A Perfect Family Christmas.

As the faintest hints of sunshine start peeping over the horizon, two little monsters begin to stir. They creep out into the dark hallway towards their goal with a practised haste. Their target? A simple man, peacefully submerged in the land of dreams. He was completely oblivious to the imminent threat staring down upon him, and to the vile intentions they had for him.

"Papa! Papa wake up! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!"

Damn, is it that time already? These two, you swear they get earlier every year.

"Christmas doesn't start till six" You mumble, not moving an inch.

"But it -IS- six, we've been waiting ages! Come on Papa get up!"

You open one eye to peer at the clock. 5:58.

"Nope, you've still got two minutes yet." You close your eyes again.
"And besides, Santa only brings good little girls presents, there won't be any for you."
You're joking of course. but it's a Father's job to tease his Daughters, especially at Christmas.

"We're not little kids any more, we know there's no Santa." Comes a rather annoyed reply.
"And we have been good! We have Papa, we have!" Comes the other, actually sounding a little distressed.

The pair start shaking you, hell bent on getting you up. You simply mumble and groan, rolling about but refusing to open your eyes or to leave the warm confines of your bed. After their first attempt proves futile, the terrible two opt for a new tactic, and decide to jump on top of you, bouncing wildly on the bed and coming dangerously close to landing on top of you.

"Wake up Papa, it's Christmas!" They chant in unison, the bed springs creaking with their every bounce.

You hide yourself under the pillow, in the hope you might steal another few moments of precious sleep, to no avail.

"They aren't going to give up you know..." Comes the soothing voice of your darling wife, Natsumi. Her delicate whispers a stark contrast to the yelling of your daughters.
"Come on, let's get up before they break the bed."

You throw yourself upright, coming face to face with your harassers. Your two daughters, Hana and Hina, stare back. You had been lucky enough to be blessed with identical twins, though they are both very much unique. Hina has fallen onto her bottom, startled by your sudden uprising, while Hana is pouting, arms folded, her tail swishing behind her in an irritated fashion. She's never been one for your little "jokes".

"Alright girls, you win, let's go open presents." You sigh, playing mock defeated.

Hana and Hina cheer at their victory, jumping off the bed and running to the doorway. They turn back to you to hurry you along, pacing on the spot, unable to contain their insurmountable excitement. You and your wife slowly get to your feet, and with a chorus of yawns, make your way out of the bedroom. Your daughters race ahead of you, running down the stairs as fast as their little hooves will carry them. You plod slowly after them, in much less of a rush, rubbing your sleepy eyes as you try to make out the blurry mess ahead of you. After making it halfway down, Hina appears at the bottom to hurry you once again.

"Come on Papa! You're so slow!" She calls up to you. You feebly wave in reply, unable to go any faster in your half awake state.

Hana appears behind her, tapping her hoof on the floor in annoyance. She tries so hard to look intimidating, but her small stature leaves her only looking adorable.

"Even you're not usually this slow, Papa."

You finally reach the bottom step and follow your daughters into the living room, their eyes go wide in excitement as they size up the heap of presents nestled under the tree. They rush over, pulling out the biggest ones they can find, checking name tags, shaking and feeling them all over to try and guess what's each one contains.

"No opening them until everyone's here" You remind them, as you begin lighting a fire, it's warmth slowly flows out to chase away the chilly winter air that had crept in the night before.

You take a seat on the sofa, taking prime position to watch the events of the Children Vs. Wrapping paper war unfold. A few moments later Natsumi arrives, cradling your baby daughter Ami in her arms. She takes a seat next to you, cuddling up to your side, as Hana and Hina watch her with eager eyes. She gives them the go ahead, and they instantly dive in to opening their presents. Hana takes a measured approach to her unwrapping, carefully removing the tape from each one and sliding it's contents out, leaving the paper in a nice neat pile. Hina, on the other hand, is much less graceful, tearing the wrapping to shreds as if it had just insulted her Mother. Ami doesn't quite understand he appeal yet, and is more interested in playing with the paper than opening them herself. You and your wife quietly sit and watch, filled with the calm paternal joy of seeing your daughters so happy. Natsumi gives your hand a little squeeze, and treats you to her beautiful smile.

"I think we did pretty good." You jokingly say.

She nods in agreement. "Although you were the one that picked most of them out, you're really good at this, I'm surprised you can remember everything."

You smile at her appraisal, but you had another surprise in store for her. You instruct her to wait here while you retrieve her present from the secret hiding place, and return with a colourful box, delicately wrapped in a single ribbon. Her sleepy eyes open wide in amazement, and her ears perk up in excitement. She hands you baby Ami as you hand over her gift, and return to your seat next to her. She stares at the package intently, observing it's every detail, not daring to desecrate it's immaculate form. Even Hana and Hina have paused to gaze upon it, anxious to see what it contains. After an eternity of waiting, she slowly unties the ribbon and lifts off the lid. She pulls out the tissue-wrapped contents and carefully unwraps it, revealing a wooden music box, finely crafted out of dark mahogany, with an intricate pattern of birds and trees decorating the outside. She looks over every little detail of it, taking in every inch of it's shape, then slowly undoes the latch and opens it, a gentle tune begins to play out from inside. It doesn't take long before Natsumi recognises it, you watch her face as it plays, her smile growing wider with every note. A few happy tears roll down her cheek as the memories of the song wash over her.

"Remember this?" You ask with a smile.

She can only nod, too overcome with emotion to speak as she continues to listen.
The music slowly begins to lose tempo, the last few notes ring out, and the tune finally comes to a halt.

"Do you like it?"

Natsumi wipes away the tears from her eyes and nods again.

She manages to eek out a sheepish "I-I love it..."  before she collapses into you, hugging you as tightly as she can manage without crushing Ami between you, and gently kisses you on the cheek.

You rest your head on her shoulder, rubbing her back with your free hand. Your daughters watch in amazement, you even spot a hint of pride on Hana's face.

"Why is Mama crying? What song is it, Papa?" asks Hina.

"A very special song." You close your eyes in remembrance, thinking back to the very first time you heard it.
"This is the song that was playing when me and Mama first met."

"It was so corny." She says with a giggle. "Like something out of a terrible romance novel."

You chuckle at the thought. "Hey it worked didn't it? I must of done something right."

"What happened Papa? What did you do? Tell us the story." Begs Hina, tugging at your trouser leg as she stares up at you with pleading eyes.

Natsumi releases you from her grasp and you sit upright, ready to recount the tale.

"Well... let's see. It was at the bakery where your Mother used to work, I had stumbled upon it by accident after taking a detour on my route to work that day. It seemed nice enough, so I thought I'd be brave and give it a try. I walk in, and I see the most beautiful Holstaurus I had ever laid my eyes upon."

Natsumi blushes at your compliment and gives you playful shove as you continue.

"So I go up to the counter, she's really nervous since she'd only just started working there, and she says "W-what can I get you, Sir?" " You do a rather poor impersonation of her voice to match. "And I say, "I don't care what you get me, as long as you made it.". You should have seen the look on her face, until then I didn't know it was possible to go that red. She starts stammering "B-but I made everything in this b-bakery." And what did I say?" You gesture over to your wife. She puts a finger to her chin in thought.

"You said... "Then I guess I'll just have one of everything." And you really meant it, I had to bag up one of every single thing in the shop. Did you ever manage to eat them all?"

"Every last one, eventually."

She smiles again and gives you another quick hug.

"And during that fateful day, playing on the radio, was none other than this very song." You pat the music box for emphasis. "After that I was hooked, I ended up going back there every day, but that's another story."

You all sit in silence for a while, letting the warmth of the moment sink in.

“Wow, Papa was still an idiot, even back then.” Hana abruptly says, ruining the silence as you all burst out laughing.

Content with the tale, the girls return to opening their presents. While they aren't looking, you use the opportunity to sneak in another kiss with Natsumi, lingering for just a moment to savour the feeling, then you both return to watching your daughters, with her head resting on your shoulder. As they finish opening the last present, the girls come over to give you a joint hug, you take one in each arm and hold them tightly to your chest.

"Thank you, I love you Papa!" cheers Hina, giving you a kiss on the cheek. Hana is much more reserved in her appraisal, mumbling a simple "Thanks Papa", just loud enough for only you to hear.

You give the pair one last squeeze before you release them to play with their new toys and try on their new clothes. Natsumi sets about feeding baby Ami, while you start cleaning up the debris that Hina scattered everywhere. Once that was done, it was time to start preparing for Christmas lunch. While Natsumi was usually the expert chef of the house, Christmas was your domain, being something you had introduced her to. You think back to the first one you spent together, all those years ago, she found it so strange back then, you remember her asking why you'd want to keep a tree in the house. Chuckling at the thought, you set to work, chopping, peeling, and seasoning everything to perfection. Every so often Hina would run through the kitchen, new toys in hand, to include you in her game. You played along, pretending to be a bad guy or a big scary monster, then she'd run out again, taking her adventure to another imaginary wonderland. And as she left, Hana would soon come in to replace her, showing off one of her new outfits, asking what you think. You always tell her she looks adorable, which annoys her to no end. She pretends to be apathetic to your words, but you know deep down she values your praise, even if she hates showing it.

Once everything is prepared and neatly arranged on plates, you call everyone in for lunch. You and Natsumi sit together on one side, and the twins sit opposite. Baby Ami sits in her high chair at the head of the table, watching over you with big eyes full of wonder. With everyone seated and ready, you give the go ahead and your family digs in. Conversation remains sparse throughout the meal, a good sign that your cooking is still up to scratch. You finish the last mouthful and lean back in your seat, stuffed close to bursting, as your gaze drifts around the table, you take great pride in seeing empty plates all around. You cast your attention to the window, a thick white blanket covers the outside world, delicate icicles hang from windowsills, and apart from a few lights in the neighbouring houses, there isn't a single sign of life. It's a perfect, untouched canvas of snow and ice, just waiting to be explored.

"Say, how about we all go down to the park and play in the snow?" You suggest.

The twins look at each other and nod in unison, they jump up from their seats and run upstairs to put on their winter clothes. You and your wife follow after, though much, much slower. You all bundle up in layer upon layer of warm clothing until you resemble Eskimoos, then together you head outside into the cold winter air. Hana and Hina run off ahead, marking the fresh snow with a trail of small hoof prints. With Ami in one arm, and Natsumi gripping the other, you follow behind them. After a short walk, you reach the local park, and to your surprise, you're the first ones here. The twins set about making snowballs to pelt at each other, and you flash Natsumi a mischievous grin.

"Yes, you can join them, you big kid." She says with mock annoyance.

You hand her Ami and run off to join the girls, employing skillful Dad tactics and abusing your height advantage, you easily beat the pair in a snow fight. However, your victory is short lived, as the twins quickly team up to exact their revenge. They chase you around the park, not giving you a moment to catch your breath, continuously assaulting you with a barrage of snowy projectiles. It isn't long before you are utterly defeated, and you collapse on the floor, staring up at the sky trying to recover.

"OK, I yield, I yield! You win, please have mercy on your poor Father!" You plead, between your desperate pants.

The twins stand at each side, towering over you in your helpless state. They both beam maniacal grins, contemplating what to do with their defeated foe.

"We will be kind on you Papa, and let you walk out of here alive, but we want hot chocolate when we get home!" Hana pulls an impression of a cartoon super villain, twiddling her invisible mustache.
"And we want marshmallows too!" Adds Hina with a grin.

"You can have all the hot chocolate you want, with marshmallows! Just please don't kill me!" You beg with pretend despair.

Hana and Hina erupt in a choir of evil Muhahaing. While they're distracted, you have another bright idea. You start sweeping your arms and legs from side to side, they soon notice your strange behaviour and start watching in confusion. Once you've left a suitable imprint, you stand up and observe your creation in the snow.

"It's a snow angel!" You triumphantly announce.

The twins quickly grasp the concept and jump into the snow to make their own. Although with their horns and tails, they come out looking like snow devils. Hina runs off to her Mama, and drags her back over by the hand to show her what she's made. She looks over them for a moment, then hands Ami over to you, though she doesn't say why, but you understand once she lays down in the snow to make one of her own.

"There, now it's a proper family." She declares with pride.

The four of you look upon your creation, a happy little family of snow people, side by side. You haven’t got a camera, but you make sure to save this picture to the scrapbook in your heart.

"Hey there!" A voice calls out to you, snapping you out of your daze. A Wolfgirl and her family have arrived, at least half a dozen daughters run about at her feet, she and her husband give you a wave, and you do the same in reply. The young Wolves run up and say their greetings to Hana and Hina, excitedly telling each other about their Christmas loot hauls. In a small village like this, it's no surprise that everyone knows everybody else. A steady stream of families begin arriving at the park, and it isn't long before the whole village is here. A huge family versus family snowball war breaks out, you and your daughters put up a good fight, but once the dust settles, it's the Dormouse family that comes out victorious. No one could could hope to outmatch the sheer number of daughters at their disposal. It's all in good fun of course, and all the teams shake hands, paws and claws afterwards.

When everyone had recovered, someone had the brilliant idea of teaming up to build a giant snowman. It was decided that the grown-ups would build the body, while the children would make the head. What started as a handful of snow soon became a boulder much taller than you, and still growing. With a Minotaur to your left and a Jinko to your right, you used all your might to roll the enormous mass of snow about the park, steadily building it's mass. Of course, even a village's worth of Monster girl muscle has it's limits, and it eventually became too heavy for you to move any further. It was then up to the girls owning wings to lift the head snowball on top of the body snowball. Then the children set about decorating the it with various features to match their own. One young succubus crafted some horns for the snowman, and some of the beast girls worked on giving it various tails. The result was a bizarre amalgamation of every Monster in the village, but it's still beautiful, because you all made it together.

It was starting to get dark now, so with the aid of the friendly neighbourhood Ignis, you set up a camp-fire. You and the other families gather around, seating yourselves on logs or other makeshift chairs. Beers are opened and marshmallows are toasted, one guy even brought along his guitar, and he and his Siren wife sang Christmas songs. You had an interesting conversation with several other couples, trading stories and traditions from all over the world, while your offspring happily played around you.

Festivities continued long into the night, and before you knew it, it had gotten very late. Hina had fallen asleep on your shoulder, a small wet patch beginning to form from her drooling. You decide it's time to head home, so you say your goodbyes to everyone, and they all wave in unison as you leave, it had been a very enjoyable evening and you feel blessed to have such a friendly group of people to call your neighbours. You princess carry Hina in your arms, while Hana drearily plods alongside you, gripping your trouser leg tightly so as to not lose you in the dark. When you reach home, you quietly carry Hina up to her bedroom, and gently lower her into bed. You wrap the covers around her and tuck her in tightly, kissing her forehead goodnight, sending her slowly drifting into the land of dreams. Then you turn to Hana, repeating the bedtime routine just as before, and as you go to tuck her in she surprises you with a kiss of her own, you ruffle her hair a little as you wish her goodnight, then she settles down to sleep. You quietly tiptoe out of the room, lingering at the doorway for just a moment to look upon your sleeping angels. You smile to yourself as you wonder what you did to deserve such a wonderful little family, then make your way out, closing the door behind you without a sound. You exit just as Natsumi is leaving Ami's room, she smiles when she notices you watching her.

She slowly approaches you to firmly embrace you in a tender hug, you bring your arms around to return it, and the pair of you gently sway together in the dimly lit hallway. Her soft breathing the only sound to intrude on the perfect silence surrounding you, her gentle heartbeat firmly in sync with your own, both full of unquestionable love for the other.

“I had a wonderful time today, Darling” She gently coos, giving you another squeeze.
“It makes me wish it could be Christmas every day.”

You move her away slightly so you can look deeply into her beautiful emerald eyes, and with all the corniness of a thousand cliché Rom-coms, you say;

“For me, it already is.”