Chapter Text
“Haul out the holly, put up the tree before my spirit falls again, fill up the stockings, we may be rushing things but deck the halls again now! For we need a little Christmas, right this very minute, candles in the window-”
Edelgard listens to Byleth hum along to the radio as they drive, the lush forest turning white as winter flurries cover the landscape in snow. She hasn’t been this far north since she was a little girl, and the beautiful, sparkling, landscape calms her nerves a little bit. Only a little.
“Byleth,” Edelgard asks once again. “Are you sure your parents will like me?”
“Of course,” Byleth reassures her, just like she has done so many times that day. She doesn’t look away from the road, but places a hand on Edelgard’s knee, “I know they’ll love you, just like I do.”
Still, Byleth’s words can’t temper Edelgard’s nerves. She had never gotten this far with anyone she’s dated, so meeting the parents is unknown territory. That, plus her own terrible relationship with her family and the fact that she’s spent the last few Christmases partying with her friends in a non-traditional sense does not give her confidence. But, when Byleth asked her to come home with her for Christmas and flashed her puppy-dog eyes, Edelgard couldn’t say no. She tries to forget her nerves, focusing on the landscape once again.
“I should have brought my easel and paints,” Edelgard mumbles. They usually don’t get this much snow in the college town of Garreg Mach, or Enbarr where she grew up.
Within ten minutes, they’re turning off the highway on a dirt road that leads to a quaint, white farmhouse that has started to blend into the white background.
As soon as Byleth and Edelgard step out of the former’s truck, the door of the farmhouse swings open and a woman who looks a lot like Byleth steps out. She must be Byleth’s mother, Sitri Eisner. Her hair is lighter than Byleth’s blue, and her kind eyes are the same shade as her daughter’s.
“Byleth!” Sitri calls, and wraps Byleth in a tight hug with no mind to the snow dusting her jacket. “Oh, I missed you so much!”
“I was up last month for Thanksgiving, Mom,” Byleth points out, but hugs her mother back. When Sitri finally lets go, Byleth steps back and holds out a hand for Edelgard to take, “And Mom, this is Edelgard.”
Edelgard isn’t too sure on what to do. She holds out a hand to shake but finds herself pulled into a warm hug, “It’s so good to finally meet you, Edelgard! I’ve heard so much about you from Byleth.”
“It’s . . . good to meet you too, Mrs. Eisner,” Edelgard says.
“Please, call me Sitri,” she says as she steps back. “Now, come in! It’s too cold to stay outside for too long. And please be careful of the icy patch.”
Sitri rushes them inside where it’s warm, and Edelgard manages to slip on the icy patch. Byleth steadies her with a hand on her shoulder so she doesn’t fall on her ass and embarrass herself
Inside, the farmhouse is warm and decorated for Christmas. Ivy is wound around the bannister leading to the second floor. Splashes of red and gold cover the living room and stockings hang over the fireplace. But . . . there’s no Christmas tree.
Byleth notices this too, “You haven’t put up the tree yet?”
“Your father wanted to wait for you two to arrive so you could pick out one together,” Sitri explains. “He’s out getting firewood right now, but he’ll want to chop down a tree before the snow gets too thick.”
“A real tree?” Edelgard asks. Byleth nods in response.
Edelgard has never had a real tree for Christmas. As a child, the tree they had was grand but . . . fake. The Black Eagles found a rainbow Christmas tree a couple years ago, and while she was fond of their gay tree, it also clearly wasn’t real.
(When she thinks of the Black Eagles, her friends she has spent the holidays with since moving to Garreg Mach, she feels a pang of sadness. She doesn’t know why, and she doesn’t think too hard on it).
“Why don’t you two take your bags up to Byleth’s room? I’ll let you get settled in as we wait for Jeralt to get back. Then we can all have dinner together.”
Byleth leads Edelgard up the stairs to a small bedroom. As soon as she steps in, it hits her that she’s in Byleth’s childhood bedroom. This is where her girlfriend grew up. It looks a lot like what her apartment looked like before the two of them moved in together, lots of books scattered about, sports equipment shoved into one corner, and a smattering of personal touches. Above her orderly desk, there’s a couple polaroids of Byleth and her parents, her high school hockey team, and . . . one of Byleth and Edelgard.
“I put that there when I came up last time” Byleth admits when she catches Edelgard glancing at the wall of photos. She sits down on her bed and smiles, “I was missing you.”
“I missed you too, even though you were only gone for a couple days,” Edelgard admits, walking over and slotting herself between Byleth’s legs. She leans down to kiss her forehead as Byleth wraps her arms around Edelgard’s waist, “I’m glad we don’t have to be apart for Christmas.”
“Even though you’re nervous about spending it with my parents?” Byleth checks.
“Yes,” Edelgard admits. “I don’t regret coming here with you . . . though I think I may be missing the Black Eagles more than I expected.”
As soon as she says it, Byleth’s eyes go wide and she glances away, the same look she gets on her face when she’s hiding something. She rubs the back of her head, “Well, I may have a solution for that but-”
She doesn’t get the chance to finish the sentence as the door to the room opens up and a gruff man’s voice comes in, “Hey kid, welcome home-” a tall man with dusty blonde hair stands in the doorway, and cuts off as he notices how close Byleth and Edelgard are. He starts to close it as he realizes he just walked in on their personal moment.
“It’s alright Dad,” Byleth sighs as Edelgard steps back, going red as she realizes that Byleth’s dad just caught them . . . well, he didn’t catch them doing anything bad. At least they were just being a normal couple but it’s the principle of having one’s privacy invaded.
The door opens up a crack, “Are you sure? It looks like you and your girlfriend were . . . busy.”
“Don’t say it like that,” Byleth gets up and opens the door all the way. “Hi Dad.”
“Hi,” Jeralt responds as he ruffles Byleth’s already-messy hair. “Welcome back home. I assume that’s Edelgard, with how close you two were.”
“Yes, that’s Edelgard,” Byleth confirms.
Trying to not make a fool of herself, Edelgard steps forward and straightens out her spine, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Sir?” Jeralt echoes. “That’s the first time in a long time anyone’s called me ‘sir’. Just call me Jeralt, kid.”
“This is also the first time in a long time anyone’s called me kid,” Edelgard retorts before she even thinks it over. Shit, there goes not making a fool of herself.
Thankfully, Jeralt doesn’t seem offended by it. He just laughs and claps his hand on Byleth’s back, “I like her, Byleth.”
“I like her too,” Byleth says. Edelgard finds herself blushing even harder at Byleth’s words.
“Dinner’s ready!” Sitri calls from downstairs.
“Let’s not keep your mom waiting,” Jeralt says.
All three head downstairs, where Sitri has laid out a wonderful looking and smelling meal. She smiles as they enter the kitchen, “Edelgard, I hope you like trout, but if you don’t, I can always cook you something else later.”
“It will be fine,” Edelgard insists.
“Did you go out and catch this?” Byleth asks Jeralt.
“Nah, the nearby lake is frozen over. Too obnoxious to try and get the boat out on it. Bought it at the store,” Jeralt explains.
“So, the pond should be frozen solid, right?” Byleth continues with a small smirk on her face.
Jeralt stares at her before he returns the smile, “You want to go skating.”
“Would be fun,” Byleth says as she begins to dig in.
“We’d have to pull out our old skates from the attic,” Sitri says. “Can you skate, Edelgard?”
“I can,” Edelgard says. “I won’t say I’m great at it but I can manage.”
“Nonsense, when we went to that ice rink last year you and Ferdinand had that race around the rink and you lapped him,” Byleth argues.
“Ferdinand hadn’t been skating since he was a kid,” Edelgard points out. “And I got practice in when Dorothea got that second job at that ridiculous disco roller rink during the summer and I went to visit her.”
“Oh god, I had forgotten about that place,” Byleth laughs.
“Ferdinand and Dorothea are both . . . Black Eagles, right?” Sitri checks.
Edelgard nods, “Our friends.”
“I heard a lot of your group from Byleth,” Sitri says. “Well, she talks about you more but they get brought up often.”
“Byleth talks about you a lot,” Jeralt adds.
Now it's Byleth’s turn to blush, “Dad.”
“You do!” Jeralt insists.
“But uh,” Byleth clears her throat. “About the Black Eagles-”
A knock on the door interrupts her.
“Were you expecting anyone?” Jeralt turns to Sitri, who shakes her head.
“Might be the mailman?” Edelgard suggests.
“He came earlier,” Sitri says.
“Actually,” Byleth interrupts. She seems nervous as she announces, “I . . . may have invited the Black Eagles to come up here too and I think that’s them?”
Everyone stares at her, and together Edelgard, Jeralt, and Sitri say, “What?”
“I thought it would be a nice surprise,” Byleth continues. “Y’know, since Edelgard and I have spent Christmas with them in the past and it would be nice to have everyone in one place.”
“Yes, but how much is everyone?” Jeralt checks.
“Eight more,” Byleth admits.
“Eight?” Edelgard checks.
“I invited Lysithea too.”
Jeralt and Sitri share a look, the latter asking, “Do we have enough food?”
“Do we have enough room?” Jeralt counters.
The knocking on the front door echoes throughout the home again.
“We should let them in,” Sitri stands up. “It’s too cold to leave them on the porch for that long.”
Sitri stands up, with Byleth following her. Jeralt glances across the table and says, “You didn’t know about this either.”
“I didn’t,” Edelgard admits.
“Yeah, that sounds like Byleth,” Jeralt grins as he stands up. “Not great at surprises, but she has her heart in the right place. I’m gonna go dig out some sleeping bags, you go say hi to your friends.”
Edelgard does so, entering the living room just in time to see Hubert slip on the icy patch. Unlike earlier, when she had Byleth to catch her, her best friend falls right into Ferdinand and both end up on the ground.
“Huh,” Byleth says to Sitri. “We forgot to tell them about the icy patch.”
“That’s one way to make an entrance Hubie,” Dorothea adds as she pokes her head in.
“I’m so sorry,” Sitri says as she helps Hubert up. “We should have warned you about the icy patch. The rest of you, please watch your step as you come in!”
“You alright, Hubert?” Edelgard checks as he’s pushed along into the living as the other Black Eagles come in.
“Physically, I’ll survive,” Hubert grumbles. “But I believe I lost my dignity in the fall.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Ferdinand insists. “I fell too.”
“That’s assuming you had any dignity left to lose.”
“Hubert-!”
“Boys, it’s Christmas, don’t fight,” Dorothea sighs. She rolls her eyes as she turns to Edelgard, “They’ve been doing this all the way here.”
“We should not be letting Hubert and Ferdinand drive together anymore,” Petra adds gravely.
“Yeah, we almost got lost because they were both arguing for going two completely different directions that were both wrong,” Linhardt adds.
“At least we got to stop at that A&W as they argued,” Caspar says.
“Yeah, but we got kicked out and had to watch them fight in the parking lot.”
“Oh, right.”
“How did you get kicked out of an A&W?” Edelgard asks.
“Caspar tried to chug a glass of root beer and ended up accidentally elbowing a waiter, causing him to break a tray of glass mugs,” Linhardt reveals.
“Anyways,” Dorothea sighs. “Edie, I bet you’re surprised to see us.”
“I am,” Edelgard admits. “But, where’s Lysithea?”
“Lysithea is coming up tomorrow because she had to work today, but it’ll be another Black Eagles Christmas.”
“I’m surprised you all went along with Byleth’s plans as well.”
“Why wouldn’t we? It’s a win-win scenario. We all get to spend Christmas together in some place nice and,” Dorothea leans in to whisper in her ear. “Maybe you won’t be so nervous about meeting Byleth’s parents with all of us here.”
Edelgard hadn’t thought of it like that. It does seem like a very Byleth thing to do, invite all of their friends along to meet her parents and spend the holidays together just so Edelgard wouldn’t be as nervous. Despite the anxiety that set in from this surprise initially, having all of her friends in one place has made her feel better.
“Yes, it wouldn’t be Christmas if we weren’t able to spend it together,” Ferdinand adds. “And despite you only being gone for half a day, Hubert was already getting quite dour.”
“I was not,” Hubert grumbles.
“You were,” Dorothea, Petra, Caspar, and Linhardt confirm at once.
“I’m glad you’re here, Hubert,” Edelgard says. “The rest of you too.”
Edelgard feels a hand on her elbow, and turns as Byleth comes up beside her, smiling like the sun, “Hey guys, thanks for coming.”
“Of course, it’s beautiful up here,” Dorothea insists.
“Where’d Bernie go?” Petra checks.
“I let her hide-out in my room, let her get used to her surroundings,” Byleth confirms. “She said she’ll come down when she’s ready.”
“Alright,” Sitri joins the group. “Is this everyone?”
“Yep. Well, Lysithea is coming tomorrow but mom, this is Linhardt, Caspar, Petra, Dorothea, Ferdinand and Hubert. Bernadetta’s upstairs right now,” Byleth does introductions. “Everyone, this is my mom.”
“Please, call me Sitri,” Sitri says. “This all was a bit . . . unexpected, but please, make yourselves at home. We’ll probably try to sort out dinner and sleeping arrangements after I can find my husband . . .”
“He said he was going to look for sleeping bags,” Edelgard reveals.
“Ah, good,” Sitri sighs. “If anyone’s starving, I cooked up some trout, but there won’t be enough for everyone.”
“Oo! Food!” Caspar runs into the kitchen.
“Can someone go stop him from eating everything?” Edelgard sighs.
“I’ve got it!” Ferdinand declares. “Caspar, save some for the rest of us!”
The Black Eagles disperse about the living room, looking at decorations and talking with one another, but Byleth isn’t done talking to her mom. Edelgard stands near-by, knowing that she’s being nosey, but she can’t help it, especially after such a disruption to their holiday plans.
“Sorry for not telling you,” Byleth apologizes, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I understand, Byleth,” Sitri insists, placing a hand on her shoulder. “While a warning would have been nice, I’m also glad that I get a chance to meet all of your friends, no matter the circumstance. From what it sounds like, you’ve grown quite close to them over the years you’ve been at Garreg Mach.”
Byleth nods, “They’re my family now, too.”
That’s the first time Byleth has called the Black Eagles her family, and as soon as she says it Edelgard realizes that the truth is the same for her. The Black Eagles are her family, and have been for quite some time.
Sitri smiles, “And you wanted the whole family together for Christmas.”
Byleth nods again.
“I’m glad we can all spend it together then,” Sitri says. “Come here.”
She pulls Byleth into a hug as Jeralt enters the room carrying a couple of sleeping bags under his arm, “Who’s the blue kid eating the rest of the trout?”
“That’s just Caspar,” Byleth says before letting go of Sitri.
“Okay,” Jeralt sighs, but it’s clear that he’s still confused about what’s going on. “Well, I’ve found four sleeping bags and two blow-up mattresses out in the garage, but one’s got a hole in it. There’s a day-bed in the attic so two or three can fit on there, plus the couch down here.”
“I think that’ll be more than enough for everyone,” Sitri says.
“Can we use the office?” Byleth asks. “Bernie’s not good with new people, so it might take her a bit to warm up to you two.”
“Of course. It’s not like me or your father really use it anyways,” Sitri says. “So that sorts out sleeping arrangements, but what about food?”
The three share a look as Byleth suggests, “Pizza?”
“Pizza sounds good,” Jeralt agrees. Then, together they say, “With anchovies.”
“I swear, your stomachs are connected,” Sitri sighs. “But pizza works.”
“If you order, I’ll go get it,” Jeralt says.
“Got it,” Sitri turns to Byleth, “Can you help your friends sort out where they’ll be sleeping?”
Byleth nods, and the Eisners split up. As Jeralt and Sitri head into the kitchen, Caspar comes out and announces, “Man, that fish was good!”
A defeated Ferdinand follows him, “Please tell me there are other dinner plans.”
“Pizza,” Byleth confirms.
“Pizza?” Ferdinand repeats. “Are there pizza places up here?”
“We may be in the middle of nowhere, but there’s still pizza places,” Byleth confirms. “Also, Dad found some sleeping bags and we think we know where you all will be sleeping.”
It’s pretty easy to sort out rooms. Bernadetta, Dorothea, and Petra are all going to be sleeping in the office after they push the furniture up against the walls and blow-up the mattress, Caspar and Linhardt will be in the attic since the former is very enthusiastic about staying up there, and Hubert and Ferdinand are stuck in the living room. All of this is settled before pizza arrives.
When Jeralt returns with the pizza, the only place that can fit everyone is the living room, so the Black Eagles and Byleth’s parents have squeezed themselves onto the couches and chairs or scattered themselves on the floor. Even Bernie came down at the promise of food, and stuck herself between Hubert and Ferdinand. Edelgard, while squeezed into a chair with Byleth, is glad that all of her friends are getting along well with Byleth’s parents.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Petra begins. “Is it not traditional to bring in a tree and decorate it?”
“It is,” Sitri confirms.
“I was gonna try to pick one out tonight,” Jeralt grunts. “But I guess that’ll be moved tomorrow.”
“Do you guys usually get a real tree?” Dorothea asks. Jeralt simply nods.
“Why do we never get a ‘real tree’?” Petra asks.
“It’s a lot of work,” Linhardt says. “And we’re all tired college kids.”
“Yeah, and real trees aren’t gay like our trees!” Caspar adds.
Sitri and Jeralt look to Byleth for an explanation, who says with a mouth full of pizza, “It’s a rainbow tree.”
“I wanted to get the black tree, but was out-voted,” Hubert adds.
“You were the only one who wanted the goth tree,” Ferdinand says.
“It certainly would have been an interesting tree,” Bernadetta mutters, patting Hubert’s shoulder in comfort.
“Can we come with you to get the tree?” Caspar asks Jeralt. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone tree-picking before.”
“Oo, that’d be fun!” Dorothea agrees.
“Helping you out would be the least we could do to repay you for letting us stay in your home,” Ferdinand adds.
Jeralt blinks, “Well . . . the more the merrier, I guess.”
As the Black Eagles continue to talk about Christmas trees, Byleth bums Edelgard’s shoulder and leans in close to whisper, “You’re happy.”
She hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t just smiling, she’s grinning, “I am. Thank-you for inviting our friends for Christmas. I didn’t know I needed everyone together.”
“Of course,” Byleth says. “They’re our family. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them.”
Edelgard kisses Byleth then, smiling into the kiss. It certainly wouldn’t be Christmas without her family.