A/N: I only own Babushka, Bohemia/Czech (Libushe), Slovakia (Zdenko), Bosnia (Dubravka), Herzegovina (Biljana), Montenegro (Davor), Bulgaria (Borislav), Serbia (Slobodanka), Slovenia (Ljudmila), Croatia (Vjekoslava), and Siberia. Everything else belongs to the creator of Hetalia.
I think Babushka does love all her kids. It's just that she loves her granddaughters more, and since Ivan is the eldest male actively hanging out with the rest of the target, he gets more responsibilities; since he doesn't have the best sense of humor and when he screws up, does so on an epic level, he is SUCH an easy target for his Babushka.
Three candles burned in the shelter of the hands of Croatia, Slovenia, and Babushka, shining on the imperial garb of silks, gold, and jewels. Little pots of wheat shoots had been placed on the great table at intervals, products of Croatia and Slovenia growing them during the holiday season.
Serbia was carefully putting away her apron after spreading the straw on the floor and on the table beneath the pristine white tablecloth. Serenely, she picked up a basket of walnuts and strew them on the floor, stepping carefully to minimize the straw caught in her gown and slippers.
Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina stood at the door, gazing at the sky, each trying to be first to glimpse the evening star. Bohemia had finished preparing the little fortune-telling games she played with her twin and knelt next to her three small cousins, wrapping her arms around them as they watched the heavens. Slovakia, on the other hand, was carefully placing the fortune-telling games safely out of the way for later.
Poland and Russia were hanging the fur coats of themselves, Croatia, Slovenia, Babushka, and Belarus by the door, since they were each attending a special Midnight Mass later this evening.
Ukraine and Belarus swept in and out of the kitchen, carrying the 12 dishes the family had decided upon for dinner to the table and carefully arranging them. After debates around the family, they had decided upon fried carp, pita, borscht, potato salad, dried cod, uszka, stuffed cabbage, fish soup, round bread incised with a cross, salad, strudel, and cookies. Fish, bread, and veggies were heavy on the menu because most members of the family had Lenten meals at Christmas, and fairness had to be observed.
Bulgaria knelt by the fire, carefully placing the Yule logs on the fire and sprinkling the holy water Croatia and Slovenia had specially given him to put on the logs. In the corner rose the great spruce tree the boys had acquired, decorated by the youngest nations with ornaments of Bohemian glass, homemade paper pieces, and carefully arranged candles. Underneath it was a small mountainside of presents, due to 13 present grandchildren and Babushka. Siberia and General Winter had decided to go out for dinner that particular evening and apologized in advance.
As everyone was finishing up, a cry came from the foursome at the door. "The evening star! It's out! Christ is born!" The family drifted toward the table, now having difficulty concealing their hunger. They didn't sit down immediately; the more religious members of the family took the hands of the less religious and began a special grace. The less religious decided to be tolerant, bowing their heads and closing their eyes. As soon as "Amen," was said, it took less than a minute for them to be seated and toasting.
Dinner was absolutely delicious, made more delicious by everyone's hunger. As everyone found a chair around the tree, a debate began as to who would hand out presents as Grandfather Frost, the Snowmaiden, Saint Nicholas, or Jesus, depending on the preferences of each. Bulgaria offered a special pita bread with a coin to determine who would hand out gifts of the 14 people present. Ukraine got lucky and smiled, having dressed in silvery blues and whites with snowflake motifs.
"I'm playing the Snowmaiden," she said, smiling as she held up the gold coin. Yekaterina drew up a stool and began handing the presents to each person in turn, smiling as each person opened their present.
Ivan was anxious as his older sister got down to the presents from Babushka. Davor had gotten a set of toy soldiers, Dubravka and Biljana had each gotten a fancy toy horse. Feliks had gotten a fancy set of tack for his pet pony…admittedly not quite the right size, but close enough that he could make the adjustments with a little work. Libushe had gotten a fine set of jewelry, Slobodanka had gotten a classy new Swiss army knife. Natalia's gift made him very nervous, being a small set of goods normally given to newlyweds and what looked suspiciously like a marriage license.
Finally, his turn came and he was handed a bag…in the opposite of his favorite color. This was a bad sign. Reaching in with a serene expression exuding winter, he removed from the tissue paper a beautiful scarf…decorated with roses. Roses, the flowers of Bohemia, America, and England, on HIS scarf. Not sunflowers, but ROSES. He managed a Siberian smile for Babushka. "Thank you, Babushka, I'm sure it will keep me warm." As fuel for a fire, maybe.
He didn't really notice the rest of the gift-giving, and participated as necessary in the caroling. Must. Get. Rid. Of. Scarf. He could "accidentally" leave it behind in the troika, get back to the troikas first, and bury it in the snow. His smile brightened a little and his siblings and cousins sitting near him sighed as the air around them warmed. Since Babushka had come, they'd carefully given him gifts decorated with sunflowers, carefully avoiding roses.
When the time came to go to Midnight Masses, the attending family members went to the door, just in time for a knock at the door. Babushka opened it, already wearing her fur coat, upon a collection of nations grinning and singing on Ivan's doorstep, led by England, who absolutely loved caroling. Admittedly, the song he'd selected for them to sing was one about a wren being cooked for dinner on Saint Stephen's Day, but the sentiment was there.
Once they'd finished, they grinned and looked expectantly at the Slavs. Especially England, who somewhat clearly held an upturned cap in his hand. It took a moment, but Babushka smiled back and dropped a small bag of gold into the hat. The air suddenly went ice cold in the vicinity of Ivan. England grinned even more broadly and carefully pocketed the bag. "Is everyone going out this evening?" he asked, curious.
"My, this is unexpected, but Feliks, Ivan, Natalia, Vjekoslava, Ljudmila and I are going to Midnight Mass at our churches. Yekaterina, Libushe, Zdenko, Borislav, Slobodanka, Davor, Dubravka, and Biljana are staying here, however, to play some games and spend a quiet evening at home," she added, winking a little when she glimpsed Germany in the crowd of nations. With that, she nodded to the visitors and led those going to Mass out to the troikas.
Within ten minutes, the remaining Slavs were settled again around the fire, this time with their foreign visitors. The three youngest sat by the tree, playing quietly. Ukraine and Canada had dragged out a loveseat, on which they were seated, snuggling as unobtrusively as possible. America and England were trying to keep an argument down, until France joined in, at which time they were told where the alcohol was so they could do something less noisy. Slovakia and Bulgaria were sitting out of the way, relaxing quietly from Babushka and Russia's conflicting and mutually oppressive atmosphere.
Bohemia sat with Germany in chairs at the edge of the gathering. She was quietly leaning against him, watching the fire. He rested his cheek on top of her head, also watching the fire. It was a peaceful end to the big day during a hectic visit. They still had a week to go, but knowing Babushka, it would mostly be filled with her dragging Ivan around to all the quaint Russian markets for souvenirs to take back to the other grandparents, which guaranteed everyone else a quiet week where the major requirements were to be home in the evening for family dinners and to not tear the house apart with any squabbles. Considering that, it seemed like so little to ask and so much to give. They just felt a little sorry for Ivan, especially since Babushka had made a last minute errand the other day to pick up a special gift for Natalia: a marriage license.