Oscar sighed, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. Gil had moved out two weeks ago, and the house still felt empty without him. Breaking up was never easy, but doing it at Christmas time made it seem a thousand times worse. It was hard to get into the Christmas spirit without him; Oscar never realized how much he depended on Gil. Their tree was still in the basement and the decorations were in the attic.

            He finished the hot chocolate and set the mug on the counter. He looked once more around the empty house before going upstairs; alone.

            Karen plugged in the last strand of lights. The tree shined in front of her. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Last year, she didn’t even have a tree. This year, not only did she have a tree, her whole house was decorated. She had gone home over Thanksgiving and brought back boxes of decorations from her childhood. Now she was decorating her house, singing along to Christmas carols on the radio.

            The past year had a lot of rough spots, but this was Christmas time. Time to move on. And Karen was determined to do just that.

            Toby couldn’t wait. Lisa was allowing Sasha to spend Christmas with him – the first time since the divorce. He had gone all out, preparing for her arrival. Cookies were baking in the oven, Christmas carols on the radio, and decorations were in the window.

            “Daddy!” the girl threw herself into his arms. “Will Santa know where to find me?”

            “Yep, I talked with him yesterday, and he said he remembered because you were a very good girl this year.”

            “Yes!”

           

            She fell asleep during ‘Twas the Night, and Toby carried his daughter upstairs and tucked her in. “Merry Christmas, peanut.”           

            Roy had just gotten a job that week. He’d been unemployed most of the year, since that incident with Halpert. He’d had a few small gigs, but this was permanent. Now he was foreman for a vitamin company. He was making more than he ever had with Dunder Mifflin.

Plus, there was that cute girl who had just moved in a few apartments over. He’d thought about asking her out for New Year’s Eve, going to a party together or something. Maybe they’d get to kiss at midnight, or something romantic like that.

2008 was going to be his year.

            Abby was in the Christmas play at church. Kevin didn’t understand why he had to go. But Stacy wanted him to, and he wanted to make her happy. So, he was there on Christmas Eve, watching Abby play the Virgin (Kevin snickered every time) Mary.

            He fell asleep near the end. He didn’t mean to, he really was trying to stay awake. But it was boring. They rode on an ass (more snickers) to some place, and then Mary had a baby. Big deal. Abby didn’t even notice. But Stacy did.

            Kevin sighed. Another night of sleeping on the couch.

            Ryan didn’t celebrate Christmas. At least, not in the traditional sense. What was the point of putting up decorations and a tree? They’d done it when he was a kid, but since he moved to New York, it didn’t seem worth it. He’d bought the required presents (mom, dad, sister), and then spent the rest of the money on gifts for himself. He figured he would open the bags and act surprised the next morning. But tonight, he sat in his leather recliner, drinking a beer and watching some movie. And that’s the way he liked it. Simple and alone.

            The soup kitchen was serving a turkey dinner. Creed had never tasted so much delicious food – at least, not since Thanksgiving. He took a full helping; turkey, vegetables, two rolls, and a slice of pie. The food was warm and smelled delicious. The only thing wrong with it was Joe. Joe hadn’t showered in days and was ruining the evening. Creed glared, trying to get him to move to another table.

            After he had cleared his plate, Creed went back for seconds. He planned on sitting far away from Joe so he could actually enjoy it the second time around.

Jim

            Jim couldn’t believe it. It was their first Christmas together as a couple. A couple. He had to fight not to give her the engagement ring. He didn’t want to scare her; they’d only been dating a few months. But he already knew that he wanted to spend every Christmas with her, now and forever.

 

Pam

            Pam couldn’t help but smile. The snow was falling and the stars were twinkling overhead. Pam knew she should be cold, but wrapped in Jim’s arms, she felt so warm and loved. She knew she wanted to spend all her Christmases like this. With him.

Andy

            “Aw, mom, you would love her. She’s.. um, she’s like, so smart. And religious. She’s spending all day in church, I know she would be here if she could, mom. But, Jesus calls.”

 

Angela

            Angela slowly drove past the beet farm. She remembered last year’s Christmas. Dwight had taken her to the midnight mass, and then they’d gone back to the farm together. When the sun rose the next morning, she was reminded of Jesus’ love.

            She turned around, back to her cats and her empty apartment. She would call Andy at a reasonable time tomorrow. That was what girlfriends do.

            Darryl had gone over all the ways to introduce his daughter to Kelly. But he hadn’t planned on this. His ex had dropped Jessie off early, and Kelly had still been there. Jessie screamed bloody murder, and ran up to her room, locking herself inside. Kelly left in a hurry after that. Darryl tried to coax his daughter out with cookies and presents, but she stayed inside.

            Darryl gave up, and went to bed, hoping the morning would be better. As he climbed into bed, he heard the door creak open. Jessie climbed into bed with him, whispering “Sorry daddy.”

            Dwight refused to celebrate Christmas. Mose had wanted to put up a tree, but Dwight cut it up for firewood. When he pulled out the ornaments, Dwight smashed them and put them into the trash, where they belonged. December 25th would be like any other day. He would wake up early, and check the animals. He would then come in and prepare breakfast for him and Mose. He would go to work, and check his expense reports. At 5, he would come home and make dinner. After his evening chores, he would go to sleep.

Just like any other day.

            Melissa finally went to sleep. Stanley remembered when she couldn’t sleep because she was excited. Now she was just angry. Too few presents under the tree. She already knew she didn’t get what she wanted, why should she even wake up in the morning? What was the point of all these silly traditions, they’re for kids. She’s too old for Christmas, why can’t she just go out with her boyfriend?

            Stanley settled down to eat the milk and cookies. Even if she was too old for it, he wasn’t. Never too old for Terri’s famous Chocolate Chip Macadamian Nut Cookies.

            Meredith was alone, like always. Jake always spent Christmas with his dad, sister, and new step mom. Meredith didn’t blame him. She stopped celebrating after the divorce. She didn’t care anymore. Why waste the time and energy? She was alone, and she didn’t care. Christmas meant nothing to her.

            Paul had invited her to celebrate the holidays with the kids and his new wife, a few years back. She’d laughed in his face, and he hadn’t offered again. Sometimes she wished she’d taken him up on his offer. But most times, she just grabbed another beer and forgot about it.

Jan

            Jan sighed. It was Christmas, and she was in Scranton. Alone. In New York, it was fine being alone. She could go to Rockefeller Center, go ice skating, see the tree. But in Scranton, she was painfully reminded that she had lost her job and Michael had dumped her.

 

Michael

            She had called him five times already. He wanted to answer. He’d called Pam the first time, but she didn’t answer. He needed his girls to talk him through this.

            On the sixth time, he answered. She may be crazy, but she loved him. And it beat being alone at Christmas.

            Bob treated her like royalty all year. Christmas was no different. He had done a 12 days of Christmas theme this year, each day getting more extravagant gifts. The first day was flowers; the second day, teddy bears; the third day, chocolates; the fourth day, bath salts; the fifth, a personal massager, and so on.

            Yesterday he had gotten her diamond jewelry (matching necklace and earrings). She couldn’t imagine what the next twelfth day would bring.

Even though they had been together for over two years, Bob still knew how to spoil her. And that’s the way she liked it.