The trees went from colorful to bare as the temperatures dropped lower each day. The ground that was once dappled in leaves was now covered in ice and snow, both a blessing and a curse for the people of Jump City. As for the temperatures, it was just a curse. The Titans now wore their winter uniformseverywhere, not that it was enough during the cold nights. But that didn't keep some of the Titans from enjoying the snow.

Gar snuck behind a large snow bank, an icy snowball in his gloved hand. In the corner of his eye he could see the clothed shoulder of his metallic rival, making snowballs of his own. While his opponent was distracted he prepared to strike, winding his arms back and smirking to himself. His arm was about to jerk forward, when something completely unexpected happened. Victor turned around, threw his snowball with his super powered arm, and landed it right in Garfield's face.

"Oh! Got 'em!" He hollered. Gar fell to the ground at the impact of the icy and snow hitting his face. He felt it's sting and could've sworn he felt his skin break. He grabbed the slush and pulled it off his face. That would leave a mark tomorrow.

Revenge. He thought. There was no way he was letting Vic get away with this one. While his friend was laughing his metal ass off he gathered his pre made snowballs and prepared for war. He rapidly three all of the small balls as fast as he could. They descended onto his opponent like bombs on enemy lines. They didn't all hit him, but one landed on his one good eye, sending him to his knees. Now it was the changeling's turn to fall over laughing.

"Who's got ya now?!" He laughed as Victor cleaned the ice out of his eye. He'd likely have marks tomorrow too.

"I do." Said someone else. They both turned to see the resident mistress of magic levitating several snowballs with her magic.

"Ohhh...shit." Gar muttered. Raven released her hold on the snow and it came tumbling down on their heads.

"Gah- OW!"

"Holy- Oh God that's cold!"

"What was that for, Rae?" Gar asked, annoyed. Raven smirked at their reactions.

"Robin needs us all inside. Something about Christmas..." She said. She turned around on her heel, knowing she'd said the magic word.

"Sweet! Let's go!" Gar cheered, running after her with Vic following. Christmas wasn't too far off, but for some people it couldn't come fast enough. Vic and Gar were going crazy over presents, food, and decorations for the Tower. They had already done the lights on the first day of December.

Once all three Titans were inside and in the Ops room, Robin started the meeting. "Alright. So our yearly discussion is what we're doing for Christmas..." He began.

"Christmas party!"

"With all the Titans!" Gar and Victor cut in.

Robin rolled his eyes under his mask an went on. "No, we will not be having Titans from across the world for a Christmas Party. Now this year K- Starfire and I have been asked to join... Bruce for Christmas dinner." He muttered the last part almost dejectedly.

"What?!" The duo yelled in unison.

"You get to spend Christmas with Batman?!"

"Why aren't we in on this?!" The boys outraged.

"Please friends. Let Robin finish." Starfire cut in. The boys shut up, but had resentful looks on their faces.

Robin smiled at her and continued. "By coincidence, Beast Boy, your former team sent us an email about stopping by for Christmas Eve to give you a gift." Robin said, directing it at Beast Boy.

"Wait. You mean they sent you an email but left me out of it?!" He asked, standing up. Raven felt his sudden frustration and anger. If anything could set Beast Boy off it was his former team leader.

Robin could tell he was offended and tried to calm him down. "Beast Boy. I just got the email this morning on the Titans main computer. The email was sent to the team as a whole. I only knew about it before you guys did because I checked our email." He explained.

Beast Boy seemed to calm down a little, but Raven still felt his aggravation. "So...they're all coming?" He asked, disbelief in his voice. They had never done this before and always sent him his presents. "I mean...what's so special about this year?"

"I don't know, Beast Boy. Maybe they just wanted to see you this year. It's been a while after all." Robin supposed. It was true. It had been over a year at least since he saw his old team.

"Alright. So are you and Star gonna be there?" He asked. He knew Mento would find it unprofessional if the whole team wasn't there.

"We will be. We're leaving Christmas Day to head to Gotham." He said.

Finally Beast Boy smiled. "Cool. It'll be nice to see those guys again." He said. He had missed seeing his adoptive parents and uncles even if there'd always be some tension between he and his father.

"Alright it's settled then." Robin said, nodding the meeting.

"Uh...actually, Rob..." Victor cut in.

"Yeah, Cy?" He asked.

"Well...ya see...my grandparents were wondering if I could stop by their place for Christmas dinner..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The whole team turned to him, surprised. Victor rarely mentioned his family and from what they knew he hadn't seen any of them since the team started.

"Um, sure. No need to ask permission for that." Robin said, offering him a smile, though he still seemed a little uneasy.

"Thanks, man. They've been asking me to come for a few years now but I told 'em I had plans..." He said, looking a little guilty.

"But why did you-" Starfire was about to question him about why he refused, but was cut off by Raven. She knew Vic didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Then they'll be even happier to see you." She said, giving her friend a knowing look. He smiled at her as a silent thank you for the save.

"Okay then. I guess we're all good here, right?" Robin checked to see if anyone had more input.

"Yup."

"Yes."

"Ditto."

The team replied at once. "Good. Beast Boy, you might want to call or email Mento about having them stop by." He said. He and Starfire then exited the Ops room, leaving the other three to themselves.

"Well...I got a phone call to make, so..." Victor said, clearly feeling awkward about the situation. He got up and left as well. Leaving the last team members to sit in silence.

"'They'll be even happier to see you'?" Gar mocked what Raven said earlier. It came out pretty awkward in his mind. "Never thought you'd be the sympathetic type, Rae." He said, trying to lighten up the situation.

She glared at him. "This is a big deal for Victor. He hasn't seen any of his family in years. I was trying to encourage him and stop Starfire from questioning him about stuff he doesn't want to talk about." She said.

Gar realized he might have sounded like a jerk when he said that. "Oh...right...I was just..." He tried to explain his actions.

"I know. 'Lightening the mood'." She said. She got up and went to the kitchen to make herself some tea. Gar followed her.

"Look, Rae. I'm sorry. I was just trying to-" he said as she busied herself with boiling the water.

"I know what you were trying to do, Garfield. But despite your efforts trying to make this a comedic experience it won't work. Vic just needs some space. If he wants our attention, it would be best not to make his family reunion sound like a joke." She stated, facing him directly.

Gar looked at his feet. "You're right. I just thought if I make it sound funny he'd be more relaxed about it." He said.

"There's a time and a place for that, Gar. This just isn't one of those times." She said, taking her kettle off the burner.

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna go call Rita about them stopping by..." He said. He turned and left, Raven eying him on his way. She knew that he was excited to see the Doom Patrol, specifically Rita, but she knew he was uneasy about it too. Mento wasn't exactly on the best terms with Robin and was cross towards the team since the beginning, so some tension would likely be present even on holidays like Christmas. Hopefully Robin would be the bigger person and avoid the tension altogether while the Doom Partol was here.

Speaking of family, Raven was reminded of her own. Not her of her mother, but of the family she found herself. Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether, her surrogate kids. They were also known more famously as the Titan Tykes. Raven hadn't seen them in almost a year since she last visited them at the monastery. They had video chatted now and then, but she hadn't gotten to see them in person for too long. She considered seeing them for Christmas, but she didn't want to leave Gar in the Tower alone on his favorite holiday. Maybe she could see them before Christmas and give them their presents ahead of time. She felt like a bad guardian for not even seeing her kids on Christmas, but she couldn't think of any other way besides bringing Garfield with her.

Maybe he wouldn't mind...they'd like his jokes, after all... She wondered. She shook her head, brushing the thought off. That'd be too weird. Besides, the kids aren't always the best with strangers. She thought. She finally decided she'd see them on Christmas night so Gar wouldn't be alone the whole day.

When she was finished with her tea, she went down the hallway to her room. She was right by Beast Boy's room when she suddenly stopped. She swore she heard someone's voice. She saw it was coming from Beast Boy's room and couldn't help but hear what he saying.

"That sounds great, mom. Um... Yeah that's cool, great actually!...uhuh, uhuh... Yeah... I - I love you too. Bye." He said before hanging up the phone.

Raven felt his longing to see his mother and family again. She hadn't realized he felt so strongly about them until now, and felt bad he had to wait so long to see them. I know how you feel, Gar. I know how you feel. She thought before she continued on her way down the hall.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Gar worked off his nerves by playing his most violent video game on his Xbox. He had failed this level three times and was growing bored when Raven interuppted him.

"Um, Gar?" She said. He paused the game and turned to look at her.

"Yeah, Rae?" He asked. He noticed she was wearing her civillian clothes rather than her uniform now.

"I'm going to the store. You need anything?" She asked.

Gar gave her a look. "You're going shopping?" He asked suspiciously.

She gave him a look too. "Yes. I'm going to be visiting my kids for Christmas and I'm picking up gifts for them."

Garfield gave her a look of horror. "YOU HAVE KIDS!?" He exclaimed, turning to face her completely.

Raven rolled her eyes. "No, they're not my kids as in I gave birth to them, but I view them as my kids since I've grown...attached to them. You might remember them. They were the ones I complained about baby sitting." She replied.

Gar was instantly relieved- mostly. So she hadn't actually had kids, but she was seen as a motherly figure by them. Somehow that made him nervous. He couldn't explain how, it just did. "Oh, that's cool." Then it occured to him- what about Christmas? "Wait- what am I gonna do if you're gone on Christmas?" He asked.

Raven looked guilty. "I'll be leaving to see them on Christmas night so we can still celebrate Christmas day, but I couldn't spend the whole day with you without bringing you with me to see them."

Without thinking, Gar did the first thing that came to mind. "Then I'll go with you!"

Raven looked at him, surprised. "You want to?" She asked.

"Um, well, yeah! I like kids and all; plus if you've met my family I should meet yours, right? Only fair..." He stuttered, his embarrassment showing.

Raven thought for a moment. She couldn't believe he actually wanted to go. "Sure. If you're up to it." She said.

"Sounds great! Let's go!" He said, getting off the couch.

"Go where?" She asked.

"The store, duh, Rae! I can't just meet these kids without getting them something for Christmas!" He said, heading for the door.

"Are you really going to do that wearing that?" She asked gesturing to his uniform.

"Oh! Right..." He said sheepishly. He ran for the door to the hallway, leaving Raven to wait. Five minutes later he returned wearing his normal clothes too. "Let's go!" He cheered.

Raven teleported them to the mall and started shopping. They went to Kids R Us, Children's Place, and almost every other children's store the mall had to offer. Gar seemed to be an expert at what to get the kids so she followed him to the suggested stores.

After searching a little while they bought some super hero themed onesies and baby clothes for Teether, a remote control car for Timmy, and several books for Melvin. Raven knew Melvin was very into reading and had been since she was two years old. Gar had commented it being "Like mother, like daughter". She blushed at the comment. She considered them her kids but had never been called their mother before. She never thought of herself as the motherly type, but it was nice to be looked up to as one.

"Ready to head out, Rae?" Gar asked after they finished shopping around.

"Definately." She replied. People had been staring at them and whispering behing their backs since they got there. She didn't know why. The team had gone shopping before and most people didn't gawk at them like this.

They reached the cash register only to receive more weird looks from the clerk and the other people in line. "What are they staring at?" Raven whispered to Gar.

Gar looked around and saw the eyes looking at them like they committed some kind of scandal. He heard a girl whisper to another girl with his sensitive hearing and heard her say: "Oh my god. I can't believe Raven's his baby mama!" She whispered. Gar almost bursted out laughing had he not been so embarrassed by their assumption. Did they really think they were buying baby clothes because he had gotten Raven pregnant? Then again, buying all this kids stuff, together, by themselves, did look kind of suspicious.

"I know right? That whore!" The other girl whispered. All the embarrassment Gar previously felt vanished and was replaced with anger. How could they call her a whore! A low growl was released from his throat as he glared the girls down.

"Gar? Are you okay?" Raven asked when she heard him growl. Gar only growled like that when he was really pissed off, so something must've set him off.

Gar snapped out of it and realized he had been growling. "What? Oh...sorry, Rave. I...heard something." He explained, his embarrassment coming back.

"What did you-" Raven was cut off when the clerk interrupted her.

"Is it true?" She asked excitedly.

Raven gave her a confused look. "Is what true?" She asked.

"That you're...y'know... And he's the father?" She giggled.

Raven's cheeks turned bright red with humiliation and anger and grabbed the clerk by her collar. "If you honestly think that either of us are just irresponsible teenagers with crazed hormones you're dead wrong. And if you must know, these are Christmas gifts for the youngest Titans, not my nonexistent children! Got it?" She barked. The girl nodded rapidly and Raven released her.

She turned to the rest of the people watching. "Anyone else got any questions?" She asked, glaring them all down. Everyone either stared at her with their mouths hanging open or quickly nodded. "Good." Raven sneered. She gave the cashier the money and walked away with her now bagged purchases.

"Wow." Garfield said once they were outside. "You...handled that well." He said.

Raven sighed. "Thanks. I just hate it when people treat us and the rest of the team like we're some wild adolescents who can't keep their heads in the game, but rather in their love affairs." She deadpanned. They were outside now, walking on the sidewalk.

"Yeah. Seems like we're never quite taken seriously." Gar agreed.

"Tell me about it. By the way, why did you growl earlier? You only do that when you're really mad about something." She asked.

Gar blushed and tried to come up with an excuse. "I, um...just saw something I..."

"What did I say about lying to an empath, Gar?" She asked, giving him a look.

Gar looked around nervously but gave in. "I...heard someone say something about you that I didn't think you'd like..." He explained.

"What was it?" She asked.

"Well...it was about the same thing that cashier brought up. They called you a...um..." He didn't want to say it.

"They called me a what? Slut? Bimbo?" She guessed, not seeming to care.

"A...whore. When I heard it I got ticked off that they'd say something like that about you, so..." He said sheepishly.

Raven almost smiled at him defending her like that. "Don't worry about that. They're just some ingrates who have no filter between their brains and their mouths." She said.

"Whatever you say." He replied. But he still couldn't let it go. They had said some pretty offensive stuff about Raven and he was surprised she hadn't gone all demon-y on that cashier.

Raven teleported them back home, given it was almost dark out. Once they were back, Raven excused herself to go wrap the presents, though that wasn't what she had in mind. When she was in her room she turned on her laptop and went on Skype. After waiting for the video call to go through her caller finally picked up, revealing the faces of Melvin, Timmy, and Teether.

"Hey guys." She greeted them, smiling at her kids.

"Hey Raven!" "Hi Raven!" "Waven!" The kids greeted her, seeming overexcited to see her again.

"How are you doing? Excited for Christmas?" She asked them.

"We're fine. We've all bee anxious about the holidays." Melvin replied for all of them, being the leader of the group.

"Same here. That's why I've decided to come visit you for Christmas this year." Said Raven.

"Awesome! Are you gonna bring presents?" Timmy cut in.

Raven chuckled. "You'll have to wait and see." She replied.

Timmy pouted. "Cool! I've got a ton of tricks to show you." Melvin said, smiling brightly.

"Waven!" Teether just repeated, making grabbing motions at the screen.

"What kind of tricks?" Raven asked.

Melvin was about to reply when a loud voice interrupted her. "That was Father Brandon. He's really strict about our bedtime." She said sadly.

"Then you'll have go tell me more soon." Raven said. "See you guys later."

"Bye Raven!"

"Bye Rae!"

"Waven!"

Raven waved goodbye to her kids as their little hands waved back. She ended the call, not wanting to get them in trouble, but was reluctant to do so. She wished she could've gotten more time with her kids as she could hardly ever face time with them with their strict schedule and Raven's constantly changing life as a superhero. Some parent she was- only being able to see her kids over a screen a few times a month.

Raven knew from when she was very young that she could never be a parent- both because of her genetics and because her bad blood would be a curse on the child she bared. But she knew that if she ever did by some miracle, she wanted to be a good parent, better than her own mother and father had been. And now she did have kids who, though they weren't biologically hers, viewed her as their guardian and even a mother. Raven had always secretly wanted that- to be a mother even though she'd always thought it to be impossible. But what was the point if she barely got to spend time with them? Shamefully she admitted, she was just like her own mother had been.

Don't think that way. She told herself, shaking the thought off. At least you actually love your children even if they're technically not yours. Wait- did she just say 'love'? She had never said or thought the word before. The word love scared her, as she was always told it was the most dangerous thing for her to feel. But now that she thought about it, she considered that maybe what she felt for these children was love, like the bond she felt with the Titans. But this was different. It was a different kind of love. She felt protective and compassionate towards her kids. As for the Titans she felt a strong bond between them, one of friendship and family. There was another kind she hadn't experienced before- romantic love. She had felt things similar to it, but she knew that there was a difference between being attracted to someone and falling in love with them.

Raven crawled under her covers and turned her lights off, a melancholy look on her face. She knew she was capable of love, but had done a horrible job at showing it, resulting in most people believing she was emotionless. "Maybe that's why most of the male population runs screaming from me." She muttered. Not dwelling on the thought, she closed her eyes was asleep within the next hour.