Maybe Christmas miracles did happen—Stevie and Maverick finished their Christmas album in one night. Well. Between sleeps. So. Oneish night. Nobody slept so it was the same day as far as Maverick was concerned. That was how time worked. Maverick standard time, as his friends so lovingly put it.

That being said, Maverick was starting to get past the point of tired. He'd woken up early to make breakfast and walk the dog—as much as he teased Everleigh about it, it had been his intention the entire time—and had been up since then. About seven o'clock that morning. Part of him didn't want to know what hour it was at that point.

"Not to be dramatic," Stevie said. "But I think I'm literally seeing colours that don't exist. That, or the sleep deprivation is getting to me. Thoughts?"

"I didn't even bring any joints and this is higher than I've ever felt in my life," Maverick said. His position once again on the floor was probably not helping make his case that he was stone cold sober and drop dead tired—he'd rolled a Christmas sweater of Everleigh's up to make a pillow for himself. Maybe sleep deprivation was his new marijuana. Everleigh had been right that he could do without for a couple days. He supposed she was usually right.

"Do you think those two put something in the cookies—"

"Had to replace the flour they wasted with something else."

"I can't believe them," Stevie said. She joined him on the floor. It was where Maverick spent most of his time while actually high, why not when they simply felt high? "What if we got too high and didn't end up finishing this thing? Then what?"

"They would disappoint so many people," Maverick said. Despite Everleigh making the best pot brownie he'd ever tasted in his life. "Never letting them bake or make us baked ever again."

"I hope they're happy," Stevie said. (Maverick nearly snapped his neck with how quickly he looked at her.) "Now that they almost ruined Christmas forever."

"They—" Maverick couldn't stop his smile that spilled through. "Hmm. Yeah. So true."

"I know that look," Stevie said. "That's your I have a brilliant idea look."

Maverick grinned. Like a kid on Christmas morning. Didn't even laugh, just smiled like an idiot. He'd had very few good ideas in his lifetime, but this? This he was proud of. "You must be high—You didn't even say I've never had a good idea."

"I can..." Stevie stared at him for a moment. "I can literally see the words you're saying. I think I might be."

"Not high enough to not be able to hit a high F, I hope."

Stevie matched his smile. "Is this what I think you're thinking—"

"Christmas, pot, and Elphaba are green, Stev," Maverick said. It was simply a fact. "I don't know. Dumb idea?"

"Know who else is green?" Stevie asked. "Luigi. Ish."

"That's so true." Maverick was pretty sure he was going to start seeing Santa soon—and he'd only be concerned because it wasn't the 24th. Santa couldn't be there early, that wasn't how it worked.

"Everyone does deserve the chance to fly."

"Just like the reindeer." Maverick half-rolled across the floor to pick up his guitar that he'd put beside himself. Rolled back and rested it on his stomach. He plucked a couple notes—Defying Gravity never sounded quite right on the guitar he needed a full orchestra. "And... nobody in all of Oz... picks Santa... over Mrs Claus?"

"And that's the true meaning of Christm-Oz," Stevie sang.

Maverick rolled around the idea in his head. "Dare we do a 13th track?"

if we d The idea had been 12 for the 12 days of Christmas. New and covers of songs. And they had met that quota in the most wonderful way possible. Hitting a handful of genres, each unique, and having the time of their lives on those instruments. Christmas cheer wrapped into an album.

"Would be a shame idn't," Stevie said. "We're not that great at accepting limits."

"Is there really a limit of Christmas cheer you can spread?" Maverick asked. "I don't think so."

"The limit of some good Christmas spirit does not exist."

"And, really... nobody's here to stop us."

"I just feel like if they didn't want us to do this, they would be here right now to tell us no," Stevie said. "So, whose fault is it, really?"

Maverick nodded. "It would be a shame if we just... didn't."

"It's too late to go back to sleep anyway."

"If we're closing our eyes, we need to leap."

"Are we gonna keep doing this or—"

"If we're making it a duet..." Maverick considered the options. "Who's fighting?"

"Hear me out—" Stevie said. "I've never fully trusted that bitch Frosty."

"Frosty the good bitch," Maverick confirmed.

"My thoughts exactly." Stevie nodded. "Any ideas for the other one?"

Maverick thought about it for a moment. Tilted his head a little as he strummed the guitar. He always did his best thinking with a guitar in hand. "Misunderstood magic person... Could I be heard out for Lord Krampus?"

If they were making a 13th track it might as well have Christmas Satan in it. Why not?

"I mean... he's basically Dr. Dillamond's cousin, right?"

"Pretty much."

"We're fucking brilliant," Stevie said. "Why haven't we done this sooner?"

"We needed to be high," Maverick said. "Apparently."

"Do we..." Stevie jumped up off the floor. Renewed energy had taken over her. The power of Oz. "Do we thinking we can get the other two to do some background vocals?"

Maverick pursed his lips for a moment. "Did we push our luck with Christmas Cookies?"

(He was really proud of Christmas Cookies. Everyone sounded great, despite the pushback. Maverick never would've steered Everleigh wrong, she had a lovely voice when she sang in the shower and she had a lovely voice in the recording studio.) (He would stay true to his NDA that the random female background vocal on a couple songs in Curtain Call would remain unknown—the same unknown female also got a couple songwriting credits, too. Maverick didn't break NDA's like Stevie did.) (Brendon also sounded great on the track, but Maverick had heard him sing at karaoke before. He never did anything poorly. The four of them working together on his last album was a dream come true.)

"I think our luck is... unlimited," Stevie said.

Maverick gently put his guitar on the floor beside him and rolled the other way. Took his time getting up and still heard his knees crack. Let out a groan. He might've required knee surgery after his tour was done if he survived that long—yikes. "Let's go."

The two of them crept into the living room to try and find their significant others. The lights were out, but there was no denying the snoring coming from the couch. The studio lights were enough to see Brendon and Everleigh both laid on the couch, enough room for the both of them sleeping the night away when there was singing to be done.

Stevie poked Maverick in the shoulder and pointed at a sleeping Dewey nearby. She whispered, "Don't wake my child. He'll be grumpy."

Maverick didn't know how to tell her that when him and Dewey set their minds to it, they likely could both sleep through nuclear bombs. Or Santa's arrival on the roof. He put a hand to his chest and whispered back. "I would never."

They worked their way over to the couch quietly. Both of them looked peaceful in a way that almost made him feel bad for what they were about to do. Almost. There were still piles of flour everywhere. That was enough for him.

"What the hell are all of these..." Stevie took a closer look at Everleigh, who was closer to her. "Are those crumbs? God, they're filthy."

For whatever it was worth, Maverick could take a cookie coma. It was a relief. At least it meant they'd gotten along long enough to eat some semblance of dinner. But, Everleigh's mental state wasn't for him to talk about, especially if he hadn't confirmed it. He managed, "No wonder they fuckin' passed out."

"Ate all the cookies and all the drugs."

"I could've used some drugs—"

"Would be a shame if someone were to wake them up."

Maverick considered his options. "Do you want to try Everleigh or—Who's worse—"

"Might be safer if I do—wake up—Everleigh," Stevie said. (Maverick couldn't even be upset after Santa Baby.) "She'll probably smack the shit out of you if you try."

"... I wish I could say that hasn't happened before," Maverick said.

Everleigh had worked a long overnight shift—15 hours—and Maverick went to wake her sometime in the afternoon to try and get some food in her. Needless to say, he'd scared her and his glasses had flung across the floor of their bedroom as she woke up. She'd been very apologetic, but so had he. Eventually, he thought it was funny. When his face stopped hurting.

"Okay—" Stevie handed him a couple things that would be easy to bang around without breaking but loud enough that it would easily wake them. "On the count of three. Got it?"

Maverick nodded. "Got it."

The two of them moved quietly and quickly. Made their way over to their respective person, and Stevie counted to three.

Maverick had barely hit them together when he felt the crispest slap across his ass that made him fly into Brendon's chest. Practically head-butted his diaphragm as a wake up call. Rubbing it didn't even help. "Motherf—Ow."

"Oi, what the fuck—" Brendon exclaimed, pushing Maverick off him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you—" Everleigh asked. Hand still raised when Maverick turned around.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Stevie asked. "There's an entire bakery all over you, the couch, and the floor."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Everleigh said.

"We just woke up," Brendon said. "Maybe you left it there."

"You were the ones taking all the cookies all day," Everleigh said.

"Amazing we even had cookies when you both stole all the flour," Stevie said.

"What was the reason for waking us up?" Everleigh asked. She crossed her arms. Pulled the blanket off the couch and wrapped herself in it—looking for it to shield her from their genius, so rude. "Couldn't have been to critique the people who spent all day baking for you."

"You deserved to get woken up for the pain you just caused my ass—" Maverick said.

Everleigh gaped at him. "If you hadn't woken us up—"

"Are either of you aware of what fuckin' time it is—" Brendon asked. He pulled his phone from his pocket and made a face—evidently he didn't enjoy the answer to his question. It was almost immediate that he pocketed his phone again.

"Not an hour meant for sleep, that's for sure," Stevie said.

"Raise your hand if you work night shifts at a hospital and are on vacation so shouldn't be up at this hour—" Everleigh raised her hand. "What do you want?"

"Someone is using her Grinch voice," Stevie said.

Everleigh shot a pointed look at her. "Bah humbug."

"We have the opportunity of a lifetime for you and Brendon," Stevie said. "What you've worked and waited for all your life."

"I somehow doubt that but please get on with it so we can go back to sleep," Brendon said.

"It's all you've ever wanted," Maverick said.

Everleigh looked at him and raised a pointed eyebrow. "A decent night's sleep...?"

"Some peace and quiet?" Brendon added.

"Much better than that," Stevie said.

"I can actually promise you nothing's better than that," Everleigh said. She gave Maverick a look before he could even jokingly say sex.

"Think of the one song on this earth you know you can never tire of—" Stevie said.

Brendon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

"And imagine it reimagined," Stevie said, waving her hands like she was casting spells. "Even more spectacular and festive and brilliant than you could ever dream of."

"Kingston," Everleigh said. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Oh, nobody's sleeping," Maverick said. "Except Dewey. Because he deserves it."

"You piece of—"

"I'm going to the country music festival again with Leigh next year," Brendon said.

(Maverick kept his mouth shut that Everleigh had already bought him a ticket for the festival for Christmas.)

"Who cares about that when we're Defying... Defying..." Stevie ran a hand through her hair. "Shit, I didn't come up with a Christmas pun for that part."

"That one was hard, though," Maverick said. "Can't blame us."

Everleigh stared. "Do you mean to tell us you haven't even finished the song?"

"Well, I mean," Stevie said, "not quite..."

"How much of it did you finish—" Brendon said.

"I mean—" Maverick stumbled. "We had the idea to do it—"

"You had an idea and thought it was the right time to wake us up?" Brendon asked. "At four a.m.?"

"Bash, can you hit him?" Everleigh asked, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "It's domestic abuse if I do it—"

Maverick got out of the line of fire as Brendon raised his hand. Jumped out of there. If Everleigh's smack hurt as much as it had, he didn't even want to test Brendon's. "Don't touch me."

Everleigh closed her eyes. "He says to Brendon Ellis for the first time ever."

"So," Stevie said. "We'll just all head back to the room then?"

"No?" Everleigh said; staring at Stevie.

"Well we can't record it out here, silly," Stevie said.

"Neither of us agreed to this," Brendon said. Looking like he wanted to grab a blanket and pass out on the couch again. Too tired to walk to his bedroom.

"You don't even have a song," Everleigh said. She pulled the blanket a little tighter around herself.

"Semantics," Stevie said with a shrug.

"Question," Everleigh said.

"Yes?" Maverick asked. Already trying to figure out what angle he needed to pick her up off the couch and get her into their recording room again.

"What the genuine fuck is wrong with you two?"

Brendon pointed to her like she was speaking his mind too.

"We're not sure what you mean," Stevie said.

"I don't think Bash needs to reiterate the hour," Everleigh said. "Have either of you slept?"

"There's literally no time for that," Maverick said. Though, a part of him would've followed her like a child running to find presents on Christmas morning if she'd asked him to go to bed with her that moment.

"We leave in two days—Well, technically tomorrow now, I guess," Stevie said. "But Mav is right. There is simply no time for this chit chat. We've got a 13th song to record!"

Everleigh sighed. "Enjoy."

"It's too bad you don't have a complete song to record," Brendon said. "Might've been a little more convincing."

"Would've been more convincing if it wasn't four in the fuckin' morning, too," Everleigh said. She put her head back down on the couch.

"I feel the need to mention I was awake before all of you so I don't know what you're complaining about." Maverick crossed his arms.

"You see how that's not good, right?" Once again, if Everleigh asked the question...

"You also just woke up which means you've already gotten to sleep," Stevie said. "How much more could you possibly need? Maverick hasn't had any. I think it's selfish of you to ask more."

"Ask for more?" Brendon asked.

"Selfish?" Everleigh asked.

"Pretty sure I'm closing in on, like—" Maverick did the math in his head. "—21 hours awake, so yeah. Selfish."

"Honestly, they should be asking to join us at this point," Stevie said. "Would be an honour when all they've done is think of themselves."

"I'm going to need compensation for Christmas Cookies," Everleigh said. "This is ridiculous."

"It's for charity," Maverick said. "God. You're just making this worse."

"Stealing cookies from us. Stealing profits from charities," Stevie said. "Will the selfishness never end?"

"I'm gonna call Windsor," Brendon said. "Tell 'em my winter break ended early."

"I'm changing the locks at both houses," Everleigh said.

"Look, we can get this over with and get some sleep," Stevie said, "or Maverick and I can bring all of the equipment out here and keep you both up. Your choice."

Everleigh considered her options. She was good at that. "I have extra ear plugs in my bag. Bash, would you like a pair?"

"Where is it?" Brendon asked. "I'll get them."

"Top pocket of my carry-on," Everleigh said. "Right over there."

Maverick tried to hide his smile. "Hmmm."

Brendon got up and walked over to her suitcase. Unzipped it. A couple times. Checked the other parts of her suitcase, too. "Leigh, it's not here."

Everleigh glared at Maverick from her comfy spot on the couch. "What the fuck did you do with them?"

Maverick smiled a little at her. Love of his life or whatever. So stressed when they were trying to run to the airport. "What did I do with them when you left them on the counter at home, you mean?"

"I did not, you gormless numpty."

"Try my suitcase, Bash," Maverick said. "Front pocket. Please."

"Oh, please, allow me." Stevie walked into his and Everleigh's bedroom. Quickly came back with them in hand. "Oh, these are fancy ones, huh. It's too bad you won't be able to use them. Maverick, did you need a pair for later?"

"That would be lovely," Maverick said. "Thank you so much, Stev."

"VIP tickets, Leigh," Brendon said. "We're getting VIP tickets and matching cowboy boots."

Everleigh smiled tiredly. (One of Maverick's favourites—there was something innocent about it that he loved.) "And buying the expensive booze."

"Sun's about to rise soon," Stevie said. "Better get going."

"Yup," Everleigh said. "You better."

"Bash is already up and ready to go," Maverick said. Like it was truly Brendon's choice when he'd been trying to prove a point. "Come on, Everleigh."

"I'd say fuck you but that's not happening for a while," Everleigh said.

If Maverick wasn't in the middle of writing the song of his life with his best friend, he might've found that more upsetting.

"Come on," Stevie said. She grabbed Everleigh's hand and dragged her off the couch. Blanket and all. "Put some pep in your step."

"It is four in the morning," Brendon said. Though he didn't do much to fight Stevie when she grabbed his hand on her way back to the recording room.

"And it's time for some fuckin' Wicked," Stevie said.

Maverick didn't even have it in him to make fun of Everleigh for falling asleep on Stevie's shoulder while they wrote—Stevie looked like she was on another planet with the giddy aura around her from the song and that combined. Maverick could give her that one. For Christmas.