Wow, this is the twentieth chapter to this story! I never actually thought it would get this far, but I didn't think Moth and Mustardseed would show up either so this story is going in new directions all the time.

Anyways, there are currently about six people who have submitted names for Mustardseed, so the contest will go on and there is still plenty of time to enter. Thank you to the six people who have submitted names to the contest. Also I have decided that if a name is suggested more than once the person who suggested it first will win if I pick that name. This hasn't happened yet, but I figured that it was an issue that may come up. Sorry if you think this is unfair.

I Do Not Own Sisters Grimm

Chapter 20

The night of Brad's party had finally come, we were officially out of school for winter break, and Sabrina and I were just putting on our shoes and zipping our coats up before we left the house. Darkness had already fallen, but the wind from earlier in the week had died down. It would still be freezing outside, but at least there wasn't any wind.

The adults had agreed to let us go on the condition that someone drove us there and picked us up when the party as over. Jake had volunteered for this duty and was outside getting the car warmed up.

"Don't do anything too crazy you two," Veronica said with a caring tone to her words.

"We won't Mom," Sabrina called as we headed out into the cool night air. I could see my own breath tonight, this was something I had always found odd, being able to see air. Sabrina had tried to explain it to me, but I kind of zoned out.

We made our way to the car where Jake was sitting in the driver's seat. Sabrina beat me to the front seat so I was forced to sit in the back. I climbed in unhappily and slumped down in my seat. I was the Trickster King, why was I being forced to sit in the back seat? I'll just think of Jake as my chauffeur, that's fitting.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the Charming mansion. After the war ended Charming had built himself another mansion. The first had been destroyed and the Queen of Hearts had lived there, which he said made him uncomfortable. His other argument for building a new mansion had been that since he was mayor again he needed a place fit for a mayor to live. Some of the townsfolk didn't like the spending and thought it should have been put towards a school instead, but at the time there were very few children here so Charming got his mansion.

The Charming mansion was impressive. The front entry was framed by white columns and gardens filled with plants that, in the summer, would have looked nice, but looked sad and desolate in the winter. The long driveway formed a loop around a mature oak tree. Blue Christmas lights had been strung on the house to the point where I had to wonder where they got all those lights, but it looked nice all the same. Large wreaths were mounted to either side of the entryway and had yet more lights in them. Around the yard the many trees had strands of lights of multiple colors tangled in them. Candles were on the windowsills on the inside of each window emitting a soft, homey, and welcoming glow to anyone outside. It was like a Christmas winter wonderland, minus the snow.

Jake pulled up as close as he could to the door and let us out of the car. It was when Jake drove back down the drive that I noticed the cold pinprick of the snowflake that had just landed on my nose. I didn't think anything of that one small flake, in fact I forgot about it completely when the door was opened. A short, stout woman with an apron on over a simple green dress stood in the doorway and beckoned us inside.

"I'm Martha," she said in a kind voice, "I'm the house keeper and cook here at the Charming mansion. You must be some of Bradley's friends."

"Martha, how many times do I have to tell you that you can call me Brad?" Brad asked the older woman.

"It's not proper for the help to call their boss, or their boss's son, by a nickname. Call me old fashioned, but you will always be Bradley to me. I think it sounds better too," she insisted.

"It sounds childish. Now I'm done arguing about my name," he told her, then turned to us," Hey guys, glad you could make it," he greeted, taking our coats and hanging them in a closet. "The only person not here yet is Mike, and he shouldn't be long. Let's go down to the den."

"Bradley, there's another boy here," Martha said from the window by the door. She pulled the door open and greeted him with all the warmth she had greeted us with. She seemed like a kind enough old lady.

Mike allowed Brad to take his coat and hang it in the closet by ours. Brad then led us down a series of hallways and down a set of stairs to a large room. All the hallways, as well as the room before had been decorated for Christmas. "Sorry for all the Christmas stuff guys, Mom goes a bit overboard with the decorating sometimes."

The room had the look of a game room with an air hockey table and a foosball table along one wall and a dartboard with a picture of the Queen of Hearts pinned to it on another. There was a shelf of old board games in one corner and a huge TV on one wall facing some couches. A table had been set up to hold a variety of party foods, and music was playing from the surround sound. There were six kids sitting on and around the couches giving lots of room to a man occupying one of the seats and watching the news. The man was Charming, and he was dressed a bit too fancy to sit in the den and watch the news. At first impression this was the worst party ever.

As we sat down I looked around at the other guests. There were Seth and Anna, of course, but why were they looking like they were pretending the other wasn't there? Then there was Mike. Mike was shier than some, but he was a great athlete despite not being the biggest guy on the team. He always gelled up his dirty blonde hair, and tonight was no exception. The thing I didn't get about him was how he seemed to be good at such different things. Not only was he an athlete, but he was also really smart. Mike was pretty cool though, and he could be a bit more talkative when he knew everyone.

Sitting next to Mike was Ben. The two were good friends, but could be very different. While Mike played soccer, Ben played baseball. Ben was also more outgoing, although just as smart. Ben had blond hair and was known around school for having eyes of two different colors, one blue and one brown. They were the object of much playful teasing, but he didn't seem to mind much, rolling his eyes at the sometimes rather clever remarks.

They were talking to Lydia, a pretty girl with long wavy brown hair. She and Ben were known for disagreeing, and it appeared that that was what they were currently doing. It was never anything that important that they argued about. From the playful smirk on his face I think he did it on purpose, because he knew it would get her worked up. They were closely matched when it came to their arguments, though. Lydia had the right amount of knowledge to leave Ben scrambling for a witty argument, which would in turn leave Lydia desperately searching for a smart comeback. Sometimes, when they really got into it, it was best to just back away. Mike appeared to be attempting this now, too shy to jump in and help his friend. From what I'd seen of Lydia, she wouldn't be hindered by the extra person against her though. I honestly thought she could be scary sometimes, but if she was on your side you had nothing to worry about.

The last two guests were the twins, Allie and Lilly. While they were identical in their appearance of long straight auburn hair and blue eyes, their personalities were anything but identical. Allie was a dancer, interested in almost every aspect of the performing arts. She was the star of the schools dance team and was going to play the lead in the school play this year, a role that was normally reserved for an upperclassman. She wasn't shy at all and was a huge flirt. Lilly on the other hand was quieter. She preferred reading or writing to anything that required her to be on stage. She had an advice column in the school paper called "Ask Lilly", and was always giving people advice on anything from relationships to their parent's divorce. She of course did this without saying a word.

A woman who I soon recognized as Snow White appeared in the doorway. "There you are Billy, we have to go now or we'll be late to the dinner party," she said.

Charming jumped up, leaving the TV on and walked up the stairs, thanking Snow as he passed her.

"Billy and I will be gone for a few hours, and Martha has gone home for the night. Have a good time kids, and be safe," She told us before turning and walking up the stairs.

We sat there for a while, Ben and Lydia arguing about something I didn't even understand, until we heard the door slam. "So what now?" asked Allie.

"Well I planned on having more people here than this, so my party plans are kind of useless. Any ideas?" Brad asked slightly embarrassed.

"How about Twister? I used to love that game as a kid." Allie suggested, walking over to the shelf of board games and pulling out the box.

Everyone reluctantly agreed as no better ideas were presented, and soon enough the mat was spread on the floor and Lilly was designated spinner. I had never played, having lived in the forest for so long, but I caught on quickly, although I wasn't very good. After the first few calls I slipped, and because I had been so tangled up with everyone else the only one left standing was Allie. We played a few more rounds, and each time I was the cause of almost everyone falling. Eventually somebody realized this and I was told to be the spinner.

I sat down on the couch to have a rest and sat on the TV remote. The TV volume increased, "The snow has really picked up. Looks like the storm got here a day early, but the snow plows are already out clearing the roads. For you safety we strongly urge everyone to stay off the roads. They have gotten very slippery," came the reporter's voice. Then the world went black.

Again I apologize for the wait on this chapter taking so long. I tried to write it on Monday and now it's Saturday. I've just been really busy. I'll try to write a bit more tomorrow so I don't leave you hanging for long.

On the last chapter I made a mistake about the date for the end of my contest to find a name for Mustardseed. I said the next weekend from the day I started the contest then said that was July 7th. I was thinking this weekend, but I will extend the date to July 7th as I said last chapter. Just a reminder from my message above, if two people submit the same name the first person will be credited. Multiple entries are welcome, so please submit a name, or two, or three.

Also, when I had Martha call Brad "Bradley" I realized there was a Bradley in book 9. I made up Brad before book 9 ever came out without knowing that a Bradley would be created. My Brad and MB's Bradley are not the same person. Sorry if I confused anybody with that.

Please review.