MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I absolutely love Christmas time and I'm glad that I'm sharing this with you guys. It's my third year here and I cannot explain how happy I am to have met a lot of you guys.

So this year, I'm going to try a different kind of genre for Christmas and I'm hoping you'll all like it. There will be an explanation in the end so just read there c:

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT AND THE CHILDREN OC.

Joy to the Kids

"Please Gary?" Leaf begged as she pouted as she leaned closed to her husband, who was currently looking over his recently finished research report.

The man only glanced at the brunette before turning his attention back to the report. When he saw his wife fuming mad, he smirked inwardly to himself. "Leaf, Mandy is eight already. I think it's time we tell her that Santa is not real."

Leaf gasped at this put her hand over her heart to make it more dramatic. "But it'll kill her Christmas! Come on, we can tell her next year! And what about Aiden?! He's only four. Do you want to break the news to him at such a young age?"

Gary chuckled and put his report down on the table next to his laptop. "He probably won't even remember it, Leafy."

She shook her head and pouted again. "Gary," she whined. "You have to pretend to be Santa for the kids. Please?"

He sighed and looked at her. "Leaf, why is it so important to you for them to be visited by Santa?"

"So they can enjoy it while they can," she answered before leaning back on the couch. She paused for a while to hear if Mandy or Aiden were running downstairs. She cheered to herself when she didn't because it meant Aiden was still napping and Mandy was reading her new book. "And I also told them that Santa was going to visit too," she added with a cheeky grin to match to devious plans.

Gary sighed and shook his head, but smiled nonetheless. "You have to stop making promises like that that you can't fulfill, Leaf. You'll only make them sad."

Instantly, her eyes lit up in excitement. "Does that mean you'll do it?" she asked with hope. Before her husband even got the chance to reply, she pulled out the Santa costume from behind her and grinned up at him. "I've prepared your costume. Now, it may be a bit loose since you're not as toned out as you were last year, but it should be fine! It's not like they'll see you. But in case they walk in on you setting the presents, it's good that you're prepared."

He playfully glared at her and accepted the costume. "Oh, you're hilarious. You're not that hot like you were years ago either, you know?"

The brunette stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?! I'm only thirty years old. If anything, I'm still as awesome as I was years ago."

Gary chuckled and leaned in for a kiss, which Leaf didn't bother to avoid at all. When they pulled apart, he smiled. "I was just kidding. You're more beautiful than you ever were."

A gentle smile made its way to her face as she kissed the tip of his nose. "I know," she replied cockily. After being with one of most cocky guy on the planet, she had started to become another version of her best friend slash husband.

Leaf got up from the sofa and made her way to the coat closet. She opened it and brought out a sack of perfectly wrapped presents and handed it to Gary. "Now, put those in the car so Mandy wouldn't find it. You know how she is the day before Christmas." Every year, Mandy would always look around the house and hunt for her presents. Luckily, her parents were smart and quickly caught on that it was annual thing so they started to hide them.

He chuckled and got up as well. "Alright, fine."

~(:

On Christmas day, the little brunette girl got up especially early and rushed to her parents' room to wake them up.

Leaf, who was already used to it, got up and went to check up on her son, who was playing in his room. Gary on the other hand, was more tired than ever since he stayed up later with the presents than he anticipated. It seems that they had received more gifts this year, courtesy of Dawn, and Leaf told him he had to stack the gifts perfectly.

When they got downstairs, Mandy dove straight for the biggest box and attempted to open it before Leaf stopped her. "Why don't you save that for last?" she suggested.

Mandy pouted but obliged to her mother's request nonetheless. She spotted her little brother's present and handed one of the boxes to him before choosing another box.

While their two kids were opening and gaping at their gifts, Leaf watched happily as Gary took a seat next to her with a mug of coffee in hand. "How do they like the presents?" he asked as he saw Mandy squeal at her new set of dolls.

She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. "They love it. Good thing we tell her write a wish list."

He smirked wrapped an arm around her. "Good, because next year, they are not going to have Santa visit them. We're just giving it to them and breaking the news to them."

"You're a horrible father, do you know that?" He shrugged and sipped his coffee as his wife continued. "How could I have married such a heartless man who hates to see his children happy?" she sighed dramatically.

He chuckled and kissed the side of her forehead. "True, but I'm your heartless man." When he just received a giggle, he smiled. From behind, he pulled out a small box, handing it to her. "Merry Christmas, Leaf."

Leaf accepted it and pulled out her gift for him. When she opened her gift, her eyes softened at the sight. It appeared that he had gotten her a new pair of earrings, which was a pair she has been eyeing for a while now. She turned her head and kissed the tip of his nose. "Merry Christmas, Gary."

"Are the presents all wrapped yet, Drew?" May inquired as she arrived downstairs. Her steps stopped when she saw that he was struggling to fold and tape the two remaining sides of the box and she started to laugh.

Drew, who was starting to get frustrated with the wrapping, looked up and glared at her. "Would you care to help me, June?"

This caused the sapphire eyed brunette and glare back. "What's that? You're asking for my help? I thought you said you could handle it because you're the amazing Drew Hayden."

He grunted but quickly composed himself and smirked before flicking his green fringe. He knew what approach he would have to take. "That's a bummer. Isn't it half an hour before Stephanie wakes up from her nap? That would suck if she happens to see her gifts, yet to be unwrapped. Let's not forget that she doesn't even know that Santa isn't real yet. And isn't Elliott coming back from the park in an hour?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and took the box from his hands before ripping the wrapping paper that was on it, much to his dismay. "What the hell, May!"

She smirked and grabbed another roll of wrapping paper. "The first one is already ruined with your ugly folding. Do you honestly think Stephanie is going to like her present like that?" When he didn't respond, she giggled. "That's what I thought. Now watch the pro and learn how to do it."

The green haired man watched as his wife folded the ends perfectly without making a single mistake. In two minutes, she was done and handed it to him with a bow and tag on top. "Now you do it yourself."

Drew placed the box to the side and started on Elliott's gift. It didn't come out as great as May's, but it wasn't awful either. "He's a boy, he won't care if it's ugly or not," he defended as he scribbled Elliott's name onto the tag and put it aside next to his younger sister's.

May shook her head and giggled. "Have you never wrapped a present before?" Drew stayed quiet and that's all it took for May to know the answer. "Oh my god, Drew, are you serious?"

"Shut up," he grumbled as he grabbed a different design of wrapping paper and present. "My parents always did that kind of stuff."

"What about back in high school when we did those Secret Santa stuff?" she inquired.

"I had my maids do those," he responded nonchalantly as he taped the folded piece down. "Besides, I didn't think that it'd be so hard."

May sighed and rolled her eyes. "You have no childhood, Drew." She picked up a box filled with basketball related things like shoes, clothes and equipment before giggling. "Wow, Leaf and Gary didn't hold back at all with their gifts this year. Elliott is going to love it."

Just recently, the young nine year old brunette boy had developed an interest in basketball and had played a game with the guys every time the gang had a reunion along with Misty and Ash's son, Daniel.

Drew looked over and chuckled. "What did we get them again?"

May thought for a while as she tried to remember what they got for one of her best friend. "We got Mandy a set of Disney Princess toys, and Aiden a new pair of shoes."

Drew nodded in approval. "You think they would notice if we give them some of Elliott's old clothes too?"

May threw a pillow at him and scowled at him. "You're ridiculous, Drew."

And with that, the two spent the next half hour wrapping and teasing each other. There would be occasional throwing of items as well from May, courtesy of Drew.

~(:

Later that night, when it was the time that Santa came around and left presents, Drew walked into the living room with a sack of gifts. As he started to stack the boxes in an orderly fashion, the lights flickered on and he diverted his attention to the doorway of the hallway.

Standing at the doorway was his five year old daughter, Stephanie. Her green hair was messy and her sapphire eyes were tired. However, when she saw Drew dressed up as Santa, her eyes immediately lit up and her father mentally cursed himself.

The little girl ran up to the man and grinned up at him. "Santa?!" she cried happily.

Drew, with some quick thinking, cleared his throat and turned to her. "Ho, ho, ho," he greeted in an old gruff voice. "What's your name?"

"Stephanie," she responded.

"Stephanie," he repeated, "what would you like for Christmas?"

She thought for a while. "I've always wanted this new table set where I can play tea party with my daddy!"

Drew chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Well, I don't know if I got that for you, but that big box seems to look like it." The little girl gaped at it and this made the green haired man chuckle again. "Now run along now. If you stay awake any longer, Santa might just have to give you a coal."

Drew knew that using this tactic was wrong, but he had. If not, she'd find out Santa was him and learn that the fat man wasn't real.

When she was gone, he quickly finished up and went back to his room to join May in bed. 'That was a close one.'

The next day, the two were awaken by the eccentric six year old. May, who wanted to sleep longer, pulled the blanket over her head. Unfortunately, Drew was going to drag her down with him so he removed it and dragged her off of bed. By the time the two made it downstairs, with their eyes barely open, Stephanie had already started opening her gift with Elliott just as excited as his little sister was.

"Go have a seat and I'll go make us a cup of coffee," Drew said as he started to make his way to the kitchen.

May, who was too tired to say anything back, simply nodded and took a seat on the couch to watch her children open their gifts happily. When she saw Elliott open his gift from Leaf and Gary, she laughed at his reaction. He loved it so much he quietly cheered.

When Drew came out with the coffee, Stephanie had just opened her requested table set and chuckled as he took a seat next to his wife. "Daddy, Mommy, look!" she called as she pointed at the box of set. "Santa was right!"

May looked at her daughter confusingly. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"Last night, I saw Santa Claus and he told me that this was the present I wanted! He was right!"

The brunette looked over at her husband, who was coughing uncomfortably. "Did I mention that she caught me last night?" he whispered in her ear.

May simply giggled and shook her head. "You make a horrible Santa," she whispered back.

Drew frowned. "Well I'd like to see you do a better job," he retorted.

May smirked. "If I were you, I wouldn't even get caught."

And so while their kids opened their gifts, May and Drew teased each other, just like what they do every Christmas.

Dawn hummed a catchy Christmas tune as she baked cookies in the kitchen with her six year old daughter, Ariana, by her side, who was helping her mother with the cutting of the cookies. While they did that, Paul was out getting the gifts and delivering it to their friends since she couldn't do it.

"Okay, it's time to put these in the oven," Dawn declared as she placed each dough onto the cookie sheet. She carefully placed it in the oven and turned the time before going back to help her daughter clean up.

"I can clean up, Mommy," she said as she brought the bowls to the counter. Dawn has been eight months into labor with a new baby girl and Ariana had been nothing but a huge help to her mother. Upon seeing her daughter struggle to reach the counter, she giggled and got up from her seat and helped put the bowl in the sink.

"Why don't you color for a while, Ariana," she suggested. "Mommy will clean up now, okay? I'll call you in when the cookies are done."

The little bluenette agreed to the suggestion and ran outside to the living room, where all her coloring set was at. When Dawn was done, she received a call from Paul.

"Hey, Paul, what's up?"

"Did you want me to leave the presents in the car?"

"Yes," Dawn confirmed. "Ariana's in the living room right now so you can't bring it in or she'll see it."

From the other line, she heard him sigh. "Why can't we just tell her Santa isn't real?"

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. She knew her husband hated dressing up as Santa every year, but he was probably getting really sick of it now. "Paaauuul," she dragged on, "it'll make her sad."

"How is it my problem?"

The bluenette pouted and had an idea. "I know! Why don't we just have Reggie do it then! I'm sure he would love to do it."

"Are you serious?"

"Well, you're the one who didn't want to it!" she argued back. "Make up your mind, Paul. Do you want to do it or Reggie?"

The plum headed man sighed and contemplated over his choice. He can just let his brother do it and he would get out of wearing the ridiculous Santa outfit. But on the other hand, that would mean his brother, the one who was completely different from him, was going to come. It's not like he didn't love his brother. Reggie just had a strange way of showing his love for his little brother. "Fine, have him do it. I'll wrap the gifts later when Ariana's asleep."

Dawn giggled. "Okay then. I'll see you later. Love you."

He murmured a quick 'love you' before hanging up and Dawn giggled. Paul had his way of showing his love and she was completely okay with it.

When she heard the ding for the cookies, she put on the mittens and took the batch out. She prepared all the frosting and sprinkles before calling her daughter in to decorate the cookies. "Ariana," she chimed. "The cookies are done."

Almost instantly, the little girl came running in and started to spread the frosting all over the cookies. Dawn giggled at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Not too much for Daddy's piece, okay?"

The little girl only nodded as she spread little frosting on a few of the cookies. "Can I have one piece, Mommy?"

Dawn knew that it would spoil her daughter's appetite since it was before dinner, but the girl was six already, so it shouldn't matter, right? Dawn knew that Paul would say no, but the man wasn't there, so it wouldn't hurt, right? "Okay, but only one, alright? And don't let Daddy know either, okay?"

The little girl just nodded and chose the one with the most frosting. Dawn giggled and wiped the green frosting that smeared on her face.

~(:

The next day, the doorbell went off, causing Paul to wake up. It had also woken up Dawn, but he insisted that she rest while he went. When he opened the door, his face paled. Outside the house was his brother, who was just there last night to place the presents, Maylene, Reggie's wife, and their child.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

Reggie grinned. "Well, we were in the city anyway, so I thought why not join you guys while you opened your gifts. I brought Ariana's too!" he said happily.

Paul was about to respond when his daughter came downstairs, rubbing her eyes and suppressing a yawn. "Who's here, Daddy?"

When she saw Reggie, she ran up to him and beamed up. "Uncle Reggie!" she cried in excitement as he brought her up to a hug. "What are you doing here?"

The man chuckled and made his way in, much to Paul's dismay. "Well, I came to give you a present!" He set the little girl down by her presents before he took a seat down on the couch with Maylene and his teenage son.

"But all my presents are here already," she stated as she scanned around the tree.

Reggie chuckled and brought two boxes out of a bag. "Well, I ran into Santa and he told me that he forgot to give you two of them so he asked me to hand it to you."

The little girl gaped at the story. Since she was only six, of course she'd believe in that kind of story. Paul groaned inwardly and face-palmed. How he was related to someone like Reggie was beyond him and anyone else.

He heard a light giggle and saw Dawn making her way downstairs. He immediately rushed up to help her. "I'm fine," she reassured. "I am thirsty though, so let's go to the kitchen."

As he was making her a cup of hot chocolate in the kitchen, Dawn looked out, and smiled as her daughter opened each of the gifts.

"How was it buying all those things? Did you get any weird looks?" she inquired curiously.

Paul groaned and placed the cup in front of her. "Don't even bring it up. I ran into Hayden and he kept making his comments."

Dawn laughed. "That's Drew alright." Then she got into a think position. "I wonder if they'll like what I got them."

The plum haired man took a seat across from her and held onto her hand. "I'm sure they would. I mean, they always do."

Dawn smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's true." Then she looked down at her womb. "You know, when Kristen is here, you're going to be playing the role of Santa again, right?"

This caused the man to groan.

"Merry Christmas, Paul."

"Mom, we're back!" Daniel called as he helped his father bring the tree into the house.

Misty came downstairs with a box of ornaments and set it down, looking for a place to put the tree. She decided on the place next to the window and told her boys to put it there.

Once they were done, she made them decorate it with her.

"Why do I have to do it?" Daniel complained as he placed one green ball onto the tree.

Misty rolled her eyes at her son. "We have to spend some family time, you know? Besides, the more the merrier."

Ash gave his son a look that told him not question her and he obeyed. His father had gone through many painful days with Misty, so his son knew when to stop.

"But if you don't want to help, then I guess I can't do anything," Misty piped. Upon hearing this, Daniel put everything down and headed for his room when he heard his mother add more. "All I wanted was to spend some quality family time with my two boys, but I guess even my son doesn't want that."

Daniel groaned. His mom was playing the guilt card and she knew she was winning. She always won. So without another word, he returned and helped out. Ash chuckled and gave Misty a high five, who smirked in return.

As the three decorated their tree, comments and jokes would be made and retorts were thrown occasionally as well. They were mostly from Misty and Ash though, who were telling their son about their high school days.

"Wait, so Dad was actually athletic?" Daniel spluttered as he tried to hold in his laugh.

Misty snorted and nodded. "Yeah, I was surprised too. He ate much more than he does now and he was in most of the sports team in our school."

Ash scowled at the two who were laughing at his teen years. "Hey, I don't eat that much!" he defended.

That only made the two laugh even more.

~(:

On the night of Christmas, Ash was dressed up as Santa, like he did every year. Although Misty found it unnecessary for him to so, the raven haired man felt that it was more festive since Daniel was only seven and it would be fun if he ever caught Ash as Santa.

Ash placed the presents around the tree and was almost done before he was jumped by a figure, causing him to topple over.

"I GOT YOU THIS YEAR, SANTA!" the boy cried as he sat on the back of Santa Ash.

Ash groaned in pain as he heard his son's voice. He knew that his son always had this dream of catching Santa, but he didn't think his son would pull through on the shenanigan.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep, little boy?" he asked in a voice that made him sound like an old man.

Daniel shook his head. "Why would I do that when I just caught Santa Claus? It's always been my dream to catch you!" Then he stood up and looked at Ash, trying to find the flaw. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be fat?"

Ash attempted to think of a lie and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, young man, I was fat. But I lost weight since I had to move around a lot in the workshop."

Daniel was still skeptical and looked over the man again. "Hmm, I don't know. I heard he doesn't lose weight, no matter what."

Ash face-palmed and sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed now?" he asked again.

Daniel shook his head. "Nah, I'm not tired."

"Won't your parents be angry?"

He simply shrugged. "I won't let them know."

Then Ash had an idea. "So you're not listening to your parents?" Daniel nodded and grinned up at Ash, who was smirking underneath the white itchy beard. "Well, that's not good then. I guess I'll have to add your name to the naughty list. What's your name again?"

Upon hearing this, his eyes widened. "What?! No! You can't just change my name to the naughty list. Isn't that against the rule since it's Christmas?!"

Ash shook his head. "I made the rules. I can change it if I want."

Daniel started to shake his head and went down on his knees. "No, I'll be a good boy. I promise. I'll go to bed right now! Please don't put me in the naughty list! My mom will make fun of me if that would happen and my dad will just laugh with her."

Ash had to suppress the laughter since it was actually pretty amusing. He knew it was wrong to do this to his son, but it was actually fun. If only Misty was there to see it.

When he felt that his son had been through enough, he sighed. "Alright, alright. Just go back to bed and I'll leave your name in the good list, okay?"

The little boy grinned and hugged Ash before running back to his room. Upon seeing this, he chuckled and shook his head. His son reminded Ash of himself when he was a boy.

On Christmas morning, Misty was the first to wake up before getting her two boys. Daniel's excitement had grown again and quickly rushed downstairs while Ash was still getting out of bed. When the man arrived downstairs, Daniel was already halfway through his gifts and chuckled lightly.

He then noticed that Misty was giggling at her son's excitement and strode over to take a seat next to her.

"So how was last night?" she asked as he grabbed her hand.

Ash sighed and recalled last night's events. "Well, for one thing, he finally got to catch Santa."

It didn't take Misty long to figure out what he meant, so when he answered, she started to laugh, which was luckily ignored by Daniel. "Oh, god, I can only imagine that. How did it go?"

"He kept asking me all these questions!" Ash whispered as loudly as possible. "So the only way to get him to bed was to tell him that he was going on the naughty list."

Upon hearing this, the ginger haired women thought over it. "Hey, it's not a bad thing. Now, we can just use the naughty thing to get him to listen to us."

Ash grinned and nodded in agreement. "That's not a bad idea, Mist!" Then he remembered something. "Oh, and I got you something too!"

When she heard it, she was surprised. So when she saw the box of necklace, it amazed her. It was a simple necklace, but there was a pendant in a shape of her birthstone, a diamond. She stared at it in awe as he put it on for her.

"It's beautiful, Ash. When did you get this?"

He gave her a cheeky grin and kissed her cheek. "I got it on the day we went Christmas shopping, Mist. Merry Christmas!"

AND I AM DONE!

Ugh, so I missed the deadline again :c sorry everyone! I tried to have it up earlier but I was super busy! AND LAME TITLE, I KNOW :x

Anyway, yeah! I wanted to try a different style this year and include more family, rather than the usual romance, so I hope it was okay for you all. I know there were a few romantic moments here, but my true intention was family, if it wasn't obvious already. LOL.

So, the kids are basically all from my story, Remember the Past (if you haven't read yet, you should! LOL). Like before, Stephanie and Ariana are used here because of my two close friends on this site, theasianwonder and ThePerfectTwox3! Except now, I added Kristen, who is also Ariana's sister in the account.

OH, AND I CAUGHT UP WITH FAIRY TAIL NOW SO HOPEFULLY I'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE MORE NOW!

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE AND HOPE YOU ENJOY IT WITH YOUR FAMILY.

Review and tell me how it was! I'm sure there's a mistake in there somewhere since I'm tired as heck right now and I'm too lazy to read through it. I'll probably check through it later. AHAH, BUT YEAH, REVIEW AND IT SHALL BE MY CHRISTMAS GIFT!