Starry one-shots

Christmas

Winter time was a magical season for all, the pure white snow blanketed the ground, children went sledding at the nearby park each day, and friends and family gathered to make holiday plans. Although Vincent much preferred the warmer seasons when the sunflowers bloomed and all the color in the world gathered in view of his canvas, even he couldn't deny that he was excited for the holidays this year. It was a year of firsts for everybody. It was his first year living in the yellow house, Theo and Jo's first year being married, and Agostina's first year with a son in college. Theo and Jo were coming to visit for a week and Vincent couldn't have been happier. He was currently in full blown cleaning mode, getting everything tidied and ready for guests and putting up holiday decorations. Paul was not much help, he was being a bit of a Grinch. "Vincent we don't need a Christmas tree" he groaned as Vincent again told him when they were meeting Agostina to go to the Christmas tree farm an hour away. "Aw Paul, come on! Where's your holiday spirit?" Vincent asked as he dusted the bookshelf. "The only "holiday spirit" I've got is vodka." Paul mumbled as he headed to his room. Once Vincent had decided that the house was thoroughly cleaned he began the task of setting the guest room up. The guest room wasn't used outside of the two times a year that Theo would come to visit, so it wasn't the most open of spaces. It was currently filled with paintings and art supplies as well as odds and ends that couldn't fit elsewhere in the house. Moving those out of the room was the easy part, finding places to store them for the week however wasn't so easy. "Paul?" Vincent called down the hallway. "Yeah Vince?" Paul answered. "Can you find somewhere else to store these for the week while I clean in here?" Vincent asked as he brought the last of the stuff out into the hallway. Paul responded with an exasperated "okay" and Vincent got back to cleaning. Soon the guest room was all clean and ready for Theo and Jo's visit. By this point the whole house had been cleaned and the Christmas lights had been strung up around the walls of the living room and kitchen to add ambiance. "Paul we're gonna go pick up the tree in half an hour so get ready!" Vincent called. Half an hour later a very unhappy Paul and a cheery Vincent climbed into the backseat of Agostina's car together. "Hi boys! Vincent you've got the directions on your phone?" Agostina asked from the drivers seat. "Yep!" Vincent said passing his phone upfront. The drive to the farm was relatively calm. After the initial discussions of holiday plans the silence was only broken by Vincent pointing out the window occasionally or the google maps giving directions. Soon the trio pulled into the parking lot of the little Christmas tree farm. "Wow Paul look at all these trees!" Vincent exclaimed. "We're bound to find one you like here, c'mon!" Vincent said pulling Paul by the sleeve to go look at the trees. "Stupid trees" Paul mumbled as Vincent dragged him to the row with the tallest trees the place had.

An hour later they were finally about to leave the farm having managed to get both Agostina's tree and Vincent's tree tied to the top of the car when they heard a call from behind them. "Hey guys!" Emile Bernard and Pissaro were approaching them. "Hey so, I was driving us here to pick out our trees but my car broke down as we were pulling into the parking lot, do you guys think you could give us a ride?" Emile asked. "Oh of course you guys! Climb on into the back." Agostina responded. Vincent and Agostina sat up front with Paul squished between Pissaro and Emile in the back. The drive to finally get everyone back home took almost two hours and Paul scowled angrily the whole time. When Vincent and Paul got back to the yellow house they got the tree set up in the living room and decorated (with Paul still protesting) and Vincent checked his list of things to do one more time. "Alright! We're all ready for Theo and Jo's visit! Oh I'm so excited, aren't you Paul?" Vincent asked. "No." Paul said, slinking into his room and closing the door.

Finally, after much waiting and anticipating the day came. Vincent sat by the window waiting for a cab to pull up and Theo and Jo to step out. "Oh Paul this is so exciting! I can't wait for you to meet Jo, she's so sweet! And Theo will be so happy to see you again!" Vincent said. "Uh huh" Paul answered sarcastically from his place on the couch. "THEY'RE HERE!" Vincent shouted, racing downstairs to greet the guests. "THEO!" Vincent exclaimed happily, hugging his brother. "Vincent!" Theo exclaimed. The brothers hugged as Jo started getting her and Theo's bags out of the car. "Here honey let me help you" Theo immediately said seeing his wife getting the bags. Jo smiled and shook her head. "I've got it Theo" she chuckled. "Here I'll help" Vincent said. The boys both grabbed a bag in each hand and headed up the stairs with Jo following behind, smiling at them. "Do you guys want help?" "Nope!" "We've got it!" The trio marched upstairs to the living room where Paul was still on the couch scrolling through his Tumblr. "Hi Paul, merry Christmas, nice to see you again." Theo said as he and Vincent set the bags next to the couch. "Hi Paul! It's so nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you! I'm Jo!" Jo said extending her hand to Paul. Paul shook her hand quickly and Vincent sat next to him on the couch. "This is so exciting! My best friend, my brother, and my sister in law are all here for Christmas! Oh what are we going to do first?" he asked. "Well, I think first Jo and I are going to put our bags in the guest room and settle in a bit, then maybe you could show us around?" Theo said. "Okay, that sounds great! Jo everyone is so excited to meet you, Paul and I can't wait to show you around, right Paul?" "Uh huh"

Half an hour later the four of them were bundled up and walking around the city taking in the sights and the sounds. They saw all the main attractions of course, but also the smaller ones, places that Vincent enjoyed, places he'd go to paint or enjoy the scenery. Around 5:00 they ended their sightseeing at the Tambourin Cafe where the rest of their friends were waiting. "Hello Vincent, hello Theo, and you must be Jo! Welcome to my cafe, can I get you anything?" Agostina greeted. "I'll take a whisky on the rocks thanks." Paul said coming in behind the rest of the group. "Alright Paul, what do the guests of honor want?" Agostina said rolling her eyes and focusing on Jo and Theo. "It's happy hour what can I get ya?" "I'll just have a water thanks" Jo smiled. "You sure? It is the holiday season" Agostina said while filling up the glass of water and handing it to Jo. "I'm sure. Thank you though. You want anything hun?" Jo asked Theo. "Not right now, I'm going to run back to the house and grab the gifts we brought for everyone but I would love a water when I get back." Theo said, giving Jo a quick kiss on the cheek and heading out. Vincent took Jo around the cafe, showing her the paintings he'd painted and introducing her to everyone and when Theo got back he and Jo went around giving everyone the small gifts they'd gotten for them. It was just after seven when everyone started heading home. When Vincent, Paul, Theo, and Jo got back to the yellow house they spent the rest of the evening baking cookies together in the small kitchen.

Christmas day arrived and brought with it a fresh layer of snow to blanket the house. Everyone slept in for awhile and Jo made pancakes for everyone when they'd all woken up. They were pretty burnt, but with enough syrup and whipped cream they were enjoyed regardless. Having finished breakfast the group headed to the living room and got ready to open their presents. They each took turns handing presents to each other and opening them. Finally it was time for Vincent to open Theo and Jo's gift. "Okay so this is from both of us and we really think you're going to like it" Jo said with a smile. "Thanks you guys! Can't wait to see what it is!" Vincent said as he opened the gift. He opened it to see the back of a navy blue baseball cap. "Oh wow guys thanks! I've been needing a new hat, nice color!" Vincent said, putting the hat on. Theo filmed his brother with the hat on, waiting to see his reaction to the writing on the hat. "Vincent there's something on the front of the hat." Theo smiled. Vincent took the hat off and read the golden-yellow writing on the front. "Number one uncle? But I'm not an uncle-wait...oh my gosh" He looked up to see both Theo and Jo beaming at him. "YOU'RE HAVING A BABY!?!?!?" He exclaimed in amazement. Vincent pulled Theo and Jo into a group hug. "Oh my god!" He exclaimed. "Paul you get in here too, you're part of the family!" Jo said, grabbing Paul's sleeve and pulling him into the hug. Reluctantly Paul accepted the hug and the group stayed like that for awhile. That Christmas would always be one of everyone's favorites for years to come. As the hug ended the snow continued coming down and the family continued their day together, full of holiday fun and love.