Dresden, Germany: What's This?

Beauregard was growing accustomed to the large family he was adopted into and accepted that they were all nice people. However, he was never one who was good in groups and family events always made him nervous. He knew going home for Christmas meant a large St. Holmes Christmas party, but he hadn't realized how big it was going to be. Grandma and Grandpa were coming along with his Aunt and Uncle and their son. Even Malachi's girlfriend was invited. They were all nice people and Bo didn't have anything against any of them. He'd spent time with any of them on their own but something about everyone together made him uncomfortable.

He had put on a nice shirt and casual blazer before exiting his room. His extended family had already arrived and he had done the polite thing to walk up to his adoptive grandparents and say hello to them. He received a hair ruffle and a kiss on the cheek from both along with the usual "You have gotten so tall, Bo!" To which he smiled and muttered that he was still growing. After that, he went and hide behind one of the plants in the common room. Maybe he could spend the whole party like this and no one would notice. He took a sip of the punch he had grabbed as an excuse to get to his hiding place. Christmas tunes were playing from a record. This wasn't incredibly interesting but it was safer than spending the whole party in his room, which would earn him some scolding from Marigold.

Melody had spent most of the day helping her mother preparing for the party and was excited for everything to start. Just as she had turned the Christmas tunes on the record, people had started to arrive. "This is great!" She laughed happily and exclaimed to her mother and checked herself in the mirror. She had decided on a pretty green dress and black flats. It was flattering and very in the Christmas Spirit.

As guests suddenly arriving one by one, Melody was greeted by her relatives. "Oma! Opa!" She greeted in German to her grandparents and smiled once Bo had emerged from his room looking presentable. She nodded and went on to greet Malachi and his girlfriend. She noted that the girl was really pretty, too pretty for Kai. She gave a cheeky smile at her cousin. "Wow Kai, good job!" She said and looked at Rosalie and smiled brightly. "I'm Melody!" She said brightly.

Gi Eun had certainly become more comfortable with her family since her adoption. She probably would never refer to them as ‘mother and father’, but she was happy to have them as guardians. Melody was all in the Christmas spirit. It was pretty crazy how much the girl got into the holiday, but nonetheless, Gi happily helped baking cookies for their Christmas party. She hurried downstairs and smoothed out her red dress before stepping into the parlor to greet her family.

She smiled and hugged her relatives then slowly found herself lingering away from the party. Gi much preferred observing the large family from the outside. She glanced around and noticed that Bo had disappeared from the party too.

Malachi enjoyed spending time with his relatives. Family made him happy and he adored his cousins as if they were his own brothers and sisters. They all had wonderful unique personalities that made them all special. That was why he wanted Rosalie to come with him to his family's Christmas party. His girlfriend had spent a Christmas with him and his parents once before, but this was an opportunity for her to meet his extended family. He prayed everyone would get along, though that worry was extinguished as he was greeted by his giddy cousin.

He smiled gently in return to Melody's beaming face and blushed as she commented on the beauty of his girlfriend. She was quite the looker. "This is my girlfriend, Rosalie," He introduced, though it seemed everyone already knew who she was. The one downside of a knit tight family like his was that word traveled fast. "And Rose, this is my cousin, Melody." He felt he ought to finish the introduction before looking passed the ginger and spotting both Bo and Gi Eun hiding in their respective different places. He chuckled to himself. That was just like them. Bo was often overwhelmed by people and Gi Eun was like a cat and preferred people at a distance. He supposed they'd talk later and instead lead Rosalie to meet his grandparents.

Rosalie smiled. The party was marvelous. She just enjoyed the liveliness of everything. Malachi's family was one of love, joy and just kindness, something that hers lacked in enormous quantities. She smiled as Kai's cousin and approached. She was a sweet little red headed girl whom Kai introduced as Melody. The name seemed to fit the girl, she was quite full of life and just seemed to be free like a song. "Thank you." She blushed and took Kai's hand. She loved the boy and hoped that he felt the same way. He was quite the catch.

Before she knew it, he was leading her over to meet his grandparents. She was excited to be meeting them. He talked highly of them. She smiled at the older woman and curtsied politely. "Schön, Sie kennenzulernen , Herr und Frau St. Holmes."

Malachi had arrived with his girlfriend. He was told ahead of time his cousin was bringing his girlfriend along, but Bo still rolled his eyes as the couple came together and held hands. Of course Mel had to greet them and scope out the girl, but Bo could care less about meeting her. It was just a girl, after all.

He had moved from his hiding place to munch on some of the food. He was only there for a few moments before Marigold called for everyone's attention; they were to exchange gifts then.

The family gathered around the stout Christmas tree and Bo was surprised as Oliver came over to him and wrapped an arm around him. "Merry Christmas, son," He told him. He always did his best to not speak in German around him because Bo didn't understand majority of German words. Bo smiled slightly.

"Merry Christmas to you to," He left out calling him father because Bo still wasn't sure if he could call him that. He supposed Oliver expected him to, but Bo didn't want to.

"You've made us so proud, Bo. We got you something special," Marigold said, grinning as she passed him a rather large parcel. Bo rose an eyebrow before opening the gift presented to him. He gawked once the wrapping was off. It was a broom!

"It's used but no doubt better than one of the school's brooms," His adoptive parents had their arms wrapped around each other and beamed at him. Bo was speechless. His family didn't have much money so this exceeded all expectations for him. He placed the broom aside and wrapped both Oliver and Marigold in am embrace.

"Thank you."