Home for Winter Break

[Blake Zepline]

Blake laid on the sofa with his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He was consumed in his thoughts, something that he had become accustomed to over the past few days. Not only was he in the habit of retreating to his thoughts, but he had also taken to ignoring his mother and Joshua, refusing to come to terms with acknowledging him as his father.
The sun was slowly rising, the light eclipsing the twinkling Christmas lights that were drapped around a large pine tree that took up most of the living room. He cast the tree a repulsive look. His mother and Joshua had distinctly set it up in the hopes of elating the usual gloominess of the house with some defiant Christmas spirit.
He had taken to growing an outburst of dislike for everything the two did, whether it was Joshua's cooking, his mother's openness for conversation, or their continuing rants of spending 'quality time together'. But above all, it was Cloe's attempts to urge him to speak with Joshua alone that always thrust a tattered mood upon him. The only person he spoke to directly was Lily, and to his amusement, this annoyed his mother very much.
Turning on the sofa, Blake wondered if he were the only one awake on this dull Christmas morning. Surely someone was bound to enter the living room, if not his mother coming in to check on him as usually often as possible.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily woke up in Blake's room to a still quiet house. She listened for movement before she decided to get up and go peek at Blake. She hoped that he was awake so they could have a few minutes of privacy on Christmas before Josh and Cloe woke up. She felt really bad for all of them. Cloe and Josh didn't want Blake to know about Josh being his father just yet, but that did not exactly happen as planned. Blake was resistant to everything they tried to bring him out from his shell. The only time she saw 'him' anymore was when they were alone.

She quietly got up and walked over to the door of the room. She opened it slowly, so as not to make any noise. Slowly, Lily walked into the hallway and down the stairs to the living room where Blake was lying on the couch, probably sleeping. As she approached him, she saw him move to his side and figured he was most likely awake. He was facing the back of the couch, so he did not see her as she jumped on top of him. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" Lily tickled him, laughing as she attacked.

 

[Blake Zepline]

Blake submitted to laughter as Lily tickled him, his mouth curved widely at the edges it felt awkward as it had been days since he last smiled. "Me-rry C-Christ-mas!" Blake blurted back with difficulty as Lily continued to tickle him mercilessly. Once he had managed to sit up, he pinned Lily down on the sofa then quickly kissed her on the cheek. "You sneeky bugger," he taunted, his smile evermore wide and bright. "Truce?"

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily laughed as Blake finally was smiling. Her plan had worked. She wanted to get him to loosen up a bit before he had to spend the day with his parents. As Blake pinned her down to the sofa and kissed her, she laughed harder. "Okay, okay. Truce!" she cried out in agreement. "Wanna open presents?" She grinned wide, so glad to see him smiling and wanting to take advantage of every minute of it.

 

[Blake Zepline]

"Alright, but you first!" Blake replied, releasing Lily. Sliding off the couch, Blake crawled over to the Christmas tree and pulled three boxes out from behind it. Laying the three neatly wrapped presents in front of Lily, Blake couldn't help but smile up at her. He was glad to be alone with Lily, savoring every second of the moment.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily smiled as she slid from the sofa and onto the floor. She was excited to see what Blake had bought her! She watched as he placed the three items in front of her. She smiled at him, "You really are amazing!" She grabbed one of the presents and tore off the paper.

Lily was amazed! It was a magical camera! She loved to take pictures and had always wanted to get one of these. "Blake! I love it!" She then took the next package and tore into the paper.

Lily smiled as she unwrapped the picture of the two of them together. "Oh. This is so sweet. Thank you." she said, looking at Blake in amazement. She took the last package, which was smaller than the rest and tore off the paper. Inside was a beautiful, ornate box. She opened the box and inside were a pair of rings.

There were two rings in the box when she opened it. They were beautiful. She looked at Blake with a smile on her face. She could not stop smiling! "Thank you. This is too much! You are so sweet!" She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Then she went under the tree and pulled out Blake's pressents. "These are for you birthday and the rest are for Christmas." She sat back then, waiting for Blake to start to open his.

 

[Blake Zepline]

Blake blushed as Lily opened her presents, he was nervous in case she did not like them. But upon seeing her reaction, Blake smiled brightly and kissed her back. "It was nothing, really... But that set of mood rings, well they allow you to know how your partner, friend or whatever, is feeling!" Taking one ring from Lily he put it on her finger gently, then with the second ring he stuck it onto his middle finger. Not long after a tiny arrow appeared in the middle of the mood stone ring, which immediately swerved and pointed directly at Lily, it's color remaining pearly white which was to show that her mood was 'fine'. He looked up at Lily and smiled again. "Awesome ain't it?"
Taking the various boxes from Lily, Blake's eyes widened. "How did you know my birthday was around Christmas? I don't remember telling you..." he said shyly. "Thanks, you are really thoughtful."
Blake picked up the heaviest box and shook it a bit, wondering what was inside. Carefully he placed the bos in his lap, unlacing the silver ribbon before he tore the green wrapping paper to reveal a heavy case which held a bludger.

He smirked down at it, then looked up at Lily. "I've always been meaning to buy a bludger, thanks!" he said, setting the heavy case aside choosing to not open it in case the bludger demolished his living room.

Picking up the second neatly wrapped box, he opened it excitedly, staring wide-eyed at the black Magician's hat, placing it on the top of his head gaily. "How do I look?" he asked, unaware of the sudden disappearance of his head.

"Holly smokes! The famous Fake Galleons!" Blake cried in earnest upon opening the third and tiniest of the boxes. Chucking the second pair to Lily, he quickly aranged the letters on his own so they formed the words Merry Christmas!.

Coming to the last package, Blake tore off the wrapping paper and pulled out a Slytherin cap and scarf. "How is it that you got me the exact things I was intending on getting myself?" he asked Lily with a big smile. "Thanks oodles!" he added, getting up to kiss her before he picked up the wrapping paper off the floor and scrunched them into a ball which he chucked into the rubbish bin. "I have to say, this is the best Christmas ever!" he exclaimed, his head still invisible from the Magician's hat he was wearing.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily blushed as Blake put the ring on her finger, listening as he explained how they worked. Soon her ring had an arrow pointing to Blake in a pearly white color. She knew that he was fine, well, at least for the moment.

She loved seening the reaction she got from Blake as he opened each package. The only thing she wished was to be able to take pictures on her new camera, but she would have to sit down and figure out how to use it first. When Blake put on the headless hat, she laughed to see him walking around with no head.

Lily laughed as Blake seemed not to realize his head was missing on his body. "Um, okay, can you take off the hat? I kinda like to see your head you know," she said with a giggle. "That is a headless hat from Weasley's so you kinda dissapear in there."

Lily sat on the floor, completely happy with how her presents turned out. "I am so glad you like your presents. Blake, this is the best Christmas ever."

The only thing that worried Lily about the day was having to deal with the ever growing tension between Blake and his parents. She looked down at her ring. Still happy. Good. I hope to keep him that way most of the day. She looked up at Blake and smiled wide. "Want to help me make breakfast?"

 

[Cloe Lestrange]

The children's laughter carried up to second floor of the house, causing Cloe to startled awake from within her own room. She could recognised Blake's laughter anywhere, but it was more the vast amount of time that had elapsed since she had last heard it that had awoken her so abruptly. Throwing off the bed covers eagerly, she sat up and quickly slipped her feet into her fluffy pink slippers before she walked out into the hallway and down into the living room, all the more wondering what extreme degree of happines could uplift Blake's spirit.
At the bottom of the steps she heard the unmistakable voice of her son conversing with Lily. It seemed they were exchanging gifts. Cloe had something for the both of them which she had tucked under the tree just the day before.
After a moment of hesitation, she finally stepped into the living to mark her presence, hoping dearly that Blake would at least try not to be difficult. "Merry Christmas!" she greeted the two before she let out a cry of shock; Blake appeared to be missing his head.

 

[Blake Zepline]

"Oh!" Blake exclaimed, having only realised his head was missing. "This headless hat is awesome! And breakfast sounds great right now." Getting up from the floor, he turned around just as his mother entered the living room and yelped at his invisible head. Rolling his eyes at her, Blake pulled off the hat grumpily before he stalked off toward the kitchen.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily looked up as Cloe announced her presence in the room. She looked to Blake for his reaction to her, not quite sure what was going to happen. She stood up and followed Blake to the kitchen, greeting Cloe on the way from the room. "Merry Christmas."

In the kitchen she looked at Blake and asked, "What would you like to have for breakfast?"

 

[Cloe Lestrange]

"Well I guess I just up and killed Christmas," Cloe groaned as Blake walked passed her without a word, as usual. "Merry Christmas, darling," she said to Lily as she passed her to follow Blake into the kitchen. "Well, your presents are under the tree when you are ready," she called after them. "Both of you."
With another sigh, Cloe walked over to the tree and picked up Joshua's present. She would make a stop at his room before she returned to 'try' preparing their Christmas dinner.

((darn.. this is what i get for taking ages to reply
okay! the edit is now complete ))

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Joshua awoke hearing the sound of laughter coming from the living room. He stretched in the bed in the guest room, missing waking up next to Cloe. But that will be again soon enough.

He rose from the bed and slipped into a pair of slippers that were on the floor. Wrapping his robe around him, he opened the door of the room and looked out. He could see down the hall that Cloe was already up, and so was Lily. He headed down the stairs to see what was going on. On the stairs, he ran into Cloe coming back up. "Merry Christmas, Baby." He looked to see where the children were in relation to them before bending forward and kissing her fully on the lips.

 

[Cloe Lestrange]

Cloe met Joshua on her way up the stairs, a smile reluctantly appeared, curving her lips uncomfortably. Returning his kiss, Cloe then held out the present she was holding and said, "Merry Christmas."

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily looked at Cloe with a puppy dog look on her face. She felt bad, but her loyalties were to Blake. She could see that Cloe was really trying to get Blake to at least talk to her. Lily was surprised there was a present for her under the tree as well. She made a mental note to thank Cloe later on.

She opened the fridge and started digging through the shelves to see what she could make into a meal.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

(((I am out for the night. we will finish up tomorrow. Yay!)))

 

[Blake Zepline]

((night!))

Blake dropped onto the kitchen stool, his eyebrows stuck together in a disapproving stare. He had forgotten about the past few days, and upon remembering them he felt even more glum about Christmas. As he drummed his fingers along the wooden couter top, he allowed himself to calm down a little before he spoke to Lily. "Find anything worth eating?" he asked as politely as he could.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily popped her head up from the fridge with a number of items in her hands. She was glad that Cloe had let her and Joshua take charge of the grocery purchases. He really wasn't all that bad of a guy, she just hoped that someday Blake would see that.

"Well, I think I have. How about French Toast with bacon?" This was one of Lily's favorite things to make with her mother, and she had gotten pretty good at it. She set down the eggs, bacon and milk that she had taken from the fridge on the counter. She gathered the items that she needed to make everything and started to get to work. She took the crusty loaf of bread and placed it on a cutting board and then found a knife to cut it with. She looked at Blake and asked, "Do you want to cut the bread for me?" Lily smiled at him, hoping to get him back out of his grumpy mood. She looked down at the ring on her finger, and could see that he was hurting. The arrow turned a light red color.

 

[Blake Zepline]

"Sure," Blake replied, hopping off the stool and making his way over to Lily's side. Taking the knife from her, he set into cutting the bread which was one thing he could at least manage to do right. "French toast? I don't think I've heard of French toast before," he added honestly. Most hand cooked meals were foreign to him, as the last time he had eaten a decent home cooked meal was when his father was alive. Stepfather damnit, he corrected himself bluntly.
Setting the knife down after he had cut as many slices he could get from the loaf of bread, Blake turned back to Lily. "I hope... this whole mess hasn't been too awkward for you. I mean, your first time meeting my family," stressing the word with every amount of sacasm manageable, "just happens to be when their whole load of bogus tumbles into light."

 

[Lily Drage]

"Blake, don't worry about it. Your family is fine," Lily replied smiling at him while she was beating the eggs and milk in a bowl. "I don't think that this was supposed to come out right now anyways. And from when I was talking the other night with Josh, before we found out, I think that he had no idea about anything until a few weeks ago. He mentioned that he had not seen Cloe in years." She started to melt butter in a frying pan while soaking a few pieces of bread in the egg. "They just happened to run into each other. He had left her for some assignment and when he came back, she was gone."

 

[Joshua Hanson]

"You really shouldn't have." Josh said as he took the present from Cloe. "Come up stairs, I have something for you too." He turned and headed back up the stairs with the present in his hand. He entered the guest room and walked over to the bed. Reaching under, he pulled out a small, wrapped package and turned to Cloe. "This is for you."

 

[Blake Zepline]

"I get that. It's just..." pausing for a moment to lower his voice a little, "her!" he concluded firmly. "She didn't tell either of us! That is to say Joshua and I. You think she could have at least told me, if not the both of us." Blake crossed his hands over his chest, his eyebrows seemingly joined together in disaproval. "I do feel bad though... for being such a git to Joshua and all. But what else am I supposed to do really? It's just weird talking to him 'cause I have no idea what to even say, or where to even begin! Oh heya pops. Or daddy if you'd prefer; take your pick as I have no idea what you like anyway. By the way, my favorite colour is green. Great social skills, doncha think?" he said sardonically to Lily, the rhetorical question stated rather matter-of-factly.

 

[Cloe Lestrange]

"Josh, you shouldn't have," Cloe pressed, blushing a little as she took the gift from him. Setting it aside as she takes a seat next to Joshua on the guest bed, Cloe waits for him to open his present, wondering all the while whether it was the right thing to get him.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Joshua began to open the present from Cloe. It was a beautiful photo album. He gave Cloe a puzzled look, and then opened up to look at the pages. It was filled with images of Cloe and Blake together as well as ones of just Blake. It was a collection of Blake's life. Joshua was touched. It was a way to get to know him a bit better. "Thank you. This is really wonderful. My son's life in pictures." He leaned over and kissed Cloe. "Now open yours."

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily calmly placed the bread onto the pan and turned to look at Blake. "Maybe you could start by talking with Josh. He seems pretty cool. Maybe try to establish a friendship?" Lily took a few steps closer to Blake and took his arms from where they were crossed on his chest. "Whatever you decide to do, I am behind your choice." Lily kissed him, then walked to the stove and flipped over their breakfast.