Jane took a deep breath as she entered through the front door of the manor house. A sudden blast of warm air greeted her and for a brief moment her breath was taken away at the sight that greeted her. It was something out of a storybook. The living room had over the course of the school day been transformed into a homily little scene of domestic bliss. An evergreen tree thrice as tall and wide as her was sitting in the far corner of the living room.

The tree was decorated in regal Christmas style. Colorful glass baubles in the colors of red, green and white hung from ribbons in matching colors. Strings of blinking fairy lights wrapped artfully around the tree glowed gently in the darken room. A mountain of boxes in all shapes and sizes wrapped in seasonal wrapping paper and neatly tied with boxes had formed around the base of the tree. 

Beside the decorated Christmas tree somebody had built a nice roaring fire in the old stone fireplace. The blazing fire crackled and popped behind the old iron grate. The air too was warmed by the crackling of the wood and the dancing orange and red sparks of the fire. The pleasant and mouth watering aroma of freshly baked ginger snaps and gingerbread men and women hung in the air. And upon the mantle of the fireplace there hung from highly polished brass hooks that had been drilled into the masonry in a long forgotten age a baker's dozen or more of colorful stockings. Sewn onto the stocking were the names of the children. Names of her brothers and sisters, names like “Susan”, “Nikki”, “Oliver'' and a dozen other names and finally her own. “Jane”. All the young children and teenagers of the house had their own stocking that had been hung with great care above the blazing fireplace.  

But despite being surrounded by all the tapestries of Christmas Cheer, including a new virgin snow that had fallen during the day, the snow had for the most part covered the front lawn, the roof of the house and had totally covered the backyard. Transforming everything into a winter wonderland.  Despite all of this, Jane still found herself feeling a deep void as she started to peel off the many layers of clothing she had bundled up in that morning. 

At first she started with her oversized pink and white hoodie, she took hold of the brass zipper and pulled it all the way down and hung the thing on the coat rack, she then removed her boots. Those were pushed to the side with the others. Feeling a little bold she removed the ribbon tie from her uniform and hung it up with her hoodie. Once that was done she decided she was free enough to skip about the house. 

Once she was free of her hoodie and boots, she bounced into the kitchen. She wanted to fix herself something warm to drink, and she had a powerful hankering for a cup of steaming hot chocolate as that always seemed to chase away the cold winter chills. The house was eerily quite now, but Jane knew that would soon change in the coming hour. Tonight was after all Christmas Eve and tomorrow would be Christmas Day. She also knew that tonight was one of only two nights in the whole year that most of the household would attend Anglican Services at the diocese's cathedral, St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral. And that meant only one thing, that she would need to take a long shower, shave her legs to perfection, wash her hair to perfection and style it to perfection. She would also be required to wear her best Sunday dress. This was not your normal morning Mass down at Christ Church, the local parish church.  

No this was a special event, they only attended two services in the whole year at the cathedral and those two were very special services in the liturgical calendar and those two days were Christmas and Easter. Easter this year would be really special too, since Josephine, her mother and Robert her father had arranged for a special confirmation service, one that would be led by the bishop of the diocese himself. Rowan Field, who had been among the first to rally to the call of Tim Forest sixteen years ago, when he first called out for aid to build the manor house. The service was to confirm her as an Anglican under her name. But that was still some months away.

All of these thoughts filtered through the sponge that was her mind as she started to mix her hot chocolate. First she poured some warm water into a heavy chine mug that was filled with some hot chocolate powder she had spooned into the mug while she mused. Then she reached into the drain board and picked up a silver teaspoon, spoon in hand she started to stir the mixture and it soon transformed from one part hot water and one part hot chocolate mix into a luscious winter beverage. And try as she might she could not stop her mind from starting to wander once more.

This time she started to ponder how her life had changed over the last two and a half years. Yes, it had been about two and a half years since she had been rescued from that hellish house that had been her home. Back when she felt she was just a poor, jade and cynical boy who was floating through his life. Counting down the days till he turned eighteen was free from the foster system. She tried not to remember those painful eight months of her life she had endured there. Those eight months were a very dark period of her life, but sometimes those memories came rushing back, they would flood her head and paralyze her.

Not only would that tiny voice paralyze her, but it also had the bad habit of sending her into a wild tailspin. A spiraling staircase of depression and anxiety that often left her only a husk of her former self when the wave finally decided to break.  Add in that she was slowly accepting the fact that was indeed transgender  and you had one nightmarish cocktail of mixed up and toxic emotions. A thick jungle she was starting to hack through with the help of her mother, father and her many newfound sisters and brothers. The problem was they were just mere spectators in her daily struggles. It was up to her, and her only to cut through that thick jungle so choked full of pitfalls and thick vines. 

Jane closed her eyes and lifted her hot beverage to her lips. She took a nice long sip. The hot liquid was soothing to her and caused her building anxiety to melt away. Jane then sighed a content sigh as she drained the last few ounces of her drink. Once her mug was empty she rinsed it out and set it into the drain board to dry. She then slowly made her way up the stairs, time had a habit of slipping through her fingers. And she knew herself all too well enough, if she did not start getting ready now, she'll soon become hopelessly sidetracked and get totally lost in the weeds.

And so knowing time was precious she started to make her way up the stairwell. Over the next hour she showered, she brushed and styled her hair and put on the best dress she owned. She even put on a little perfume because it was a special night, keeping that in mind she made sure to keep her make-up light; Settling only with a foundation and a bit of lip gloss and a pinch of mascara. Once she was finished with her primping she took the chance and peered into her vanity mirror. And for the first time that day, she allowed herself to show a small smile as she peered toward her own reflection. She felt like for the first time in about a fortnight she was not putting on an act. She was really Jane and Jane was also her. The reflection that greeted her was not a boy pretending to be a girl but one that really reflected who she was.

Smiling, she slipped out of her bedroom and slipped down the stairwell. It seemed she was just in time too, for all of her brothers and sisters were gathering together in the living room. All of the girls wore formal dresses that were a notch above your normal church going dresses. The boys too wore more than formal church going clothing. With all of them wearing coats, ties, slacks and dress shoes.

Jane quickly fell into line with her other brothers and sisters. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted older sister Sue who had somehow managed to squeeze herself into a formal looking A-line black dress with pumps and a matching purse. Her brunette hair was no longer pulled back in the tomboyish ponytail, instead she wore it down and she had even styled it with a curling iron. She looked pretty cute. Jane did not have long to look, for soon she was being marched out the front door and down the sidewalk with her other brothers and sisters, one by one they were loaded up into one of the three awaiting vans. Once everybody had been loaded up the little convoy started up and pulled out.

Once they were loaded up, the tiny convoy started the one hour drive into the inner city. Jane who counted herself lucky enough to score a seat by the window and so she had a good view of the passing scenery. Every house they passed was decorated to the nines with Christmas lights and decorations. Many of the houses even had outdoor nativity scenes in the front yards. The sophistication of the scenes ranged from simple silhouettes to plywood cutouts to full on plastic figures.

Finally after an hour and ten minutes of driving they reached the stone steps of St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, the sight of the massive stone church took her breath away. The building towered over the surrounding building. Many of the surrounding buildings were nothing but flat, square, two stories of the various law firms of the region. Sandwiched between the square office building were a few supermarkets and odd shops. None of them reached the height of the stone towers that were topped with steeples and spires. As Jane peered up at the massive stain glass window she started to understand why the cathedral was a local landmark. None of the surrounding building came close to even touching it. The building was very special, and if her mom and dad wanted her to be confirmed here it must meant that she was really special to them. And that thought made her feel good about herself.

There was indeed something inherently uplifting and very profound and meaningful about attending Christmas Eve Mass, from the chiming of the altar bells to use of incense, and the chanting of the prayers in Latin, the homily that focused on the humble birth of Christ Child, who would one day redeem the world through his passion and his blood. It made Jane forget if just for a few hours her troubles and caused her to forget her doubts. Following Holy Communion and the dismissal the family once more loaded up in the vans and started toward home again. But not before stopping at McDonald's for an after church snack.

It was well into the night when the little convoy finally returned home. Most of her brothers and sisters had fallen asleep after they had pulled out of the parking lot of McDonald's, their bellies full of hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets, soda and ice cream cones. With full bellies and a warm car, they soon find themselves nodding off to the fable land of Nod. But Jane found herself too enthralled with many Christmas Displays they passed. And for the first time in a very long time, she felt herself starting to believe in Santa and the magic of the season.

And so, as her brothers and sisters trudged toward their bedrooms, cold and tired and dreaming of only their warm warm beds, Jane on the other hand went straight into the kitchen and started to slice some sugar cookies from the cookie dough roll that had been brought a week or so ago. This at first had puzzled her mother, but her puzzlement soon turned to delight when she was informed that the cookies Jane was baking were intended for Santa, who was due for a visit later and left a treasure trove of gifts under the Christmas tree for all the good little girls and boys.

Once her cookies were finished baking, she then set them out on a stone plate and she then set the plate out on the mantle of the fireplace. Next too of course a ice, cold glass of milk. Once all preparations for Santa's visit were done she then settled down on the sofa. Determined to stay awake and welcome Santa into her new family home. Just like any respectable, young lady should. But she was only a few minutes into her vigil before she found herself drifting asleep and before she could catch herself she found herself drifting off to the fable land of Nod.

The old grandfather clock in the formal dining room chimed too one hour after midnight. It was officially Christmas Day. And Jane was fast asleep on the living room sofa. The once roaring fire in the fireplace had long since died down to a gray bed of hot coals. Long winter shadows ran across the wooden floor. Then something happened, in a blink of an eye an petite woman with long, coal black hair and sparkling blue eyes appeared in the middle of the living room. The woman wore a knee length scarlet dress. Beside her was a huge burlap sack, from this sack she would pull out neatly wrapped gifts. These gifts were lovingly placed around the fully lighted Christmas tree.

“Dang it.” She said, sighing a little as she shook her head to the left and to the right. “My first Christmas trip around the world and I got caught. Man dad's not going to be pleased with this.” She said folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes in mild annoyance. “Anyway I'm glad you're up. Because you and I need to have a little heart to heart talk.” She said leveling her gaze toward Jane.

“Because right now, you're kind of straddling both of the two list. I'm not quite sure if you should be given a sack full of coal and a stocking full of switches and pockets full of ashes. Or this brand new laptop computer.” The woman said with a gentle smile.

Jane blinked and blinked again as she peered toward the woman with a very confused look. The woman quickly noted the confused, and lost look that Jane wore on her face. And once more she felt herself sighing again. This was throwing a huge wrench into her plans for the night.

“Oh don't play dumb with me hon. I know who you are. We've been keeping close taps on you all year long. And trust me when I say this, we have a dossier about sixteen inches thick on you. You've been something of a pretty good girl this year. But on the other hand you've been something of a brat. You have this bad habit of skipping over your History homework assignments and your Earth Science assignments too.” She stated as she gave Jane a hard level look. “And that very naughty on your part.”

Jane blinked and blinked again. Quickly without thinking she reached down and then tossed the woolen blanket to the side, the blanket fell upon the wooden floor. Jane then slipped off the sofa and peered toward the woman with a confused and concerned look
 
Jane blinked and blinked again. Without thinking she reached down and tossed the gray woolen blanket to the side, the blanket fell upon the floor. Jane then slipped off the sofa and peered toward the woman with a short of a confused and concerned look.

“Oh yes, we've been keeping taps on you.” The mystery woman said with a sigh. “You've undergone some amazing changes in the past year or so.” The woman paused. “For one thing, you stopped being 'James' and you switched over to become 'Jane' that was a change that threw us for one heck of a loop. I mean we're toy makers and not psychiatrists after all. And number two, you were adopted, you're now the proud daughter of Josephine and Robert Harris. And number three, you have a wonderful new boyfriend. All of this took place in the span of about a year or so. But still, you're on that border line, you've not been all that nice, and you've not been too naughty.”

“So, Jane, I have a proposal for you. If you would accept me from me, a spanking, I will be more than happy to fill your stocking with a fine collection of candies, and special Christmas treats, but I will also make sure you get your brand new laptop computer and something special extra too.” She said grinning from one ear to the other.

“Hold up there.” Jane said, blinking. “What do you mean you've been keeping taps on me?” Jane asked as she squinted her eyes toward the strange woman. “And you've got a freaking dossier on me? And you know about me skipping those history homework worksheets because of how boring and earth science too cause it was just, it's just a kiddie subject too really? And what about all this talk of being naughty and nice? And who in the world said anything about a spanking?” She paused before she decided to add. “Just who in the world are you and why should I not scream really loud right about now and call the police on my phone and tell the operator on the other line and tell them there some strange burglar breaking into my house, and spouting some kind of nonsense, she also dressed in a kind of Santa girl getup and she handing out stole presents too and she wants to spank me?”

First off,” The woman said mildly amused. “These presents were not stolen, they were made in my family's workshop up in the North Pole, second nobody would believe you. And third, it's like my family legacy or something. Where suppose to keep track of all the children in the world, keeping taps on who's been naughty or who's been nice.” She added.

“Workshop?” Jane questioned as tilted her head to the right side and blinked.

“Yes workshop. And it's huge and we have a dozen or so different departments. It really takes a lot of time and effort to make all those toys. And that's all I can say. I've already told you more than enough. Anything more and I'll have to take you back home to the North Pole with me, because then you would have known too much. And I doubt you'll want to swap your new life here in this manor house for a nine to five job working as an entry level clerk in accounting.”

Jane blinked and blinked again. She was quite unsure what to make of that statement.

“In short, I'm Mina Clause.” She finally said, taking note of Jane's clearly confused facial expression. “I'm the daughter of Santa Clause who has retired this year and me, being his oldest child has taken over the running of the family business.  And that business of course being to bring all the good little boys and girls of the world trinkets and gadgets and like I said before, your kind of in the gray.” She paused. “Staying up way past your normal bedtime could just be enough to push you into the red.” She added. “And trust me, you don't want to be in the red, not on your Christmas with your new family.”

“So, you're saying like if I get a spanking from you, you're going to push me back from this 'Naughty List' to this supposed 'Nice List' am I correct?” Jane questioned as she peered toward the strange woman, her voice was full of doubt but she was starting to believe her words. She supposed she had indeed been a bit of a brat this past year. She had quickly learned how far she could push her mother and father. And unlike her other brothers and sisters she never seemed to put one toe over the line. But she always straddled that line.

“That is correct.” She said, taking a deep breath. “I'll give you a few more minutes to decide. I have to cover the whole bloody world you know. And that's one heck of a tight schedule. I'm allowed a little leeway,” She paused, reached into the pocket of dress and pulled out her phone. She quickly checked the time before slipping the phone back into the pocket of her dress.
“In fact, I think I'm running out of time. So Jane, it's now or never. What are you going to decide?” She asked as she peered toward the young woman.

Jane took a deep breath as she nodded her head.

“Alright I believe you.” And with that she started to walk toward the woman and in short order she was pulled over her lap. She then held her hand up and a large hairbrush appeared in her hand. The woman wasted no time in flipping the end of Jane's nightgown up, exposing her matching lavender colored panties, the woman pulled those down and bared her bottom.

Once Jane's bottom was bared. The woman took a deep breath and reached into her sack, she then fished around for a few minutes before pulling out a large wooden hairbrush. She pressed the flat side of the hairbrush into Jane's bottom and then drew it back and smacked it. The smack sent a wave of sting flooding into her cream colored bottom.

The first pass of the brush took Jane's breath away. The Woman followed it up with a second pass of the brush that sent another wave of sting rolling into her bottom and a third wave of sting. Jane's buttercream colored bottom was already starting to turn a pale shade of pink. Jane who at this point in her life had been spanked once, once before by some phantom nurse was still shocked at the sudden flood of pain filing her body.

The sound of the hairbrush smacking the pinking bottom echoed aloud. The force of the hairbrush crashing her round bottom sent a tide of sting crashing into the bottom. The force of the strike caused Jane's bottom to wiggle like a dish of jello. The grandfather clock in the formal dinning room marked the passage of the seconds with its third hand, as each third hand marked the passage of another second, the screams of a young girl getting her bottom tanned echoed louder and louder.

The minutes seemed to turn into hours, the woman it seemed was a master at her craft and watching her tan Jane's bottom, applying the brush skillfully to her bottom, paying close attention to her thighs and her sitting spot. Before long hot, salty tears were running down her face and dripping down on the floor. None of this seemed to bother the woman, who kept up the steady tempo of the hairbrush smacking into Jane's bottom, turning it from a buttercream white, to peach pink, then to a rose red. Then an apple red and finally a deep, deep, ruby red.

As the seconds quickly turned to minutes and the pitch of Jane's wails climbed, a certain powerful sense of forgiveness started to flood over the girl as she lay wiggling on the woman's lap. As her tears poured down her burning cheeks like two salty rivulets and puddled on the floor. She felt the last few ounces of her energy starting to leave her body. And soon she became limb and laid flat. The woman eased down on her swing and gently pushed the brush to the side. Calmly she reached down and pulled the shivering girl into a nice warm hug and then she gently rocked Jane asleep.

Epilogue

The next morning, Jane woke with a still pink bottom. The second mountain of presents was still there. As she cleared the sleep away from her eyes she noticed a herd of the young members of the house starting to trample down the stairwell.

Their tiny faces became as bright as light bulbs when they noticed the second mountain. Proof enough to them that Santa Clause had indeed visited their house during the night. A holiday brunch was the first order of business. Of course there were presents all around, and more than enough. Jamie received a new Sunday Dress, and a dozen or so gift cards for her favorite boutiques in the mall. She also much to her own surprise received a laptop computer. And there was one more gift. A large hairbrush with a note attached that read as followed.

“I hope this hairbrush will remind you, when you feel like skipping on your homework or smarting off to your mom or dad, that I'm always watching. I'll be checking up on you again in a year's time. Until then Jane, remember what I said, was always keeping taps on you. Love, Mina Clause.”

The End.

And so too ends the first season of 'Melodies of the Heart: The Adventures of Jane' the story of a lonely boy who struggled to accept he was transgender and then once he accepted it, strove to make the best of that new life.