May all your Christmases be bright...

[awickedtime]

Raised in the Church of Night, Nick's never celebrated Christmas before, but it's important to Charlie and Rosie, so it's important to Sabrina, so it's important to Nick. He'd basically given Rosie and Charlie free rein to decorate the apartment, which is draped in lights and glitter, the tree shimmering merrily in the corner. It's not dissimilar to some of the festivals that he had celebrated in his life. The iconography is different, though.

They've carved out time to spend together, in the midsts of all the other meals, all the other obligations with the found families that they've made themselves. Nick had agonised over gifts for the girls, less so for Charlie, and they're neatly wrapped in paper and metallic ribbon. He's proud of how pretty they look, if he's honest.

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[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina has more experience with the holiday than Nick, but she's found that sometimes the strange cultural clashes she'd grown up with lead to less clarity than just learning about something. She's very thankful that the solstice passes easily, and that when it does, they're left with a clear shot at a good, happy Christmas.

Her own worries about gifts had been very real, if short-lived. The memory of Harvey returning the colored pencils to her still holds a sting, though it'd taken only a moment or two in the presence of the people that really love her to decide what she wants to do.

Dressed in red velvet, she lets herself curl up on the couch to watch them, this little tangle of people she adores, as they move about and settle into place themselves. Salem dozes under the tree, and it's one of those rare moments where everything's going right, and she can just let go.

Just be happy.

[awickedtime]

Nick comes to sit beside her, a small wrapped box in his hands. He drops a kiss onto her temple and then just sits, quietly for a moment. "This is nice, isn't it?" he says, leaning his shoulder against hers. "Different from home. But nicer, somehow."

[signed_sabrina]

She leans into the little kiss, her eyes closing as if it's to be savored-- if she's learned anything this year, it's how important focusing on each moment is, that this is what they hold onto when terrible things inevitably happen.

"Warmer," she agrees. "Brighter. So much more love, just... existing. I wish I had gotten to be with you last-- oh, let's call it winter holidays."

[awickedtime]

"If only we'd figured everything out sooner," he says, turning the box over in his hands. "It'll be Lupercalia soon - think we can count that as an anniversary?"

[signed_sabrina]

"I wouldn't trade," she says, after a moment. "But it's a nice thought."

And then he mentions Lupercalia, and her eyes widen a bit, her thoughts heading into territory that really couldn't be qualified as nice. "We can count it," she says firmly, knowing there's no way to hide that she's thinking ahead. "And celebrate it however we please."

[awickedtime]

"Now that's a lovely thought," says Nick, leaning in closer to her for a moment. "Especially if we can get Charlie and Rosie involved. Might be a little bit cold here for soaking up moonlight, though?"

Greenvale had never really felt warm, but it never really felt as cold as Darrow seems to get, either; a peculiar microclimate all its own.

[teenagerenegade]

Charlie has been worrying about the present that he bought Sabrina for weeks - worried that it's not too enough, that it's too much. Eventually, though, he just takes a breath and decides to...jump. What's the worst thing that can happen?

"Merry Christmas, Brina," he says, coming to sit beside her on the couch. "Are you having a nice time? I know this isn't really your thing..."

[signed_sabrina]

"Merry Christmas, Charlie," and because she can, she reaches out to tug him forward by the shirt for a kiss.

"I think it could become my thing, religions aside," she finally answers, when she releases him. "Everything's lovely, and I have all of you. All of the people I love are happy and celebrating. I'm happy."

[teenagerenegade]

He huffs a laugh out through his nose as he leans in for the kiss, his fingers coming up to brush her cheek.

"I guess it isn't really about religion for a lot of people," he says. "Not anymore. Here, for the four of us, it can be whatever we want it to, right?"

[signed_sabrina]

"Turns out that's true for most things," she answers, "about making things how we want them to be. Which is good, because I don't think I'm very good at the part where I accept things I don't like."

She reaches out to take his hand.

"You know, this time last year you were still having to sneak into my room."

[teenagerenegade]

"You're really not," says Charlie, threading his fingers through hers. "Which is totally one of the things that I love best about you." He lifts her hand, kissing the sides of her fingers. "You're right. God. Poor Salem."

[forthsofar]

Knowing how striking Sabrina looks in red, Rosie succumbed to the silliness of the season and chose a soft knit dress in green; more complimentary than coordination, if just as festive. After laying her presents beneath the tree, all wrapped in bright paper with ribbon curls and an envelope with a card taped to the top of each, she gives Salem a scratch behind the ears and stands, glancing over at the other three people she's come to trust--and love--more than she ever thought possible.

[awickedtime]

Nick moves behind Rosie, wrapping both arms around her, pulling her in close against his chest and dropping a kiss on the side of her neck, right over her pulse.

"Merry Christmas, Babe," he says, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Did I do it right?"

[forthsofar]

His arms wrap around her and Rosie goes easily into the embrace, nestling into the broad wall of his chest, her head leaning against his shoulder. As his lips find her pulse, she can't help the soft, pleased little sound that comes from her mouth.

"You did it brilliantly," she says, looking up at him, her dark eyes bright with happiness. "And thank you. And I say...Festive Yule, to you? Something like that, right?"

[awickedtime]

"You would, if we celebrated it anymore," he says. "But we don't. Because we've got you two now, so we can celebrate something different, and we don't need to be worried about Gryla and her lads anymore."

[forthsofar]

"Point taken," she says, sighing a little as she stays close to him, contented and peaceful. "Thank you for letting Charlie and I take over the flat a bit to set everything up. I don't think we did too terribly at all."

In addition to the tree, almost dripping in lights and garland and as many ornaments as they thought the branches could hold, they'd strung lights around the sitting room windows, hung a wreath on the front door, even set up a little tableau on the coffee table out of an old mirror and a few reindeer figurines Rosie had found in a thrift shop the other week. It's all a bit haphazard, maybe even slightly overboard, but it's theirs, and that counts for far more.

She leans up to kiss him, gentle and sweet. "Are you enjoying your first Christmas, then?"

[awickedtime]

"I think I'd enjoy anything if I could do it with you three," says Nick, genuinely honest about it, swaying them as he looks at the decorations - the tree, and the lights. "But, yes I am enjoying it. Looking forward to giving you your gift."

[signed_sabrina]

Honestly, if someone had told Sabrina earlier about things like candy cane stockings and different costumes and accessories... well, no, she's always liked the bits of Christmas she'd tasted through her friends. Except Santa, even before the whole Bartell thing. Aunt Zelda has always had plenty of things to say about sitting on the lap of old men who keep track of one's misdeeds-- other things too, that Sabrina is certain she never got to hear.

But this is warm and bright and there's so much love.

She heads over to Rosie, taking her hand and leading her over to the couch, where they can curl up to see what the boys are up to. "Merry Christmas," she murmurs, her smile almost shy.

[forthsofar]

Sabrina makes her way over to the tree, cozily beautiful in her soft velvet dress, and when she holds out her hand Rosie threads her fingers through hers without hesitation. They flop down onto Nick's couch together, nestled into one another's sides as they watch Nick and Charlie puttering around the flat.

"Merry Christmas," she echoes, leaning in to press a kiss to Sabrina's cheek, her hand still linked in the other girl's. "This is all...it's one of the best Christmases I've had, to be honest. Most of all, because I'm with all of you."

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina chases her mouth for a kiss there too, not quite able to prevent herself from it.

"I'm glad," she says, letting her thumb stroke the back of Rosie's hand. "It's-- it's crazy to think about all the things that have changed in a year. I think last Christmas was about the time I really realized I would-- be here. That it really sunk in." And while she can't deny how much she'd love to see her aunts or cousin, or her friends, mortal and not so mortal, she can't ever qualify herself as sad to be in Darrow.

"It's my least Satanic Christmas so far," she adds.

There's so much to be said for patricide in the right circumstances.

[forthsofar]

Though she doesn't quite expect the kiss to her mouth--even knowing that all of them are in communication about the rules that the four of them are making together, Rosie's still a little more cautious about these things when Charlie's around--as Sabrina's lips press themselves to hers Rosie sinks happily into the kiss, something slow and sweet. "It's unbelievable, how much has changed," she agrees, looking down at their joined hands, her eyes tracking the gentle sweep of Sabrina's thumb. "A year ago we'd only just met, that day I went blundering into your room at the Home."

She smiles, thinking back on that, how quickly the both of them trusted the other with the secrets they'd each been carrying around. Maybe in a way, they'd always been on a path to something like this whether they'd known it or not.

Sabrina speaks again, and Rosie lets out a soft laugh. "Charlie and I did work quite hard to make it as un-Satanic as possible," she says, feigning primness as she looks over at the other girl. "For you and Nick both."

[teenagerenegade]

"That dress really suits you," says Charlie, beaming, as he comes to sit beside her with two glasses of mulled wine in hand. He hands one to Rosie and then settles himself. "They're...Sabrina mentioned going up to Kagura for New Year, and...I don't know how I feel about that," he says.

[forthsofar]

"Thank you," Rosie says to both the compliment and the offered glass, sitting up a little on the couch as Charlie settles next to her. She takes a sip of the wine as she listens to him talk, her dark eyes fixed on his face and seeing the hint of uncertainty there. "Nick said the same thing to me," she admits. "I don't know what to think of it either."

From pictures she'd seen, the lodge itself was back to normal, all wood beams and huge glass windows looking out onto the snow--but even with the evidence right in front of her Rosie still half-expected those cold stone corridors and gloomy torchlight from their terrible June. "But we would all be together, this time."

[teenagerenegade]

"And I've seen pictures that people have taken up there this season," he says. "And it doesn't look the same as it did when we were up there in the summer, so..." He takes a sip of his wine. "It won't feel the same either, will it? So maybe we can pretend that it's just somewhere completely different." He glances across at her. "Sabrina and I...we had sex for the first time up there on New Year last year."

[forthsofar]

"It won't feel the same," she says, more firmly than she entirely feels at the moment. "And if it ever starts to feel that way, not that it will, we'll do everything we can to make it as different as possible." If anyone can, it's the four of them--and all of them together, most of all.

Rosie smiles softly, a faint blush tinting her cheeks as Charlie glances over at her. "Sabrina told me about that," she admits. "A few months ago, back when...well, after I'd been with David for the first time, to be honest."