Unlike his brother, Carl wasn't having much fun showing Lola around. Usually at Christmas, he preferred to just stay at home, try and sneak Christmas cookies from his abuela, and think about what he would be getting in his stocking. This, however, was the last thing he would have wanted.

Lola, on the other hand, was enjoying herself. Since most people at this time were with their families, the streets were mostly empty, so she was able to enjoy walking down the quiet, snowy streets. "Now, THIS I could get used to!" she exclaimed.

Carl rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "You've already said that," he growled. "Ten times."

She scoffed. "What's YOUR problem?"

He sharply turned around. "My problem is YOU! Right now, I should be back at the house, tasting abuela's Christmas cookies, but no! I have to be your tour guide!"

She tutted, placing a hand on her hip. "Well, excuse me, but first of all, I didn't ask to do this. It wasn't even my idea to come out here!"

He folded his arms together. "Yeah, well, you sure seemed happy to be out here."

"Uh, hello? This city is amazing!" She spun around as she looked at the different buildings you could see. "There are stores and places here I've never even seen before, and would KILL to be able to go to! Sure, Royal Woods has SOME nice stores, and SOME cool places, but none of them even COMPARE to what the city has!"

He scoffed, turning around and beginning to walk, which prompted her to follow. "The city's not that great," he told her bluntly, "you live here for even a week and you would realise it."

"So, what, there's just NOWHERE you enjoy?"

"It's not that, but when you're six years old, most of the places are so lame, and most of the ones that aren't are always taken by people are older than you, whether you were there first or not. And it's not like it's a small city, either- this city gets WAY too busy at times. Sure, it's quiet now, but that's because it's Christmas. In a couple of weeks, these streets will be as hectic as usual."

She was silent for a moment- something her family would've told Carl was rare- noticing the frown on his face. "… So, do you not like living here?"

"No, I do. I just don't like being treated like a kid here. I get that I am a kid, but… sometimes

I just can't wait to grow up." When she didn't respond to this, he sighed. "Come on, let's go back to the house. It won't be long before mom try's to-"

"Hey, Carl! Is that you?" The boy in the red hoodie flinched, before turning to see some kids his age- mostly latin, but a couple of them were white- walking towards them. "What, did mommy finally let you out of the house?" While the group of kids laughed, the one that said that- a Mexican boy in a purple coat and black beanie- saw Lola. "Aww, look at that! Did mommy hire her to look after you?"

Lola looked at Carl, noticing him visually tensed, then walked up to the Mexican boy. "What's your name?" She asked.

He blinked. "Uh, Jake?" He replied.

"Alright, Jake, listen here," her voice began to rise, "if you think that by saying some cheap words that you're better than him, then you're wrong! I know for a FACT that Carl can handle himself better than you, the weakling who needs a whole group of people to do things he's too scared to do!"

Jake's friends all laughed at the insults he was receiving. "Now, listen here, Princess. Why don't you run on home and play with your dollies before you scratch a nail?"

There wasn't even a pause before she growled as she tackled him to the ground, holding his head against the concrete. "Okay, bub, that's it! I tried playing nice, but you didn't want that, so I'm gonna give you one last chance- walk away now, or I turn you into a human pretzel! You got it?!"

Gulping, He meekly responded, "y-y-yeah…"

"Now tell him you're sorry!"

He looked over at the Casagrande boy, who was in shock at what he saw. "I-I'm sorry, man!"

"Alright, now beat it!" She let him go and he quickly scarpered away, much to the amusement and embarrassment of his friends. Lola dusted her hands together, before turning back to Carl. "So, are we heading back to the house still, or do you think you could show me around some more?"

He blinked, before laughing. "You've got guts, Lola, I'll give you that," he confessed. "Sure, why not? We've got time." She smiled as they crossed over the road. "But, seriously, what is it with your family and turning people into pretzels?"

Not too far from them at a local café, Luna, Luan and Lucy were waiting in line. The place was quiet, but hardly empty, and was rather quaint in its design. As they reached the front of the queue, the cashier- a somewhat depressed looking twenty-something man with brown hair, wearing brown antlers as well as his uniform- looked at Luna. "Hey, what can I get for you?" He asked, not even trying to sound happy.

"I'll take a cinnamon cappuccino," Luna ordered.

"Hot chocolate for me," Luan said next. The

The cashier rolled his eyes as he typed in the order, before looking at the goth. "And you?"

"I'll have a mocha," she replied, much to the surprise of her sisters. She noticed this, and simply explained, "my poetry group often convenes at Haiku's mother's café."

Luna and Luan looked at each other before shrugging. The rocker paid for their order, and joined her sisters at a table once their order was ready. As she took a sip of her cappuccino, she sighed happily. "Now that's the ticket."

"Well, don't drink it too fast or it'll be a speeding ticket!" Luan joked, following it up with her typical laugh. "Get it?" Both her older and younger sister groaned in response. Luan smiled anyway as she looked around. "I'll admit, it's quite a nice café."

"Yeah, the joint's pretty cheery," Luna replied. "Definitely got the holiday spirit, even if the staff don't."

"It's nice," was all Lucy said. Taking a drink of her mocha, she looked over at the café's stage, where she saw Chunk and his band setting up for their performance. "Isn't than Chunk?"

Luna's eyes followed her gothic sister's gaze and she smiled. "Yep! Be right back, guys." She got up and sauntered over to the band. "Yo, Chunk!"

The burly man looked up and smiled. "Ey up, Luna!" He greeted, tipping his hat to her. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be chilling with the family and what not!"

"Yeah, well, the CasaG's gave us some free time before dinner, so I thought I'd come down and support you." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to her table. "Brought a couple of my sibs with me, hope that's cool."

"Yeah, the more, the merrier!" He gave a wave to the girls, who waved back- Luan giving maximum effort, while Lucy pretty much just raised her hand a little. "So, what's the plan for you and the family?"

Luna's smile dropped a bit, her hand subconsciously reaching to rub behind her other elbow. "Well, I think we're going to a carol service."

The roadie spotted the change in mood straight away. "And what's so bad about that? I thought that'd be right up your alley."

"Well, I don't mind the carols, but… it's everything else I'm worried about."

Chunk was confused for a few seconds as he tried to put two and two together, but then he remembered one thing- Luna was bisexual. It had actually been Chunk who helped her to realise that about herself, as after one concert where her friend Sam was in the crowd, he noticed the rocker Loud feeling strange afterwards. Once she had explained to him how she knew Sam and what she felt, he talked her through it and made her realise who she was. He knew she wasn't still openly admitted about this, but he was more than supportive about it.

Putting down the tool in his hand, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Luna… if you're worried about going to a church just because you're bi, then don't be."

Her slight blush told him that he had hit the bullseye. "I can't help it. What if they won't let me in, because they ask me and I tell them the truth, or they think I'm some kind of devil and try to 'cleanse' me, or-or what if-"

"Luna." She shut up and looked back at the roadie, who had always been like a mentor for her. "They won't do that. If we're all God's kids, but a church is unwilling to let someone in, let alone on Christmas Eve, then it's being run by the wrong vicar. Trust me, you'll be fine."

She gave a small laugh. "You make it sound so simple."

He gave a small laugh of his own. "That's cos it is."

She looked back, noticing the warm yet serious look in his eye, and threw her arms around him, a motion which was returned. "Thanks, Chunk."

"No worries, luv."

Back at the Casagrande home, Carlos was still nose deep in his book, saying things like "fascinating" or reciting the facts as he read. Walking into the living room, he was about to sit down on the couch until he heard an "ahem". Standing up straight and turning around, he realised he was about to sit on Lisa, who was reading a book of her own. "Oh! My apologies, Lisa," he told the four-year-old. "I wasn't paying attention."

She simply raised a hand up. "No need," she replied, "it is understandable."

"Okay, then." He took a seat on the other couch, and was going to continue reading, but decided to do something else. "Might I ask what has caught your interest?"

Lowering the book, she looked over at the professor. "I assume you are referring to the book I am reading, which is the latest volume of the American Journal of Physics. I am merely perusing to see what the latest theorems and discoveries are, so as to discern whether or not it could impact my own studies."

"I see. And have there been any that match said description?"

"None so far, but I am quite a ways off from the end yet, so I must keep open to that possibility." She continued reading for a second, before closing the book. "If my memory serves me right, you are a college professor, correct?"

"Correct. I teach history, though I do also find biology rather fascinating."

"Interesting. I myself am less fond of biology as to other sciences, but do have interest here and there."

"I take it by your choice in reading material you are more interested in physics?"

"Actually, I would argue my specialty is in chemistry, though I do need physics as a foundation for certain areas."

"I see. I hope you don't mind me asking this, and I'm sure you've heard it before, but do you ever wonder why you are so smart?"

She removed her glasses to wipe them clean. "Based on your profession, I assume you don't refer to the actual scientific explanation, and rather are asking why I believe I am this way." Putting her glasses back on, she sighed. "Sometimes, yes. My intelligence is a gift, but as the idiom goes, it can also be a curse. I don't mind being smarter than my siblings, and I certainly can't take my Nobel prizes for granted," she paused briefly at seeing his shocked face. "I get that a lot. Yet, at the same time, there are moments where I wonder if science is to be my only pursuit in life. Will my work become my everything, or will I be able to balance out other aspects of my life? And if science DOESN'T become my everything, will my affinity for it decline?" She turned to Carlos. "Might I ask if you have ever had these queries?"

"I have, and there are times where I get lost in these thoughts, but sometimes these thoughts allow me to become something more. And as for whether or not your affinity for science would decline if you broadened your lifestyle, I would suggest there is no correlation there. If your affinity declines, that shouldn't stop you from allowing your life to continue."

She gave a small smile. "Thank you, Carlos. Your comments are rather soothing for my worries."

"Not at all. I have to deal with it a lot, doing my job."

"I here that." She returned to reading her book, this time not noticing the surprised expression on Carlos' face, before he shrugged and went back to his own book.

Inside one of the bedrooms, Leni was working hard at showing Carlota how to sew one of the dresses. "And if you sew it like that, you can come up with a totes adorbs design."

"Wow, Leni! You really know a lot about making fashion, huh?" Carlota replied.

"Well, it's my passion. If I had one dream, it would be to create fashion for a living."

"I wish I could do that." Leni watched as the Casagrande girl started to sew. "I love fashion, but my skills when it comes to making it aren't great. I can pick out two items of clothing that are perfect together easy, but I'm not great with fabrics." As if fated, this was illustrated when she accidentally ripped part of the dress, causing her to groan. "See?"

"Don't worry, I can fix that," Leni assured, motioning for Carlota to hand her the needle. She began to repair the dress. "So, even if you can't make fashion, you can still DO fashion. I mean, you could help come up with the concepts or a designer, or you could be a writer for, like, a magazine or a blog. You could even be a retail buyer if you tried."

Carlota smiled, looking hopeful. "You think so?"

Leni turned around, flashing a happy smile. "Totes! You have SUCH great fashion sense, you'd be amazing!"

"Wow… Thanks, Leni. Still, I'm pretty envious of how great you are at fashion."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you to say." Her smile faltered a little. "Still, I appreciate that I'm good at something." She turned around to continue working. "See, I'm not what you'd call smart. I mean, my grades are okay, but a lot of the time, I don't get what people are talking about, and things will just go over my head. Everyone knows it, and I get that as well, but I sometimes feel like an idiot because of it."

Carlota frowned, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Leni, you're not an idiot. Some people are just like that."

She sighed. "Yeah… but I wish I wasn't. All I really know how to do are fashion and woodworking."

"Leni, I'm sure your siblings don't- Wait, woodworking?"

"Yeah. I'm not too sure how, either."

"Huh." She shook her head lightly. "Anyway, I'm sure your family don't think that about you, and you shouldn't think that about yourself either. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel like I'm not up to the expectations of others. My parents both have university degrees, so I want to be able to do the same, so I can make them proud, and sometimes I wonder if I can do that, but no matter what, they'll always love me. So as long as you work on what you are good at, that other stuff won't matter."

Leni smiled warmly after hearing that. "Thank you, Carlota!" She put down the needle so she could hug the latina. "I'm glad we're able to do this- it's like we're sisters."

"Yeah, it is. Though, it probably won't be long before we're family for real."

Leni leaned out of the hug. "I know, right? Bobby and Lori are, like, SO made for each other."

"They are, aren't they? How long do you think it'll be before they get married?"

"I'd say three years."

"Really? I think it'll be five. I bet he'll pop the question at graduation." Both girls sighed at the thought of how romantic it would be, before returning to work on their Christmas dresses.