Despite his crush on Jane and all the time they'd hung out as well as the lessons he got at school from her mother, Carlos was not as well versed in how fairies acted as one might think. The extent of his knowledge was based more on what he learned back on the Isle, which was that fairies were childish, meddlesome, overreaching do-gooders who over inflated the level of power they had. At least that's the way Lady Tremaine, and Captain Hook always put it.

So he didn't know if Christmas was something they celebrated normally, or if this was just Jane and Fairy Godmother fitting in. Whatever the case was, it seemed like they were diving in full steam ahead. The first night he was there was relatively normal, just the three of them getting settled in along with Fairy Godmother letting him know a few house rules. Then there was dinner, where Carlos felt like he was being pumped for information. When he video chatted with Mal, Jay, and Evie about it, Jay had a field day with that tidbit of information, teasing him about how he was actually being interrogated as if he was Jane's boyfriend. Mal and Evie kept Jay somewhat under control, though Evie did try and get Carlos to admit to having a crush on the headmistress's daughter. She almost broke him down and got him to say yes, but he was saved at the last minute by a knock on the door of the room he was staying in.

"Gotta go," he said, logging out of the chat. He knew he didn't have to log out, and his friends let him know as much as they complained about his abruptly leaving their conversation, but he didn't know if he could stand up to Evie's prodding much longer without giving up something. "Come in," he said, closing his laptop and laying it next to him on the bed.

When the door opened he became nervous when he saw Fairy Godmother peek her head in. "Hi," she said cheerily.

"Hey," Carlos greeted back, suddenly feeling very awkward.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Fairy Godmother entered and took a seat near the foot of the bed. "How are you doing?"

"Good," he answered flatly.

"Just good?"

Carlos shrugged. Fairy Godmother felt herself become worried. What did that woman do this boy, she thought.

"I…," Carlos began, then trailing off as he thought it better to not say anything.

"What is it, sweetie?"

Carlos swallowed hard, wondering if he should open his mouth. He looked off to his right, out the window at the clear cold night.

"Carlos," Fairy Godmother said gently, trying to get his attention back on her. "I can't help if you don't talk to me. So please, tell me, good or bad, whatever it is."

Carlos turned back toward her. He was still torn as to whether he should say what was on his mind. But unlike his mother, Fairy Godmother wasn't known for her anger. And he was petty sure she didn't have any spare bear traps laying around.

"I can't help but feel like my being here is everyone acting like I'm some charity case because I don't feel like they say I should right now."

Fairy Godmother felt an immediate rush of sympathy for the young boy in front of her. He is far too young to be carrying this kind of emotional weight, she thought. "You are not a charity case," she told him with as much certainty as she could implore upon him. Your friends are just worried about you because well, you're not yourself right now. Not that there's anything wrong with not liking the holidays…lots of people don't. But you're usually pretty happy and laid back. Right now…"

"Evie calls me a Grinch."

"That may be a bit harsh, but you are a little moodier than I've ever seen you" Fairy Godmother giggled. Then she took a breath and looked him in the eye. "And I feel you deserve to hear the truth about this. I was asked if I could take you in for the Christmas break." She saw him blink dejectedly. "Not because of your current…outlook, but because it was thought that maybe being around a different family style than you're used to might do you some good to at least cheer you up."

"Well no one could be worse than my mother," he said dejectedly.

"Well I don't have a comment on that, but I can promise you that whatever you went through there, you don't have to worry about that here," she smiled. "But all I ask is that you give this a chance, if not for yourself, for Jane." Carlos looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "All this was her idea, sweetie. She prefers you happy."

Carlos smiled quickly. He knew Mal, Evie, and Jay could tell he wasn't his normal self. As close as they were, it would worry him if they didn't notice. But he never figured that his other friends could tell since he didn't think they'd known him long enough. Then again, when I'm not with Mal, Evie, and Jay, I'm usually hanging out with Jane, he thought.

Fairy Godmother got up and began making her way out of the room. "I really hope staying here helps you feel better," she said gently. "Let me know if you need anything, okay."

Carlos nodded and watched her leave.

The next few days were filled with things that Carlos knew his mother would never go near: making Christmas cards, since Fairy Godmother didn't believe in buying them, and finishing up decorating the tree. He had assumed that it was done, but apparently Fairy Godmother had only gotten the lights and tinsel on it.

"Mom likes for us to do it together," Jane told him as she and him placed ornaments on it. She and Carlos were standing next to each and Fairy Godmother couldn't help but smile at the how cute the two of them looked together.

She knew Jane had a crush on the school's youngest Villain Kid, and while most parents probably would've had some reservations over their daughters doing so, she realized that Carlos was mostly harmless. Not that any of the villain children were truly bad, but she'd looked into Carlos' past and was surprised to see that he was prone to more mischief than actual bad behavior compared to his friends back when they were all living on the Isle.

He also seemed to be taking to living in Auradon much more easily than the others, with the exception of maybe Evie, she realized.

"Carlos, could you put a few ornaments a little higher, please?" Fairy Godmother asked him after a few minutes of watching the two kids talk and unintentionally flirt with each other. "It's so nice to have someone on hand that's a little taller than us for once isn't, Janey?" she asked her daughter. Jane nodded while hip bumping Carlos and he felt himself blush a little bit.

The best part, at least in Carlos' mind was when the baking started. It was no secret that Carlos had a massive sweet tooth; he was practically famous for it. So when the house stated to smell like chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies and peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies, he thought that must be what heaven smells like. But when she started with the brownies, walnut and fudge, he felt like he'd died and gone there.

"Slow down," Jane implored him as she watched him take down his fifth fudge brownie as they sat at the table as Fairy Godmother made a few more batches to give away to friends. "You're gonna make yourself sick."

"Sorry, but they're really good," he said after swallowing the bite he'd taken.

"Thank you, sweetie," Fairy Godmother said at the sound of the compliment. "But Jane's right, slow down with them. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing."

"Let's hope not," he said as he looked across at Jane and smiled. Fairy Godmother had her back to the two teenagers and didn't see how Jane was blushing profusely at the double meaning of Carlos' words.

Eventually as the Christmas break moved on, Christmas closed in. As a treat, Queen Belle and King Beast, Snow White, and Fairy Godmother decided that the four villain children need to spend some time together. A few days before Christmas Eve they all gathered at the palace, the four of them becoming excited to see each other. The first thing they all seemed to do was catch up since Evie had been in Snow White's kingdom and Carlos with Fairy Godmother.

There was a lot of talking over each other, but what wasn't being talked about was the definite change in Carlos. He was in a far better place than he was the day they left school. He was smiling, laughing, joining in once again with his friends. It was like the old Carlos had been the one to show up to this impromptu reunion.

"What did you do?" Belle asked as she watched Carlos act like the boy she knew everyone was wanting back versus the the version that was practically growling through the holidays until they were over.

"Nothing really," responded Fairy Godmother.

"Don't give me that," Snow White smiled as she watched as the four villain kids, Ben, Jane, and her son started making their way outside to play in the snow since the VKs had never really seen it before and there wasn't really time to enjoy it when school was in session. But now, there was nothing stopping then from letting loose with the stuff. "You had to have done something."

"I agree," King Beast said as he watched the group start to frolic. "It's almost like it's a different boy than the one you picked up."

"No, it's the old Carlos," Belle smiled as she watched him play in the snow. "So," she asked Fairy Godmother, "what did you do?"

"I just included him in the things Jane and I do every year; decorating the tree, baking Christmas cookies, things like that."

"So you made him part of the family," Belle said.

Fairy Godmother looked out the window at the group, and watched as they started separating off into groups; Evie, Jay, and Raymond, Ben and Mal, and finally Carlos and Jane and started a snowball fight. She smiled as she watched Carlos and her daughter cover themselves from being hit, then try and return fire. Mostly she watched Carlos and felt a swell of happiness at the sight of him smiling and laughing, acting like a boy his age should be during Christmas with his friends.

"I suppose I did," she decided.

"Don't tell me you're up trying to see Santa?" Carlos asked as he caught Jane sitting in the bay window in the living room in the middle of the night.

Jane turned to look at him, almost jumping at the sound of his voice. "Um…no," she stammered as she rearranged herself to get comfortable again after her shock. "Not since I was like nine or ten," she added.

"Did I scare you?" Carlos asked as he moved toward the window, glass of milk in hand.

"No, just startled me. I didn't think anyone else was awake," she answered as she pulled her knees up to her, making room for Carlos to sit. He accepted the unasked invitation and sat opposite of her. Once he was seated, they both stretched their legs out next to the other's. "What about you? Leaving milk out for him?" she inquired when she noticed the milk in his hand.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I was having trouble falling asleep, milk helps make me drowsy at night."

Jane nodded her head.

"So why are you awake?" he asked.

"I'm usually wake Christmas Eve for a few hours. It's from when I was little and I used to actually try and see Santa," she giggled. Carlos smiled at that revelation. He could picture Jane, a lot smaller than she already was, sitting at this window in her little pajamas, clutching the stuffed Jiminy Cricket doll he'd seen in her room a few days ago, looking up at the sky for a magic sleigh and the reindeer pulling it. "Now, I just look at the sky, seeing how pretty it is before going to bed."

Carlos took a sip of his milk and was about to ask her when she went from believing in Santa to just watching stars when she beat him to the punch.

"So do you feel any different about Christmas since coming here?"

"Well…I definitely understand better why people like it so much. The whole being with friends and family thing wasn't exactly instilled in me thanks to my mother," he answered, his voice going a little sad at the end. "But being here, well, it helped with the whole 'it can be fun' mentality."

Jane smiled at that answer. Christmas was fun, and she was glad that Carlos was opening up to that thought. Truth be told, this was, in her opinion, the best Christmas she'd ever had since she was able to help someone see what the holiday was all about. She was about to say how happy she was for him when she broke out laughing at the sensation of him tickling her foot. "Stop," she laughed, playfully kicking at him. "You're gonna wake Mom. You know how she feels about people being up too late."

"Alright fine," he said yawning, the milk already taking effect.

"It hits you that fast?"

He nodded. "I'm gonna head up. Night Fairy Goddaughter," he grinned as he got up and began making his way toward the stairs.

"Wait," he heard from behind him.

He stopped and turned around. Jane was making her way over to him. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the archway separating the living room from the small foyer. She stood in front of him, smiling mischievously. "What?" he asked slowly.

"Look up."

Carlos tilted his head and gulped loudly when he saw what Jane was referring to. Above their heads, nailed to the top of the archway was a small piece of mistletoe.

"Um…uh…," he stuttered, slightly caught off guard as he looked back at a smiling Jane.

Before his brain could form a coherent sentence however, Jane stood up on her toes and gave Carlos a kiss, stunning him even more. She went back down on her feet and felt her cheeks become hot from the blood rushing into them. Even through the low light of the room she could see Carlos blushing as well. She almost started laughing at the confused, yet adorably goofy, smile on his face.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered and then ran upstairs as quietly as she could, leaving a stunned VK standing frozen in place.

"Carlos! Carlos, wake up!" he heard someone shouting.

He groaned, clutching his blanket tighter around himself. He next felt someone shaking him.

"Wake up!"

"Go away, too early," he groaned again, this time turning way from whomever was talking.

Jane gave a loud "hmph" as she put her hands on her hips and thought about what to do. Suddenly, a fun idea popped into her head and she smiled wickedly. She kicked off slippers and started to climb on the bed near the foot of it, where she hopefully wouldn't do too much damage. Once she had her balance, she began to jump on the bed, making it shake wildly.

"Carlos, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" she started shouting over and over until she finally saw him moving.

"Whoa! What the…Jane?" Carlos said in shock, crawling toward the headboard to get away from the from the earthquake on his bed.

Upon seeing that he was awake, Jane let herself fall into a sitting position on his bed, a playful smile on her face. Carlos looked at her, sitting on his bed, her face bright and cheery, way too happy for someone up so early after going to bed so late.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his heart beating like a drum being played at a fast pace, and this time it wasn't from the memory of last night's kiss.

"It's Christmas morning," she said excitedly. "Come on, let's go open our presents," she finished, jumping off the bed and running over to where he was. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him downstairs despite his cries to wanting to go back to sleep.

Once they were downstairs, he saw Fairy Godmother sitting in her favorite chair, a cup of coffee in her hand, and a look of exhaustion on her face. When she saw Carlos being dragged in by her daughter, she smiled at him, taking stock of his disheveled, still sleepy appearance. Jane let go of his hand and ran over to the tree and began looking through the boxes under it. "Let me guess, she jumped on the bed to wake you?"

"How'd you…?"

"She does that when people refuse to wake up," she explained to him. "I learned a long time ago its best to just wake up when she says to."

"Here," Jane said handing Carlos a present wrapped in white wrapping paper with red and black polka dots. "It's from me and Mom. Merry Christmas," she smiled.

Carlos looked at the present in confusion. It was't too large, just big enough that he needed both hands to hold it. He continued to stare at it until Fairy Godmother's voice pulled him out of his trance.

"Everything alright Carlos?"

"Uh…yeah," he answered shaking his head to clear it. "It's just my…my first Christmas present," he admitted. Jane looked at her mother in shock. She motioned for Jane not to say anything or to push too hard. Eventually Carlos started to tear away at the wrapping, revealing the box underneath. His eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the picture on the box, indicating what was inside. "A racing drone?" he asked excitedly, his face lighting up.

Fairy Godmother nodded. "Jane actually picked it out," she told him.

"I know how much you like tech stuff," she said shyly.

"T-thank you," he said, his smile brightening his face.

Fairy Godmother had to fight back tears as she saw how happy Carlos was. He reached over and gave Jane a hug, and then, to her shock, gave her quick kiss on the cheek though she noticed that his lips had hovered close to the corner of her mouth. Jane blushed a deep crimson at the gesture.

"Thanks," he said to Fairy Godmother, "And Merry Christmas," he said to both of them.

Hearing those words come from the beaming teenager for the first time since he'd been welcomed into their home filled Fairy Godmother'e heart with joy because it meant that Jane's plan had worked. As she watched the two of them head toward the tree for the other presents, she knew that this would a very memorable Christmas for years to come since it would be the one where they'd helped sometime heal the scars of his past and look forward many more Merry Christmas'.

The End