Christmas List

It's just chaos

If one would tell Cale Henituse, or rather, Kim Roksoo that he'd spend Christmas with children and a personification of a puppy, then he'd call that person crazy. But recently, his adoptive children began to mention the things they want as presents offhandedly. It was most likely due to Choi Han telling stories of how Christmas was spent in his previous world.

Thus it leads him to do his Christmas list. One that was written down and thought of with his children.

1. Decorating

Decorating with a dragon, two cats, and a swordmaster that can't seem to control his own strength was atrocious. Raon wanted to use magic to instantly decorate the living room with a spell he thought of and it did not go as planned. At all.

He was able to blow up part of the living room, burn half of their new couch, and magically poofed most of their decorations. Panicking, Cale used 'Sky Eating Water' to take out the flames. Now the couch was charred and wet.

"Sorry, human." At least the little dragon was apologetic for the destruction he caused. With ears dropping and tail still, Cale couldn't find it in himself to scold the 6-year-old dragon. He patted Raon on the head and forgave him for the mess he made.

Hong and Ohn, however, wanted to decorate the tree in their cat forms. It was also a mess. Ohn was peacefully decorating the bottom of the tree while Hong was decorating the upper part of the tree using his trained speed. Only when he reached the top did disaster strike again.

Hong was able to put the gold star but didn't think of what happened after. As soon as he place the star, he began falling down. Cale had to think quickly, he looked for Choi Han but the guardian knight was gone. Cale had forgotten that he sent Choi Han to get firewood for a more authentic fireplace. Seeing that Choi Hand won't be there to save Hong, he used 'The Sound of Wind' to quickly catch Hong and in turn, the tree was skinned of leaves.

With a sigh, he gently put down the red cat and observed his surroundings. With half of the living room wet with water and the other half looking as if a hurricane blew through it, they had no choice but to clean up and get a new tree.

"Let's wait for Choi Han and then clean up, okay?" Clapping his hands to gain the attention of his sulking children. The children averaging 9 years old were quick to nod and waited quietly for Choi Han, seemingly guilty over the abrogation of their living room. They didn't have to wait for long because Choi Han was walking through the door within 10 minutes.

Once they cleaned up and replaced the tree, Cale helped the children put up the decorations with clear and detailed instructions.

They were only left with putting the socks above the fireplace. Cale had asked Choi Han to do it since he had more practice with the whole decorating thing than him.

Turns out, trusting Choi Han with a hammer was not a good idea. Luckily, the stockings were able to stay above the fireplace but that didn't make up for the large cracks on the wall.

After the exhausting activity, Cale decided to leave it be and continue on with the list.

2. Gingerbread house making

Hopefully making the gingerbread house was a bit easier.

Cale, Choi Hand, and the children went to the kitchen to bake the parts for the house because this fantasy world does not have a gingerbread house kit.

Everything was peaceful during the baking-- is something I want to say but no, it was also chaotic. Raon kept eating the batter, and the cats were encouraging him. Choi Han broke the roller pin but was able to successfully flatten the dough.

Cale could feel himself trembling with Beacrox's angered face. There was a reason why the young swordmaster was not allowed in the kitchen, and yet, Cale had waved away the warning.

While waiting for the parts to be done baking, the group started with making the 'glue' to stick the pieces together. Grabbing all the things needed for the gingerbread house icing, Cale then added all the ingredients to a different bowl. He had trouble separating the egg yolk and the egg whites, which resulted in four eggs being wasted. But was able to get the job done.

With a ding signalling that the parts were done baking, Cale had asked Raon to grab the tray and cool down the newly baked walls and roof with magic.

Everything was ready and it was time for decorating. Again. Nothing was destroyed this time, maybe except for a few pieces of marshmallows and candies that were supposed to be used in decorating but instead went into the stomachs of everyone when they got too hungry and tried to subtly eat the decorations.

3. Feast

It wasn't a surprise when the Henituse family invited Cale and his acquaintances for dinner. However, it was a surprise when the said dinner was overflowing with people. To be honest it felt more like a ball rather than a small get-together.

With people from around the continent chatting together in one space, it felt strange. The only reason why everyone worked together was because of common interests.

Hell, even Tunka was here. Being civil .

Cale shivered thinking about it. Tunka is being polite and ugh- actually listening to Harol, instead of his usual loud and cocky self.

The Duke of the Endable kingdom, Fredo Von Ejellan was here chatting with Crown prince Valentino. Both talking about something that Cale doesn't care about. Alver and Basen were talking about politics, and how to increase the efficiency of trading between the nations.

The wolf children were mingling with Cale's younger sister, Lily Henituse. The wolf tribe was telling Lily about their training with Choi Han, about it being fun and difficult at the same time. While Lily looked at them in awe, she was undoubtedly gonna ask Deruth for permission on training under Choi Han to get stronger.

Everyone had their little group, getting to know each other and talking about pleasantries.

Cale had put their decently-looking gingerbread house on the dinner table and sat down near his parents.

All in all, it was a pleasant Christmas while spending time with everyone he cared about.

4. Presents

As soon as the kids fell asleep, Cale slipped away to place their presents underneath the tree and the coal in the stockings.

In the morning, he had told them about the meaning of coals in the socks above the fireplace. It was usually meant for children to be punished but Cale had told them that Santa Claus had put them there as permission to loot the church of Death, which they happily did so, after opening their presents.

All three of the children were showing huge grins as soon as they saw the gifts. The youngest two went towards Cale with the intent of finding out how to thank 'Santa'. While Ohn thanked Cale, already knowing that he was the one who put the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

The kids noticed something odd though, they turned to look at Cale in question.

"Human!"

"Cale-nya!"

"Where's your present?"

Cale softly smiled at their question and said, "Seeing the three of you alive and well is the only present I could ask for."