Chapter topic suggestion by hunter hewett.
December 25, 2040
Los Angeles, California, Earth
I'm sure you feel it coming
There's something in the breeze
It might be slightly snowing or seventy degrees…
It's a peaceful Christmas morning at the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu household. It's only been four months since Anne, Sasha, Marcy, and their twins moved into their current house, but it felt so much like home that they might as well have been there for years.
The living room was filled with all sorts of decorations. There were the classics like the lights on the front window and the stockings hung up by the TV, the ones reflecting the Calamity Trio's heritage like the gingerbread houses shaped like Wat Benchamabophit and Mengjia Longshan Temple, the ones referencing Amphibia like the commissioned scale model of Barrel's Warhammer which flashes red and green lights, the arts-and-crafts made by Sprig and Polly, and last but not least the Christmas tree topped with a star adorned with three plastic gems in familiar colors. There were plenty of presents under the tree left by Santa for the twins, and a few special ones for the parents as well.
Speaking of the parents, the trio was sleeping peacefully. The past few weeks had been particularly stressful, so it was nice to have a calm morning…
Of course, Christmas morning with a couple of 6-year-olds never stays calm.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" "Wake up, it's Christmas!"
Sprig and Pollly burst into their moms' room and jumped on their bed, succeeding in waking them up as quickly as possible. Part of them wanted to be mad at the twins, but the Calamity Moms couldn't be mad at children's excitement for Christmas. Besides, it wasn't the first time they had been aggressively woken up by their children and it wouldn't be the last.
Marcy was the first to arise, her energy seemingly going from 0 to 100. "Ooh! It's already morning!" She fell to the floor while getting out of bed, but quickly got up, paying no mind to her fall. She looked over to her wives. Anne was awake, but Sasha was still trying to cling onto sleep.
"Sashy!" called out Marcy.
"Ugh…" replied the blonde. "Five more minutes, please…"
The twins, still on the bed, took this as the opportunity to get up close in Sasha's face.
"Come on, Mom!" said Sprig.
"We must open preseeeeeeents!" said Polly
Sasha eventually sat up and put her hands on the twins' shoulders to stop them from moving around too much. "Okay kiddos, I'm up," she said.
The five of them walked downstairs to the Christmas tree. (Well, two of them walked. The rest ran.) Sprig and Polly surprisingly didn't open their presents rapidly, since in years past Anne had drilled into the twins the need to unwrap presents carefully so she had time to capture some good photos. It seems she inherited her father's desire to take perfect Christmas pictures. The kids got plenty of games, toys, and art supplies, and the parents received some special gifts too: a custom-made Sprig plushie for Anne, a new sword for Sasha, and the soundtrack of the Vagabondia Chronicles animated series for Marcy, which she had worked on.
Once all the presents were opened, the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wus ate breakfast and started playing some of the new video games, which in all honesty were gifts for Marcy as well as gifts for the twins. Things got really chaotic when Sprig and Polly played the newest Mario Party against Marcy and Sasha while Anne took plenty of pictures. Marcy and Sasha purposely did badly on the minigames to give the kids a fair chance of winning, but that ultimately proved unnecessary since they got screwed over by Chance Time, leaving them with no stars and the twins with three.
Eventually the gaming excitement died down and the family decided to simply relax for a while before they left to have dinner at the Boonchuys' house.
"I know something fun we can do to pass the time," said Anne. "How about we share some Christmas memories with you?"
Sprig and Polly's eyes grew wide. They loved hearing about their moms' past.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Polly.
"Tell us your favorite Christmas, Mæ̀," said Sprig.
The Calamity Moms all looked at each other before responding.
"Actually…" said Anne, "I think I should go last."
"I'll start!" said Marcy. "My favorite Christmas was when I was 7. That was the year the first Cynthia Coven book came out and I really wanted it and my mom and dad said if I was reeeeeeeeeeeally good that year then Santa might get it for me, so I did! I did all my chores and I helped out in school and I aced all my homework, and guess what?" Marcy got up and walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the book in question. "I got it! I was so excited I read the whole thing in one day, and yeah there were a few moments that were a little too mature for a 7-year-old, but my lifelong interest in the fantasy genre and magical worlds was born!" Marcy stopped to catch her breath before she put the book back. "I hope I didn't go a bit overboard there."
When Marcy turned back to her family, she saw Anne and Marcy looking at her with loving eyes, and the twins looking on in awe and wonder.
"Can you read that book to us one day, Mama?" asked Sprig.
Happy tears came to Marcy's eyes as she sat back down. "I would love to."
"Your turn, Sash," said Anne.
"I think my favorite Christmas was the first one we had with you two," said Sasha, gesturing toward the twins, "but since your Mama and Mæ̀ are doing ones from before you were born I guess I'll choose one from further back." She thought for a moment before continuing. "When I was 10 I spent Christmas with my parents at a cabin in the mountains upstate. It was nice and cozy and we sat by the fireplace and watched the skiers. Maybe that doesn't sound too special, but it was the last Christmas before my folks split, and honestly the last time all three of us were happy together."
Sasha began to tear up a little but her crying ceased when she was wrapped in hugs from her wives and kids. "Thanks, everyone."
Anne took this as her cue to begin her tale. "My favorite Christmas was in 2019, when the Plantars were living on Earth."
"You mean the original me and Sprig?" asked Polly.
"Yep! Sprig and Polly and Hop Pop were trying to figure out the true meaning of Christmas, which now that I think about it sounds pretty cliché but it happened." Anne chuckled. "Anyway, your khuṇ yāy always wanted to have a float in the Downtown L.A. Christmas-Palooza Parade, so I decided as a gift I'd make one with some help from Dr. Jan and the IT Gals— those two women who built that." Anne pointed to an animatronic frog on a shelf.
"Ooh… what happened next?" said Polly.
"This was back when King Andrias was sending robots to kill me," said Anne, "so he took control of this Santa parade robot and tried to crush us but we fought back and destroyed it." Anne got up and grabbed a photograph which was alongside other holiday-time pictures and showed it to the twins. Sprig and Polly looked at the picture in awe, marveling at Anne and Mrs. Boonchuy and the Plantars cheering on top of a downed Santa robot. "Your khuṇ pū̀ managed to capture this in the midst of all the chaos. When we see him later, I'm sure he'll love to tell you how long it took to get the perfect candid."
Anne put the picture back and reached up to the highest shelf to grab something else. "And of course the best Christmas has to have the best gift." She showed the twins a small homemade doll resembling her 13-year-old self. It was made out of simple items (the head's a golf ball, the feet are uncooked beans, etc.) but it was clearly assembled with care.
"It's that doll of you!" exclaimed Polly. She and Sprig had seen the doll atop the highest shelf before, but had never seen it up close. Anne put it all the way up there out of fear that the twins might accidentally break it if it was lower.
"Your Uncle Sprig made this for me," said Anne. "It's my favorite gift I've ever received. I miss Sprig every day, but whenever I do I just look at this doll and remember that part of him will always be with me."
Now it was Anne's turn to get a loving hug from her family. She put the doll down before fully leaning into the hug. "Thank you…"
Just then, an alarm went off on Sasha's phone, signaling that it was time for the family to wrap things up.
"Alright, kids." said Sasha. "Go grab whatever presents you want to show your grandparents."
As the Boonchuy-Waybright-Wu family got ready to leave, it occurred to each of them that no matter what hardships they've gone through and what they will inevitably endure in the future, they would make it through because they'll always have each other.
After all, the true meaning of Christmas is appreciating and spending time with the people you love.
If you believe it's special
Then that's what makes it special
It's a special, it's a special
It's our special time of year
Translation: Mæ̀ (mom), Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother), Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)
