A/N: Just so you know, this chapter is kind of rushed, but its still a feel good chapter. Thanks for the reviews guys and keep em' coming. Let me know if you have anything specific that you want to see in this story.

Chapter Twenty – Christmas at the Poynters

"I'm going to miss you guys" Sydney said as he hugged his siblings before taking Tom's hand in his.

"I know, we're going to miss you too, but we promise we'll call on Christmas Day" Noah said as he mussed his brother's hair. Sydney giggled and beamed up at his siblings, but then a confused look crossed his face as he turned to Tom. "Weren't you going to give Gen her Christmas present?"

"Oh, right" Tom said and then reached into his backpack and started rummaging through it.

"I hope you have something for the rest of us too" Jacqui grumbled and Harry elbowed her in the side of the ribs.

"Don't worry, I do" Tom chuckled and produced eight boxes of different sizes. "But you all have to promise not to open them until Christmas"

"What are you, out mothers?" Danny asked as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't be rude, Danny" Madison said as she patted his shoulder and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. The others didn't bother trying to conceal the rolling of their eyes and ignored them.

"I'm going to have to give you guys your gifts after we get back, the things I want to get are specifically in Essex." Dougie apologized as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You already got the gifts from us" Noah pointed out.

"We'll see you guys later" Gen said as hers and Jacqui's flight was called. "We're going to call as soon as we get to Gran's house. She really wants to hear about the new friends that we made."

"See ya!" Jacqui gave the peace sign and grabbed her duffel bag.

"Wait, before you go, after Christmas when we're back at school, would you like to hang out or something?" Harry asked, scratching his neck. Jacqui was frozn for a seconds before grinning happily.

"That would be great! Later!"

Gen grabbed her arm and yanked her off to the gate that held their flight to Canada, as the other flights were called.

"Bye!" Patrick and Noah shouted as they followed Harry into their gate.

"Bye!" the others shouted back.

Riley and Rhuben followed Dougie onto the plane and sat down in their seats. "Dougs, could you switch seats with me so I have the window seat?" Riley asked him.

"No, I want the window seat." He told her, "So I'm not moving."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"No."

"You're so mean to me!"

He just looked at her and then reached for his Ipod headphones, slapping them on his ears. Riley stuck out her tongue and Rhuben shook her head in amusement.

"Is that my baby boy?" a woman somewhere yelled as soon as Dougie, Riley, and Rhuben entered the Poynter household.

"Oh gosh." Dougie mumbled. Then he smiled, dropped his bag and hugged his mom. "Hey mom." He said.

"Hey? That's all you have to say to your mother after years and years apart?"

"Mom, I just visited you after the tour, before going back to New York, and before Jake suckered us into going to school."

"Oh, right. Oh well, seems like longer. Well, let me have a look at you." She pushed him away, "years, all that money, and not a decent meal has gone into you. To the kitchen!"

"Uh… mom?" Dougie said, nodding towards the door.

Riley and Rhuben had been observing this interacting standing by the door, and while they found it wildly funny, they were beginning to feel uncomfortable, not knowing what to do.

"Oh!" Mrs. Poynter cried. "Oh, you must be Riley and Rhuben. Oh dear I'm so sorry. You know, I'm an overbearing mother who can't stand to have her baby taken away from her. Come here, come in."

Rhuben took a few cautious steps forward as Riley raised her eyebrows. Dougie's mother was beautiful. She had hair that curled softly below her shoulders, and Dougie's blue eyes. She was tall and in shape, only a little weight to show that she had given birth to some children. But more than just being beautiful, they could tell she was kind and loving, something that they had never experienced in their lives.

Mrs. Poynter immediately embraced the twin girls into a huge hug. "Oh, you're all skin and bones!" Mrs. Poynter cried, "What they feed you at that school, I'll never know. Come in, come on, both of you, to the kitchen! Oh, girls, we're just so glad you could come." She said, suddenly turning around and giving the girls another hug before turning to her son.

"Come on. Oh my little Douglas is home for Christmas." She said, leading them through the foyer and down a hall.

"My little Douglas" Riley mouthed and Rhuben snickered. Dougie frowned and tried to hit her. She danced around him and stuck her tongue out.

"Look whose here!" Mrs. Poynter called. "Douglas! And his friends Riley and Rhuben! Girls, this is Jazzie, her boyfriend Josh. Over there is their baby cousin Georgie."

"And he's been dying to see you, Douglas" Jazzie, who Riley and Rhuben knew was Dougie's sister, said as she handed the three year old boy to Dougie.

"Couldn't you have at least waited until I had shown my friends their rooms and gotten unpacked?" Dougie grumbled.

"And where would the fun in that be?" Jazzie asked teasingly and kissed his cheek and then left the kitchen with Josh behind her. Dougie smiled at her back and bounced the small boy that was in his arms as he sat down in a chair at the kitchen table.

"You know, if it wasn't for this kid, I probably wouldn't have been able to babysit your brothers those few times" Dougie said as he turned to Riley and Rhuben, who looked amused.

"It's also that, and that you sat on them all night long to make sure they wouldn't get into anything." Rhuben replied.

"Bringing a whole new meaning to 'babysitter'" Riley added.

"I hate you, you know that right?" Dougie asked as he pulled his head back as Georgie tried to grab onto his bottom lip.

"That's not true and you know it" Rhuben teased back.

"Guys, I couldn't hate you, even if I tried." He told them.

"Well don't. Don't even try."

"I won't."

-Christmas Eve-

They finished decorating the house on Christmas Eve, plugging in the lights, and Mrs. Poynter hanging mistletoe up in the doorway nearest to the tree.

"Ew!" Georgie cried, one of the only few words he could say, as Jazzie and Josh kissed under the .

"My family has the weirdest traditions." Dougie said.

About that moment, everyone turned expectantly to him and Riley, who was immediately preoccupied looking at other things as Rhuben grinned and got her digital camera at the ready. It was hers and Jazzie's idea to try and get their siblings together under the mistletoe. It didn't matter what Riley or Dougie did though, because Jazzie had an evil matchmaking streak that would have made Gen proud. She grabbed Riley and Mrs. Poynter grabbed Dougie and the two pushed them to stand under the mistletoe.

Riley's face bright red and she looked Dougie in eyes

'Not here, not now.' She thought as she looked at him with wide eyes.

Dougie seemed to be able to read her mind, because he simply placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, and just shook his head to his family and friend's call of "It doesn't count!"

Rhuben tried to melt into the background, after that, and she and Riley happily observed as the family watched several Christmas movies and played certain games and ate certain foods. They joined along and had fun, but didn't totally understand. Their family didn't really have any Christmas traditions.

-Christmas Day-

"Hello?"

"Riley, Rhuben, Syd, Pat, Noah, you all there?"

"Julius!?" Five voices cried in unison.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas you guys."

"Merry Christmas to you too" Sydney said back cheerfully.

"Did you get our gift yet?" Noah asked and they could hear Julius laughter over the phone.

"Yeah, thanks for the coupon book and the new IPod. How much did it cost you?"

"Enough" Rhuben replied and she and Riley silently laughed as they pressed the phone against their ears.

"Did you guys get my gifts?" Julius asked hopefully.

"Yeah, the jersey's are awesome" Riley said excitedly.

"Does all of them have our names on the back?"

"Yeah, they do. And let me tell you, it isn't easy to think of gift ideas for you guys." Julius chuckled. "Hey, I got to go, I'll see you when you get back."

"Yeah, bye" the five of them said in unison and hung up.

"Hey guys" Riley and Rhuben looked up from Rhuben's cell phone and saw Jazzie leaning in the doorway of the guest room. "Come on, its time for presents."

The foyer was beautiful with the tree all lit and presents stacked underneath when Dougie, Jazzie, Riley, and Rhuben walked into the foyer. Jazzie was grinning smugly, waiting for her mother's reaction at Dougie's new look

"Everyone here?" Mrs. Poynter asked and then got a good look at Dougie. "What did you do?" she gaped and Dougie gave a tired sigh.

"Here it comes" Jazzie said gleefully, rubbing her hands together.

"I dyed my hair black, rinsed it red, got a haircut, and got my lip pierced" he replied.

"But why?" she asked. "You looked so handsome before."

"I like the way I look" Dougie replied. "But if you don't like it-"

"No, Dougie, its fine, you still look handsome to me, it was just some sort of a shock to me. That's all" Mrs. Poynter said and Dougie grinned at his sister, who pouted and dropped her shoulders. "Good. Alright, littlest first. Go on Georgie, pick a present." Mrs. Poynter said to the toddlers

Jazzie handed him a present and he slowly started to pull the wrapping paper off. Hey, he was only 3, toddlers move slow when they want to. He clapped in delight over a police officer's hat and badge.

"Oh, just what he needs." Dougie mumbled to Riley and Rhuben, who laughed in reply.

Then it was a sort of free for all. Everyone got their gifts and opened them (or Jazzie did it for them). Rhuben observed them happily, not wanting anything more than the moment she'd already been given.

But the Poynters had other ideas, "We didn't forget you girls" Mrs. Poynter told the twin girls. "Here, Douglas told us about your love of music, we thought this might make a nice addition."

Riley and Rhuben took the presents, and unwrapped it carefully, astonished to find a box of colorful plectrums for Riley, and new drumsticks for Rhuben.

"Wow" Riley gaped.

"We can't accept it; we weren't expecting a gift. You already flew us out here and…"

"Of course you can accept it." Jazzie told her.

"In fact, I can tell by the look on your face, you'd be hard pressed to part with it already. Merry Christmas, girls." Mrs. Poynter said cheerfully

"Gran is here" Dougie announced as he walked into Jazzie's room, where, she Riley, and Rhuben were sitting on Jazzie's bed, finishing getting ready for the big dinner that was almost done being prepared.

Jazzie rolled her eyes and the two stuck their fingers down their throats and laughed.

"What's wrong with your Gran?" Riley asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Gran Poynter. She's snobby, and absolutely horrible. She's Dad's mum, but I don't know how Dad came from her house. She actually made my parents throw me a 'Sweet 13' party."

"What?"

"Yea, big fluffy white dress, dancing, all sorts of food I wasn't allowed to eat. It was horrible. Anyhow, if you're going to meet her, you'd better be perfect. I don't think there's a girl on the planet that she thinks is good enough for baby Douglas Poynter."

"Shut up" Dougie snapped.

He was in a tux, everything ready except his unbuttoned jacket and his tie, which he clutched in his hand.

"You're going down there like that are you?" Dougie asked, looking at Riley who sat in a bathrobe. "I mean, I think you look great, but Gran is here."

"What do you want?" Jazzie asked when she noticed that Dougie hadn't left yet.

"Tie." He said meekly, holding it out. Jazzie sighed and tied his bow tie for him. She had just finished when Josh walked in, also clutching a tie. Jazzie tied his but topped it off with a kiss.

"I'm glad she didn't do that to me." Dougie mumbled to Riley and Rhuben.

"See you downstairs." Jazzie told Josh.

"See you."

"Well, Douglas? Don't just stand there staring like an idiot, introduce me to your pretty lady friends." The old woman next to him said.

Dougie shook his head, and said, "Gran, this is Riley and Rhuben Jackson. Guys, this is my Grandmother Poynter."

"It's wonderful to meet you." Riley said, holding out her hand.

"Oh my dear, I never shake a person's hand. Especially not this time of year. Too many germs, and I've too old an immune system." Gran said, before walking away.

"You could have told us she doesn't shake hands." Rhuben hissed at Dougie.

"I was trying to make a good impression." Riley added.

"Oh, are you kidding, she loves you." Jazzie commented, walking up to them.

"What?" the twin girls asked in unison.

"Yea, that's Gran being nice."

"I'd hate to see her being rude."

"Yes you would."

Rhuben grabbed Dougie's arm as he started to walk into the dinning room. He looked at the two girls in silent curiosity.

"Dougs, we don't know how to thank you" Riley started.

"Yeah, this is the first time in a long time that we have had an actually Christmas." Rhuben muttered. "And you offered to take us to your home and to treat us like your own family. So, thanks."

"No problem, you guys are my best friends" Dougie said and wrapped his arms around the both of them. "And I don't think I would be able to stand it if you guys had a bad Christmas."

"You're just saying that because we haven't given you your gifts yet" Rhuben said dryly.

"Exactly" Dougie nodded and hugged them. "Merry Christmas guys."

"Merry Christmas, Doug"