It was Christmastime at the Wheeler household, and everyone had a job to do. Ted was hauling dusty storage boxes full of festive decorations; Nancy was handing glittery ornaments to her mom, who was meticulously hanging each piece of tinsel in the perfect spot; Steve had decided to come over and was helping Holly make popcorn garlands, of course snacking along the way.
Mike had decided to follow his dad around and unpack the decorations that he hadn't seen since last year, feeling the childlike joy of discovering things almost forgotten. For El, it was a little overwhelming. As Mike explained each object to her with an ear-to-ear smile on his face, one box of things caught her eye.
Glassy and round, filled with iridescent glitter or tiny flakes of white, settling around whimsical and happy little people and animals. One in particular - the biggest one, with a big man dressed in red with a curly white beard. Eleven thought he looked friendly, with his jolly smile and rosy cheeks, surrounded by animals she'd never seen but who seemed to look up at him in admiration.
As Mike excitedly pulled out the rest of the snow globes, he finally paused to notice El's expression as she cradled the big one in her hands. Her wide eyes reflected the soft Christmas lights, and her mouth was hanging open in a mesmerized smile. Pretty, Mike thought, and he wasn't talking about the snow globe.
He scooted a little closer, and El looked up at him with a soft smile. "Who's that?" she murmured, pointing at the big red man.
Mike reached out slowly, forever careful not to startle Eleven. As she handed him the globe, he gave it a quick shake. The little white flakes in the globe swirled around Santa and his reindeer, and El gasped, her mouth curling into a big smile.
"That's Santa," Mike said, staring into the snow globe. "He, uh, delivers all the presents under our tree. Did you...did you have Christmas, El?" A tilt of the girl's head indicated that she had never heard of Christmas, much less gotten to celebrate it, and he felt a pang of sadness for her. He was so happy she was finally here with him. "Christmas is like...huh," Mike started to say, but found himself wondering how to explain something so magical and broad to someone who had no idea.
"Eggos?" El asked, interrupting the silence as she pointed at the snow globe Santa.
Mike let out a little laugh, then said, "Yeah, El, Santa can bring you Eggos if that's what you really want." He was glad that she was such a fast learner (not that he wouldn't love to spend all of his time teaching her about the world). "But Christmas is about family and friends too. It's just...happy," he explained, thinking he did an okay job of summing it up in a sentence.
El nodded; the words friend and family definitely meant something in her head, so a special time of year dedicated to them must be good. Plus, free Eggos from a guy named Santa? She decided then and there that this was going to be her favorite thing. Christmas.
"Christmas," she whispered, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the snow globe while deep in thought. El blinked and lifted her head to look at Mike, repeating the word louder. "Christmas."
"Yeah, you got it!" Mike said happily; every time El learned something new it was pure joy for him. The way that she'd repeat new words was so uniquely her and Mike couldn't get enough. Luckily for him, she had a lot to learn.
As Mike held out the snow globe, El put her hands around his and they shook it together. The artificial snow danced around inside the glass as her and Mike held the snow globe in their hands. The two locked gazes and started giggling, just out of the pure happiness of something so simple but now so special to them.
No one else in the room made a sound, but everyone found themselves smiling as they all thought the same thing: this would be the best Christmas yet.
