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The time was around winter evening. About around 8:30 o'clock. Emma was still in a deep sleep when she went to sleep in the late afternoon, after helping the family with cleaning and decorating the entire house, and were told during their 'family meeting' afterwards that she and her siblings should get some sleep because they'll all be staying up late tonight.
Then a knock on her door, but it hasn't awakened her still.
And then another knock, yet this time it's Gabriel speaking outside her door.
"Emmm?" He called out by knocking, "Are you awake yet?"
Emma grumbled, sluggishly facing to the other direction, now in a semi-fetal position. Gabriel, though, didn't hear any response coming from the other side, and so he just barged in and the first thing he saw was his sister's sleeping figure.
He only reacted with a sigh and then walked toward her bedside. He tapped her shoulder three times to wake her up.
"Wake up, Em."
Emma muttered, until she was finally woken up when he tapped her again.
"Alright! Alright! I'm awake..."
She yawned and rubbed the sleep off her still-sleepy eyes, only to notice that Gabriel is right in front of her, wearing a comfy red Christmas sweater with lots of Christmas trees motif around the shirt and the sleeves.
"Uh, hi, Gabe."
"Hi, Em." Gabriel greeted back his six-year-old sister.
"What...time is it?" Emma asked.
Gabriel turned to the alarm clock on the nightstand and the time was almost turning 8:40 at night.
He glanced back at her. "Your clock says it's 8:39, so it's almost time for dinner. Now get up there 'cause we're going to eat."
Emma didn't say a word and obediently got up from her bed. "But let me go get myself ready first, okay?"
Gabriel nodded a silent 'okay', "Go on. I'll be waiting for you at the door."
As her brother headed outside the room, she went and opened the dresser she and her older sister Susie share, and took out her very own Christmas sweater of her size, embroidered with a huge snowflake symbol in the middle. Looking at the huge mirror and seeing her reflection, she wore the sweater and then grabbed her hairbrush resting on top of the drawer next to her.
Emma brushes the ruffles of her medium-length auburn hair, while humming a random tune as she stared at her reflection. She resembled most of mama when she was younger, but the shape and the color of her eyes are from papa's. All brown and quite intimidating—like when her father does the "face" as her mother and siblings would call it.
Once done with fixing her hair and everything, she placed the hairbrush back on top of the drawer and lets out a satisfied huff as she spared a glance at the mirror one last time, both hands on her hips.
"I'm done, Gabe!" Emma says to Gabriel waiting outside, after turning off the lights and got out of the room as she shuts the door behind her.
Gabriel smiled. "Right. To the kitchen we go."
Thumbtack, the family's (well, actually Susie's) pet dog, suddenly appeared in front of them out of nowhere, panting excitedly while wagging his tail.
"Thumbtack! Hello boy!" Emma grinned and petted the dog on the head.
Gabriel lightheartedly rolled his eyes and did the same to Thumbtack.
"You cute doggo." He whispered.
"Em! You're finally awake!" Susie, her older sister and roommate, called out from the hallway as soon as she saw Emma, along with Gabriel and Thumbtack.
She took Thumbtack from the ground and cradled him in her arms. "Looks like you slept better than us, lil' sis."
"Yeah, I did." She shrugged, half-smiling, "Cause I got tired after helping with cleaning and decorating the house."
Both her older siblings stared at each other—even Thumbtack to Gabriel—and laughed, making Emma confused for a second and then laughed along with them.
"So do we." Says Gabriel, as their laughter faded afterwards, "Took us all a lot of work."
"True." Susie nodded. "But anyways, c'mon, everyone's waiting for us!"
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The heads of this weird family, Mike and Vanessa were placing each newly cooked meal down the large table, with the assistance of Jeremy. While Abby and Cassidy, on the other hand, helped set the spoons & forks together; Fritz himself with setting the plates and the glasses.
Susie, with Gabriel, Thumbtack, and Emma in tow showed up in the kitchen a few seconds later.
Abby turned around after arranging the chairs, and then smiled as she saw them. "Nice. Now we're complete!"
The Schmidts gathered 'round the table and sat on the chairs specifically assigned for each family member.
"Ooh, these look yummy!" Emma then said enthusiastically and turned to her father who's sitting on the opposite end of the dining table. "Shall we eat now, Papa?"
Mike smiled at her and then looked at Vanessa's direction, where he sees his wife smile at him, signaling him to agree with their daughter.
He looked back at Emma, "Yeah, we should probably eat because we're all going to play some board games after this, watch a Christmas movie, and then open up the presents before midnight."
"Sweet! Can't wait to open up my presents!" Cassidy says in a joyful mood.
"Only to find out that they're all coal?" Fritz teasingly remarked with one brow raised.
Cassidy simply rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and you'd be my target dummy, and shoot you down with it using my slingshot."
"That's enough boys, or I will give you both the "time-out" even if you're already teenagers," Their mother told them, "Now let's all dig in, shall we?"
Both brothers immediately quietly responded with a nod instead, while all their other siblings said 'yes' and began serving their own plates with different meals straight away and ate.
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The house was silent, only the staticky voices coming from the television was the source of sound. The family were all in the living room, quietly watching a Christmas movie, that seemed good and watchable to many audiences—as promised by Mike. He and Vanessa were curled up in the blankets they shared, with both of them drinking a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows.
In the dimly lit living room they're in with their children sitting on the rug, all Mike could only say, was that this blissful moment they, as a husband-and-wife share, along with Abby and the rest, were worth it. Even including the entire household helping with cleaning up and decorating the house, cooking dinners, the pure chaos during their "board game night", and now this.
All those were already worth the Christmas Eve celebration. Another memory he'd cherish forever, alongside with his beautiful wife in front of him, whom he got married to five years ago long after their proposal. The best present he and Vanessa, as parents-of-7 ever received all the time.
When the movie ended right away an hour later, Jeremy, with his little sister Emma doing the same thing, looked at the time on the wall clock. It was 11:50 PM—almost at midnight.
"You know what time it is, Em?" Jeremy asked, smiling excitedly.
Emma's face suddenly lit up, knowing what her brother meant by that. She nodded her head and turned to their parents, asking them if they can finally open up all the presents under the Christmas tree. She, along all with her siblings, even used their so-called "puppy eyes" just to convince them to comply.
Mike and Vanessa looked at each other for a moment, smiling softly when they looked back at the children.
"Fine..." Mike then says, playfully rolling his eyes, "But we'll distribute them to you kids now since it's time anyway."
The children cheered and followed their parents to the Christmas tree. One by one, the pair gave the presents to each one of the kids until there were no presents left underneath the tree—except for Mike and Vanessa's.
While the kids were excitedly opening up their own presents, the couple smiled affectionately at each other, both taking the last remaining presents, and then exchanged.
"Merry Christmas to us, Nessa." Was all Mike says, and then gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
Vanessa smiled at him as they parted. "Merry Christmas to us, too, darling."