AN: Yes, next chapter! Thank you all for your sweet sweet comments! They mean so much and I'm sorry I haven't gotten to reply to all of them. You're all really lovely people and honestly this story would not have gotten this far without you. Thank you!

Waking with a start, James heard the sound of rushed feet. He'd slept in a makeshift bed on the floor in Alastair's room and when he glanced at the bed, he saw the man was gone. Jumping up, he swiftly moved through the house until making it to the kitchen where he let out a high pitched whistle.

"Had to be a tornado. I can't think of another storm that would make this much mess," James said with a shake of his head.

Roxy threw him a sheepish look in response as Alastair let out a tired sigh as he surveyed the mess. She said, "I uh…was trying to make breakfast. It didn't work out that well."

"Obviously," James said with a small chuckle. "But the thought is certainly very sweet. How about we clean this up and then make breakfast together. Sound good?"

"Definitely. Merry Christmas by the way," Roxy said with a small grin before turning and grabbing the broom.

The three worked at the kitchen a bit but didn't make it spotless as they knew they'd only mess it up again as they cooked. About halfway through, James had to momentarily step away as he got a call. Giving an apologetic smile to the siblings, he took a couple of steps away and asked, "Hello?"

"Well at least you answered on the first ring. I thought I'd have to drag you out of bed like all the other times before. Now, tell me where the hell are you?" asked Lily on the other end.

"Shit! I completely forgot…You didn't here that!" James quickly continued as he waved a hand at Roxy who just giggled. "Stop laughing!"

"Who the hell are you talking to? Where are you James?" asked Lily.

Sighing, James responded, "That was Roxy. I'm over at Alastair's place." Taking a couple of steps away and lowering his voice slightly, he added, "Some shit happened so I stayed over and said I'd be with them for Christmas. Did you already leave your parents place?"

"Of course I did! How do you think I knew you weren't home?"

"Right, stupid question. Hold on a sec." Turning back to the others, James said, "Hey Alastair, I know this is going to be a pretty tall order, and I already feel bad for saying it out loud, but I completely forgot about Lily. Would it be possible-no, why am I even asking that? That's just rude. No I'll-actually could I-well maybe I could—"

"Let me guess," interjected Alastair before James could continue rambling. "You forgot about spending Christmas with Lily, she's already here so you can't tell her to enjoy the day with her family, and now you don't know what to do, correct?"

"Basically…"

"Have her come over," Alastair replied as he turned back to helping Roxy.

"Wait what?"

Without looking up, Alastair repeated himself and then added, "If you stay here, you'll feel bad about abandoning her and if you leave us, it will have the same effect no matter how much we say it's okay. Just have her come over here."

"Are you sure…?"

Rolling his eyes, Alastair waved a spatula at the man. "Do it before I change my mind, alright?"

"You're going to threaten me with that?"

"Well, I would threaten you with my pen but we both know what that does so it most certainly wouldn't be as fun now would it?" asked Alastair, the inside joke going over Roxy's head as she continued cooking.

James chuckled in response and then quickly put his phone to his ear again. "Hey Lily, I know this is going to be a bit weird but would you mind coming over to Alastair's. I don't want to abandon anyone and Alastair said it would be fine and I'm sure Roxy wouldn't mind and—"

"You're rambling again James."

"Right, so will you come over?"

"Sure, want me to bring the dog?"

"Oh yeah! That would be great!"

"Okay, I'll be over there in a little while. Just give me the address."

Telling it to her, James hung up, the dog bringing back the memory of a present. Leaving the room and going outside to grab it, he headed back in and gestured to Alastair. Seeing the box, Alastair nodded that it was okay and James quickly went up to Roxy.

"Hey, so this is from Alastair and me. Merry Christmas," James said as he handed the package to Roxy.

Her face excited and curious, she ripped it open. The box was beautiful in its own right but the carefully placed shrunken were even more so. She looked at them with aw and very carefully moved her hand over the form without actually coming in contact with the blades. She got up in a chair, placed the box on the counter, and then with careful precision, pulled one out.

"Now obviously you can tell that's a live blade so it means you have to be extremely careful with these, got it?"

She nodded earnestly and carefully put the weapon back in the box.

"Both of us are trusting that you are mature enough to handle these but we're not going to just let you play with them whenever you want," James continued.

"I can't possibly play with them since they aren't toys."

Smiling, James chuckled. "Good, because that's another important rule. They're not toys and shouldn't be used as such. Still, only when Alastair is around are you allowed to practice with them, okay? He'll help you with setting up a target, show you how to hold it so you don't cut yourself, things like that. If you agree to only use them when he's around, you keep them in the box and take care of them yourself."

She nodded rapidly and said, "Of course I will! I promise. It's possibly the best present I could have gotten."

"Good, we're glad you liked it," James replied, ruffling her hair and then turning back to cooking.

They finished and were about halfway through eating when they heard the buzzer.

"It's probably Lily. Be right back," James said as he got up and walked to the front door.

Opening it, he immediately did a face palm. "Christ, I completely forgot. Hey girl."

Lily rolled her eyes as she watched James kneel down and pet the dog, Josie. "Of course you did. Anyways, I brought everything that we had prepared beforehand, figured we might as well use it instead of waist it. You said the sister was here too?"

"Yeah, come on in," James replied as he stood up and grabbed some of the bags. He made his way back to the kitchen, Lily and Josie following him.

Roxy's eyes lit up upon seeing the dog as she jumped from her seat. "She's so pretty! Is she yours?"

"She's Alastair's if he'll have her and by the way James you never told me what he said," Lily pouted as she nudged him playfully.

"I told you I was busy! A lot of crap was going on."

Alastair simply rolled his eyes at the two and knelt beside Roxy as he held out his hand. Her fur was slightly greying at the ends but she moved with ease. She sniffed at both Roxy and Alastair, more cautious than a puppy but certainly still curious. Finally, she eased into their hands and allowed them to pet her.

"Hey old girl. Nice to finally meet you," Alastair said as he scratched behind her ear. "Thank you James."

"No problem," James responded as he put some of the food in the fridge.

After he and Lily were done, Lily asked, "Are there really no decorations around here?"

"There wasn't any time," muttered Alastair.

"Well now there is and I suppose it's a good thing I grabbed our decorations from home James."

Shaking his head, James quickly tried, "You really didn't—"

"Nonsense. There is absolutely no Christmas spirit in here and I plan to change that."

Alastair gave James a pointed glare while Roxy shouted out in excitement.

"I'll help!" Roxy said quickly as she grabbed a bag and ran into the living room.

As Lily followed Roxy's lead, Alastair walked over to James and said, "There's no way I can stop them is there?"

"Sorry…"

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," Alastair said with a roll of his eyes. "I suppose we should go help them if anything. At least then the chaos will be somewhat controlled."

James chuckled at that and nodded in agreement. Going into the next room, the spent the next hour carefully putting up all sorts of decorations around the room. When Lily pulled out the Christmas tree, Alastair honestly didn't know what to think. "You seriously have a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree?"

"What? It's practical," Lily defended with a smirk. "Easy to get out and easy to put up."

"Well you do have me there."

After finishing the work, Roxy declared Christmas festivities would commence which Lily quickly agree with. The four played games, talked, and overall goofed around though Alastair stayed stationary for most of it as Josie quickly decided his lap was the comfiest place in the room.

Though it was a very unconventional day, Alastair had to admit that it was the best Christmas he had in a long time.