A CHRISTMAS DINNER

by Alex MacNeil

"Oh man, what is this stuff?" Venkman whined as he stared at the odd concoction on his plate. "Don't tell me Ray's been trying another family recipe..."

Winston folded his arms, smiling expectantly. The psychologist quickly caught his meaning and buttoned it.

Ray seemed content to let the remark pass. He was much more interested in the aromatic foodstuffs on his plate as he took his seat, followed shortly by Egon, Janine and Winston.

Peter nervously took a few bites to avoid offending his friend, only to find that the food was very good! He smiled and started to dig in.

Meanwhile, Slimer's nose caught the scent of the food in the pot and he dumped the contents greedily into his mouth. Venkman caught sight of this from his seat at the table. "Hope no one was looking for seconds," he commented wryly.

Egon raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. It was good to see Peter enjoying the holiday season for a change. For years, the guy had all but Scrooged this time of year, and the death of his mother hadn't helped any. As he tasted the stuff on his plate, Egon found himself agreeing with Venkman. "You've outdone yourself, Winston."

The black man shrugged. He didn't see any reason to fuss about it. He enjoyed the attention, mind you, but he'd cooked this up from a new recipe he had found. He figured he had just followed the instructions, nothing more.

Janine found herself gobbling the stuff greedily, unable to resist making a pig of herself. "You sure have!" she agreed, as she gulped another helping down. "This is really great!"

Winston started to blush, shaking his head. The attention was becoming too much for him. "Really, guys, it's no big deal!"

Venkman chuckled. "This guy's unbelievable. He cooks up a work of art and he still acts like he's just doing his job." That one brought a few smiles and only hastened the reddening of Winston's face.

It took them only a few minutes to clean their plates. They glanced at the onionhead with disappointment. Slimer gulped, figuring it was time to make himself scarce.

Much to his surprise, none of them looked angry at him. "Aw, take it easy Slimer," Ray soothed, "it's okay. Besides it's Christmas, and you know what that means..."

The guys rushed to the tree with Peter, Ray, Slimer, and Janine in the lead, as Egon and Winston followed more calmly and quietly afterward. As they watched two grown men, a woman, and a ghost tearing through wrapping paper like a bunch of children, the two men smiled fondly with amusement. Things were great, just great.

Venkman held up a box-shaped present. "Hey Spengs!"

As the physicist approached, Peter suddenly sneezed on it. Well, at least he did his damnedest to make it look that way. Egon saw a note of cute mischief in his friend's green eyes.

A hint, perhaps? Something about the action rang a bell in Egon's mind, but he couldn't place it.

"Thanks Winston!" Ray cheered, sporting sets of subtitled Japanese anime and monster movies.

"No problem, m'man!" Winston wasn't kidding. He saw no reason to tell Ray, but Blockbuster had held a sale recently on Japanese stuff.

"Utopia? Dialogues of Plato?" The red-head noticed that Egon was a little preoccupied with Peter's gift.

The psychologist grinned. "Well, you said you like to read..."

"Yeah, but this is pretty deep stuff..." then she caught on and smiled warmly. She gave Egon a kiss on the forehead, but he still didn't seem to notice.

Venkman laughed. "Just remember, you have to read that stuff on your own time!"

The blond man examined the gift curiously. Although it was roughly box-shaped in immediate appearance, he noticed three sides seemed slightly hollow, suggestive of a hardcover book.

"Oh WOW!" Ray enthused, as he stared at the comic book eagerly. "A crossover between us and Buffy the Vampire Slayer! How'd you pull this off?"

Peter shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Ah, just a little of the ol' Venkman charm."

"Charlie Venkman knew a man who works for Dark Horse comics now." Egon explained frankly, as he carefully removed the wrappings without damaging them.

"That too." Peter added quickly.

Finally, the cover began to come clear. Egon read the title of the book and turned to Peter questioningly. "Uh... it's very nice. Thank you."

Peter's eyes widened. Very nice? He looked at the title and gasped. "Whoa! Hold it hold it hold it!!! This is the cookbook I was giving to Winston!" He glanced at the black man.

Winston quickly checked the tree. "Nope, it ain't here Pete!"

"What?! It's gotta be!" Venkman insisted wildly. He searched recklessly through the presents. "Oh shit, not again! Damn it, where'd it go?!"

"Peter, it's all right. Really, I appreciate the thought!"

"Egon, you don't understand! I can't screw this up again!"

That piqued Spengler's curiosity. "Screw what up again? It would help if we knew what you were looking for."

Peter sighed with frustration. "Did anyone see an unusual book around?"

Ray couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Define unusual."

Winston frowned thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, maybe."

"Where?!" Venkman demanded.

"Well, earlier this afternoon I found a cookbook opened to a really exotic recipe..."

That got Peter's attention all right. He shot nervous looks at his other three friends. Slimer didn't pay much attention; he was too busy with his own presents and munching on wrapping paper.

"Could you take me to it?"

"Sure." Winston replied, noting Peter's face with worry. He didn't like it when Peter started to sweat. What was he so worked up about?

Winston lead the group into the kitchen, where a tome sat still open next to the stove. Venkman reached for it timidly, closing it over to the cover.

"This is great!" Ray enthused. "You managed to get The Ectoplasmic Gourmet! Way to go, Mr. Sneezie!"

Peter might have laughed at that, but when he turned to the occultist, the younger man put two and two together.

Janine's face started to change color. "You're joking right?"

Winston paled. "Oh shit..."

The whole lot of them raced for the stairs, each squeezing to be the first to reach the bathroom.

THE END