RichardIII1955 - Lol, Tibby and Ros have always reminded me of Cathy and Heathcliff. It was going to be Gabriel singing it, but then I realise that he would be too drunk!

Oh dear, Christmas Eve was awful! It was fun to write, though. This chapter was also pretty fun to write as well, with everyone's reactions to their presents. My favourite bit is with Tybalt and Rosaline's kids opening their presents. Such a pair of brats!

Plus, it's Eliseo's actual birthday today! Since ALYN takes place in 2011, that makes him one today! Happy Birthday, Eliseo!


"He's been!" shrieked Saffiro, leaping on top of Benvolio "Santa's been!"

"Has he?" mumbled Benvolio, stirring.

"Yeah! Come and see!"

Benvolio and Hermia blearily sat up. Briony was standing up in her cot, her hazel eyes wide and excited, even though she couldn't understand what was going on. Eliseo took his time in exiting his bed, and then sat at Hermia's feet tiredly.

"Open now!" Saffiro exclaimed, shaking his first present.

"Mummy!" squealed Briony, holding out her hands to be picked up. Hermia scrambled down and picked her up out of her cot, and then placed her between her and Benvolio. Excitedly, she scrabbled for her presents and started ripping at the paper. Saffiro tore off paper, and soon it was flying across the room.

"Happy Christmas, kids. What time is it?" asked Hermia.

"Six 'o' clock" said Eliseo.

"Great. Better than last year. That was five thirty" said Benvolio.


About two hours later, Rosaline sat on the sofa, reading Vogue and eating more of the chocolates. Erin and Didier turned and looked at her disappointedly from their giant pile of presents.

"If you've got any problems, talk to your dad" she said moodily.

Erin got up, and went to the hotel door. She pulled it open, and then Tybalt fell in, fast asleep. He'd spent the night sleeping whilst sitting against the door in the hallway. He was still wearing his dressing gown. Erin looked down disdainfully at him. Tybalt stirred, and then stood up.

"All right, kids?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes "Got what you wanted?"

Both Erin and Didier glared at him with their stone grey eyes.

"So, are we going to get ready to go and see Santa?" asked Tybalt.

"No" retorted Rosaline. She turned to Erin and Didier "Hey, kids, fancy going and seeing Jill and her jingles?"

"No" said Erin.

"No" said Didier.

"There you go then" said Rosaline, turning to Tybalt "You can if you want to, I don't give a shit"

"Fine" snapped Tybalt, storming into the bathroom to get washed and dressed. Rosaline popped another chocolate in her mouth, figuring that since she was pregnant, watching her weight was pointless.


"Hmm" said Micro, upon seeing his presents scattered around the room in such unusual places "They are getting creative"

"How did they even reach up there?" asked Rocco.

"Let's go and find out" said Vittoria.

They wandered into their parents' room and discovered them cuddling up together, blissfully sleeping. Now, that just wouldn't do. It was Christmas and they had to get up, whether they liked it or not. Micro tiptoed to the bottom of the bed, lifted the duvet and found their feet.

"Tickle time!" he announced, immediately starting to tickle them both.

"No! Tickle time is bad!" moaned Allegra.

"I'll kick your face!" threatened Mercutio.

"Tickle time!" Micro repeated, tickling harder. Eventually he gave up and jumped on the bed, followed by his siblings "It's Christmas! Get up! I want a hug"

"What time is it?" asked Mercutio.

"My clock said it was eight 'o' clock. If we're not quick, we'll miss the Pudding Bus" replied Rocco.

"I don't want to go on the stupid Pudding Bus" sulked Vittoria "Jingle Jill is annoying and all the trips get ruined by people arguing all the time"

"Yeah!" added Micro "It's boring. Eliseo and Alexei said they didn't want to go on it today, and Alexei says Santa's probably just some out of work actor in a beard and suit. So let's stay here and spend time together and open our presents"

"All right. We'll do that" decided Mercutio "Come on then. It's time for the Vincentino Family Christmas Snuggle!"


Gabriel stirred. Through his half-open eyelid, he caught side of a splash of dark hair. Thinking it was Amparo, he crawled over closer to wrap his arm around her. Suddenly, he sniffed. Hang on...that wasn't Amparo's perfume he could smell. That was aftershave. Angelo's aftershave.

"UUUUUUURGH!" screeched Gabriel, leaping up. Angelo groaned and put a hand to his head.

"Stop that shrieking!"

"Oh my God, I can't believe I just shared a bed with you!" Gabriel shrieked "Yuck!"

"What?" scowled Angelo, glancing up "I'm your dad! I've changed your nappy!"

"That is just so wrong!"

"What, changing your nappy? Who did you want to do it? The cat's mother?"

"No! Sharing a bed with you! That's gross! That's pervy! I feel all dirty now!"

"Oh, shut up, Gabriel. Go back to sleep"

"No!"

Gabriel dashed out of Angelo's room and into his and Amparo's. Amparo was dressing Natalio, and Tallulah was pulling on her snowsuit.

"There you are" said Amparo "I wondered where you were"

"I slept in Angelo's bed" spat Gabriel disgustedly.

"We saw you singing!" announced Alexei, coming out of the bathroom.

"Singing?" Gabriel frowned.

"Yes! You and Granddad were singing. You sang 'Fairytale of New York' and you did the girly bits and Granddad did the man bits. It was so funny!" giggled Alexei.

"Oh no..." whimpered Gabriel. Alexei just giggled. Eventually Gabriel moaned "I need to sleep this off"

"You can't, we're going on the Pudding Bus!" said Tallulah "It's our last chance to search for Santa"

"I don't care! I'm not listening to Jingle Jill howling like a dying cat whilst my head feels like someone just slapped me with a tap shoe. I'm going back to bed"

"Well, if you're not coming, I'm not coming" decided Amparo "Your family have been driving me mad. I'm not spending time with them on my own"

"Fair enough" shrugged Gabriel, pulling off his shoes and climbing into bed "Night kids"

"But I want to see Santa!" cried Tallulah.

"He's not real, I saw your mum put your presents on your bed last night!" said Alexei.

"Alexei!" scolded Amparo. Tallulah stamped her foot, and then rushed out of the hotel room. Amparo shouted after her, but Tallulah did not come back.


Romeo groaned. His vision was blurry, and he was bundled in blankets.

"Where am I?" he choked out.

"Hospital" replied a voice.

"Juliet?" he asked, looking around.

Juliet bent over him "You're in hospital, Romeo"

"What?"

"You have hypothermia"

"Hypothermia?" gasped Romeo.

"Yes, Romeo" said Juliet, tucking the blankets around him "Whilst you were out hunting the Northern Lights, you got too cold. You became disorientated and confused. You passed out. A member of security found you half-buried in snow. You had to be air-lifted through a snow storm to get here. I was asleep when they banged on my door, telling me where you were. I was so worried!"

Romeo was silent for a moment, contemplating the night's actions.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

"I forgive you" replied Juliet, stroking his chocolate brown hair.

"Does everyone know we're here?"

"No. I didn't want to worry them. It's just us"

"Oh" murmured Romeo "Happy Christmas"

"Happy Christmas" replied Juliet.


Finally dressed and awake, Angelo wandered downstairs. Tallulah was sitting slumped on the stairs, her head in hand.

"Tallulah?" asked Angelo.

"Hi, Granddad"

"Why are you so upset?" asked Angelo "Haven't you got all your presents?"

A tear slipped out of one of Tallulah's dark eyes "I-I have, b-but mum and dad say we're n-not g-going on the P-Pudding Bus to search for Santa, because dad's got a hangover and mum doesn't want to put up with everyone else arguing. A-and now I'm never going to see if Santa is really real or not, a-a-and Alexei told me he wasn't real this morning and that he'd seen my mummy leave my presents. Aunty Rosaline and Uncle Tibby were just rowing and I couldn't go with them, s-so I c-came down here, and no one was here, and now the Pudding Bus has left, and now I-I'll never k-know!"

"Oh, Tallulah" said Angelo "Come and have a hug"

Tallulah wrapped her arms around him, and Angelo picked her up.

"You know what I think?" said Angelo "I don't think we'll bother with any of the others. They've been driving us all nuts. We'll go and have breakfast ourselves, and then we'll go for a walk"

Angelo carried Tallulah to the breakfast hall, and together they had breakfast, before heading outside.

"Look at all the new snow!" cried Tallulah joyfully.

"You know what snow is good for?" asked Angelo.

"What?"

"Sleigh-riding!"

Tallulah shrieked joyfully as Angelo pulled out a sleigh from a hut.

"Come on!"

Angelo dragged the sleigh to the top of a hill "Just look down at the hotel and all the trees"

"It's so pretty" said Tallulah.

"All right. On your sleigh!"

Tallulah clamoured on, and then Angelo clamoured on behind her. They rushed down the hill. Tallulah screamed with joy, and then they both picked themselves up.

"That was fun!" gasped Tallulah "I didn't know you could ride a sleigh, Granddad!"

"Well, I can" said Angelo "Now, you sit down, and I'm going to pull you along!"

"Faster! Faster!" cried Tallulah, as Angelo pulled her along "Where are we going?"

"You'll see!"

Eventually, they stopped outside of a building.

"This is Santa's Grotto!" exclaimed Tallulah excitedly "We came here yesterday! How did you know where it was?"

"I looked on a map of the place on my iPhone" explained Angelo "And I had a compass that my brother, who was in the army, gave me. I worked it out quite easily. Look, the Pudding Bus is just leaving. Which means we'll have Santa to ourselves. Shall we go and see him?"

Tallulah's dark eyes widened in delight "Yes! Yes!"


"Where's Tallulah?" asked Amparo, frantically looking around "Alexei, I told you to go after her. Where is she?"

"What's going on?" mumbled Gabriel, pulling the duvet off of his head.

"Tallulah's missing"

"My baby!" shrieked Gabriel, immediately climbing out of bed. He dressed and rushed down to reception "Have you seen a little girl? Dark-haired, dark eyes, wearing a lilac snowsuit?"

"No, I'm sorry, sir" said the receptionist "But we can check with your holiday rep to see if she's with her"


Jingle Jill picked up the radio "No, I don't have anyone from the Capulet-Montague-Vincentino-Fulgencio clan" she put down the receiver "Thank God" she muttered to herself.


"This is where Santa lives during the year, whilst the elves are making the toys" explained an elf.

"Wow" whispered Tallulah.

"And if you go through here, you will see him" said the elf. Tallulah's eyes widened even further. Angelo smiled. He'd missed out on doing this when his children were little. Gabriel was too strong-willed and too determined to be different to the other children when he was this young to want to do things like this. He squeezed his granddaughter's shoulder, and together they went to see Santa.