At a glance The fire burned low in the fireplace, its tiny light dancing across the walls. On the mantle above, four stockings were hung. Each was decorated with a hand-print, inside which was its owner’s name. The middle stockings featured tiny prints neatly labeled Stanley and Wally. On the ends were larger hands that said Mommy and Daddy. Sophie still couldn’t believe it. How was this her life now? It was all so strange, so new.. but somehow, so right. She loved her little family.
*~*~*~*
About four hundred miles south of there, another family prepared for the holiday. While she could not afford expensive gifts like the vacation with which she had surprised her parents last year, Ayita had rather liked being the post-Santa Santa. So while it was no comparison, she had bought a few small things to slip into everybody’s stockings once Jeff and Kiva had gone to bed. While she had primarily tried to keep the spending equal from person to person, Ayita had splurged a bit extra on her sister Chloe. The sixth year was having a rough time of it lately, it seemed.
*~*~*~*
Sally wasn’t entirely sure why. She didn’t remember her sixth year being too troublesome, but Arnold’s seemed to be bothering him quite a lot from what she picked up in his letters. Hopefully being home with Mom and Jeffrey would help clear his head. She’d see him tomorrow for Christmas. Or, that is, assuming all the gifts got wrapped. “Are you done yet?” she asked.
*~*~*~*
“Almost!” Marcus chirped in reply. “I just have to do mine for Grandma and yours for your mom, and we’ll be golden.” It had been established the prior winter that he was in charge of wrapping all the gifts (excluding his own, naturally) because not only did he rather enjoy it, but he was objectively the best. That was because to wrap a Christmas present well had to be done with heart, and while she was, beneath her lingering semi-robotic exterior, actually a rather passionate young woman, Sally didn’t do simple, mundane things “with heart”. That was reserved for the big things. That was her way.
*~*~*~*
That was always her way. Neeka didn’t know what she had been expecting. Her mother never got any better. That was why Neeka hardly ever visited. After her mother’s lack of progress in her youth, Uncle Lukas had taken to keeping her away. But now as an adult, it was her own decision to make, and apparently, she had made the wrong one. She just wanted to get to Christmas Day, forget about Christmas Eve, and give her uncle his present.
*~*~*~*
Arnold had picked out something pretty great for Uncle Johnny. The Crosby family exchange was always a blast, but it did mean getting up pretty early. So despite the fact that it was only about ten o’clock, he curled up in bed and pulled the blanket over him. “Hey, Jake, get to bed soon, all right?” he called across their shared bedroom.
*~*~*~*
“Will do,” Jake replied from his desk. He just wanted to finish up the Christmas cards he would be sending out in the morning. A thick stack sat beside him, the ones completed. Within them was letters and cards addressed to almost everyone he knew. He had gotten most of them done but was stuck on one in particular.
*~*~*~*
Makenzie simply didn’t know what to get Araceli this year. Given that break went beyond just the actual Christmas holiday, she had plenty of time left to pick or make something, but it stressed her out not having a box with Araceli’s name on it in her stack yet. It made her nervous that she might forget.
*~*~*~*
And forget she did. Crap. Sammy totally spaced and forgot to get something for her brother. That meant one thing: an attempt at sewing. Her moms had taught her how when she was younger, and while she had not particularly paid attention, she remembered enough to craft a tie or something else simple. Ethan liked bowties--he had worn one to homecoming, she saw the pictures--so that would be easy enough. She could do this. She had the whole night.
*~*~*~*
But just the night, because in the morning, Dustin had to be strong. He wasn’t too fond of most of his cousins he would be seeing; they were children, with grubby hands, drooly mouths, and big screams. They needed to learn how to keep their composure. If he, an eleven year old beyond his years could handle them, then they should have been able to handle life. It was a simple bargain.
*~*~*~*
So far, however, Peizhi did not seem to be holding up her part of it. Her father wanted her to quietly access the American Pureblood families she encountered, which she had in fact done, but only from a distance. He wanted her to interact more. While it didn’t seem like much, that was asking so much of her that it hurt. Peizhi tried her very hardest, but her classmates just made her so nervous. People made her nervous. All she wanted to do the whole time was come back home and hide behind Bohai and Huojin. Her big brothers were her everything.
*~*~*~*
Lilac couldn’t wait to see them and their families. She saw Jamie weekly since they had kids the same age and thus scheduled playdates, but her brothers were more rarely seen lately. They had lives of their own; Marty was a grandfather, and Johnny’s only daughter had a wedding coming up. With as busy as everyone was lately, it would be good to slow down and see them. Family meant so much to her.
*~*~*~*
It was a shame Isis had so little family left. The holidays were supposed to be about family. Sure, she had visited Jahmaal as she did every year, but it would have been nice to have a nice dinner someplace instead of talking through plastic in a monitored visitation prison cell. Beside him, there was… no one. Her sisters were gone, her father was gone, and she sure as Hell was not going to see her mother. Isis supposed she could go to the Reeds’ for Christmas dinner--she certainly would have been welcome--but it felt like an intrusion. No, instead, she would spend Christmas at Sonora, the closest thing to a home she had known in a long, long time.