This story features one of my most fav Christmas songs, 'Welcome Christmas', written by Albert Hague, Dr. Seuss, and Eugene Poddany.
It was Christmas Eve and the Scare B&B was looking very festive. Last Christmas, they put their own spooky twist on the human holiday. But now, they decided to fully embrace the human traditions of Christmas. Including all the bright, shiny, and glittery things that come with it.
Inside, Vampirina was getting the guest rooms all ready. She had just finished placing a pot of poinsettias by the bed. "I can't wait for Nanpire and Grandpop to come over to celebrate Christmas in Pennsylvania with us!"
"And don't forget our other special guests!" Gregoria reminded them.
"How could we forget?!" said Demi, popping into the room. "This Christmas party is going down in the monster history books!"
The doorbell screamed.
Vampirina gasped with glee. She rushed to the door and opened it. Much to her delight, it was Miranda, her parents Stanley and Carol, and Miranda's Aunt Tessa.
"Hey, Vee!" Miranda greeted as she and her family came in.
"Hey, Miranda! Merry Christmas!" Vampirina greeted.
"Merry Christmas, Vee dear!" Carol looked around the Scare B&B. "What beautiful decorations! I just love what you've done to the place!"
"Thank you!" Oxana said, coming out of the living room. "We do our best!"
"And it really shows!" said Miranda.
Vampirina noticed Miranda carrying a red velvet sack. "What's in the bag, Miranda?"
Miranda smiled. "I'm glad you asked. This is what we like to call a Santa sack. It's full of gifts we got for you and your fam!" She handed Vampirina a present wrapped in shiny red paper with a green bow on it. "We all chipped in and got you this, Vee! Open it!"
Vampirina unwrapped the gift. When she opened the gift, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.
"Well? Aren't you surprised?!" Miranda asked excitedly.
"I-I sure am..." Vampirina took out her gift. It was a red and white striped sweater with a wreath made of green tinsel in the middle of it. It was horrifyingly bright and cheery.
"Nothing says Christmas like an ugly sweater!" said Stanley. He and Miranda laughed while Carol rolled her eyes.
Vampirina noticed Stanley and Miranda wore an ugly sweater too. Stanley's sweater was blue with a snowman wearing sunglasses on it. Miranda's sweater was sparkly white with a unicorn on it. A unicorn with blue eyes and a red and green mane.
Seeing their sweaters made Vampirina smile. They were pretty funny. The young vampire gladly put on her new sweater. "I love it!"
"That reminds me, I have to give Remy his gift!" Tessa said. She got the gift from the Santa sack and dashed off to the kitchen to find her skeleton boyfriend.
Inside, Miranda's family were brought to the living room. "What a beautiful tree!" said Carol.
"Thank you!" said Oxana. "Our neighbor Edna gladly let us borrow her Christmas decorations."
"Really? You don't have any Christmas decorations at all?" asked Stanley.
The Hauntleys didn't want to tell them that they did have Christmas decorations, Transylvanian Christmas decorations! Like a dead tree with eyeball ornaments, gingerbread zombies, and skull decorations of every shape and size.
Seeing her friends unable to answer that, Miranda stepped in. "They did, Dad. But it all got lost when they moved here."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Stanley said in an understanding voice. "Christmas ornaments mean a lot to us. We still have the ones Miranda made when she was just a sprout." He ruffled Miranda's hair.
Chuckling, Miranda opened her present sack. "In fact, we have a little something for you, Hauntleys." She took out a big box and opened it. The Hauntleys looked inside and saw dozens of holiday themed crafts. "We brought some art supplies to make Christmas ornaments together!"
"What a fangtastic idea!" said Boris. "Making our own human-I mean, holiday ornaments together!"
The doorbell shrieked. "That must be my grandparents!" Vampirina hurried to the door.
"Wait for me!" An excited Miranda followed and there was Nanpire and Grandpop the Greats. "Nan! Grandpop! Merry Christmas!' She hugged her beloved grandparents.
Nanpire chuckled as she hugged her granddaughter. "Merry Christmas? Don't you mean Scary Christmas, Vee?" But Nanpire's chuckling became a scream of shock when she saw all the human Christmas decorations. Her face became even more pale than usual.
"What in the name of all things dark and dreary is this?!" said Grandpop, looking horrified.
Stanley rushed in. "What's wrong?!"
"Uh, nothing's wrong, Dad!" Miranda said quickly.
"Then why did I hear screaming?!"
"Because..." Miranda racked her mind for the right excuse. "I...thought I saw a rat! But it was just a shadow on the wall!" She nervously laughed it off. "False alarm!"
Stanley blinked. "Okaaay, so, Vee, these are your grandparents?"
Vampirina nodded. "Uh-huh. This is my Nan and Grandpop."
Stanley shook Grandpop's hand. "Stanley Knight. Pleasure to meet you! This is my wife Carol."
"Nice to meet you folks!" Carol greeted. "Merry Christmas!"
Vampirina saw her grandparents still in shock. "Um, Nan, Grandpop, I forgot to tell you that we're celebrating Christmas the Pennsylvanian way."
"O-Oh! I see..." said Nanpire. "I was so...amazed by these decorations."
"I know! This place is filled with holiday cheer!" said Miranda. "Mom, Dad, let's go check out the...Christmas specials on TV!" She quickly escorted her parents to the living room.
"Vee! What is the meaning of this?!" asked Nanpire. "This house is so...so..."
"So grotesquely bright and cheery!" Grandpop said with a quivering voice. "What happened to our Transylvanian decorations?!" He gasped seeing Vampirina's Christmas sweater. "And what are you wearing?!"
"Sorry, Grandpop. But we decided to embrace human Christmas traditions this year. Plus, we can't have our monster Christmas stuff put up. Miranda's parents can't find out we're really vampires!"
The elderly vampires took in all the bright and sparkly decor. They shuddered, it was a lot to take in.
"I know, it was hard for me to celebrating Christmas the human way. But as long as we're together, it's still Christmas!" The little vampire hoped to see her grandparents look excited. Unfortunately, they didn't.
"Well, I don't know, Vee." said Nanpire. "But...we'll give it a shot."
"Yes, I'm not so sure about all this colorful, glittery Christmas." Grandpop groused. "But we will make the best of it!"
"Vee dear! We're just about to sing Christmas carols!" Carol called from the living room.
Vampirina and her grandparents went to the living room. They suddenly heard laughter coming from the kitchen.
"Sounds like Tessa and Remy are having fun." said Boris.
"I think it's because Remy liked his gift from Aunt Tessa." said Miranda.
"What is it?" asked Oxana.
Miranda giggled to herself. "You'll see." She winked. "Okay, Mom! Take it away!"
"Which song do you want to here, Hauntleys?"
The Hauntleys were unsure. They didn't know any human Christmas songs.
"How about the old Knight classic, Honey?" Stanley suggested
Carol smiled. "If you insist." She cracked her knuckles and began playing singing a classic Christmas song. She began to play and the Knights started to sing.
"Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome Christmas, come this way.
Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome Christmas, Christmas day.
Welcome, welcome fahoo ramus
Welcome, welcome dahoo damus
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp."
The Hauntleys instantly fell in love with this human Christmas song. They may not have understood most of the words, but it was beautiful all the same. Even Nanpire and Grandpop felt their hearts aglow from this human holiday Carol.
"Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome Christmas bring your cheer
Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome all Whos far and near.
Welcome Christmas, fahoo ramus
Welcome Christmas, dahoo damus
Christmas day will always be
Just so long as we have we have glee.
Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome Christmas bring your light."
The Knights and the Hauntleys continued to sing along together. The vampires got the hang of the song. Carol finished playing and the Hauntleys applauded the beautiful performance.
"What an amazing song!" said Nanpire, clapping.
"Yes! I loved it!" Grandpop said happily.
"So did we!" said a familiar French voice.
Everyone looked over and the Hauntleys gasped. The Knights however laughed.
Remy and Tessa were wearing a two person Christmas sweater!
"Well, what do you think?" asked Remy. "Tessa gave me this delightful sweater!"
"We even cooked dinner together wearing it!" Tessa laughed.
Boris laughed as well. "No wonder there's been so much noise coming from the kitchen!"
"That's because Remy kept tickling me!" Tessa giggled. She started to laugh when she felt Remy's bony fingers wiggling into her side.
"You tickled me first, mon cher!" Remy and Tessa both laughed as they tickled each other.
"I've never seen a sweater like that!" said Grandpop. "But I like it! We should get one for ourselves, my shriek!"
Nanpire grinned. "We should."
"Dinner is served, everyone!" said Chef Remy. The monsters and humans gathered in the dining room.
"Wow! What a spread!" said Stanley, amazed by the amazing meal on the table.
"You two never seize to amaze!" Carol said, taking her seat.
Tessa snuggled against Remy in their sweater. "We sure don't, do we?"
Remy chuckled and gave Tessa a kiss on the cheek. "Indeed."
"Mrs. Nan, Grandpop, would you like to give a speech before we eat?" Miranda offered.
"Us?!" The two vampires were stunned.
"Yes! Go ahead!" said Boris. Everyone else clamored in agreement.
Nanpire and Grandpop looked at each other. To think they were granted this huge honor. The two vampires smiled and held each other's hand.
"Well, we would like to say...thank you." said Nanpire. "Thank you all so much for sharing this Christmas with us."
"It's not anything like the Christmas we have in Transylvania, but this is just as spooktacular!" Grandpop said. "I was worried at first, but seeing everyone so happy despite things being so different, it reminded me how special this time of year really is."
"And I feel the same." Nanpire kissed her husband's cheek. "With that said, Merry Christmas!"
"And a Happy New Year!" Grandpop concluded.
The two families clapped at the wonderful speech. As Vampirina watched her friends and family eat and chat amongst themselves, she felt a kind arm around her. She looked and smiled seeing Miranda hugging her.
"Merry Christmas, Vee." said Miranda.
Vampirina hugged her friend. "Merry Christmas, Miranda. Your family really helped Nan and Grandpop embrace the human side of Christmas."
"Anything for a friend, Vee. Anything for a friend."
And to all of you, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! :)