Christmas in the my household was always a spectacle. From the moment the first snowflake hit the ground, my mother transformed the manor into a festive battleground.
Garlands hung on every available surface, the scent of spiced cider wafted through the halls, and my father became an unwilling soldier in her crusade of holiday cheer.
This year, however, was set to be even more chaotic than usual because Ciara was here.
"I thought Christmas was supposed to be peaceful," Ciara muttered beside me, her voice laced with a mix of confusion and apprehension. She was perched on the edge of the sofa, her usual regal confidence shaken by the chaos unfolding before her.
"Peaceful?" I scoffed, stealing a glance at her. Her white hair, slightly tousled from the cold, framed her face perfectly. "You clearly haven't met my family."
In the corner, my little sister, Lily, was trying to climb the mountain of presents under the tree. She was determined to find the one with her name on it, despite my mother's frantic protests.
My father, on the other hand, was locked in mortal combat with a tangle of Christmas lights, muttering curses under his breath that would definitely not make the "Nice List."
"Lily!" my mother yelled, throwing her hands up. "Get down from there before you knock the tree over!"
"I'm just looking!" Lily whined, holding onto a particularly precarious branch. She was eight, full of energy, and completely unbothered by the laws of gravity.
Meanwhile, Ciara was watching all of this with wide eyes, like she'd accidentally wandered into an alternate dimension. "Is this… normal?"
I grinned. "Oh, this is tame. Wait until the dinner argument starts."
"Dinner argument?" she asked, raising a brow.
"Oh, you'll see."
The first sign of impending doom came when my father finally untangled the lights—only to discover half of them didn't work.
"For heaven's sake, Samuel!" my mother groaned. "Didn't you check these last year?"
"How was I supposed to know they'd break in storage?" my father shot back, holding up the offending string of lights like it had personally betrayed him.
"Maybe because this happens every year?" I chimed in, earning a glare from my father.
"Don't encourage her, Aeliana," he warned, but I was too busy laughing at the look of sheer exasperation on his face.
"Here," Ciara said suddenly, standing up. With a wave of her hand, the broken lights flickered back to life, casting a warm glow over the room.
My mother clasped her hands together, looking at Ciara as if she'd just solved world hunger. "Oh, Ciara, you're a lifesaver! Why couldn't you have married someone like her, Samuel?"
"Because I am married to her," I said, smirking.
Ciara, ever modest, waved it off. "It's nothing. Just a bit of magic."
"Magic?" Lily's eyes lit up, and before I could stop her, she was tugging at Ciara's arm. "Can you make the tree float? Or make the star spin really fast? Or—"
"Lily," I interrupted, putting my hands on my hips. "Let her breathe."
Ciara, to her credit, seemed more amused than annoyed. "Maybe later," she said, gently patting Lily's head.
By the time dinner rolled around, the chaos had shifted to the dining room. My mother had insisted on preparing a traditional feast, complete with roast goose, cranberry sauce, and enough side dishes to feed a small army. Naturally, this had led to a full-blown argument about who would carve the goose.
"I always carve the goose!" my father declared, his voice rising above the din.
"And you always make a mess of it!" my mother shot back, snatching the carving knife from his hand.
"Maybe I wouldn't make a mess if you'd let me—"
"Stop fighting!" Lily interrupted, banging her fork on the table. "It's Christmas!"
Ciara leaned over to me, her voice low. "Is this the 'dinner argument' you mentioned?"
I nodded. "Yup. Tradition."
Ciara shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "You are something else."
Eventually, my mother won the battle of the carving knife (as she always did), and we all settled down to eat. The food was incredible, as always, and for a brief moment, there was actual peace. That was, until Lily decided to throw a cranberry at me.
"Lily!" I hissed, glaring at her.
"What?" she said innocently, her eyes wide.
I reached for a roll to retaliate, but Ciara caught my hand, laughing. "Let her win, Aeliana. It's Christmas."
I pouted but reluctantly set the roll down. "Fine. But she owes me later."
After dinner, we gathered around the tree for presents. Lily was practically vibrating with excitement as she tore through her gifts, her face lighting up with each new toy or trinket.
My parents exchanged thoughtful gifts—my mother giving my father a new set of tools, and my father giving her a handcrafted jewellery box.
Ciara's gift to me, however, was the real highlight. When I unwrapped the small, ornately decorated box, I found a delicate bracelet inside.
It was simple, yet elegant, with a charm in the shape of a flame a nod to her magic and our connection.
"I love it," I said softly, slipping it onto my wrist. "Thank you."
Her smile was warm and genuine. "I'm glad."
"What did you get Ciara?" Lily asked, her mouth full of chocolate.
I smirked. "That's between me and her."
Ciara chuckled, her cheeks flushing slightly. "It's perfect," she assured Lily, though the mischievous glint in her eye told me she was thinking about more than just the gift I'd given her.
The final act of chaos came when Lily decided to hang upside down from one of the tree branches to reach a high ornament.
"Lily, get down!" my mother cried, but it was too late. The branch snapped, and the entire tree wobbled dangerously before toppling over with a resounding crash. Ornaments shattered, tinsel flew everywhere, and Lily landed in a pile of wrapping paper, laughing hysterically.
Ciara blinked, clearly torn between horror and amusement. "Is this… normal?" she asked again.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Unfortunately, yes."
And as the chaos unfolded around me, I couldn't help but laugh. Because as messy and ridiculous as it was, this was my family—and now, Ciara was a part of it too.
The aftermath of the fallen tree was, predictably, complete pandemonium.
Tinsel was strewn across the floor, shattered ornaments glittered like tiny jewels in the firelight, and my mother was pacing the room, her hands on her hips as she muttered to herself about how "this wouldn't have happened if people respected the sanctity of the Christmas tree."
Lily, as usual, was unbothered. She sat cross-legged on the floor, gleefully trying to untangle herself from the string of lights that had somehow wrapped around her legs in the fall. "It wasn't my fault!" she declared, her grin mischievous. "The tree was too wobbly!"
My father sighed, crouching to gather the broken ornaments. "I knew we should've anchored it to the wall this year."
"You say that every year," my mother shot back, her tone sharp but lacking real venom.
I couldn't help but laugh as I bent down to help him. "At least it lasted through dinner. That's a record for us."
Ciara, meanwhile, stood off to the side, her expression a mix of amusement and disbelief. "Does this happen every Christmas?" she asked, folding her arms and raising a perfectly arched brow.
"Every single one," I replied, brushing a bit of glitter off my hands. "Welcome to the my family."
She chuckled, shaking her head. "It's… oddly endearing."
"Well, you're part of it now," I teased, nudging her with my elbow. "Chaos and all."
Ciara's lips quirked into a smile, and for a moment, her usually sharp, regal demeanour softened. She bent down to help my father with the ornaments, her movements careful as if she was handling something far more precious than baubles.
"I didn't think I'd ever experience something like this," she said quietly, almost to herself. "A family Christmas."
Her words caught me off guard. I stopped what I was doing, my gaze flicking to her. There was something raw in her voice, a vulnerability she rarely let slip. I reached out, brushing my fingers against hers. "You deserve it, you know. All of this."
Her red eyes met mine, and for a moment, the chaotic room around us faded. She nodded slightly, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "Thanks to you, I have it."
Lily, oblivious to the moment, interrupted by running up to Ciara, holding a particularly gaudy ornament that had miraculously survived the fall. "Can you fix the tree with your magic?"
Ciara looked to me for approval, and I shrugged. "Why not? Might as well give them a show."
With a wave of her hand, the tree righted itself, the garlands draping perfectly, the lights blinking cheerfully as if they'd never been tangled.
Even the broken ornaments shimmered briefly before reforming and floating back to their branches. The room glowed with soft, golden light, and Lily clapped her hands in delight.
"Best Christmas ever!" she squealed.
My mother sighed in relief. "Ciara, I think I love you more than Aeliana does."
"Oi!" I protested, though I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
Ciara laughed, her gaze flicking to me with a warmth that made my heart swell. "I think she'd disagree."
As the evening wound down, we all gathered on the sofas, sipping hot chocolate while the fire crackled in the hearth. Lily was curled up in a blanket, her eyes drooping with sleep, while my parents exchanged quiet laughter over some inside joke.
I leaned against Ciara, her arm draped around my shoulders. The weight of the day melted away as I looked around the room, feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude. It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't quiet, but it was home.
"I think you survived your first Daventry Christmas," I murmured, tilting my head to look at her.
She smirked, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. "Barely."
The night might have been chaotic, but as I nestled closer to Ciara, I knew it was one we'd always remember.