A Gay Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Sexy Ghost Story of Christmas - 5. Stave 5: Christmas Day

“Oh, my head hurt” Ebenezer Slutch thought. He chuckled. He had fallen into a grave and was probably dead by now so the fact his head hurt was quite funny to him. Then he saw some light. It was a pale light like the light you see when the sun was coming up on a clouded day. It was weird because it almost seemed as if the light was coming from a crack in the curtains. But that was crazy, of course. Why would there be curtains in a grave? But still the light kept pulling at Ebenezer and he watched the scene a little more closely. The stripe of light came indeed from a crack in the curtains and while looking even closer he saw the pattern in the curtains looked like the ones in his bedroom. And the floor felt too smooth to be the bottom of an earthy grave. And why on earth would there be a bed in a grave?

“I’m in my bedroom” Ebenezer whispered. “The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come didn’t kill me when he pushed me in that grave”.

Ebenezer got up and ran towards the windows. Outside he saw some children throwing snowballs at each other. Ebenezer opened the window.

“Excuse me, young fellows, but what day is it today?” Ebenezer yelled out of the window.

“Well, It’s Christmas Day, of course, sir!” one of the boys said.

“Christmas Day? Are you sure?” Ebenezer replied.

“Yes sir. What’s the matter? Are you not well?”

“Oh, I’m fine, my young friend! As a matter of fact I’m better than fine. I’m fantastic! I was just a little surprised, that’s all! The Ghosts did it all in one night. I shouldn't be surprised they could do all of that but here I am! Can you imagine such power?” Ebenezer yelled.

The boys downstairs looked at each other thinking the man had lost it.

“Excuse me once more, my fine boys, but does any of you know where dr. Marlbly lives?” Ebenezer asked them.

“Dr. Marlbly, the psychiatrist?” one of the boys asked while looking at the others telling them he had been right with his eyes.

“Yes, that’s the one!” Ebenezer cheered. “Could you boys go and tell him it’s very important the good doctor will meet me later, say around 2 pm, at the apartment building next to Club Pink?” The boys nodded. “Good lads! Here’s something for the trouble” and Ebenezer threw out the wallet he used to keep his change in.

“But sir, there’s over one hundred euros in here” the boys said.

“Well, enjoy, I would say. And a Merry Christmas!”

“You too, Mr. …. Slutch?” the eldest boy said hesitating. Was Mr. Slutch that grouch everyone told you to stay away from? This man didn’t qualify for that! But a second look was impossible because Ebenezer had gone back inside, but the boys heard singing. It sounded like Jingle Bells.

An hour later Ebenezer Slutch was completely dressed and ready to face the world. Oh, he had quite some things to amends for but he was more than willing.

“First stop: Cock’s place!”

Cock was shocked to see his uncle, all dressed up and cheerful, on Christmas Day. As soon as Cock opened the door Ebenezer had hugged him in such a tight embrace Cock was hardly able to breathe.

“Uncle, you’re choking me” Cock managed to squeeze out.

“I’m sorry, my dear boy. And not just for almost choking you. I treated you so badly all these years and I have no excuse for that. All I can say is last night my eyes have opened and I want to use the rest of my life to make up for all the things I did wrong and all the things I missed”.

“Uncle, please come in. I think Maria needs to hear this as well” Cock said.

“Well, Mr. Slutch. What an … unexpected surprise” Maria, Cock’s wife, said.

“And, judging from your face, not a pleasant one either” Ebenezer said.

“Oh, eh, Yes, well … I uh. Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Slutch” Maria stuttered.

“It’s quite alright, my dear. The way I have been behaving over the past years makes I’m not a pleasant surprise for most people. But that will change. Last night something wonderful has happened to me and I feel like I can make a fresh start” Ebenezer said.

“Well, I hope so, Mr. Slutch” Maria said. “Cock has always been pretty hurt you didn’t want to be part of our family since you are the only family he has. So if you’re serious about wanting to be a better person I will do everything in my power to accept you as a member of our family. But be warned! If you ever hurt Cock’s feelings again I will do everything in my power to completely destroy you”.

“Fair enough” Ebenezer said, a little shocked. He wasn’t used to people talking to him like that but he also found it refreshing. “Now, about something else. Cock, you invited me to a little get together this afternoon. I still can’t make that but I also don’t think I should be there yet. Most people are different from you and Maria and won’t accept my sudden overnight change”. Ebenezer chuckled at that small joke and Maria was really surprised. The Ebenezer Slutch she remembered wasn’t capable of chuckling.

“But I am curious as to what my nephew has inside his pants” Ebenezer said while squeezing Cock’s dick through his pants. Cock’s dick responded immediately by getting hard. Cock moaned while Ebenezer continued to massage his dick through his pants. “Hmm, been preparing yourself for the orgy, nephew?” Ebenezer opened Cock’s pants and took out his nephew’s hard 23 centimeters of man flesh. Without hesitation Ebenezer took his nephew’s cock in his mouth and started sucking it.

Maria was watching it and became hornier and hornier. She lifted up her skirts, revealing she wasn’t wearing any panties, and started playing with her pussy while Ebenezer was sucking Cock and playing with his own dick. Maria got down on the floor and wanted to take over Ebenezer’s cock. Ebenezer let go of Cock’s cock.

“Sorry, dear, but I’m fully gay. You fondling my dick won’t do anything for me. But I have a better idea” and he pushed Cock down on his knees and shoved his cock in his nephew’s mouth. While Ebenezer was face fucking Cock Maria sucked on her husband’s dick, keeping him close to the edge of cumming.

Ebenezer kept it going for about 10 minutes when he pulled his dick out of Cock’s hot and wet mouth. He pulled the black guy up turned him around and made him bent over. Cock knew what his uncle wanted and gladly gave it to him: his ass. Ebenezer picked up a small tube of lube and greased up both his dick and Cock’s ass. In one mighty thrust he pushed his cock into Cock, who let out a yelp of pain. Ebenezer had quite a large dick. Maria got down on her knees and started sucking Cock, who was in heaven. All that time she kept playing with her pussy, causing her to stay horny. She was on the edge of cumming but kept herself at that edge.

After a while Ebenezer motioned Maria to go and sit in the large chair she was in front of. When she sat down there Ebenezer moved both Cock and him towards the ground, in front of the big chair. Maria saw what Ebenezer was planning and lifted her legs over Cock’s shoulders, exposing her wet pussy for her husband. Ebenezer pulled back his dick and in one big thrust he pushed it back in, causing Cock’s cock to slide into his wife’s pussy. All three people let out a moan and the fucking continued.

Of course, it was impossible for either Cock, who had been preparing for the orgy, or Ebenezer, for who this was the first sex in a decade, to keep at this for a very long time and only minutes after they had started fucking this way Ebenezer felt his orgasm approaching. With a mighty roar he came in his nephew’s ass, losing all track of time. But when Cock felt his uncle’s dick swell even more and than explode in his ass, he was also pushed over the edge. He blasted an enormous load of his sperm in his wife’s pussy. He had never come so much before. Maria had already experienced a small orgasm but seeing both men cum like this and feeling Cock’s sperm splash into her made her cum like a rocket as well. Thank God the neighbors were on holiday!

Everyone stayed where they were for a couple of minutes. Although Ebenezer’s balls had produced an enormous amount of sperm his dick stayed hard and he kept it in Cock’s ass.

“I can’t believe I didn’t miss this” Ebenezer thought. “I can’t imagine I managed to give this up!”.

After a few minutes they felt strong enough to stand up again. Reluctantly Ebenezer pulled his dick out of Cock’s ass who was just as reluctant to let his uncle’s hot rod go. Maria took off her skirt, mumbling something about having to change. But first she made some coffee for the three of them.

“Uncle, why don’t you stay?” Cock said. “Our friends will definitely accept your presence here. And if they don’t they have no business being here”.

“I’m flattered, my young nephew, but no. I don’t want to disrupt anything. You and Maria prepared this party for far too long to have it ruined by me. Besides, although you were the first people I visited I have many more people to see before the day is over” Ebenezer replied.

“Maybe some other time than, uncle Ebenezer?” Maria asked, causing Cock to look up and a tear to run over Ebenezer’s cheek.

“Most definitely, my dear. Most definitely”.

Once Ebenezer was dressed again he left Cock and Maria to their business, knowing he had made an important step towards being a better person.

“Next stop: the hospital”

While walking from Cock’s house to the hospital Ebenezer saw two women he had seen earlier. He thought and thought about when and where he had seen them before. And then it hit him. These were the two women who had visited him at the club yesterday. It was still hard to believe it had only been yesterday that he had been such a horrible person. But, in case he might get the idea he wasn’t that bad the look that appeared on the faces of those two women made clear he might even have been worse than he thought.

“Good morning, ladies. Could I have a word with you?” Ebenezer asked. “I need to talk to you about my behavior yesterday. It was completely inappropriate and I need to apologize for it”.

“Well, Mr. Slutch, you are right. It was and you do” one of the ladies said.

“I know, dear lady, I know. I can only say today I am a completely new man, totally different from the one you spoke yesterday. But, truth be told, I am running a bit late. What would you say if you dropped by at the club tomorrow so we can discuss a contribution I can make to your cause? Let’s say, an apartment building and a schooling program for those boys who either don’t want to enter the erotic entertainment business and those who want out of it?”

“But Mr. Slutch! Such a contribution is far too much!”

“Maybe, dear lady. But I learned two things last night. Money means nothing in the end and I have a lot of bad to undo before I can consider myself a true human being again. So, tomorrow at 11 am?” Slutch asked.

“Alright, Mr. Slutch. Tomorrow at 11 am it is!”

“Splendid! I’ll make sure coffee is ready. Now I have to go, ladies. So much to do and so little time. Merry Christmas!” Ebenezer screamed while he was walking further towards the hospital.

“Well, that was quite a different man than the one we met yesterday, don’t you think so, Mathilda?” one of the ladies said. “Mathilda?”. But the lady called Mathilda wasn’t listening. She was looking at Ebenezer Slutch who walked further, thinking what a shame it was the man was gay. Now that he had that wonderful smile in his face and that joyful tone in his voice he was too good to be true.

Ebenezer reached the hospital and walked straight to the third floor, where he knew the boy was. The boy wasn’t alone. The man who Ebenezer had seen destroying his hospital records was also there. Neither of them seemed very pleased to see Ebenezer.

“What are you doing here?” the hospital employee wanted to know.

“I came here to undo a terrible wrong. Young man, I am truly and deeply sorry for the way I treated you. If I had given you a place to stay the night those men would not have raped you. Although I’m not responsible for the rape itself I am responsible for creating the circumstances and I want to make it up to you” Ebenezer said.

“Yeah? Well, we’ll see you in court. A beautiful confession you have given us. This way we should be able to get pretty much every penny in your wallet, old man” the hospital guy said.

“Oh, if it’s money you want I can certainly be of help there. Of course I’ll be paying any and all hospital expenses and if there’s anything else you need, just let me know.”

“Maybe I haven’t made myself clear, old man, but we don’t just want a little money. We want some serious money” the guy in the laboratory coat said.

“Yes. I hear that is what YOU want. I haven’t heard a single thing about what your cousin wants” said Ebenezer, shutting the lab coat up. Ebenezer already knew why; nobody had told him the two guys were cousins.

“Mr. Slutch is right, Eddy. Shut up and let me talk for myself” the guy in the bed said. “You don’t even know my name, do you, Mr. Slutch?”.

“No, my boy. I can’t say that I do” Ebenezer responded.

“I’m Tommy and the laboratory technician over there is my cousin Eddy. Now, let I begin to tell you that I don’t blame you for the rape.”

“Tommy, what are you saying, man?! This guy’s wallet is the best chance you have of getting of the streets! What do you think will happen if those attackers will find you again? Do you really think they’ll let you walk?” Eddy said.

“Eddy, I know you mean well, but I can’t take Mr. Slutch’s money for something he didn’t do. He didn’t rape me or said those men they had to rape me. He wasn’t the one who punched and kicked me. He only got angry because I touched him while he didn’t want to be touched and threw me out. That was as much my fault as it was his. You become like putty in my hands when I touch your crotch but Mr. Slutch resisted me. I should’ve known it was wrong to try and get him to like me that way, but there’s no use in crying over spilled milk.” Tommy said.

“Like I said, Mr. Slutch. I don’t blame you for the rape. It was not your fault like it wasn’t mine either. Only those three men are to blame for the rape. Did you hear they were caught, by the way? I had bitten off the dickhead from one of them and when they reported themselves in the ER the police was called. I spit out the dickhead so they had enough tissue to match the DNA. After that they had broken the other two soon enough. They will be gone for a long, very long time” Tommy continued.

“But although I don’t blame you for the rape, I do blame you for throwing me out like that. I was wrong touching your crotch without your consent but you were wrong for tossing me out in only my ripped boxers”.

“Tommy, you are absolutely right about that. It was wrong to do that and I apologize for it” Ebenezer said. “The only thing I can say to my defense is that I am no longer the man I was yesterday. I learned some stuff about myself last night I’m not proud of but also stuff I need to be proud of again. I want to be a better person than I was and in order to do so I’m trying to make right the wrongs I have caused. So if you need any help, with other things than the hospital bills because I already told you I would pay those, just let me know, ok?”

“Well, there is something you might be able to help with” Tommy said. “I’m probably going to discharged in a couple of days and I don’t have a place to stay. You see, my parents kicked me out some months ago because I’m gay. Eddy here is as well but he’s still deeply inside the closet. I can stay at Eddy’s place sometimes but not all the time. It’s too small for that. So I was wondering if you might know a place I can built up my strength ….”

“Of course I do, Tommy. I have a huge house and live alone. I have about 9 or 10 spare rooms. You and Eddy can come both, if you want to” Ebenezer said. “That way you can built up your strength; Eddy can make sure I won’t take advantage of you and if the two of you have a need for each other you can do whatever you want”.

“Hmm, I’ll think about that, Mr. Slutch. Now, if you and Eddy don’t mind, I’m still pretty groggy for the anesthetics. I’d like to get some rest now.” Tommy said.

“Of course, Tommy. Eddy and I will have a little chat in the hallway before I have to get going again. Here is my card so you can reach me whenever you want to.” Ebenezer said, before picking up his jacket and walking outside, guiding Eddy to the hallway by his arm.

“Ok, Eddy. I can see you love you cousin very much and I take it revenge feels very well. But let me also tell you I know you messed up my medical records by throwing out the results of the biopsy. And I think your career would be over pretty quickly if that came out, don’t you?” Ebenezer asked Eddy.

“Even if this is true, which is ridiculous, you can’t prove that” Eddy said.

“Are you sure about that? Do you think I didn’t know you ruined my medical records? Are you absolutely certain all the records you removed from my file are destroyed? Can you ever be certain I didn’t get those records from the trash and characterized them so everyone will know they were from an original medical file?” When Ebenezer saw all color drained from Eddy’s face he continued: “No, I didn’t think you were. So how long will it take you to have my medical file restored, Eddy?”

“A couple of hours, tops. Dr. Toro’s signature is pretty straightforward and since I performed the original tests myself I know exactly what was wrong” Eddy said.

“Good, so get to work. Tonight you will show me the restored records and if everything goes well and the doctor discussed his treatment plans with me all the evidence against you will disappear forever, Eddy. Can you live with that?”

Eddy nodded, knowing he was defeated.

“Good! Well, tell Tommy I said hi and I’ll be back in about 2 days to hear from him what he has decided. Bye!”

“Last stop: the apartment!” Ebenezer said.

Ebenezer had to walk pretty fast to make it to the apartment in time. It was almost 2 pm and from what Ebenezer had heard about dr. Marlbly he wasn’t someone who liked to be kept waiting, especially not on his free day. But he was also the best psychiatrist there was and he needed him to make sure Huge Tim would be alright.

“Mr. Slutch, I presume?” Dr. Marlbly said. At first he had been annoyed when the young boys had rang his bell but when he heard Ebenezer Slutch had asked for him, he was intrigued. Dr. Marlbly had known the younger Ebenezer from before Jacob Arsely got ill and, although it was clear he was a young man who had been through a lot, that Ebenezer Slutch been a nice enough fellow. Jacob Arsely’s death changed everything for poor young Ebenezer and he had built a wall around him so high and thick no one had ever seen the true Ebenezer Slutch after that. “A classic case of troubled mourning” dr. Marlbly had said in the past at a conference. But he couldn’t do anything for Ebenezer Slutch if he didn’t ask for help. Today he finally had asked.

But when Ebenezer turned around Dr. Marlbly saw no trace of the troubled young man Ebenezer had been only 24 hours ago. In fact, Ebenezer was smiling as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Gone was the wall around Ebenezer Slutch and for the first time in almost 10 years the world saw the man Ebenezer Slutch truly was.

“Dr. Marlbly, I am so glad you agreed to meet me here. It’s a case of utmost importance!” Ebenezer said.

“Mr. Slutch, I was under the impression you finally realized you needed help to overcome the death of Mr. Arsely, but apparently I have been mistaken. So why am I hear?” Dr. Marlbly asked.

“Like I said, it’s a case of utmost importance. In the apartment owned by my club lives a young man who is depressed and possibly suicidal. I need your help with him.”

“I see. You want me to agree he’s a danger to himself or others based on a psychiatric condition so you can have him evicted? I’m sorry, Mr. Slutch, but I won’t be part of that, especially not on Christmas” Dr. Marlbly answered and prepared to leave.

“No, doctor. I need you to help him. I need your help to save this man’s life. On his deathbed I promised Jacob I would provide a safe haven to young men like us who had nothing left. Over the years I neglected that promise and that needs to end. I need to keep my last promise to Jacob Arsely.”

Dr. Marlbly turned around. “Are you saying you want me to treat this young man because you once made a promise? That doesn’t sound like the Ebenezer Slutch the world knows.”

“I know. I’m no longer the Ebenezer Slutch the world once knew. I think I am the Ebenezer Slutch I would’ve become if things hadn’t gone so terribly wrong for me. I don’t know for sure. That’s more your territory, I guess”.

“No, more like philosophy. But to make sure I can help this young man I need to see him first, Mr. Slutch” Dr. Marlbly said.

“Of course. But if you don’t mind I first need to do something myself. Would you mind waiting here for a couple of minutes?” Ebenezer asked.

“Well, it is unusual but I will do it, this once” Dr. Marlbly answered.

Ebenezer knocked on the door. Inside he heard laughter and then he heard scared cries. “It’s Slutch! It’s Slutch!” the boys inside cried out.

“Open the door. I know you are in there. I need to speak to Bob Suckit immediately!” Ebenezer said in a tone he would’ve used 24 hours ago.

It still took a good 5 minutes before Bob Suckit appeared in the door.

“Mr. Slutch, what an unexpected surprise! What can I do for you?” Suckit asked. But Ebenezer saw Suckit being nervous, checking over his shoulder every few seconds as if he waited for some confirmation.

“Well, you could let me into the apartment I own, for one” Ebenezer said.

“Of course, sir” Suckit said. The looking over his shoulder ended so he either had the confirmation he needed or it didn’t matter anymore. “Come in”.

When they reached the living room none of the guys were there. They probably were watching Huge Tim.

“Bob, I know you have been breaking the rules I set out for you. I know you are allowing guys who don’t work in the club to live here at the apartment. I also know you’ve been doing it for quite some time. And I know you bought the small corner apartment and made a connection with my apartment in order to hide the boys if I came to inspect the property. What do you have to say for yourself, Bob?” Ebenezer asked.

“I uh, well umm, to tell you the truth ….. I don’t know?” Bob Suckit stumbled.

“You don’t know?” Ebenezer asked.

Suckit shook his head with questioning eyes.

“You don’t know you deliberately broke the rules, opened MY house to a couple of boys who refused to work for a roof over their heads and, in the process, damaged my property by making an entrance to one of the other apartments. Surely you must have realized actions like that would have consequences?” Ebenezer asked.

“Consequences?” Suckit repeated.

“Yes, big consequences. In more than one occasion you probably saved their lives” Ebenezer said.

“Sir, you must understand that …. saved their lives?” Suckit looked confused. He didn’t understand what went on anymore.

“Yes, certainly. Life in the streets can be dangerous, you know. Trust me, I’ve been there and I wouldn’t want other young men to have to go through the things I had to go through. I wouldn’t wish that to my worst enemy” Slutch said while a smile slowly crept over his face.

Suckit had been too scared to notice before but now he saw something was different about his boss. His hair, that had been pale and mousy brown, seemed a much livelier color. The eyes, that could chill you to the bone, had excited sparkles in them and were shining. His mouth, always twisted with anger, was now relaxed and a bright and beautiful smile was there. Ebenezer Slutch was dressed in green in red, the colors of Christmas, while he detested those colors before. Suckit could see the handsome man Ebenezer Slutch once was and, apparently, was again.

“Bob, I owe you an apology for so many things but first and foremost because I’ve been a jerk for such a long time. I didn’t appreciate you nearly as much as I should have and I made your existence ten times harder than it needed to be. For that, and many other things, I’m deeply and truly sorry.” Ebenezer said. Suckit just sat there, shocked. Mr. Slutch had not only admitted he had been wrong but he was also friendly to him. It took a couple of seconds to snap out of.

“Sir, I don’t understand. What’s going on?” Suckit asked.

“Maybe I’ll tell you the entire story some other time but right now let’s just say I was taught a few lessons during last night about myself and those around me and I realized I needed to change. I’m no longer the same man as I was yesterday and I want to prove that to you. Where is Huge Tim?” Ebenezer asked.

“There is no one called Huge Tim here” Suckit said, immediately slipping back in his role as protector. No one would hurt Huge Tim during his watch.

“Bob, it’s ok. I won’t do him any harm. I know about his depressions and I brought help” Ebenezer said.

“Mace, could you bring Tim here?” Suckit yelled. A couple of moments later Mace came in with Huge Tim, who was wearing a pair of boxers for the occasion.

“Are you here to punish me, sir? It was a bad thing of me, to hide here, right?” Huge Tim asked in a childlike manner. Ebenezer’s heart broke. The boy had been terribly damaged. He hoped Dr. Marlbly was as good as everyone said he was.

“No, Tim. I’m here to help you, not to punish you. I can’t punish you because you didn’t do anything that deserved punishment. I brought a doctor with me to help you with your depressions so you won’t feel like this all the time anymore” Ebenezer said.

“That’s good because I don’t want to feel like this anymore” Tim said before he broke down in tears. “I can’t take it anymore. I want these feelings to go!”.

“Mace, could you go and ask Dr. Marlbly to come in?” Ebenezer asked.

“Dr. Marlbly, the world famous psychiatrist?” Suckit asked.

”One and the same!” Ebenezer answered. “He’s supposed to be the absolute best when it comes to depressive disorders and disturbed self images”.

“Do you hear that, Tim. Mr. Slutch brought the best doctor there is!” Suckit yelled, out of his mind with joy.

“I heard, Bob. But I can’t afford the best doctor.” Tim replied.

“Oh, boy, don’t worry about the money. Worry about getting well. I will deal with Dr. Marlbly when the time comes. Money is not worth worrying about. I have so much money I could choke in it” Ebenezer said.

“I heard someone talk about me” Dr. Marlbly said. “I take it this huge specimen of a young man is the patient?”.

“Yes sir. Tim, this is Dr. Marlbly. He’ll work with you to make you feel better” Ebenezer said.

Tim got up. “Thank you, Mr. Slutch. Thank you so much!” and with that Tim gave Ebenezer the most precious thing he ever got: a hug. Unfortunately, Tim was not only as big as a Grizzly but also as strong as one and Ebenezer felt his ribs crack.

“That’s enough, Tim. Mr. Slutch still needs his ribs so you’d better let go of him now” Suckit said. “You better take the doctor to your room so you can start working with him. If that’s ok with you, doctor?”.

“For now that will do. But I’d prefer the next consult being held in my office. Now, lead the way, Tim” Dr. Marlbly said.

“Mr. Slutch, thank you so much! I don’t know how long we would’ve managed fighting his depressions. We were losing the battle, you know?” Suckit said.

“Yes, I know, Bob. Trust me, I know more than you think. And I think you’d better call me Ebenezer from now on. I think we’ll be working more closely in the near future” Ebenezer answered.

“Somehow I believe that, Mr. Slu … Ebenezer. Will you be staying for the Christmas diner?”

“Only if my presence here doesn’t disrupt anything here, Bob.”

“Oh, you disrupted a lot today, Ebenezer, but I think it will be a disruption for the better” Suckit laughed.

“In that case I would be delighted to. But first I need to have a little talk with young Mace over there. It’s come to my attention he’s not doing his share of the work with the customers. That means I have two choices: I either fire him or I’ll give him your job if you agree to be my business partner” Ebenezer said.

“Business partner?” Suckit asked.

“Yes, I think I’m going to need one again because in the near future we’re going to expand in area’s we never worked in before. So? What do you say?”

“Ummm, yes?” Suckit said.

“Right answer, Bob. Definitely the right answer.”

After a couple of hours everyone was sitting at the diner table, Tim between Ebenezer Slutch and Bob Suckit. Dr. Marlbly talked to Ebenezer about his assessment of Tim’s situation.

“I think it will be a long and hard road but it can be done, Mr. Slutch. It will take intensive therapy and counseling, definitely the use of antidepressants and maybe even commitment in the psychiatric ward of the hospital but in the end I’m pretty sure I can help Tim overcome his depressions and give him a normal life. But there is a small thing about the bills. It will not be cheap”.

“Dear doctor, the bills can be sent to me. I will pay for everything. Just do whatever you can for Tim”.

“I will start tomorrow morning than” Dr. Marlbly said before he left, going back to his family and the celebration of Christmas.

“Ebenezer, will you do the honors to cut the turkey?” Bob Suckit asked.

“Definitely, my friend. Give me the knife”. In one swift move Ebenezer sliced the bird in half and cut of a leg he gave to Tim.

“Eat, my boy. You will need it. You heard the doctor. You have a difficult road ahead but you will be fine”.

Tim smiled at that, pretty much the first smile Bob Suckit had seen from the boy in all the time he had taken care of him. And he made a decision.

“I would like to make a toast. To Ebenezer Slutch. Just yesterday we thought you to be a mean, harsh and cruel man without any compassion. Today you have proven us wrong. So this toast is to you, Ebenezer. And a Merry Christmas!”

“Thank you, Bob. And a Merry Christmas to you all!”

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!