Hey everyone, I'm starting a new collection. It should be obvious but just in case it isn't, this collection will have seven drabbles/one-shots, one for each Blackthorn sibling. These seven chapters will show times when the Blackthorn siblings got to just be a normal family since TDA needed way more of this awesome family being together.

I'm starting with Helen, because she is the oldest. This is the Christmas after Tavvy is born and their mother (not Helen and Mark's) just died. I tried my best to get ages right. I also tried to get Helen to interact with all of her siblings and Emma since she is away for most of the Dark Artifices.

Enjoy this first chapter in honour of Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Word count: 1479

Helen looked at her reflection in her mirror. Pale hair, blue-green eyes, and pointed ears. The mark of a faerie.

But today, Helen wasn't looking at her ears the way she usually did, with embarrassment. She was looking at them and thinking of her mother.

Both of them. They were both dead.

She knew her faerie mother had died. It was something that a faerie at a park had told her when she was eight. But it was the death of her stepmother that shook her the most.

For as long as Helen could remember, Eleanor Blackthorn had been her mother. Eleanor had never treated her any different for being part-faerie. Or even for being the child of her dad's first wife. Instead, Eleanor had shown her all the love that she had ever wanted.

She had died two weeks ago, just a week after giving birth to Octavian. Her whole family was devastated. Helen remembered how Livvy and Ty held each other. How Drusilla had wailed. How Julian had cried into Emma's shoulder.

Julian had started painting just a week earlier. Even at 10 years old, he was a stellar painter.

Just like his mother.

"Helen?"

Helen whipped around, hastily wiping away her tears. Livvy and Ty were standing in her doorway, looking at her curiously. They wore matching Christmas hats.

She had nearly forgotten the Christmas party that was going to start downstairs.

"Yes?"

Ty was watching his toes—something he did often—but Livvy was looking at her sadly. She probably knew what Helen had been thinking about. The young girl was incredibly perceptive.

"Are you ready?" she asked. "The party's going to start."

Helen grabbed her hat and stood. "I'm on my way. Why don't you two head downstairs? I'll go get Tavvy."

As soon as the twins had gone downstairs, Helen headed to the nursery. She knew that now that Eleanor was dead, she would have to start being more of a motherly figure to her siblings.

She expected everyone to be downstairs. However, she found someone still upstairs.

"Dad?"

Her dad was in the nursery, holding her baby half-brother in his arms.

He looked over at her with tired eyes. "Helen."

She moved to stand next to him. "Are you okay?"

He smiled but Helen knew it was only for her benefit. "I just miss your mother, that's all."

Helen knew that they both pretended that Eleanor had been her mother as well.

"Why are we having this party?" she asked. She had been wondering that since he had announced it. "Mom just died."

He sighed, placing Tavvy back in his crib and running a hand through his hair. "I know. I just want to do something normal for the kids. Something to take their minds off everything."

Helen picked up her little brother, cradling him in her arms. "He won't ever know his mother."

Her dad sighed again. "The world is cruel sometimes."

She felt tears prick her eyes. "I miss her."

He wrapped his arms around both her and Tavvy. "I know. It's hard, but it'll get better."

"I'm so worried about the kids. They're all so young."

"Mark is not so young."

Helen frowned. "He might be handling this the worst."

He released her. "Where is your brother anyway."

She shrugged. She hadn't seen Mark very much after the funeral. The Institute was very big and it was easy to hide. Lessons had been canceled so Helen hadn't had a way of seeing him otherwise. He didn't want to be found.

Her dad took Tavvy from her arms. "Go find him, Helen. I'll bring Tavvy downstairs. The kids must have started the party by now."

It wasn't really a party. Just the Blackthorns and the Carstairs, who were usually at the Institute anyway. It was more of a gathering if she was being honest. But a party sounded more festive. More happy.

Which was something everyone desperately needed.

Helen let her dad go downstairs and went to look for her brother. She found him in one of the spare bedrooms, head in his hands. He was crying.

"Mark," she said softly, sitting down on the bed beside him.

He started at the sound of her voice. He must not have been expecting her.

"Helen." He turned away and she saw him wipe at his face the way she had when the twins had come into her room. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. Everyone else is downstairs. We're having a Christmas party, remember?"

He scoffed. "I'm not coming."

She paused. "Why not?"

When he turned to face her, his eyes were blazing. "Eleanor is dead. She's the best mother we had. Our real one didn't even want us. And everyone else is just acting like nothing happened."

Helen remembered how much Eleanor loved the holidays. She was always the one hosting parties and baking special treats.

"She would have wanted us to be happy, Mark. The kids need something good in their lives."

He clenched his fists. "Don't you care that she's gone?"

Helen froze, her mouth dropping open. "Of course, I do. What has gotten into you?"

Tears shone in his eyes. "I don't know." His voice was quiet all of a sudden. "I just don't know, Helen. Nothing makes sense anymore."

Helen opened her arms and Mark leaned into them. "It's okay, Mark. It'll all be alright, I promise."

Consoling others helped her deal with her own grief. It made her feel less alone.

A couple of minutes passed before Mark stood up, wiping at his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Helen. I don't know what came over me."

She stood as well. "Don't be sorry." She gave him a small smile. "Just because you're a teenager doesn't mean you can't cry."

He shook his head. "Not that. I yelled at you."

"It's okay, I understand. I know how hard it is. Eleanor loved Christmas."

Mark smiled hesitantly. "So, we're going to make it an amazing Christmas. For her. For our mom."

She let herself smile as well. "Exactly."

Mark grabbed her hand and pulled her outside into the hall. "You go downstairs. I'll go get my hat."

The Carstairs seemed to have just arrived. Helen watched from the stairs as Emma ran across the room to hug Julian. She smiled. She just knew that her little brother and Emma would get together when they were older. They just had those sparks.

Taking a sugar cookie from Emma's mother, Helen wondered if she would ever find love like that. It saddened her to think that she probably wouldn't. Ever since she turned 12, she realized that she didn't feel any sort of attraction to boys. Instead, she found herself noticing how pretty girls were. Multiple times, she had to tear her eyes away from the pretty mundane girls she saw out in the city.

She knew she couldn't ever marry a girl. It just wasn't allowed. But she couldn't love a boy. She just didn't feel that way about them.

But the Clave had strict rules about lesbians. She wondered what they would say if they knew she was lesbian in addition to being part-faerie.

They would despise her even more.

"Helen!"

She turned just in time to see a young girl with two braids rush at her.

Helen smiled as Drusilla barreled into her arms. Her half-sister laughed as Helen spun her around. Even at the age of 6, Helen could see how Drusilla resembled her mother. Dru was at the age where she got excited over everything and it made Helen's heart burst with love.

"I've been waiting for you!"

She set Dru down and watched as the little girl ate a snowman-shaped cookie. "Really?"

Dru nodded, her hair jumping up and down. "Mhmm. Merry Christmas Eve, Helen!"

Helen grinned. "Merry Christmas Eve, Dru."

Dru ran off to go play with Tavvy, who her dad was carrying as he spoke with John and Cordelia Carstairs. Helen spotted Mark talking with Livvy and Ty. She flashed him a smile and he gave her a thumbs up. Julian and Emma were seated on the steps she had just walked down a few minutes ago. Emma was walking animatedly with her hands and Julian had on a big smile as he listened to her.

Helen looked around the Institute, covered with lights and decorations. Tables stood covered in deserts and a tree stood in the corner, piled with presents for tomorrow. She recognized the many paintings hanging on the walls. One from every Christmas she could remember. Where her whole family was together.

Helen smiled to herself, finally feeling the holiday spirit. After all, the holidays were about one thing and one thing only.

Being with the people you loved.

And Helen was glad to be surrounded by so many people who would love her no matter what.