My gift for the PH Secret Santa Event tumblr.
Modern Day AU. Based off an actual Christmas Eve party I attend every year at my grandmother's.
The Grand Christmas Eve Party
December 17th
This is a formal invitation to annual Christmas Eve party on the 24th. This year the party will be held by the Rainsworths.
Casual and formal dress is welcome. Anyone who wishes to bring food may do so.
Starts at 1:30 PM at the Rainsworth's house. Dinner is at 2PM.
~Happy Holidays~
Sharon smoothed down her dress and checked her makeup in the mirror. "How do I look, Break?"
"Do not fret, Sharon." Xerxes Break replied. "You look wonderful."
"You think?"
"Yes, of course."
Sharon beamed. Break had always been such a good friend to her, ever since her mother took in the man back when she was a child (though a bit more reserved back then).
Break bowed and held the door open for her. "After you."
Sharon walked out and Break followed, closing the door behind her.
"Forgive me, Break. I'm just nervous." She said as they walked along.
"It's quite alright. But no need for nerves; you've been at one of these parties hosted by your family before."
"True, but since my mother's passing I've had to assist my grandmother with this matter. I truly like this time of year and I've been looking forward to it, but I want everything to be perfect."
"You've done a good job in helping your grandmother prepare for the Christmas Eve party." Break reassured her.
"Thank you, Break..."
They had just walked down the stairs when Riem, a friend of the family, ran up to them. His hair was a mess and his tie was undone. It seemed he was in a bit of a rush to get ready. Perhaps he slept in today or was just now remembering there was a dinner today.
"There you two are!" He exclaimed. "Break, please help me with the turkey."
"What's this?" Break mused. "How hard is it to cook a turkey?"
"Don't make fun of me. Can you help or not?"
"Oh, he will." Sharon said, smiling but holding a paper fan at her side. How she had conjured one so quickly was a mystery (or Break just didn't notice).
Elliot scowled at his reflection in the mirror, watching his older sister comb his hair. He was starting to get irritated.
"Vanessa, I can do it myself." He insisted. "And remind me again why you, Claude, and Ernest aren't coming?"
"Because we have our own party to go to at Johnathan's place." His sister answered. "Besides, Gilbert and Vincent are still going with you."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Vanessa smiled and set the comb down. "Done. Don't go messing it up; you look nice."
Elliot sulked walking out of Vanessa's room and went downstairs to join his two older brothers, both who had been adopted by his family when he was young.
"Vanessa holding you up?" Gilbert asked when Elliot walked into the kitchen.
Elliot nodded, stepping around the table. "That the pie? It looks good."
"Yes. I just finished it." The older answered. "Vincent has his ready too."
"Cool. I talked to Leo before Vanessa dragged me off- he's going to met us there with Alice and the others."
Gilbert rolled his eyes. He was friends with Alice, but they had fought a lot when they were little and she had nicknames for everyone, a few for Gilbert that annoyed him. "Great."
"She's not that bad. She usually comes every year with her sister, especially where Leo and the twins are close."
"I know, but not a year goes by without her calling me 'seaweed head' at least once."
Just then, Vincent walked in.
"Well, my little brothers, are we ready to go?" He asked with a smile.
"Vince, don't be creepy."
"Oh Gilbert, it was just a question."
Gilbert sighed and tossed a pair of keys to Elliot. "Can you start the car for me? I gotta wrap up this pie so it stays fresh."
"Girls, are you ready to go?" Leo asked, gently knocking on the door to the twin's room.
A bit of commotion was heard inside, but then the door flew open, making Leo jump back.
"And you said it wasn't in your dresser!" Alice exclaimed, gesturing to her favorite 'b-rabbit' t-shirt. Her twin, white haired sister followed.
"I was sure it wasn't." She said. "I don't remember that being there, but laundry gets mixed up all the time."
"With us? There's a distinct difference between us!"
"But laundry can still get mixed up."
"Alright, you two; settle down." Leo interrupted, walking along side them. "Now, the older siblings have gone out for the day, but we'll see them later."
The twins grabbed their coats from off the coat rack while the noiette grabbed one of those reusable shopping bags and put their presents inside.
As part of the annual Christmas Eve party, they all did a little 'secret santa' part of it. The three Baskervilles had told each other, but kept it among themselves. Alyss had gotten Reim, Alice had gotten Gilbert, and Leo had gotten Vincent (and he was nearly certain everyone knew that because Leo had visibly grimaced when hr drew the name).
"Alyss, would you mind putting a box of those hot coco mixes in the bag in case people want any?" He asked, purposely pronouncing her name differently to avoid confusion.
Alyss did as he asked and took a small box of hot chocolate mix from one of the cupboards. "It starts at 1:30, yes?"
"Correct." Leo replied. "Everyone will be arriving at the Rainsworth house around that time. By the way," He slipped on his mittens and smiled at the twins. "Oswald has the car and since I still have just a permit, we will be walking. It's not too far."
Both Alice and Alyss audibly groaned in protest.
Oz skipped down the stairs, a smile on his face. He always loved this time of year.
"Ada, where are you~?" Oz called cheerfully. "We're gonna be late!"
"I'm here, brother." Ada called from the living room.
The Vessalius bounded in, clasping his hands behind his back. He saw that Ada was setting a couple more presents under the tree.
"Ah-ha, just finishing up?" He asked.
"Yes. I just wrapped these this morning."
Oz offered his hand to sister. She smiled and took it, standing.
"Uncle Oscar called earlier and said he'll be there later, but before dinner." Oz said.
"Oh good. It wouldn't be the same without him there."
The two Vessalius children packed up their things, got on their coats and such, and headed out.
It was snowing lightly while they were walking, but since the Rainsworth house wasn't too far away they wouldn't be outside for too long. Still, it was relatively nice with this little bit of snowfall.
"The snow is really pretty." Ada commented.
"Yeah." Oz shivered a little. "But it's still cold. Eh, that's winter for you."
"Their house isn't too far away."
"I know." He smiled and lifted his hands up to the falling snow. "But it's still a wonderful time of year. This is gonna be so much fun, as always!"
"I agree." Ada nodded. "This is your favorite holiday, as I've quite figured out."
"Yeah. Of course it is. Christmas is so wonderful and magical."
"That's good you think that..." She grew quiet. "I'm sorry father will be gone again."
Oz smiled sadly. "It's okay. At least I have you and Uncle Oscar... and everyone else who we call our friends."
Ada considered this, and smiled back at her brother.
Sharon was eager to greet everyone as they slowly arrived. She had helped her grandmother plan it, so it was good to see everything was running smoothly.
She greeted them each upon their arrival and requested they put their gifts under the tree for later in the day. Their tree was located in their living room and the tree that sat between the two windows was about close to 6 feet. The family that was chosen to host the Christmas Eve party were the ones responsible to get the tree. Presents that were brought by the guests were placed under the tree and were to be opened later.
By about 1:50, everyone had arrived. Sharon retreated to the kitchen to help finish preparations for dinner. Gilbert joined her- everyone knew he was a good cook. She was grateful for his help.
At 2:00 PM, they all sat around the table for dinner, then being joined by Sharon's grandmother, Cheryl, and Rufus, another friend of the family.
Sharon was asked to cut the turkey this year, and once all the food was dished out, that's when the talking began.
"Vanessa and the others skipped out again." Elliot said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
"Hm; Lottie and the others are gone for the day as well." Leo added from next to Elliot.
"My siblings always find some excuse unless we're the ones throwing the party."
"That would explain why they always disappear during the secret santa drawing."
"It seems we all have people missing around this time of year." Oscar interrupted, looking solemn.
It couldn't be further from the truth. Leo's siblings couldn't be here today and the twin's mother had died shortly after Leo was adopted. Elliot's siblings purposely tried to find some other social event to go to unless stated otherwise. Sharon's mother had died a few years back. Oz and Ada's father was away on business.
Oz frowned at the tension building in the air. "But that's okay!" He proclaimed. "Like I was telling Ada earlier- we have each other and that's what we need."
"I agree with young Oz." Break commented, raising his glass. "A toast."
And so they all made a toast to Oz's attempt to not let a good mood fall apart.
They all continued on with dinner until the deserts came around. And after that, the group retreated into the living room, with the tree and the wood pellet stove that was warming the room, to play their annual Christmas trivia game.
"Dammit, Vince." Gilbert sighed in frustration at some point. "Stop saying 'It's A Wonderful Life' for every question about Christmas movies."
Vincent pouted. "'It's A Wonderful Life' is always the answer."
"Like 42?" Alice snickered.
"Shut it, stupid rabbit." Gil grumbled.
"Says you, Seaweed head!" And there's the nickname again. "You're the one that's on the loosing team! Hahaha!"
Gilbert looked over at Oz. "Oz, do something."
"Hm..." The Vessalius showed an expression of thought. "I don't know where she got the 42 part from."
"That's not helping!"
"Alright." Sharon interupted. "Riem, you roll the die this time."
Riem adjust his glasses and picked up the die. "Not a 5. Not a 5."
He let the die fall from his hand and when it stopped Break leaned over to read the result.
"5- Christmas carols~" He teased. Meanwhile, Riem buried his face in a pillow and let out an agonized sound of "why?"
After their game was finished, and they took some photos, it was time to open their secret santa presents. Oz volunteered to hand them out and once he did so, they each got to say who they got a gift from.
For the Rainsworths- Sharon's gift was from Ada, Break's gift was from Rufus, Riem's gift was from Alyss, and Cheryl's gift was from Gilbert.
For the Vessalius'- Oz's gift was from Elliot, Ada's gift was from Riem, and Oscar's gift was from Cheryl.
For the Nightray's- Elliot's gift was from Sharon, Gilbert's gift was from Alice, and Vincent's gift was from Leo.
For the Barma's (aka, Rufus)- his gift was from Vincent.
And for the Baskervilles- Leo's gift was from Oscar, Alice's gift was from Elliot, and Alyss' gift was from Oz.
One by one, organized down by family with the Rainsworth's going first this year, they opened their presents. Afterward they cleaned up the wrapping paper that littered the floor and spent some time after that conversing with each other. Oz and Elliot even had a pretend sword fight with candy canes (presumably started by something that annoyed ether one).
A little after 6 PM everyone slowly left.
Everyone said their goodbyes and wished a merry Christmas to all. Sharon, as she had done before when they arrived, greeted them on their way out.
The Vessalius' were the last to leave, and when they left, Sharon was sad to see them go. She closed the door behind them and smiled softly.
This party had gone well this year, and she had quite enjoyed herself.
"Merry Christmas." She whispered, with everyone of her friends in her thoughts.