Christmas at Volt
Unlike the years before, it was a rainy Christmas that year. You couldn't find the snow anywhere at all and the sun decided not to show up that day. Not that it really mattered. Because the house of Mildred Volt was always warm and cosy.
Anita Knight stepped out of her car. Since a few months, she and Victor Volt got a car. Ever since their son Timothy was born, it seemed like a good idea to get a car. But getting a car was a pricy business, so they saved some money and got a nice car in which their family would fit.
That year had been very turbulent. That year, the Wobblemen from Dimension Ten were back to take over the earth. And once again, Victor and Anita failed to bring Lionel home. They tried hard to get him back, but nothing seemed to work. So the Volt-family had to celebrate another Christmas without their father and husband.
On the other hand, there was someone who did come back. Anita never told anyone about her, but that autumn her twin sister came back into her life. Although Alicia Knight had worked all those years for T.H.E.M., she was working as an undercover agent. And now, Alicia was an armed combat instructor at U.Z.Z., because she wanted to be close to her family once again. Her weapon of choice? The swords. She had always loved the thrill of close combat and nothing else would make her so excited as the sound of two blades hitting each other.
While Victor helped Timothy out of the car, she grabbed the bag with gifts out of the rear of the car. That year, everyone was invited to celebrate Christmas at Mildred's place. Not only Victor and Anita would be there, but also her father Arthur, Alicia and of course Victor's sister Melissa and her family. It promised to be a great party.
The front of the door opened and Anita saw how Timothy ran towards the front door. There was Alicia with a big smile on her face. Ever since Alicia came back into Anita's life, she adored Timothy. She never minded to babysit him and take him on a day out, so Victor and Anita would have some alone-time.
"Should I take something with me?"
Anita looked next to her and saw Victor Volt standing on the sidewalk. With a little smile, she gave him one of the bags. "If you can take this bag with you and lock the car, please."
Victor smiled and while he grabbed the bag from her, he gave her a little kiss on her cheek. For the last four years, they had been a couple. And their love for each other was still going strong. Even though they had a son together, they still found time to do things together like a couple. Of course, they still worked as a team at U.Z.Z. as Secret Agents, but it was nice to have some time after work to enjoy each other's company.
"Merry Christmas, sis."
Anita placed the bags onto the ground and gave her twin sister a hug. "Merry Christmas, Ally. How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, thank you." said Alicia and she grabbed a bag from Anita. "It has been some weeks since we've seen other the last time."
Anita nodded and she walked with Alicia into the house. "I know, but you know how these kind of months are. Christmas preparations, bad-guys trying to take over the world and all the other things that seem to happen all at once these days."
"We should do something together soon, though." Alicia placed her bag next to the Christmas tree in the living-room. Like the years before, they opened the presents at Christmas day, when the whole family was there. During the day, they mostly opened the presents of the kids and at night, it was the adults who could open their presents.
Anita looked around her. It seemed like they were the last to arrive. Alicia was already there and she was picked up by their father Arthur Knight. And Melissa's husband Richard Taylor was sitting on the chair, so that meant that Melissa and her little boy Thomas were inside as well.
Knowing Mildred, she had been in the kitchen the whole day. So Anita figured both mother and daughter were in the kitchen finishing the last things for dinner that evening.
Arthur stood up from his couch. "Good to see you again, Anita." he said as he walked towards Anita. They tried to see their parents as often as possible, and they quite managed to do this. But like Alicia, it had been some time since the last time since they had seen each other.
"Good to see you too, father." said Anita with a smile and she gave him a hug. "And good to see you too, Richard. Hope you had some peace the last few weeks."
Richard Taylor was an English teacher at a nearby high school. He loved his job, but the last few months of the year always was one of the busiest for him. Students who wanted to finish their assignments before the holidays and assignments to be marked.
"I did finish most of the work in the first day of the vacation, so I'm alright." said Richard with a smile. "Today, it's all about family and the wonderful food."
Anita chuckled and she looked around her. Timothy wasn't in the living room, so that would mean he didn't say hello to everyone in the living room. "Have you seen Timmy?" she asked to no-one in particular.
Both men shook their head as Victor walked into the living room with the last bag. "I'll look for him upstairs. You know he loves to play upstairs when he's at Granny's house."
Timothy and his nephew Thomas Taylor had their own playroom at their Granny's house. Besides that, they both had their own bedroom there too. And when Timothy came to Mildred's house, after he said his hello, he rushed towards the playroom.
Anita nodded and she walked towards the kitchen. There she found her mother-in-law, finishing up the last touches on the dinner of that night. "Merry Christmas, Mildred."
Mildred placed the Christmas ham down onto the counter and turned towards Anita. "Merry Christmas, Anita. It's been some time since the last time I saw you."
"I know, I'm sorry. You know how busy this month can be and…"
Before Anita could say anything else, she was pulled into a hug by Mildred. "I know, honey. I just wished you didn't work so hard these months. Don't forget to take some time with your family."
"I won't." Anita smiled and she hugged Mildred back. "Talking about family, where's Melissa? I thought she would be here, helping you with the dinner of tonight."
Mildred sighed and she picked up the ham. "She didn't feel well, so I told her to lie down on my bed. I think she caught the flu, since Thomas had it some days earlier."
"Poor girl. I hope she'll feel better in some time." Anita watched how Mildred placed the ham into the oven. "Do you need some help?"
"Always, dear. Here's the recipe for the Brussels sprouts this Christmas." Mildred reached for a piece of paper and gave it to Anita. "Help yourself out, you know where to find everything."
Anita looked at the piece of paper and smiled. She loved being around her family once again. It was time to celebrate Christmas.