Disclaimer, you know.
As dorothy walked along the snow-covered sidewalks she talked to toto and pockets along her way.
"this is your first time at Alex's house, so I want you to be on your best behavior." Dorothy said.
"yes ma'am." Pockets said groaning.
"Now Pockets, don't give an attitude, I'm bringing you with me because all you ever do when toto isn't around is sulk, and it's not healthy for you to sulk so often." Dorothy said.
"says the person who locks themselves in their room or goes to the clearing to sulk for hours on end." Toto said.
"thanks boy, not helping." Dorothy said shaking her head.
"just stating the facts." Toto said as they approached the house.
"Thanks boy don't I feel loved." Dorothy said as they walked up the front steps.
As they walked up the steps Eliza immediately opened the door and let them inside. Helping dorothy with her coat as dorothy slid off her boots and placed them in the boot rack.
"what's in the basket?" Eliza asked.
"pockets wanted to come along, and I don't like the thought of her walking around town alongside me, she's not used to it." Dorothy said setting the basket on the floor and letting pockets out of the basket.
"Why did she want to come along?" Eliza asked putting Dorothy's coat on a nearby hook.
"because when toto is with me and she's not with him, apparently, all she does is sulk." Dorothy said.
"well, she gets it from the master." Eliza said.
"Eliza, just, don't." Alex said hobbling out of the sitting room.
Dorothy immediately walked over to him and hugged him. When she released him they all went into the sitting room, alex sat down on the couch and propped his leg up on a stool that had been set for him.
"does it hurt a lot?" dorothy asked.
"only when I move." Alex said wincing.
"Well stop moving." Eliza said picking up pockets and holding her up.
"Dorothy tell her to put me down." Pockets said.
"Eliza, she wants you to put her down," dorothy said sitting on the couch next to alex.
"Sorry." She replied setting her on the floor.
"you know, I half expected Madeline to be with you, ellie came over yesterday and told me what happened, she also said that she came home with you and ace." Alex said.
"she has the feeling you really don't like having her around." Dorothy said.
"Sounds more like an excuse." Eliza said.
"yes, I mean, yes, she's a bit irritating the way she just tends to appear, but, like you she's rather hard to hate." Alex said.
"well, for all intents and purposes, she is me." Dorothy said.
"yes, um, alex was trying to explain that to me, and telling me not to tell his parents." Eliza said.
"I'll explain later." Dorothy said.
"Actually, speaking of explaining things, I was going through one of the boxes of things at home, and I found a doll, with a tag that said, if lost return to dorothy, with the address to the house on it, but it's in pristine condition, like it was barely touched." Eliza said.
"That's because I never liked that doll, it's eyes, they used to creep me out if it's the same doll." Dorothy said.
"little porcelain doll, glass eyes, green dress?" Eliza asked.
"That's the one, mama put the tag on there in the event that I ever decided to take it with me somewhere, it mostly stayed on my toy chest in my bedroom, as a kind of guard." Dorothy said shivering.
"I don't blame you, those glass eyes are soul piercing." Eliza said.
"Liza, what were you doing snooping through her stuff anyways?" alex asked.
"Alex, don't call me that." Eliza said "besides, I was curious" she added.
"alex, it's alright, I don't mind, besides, that's one memory I don't mind talking about, my mother never really liked the doll either, dad brought it home one day." Dorothy said as toto and pockets jumped onto her lap.
Meanwhile at the Gale residence.
While dorothy was at the Teak's house Betsy was still at the Gale house talking to Aislynn. Who was busy writing out invitations.
"you know, it's none of my business, but I have to ask, what are you writing invitations for, and so many for that matter?" Betsy asked.
"every year since I've come here, so far we've held a large Christmas party at my manor in the next town over." Aislynn said.
"ah, I see." Betsy said
"normally someone helps me out, but, given the circumstances, I don't mind, if I write every single one, I get to work on my signature." Aislynn said.
"you're not going to seal the envelopes with a wax seal now, are you?" Betsy asked.
Aislynn couldn't help but chuckle and snort.
"Betsy, I'm not that old fashioned." Aislynn said as her cat Eve jumped up on the table.
Shortly after Madeline emerged from the kitchen. Pot of tea in hand, her hair tied up in a bun.
"look, Em and Henry had to take their kids into town to get some things, so I'm in charge of you two, thought, I know you two are capable of being by yourselves." Madeline said pouring a cup for each of them.
Aislynn smiled and handed an invitation to Madeline.
"I know I don't have to ask, since dorothy would have done it for me, but would you and Jack like to attend?" Aislynn asked.
"I'd love to." Madeline said.
"I've been to a few parties in my lifetime, mainly to keep an eye on trot." Betsy said.
"So, not many parties then?" Madeline asked.
"basically, trot doesn't get invited to places often, people used to think she was weird, but she fits right in here." Betsy said.
Aislynn smiled and picked up an envelope, licking it and sealing it shut she handed it to Betsy.
"well, here's an invitation for you." Aislynn said.
"did you really need to seal it, I mean, she's sitting right next to you." Madeline asked causing Aislynn to give her a glare.
"It's not an invitation unless it is sealed on my opinion." Aislynn said.
Betsy said nothing but hugged Aislynn tightly.
Meanwhile back at the teaks.
"So, this year we're going Oz on Christmas day." Alex said.
"and who planned that out?" Eliza asked.
"I did." Dorothy said
"and this year, we have the family here." alex said.
"At least you have other family." Dorothy said yawning and leaning her head on Alex's shoulder.
"oh, come on dorothy, you can't be tired." Eliza said poking Dorothy's feet.
Dorothy smiled and giggled.
"stop, that Eliza, I'm really ticklish." Dorothy said.
"I know, that's why I poked you." She said.
Dorothy let out a growl and began petting Pockets as Toto jumped from her lap.
"dorothy, I think I'm going to go take a nap." Toto said going to the corner and curling up into a ball.
"alright boy, enjoy your nap." Dorothy said.
"Eliza, let's move the conversation to the kitchen, I'm getting hungry." Alex said.
"funny, I was about to get up to get something, come on then." Eliza said getting up.
Dorothy got up and set pockets on the floor before she helped alex to his feet. He grabbed his crutches and started for the kitchen. Dorothy stuck close to his side. When they got to the kitchen dorothy grabbed herself an apple from the fruit bowl while alex and Eliza each grabbed a bunch of grapes.
"so…" dorothy said trailing off trying to start some more conversation.
"so, Christmas party this year, I don't think alex will be fit enough to dance." Eliza said.
"Eliza, please, nothing is going to stop me from doing one of the things I love." Alex said.
"we'll see how you're feeling on Christmas eve alex." dorothy said.
Alex rolled his eyes and tossed a grape into the air, catching it in his mouth.
"1 point." Eliza said.
"what?" dorothy asked arching an eyebrow.
"oh, it's somethin we've been doing since we were little, seeing who could catch more grapes in their mouth, alex normally always beats me, and I normally end up taking several to the eye." Eliza said.
"oh, come on Eliza, one day, you just might beat me." Alex said chuckling.
"oh, shut up." Eliza said tossing a grape into the air just barely missing it.
"I'm not keeping score for you two." Dorothy said taking a bite from her apple.
"no one said you had to." Eliza replied.
Dorothy smiled and watched the two attempt to outshine each other until they ran out of grapes, and it still ended with alex having succeeded more times than Eliza.
"see, what did I tell you." Eliza said.
"I see your point, but with a bit of practice, perhaps you'll improve." Dorothy said.
"I've been told that since we were little, I'm just not as coordinated as my cousin." Eliza said getting up from her chair.
As they moved back to the living room and back to the places they had been before getting up to go to the kitchen Mr. Teak entered the house.
"oh, dorothy, what a surprise." He said taking off his coat.
"Hello Mr. Teak, been busy today?" Dorothy asked.
"as usual." He said.
"Dad, I thought you weren't going to close up shop till this evening?" alex asked propping his leg up on the stool.
"I'm just back to fix myself some lunch, then I'm back off to the shop." Mr. Teak replied.
"ah." Was Alex's response.
"You two haven't been arguing have you?" Mr. Teak asked directing his attention to Eliza.
"no sir." Eliza replied.
Mr. Teak then smiled and then walked to the kitchen. Several minutes later he came out carrying a brown paper bag.
"I'll be back in time for dinner, um, dorothy, do you think you'll be staying?" Mr. Teak asked.
"in honesty sir, I haven't thought that far ahead." Dorothy replied.
"I see, well, have fun you three." He said before leaving.
"you know, somethings just occurred to me." Alex said as Pockets climbed onto his lap.
"what's that?" dorothy asked curiously.
"Well, Madeline will be in Oz with us, when everyone else is there, and we still have yet to explain her to my parents." Alex said.
"I hadn't thought about that." Dorothy said.
"I mean, eventually my parents are going to catch on that Madeline sounds, and looks exactly like you." Alex said.
"well, there's always the option of just tell them." Eliza suggested.
"fair." Alex said scratching pockets behind the ears.
"Alex, we could just tell them at Aislynn's Christmas party, since I'm pretty sure Maddie is going to that." Dorothy said.
"I guess that works, I mean, it's better than allowing them to find out on their own." Alex said.
"I imagine they'll still be miffed that you didn't tell them right off." Eliza said.
"probably." Alex said sighing.
Dorothy opened her mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by Glinda's voice coming from the large mirror in the room.
"Dorothy, Reconstruction and Renovation of the western castle is back in progress." Glinda said
"oh, hello Glinda, um, that's good I guess, maybe I'll drop by tomorrow to check things out." Dorothy said.
"You don't have to dear, I just wanted you to know that it was going on." Glinda said.
"well, thank you." Dorothy said.
"your welcome, hello Eliza, how are you?" Glinda asked turning her attention to her.
"I'm great, thank you for asking." Eliza said.
"how about you alex?" Glinda once more turning her attention.
"I've had better days." Alex said.
"I can imagine, anyways, just wanted to check in, I'm sure I'll be talking to all of you again later." Glinda said as her image faded from the mirror.
"alex was telling me that yesterday, that you are now in possession of the homes of the witches of the west and east, but the question I have, are you actually going to go to either?" Eliza asked.
"at some point, yes, don't think I'm going to make either of them permanent residencies though." Dorothy said.
"vacation home then?" Eliza asked.
"possibly." Dorothy said shrugging before laying her head against Alex's shoulder.
"Dorothy, I'd actually like to see those places." Pockets said.
"I'll bring you there one of these days pockets" dorothy said.
"you know, sometimes I forget you can talk to animals" Eliza said.
"easy thing to forget, I'm just used to it at this point." Dorothy replied.
Eliza smiled and looked over at Toto who was asleep in the corner still. However, a second later he sprang up, barked a few times, and chased his tail before regaining his composure.
"have a nice nap toto?" dorothy asked curiously.
"yep." Toto replied running over and jumping up onto the couch.
Immediately pockets jumped from Alex's lap and walked over to toto, pressing the top of her head against his nose.
"you know, I think those two like each other." Eliza said.
"I thought that was obvious." Dorothy said chuckling.
"well, I'm not around them as often as alex is, actually, my parents were thinking about buying a small house out here, use it during the summer months." Eliza said.
"please don't." Alex said causing dorothy to glare at him.
"hey I'm not too hot on the idea either, being closer to the family." Eliza said.
"can you two go a day without arguing over something?" Dorothy asked.
"sorry." They both said looking away from her.
"I bet you two couldn't even go a whole month together without arguing about at least something." Dorothy said.
"dorothy, honestly if you weren't here, I doubt we could go more than a couple hours." Eliza said.
"I second that statement." Alex said raising his hand.
Dorothy rolled her eyes and shook her head. she couldn't believe the conversation she was having now, but it's what was happening. She sighed and chuckled.
"you two, what am I going to do about you two?" dorothy asked.
"nothing?" Eliza suggested.
Meanwhile in Oz.
Ozma had spent her day overseeing more decorating of the palace but she was getting bored and eventually found herself sitting in the kitchen watching Brianna make holiday cookies.
"So, your majesty, any plans for the rest of the day?" Brianna asked.
"Not really Brianna." Ozma said sighing.
"you seem bored." Brianna said.
"I am, Glinda doesn't want me doing basically anything in my own palace, she doesn't seem to mind it as much when dorothy is around, but since she is my advisor, tutor, whatever you prefer to call her." Ozma said.
"you could go for a swim." Brianna suggested.
"I'm not that good at swimming." Ozma said.
"Well, um, I've got nothing." She said bringing a tray over to the oven.
"is there any Lacasa lying about, I could use a drink of something sweet." Ozma asked.
"um, I'm not sure, I don't really keep track of the drinks around here." Brianna said wiping her hands on her apron.
Ozma sighed and took out her little silver wand. Waving a bottle of red liquid and a goblet flew over to her.
"apparently, we do." Brianna said.
Ozma smiled and poured herself a glass of the red liquid.
"Don't spill any on yourself, remember how badly it stains." Brianna said.
"I know." Ozma said taking a sip.
"you know, sometimes I wish dorothy would take up permanent residence in Oz." Brianna said rolling out some more dough.
"I think we all do." Glinda said walking in carrying a bag of sugar.
"thanks for grabbing that from the ice cream parlor Glinda." Brianna said.
"No problem, better than letting the cookies burn." Glinda said.
"I know, turn around for one second and you end up with bits of burnt food." Brianna said.
"well, it smells nice anyways." Wiser said peeking in.
"Out!" Brianna shouted causing wiser to run.
"you don't need to shout at him." Ozma said.
"yes, I do, otherwise he'll try to sneak in." Brianna said.
"he's a giant owl, how do you miss him?" Glinda asked.
"Glinda, trust me, it happens." Brianna said shaking her head.
"so, your majesty, do you have any idea what you're getting dorothy?" Glinda asked.
"Not really, I haven't thought that far ahead yet." Ozma said.
"anyone wanna place bets now that Madeline gives everyone a hat of some sort?" Brianna asked.
"no." Glinda and Ozma said.
"alright." Brianna said getting out some more cookie cutters to add to the collection that she already had out.
"wow Brianna, you sure do like making a variety." Ozma said.
"Brianna is a master when it comes down to it." Glinda said sitting down across from Ozma.
"so, did you tell dorothy that the renovations on the western castle have restarted?" Brianna asked turning her attention to Glinda.
"yes, she was at Alex's house." Glinda said.
"Madeline wasn't with her?" Ozma asked pouring some more Lacasa.
"No, she's still at the gale residence watching Betsy and Ace." Glinda said.
"That reminds, is Ace holding her annual Christmas party this year?" Brianna asked.
"She always does, she's actually writing out all the invitations now." Glinda said conjuring a goblet and pouring herself some of the drink.
"I wish I could go, but I have to stay here, otherwise who knows what might happen." Ozma said sighing.
"well, Ozma, it's your duty, as queen of oz." Glinda said.
"Oh Glinda, let her have some fun, I mean, the scarecrow can always rule in her stead while she's not here." Brianna said.
"Brianna, don't give her any ideas." Glinda said.
"Glinda, you practically order her to stay cooped up here in the palace all day and night, I mean, she does deserve a bit of freedom." Brianna said.
"I know, it's just, after what happened, I worry about her." Glinda said.
"Not as much as you worry about dorothy." Ozma said.
"Dorothy is different." Glinda said.
"how? You constantly say that Glinda, but you never really explain it in depth." Brianna said.
"I'll explain it one of these days, but not right now." Glinda said getting up.
As Glinda left the kitchen she closed her eyes and saw ellie, string popcorn and dried cranberries.
Will Glinda ever let Ozma leave the city or have fun for that matter? Will dorothy visit the western castle? Or the eastern mansion? Read on to find out.
