𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

6

december came, cold and relentless.

with christmas just a mere two weeks away, in the city you could feel the excitement radiating off of the children as they skipped through times square. snowflakes crafted from cut-out paper were strung up in store windows and mannequin heads had been adorned with santa hats. red and emerald ribbons were tied to streetlights, catching the reflection of the beams in their satin thread. small pine trees wrapped in shimmering tinsel, fairy lights, and sparkly baubles had been planted in ceramic pots along the streets of madison and park avenue — and once more, the ice skating rink at the rockefeller centre had reopened.

for the lavignes, business was booming. at le diamant, all the rooms were fully booked and many of the staff were working overtime. eddie had his hands full with just about everything under the sun — signing off on waivers and contracts and bonds and deals and indentures, ensuring his men were satisfied with their designated vacation days, buying christmas presents for his parents and his children and his friends — he didn't stop.

it was a longtime tradition for the lavigne family that, on the first of the month, they would all work together to put the tree and the decorations up around the house. while eddie and jesse mounted the huge christmas tree up in the foyer, chantelle would bring in boxes of baubles, lights, wreaths, holly garlands, and tinsel from the garage. on the wurlitzer jukebox, eddie played songs such as 'jingle bell rock' by bobby helms and 'have yourself a merry little christmas' by frank sinatra, bobbing his head along to the beat and playfully shaking his hips. every so often, he would sing out the lyrics, which made the siblings hold back bouts of laughter.

"you're gonna pop a knee out doing all that," chantelle joked, glancing behind at her father as she treaded the stepladder, hands wrapped in golden tinsel. jesse laughed at her remark.

eddie ignored her sarcasm and continued hanging the baubles onto the tree. suddenly, he let out an impatient groan and reached inside of the prickly branches.

gigi had gotten herself stuck in the tree. "this goddamn cat!"

seconds later, he managed to wrangle his hands around her fluffy white torso and bring her out. she flattened her ears and growled at him.

"don't you dare," eddie warned, cradling her in his arms like a baby. "it's christmas, cat. no being naughty at christmas, you hear?"

jesse smiled and took her from him, to which she calmed down immensely. "it's just her natural instincts, dad."

"well if she doesn't give it a rest, it's gonna be my natural instinct to put a foot in her ass," eddie said, watching as jesse gently placed her onto the floor.

a loud crunch followed by a burst of sloppy chewing filled their ears. the three of them all turned to look at where the sound had came from; dion had managed to get a bauble in his mouth.

"oh, for god's sake!" eddie cried. "you too?!"

chantelle and jesse erupted into laughter as their father began chasing the beauceron down the hallway that lead to the office and the back living room. charles soon followed, scampering after them, his claws clicking on the marble floor.

"it's no wonder that dog's got stomach problems," chantelle chuckled. "eating the damn plastic."

meanwhile, caught up in the hubbub of central manhattan, giovanni was running himself off of his feet trying to buy gifts for everyone — and spending an ungodly amount of money in the process. he traipsed around the city with countless bags on his arms, weighing him down like great, big cement blocks. he didn't want to leave everything until the last minute. getting the christmas shopping over with now would mean eliminating any amount of stress and anxiety to come creeping up on him.