Wes or How the uncle stole Christmas

Contrary to popular (Soul's) belief, Wes Evans was fully aware that his relationship with his younger brother was fragile at best.

They had a lot of things going against them since the beginning. A ten years difference was no small matter. When he wanted a little brother to play with, Soul was just a baby. When Soul became old enough to want to spend time with his older brother, Wes' interests were already somewhere else, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes it felt like they were always barely missing each other.

Their parents didn't help either. Wes knew they loved them both, but it was a conditional love that expected some level of excellency back from their children. Their parents had a hard time understanding that their youngest needed special attention, and that was before Soul even started to sprout sharp blades from his body.

Not that Wes had any room to judge. He also took his sweet time to realize that Soul was neurodivergent. But in his defense, he was the older brother, not the parent. It wasn't his job to care for Soul; he was too busy trying to reach the Evans impossible standards and live his own life, while their parents had the time, money, and resources. Their parents were the ones who should have known better.

Or so he liked to tell himself.

In the end, their parents and their imperfect, complicated love didn't help their relationship, at all. Especially with all the comparisons they drew between their two sons.

Wes Evans was painfully aware that Soul resented him on some level. And he was adult enough to recognize he resented Soul a little, too.

It was not easy, this brotherhood they had. Spending time with your sibling shouldn't be so damn difficult. They were always stepping on eggshells around each other, measuring words and filtering memories, trying to avoid arguments or open old wounds.

They dealt with the awkwardness in their own particular ways. Soul tried to play it cool, as if he was the older one.

The better man.

That annoyed Wes to no end.

In return, he tried his level best to be the most obnoxious person in the room.

They lived in a precarious balance, to tell the truth. They barely ever saw each other, and when they did, it was hard work to keep things civil.

Being brothers shouldn't require hard work. It was frustrating, to say the least.

When he received the invitation to Soul's wedding, he bit back all the expletives he wanted to unleash. He was too young, Maka was his first girlfriend, they already lived together, he was so young, their job was precarious and weird, and, in his opinion, didn't pay enough to raise a family. He was so young.

But if he said anything, he would be closing doors, instead of solving problems. Soul would cut him off like he was nothing. He had already made it painfully clear that Maka was his family first and foremost. Wes barely passed as a second place.

Again, he felt very justified in his resentment.

But he went to the wedding, smiled prettily at the photos, didn't roll his eyes to their Death City friends being a fire hazard, acted as a buffer between the newlyweds and his parents, etc. Wes was on his best behavior, and Soul seemed almost grateful for his presence in the end.

His best wishes to the new couple were sincere, from the bottom of his heart. But his mind was dead sure this would come down crashing and burning.

Secrets and lies by omission, all of it.

When the news of Maka's pregnancy arrived, Wes was ashamed to admit that his first reaction wasn't good. In fact, he loudly groaned and cursed Soul's lack of common sense and responsibility. A baby. At twenty-two, Soul and Maka were still children themselves. What in the world were they thinking?!

How could they possibly think that raising a child in the City of Death when their daily job included mortal missions was a good idea?

He spent the day pacing around in his huge penthouse, mumbling to himself and dodging his parents' phone calls.

And then the twins were born, and Wes once again swallowed all the words he really wanted to say, bought two huge plush bears and a plane ticket to Las Vegas.

The depressing drive across the desert didn't improve his mood. Twins. Twins. And he wasn't forgetting they also had a magical cat that was probably a succubus. What the fuck was Soul doing with his life. Why couldn't he- why wouldn't he-

He swallowed all the admonishment. He plastered a fake smile on his face. He cheerfully greeted all of Soul's strange friends. He sat down on the ugly pumpkin chair in the poorly painted nursery.

And then Maka put Sound on his arms, and Wes lost his breath.

Before he could even comprehend the small miracle in his arms, Soul was already handing him Aika, teaching him how to balance the two newborns in both arms.

And he could only stare, stare and take deep breaths while gently bouncing the babies. They were so small, so pink, so fragile, so-

"Perfect," he whispered. "They are perfect, Soul."

And maybe for the first time in their lives, his little brother gave him a genuine, open smile, and Wes dared to hope.

Maybe being an uncle wouldn't be so bad, after all.

Maybe the two children in his arms could help mend the broken bridges in their family.

Just maybe.

Wes wouldn't admit it, but he was becoming quite attached to the jeep he usually rented in Las Vegas to make the run across the desert to Death City. He was seriously considering buying one for himself. Maybe he should buy a house in Vegas as well, now that he was thinking about it. Sound and Aika are five years old now, soon they would want to see more of the world than the Tim Burton dream city they lived in.

Like, come on. The last time he had asked Soul, they hadn't taken the kids to Disneyland yet. How wrong was that?

Welp, Wes Evans was more than ready to rectify his little brother's oversight. He giggled maniacally picturing Sound and Aika meeting Elsa for the first time.

It was even better because he knew he wouldn't be the one dealing with them singing Let it go for the next few weeks or so.

Oh boy, this was going to be great. Maybe it would take a bit of convincing, and God only knew how annoyingly stubborn Soul could be, but come on: Wes was filthy rich and he had no kids or plans to have kids, for that matter. All of the Evans family money would end up in the hands of the twins, one way or another. Why wait for his death for them to enjoy the perks of luxury?

Wes snorted, remembering Soul's horrified face when he had suggested buying a bigger apartment for them as a gift after the kids were born.

To be fair, he had no idea if their parents had released Soul's trust fund, so there was that.

Some fights he wasn't inclined to pick for anyone's sake.

Death City was as creepy as he remembered. He wished someone would explain to him why all the constructions had to be crooked like that. He was pretty sure Kid, their current Death God, had some serious OCD with symmetry.

Against his best wishes and intents, though, the city was kind of growing on him with every visit. No one ever accused him of being boring; if anything, he was frequently described as extra. So yes, he could get behind the whole Halloween theme they had going here 365 days a year. Even in the week before Christmas, the city still looked more ready to celebrate the Dia de Los Muertos. The fact that didn't snow in the desert certainly didn't help with that. Well, if anything, Wes admired the commitment to the aesthetic.

The freaking huge candles permanently lit on Shibusen were a little more difficult to wrap his mind around.

No matter. He had one reason, and one reason only to come for this God governed place.

Wes parked the rental car in front of Soul's place. The new building was closer to Shibusen, which meant it was actually older than the charming two stores they had lived in before, but at least this one had an elevator.

Hands full of the many Christmas gifts he had bought for his niece and nephew, he confidently marched to the building, only to be stopped by the doorman who looked suspiciously like an animated skeleton. He was wearing a Santa hat and his name tag said 'Larry'.

For the sake of Wes' sanity, he liked to pretend the guy was just cosplaying as Skeletor or Lord Death Man.

"Name?" If he was, in fact, a reanimated skeleton he wouldn't have vocal cords, right? Right?

"Wes Evans. I'm visiting my brother Soul, number 42."

The Lord Death Man look-alike snorted, as if there was something inherently funny about the number. "Are they expecting you?"

"Yes," Wes lied through his teeth.

"Humm," Larry hummed to himself. "I saw them living earlier but not coming back. They could have flown back to their balcony though."

Yes, because Maka could fly, using his brother like a witch's broom, which was apparently a perfectly normal and recurrent occurrence.

Lar- oh fuck it, he wasn't calling him that. Skeletor was already calling in ahead.

"Yes?" He heard the feminine voice that was definitely not Maka.

"Blair-chan!" he squealed. What in the world. Also, the pale skull seemed to be blushing. If the guy was really a reanimated skeleton, he wouldn't be able to blush, right? RIGHT? "There's a Wes Evans here to see Soul."

The cat giggled. "Oh, Wes, what a surprise! Let him come up!"

Skeletor seemed about to melt. "Of course, Blair-chan! Right now!"

Shit like this was what made him question if the cat wasn't really a succubus, despite Soul's denials.

Soul and Maka's new place was considerably bigger than their first apartment. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room bigger enough to accommodate Soul's brand new grand piano. Maybe their parents had released his trust fund, after all. Or being a giant knife paid better than he let know. Either way, it wasn't Wes' business.

A small voice in the back of his mind viciously reminded him that this was exactly the type of thing brothers should talk about.

As always, he brushed such thoughts aside in order to focus on something infinitely more important: his niece and nephew.

Blair opened the door to him with a smile, but before he could enter the apartment, the twins were already pushing their nanny aside and screaming "Uncle Wes!" and hugging his legs.

God, he loved them so much.

He kneeled right there in the entrance, so the twins could throw themselves at his open arms. He hugged them tightly until they started to protest in between giggles.

"Let gooooo uncle Wes!"

"I missed you guys so much…!" He squeezed the twins one last time before letting them go. "Let me take a good look at you."

They had grown so much since the last time he had seen them. Aika's red hair was cut in a straight short bob with bangs, which made her appear even more cranky than she usually was. Sound had the patent Evans white hair, somewhere between floppy and spiky. The twins still had their baby-fat round cheeks, but their arms and legs looked thinner than he remembered. They probably went through a growth sprout recently.

They were growing so fast. Maybe he should make an effort to visit more often.

"Gifts!" Sound exclaimed, noticing the bags behind him.

"Lots of gifts!" Aika giggled, delighted.

"Of course I brought gifts! What kind of uncle would I be if I didn't?" he feigned offense.

Blair laughed, only mildly exasperated. "I can already hear Maka mumbling that you're spoiling her kids."

"That's the idea, yeah."

Blair shook her head, but she didn't really seem to care. "Aika, Sound, let your uncle Wes in first. Then you can put your gifts under the tree."

To Wes' immense surprise, the twins easily obeyed the cat, pulling him by his hands all the way to the couch, where Aika ordered him to sit. Blair was right behind him, carrying the abandoned bags. She sat on the rug and handled the packages for the eager children, asking them to show uncle Wes the Christmas tree.

Succubus or not, Wes had to admit: she was really, really good with the kids.

"But these are not your Christmas gifts yet," he explained to the puzzled children. "These are 'uncle came to visit' gifts."

Blair arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Is that a thing?"

"Of course! This is not Christmas wrapping paper, right?"

That was an explanation good enough for Aika, apparently, who eagerly tore the first package. Sound was quick to follow and, with an exasperated sigh, Blair sat on the rug and asked them to show her what uncle Wes had brought.

Just as he had expected, they loved the gifts. There were two bug catchers because there was no pointing in trying to stop kids from catching spiders and insects, but you could try to make it a bit safer; age-appropriate board games, a bigger xylophone than the last he bought when they were three, and a few books because he wasn't stupid, and knew how to placate Maka at least a little.

Blair gave him a knowing smile when they unwrapped that one. He didn't even try to not look smug.

"It's good that you arrived right now, Wes," she surprisingly said. "I had just started baking a cake, but the eggs have gone bad. You can watch them while I run to the market."

Oh, this was actually perfect.

"No need to run, you can take your time," he said, trying to sound unbothered.

She shook her head. "I have batter waiting for me on the counter. I will be quick." She got up, absently righting her dress. "Aika, Sound, Blair-chan has to go buy eggs. You two be good to uncle Wes and listen to what he says, okay?"

"Okaaayyy," Sound answered, without taking his eyes from the book on his lap.

"Byyyee, Blaaair," Aika completed, already testing the new xylophone.

The cat only chuckled at being dismissed.

"I'll be right back, Wes," she promised, before leaving.

Wes waited until he could no longer hear her heels clacking in the hallways, before turning to the children.

"Aika, Sound, is there anything else you want for Christmas?"

Their reaction was not what he expected. Sound was already absorbed in his book, and Aika only said "Dunno", while investigating one of the game boards.

"Are you sure? Because uncle Wes could buy you anything you wanted."

That caught Aika's attention.

"Like what?" She challenged.

Utterly adorable.

"Like more toys," he wondered. What could small children want really badly? He remembered being obsessed with the Hot Wheels Shark Bite Bay. "Or a puppy. I don't know."

The book fell from Sound's hand.

"Puppy?!" he gasped.

Oh. Hmm. That was probably the type of thing he should talk to Soul about first, right?

"A puppy!" Aika openly grinned, and oh boy, he was weak to those dimples.

Soul could always kill him later.

Wes smiled.

"Yeah, a puppy."

Blair was going to be so pissed.

Blair was humming her old pumpkin rhyme when she arrived home. As always, she loudly announced her return for the kids' benefit, but this time she was received by silence. She stood in the hallway, cat ears flicking, but there was no signal of the kids in the apartment.

Puffing in annoyance, she busied herself putting the groceries away. There, on the counter, she found Wes' note scribbled on a blank page of her cookbook. Apparently, he decided it would be a good idea to take the kids to Christmas shopping without discussing it with her first.

Stupid uncle. She was the unofficial grandmother of those kittens and the babysitter of the day, he should be a bit more considerate. She could only hope he had remembered talking to Soul and Maka first.

She hesitated, milk and measuring cup in her hands.

Wes had asked Soul and Maka, right?

He probably did, she reasoned. He knows Maka is very particular about who can babysit the kids or not, and Death City isn't exactly his turf. It's not a regular city either. Their doorman was a reanimated skeleton, for fucks sake.

Nodding to herself, she continued her baking, humming to herself again.

She lasted a total of four minutes.

Blair stared at her phone on the counter. She should probably text Soul about his brother. But her kittens were working right now. She didn't want to worry them with something as silly as this, the children were probably fine with Wes. Everything was fine.

She preheated the oven and started to search for the heart-shaped cake pan that the kids loved.

She lasted another minute.

"Oh, fuck it!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Picking up her phone, Blair bit her nail, trying to figure out the best way to not set off Soul. Somehow, she figured that 'hey, the brother you barely tolerates just kidnapped your kids' wouldn't fly well with him.

Wes was watching Sound and Aika going hog wild in the toy store when Soul finally called. He knew Blair was going to snitch, but that was quicker than he had expected.

He was suddenly not feeling so bad about the promised puppy.

"Soul," he greeted, before giving a thumbs up to the next toy Aika wanted to throw in their cart.

"Wes," his brother answered, dryly. Uh-oh, he sounded mad. "Blair is pretty pissed at you right now."

"Why? She was the one who let me be in charge of the kids."

"In the apartment, Wes. Usually, people ask before taking children to a secondary location."

He heard Maka mumbling something in the back, but couldn't discern the meaning of the words.

"Fair enough, that one is on me," he conceded. Sound came at him and shyly raised a board game that had the fucking Chutulu in the cover. Wes checked the recommended age and shook his head, gesturing for the kid to put it back where he found it. Sound pouted but did as told. "I should have talked to her first."

"Or you could have texted me, you know," Soul still sounded pretty annoyed. "I wouldn't say no to you taking the children for a walk."

"Wouldn't you?" he mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Wes dismissed. "Look, I'm just letting the kids pick up their Christmas gifts, then I'm bringing them right back home."

"Don't let him buy them the whole store!" he heard Maka's voice in the back.

"Maka asked me to remind you to not spoil the kids rotten and to not buy the whole freaking store for them," Soul repeated.

Wes glanced at the almost full cart. Uh-oh, too late.

"I'll try my best," he lied.

His words were followed by a small pause.

"You can take them out to eat, if you want, before bringing them home."

Wes also stayed in silence for a while, considering the peace offering.

"Yeah, I'll do that then. Thanks."

God, why was this so difficult. Why was this so awkward.

"See ya later, Wes," Soul grumbled, ending the call before he could answer.

Well, then.

"Sound, Aika, come here," Wes called, interrupting an apparently heated discussion over a soccer ball.

Aika frowned.

"You didn't say please. Mama says you have to say please to ask something."

Wes snorted. "You're right. Aika, Sound, please come here, we need to talk about your gifts."

They dragged their feet back to him, Sound still hugging the ball against his chest. Wes knelt, so he could be on their level.

"I talked to your mama and papa, and they reminded me that we can't take so many gifts home with us."

Sound immediately pouted. "Why not?"

"Well, because we need to leave a few toys in the store, so the other mamas and papas can buy them for their kids," he tried.

Aika was, of course, not convinced. "There's lots of toys here."

"True," he agreed. "But there are also lots of kids in Death City. Do you want them to not get Christmas gifts?"

The twins shared a sad look. Oh, he was going to hell for this.

"Tell you what," he quickly added. "Each one of you picks hmm… Three toys for each of you. Then you can choose presents for your little friends, how about that?"

To his surprise, Sound immediately ran back to the nightmare section, bringing the Chutulu game back with him, proudly raised above his head. "Victor likes this!"

"Victor likes monsters," Aika agreed.

Well then. "How old is Victor?"

"Eleven!"

He checked the box again. 12 years or older. Meh, close enough.

"Alright then, we have a gift for Victor. Now, you pick your Christmas presents and your friends' too. Your mother is going to kill me if we arrive home with this many toys."

Oops, should probably not say the K-word near the kids.

"Don't be silly, uncle Wes," Aika said. "Mama only kills monsters."

Wes blinked.

Freaking Death City.

Fuck it, he was buying these kids a dog. They needed some level of normalcy in their lives.

When Soul arrived home with Maka after work, he was more than ready to let Wes' lapse slide. Or, at least, to not make a big deal out of it. Wes almost never visited, and the children loved him. They were on a good path to fixing their somewhat broken family bond. And he was always careful when babysitting. He didn't want to get into a fight with Wes today.

He changed his mind real quick, after seeing the look on Blair's face when he opened the front door.

Soul hadn't seen that manic glint in her eyes since she had tried to kill him with pumpkin bombs.

"Wes bought the kids a dog," she whispered between clenched fangs, voice dripping with disgust.

"What?!" Maka exclaimed.

Nevermind. He was going to kill his brother.

"I'll handle it."

And by 'handle it', he meant locking himself with Wes in his bedroom to scream at each other, while Blair and Maka took the kids (and the dog!) out.

And fuck Wes, it was a cute puppy. She was a corgi that the kids had named White Heart because she had heart-shaped white fur on her butt. Black*Star was going to go into hysterics once he finds out. He couldn't even find the dog another home, the kids already loved her to pieces after only a few hours. Well, he could do it, they would probably forget eventually, but he was weak, okay? He didn't have the heart to do it and, even if they were utterly livid, neither Maka nor Blair had the courage either.

Which was probably why Wes looked so fucking smug.

He wanted to impale him like a freaking kebab.

"What the fuck were you thinking? A dog? A freaking dog, Wes? It wasn't enough that you rained presents above the children's heads…"

"Okay, hold on a second," Wes interrupted. "Let's get this one straight. What's the problem with me buying the children lots of gifts? You do realize our family is ridiculously rich, right?"

"No, you and our parents are ridiculously rich, I am not," Soul groaned in response. His trust fund was pretty much the children's college fund now. As much as they loved Death City, there was no guarantee they would want to follow in their parent's footsteps. Even the number of PKs had diminished since the Kishin had been trapped in the moon, there was no way to know if 'Meister' and 'Demon Weapon' would be a viable profession in the future. They had to plan accordingly. "They can not get used to this type of luxury, Wes, it's not a lifestyle Maka and I can sustain."

Wes frowned. "But it's my money, and I don't have kids. I want to spend it on them."

Soul took a deep breath. "I cannot tell you what to do with your money, Wes. But didn't occur to you that, if you bought them everything they wanted, there wouldn't be anything nice for me and Maka to give them for Christmas?"

"Well, they don't have a bicycle yet."

He had thought about buying them one.

"That's not the fucking point, Wes!" Soul finally snapped. "You should have talked to me and Maka first to know what were our plans for Christmas! Maybe we wanted to get the children a puppy, how about that?"

"Nah, Blair would never let you."

"Oh, now you remember Blair? Did you think about her before you brought home literally the only thing she hates?"

"Well, she's also an adult woman, so-"

"Stop."

Soul closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're doing that again. You're pretending to be an obnoxious asshole just to avoid having a serious conversation with me. No more games, Wes, I'm sick of them."

It was like watching a fake human mask being slowly pilled from his face, to reveal the actual man underneath it. Wes forced smiled dropped, the tense lines on his face disappeared, and his eyes became cold. That was exactly the expression he remembered from his childhood.

Secrets and lies by omission, the Evans family values.

"I'll admit I decided to not talk to you first," Wes evenly said, shamelessly. "The dog was not about spoiling the kids, though. I wanted to do something nice for them, give them something less… spooky… to focus their energy".

Oh, this fucker.

"What do you mean by that?" Soul slowly asked.

"I meant exactly what you think. This city is creepy, I think your roommate is a succubus, your doorman cosplays as Lord Death Man from DC Comics, and the kids say things like 'mommy kill monsters'. I'm trying to give them some positive normalcy."

"Normalcy," Soul repeated, coldly. "And when one of them starts to see souls or sprout blades from their bodies, what are you going to do? Forget they exist for five years?"

Wes frowned.

"Now that's not fair, Soul. You chose to come to Shibusen. You're the one who chose to never go back home to visit. I called you, although you never called me. Don't act now as I abandoned you, you know it's not true."

Soul took a step forward, thrusting his chin upward.

"And don't you dare act like you didn't abandon me every day when we still lived in the same fucking house."

Wes frowned but didn't deny it, a complicated look in his eyes. It was difficult to forget, sometimes. An old manor, with too many empty rooms, too many hallways, too much space between them. So many words unsaid, comfort that was never offered, the bond that was never truly formed.

"I didn't know how to help you, Soul," he eventually said.

"I didn't need your help, asshole, I need you to be my brother," Soul almost screamed.

"Well, maybe I also needed you to be my brother," Wes snapped back. "Maybe I needed you to stop acting like I meant nothing to you after you left home. Okay, yeah, I'll admit, I was a shitty brother, but I never cut you out of my life as if you meant nothing like you fucking did to me!"

They stared at each other, breathing heavily, refusing to give up even a little bit of ground.

"We could say we both fucked each other up and leave it at that," Wes eventually suggested. Which was basic their status quo already.

And Death help him, but Soul simply didn't want to go through that conversation. He didn't want to fix any past issues with Wes. They didn't really need that. It would honestly not fix anything. Burying their complicated past was exactly what he preferred.

Yet.

"You don't get to do that to the kids, Wes," he stated. "They already have one estranged grandmother who is a flight risk, they don't need another family member pulling them through that kind of shit."

To his relief, Wes seemed offended.

"I would never. I love your kids, Soul. I'm not going to abandon them, no matter what."

Words that he had never heard for himself.

But they were also beyond the point where 'I love you' would fix their relationship, so this was of little consequence. Aika and Sound hadn't magically brought them together either.

He and Wes… it is what it is. Nothing else to do, except maybe not make things worse.

Being brothers shouldn't be this hard.

"What I need you to understand is that you have no right to come here twice a year and try to push something you think the kids need, before disappearing for another six months. I want you to be part of their lives, Wes, but you need to respect the fact that Maka and I are the ones raising them."

And Blair, he mentally added.

His brother let out a deep sigh.

"Fair enough," he said. "I'm sorry about this mess."

"You better be, you're the one who's going to teach the kids how to take care of the dog."

"Are you serious?"

"Deadly."

"Fuck."

The silence stretched, as more unsaid words weighed over them. Shaking his head, Soul simply unlocked the door to let them out. Maka and Blair should be coming back soon with the kids and the corgi.

"Oh, and by the way, Blair is not a succubus."

"That you know of," Wes mumbled.

"And our doorman isn't a cosplayer, Larry is a reanimated skeleton."

To his immense satisfaction, he was rewarded by the rare sight of Wes' jaw falling completely slack.

"Are you fucking serious?"

Later that night, Soul sat on his piano stool, watching Aika, Sound, and Wes roll in the rug with White Heart, her sharp and squeaky barks filling the room. Maka embraced him from behind, resting her chin on his head.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

White Heart licked Wes' noise, making his older brother laugh heartly.

"I'll be."