Closed Christmas Delivery

[Rudolf Lagowski]

It had been a difficult few years. Rudolf thanked Merlin for his family; they kept his spirits, if not up, then at least steady. His friends, too, had been his rocks, always ready to comfort or distract him, ever prepared to lend an ear when he was sure his wife's were getting tired, and though he had tried not to rely on them too much, just knowing they were there meant the world to him. Most people hadn't even noticed the subtle shift in him since his brother's accident, but they had, and that was enough. That was all anybody really needed, wasn't it? To feel seen. To feel understood.

The Cade mansion never looked any less grand and impressive no matter how many times Rudolf visited. He almost felt like royalty as he approached the front door, a small bag in one hand containing a deceptively large number of presents. Nothing expensive - he still wasn't rich, no matter how other farmers liked to brag about their profits - but he'd put a good amount of thought into each one, including the children's. James and Geo were like a brother and sister to him, which made their children his sort-of-nieces-and-nephews, and Rudolf liked to think he was a pretty cool uncle. He rapped the very shiny knocker and stood back.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Having two children at home with Geo was similar to having one, except there was twice the amount of mess, double the number of chores, and half the amount of energy to go around. Of course, in another few months, there would be three of them, and Geo was just glad that Eden had daycare to go to now she was old enough. Honestly, James was lucky that he had her when his children were small because sometimes it felt like Geo didn't have enough hands when it was just her at home and she couldn't really picture her now husband in this current predicament. That being said, he did have a handful of children on his own plate when he was teaching, the only difference was that most of them could communicate their needs.

Geo was in one of her daughter's playrooms when the fairy lights began to turn green. Although she wasn't expecting a visitor, it was a pretty good indication that the enchanted knocker had just been flapped given she was being alerted to its movement. Eden was sitting on a blanket surrounded by toys and didn't even notice when her mom got to her feet, and her son was fast asleep in her arms. Popping back through the house, eventually, the blonde made it to the front door of her house, and she peered out the window to one side in curiosity before throwing open the door with her free hand to smile brightly at the man who was practically her brother-in-law. "Rudy-poo!" Geo beckoned him in quickly, taking a step backward to allow him to enter the premises, "Twice in one week? One slice of that fruit cake wasn't enough for you, huh?" Geo teased, knowing there was nothing left of the cake he'd sampled recently from her recent baking session with the eldest.​

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf grinned as he stepped over the threshold. With a nerve like that, Geo really had a chance of making it as a Lagowski sibling. "Hey, it was a compliment," he said, leaning in for a quick one-armed hug. "How's it going? Delivery! Uh, it's bigger on the inside. I got something for everyone. Just be careful when you take out the green one for James, cus it's kinda special." The emphasis on 'special' and the malicious giggle suggested it wasn't delicate because it was expensive. "I can stick around, if you want. Or if you're busy, I'll get out of here."

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

"No no, of course, we need all the judges we can get around here for cake anyway," Geo hugged Rudolf back, glad that he'd come by to taste the samples when he had. Until recently baking wasn't something the blonde had really tried, but since Eden had been so hands-on with it since meeting Aelin, it was a bonus to have an additional opinion on whether what they were making was actually edible. "Awh, thank you Santa!" Geo replied, before shooting the man a look halfway between suspicion and disgust when she heard James' present was special, knowing that could mean literally anything. "Please stick around. Here, I'll swap you." Geo handed off baby James and in turn, took the bag of gifts from her guest. Despite having not spoken to Rudolf properly when they'd been at school (in truth Geo had only really spoken to James at school because he was Jess' brother) she had grown comfortable with him over the years in their adulthood, and having him around just felt like another member of their family. She'd not told him they were expecting another member, primarily because she wanted James to be the bearer of that particular news. "Besides, you're not leaving here empty-handed yourself either but I still have a couple I need to finish wrapping," it would be nice for Eden to hang out with her uncle too, she decided. "How's Pheebs?" Geo asked, beginning to walk back through the house towards the open living area.​

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

"Oh really? 'Cus I was just thinking I could pick up another job," Rudolf joked. Geo's cakes were incredible, although he only really had his own kids' culinary experiments to compare them to, so perhaps the bar was low. He handed over the presents, and then suddenly his arms were full of a snoozing baby. "Woah, for me?" he said, rocking the infant gently. "Now I feel bad. I didn't get you anything this awesome." Grinning, he carefully stood on his heels to remove his shoes and followed Geo through the house. Holding someone else's baby was always a bit nerve-wracking. It reminded Rudolf of the first time he'd ever held Reid. After the first, you realised they weren't that delicate after all, but James suddenly looked very delicate indeed. "She's good. Yeah. She's good," Rudolf said. "She's sorry she couldn't come over. How's James? The other James. I miss him; we need to catch up. Merlin, you are so adorable." The baby had opened his eyes and was gazing intently at Rudolf. Yep. Yeah. He was definitely gonna be this one's favourite uncle.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo could tell Rudolf was joking about looking for another job, but that didn't stop the blonde from looking across at him and seriously debating whether or not she could offer it. Even if it was for a short-term agreement while Eden was learning. "Nonsense! You're giving me the gift of rest which is more valuable than anything money can buy," she grinned, watching the way Roo looked over her son. It had been a while since his own children were babies, Geo could only assume that it was a similar feeling to when Eden was born and only then realizing how big the other "babies" had gotten. "The other James has been pretty busy since becoming Head of House," Geo admitted. She was proud of how hard he worked, but she knew it must be tough dealing with so many students at once. "He'll be home over Christmas and the New Year," that was unless he was going to be called away at any point to spend time with his other two daughters. It had been a year since Geo had found out about the girls and while she'd been as accommodating as she possibly could, she did occasionally wonder how much this would now affect their own family now that her husband wanted to be part of their lives too. She knew that families weren't perfect and that she would stay with James even when things got hard, but she still had to remind herself at times not to overlook her own feelings. "He is," the woman agreed, shaking the thought "he's got James' eyes. Maybe that's why you're so entranced," she teased, placing the bags down on the large table in the middle of the living room. ​