"Alright, come on let's go it's time to open some presents" said Annie as she got up from her bed and smiled.
"I know you love Christmas and all Annie, but seriously, don't wake me up so early next year" said Maddie as she groaned and shook her head as she got up and fixed her messy hair.
"What do you mean so early, it's past 8:30!" said Annie as Maddie laughed.
"I know you are happy to get all the festivities and all, but I wanted to sleep till 10" said Maddie as she quickly braided her hair into a ponytail.
"Not happening, but fine, you can do whatever you want, just know that I am going to hide your presents" said Annie mischievously as Maddie gasped.
"You wouldn't dare" said Maddie as she narrowed her eyes at Annie.
"Try me, see you later sleepyhead" said Annie as without further ado she ran out their room without looking back.
"Come back here Annie, come back here!!" called Maddie as Annie ignored her and giggled as she ran down the hall.
"Oh gosh, it seems like I'm the babysitter for today" said Maddie to herself as she sighed and shook her head, but she couldn't help but smile, she would take handling Annie out of control than anything else.
...
"Good morning everyone!!" said Annie as she cheerfully walked into the lounge where the adults were already awake and talking.
"Good morning dear" said Lisa as she smiled at Annie while holding her cup of coffee.
"Morning dad" said Annie as she gave John a kiss on the cheek.
"Morning mom" said Annie as she gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek.
"Morning Clove" said Annie as she gave Clove a hug.
"Good morning Annie dear" said Clove as she smiled.
"Merry Christmas everyone!" said Annie as she laughed.
"Good morning everyone" said Maddie as she smiled and walked into the room.
"Morning uncle, morning Aunt" said Maddie as she gave John a quick hug and Lisa a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Morning Maddie" said Lisa as she smiled.
"Good morning Mom" said Maddie as she hugged her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Good morning my love, how did you sleep?" asked Clove as she smiled and Maddie sat down next to her.
"Very well" said Maddie as she smiled.
"I'm glad" said Clove as she smiled.
"Merry Christmas everyone" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Annie woke me up in the worst way imaginable this morning, she got me in a pillow fight because she was being so annoying" said Maddie as she scoffed and everyone laughed.
"I don't regret it, it's Christmas" said Annie as she smiled.
"Has anyone seen Matt?" asked Annie as they all shook their heads.
"He should be here soon" said Maddie as in the same moment, it seemed as if Matt had heard what she had said as he entered into the lounge.
"Good Morning everyone, Merry Christmas!" said Matt happily as he they all exchanged greetings.
"Great, you are here, now we are just waiting for Curtis, I wonder where he is?" said Annie.
"He went out very early this morning, but he should be back soon" said Matt as he sat down beside Maddie.
"He needs to come soon so we can open our presents already" said Maddie as Annie laughed.
"That's not all you care about Maddie, I know you" said Annie as Maddie ignored what she said as she sat down in the middle of her parents.
"Merry Christmas everyone!!!" came Ollie's voice as he walked into the room with Curtis following behind him.
"Ollie, you're here!!" said Annie excitedly as she got up and rushed to give him a hug.
"Yes I am, I have the entire day off to spend Christmas with all of you" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Oh my goodness this is so wonderful" said Annie as she hugged him again and Ollie laughed.
"I thought Matt would have told you the news already" said Ollie.
"It slipped my mind" replied Matt as he laughed sheepishly.
"Well I'm happy you are here" said Annie as she smiled.
"That's only you Annie" said Maddie as everyone looked at her and shook their heads.
"And I'm happy that I'm here too" said Ollie with a smile.
"Merry Christmas Curtis" said Annie as she gave Curtis a hug.
"Merry Christmas Annie" said Curtis as he smiled softly and hugged her back.
"It's nice to have you here Ollie" said Lisa as she smiled and John agreed with her.
"It's so wonderful that you could join us my prince" said Clove as she smiled and Ollie smiled at her.
"Well how nice, everyone is here, now it's time to open our Christmas presents, let's start" said Maddie as everyone laughed at her impatience as Ollie walked to sit beside her and she in turn shot him a nasty glare as Clove tapped her hand telling her with her eyes to be nice as she gestured that Ollie go to the other side as he did so and Curtis sat beside him.
"Alright since Maddie is so eager to open presents, I think we should open them" said Lisa as she smiled and Maddie nodded happily.
"Okay then" said Lisa as she walked to the tree that was surrounded round about with several presents as she picked up on beautifully wrapped box and she handed it to Annie.
"This is from me and your father to you" said Lisa as she smiled.
"Thanks Mom, thanks Dad" said Annie as she opened her present and she was surprised to find a pair of purple butterfly earrings.
"Earrings that are purple, they are wonderful thank you" said Annie as she gave her parents a hug.
"You're welcome sweetie" said Lisa and John as they smiled.
"And here is your present Maddie, from me" said Matt as a little green wrapped box floated to him as he handed it to Maddie who opened it.
"Cat socks?" asked Maddie in amusement as she looked at Matt who nodded his head.
"Thanks, but I don't wear socks" said Maddie as Matt laughed.
"Oh you do, so I got you cat socks, and they aren't just any ordinary pair of cat socks, I enchanted them so the cats dance when you wear them" said Matt.
"Oh my word Matt, you really went all out, I love it, thank you" said Maddie as she laughed.
"You are welcome, I knew you would love them" said Matt as he laughed and Ollie smiled.
"And I got you something as well" said Maddie as her gift for him floated into his hands as he opened it.
"Are you serious right now?" asked Matt as he looked at Maddie and frowned without removing his present from the box.
"As serious as day Matty boy" replied Maddie happily as Matt scoffed.
"What did she get you?" asked Annie in curiosity.
"Oh nothing, just a framed picture of the three of us" said Maddie happily as Matt frowned, she was a liar, a chronic liar, did she seriously think that anyone would believe that??
"Liar!" said Matt as all he could see was a picture of Annie alone, Maddie was obviously teasing him and he didn't like it.
"I'm not lying Matt, don't say that" said Maddie as she pretended to be hurt and Matt scoffed.
"Well let me see" said Annie as she looked at Matt who frowned and brought out the frame as he turned it for her to see.
"Oh that's a lovely picture of the three of us Matt, what are you talking about?" asked Annie in confusion as she didn't get why Matt was upset.
Matt who was confused turned the frame back to him as this time the image he had previously seen had changed into a picture of the three of them truly.
Matt looked at Maddie as she winked and smiled at him mischievously as Matt knew that she was up to something.
"It's an enchanted frame Matt, there are two pictures that take turns to display, one of your lovely Annie and one of the three of us" said Maddie as her voice popped into Matt's head and he scoffed.
"You really just love to look for trouble don't you Maddie?" asked Matt as sure, they loved troubling each other, it was fun, but Maddie didn't know when to stop, she could easily take it too far, and Matt didn't like that.
"Of course I do, without a little trouble life is boring" said Maddie as she laughed.
"Thanks Maddie" said Matt out loud in annoyance, he couldn't say that he didn't like the pictures that she got him, especially the one of the three of them, it was nice.
"Anytime my lovely, lovely Matt" said Maddie as she winked at him and Annie did not even bother asking what was going on between those two, they were always on each other's necks.
"Anyway, time to open more gifts!" said Annie happily as everyone else agreed with her.
After a few more gift giving later, everyone had almost given and gotten gifts, Annie had gotten Curtis some socks, Maddie had gotten Annie a framed picture of the both of them and everyone else had admirable thoughtful gifts.
"Here Ollie, this is for you, I was going to give it to you later, but why wait when you are right here?" asked Annie as she smiled and handed Ollie his gift as he smiled.
"Thank you Annie" said Ollie as he smiled and he opened the gift.
"Wow Annie its a walkie talkie??" said Ollie in surprise as he brought out the black walkie talkie.
"Yes I know" said Annie as she laughed.
"And I also know that you find human things interesting, so I got you walkie talkies, I'm sure you know what they do" said Annie as she smiled.
"I do, it's so cool, they managed to achieve long distance communication without magic, it's so interesting" said Ollie as he smiled.
"I knew you would like it, so consider it something vintage that you can add to your human behaviour and customs stash" said Annie as she laughed.
"You really are the best, I love it, thank you Annie" said Ollie as he smiled and Annie smiled at him as Maddie scoffed.
"She's the only one who got you a gift blondie, and yet you have nothing for everyone, how rude of a prince" said Maddie as Clove shook her head, she had thought that Maddie would at least try to be nice today, it was Christmas.
"And thankfully, I think just like you Maddie, I knew it would be rude to come and spend Christmas with everyone empty handed, so I got a little help for Curtis to get you guys some last minute gifts" said Ollie as he smiled and snapped his fingers as tiny little yellow wrapped presents appeared in everyone's hands.
"Please open it and tell me what you think" said Ollie as he smiled and Maddie scoffed, she was beaten by the blondie yet again.
Annie opened the box as she found a piece of beautiful bright stained glass that glimmered in the light when she picked it up and she looked around to find that everyone else had a similar looking piece of stained glass as well.
"Wow blondie, I didn't think you could stoop so low, giving people glass on Christmas" said Maddie with a scoff.
"Maddie!" called Annie.
"That doesn't matter, it's the thought that counts, and let's be honest, this is the most beautiful piece of stained glass that I've ever seen in my life" said Annie honestly as Maddie scoffed and Matt agreed with her.
"Thank you Annie, I am happy you think it's pretty, and it's more than that as well, it's actually a very special stained glass that forms a picture when you put all the pieces together" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Really??" asked Lisa in surprise as Ollie nodded.
"That sounds really nice" said Lisa as she smiled.
"I am glad you think so, and I know that the pieces of glass don't look sharp, but just be careful, they can be deceiving" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Well thank you Ollie, it's a special gift not only because it's rare, but because you were so thoughtful to gift us with it" said Annie as she smiled and Ollie smiled at her, she always knew what to say to make everyone feel happy.
"It's still glass regardless" muttered Maddie under her breath with a scoff so no one would hear her and dub her as a grinch, but Ollie heard her regardless and didn't seem to mind.
"Okay now, my turn" said Matt.
Matt stood up as he smiled and he handed Annie a little purple wrapped present.
"Here this is for you Annie" said Matt as he smiled and Annie took the present from him.
"Thank you, and this is for you" said Annie as she laughed and handed him an equally small yellow wrapped present as they exchanged gifts and Matt went back to his seat as he opened his present.
Annie opened her present only to be surprised by with a gold chain and with purple jade pendant in the shape of a circle.
"You got me a pendant?" asked Annie in surprise as she looked up at Matt and he nodded.
"Yes, I bought it in the market when I went out with my grandmother, I hope you like it" said Matt as he smiled.
"I love it Matt, it's beautiful!" said Annie as she smiled happily.
"Now I have something equally pretty to go with my new purple earrings" said Annie as she laughed and Matt smiled.
"Do you need help wearing it?" asked Matt as Annie nodded happily and he glanced at John who didn't seem to be bothered at all, so Matt stood up, took the chance and helped Annie put it on.
"Oh it's so pretty" said Maddie as she groaned.
"I know right, I love it, thank you Matt" said Annie as she smiled and gave Matt a hug as he smiled.
"You are very unfair Matt, why didn't you get me any jewelry? All I got were socks" said Maddie as she complained and Matt just shook his head.
"Trust me, you would never happily accept any jewelry I buy for you, so cat socks are better" replied Matt.
"I beg to differ" said Maddie as she scoffed and Matt ignored her.
Matt opened his present as he was surprised to see a yellow crotchet bracelet.
"You got me a bracelet?" asked Matt in surprise as he looked at Annie who nodded.
"Don't you like it?" asked Annie as she was a bit worried that he didn't like it, it was after all a bracelet, and he was a guy, guys rarely wore bracelets, maybe he found it silly, but she made it for him because she wanted it to be something special.
"Like it, I love it!" said Matt as Annie sighed in relief.
"You do?" asked Annie.
"Yes I do, I love how intricate it is with the yellow and the little purple letters" said Matt as he smiled and admired the bracelet before putting it on.
"I'm so glad you love it, Clove taught me how to crotchet, so I made it for you..." said Annie as she smiled and looked at Clove who smiled at her.
"Well it's wonderful, you are really good at crocheting" said Matt
"Well not really, I ended up having to use magic to finish it quickly, but I did crochet the letters though and that tiny little heart" said Annie as Matt looked at the letters that were AAG and they were next to a heart.
"I see that, what do the letters stand for?" asked Matt.
"They are my initials, Annie Amara Grey, so you never forget who made it for you" said Annie as she chuckled and Matt laughed, he loved the charm bracelet, it made his hand look stylish if he did say so himself.
"Well I can never forget who made it" said Matt as Annie smiled.
"How nice of you two, both giving each other jewelry, how nice, and here I am without any" said Maddie as Matt and Annie laughed at her.
"I'll get you a necklace for your birthday if that makes you happy" said Annie as Maddie scoffed, her birthday was too far away.
"Ahh yes, before I forget my parents sent over a family Christmas Card to send their greetings to everyone" said Matt as he smiled and a bunch of Christmas cards appeared in everyone's hands.
Annie smiled as she looked at the bright Christmas Card with a picture of the entire Sundew family, they were dressed in bright red festive colours and they were all smiles, they looked like they were having a lot of fun.
"This is wonderful, Evie looks so stylish" said Annie as she smiled.
"As if she's never stylish" said Maddie as she laughed.
"That's Evie for you" said Matt as he laughed and everyone laughed.
"Okay, okay, now it's time for the last present left on the tree, which happens to be mine" said Maddie as she smiled, she stood up and picked up the last present on the tree.
"And it's for you blondie" said Maddie as she smiled and walked to Ollie and handed him the present.
Ollie looked at her and then at the present, and then at her again as he could not believe that Maddie would get him a present.
"A present for me??" asked Ollie in doubt as Maddie smiled sweetly and nodded her head.
Ollie could not believe this at all, the present was a perfectly wrapped box with bright red and golden colours, it had to be the most beautiful present he had ever seen, and it was from Maddie... to him?? It was unbelievable.
"Yes blondie, for you, or do I have to repeat it again?" asked Maddie as she smiled and Ollie blinked, refusing to believe that this was real.
"Thanks Maddie" said Ollie as he took the present, not wanting to be mean, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, she seemed to be really happy and she really was if she got him a present.
"Good" said Maddie as she smiled and sat down, of course she knew the blondie was show up sooner or later, and for that reason, she prepared him a very, very special present.
Maddie happily watched Ollie carefully open the present as everyone else watched him open it anxiously, after all, this was Maddie they were talking about, she wasn't really the nicest, and especially to Ollie.
Ollie happily opened the present as he removed the lid only to find out that the beautifully wrapped present was nothing but an empty box.
"What did she get you?" asked Annie as she noticed the still look on Ollie's face.
Ollie raised up the box and showed everyone the empty inside of the beautiful present.
"Nothing" he replied as Maddie burst into laughter as everyone looked at her.