Chapter Text
The air was crisp and cool when Grian woke up, and he refused to open his eyes - choosing to instead snuggle deeper into the surrounding blankets and up against the wall of warmth that was lazily spooning him. Though it didn’t matter how much he scrunched his eyes closed and tried to nestle into the pillows; nothing would drown out the sound of what awoke him in the first place. That of his crying daughter down the hall of the base, demanding attention at the crack of dawn. Or barely even dawn, going off by the lack of light seeping through the partially drawn curtains of the bedroom window.
He bit back a groan, really not wanting to get up just yet. Likely reading his mood, the wall of warmth slowly released him with a groan of their own, and then leaned back over to press a kiss to Grian’s temple. “I got her,” Scar mumbled tiredly, finally pulling himself away and out of bed.
Grian let out a whine at the loss of warmth, and determinedly rolled over to his mate’s side of the bed and cocooned himself with the blankets. There was a remaining presence of comforting warmth down by his feet, and he briefly felt Jellie stretch out before curling up into a tighter ball at the end of the bed. He took a deep inhale, sighing happily at the remnants of mixed spice left on the pillows, and felt himself sinking back into sleep. He knew he only had a matter of time before Scar would return with a hungry baby in tow, and he was going to take advantage of those precious minutes.
Or seconds , he corrected himself upon hearing the door creak open again, followed by the light pattering of footsteps approaching the bed.
Lazily, Grian lifted up one eyelid, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight before him. “Hi baby bird,” he murmured quietly. “You up already?”
Before him stood Poppy, still dressed in her fuzzy pink pyjamas, clutching her stuffed Jellie in one hand and rubbing at her eyes tiredly with the other. She nodded slowly, before breaking off into a yawn - a single curl from her messy head of bed-hair draping into her mouth as she did so. Grian held back a laugh as he watched her spit it out.
He lifted up the blankets, and held back a cringe at the rude intrusion of cold air. “Wanna come have a cuddle?”
Poppy nodded tiredly, still clearly too dozy to say anything just yet, and toddled over to the side of the bed. Carefully, Grian leaned over and picked her up, bringing her close against his chest and resting her nose against the crook of his neck before settling the blankets over the both of them once more. There was a brief bit of shuffling, but then Poppy let out a content hum and snuggled in closer to him as her eyelids fluttered shut. Grian smiled softly, and pressed a kiss on the top of her head of curls, taking in her sweet, unique scent that still held that slight floral and spice hint.
Her hair was getting so long, he mused, fiddling with a loose, dark brown ringlet. And she was getting too big. It felt like only yesterday that his baby girl could fit in just the crook of his arm, and now he needed two whole arms just to hoist her up. Softly, he brushed his fingers along the back of her fledgling feathers, noticing how her blue primaries had grown just that little bit more. He couldn’t believe she was almost three…
Utterly content despite his reminiscing, Grian carefully rested his chin on top of Poppy’s head, and began to drift off with her…
But then there was another set of much heavier footsteps, and a burst of Happiness and Love . “Aw, look at this… All my favourite people in one room!”
Grian opened his eyes again, and felt his smile grow once again. Scar stood in the doorway, smiling back as he held up their seven month old - who looked to be the most wide awake of the little family. Her big green eyes lit up at the sight of Grian, and she let out a happy squeal around the fist she was currently chewing on (though going by her fidgeting, Grian knew it would only be a matter of time before her happiness turned into grumpiness from hunger).
“Very tired favourite people,” Grian corrected, though he relented against the inevitable and slowly sat up - taking care not to jostle Poppy too much. Jellie let out a ‘meow’ in agreement, only curling up into a tighter ball by the end of the bed. “What time is it?”
Scar chewed his lip briefly. “Do you really want to know?”
“...probably not now that you say that.”
At that moment, the baby in Scar’s arms let out a loud squeal that had everyone else wincing, and Poppy letting out a tired whine. Now Grian knew he only maybe a minute or two at best if they wanted to avoid a whole bout of crying. “Okay, come on, Lilac. Come to Mama,” he sighed, reaching out his arms as Scar approached.
“She’s all good and changed,” the alpha murmured, passing the baby off to his mate. “If we’re lucky she might doze off for a bit after a feed.”
“I doubt it,” said Grian, biting back a yawn. “Might just try for a quiet morning for as long as we can.”
“Fair enough,” Scar muttered, before leaning down to be more level with Poppy. “How about you, Peanut? Need a change too?”
Poppy whined again, burying her head firmly up against Grian and drawing her wings more taut up against her back.
“Oh that’s a grumpy butt if ever I’ve seen one,” Scar called out teasingly, poking at an exposed spot just along the toddler’s ribs, earning a peal of giggles in return.
“Dadaaaa,” Poppy whined, giggling as Scar kept poking her. “Dada noooo!”
“Dada,” Grian scolded, his eyes narrowing up at his mate. “Do not rile her up this early.” He already had one fussy baby on his hands, he did not fancy having to deal with a hyperactive toddler on top of it all.
Scar’s eyes widened a little in mild Panic , sensing the trouble he was in. “Right, sorry. Okay, come on Peanut. Up we go! Oof, you’re getting so heavy!”
Poppy giggled as Scar swung her up out of bed, dramatically buckling on the spot. Grian held back rolling his eyes - it was only yesterday he saw the alpha carrying the toddler under one arm like a football like it was nothing, afterall. Though he still took care to level Scar with a stern look, reminding him to not get too carried away.
“Okay, back soon,” Scar called out in a dramatic whisper, ducking out of the room with Poppy before the omega could scold him again. Grian couldn't do much anyway as he felt Lilac’s hand grab stubbornly on the collar of his shirt.
“Okay, okay,” sighed Grian, undoing the buttons of his shirt. “So impatient, you are, little missy. Alright, there we go- Hey! No biting!”
Lilac merely looked back up at him with a far too mischievous glint in her eye, and Grian quietly cursed his and Scar’s combined genes. He got lucky though, feeling her settle into a proper suckle soon enough, and soon all he had to worry about was making sure that Lilac wouldn’t try to tug off the chain of the locket resting on his neck as she fed.
She was getting too big too, he reminisced almost forlornly, caressing her own wispy, light blonde hair. Time was just passing too quickly and it felt like it was slipping between his fingers each time he looked at his daughters. If he closed his eyes he could still see the moment a newborn Lilac was placed in his arms - screaming her head off at the brightness and chill of the world around her. Her cries were only rivalled by Scar who had become an absolute blubbering, emotional mess. Or the moment where Mumbo finally brought in Poppy to meet her sister for the first time and the shock and excitement on her little face at the sight of the baby in her Mama’s arms, crying out “Bubba here!” in awe.
Gods there were so many times he wished he could go back to that moment. Minus the even worse sleepless nights and the struggle of learning how to deal with a needy newborn and a clingy toddler. Those he could deal without. Then again, Lilac was nowhere near as much trouble then as she was now. He almost dreaded the day she would learn how to walk - the fact she was just starting to crawl was terrifying enough.
There was the sound of footsteps again, and Grian glanced up from his still suckling baby to see Scar carrying Poppy back in, looking considerably more awake and alert than she had not five minutes ago. “All clean and rugged up again!” the alpha declared, sitting beside his mate. “Not bad, two for two without fuss”
“We got lucky,” Grian corrected, but smiled up at him anyway. “Just too early to start a war just yet.”
“Mm, you must be so disappointed.”
“Clearly no daughters of mine,” Grian agreed. “Before sunrise they're yours.”
Scar let out a gasp. “Was that a Lion King quote, mister?!”
“Roar!” Poppy shouted, sitting fully upright in Scar’s arms. In Grian’s arms, Lilac jumped and bit down - earning a yelp from the omega.
“Yup… that’s on me,” groaned Grian, quickly shushing the baby and brushing a soothing hand along her little downy wings while Poppy began to babble to herself, singing the broken lyrics to ‘ Hakuna Matata ’. “Actually, no, it’s your fault for getting her hooked on that movie that I have to see it on repeat about a hundred times a day!”
“Just the other day you were complaining about her obsession with Frozen,” Scar chastised, a glint in his eye matching his Amusement that looked a bit too much like Lilac to be a good thing. “We can always go back to that.”
“If I have to hear ‘Let It Go’ one more time…” Grian quietly groaned.
“Anyway, speaking of which, you notice it's more cold this morning?” Scar asked, turning Poppy around in his lap to start preening some of her more disarrayed feathers. The toddler let out a squeak as some of her more sensitive and newly grown feathers were brushed through.
“Dada, tickles!” she protested, eyebrows pinching in annoyance.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Peanut,” Scar apologised. “Your feathers are a little messy. Gotta make sure they’re all neat and ready for the day, little miss.”
Poppy whined, trying to squirm away. “Mama! Help!”
Grian laughed. “Sorry, darling. Dada’s right. You want to keep them all neat if you want to go flying later, okay?”
Poppy gasped. “Go flying, ‘gain?!”
Scar forced a smile, though the Nervousness Grian felt betrayed the appearance at once. “Yeah… flying, yay!”
Grian held back an eye roll. “She needs practice on her gliding, you know this.”
“...do you have to take her so high up though?”
“How else is she supposed to learn how to glide?” Grian challenged, pulling Lilac away and up to his shoulder to burp as he felt her cease suckling. “She can’t do it from the ground.”
Scar frowned, then leaned over and poked Lilac lightly in the back. “Can you not let those wings of yours grow so I don’t get a heart attack when you start jumping off things too, Bubba?”
Lilac only let out a loud burp in response, gaining laughter from Grian and Poppy.
Scar shrugged. “Well I tried,” he sighed, resuming his task of preening Poppy’s wings, much to her displeasure.
Grian, in the meanwhile, leaned across to his bedside table and pulled his communicator over to him - checking to see if there had been any overnight news. “Ah, that makes sense,” he muttered.
“Hm?”
“First of December today,” Grian explained to his mate, showing off the calendar on his screen. “X has probably updated the weather for the season.”
Scar muttered a quiet “ahh” in acknowledgement, then his eyes widened and Grian was overwhelmed with a sense of Excitement before the alpha even let out a gasp. “Do you know what that means, Peanut?!”
“What?!”
“It’s time to start getting ready for Christmas!” Scar cheered. “Do you remember?!”
Poppy shook her head, giggling like crazy at her father’s contagious excitement. Even Grian found himself holding back a laugh of his own, finding his daughter’s laughter and mate’s energy just as catching. He couldn’t even bring himself to remind Scar that they weren’t meant to rile the toddler up before breakfast.
“Oh, sure you do!” Scar groaned, hopping off the bed. “That means we get to start decorating! And we can start baking more cookies!” He lifted Poppy up, earning a squeal before she broke out into a cackling fit of laughter all too similar to Grian’s. “And we get to decorate the tree and get it all ready for presents for Santa to come visit!”
Grian laughed, happy to just sit back and watch the scene unfold as Scar started dipping Poppy up and down in a soaring motion - earning even more laughter from the toddler while Lilac squealed at the sight and tried to flap her own tiny wings as she watched her sister play. The air was awash in the scent of simmering spices from the happy alpha, and it almost made the room feel just that bit more warmer.
He glanced down at Lilac, and gave a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Time to get ready for your first Christmas then…"
The next week, the server was rampant with preparations for the festive season. It felt each year they just kept on growing bigger and more extravagant than ever - especially ever since Poppy’s first Christmas and the Hermits were all too excited to have a baby to spoil rotten (no matter how many times Grian had argued she was only ten months and wouldn’t need so much of a fuss. Scar did not help matters by going all out on Scarland that year and decking out every inch of the mega base with decorations). Of course it should have been expected, Grian realised in hindsight; that the more Hermitcraft grew, so would the eagerness to celebrate special occasions.
It would only be bigger and better this year, now that there were so many more than just Poppy. There was Lilac. There was Bdubs’ and Etho’s own toddler (and possibly soon-to-be newborn, given that the poor omega looked as though he would pop any day now whenever Grian came across him in the shopping district). There was Ren and Doc’s newest adopted addition, who would be celebrating their first Christmas on the server with everyone. And then there was the promising message from Fwhip that the Empires crew would be coming to visit for the festivities, meaning Hermes too would be around (much to Joel’s joy, who would not stop bringing it up at every chance he could.)
Every day there was something going on. From Scar and Poppy’s cookie delivery service, selling various gingerbread and sugary treats for a reasonable price of course. (Grian wasn’t too sure whether to be outraged or proud, no matter how Scar spun his tale of reasoning that their daughter was a natural swindler and that no one could refuse her big, dark, eyes when she started showing off her and the alpha’s baked goods so sweetly. “Diamonds are diamonds, after all, Gri!” Except the only one Scar couldn’t sell to was a very grumpy Bdubs who began to threaten the alpha for withholding the treats, and Etho had wiseley advised to just handover the gingerbread men without upsetting the overdue omega further.) Then there was the ZITS snow shovelling and decorating services, and they absolutely delighted all the little ones with the various snowmen that were popping around all over the server; more often than not resembling different packmates. Doc made sure to decorate some of the more populated parts with twinkling lights. Xisuma had done some tricky coding to turn some tree wood into looking like candy canes and villagers in elf costumes. Cleo had made many Santa hats to pass out. It was rumoured Joe was planning on an elaborate puppet show. There was just so much Grian felt like his head spun with every direction he looked.
Which was why it felt almost reliving to be holed up at home for the day;amidst the absolute chaos of Christmas Tree decorating.
“No, no, no!” Grian cried out, quickly ducking down to pull out a string of beads from Lilac’s mouth. “Scar, I told you to be careful leaving these lying around!”
“Oh, shoot, sorry!” Scar cried out, dropping his length of tinsel from the top of the tree to begin scouring the floor and make sure that there were no stray, airway sized objects lying within crawling reach.
Poppy remained oblivious to the stress around her, happily humming and occasionally bursting out into song once she recognised a carol lyric that emitted from the jukebox. Every now and then, she hopped up as high as she could to place down another bauble. Grian had to hold back a laugh at the concentrated areas packed with the shiny objects at toddler eyesight. The perfectionist in him wanted to fix it all up a bit later, but he knew Scar would fight him tooth and nail - because to the alpha it was nothing short of perfect already.
“Things were so much easier when you couldn’t crawl,” Grian sighed, hoisting Lilac from the ground and resting her on his hip. “Felt like we only just got over this with your sister.”
“Eh, kinda,” Scar giggled, now leaning back over to stop Poppy from chewing on the end of a plastic candy cane ornament. “That can’t be yummy, Peanut!”
Poppy pouted, reaching out for the ornament. “No!” she cried out frustratedly.
“What if,” Scar said quickly, sensing a tantrum on the horizon, “I get you a piece of Uncle Cub’s fudge to chew on instead?”
At once, the tears welling up in Poppy’s eyes disappeared and she eagerly nodded with a cheer, racing the alpha to the kitchen where the treats were stored.
“Nice save,” Grian murmured gratefully as Scar ducked past and quickly pecked him on the cheek. “Now, how’s about you help me put some baubles up the top here?” he asked, passing Lilac a bright red ornament to hold onto while he placed a blue one.
He laughed a little as he glanced down, finding the baby absolutely enamoured with her reflection in the surface of the ornament; so he happily let her hold onto the bauble as he placed another two more. At least until she threw it to the ground, giggling like crazy as it clattered against the wooden floorboards. He was very grateful in that moment that they instead had plastic ornaments rather than their traditional glass ones.
“Red not your colour? How’s about green?” Grian asked softly, passing her another bauble.
“I like red!” Poppy cried out, racing back into the room with a small square of caramel fudge squished in her palm.
Grian gasped playfully, one hand hovering over his chest. “But red’s my colour!”
Poppy giggled. ‘No! Mine!”
“But your pretty feathers are all blue and yellow!”
“Mama, you have blue wings!” Poppy protested, one hand coming to grab at his furthest primary.
“Ah, ah, gentle!” Grian quickly corrected, pulling his wing back before the overly eager toddler could pull. “Remember how Lilac pulled your wing the other day and how it hurt?”
Poppy pulled back with a pout. “Sorry, Mama.”
“It’s okay, thank you for not pulling,” Grian shushed. “Now, you wanna finish off your fudge and then you can place the last red bauble?”
“What colour do you think I should have, Peanut?” Scar asked, returning to the tree just as the toddler eagerly finished her sweet treat.
“Hmm,” Poppy hummed in thought, right as Lilac gave a squeal and threw down her bauble again. “Green!” the toddler cried out, leaning down and shoving the discarded ornament in her father’s hand.
“Aw, not orange?” Scar teased.
“Dada, there's no orange!”
“Hmmm, what about brown?”
“No brown, Dada!” Poppy giggled.
“But what about black?”
“Dadaaa,” Poppy cried out exasperatedly as the alpha started searching for the non-existent baubles. She looked up towards Grian with such a look of disbelief and exasperation that it had the omega breaking out into laughter at once.
“Come on, Dada,” Grian chastised once he collected himself. “Take your green bauble and put it on the tree. What about one for Lilac? Can you pick one out for your sister?”
“Purple!” Poppy declared, picking up the bauble from the pile. “Here you go, Lilac!”
Grian made sure to quickly grasp onto the bauble too to make sure the baby wouldn’t toss the new one too - though he could feel the way she tried.
“How about Jellie?” Scar asked. “Can you pick one for her?”
“She can have gold!” said Poppy, then laughed again as Scar tried to hand the bauble over to the little grey cat. Jellie, who had been having the time of her life playing with some leftover tinsel, at once leapt for the bauble and began to bat it around the floor.
“Okay, everyone got their last bauble now?”
“Wait! Mama needs a bauble!” Poppy cried out, looking around before picking up a stray blue ornament. She pouted down at the two that were now in her hands, brows pinched in thought, before she held up the red one. “You can have the red one, Mama!”
Grian’s heart just about melted, and he carefully leaned down to press a kiss to his daughter’s head. “Thank you, baby bird.”
They each placed their bauble on the tree (with Scar placing Jellie’s, and Grian placing Lilac’s after she once again threw it to the ground with a loud laugh) and stood back to admire their work.
“I think this might be our best tree yet,” Grian approved (trying not to concentrate too hard on Poppy’s cluttered section). “Good job team,” he cheered, giving Lilac a little hi-five and a quick caress along the back of Poppy’s tangled curls.
“Wait, it’s not finished yet!” Scar protested, leaning back down into the box of decorations before pulling out a bright gold tree star. “Come on, Peanut, do you remember how to do this?”
Poppy shook her head no as Scar passed her the star, then let out a squeal and began giggling like mad as he lifted her up high.
“All you gotta do is just put the handle right on the top there,” Scar instructed gently, a wide smile splitting across his face; though Grian didn’t need to see that to just feel just how Happy his mate was.
With a lot more coordination than she had the previous year, as Grian fondly remembered, Poppy managed to place the star on top with a little help from Scar to keep it secure. They then stepped back to fully take in the sight of the complete tree.
“All ready for Christmas,” Scar cheered, resting Poppy on his hip as she wrapped her arms around her father’s neck in a cuddle. Grian smiled, adoring the way the lights of the tree reflected and sparkled in the toddler’s dark eyes. He glanced down, finding Lilac just as enamoured by the sparkling sight, and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.
“And presents?” Poppy asked curiously.
“And presents!” Scar confirmed, titling and leaning his head down to let Poppy snuggle in closer to his side.
Grian faltered. Ah. Right. Presents . That was the only issue left. The girls were easy at least, Lilac especially (if going by Poppy’s first christmas, the baby would just be more than happy with the wrapping paper than anything). He still had to think of something for Scar.
The first year had been easy. A brand new Christmas star that now sat upon their treetop, as a way to begin their new family tradition. The second year, a portfolio of all of Poppy’s artwork with room to spare, just so that the alpha didn’t have to keep building new bases just to place them all along walls (even if they were just scribbles, but Scar had been adamant about keeping and displaying every piece).
Grian didn’t have a clue what to get him for this year. But it was okay, he thought as he instead leaned into Scar’s free side as the alpha wrapped an arm around him and Lilac carefully. He had another two and a half weeks to work it out.
Plenty of time.
“Mumbo, I don't know what to do!”
“I really don’t know why you’re asking me, mate,” said Mumbo, keeping his concentration firmly on the open power pack of a dead set of rainbow Christmas lights. “Wouldn’t you know best? He’s your husband.”
“I don’t know!” Grian cried out again, flopping himself down on the couch and pressing his hands up against his forehead. “I feel like I’ve tried to think of everything for a present this year but keep coming up blank!”
It was early in the afternoon over in Grian and Scar’s base, with the alpha out helping with some of the preparations for the Hermitcraft Christmas Eve party that would be happening in a week’s time. He had been called over urgently now that Etho was unavailable to help as he and Bdubs were settling in with their newborn. Grian had happily used the excuse to call over his best friend for company, and having the beta help with fixing up a set of broken lights. The base was relatively quiet otherwise, with Lilac down for her nap and Poppy happily playing by herself with some dolls, occasionally running over to garner what her uncle was working on before dashing back to her play area.
“Well, he’s got a sweet tooth,” Mumbo suggested, sprinkling a tiny line of redstone dust. “What about a classic box of chocolates?”
Grian shook his head. “Too risky with the girls. Poppy especially. She’s got a sweet tooth that rivals Scar’s honestly.”
“Maybe a nice tie?”
Grian shrugged. “Eh. Doesn’t really scream ‘special’, you know?”
“What about a big bow on top of your head then?” Mumbo said, a humoured smile twitching underneath his moustache. “Maybe he can unwrap you for Christmas Eve?”
“Mumbo!” Grian scolded as Poppy ran over.
“Are we putting Mama in wrapapa paper?” the toddler asked.
“ Wrapping paper, darling. And no,” Grian said sternly, looking at now rather embarrassed Mumbo who was adamantly not looking at his niece. “We’re not. Are we, Uncle Mumbo?”
“Nope, silly idea!” Mumbo agreed quickly.
Poppy giggled. “Silly, Uncle Mumbo.”
“You gotta be careful,” Grian muttered quietly as the toddler ran off once more. “That kid will parrot everything now.”
“Oh gosh,” Mumbo murmured back. “No more S-E-X jokes. Got it.”
“...she’s learning the alphabet too.”
Mumbo, who turned a lot paler than usual, looked over to Poppy in a panic; making sure the toddler hadn’t overheard him. “Nothing is safe anymore…” he muttered.
Grian sighed, leaning back and rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I know I don’t need to go above and beyond each year,” he continued woefully. “And I know Scar would like anything. I could wrap up a glazed magenta terracotta block and the guy would be stoked cause it was from me.”
“So what’s the fuss?”
Grian grumbled. “He always gets me nice things,” he argued, fiddling with the chain of his locket. “There was that photo album for Poppy’s first Christmas. Then he made me that cardigan after working on it all last year. I just want to make sure it’s on the same level.”
“Well, you might wanna hurry up on that, dude. You only have a week left.”
“I know,” Grian whined. Why did he have to be such a procrastinator?!
His thoughts were broken up by a knock on the door, and he perked up as Poppy ran to the door, shouting “I’ll open!” Then there was a gasp. “Uncle Timmy!”
“‘Ello, Poppy!” Jimmy greeted back, leaning down to return the hug the toddler was giving him. “Your mum and dad home?”
“Right here, Tim,” greeted Grian, hopping off the couch to approach the door too. “Everything all right?”
“Uh, yeah,” said Jimmy, standing up and giving Poppy a quick ruffle along the top of her head, earning a squeal of protest. “Was just hoping to catch you alone about something?”
Grian frowned, taking in his friend’s nervous glance, then looked down to his daughter. “Poppy, how’s about you go help Uncle Mumbo? That spoon could probably use your help!”
“Okay!” Poppy agreed, running back over to the now spluttering beta.
“So, what's up?”
Jimmy peeked around Grian, making sure that Mumbo was now busy with Poppy, then leaned back and reached into his inventory, pulled out a small wrapped gift, and held it out to Grian. “I was wondering if you could do me a favour for the Christmas party? Can you wait until all the gifts are passed out and then give this to Scar?”
Grian raised his eyebrows, and cautiously took the offered present. It was rather lightweight and lumpy, he found. “And what business have you got giving my mate a secret present, Timmy?”
Jimmy fiddled nervously. “It's for a… thing I’ve got planned for Tango’s present.”
Grian smirked. “Aw, I forgot! First Christmas with your mate! How cute!”
“Oh, shut up!” Jimmy scolded, his cheeks turning red. “Just… promise you’ll save that present till very last? And you won’t tell anyone else I gave this to you?”
There was a touch of sourness to Jimmy’s buttery scent, and Grian backed off at once on his teasing approach - realising the seriousness of it all. “I promise,” he said sincerely. “Your weird little secret is safe with me.”
Jimmy smiled, and his scent turned light and sweet again. “Thanks, I appreciate it. Right, I gotta get going. I’ll see you around, bud. Bye Poppy!”
There was no response, and Grian turned around, ready to call out to Poppy to not be rude and ignore her uncle (though part of him was so proud at the disrespect towards Jimmy at the same time). He instead found her leaning over the power pack, frowning in concentration as Mumbo explained something to her.
Jimmy waved him off. “It’s okay, I’ll see her later too.”
Grian closed the door behind Jimmy, and made his way back over to his friend and daughter - temporarily distracted as his comm buzzed against his wrist.
“Now, we need to make sure the dust connects here,” Mumbo said, carefully guiding a tiny line across the back. “And now what do we need to switch on?”
“...the compapapadabur?”
Grian watched as Mumbo choked back a bark of laughter. “Yes, the comparator. You want to try?”
Poppy lifted up a hand, flicked the tiny switch, and gasped as the once broken lights flashed to life in a brilliantly lit up rainbow. “I did it!”
“You did! Good job!” Mumbo cheered, hi-fiving the toddler. “I’ll make a redstoner out of you yet, Miss GoodTimes!”
“Way to break tradition,” Grian laughed, looking back down at his comm. “Do you mind watching the girls for a little bit? X just needs to ask me about some stuff. Probably to go over making sure everything’s fine for the Emperors’ arrival next week.”
Mumbo waved him off. “Yup, all under control here. You go do your thing. Might show my little prodigy here some repeaters.”
“Thanks, dude,” said Grian, quickly leaning down to give Poppy a kiss on the head. “Be good for your uncle, please. I’ll be back soon.”
“Bye, Mama,” said Poppy, still utterly distracted by the fixed lights.
And so Grian left to head over to the admin’s base, still none the wiser and no clue as to what he wanted to get Scar for Christmas. It was embarrassing enough that Jimmy already seemed to have some sort of elaborate gift for Tango; he didn’t want to be shown up.
He really hoped he would think of something soon…
It wasn’t until later that very same night when the idea came to Grian. He had been laying in bed next to the very same alpha he had been trying to think of a present for, trying to fall asleep with him. Only, as he fiddled once more with the chain of his beloved locket, deep in thought, he jolted upright. Struck with the perfect idea.
He finally got it!
[You whispered to GeminiTay]
Hey gem?
You still got that jewellery collection from your Dawn days?
[GeminiTay whispered to you]
Yeah! I got a few!
Why?
[You whispered to GeminiTay]
I need your help with something
“Come on, we’re running late again!” Grian stressed, stuffing the last of supplies into the nappy bag they needed to take. Every time, no matter what, he was still always late to everything.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Scar soothed, taking the bag from his mate. “It would have only just started. We’re not missing out on anything.”
Grian sighed, running one hand stressfully through his hair and glancing down at Lilac who was held securely in one of Scar’s arms and resting on his hip. The baby’s nose scrunched and she let out a displeased whine, likely having scented the increasing sourness of her mother’s stressed scent. “I know, I know, it’s just… It’s getting harder and I don’t know how…”
It was just a mess. The base looked like a tornado had run through it. With toys and clothes strewn everywhere. It took long enough for Grian to get Poppy ready and dressed, having to settle down a tantrum as she fussed putting on shoes and a coat - no matter how long he reasoned that it would be cold with all the snow. It took Scar ages to get Lilac ready, with the baby having an accident that resulted in a bath and a new outfit (in which during that time Poppy stripped herself down and Grian had to battle his toddler to make her wear clothes all over again shouting out a scarily familiar, “Poppy, put your clothes back on!”). Then they needed to double check they had all the presents ready to go. And then they themselves needed to get dressed. And Poppy had kicked off her shoes again. Only he had to get Scar to help put them back on as Grian remembered he had yet to pack a nappy bag for the party.
The afternoon had barely begun and it already felt like a disaster.
Scar carefully learned down, pressing a kiss to Grian’s forehead, trying to soothingly scent the omega with his own relaxed one. There was a faint flickering of Upset, but it was quickly swamped by a mixture of Pride and Love . “You’re doing a great job, okay? No one’s going to be mad that we’re running a bit behind. They’ll understand.” The alpha broke off into a giggle. “They’ve all babysat Poppy before they’ll absolutely understand.”
“Bah!” Lilac cried out, reaching up to Grian, earning a (albeit slightly teary-eyed) smile.
“Yes, you too, Bubba, you little gremlin,” Scar joked, bringing up the baby’s outreached hand and playfully nomming on it - earning a fit of giggles.
“Sorry, being stup- silly,” Grian quickly corrected, brushing at his eyes. “Right. Let’s get going. We should have everything. Presents in the inventory, clothes, nappies, and snacks in the bag… Poppy?!” he called out towards the toddler’s bedroom. “Are you ready?!”
The silent response worried him, and he bit back a groan. “She’s probably got her shoes off again.”
“I’ll go check,” said Scar quietly before calling out more loudly. “Come on, Peanut! You wanna go see your aunts and uncles and cousins, right?!”
Another fifteen minutes later (with a narrowly avoided second tantrum from Poppy where Scar had to persuade her to put not only her shoes, but her pants back on), the little family were finally on their way, and it wasn’t long before they arrived at the larger hall by spawn. Grian took a moment to admire the beauty of the area, though he hadn’t gotten more than a minute of taking in the golden fairy lights before Poppy whined in frustration against the crook of his neck. Right. He could admire the lights later when it was a bit later. For now he had to get a very grumpy and fussy toddler inside within the next ten seconds otherwise risk another bout of tears. He could only hope that seeing the rest of the Hermits would be enough to turn her mood around.
“Oh, hello, sweet faces!” Keralis greeted amidst the other Hermits who spotted them as they made their way in. “So glad you could make it!”
“Sorry we’re late,” Grian apologised, carefully lowering Poppy down as he did.
Keralis waved him off at once. “It’s fine! You’re not even the last!”
“We’re not?!” Scar called out, Surprised .
“Nope! Still waiting on Bubbles and Etho, and some Emperors. Hello, little princess!” Keralis then greeted as Poppy dropped to the ground, already tugging at her boots. “What’s the matter?”
“No!” Poppy protested, successfully pulling one boot off.
“Poppy-” Grian groaned.
“It’s okay,” Keralis insisted. “Floor is all carpeted for the little ones. And toasty warm too,” he ended with a laugh as the toddler pulled off her big, pink winter coat over her bristled wings. “How about you go see Teddy? He’s been all by himself! How sad!”
Poppy perked up at once, looking around before breaking out into a wide smile. Leaving her shoes and coat behind without a second glance, she ran over to where her Uncles Doc, Ren and Xisuma were gathered and talking - edging her way past them to greet the boy nervously clinging to Ren’s pant leg. “Hi Teddy!”
“...hi,” Teddy said quietly, though a smile was slowly beginning to make its way known on his expression. Grian watched as Ren and Doc observed the interaction with soft ones of their own, and saw the way Ren gave the tiniest of nudges to encourage the boy to go and play with Poppy.
Little Theodore ‘Teddy’ M-Dog was the second newest edition to the Hermitcraft pack, behind Bdubs’ and Etho’s newborn of course. The nearly four year old having only just been adopted by the two alphas a few months prior, but if no one had been the wiser they could have sworn he had been a part of the server since the day he was born. Not so much because of the fact Teddy too was a rather rare creeper-hybrid just like Doc, but just because of how beloved he was by every pack member. Grian himself often joked about how much more he liked Teddy above Doc and Ren already, considering how polite and sweet the boy was. He never mentioned ‘quiet’ though, knowing it was a sensitive spot for the child who was still learning to adapt to having a family (and a very large one at that. The poor thing had been overwhelmed the first few days by just how many people at once declared themselves to be his new aunts and uncles).
“Play hide and seek?!” Poppy asked eagerly, flapping her wings excitedly.
Teddy glanced up at Ren, who gave a warm smile and an encouraging nod. “We’ll be right here, little dude. Go have fun!”
Teddy looked back down, then gave a tiny nod of his own towards Poppy. “Okay!”
Poppy at once took the boy’s hand, pulling him along to the corner of the hall and ducking past other Hermits - all of whom called out a greeting to the passing children. Grian couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at the sight of his daughter pulling along Teddy. Despite being still a toddler himself, he was naturally a bit taller for his age for his hybrid status. To see the little guy be dragged away by someone almost two thirds his own height was funny; what could he say?
Doc shook his head. “So bossy,” he jabbed lightly towards Grian.
“Ah, ah!” Grian chastised. “She’s showing leadership!”
“It’s good seeing the little guy a bit more out of his shell,” Xisuma interrupted, clearly trying to avoid any form of disruptive argument. They all turned, watching as Teddy began to run and hide behind one of the curtains on the other side of the hall as Poppy stood in a corner, loudly counting down from ten. Pearl, standing close by to the hiding spot, at once assisted and pulled the curtain just that little bit more across Teddy; dramatically shushing the now giggling boy.
“He really is,” Ren said, looking rather proud as his tail slowly wagged. “He was saying how excited he was for this party too.”
“He was basically pushing us out the door the moment we woke up,” said Doc. “He only got a bit nervous once everybody else started showing up.”
“Aw, good to hear,” cooed Scar, bouncing a little in place when Lilac began to make fussing sounds. “Also great that Poppy’s distracted now.”
“Oh dear. Rough day?” asked Xisuma sympathetically.
“It’s a no clothes day,” grumbled Grian. “It’s a miracle we could even get her dressed, really.”
“Ah, like father, like daughter?” asked Doc cheekily towards Scar.
“It’s true,” Scar sighed, sending a wink over to his mate. “Grian was shouting at both of us to put pants on this morning.”
There was a light bout of laughter as Grian playfully pushed against Scar’s arm; though it was soon distracted as the doors to the hall opened and everyone inside turned to see who had arrived.
There was a little hush to the previously loud volume (aside from Poppy yelling in victory as she found Teddy who squealed and broke up into his own fit of giggles before the little avian told him it was his turn to count) at the sight of Bdubs and Etho making their way in. All the Hermits called out a cheerful greeting, but clearly all very conscious of the tiny lump all wrapped up against the omega’s chest that no one wanted to disturb. Or to accidentally trigger any protective instincts that were likely still hardwired in the mated pair.
Etho called out a greeting back to everyone, lowering the toddler held in his arms to the floor carefully as he did so. It was for naught. As soon as he was free, the little boy went running and tripped at once - landing face first and limbs splayed on the carpeted flooring.
“Oh, Beau,” Etho sighed exasperatedly, rushing over to help the clumsy toddler back up.
“I okay!” the toddler called out, slightly muffled against the carpet. It wasn’t long before he was running again and Etho looked utterly torn between standing by his mate or chasing after their wayward son.
“Go on, you,” Bdubs insisted. “I’ll find somewhere to station.”
At once, Grian’s own instincts kicked in at the sight of Bdubs on his own, and he bit back the urge to start growling at the surrounding crowd. There was a reassuring hand on his arm from Scar, likely having sensed the spike in his mate’s tension, before he was pushed lightly in the direction of the other omega. Grian didn’t need to be ushered twice before he was by Bdubs’ side.
“Hey, dude,” he murmured quietly, reaching in for a small hug in order to allow them both to scent each other. He held back a little hum at the stronger, and all too familiar, pheromones that the other omega was exuding. “How are you going?”
“My ass is still killing me,” Bdubs grumbled. “So yeah. Sore. Tired. The works.” Then he smiled down at the little bundle against his chest. “She’s been an angel though…”
Curiously, Grian peeked through the side of the wrap, and let out his own coo at the sight of the newborn baby with wispy white hair. Little baby Maple was all snuggled up against Bdubs, curled up as tiny as possible and snoozing peacefully - her tiny button nose twitching from likely all new matter of scents that was in the surrounding area.
“Unca Gri, tha’ sissy!” came a cry down by Grian’s leg, and he glanced down to find that Beau had run back to them. Poor Etho looked already exhausted chasing him back.
“Yeah, I can see!” Grian agreed. Then his smile turned into a frown, taking notice of a bandage wrapped around the toddler’s forehead. “Aw no. What happened there, little fella?”
“Ran into the coffee table this morning,” Etho explained with a wince. “Not one of his better days.”
“I got a ouch!” the toddler cried, looking utterly thrilled by the very notion as his dark eyes sparkled with glee. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Beau Slab, the unfortunately clumsy one-and-a-half year old. It seemed the poor boy copped some sort of injury every other week, whether it be from tripping over his own two seemingly left feet or bumping into all sorts of furniture. Despite it, he was oddly the most cheery little boy, always smiling widely with the most adorable dimples (his cuteness matched with perfect little brown curls that matched Bdubs, with a single white lock curling close to his ear).
Grian cooed again, giving the top of Beau’s head a little rub. “Aw, that’s no good. You gotta be more careful, buddy!”
“He hasn’t been careful since he could roll around,” murmured Etho, his eyes squinting in a smile as Bdubs lightly whacked a hand against his mate’s arm.
“Oh he’s fine!” Bdubs scoffed. “He’s just… enthusiastic to explore the world! Nothing one of Mama’s magic kisses can’t fix!'' He then leaned down, carefully minding the bundled wrap, and pressed a loud, exaggerated kiss to the top of Beau’s bandage.
Beau began giggling, hugging onto Bdubs’ leg. “Mama!”
“I didn’t think you guys would have come?” Grian asked over the toddler’s giggles.. “Or are you only sticking around for a little bit.”
“Eh,” Bdubs shrugged, standing back up straight with his hands coming around to cradle the wrap around his chest. “I kinda figured this would be the best time to just get the meet and greets out of the way for anyone that wants to see Maple. Might leave right after presents though.”
“We brought, like, half the house with us anyway,” said Etho, indicating towards two bags left by the doorway of the hall that the alpha had clearly ditched in his initial effort to chase after Beau. “So worse comes to worse we’re all good for a little bit.”
There was another bout of commotion from outside the hall, and everyone turned to attention again. At once, Etho was beside Bdubs, one arm placed protectively around his shoulders, and Grian leaned down to pick up Beau - easing some of the tension both parents were having. A moment later, the doors opened and Joel strolled in with a rather giggly Hermes riding on his shoulders.
“All right, losers!” Joel announced loudly with a yell. “Make way! The real star of the party is here!”
There was a beat of silence, and then Maple started crying at once.
“...good going, Joel,” Lizzie sighed, following her mate along with a few more Emperors. “Way to make an entrance.”
“I- I didn’t mean to!” Joel cried out, looking genuinely guilty as he lowered Hermes down to the ground. Though his nervousness could also have related to the way Etho was letting off a low, protective growl in the other alpha’s direction.
“Oh, she’s fine!” Bdubs called out, making quick work of bouncing lightly on his heels to try and shush the newborn back to sleep. “Beau’s made louder noises from running into the door before. Goodness sake, Etho. Down, boy!”
“Oh, got another daddy’s girl on hand here?” Sausage called out, cautiously making his way over as he pushed out his own calming pheromones. “Hi guys!”
“You bet,” said Bdubs, smirking up at Etho. “She’s got this guy wrapped around her pinky already.”
“Not true!” Etho protested, now reaching out to take Beau from Grian’s arms. “They both equally have me wrapped!” he declared, lightly tickling the toddler and earning a loud squeal.
“Everything going okay with two babies now?” asked Sausage, also sending a glance towards Grian.
At once, Bdubs shot a glare over towards Grian. “You!” he growled. “You didn’t even begin to prepare me for how much chaos it was going to be!”
“Hey! I did warn you!”
“Clearly not enough!” Bdubs grumbled. “Our place is just overrun with mess; it's a disaster!”
“...it is cute though when they interact with each other.”
Bdubs frown towards Grian slightly eased. “...you’re right it's the most adorable thing ever.”
“How’s Hermes going?” asked Etho.
“He’s… healthy,” said Sausage, glancing back over to his son as the others also turned to observe the boy. The omega’s tropical scent turned slightly bitter, as though he were trying to cover up his worry. “He’s doing good. But, you know, nothing else otherwise.”
And he did look fine. Ecstatic, in fact, at the very moment he spotted Teddy and eagerly raced over to the other boy. The two had become fast friends, as Hermes had been so happy to learn that he had a new potential playmate that was closer to his own physical age, and Teddy had been just as happy to have another kid around that wanted to play with him. It was just a current worry on whether or not it could last.
It had been nearly a year or so after the incidents surrounding Poppy’s birth when Sausage and Joel had raised concerns about their son. While from the moment from Hermes’ unusual circumstances of being born into the world resulted in him ageing quite rapidly to the stature of about a four year old, it just seemed that he hadn’t grown at all ever since. There were worries that Hermes was stuck at a young age from the lore magic surrounding his entire existence, and Fwhip had been working on ways to fix it - as no one wanted the boy to go through a life of being stuck as a child while his pack aged all around him. There had been nothing yet, but from what Grian could see, Sausage was right. Hermes still seemed perfectly happy and healthy otherwise (though he still needed to wear his Lore Crystal at all times, especially when visiting other servers).
“As long as he’s okay,” Grian soothed, one hand patting Sausage’s shoulder comfortingly. “And I’m sure he’s ready to be spoiled again.”
Sausage rolled his eyes. “Oh yes. Si . I can see the kids pile from all the way here! It’s a mountain!”
“Well now that there’s three more kidlets this year I’m not surprised,” Etho laughed. “We do like to go all out for them, don't we?”
“Mm, we do,” Bdubs agreed. “Anyway; can we sit down? I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m still sore…”
For the first part of the afternoon, Grian found himself happily relaxing around the fireplace of the hall with many of the other omegas of the packs - accidentally turning it into an unintentional HOG gathering while the party went on around them. They all gathered, cooing over little Maple, who Bdubs had brought out of her wrap to let everyone have a better look at (though he showed no signs of wanting to hand her over to anyone else, which was respected without a word), and then over Lilac too once Scar brought her back over to Grian. She instead was passed around the other omegas, much to her utter delight at being the centre of attention to all the crooning. Grian couldn’t help but notice in particular Jimmy getting rather sappy and playful with Lilac, and couldn’t help but teasingly ask when he could expect a new niece or nephew (earning a rather embarrassed red face and a ‘shuddup!” in return.)
Amidst catching up with the other omegas, Grian often looked over his shoulder to watch the rest of the party - and mainly keep an eye on Poppy; though he knew Scar was keeping just as close an eye. There were all manner of games played, from hide-and-seek. To making Doc, Impulse and Skizz play ‘Horsie’ with them (where Skizz maybe got a little too into the role, proudly declaring he was the better horse as he took turns carting Beau and Poppy around). To a game of duck-duck-goose - where there had been an unlucky incident where Hermes had accidently grabbed and plucked out one of Poppy’s feathers. The poor girl had been in tears and needed a good long cuddle with both Grian and Scar, and Hermes had needed one with Sausage too; the boy in tears himself and desperately signing ‘sorry’ to his friend. All was forgiven and forgotten though once they were each given a gingerbread cookie and ushered to go and watch Joe and Ren’s elaborate puppet show about the Grinch.
Then, at long last, it was time for presents.
The Hermits and Emperors all gathered around the tree, and let Poppy, Hermes, Teddy and Beau sit at the front - while a few of the others began to help organise and pass out the gifts intended for each child.
“Which one’s mine?” Teddy asked, looking up towards Ren and Doc for reassurance as a rather generous pile was set down in front of him.
“They all are,” said Doc softly.
Teddy looked utterly overwhelmed, likely never having had more than one gift at a time during holidays from the orphanage he had been raised in. “Really?!”
“Really!” Ren affirmed, ruffling the boy’s head between the stumps of his growing horns. “And this is just from your aunts and uncles! You still have Santa visiting tonight!”
“Santa’s still coming?!”
“Yeah, Santa!” Poppy cheered, her wings fluttering excitedly as Hermes nodded excitedly beside her. “He leaves presents for good kids! Right, Mama?”
Grian bit back a smirk, and bit back even harder a joking “Debatable” comment. Instead, leaned down to brush back Poppy’s hair. “Absolutely, and you have been a good girl this year. Especially helping out with your new sister!”
“And you’ve been very good too,” Doc promised Teddy. “Santa will leave you many presents.”
“Okay, enough mushiness!” Tango called out. “I wanna see what the kids got!”
“Yeah, two four six eight, dig in don’t wait!” Skizz egged on.
“I’m taking bets on how many Timmy toys will make an appearance!” Scott announced as the kids started all tearing at their first presents.
“No gambling in front of the kids!” Xisuma warned.
Scott rolled his eyes, though a quick smile betrayed his lack of true annoyance. “No wine in front of the kids, no gambling, what's next? No strip pok-”
“SCOTT!”
There was indeed plenty of Jimmy inspired toys, much to said omega’s dismay. Poppy was utterly thrilled with her ‘Bad Guy’ doll, and Teddy got his first Sheriff doll (as Joel’s usual first gift tradition). Hermes got a new Good Guy figurine, and Beau received a very cuddly Cold Guy stuffie. It became nearly too hard to keep track of all the toys as they were each uncovered - and Scar, Doc, Joel and Etho made sure to take care placing them back in their individual piles in order to not get lost amongst all the wrapping paper. Grian had been right, of course, predicting that Lilac would be more than thrilled with the mountains of wrapping paper around her - instead opting to play with a scrunched up ball of the colourful paper rather than the jingling, soft toys she had received herself. Beside him, Bdubs fondly mumbled he couldn’t wait for Maple to be able to join in on the fun (in which Etho said no and demanded she instead stay tiny, and made a point to temporarily steal her from his mate to have a cuddle with his daughter.)
They all then left the toddlers to their own devices just out to the side (and still within very close watching distance) and play with their new toys (after being made sure to thank all of their aunts and uncles for all their presents), while they stayed back for their own traditional Secret Santa and for any extra gifts they had to give to each other. Grian’s own Secret Santa gift to Cub had been very well received - a device filled to the brim with recordings from both Scar and Poppy to use on horns, and he himself received a rather fascinating book on ghosts from Impulse. Scar had received a new Death Star waffle maker from Tango, and he himself had gifted Bdubs a ridiculous stack of Christmas cookies (and Grian couldn’t help but wonder just how badly the other omega had scared Scar the other week in order to warrant such a gift).
Then, it was coming up to the last of the gifts.
“Merry Christmas,” Scar said, nudging Grian’s side - distracting the omega from pulling out a chewed wad of wrapping paper from Lilac’s mouth. Grian glanced over, finding an oddly small, lumpy wrapped gift, and took it gratefully. Eagerly, he unwrapped it, and a delighted gasp slipped past his lips. “Oh, Scar. It’s beautiful…”
A brand new inventory satchel, made from a very fine leather from what Grian could tell, and decoratively stamped with patterns of poppies and lilacs. At once, he leaned over in his seat, pressing a kiss to Scar’s lips.
“Glad you like it,” Scar murmured, moving back in to kiss his husband again, his scent simmering softly to match his Happiness and Love .
“Okay, so if that’s it, we might start taking care of this paper?” Fwhip called out, looking around seemingly for something going by his unusual pointed stares around the room.
Grian suddenly felt an iron ball settle in his stomach. Oh. Right. He still had to give his gift to Scar. He felt silly, being this nervous - he knew Scar was going to love the present. It was just… now he was questioning having to do it in front of all the others… Though as he debated whether or not he wanted to pull Scar to a quiet corner instead, there was a rustle from the side, and his mate piped up; “Actually, I got one more? I think?”
Grian turned back, and found Scar holding an oddly familiar package. Small, light looking and lumpy… It went off like a light bulb in his head. Jimmy’s present! The one he wanted to leave till last… but why did Scar have one too?
“Uh, so do I?” Grian mentioned, pulling his own out of his inventory. Scar raised a brow, as Confused as the omega felt.
Then Grian noticed he wasn't the only one.
As he looked around, it seemed to be a trigger of remembrance, as Bdubs, Etho, Doc, Ren, Joel and Sausage each pulled out similarly wrapped presents. They all looked rather perplexed, but proceeded to hand the presents to their matching partner. Grian looked over to Jimmy, who was fiddling very nervously in his seat, and glancinging towards Tango anxiously.
Wanting to sate his curiosity, Grian tore open the present from Scar. Only he became more confused upon pulling out a plain t-shirt, with big letters reading “ Best Parent Club ” across the chest.
What on earth…?
“Oh, hey, matching shirts!” Grian looked up, finding Scar with his very own shirt too - also reading the same phrase.
“Aw yes, best club!” Joel approved, observing his own ‘ Best Parent Club ’ shirt as he high-fived Sausage - who also had a matching shirt.
Bdubs (with the very same shirt) first glanced toward Etho then Grian with a look of confusion, before also looking at Jimmy along with everyone else who had received the matching shirts. There was a moment of silence, and a confused ‘thanks?” between Ren and Doc…
Then Jimmy pulled out his own lumpily wrapped present, and held it out towards Tango.
Grian’s heart leapt into his throat.
No way…
Tango was clearly on the same wavelength, as at first he looked confused, but then his jaw dropped practically to his chest.
“I… what ?!” the alpha shrieked, before tearing the wrapping paper apart and pulling out his very own ‘ Best Parent Club ’ shirt. He looked up, nearly hyperventilating to keep tears at bay. “Are you serious?!” he cried, voice cracking.
Jimmy’s smile grew, and he gave a little nod.
It was all Tango needed before he let out an excited yell and dived at his mate - pulling the canary into a tight hug as the room erupted into cheers and congratulations. Grian was utterly stunned, unable to form the words to convey his surprise and joy. Beside him, Bdubs was already crying, grumbling about ‘stupid hormones’ as Etho pulled the emotional omega in for a hug with one arm, all the while comforting a startled and crying Maple in the other.
He couldn’t believe it. Jimmy was going to have a baby!
“And that’s not the only surprise about it!” Fwhip called out, drawing all attention to him.
“W-what do you mean?!” Tango croaked, wiping at his eyes, unable to stop the wide grin on his face. The whole room was enveloped in a scented cloud of simmering, smokey campfire from the alpha’s joy.
“See, the thing is when we check for pregnancy,” Fwhip began, pulling out his comm and scrolling through to look for something in particular, “we check for the amount of entities occupied in a code. Now, traditionally, when there's a pregnancy the number goes from “One’ to ‘Two’. However, in Jimmy’s case…”
Fwhip tossed his communicator over to Tango, who managed to catch it just in time. The blaze-hybrid's eyes narrowed, looking across a certain line in particular - and then widened dramatically.
“Three?!” he shouted, looking back up to Jimmy in utter shock.
Jimmy’s grin widened, and his cheeks turned pink from the excitement. “Hope you’re okay with twins?”
Grian couldn’t help the surprised laugh that escaped him. Twins?!
There weren’t any words to describe the sounds that escaped Tango, but they devolved into another excited yell, nonetheless. “We’re having babies!” he yelled, diving again at Jimmy. “You're gonna have our babies!” He pressed such a deep kiss against his mate’s lips, that Grian almost felt tempted to cover Lilac’s eyes. Then Tango pulled away. “I’m gonna be a dad! I’m gonna be a dad!”
The room delved into absolute chaos, between Tango being torn away temporarily from Jimmy to be squished into a group hug from the remaining ZITS crew, and Joel yelling about “how could you keep this bloody secret from me?!” to Jimmy despite crushing the omega with his own hug, to just the overall atmosphere of excited cheers and yells.
Grian was still just utterly stunned. Twins… His lil’ Timmy was going to be having twins.
“Isn’t that ah-may-zin?!”
Grian jumped, turning to face Scar. The alpha’s face was split into a wide, lopsided grin of his own - flickers of Happiness and Excitement bursting in the omega’s mind like fireworks.
“You hear that, Bubba?!” Scar continued, leaning over to take Lilac’s hand and giving it an excited little shake. “Two new cousins! Wow, we’re gonna be a full house next year, huh?!”
Grian’s own smile faltered a little, remembering that he didn’t even get the chance to give Scar his present. However, he quickly let it widen again - realising he could worry about it later. For now, this was Jimmy’s moment, and he wouldn’t have dreamt of doing anything to distract from it.
“All I hear is two new minions to turn against my favourite deputy,” Grian joked with a smirk. “Come on, I need to give him a hug!”
It was much later in the night before Grian was finally able to give Scar his Christmas present.
The party had gone on for a little longer than expected due to Jimmy’s announcement and everyone wanting to make it a point to congratulate the expectant couple. Though Bdubs and Etho were the first to leave, spotting that Beau had curled up and fallen asleep on his new plushie and declaring it was time they headed home. And once Grian spotted Poppy rubbing tiredly at her eyes, he and Scar declared the same thing.
They did their best to settle the girls to sleep. With Grian taking baby duties, dressing Lilac in a warm onesie, giving her one last evening feed, then rocking her to sleep with a quiet lullaby before settling her carefully into her crib. Scar, in the meanwhile, took charge of Poppy, first helping the toddler set up a plate of milk and cookies for Santa, then dressing her in pyjamas and helping her to brush her teeth before settling her into her bed. Grian had only just departed from Lilac’s nursery in time to find the pair all nestled up together as the alpha read from a story book. Poppy had already fallen deeply asleep.
“But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight…” Scar whispered, turning to the final page. “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night…” Just as quietly, he shut the book, and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Poppy’s hair. “Good night, Peanut…”
Grian made his way in as Scar stood up, and took care to tuck his daughter in properly. Satisfied she was all snug, he took a moment to brush away a stray curl from her face, then kissed the top of her head too. “Good night, baby bird,” he whispered. “I love you…”
Quiet as mice, the mated pair left the room, being sure to switch on the nightlight as they passed before closing the door softly behind them. Grian let out a sigh. It wasn’t really that late, but he was just utterly drained.
“Well, that was a pretty good day!” Scar cheered quietly as they moved to the living room and collapsed on the couch in front of the warm, cracking fireplace. “Only one meltdown and one accident!”
Grian rolled his eyes, but leaned into Scar’s side. “The night’s not over, Scar.”
“Eh, she’s out cold, I think we’re safe,” said Scar, wrapping an arm around Grian’s shoulders. “I don’t think we’ll have any more trouble till she wakes us up before dawn for more presents. Or from Lilac until she wakes up for whatever she needs.”
“Mm, good point,” murmured Grian, then paused. The present!
Scar also paused, likely having sensed Grian’s minor panic. “Everything okay, G?”
“Uh, yeah,” said Grian carefully. “It’s just… I forgot to give you your present.”
There was a light huff of laughter. “It’s okay,” said Scar, pressing a kiss to Grian’s forehead. “Did you wanna wait till tomorrow?”
Grian bit his lip. “No, I think I’ll do it now while the girls are asleep.”
Curiosity. Arousal. “Oh?”
Grian smacked Scar’s arm. “Not like that!”
“Aw, that’s a shame,” joked Scar as Grian reached into his inventory. “I always love getting to unwrap you.”
“You and Mumbo are as bad as each other,” Grian scoffed, now handing out a thin, rectangular package wrapped in red and purple ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Scar.”
Scar’s eyes sparkled, and briefly flickered to Grian’s locket. “Well that looks familiar,” he said, taking the package and carefully unwrapping it. Sure enough, there was a black, velvet box, all too familiar with the one the alpha had once gifted Grian three years ago. There was a rush of Love as Scar opened the box, revealing a gold, rectangular locket of his very own - decorated with an intricately carved sun.
“We get to match now…” Scar murmured, smiling softly down at the necklace before leaning back over to Grian and giving him a long, tender kiss. “Thank you, light of my life…”
Grian only smiled, but didn’t say a word - instead, waiting for the alpha to open the locket.
Scar did so, pressing the little button on the side, and pulling it open. His brows raised in surprise at the way it folded out into three windows rather than the two Grian had - though still very similarly decorated. On one window, a picture of a painted poppy petal, on the other, a lilac petal, the third…
“Huh, what’s this spot for?” Scar asked, looking curiously at the empty window. “For you? Or is it for Jellie.”
Grian shrugged, leaning back onto Scar’s shoulder as he observed the empty window. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll work something out in about nine months?”
Confusion. “For the twins?” Scar asked, turning to face his mate.
Grian just stared at Scar pointedly, waiting for the ball to drop.
There was a beat of lingering Confusion , then a jolt of Shock as Grian felt Scar’s heart skip a beat as the alpha’s eyes widened. It wasn’t long before they welled up with tears. “Really?!” Scar croaked out in a wobbly voice.
Grian smiled and nodded. “Mm hmm. Just found out the other week, Xisuma called me over cause he noticed the change in my code. I wanted to tell you at the party, but I didn’t wanna ruin Timmy’s moment.”
Scar couldn't speak. Instead, the alpha choked on a sob, and pulled Grian in for a hug, crying into the omega’s shoulder. Grian almost felt dizzy from the overpowering scent of simmering spice and from the sheer amount of emotions radiating off of his mate.
Happy. Excited. Ecstatic. Surprised. Love. Love. Love.
“We’re havin’ another baby…” Scar sobbed.
“We’re having another baby,” Grian affirmed, running his hand soothingly through Scar’s hair. “Which means we really gotta work on Poppy’s potty training again. I don’t fancy handling three sets of nappies to change.”
Scar laughed and pulled back, his eyes puffy and sparkling. “I love you so much,” he whispered, leaning in and giving Grian another deep kiss.
“I love you too,” he murmured to the corner of Scar’s lips before returning the kiss tenfold.
And as they pulled back and settled against each other in a warm cuddle, Grian couldn’t help but reflect on just how much everything had changed from the first locket to the present day. One gift passed in a moment of uncertainty and still high tensions - barely able to even look at eachother in the eye as they struggled to convey an ounce of their feelings. And here they were, three years later, utterly in just as much love as they were from the day they could say it, married, with two beautiful little girls and one new baby on the way.
To Grian, it really couldn’t get better than this…
“...Grian? I just thought of something?”
“What is it?”
Panic. “...how am I meant to lift up three kids to put up the Christmas Star?!”