The 12 Tales of Christmas

13 December - Secret Santa Shopping

13 December – Write what happens when your novel characters do a Secret Santa drawing and go shopping for gifts.

"Have any of you guys ever heard of the Secret Santa game?" RJ asked, restlessly flipping over on his couch.

"Uh... no." Solaris de Nasko, Crown Prince of Canarim, lounged on the arm, toying with his wand. His twin sister Selena, who was smirking at her obviously sleepy boyfriend Nicolai de Tirali, nodding off across from her.

"It's a game where you write your name and a couple things you want for Christmas on a paper, fold it up and put it in a hat. Everyone does it and then you all pick someone else's paper, so you have to give a gift to that person. The secret part is that you can't say it's you who gave the gift," RJ explained, adjusting his red-and-gold scarf. His dark hair, usually slicked to one side, now flared out lion's-mane style.

No one replied.

"Say something, any of ya," RJ remarked, a bit of irritation laced into his normally affable voice.

"Let's try it!" Lena said. She nudged the nodding-off Nicolai de Tirali. "Nico. Nico. NICO!"

"I did my chores, Julian, okay?" Nick complained in his sleep, rolling over.

Lari and Lena exchanged a look, then doubled over laughing. "Nicky?" he asked, poking his once-rival in the ribs. "Nicky?"

"Mom," Nick groaned. "Tell Julian I did my chores."

Another round of laughter, this time including the person in question, Kiara de Tirali, nee Carlisle, Nick's mom. "Nicolai de Tirali, get out of bed now or you'll be late for school again!" she threatened in a mock-angry voice.

Nick rolled off the couch and slammed onto the floor. "I'm coming, Mom. Keep the breakfast warm for the bus, okay?"

Then he blinked and seemed to realize where he was. "Did I say something?"

"A lot of things," Lena replied.

"But anyway, I heard about the Secret Santa game, and I'm in! Should we include the mages and mystics too?" Nick perched on the back of his couch. The ten said people had gone out after dinner.

"Why do you even have to ask?" RJ asked, his dark hair gleaming as he threw his head back.

"What about Phoenix?" Kiara asked, referring to RJ's absent husband. (Author's Note: This is modern, so Britain has legalized gay marriage for several years now, and both RJ and Phoenix are British.)

"Again, why are you asking? He can fly over in a couple days, and even if he can't I know the smug git enough to write for him," RJ said.

"So where are they, anyway?" Nick asked languidly.

"Nix? He's in England right now, working on a case that's too exciting to put into words for the amazingly eloquent Phoenix Wilde," RJ answered.

"Not just Phoenix, but the others. And I mean Basil too." Basil Winslow-Wilde was Phoenix and RJ's 'adopted' son, though people doubted that he was actually adopted – he had Phoenix's peculiar sienna-brown/amber/ochre eyes and curly hair, and RJ's hyperactivity and black hair color. RJ had admitted to maybe using a surrogate – and Nick had clearly pointed out that someone had been messing with Basil's DNA, because there was no way he'd gotten traits from both his dads without laboratory interference.

"Erasima and Selira are training, Sherlock and Savral are patrolling, Arion and Sephir are probably out riding, Sebastien and Sikar are flying, and Meg and Sidaloh are playing chess," Lena said.

"I wonder if his parents knew what their kid would grow up to be," Nick muttered. Among the best of the best, not only did young Sherlock Locksley possess perfect memory and keener senses than even Savral and Sikar Arazon, he also owned a sharp mind, silent feet, and a brilliant logic like that of his iconic namesake.