I'll Be Home For Christmas

Caleb was super excited about the holidays, he loved seeing his family and spending time with them. There was a new addition to the Miller traditional family get together and that was the new Miller baby, Kayla. Caleb loved his baby sister and ever since winter break had started, he hadn't put the child down(she was going to be spoiled rotten by him). The family always met at Caleb's home for dinner and present opening for the holidays. He was excited to see his brother, who had been away attending college in the States. He would be arriving at any moment.

Kayla giggled and made kissy noises at her older brother, she was a very smart one-year-old. She had yet to say her first word, but Caleb would repeat his name over and over in hopes that his name would be the first word Kayla spoke. The doorbell rang and Caleb's mother got to the door before Caleb could. "Hey girls!" His mother said in a cheery tone, she always got way to into the Christmas spirit. Caleb didn't have to look up to know it was his cousins and their parents. He picked Kayla up and brought her over to the group so they could all melt over her and her cuteness. "Hey guys," he said. "Mom made cookies!"

Kayla was passed off to one of the adults and Caleb told the girls to follow him to get some cookies from the kitchen. "So, make any friends?" He was mostly talking to Grace, but some of that question was directed at Mabel who had always had a hard time making friends. "Isn't Kayla so cute?" He said with a smile before grabbing a cookie and stuffing it into his mouth.

Christmas was a time of giving and Fiona's favourite things to give were pranks to her sisters. However, she'd had to hold off on that because mum threatened to keep her at home if she did anything nasty to either Mabel or Grace. Grace she could understand but Mabel? As far as Fiona was concerned it was completely fair game when it came to the middle sister. Kayla was much more fun than either nasty Mabel or spoilt brat Grace.

She raced in ahead of her family, not caring that it could be perceived as childish behaviour for a girl two months off from fourteen. "Hi auntie Joy," she returned in greeting to her aunt. "Kayla say hello to your favourite cousin." She reached out for her cousin and was disappointed that she was handed off to an adult instead. Fiona resigned herself to following Caleb out into the kitchen.

Fiona grinned and grabbed one of the cookies. "I bet Grace has made lots of friends. She don't scare anyone with a horrible growly face like some people I know." She bit into the cookie and smirked at Mabel. The other girl deserved her lack of friends. "Caleb what do you want me to get you for Christmas? It doesn't really matter because I've already got your present but I wanna see how close I was to meeting something on your wishlist."

Mabel loved the holidays, she liked going over to her cousin's house. His parents were much cooler than her own. Mabel was told to be on her best behavior once more before they entered Caleb's home. "Hey cuz," Mabel said to her older cousin, Caleb. Her parents began to drone on about the baby and how Mabel's first year at Beauxbatons went. Of course all the bad things were said, what about her making friends? Were they going to say anything about that? Never.

Mabel followed Caleb into the kitchen but shook her head no when offered a cookie. "I have two friends," Mabel muttered, still mad about her parents only discussing the wicked things she had done last school year. "One of them is Fane Blevins and the other is Stark Green," she continued in case no one believed her. "I'm perfectly fine with having two friends, they're the only people I have to be nice to." Mabel wasn't about to let Fiona's words get to her.

Caleb was glad to hear about Mabel making friends, even if there weren't many friends. Before he could say anything else, his father entered the room. "Hey guys," he said with a grin. "Enjoying the cookies?" He gave each of his nieces a hug and before he left the room(with several cookies), he patted Mabel on the back. "Heard about the kitchens, hope you got something good."

After his dad left the room, Caleb grinned. "I don't really want anything to be honest." At least he couldn't think of anything he wanted. He was bad at coming up with something on the spot. "What did you guys ask for for Christmas?"

Grace had been kind of quiet. She loved her family, but family gatherings brought the shyness out of her. She didn't like being asked about the friends she'd made or why she had trouble doing well on a charms exam from October. She fixed the feather so it sat properly in her hair. She loved the feather a lot, thanks to Mabel no less. She played with her camera that sat idly on her neck and snapped a few pictures of Caleb's Christmas tree and the baby before following her sisters and Caleb into the room. "I have made a few friends." She smiled. "Of course Tamara, but also Ruby too."

"Fane Blevins is friends with you? What did you do? Scare him into being friends with you?" She shook her head. "Nah. He wouldn't be afraid of anything. You must have just been not your charming self." Now that made more sense. "He's my...never mind." It wouldn't do to have Mabel know she was planning pranks with him. "Stark Green." Fiona giggled. "Is the colour of his face very starkly green? Make him sick did you?" She laughed at what she thought was a brilliant joke.

Fiona grinned at the arrival of her uncle in the kitchen. "They're great." As he was leaving she turned and shouted, "Uncle Tanner you're taking all the cookies." Fiona turned back to facing her sisters and cousin. "Well of course Tamara. Who was she again?"

"Yes, he is my friend. Actually, he wanted to be friends with me." Mabel crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "We act alike so we get along." Fiona knew Fane? She knew they were in the same year but she didn't know that they knew each other. "He's your what? Got a boyfriend and you haven't told anyone?" Mabel smirked at her little remark. She could never imagine Fane dating her sister, it was disgusting. "Actually, I don't think he'd even consider you to be his girlfriend."

Mabel had promised Stark that she would stick up for him and that's what she was going to do. "Stark is my friend, leave him alone. I made no one sick." Mabel didn't find her sister funny at all. "Anyways, Grace, I think I've seen this Ruby girl around. Tamara is that brunette that you're always with, right?" As long as the attention wasn't on herself, she didn't care what they talked about.

Fiona stared at Mabel in surprise and then burst into laughter. "You're so funny. My boyfriend? That's hilarious." She shook her head at Mabel. "Of course he wouldn't. He's not my boyfriend and I don't consider him as anything more than a partner in some important tasks we have to perform." Pranking was very important in Fiona's book. It was a shame though that he was friends with Mabel since that meant it'd be much harder to talk him into helping out with a prank against Mabel.

"I'm not touching him. Can you see him here? No. 'Cause he's at his own home and so I haven't touched him at all." If he were though it might have been a different matter. Fiona had to find out somehow why he would be friends with Mabel. "You do make people sick. Grace for example. She must feel permanently ill every time she sees your face."

Mabel rolled her eyes at her older sister. "Like I care." She honestly didn't care that her sister was friends with her friend. As long as they never talked about her, she was fine with that. She didn't need her older sister telling Fane anything about her, she was sure that anything Fiona had to say about her was going to be embarrassing or wrong. "I don't care."

"Just leave him alone." Stark was perfectly fine with defending himself but he wasn't there at the time and Mabel wasn't going to let someone talk about her friend when they weren't there to defend himself. Mabel felt protective over her friend because he was one of her first friends and it just felt natural to her. "Prettier than you," was all she said to her sister's 'sick' comment.

'No arguing," Caleb warned. It was the holidays and they should be able to get along for the time being. "Let's get along this Christmas!" They were soon called into the living room to open presents and make conversation. Patrick was running late, probably because of the weather. "Caleb, you hand out the first present," his mother told him.

Caleb nodded and picked out the first present he saw and checked the name tag. "Fiona! This one is for you." This present was from his parents and Caleb had no clue what it was or what it could be. "That means Fiona's next after she opens her present," Caleb's mother said. "And whoever's present is next picks the next present and so on." She explained the same thing every year in case someone forgot. How could someone when they were reminded every year?

"Okay," Fiona replied with a shrug. It rankled that Fane actually wanted to be friends with Mabel but to show Mabel that would to give her ammunition. "I would like to know though why you asked if you didn't care. It seems to be something you really do care about. Want him to be your boyfriend." Then Caleb had to ruin it all with his silly rule. "Spoil sport," she grumbled under her breath as she followed him back to the living room.

Fiona grinned at the very familiar explanation. It was as traditional as unwrapping presents. To be the first to receive a gift that year meant she'd beaten both Mabel and Grace to the honour. A competition which was in Fiona's mind alone. "Thanks Uncle Tanner and Auntie Joy. Now I wonder what this is." She opened it up and her smile brightened at the jigsaw puzzle. One with many dalmatians. "Isn't that spotty looking," she remarked.

Of course her mother had to warn her not to lose any pieces like she always did. Fiona just rolled her eyes and then jumped up. "My turn to find a gift from someone. Now let's see. How about...this one." She picked up a poorly wrapped gift from herself. "Mabel this is for you. I think you might like it." It may be a doll but Fiona thought her sister might like the fangs Fiona had added to it.

Did Fiona say what Mabel thought she said? Was she just hearing things? She did not want Fane to be her boyfriend, that was just ridiculous. "No way! I do not want him to be my boyfriend!" She thought back to their snowball fight before winter break, she did have fun but there was no way she thought of Fane as a boyfriend. "He reminds me of a snake." She glared at her sister and followed her cousin into the living room.

She watched Fiona open her present and knew that the puzzle was going to lose its pieces in her messy room. She grabbed the present from Fiona's hands and rolled her eyes at the wrapping of the present. She opened the present and glared at Fiona. "This isn't funny." She held up the doll with fangs. Was it supposed to be her?

She sighed and grabbed the next present, a present she had gotten her sister. "Here Fiona," She smirked at her sister. She had used her friend's trick and gave her sister candies that were so good. Like acid pops, exploding bon-bons, candy that made you tongue swell, and other strange candies. "I think Grace should hand out the next gift so Fiona doesn't get to go twice. Grace had been kind of quiet so she should go next." Mabel hadn't brought the idea up to be nice, she just didn't want Fiona to pick out the next present again.

"Not funny?" she asked.  "I know it's not funny.  It's downright hilarious.  You should have seen the look on your face."  She heard her mother's warning voice and added, "come on Mabel.  You liked the rumours that went around the school last year.  This is just a little reminder gift.  That's all."  She then grudgingly, only because mum insisted, added, "I'm sorry."   It was obviously insincere and Mabel would know that but Fiona didn't care because she really was not sorry.

She nearly missed the smirk on her sister's face as she received the gift.  "Yeah.  Yeah.  Grace it should be your turn now.  Go on.  I've got a present to unwrap."  She held it up and tried to study it in the light.  "Is there anything in here which is likely to explode?" she asked.  Fiona lowered it again and her father told her to just open it and stop being silly.  "Oh look.  I can swell up my tongue."  She held up the toffee and considered eating it then and there but decided to hold off until later.  After dinner.  Instead she chose an exploding bon-bon and popped it in her mouth.  "Caleb would you like an acid pop?" she asked once the explosion time was passed.