“I don’t see them yet,” called out Seryn from the foyer into the kitchen as she was looking out the window by the front door of the house. The youngest child of the family, at the age of 15, wore a plain black shoulderless sweater top with a maroon pleated skirt with leggings underneath. Her left boot tapped the wooden floor as she kept a lookout for her uncle, aunt, and cousin.
It was the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas Eve had finally arrived once more and everyone was ready to celebrate with loved ones. As with many other family traditions, Shale and his family would come visit his little brother to celebrate the holiday season. It was a night for all of them to enjoy dinner, presents, and fun together as a united family. Christmas Eve became the unified night of presents being opened, as Christmas Day was a time to just wind down and relax with family at Rarity’s parents home, and with the kids reaching or now at adulthood, waking up to presents left by Santa Claus on Christmas morning was just a childhood myth to them.
The blanket of snow from the prior day’s brief winter storm covered the grass as the lights from outside decorations lit up the street to make it easy for Seryn to see any cars coming. She watched patiently with a smile.
“They’ll be here shortly!” replied Rarity from the kitchen. “You don’t think they would miss our annual gathering, Hmm?” She has on a maroon blouse with black leggings and heeled boots, supplemented by various golden jewelry such as her necklaces, rings, and bracelets.
“Mother is right, dear sister,” said Jade, the eldest child of Clyde and Rarity as she smiled and fixed up her black hair which was styled up more than usual due to the holiday. Jade wore a simple black and thin long sleeved sweater with a low cut neckline with leggings and heeled boots. “As far as I can remember in my 18 years of living, Uncle Shale is always here! Even if he’s slightly late on occasion.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Seryn smiled and brushed a strand of her dark brown and purple highlighted hair from her brown eyes and continued watch.
“Jade, dear, check the oven for me. We don’t want the cookies to burn.” Rarity laughed as she walked out of the kitchen for a moment.
Jade nodded. “Of course, Mother!”
Rarity headed to the staircase as she looked up it and shouted in a semi-sweet voice. “Clyde! Altair! What in heavens are you both doing?! We have guests coming!”
A rush of footsteps sounded across the upstairs as the 17 year old Altair rushed down the steps in a black sweater jacket with blue jeans. “Sorry Mom. I had to find my belt.” He chuckled.
“It’s fine, dear.” Rarity smiled as she looked at his outfit. “My dear son certainly can dress handsomely when he wants to!”
“That’s because I just like wearing casual stuff to go to the park or school.” Altair laughed. “Dressing up isn’t exactly my priority.”
“Well said. Dressing up isn’t mine either.” Soon, Clyde came down the stairs wearing a gray closed jacket with jeans as he gave Rarity a kiss. “Sorry. I had to go through your closet section just to find my jacket.”
Rarity fanned her face with a flirty smile and giggled from the kiss. “Hehe... It’s quite fine, my darling. You look as suave and handsome as always.”
Clyde smiled as he held her by the hip and walked into the kitchen with her. Jade was just taking the cookies out of the oven as Clyde, Rarity, and Altair entered.
“These cookies smell absolutely perfect!” said Jade with a confident smile from her baking.
Altair sniffed and tried to take one before he flinched back. “Guess I have to wait to try one. They are too warm still.”
Jade rolled her eyes. “You just saw me take them out of the oven, Altair. How could you seriously think they were safe to eat?!”
“When I see food I don’t ask questions,” replied Altair.
“Sounds like me when I see honey barbecue wings,” said Clyde with a laugh.
“They are here!!!” yelled Seryn from the foyer excitedly as headlights briefly shined through the window.
The rest of the family quickly moved to the foyer to join Seryn as they awaited Shale to come into the house. Within a few moments, they saw three figures walk up to the door giving a gentle knock. Seryn opened the door and smiled but was instantly hugged and nearly tackled to the ground by a girl a year older than her.
“Cousin!!! Merry Christmas!” The girl pulled away and smiled brightly as she blew some of her magenta, light blue, and brown tri-colored unkempt bangs out of her face. Her brown eyes like Seryn’s showed immense joy.
“Melody! Hey!” greeted Seryn with a chuckle.
Winter Melody, or as everyone just called her Melody, was the only child of Shale. Being a year under Altair and older than Seryn, Melody was a big fan of spending time with her family. Due to her mother, Melody was very gifted at singing and playing the piano, as she did it for fun with her band and her mom and aunts with the fixed mindset to make anyone that listened more happy. Melody was one of, if not, the most, quintessential definitions of a cheery and positive girl. She took off her black coat to show off a long white blouse with leggings and boots as she kept her bright smile.
Shale soon walked wearing his winter coat and holding steady a tower of presents as he smiled. “Merry Christmas everyone.”
“Hello, Uncle!” greeted Jade with her blissful smile.
“Hey!” said Altair with a wave and smile.
Clyde helped his brother with the presents as he chuckled. “You always go big for Christmas presents, Shale.”
“I’ll definitely say!” Rarity giggled and gave Shale a friendly hug. “Good to see you, Shale.”
Shale smiled. “Likewise! It’s always fun to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephew!” Shale, with Clyde’s and Altair’s help, walked into the living room to set the presents around the decorated Christmas tree.
“Momma is coming too! She must have dropped her phone as she got out of the car!” joked Melody with a laugh.
“I did no such thing!” responded a voice from the doorway as Sonata Dusk, her long hair elegantly down instead of a in ponytail, stood there with her hands on her hips and looked at Melody with a stern look.
“Eep! Sorry Mom!” apologized Melody.
Sonata’s serious facade broke as she soon giggled and hugged her. “I’m only teasing!”
Seryn joined in on the hug. “Aunt Sonata!”
“Hi Seryn!” said Sonata with a big smile and scanned the room and looked at everyone else. “Merry Christmas Rarity and Jade!”
Rarity gave Sonata a hug and patted her black coat. “Sonata dear, I simply love this coat! Is it from overseas?”
“Sure is! I bought it when my hubby and I went to travel a few years back!” Sonata giggled.
Shale and Sonata’s relationship started the night of Clyde’s wedding as they both managed to meet at the reception hall’s bar. After a slightly tipsy one night stand, both of them began to talk more and more without any sexual banter constantly and eventually became a loving couple within a few years of dating. Melody was born before the official wedding of the two, but they treated her as an early marriage gift and blessing for their family. While Shale was more laid back, Sonata complimented him with her bubbly outgoingness.
“My, it’s absolutely exquisite!” said Rarity clasping her hands.”
“Indeed! The tweed fabric is quite divine,” said Jade with a quick examination glance. “Very fine detail!”
Sonata giggled and gave Jade a hug. “Little Rarity sure is acting more and more like her each day!”
“Of course! Mother is letting me help her company so I can take over whenever she retires!” said Jade with a smile. “Fashion is forever for me, and since I’m no longer in high school due to my graduation earlier this year, my mind is focused on fashion and romance!”
“Well said, my dear daughter.” Rarity grinned as Jade and her laughed together.
“Fashion might be your passion, Aunt Rarity and cousin Jade, but our passion is music!” exclaimed Melody.
“Oh yes! Melody is quite an excellent singer! And piano player too!” Sonata smiled in pride of her daughter. “She hopefully will win the school talent show with her angelic voice!”
“Oh, is that so?” said Jade giving a quick look at Seryn who was shyly looking down upon hearing the conversation turn to music. “Seryn here is also into music when she isn’t playing basketball.”
Seryn looked up with a nervous blush. “J-Jade! It’s supposed to be a secret! I’m just an amateur!”
“Oh! I’m terribly sorry, dear little sister!” apologized Jade.
“It’s okay, Seryn!” comforted Rarity. “But I do wonder, what were you keeping secret if your loving mother may ask?”
Seryn rubbed her arm. “Well... I’ve been trying to learn the violin. I like fast paced music, so I wanted to add violin remixes to them. I found someone on the internet playing the violin like that, and since no one I know of does it, I thought I could try.”
Melody gasped. “That sounds... awesome!!”
“And adding vocals or piano would make it even more magical!” added Sonata.
“Indeed! Seryn, that sounds wonderful!” Rarity hugged her to comfort her. “Maybe you and Melody could even start a little band together!
Melody instantly found joy in that idea as she bounced excitedly for a moment. “Heck to the yeah!! Let’s do it!”
“I-I’m not that good yet! I’m still learning!” Seryn rubbed the back of her head. “I mean... I’d love to make a band with Melody but I need to get good first.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it!” said Rarity with a comforting smile. “Music takes time, right Sonata?”
Sonata nodded. “Yup! But the more you practice, the better you’ll get!”
Seryn hugged both women. “Thanks Mom... thanks aunt Sonata. I’ll try my best. I just want to try something different. While I do like basketball, I like music too.”
Rarity and Sonata hugged her back as Melody joined in too just for fun. Jade, however, saw another pair of headlights pull into the driveway soon as she walked to the door and looked outside.
“Oh! Is that...”
“Hmm? Who is it, Jade?” asked Rarity curiously. “I didn’t think anyone else was coming tonight.”
Within a few minutes, and a knock of the door later, Sweetie Belle wearing a red and green dress walked in with a big smile. “Hello! The favorite aunt is here!” She looked at Sonata and laughed. “No offense Sonata.”
Sonata shrugged with a smile. “None taken, but I’m still a pretty great aunt too!”
Rarity ran over and hugged her little sister. “Sweetie Belle?! I thought you, our parents, and little Symph weren’t coming over until tomorrow!”
A teenage boy, who was the same age as Melody, with silver messy hair with a slight streak of pink and purple in it walked into the foyer as he carried presents. His outfit was a simple long-sleeved shirt with jeans. “Nope. My mom wanted to surprise you and Uncle Clyde tonight!” He looked at Jade and Seryn with his pale blue eyes and grinned. “Hey cousins.”
“Hello, Symph,” greeted Jade. “You seem to have grown slightly taller since I last saw you a few weeks ago.”
“Maybe, but maybe you are just getting shorter.” Symph laughed as Seryn and Melody did as well.
Jade crossed her arms. “Hmph.”
Diamond Symphony, or also more commonly known as Symph from an early nickname his mother gave him when he was younger, was Sweetie Belle’s only child. As a single mother, Sweetie Belle spoiled her son as much as she could since she was her pride and joy. Losing much contact with his father growing up, Symph grew into a young man who respected his mother deeply and tried to help her in anyway he could with chores, tasks, or anything she needed.
“Hey cousin of my cousins!” said Melody with her usual bright smile. “Wait... does that mean we’re cousins too?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself, Mels. But good to see you again!” Symph put down the presents and gave her a hug. “I think technically we’re cousins or cousins first or twice removed, or something along those lines. I’m not really trying to get into a debate tonight though.” He chuckled.
“Forget about the official terms! Family is family!” interjected Seryn.
Jade clapped in agreement. “Agreed!”
Altair walked in from the living room. “Hey, I heard talki–Symph! And Aunt Sweetie Belle! When did you get here?”
“What’s up, Altair?” said Symph with a nod of acknowledgement.
“We just arrived!” said Sweetie Belle with a smile. “But we aren’t alone.”
An elderly couple walked in as they looked around and smiled. The man’s gray mustache was his defining feature while the women holding onto his arm’s purple faded hair was hers. “Merry Christmas!” said Magnum cheerfully.
“There’s my beautiful Rarity and the rest of my grandchildren!” said Pearl with a big and warming smile.
Jade, Altair, and Seryn instantly walked over to them and hugged their grandparents as Rarity gasped. “Mother and father too?! My! This is such a delightful surprise! The entire family is here now!”
Upon hearing the commotion from the foyer, Clyde and Shale walked in. Pearl beckoned Clyde over as she kissed his cheek and hugged him along with his kids. “Merry Christmas, Clyde!”
Clyde chuckled. “Merry Christmas. We’re glad you came to surprise us with a visit tonight. My brother and his wife and daughter are here too.”
“A Christmas family gathering at its finest!” said Jade happily.
Magnum patted Clyde’s back and shook his hand with a teary smile. “A true special moment for us all. I’m happy I can see our family grow into this.” He waved at Shale and shook his hand too. “You included Shale!”
Shale laughed. “I’ll definitely accept those terms!”
Rarity came over to help her parents take off their coats and bags as she helped guide them into the kitchen. “Come, come everyone! Dinner is fresh and we shouldn’t keep it waiting! Jade and I made plenty!”
“As long as Altair and Symph don’t eat everything first!” laughed Sweetie Belle as she headed into the kitchen.
“Mom! Why do you have to call me out like that?!” cried out Symph.
Altair patted his back with a chuckle. “It’s cool. I came to accept my sisters from calling me out with eating. You just have to roll with it.”
Symph sighed as Melody and Seryn laughed and patted his back too to comfort him. Soon, everyone gathered into the kitchen and dining room for a Christmas gathering feast.
Christmas dinner consisted of the usual turkey with the rest of the holidays works: stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, carrots and peas, and finally fresh cookies. Instead of a quiet and serious toned dinner as if no one ate for weeks, dinner lasted over an hour as everyone ate slowly so they could randomly converse about everything and anything. There was a certain magical charm in the room, one that was mainly due to the happiness that Christmas brought. After everyone was content with eating and half of the cookies were gone due to Symph and Melody, the teenagers, and young adult as Jade called herself now since she was 18, decided to hang out in the living room together while the adults stayed in the kitchen.
“You have the new 2K game, Altair?” asked Symph as he and Altair sat on the couch in front of the TV.
Altair chuckled. “I’m slightly offended. As if I didn’t have it. It’s the only game I play.”
“True,” said Symph with a laugh, “but you really should get more games.”
“I keep telling him!” Seryn sat on the arm of the couch. “There’s plenty of cool games out!”
“Why would I need any other game besides 2K?” questioned Altair. “Besides, I’m not really into video games a lot. I only have this for when I’m relaxing from practice or a game. It’s Seryn’s console anyway.”
“Guess that’s true,” replied Symph with a nod. “No biggie. Let’s just play 2K.”
Altair tossed him a controller as the two started the basketball game up.
Across the living room, Jade was sitting in a recliner looking over her nails as Melody looked around as her eyes stumbled upon a penguin plushie wearing an army helmet sitting between the Christmas tree and the TV.
“Ooooh! What’s this?!” Melody picked the plushie up and giggled. “It’s cute!”
“Hey!” said Seryn quickly as she went over and took the penguin back. “You need to be careful with Peppers!”
Melody blinked. “Peppers? But that’s a penguin, cousin!”
Seryn shook her head. “I know that. This is Private Peppers!” Seryn patted the army helmet atop the plushie’s head. “Since he’s a military penguin, he has a rank. But yeah! This is my buddy! Jingle got him for me for Christmas.” Seryn smiled warmly.
“Oooh! Gotcha!” said Melody with a smile. “It must be nice to have a boyfriend you get gifts from!”
Seryn blushed slightly. “He’s just a good friend I’ve known since I was in preschool! We aren’t dating!”
“Keep telling yourself that, dear little sister,” said Jade as she kept focusing on her nails with a roll of her eyes.
“Jade! Keep out of the conversation!” exclaimed Seryn.
Melody giggled. “Doesn’t Jade have a boyfriend?”
“I most certainly do!” Jade grinned and hopped off from the chair and took out her phone as she began going through a collection of photos from her Instagram with her and her boyfriend. “Nova and I have quite a nice, steady relationship! He is a true gentleman!”
“I’ll say!” Melody whistled happily at some pictures, mostly at the ones with him shirtless at the beach, as she was not focusing on Jade in them at all.
“Melody. If you try anything, I will personally come after you, cousins or not.” Jade looked at her with a stern face in defense of her boyfriend.
“Eep!!!” Melody flinched back. “Sorry Jade! I promise!”
Jade giggled and hugged her. “I know you’ll keep it.”
“Yep!” said Melody with her famous bright smile, “I never go against my cousins! Ever!!”
“At least we have one cousin who doesn’t try to ruin our days,” stated Jade as she glanced at Symph as she remembered the day he purposely sabotaged the shower in her house to make the water freezing cold instead of warm.
Seryn put Peppers on her head as she looked around. “Hmm... I wonder where Mittens is. I haven’t seen him since Melody arrived.”
“Mittens?! Oh my gosh!! Where is that cutie?!!” asked Melody excitedly.
Jade smiled and turned around to face the doorway leading to the foyer. “Oh Mittens, my love!! Momma wants to see you!”
Within a few seconds, a small black cat walked into the room and rubbed his head on Jade’s foot as he purred. Jade picked him up and kissed his head a dozen times.
“Jade is a cat whisper,” joked Seryn.
“It’s only Mittens,” replied Jade, “my dearest little man here knows my voice because he loves me very so!”
Melody looked at Mittens with a big smile and petted him gently. Mittens flinched at the sudden touch, but looked at Melody and meowed quietly.
“Mittens isn’t much into greeting others, but if you give him some love, he’ll happily begin to warm up to you!!” Jade looked at Melody. “Care to hold him?”
Melody nodded a few times. “Yes! I’ll be extra careful!!”
Jade handed Mittens to Melody with a warming smile as Mittens looked around nervously.
“I ain’t gonna hurt you, Mittens! I promise!” Melody rubbed Mittens’ head, at the base of his ears causing a purr from the small cat. Melody giggled and showered him with loving kisses.
Meanwhile, Altair and Symph were deadlocked in their 2K game while trying to ignore all the talk from the girls to focus on the game.
“I still can’t believe you picked the Warriors, Symph,” stated Altair as he was busy making lineup adjustments during a called timeout. “Like come on dude. Pick an actual competitive team. Don’t be that guy and pick the stacked team.”
Symph Just chuckled. “You know me. If it works the best, I’m using it.”
Altair shook his head. “I’ll beat you with the Mavericks. I’m not scared of being the completely underperforming team.”
“Ha! Bring it!” Symph smirked and got ready to continue the game.
Before the game could resume from the timeout, Altair got a text message as Symph glanced at Altair’s phone fast enough to see the name “Sunday” with dozens of heart emojis beside it.
“...Please tell me you didn’t do that, Altair.”
“Do what?”
Symph pointed at Altair’s phone. “Putting all those hearts beside her name! That’s a girl thing dude. I’m taking away your man card.”
Altair laughed. “Chill. Sunday did that when I wasn’t looking. I don’t want to change it so I keep it like that.”
“Suuuuuure.”
“You don’t have to believe me or not,” said Altair with a shrug, “but I’m just stating my facts. I bet you’d let your girlfriend do the same thing.”
Symph rubbed his chin. “Maybe, but I don’t have time for girls. Too much money could be spent only to breakup with them.”
“Way to stay positive.” Altair shook his head. “That’s why you need to find the right girl. Then you don’t have to worry about that happening.”
“Hmm... I guess you’re right. Tell you what, I’ll worry about that after New Year’s.” Symph looked at the TV. “Right now, I’m focused on blowing you out by 30 points on your own game.”
Altair chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”
~~~
Eventually the entire family reunited in the living room to play a yearly game of boys versus girls Christmas charades. Even with being outnumbered, the boys managed to keep the game close with Symph’s impressive knowledge of Christmas pop culture, but Sonata and Melody perfectly answered every clue involving Christmas songs to steal the game away. Once the game was finished and the boys recovered from the loss, Pearl and Rarity carried in some hot chocolate for everyone to get ready for the main event of the evening.
Everyone gathered around and sat on the couch or stood in front of the bright tree to open presents from each other which lasted a good majority of the evening. Every single person had at least half a dozen of presents to open, whether it was from father to son, aunt to niece, or grandparent to grandchild. The constant pile of ripped wrapping paper and bows grew so much, Clyde had to get multiple trash bags to clean everything up.
Eventually the gifts were all opened and while Clyde and Rarity were trying to tie up a large trash bag filled with wrappings and bows, Jade looked at Altair and Seryn as the three siblings nodded at each other in unison. With a hurry, Jade left the living room to run upstairs while Shale and his family sat by each other.
“Woooooah!” said Melody with a smile as she had on her new magenta external sound canceling headphones from Shale and Sonata. “I can’t hear anything but the music!!!”
“Those were super expensive for a pair of headphones,” said Shale with a laugh, “they better be excellent quality.”
“What?!” asked Melody loudly, clearly not being able to hear him.
Shale laughed and looked at Sonata. “But your mother picked that color for you.”
Sonata nodded with a smile. “I sure did! They go so well with Melody’s hair, don’t they?”
Melody only looked at them and blinked. “What?!?! I can’t hear you!!!”
Shale and Sonata only laughed together as they hugged Melody.
On the other side of the room, Symph was looking at the cruise ship tickets Magnum and Pearl got for him, Sweetie Belle, and Rarity and Clyde and their kids.
“A family cruise to the Caribbean! This is going to be awesome!!” Symph hugged his grandparents.
Pearl smiled. “Of course! Since the grandkids are older now, we figured it’s the best time to go!”
“Indeed, especially since Pearl and I are getting older too so every moment with our family is cherished.” Magnum wiped away a happy tear from his eyes. “I’m proud of all of you.”
Sweetie Belle wiped away her own tears. “Aww... Not you’re making me emotional Dad... usually Rarity is the super emotional one of the family.”
Rarity’s ear flinched as she heard her sister from across the room. “Sweetie Belle! I heard that!”
“Love you too, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle laughed.
“But this Caribbean trip is gonna be awesome,” said Symph confidently, “maybe I can find a nice Carribean babe.”
“Ugh,” said Sweetie Belle with a groan, “please do not make me worry about you during a family vacation.”
“Don’t be like that Mom!” stated Symph with a laugh.
“I’m certainly not helping since I already have a girlfriend,” stated Altair as he walked by on his way back from the kitchen after getting a cookie.
“Fine, Seryn will help out then.”
“Don’t bring me into your quest!” exclaimed Seryn.
Symph laughed before giving her a light pat on the shoulder. “I’m kidding, Seryn.”
Seryn shook her head before sighing. “It’s all good. I’m just ready for Jade to get down here already.”
“Where is Jade anyway?” asked Rarity as she looked around.
Altair smiled. “She’s getting the last present of the night for you and Dad.”
Clyde and Rarity looked at each other for a moment, slightly confused and also worried.
After a brief sound of someone coming down the stairs, Jade walked into the living room with a wrapped box. “Mother. Father. This is the super secret present! It’s from Altair, Seryn, and I!”
Everyone other than the three kids looked at wrapped box. Shale looked at Sweetie Belle who shrugged as she didn’t know what it was either. The box itself wasn’t very big nor was it very wide. Not knowing what to expect, Clyde took the present and shook it gently for a moment.
“Darling, just open it,” ordered Rarity with a polite tone.
“Right.” Clyde chuckled and unwrapped the paper to find a regular and plain cardboard box. He looked up at Jade with a confused look but she only smiled at him. Altair and Seryn looked at each other and chuckled. Clyde slowly popped open the box and found a thick scrapbook with a single word in large text: “Family”.
“My siblings and I worked hard on that for the both of you,” said Jade with a proud smile, “it was something we wanted to showcase while everyone was gathered here, especially with the surprise visit from our grandparents, aunt, and cousin!”
“Oh dear, what a simply wonderful idea!” stated Rarity with a smile. “I can’t wait to look inside of it!”
“Everyone in this room is in this book?” asked Clyde.
Altair nodded. “And more. We basically made pages for everyone, and their hobbies and favorite things, relationships, and pictures from them being a baby to now”
“More?” Clyde looked at the scrapbook before opening of it to see a table of contents with everyone’s name and even a family tree as a cover page to the left of the table. The table was divided into two sections appropriately labeled as “Clyde” and “Rarity” before they merged into its own section which included Jade, Altair, and Seryn. As Clyde flipped the page, he instantly saw the pages about his kids other grandparents, more importantly, his own parents.
“We had to start the scrapbook with the grandparents we never met...” said Seryn with a smile. “Grandpa Castor and Grandma Aurora are still with us though, even if they aren’t physically here.”
Clyde looked at all the pictures and pages of his parents’ sections with a teary smile. It was over 30 years since his parents’ deaths and everyday he thought about them. He knew from old pictures, memories, and stories from Shale that his kids did show signs of his own parents as well as himself. After all, Seryn and Melody both shared the same brown eyes and brown roots in their hair Clyde’s mother had. Altair took after Clyde’s appearance who took after his father. Jade shared more qualities with Rarity’s family than Clyde’s, but her kindness and generosity was something both Rarity and Clyde’s mother had.
After a few more minutes of checking out the pages, Clyde looked up and smiled happily. “This... is incredible and I’m only just on my parents’ pages. You even have pictures of my dad and Uncle Pollux and even go into details about me and my brother towards the end of the pages.” He flipped through the rest of the book giving each person’s pages a long glance. From Shale to Seryn, each person in the room had their own unique page with different designs and color schemes in the family scrapbook. After Seryn, however, was a good many empty pages of blankness.
“I designed the layouts myself, father!” said Jade happily. “I even added a little table at the end of each person’s page or pages that show who they are directly related to and what page to find them on! This scrapbook is an index and memory of all of us!”
“Jade, darling, you definitely outdid yourself,” replied Rarity with an amazed smile.
“Jade had Seryn and I gather the photos and other things for everyone,” said Altair. “We went through piles of old photos from the trunk downstairs.”
Seryn nodded. “Yep! While we helped, Jade spent the most time on it though! We’re just glad you both like it!”
“This is definitely something I’ll always look at whenever I feel upset about anything...” Clyde looked at his kids. “This might be one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received.”
Jade smiled. “It was our pleasure, father.”
Altair nodded with a grin. “Of course, Dad.”
Seryn smirked. “The best Dad deserves the best gift!”
“Ooooh!” Rarity gently pushes herself and Clyde into the kids with a family hug as she sniffles with happy tears. “You four are certainly my favorites in the world!!”
Clyde hugged his wife and kids tightly with a big smile before pulling away and looking at them. “I love you all so much.”
“We know!” said Jade, Altair, and Seryn simultaneously.
Rarity kept hugging them but looked over at the scrapbook and saw the blank pages. “So, are the blank pages for the future, Jade?”
“Indeed! Since we’re getting into adulthood, that means we’ll be having our own families to raise soon!” Jade gave a giggle which caused Clyde and Rarity to instantly look at each other before looking at Jade.
“Jade...” said Rarity worriedly, “are you...”
“W-What?! No! I promise!”
Rarity just crossed her arms and gave her a stern look. “Do not lie to your dear mother, Jade.”
“I-I’m not lying!! I swear I’m not having a baby yet!” Jade’s face got red in embarrassment since her entire family was listening in on her conversation with her mother.
“Good...” said Rarity with a sigh of relief, “I’m not ready for my kids to have sex yet.”
Jade just blinked before giggling slightly. “It might be too late for that...”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Jade!!!!!”
Altair and Seryn laughed while Clyde shook his head already feeling nervous at the thought of being a grandfather already.
Shale walked up and patted his back and chuckled. “We sure have a great family, don’t we little brother?”
“I certainly can’t complain,” said Clyde with a smile as he looked at everyone.
“I definitely need to look at this scrapbook myself before I leave tonight.” Shale smiled and turned to his page. “I especially love the pictures of your kids and Melody being together. She definitely loves being with her cousins.” He looked around the room to see Melody and Seryn both talking about music together while laughing.
“I can tell.” Clyde smiled. “Even Sweetie Belle’s son feels the same way.”
Jade, after being scolded by Rarity for a brief moment, soon had her phone before looking at everyone and calling for attention. “Everyone! Let’s end this wonderful Christmas Eve night with a family selfie and photo!”
Melody gasped as she sat by Seryn with Altair and Symph nearby. “Deal!!! We could use it as a Christmas Card!!”
“But Christmas is tomorrow, Melody...” said Seryn.
“We can use it for next years!!” Melody smiled brightly as Seryn just chuckled.
“Way to be positive, Mels.”
“A selfie, really Jade?” asked Symph.
“You know her and her selfies.” Altair chuckled. “Don’t you follow her on Instagram or Snapchat? She only has like a million followers.”
Symph’s jaw dropped. “A million?! That’s like... celebrity status!”
Seryn nodded. “I mean, it’s because our mom brought Jade into her fashion modeling spotlight since she was a baby, and since our mom is a pretty popular fashion designer, Jade being a young heiress with her looks is popular with the boys.”
“That... makes sense actually,” said Symph slightly impressed by Jade’s follower total.
Jade brought out a long plastic stick before putting her phone on the end of it. “There! Now we can get everyone!!” She reaches it out and giggled while trying to wave Sweetie Belle, Magnum, and Pearl forward. “Come Aunt Sweetie Belle, grandfather, and grandmother!”
“What is that stick for?” asked Magnum. “I’ve never seen something like that.” He and Pearl sat in the middle of the couch comfortably as the others gathered around them.
“It’s pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?” questioned Altair as he sat on the floor in front of the couch beside Symph and in front of Magnum. It’s just a stick to help take large group pictures.”
“Dearest little brother!” called Jade, “since you’re taller than I, could you please hold the selfie stick to find the best angle?”
Altair sighed. “Fine.” He took the handle and tried to position it to get everyone.
As Altair adjusted the angle, everyone got into their spots. The center of the focus was Magnum and Pearl on the couch with Rarity sitting to the left of them and Sweetie Belle sitting to the right. Clyde stood behind Rarity with Shale and Sonata nearby while Jade, Altair, Melody, Symph, and Seryn sat on the floor at the base of the couch. Everyone got their smiles ready for the camera.
“Alright... on three everyone!” said Jade happily.
“One...” said Shale, Sonata, and Melody.
“Two...” said Sweetie Belle, Symph, Magnum, and Pearl.
“Three!” said Clyde, Rarity, Jade, Altair, and Seryn with a cheer.
The entire room soon joined together to finish off the countdown.
“Merry Christmas!”
The entire family instantly smiled for the camera and Altair clicked the handle as Jade’s phone captured the family Christmas Eve selfie, a picture that would instantly be added to the family scrapbook and be cherished by them all forever.
Because in the spirit of Christmas, a family is a gift that will always be forever.