Klaus and Bonnie came downstairs to find Rebekah setting the table and Stefan and Elijah putting finishing touches on the tree.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at them, "I don't want to know. Just go help them decorate."

Bonnie suppressed a giggle and headed into the living room with Klaus. The tree looked quite beautiful, under Klaus' instructions they'd arranged the green and red and gold ornaments just right so the colors glittered in seamless contrast.

Stefan was just wrapping the lights just so around the top branches.

"Stefan, you'll make an artist after all," Klaus drawled, wrapping an arm around Bonnie's shoulder while she leaned into him.

Stefan glared.

"Is it ready?" Rebekah came in, holding a small box in her hands, "I want to put the star up."

Stefan helped her onto a footstool and they watched as the dazzling crystal star was placed carefully atop the tree. "Stefan, luv, get the lights."

Elijah plugged in the chord, and they waited.

Nothing happened.

Rebekah whirled on Stefan and her brother, "Why aren't they lighting up? I put you two in charge of one thing ONE thing-,"

"Hey, Elijah said he knows what he's doing- ,"

"I wasn't the one who threw the instructions away-,"

Bonnie slid off Klaus arm and stepped up, "Guys, it's not a big deal. This is when it helps to have a witch in the family."

She closed her eyes and whispered a brief spell, and opened them just as all the lights glowed to soft, flickering brightness like a dozen fireflies.

"Ohhhh it's perfect," Rebekah breathed, "Thank you, Bonnie."

Bonnie returned her smile, and they stood there for a few moments letting light fill up their eyes.

Dinner was an eclectic affair. Klaus and Elijah had bypassed the frozen meat section at Wal-Mart citing chaos of a "vile and unspeakable nature" and returned home with rotisserie chicken instead.

Bonnie had helped Rebekah make old-fashioned potato salad using her Grams' recipe. Elijah brought cigars and bonbons, Stefan had procured his family's silverware from the 1800s, and Klaus produced a bottle of Macallan whisky.

Her family had never been religious, and after a thousand years as vampires saying "grace" before a Christmas meal seemed too trite even for Rebekah's domestic fantasies.

So they settled for a simple toast instead, expensive scotch glittering in fine-cut crystal as they raised their glasses.

"To those who aren't here," Elijah said.

Bonnie caught Klaus' eye and he gave her a small nod before adding, "And to those who are."

When after dinner Rebekah insisted on the group singing carols together, the protests were mutinous. Elijah threatened to disown the entire family. Stefan looked like he was suffering from a pinched nerve. Klaus offered to recite every raunchy limerick he'd ever learned (and to Bonnie's dismay there were several hundreds) instead.

Rebekah pouted for a while until Stefan distracted her with one of his gifts - a beautiful Swarovski crystal replica of her mother's necklace.

After a few more glasses of Klaus' scotch however, the group became far more amenable to singing.

Rebekah and Klaus took turns at the piano. Bonnie and Stefan partook in a duet of "Little Drummer Boy", and Elijah surprised them all with a baritone rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."

After an hour or so of this they lay around, opening presents, drinking, Elijah making a great show of averting his eyes whenever Stefan and Rebekah's PDA became flagrant. Klaus still sat at the piano, picking out a sweet and plaintive version of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

He looked up and found Bonnie's eyes, giving her one of those rare, wistful smiles and she felt a wave of warmth wash over her that wasn't entirely the due to the glass of whiskey in her hand.

Rebekah had insisted they all stay over, and so Christmas morning found Bonnie waking up in Klaus' arms, in the same room they'd stolen a naughty moment together the day before.

She snuggled closer to him under the down comforter; the perks of having a hybrid for a boyfriend were numerous, but constant body warmth was definitely top of the list.

His hand caressed the curve of her spine, "I have another gift for you."

"Mmmf Klaus you already got me…," she trailed off, distracted by the trail of soft kisses he was leaving on her shoulder and the curve of her neck.

"This one's the most important. Close your eyes, luv."

She acquiesced, muttering a complaint when he left the bed, taking the warmth with him. Bonnie heard him move about swiftly, the sound of paper being torn, and stuff being set against the wall.

"Now."

Sitting up with the sheets held to her breasts, Bonnie opened her eyes. At first all she was the gilt frames and the careful blends of color, then as the figures came into focus she gave a soft gasp, lips parting in realization.

It was a series of paintings, each a glimpse of a different era, and each with a common subject: her. Her as a Viking maid with long braided hair, kneeling by the roots of a white oak tree. Her tending roses in a Regency garden. Dancing in the court of King Louis XV. Riding bareback across the sunset plains of the Old West. Sipping champagne at a speakeasy with pearls in her hair. And finally, her standing on Wickery Bridge with the full moon behind her, looking straight out with a determined expression, a grimoire clutched to her chest while the other hand extended outward in a gesture of protection.

Bonnie barely realized she'd got off the bed and walked towards the paintings, she was so mesmerized by them. When she looked up at Klaus her eyes were watery.

He frowned, "Do you not like them? I can-," she flung herself into his arms, sheet slipping away so she was bare-breasted while she rained kisses all over his face.

Klaus gathered her up so her toes dangled off the floor, burying his face in her hair He was murmuring words in a language she didn't understand, though their rough-hewn tenderness made her heart thump.

"I love you, Niklaus Mikaelson," she whispered against his mouth, holding his face with both hands. It was so easy to say it. She wondered why she hadn't said it sooner, "I love you I love you I love you."

His arms tightened around her small frame, just short of crushing her, "Every life I lived, every hell I travelled through, has been for this. It's all been for you, everything, past and present."

They held each other for long moments. Bonnie had weathered so much anguish these past years, she'd forgotten the simple sweetness of tears.

Rebekah turned out to be quite adept with a waffle iron, and they came downstairs to find the kitchen smelling of delicious breakfast and coffee.

The rest of the presents were quickly opened. Elijah appreciated Bonnie's gift of two new silk ties. She gifted Klaus with a necklace of rare silver rosary beads she'd purchased from an antiques vendor. Stefan made Rebekah squeal with a diamond bracelet to match her earrings.

It was a satisfying haul all round.

As the day wore on, waffles were replaced with leftover chicken sandwiches, then more whisky, and no one quite remembered where the jazz music came from but soon they were all dancing. Bonnie took a couple turns with Elijah and found his dancing as stately and precise as his mannerisms. Klaus spun her around and dipped her with flourish till she was almost dizzy. Rebekah and Stefan swayed slowly together, lost in memories and each other.

Outside the snow drifted down soft and noiseless as a blanket over the sleeping earth.

Notes: Hope everyone enjoyed this romp through Christmas cheesiness. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it, no matter how brief. 'Tis the season of giving, y'all :P