Wonderful Christmastime

Chase knew that Elijah was getting the cone from behind her, but she let it go. If he really wanted it, then fine, she wouldn't spoil his fun to much. But the second Jack was out of the door, she turned to look at him and saw that he had indeed gotten the cone, and had dribbled some of the chocolate on her cheek. Before she could wipe it off however, he practically attacked her with a kiss. She smirked and felt his lips clean off the chocolate and lick off what was left, before kissing her again. She could taste the chocolate on his lips and when he pulled away she almost fell forward, wanting to get another kiss. "You tease.. I swear you wait until they are all out of the room before you even look at me." She said with a laugh.

When he left the room, Chase waved her wand and the dishes started to clean themselves, and Kitty floated out of her chair and into her arms. "Come on.. lets go get some presents darling." She said softly, gently pressing a kiss onto the wiggling girl's head before walking into the front room and standing by the door. Jack had a job that dabbled in animals and when Chase thought of animals, it wasn't just like cats and dogs, oh no.. it was like Dragons, Krups, and abused animals that needed help and weren't going to get it otherwise. Chase had a feeling they would all be getting some sort of animal for Christmas, whether Elijah liked it or not. Of course Chase would end up taking care of them at the end of the day, the kids would love them, especially when Jack handed Elijah a pooper scooper. "Haha, I think it'll be good for you Elijah! Cleaning up someone else's mess for once!" She called from the doorway, her eyes twinkling.

Chase made her way over to the group and looked in at Jack's bag. "Oh, so you're Mary Poppins now are you?" She asked with a grin. "With your carpet bag of wonders." She laughed good naturedly and sat down on the couch, moving Kitty to her lap and bouncing her on one knee as the baby girl cooed and giggled, one hand in her mouth, busy getting the sweet chocolate off of it, the other hand tangled in Chase's hair, slobber and chocolate ruining her hair, but Chase didn't mind, baby slobber was like every other mess, cleanable. And Chase had seen enough mess to get used to it very quickly.

Jack grinned, feeling a little excited about giving out her gifts. She did not want anything in return, she was just glad to be able to have someone to give gifts to. Better than the Christmas before, where she had given a whopping two gifts. Though... if she had to concede... It had not been a bad Christmas. And the Komboloi certainly had proved to be useful.

"Yes I'm Mary Poppins obscure, obnoxious niece," she said, smirking. "And Elijah, just wait, I promise you, you'll be thanking me for that. Really." She grinned and then sat, cross-legged, right there and pulled the carpet bags towards her, motioning for the kids to do the same and then grinning at Eli and Chase, prompting them to do the same. Chase and Jack were only eighteen, Elijah seventeen. They weren't too old to sit cross legged. Not by a long shot.

She peeked into the carpet bags before finding the one meant for the kids. She pulled it onto her lap and put her hands on the handles, grinning at the kids. "Okay. So. Socks and underwear for everyone!" She grinned and then laughed, waving her hand to let them know she was kidding before she crushed their hope. "Nah, that's the dull duty of Mum and Dad." She grinned. "Auntie Jack is the one that gets to spoil you kids without any of the adverse consequences." She quickly stuck her tongue out at Chase.

"Okay. So... I'm not made of money, so I had two choices. Get you something from Weasleys, or get you something from my Magizoology job. I decided on the latter, but if you guys really want Pygmy Puffs instead, come in and take your pick. I personally can't stand the buggers. But, someone did come in with something I think you guys would like a little more."

Jack opened up the bag and pulled out what resembled a large, black panther cub. She grinned. "Someone brought this little one in. She's a cross between a kneazle and a black panther. The guy didn't have a permit, so I had to take her in. She's domestic because of the kneazle in her and wicked smart. Her name's Pandora, but if you really want you can change her name." She grinned and released Pandora who, at first, cowered and then pounced towards the kids, playfully. "She's high energy. You can wrestle with her if you wanted." Jack grinned and looked up at Chase, saying, "I had her declawed."

Elijah sat down beside Chase and threw his arm over the back of the sofa. Fauve jumped onto the sofa and snuggled up beside him. Elijah smirked, knowing what she wanted, and let her have the cone. She grinned and bit into it loudly as Jack opened up the bag. Elijah leaned forward, tossing the pooper scooper and such to the side. His eyes fell on a black bundle of fur and he watched as Jack set it down on the floor. The children were instantly drawn to it. He had a feeling that the animal before him was going to be the big cat from now on, especially when it grew up. Two big cats wandering around would be interesting, to say the least.

The children seemed transfixed by the animal, eager to play with it, and Elijah was in the same boat with them, as if proving Chase’s suspicions that he really was exactly like them. He slid off of the couch and onto the floor, gently landing on the soft carpet. He lowered himself down onto his chest between a crouching Cepheus and held his hand out to the animal. Caelum slid over and they watched the animal as it sniffed at Elijah’s fingers. It sprang away and pounced on Thierry’s book, gaining the boy’s attention. He held his hand out for the creature and petted it slowly. Elijah frowned slightly and looked at Thierry who readily supplied him with an answer.

“You’re the wrong smell. You’re a potent mix of both animal and human. It doesn’t sit well with her.” Thierry said simply. “Declawed is definitely better than clawed. You’d know wouldn’t you, mother?” Thierry looked up at Chase, a teasing smile on the lips. Elijah scowled. Clearly he was referring to the claws incident where he decided to do away with the curtains that Chase had put up. They were not nice, in his defence. Declawed was good in her book. If he recalled, Khaat had suggested she declaw and neuter him.

“She’s sleeping in your room then,” Elijah said, standing up. There were protests from Cepheus and Caelum and Elijah pointed out, “You have fireworks in your room and a mass of frogs that release fire from both ends of their body. Do you really think a cat is a good idea?”

Elijah flopped down on the sofa and took his cone back from Fauve who promptly hopped off of the couch to play with the half-Kneazle kitty-cat. “You know...” Caelum said thoughtfully. “Maybe Pandora could help us round up Rolo and Maggie. Then again...she doesn’t look like the type to put up with pink cats.”

Chase couldn't help but be drawn forward when Jack reached into the sack, and drew out a rather large, black Panther cub. Chase gasped quite audibly, and watched Elijah sink to the ground, only to lose it's interest quite quickly. Chase slid to the floor with Kitty and set her on the ground. The Panther cub crawled over to Kitty and sniffed lightly, licking her bald head and then pouncing away again. Kitty nearly squealed with joy and tried to catch the panther's tail, but was to slow. Chase threw a look at Thierry, and then laughed. "You brat.." She said shaking her head. Just about everyone who came into the house knew the story of Elijah tearing down the curtains with his claws. It had been a rather tense day between them, but they had made up, and been much better afterwards.

But Chase knew just how right Thierry was, even if he didn't know himself. Drapers weren't the only things Elijah used his claws for, and they both knew it. Seeing as Chase had to buy under garments a bit to often to be normal, and had sometimes been caught by the kids, throwing away shredded up pair, and having to explain to them that it was nothing, a cat had gotten hold of it and she had lost them to long claw marks. Claw marks that were much to big to be just the smaller cats. Which, from the sound of it, had been transformed pink. "It's a beauty Jack.. thanks.." She said looking up at her friend with a large smile. "I'm sure Kitty will love keeping up with this little kitty." She said with a grin. "You should see her play with the cats.. which are missing I hear? I haven't heard this story yet.. but I plan to later." She said throwing a look at the twins. Kitty squealed and Chase looked down to find her holding onto the panther's tail, which was trying to jerk it away, but Kitty was holding on to tightly. The panther half jumped on Kitty, who squealed louder and started to cry.

Chase quickly picked up Kitty and the panther lost interest in the crying baby and pounced away again. "Shhh." Chase said lightly, gently bouncing Kitty as she held onto her. "You aren't hurt.. you were just scared silly girl.. maybe that will teach you to hold onto big kitty's tail." She said with a small laugh. "Go ahead Jack.. she's fine.. just a little spooked I think." She said and set Kitty down on the floor again when the Panther was farther away and she had stopped crying. "I'll give you your present after you are finished presenting yours." She said wit ha grin, knowing that anything Jack could give them would need quite the ceremony.

Jack grinned, watching the kids interact with Pandora, looking up at Elijah and Chase. They were both surprised, but not pissed off. Yet. They did not know that Jack had brought a small zoo in those carpet bags of hers. Eventually it would hit them that Jack had probably caused more trouble, but Jack also knew she was in a home brimming full of love, and it had to go somewhere.

The twins complained when Thierry was rewarded Pandora as a bunk mate and Jack winked at the boys. "Come by the shop and I'll hook you up. You, too, Fauve." She grinned. She found it funny that Chase had been complaining about Elijah being a bad influence on the kids. Jack was probably the worst influence they had. It was a good thing their parents liked her enough to keep her around.

Jack peered between Chase, Elijah, and Kitty. She had decided Kitty would get her gift last, hoping the kids would be distracted by Pandora to realize Kitty was getting something extra. She did not think they would mind much, but Jack wanted to make sure. Jack knew what it was like being the youngest daughter. And Kitty was Chase's daughter...

But her excitement at Chase's gift was growing too large so she grinned at her friend. "For mommy." She smirked and reached into the bag that held Kitty and Chase's gifts. She carefully brushed past Kitty's and scooped up Chase's, holding it out for Chase, deciding to skip the elaborate introduction she had given the kids for Pandora.

"I had to make some calls, but I got her. She's only a few moths old, so she doesn't have a name yet. Pretty obvious gift, but I thought it had to be given." She gently handed Chase the baby fennec fox and closed the carpet bag, smiling up at her friend.

A menagerie in carpet bags. Screw the promises he wasn’t going to keep for the school. He was going back there just to avoid the animals. Either that or he was going to sleep in the stables. Between the amount of cats congregating on the premises, the big cat and now a sodding Fox....well, Elijah felt a little bit replaced by all of the animals. He wasn’t going to let it get him down, though. Twist still loved him, even if that thing was the only one. Scratch the stables, Elijah was going to go and sleep between Stelladora and Micah in their cottage. The fox could have his side of the bed.

“Why me, Merlin?” He whispered, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. “Why me? What have I done to deserve this?” Then, much to Elijah’s surprise, a voice listed all of his discrepancies, ending with the most recent which was hiding his cigarettes with his mother and smoking then early in the morning. If that was what he’d done to deserve this then he was a man on borrowed time. He was being overrun. He wanted to curl up and have a good cry, really. Or eat some more of those chocolate cones. They were bloody good.

Kitty was enamoured with the bigger kitty and Elijah decided that maybe it was time to show her that it was a bad idea to pull on cat’s tails. He slipped off of the sofa and slid into his Animagus form. It was a much more agreeable body than the human one. He trotted over to the small child and picked her up by the back of her little outfit. He trotted over to one of the arm chairs, nudging Cepheus out of the way as he did so, and plopped Kitty down in the chair. The little girl squealed and reached out, roughly grabbing Elijah’s ear. He made a small noise of protest and turned his head towards her arm, nudging it slightly with his nose.

Cepheus smiled a little watching his father interact with his little sister. She wasn’t going to leave him along now she knew how fluffy he was. Cepheus looked at the animal Jack had in her hands and moved closer. “What is it?” He asked.

“It’s a fox you idiot! What else would she get, mum?” Caelum replied haughtily. “It’s pretty damn ugly though. It kind of looks like a hairless Chihuahua.”

Fauve frowned and sat forward. “I thought Foxes were red..”

Chase gasped when the fox was produced. "It's adorable!" She whispered and held out her hand for the little girl fox. In her, she could fit her entire hand around the fox's middle. It basically sat in the palm of her hand, and she held it to her, nuzzling it gently. "Thank you Jack..." She whispered holding onto the fox softly. "This is a Fennec fox kids.. it's a type of desert fox, it's ears are huge to help release heat from it's body.. " She smiled and gently stroked it's head. A name for this beautiful little darling. She couldn't think of a thing to call it. "It's why your father calls me Fen.." She said glancing around at the kids around her. "It's my favorite type of animal.." She said with a smile.

Chase looked up when Elijah suddenly transformed and picked Kitty up. She almost said something, but he was being gentle, so she watched him play with his daughter as his animagus. He was a beautiful animal, and Chase found herself getting up, and moving over to him, gently laying her head on the soft fur, stroking his fur softly as she watched Kitty pull at his hair, trying to get him to move. Chase knew that he was sulking because for the time, his children were more interested in the new pets then in him, and it made her smile. He would need a little bit of extra love tonight, and she knew her present to him would consist of something she only gave him on holidays. A single note that said he got whatever he wanted from her, and it only was in effect after Dinner until the next morning. And she only gave one to him on Holidays, so she had made it a little tradition.

Chase looked at Jack and made a face while her hair hid her face from Elijah's view. A look that made it clear that he was sulking and she found it slightly amusing. Chase ran her fingers through his fur and gently stroked her little fox on her lap. Kitty was sitting up, protected from a fall by Elijah's giant white tail. Chase flicked her hair out of the way again and gently rested her head on his back end, as the kids went off to play with Pandora.

Jack watched Chase, grinning widely at her, Chase's face was absolutely lit up with joy over the baby Fennec Fox. Jack grinned, saying, "You're right, kids, I don't know why she likes the things, either. It's one of those unsolvable mysteries of the universe." Jack grinned. Even she may be persuaded to admit... it was kind of, sort of cute... Probably a pain to take care of though.

Jack watched Elijah turn into his cat form and play with Kitty. Chase moved over to him and curled up next to him, giving Jack a funny look and causing Jack to laugh. She could tell Elijah was sulking and it was probably her fault, so maybe it was time she gave him her gift. She knew she was Chase's best friend, but Elijah had given her some pretty good advice when she had been friendless and offered to be a friend. It had never really worked out, he had been distracted with the pregnancy and Barker, but he still had treated her pretty well.

"Eli, if you'd quit pouting I could give you your present, huh?" She grinned, pulling the other carpet bag onto her lap, being a little more careful. "Now, this guy does come with a name, and he made me think of you. He came to me in a terrible shape, abused and what not. I nursed him back to health but he's sort of shy. He's going to need some work."

She withdrew a large phoenix, currently in the prime of youth. He blinked and shied his head but Jack held him out for Elijah to take. Jack said, "His name is Monet. Like the painter. He's been through a lot, but... he'll come around."

“It’s a hairless Chihuahua,” Caelum decided much to the dismay of his sister who looked positively insulted by the idea. “What? I haven’t seen any foxes that look as weird as that have you? Maybe they’re in the same family as Chihuahua. We should ask genius over there,” He looked over his shoulder at Thierry who was still playing with Pandora and Caelum smirked. Thierry looked at him and raised a dark eyebrow. Caelum opened his mouth to say something but he felt hands on his chest. He let out a yelp and tumbled off of the couch. He hit the floor with a bang, gaining the attention of Cepheus who was sat by Chase and he snickered to himself.

Caelum, ever the most egotistical of all the boys, scrambled to his feet and clenched his fists. Fauve smirked at him and poked her tongue out at him. Caelum growled and pushed her back. Her back slammed against the couch and Thierry got to his feet. Elijah turned around, pulling against Kitty’s grip of his ear and watched in interest as Thierry thumped his brother on the arm. Caelum gave a cry of indignation and grabbed his brother, forcing him away to get to Fauve. Elijah pulled himself out of Kitty’s grip and quickly morphed back into his human form. He caught Caelum by the scruff of the neck and picked him up, dangling him high off of the floor. Caelum made noises of protest and Elijah chucked him into one of the arm chairs.

“Sit down and stay down!” His voice rose and took a harsh tone. Caelum shrank back into the chair, not sure what would be appropriate to do or say. He sniffled but Elijah continued to glare at his son, regardless of the tears of indignation. “Touch your sister like that again and I’ll give you something to cry about, Caelum. You’ll find yourself in the stables with a slapped arse quicker than you can open your big mouth to give a weak apology. I’m not having it. Pour en savoir un peu de respect!”

“Mais, papa, elle m'a frappé en premier!” Caelum exclaimed indignantly. Cepheus shook his head and put his hand on his mother’s arm so she didn’t cut in. His brother needed the discipline. “Vous ne savez pas ce que vous parlez! Il s'agit de Kitty maintenant! Nous avons pris sur le siège arrière!” Caelum hissed. Elijah was pulled up short by Caelum’s words and he looked at Fauve and Thierry who both seemed flabbergasted by his words. He was brave to say that to Elijah. He’d have hell to pay for it later. He loved his children. They knew he loved them. Caelum took things too far. They could joke among themselves about such things but they’d never say it to their father, or with such passion. It was admirable but Elijah was fuming.

What words had passed between father and son were not to be repeated in. Elijah plastered a neutral facial expression on his face and sat down on the floor by the sofa. There would be words later, maybe even some more tears. The tense atmosphere melted away when Jack spoke to Elijah. He looked up and moved himself across the floor towards her. Thierry sat down on the sofa with his sister, keeping one eye on his younger brother and the other on his father. The Krum temper was present in all of them. They’d been around Elijah far too long. They’d inherited his traits. All of them were liable to blow up at any time. Thierry still had much of his mother in him, though. His real mother, mind you. He was far more level-headed than the rest and he didn’t desire to fight anymore. Fauve was standing up for him, he stood up for her and Elijah doled out the punishments. This was going to be one eventful Christmas.

“I wasn’t pouting,” Elijah smiled. “You’re filling my house with animals. Don’t you think I deserve to be a little bit miffed?” He laughed and waited patiently for her to reveal what she’d gotten him. The animal was abused apparently and Jack had saved it. Elijah wasn’t entirely sure what that had to do with him but his mind did drift back to the Shrieking Shack incident. His leg would never be the same. Felix hadn’t helped either. That was forgiven now though, mostly. “So he’ll need a lot of love, that’s nice.” Elijah chuckled. “I’ll split myself what, eight ways? Then everyone can have some love.”

When she brought the animal out, Elijah was floored. He didn’t know what to say. It was a work of art. A Phoenix of the best design. Monet. Oscar Claude Monet. The French artist. Elijah smiled and took the small animal from Jack. He stoked the Phoenix gently and smiled. “Ziva will be so irritated,” He laughed. The grumpy owl didn’t want to be replaced but maybe they’d get along. Elijah certainly wasn’t getting rid of her. But the Phoenix was gorgeous. “Thank You Jack, really. He’s beautiful. Now, what did you do with her gift, Fen?” Elijah asked, looking over at Chase.


French
Pour en savoir un peu de respect! - learn some respect.
Mais, papa, elle m'a frappé en premier! - but, papa, she pushed me first.
Vous ne savez pas ce que vous parlez! Il s'agit de Kitty maintenant! Nous avons pris sur le siège arrière! - You do not know what you're talking about. It's all about kitty now. We've taken the back seat!

(Translator fails! D: )

And this was why Jack would probably fail as a mother. The whole... disicpline thing. She could barely control herself- she ate junk food and got herself into the worst situations. How would she be able to tell a kid to knock it off and not feel like a hypocrite. In Elijah or Chase's shoes, she would probably have let the kids wrestle it out, which was an awful idea. She did not look at either of the twins. She knew she had always enabled their trouble making spirits and if she got the chance, she would tell the difference between being funny and being stupid. They did not need to end up like her.

She was just grateful she did not speak French, because she had a feeling that it had been one conversation she would not have wanted to have any part of, let alone hearing it. Yes, the next time the twins came to Weasley's, she would explain to them the balance that every prankster needed to know. The most valuable skill one could have; knowing when to stop... Too bad it had taken her as long as it had to figure out... and she still forget every now and then.

Elijah took Monet and looked pretty flabbergasted, which pleased Jack immensely. He had probably thought that she had intended to bring everyone little pets and leave him with the pooper scooper, because she never had been as kind to him as she could have. But maybe Monet made up for all the snipes she had said, and was bound to say. She grinned. "No problem."

She did have a gift for Kitty, but what with the drama with Caelum, Jack figured she could hold off. Maybe give the gift to Chase if they got a minute alone. In a way, it was a gift to the mother rather than the child. A sign of acceptance, of everything that happened. The other kids did not need to think it was any sort of favoritism, because it was not. Kitty terrified Jack; Jack always feared she would make her cry or drop her or something. No, that gift could wait.