Christmas at the Property
A/N: This is part of the True Revenge universe of stories written by myself and ElfFlame. This takes place well beyond Teecie's time at Hogwarts. Enjoy!
"Is Hunter coming over too, gran?" Stuart Lupin asked eagerly as he bit the head off a gingerbread man.
Adriana shook her head. "No, Hunter was married last year, remember?" she reminded him gently.
"I know, but he could still come. It's tradition."
"I think he wants to spend his first Christmas as a married man with his wife."
Nicky sat down next to his brother and grabbed a sugar plum. "Why would he want to do that?" he asked curiously.
"You'll understand better when you're older, but married people like to be together. People who are in love like to spend time together."
Nicky wrinkled his nose. "Love…gross," he replied before popping the sugar plum in his mouth and running off to play with his cousins.
Adriana looked around the house and smiled to see all the rooms full of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. This was her favourite time of the Christmas holidays—when her children left their kids with her and Lucius for a day or two. The hardest part was trying to find places for fifteen children to sleep at night.
"Gwan gwan!" She was startled out of her thoughts by two year old Lucas tugging on her skirt. "Gwan gwan! I hold you!" he cried while holding his arms out for her to pick him up.
She smiled and bent down to pick him up. "Oh my, Lucas, you're getting so big…what is Melantha feeding you?" she asked.
"Food!" Lucas declared emphatically as he wrapped his chubby arms around her neck.
Adriana held onto him as she walked through the house to see that everything was going well. Jem was reading a book to his sister Alison and several of the other younger girls. He had always been so good with children. He was a born teacher.
Jaron staggered past Adriana, with a couple of the younger boys dangling from his neck and shoulders. "Man, I wish Hunter was here this year," he gasped before collapsing under the weight of his cousins. Adriana magically lifted the children off of Jaron so he could escape their clutches.
"When is great grandfather coming home?" Acantha called out while she looked out the window. Lisandra's eldest daughter had always been very fond of Lucius.
"Soon, I hope," Adriana replied as she made her way to the window and glanced out as well. "He said he was going to bring home supper."
"What is he bringing for supper, gran? I don't want anything with meat in it," Lena informed her grandmother. Kalare had raised her children to be vegetarians like she was, and even though Adriana didn't agree with it, she did respect her daughter's choices to raise her children in the way she thought best. "And Kira doesn't either." Lena grabbed her sister's hand to emphasize this.
"Yes, I know, darling," Adriana said.
"Gran, I'm hungry!" Alison cried. "Can I have a candy cane?"
"No, dear, eat an orange instead. You shouldn't eat sweets before supper."
Alison started to cry. "I can't open a orange!" she wailed.
Christopher, Kali's eldest son, was standing near enough to hear this, and walked over to her. "Why don't I peel an orange for you?" he asked. Ali sniffled and nodded her head. He picked her up and walked into the kitchen with her, leaving Adriana feeling exhausted, and glad she'd only had three children.
The children were all growing hungry and antsy, and Adriana was starting to feel overwhelmed by it all. Perhaps she should make them supper after all. Maybe Lucius had been held back at the office and hadn't had a chance to get food. If only he'd called, she would know what to do.
"Gran, the littles are getting restless," Jaron called out from the sitting room. Adriana turned to look at him in time to see four of her grandkids tackle him to the floor. She could hear him laughing as the kids tickled him.
Before she could do anything else, the fireplace burst into green flames, and seconds later, a large figure popped out of it. She watched as a large man with a furry red outfit, and long white beard walked into the dining room. He had soot on the side of his nose, and held a large red bag in his arms.
"Ho, ho, ho, Happy Christmas!" the older-looking man called out as he walked into the sitting room.
"Um…er…Father Christmas?" Adriana asked cautiously.
Every child in the house was instantly enthralled, and came running into the room to see him. "Father Christmas!" they shouted.
"Hello, children! Have you all been good boys and girls this year?" Father Christmas sat down on the sofa, and smiled. "I brought presents to all the good boys and girls."
The younger children began cheering, while Lucas started crying. "Gwan gwan!" he wailed as he toddled over to Adriana. She picked him up once again and stood back a little to calm him down. She was making sure to keep an eye on Father Christmas, not knowing who he was for sure. She didn't want him to harm any of the children.
Each of the children was given a gift, and was soon embroiled in opening it. Adriana helped Lucas open his, which ended up being a large stuffed puppy. His eyes grew wide and he wrapped his arms around it. "Lucas, what do you say to Father Christmas?" Adriana asked.
"Tank oo Fazo," Lucas said bashfully.
Everybody had a gift they loved, and made sure to thank Father Christmas profusely. "Oh, I'm glad you all enjoyed the presents!" he said in response. "And there are two more, one for the pretty lady and one for the man of the house." He took out another package and handed it to Adriana.
Adriana set Lucas down and took the present. She smiled to see that there was a bottle of expensive Greek olive oil in the box. "Thank you Father Christmas," she said.
"And what about the man of the house…Where is he?" Father Christmas asked, looking around the room.
"He's still at work, though he should be home already. Would you like to stay until he returns?"
Father Christmas looked around the room, seeming to weigh his options. "Well…Mother Christmas probably has supper waiting for me…and she's expecting me…" he said reluctantly.
Before he had to make a decision, though, the back door burst open and Lucius trudged through the door. He was carrying six pizzas and the keys to the car in his hands. "Somebody help, I can't get to my wand and these pizzas are burning me!" he bellowed grumpily from the kitchen.
Jaron ran into the room to help his grandfather, and a minute later, they both emerged back into the sitting room. Father Christmas stood up and reached into his bag. "Ho, ho, ho, I take it you're the man of the house," he said while taking out the last gift.
Lucius narrowed his eyes and took his wand out of his pocket. "Yes I am, and who are you?" he asked curtly.
"Why I'm Father Christmas! And I have a present for you. I trust you've been a good boy this year."
Lucius glanced at Adriana, but she was trying not to laugh. "I suppose," he replied. Father Christmas held out the gift, and Lucius cautiously took it. "It's not going to explode or anything, is it?"
"No, it's a fun present, I can assure you."
Lucius shook it and looked at it carefully before finally opening it. Inside was a magical family portrait of all his grandchildren and great grandchildren, including the older ones not present tonight. They were smiling and laughing, and waving at him. Adriana walked to him and glanced over his shoulder. Her eyes misted over. "Oh…look at them all…They're all here tonight, well, except for Hunter of course," she murmured. "His first Christmas away from us…"
Father Christmas cleared his throat suddenly and caught Lucius's eye. "Well, now that all the presents have been handed out, I should go," he said quickly, turning towards the fireplace. "Good bye, children! Have a very Happy Christmas!" With a wave of his hand, he hopped into the fireplace, and disappeared in a flash of green. The children waved and called out their farewells as he was leaving.
"All right, there's pizza in the kitchen, and yes there is vegetarian pizza!" Lucius called out a minute later. As the children stampeded into the kitchen, he looked back at his precious portrait. Adriana wrapped her arm around his waist and looked at the picture as well. "Do you know, I believe Hunter was here tonight as well," he said, pointing to the waving figure of Reni's eldest son.
"What do you mean?" Adriana asked before realizing what he meant. "You don't think…" She began to laugh. "Oh, what a dear boy! Dressing up like Father Christmas because he missed being with us…I just hope he wasn't too late for dinner tonight."
"I'm sure he'll be forgiven if he was," Lucius said as he squeezed his wife and kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's get in there before all the food is gone."
Adriana took his hand and followed him into the kitchen. Lucius set the portrait down on the kitchen counter before grabbing a slice of pizza. He could see them waving at him, and felt like everybody was together again, just like it used to be. He smiled and let the cheer of the season wash over him.
-Fin