It was the end of a long day at school and the three Watterson siblings were now back home and sat on the sofa watching TV together, their bags on the floor as they hadn't been bothered to hang them up on the way in.

Gumball and Darwin were laughing at and making comments about the show they were watching, but Anais however was remaining quiet and wasn't paying any attention to it. She instead had her head propped up by her arm, with a dejected expression on her face.

She had been acting off since lunch, being quieter and less engaged in the table's conversation than usual, with the same upset look on her face.

Gumball and Darwin had quickly noticed her unusual behavior and asked her about it, but she had denied that anything was wrong and had refused to say anything else about it.

The two brothers noticed her mood hadn't changed at all since then and were now starting to worry slightly. They both glanced at her and watched as she let out a sigh, before looking at each other with pity. They hated seeing her this upset, it was so unlike her to act this way...

After a couple more minutes they could no longer stand seeing her in her current state and paused the TV program, turning to her.

"Anais, are you sure you're okay?" Darwin asked her concerned as he placed his fin onto her shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, I'm...I'm fine..." She replied unconvincingly.

"Come on sis, we can tell you're upset about something..." Gumball pleaded with her.

She looked at the two of them before sighing. "It's just something stupid. It's nothing really..."

She looked away with a sniff and Gumball's ears lowered as he let out a quiet whimper.

Darwin smiled. "Come on, just tell us what's wrong, please...? We're really worried."

"Yeah, and you know that you can tell us anything. No matter how small or stupid you think it is, we're always willing to listen."

She sighed. "Oh...okay then..." She sat up and sniffed as his ears hung low. "During class today one of my classmates announced that she's hosting a Christmas party at her house, a really cool one too, and...and she invited everyone in class...everyone except me..."

The two looked at each other with pity as they finally began to realize why she was so upset all day. She felt rejected and left out...

She teared up slightly. "They went out of their way to make it sound as cool and exciting as possible, then personally handed an invite to every single person in the class except me! Do they have any idea how much it hurt to be deliberately excluded like that!? What did I do to be left out like that?! Why does everyone hate me!? It's so unfair!" Her voice broke as tears began to trickle down her face. "It's so unfair..."

"Oh no, Anais...I'm so sorry..." Darwin's face fell as he began to fill with guilt, despite none of this being his fault.

"Aww, no, Ani...come here..." Gumball held out his arms and Anais crawled over onto his lap, resting her head on his chest, beginning to cry as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's just not fair!" She cried into his sweater.

He began to stroke the back of her head as she continued to cry. "Aww, hey, don't cry! It's okay, her party is probably gonna suck anyway! Trust me, she was just making it sound way cooler than it really is to make people want to come, and I'm speaking from experience here. We went to Rachel's party before and it was lame...well until Principal Brown and Ms Simian came over but that doesn't matter! What I'm trying to say is the party is probably gonna be awful anyway, and you really aren't missing out on much. It's nothing to get worked up over, okay?"

She raised her voice slightly. "I don't care if the party is good or not! I just wanted to be invited to it! I just want to be included! I just want people to like me! Is that really too much to ask?!" She looked up with wide eyes as the tears continued to pour.

"Aww, Anais, tons of people like you already! Me, Gumball, Penny, Carrie, Jamie, all of the treehouse girls, we all love you!" Darwin assured her.

She sniffed as she listened to what they said.

Gumball nodded. "Yeah, you don't need your stupid classmates to like you! You wanna know why?"

"W-Why?" She asked quietly.

"Because you're a bright, funny, endearing little girl who has a ton of friends who care about and love her already! So what if your classmates don't like you? If they want to miss out on having a friend as awesome as you, let them, that's their loss! You certainly don't need them!" Gumball smiled as he rubbed between her ears affectionately.

"You...y-you re-rally mean that? You aren't just saying it to cheer me up?"

"Of course I do! You're an amazing sister and your friends are so lucky to have you!"

She began to smile weakly before hugging him tightly and lovingly. "T-Thank you! That...that really means a lot!"

"Aww, you're welcome Ani!"

Darwin hesitated before Gumball held his left arm out. "Aww, come here, you can have a hug too!" He chuckled lightly.

Darwin smiled and joined in the hug, and Anais's smile slowly grew into a grin as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the affection and love the two were providing her.

After what seemed like forever they finally let Anais go, but she remained on Gumball's lap, cuddled under his arm and resting her head on his chest, not wanting to move from her spot, enjoying every second of the love and comfort it was providing her.

She sniffed and lifted her arm to wipe her eyes as Gumball smiled.

"So, do you feel better now?" Darwin asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, a little bit. I'm still a little upset they left me out but I'm sure I'll get over it."

Gumball thought for a moment. "Do you want some candy? That always helps me when I'm in a bad mood..."

"Nah, I'm not really hungry..."

"You sure?"

She hesitated She really shouldn't ruin her appetite before dinner... "Yeah, I'm good..."

He smirked and took out a chocolate bar from his bag. But not just any chocolate bar, her favorite.

He waved it in front of her enticingly. "Not even a carrot-peanut butter crunch...?"

She gasped. "What!? When did you get that!?"

He chuckled. "I bought it for you on the way home, thought it might cheer you up a little, buuut, if you reeaaally don't want it then guess I'll have it..." He teased as he made a show of unwrapping it.

She bit her lip before a weak smile formed on her face. "Ok, fine! I want it, I want it!". She finally gave in.

He chuckled lightly. "Hah, I knew you couldn't resist!"

She rolled her eyes as he handed it to her and she took a bite, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the taste. "Mmm..."

"Good?" Darwin asked.

"Good." She smiled and replied with a mouthful still in her mouth.

The three of them spent the next two hours watching a movie together, which they let Anais pick, before their mother called them for dinner.

Once they'd finished Anais went to her room to study whilst Gumball and Darwin went to their own to talk.

The two sat on Gumball's bed, thinking to themselves about what they had found out. For some reason, they didn't feel satisfied. All they could think about was Anais and how left out and upset she had been. Eventually, the two both spoke up at the same time. "I still feel really bad about Anais...me too!"

"But I don't understand why. We already cheered her up, right? Job done!? So why do I still feel like we aren't done yet..." Gumball thought out loud.

"Maybe we haven't done enough yet? Like, she said she was still a little upset over it, so perhaps we don't feel like we've done everything we can yet?" Darwin suggested.

"Okay, so what do we do then?" Gumball asked.

"Hmm...well, she feels left out because she wasn't invited to her classmate's Christmas party...of course!"

"What!?" Gumball asked, eager to his idea. Darwin explained it to him and Gumball began to grin excitedly. "Oh my god, that's an awesome idea! She's gonna be so excited! We have to do it!"

The two immediately set out to put their plan into motion, making phone calls and discussing ideas. Tomorrow Anais was going to get a surprise she would never forget...

The following day Gumball and Darwin were busy setting everything up. They had texted Jamie the night before and explained their plan to her, and asked if she could come up with an excuse to get Anais out of the hours for a couple of hours to give them enough time to set everything up. She had been delighted to help, and so the two were currently out until Jamie received the all-clear for them to return home again.

Everyone else they had asked to come over had arrived and they were now also helping them to get everything ready. Half an hour later and their surprise was finally ready for Anais. They texted Jamie that it was safe for her and Anais to return, and that was it. All they could do now was wait.

Half an hour later they heard the front door open and heard the voices of Jamie and Anais talking.

They were home. It was go time.

"Guys, I'm home! Where are you!?" Anais called out as she took off her scarf and coat.

"In your room!" Darwin called out in response as he quickly got up and turned the lights off.

"What are you doing in there!? You better not have read my diary again! or touched any of my science stuff!" She replied sounding slightly worried as she removed her mittens and put them into her coat pocket, before heading upstairs with Jamie.

"She's coming! Everyone behind the table!" Gumball whispered, and everyone quickly ducked behind it.

A couple of seconds later the door opened and Anais stood in the doorway confused. "What the...why do you have the lights off!? What are you two up two!? Are you playing some kind of prank on m-"

She turned the lights on and gasped as Gumball, Darwin, Penny, Carrie, Molly, Carmen, Teri, and Masami all jumped from behind the table wearing Santa hats, Jamie secretly putting one on behind her as well.

"SURPRISE!" They all called out excitedly as Anais covered her mouth, beginning to tear up at what she saw.

They had completely redecorated her room, putting Christmas decorations and balloons everywhere. Her table was filled with various snacks and drinks, some of which were brought along by the other guests, along with a bunch of small gifts for her.

The centerpiece at the middle of the table was a large Christmas cake that Gumball and Darwin had baked together, with the help of their mother who had been delighted to help with their surprise for their sister.

She let out a small giggle as she noticed they had even dressed up Daisy in a tiny Santa outfit and sat her at the front of the table, propping up a sign in her lap that read 'Merry Christmas Anais! Have an awesome Christmas, from all of us!'

She sniffed as she struggled to hold back her tears. "W-what is all this?" She asked as she looked at it all in awe.

Darwin grinned as he explained to her. "Well, we saw how upset you were at not being invited to your classmates' party, and we decided that if they didn't want you at their party, we'd hold our own one for you instead!"

"I...I don't know what to say...I can't believe you went to all of this effort for me...and all of you coming too!" She turned to the treehouse girls.

"Of course we came! I'm always happy to help out Gumball, especially if it's to cheer you up!" Penny smiled.

"Yeah, we were delighted to help out!" Molly agreed.

"Anything for our friends!" Teri smiled.

"Besides, how could we say possibly no to coming to an awesome party with our friends?" Carmen agreed.

"After everything I did to you, this was the least I could do to make it up to you!" Masami smiled.

"I mean, I didn't really have anything better to do..." Carrie shrugged.

Darwin grinned and punched her arm playfully as she smirked, beginning to laugh as Anais rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty hard coming up with those excuses to keep you out of the for long as long as I had! I'm glad the surprise wasn't ruined in the end!" Jamie chuckled.

Anais turned to her and was surprised to see her in a Santa hat as well. "You were in on this!?"

"Duh! Your brothers asked me to keep you out of the house until they were done preparing. Why'd you think I made all those weird excuses?"

"I thought something was up with that!" She giggled.

Gumball grinned excitedly. "So, do you like it!?" He asked eagerly.

Anais smiled and ran over to him and Darwin, giving them both a tight, loving hug. "I love it! It's incredible! Thank you so much! it...it really means a lot that'd you go out of your way for me like this!" She could help herself and began to cry softly.

"Awww, it's Darwin you have to thank! He came up with the idea!" Gumball admitted modestly.

"Hey, I can't take all the credit! You got everyone on board and here on time, and helped put up all the decorations and make the cake!"

Anais smiled. "You both did it, and I'm very, very grateful! You're the best brothers ever, and I love you so, so much!"

"Aww, sis...we love you too!" Darwin smiled, and the three hugged as everyone else awwed.

After a couple of seconds Gumball let her go and began to grin, "Right then, what are we waiting for!? Let's get this party started!"

He put a Santa hat on Anais, which was a little too big for her, causing it to slide down over her eyes which made her giggle.

Gumball smirked, chuckling lightly. "Okay, that's a little bigger than I expected..."

She smiled and folded up the bottom so she could see, and Gumball smiled as he connected his phone to a speaker in Anais's room and began to play Christmas music.

(If you can play 'All I Want For Christmas' by Mariah Carey, please do so now)

"Really, out of all the Christmas songs you picked All I Want For Christmas!? That song is so overused!" Penny rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it may be overused but it's still a great Christmas song!" He replied as he defended his music choice.

She hesitated before beginning to smile weakly, speaking with a light chuckle. "...okay, I can't argue with that." She giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

With this the 10 of them spent the rest of the day partying, dancing to the music, playing games, enjoying the snacks and drinks, watching Anais open all of her gifts, and most importantly just having an absolute blast hanging out together, Anais feeling more appreciated and included than ever.

Gumball and Darwin were right. Screw her classmates. Everyone she needed was right here.