shimmerandsing | Tis the season!

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Tis the season!

The only thing better than Christmas at home with her husband and family was Christmas at home with her husband, family, and friends. Alison had been eagerly awaiting the return of Rogue and Dakota's bunch to the castle for the holidays. She had already picked out a Christmas tree, which Longshot and John hauled home for her. It had lights on -- mostly Miyuki and Lisa's doing with Alison's supervision -- but, no ornaments yet. She figured that Gloria Jean and the boys could help with that when they arrived.

And they were coming early! That made it even better.

Despite her decreased mobility, Alison had been up early on the day they were scheduled to arrive. The castle was generally kept pretty clean, but she straightened anyway. And then... the baking! She hadn't felt such a strong urge to bake since the early months of her pregnancy. But, now, it was back in full force. By the time she finally tired of it, she had sugar cookies, gingerbread men, a gingerbread house, snowball cupcakes, and chocolate dipped pretzels.

She sat down in the kitchen to rest her feet and nibble on some gingerbread. Her little tea pot sat on the stove, happily brewing some peppermint tea. It might not be Christmas yet, but it sure smelled like Christmas.

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Rogue finally notices that her husband is missing. She looks around the kitchen before getting up from the table. "'Scuse me, y'all. Ah'll be right back."

She looks over at Miyuki. "Y'all can have my seat, sugah."

Being oblivious to other people's tension is just one of Rogue's many charms. She's more concerned that her mopey husband has done a fair interpretation of a ninja.

Alison's toes curled involuntarily. Her husband was being adorable with a small child around her. It wasn't fair! She had so long to wait before her children were born and she could watch him holding them.

To distract herself, she went back to hugging Lisa and looking over the baked things on the table. "He's right. Those cookies look kind of naked. Wanna grab that bowl of icing off the counter for me, sweetie? We can start fixing them up right now."

Indoor plumbing was not one of the normal installations in medieval Japanese castles. Dakota was glad some had been installed in the castle. It meant he could flush before leaving the bathroom.

Gloria Jean took the offered cookie and nodded. Then she had to wait for Lisa and the icing. But she could be patient! For she was grinning and sitting on Longshot's lap. The latter lead to the former.

The boys were courteous enough to stop eating cookies and go back to grazing cupcakes.

Lisa scurried over to the counter and grabbed the bowl and some butter knives to spread it on with. She brought it back to the table and set it down between Alison and Gloria Jean.

"I'll go get the candy an' stuff to put on 'em." She grinned and ran back to the cupboards to gather the fun bits.

When Miyuki sat down in Rogue's empty seat, Robbie moved closer to the table and stood beside her. He could almost pretend to be interested in the cookie decorating.

Longshot grinned back at the little girl on his lap and handed her one of the butter knives. "My cookie awaits!"

Miyuki settled down and eyed the festive baked goods. She wasn't particularly hungry. Though she was a little baffled as to why Rodney was not even looking at her. Surely, the cupcakes weren't that interesting?

The flush of the toilet leads Rogue to exactly where her husband disappeared to. Since the door isn't open, she leans back against the wall across from it and waits for him.

"The trick is lots of icing, sweetie." Alison winked at Gloria Jean and then turned to her two brothers. They were handily demolishing the cupcakes. There would need to be a second batch, soon.

"Any particular sweet things you guys like that we might be able to come up with?" She smiled at them and then at Miyuki and Robbie. "Or you two? Any suggestions?"

Dakota blinked when he opened the door. His wife was staring right at him. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "Uh, you need to use it?"

Gloria Jean nodded and began industriously icing up Longshot's cookie. She did try to leave some cookie visible.

Will looked thoughtful for a moment before answering Alison. "Something with almonds, please."

Rodney shrugged. "Sounds good. Maybe almond candy or something."

Lisa had acquired an armload of different candies and other decorations for the cookies. She set them down on the table and then climbed up into the chair on Longshot's other side. There were lots more cookies to decorate.

Robbie blinked and thought for a moment. "Cheesecake?"

All his time spent living with Alison had given him ample opportunity to develop a taste for it.

Longshot would have reached over and ruffled Lisa's hair if he knew he would have survived the experience. Instead he eyed Gloria Jean's frosting with a tiny bit of cookie. Man, was he going to by hyper later.

Miyuki looked away from Rodney and squinted in thought. Then she grinned. Well, Alison asked. "Daifuku with strawberry filling."

Christmas wasn't her holiday really, so she did not expect to get it. Until Momoko made some around New Years.

Rogue shakes her head and steps forward. She hopes she manages to block him enough to keep him in place. "No," she replies softly. "Ah need to talk to you."

Her voice has to be soft so it doesn't carry down to the kitchen, but she isn't sure her husband will keep his voice low. She carefully places a hand on his chest gives a gentle push back into the bathroom. "We need a minute outta the hallway."

Wow, that was quite a list. But, she had asked. She smiled and nodded, making a mental list of what she would need to make those treats. A recipe for the last one would be in order. She'd heard of daifuku in passing, but never how to make it. Hmmm.

"Well, I'll see what I can come up with then." One way or another, she would manage.

Gloria Jean looked up from her masterpiece at Miyuki. "What's Die-funk-ew?"

That did not sound tasty to her. It ended in an ew!

Rodney snorted in laughter. Will tried not to choke on his cupcake.

Dakota, meanwhile, was looking quite confused. His wife should have been having the holiday cheer with everyone. So he could sneak away and get lager. This was not going according to plan. He backed up at being pushed. He was glad he had done nothing aromatic while in here.

Lisa was not too impressed with the sound of Miyuki's request dessert, either. In fact, she'd found that a lot of Japanese food was not to her liking. Although, her brother seemed right at home with it all. Boys were weird.

"Does it have squid?" She asked without looking up from her tree-shaped cookie that she was icing an electric blue color.

"It's a rice cake," Robbie spoke up, amusedly. "It usually has a filling of some kind. In this case, strawberry. But, there are other kinds. It's a good luck treat for New Years."

"Very tasty," Longshot added to his squire's explanation. If it had a strawberry filling, Alison might give it a try. He somehow doubted she would willingly try the normal sweet bean paste. "Goes good with mochi and green tea."

"No squid," Miyuki answered Lisa. "No fish, no octopus, no scallops, and no seaweed."

She had experience with those questions for some reason.

Once they both are inside the door, Rogue pushes it closed behind her. She looks up at Dakota. She can't quite figure out what's going on behind those eyes. She couldn't really before, but she thinks she has some familiarity with it.

"What's wrong, handsome? Are you still angry over our fight earlier?" She wants to reach out and hold him. Though with him acting oddly, she doesn't know how that will go. So she rubs a hand up and down her arm.

"Well, if it's good luck, then we'll have to find some. Can never have too much good luck." She smiled and squeezed her husband's arm lightly. She was careful not to jostle the little artist on his lap.

"As long as there is no squid, fish, octopus, scallops, or seaweed," she winked at Miyuki teasingly. "I think strawberries can be managed."

Gloria Jean finished! Well, once she put a singular M & M on top. She held it up. "There you go, Longshot!"

Will eyed what his sister had made. "Good thing Longshot has two hearts. A cookie like that would make a regular person's chest explode."

Rodney chuckled.

Their father scratched his head. He did not particularly want to go down the road his wife was steering. "Not mad, no."

"Yay!" Lisa put down the cookie she was working on and clapped happily for Gloria Jean's work of art. She didn't know what Will was talking about. The cookie looked perfectly safe to her.

Robbie clapped politely with his sister. Just because he didn't get along well all the time with her brothers didn't mean he couldn't like Gloria Jean just fine. She was like a less annoying version of his own sister.

"Thank you very much," Longshot said to Gloria Jean before giving her a hug. Then he took the cookie and tried to figure the best way to eat it. He took a nibble and made appreciative noises.

Miyuki clapped as well, but she wasn't sure Will had been too far off the mark. She might need to tell Asuka and the jonin to help catch Longshot when he tried to burn off all that sugar energy.

"Then what's wrong, Laertes?" She keeps her voice even. Despite her need to growl. No one could frustrate her in no time like the bullheaded man in front of her.

"We're supposed to sittin' and relaxin' here. Enjoyin' bein' with our family and friends. And you're a million miles away." She is still hesitant as she fingers the collar of his shirt. "Y'all can tell me. Ah promise to try to help."

Alison was so glad she had a legitimate excuse to not be the one chasing down her husband when his sugar high hit. She patted her belly gently and smiled at the little answering wiggles.

"I think the rest of the cookies should be iced a little less. That way the one you made for Longshot can be an original, unique piece of art." She smiled at Gloria Jean.

"Okay," Gloria Jean agreed as she picked up another cookie. She hummed to herself as she started to industriously work on some more cookies.

The boys eyed her being busy. The shrugged almost simultaneously.

"Excuse us," Will said as Rodney got up from his chair. He quickly followed suit. "We're gonna unpack and, uh, make sure Dad hasn't removed the doors to our rooms again."

They both scooted out of the kitchen. They were full of sugar. And possibly mischief.

Their father was oblivious to any mischief because he was caught in a very hard place.

"Nothing's..." he trailed off. He had a feeling Rogue would not believe him no matter what he tried. "I just don't like the holidays. They've been pretty bad to me. I'm trying, hon, honest I am, but it's, mm, it's hard to be festive. Alison's making up for me in spades, though."

Lisa looked up at Will and Rodney with a perfectly pleasant expression and advised them, "Walk carefully. Stairs are dangerous."

And then returned to her cookie decorating, whistling happily.

Robbie quirked a curious eyebrow and made a note to find out what that was all about. He also just barely managed to keep a straight face. So, that was what his father had meant by being worried that Lisa was spending too much time with Tasha.

Longshot raised an eyebrow but continued to work on eating his cookie. He would finish it all! For Gloria Jean!

Without getting a lot of crumbs on her. That might be nice.

Miyuki looked from Lisa to the receding twins. There was something she was not getting. Something that could have possibly happened while she was kissing Robbie. Which made whatever happened not all that important to her in comparison. Oh, well.

Tis the season!

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