2020 Christmas Advent Calendar

Lamps and List

Day 10: Naughty or nice

The day had started as a normal day in the Sleepy household, the family was awake and moving around the house, doing their own thing. The boys were in their rooms, doing their things while Phil stayed downstairs.

He was working on a few things from work, trying to get it done before his boss called him and told him it was due. It was a peaceful day if Phil had to say. With the kids on their Christmas break and Phil taking the rest of the year off, it was strange to hear such a quiet house.

Then he heard something break upstairs.

Ah, he thought, standing to his feet. There's the noise.

He placed his laptop onto the coffee table, standing up. The man could hear the could of hurried footsteps, all trying to quickly move about. The blond raised an eyebrow before heading to the stairs.

"Boys?" He looked up the stairs, hearing the sounds stop. What on earth was going up there? "Is everything alright up there?"

A new noise filled the silence, and Phil was starting to worry. "Everything is fine dad!" It was Wilbur, calling down at him. "Don't worry about it."

Phil knew when his sons were lying, it was a habit he had picked up thanks to the past five years being a dad. He had a feeling he should see what his sons were hiding since that crash sound was quite loud.

Slowly he started heading up the stairs, where he could hear the whispering voices of his three young sons.

The father could see the door of his second-oldest son's room, seeing a light shining from the open door. When he was standing in front of the room, Phil took in the sight of the room, plus the boys.

The room was painted a dark pink color, almost a reddish shade. There was a desk shoved into one wall, covered in books and papers, a few pencils and pens scattered around. There was a lamp laying on the floor of the room, next to the desk. Broken into shards.

On the other side of the room was a bed pushed under the window, where the boys sat. Phil looked over the three trying to figure out what they were doing.

"Dude, stop moving, let me look at it," Wilbur muttered, holding Techno's arm in his hand. The tall brunet was wearing a t-shirt for once, seeming to have forgotten about his normal yellow sweater. A first aid kit was sitting on top of his jeans. "Just let me see how bad it is."

Sitting in front of Wilbur was Techno, the pink-haired boy pushing up his glasses as his older brother poked at his arm. Phil could see him flinch, and try and pull away. Techno was wearing a pink sweater, the right sleeve having been rolled up to his elbow. Phil could see a few cuts on the arm, and the father grew worried for the twelve-year-old.

Techno shook his head, his messy bun on top of his head losing a few strands from the motion. "No, cause your gonna make it hurt more, Wil."

"Wilby not gonna hurt you Tech," said the small blond sitting on the other side of Techno. Tommy was still in PJs from the night before, hair a mess. The six-year-old probably hadn't thought about getting changed, probably playing a video game back in his room before all this happened. "He just wanna help."

Phil took a step into the room, knocking on the door lightly. "What are you three up to?"

All three of them quickly looked up at him, eyes going wide when they saw him enter. Techno pulled his arm behind his back, brown eyes wide up at Phil.

"Hi Dad," Tommy said, waving at him, giving a toothy grin. "We're taking care of Tech."

Wilbur reached over his pink-haired boy to lightly hit the youngest shoulder, hushing his brother. The older teen looked over at Phil, giving a smile. "Dad, we're just playing around," he told him, patting Techno on the shoulder. "Nothing to worry about."
"And I don't need to worry about that broken lamp?" Phil asked, crossing his arms. "Or the fact your brother is bleeding?"

The fifteen-year-old didn't know what to say, glancing over at his brothers. Techno shifted in his spot before putting his wounded arm out from behind his back and into his lap. "I broke the lamp," he muttered, not looking up at Phil. "Please don't tell Santa to put me on his naughty list. I didn't mean to break the lamp, I promise."

Phil raised an eyebrow at that. He had thought that Techno had stopped believing in Santa years ago. The man smiled slightly before heading over to the three, kneeling in front of them. "Techno, I'm not mad," he said, before grabbing the first aid kit in Wil's lap. "The lamp can be replaced. You on the other hand cannot. Let me take a look at your arm ok? And would you mind telling me what happened?"

As he tended to Techno's arm, the boy went on to explain what happened, with little details here and there coming from his brothers. His son was working on a project when he dropped a pen, and reacted quickly, knocking himself and the lamp over in the progress. They both had crashed into the ground, the lamp breaking, and the glass shards had cut up Techno's arm.

When he was down wrapping his son's arm up, Phil smile at his kids. "You're not going to be on Santa's naughty list just because of accidentally knocking over a lamp, Tech," he told him, before looking at all three of them. "As I said before, it can be replaced. You can't. None of you could ever be replaced, you understand me?

A chorus of "Yes Dad" rang out after that and Phil opened his arms. Tommy was the first one to jump in for a hug before Wilbur dragged Techno in. The father was glad his kids were alright, and that no one was seriously hurt.

"Come on, let's go get some hot cocoa and I'll clean up that lamp later, alright?"

The three nodded, and hurried out of the room, being mindful of the broken lamp and glass on the floor. The promise of the hot drink took their minds off of the event that happened, and let the family fall back into a familiar air.