Rainbow and Val sat on the couch, mugs in hand, sipping on the somewhat too sweet hot chocolate that Rainbow had made for them. The house was decorated with colorful lights which lit the otherwise dark room. In Valentoonia, Christmas was celebrated much like the rest of Toontown, however there were some differences. Valentoons did not bring in a Christmas tree, opting instead to garnish the house with mistletoe instead. Presents were still given and traditionally opened on Christmas morning, but the scale tended to be smaller as Valentine's Day was celebrated just a month and a half later and was seen as a much more important holiday. The pair of sisters had waited for their adoptive nieces to go to sleep so that they could start setting out the presents from Cupid. In Valentoonia, Santa didn't exist, something that caused arguments between young Toons in Toontown vs Valentoonia. After some small talk, and enough time passed, Rainbow stood up and walked over to a small hiding spot she had created with a trapdoor where the presents were hidden. "Gosh, I can't believe we're already setting out presents. It just seems like it was Crayon's birthday, and then with Valentine's Day coming up? Give a girl's wallet a break, why don't you?" Rainbow chuckled as she handed wrapped boxes to Val who smiled at her older sister.
"Oh come on Rainbow, don't be such a humbug. There's never enough presents! Besides, after everything those girls have had to go through, they deserve a bit of a break, don't they?" Val huffed, sarcastically. neatly placing a large purple box down on the ground. The pair had made sure to color coat so they knew whose gifts belonged to who. Grabbing a large package from Rainbow, she scratched her head. "Hey Rainbow, this one is pink. I thought all of the wrapping paper was black or purple?"
"Hmm. That's a mystery isn't it." Rainbow pondered. "Maybe Cupid brought somebody else a gift this year?" grinning mysteriously at the pink cat, she waited for her to catch on.
Val thought for a few seconds before finally catching on. "Oh, Rainbow, you didn't need to get me anything!"
"Aw, but you're my little sister. I'm not going to forget about you. Besides, who else gives better presents than I do? Hey you may be the Queen of Valentoonia, but I am the Queen of Gift Giving." she marched around heroically, making the other cat chuckle. Val walked over and pulled out the last gift, before neatly ordering them by color and shape, ensuring that nothing was out of order.
"You're right about that, sis. Although now I feel bad because I didn't get you anything! Way to go!" she frowned exaggeratedly, before bursting into laughter.
Rainbow rubbed her chin and smiled. "Well you let me and the girls live here with you, that's all the presence I could ever need! Get it, PRESENCE." the chubby pink cat smirked as her sister groaned at the terrible pun. "Anyways, I think I should be getting to sleep. Those girls are going to be up early! I need my beauty sleep!"
"I guess you're right. Although we all know that I'm the one who needs the beauty sleep. You got the good genes." the two places their arms over each other's shoulders and walked upstairs to their respective bedrooms before giving their goodnight.
A young purple cat's eyes burst open as sunlight flooded through the small cracks in the window blinds. Tossing off a silky purple blanket, she leapt out of bed and jogged over to a similar looking bed with an orange blanket and a small sleeping black cat. "Crayon. Crayon! Wake up, it's Christmas!" this is all it took to spring the younger cat out of a deep slumber, who began rubbing her eyes and yawning while trying to smile. "C'mon let's go wake up Aunt Rainbow and Aunt Val so we can open presents!" the two wearing their fuzzy pajamas, ran down the hallway and burst through the first door, where Rainbow was snoring away. The two young cats looked at each other and nodded, jumping onto the bed they bounced on their knees and squealing with excitement. "Aunt Rainbow! Wake up, it's Christmas!"
Rainbow slowly woke up, her eyes blurred as she slowly let them adjust to the light. In front of her were two young cats, grinning and bouncing. Stretching her arms up, she yawned and placed them around the girls, pulling them in for a hug. "You little demons, waking a poor old lady like me up so early?" she giggled and rolled herself out of bed, placing her feet into a pair of fuzzy pink slippers near the bedside. "I guess we should go wake up Aunt Val, she would be pretty upset if we got started without her." Rainbow grabbed the girls hands and led them over to the opposite room, where she knocked slowly and called out in a high pitched voice. "Oh Vallll. Time to waaake uppp!" waiting a few moments, the three stood in silence. Rainbow knocked and called out again, scratching her head.
"Wow, what took you guys so long!" a voice meowed out from behind. Turning around, they all smiled as the darker pink cat was standing in front of them, wearing an oversized t-shirt and shorts, holding a tray with four colorful, steaming mugs. "I've been up for like an hour. I guess I was too excited. Figured I'd make some hot chocolate for everyone!" she had to squeeze her arms in as the two young girls flew down the stairs behind her, calling out their wishlist of gifts.
"Thanks Val, you're the best." Rainbow whispered to her sister, grabbing a pink mug and leading down the stairs. The pair sat down on the couch and watched the girls who were sitting criss-cross in front of their pile of gifts, still bouncing with excitement. "Okay girls, so lets' open one at a time. We'll take turns and go by age. So let's see who is first. Hmm. Crayon, do you know how old you are?"
Giggling at the older cat's question, Crayon held up six fingers and squealed. "I'm six, Aunt Rainbow!"
Nodding to Val, Rainbow smiled at the adorable young Toon. "You're ten, right Matzoh?"
"Yeah! So that means Crayon goes first!" the slightly older purple cat purred, proudly.
"Alright, Well why don't you get us started, Crayon!" Rainbow motioned to the pile. "Which one looks good!"
Crayon immediately went for the largest box, it was almost as tall as she was, and several times wider. Tearing off the black wrapping paper, the two young cats stared in wonder at the large pink box inside. The box contained a replica, scaled, interactive version of the Valentoonia Castle. This caused Crayon to jump up and down in pure craziness. "Oh my goodness! It looks just like the castle!" Hugging the box, she nearly knocked it down.
"Wow, Val. That is amazing!" Rainbow stared in shock. "I didn't even know they made those!"
"Ha, they don't. I had it custom made. Anyways, your turn Matzoh!" the older purple cat investigated the boxes, before finally settling on a medium sized, long flat box. Shaking it around, she looked at the two cats. "Ooh, I picked that one!" Rainbow smiled.
Neatly unwrapping the package, Matzoh's eyes glistened as she looked at the box. "No way!" she screamed happily. Inside was a "Make-Your-Own-Toonup-Kit. Complete with all the necessary ingredients for one's own healing kit."
"Well, I know how much you want to be a doctor when you grow up. Well it never hurts to have your own gags!" Rainbow chuckled.
Over the next half hour or so, the two young girls alternated between their gifts, eliciting ooh's and ah's, screams, laughter, and excitement. A large mess of tape, paper, and ribbons covered the ground around them, piling up into a small mound. The girls had taken their new favorites and ran upstairs to start playing. Grabbing a large black trash bag, Val began to clean up the mess as Rainbow pushed unchosen toys into a stack near the wall. "Oh look, there's still a present here" she prodded the pink box with her foot. "I wonder who this is for." she grinned. Picking up the box she put on a feigned shocked face. "Professor Rainbow - from Cupid? It looks like you did get something this year!"
Walking over, Rainbow grabbed the box from her sister and stared at her emotionally. "Aw Val, you didn't need to do this!"
"Well it's a good thing I didn't. It says right here that it is from cupid, silly!" Val snarked back. Trembling in anticipation, Val stared as her sister tore off the paper and pulled open a cardboard box.
"Oh my goodness, Val. Where did you find these!" Rainbow pulled out a pair of thick-rimmed black glasses, complete with mock fuzzy eyebrows. "I haven't seen these since we were kids!"
Val tapped her foot, and looked at her wrist, mimicking checking a watch. "Hmm, I guess when you're the gift giving Queen, you just have a little bit of extra oomph!" she felt as her sister came over and squished her in a large hug. The pair giggled as Rainbow put on the glasses and made silly faces. This was truly the best Christmas, ever.