Dazzling Christmas


                                            >Be Anon on the day before Christmas Eve.

                                            >You were on your way back home with some groceries.

                                            >Wanted to get that shit done before it got dark and cold.

                                            >Just like your ex-wife's heart.

                                            >You passed by Christmas decorations up the ass up and down the streets.

                                            >Lights of various colors and trees with decorations, etc.

                                            >You spend these times for family and friends alone most days now.

                                            >Although you keep in contact with your siblings at times.

                                            >They always expect you to be the "kind" uncle and get their kids good presents.

                                            >Too bad you don't like the little shits.

                                            >Small toys and some clothing should be good enough for their ungrateful asses.

                                            >Not that you mind.

                                            >You've gotten over it pretty fast somewhere down the line.

                                            >Half way home and the sun was setting.

                                            >The vibrant colors it shared as its time came to an end always made you feel a strong, yet fleeting, warmth through your body.

                                            >Night came just as soon.

                                            >You let out a sigh of defeat at being unable to get home in time.

                                            >Well, at least you bundled up enough in preparation.

                                            >You shifted your bags around in your hand a bit before bumping into someone.

                                            >You both let out an 'oof' from the impact and did your best to keep your feet rooted to the ground.

                                            "Ouch, sorry about that."

                                            >You brushed your shoulder a bit before moving your eyes to the person opposite of you.

                                            >"Oh, no I'm sorry." she responded, her voice nice and gentle, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

                                            >While appreciated, the apology went through one ear and out the other.

                                            >You couldn't take your eyes off of the women who you bumped into.

                                            >She had a perfectly shaped body any man would die get with.

                                            >Her eyes are in a brilliant raspberry, shining like rubies in the dark of the night. And her hair... Her hair...

                                            >Well... Her hair looks like a giant poofy Cheeto puff.

                                            >You probably shouldn't try to compliment her hair until you can think of a better fucking analogy off the top of your head.

                                            >Before you could continue to marvel at the perfection in front of you, a sting of pain shot through your body from your knee.

                                            >Holding in the profanity you felt like unleashing and looking down brought your attention to two small girls.

                                            >The grumpy looking girl having purple twin pigtails and the one giving you a big smile sporting a blue ponytail.

                                            >"Hey jerk!You bumped into our mom, so why does she have to say sorry to a big asshole like you?!"

                                            >The purple bundle of anger puffed out her cheeks at you.

                                            >You'd be annoyed and surprised by the cussing if she wasn't the smallest of the two and so darn adorable.

                                            >After her daughter's little outburst the mother of the two grabs them by their hands.

                                            "Aria, you shouldn't be so impolite. And what did I tell you about saying those bad words?"

                                            >The purple anger you now knew as "Aria" grumbled before the orange poof lightly nudged her and sighed.

                                            >"Little girls who curse don't get presents from Santa."

                                            >"That's right, now what do you say?"

                                            >"...Sorry, Mister."

                                            >Despite the obvious malice still in her voice, you'll give her props.

                                            >Even if your mom coaxed you to behave, you still acted like a little shit to people.

                                            >Fuck Santa.

                                            "Hey, it's cool. I get how it is around that time of being a kid. Name's Anonymous by the way, though most just call me Anon."

                                            >The mother gave you a small bow and smile before bringing the hands of her children closer to her.

                                            >"It's nice to meet you. My name is Adagio, and these are my precious girls; Aria and Sonata."

                                            >Looking over, you placed your eyes on the other kid you almost forgot about.

                                            >The light blue one had a gaze on your through the entire time, and when you faced her...

                                            >Her smile was turned to eleven.

                                            >You've honestly never seen a kid so bright and cheerful.

                                            >"Nice to meet ya Mister Nonny!"

                                            "Uh, yeah. You too."

                                            >It was a mistake to respond.

                                            >Now the little blue ball of joy was talking.

                                            >And she didn't stop doing that for at least half an hour... Telling you about her favourite cartoon, what she would name her cat if she ever got one and many, many other things.

                                            >Adagio and Aria looked both bored and happy, but both of them were indeed listening to Sonata talk.

                                            >Every so often you'd chime in with some words and she would nod in appreciation before rambling on.

                                            >Well, it wasn't so bad.

                                            >It's been years since you've had such a pleasant talk with a kid. A long one sure, but pleasant.

                                            >Most of your nieces and nephews took after your family.

                                            >Meaning a bunch of compact assholes.

                                            >Suddenly, you felt a small chill down your spine.

                                            >Shit you forgot about the weather.

                                            >You were having a good time for the past thirty minutes.

                                            >Getting ready to pick a point in Sonata's story to bounce, you noticed something from the corner of your eye.

                                            >Aria, the tiny angry purple terror, was shivering pretty hard.

                                            >This also gave notice to the rest of the family who stopped and huddled around Aria.

                                            >Adagio put a hand around her shoulder and Sonata gave her sister a hug, her happy smile turned sullen.

                                            >Aw jeez, now you'd feel like a prick if you just left them looking like this in front of you.

                                            >Letting out a silent sigh, you picked something up from one of your bags and took something out of a box.

                                            >This item being a hooded purple coat.

                                            >You were going to give this to one of the nieces, but you think they could go with the sacrifice.

                                            >You moved close to the girls and unbuttoned the apparel.

                                            >Adagio and Sonata saw you coming closer and took a bit of a defensive stance around Aria.

                                            >The look in their eyes showed some fear, and that tugged at your heart.

                                            >You motioned between the coat and Aria for them to make the connection.

                                            >Still slightly skeptical at your movement, they slowly moved away from Aria.

                                            >Coughing a bit to get Aria's attention, you crouched to her eye level and gave her a smile.

                                            >Still shivering, she gave you eyes of a wounded animal that dared the predator to attack.

                                            >Before she could get a word out, you moved the coat around her.

                                            >It took a second for her to stop resisting the new bit of clothing and warmth, silently letting you place her in it.

                                            >You pulled up the hood and stood back.

                                            >She looked down at herself, finally noticing the color and pattern going with the rest of her.

                                            >Aria moved around a bit, getting a feel for the coat and seeing how it fit her.

                                            >Seeming contempt that it felt snug, she looked back up to you.

                                            >You couldn't quite hear all of what she said since she covered her mouth and grumbled, but it sounded like a "thank you".

                                            >Well you'll take it.

                                            >"You didn't have to do that. That looked like it was meant for someone else."

                                            >You looked back at Adagio who seemed happy and gracious for what you had done, despite her words.

                                            >You shrugged and grabbed your bags from the sidewalk.

                                            "It's fine, I can just get them something else tomorrow."

                                            >You gave the family one last smile and nod in farewell before turning to head home.

                                            >"Thank you Mister Nonny!"

                                            "No problem kid!"

                                            >The yelling coming from Sonata in thanks growing fainter as you grew farther apart left you feeling warmer than you did in your coat.


                                            >Well.

                                            >Today was Christmas Eve.

                                            >You had gotten to wrapping the presents last night when you got home from shopping.

                                            >Well most of them.

                                            >You still had one missing because of what happened the other night.

                                            >You gave one of the gifts to complete strangers.

                                            >All because you felt like doing some not shitty for once in your miserable life.

                                            >The Grinch warned you about this.

                                            >Well whatever.

                                            >You got almost everyone something so you got all of today to yourself.

                                            >Grabbing your coat, you decided to go out to eat breakfast.

                                            >Walking was always nice in the weather early in the day.

                                            >Not "go fuck yourself Snow Miser" cold and not "RIP Heat Miser" hot either.

                                            >Perfect breeze.

                                            >Going down a couple of blocks brought you to a nearby diner.

                                            >Place was of comfort to you as you've been here enough times.

                                            >Heading inside, you sat at your usual spot near the window and ordered what you always get: some pancakes, bacon, eggs, and coffee.

                                            >Waiting for your order to come by gave you some time to just sort of people watch.

                                            >Bunch of mindless shmucks passing by either on their phones or holding hands with the ones they love.

                                            >Not like you needed that anyways.

                                            >Didn't work out for you before.

                                            >Snapping out of your self-pity, your eyes wander towards three familiar figures that passed by.

                                            >The happy family of three you met with the night before were making their way somewhere in a hurry it seemed.

                                            >Sonata was hoping around, Adagio with a calm smile, and Aria with an expression of exasperation towards her sister.

                                            >She wasn't screaming though so you'd guess she probably isn't as mad as she's showing.

                                            >"Here's your order, sir."

                                            >The call from the waiter broke you out of your trance and you tore your gaze away from the window to enjoy your meal.

                                            >The food was mediocre, but it was close by so whatever.

                                            >Paying your bill, you made your way out of the dinner when you stopped next to the sidewalk.

                                            >What were you going to do today?

                                            >...

                                            >Well a stroll down the stores will be fine.

                                            >Maybe you can get a small last minute gift for the niece that isn't clothes for once.


                                            >The day was still early so you took your time going from store to store to find something.

                                            >Everything was either a bit costly or too good for the little shits.

                                            >You still loved them as the family, but you definitely weren't going to spoil them.

                                            >You got some lunch a bit earlier as the hours seem to pass by and you were on your feet.

                                            >A sudden voice drew you away from your thoughts near one of the bigger stores.

                                            >"Mommy look! That tree is huuuuuuuge!"

                                            >You soon saw the voice belonged to Sonata, one of the adorable kids you met yesterday.

                                            >She had her face near the glass, jumping up in excitement.

                                            >"Can we get that mom? Huh? Can we?"

                                            >Next to her, Adagio and Aria stood by and looking the tree up and down, also marveling at it.

                                            >Adagio gave a sad smile and shook her head.

                                            >All of the energy left Sonata and she settled down, hanging her head in disappointment.

                                            >Aria, looking more irritated than she did earlier that day, shoved Sonata.

                                            >"Why would you ask that idiot?! You know we can't!"

                                            >The two stared each other down like dogs in a fight, but you could see the tears in their eyes showing their true feelings.

                                            >"Girls! That's enough."

                                            >The shaky anger coming from their mother's voice brought the two to their senses and they stood away from each other.

                                            >Well, that looks pretty awkward.

                                            >It's not your business.

                                            >Just pass them by, you owe them nothing.

                                            >...

                                            >Ergh.

                                            >Sighing, you walked over to the girls and put on a smile as if you had just barely gotten there.

                                            "Hey, girls, crazy meeting you guys again."

                                            >The two children look to you in shock, then one changing to suspicion and the other back to a cheery smile.

                                            >"Hey! Mister Nonny!"

                                            "Heya there Sonata."

                                            >The girl ran up and hung by your arm.

                                            >Well, this wasn't all that bad you suppose.

                                            >You swung your arm in slow motions as Sonata let out a squeak of laughter as she held on as tight as could.

                                            "So, what brings you all out here?"

                                            >You turned your attention to Adagio and she turned her fixed gaze from Sonata back to you.

                                            >"We were just getting some stuff for dinner. Takes a bit here and there to feed a family of three."

                                            >Three?

                                            "So just the girls huh? Does that mean...uhm..."

                                            >Adagio shared a cute giggle at your uncertainty to ask the question.

                                            >"If you're asking if their father is in the picture, no."

                                            >She looked at her daughters and a glimpse of sadness went through her eyes.

                                            >"He left some time ago."

                                            >Shit

                                            >Why the fuck would you ask that.

                                            >That's exactly what you don't ask someone who spends the days out with her kids.

                                            >Fucking idiot.

                                            >What'll you do now?

                                            >It's not all that late, but you're thinking of just heading home for dinner yourself.

                                            >You've never really had anyone over, but...

                                            >Why would you even consider bringing them over?

                                            >They meant nothing to you.

                                            >Just a couple of strangers you met on the sidewalk.

                                            >Still, guess your grinch heart still had some growing to do.

                                            >Sonata was still dangling from your hand.

                                            >That smile of hers was infectious as hell.

                                            >And even though Aria seemed bad tempered, maybe it was just the home before that brought her to be like this.

                                            >Last was Adagio.

                                            >You gave up looking for someone to love after your ex-wife.

                                            >The cheating bitch brought most of what shitty personality you had with your family back for a good portion of your adult life.

                                            >But looking at Adagio brought back some of that spark.

                                            >You let out a heavy sigh before giving it one last thought on what you'd do.

                                            >"Anon?"

                                            >Adagio looked at you with concern in her eyes and you looked back at her with your decision.

                                            "Say, why don't you three have dinner with me?"

                                            >The second those words came from your mouth, all three of them froze up.

                                            >Aria was the first to go back to her skeptical face and stared you in the eyes.

                                            >"...We don't need your charity as-er, jerk."

                                            >Wow she was actually able to hold that back.

                                            >Nice job kid.

                                            >Adagio shook her head at the remark Aria made before turning back to you.

                                            >"Anon, I don't want you to think you have to do this for us out of any pity or something."

                                            >You shook your head and brought your arm with Sonata attached to it up.

                                            "That's not it..." You looked over at Sonata and chuckled at her large smile and blinking eyes at you.

                                            "I'm tired of b..."

                                            >No you couldn't just tell them you hated being alone

                                            >Give a less pathetic excuse.

                                            "I just wanted to have company tonight and thought to give you all an invite over. The choice is yours if you'd join me."

                                            "So, you don't have to take me up on this."

                                            "But, I would be extremely grateful to have you all as guest for dinner."

                                            >Adagio and Aria looked at each other as if trying to come to an understand.

                                            >"Of course we will!"

                                            >All three of your stared down to Sonata who decided to blurt out her decision.

                                            >Aria looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel.

                                            >"What the heck?! You can't just decide for all of us!"

                                            >Sonata turned her head up at Aria in a mocking gesture.

                                            >"Can! Did!"

                                            >This girl has got spunk you'll give her that.

                                            >Adagio was silent for a few seconds, eyes drifting to the streets in thought.

                                            >"I'm not sure we should."

                                            >Sonata looked over to her mom and let out a loud gasp.

                                            >"Why not mom?"

                                            >Adagio looked back down to Sonata with a small smile.

                                            >"Well Even though Mr Anonymous is very nice to offer this to us..."

                                            >"We couldn't just have dinner with a stranger."

                                            >"But it's fooood! And Mister Nonny said he didn't mind!"

                                            >Adagio was seeing there wasn't much to get through to this girl.

                                            >Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. You just made things weird and awkward.

                                            >You were about to give Adagio a way out of this before three very loud grumbling noises could be heard from your companions.

                                            >The girls went silent for a few seconds, looking like someone just dropped shit on their heads.

                                            >Adagio cleared her throat, a blush creeping on her face and she gave you an embarrassed smile.

                                            >"W-well maybe a bit of new company with dinner would be nice."

                                            >You just smiled, not wanting to laugh at their emberassment.

                                            "If we head out right now I can get right to cooking and be done quick."

                                            >"Did you maybe want some help?"

                                            "Nah, I work pretty well and fast and my own in the kitchen."

                                            >You nodded back and headed back home with the family right behind you.

                                            >Your arm got tired after a bit so you gave Sonata a piggy back ride.

                                            >Meanwhile, Adagio talked a bit about all three of them and some likes and dislikes.

                                            >For once you didn't mind someone talking about themselves.

                                            >It was pretty fucking cold outside on the walk, but you made it.

                                            >You opened the door and let out a sigh of relief.

                                            >Thank god you turned on the heater when you left.

                                            >Everyone got inside and put their coats and shoes to the side.

                                            >Your guest all sat down on your couch in your living room and watched tv while you cleaned up a bit.

                                            >It wasn't a pig sty, but you haven't had any guest in a long while and wanted it to look as best as it could.

                                            >After moving enough things to make the place look well enough, you got to cooking.

                                            >Living in a big family where you had to make your own food for so long really helps a guy with learning to cook.

                                            >While chopping up some carrot and other vegetables, you heard the 'pit-pat' sound of small feet joining you in the kitchen.

                                            >You turned downwards to find little Sonata grabbing a step stool and stand next to you.

                                            >"Can I help? Pleeeease?"

                                            >She gave you the puppy dog eyes.

                                            >Despite seeing it all the time with other kids, it looked more pure coming from the blue bundle of joy.

                                            >Your heart wouldn't be able to take much more of this captain.

                                            >She's gonna blow.

                                            "Sure thing kiddo."

                                            >You pat her head and moved over a couple of carrots on an extra cutting board for her.

                                            "You gonna be ok?"

                                            >"Yeah-huh!"

                                            >She nodded her head furiously.

                                            >The only sound that could be heard was the tv slightly in the living and the chopping sound coming from you and Sonata.

                                            >You had gotten a fair share of it done before the inevitable happened.

                                            >"Ow!"

                                            >You looked over to see her holding a finger.

                                            >She looked up to you with a slightly pouting bottom lip.

                                            >"I cut my finger."

                                            >Letting out a sigh at what you expected to happen, you look through some supplies in the kitchen before finding a couple of band aids.

                                            >You cleaned her finger up a bit and put one of the band-aids on.

                                            "There ya go. All better?"

                                            >Sonata felt around the band-aid to make sure she wouldn't feel discomfort and nodded in confirmation.

                                            "Alright, well let's get back to it. We're almost done."

                                            >Before you could get back up, you felt two small hands wrap themselves around your neck in a tight embrace.

                                            >"Thank you for taking care of us."

                                            >And as quick as it was there, the feeling was gone just as fast.

                                            >Sonata was back to cutting and humming a small tune as if she hadn't just hugged you out of the blue.

                                            >Well alright.

                                            >You decided to let it slide and got back to it as well.

                                            >After a lot of hard work, as well as a few more band-aids, you and Sonata finished the cooking.

                                            >"Dinner's ready!"

                                            >Tiny ball of energy still looked hyper despite all the stuff she did to help with the food.

                                            >Adagio and Aria joined you both at the table, all the good stuff piled on it.

                                            >"Wow this looks delicious."

                                            >Adagio looked at it all in amazement, licking her lips a bit in anticipation.

                                            >Aria had the same look, though did a better job at trying to hide it.

                                            >"Y-yeah it does, but I bet Sonata didn't do much besides burn something."

                                            >"Hey!"

                                            >Sonata puffed her cheeks out and you chuckled while patting her head.

                                            "Sonata did well in there. It would have taken twice as long if I didn't have my little helper here."

                                            >"Hehe, that's right!"

                                            >The blue scamp held her head up high and Aria just growled slightly in response before sitting down.

                                            >You passed out the plates and each person piled up what they wanted before digging in.

                                            >Small dinner talk took place between you and Adagio about trivial things.

                                            >You learned a bit more about the three and you even told them a few bits about your own family.

                                            >Like your asshole brothers who always took your allowance.

                                            >Or your shitty sisters who blamed everything on you and got away with things scott free.

                                            >Looking back on it all in one single time...

                                            >God you hated your family.

                                            >No need to think about unpleasantries tonight.

                                            >You looked over to Aria and Sonata.

                                            >Sonata dug in pretty fast, you're sure the damn girls gonna get a stomach ache.

                                            >Meanwhile, Aria looked sort of like her mom with how she ate.

                                            >You'd think she'd follow in Sonata's example, but the purple girl ate everything slowly to fully enjoy the food.

                                            >Certainly wasn't expecting that.

                                            >Possibly feeling your gaze, she turned her eyes to you mid-bite and went wide eyed with a blush.

                                            >You gave a small laugh and went back to eating as well.

                                            >Nothing but warmth around the table.


                                            >After eating and helping clean plates, all three girls say down by the tv once again for a bit longer before Sonata let out a yawn.

                                            >Aria didn't seem far behind as she responded with a big yawn of her own.

                                            >Adagio looked down at her girls with a big smile before getting up.

                                            >"I guess we should head home now."

                                            "Oh." You tapped your fingers together before snapping them, idea in mind. "Why don't you all sleep here for tonight?"

                                            >Adagio looked at you in surprised and then skepticism.

                                            >"Are you sure? We really wouldn't want to impose."

                                            "No, it'll be fine."

                                            >"Plus the nights have just been getting chillier. Even with your coats you'd probably get pretty sick going at this time."

                                            >Adagio looks as if she was weighing her options before sighing and going to pick up her girls in her arms.

                                            >"Do you girls mind if we sleep here tonight?"

                                            >Sonata shook her head violently while Aria looked over to you for a second and.

                                            >"...You wouldn't do anything to our mom right?"

                                            >Well that certainly was from left field.

                                            "No, I promise I won't do anything bad to her."

                                            >That didn't seem to put her at much of ease, but she let out a sigh.

                                            >"Alright, let's sleep here."

                                            >The way she answered you'd think she was the mom of the three.

                                            >Adagio took the two tired girls into your room and tucked them in before coming back to the living room.

                                            >"...Thank you."

                                            >You gave her a smile in response and sat down on the sofa.

                                            >She sat down almost next to you, nothing but silence in the room.

                                            "Your kids sure are something else."

                                            >"Yes they are." She went silent again for a couple of seconds before resuming the conversation with a giggle.

                                            >"Believe it or not, Aria gets a lot of her spunk from me."

                                            "Oh?"

                                            >"Mhm."

                                            >"Before I had kids, I was a pretty big rebel brat. Got into fights and talked a lot of shit."

                                            "Guess you have more to you than you let on huh?"

                                            >"Damn straight."

                                            "So, what brought about the women you are now when around the kids?"

                                            >Adagio stayed silent for a few seconds before sighing in resignation.

                                            >"Their father." She smiled as if remembering bitter memories. "He was the kind of guy young me fell in love with instantly."

                                            >"Hot blooded and full of life. When I had the kids he was pretty happy and we even got married."

                                            >"Everything went so well for some time. All four of us had fun all the time."

                                            >"But then he changed as the girls got a bit older. More aggressive and angry."

                                            >"Being the tough bitch I was, I sure as hell didn't put up with it. But ya know, alcohol does crazy stuff to people."

                                            >"After some time and constant bruises from the fights, I just couldn't take it anymore."

                                            >"He said he'd hurt the kids pretty bad if I went to the cops and as tough as I was..."

                                            >"I just couldn't bear to see them hurt."

                                            >"So I changed. For them." She let out a sigh and folded her hands. "Those girls needed someone to comfort them when they couldn't comfort each other."

                                            >You took in all she laid out in the open towards you.

                                            >She was put through so much just to keep her children from being broken.

                                            >And from how Aria acted earlier, the kids definitely understand what was happening to her.

                                            >You rubbed the back of your neck and contemplating what to do now.

                                            "Why don't you sleep with your girls? I'm sure you can use the sleep as much as them."

                                            >Adagio nodded solemnly before getting up and heading to your room.

                                            >Waiting for a few second to hear the noises of her probably getting in the bed, you hurried and got on your boots and coat.

                                            >You opened the door as quietly as you could and closed it behind you as you made your way to the stores as quick as possible.

                                            >You looked at the time on your phone.

                                            >You still had about an hour to get some last minute shit.

                                            >Luckily, the stores weren't as far away as you remembered them being.

                                            >You found the three items you thought might go well with the girls and got a decent sized bag with them.

                                            >You let out a sigh of relief walking out of the last store with the gifts.

                                            >Still you feel like you're forgetting something...

                                            >Seeing a shadow loom under you and seeing what made it definitely reminded you.

                                            >Of course it was that god damn tree.

                                            >Shit

                                            >You didn't really have a way to get it there.

                                            >You had decent muscle strength.

                                            >You could carry it home just to use for this night.

                                            >...But should you?

                                            >You're sure the girls would be fine with just the gifts.

                                            >Would you be alright with that though?

                                            >These girls had so much go on for them.

                                            >To lose the man in their lives that meant so much to them.

                                            >And you hadn't had anyone to spend this night with and actually be happy with.

                                            >When they decide to leave, who knows when you'll have this feeling again.

                                            >You'll make the most of those.

                                            >For both you and the three girls who let you feed them.

                                            >Sleeping in your room in comfort.

                                            >Sighing, you went inside and made the biggest mistake of tonight by buying that stupid tree.

                                            >The store said they weren't really selling it, but since the last day of Christmas was tonight they decided it'd be easier cleaning after it this way.

                                            >You haggled on the price for the shitty thing before coming to a compromise.

                                            >The cashier had asked if you had a way to bring it home.

                                            >You huffed and started to pick up the tree on, angling it to take it out of the store.

                                            "...Kind of."

                                            >You huffed and puffed, gift bag around your wrist and tree over your head.

                                            >Come on you son of a bitch. The Grinch had a change of heart and lifted a fucking sleigh full of gifts.

                                            >You got this shit.

                                            >Never mind how the fuck you somehow got it in your house. without waking the girls.

                                            >They must have been sleeping.

                                            >Luckily it was easier setting it in a corner with a random pot you had in the kitchen and some other things to keep it steady.

                                            >You let out a sigh of relief with all of that done and decided to get down to wrapping the gifts and placing them and the other things under this fucking tree.

                                            >The things you do for strangers.

                                            >Fuck you Grinch.


                                            >It was pretty early in the evening by the time you woke up on the couch.

                                            >Mostly because of the blue blur jumping on your stomach.

                                            >"Mister Nonny! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

                                            "Urgh, alright Sonata I'm up."

                                            >You wipe the sleep out of your eyes and got up into a sitting position, looking around to see Adagio Aria and Sonata looking at the tree.

                                            >"Look Aria! Santa brought us the treeee!"

                                            >Sonata shook Aria back and forth repeatedly, though all Aria could do was mumble and space out.

                                            >Adagio giggled at her two daughters reactions before looking down and spotting something.

                                            >"Hey girls. I think Santa left you more than that."

                                            >Both girls looked towards their mom then back at the tree to find all the gifts underneath it.

                                            >They looked at them a bit puzzled before turning a few to Adagio.

                                            >"These don't have names on them, mom."

                                            >Shit Anon come in with the save.

                                            "Well, I think Santa wants to give you girls a test. He told me to give you both your true gifts if you can divide the other equally and fairly."

                                            >Sonata let out an 'oooh' in understanding, though as you expected Aria was yet again skeptical.

                                            >"How would Santa know we were at your house, Anon?"

                                            >You smiled down and kneeled next to her before booping her nose.

                                            "Come on Aria, Santa knows everything. He saw you over and moved your gifts to here just in time. Simple as that."

                                            >Aria crossed her eyes from the booping and blushed with puffed cheeks from your obvious mockery.

                                            >You chuckled and rubbed her head lightly.

                                            >She gave off a slight huff and went to opening the presents with Sonata.

                                            >Thank god you were able to take off your niece and nephew's names from the gifts.

                                            >The looks of pure happiness that both sisters had for the first time while giving each other clothes really shot you through the heart.

                                            >But man were you going to have a call to make later.

                                            >Oh well.

                                            >After the girls got the clothes separated, you decided now was a fine time to give them their true rewards.

                                            >Going into the closet, you picked up two gifts and gave them to Sonata and Aria.

                                            >Sonata shook hers a bit to try and get an idea of what the gift was while Aria went straight for opening it.

                                            >She let out a gasp of surprise at the purple animal you got her.

                                            >Soon enough you heard the same elicited squeal come from Sonata as hers was the same gift, but with a blue color instead.

                                            >These were some sort of special creature that lived in the water that was only being sold on Christmas.

                                            >Apparently when you squeezed them, music came out from a small box in them.

                                            >The tags read "Siren".

                                            >The ones from myth were creepy shits, but these toys of them were cute and harmless enough.

                                            >Both girls hugged their stuffed sirens tightly and ran off to the other room to play with them.

                                            >Adagio giggled and started to pick up some of the clothes, leaving them in their separate piles between the two girls.

                                            >You helped her out and placed the clothes on the sofa for later.

                                            >"Thank you."

                                            >You looked over to Adagio who gave you the most beautiful expression of sincere gratitude you've ever gotten.

                                            >You turned your head and coughed into your hand to hide your growing blushing.

                                            "Er, heh, well you shouldn't be thanking me yet. After all, you haven't seen what Santa has gotten you yet."

                                            >She gave you a quizzical look while you took the final gift from the closet and gave it to her.

                                            >Her slender hands fell onto the top of the box and opened it to find some nice bracelets and a small siren plushie that had her colors on it.

                                            >She smiled at the trinkets and held them in her hands for a little while before putting the bracelets on.

                                            "There were the only things I could think of to get you with last minute shopping and no idea what you might have wanted.

                                            >She shook her head to dismiss your worry.

                                            >"They great Anon, thank you."

                                            "No problem."


                                            >After composing herself, Adagio sat next to you with the beautiful gem necklace around her neck.

                                            >"It was amazing for you to do this for us Anon. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for the wonderful morning."

                                            "It's alright. I'm glad you're all happy."

                                            >"Still,we're hardly know you. Why would you do something like this for us?"

                                            >Could you really say you felt like less of a shitty person around them?

                                            >Probably not.

                                            >When you tried to make up an excuse, you were saved by your phone when it decided to start ringing.

                                            >You picked it up and instantly your good mood was gone.

                                            "Aw shit."

                                            >"What's the matter?"

                                            "Home problem. This call might take awhile so I'll take it outside."

                                            >She gave a nod in understanding and you got up to talk with the last people you wanted to today.

                                            >Stepping out into the winter breeze, you sighed and answered your phone.

                                            "Hey, Bro."

                                            >"Hey, Anon! How've you been?"

                                            "I've been alright Incognito, just woke up."

                                            >"Really? You should have been awake earlier man! The parties gonna start soon. All your family is waiting for you!"

                                            >Jeez, I wonder why.

                                            "Yeah sorry, I was pretty busy last night."

                                            >Even though you couldn't see it you knew he had that same shitting eating grin on his face when he came to his own conclusion.

                                            >"Oooh, I see! Had a bit of late night fun with a girl eh?"

                                            >You let out a sigh and felt ready to tell him what really went down.

                                            >God this was going to be a pain in the ass.

                                            >Maybe he wouldn't mind just this one ye-

                                            >"Hey Incognito! Where do you wa-"

                                            >The sound went silent pretty fast.

                                            >You'd guess your brother put himself on mute.

                                            >But it was too late.

                                            >You recognized that voice anywhere.

                                            >A few seconds passed before you heard your brother back on with a nervous laugh.

                                            >"H-hey sorry about that bro, heh, someone just needed help putting the egg nog somewhere."

                                            "...What is SHE doing there?"

                                            >"Come on Anon, you know your ex was like part of the fam-"

                                            "WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING THERE"

                                            >You could feel the flinch come from the receiving end of the call.

                                            >Your brothers knew you weren't someone to just mess with know.

                                            >You could defend yourself pretty fucking well against those assholes and with the temper you had, they learned to back off most times.

                                            >You could hear him gulp before sighing in defeat.

                                            >"...She was invited by one of our brothers who she's now dating."

                                            "And you wanted me to be in the same place with that cunt why?"

                                            >"Oh come on anon it's been two years. Fucking grow a pair, move on , and get your ass over here."

                                            >Wooh boy were we on a fucking roll today.

                                            >Guess it's now or never.

                                            "Fuck you."

                                            >"Excuse me?"

                                            "Sorry, I didn't finish." You cleared your throat and made sure to step farther away from your door so the girls couldn't hear.

                                            "Fuck you, Fuck all of our brothers and sisters, fuck those little shits you call offspring, fuck that whore and the stds she got from those other guys I hope she gave to our bro, and fuck that dysfunctional thing I called family."

                                            >You sucked in more air to continue as you heard no response come from your brother.

                                            "I'm honestly glad for this call, it was so liberating."

                                            "I can move on with other shit. Even if nothing goes on for the family I was able to help out thanks to me not sharing the shitty person I became because of you all."

                                            " can live by being me, and not you or anyone else is ever going to fuck that part of me up ever again."

                                            "Hope one of other family members has a fun time being the new target for all of your bastards future presents."

                                            "Oh and by the way, John Doe fucked your wife last year. Merry fucking Christmas."

                                            >And with that, you clicked to end the call.

                                            >Holy shit did that feel good.

                                            >You let out the biggest sigh in your life from the release of all that pent-up anger.

                                            >It's finally all gone.

                                            >You made your way back inside with a huge smile on your face soon after.

                                            >Opening the door revealed two small faces coming up to you with drawings in their hands.

                                            >"These are for your Mister Nonny! Merry Christmas!"

                                            >Sonata held hers up with a giant smile while Aria kind looked at you with a sideways glance and handed her paper over.

                                            >You picked up both pictures to look through them.

                                            >Looked like both girls had some nice artistic values.

                                            >Aria's Picture showed them all sleeping on what you assume to be on your bed with their new gifts, the words "NICE MAN'S HOME" written on what seems to be the roof.

                                            >However she had you on the couch with lines coming from you as if you stink.

                                            >You're getting weird mixed signals from this.

                                            >Well you'll keep it.

                                            >Placing her paper on the side, you looked over Sonata's gift.

                                            >Sonata had everything colorful and bright.

                                            >Around what looked like your table was the smiling faces of Aria and Adagio.

                                            >In the kitchen was where she had you and herself, cooking from what the clothes and chef hat on her head seem to indicate.

                                            >But what really got you was the line she put above as the title.

                                            >"Mister Nonny the assistant and Chef Sonata!"

                                            "So you're the chef now huh?"

                                            >You gave her a grin and she giggled with a nod.

                                            >You put her paper down next to Aria's, making sure to keep it on something to remember them for later.

                                            "Thank you, girls."

                                            >Sonata gave Aria a thumbs up and purple anger grew rolled her eyes in response.

                                            >The rest of the day consisted of you and the girls all having fun and eating together yet again.

                                            >Sonata cooked this time since she so happens to be a Chef.

                                            >That night ended with almost everything in the kitchen on fire.

                                            >Mistakes  were made.

                                            >After cleaning the mess up you noticed that the darkness outside of your window.

                                            >You had  decided to ask if they wanted to maybe spend another night.

                                            >Sonata once again approved in a heartbeat and Aria looked a bit apprehensive, but  eventually decided it was fine.

                                            >Now here you were, laying around with Sonata and Aria snoring on Adagio's lap with the tv turned to the news with low volume.

                                            >Adagio smiled down at her daughters and ran her fingers through their hair.

                                            >"Thank you again for doing all of this. It's been a long time since they've been this excited on Christmas."

                                            "It's no problem. I guess the same could be said about me."

                                            >You gave a small chuckle before feeling soft tender fingers entwine themselves with yours.

                                            >"I think you deserve this time as much as they do."

                                            >You gave her an appreciative smile and got up get the bed ready.

                                            >Adagio placed the girls under the sheets with her and fell fast asleep with them in no time.

                                            >You  sat back on your couch and looked out your window into the winter night.

                                            >God knows how you're future with these three will go.

                                            >But whether it's just a family friend or even something more.

                                            >You've changed for these girls.

                                            >You felt something besides hate for children.

                                            >So maybe

                                            >You can finally learn what it's like to be a part of a real family.