inquisitively.

"You want Fran and your dad to be together."

Grace's face was overcome with shock. "How in te world did *you* know *that*?"

"I'm Santa." He stated simply.

"Well even if ya are," Grace started, "you can't give that to me."

"Sure I can."

"Uh-huh." Grace said sarcastically.

"I can give your father the gift of commitment. He already loves her. It's not like I would be changing anything."

Grace was really having a hard time believing all this. "If that really will get Fran and Dad together, that's my only Christmas wish. Well, that, and I want my mom to know that I miss her."

"She knows." Said Santa. "She knows." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small

gold box with a red bow, labeled 'Maxwell' and handed it to Grace.

When Grace woke up, she shook her head lightly, and let a single tear roll down her cheek. "I knew it wasn't real." She whispered.

*****

When she walked down the stairs, she found Fran sitting on the couch, alone with her face in her hands. "Fran?" Grace said softly.

Fran heard her and dried her tears quickly, so as to hold it together for Grace. "Hi Sweetie. Merry Christmas." She said trying to hide her now weak voice.

"Merry Christmas Fran." Grace said as she sat down next to her with her head on her shoulder. Fran wrapped her arms around Grace, and lightly kissed the top of her head. She started to close her eyes, when something glimmering under the tree caught her eye. The gold box.

******

A while later, everyone came down the stairs. Brighton skidded on his knees all the way to the tree before he nearly knocked it down.

Grace got off of Fran's lap and sat next to Maggie on the floor. Her face was lit up now.

"Merry Christmas Miss Fine." Said Maxwell.

"Merry Christmas Mr. Sheffield." Fran answered.

He took a seat next to Fran.Grace was all smiles when she went to get the gold box for Max.

"Here Daddy." Said Grace as she handed the little box to Max. "I don't know who it's from. It doesn't have a tag." She knew very well who it was from.

Fran was opening her presents from the kids, oohing and awing, as if on cue.

Maxwell delicately unwrapped the box and when he did, a light shot from the box. When the light cleared, he saw a gorgeous 2 carat diamond ring. He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. Grace was watching the whole time. "Its time isn't it?" Max said softly to himself. He looked back down at the ring and nodded.

Fran looked over at him as he got down on his knee. "Merry Christmas Fran. Will you marry me?" He asked, his voice cracking.

"Heh?!!" Fran exclaimed.

"I said, will you marry me?"

"Oh-my-Gawd…." Started Fran, "YES!!!!!" She answered joyfully and kissed him.

Niles stood watching behind the couch. "Yes!" He exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him, and started laughing.

Grace sat at Fran's feet staring at the ceiling. "Thank you Santa." She whispered.

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