White Elephant
Twilight and Sunset followed Velvet down the stairs, releasing each other's hands just before the last step. They resumed their places on the loveseat and played with Lemon a bit more before Velvet asked for everyone's attention.
"Alright, we'll have Grandma give her gifts to the little ones first, then we'll start the white elephant. Sunset have you ever done one of these?" She asked.
"I don't think I have." She admitted
"That's alright, I'll go over it before we start."
Grandma Scarlet gave lemon and the other little kids their gifts. They were pretty standard little kid toys, dolls, dinosaurs, toy cars. Lemon was polite, but Sunset could tell she wanted a dinosaur instead of the doll she held.
Velvet went into the description of how a white elephant worked. She explained that starting with the youngest person they would go around the circle choosing gifts from the pile. On your turn you could either take from the pile or steal from someone else. Once everyone had a gift, starting from the youngest again everyone would open the presents.
The process went fairly quickly. Sunset had her small box stolen by Twilight's aunt Gem, so she went for one of the bigger boxes. After all the gifts were dispersed the opening portion began. The rotation started with Swift Spark who had picked the one Sunset brought. He opened the top and dug through the crumpled papers she had used to stuff the box.
"Nope!" He exclaimed when he saw what was inside.
"What is it?" Velvet asked.
He lifted the doll gingerly. "I'm not sure, but I hate it."
He showed the dead-eyed face around the room. Sunset couldn't help but laugh. She admitted to bringing it and was happy with the reception her bizarre item received. Next was Twilight, she unboxed the assortment of candy inside and immediately opened one. Next was Sunset who made a show of shaking it and pressing her ear to the side before tearing into the paper.
Inside was a fairly large plastic purple horse. It had a very cartoony look to it. After a moment she recognized it from a kids show from the eighty's, 'My Tiny Horse' or something like that. There was something strange she noticed about the horse however. There were signatures and years written randomly on its body.
"What is this thing?" She chuckled.
"You have to sign it!" Twilight said excitedly. "It's tradition, whoever gets the pony has to sign it and put what year they got it. Someone brought it years ago, and it kept making its way back every Christmas."
Sunset signed on the bottom of one of the hooves. The other gifts were fairly standard. A bag of candy here, an ornament there, a couple weird little items. The other big stand out item was a calendar that Onyx brought. It was a combination of beautiful sceneries and glamour shots with the connecting theme of a clown being somewhere in each shot.
"Where did you get that thing?" Sunset asked after all the gifts were open.
"I found it online." He chuckled. "Some novelty website. I've got it written down somewhere. I'll send the link to Twilight."
Twilight and Sunset continued playing with Lemon. The girl had rounded up a few more toys that Twilight's parents kept around specifically for the younger cousins. Among her bounty were more dinosaurs and a few super hero action figures. Sitting dejectedly next to her was the cloth doll she had received from her grandma. Lemon was instructing Twilight how to properly make the dinos surround the super heroes when Sunset picked up the doll.
"Muahahaha! My plan is finally coming together!" She said in a high falsetto voice.
"What plan?" Lemon asked.
"To stop those goody goodies once and for all with my Dinosaur minions."
With a smile Twilight voiced one of the heroes.
"Oh no, whatever will we do?"
Lemon Drop grinned broadly.
"Don't worry, we're on your side." She made the T-Rex whisper.
"What's that?" The doll asked.
Just then the dinosaurs turned on their former leader.
"Nooooo! I created you. Why are you doing this?"
"You're bad and mean. We don't wanna be like you."
"You're right. What was I thinking? I'm sorry, can you ever forgive me?" Sunset conjured up her most innocent voice
"Okay! Do you promise to stop being evil?"
After a dramatic pause the doll scurried away. "Never! Muahahaha!
"Oh no! Get her Terry!" Twilight's character cried.
A small pterodactyl came flying from Lemon's hand toward the back of the doll's head. Sunset made it tumble forward animatedly. Once it was lying prostrate on its back, Sunset delivered the final monologue.
"I have been defeated... your power was too much for me. Now I go to that great beyond." Sunset raised a tiny cloth hand skyward. "Momma, I'm coming home." She let out a long exaggerated final breath before lifting the other hand. "Alright take me in."
Lemon Drop laughed and clapped at the performance. Which caused the two older girls to join in. Once their laughter reduced to giggles Lemon looked To Sunset.
"I like you. I'm glad you're friends with Twilight, you're funny." She said with a grin.
Sunset mussed the girl's bright yellow hair. "I like you too. You're pretty cool."
Lemon beamed and ran to her mother. "Mommy! Mommy! Sunset says I'm cool!"
With a smile, Sunset retreated to the kitchen to get more Christmas punch. When she returned she realized she hadn't talked to Gem yet, so she took a seat next to her. Try as she might though, she couldn't find any common ground.
"So have you and your family done anything fun over the break?" Gem asked.
"Oh, I'm actually living on my own." Sunset admitted.
"I don't understand. You're still in high-school aren't you?"
"Yeah, sorry. I should explain. Simply put, my mom is going to college in another state and my dad took a job elsewhere. I didn't want to move so I stayed here. My uncle lets me rent a room at the hotel he owns and I work housekeeping to make a living."
"Oh, that's... interesting." Gem said.
Sunset shifted uncomfortably. "What about your family?"
"Oh, we've been keeping busy. All my children are in the church choir. They performed at the retelling of the savior's birth just the other day actually."
"Oh, cool." Was all she could think of to say.
"We've also been doing many church activities. Our church has so many this time of year that are great for children. Which church do you attend?" Gem asked enthusiastically
"Oh I um... don't?" She said. "My parents were never really active so it's just never been important to me. I just do my best to be a good person."
Gem looked at her uncertainty.
Great job Sunset, you could have said anything but that. She scolded herself
"I suppose that's admirable. Though, I think it would do you well to attend a regular service. Someone your age, with all these temptations around and easily accessed without parental guidance. It makes me nervous for you."
Gem continued on this topic while Sunset attempted to communicate telepathically with Twilight. She focused all her attention on the top of her head as she played with Lemon Drop. It must have worked, because Twilight looked up to see Sunset's wide-eyed stare.
"Help me!" The look seemed to convey.
Twilight took pity on her. Once Gem started talking church there was little anyone could do to stop her. Twilight had been given the same speech a few years ago, when she made the mistake of mentioning that she wasn't actively attending meetings. She approached just as Gem was about to move into the next part of her sales pitch.
"-and you'd meet young men your age with good morals."
"Sorry aunt Gem, could I steal her away for a minute? Sunset mentioned she wanted to know how to make Christmas punch and we need to make more."
"That's right, I did want to know that." Sunset played along.
"Of course, I was just telling her about the benefits of attending church."
"I'll keep that in mind." Sunset said as she stood.
"Good, maybe you can convince this one too. No matter how hard I try it doesn't seem to stick." She half-joked. "Maybe she'll listen to you."
"Maybe." Sunset agreed which made Gem smile.
I'm chalking that up as a win. Sunset thought
"Thank you." Sunset whispered
"Sorry about her. I should have warned you." Twilight whispered back.
Twilight made good on her little fib and actually did teach Sunset how to make the delicious holiday beverage. Grandma Scarlet and Gem's family left shortly afterward. Onyx's family stayed behind to visit a while longer. Velvet invited the adults into the living room for some wine. Swift Spark decided to sit in with the adults, while Lemon Drop dozed off on the floor. Twilight and Sunset made their way up to Twilight's room. Sunset briefly left to grab Twilight's gift from her car. When she returned she made her way upstairs.
"Door open!" Velvet called after her.
"I know mom!" Twilight called back.
When Sunset entered the room she immediately embraced Twilight. After another kiss she held out the gift she had retrieved.
"Merry Christmas! I hope you like it."
They sat on the bed as Twilight peeled the wrapping off to reveal the collectors edition box set of her favorite book series. Twilight had missed her chance to get it when it was released. Resting on top was a mix CD she had made. Sunset still loved making them for her.
Twilight hugged her girlfriend.
"Thank you! I love it! Where did you find it?" She asked.
"I have my sources." She winked.
Twilight rolled her eyes playfully. "Open yours now."
Sunset tore off the wrapping and stared lovingly at the present she had revealed. Twilight had framed the picture of their arms side-by-side with the tattoos they got at the concert. Inside the frame was a matte border she had decorated with different things that had meaning to their relationship. Some of the items included a wallet size version of their dance picture, the ticket stub from the concert, and written beautifully along the top was a line from their song.
"Do you like it?" Twilight asked nervously.
In lieu of a response Sunset tenderly kissed her. She placed a hand on her cheek, leaving it there after she pulled away.
"I love it so much. This is the most meaningful, thoughtful gift anyone's ever given me. Thank you Twilight."
Their lips met once more. They became lost in the moment, holding each other closely, savoring each other's presence.
Just then a small voice asked from the doorway.
"What are you doing?"
They separated as quickly as they could. Eyes wide, Twilight tried to salvage the situation.
"L-Lemon, hey, it's not what it looks like." She stammered.
With a big toothy grin Lemon Drop ran down stairs chanting about Twilight and Sunset sitting in a tree with childish glee. The couple looked worriedly at each other as they heard Pearl try to shush her daughter to no avail.
"Lemon! That's very rude to say something like that. I'm so sorry Velvet, she heard some kids at school singing that and hasn't stopped since."
"But they were! I saw them kissing on the mouth!" She protested.
Twilight and Sunset entered the hallway and made their way toward the living room. Sunset tried to pull her hand back, hoping they could still play it off. Twilight held it in place however. She was tired of hiding their relationship just to appease a few family members. In that moment she realized she didn't care what they thought.
Lemon saw them and started running in their direction.
"See! They're holding hands too!" She giggled, arms wide waiting for a hug.
"Lemon Drop, come back here." Pearl said sharply.
Twilight met her aunt's eyes. She saw a mixture of confusion and disdain. Lemon turned away as her mother commanded, but looked sadly back at her older cousin. Her mother held an arm around her defensively.
"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" Pearl addressed the parents.
Twilight's parents glanced at each other.
Velvet sighed heavily. "We're sorry for not telling you ahead of time."
"You knew? You knew about this?" Pearl gestured toward the young couple.
"The only reason we didn't tell anyone was because we were excited to have the family over to the new place." Nightlight said a little awkwardly. "It's not because we're ashamed of her, we just didn't want anyone to not come because of their personal objections
Pearl huffed. "Well I think it's time we left. Get your coat on Lemon Drop."
"Hold on." Onyx interrupted. "Say goodbye to your cousin sweetie."
"But..." She started to protest, but was silenced with a stern look from her husband.
"It would be rude otherwise, and I'm not raising a little girl with bad manners." He said, his usual chipper attitude returning.
Lemon gave a leaping hug to Twilight.
"Bye Twilight!" She said happily.
The young girl hugged Sunset's legs and smiled up at her. She saw Pearl tense up, which made her feel worse than she already did. She didn't mean to stir up drama with Twilight's family. That was the last thing she wanted.
"Bye Sunset."
Sunset bent over and gave an awkward pat on the girl's back.
"See you around Lemon." She said.
She released her legs and took her mom's hand.
Lemon regarded the couple for a moment before happily asking; "If you two get married will Sunset be my cousin? I hope so! She's really cool!"
Sunset choked out a laugh despite herself. Twilight held hers in better. Twilight's parents did their best to hide their smiles as Pearl ushered her daughter towards the door. Swift Spark gave an awkward goodbye as he followed his family. Onyx stayed behind to wrap up his farewells.
"You know how she gets. She'll get over it soon enough." He told Velvet.
"I know, I still feel bad about not mentioning it beforehand." Velvet admitted.
"No, you made the right call. Our sister would have made it a point to 'save them' the whole time, and Mom would have been really passive aggressive all night."
"Yeah, Gem can be a little intense." She chuckled.
The siblings embraced.
"Thanks for having us over."
"Anytime. Don't be a stranger, feel free to come by anytime. You know where we live now."
He made the rounds, until he finally reached Twilight and Sunset. He looked sternly at his niece before breaking into a big smile. "You did good with this one. I hope you'll keep her around."
Twilight smiled and hugged him. "Thanks Uncle Onyx. I don't think she's going anywhere."
He shook Sunset's hand. "It was really good to meet you. You've got a good young woman here. Take care of her."
Sunset smiled. "I will."
"I hope you do. Because planting evidence is a big hassle and I'd really like to avoid it if I can."
The room lit up with laughter. Onyx waved his final goodbyes and left to join his family. The Sparkles breathed a collective sigh of relief, glad that the situation was handled fairly well. Velvet noticed Sunset's face scrunched up in worry. She moved to take a seat next to her on the couch.
"Don't worry about Pearl. She's always been like that, even when we were young. She doesn't do well with big changes in her life. I'd say finding out your niece has a girlfriend constitutes a pretty big change."
Sunset chuckled at the joke. "I think that's fair"
She'll come around." Velvet gave Sunset's shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"Thanks Velvet." She gave her a hug. "I should probably head out too. I've got an early day tomorrow."
"I'll walk you out." Twilight stood to put on her jacket.
After collecting her things and saying goodnight to Twilight, Sunset drove home. She processed the events of the night and couldn't stop the feelings of guilt from what happened with Pearl. This was compounded with her worry over seeing her mom for the first time in months. Sunset slept uneasily that night.
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Awesome chapter!
You're welcome, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well. As always, your story is a terrific read.
I like how you balanced out different emotions so well during this chapter, and just the story in general I love it!
Happy Holidays to you as well! And even though Twi and Sunset got outed a bit... it turned out better than what I was fearing, so that's nice.
Though I do hope Sunset gets over her guilt and such soon.
I was in a similar situation when I did this in 3rd grade but instead of getting a doll is was a girls book but I ended up trading it with a friend of mine for a T&F book.
Uh oh! They've been caught making out!!!
God damn it lemon!
Well looks like the cat is out of the bag.
I'm glad at least 1 other member of twilight's family is happy for her which counts.