Christmas Morning
This is to go along with the montage photo that Pahoyhoy and I (Crym) made to celebrate this amazing time of year. We both wish everyone a very Happy Holidays and hope you all had a wonderful winter holiday!
You can find the pic for this story at http:/ / crymsonpahoyhoy. deviantart. com/ #/ d35kh6g
as always, just remove the spaces!
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Can we open our presents now? Can we? Can we? Can we?" the trio of shrill voices rang through the air as Yuffie, Selphie and Rikku all clung onto their mother in hopes of wearing her down.
Seeing the amusing scene playing out in front of him, Denzel grabbed his always handy camera, snapping a photo before his mother could object. "Mom, do you really think it was a good idea to let them have Christmas cookies for breakfast?" Denzel asked his mother, offering her no help what so ever.
"Oh, lighten up Little Dude," Xigbar smirked, clapping his son on the shoulder before taking a long drink of his egg nog that smelled suspiciously rummy for this hour of the morning. "It's Christmas morning. Let the munchkins do what they want to. You should take a tip from them and try cookies for breakie too. It won't kill you to loosen up every once in a while."
"Nah, I like my structure, Dad. It's probably the only thing that keeps me sane living in this family," Denzel grinned.
At that moment, Yuffie, Selphie and Rikku fell to the ground, pulling their mother and the Christmas tree with them.
Over their screams, Xigbar just laughed while Denzel took another photo of the pile and said, "See what I mean?"
-Ho ho ho ho ho ho -
"Bye, Squall! See you this afternoon!" Sora and Roxas called from the living room as Cloud walked his boyfriend to the front door.
Squall leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Cloud's cheek. "I'll be back later this afternoon to rescue you from the twins, alright?"
Just as Squall turned to leave, Cloud took a hold of his arm, preventing him from going anywhere just yet. "Wait a moment," Cloud said, walking away and leaving Squall just standing there. He then walked over to the hall closet and opened the door, pulling a silver wrapped present down from the top shelf. "This was the only place I could hide your present where I knew you wouldn't be able to find it."
"Come off it, I'm not that bad," Squall said with just the barest hint of a smirk playing on the corner of his lips as he reached out and grabbed the package from Cloud.
The blond just scoffed, "You obviously don't live with yourself."
Squall blushed ever so slightly at the comment as he began to slide his fingers under the edge of the paper. A hand on his wrist stopped him, causing him to look up at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow.
"No. You have to wait until tonight when we get back to our apartment," Cloud said with a smirk.
Squall was unable to form any words as he raised his other eyebrow in disbelief.
"What? I just want to know that you suffered a little. No hurry over to your Dad's, they're expecting you."
-Ho ho ho ho ho ho -
Reno Axel and Kairi rushed down the stairs like a herd of wild chocobos, each trying to be the first to claim their presents from beneath the tree.
It was a massive tangle of limbs and a giant blur of crimson as the three redheads all batted it out to be the first at the gifts.
"Hey, watch it!" Kairi exclaimed, standing up and cupping her left breast from where an errant elbow had jabbed her.
Reno just smirked as he looked over at his baby sister. "What? It's not like there was much there to damage. Besides, the swelling will probably make them look bigger."
"BURN!" Axel cried, pointing and laugh at his sister.
"Don't you think that the two of you are a little too old to be acting this juvenile?" Kairi asked in a condescending tone.
"What do you mean? Christmas brings out the kid in all of us," Axel grinned as he handed each of his siblings their package addressed from their parents.
"Well and Alive the spirit of Christmas in this one is," Reno said, bowing his head.
"Reno, I'm telling your boyfriend that you're a moron," Kairi said, rolling his eyes as she began to tear the paper off of her present.
"Alas little sister, it is much too late. Poor Rude, he knows me too well," grinned Reno as the three siblings turned as their parents walked into the room.
"Oh look, my little flower," Al-Cid said, holding his arm out for his wife to take. "Our children have already found their presents."
"Oh shut up and let them have their fun," Scarlet said, laughing.
"Hey look boys," Kairi said, waving her half unwrapped box under her brother's noses, "My box is bigger than yours. You know what that means don't you? Mom and Dad love me the most." She said the last part in a very singsong voice.
Both Reno and Axel then whipped their heads around to glare at their parents. "That's not true, is it?" they asked in unison.
"No, babies, that's not true," Al-Cid said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"You'll always be my two favourite mistakes, even if you did leave stretch marks," Scarlet said, waving them off. "Now, just open your presents."
In a flurry of dancing wrapping paper, the siblings finally tore into their boxes, pulling out their gifts.
"A mini first aid kit?" Reno questioned, a little confused.
"A portable handheld fire extinguisher? It's just what I always wanted!" Axel exclaimed with a huge grin.
"What the crap is this?" Kairi asked, holding up the leather item.
"It's a chastity belt, my dear," Al-Cid said with a smile. The comment caused Reno and Axel to burst into loud fits of hysterical laughter.
"That's right, love," Scarlet added, "We don't need you having any accidents like I had with your brothers."
Kairi joined in the loud laughter and a moment later, Axel and Reno finally understood the meaning behind their mother's words and turned to face her with identical glares.
"Hey!" The both exclaimed.
-Ho ho ho ho ho ho -
Riku walked into the kitchen of his grandfather's house, surprised to see his great uncle Vincent sitting at the table with a steaming mug in front of him. Obviously the hustle and bustle of all the people around the giant Christmas tree in the foyer had become too much for him as well. Receiving a nod of acknowledgement from his uncle, Riku got himself another mug of cocoa before joining his uncle at the table.
Silence encompassed them as Riku racked his brain for suitable conversation, coming up with nothing. After all, what did a teenager have in common with a man in his 60's, even if they were related?
"So, where's Uncle Cid?" Riku questioned, thinking that that was a neutral subject.
Vincent made to answer but his attention was suddenly drawn, along with Riku`s, to the entrance of the kitchen where another of their family members just walked in.
Kadaj just came in, poured himself a coffee then walked over to the kitchen table. ``Riku, have you seen Sephiroth?"
Riku just shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not his keeper, but I'm sure if you find cousin Genesis…"
"Your big brother is such a great man. You really should hold a great deal of respect for someone as wonderful as him," Kadaj said with an almost scandalized tone.
Riku just rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh when he heard his uncle scoff at Kadaj's comment. He then grabbed his mug saying, "Whatever," to his cousin before turning to Vincent. "I'm going to find Zexion now."
Watching Riku leave, Kadaj looked absolutely appalled. "The nerve of some people," he huffed before exiting from the other side of the kitchen.
Vincent just continued to sit there, staring at the mug in front of him before looking up when he heard someone else enter the kitchen, this time from outside.
"So, anything exciting happen while I was gone?" Cid said, taking his seat again and grabbing his coffee from in front of Vincent.
"No. Nothing out of the ordinary," Vincent replied.
-Ho ho ho ho ho ho -
"Gather in closer, you guys. It's not like you hate each other," Zack grinned, looking at his wife and brothers in law as they stood in front of the fireplace for their annual family photo.
"That's debatable," Cloud said, staring down at the twins that stood between himself and Aerith.
"Whatever Cloud," Roxas scoffed.
"You know you love us," Sora grinned.
"We all love each other," Aerith smiled, "Now let's get this over and done with. It looks like my son is torturing Mom and Dad."
After making sure that everyone was smiling, Zack held the camera up, "Everyone say sea salt ice cream!"
"Yum!" Roxas answered, causing them all to laugh. Well, Cloud smirked while everyone else laughed.
After the flash went off, Sora was the first to speak. "Are we done yet?"
"Yup, picture looks good," Zack said as Aerith went to rescue her parents from a four year old hyped up on sugar.
"Hooray!" Sora and Roxas exclaimed in unison as they ran towards the back door where their new sled, courtesy of Zack and Aerith sat. They grabbed their coats and rushed out into the snow.
"Rock paper scissors to see who rides in the front first?" Roxas asked as they stood at the top of the hill.
"Okay," Sora agreed. They counted to three and then threw their choices down.
"Paper covers rock. I win, I'm in front," Roxas grinned. It was a well-known fact that Sora always chose rock, so it was the easiest game to beat him at.
Sora pouted but accepted defeat. "Okay, get in, I'll push you then jump on the back."
Roxas got on the sled, and on the count of three, Sora pushed off and clamoured on behind his brother. They sped down the hill, leaning together to avoid trees and other objects, the entire time laughing in excitement.
As they neared the bottom of the hill, Sora suddenly realized that they were going far too fast to be able to stop before the large snowdrift at the bottom of the hill. Unable to find the words to warn his brother, Sora just began to grab at him to try and warn him, inadvertently covering Roxas' face with his hands.
"Hey! Hey, Sora! Let go! What are you doing! I can't see anything!" Roxas exclaimed as he tried to move Sora's hands. Eventually Sora's grip relented and Roxas had seen what exactly had frightened his twin. A four foot mountain of snow was directly in their path and there was no way for them to avoid it.
KERPLOOOF!
The sled stopped as soon as it hit the wall of snow, throwing both of its riders over the front of the sled, burying them both face first ass up in the giant drift.
It took a few minutes but both teens were finally able to pull themselves out of the snow, brushing themselves and each other off from the fluffy white powder.
"Hey! You guys alright down there?" a voice called from the top of the hill, causing them to turn their attention there. Zack stood at the top, calling down to them while Cloud was already making his way down the side of the hill to check on them.
Sora and Roxas turned to each other with a wide grin, looking back up and sending a pair of thumbs up to show that they were fine.
"Man that was so awesome!" Roxas laughed.
"We totally need to do that again!" Sora agreed.
A very merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Love, Crym and Pahoyhoy.