Welcome back. So, if you don't remember, we left off last chapter with Roxy back and hoping to leave the hospital very soon, as well as some drama in the Maryam household. As I do realize that some people like fluff in the midst of all the chaos, this here chapter is going to be what I call the "mandatory christmas chapter" that you see in so many fanfictions. Make of that what you will.
DISCLAIMER: Homestuck isn't mine, and that's fine… I suppose.
Chapter 17
"Alright we're here!" Dirk exclaimed, parking his car in one of the hospital spots. "You guys excited?"
Rose could hardly contain her excitement. She had been thinking about this day for weeks. And with 5 days until Christmas, she couldn't be happier. "Super excited!" She and the Strider brothers got out of the car and walked inside.
Dirk sauntered up to the front desk with his usual gait. "Hello. We are here for Roxy Lalonde. She is suppose to be released from the hospital today." He gave the young man at the front desk a slight wink through his pointed shades.
The receptionist looked slightly flustered. "Uh… yes of course. You may go back there now."
Rolling her eyes, Rose answered. "Thank you, sir." She gripped the bag she had brought with a new set of clothes for her mother. Nothing fancy, but I'm sure she will appreciate it after spending so long in gross hospital clothes. The three approached the door. Rose drew in a breath and looked at her two step brothers before opening the door.
"Hello? Who is it?" Roxy's voice could be heard.
Hardly being able to contain her excitement, the young Lalonde slammed the door open and leapt towards her unsuspecting mother. "Mom!" She hugged her mother tightly. "It's so good to see you awake. I mean, I know I have been more and more recently, but like, seeing you awake and knowing you get to be home just seems even better somehow."
Roxy smiled. "Yes. I know what you mean. Now, let me breath just a bit." She chuckled.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Rose let go of her mother and looked at the two boys who were still standing by the door awkwardly. "Come on guys. Don't let me steal all the love."
Mom Lalonde opened her arms, and both Striders ran up and hugged her. Rose swore she heard some sniffling from them both, but decided not to give them a hard time about it. They had a right to cry.
"Ready to go home?" Dirk asked his step-mother after a few seconds.
Roxy nodded, but immediately looked down at her outfit. "Well, almost ready."
"Ah!" Rose exclaimed, remembering she had the bag. "Right. I have these for you. They aren't much, but I figured you wanted something comfortable." She held it out in her mother's direction.
The older Lalonde gladly took the clothes, went in the bathroom to change, and was out in a matter of minutes, donning the loose sweats and a tight but comfortable and thin long sleeve reading the words I am the Void in sparkles. "Now I'm ready."
The four of them walked out to the front reception area carrying all of Roxy's belongings. They checked her out officially, then got into the car, their destination home. Rose shot Kanaya a quick text, then began to chat with her mother.
Finished. Kanaya taped the final corner of the 'Welcome Home' banner and stepped down from the chair she was standing on. "'Rim, did you put the cats in one of the bedrooms?"
"Sure did." Porrim walked up to her sister and gave her a side-hug. "I'm so proud of you for doing this."
The younger Maryam smiled. "I figured it's the least I could do. Karkat, did you and Kankri finish making the sandwiches?"
The redhead walked out of the kitchen. "Yeah, just finished. I hope she actually likes these. I wouldn't want to waste all this food."
"Great. Thanks for helping with this guys." Kanaya told the other three. Just then, she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket, opening her messages.
Rose: Hey. Just got in the car. On our way home. You need us to take a detour?
Kanaya: No, we are good. See you in a few.
Knowing it didn't take long for Dirk to drive everyone home, she called everyone else. "Alright guys. Dirk is driving home as we speak. Everyone, stand just below the sign. Oh! I almost forgot the flowers!" The young Maryam ran back into the kitchen to grab the flowers she so carefully picked out and arranged. Purple Asters, pink Azaleas, and white Gardenias. Thank goodness Porrim use to be a florist. I would never know how to arrange flowers to send the right messages. Hopefully Roxy will like them nonetheless. She seems to like these colors anyway.
Suddenly, the door could be heard unlocking, and the four inside stood patiently in their places. Dirk was the first in the door, and he smiled when he saw what the house looked like. "Alright. We're home. Come on in mom." He opened the door wide enough for Roxy to step in.
"Welcome home Roxy." Karkat, Kankri, Kanaya, and Porrim said in unison.
The older Lalonde stopped in her tracks, clearly taking in all that was around her. She started to cry.
"Aw, mom." Rose embraced Roxy. "Don't cry, this is suppose to be a happy moment."
"Don't worry." Roxy sniffed. "These are tears of joy." The other three blondes had walked to where the Maryam's and Vantas' were standing. Roxy looked at them all together, smiling. "Thank you. This means so much to me."
Kanaya walked forward with the flowers in hand, handing them to Roxy and smiling. "I hope you like them. I figured you could use something to brighten up your house for a bit."
"Thank you Kanaya." The older Lalonde hugged the younger Maryam. "These are beautiful. So, since I had time to think about what to do for Christmas, I figured we could all do a sort of Secret Santa thing. Everyone has until Christmas Eve to buy their item or items. Nothing over, let's say,40 dollars. How about it?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Rose ran to the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a bowl, a piece of paper, and a pen. She proceeded to write something down and tear up the piece of paper, placing all the pieces in the bowl. "Okay. So everyone has to grab a piece of paper, one at a time. Check it and make sure you don't have your own name. If you do, pick another one, otherwise, that's your 'Santa Victim', for lack of a better name." The bowl was passed around, and everyone picked out their little slip of paper.
"Thanks again to all you guys. You really do mean a lot to me." Roxy pointed out once again.
"No problem, Ms. Lalonde. Please, do not hesitate to call me if you need anything." Kankri handed Roxy a business card looking item, which presumably contained his name and phone number on it. "Oh, by the way. Your sandwiches are in the kitchen. Karkat and I have to leave, but there are definitely enough for the rest of you."
Roxy giggled. "Thank you Kankri. I'll see you two later." She waved as they headed out of the door. "Are the rest of you staying for sandwiches?"
"Well, I think it would be nice to stay for a while." Dave responded. "I definitely don't want these sandwiches to go to waste." He said, chuckling.
The younger Lalonde laughed. "Of course. How honorable of you to sacrifice yourself to help us eat all this food. Kanaya, will you two be staying?"
"Aw, unfortunately, no." Porrim answered for her sister. "I have a lot of grading to do. It may be Christmas vacation, but I've sort of been putting off my paper-grading. We will see you guys later, though."
Kanaya walked forward and gave Rose a hug. "I'll talk to you this week. I promise. See you whenever." They said their goodbyes and walked out the door. As they headed towards home, Kanaya contemplated what to get for her Secret Santa person.
The next few days were pretty tame for everyone. Rose and Roxy were putting up a few Christmas decorations, then going over to the Strider's apartment to help them, since they nearly set fire to the place doing it last year. Although Rose's life seemed to be getting back to normal, she still felt like she had so many questions in her life. I'm still determined to find out more about Jack and why he targeted my mother. I don't yet know how Feferi and Vriska connect to the bigger picture, but I'm sure they do. But most importantly, what am I getting my Secret Santa person for Christmas?
Rose was talking with Dave for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Come on Dave, please? I really don't know what to get for Ka-"
"Uh-uh! Absolutely not. I don't want to hear who you have for Secret Santa. That's not how it works. You'll just have to think of it on your own." The boy refused.
The girl sighed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "Ugh, fine. I should probably go now to do it, so I guess I'll see you later. If mom asks, tell her I'm out buying presents and I'll be back to pick her up later." She went down to the car and drove to the mall, thinking of possible ideas. Well, I could get… no. I'm sure he won't even like that, much less wear it. Maybe just a… I don't think so. Possibly just a… wait, maybe that's too simple. I mean, gift cards are just a 'I didn't know what to get you so take this' gift isn't it? Ugh I don't know! She continued to think as she walked into the nearest store in the mall.
Kanaya put the last food item on the table and her Secret Santa gift under their tree. Tonight is going to be so great. I am super excited. Her sister had invited over the Strider brothers, the Vantas brothers, and the Lalonde family over for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner. They had the same meal every year: Roast leg of lamb, mint jelly, cauliflower smothered in a cheese sauce, roast potatoes, and Kanaya's favorite, pumpkin fritters. All that was different was that they made enough to feed a small army instead of just the two of them. "Wow 'Rim. You really know how to provide for the masses."
"I sure hope so. I've heard from Roxy that the Striders tend to eat like horses, so better more than less!" Porrim laughed, taking off her apron.
The doorbell rang, and Kanaya practically jumped towards the front door. She swung it open and smiled, seeing Dirk and Dave in some of the most typical ugly christmas sweaters a person could buy. "Hey Kanaya. Ooh what smells so good?" Dave queried.
Dirk smacked his brother on the back of the head. "Don't be rude little bro. Thanks for inviting us over, Kanaya."
"Oh no problem." The young raven smiled. "You guys can go ahead and put your gifts under the tree. We will open them once everyone has arrived."
Dave smiled, setting his gift under the decorated fake foliage. "Cool. I texted Karkat. He and Cranky should be here in a few minutes."
Kanaya smirked, giggling at the older redhead's nickname. "Make yourselves at home." She motioned to the couches as the doorbell rang again. "I'll get it." She walked over, opening the door again. Her smile grew even wider than it was before as she saw Rose and Roxy in some simple yet festive attire. "Hi Rose. You two look very nice. Come in." She blushed.
"Thanks Kanaya. You look good too." Rose motioned to Kanaya's green top, red skirt, and reindeer antler headband.
Clearly catching drift of where eyes would wander, Roxy interjected. "Where should we put our gifts Kanaya?"
The raven snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Oh right! Just under the tree. We will open them as soon as the two Vantas brothers show up."
"Thank you. Sounds good." Roxy walked towards the tree, setting her carefully wrapped gift under it. "My, the food smells amazing. Porrim, you are quite the cook if I do say so myself. I may have to get your recipes sometime. Not that I cook very much at home…"
The older Maryam chuckled. "Yeah I understand. I would love to give you some of the recipes. I don't cook very much, but when I do, I go all out, as you probably noticed."
Kanaya smiled. I hope Porrim and Roxy become friends. It would be good for Rim to have someone to be close to. Her admiring of a potential budding friendship was cut short by the doorbell ringing once again. "I'll get it!" She walked to the door, opening it to find two redheads, one with an annoyed expression, and the other one with a concerned expression.
"I am so sorry we are late. I tried to leave on time, but I had to lecture Karkat on something, so it took longer than we expected. Sorry to cause you any trouble." Kankri apologized.
The raven gave a nervous smile. "No, Kankri, it's fine. Actually, you're almost perfectly on time. It's only 6 pm now."
Kankri gave a small sigh. "Well, as I say, early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. Anyway, where shall we put our presents?"
"Ah, yes. Well, you might as well hold on to them. Since everyone is here now, we can start with the Secret Santa things." Kanaya stepped aside, motioning them inside. "Alright, everyone's here. Should we start with the presents?"
Everyone grabbed their gifts and made their way to the living room, sitting in various chairs. Kanaya stood in the middle of the room. "Okay, let me explain how this works. I am going to hand my gift to my person, who will then open the gift. Then, that person will hand their gift off, and so on and so forth. I'll start. Kankri." She thrust her gift out towards him. "Merry Christmas."
Kankri gave a small smile. "Well, that is quite nice of you, but I would like to point out that some people may be triggered by the words 'Merry Christmas'. Even though the holiday derived from a religious background, not all people are religious, so that phrase may be offensive to-"
"Come on Kanny. Just take the gift and say thank you." Porrim pleaded. "No one wants to hear a lecture right now."
"Ugh. Alright." The copper-haired man gently took the gift from Kanaya's hands. "Thank you Kanaya." He unwrapped it, revealing a book titled The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Muggles. He looked it over for a second before grinning. "Thank you so much. I do enjoy good philosophy books." He set the gift aside. "Well, I suppose it is my turn now."
And so it continued, everyone getting wonderful presents, filled with thought. After everyone was done, they made their way to the dinner table, where everyone ate happily and engaged in frivolous conversation.
It was mid morning Christmas day, and Dave was sleeping soundly in his bed. Well, that was until he suddenly felt a pair of soft lips placed carefully against his own. He awoke, reaching for his shades before opening his eyes, seeing his boyfriend hovering over him, holding a piece of mistletoe.
"Well well, the sleeping beauty awakens. Though, judging by your appearance, more like I've awoken the sleeping dragon." Karkat smirked.
Dave grumbled. "Dude. Not cool. And besides, I would make a banging dragon, just so you know. Why are you holding mistletoe?"
The redhead blushed, throwing the festive greens away from him. "Uh… no reason."
"You know you don't need mistletoe to get a cheap little kiss." The blonde smirked, wrapping his arms around the other and pressing their lips together. The two melded together as one, lips moving in perfect unison.
All too soon, the kiss was broken, and Karkat smiled. "Yeah I know. But… 'tis the season?"
Dave rolled his eyes, smirking. "Sure. Let's go to the living room, before Mr. Crankypants freaks out or lectures us about something."
"Aw come on." Karkat chided. "I know my brother can be uptight, but at least try to be nice. He means well."
The blonde paused for a second. "Oh alright. But only because it's Christmas." He gave Karkat another peck on the lips before heading with him to the living room.
I thought I would put what the flowers mean, since it may make more sense. This may not be the only time I do this, but who knows?
Asters = Happiness
Azaleas = Good health
Gardenias = Joy
The book I mentioned is also not mine, though it sounds really cool. I have to thank Roxy for telling me about it. There are many more if you want to check them out. The website is . Obviously take out the spaces and replace the word dot with a period.
Comment, review, follow, favorite, and PM maybe?
~Jane