InsaneJournal

WORDS; 1,291.

With three relatively rowdy children in the house, Christmas was an affair that Teddy only mildly looked forward to each year, and when it came around the corner, it was dreaded. It had never really been his favourite holiday, even if he did enjoy seeing the looks of joy on people's faces when they got presents. And enjoyed getting presents himself, in the old days.

Ah, the old days when he didn't have to listen to the Ministry bitch at him all day long, when the only tattoo he had was hidden by his trousers, when he didn't have three children to answer to no matter what he did, when being accused of being on illicit substances wasn't a daily deal, when he could run outside on Christmas morning in nothing but his pajamas and get a resulting flu bug. Those were the days.

"Daddy, can we open presents now?"

Teddy looked down at Will, who was sprawled on the floor, clearly bored out of his poor mind, while Adelaide poked and prodded at the gifts under the tree, shaking this one or that. Will, William, was their only son, and as the middle child, had found a taste for being a snotty little brat, at age twelve. Adelaide was only six, and while Teddy knew parents weren't supposed to have favourites (and he didn't, per sé), she was his little darling, and not just because she had been the one to inherit the metamorphagus gene.

Taking a bite out of a sugar biscuit, and a sip of tea, he said, "Do you see your sister down here?"

Will pointed to Adelaide and said, "There's one."

"I meant the big one."

"What's wrong with the short one? She's just as crazy."

"Your face is just as crazy, jerk." Adelaide muttered, and Will stuck his tongue out at her.

"Anyway, we still need the big one. And your mum. They're still doing... whatever it is they're doing." Teddy shrugged, turning the page of the Daily Prophet, reading the Home & Life section in a mild manner.

"They're getting ready for Marie's super special... thing. I forget what it is. She's you know, like never here. Neither is crazy face over there," Adelaide said, shaking a red-wrapped present from someone on Victoire's side of the family. Will just sighed loudly and hit his head against the floor.

"Choir thing. Stupid, Hogwarts Christmas ball choir thing. We don't have to go, do we?"

"Duh Willienilly."

"It's true, we do have to. Your mum said so," Teddy said definitely, giving a glance to the stairs on the off-chance that Victoire and Marie would be coming down them, right then. Why Marie needed to be at the choir show so early, he didn't understand. It wouldn't be going down until late tonight, it was outrageous to expect the choir kids to be there at one in the afternoon was just madness. Children should be spending the day with their families, not preparing for an equally silly Christmas Ball at Hogwarts. When he'd been in school, they never did such stupid things. Yes, it was a Sunday. Yes, it was Christmas. That only made it more important for everyone to be spending time with family.

"Adelaide, bitty? Go see what's taking them so long, eh?" Teddy said, waving his daughter (who's hair was a shocking shade of green and red) to go upstairs. Really, dressing shouldn't take so long. And, of course, he didn't get why Marie couldn't get dressed after everyone opened presents.

Little Adelaide in her purple pajamas tromped upstairs, and for what seemed like forever Teddy sat in silence with Will as they waited for the girls to get back down here so the opening of the damn presents could commence. They'd both been up for over an hour, and wasn't there some sort of rule that Christmas gifts were meant to be opened immediately when people woke up? This was not immediate. This was a while after, and that was downright wrong. He'd never seen anything like this on the telly growing up.

Finally, he heard the creaks of the house marking three people walking to the stairway, and then down it. He looked up, and saw that, indeed, his three best girls were headed down the stairs. Victoire was also still her pajamas (even though they'd all been up there long enough to shop for a whole new wardrobe each, come home for tea, then head out for a few years at the cinema), trailed by Marie in her black choir dress, and Adelaide wearing... well, Teddy wasn't quite sure what Adelaide was wearing (it looked like one of Victoire's summer dresses and a floppy hat that was from a costume shop), but Teddy was more concerned about his eldest child's appearance at the moment.

"What the hell is on your face, bunnybell?"

"Teddy, be nice," Victoire said as she took a seat next to Teddy on the sofa.

"It's make-up, dad."

"Why is on your face?"

"Where was she supposed to put it, Teddy?" Victoire asked, taking the sugar biscuit right out of his hand. "You know you're not supposed to eat these, Teddy. You heard what the Healer said about that."

"To hell with Healers, angel. Why is my young daughter wearing make-up?" Teddy replied, staring hard at the stolen biscuit, pointing at Marie.

"I'm sixteen! All the girls in my year are wearing make-up now." Marie said, sitting on her legs beside the pile of presents and where Adelaide was re-continuing her examination of the boxes and bags.

"Yeah, dad, didn't you start wearing make-up at like age nine? We've seen the pictures." Will was now sitting up, watching the unfolding conversation with interest.

"Now, Will, be good." Victoire was moving the sugar biscuits out of reach of Teddy's hand, and said, "You know, Teddy, I was her age when I started wearing make-up."

"Completely different!"

"How so, dad?" Marie replied, holding a present to her ear and giving it a gentle shake.

"Your mother isn't my daughter, that's how."

"Yeah, otherwise we'd have some serious problems with our family. Legal, especially." Will added, grabbing a biscuit for himself.

"What's the difference between a mummy and a daughter, daddy?" Adelaide asked, and Teddy raised his eyebrows.

Pointing to Victoire he said, "That's a mummy," then he pointed to Adelaide and Marie, and said, "Those are the mummy's daughters."

Adelaide pointed to Will. "Then what's that?"

"That's the kid we picked up down the street that would eat only mayonnaise on salted crackers, dear. We tried to get rid of him, but alas, to no avail. He just kept coming back."

"Teddy!" Victoire hit him lightly on the shoulder, and Will gave him a death glare that could probably set baby kittens on fire if he tried.

"Okay, so, I can't wear make-up because I'm your daughter. What makes us so underprivileged that your kids can't wear make-up at age sixteen?"

"Marie Antoinette, wearing make-up is not a teenage right. It is an allowance as decreed by the king and queen of the household, and the king says no." Teddy reasoned hitting his knee definitely.

"And the queen over-rules the king's decision with the power of 'do you want to be sleeping on the sofa tonight?'-ism." Victoire said, and Teddy looked to her to see that she was, in fact, being serious about that. Even with a biscuit in her mouth, she could still make him bend to her will. He muttered about shitty powers, and then looked at his children, with a heavy sigh.

"Alright! Fine, enough of this. Open your da-" Victoire pinched his arm, "... your darn presents already. And look jovial! You're children! It's Christmas! Yay!"