A/N: I thank you again for your kind reviews! On a side note, other stories of mine will be put on halt momentarily until I can figure out a way to sort things out.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Summary: Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

Chapter 3: Family Portrait

My fingers trailed down the wall as I walked down the dimly lit hallway. My fingers grazed each picture the same moment a heavy note struck, echoing from my mp3 player. Each picture frame had pictures of the Murin family; smiles plastered on their faces as if nothing were wrong with the world. The family was nice, I'd admit but could there be something as too nice? I shouldn't think too much of it, I reminded myself removing my fingers away from the last portrait.

The time was eleven fifty-nine PM. Everyone was asleep, except me. Opening the door, I entered my room quietly. Every time I entered, I had to absorb my surroundings again and again, making sure none of this was an illusion. For a moment I closed my eyes breathing in the fresh air a sudden wind delivered to me from my opened balcony window. I had to make sure everything would still be here when I reopened my eyes. The last thing I wanted was for everything to slip through my fingers.

I opened my eyes again. Everything remained the same. My fingers once again moved along the wallpaper covered wall until it started tracing a large painting of the Baltic Sea, illustrated to perfection. Every brush stroke captured the sea's waves, moving in unison against the shoreline leaving behind in its wake a trail of pristine white foam. Small boats aligned the horizon just out of reach from the sun's rays from the sky. I began to wonder how it would be like to go boating there one day… with my new family. I closed my eyes; I could smell the sea, I felt the cool breeze graze against my skin, I felt the sun's warm rays warming up my skin and I heard the sound of my family laughing.

"I would be nice, wouldn't it?" I spoke aloud, moving my fingers to a boat in the center of the painting.

I moved away from the painting to my study table where my laptop and wireless four-in-one printer was set up. Tapping the keys, the laptop snapped out of hibernation resuming its functions. Instantly, I logged into an instant messaging program.

[You have 10 new messages in your inbox]

As I suspected, emails from my teammates. I couldn't help but smirk; I'm gone for one day and already I received spam. I could assume it was about the problems in the house or problems regarding Bryan or Ian, one or the other. Honestly, I could barely care less about leaking pipes, broken fireplaces, expired food in the fridge, untrimmed hedges in the garden, broken heating systems, Ian's unorganized library, Bryan's 'questionable' stashes of magazines, Spencer's missing Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes novels and what not. I sighed. Suddenly, I received an instant message. May the interrogation commence.

Bryan K. says: Heyyyy! How's it going Tallie? :D

I rolled my eyes. I hated those blasted things called emoticons. Ugh. Really? Calling me 'Tallie' like some sort of mutt? Every time Bryan gave me a new pet name, he sticks with it and every time, I fail to outdo him by creating my own pet name for him. I'm not as creative as he was. Instead, I just give up.

Tala I. says: Shut it. I'm doing fine if you must know.

Tala I. says: Actually I like it here without your annoying, childish whines, obsessive questioning and immature behavior. The little girl here acts more mature than you ever will be, Kuznetsov.

Bryan K. says: I'm hurt D: ! Yeah… whatever…

Bryan K. says: Hehe, same old, same old. Even on the other side of town and you're still the same old bastard in the inside. I thought you would change with the new family and all.

Gee, thanks Bryan for pointing out the very obvious. I rolled my eyes dismissing his accusations of calling me a 'bastard'.

Tala I. says: Even though I moved to the other side of the world IDIOT, I'll still be the same. Nothing is going to change me.

Ian P. and Spencer have been added to the conversation.

Ian P. says: Hi Tala! How's it going? Liking the new family?

Spencer says: …The house hasn't burned down yet…

Spencer says: Let me rephrase that: the house has yet to burn down.

I face-palmed then massaged the bridge of my nose. Wow, wasn't this my lucky day? With a grin on my face, I talked with my friends until the wee hours of the morning.

I woke up at eight o'clock on the dot. I stretched, running a hand through my outrageous bed hair. Talking with those morons sapped away my energy, mainly, my ability to think logically. Never again would I sit in my chair reading problems created by Bryan or Ian. I pity Spencer, I really do. He'll manage it, I thought releasing a yawn. Getting off my bed, I walked directly to the window. As expected, sometime while talking to the morons, it snowed.

Three knocks echoed from my door. The door opened as a maid entered, bowing to me.

"Master Murin summons you to join him and his family for breakfast, Master Ivanov."

Master Ivanov? I liked the sound of that. I grunted in response signaling her to leave. With the door closed, I headed toward the bathroom. This would be my first day as their 'son'.

I entered the breakfast room twenty minutes later greeting Gregori—my father, who had a pipe hanging from the corner his mouth. He acknowledged my presence, nodding to me as I sat next to him. Across from me was Inessa—my mother and Calina. Butlers and maids entered the room with trays of food. Even I, a person who does not eat much could not comprehend the amount of food being served. The amounts, as much as I could approximate were for at least for five—heck, even six individuals. Don't tell me someone here has two stomachs?

A tower of pancakes was placed down before me while syrup dripped off the edges into a golden, sticky river. Beside the dish was a tray of fresh, blood red strawberries and beside that, a small bowl of whipped cream. It didn't help when the Murins heard my stomach rumble.

"Tala's blushing!" Calina exploded into a fit of giggles.

I coughed, clearing my throat.

Thank you, stomach for humiliating me. Remind me to stuff you to the point you would never complain again.

With the last slice of pancake gone, the butlers and maids entered, quickly clearing the table. A maid approached Gregori with a newspaper on a silver platter.

"Thank you Irene but not today," Gregori generously pushed away the platter and stood up from his chair, approaching me. Placing a hand down on my shoulder he announced brightly, "We're going to go out into the Christmas fields to get another Christmas tree!"

My attention moved from Gregori to Calina who jumped out of her mother's lap with joy. Christmas, huh? I never celebrated it until last year. In fact, the idea of celebrating it made me feel… out of place. Awkward. Every time I began to remember, everybody around me laughed, joked and downright transformed into obnoxious or brainless morons and drunken idiots. Either way, I refused to participate in such childish games.

"Do you celebrate Christmas, Tala?" Gregori asked me.

Startled from my thoughts I replied, "Only once."

And once was enough. Long story short: Christmas at Tyson's dojo featuring most teams from the BBA. It was a disaster. Never again am I going to set foot in that insane household. However, I would make the effort to celebrate it this year with the Murins due to very obvious reasons. I stood up from my seat, nodding to Gregori telling him I was ready to go and find the tree. He warmly smiled, moving his attention to Inessa and Calina.

"Let's go girls! A tree awaits!"

We arrived at the Christmas tree farm an hour later. Never in my life had I seen so many Christmas trees in one place. I moved to the nearest tree, my gloved hand touching its snow covered leaves. I never knew pine had such a pleasant aroma. I heard the door shut behind me. Turning around I watched Gregori and Inessa look around for the perfect tree. I turned my attention back to the hundreds of trees before me and thought: They all look the same to me…

Inessa smiled, hanging onto her husband's arm, "Tala, why don't you and Calina find a tree?"

"M-Me?" I couldn't help but point to myself.

She nodded. "Well, we all took turns in finding a tree in previous years and since you're the new addition to the family—"

"We'd like you to choose." Gregori added.

Ugh… okay. I nodded nervously. I heard the car open again and this time, Calina jumped out. Her mother untangled herself from Gregori, guiding the girl to me. It was odd of me reaching my hand, embracing her small digits, pulling her toward me. She giggled. Before we left my 'parents' told me to call them the moment I spotted the perfect tree.

Calina and I walked down an aisle of trees, hand in hand. I looked around; everything looked alike. Surely, each tree had its own unique qualities but how was I supposed to know what the perfect tree looked like? Wherever I go, I saw plastic trees erected up in corners, decorated with stars, Christmas ornaments, strings of lights and the like. On top of it all, how was Calina going to chose for me? Technically she couldn't see. Speaking of seeing, I had to ask.

"Calina, how did you know I blushed?"

She giggled, holding my hand tighter. "I'm only partially blind."

"Ah," so that explains it. Ahem, next time when I decide to blush, my face should be hidden. "So, Calina, how old are you?"

"Six!"

"Ah," I responded. Where did all my vocabulary go?

We continued walking hopelessly through the maze of greenery. Okay, let me rephrase that: whiteness. No matter how much I tried looking for the perfect tree, it seemed the tree was elusive, hidden behind shadows of larger trees. Calina suddenly released my hand, running down a small, snaked path. I quickly followed her as my red and orange scarf trailed behind me in the wind. I watched the small girl approach a large tree at the end of the trail. Spreading her fingers across its trunk, she felt the thick trunk with fingers moving into the grooves of the bark then up onto the branches. What she was doing? I watched her look up through the maze of branches and leaves. Right now, I could honestly say I was lost by Calina's actions.

"Tala," she spoke to me without turning around. "This is the tree."

"The tree?" I questioned. I looked at the tree beside me seeing double. It looked alike so why that one I wondered.

"Call mom and dad. We got ourselves a tree!"

I did exactly what I was told. I phoned Gregori and Inessa informing them of the tree. Technically it was my job to locate the tree though at the moment, I could barely care less. I could barely feel any movement from my toes, my fingers probably caught frostbite, my nose was frozen and my ears stung! …And I call myself a Russian resident. Brilliant.

Fifteen minutes later, two distinct figures approached us. "Tala m'boy!"

"Hi," I greeted.

"What a beautiful tree," Gregori exclaimed approaching it. His fingers fell into the grooves of the bark. He ran his finger up and down. Just like Calina, he looked up and nodded with approval. Okay, could someone tell me what was so great about staring up the trunk of tree?

"So, who picked out the tree?" Inessa asked.

Before I replied, Calina answered brightly, "Tala did!"

Wait, why, what? No, no, no, you got it all wrong! Your daughter picked it out, not me! I tried to voice out the truth but as stubborn as my voice was, it decided it wanted to remain stuck in my throat. I give up. Today my body was against me; thank you stomach and throat.

We arrived back at the house with butlers waiting in line at the front door. I trailed behind the Murins while Inessa directed traffic. I watched the butlers one by one removing the tree from the roof the car. It didn't take long until the tree was brought into the home, moved into the living room right by the fireplace in the corner. Inessa took my hand leading me upstairs into a room at the end of the hallway. Turning the golden doorknob, she opened the door; inside were boxes and boxes of labeled Christmas decorations. She directed me to get the ladder to get several boxes from the top shelf.

"Are you excited to decorate your first Christmas tree?" she asked, receiving a box from me.

I paused for a moment, thinking of my response. Excited? "Um…"

She smiled. Climbing back down the ladder, I followed Inessa into the living room where the butlers, maids, Gregori and Calina waited for us. Strange, butlers and maids were invited to decorate the Christmas tree? Inessa placed a box down and opened it. Inside Christmas ornaments shined reflecting the light from the fireplace. Inessa picked out an angel-shaped ornament giving it to me. She urged me to place it in any branch. I took the ornament and walked to the large tree placing the ornament on it. Okay, what was so special about it?

I was soon answered when everybody, including butlers and maids joined in decorating the tree. It was unusual to see everybody smiling, having a great time and what I noted was the butlers and maids were treated as equals. Not once did the Murins scolded or bad mouthed them; instead, they allowed them to do whatever they pleased. Soon enough, I must admit, the tree looked amazing, stunning, beautiful and other adjectives I couldn't think of at the moment. It shined so bright, it may have outshone the brightest star in the sky. A maid moved to the alter on the fireplace pressing a button. Soft, Christmas melodies echoed from behind the large tree.

Calina moved next to me holding my hand. "Pretty?"

I nodded. "Yes, very pretty."

"Honey, let's get a family picture taken," Inessa suggested to her husband.

"Oh, that's a brilliant idea! Okay everybody! Picture time!"

A butler pulled out a digital camera from his pocket while other butlers and maids herded us like sheep to the tree. I noticed Calina held my hand tighter, giggling. Inessa stood to the right of me with her arms tied around mine and Gregori stood behind me with an arm around me.

"Perfect!" said the butler smiling warmly. His finger was on the shutter, ready to shoot. "Okay, in three, two, one and smile!"

Later that day, the hallway that I once passed gained another picture frame hung up with a floral, golden frame. The Murins had a new addition to the picture: the first picture of their adopted son who smiled for the first time from his heart.