Macmillan Christmas

Susan wasn’t enjoying the holidays like normal this year. It just wasn’t the same this year and she knew it never would be the same. It hadn’t been when Aunt Amelia died it won’t be this time. She tried to ask festive but it was coming out half festive. She meant well though.

She starred at the Christmas tree for the longest of time. Aunt Amelia’s golden angel was on top of tree, each of the kids had handmade Christmas ornaments on the tree and she had the ornament that Ernie had gave to her the first year they were married. She walked up to the tree and took off the ornament that Ernie had given her and held it close to her. She was hoping he’d show up for Christmas, for the kids at least. She put the ornament back onto the tree and started to stuff stockings after she had the presents under the tree though she nearly killed herself trying to get down the stairs.

She stuffed the stockings though she knew Jessica and Amelia didn’t believe in Santa anymore but maybe Drew did, she didn’t know. She still remembered the Christmas when Claire screamed out that Santa didn’t exist and Amelia ran off crying, oh what a fun Christmas that was, and it was a good thing Drew was too young to remember. Amelia never forgets anything unfortunately.

A knock on the door grabbed Susan attention. She walked over to the door and opened it to find Ernie in a Santa costume. She had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing. She hugged him unable to believe he had shown up after all.

“Suzy, you should know by now I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Ernie said trying not to crush the presents that he had been carrying. He honest hadn’t seen her so happy to see him in years. This whole separation had really brought things in perspective for him.

By midnight there was only one gifts not under the tree, which it would be abusive to put it under the tree and highly risky. It was completely content in the closet so there was no big rush. She couldn’t believe how much work it had been this year, she knew she had spent way too much but that was normal it’s not like she can’t get money out of the bank.

“I want to give you part of your gift early,” said Ernie. Susan looked over at him curiously. Ernie dropped a key into Susan’s hand. At first Susan starred at it then glared at Ernie when she realized he had taken it from her keychain but then became intrigued by it. “I fix it up your uncle’s house, which was not easy I must say. I know how much it meant to you and your dad, your dad was the one who told me to do this. I wanted to do it so you don’t have to live here with your parents, it would be safer for them that way,” he said. She couldn’t help herself and kissed him. She couldn’t believe he would do that much for her, this had to be the biggest thing he had even done for her.

After a while Susan convinced Ernie to spend the night. The ended up sleeping together since Ernie refused to sleep in Edgar’s room and he still has nightmares about the blue room. Susan had forgotten how much she loved sleeping next to Ernie. His snoring is like an instant lullaby to Susan, she was sure she hadn’t fallen asleep that quickly in months.

((The person who did Ernie and Jessica left the site so I suppose we can use them as we wish. If you have an gift requests PM them to me))

There were a lot of things that Drew was too young to remember from past Christmases. Of course, then there were other things he hadn't been too young to remember. Certain events during Christmas just stuck in his head, even if he didn't remember them when he was asked about them.

For thirteen years old, most would expect that he not believe Santa was real anymore. To a certain extent he didn't, but there was just a small part of him that did believe. If it weren't for some kids in Hogwarts, he might actually still believe in him completely. It wasn't a bad thing to believe in Santa, some adults still believed in him. That just meant that they were kids at heart. That's what Drew liked to believe.

The entire year, Drew always looked forward to Christmas. Not only because of the presents - even though he really liked that part - but because it was a chance to have the entire family together. It was unusual for a kid his age to look forward to that, most of them just looked forward to being able to open up presents and get the things he wanted. But things had happened recently that made Drew see the complete value in having his family together.

A feeling of sadness shot through the thirteen year old boy as he stood in front of his older brother's bedroom door. His hand was extended toward the doorknob, almost touching it as he was about to open up the door and run in yelling "Merry Christmas!" to Edgar. He let out a shaky sigh and took his hand away from the door. Drew stepped up closer to the door, and leaned his head on it. "Merry Christmas Edgar..." he said softly, sadly and he turned away from the door.

He wiped his eyes to clear away the tears that had begun to blur his vision and he ran downstairs. "Mum!" he shouted as he neared Susan and smiled happily at her. "Merry Christmas!" he giggled. Then seeing his dad, Drew turned on his heel and ran at him. "Merry Christmas Dad!" he grinned at him.

Amelia jolted upright in bed in a cold sweat. It was just a dream, she kept reminding herself. She took a shower just because she felt so disgusting though she put the same nightgown back on. She wished those stupid astral projection dreams would stop, she didn’t want to know the future or what is going on in other parts of the world.

She walked down to Jessica’s room and banged on the door. She nearly called Clare’s name put held it in. She continued down the hallway to wake up her grandparents in a much more pleasant matter. She wasn’t sure she’ll ever be able to look at Jessica and see her same after she cursed that plant, it showed a side of her that worried Amelia. If she would do that to a plant would she do it to a human? Amelia scolded herself for thinking about that at Christmas.

“For someone who doesn’t believe in Santa anymore you really are excited,” laughed her grandfather as he stumbled out of the room. Amelia just smiled; she saw no point in debating with her grandfather right now. As she went back to Jessica’s room to get her up she saw her grandfather wrestling with the oxygen machine trying to help her grandmother down stairs.

“Jessica! Get your lazy butt out of bed!” she yelled banging on the door again. “I’m getting up! You little…!” yelled Jessica. Amelia didn’t stick around to hear the ending; Jessica has never been a morning person. She was nearly at the bottom of the stairs when Jessica appeared.

She stopped instantly seeing her father. Why was he here? She wasn’t as anger at him as she was before but she didn’t understand why he hadn’t done something to get the family back together still. She sighed as she plopped down on the couch next to her grandfather. She adored her grandfather as much as she used to adore her father. She still does adore her father but he hasn’t tried to fix things yet so she acts like she doesn’t care about him anymore.

((Click Susan's sig, it looks like a mini Drew))

Drew smiled at his mum and dad and opened his mouth to say something to them when he noticed Amelia and Jessica had gotten up. He jumped out of his dad's arms and ran over to the two of them, stopping first at Amelia. "Merry Christmas Amelia!" he grinned at his sister. He noticed that she looked a little weird, he glanced at his dad before looking at her again and sighing.

He stepped toward Jessica and hugged her. "Merry Christmas Jess!" he giggled softly. He was glad it was Christmas. It was much easier for him to act happy during this time than any other time. The happiness and joy Christmas brought him was enough to hide the sadness he had had for a while now, even if it was only for a few moments.

Drew let go of Jessica and glanced at the Christmas tree. The different arrangement of presents underneath the tree grabbed his attention and immediately drew him away from his family. His eyes sparkled a bit from the lights and the playful gleam that was usually in his eyes.

He walked over to the presents and looked at Susan. He tilted his head to the side in his usual manner to ask what they were. He knew he probably wouldn't get an answer from her but it was worth a try. No matter how weak it was. Drew grinned at everyone, looking around the room.

Susan honestly believed she’d lose her mind without Drew. He had been keeping her going for lot longer than a few months ago. She never did quite get over what happened to her aunt, how could she when she was the one who found her. You never forget something like that no matter how many potions and drinks you try.

There was a bit of an awkward stance between Susan and Ernie. Neither of them knew what to say after last night. Just got caught up in the holidays? Susan doubted it. There was something more, she just wished she knew how to push Ernie into doing something about it.

She sat down next to Ernie on a loveseat. She sighed watching Amelia; sometimes Amelia was too much like her. She couldn’t help not laughing at Drew as he tilted his head at her. He was so cute but she couldn’t, she wouldn’t.

“Open them up and you’ll find out. The red ones are Jessie’s and the blue ones are Amelia’s,” she said ignoring Jessica who was glaring at her. She wanted to yell at the girl sometimes but this was Christmas so she better not. She looked over at Ernie and saw that grin she missed so much. If it wasn’t for the kids she probably would have kissed him again right there.

“Amelia, quite sulking and open my gift,” called Ernie tossing a small blue gift to Amelia. It’s not like it was breakable so he didn’t care if it got tossed around a bit. “And Jessica, stop looking at your mother like that and find a gift to open,” he sighed. Oh the joys of having teenage girls.

He sat back down next to Susan. He rested an arm around her shoulder not caring what the kids thought. He was at least not on the bad side of Susan’s father anymore.

"Yes!" Drew jumped with excitement when Susan said he could open the presents. He rummaged through the presents, sorting his from his sisters' presents. Soon, he'd made three separate piles of the presents, he hadn't meant too but it just happened. He blinked a couple of times as he stared at the piles he'd made without even realizing it.

He quickly shrugged and picked up a long yellow box, that he assumed was his. He looked at the wrapping paper and saw his name, and he grinned. Not being one to make a mess of the wrapping paper, Drew began to peel the tape off of the present and he slid the box out, leaving the paper almost intact.

He tilted his head to the side again and looked at Ernie and Susan. He blinked at them then looked down at the box. He extended his hand to the box and opened it to find a new set of clothes. He grabbed the jeans that were in there and stood up quickly, laying them in front of him, to see how they would probably look.

The boy looked at his parents and smiled happily at them. He honestly didn't care about the presents anymore. He just liked having his family be somewhat normal after everything that had happened. He liked seeing his mum and dad so happy and close to each other again.

Amelia giggled as she watched Drew. She was glad he hadn’t lost the kid in him let. She wished she hadn’t decided to grow up so quickly. She missed not caring about guys, how she looked and what other people thought of her. When you’re a kid none of that stuff matters.

Amelia caught her gift nearly dropping it. She unwrapped it and found an old look cloth case which she opened and found a gold amulet with the Macmillan crest on it with three small emeralds around the crest. Her eyes got big realizing this amulet that had been passed down the Macmillan family for ten generations. She couldn’t believe her father had given her this. It should have gone to Jessica since she is the oldest but her father had given it to her, why? She even looked to make sure it was her present.

She decided to let Drew open the rest of his presents. He seemed to be enjoying it more than she was. She couldn’t quite believe that her father had given her that gift. It would take a few more minutes before she could even speak.

Present after present, Drew unwrapped them all and was soon surrounded by toys, clothes and some other things he really didn't pay much attention too. He didn't know what to do with all the presents around him anymore. Not that he ever actually knew what to do with everything he received every year. Of course he would play with them all and he would wear all the clothes until he grew out of them, but right now he couldn't decide what to use first.

The present Amelia had in her hands from their dad caught Drew's attention and he stepped out of the pile of presents and wrapping paper that had surrounded him and walked over to his sister. He blinked a couple of times and looked at Amelia. "That's so cool!" he exclaimed happily. He grinned at Amelia, knowing what it was that she held in her hands and he looked at his parents.

He gave a slight shrug and went back to the pile of things had made and looked around it all, trying to find something to use.

Susan could see the tears forming in Amelia’s eyes, unsure if it joy or sadness. She wasn’t sure of much anymore when it came to the kids. She just knew they were her kids and they always would be her kids. She jumped up remembering the gift that was still in the closet. She couldn’t leave the poor thing in there all day, it might suffocate.

Amelia started to open the rest of her gifts. A book about dragons from her grandfather, clothes, a new writing journal from her grandmother and little odds and ends from her mother. She wasn’t big into toys anymore, they always seemed to disappear.

Ernie watched Amelia closely. He would never say it out loud but Amelia had always been his favourite out of the girls. He had given her the amulet because he knew she would take good care of it and really adores it unlike Jessica. He hoped that one day she’d forgive him for whatever he did to upset him, he really didn’t know why she was so angry with him. What did she want from him?

Susan came back carrying a Crup puppy whom still had its pitchfork tail attached because it was too young to cut the tail off yet. It barked and wagged its tail nearly stabbing Susan when it saw Drew.

Drew wandered around his pile of presents, glancing up to see his mum going to the closet. He tilted his head as he watched her, instantly losing interest in everything around him. He sat down in the middle of the pile, just staring at his mum.

When she came back in with a puppy in her hands, Drew's eyes lit up and he jumped up from where he sat, running toward her. "Puppy!" he exclaimed, sounding like a five year old who barely knew how to speak. He smiled at the puppy, gently petting its head.

He looked at Susan and grinned at her. Drew really loved animals, no matter what kind of animal they were "It's so cute!" he said, giggling.