Christmas was a bit of a touchy time of year for Apollo. It hadn't been Klavier's favorite for a while either. The first year they spent together, it had been just the two of them, healing and finding comfort in each other's company. They'd gone to the Wright's party of course and made a brief appearance at the Prosecutor's office event, but this year they were really ready to throw themselves into it.

"I asked Trucy about it. They haven't planned anything yet, so if we want to be the hosting house this year, it's ours."
"Fantastich! First we should sort out the guest list, ja?"
"Ja. Did you want to, you know, invite anyone…"

Apollo was doing his best not to state what he meant directly in case that made Klavier feel pressured to do something he didn't want to. Apollo had met the other members of the Gavinners a total of once and at this point figured meeting Klavier's parents was out of the question. He still wanted that option to be available, though, in case his boyfriend felt like reaching out.

"Nein. Maybe we should focus on your family?"

Apollo recognized that tone as one that meant he didn't want to talk about it right then. They had talked about it before and undoubtedly would again, they were very good at the whole communication thing after the initial stumbles, and Apollo knew there was a time and place for certain topics. That was fine. But he also recognized this made his boyfriend incredibly sad, and he hated that more than anything. Klavier was loved and he deserved to know it.

"They're your family now, too, you know."

Klavier felt that this was something he had known theoretically, but hearing it said aloud by someone else…

"Ja, they are, aren't they."
"Ja. So let's invite our family. Trucy is going to be so excited to hear about your new music, and Mr. Wright was interested in that smuggling case you picked up. Of course, if the Wrights are coming, so are the Feys and Mr. Edgeworth. Athena will want to show Juniper off to you, so add two more. We can't leave Ema out, and she'll bring Kay. And we'll need to invite Debeste and Blackquill. While we're at it, we should see if Miss von Karma and Nahyuta will be in the states. And if we're inviting that many people anyway, we should invite the Gumshoes… Am I missing anyone?"
"Would you be up to inviting your mother… ?"

Klavier had gotten along very well with Apollo's mother, but that was before he knew everything that happened and that she was in fact the mother of the man he loved. He could understand Apollo's apprehension. Just because someone was agreeable, even if they were a fantastic person, that didn't necessarily mean they were a good parent. Not that he necessarily thought she was a bad one either, it was just complicated. He knew Apollo wanted to try getting to know her, mostly for Trucy's sake, but at least a little bit for his own. It was especially odd for him not having known her until he was already an adult.

"I guess we should, huh? I'll never get to know her better if I keep avoiding her. We should tell her to bring Machi, too."
"This time of year really has you charitable."
"... I don't want to be alone. I don't want anyone else to, either."
"You won't ever be alone if I can help it."
Apollo blushed and turned away. "You're such a sap."
"But you love me."
"No. And I love you."
Klavier blushed a bit himself. "Now who's being a sap?"
"Shut up." Apollo kissed him gently. "Now if we're filling this big ass house with people we're going to need enough food to feed an army, so I was thinking we could have everyone bring a dish. We'll cook the ham, obviously… Actually I think we'll need two."
"Mm. We should also provide some of the drinks. A couple bottles of wine and sparkling cider."
"That sounds good. With everyone here should we have games for people to play? Clay's family always did this saran wrap ball thing and pin the nose on Rudolph. We sent Mr. Terran a card, right?"
"We did. I think he sent one back in the mail on the table."
"We should probably start actually looking at the mail when we pick it up, huh?"
"That would probably be smart, ja. I think games are a great idea. Sebastian and Kay are fond of trivia, I believe."
"Trivia would be fun. I think almost everyone is competitive enough to really get into it. Maybe we should do one of those jars where you have to guess how many candy canes are in it or something?"
"Great idea, Schatz, though I'm fairly sure Herr Blackquill will win. He has an uncanny ability to guess the exact number of items inside other items."
"That's like the lamest superpower ever."
"Maybe so, but it wins him gift cards whenever we do it at the office."
"I guess any super power can be useful in certain situations."
"Like increased perception of when someone is lying or being able to hear someone's emotions?"
"Both of those are incredibly useful!"
"They are, but they are also their own weakness."
"Hmm… I guess there aren't really any downsides to being able to guess how many things are in other things… So what's your superpower?"
"Being charming enough to catch mein Häschen."
Apollo blushed and turned away slightly. "That's not a superpower, Klav."
Klavier scooped him up and nuzzled in. "Then it was a miracle. A Herculean feat. And the best thing to ever happen to me."
"Aw, gee. It's the same for me, you know."
"Obviously. I'm Klavier Gavin." He flipped his hair.
"Alright, moment over. I'm gonna get some more coffee." He slipped out of Klavier's lap and grabbed his mug off the table.
"Me too?"
Apollo smirked. "I dunno, Klavier Gavin must have a ton of people lined up just dying to get him coffee."
"Schatz," he whined.
"Yes, I'll get you coffee," he chuckled in response.