Season 3, Episode 9: Extraordinary Merry Christmas

Ownership of Glee: FOX, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk

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Violet P.O.V.

Everyone is decorating the choir room for Christmas. Meanwhile, Mercedes is singing the timeless Mariah Carey song, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You.'

[All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mercedes]

"Best Christmas ever." I say as I stand next to Kurt.

= = =

Sue was talking to Kurt, Artie, Blaine and I. "Christmas is also a time to give back. Which is why, this Friday, I am volunteering at the Lima Homeless Shelter. And I thought maybe you and your fellow glee clubbers might want to pitch in by giving the gift of song." Sue says.

"Coach Sylvester, I've heard you say on several occasions that you don't believe in homelessness. You said you considered homeless people urban campers." Kurt says.

"Can I be honest with you, Stumbles, Gelfling, Violet, young Burt Reynolds? I lost my sister this past year, and this will be my first Christmas without her. And honestly, I'm just trying to keep myself occupied." Sue says.

I give her a small smile. "We'd be happy to help." I tell her.

"Oh, that's fantastic. And now, in the spirit of Christmas, get the hell out of my office." She says.

I walk out with a newfound sense of Christmas cheer.

= = =

"We might have spent our entire decorating budget for the whole year, but with something that looks as absolutely fabulous as this, I have to say, brav-ho-ho-ho." Mr. Shue says.

"Hey, everybody, listen up. My man, Rory Flanagan here, wants to say a few." Finn says.

Rory nods. "Thanks, Finn Hudson. So, guys, my mummy was going to come visit for the holidays, but plane tickets are expensive, so it's my first Christmas without any family. I'd like to cheer myself up by dedicating this song to them... and to the King."

"Jesus?" Finn asks.

Rory sings Elvis's 'Blue Christmas.' It makes me sad that he can't have his family visit, and vice versa.

[Blue Christmas by Rory]

"Gosh, that song was so depressing. I may actually be dead right now." Santana says.

"I-I think, what Santana means is, although that... that was mournfully beautiful, now that the whole glee club is back together, I think that we should focus on the more joyous and the pageant aspect of this holiday season." Rachel says.

"Rachel's right. Last Christmas was super sad. Kurt was at another school, Coach Sylvester trashed everything, and Artie got a pair of magic legs that broke the next day. We were the island of misfit toys. This year is going to be... This year, it's a whole new sprig of mistletoe." Finn states.

"Guess who's not getting coal in their stockings for once... us." Mr. Shue says.

"Rory, have a seat." Our teacher says. "I just got off the phone with Don Borowski, the local station manager at Lima's PBS affiliate. Turns out that their annual broadcast of the Yule log burning has been canceled."

"The hell?" Finn says.

"Yeah, they can't afford the licensing fees anymore. But thank you, Scrooges who own that copyright, because Don came to Sectionals, he loved what we did and he is offering us..." Mr. Shue is cut off by Rachel.

"A Christmas special featuring all of us?" She asks. Mr. Shue's grin gets wider, which only makes me frown.

"Okay, please say you said yes." Kurt says.

"Not only did I say yes, but when Don said that they were looking for a director for the special, I nominated you, Artie." Mr. Shue says.

"Me?" Artie asks.

Mr. Shue nods. "Yeah. He saw West Side Story, loved your work, and he wants to take a meeting."

"But I... I swore I would never sell out
and do television. I'm really going to have to think about this, Mr. Shue." Artie says.

Well I know what I'm not doing. I'm not doing this television stuff.

I already promised Sue I'd help out at the homeless shelter.

= = =

"Look at you do-gooders." Sue says when she sees the others rehearsing. "Hard at work."

"Coach Sylvester, we're in the middle of rehearsal." Santana says.

"Yeah, and I think it's great you're working so hard on your performance. And I'll tell you what. Everyone at the homeless shelter is really looking forward to the show. I just wanted to confirm with you, Artie, that we're on for Friday night." Sue says.

"Oh, Friday. It's a no-can-do on Friday. We're taping our Christmas special for the Lima PBS." Artie says.

Sue frowns. "You told me you were in."

"This is a huge opportunity for us." Kurt says.

"Can we just do it another night? Homeless will be homeless for a while." Artie states.

"That's sort of the problem. I promised them. You don't want to disappoint
these kids." Sue says.

"Hmm, like your behavior has disappointed us for years? Last Christmas, you cut down our tree, you stole our presents and you made Becky dress up like a reindeer." Mr. Shue says.

Okay, I know he doesn't like Sue, but she's genuinely upset about this. I look at Quinn, who looks equally sad as I do.

"So you're gonna walk away from people who have nothing?" She asks.

"No, not at all. We're just gonna distract them from their plight and the smell of urine and make them happy with our glamorous Christmas cheer." Rachel states.

"The homeless don't have TVs. So you're all agreed on this?" Sue asks.

Everyone but Sam, Quinn and I nod.

"Fine. Merry Christmas." Sue says as she walks out.

"Let's take it from the top, guys. And remember, smile." Mr. Shue instructs.

I look at Sam and Quinn and I know they're thinking exactly what I'm thinking. We all walk out of the choir room and track down Sue.

"We're in to help at the homeless shelter." I tell her. She looks genuinely happy for once.

"Violet, Quinn, Sam... thank you."

= = =

When we get to the homeless shelter, we set everything up for the numbers we're putting on for these kids.

"What number should we do first?" Sam asks. We decided on three numbers to do for the night.

Sue walks up to us. "I don't care what song you three do first — all I care about is that these kids have smiles on their faces." She tells us.

Quinn and I look at each other before looking at Sam. "Let's do 'Silent Night.'" Quinn says.

We get the kids gathered around us as we sit on the floor with them. I'm sat in between Sam and Quinn. We begin singing 'Silent Night,' but we're singing a cappella.

[Silent Night by Sam, Quinn and Violet]

When we finish, the children have smiles on their faces. We have smiles on our faces.

And so does Sue.

= = =

After a few minutes, I get a text from Kurt.

From Lover: Where are you? I thought we were doing the TV special together.

To Lover: I already promised Sue I'd help her at the homeless shelter. I'm here with Sam and Quinn.

From Lover: Why didn't you tell me?

To Lover: I didn't think I needed to.

From Lover: You sound angry.

To Lover: I'm not angry... I'm disappointed in you guys.

I put my phone in my purse when it's time for our next number.

We're doing Josh Groban's 'Believe,' the song that plays in the end credits of The Polar Express.

[Believe by Sam, Quinn and Violet]

I think this is probably the best song we did this evening. The kids really seem to love it, but I love it because Sam, Quinn and I understand the deeper meaning behind the song.

Believing in what's right.

= = =

We have our last performance for the night now. After this, we're helping Sue serve food to the homeless.

We decide to end the night with 'Carol of the Bells.' I'm singing soprano, Quinn is singing alto, and Sam is our tenor/baritone.

[Carol of the Bells by Sam, Quinn and Violet]

Seeing these kids clap for the three of us makes me feel happy inside.

I enjoy giving back to these kids. They need Christmas cheer the most.

= = =

Sam, Quinn and I are helping serve meals to the homeless right now.

"Everyone's just been telling me you've been having a rough year, but you seem pretty good to me." Sam says.

"I'm better." Quinn states.

I forgot that we told him about her skank phase. Oops.

"Think I was just stuck focusing on everything I didn't have and none of the stuff that was good. Stuff in the future." Quinn explains.

"I'm glad you turned it around. You deserve good things, Quinn." Sam says.

"I'm trying." Quinn says softly.

"Guess you're just not used to being on this side of the serving line." Sue tells us as we try to portion out the food evenly.

"Seriously though, I don't think we have enough food for everybody." Sam says.

"Yeah." Quinn agrees.

"Economy gets bad, people give less." I state.

"Hey!" I hear. I look up to see the New Directions.

"I know we're late, but we were all hoping there's still time to help." Rachel says.

"We brought the turkey from the special with all the fixings." Blaine states.

Brittany nods. "Yeah, it's a prop but it's real."

"Why don't you put it on the table over there, kiddo." Sue instructs.

"You guys finally came around." I told my boyfriend.

"Well, you can thank Rory for helping us see the light." Kurt says. Honestly, them showing up tonight is the perfect apology.

"I was just following my Christmas sponsor's lead." Rory says with a blush.

"We have a song, too. We were gonna perform it as our final number for our Christmas special, but we lost the final ten minutes of airtime when the station reached a last-second agreement with those Yule log people." Finn says.

"As long as it's not 'Jingle Bells.'" I tell him.

= = =

Sam, Quinn and I perform 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' with the rest of the New Directions.

[Do They Know It's Christmas? by New Directions]

I smile as a little girl walks up to me. I pick her up and sit her on my hip, holding her close as we sing.

I don't miss the look of awe Kurt has on his face.

I love kids. I can never let children down on Christmas.

= = =

When we get home from the homeless shelter, I look at Kurt.

"You know... you guys showing up tonight was the ultimate apology." I tell him.

Kurt smiles. "I wish I could've seen your performances. Sue said you, Sam and Quinn made those kids really happy." He says.

"Oh, you mean like the same performances that were videotaped by Sue without us knowing? She emailed them to me, Sam and Quinn." I tell him.

I go into my emails and open all three links to each of our performances. While watching them, Kurt's smile grows big and wide.

"The way you care for these kids... it's another reason I fall in love with you over and over again." He tells me.

I smile and kiss him. "Merry Christmas Kurt."

He kisses back. "Merry Christmas Violet."

Merry Christmas indeed.

= = =

1885 words

Songs Mentioned/Performed
1. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mercedes
2. Blue Christmas - Rory
3. Silent Night - Sam, Quinn and Violet
4. Believe - Sam, Quinn and Violet
5. Carol of the Bells - Sam, Quinn and Violet
6. Do They Know It's Christmas? - New Directions

I loved writing this episode.

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