Day 3 lfg. My intention was to write every chapter from a different character's POV and for the most part I will be doing that. But Darren is getting 2 in a row here. That's just the way the cookie crumbled for this one. I don't know how I feel about this one but I'm forcing myself to stay on schedule no matter how much it hurts.

Never in my life did I think I'd write something involving Darren's family. But you know what. I'm happy for him. He deserves this.

✧･ﾟ: on the 3rd day of Christmas :･ﾟ✧

"Can't Beat Home Sweet Home"

Darren wondered how long it would take for his eyes to adjust to the sight of all of them clustered throughout his parent's kitchen and living room. He still couldn't believe he was here, never mind the entire entourage.

Vancha was sitting on the floor, nibbling away at the tray of appetizers on his lap. Angela had brought it out to the living room to be passed around amongst the group, but unfortunately she handed it to Vancha first. He seemed to think it was just for him.

"Sire March, would you care to pass the charcuterie board?" Kurda asked very pointedly.

Vancha's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm eating what part of the shark?" He replied through a mouth full of salami and cheese.

"Can't take you anywhere." Gannen huffed, reaching over and taking the tray by force. At least Darius got a good laugh at that - him and Annie had arrived several hours before Darren and the gang. Annie reacted to Darren's guests about the same as Dermot and Angela had. Astonished, but was ultimately a good sport about it. It helped that Darius was really excited to see all the familiar faces.

"So, you two are the brothers of the bunch?" Dermot Shan inquired conversationally, gesturing at Gannen and Shane Astor who happened to be side-by-side on the couch. An easy mistake to make, really. They both had purple skin and bright red hair.

"I only wish." Gannen replied drily. "Mr. Astor is my brethren in a sense, as we share vampaneze blood. That one, however, shares my literal blood." He pointed at Vancha, who let out an inelegant snort.

"Ah, I see." said Dermot, utterly unfazed. Then he looked at Gracie and Kurda. "And you two are definitely related, right? There's no way you can't be."

Gracie and Kurda looked at him, then at each other, and burst out laughing. Darren didn't stick around to see what explanation they gave. When his mother slipped back to the kitchen, he followed her earnestly.

"This house is really nice, mum. Only my second time visiting but it feels just as homey as the old one." Darren remarked as he stood by the kitchen island helping her put together a second appetizer tray - the first one didn't even make it halfway around the living room before it was emptied.

"That has nothing to do with the house, dear. It's always been a nice house. But it didn't feel like home til you and Annie came back to us." Angela set down the box of crackers to pull her son into a tight hug. Darren squeezed his eyes shut and took a shuddering breath, but managed to keep it together. Gods knew the time for crying had long passed.

"I'm really happy to be here." He gulped as they withdrew from the embrace. "And once I'm a full vampire in a few years I'll be able to flit. That means I can visit a lot more. Flitting's where we can run so fast it's like we're slipping through time."

"I remember you telling me all about it. It's the vampire's equivalent of a driver's license." Said Angela with a wink. She took all the vampire stuff so well.

"I guess that about sums it up." Darren chuckled, grinning sheepishly.

"Speaking of cars, my coworker Sharon got one of those tacky My Son Is On The Honour Roll bumper stickers from whichever uppity school he goes to. What do you think she'd say if I showed up with one that says My Son Is A Vampire Prince?"

"That'd show her for sure."

They laughed together for several minutes. Darren wished this moment could last forever.

"Dear, will you go make the beds in the spare rooms upstairs? I think we'll put Annie and Darius in the first one on the right. Perhaps you can camp in there too. And… erm, roughly how many vampires do you suppose we can cram into the one the left? I know you're all quite comfortable with each other after all that travelling, but-"

"Don't worry about it." Said Darren firmly. "They're going to get a block of rooms at a hotel downtown. Well, except Vancha. He's going to sleep in the park."

Angela's jaw dropped in horror.

"If you knew Vancha you'd understand." Darren added. "He's a radical traditionalist by choice. He doesn't believe in being comfortable. The rest of them are pretty normal, though. Or at least they can pretend they are."

But it seemed her concern was not limited to Vancha.

"You're making your friends stay in a hotel at Christmas?!" Angela gasped.

"I'm not making them! I already told them there wasn't room for the whole group to spend the week in your house. It's generous enough that you're letting them come for Christmas dinner on Sunday-"

"Don't be silly!" Angela cut him off. "They're staying with us. And that's final."

"They barely even celebrate Christmas! They weren't even supposed to come here with me." Part of Darren knew there was no point in arguing. Once she got that look of iron-clad conviction in her eyes, it was game over. She put both hands on her son's shoulders and squeezed.

"Darren, we moved to this house to get away from the silence that echoed off the walls of our old one after we lost you and Annie less than ten years apart. And it didn't help. This one felt just as cold and empty as the one we left behind - until we got our family back. If that family is bigger than we realized, so be it! This is the first Christmas that's felt like Christmas in sixteen years, dear. Trust me."

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: Later :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

The house was pretty big, but there were still a lot of them. The fact that they all fit was a Christmas miracle. The silver lining was the fact they were so accustomed to uncomfortable campsites and close confines, these accommodations felt luxurious. Dermot dug out the old sleeping bags from the basement and borrowed a few more from the neighbour. Darren, Gracie, Annie, and Darius set up camp in the smaller spare room. Kurda, Gannen, Shane, and Renley took the slightly bigger spare. Vancha's dibs on the garden shed went unchallenged.

"This feels just like when the cousins would come visit for Christmas, and we'd all camp in my room. Remember that?" Darren reminisced as he unrolled his sleeping bag and arranged it on the floor.

"Of course." Annie smirked. "Remember the year Cousin Agnes sat out on the stairs trying to catch Santa on her camcorder, but she fell asleep and Uncle Waldo tripped over her on his way to the bathroom and broke his leg?"

"I never had cousins, but this reminds me of the dorms at boarding school." Gracie chipped as she assembled her air mattress on the other side. "That was like an eight-month sleepover. Except when we were fighting… so only half the time. The other half was war."

Darren and Annie were laughing at that, but their faces fell in unison when Darius looked Annie, then Darren dead in the eye. And with a completely straight face, he asked: "Do I get to meet Cousin Agnes and Uncle Waldo?"

It had been difficult for the Shans to reach the conclusion that Darren's secret - and Annie's, by extension - would remain in the immediate family. The cousins, aunts, and uncles would never know the truth. It was easier that way.

"Maybe someday, love." Annie offered, forcing a smile. "You know, even before Uncle Darren became a vampire, they lived pretty far away. We only saw them a few times a year."

"So what? If they're your family, aren't they my family too?" Darius pressed, brow furrowing with determination.

"Of course they're your family. If they got a chance to know you, they'd love you as much as we do." Said Annie eventually.

"But remember what we've told you." Darren added. Suddenly he felt so much older than he was - yet far too young to be having a conversation like this. They all were. "Being half-vampaneze means you have to be very careful about who gets that chance. It's not your fault. I know you didn't choose this life… but that's just how it is."

The words tasted like a cop-out. Darren's heart broke, and he watched Annie's do the same. He could see it in her eyes. Because how could they possibly expect Darius to understand all this? One step forward, one step back.

"We can't turn back time." Darren continued after a heavy pause. "But we do get to celebrate the family we've got. That's why I'm so excited to be spending this Christmas with all of you."

It sounded painfully awkward to hear himself speak such soft, heartfelt words out loud. But he meant it, and it worked. Darius cracked a wayward smile.

"Me too. This is already the best Christmas ever. Look what Uncle Vancha gave me!" He rummaged in his backpack and proudly pulled out a gleaming shuriken, which he proceeded to brandish with reckless abandon.

"Oh my god, give me that right now!" Annie groaned as she plucked it swiftly from his hand. "You'll take your eye out!"

Gracie was equally appalled. For vastly different reasons. "Are you serious? Uncle Vancha never gave me one of those!"

"Probably because he knew Kurda would confiscate it." Said Darren. "At least you've got that antique boomerang Arrow gave you, right?"

"Yeah. I think I was 7 or 8." Said Gracie, making a wry face. "Kurda only let that one slide because he knew I'd never be able to lift it. But I tried just hard enough to almost chop my thumb off. I'll never forget that Christmas. Mika was freaking out to the point where the medics didn't know if they were supposed to be treating him or me. Kurda was a really good sport. He waited til the next day to say he told us so. The boomerang looks cool hanging on my wall, though."

Gracie frequently refers to her dads by their first names when making conversation, to avoid confusing the listener. As if the context of the story didn't make it glaringly obvious who was who. Darren laughed because he could picture the scene clearly in his mind. Annie laughed because it all sounded batshit insane to her. Darius shot his mother a reproachful look.

"When can I have my shuriken?"

Annie raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how to use it?!"

"How could I know?!" Darius's face fell as he threw his hands up in despair. "I only just got it today!"

They laughed again.

"Maybe on Christmas morning. But only if someone's around to supervise you." Said Annie at last. Then her face brightened. "Speaking of horrific festive injuries that could've been prevented… remember how none of us could fall asleep after the ambulance took Uncle Waldo away? When we stayed up til morning watching Christmas VHS tapes?"

"And Grandma still made us all go to church." Darren winced at the memory - in hindsight it had been his first lesson about consequences. "You know, they still have that portable TV and the box of tapes. I saw them in the basement when I was helping Dad look for the sleeping bags." He added with a grin.

"You find the movies." Said Annie. "I'll make the popcorn."

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: The Next Day :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

Darren was accustomed to feeling like a perpetual child in a world of adults. So he thought it was strange how he felt more grown-up than ever as he sat in the living room with his dad. Not even 6am and there they both were: sipping coffee and watching the fireplace channel together. Nobody else was awake yet.

They talked about work. Dermot was in the same line of work as always. Darren still didn't fully understand what all he did. But if there was ever a contest for who's job was the most difficult to explain to someone outside the industry, Darren would have that on lock.

"Wow. All that responsibility and the position doesn't even come with health insurance?" Dermot chuckled.

"Maybe I'll bring it up at next council." Darren joked, grinning over the hot mug of coffee between his hands. Since when had coffee tasted good? "We try to stay progressive. Kind of."

"But overall, you're happy doing what you do, right?" Dermot added. He slipped that in far too casually, and Darren was in no way, shape, or form prepared to go there after staying up watching Christmas movies all night. The goal was to temporarily reset his sleep schedule from nocturnal to diurnal, but now all he felt was tired. He took another long sip of coffee as he mulled that over in his head.

"I've never thought about it that way." He admitted at last. "Happiness is never really a vampire's goal. The most important thing for any of us is to live our lives with honour and courage. As a Prince, I have to set an example for the rest of the clan. And I'm very proud to share that responsibility with my colleagues."

Dermot nodded thoughtfully as he considered his son's response. Suddenly Darren felt like a little kid all over again. Albeit not in a bad way. This all felt so comfortingly familiar.

"But if you were to think about it that way, would you say you're happy?"

"I'm happy with where I am now. It's been a long and difficult road but I'm pleased with the work I've done. Especially over the past year." Said Darren after another moment of self-reflection. "But I'm also angry that I was put in this position in the first place. None of it should've happened."

Dermot nodded again. He'd stopped smiling."And the vampire that… changed you. Is he…?"

"Not travelling with this group, no. He'll always be an important part of my life. But I thought we could use a few years apart." Said Darren quickly. There was something very subtle about his father's demeanour that suggested Mr. Crepsley wouldn't have received the same welcome here that the others did.

And Darren didn't blame him one bit. But that was the last thing he wanted to discuss, so he tried to lighten the mood by laughing it off and adding - "Plus he took a new job back at the head office."

"Ah."

Darren didn't know what else to say. So he didn't say anything. They sat there in silence as the fireplace log continued to burn.

After some time they both turned around as they heard the patter of small feet down the stairwell, smiling in unison as a sleepy-eyed, pyjama-clad Darius rounded the corner.

"Well! If it isn't the third man of the Shan Clan!" Dermot greeted the boy. Darren didn't think he'd ever seen his dad smile like that. Grandparenthood suited him very well. 'Son of the Vampaneze Lord' meant nothing to him.

"G'morning." Said Darius, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Wow, you're up early." Darren remarked quizzically.

Darius frowned at him. "Can't you hear that rumbling noise? It's so loud! It woke me up and I can't fall back asleep."

Dermot looked confused for a moment before smiling again. "Ah, that's just the neighbours running their snow blower. I guess I'm so used to it I don't notice anymore. I'm sure they'll be done soon."

Darius let out a groan of frustration that turned into a second yawn. He trudged over to the couch and flopped down on it. "I hate having super hearing." He pouted. "I finally got used to all the normal sounds back home, but now we're here and it's all different."

He had a point. Darren had noticed the sound of the snow blower right away. It was incredibly grating. But unlike Darius, he was well practiced in ignoring things like that.

"You want some of my coffee?" Darren asked, holding his mug out. His first ever sip of coffee happened just like this; hanging out with his dad at some ungodly hour. He treasured the memory.

Darren wasn't, and would never replace Darius's father. That wasn't what he was aiming for. But he'd do everything in his power to make sure Darius had his own collection of glowing memories to look back on when times got tough.

Darius sat up, eyes brightening with interest. "Really?! I've never had coffee before!"

Suddenly the kid was beaming with such anticipation that Darren started to regret his offer. There was no way the coffee would live up to the excitement. And sure enough, he almost spat it out. But then he went back for more - as if the first sip had been a practice round. He only cringed a little bit the second time. Then he looked from his grandfather to his uncle, a proud smile spreading across his face as he lied through his teeth: "Wow! Coffee is delicious!"

Core memory secure.