Merry Christmas for Mala

   Mala let out a yelp as she jumped back. How she managed not to scream, she couldn't figure. As she was pulling out a drawer to grab a fresh pair of stockings, a rat had run right up onto the chest of drawers and only inches from her face. She had no weapon handy, but dared not let the rat escape. She had to, though, as the rat ran off and disappeared before she could make her move. It was a mighty uncomfortable thought that the creature was running around the house, but she wasn't in a position to do much about it right now. She finished putting on her uniform and left with the intention of picking up some rat traps. Surely Ed and Misty would want the creature removed as much as Mala did.

   The hardware store in town offered a selection of traps, but Mala was unsure which would work best. She tried not to exaggerate the size of the rat when discussing the matter with the salesman, but she still ended up walking out with some good-sized traps. Not much happened on Saturdays, so Mala decided to take the scenic route back to the Carter house. When she arrived, Ed was just finishing putting up the Christmas tree. Misty sat down to take a look at the placement. 

   "It's perfect," Misty clapped her hands together, "and it'll look just wonderful once we have it decorated!" The rest of the room was already decked out, with tasteful but colorful decorations adorning every door and window. Mala felt a little guilty about showing up so late, feeling she could have been a great help if she'd been on hand. She was rather touched to find that Ed had hung an extra stocking over the fireplace, a stocking with Mala's name beautifully embroidered upon it. Mala blushed at the sight, she was so moved. Ed noticed.

   "You're one of the family now, Mala," he proudly gestured to the stocking, "do you like it?"

   "Oh, it's just wonderful," Mala reached up and removed a tear from her eye, "I feel so guilty about not being here sooner to help you decorate."

   "Don't worry about that. Misty loves to decorate for Christmas. But you can help us trim the tree."

   "Really? When I came to work as your maid, I never expected you'd open your home to me so fully."

   "Like Ed said," Misty stood, "you're a part of our family now, Mala."

   "You have such big hearts," Mala sighed, "I thought I was just the maid." It became clear to Ed and Misty that Mala wasn't used to being treated with such kindness. Not for a long time, at least. In her childhood, Roger was always there. She was on her own by the time he'd come back from the Army, however, and after that she'd fallen into whatever horror it was that was turning the wolves into savages. It had been a long time since Mala felt like she was part of a real family, and she thought her place with the Carters would be that of a domestic only. 

    She quickly learned she wasn't to be just a hired servant, however. Misty always urged her friends to call her by first name, and insisted Mala do so as well. Mala had been given quarters which turned out to be rather more opulent than anything she ever expected. And there was the way Misty treated her. When Misty needed something done, she let Mala know it, but never in the form of an order. Really, Misty had been treating Mala like a sister all along. Misty came from high society, but her breeding never shaded her interaction with Mala. The two girls had spent much time in conversation. They spoke over breakfast, lounging by the pool, and even while Mala went about her duties. Misty had been used to doing her own cleaning for a while, which was her justification for giving Mala a hand whenever they were together. At first, Mala expected things to settle into a normal routine where Misty would fully turn over the chores to Mala. But that hadn't happened. Mala tended to do her cleaning when Misty was at the studio, but somehow, Misty always managed be back home in time to lend a hand.

   "You didn't need a maid," Mala looked at Misty, "just why did you hire me?"

   "I wouldn't say we didn't need a maid," Misty motioned to the room, "this is pretty big place and I wouldn't want to keep cleaning it by myself on weekends when someone could keep it clean for me every day."

   "But you never let me do all the cleaning. You took a big chance, inviting me to live and work here. And you knew what I'd done... I can't figure the motivation."

   "Have a seat, Mala." Ed gestured to the couch. Mala complied.

   "Okay."

   "I was a friend of the Warden, and he told me about the program. We thought it would be a good way to help someone get a leg up."

   "We both thought it would be worth anything to break that smut ring," Misty chimed in, "opening our doors to whoever took that risk seemed entirely worth it. While you were undercover, we told Roger about the program. We wanted him to know, since he and Crissy are such dear friends of ours. They both thought it was a good idea."

   "They did? Even before I was out?"

   "What you were doing was worthy of reward," Ed said, "a second chance. Roger wanted you to get that second chance. So did Crissy. We knew you'd changed after you'd been locked away. We were given full details on you before we were asked to go through with it. We figured our home would be a better environment than the wolf pack."

   "Yes," Mala looked at her feet, "I can never thank you enough for what you've done. And now, to know you think of me as a member of the family... I can't put into words how wonderful I feel." Mala looked up with a smile. Then her eyes caught sight of the rat and she began screaming, much to the confusion of Ed and Misty. Mala pointed to the rat, as it nibbled at the lower branches of the tree. Ed put out his hand to tell both girls to keep still. What he did next was pretty impressive. He reached for the hammer still resting on the mantel, then used it as a missile. His aim was perfect, and the rat was clonked in the head. Ed then finished the job with his foot, stomping down on the dazed rodent and killing the pest.

   Now able to catch her breath, Mala broke another smile. "I don't have to clean that up, do I?"

   "I'm not touching it!" Misty playfully insisted. Ed rolled his eyes and smiled before stooping down to wrap some newspaper around the dead rat. Fortunately, he'd laid some down to catch the needles before setting up the tree.

   "These things usually come in waves," Ed noted, "we'll need to set out some traps." Mala grinned as she scooped up the bag of traps she'd purchased earlier.

   "Well, looks like we got the perfect Christmas present from Mala, Ed!"

   "That's actually something I've been having trouble with," Mala admitted, "what can I possibly get for you two that you don't have already. What I do have for you seems sorta silly, after what you've told me just now. But the one thing I got sorta good at over the years was wood carving. You can buy anything you want, so I figured maybe I could make something you wouldn't think of buying for yourself."

   "I admit you have us intrigued," Ed said as he put his arm around Misty, "I didn't know you did wood carvings." Mala sat silently for a second, then walked up the stairs. A few minutes later, she came down carrying a cardboard box.

   "I'm going to go ahead and give these to you now," Mala said, "if it's not your cup of tea, I still have time to find something better. I haven't been here long enough to really know your tastes, apart from what I can glean from the rest of the stuff in the house." Ed and Misty stood by as Mala set the box on the couch and then pulled out of it two very beautiful carvings. For Ed was a soap dish shaped like a clam shell decorated with a Navy anchor. To Misty was given a soap dish shaped like her string of pearls resting over a small round pillow. Mala was embarrassed, thinking the bobbles worthless and crude. What Ed and Misty could see was personalized, beautifully crafted, and demonstrative of Mala's hidden talents. Misty was so touched that she sniffed back a tear as she hugged Mala in thanks. Mala was actually a bit surprised. "You like them? You really like them?" Ed nodded and smiled as he held up his dish for close inspection.

   "Oh, Mala," Misty admired her soap dish, "these are absolutely beautiful! Merry Christmas!"

   "Merry Christmas. And thank you, for everything." Mala then screamed as she saw another rat.