Christmas Morning

Chase nearly jumped out of her skin when Elijah kissed her cheek. She looked at him, and immediately knew she would have to be very careful with him today. It was Christmas after all, and bad things were associated with Christmas for Elijah. "Good Morning love." She said lightly, her eyes traveling over his features, taking him in carefully. Alice was going to be on his mind all day, and if Chase could help it, she'd get him in the Christmas Spirit, at least for a bit, to forget about his past for one day, and make him happy.

Chase looked him over again before grinning happily. "We were just talking about our baby... and Khaat is going to have guardianship over me now. I apparently have an aunt who doesn't like you guys or something, and wants to take custody of me.. but I won't go with her.. we'll meet her at some point, I kind of want to see her, but eh, if I don't that's fine with me.. I don't need someone who stayed out of my life for my entire life... and suddenly turns up months after my family dies." Chase said shaking her head a bit unhappily. Chase threw a look at Khaat and then very carefully shook her head no. She didn't want them to tell Elijah what the gender of the baby was yet. She would tell him later.

Chase had had a hell of a time trying to think of a present for Elijah. She had ordered a bunch of new art supplies from France, some more canvas, stuff like that, not that he really needed it. Inside an envelope however, with a Christmas card, was a small note that told him to meet her in his room after supper was cleaned up. She would tell him the gender then, beside the note, was a little coupon, on it it said "One free, do whatever you want" Chase had written it herself in her curly handwriting, and she had a feeling she would be grinning ear to ear when he opened it. She was basically inviting him to spend the night with her, and he could do whatever he felt like doing the entire time. Chase felt herself grinning at that point and had to look down quickly, to hide her smirk.

Elijah smiled warmly at his lover and kissed her gently on the lips once more before going over to sit down at the table. There were a few cartons of different fruit juice on the table and he pulled a glass over to him. He unscrewed the cap of the pomegranate juice and poured a hefty amount into the glass. He screwed the cap back on and pushed the carton back with the others. He bit a bit more of the chocolate man off and washed it down with a gulp of the juice. Elijah licked his lips and leaned back into his chair. He brought the glass with him and rested it on his abdomen as he began to stare at the table unseeingly. He was brought abruptly back to earth when Chase spoke and he looked up at her.

“Us?” He questioned, his brows furrowing. “So what...the Krum family? Typical.” He snorted into his juice and drank some more of it. He put the juice down and tapped his foot against the leg of the table. Elijah stretched in his chair and glanced down at his chest. One of Nachash’s offspring had decided to curl up there. He tapped his chest and the snake stirred. He tapped it again and the snake lifted its head. It pushed itself through Elijah’s skin and crawled onto his hand. It hissed at him and he hissed back as he cupped his hands together. The snake curled up and he smiled. The snake hissed once more and moved a little bit before settling in his hands. “I think...” He said, adding to what he was saying earlier, “That it was probably Stephan and my father’s fault. It’s usually them that make the enemies then Marina makes them arch enemies.”

Elijah heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and the snake in his hands, slipped beneath his skin. He dropped his hands and turned around in his chair to see his pyjama-clad children run into the room. Fauve launched herself at her father and he caught her easily in his arms. He set her on his lap and lifted Thierry up. He plopped him down behind his sister and Elijah wound his arms around his children. Fauve was bouncing uncontrollably, obviously looking forward to getting her presents. Camille walked into the kitchen then, looking much more relaxed than her sister had done. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt which looked like it belonged to Euan. Her hair was fluffed up and she looked like she’d had a night that she wouldn’t forget in a while. Elijah chuckled and Thierry looked at him inquisitively.

Fauve jumped off of her father’s lap and ran over to Chase. She caught the redhead’s hand and tugged it impatiently. “Come on Chassy!” she exclaimed. “We’ve got to see what Father Christmas got us! Papa said that Father Christmas would get us all lots of things! There’s something big for you under the tree, too! I saw!” Thierry laughed began to absentmindedly play with the rings on Elijah’s fingers. “We’ve got to go and see, Chassy!” Fauve continued, now bouncing up and down.

“What’s wrong with you, Fauvie?” Elijah called, “I thought you were a patient child?” Camille looked at Elijah in disbelief over the mug of tea she was cradling in her hands and Thierry snorted. Elijah poked him in the stomach and got to his feet, pulling Thierry up with him. The boy made a sound of protest which Elijah ignored and looked at Khaat. He winked at her before looking at Fauve and Chase. “If I let you two go and see do you promise not to touch?” He asked carefully.

“We promise!” Fauve exclaimed. “Come on Chassy!” She pulled at Chase’s hand again, causing Elijah to smile.

Chase looked up when the kids came down the stairs, running to them and hugging onto their father. Chase smiled lightly and took a drink of her own juice, until Fauve came bounding over to her and grabbed her hand tugging on it. "Hmm.. you know, Father Christmas only brings presents to good little boys and girls. Have you been good this year Fauve?" Chase asked with a grin, hoisting herself up off of the chair. When Fauve said there was something big for her under the tree, Chase threw a look at Elijah, one eyebrow raised. Chase laughed though when she was almost pulled off her feet by the little girl, eager to see her presents. Chase looked back at Elijah and then laughed again, scooping Fauve up and pulled her up so that she could ride piggy back on Chase. "haha, lets go see the presents love!" She said and ran zigzags around the room before running into the room with the Christmas tree.

Chase set Fauve down in front of the Christmas tree and then smiled. "When I was a kid, I used to wake up really early in the morning and try and see Father Christmas, but everytime I did, he had already come! So I would sit by my presents, and I'd sort them out for who they belonged to." She said with a grin. "A pile for me, my brother, my sister, and my parents." She said grinning at Fauve. "Do you want to help me sort them? Everyone can come in and sit by their presents and be able to open them all up!" Chase grinned at Fauve and ruffled her hair. "We won't peek will we? And we can tell daddy that they were like this when we got here." She said with a laugh.

It had been great fun last night, setting up the Christmas presents for the kids. She had always been the one to wake up in the morning and fly downstairs, now for the first time, she felt like an adult, helping to put the presents up, eating the cookies they had set out so it looked like Santa had eaten them. There was so much that had to go into it to make it look like Santa had come. Things like sprinkling a little bit of ashes on the hearth, so that it looked like he had stepped out of the Chimney, and filling the stockings. Chase picked up a present that said Fauve on it, and put her fingers to her lips. Carefully she shook the present and then laughed. "I can't even tell what it is! It won't rattle!" She said laughing, setting the present down and glancing towards the door sneakily, to make sure they wouldn't get caught touching the presents.

Elijah’s bargain went straight over Fauve’s head and Elijah knew it would. They all did. She always peeked no matter what because there was always someone silly enough not to wrap the presents that they put in the bags for her. Elijah followed the girls into the room and set Thierry down on his feet. The boy stayed with Elijah and his father took him over to where the girls were. Elijah sat down and Thierry sat down beside him, crossing his legs and putting his hands on his knees. Elijah leaned down and kissed Thierry’s temple, wrapping his arm around the boy as he did so. Thierry relaxed against his father and the two watched as Fauve sprang about the presents in search of hers.

“Chassy look!” Fauve exclaimed, standing in front of the gift that Elijah had wrapped for Chase the night before. She pulled at the label and looked at it carefully, her eyes narrowing with scrutiny. She released the label and hopped back towards the redhead that seemed to be becoming a solid mother-esq figure in her life. “It’s from Papa!” She pointed at the large piece of canvas and Elijah smiled a little. “It makes sense too,” Fauve continued to babble, “Because I don’t think Father Christmas could carry that...it’s too big!”

Fauve hopped back into the mound of presents and began to pick up a few at a time. She was incredibly possessive over her own presents to Elijah was fairly shocked to see her hoarding Thierry’s instead. “I think you’ve got lots of presents from Papa, Chassy,” Fauve sang absently, stopping in front of another present which was labelled as Chase’s. Elijah hid his face in Thierry’s now shoulder length hair and heard his son mumble something about him tickling him. “Look! There’s one from Aunty Jenny!” Fauve put Thierry’s presents down in his pile and picked up the blue gift-wrapped present. She hopped over a small wall of gifts and held it out to Chase. “Oh! And Uncle Robbie!” She reached down and picked up another gift. She put the presents down in front of Chassy and picked up one that was wrapped in teddy-bear wrapping paper. She presented it to Chase with a wide grin. “This is from me!” She frowned slightly. “Well...Papa helped me...but it is from me! Open it!" Her grin widened even further.

Khaat barely got out a "Good morning" to Eli when the kids came bounding down the stairs. Brian's house hadn't seen that much commotion in a very long time, and it delighted her. "Presents first, and then breakfast," Khaat smiled, knowing she wouldn't keep the kids out of them for another 30 minutes for them to eat.

"So, are you guys going to take care of sorting out all the gifts and making sure they get to the right person?" Khaat asked, looking at what had to be hundreds of gifts that was spreading like a brightly wrapped sea into the massive living room. She was hoping all the teeny tiny boxes didn't get lost. And there were a number of those.

"Angus!" Brian called. "Presents! Put breakfast on hold and come in with us."

A moment later, Angus came in. "You sure you want me in on this?" Angus asked.

"Positive," Khaat smiled. "You're part of our family."

Brian was about to speak when 3 more figures apparated into the room. It was her father, her mother, and Michael. "Merry Christmas!" they said, although not in any sort of synchronization. Michael came over and gave Khaat a kiss on the forehead.

"How are you?" he asked her.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you. I'm so glad to have you back here again with us at Christmas."

"I'm glad too," he smiled.

Robert flipped open his messenger bag and dumped a small pile of tiny packages on the floor. He flicked his wand and it became another massive stack of gifts. He and Michael had shrunken the gifts and packed them all in Robert's bag for convenience sake. Angus returned to the kitchen enough to serve Robert, Kate and Michael all mugs of tea and then rejoined the rest.

Pretty soon everyone was gathered around the tree, people and presents spread out everywhere. Fauve was going back and forth, giving her family their presents, and Chase was astounded at how many Fauve kept setting in front of her. So many presents, so many people, Chase kept trying to get up to say hello to people, but for some reason kept getting pushed back down by people, and even though everyone kept coming, and presents were dolled out, and Chase was sitting on her knees, holding the present that Fauve had given to her. Chase glanced around and saw most of the kids had already started to tear into their presents, especially the baby girls.

Chase looked at Elijah, grinning from ear to ear, she didn't think she could have been this happy a few months ago. To think, just two months ago, she had been freaking out, realizing she was pregnant, getting ready for a baby, totally convinced that Elijah wouldn't want anything to do with her. And now here she was.. sitting in her idol's front room, holding a present the child of her lover had given to her, and she was grinning from ear to ear. Head over heels in love, happy, pregnant, and almost exhausted with the feelings that kept coursing through her.

Chase almost felt herself tear up, but quickly looked down at the present and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, making the whole gesture into a sneeze. Chase grinned at Fauve and how happy she appeared, and realized that this little girl would never want for anything, but her personality wouldn't be snobby, or selfish, she would be humble, and kind, like her father, like her family... Chase smiled so widely she was afraid her face would split, and quickly opened up the teddy bear gift wrapping, trying not to tear it to much, so that she might keep a bit later.

As the room began to fill, Elijah found himself surrounded by his family. The twins had plonked themselves down either side of him and Thierry and had each grabbed themselves one of the French girls. Cassidy was sat in Finn’s lap, finally dressed, and was tearing open one of the presents in her pile. Camille was in Euan’s, dressed slightly less whorish but doing the same. Cherie was with Thierry and they were already drinking if the wine glasses filled with burgundy liquid were anything to go by. Elijah smirked and reached over, grabbing one of Thierry’s presents off of the pile. He plopped it in the boy’s lap and Thierry’s hands hesitantly left Elijah’s fingers and went for the bow that was on top of the present. Elijah rested his chin on Thierry’s shoulder and watched as the boy began to tentively pull at the wrapping paper. Elijah sighed. They’d be there a while.

Thierry’s whisper met Elijah’s ear, “Is that all mine?” he pointed to the large mound of gifts that he’d gotten and Elijah nodded, pressing an encouraging kiss to his son’s cheek. Thierry flushed red, clearly feeling incredibly inadequate and undeserving. He pushed the bow off of the gift Elijah had passed to him and bit his lip. Elijah gave his arm a squeeze and Thierry glanced over his shoulder at his father. Thierry sighed and pulled at the wrapping paper, this time succeeding in ripping it. A small gasp left his mouth and Elijah squeezed his arm again. Thierry bit his lip once more and pulled at the rip he’d made in the paper. It ripped straight up the side of the gift and the paper fell away, revealing a box which was labelled with “Child’s Potions Set”. Thierry smoothed his hands over the box and Elijah picked the label up off of the floor. He looked around and caught Rob’s eye, smiling in thanks. Rob smiled back and looked back down at Nathalia as he helped her open up her present.

Elijah caught Chase’s gaze and pointed at his gift to her which was leaning against the wall. He smiled and looked at Thierry again who was inspecting the box. Elijah poked his son in the ribs and Thierry yelped in surprise. “Get another present, you. We’ve got plenty of time for you to look at that later.” Thierry nodded and Elijah pushed the box away from them so they’d have more room. He then leaned over and pulled a few of the presents towards them, namely a pink and orange striped box. There were air holes in the side and the movement made a sound rise from within it. Thierry went for that first and pulled the top off. The two men peered inside and their eyes fell on a midnight black cat which was sat inside of it. It mewed up at Thierry and Elijah looked over at Fauve who was grinning from ear to ear, her own present in her lap.

Thierry lifted the kitten out of the box and set it in his lap. It mewed again and curled up on his legs. It began to purr as Thierry smoothed it and Elijah smiled. He picked up one of his own gifts and leaned back so he could put it between himself and Thierry’s back. He tore the wrapping paper and pulled it away from the gift. He opened the box it was in and pulled away the piece of sugar paper to reveal a leather choker with diamond studs in it. There was a tag on it too. It was inscribed. IF FOUND, it read, PLEASE RETURN TO CHASTITY MOOR. “Like it?” Finn leaned over and pulled at Elijah’s hair. Elijah nodded slowly, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I thought you would. Euan and I picked it out special for you. The inscription cost a few bob but it was so worth it!” Elijah flicked Finn in response and discarded the box. He picked up the choker and tied it around his neck. He heard the subtle jingle of bells and looked down to find that the diamonds were set around the bells. “Cheers for that,” Elijah responded dryly.

Elijah turned his attention back to Thierry and rested his chin back onto his son’s shoulder. “What are you going to call it?” He asked with regards to the cat. Thierry shrugged and Elijah chuckled. He looked around the room and dropped his gaze to the presents strewn across the floor. He picked up one that was for Khaat and he looked around the room for her. He held the gift up and waved it in her line of sight. “Khaat there’s a gift here for you!” It wasn’t heavy, just a box with something that sounded like a piece of parchment inside. He tossed it towards her with a grin, knowing exactly who it was from. His eyes swivelled back around to Chase again then and found her and his daughter knee deep in wrapping paper courtesy of Fauve. There would be a lot or recycling to be done.

Khaat frowned, catching the box. She looked at the tag. From Rob? She looked at him, picked up her wand, and flicked it at the pile of gifts, sending tiny box his direction. She opened his gift and found an elegant piece of parchment inside. She read the parchment, stunned the farther she read it. He'd bought her a star. A real star. And it came with a star chart to show her exactly where it was. He'd remembered where her favorite constellation was and he'd gotten it there. It warmed her heart. He could be so incredibly romantic sometimes, and she did love him.

She had looked high and low until she had found what she wanted for him. She'd found a very rare man's ring. A large square black diamond, set in platinum. She had looked at standard white diamonds, but the black ones were considerably more expensive. Part of what had made this so expensive was the size of it and the clarity of it. She wanted something that would not only catch the light but command respect when it glistened off of Rob's hand. She figured this might do it.

Brian rose and helped distribute the gifts she and he had gotten for everyone else. There was a large stack of gifts for Chase from them. Khaat and Brian had bought her virtually a whole wardrobe of designer maternity wear. She was going to be the most stylish teenaged mom to be at Hogwarts, and, to the best of her knowledge, she hadn't left anything out.

She had saved one gift back to give to Chase when the confusion died down. Something special that, had her mother been here, she might have given to Chase herself.

She had chosen for Eli a whole stack of Prada shirts. No one would likely know what it meant except Eli and her. But she had bought him several. She wasn't letting Barker take one more thing from him.

For the kids, she had bought enchanted stuffed toys in a wide variety of animal shapes. Each one made a maintenance free sentient pet. Khaat had fallen in love with a pair of the kittens and had started with one for each of the girls and had progressed to buying the larger ones for the older kids.

She was holding back gifts for her parents and for Brian. She would give them their gifts. But not yet.

Chase opened the little package from Fauve and felt herself grinning all over again. Little stuffed foxes, a mother one, a father one, and two kids, one boy, one girl.. and another one that caught Chase's eye. It was smallest of the animals, and she felt herself grinning wider. It was Kitty, the whole family represented as her favorite animal. She grinned and pulled Fauve onto her lap, laughing as she struggled and gave her a big wet kiss on the cheek. "Thank you!" She said with a laugh, letting the little girl go to get at her presents.

Chase took the moment to look around the room.
She had gotten Khaat a whole set of winter Jackets and sweaters, with the help of Kate of course.

For Angus she had gotten him a new wand that looked exactly as his old wand had before it had broken. Down to the carvings in the wood, same core and same wood from the same tree. In essence, it was the same wand reincarnated and some nice stuff from Savile Row that the cashier had helped pick out for him.

For the Minister, she had gotten him a bunch of new cardigans, mostly tan, but all nice looking and befitting him, rather then the old one he had.

For Kate Lupin, she had gotten her a blue vase she had had her eye on from a gallery in downtown London. It was actually rather expensive, but she felt it helped pay her back for helping her pick out stuff for Khaat.

Both of the girls had gotten toys from Emmy Lestranges toy shop. Mostly a mash of all different sorts of toys, but stuff both of the girls would love.

For Fauve, she had gotten her a new charm for the braclett that Elijah's dad had given her. It had a picture of a little fox on it, to show that it was Chase who had given it to her.

For Thierry, she had gotten him a rather large stack of all of the new and latest mystery books. including a 'create your own murder mystery' box set, that helped you set up your own mystery for your friends and family to try and solve.

Camille had gotten some of the newest and probably most expensive perfumes from France.

Chase looked around the room happily, seeing some of the stuff she had gotten people already unwrapped, and she quickly stood up and went over to the canvas that was leaning against the wall, that Elijah had gotten her. She tore off the wrapping paper and stared in awe at the picture. It was of herself.. well at least it looked like it was SUPPOSED to be of herself. But the woman in the picture was much to graceful, much to beautiful. Pregnant as she was now, holding her stomach, she looked entirely to beautiful to be Chase. Red hair that fell in beautiful waves, eyes sparkling. Chase spun around to stare at Elijah, her mouth still open in awe.

She stood up and went over to him, unable to say anything, but she hugged him hard. She pulled back and looked at him silently, her eyes trying to confess what she was feeling. "It's beautiful." She finally managed to stutter out. "It obviously isn't me of course." She said with a laugh, shaking her head and sitting lightly on his lap, one arm around his shoulders. She shook her head happily and stood up, giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading back to her presents. It appeared that Khaat had gone all out with maternity clothes, because she had an entire new wardrobe, from shirts, to pants, to socks and under garments, everything was there.

Chase shook her head, if one thing was certain, she would never forget this Christmas.

Thierry jumped off of Elijah’s lap and began to tear into his presents much in the same way Fauve had done. He’d discovered that he really liked Christmas. He’d thought birthdays with Elijah Krum were extraordinary but Christmases were superb. With Theo it consisted of a second helping at dinner. With his father, Thierry’s Christmas consisted of more than he could have ever imagine -- toys, books, clothes, teddy bears. He couldn’t believe his luck in all honesty. Elijah was just glad his son looked happy. He was glad his son was content with what he was receiving. What Elijah didn’t realise is that in actuality, Thierry didn’t care about the gifts. He felt himself blessed enough to have a family let alone all that he was receiving.

Elijah pulled one of his presents towards him and tore the wrapping paper off after glancing at the label. He grinned upon finding what lay inside. Shirt; but not any old shirts, Prada ones. Elijah laughed and looked over at Khaat who was inspecting the gift he’d thrown to her. He looked back down at the gift and shook his head in disbelief. He was taken away from the gift rather abruptly when Chase deposited herself in his lap. Her arms wound around him and he hugged her back. He looked at her inquisitively when she pulled back and chuckled when she disputed that the person in the painting was her. “Who else is it going to be you silly thing?” He asked. “That is how I see you, Chase. That is who you are...that is what you are to me. You’re the most beautiful creature I have ever had the pleasure of being in the company of. You truly don’t see yourself clearly enough.”

He pouted a little when Chase got up and walked away. Someone else deposited themselves on his lap then. Elisabeth this time who had in her hands, the present he’d gotten for her. She kissed him fiercely on the lips and Elijah blinked rapidly, pulling away from her. She grinned at him widely and threw her arms around him, placing a dozen more kisses on his cheek. “Thank You, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank YOU!” she exclaimed excitedly before jumping up and hopping away. He couldn’t even remember what he’d gotten her now but if she was happy that’s all that mattered. With the amount of money Arnold had made him this year gone, he had enough to splurge on his family and splurge he did.

For Khaat’s mother he got her some assorted titbits of jewellery, all laden with precious stones. It was like a fifty-penny mix-up except instead of sweets it was jewellery worth thousands of pounds. For Robert he got a year’s supply of Firewhisky. For Khaat he painted something for her. He’d been given a picture of her and Remus and he’d reproduced it on canvas with oils. For Brian he got a sculpture by a Native American artist – he also included a pass to a strip club in London for Rob’s amusement. For Michael he got a rope, yes another rope, which would accompany the one Rob, had been talking about a while back. Speak of the devil. For Rob, Eli got a puppy which Fauve put her name on also. It was a black lab that didn’t seem to like the box it was in, even after the amount of air holes they’d put in. For Jen he’d gotten a year’s supply of spa vouchers for her, knowing she’d need them with her job.

Then on to the others. Camille, Cassidy and Cherie had all got lingerie and bought them some of the stock from their favourite stores. He’d bought Finn and Euan shares in Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes as well as their own personalised jewellery. He’d bought out one of the London department stores for Elisabeth for the day. He’d sent his father his collection of brooms and a piece of jewellery for hilarity and seriousness. He gave Arlene a chance to write her own cook book, sent his uncle some self-help books (you know, how to deal with two hyperactive twenty-year-olds that won’t move out) and gave Adam some pliers, so he’d pull that stick out of his arse.

For Fauvie he got the earth, or would have if he’d been able to. No, instead he bought out the stock of Hamley’s and some other famous toyshops. For Thierry he got books, books, books and more books. For Jean-Paul, Nathalia and Katriane he got teddies and hot-pink baby-grows he knew Christophe would support. For Abbey he got a puppy of her own. For Christophe he got a pass to Disney Land. For David he got a holiday. For Pierre he bought a flat in Paris.

Then there was Kitty. Now she wasn’t even born yet but he’d have to explain to Chase exactly what he’d done. There would be no baby showers otherwise they’d have double of all of the high-end crap he’d already bought. Yes he’d gone overboard but it was necessary he felt. Sofia was a place he wanted to take Chase. The manor there was the most peaceful place. It was completely out of the way, on high ground and surrounded by woodland. He wanted to take Chase there when Kitty was born so she could relax and they could all spend some time together. He’d done up a room between his and what he had already turned into Fauve and Thierry’s. It was the nursery and he’d filled it with everything she’d ever need. Viktor couldn’t quite believe Elijah had done it all by himself. His son was a closet painter-decorator.

Elijah got to his feet, leaving his pile of presents where they were, and walked over to Chase. He sat down behind her, putting his long legs either side, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He tugged at her shirt and slipped his hand underneath it. He placed his hand on Chase’s stomach and smiled. He kissed her neck and whispered, “I love you,” in her ear. He pointed to a little box wrapped up in golden wrapping paper and nudged her leg with his own, silently instructing her to pick that one next. He rested his chin on her shoulder and waited for her to pick it. Inside, was a key to the manor, one that he’d had Viktor copy for him. It was a beautiful, intricate little thing that wasn’t given out lightly. Elijah wanted Chase to see his home. Why not give her a key?