On Thanksgiving, Aria got ready. Luke just sat by and watched. Aria helped Chalice cook.
The family was at the parade, watching the many floats and balloons.
"Today I'm going to debut my first song in the parade, well, our song." Aria says as Clover smiled.
"We are so proud!" Chalice says. All Luke could do was smile at his daughter. He was proud, but he was anxious.
Aria was giggling. "Clover wrote the song." Aria says.
"Wonderful!" Chalice says.
While Luke was anxious about his birthday coming up, he was a little jealous, but didn't exactly show it. He didn't want to upset his daughter.
Aria heads off to meet up with Jackson and Joe. Soon, Aria, Jackson, Joe, and Clover performed. Fans cheered. Leni and Lori clapped for them.
"That's our girl!" Sam says to Luna.
Soon, they came home for dinner. Luke refused to join in the Thanksgiving festivities.
Aria was worried about him. She could hear him crying in the room he and Chalice shared.
"He's worried about his birthday…" Luna says.
Luke left the house as they began to eat. He didn't want to be around.
"Look, Aria, this family gets toxic in December. A lot. And December is the month where our family splits apart, so we may not be around for Christmas." Lisa says as Aria frowned.
"Your dad still hates Christmas." Lincoln says.
"Yeah, your uncles and aunts have tried, but failed. We're not sure if Luke enjoyed any parties. Sometimes he does, but he tends to forget the ones he enjoyed." Charity says.
"I thought life wasn't about parties." Aria says.
"Your father loves his parties and his music and his family over anything else. Just don't ruin his week." Lola says. Aria nods.
On Chrissy's birthday, Chrissy woke up, yawning. She was turning 20.
"Happy birthday!" Delta says.
"Thanks." Chrissy says.
With Luke, he was recording a video in his room while the family was out.
"It's best if they actually forget in advance." He says into the camera. "Because they'll always be busy."
Aria came home with the siblings. When they saw the video, their expressions changed.
"We need to cancel all our plans." Lori says.
"I won't celebrate my birthday. I know Daddy won't be jealous, but I know he can't help but be jealous of anyone else celebrating in December." Aria says.
Lori watches the video some more.
"It's like this every year. I'm not attending. I'll end up ruining it." Lola says.
"It doesn't matter. Luke wants you." Lana says.
"He wants all of us and 5 perfect days. Doesn't he know that there's no such thing as perfect? No one is perfect, but I'll try." Lola says.
Delta took Chrissy out.
"I never had a birthday before." Delta says.
"That is really sad." Chrissy says.
"I know." Delta says
"Oh, we're heading out for a different adventure next week. It may take a while to complete." Chrissy says.
"What about the execution?" Delta asked.
"Does everything concern Luke? This is my day!" Chrissy says.
"That's how Luke wants it." Delta says.
They arrived as confetti fell down.
"Happy birthday, Chrissy!" Her friends say as Jason was there, too. Chrissy was surprised.
With Luke, he posted a video of his 13th birthday on the internet.
"Luke, we need to talk." Lincoln says.
"About what?!" Luke hissed.
"Daddy's being scary again…" Aria sniffed, scared of the family splitting up. Also the fact that in December, Luke sounded like a snake a lot with his constant hissing. Chalice held her.
"We know you had some bad ones...but you had some good ones, too." Chalice says. "No one is perfect, Luke. They're trying their best and Aria's trying her best. Last year I didn't let her celebrate since you threw a massive fit because the DJ played the wrong music. What I'm trying to say is try and appreciate when people are being kind. If they're mean that's a different story, but If they try their best and make a mistake, it's no big deal." Chalice says "Hakuna matata."
"I'll try." Luke lies and runs away.
"Daddy!" Aria says.
"Oh, we should have mentioned he runs away a lot this time of year. Sometimes he stays hidden." Chalice says.
"Stop it!" Aria screamed and ran away. This whole time, she was afraid of her family.
"I'm going to be homeless. Aria's going to be homeless without a father!" Aria sobbed.
"He's not getting milk. He's coming back." Lori says, but Aria goes to Tori's house.
Meanwhile, Chrissy opens Delta's gift seeing a skateboard
"Delta, thanks!" Chrissy says
"You're welcome." Delta says.
"Open mine!" Bill says as Chrissy opens it, seeing rocket shoes.
"Thanks, Bill. So, um, Jason, aren't you supposed to be with your boyfriend?" Chrissy teased. Jason crosses his arms.
Amber looks depressed. "You guys will probably forget mine." she muttered.
"We can't celebrate. We have an adventure to go on." Bill says.
"Even if we did, Luke would kill you." Alem tuber says.
Later, the girls were having a makeover session as they tried different styles on Chrissy's hair. Then they cut watermelon and apple bobbing.
Chrissy and Delta danced around and smiled.
"This party needs to slow down a bit. It feels rushed." Chrissy says.
"Like Luke's worst birthday." Jason says
"Jason, if you mention Luke again, you'll drive me nuts!" Chrissy says
"What's your deal?" Jason asked.
"I just want a day about me, but you're turning it into Luke's day." Chrissy says.
"They dragged me here. I didn't want to come." Jason says and takes his leave.
Flashback
"Okay, Jason, why are you here?" Angry Luigi asked.
"Yeah, why?" Alex asked.
"I came for my friend, who's celebrating her birthday. If anyone asks, you dragged me here." Jason says holding a shotgun, not wanting to admit he has a soft spot.
"Jason actually wanted to be here." Jack says.
"All right, who said that?!" Jason asked with a shotgun and shot at Jack, who leaped as he shot Chrissy instead.
Everyone froze as Jason walked off. "Yep, I was dragged here." he says as Emila healed Chrissy.
"I recorded the whole party. Oh, should we inform the cops that Lola broke 90% of those criminals out of jail?" Bill asked.
"Yeah!" Sal says.
Meanwhile, Aria looked for something to do in Tori's house. Tori could see her in tears.
"My family is going to fail Daddy and Christmas will be ruined and it turns out he got extremely frustrated when he learned I was going to be born on the 14th and now he's leaving! Christmas will be ruined!" Aria sobbed.
"So, you don't have a father?" Tori asked.
"No, I don't..." Aria sobbed.
"I'm sure he cares for you. He just has lots of repressed feelings this time of year. It's nothing against you personally. Trust me." Tori says.
"I don't like it when Daddy and my aunties and uncle fight…" Aria sniffed.
"You just have to deal with that." Trina says as Tori looked at her, giving her a look as Aria felt worse.
"Don't listen to my sister. I know it's hard in your house this time of year. I was there last year when your dad nearly threw all of your grandmother's fine china into the furnace and screamed because the caterer screwed up." Tori says. "I know what it's like."
Aria sniffed.
Meanwhile, Chrissy hits her piñata after being healed as the police came in.
"Um, are you sure Lola Huntington broke those villains out?" the officer asked.
Bill shows the footage.
"Just to get at us to avenge Luke." Savannah says.
"Didn't Elemental Strike fight them off?" The officer asked.
"Yeah, we helped too, but forget that for now. Because, honestly, if we or Luke didn't beat Asyuard and the other villains, Luke would have died. Thanks to Lola, that was a close call. We know we can be braggy, but we know our limits." Bill says.
"My God…" Carol's uncle Tristan says in disbelief as he couldn't believe this. "I need to retire soon…" he says to himself and goes to the manor.
The siblings were planning Lucy's birthday. There was a rough knock at the front door. Charity answered it and saw Tristan.
"Come in, come in…" Charity says.
Tristan came in, brushing the light snow from his coat.
"What seems to be the problem?" Lori asked.
Tristan told the entire story, word for word as the siblings gasped.
"Those villains nearly killed us!" Luna says.
"What? Luke wanted an execution!" Lola says.
"Why would anyone want to kill Randy?" Lynn asked.
"I'm innocent! They were working for Luke! Until the betrayal…" Lola says. "Besides, I'm sure the Cosmic buddies have caught them all."
"No, they haven't. They confessed that fighting all their villains at once was a dumb move. They said that next week they'd go out on a journey to do just that one by one and you nearly caused Luke's death. Hands behind your back. You have the right to remain silent." Tristan says as he handcuffs Lola. The siblings were in shock.
Before Lola could do anything, Tristan's fellow officers tased Lola until she complied. Lola was taken out of the manor in a straitjacket.
"Bye, Lola!" Chrissy and her friends say teasingly, waving as Delta blew kisses. Jack wore her pageant dress to mock her.
Jason recorded this. "Luke, we finally found someone for day 5 of your birthweek." Jason says.
Chrissy holds his shotgun, scaring him.
"Relax, it wasn't loaded. Now, come on, I want my cake!" Chrissy says, turning into XLR8 and rushing off. Wing Angry Luigi flew off.
"Anyone else abusing one another?" Tristan asked the siblings. They shake their heads. He heads off.
"And Aria was in that fight. What if she got hurt?" Chalice asked.
"You saw her in action. She can handle herself." Cuphead says.
"Honestly, she had an elemental spark. She has her father's powers. You need to try and let go a bit. She can be a hero. You just need to be with her." Lucy says.
"Fair enough." Chalice says. "Wait, Luke needs to know."
"You told Luke not to let her do it. You were the only one with the problem. Luke just follows along." Lucy says.
On December 1st, it was time for the band contest. Luke was there with his band. But he was quiet during the pre-show.
"Good luck!" Luna says. She and the Moon Goats were there to perform and compete.
Soon, the contest began.
Gemma was the host of this as this was a contest her family hosted from time to time. She was the sole host of it now.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, you know me as Gemma Graham, host of America's Next Hitmaker. Today, you see me as the host of the Musical Melody Monthly Most Musically Sound band contest! The rules are quite simple. Each band will play two songs and will be judged on presentation, creativity, and most of all, talent and skills. The winner of this contest will grace the cover of the January issue of Musical Melody Monthly and will receive a grand prize of $500,000! So, without further ado…let's bring out the first band!" Gemma says.
The Moon Goats came out as some fans cheered. They performed "Play It Loud" and "Slow Ride".
Aria was nervous backstage. Luke looked nervous, too. And guilty for scaring his daughter.
"Aria? Can we talk?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, sure." Aria says.
"I'm sorry that I scared you all these years. It's just hard for me around this time of the year. And I tend to lose my cool when things don't go right on my special day. Maybe it's best if I just cancel my birthweek this year. I feel awful for what I did and I feel bad for scaring you." Luke says.
"It's okay. And don't cancel your special week. You look forward to it every year, Daddy. And everyone is looking forward to the fun stuff you have planned this year…" Aria says. "You're going to be so excited every single day of that week! Just think about how much fun your birthweek will be!"
Luke smiles. "It will be fun!" He says.
Later, it was Aria's turn to go up with her band.
"Coming up next, it's time to check those watches, because it's Charm Time!" Gemma says with a smile.
Luke and Chalice smile as they watch their daughter go on stage.
Fans cheered as they performed "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". The crowd was in awe.
Clover sang like a star. Savannah cheered for them. Clover sang her heart out and finished as Luna and Sam were beaming.
The crowd cheered for them as they went offstage.
Luke and his band got ready to go on.
"Coming up next, the band who is always ready to strike, Elemental Strike!" Gemma says.
The fans cheered as they took the stage. Clover squeals backstage.
They begin to perform "You Want Me" and "Back Of My Hand" as the crowd cheers. Most of them sing along.
Soon, they tally the scores.
The Moon Goats got 3rd and Elemental Strike got 2nd. Aria froze as this meant only one thing.
"And the winner is Charm Time!" Gemma says.
Aria gave the trophy to Clover. "You deserve it more than I do." She says. Clover was indeed shocked by this.
After the contest, Charm Time was celebrating as their parents were there to supervise.
But after a while, the kids grew tired. Jackson was the first one asleep. Joe smiled and fist bumped Aria as he headed off.
Luke carries Aria to bed. Clover yawned as Sam picked her up and took her home.
After Aria was in bed, Luke laid awake as he and Chalice got ready to settle in for the night.
"Your birthday week is coming soon, Lukey, aren't you excited?" Chalice asked.
Luke nods, then smiles a little bit. He couldn't wait for that week to come.