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For the past couple weeks, papa had been acting different.
Even without her superpowers, Anya could tell just by looking at him.
Loid Forger was a good man. He took care of his (fake) wife and (fake) daughter, and always cooked them dinner whenever he got home from work. He took the dog out and walked with Anya frequently, and if there was ever something wrong he would always go out of his way to fix it. Any terseness or annoyance on his end was usually because a) he was tired or b) Anya did something to make him upset. He had his moments (he and Anya both did), but she knew deep down that he didn't ever mean it.
Even if it was just for the sake of his mission, Anya liked to think that he was slowly starting to fall in love with his family.
Anya continued to muse much the same as she sat on the couch and sipped on the hot coco that mama had made earlier. She swung her feet back and forth and stared at her parents at the far side of the room. Her time to help them had not yet come. They still had to finish putting their recently felled Christmas tree in place before she could start decorating it with mama. Papa held it firmly in place, spinning it around and examining it closely to find just the right spot to have facing forward. The side with fewer leaves and branches, he'd explained earlier, was the one that went against the wall.
Mama took hold of the tree once papa dropped down to fasten the holder. She made sure not to move it around as he worked, and a moment later he gave her the okay to let go. Papa got up and they both took a step back to admire their handiwork; a medium-sized pine that was neither too big nor too small. It stood a ways from reaching the ceiling, which gave them enough room to put the star on top. Mama clasped her hands together and gave a big smile, and papa smirked. He then turned around and pointed at the tree with his thumb.
"Alright, it's all yours, Anya."
She beamed. Hot coco was placed on the table as Anya got up to run around the side. She tagged out with papa while mama went to gather the assortment of Christmas tree decorations she'd bought at the department store earlier that week. The motion caught the attention of Bond, whom until that point had been laying lazily nearby while watching them set-up. His tail wagged and he gave a low boof before bounding over towards Anya. The little girl giggled as she and Bond jumped in place, while mama came back to them a moment later.
Papa, meanwhile, retreated to his chair. The loveseat at the head of the coffee table, his usual spot. For once he'd forgone coffee in lieu of coco; he finally figured out that it was one of the few things besides tea that mama was actually good at making. He grabbed his cup and leaned back a bit before smirking into his steaming beverage. His and Anya's eyes met for the briefest of seconds, and in that time Anya got a quick rundown of his thoughts. Papa did the same, somehow able to read his daughter's mind without any superpowers.
Anya was thinking how amazing it was to have Christmas together as a family and he meanwhile, was thinking much the same.
Despite his apathy for most holidays, he'd been in a much better mood since December came around. Anya didn't really understand it at first and she still sort of didn't, but what was clear to her was this; something about Christmas made his blue eyes stare off in the distance. Even then, as she and mama started to break into the decorations to make the tree as pretty as possible, papa wasn't all there. He watched them, sure, but it was like he was also looking off at something far away. A memory, maybe, but not one that Anya could ever see.
It wasn't in his head, so much as his heart. A feeling, like the kind she felt on the rare nights when she missed her birth mama. Whatever papa was remembering, it always made him somber. Not sad, though; whenever he got that look on his face, a smile would always accompany it. Maybe it used to be something sad, but now it just made him...happy? Anya couldn't say for sure. She barely understood herself, let alone her papa. All she knew was that...she liked this version of papa. Of course she loved him no matter what, but that didn't change the fact that she wished he was like this more often.
Gentler. More patient. He chuckled a bit more than usual. The little things slid off his shoulders. He was...softer.
The thought left a warm feeling in Anya's stomach; she looked down at an ornament in her hand before looking back behind her at papa. Again his eyes locked with hers, though he didn't seem to realize it. He was looking at something else again, but even then his smile was still there to greet her. She smiled, too, and failed to notice mama turn around next to her. Mama looked at Anya, then at papa, and she beamed at the sight of them being warm towards one another. It was at that point Anya and papa realized what was going on.
Loid came to his senses and looked away. Light red tinted his face.
Anya looked up at mama and gave a giant, victorious grin.
Yor gave one right back and giggled at how cute the whole thing was.
And Bond boofed, as was usual. He sat down on his butt, tail wagging profusely as Anya and mama went back to work decoration. The Forger hound diligently kept watch over the girls as they worked their way around the tree. Loid meanwhile went back to sipping coco before snatching up the Sunday paper. With a lingering blush still in his cheeks, he did his best to hide it behind newsprint. If only he'd known his daughter could read minds, he'd have known the whole thing was pointless. Even without turning around, she knew that he was embarrassed.
Anya wished it could stay December forever.
Everything was so fun around that time of year, it made time fly so fast that it almost seemed like a blur. It wasn't all that long ago when the first snowfall hit Berlint; a light flurry of white cloud-stuff that drifted from the sky overnight to blanket the ground in the first chill of the season. It signaled the looming presence of Christmas. Before Anya knew it, store fronts erupted with all the best toys. Sparkling lights were strung around lamp posts and every public tree. People walked outside more, and were far more cheerful than usual. Everyone waved. Everyone said hi.
Walks with the family were the best. Bundled up head-to-toe in the thickest winter clothing, the four of them would simply walk around in the snow. The trail around the park they frequented was buried beneath heaps of white, but that didn't stop them from traversing it all the same. Once or twice, Anya got the jump on papa and tossed a snowball at him from behind. Big mistake; even with all that Christmas spirit in him, she never anticipated papa retaliating. Before she knew it, Anya was screaming at the top of her lungs as she ran off trying to avoid his fury.
Papa cocked his arm back and aimed like a sniper from his nest. Mama covered her mouth in delighted amusement.
He let loose; a lone snowball launched at the distant, tiny pink dot scurrying away for dear life.
The distant form of Anya crumpling face-first into the snow was all the confirmation papa needed. Bond's leash was let go, and the dog went to go fetch his tiny master's body from the battlefield. Papa glanced at mama and found the biggest grin waiting for him, and he tried his best to tame the ever-growing smirk on his face, to no avail. They waited together as Anya came shuffling back slowly a minute later. Snow fell from every fold of her clothing, and she looked up at papa with an equal mix of delight and annoyance. Papa simply shrugged, and continued on his walk.
Those days were the best, but they weren't meant to last. Already it was quickly approaching the middle of the month, and the big day was just around the corner. The closer Christmas came, the more frantic things seemed to pick up around the city. People were still polite, but there was an underlying hastiness to everyone's actions. Checkout lines got longer at the grocery store. There were more cars out on the street and papa made sure to always keep her on the far side of the sidewalk with mama, lest some idiot driver accidentally hit the curb.
Even at home, the air was different. Not necessarily in a bad way; things were kinda hectic, too, but that was more because of the thoughts running through mama and papa's minds. It always came down to presents; what were they going to get Anya for Christmas? Clearly they had agreed on some purchases together, but both mama and papa wanted to get her something on their own. Ergo, most of their free time at home was spent planning on the perfect gift to surprise her with. Something they knew she'd loved to get from Santa Claus.
Ah, but...she didn't believe in Santa Claus.
Also, she knew exactly what she was getting for Christmas.
That was maybe the only downside Anya could see to having superpowers; it was really hard to be surprised by anything. Santa Claus wasn't real, something she'd learned a long time ago listening in on the thoughts of various adults in her life. And though that revelation was traumatizing to her at the time, it really didn't bother her all that much now that she was a bit older. The same thing with the whole present thing. True, she'd have liked to be surprised by a gift given to her once in her life, but at the end of the day none of that really mattered.
All she cared about was she had mama and papa for Christmas. Everything else was just a bonus.
Oh, but she'd act her part flawlessly. It wouldn't be that hard to do. Her excitement at the new Bondman action-figure would be one-hundred percent genuine; she'd been wanting that thing for months, and even papa had convinced her that it just wasn't in the cards at the moment. The same could be said for the Princess Penny crown set, or the new toy gun modeled after the super futuristic one featured in Spy Wars. All things she did indeed want...it's just that she'd have to embellish her reaction a little bit, as if she totally didn't know she was getting said toys.
Anya knew this year's Christmas would be amazing. To her though, the more interesting thing was what mama and papa were going to get each other. That information ended up being far trickier to figure out than anything else. Anytime Anya was around them, she dominated their thoughts. Everyone else kinda of went into the background, including their spouse. The only way Anya could glean anything from their thoughts was if she hid and waited for them to separate. If they were alone together, it still wouldn't help her.
Their heads always went empty whenever that happened.
A soft, steady snowfall pattered against Anya's window. It was silent, save for the sound of her own breathing as she was rapt awake by some unknown force. It was dark, though the sun was trying its best to peek through heavy cloud cover. She let out a yawn and rubbed the blear from her eyes as she got her bearings; Bond lay at the foot of her bed after having climbed in with her to escape the cold floor. There was a familiar smell coming from somewhere beyond her closed door, and it took her a second to figure out what it was.
Coco and coffee. Mama and papa were already up.
Then, suddenly, it hit her; she'd gone to sleep early for a reason. Now, as consciousness slowly came back to her, Anya's eyes widened. Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered the day's date, and once she did the little girl hopped out of bed in her PJ's. The motion took her doggie by surprise and he snorted upon being awoken, but Anya didn't wait for him. She was already halfway across the floor by the time Bond thought to take off after her. The door opened and the two of them came careening out. They slid down the hallway in their mad dash for the living room.
"Mama! Papa!" she called out. The soft glow of the lamp above the kitchen stove was all that could be seen. "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's-!"
Anya skidded to a halt as she came upon the tree. Bond rammed into her and she stumbled, then just as quickly recovered to continue staring at the tree in awe. Beautifully lit, all the decorations she and mama had put on it at the beginning of the month were on full display. Silver and gold tinsel, popcorn strings, and all the pretty baubles hung from the tree immaculately. A star glowed on top, and against the backdrop of an open window displaying all the snow outside, Anya liked to think it was the best Christmas tree in all of Berlint.
Beneath it lay the presents, and the brightness of her beam outshone everything else.
She turned around and threw her head towards the dining room table. Mama was sitting down with a cup of tea between her hands, smiling at Anya as papa stood behind her sipping on coffee. They were both in PJ's too, and she figured they probably hadn't woken up much earlier than she had. Anya grinned at the two of them, and papa motioned with his head to go ahead; the sooner she got to unwrapping her presents, the sooner the three of them could sit down for breakfast. He didn't need to tell his daughter twice. She set upon the tree.
Bond accompanied her. The two of them together attacked their gifts with eager ferocity, and with little regard for the mess that would soon follow. Anya could practically hear her papa sigh at all the cleaning they would need to do afterwards, but she didn't care. With all the delight that one expects from a child on Christmas morning, Anya opened her gifts. One by one all the things she knew she was getting revealed themselves to her, and she put on a surprised face every single time. Her excitement made it easy.
Mama and papa watched from afar. They smiled every time Anya turned around to show off the thing she had unwrapped, and were ready to receive her when said present was addressed from them and not Santa Claus. Anya ran up and gave them hugs; partly to keep her cover, though mostly just because she loved them. She would quickly resume her post, leaving mama and papa to go tackle the rest of her gifts. Among the pile, however, were two presents that didn't have her name on it. They both said "To: Yor" and "To: Loid", specifically.
Anya fetched those for her parents. Both blinked in surprise at the fact that they had received presents; they had gotten one for each other, but hadn't expected one in return. The two looked at each other and smiled again, the gesture having caught both of them off-guard. Yor suggested Loid go first, and he didn't try to fight it. He unwrapped the somewhat large box, but not before weighing it in his hands; it was light. Perplexed, he opened the package and found a piece of clothing waiting for him. It was large, green, and...tacky.
"A Christmas sweater?" he asked questioningly. He unfurled the thing and held it up to read, the words Naughty or Nice printed in large, bold letters.
"Yeah!" Yor beamed, only adding to Loid's confusion. "Y'know? Because Santa's always checking to see who's naughty or nice? Like the song!"
Loid blinked. He briefly thought she was trying to allude to something with the whole naughty thing, but her face said otherwise. He could only shrug. "Uh...thank you, Yor?"
Yor smiled brightly, and Loid relented. So long as she was happy giving them gift, he'd happy to receive it. There was no way he was going to put it on, though...at least not at first. He went to fold and put it aside, but just as soon found Yor's expression drop. He paused and, correctly figuring he had no choice in the matter, donned the sweater. He let out a quiet sigh.
"Alright, your turn to unwrap." The sooner he got her attention off of him, the better.
His wife nodded and picked up the tiny box that had been handed to her by Anya. She hadn't given much thought as to what it could be, but now that she was about to find out what it was her excitement mounted. She pursed her lips in thought and shook the gift like Loid had done with his; hers was also light. At a loss as to what it could be, she shrugged and pulled the paper off. Soft blue velvet soon revealed itself, and Yor's eyes widened immediately. She turned back to look at Loid, and (still wearing the sweater) he smirked and motioned for her to keep going.
She hesitated, but soon complied. Yor opened the small box to reveal her present inside, a shiny gold ring with a tiny red stone on top. Ruby, the same color as her eyes; she lost herself staring into it for a time before her head shot back towards her husband. Anya, who at that point had completely tossed aside her presents and had come bounding up the moment she realized what papa had gotten mama, did the same. The two girls looked up at their patriarch and waited for him to explain himself.
"I figured us being married necessitated a ring, so..." His smirk turned into a smile. "...Merry Christmas, Mrs. Forger."
Yor's lips parted. She held the tiny boxed to her chest and stared at her husband with big, star-filled eyes. Anya did much the same, except her gaze bounced back and forth between mama and papa. The little girl grinned, speechless, as she waited for one of them to do something. Then, a moment later, she got her last Christmas wish. The soft look on papa's face was quickly replaced with shock as he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a big hug. Yor hopped to her feet and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She pinned his arms with her strength.
"...Loid!" was all Yor could muster. She pulled her face out from his chest and smiled brightly with trembling lips.
Anya giggled to herself as papa lost his composure. That tiny speck of red on his cheeks that showed itself whenever he was flustered finally appeared, only this time it spread to his whole face. He cleared his throat as Yor stared up at him, yet even he couldn't play off what was happening. He simply smiled back and accepted his wife's embrace. Even if he could pry himself out of her vice-like grip, he supposed it wouldn't be worth the effort. After all, it was Christmas; the one time of the year where Twilight could take a back seat to Mr. Forger.
Yor continued to hold onto him for a time, until embarrassment finally got the better of her like he knew it would. Her face grew hot and her arms uncoiled from him, which was only expedited by him smiling at her. Yor took to staring at her new ring instead, and Anya- knowing that the fun was over and wanting to spare her mama from further attention- went to go unwrap the remainder of her presents. She took off, and in that commotion Loid thought to return the favor his wife had offered him. As she focused on her gift, and arm was quickly felt around her shoulders.
She paused. She looked. Loid's hand was there at her side and the sight made her tremble, but...she didn't fight it.
Yor scooted in closer and, standing next to each other in the dining room, watched their daughter together from afar.
