Disclaimer: Anything familiar is probably owned by L.J. Smith or any of the companies that deal with the Vampire Diaries
So Christmas is never really mentioned in the show, however, since I woke up to the first snow of the year on the ground, I decided to do a Christmas chapter since it is in the right area of the time line, please review people and tell me whatcha think.
Elena's POV
Thanksgiving had passed unremarked upon due to the craziness of everything that had happened in November so she was determined that Christmas would not pass the same way. Two week before Christmas she had gone on a massive shopping spree with Caroline and Bonnie to get presents, food, and new decorations for the Christmas get together that Jenna had agreed to let her hold. For hours the trio had worked towards filling the trunks of their vehicles only to go back to her house and decorate like crazy.
Jenna and Jeremy had thought it amusing the amount of enthusiasm that she was showing towards getting everything ready. The house now had a tree with lots of presents underneath, garland, lights, figurines, and whatever other little decoration had come to mind. Even though the majority of it was new, a few favored items were brought out of storage for her parents as well, which had led to a few minutes of crying for those who were lost.
In the days leading up to Christmas Eve, Jenna and Elena were baking and cooking like crazy, making snacks that could be served without having to reheat. By the time Christmas Eve was there, everything was ready to go.
Morning comes early for Elena as she wakes up and stretches. It's going to be a great day she thinks as she gets ready for her party. This would be the first Christmas without them. However she refused to give into depression. Instead she was hosting a Christmas get together for her close family and close friends including Jenna, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Damon, Stefan, and Alaric.
She chooses to dress as cheerfully as possible, with comfortable jeans and a Christmas sweater her mom had given her. Before noon she starts to set up the kitchen bar with the food that they had spent the last few days making including cookies, cupcakes, hand-made chocolate treats, fresh punch and pop, a meat and cheese tray with crackers, fruit tray, and vegetable tray with dip. All three of the trays she had insisted on making herself rather than purchasing them premade.
When Jenna comes out of her room she is surprised to see Elena buzzing around the house doing last minute touch-ups to cleaning and decorations. With a smile, Jenna helps her with whatever is left over and places her presents under the tree as well.
Sometime around one pm Jeremy comes wandering out of his room and down into the living room area. Since their discussion at the boardinghouse, they had been able to regain much of the easy friendship that they had once shared. He still had his moments where Stefan and Damon made him edgy but those were getting rarer and rarer as time passed on.
About a week ago, Jenna, Jeremy and Elena had sat down to discuss the fact that she had been adopted. The end results where that it really didn't matter. After all, she was his sister. While all three were curious as to whom her real parents were, it was not something that they were going to stress about either.
"Morning," he mumbles as he reaches for the coffee pot to pour himself a cup.
Downing it, he sets his cup down and reaches for the pot again only to have her grin and refill his cup, "good afternoon sleepy head, sleep well?."
After he finishes the second cup of coffee he looks more awake, "yeah," he pauses for a moment then says her name questioningly.
"Yeah Jer?" she replies as she sits down with her own cup of coffee, busy days require extra energy.
"Can I invite Ana to the get together, I realize you're not happy with her but..." his voice trails off. The plan is to speak to Jenna the day after Christmas about the entire vampire and witches situation that they found themselves in.
Not answering immediately she careful considers everything that she knows about the petite vampire. She had honestly seemed to like her brother despite the threats that she spoken when she was trying to get her mother out of the tomb. Since retrieving her mother, they had stayed off of the radar in town. There had been no new attacks. It actually seemed like they were trying to start a new life and adapting to the new world.
She nodded once, "only her, I am not ready to deal with Pearl yet," she replies giving him a small smile. It's Christmas, the time of forgiveness and fresh starts.
The smile that lit Jeremy's face made the possible headache that having Ana in the same house as the Salvatore brothers will cause. Without saying anything else, he bolts up to his room, probably to call and invite her over.
Jenna watches him go with a smile on her face and a question, "did you give him his gift early or something?"
She shook her head no, replying, "He asked if Ana could come over and I agreed."
Jenna nods and wanders off. After one last check to make sure that everything is ready, she heads up to her room to write in her journal for a little bit before everyone gets there. Just after four-thirty she hears a tapping at her window and turns to see Damon sitting on her window ceil grinning.
"You know, you can use the front door," she tells him with a chuckle as she closes her journal. Since the events at the tomb their relationship had shifted from an understanding to a good friendship, and while she was still friends with Stefan, it wasn't the same. Most of the time she felt awkward with Stefan because he kept trying to convince her that they belonged together, sure he wasn't doing so out right but he was still doing so.
He smirks, hopping off of the window, "where is the fun in that?"
She grins at him, giving him a quick welcoming hug. "Well if you are here that means the others will be here soon as well. So come on," she tells him heading towards her bedroom door.
It's his turn to chuckle as she bounds down the stairs and into the living room where she turns the radio on low with holiday music. When he reaches the bottom of the steps Jenna wags a finger at him, "it's a good thing I like you."
He flashes her one of his oh-so-charming smiles, "thank you Jenna, how are you?"
For a few minutes the two of them chat before Jeremy comes down stairs and spotting Damon challenges him to a rematch on the x-box. Accepting the challenge, the two guys park themselves on the couch and get to playing.
The two women just shake their heads and roll their eyes, eventually Jenna comments, "I thought he was an ass?"
Elena grins at her, replying, "he is, but he is an acquired taste I seem to have gotten."
They chuckle at that and before Jenna can add to it, the front door bell goes off. Elena walks over and answers it, its Bonnie and Caroline both baring bags with stuff in them. She waves them in, and they set their stuff down giving her a hug a piece when they say hello.
Bonnie is the first one to speak, "I figured I would bring my gifts today because we are doing a big family get together tomorrow and I don't think I would be able to get away to give them to you then." She pauses for a moment, looking around then calls out, "hello Jenna, Jeremy, Damon." Since the events in the tomb she has been friendlier towards him, though she still dislikes him.
Caroline plays with her hair for a moment before saying, "well I brought mine over cause I am supposed to go over to my dad's and his boyfriends tomorrow night. I figured better early than late!" Unlike Bonnie who is finally becoming neutral towards Damon, Caroline still hates his guts.
Stefan and Alaric show up next, they knock once on the door before coming in. Stefan says hi to everyone except his brother, and Alaric give Jenna a kiss on the cheek much to the amusement of his students in the mix. The only two left to show is Ana and Matt, and before Ana gets there she wants to warn Damon and Stefan. Unfortunately, that does not work quite that well since the next knock of the door is soft and hesitant, almost immediately Jeremy pauses his game and jumps up to answer the door. Damon stares after him, like startled expression.
Under her breath Elena mutters, "Ana." Knowing that both of the vampire males in the room will hear her, and hear her they do since a moment later both are standing on either side of her watching the door. "Relax, Jeremy invited her," she tells them touching both their arms. Stefan goes back to talking with Bonnie and Caroline, while Damon stays close to her. She just smiles at this protective behavior.
After Jeremy opens the door, Ana cautiously steps in. According to the look on her face she is not sure what type of reception awaits her. In her hand is a small plastic bag. "Hi," she says somewhat shyly, looking around. The tension is thick enough to cut between Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan with the look they are sending towards Ana.
Before she has a chance to get far into the door, Matt's slow drawl can be heard coming up the walk way, "hey, don't forget me!" it is reminiscent of our younger days when they were growing up and would intentionally shut the door on him.
With that the harsh silence is broken. Ana is the only one in the group not to know everyone else, but that is not that big of a problem. Caroline decides that she likes her hair and boom! Instant conversation. Before the conversation gets too far, Ana hands the bag to Jenna, thanking her for allowing her over. In the bag is a bakery bought chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting that gets added to the menu. Sometime around six, every one headed towards the bar and all of the snack like foods on it. Once everyone has a plate and glass of something to drink, the group adjourns to the living room where there is enough seating for everyone-sort of.
Conversation starts back up, smoother now than it had been earlier. As people finish what's on their plates, they either trash them or get more, depending on if they are still hungry or not. Towards the end, when everyone has only something to drink in their hands, Elena stands up and toasts, "Merry Christmas, to new beginnings!"
The entire group toasts back, Jenna, deciding to make it a game of around the room, lifts her cup saying, "To a pleasant evening," which sets off another round of toasting. Each person does their own.
Caroline's is, "to friends, family, and those other people in your life."
Bonnie's is "to new experiences."
Matt is, "to happy endings for a change."
Alaric is, "to pleasant gatherings."
Jeremy pipes up with, "to having a blast."
Ana's tentative toast is, "to better choices."
While Stefan and Damon both say simultaneously, "to Elena."
After the round robin of toasts, Elena gets a present for each person from under the tree including Ana much to her surprise. She lets Jenna pick out her gift to keep it fair. Any extra gifts will be sent home with the girls and Matt. Damon, Stefan, and Alaric have been invited for Christmas dinner since they are bachelors and friends of the family.
Matt's gift is a box of dishes from Jenna, her Christmas card jokingly says that it's so he has a complete set. Caroline's gift is an opal pendant on a fine silver necklace with matching dangling earrings from Elena. Bonnie's gift is a thick black leather journal with a strap and lock and a matching pen. Alaric gets a new jacket from Jenna. Ana's gift is a lovely set of hair combs from Jeremy. Stefan's gift is a book that he had discussed with Elena but did not own from Elena. Damon's gift is a picture Jenna had snapped of Damon and Elena in a nice silver frame from Jenna. Jeremy's gift is a new wrist watch from Jenna. Elena's gift is a delicate bracelet from Jenna.
The rest of the night goes smoothly, sometime after ten pm everyone starts to disburse. Stefan, Alaric, and Damon all promise to show up for dinner the next night before they leave. The girls all have a good hug before heading in their own directions over all it is a complete success.
Damon's POV
As the sun rises Christmas day, Damon sprawls on his bed staring at the ceiling deep in thought. Unwitting Jenna had given him the best gift he had in years. The picture was from just a few days after the tomb incident, he had stopped by to check on how things were with Jeremy. He had hugged her when she was sad and heard the click of the camera an instance later. When he had turned around Jenna was standing there with a shit-eating grin on her face. It was one of the few times he had initiated the contact between himself and Elena.
He had gotten small gifts for Jeremy, Jenna, Elena, and even Stefan but was not sure if it would be right to give them to them tonight or if he should give them sooner. It felt ever so odd to be invited to a family function of this type. Maybe he would head over to their house early and help with the cooking. He'd take the presents with him, put them under the tree, and hope that he had selected right.
Stefan's POV
Why did life never seem to go as planned? He thought to himself as he wrapped the last present he had gotten. On impulse he had decided to get gifts for Elena, Jeremy, and Jenna. He had debated about getting something for Damon but had not known what to get him so he had just got him a card instead. It would be the first time in years that they had done anything remotely related to Christmas as a family or even family-ish situation.
When he first met Elena he thought that they would work out great, but things didn't go that way. Instead he messed up and it cost him Elena. Now she was a free agent but he had a feeling that she was going to end up with his brother. Damn it all, but that massively sucked in his book.
Alaric's POV
Dinner the previous night had been odd to say the least. He sat down to dinner with the vampire who had killed his wife and the woman he was falling in love with. Not to mention three of his students and one who was supposed to be his student but was far older than him. He didn't think it could get much odder but it had, he was invited over for proper Christmas dinner and had agreed to it.
He was not sure how he was going to spend too much more time with Damon without saying anything about Isobel. However, he refused to ruin Christmas for Jenna, Elena, and Jeremy who had been through enough already within the last several months without adding that to the mix. Maybe he would pick up a bottle of wine to take with him, it would not be the best gift ever but it was better than nothing.
Jeremy's POV
He still couldn't believe how smooth the day before had gone. When Ana first showed up he had expected some sort of explosion or other violent reaction past the distrust and anger shown by Bonnie, Damon, and Stefan. He was half tempted to point out that they all agree on one thing just to watch them squirm since they each had grudges of one type or another against someone in the trio. Sighing he wished he could invite her today but didn't because he did not want the stress that would go with it. Besides, he'd see her soon enough he was sure.
Maybe he should get more sleep before the chaos of opening Christmas presents and all of the other family like stuff got underway. Yeah, that was a good idea.
Jenna's POV
WOW! The tension in the room when Ana had first stepped in had been so thick she could have cut it with a very dull knife. She wondered for a moment where all that tension was from then decided to just shrug it off for now, after all it was Christmas and she had no idea how to make the big family dinner. What was she thinking inviting Alaric over to dinner when she wasn't even sure she could make it since her skills were in sweets not meal? Hopefully Elena knows what she is doing!
Elena's POV
Christmas! She though excited as all daylights, again she was up early. This time to get started cooking on a proper Christmas dinner because she was sure that Jenna had no idea what to do. She had just stepped out of the bathroom in her towel when she heard a small gasp from behind her and turned to discover Damon staring at her before he bolted back out the window and to the front door. She just shook her head, throwing some clothing on so she could go open the door for him.
When she got to the door, it was all she could do to keep from laughing at him standing there with his hand frozen halfway between the door and himself as if he was debating on whether to knock or not.
"Well come in," she tells him chuckling, "it's not like you haven't invited yourself in before."
He smirks at her but doesn't say anything, instead he picks a bag up off of the porch and walks over to the tree where he takes the four presents out and puts them under it. For a few minutes he plays around with them until he gets them to where he thinks they are just right. Finally, he stands up and says, "Good morning Elena, having a pleasant one so far?"
She smiles and nods, heading over to the kitchen. "Yep, I was just getting ready to start cooking because I don't think Jenna knows exactly what she is doing."
Jenna hears this from her room and calls out, "nope, I don't get to it! I wasn't the one who was always cooking dinner that was Miranda!"
A brief look of sadness crosses Elena's features but fades quickly. "Well then it's a good thing I took notes," she calls back to her.
"Care for help?" Damon asks as he steps beside her and looks down into her eyes. "I promise I am behaving today. See, I even came through the door." He doesn't mention that he originally went through the window.
"I'd love some help," she replies and the two of them get to work cooking dinner despite the fact it's not even ten in the morning.
So this got to be a bit longer than planned, I am going to break it up into two different parts, reviews people are really appreciated.