Merry Christmas

It was Christmas time once more, with just a couple of weeks before the big day left to count off on children's advent calendars. It had certainly started feeling like Christmas by this point, for the snowfall had begun, with snowflakes drifting gently and soundlessly to the ground to make the fresh blanket of snow grow and grow until it was the sort which was nice and thick and crunched under your feet. And watching these snowflakes fall and this snow form was Alfred, leaning on the windowsill and looking out on the chilly evening with a warm smile on his face.

"Alfred," Arthur sighed in vexation, pulling some tinsel from a box, "you were the one who wanted to decorate this bloody tree, so do you think you could help me?"

"Hmm, what?" Alfred replied dozily, being hesitantly pulled from his reverie, "Oh, right, yeah, the tree." He rubbed the back of his neck abashedly as he pushed himself away from the window and went to stand with Arthur, "Sorry, I just got distracted by the snow."

Arthur sighed once more and shook his head, but a small smile betrayed him, "Honestly, you're such a child. It snows every year, right? There's nothing special about it."

"Of course there is!" Alfred whined in disagreement, taking the tinsel from Arthur's hands and beginning to wrap it round and round the tree, "It only ever happens in this season. Sun shines all year round, rain falls all year round, clouds form all year round, thunder claps and lightning flashes all year round, but we only get snow in the here and now." Alfred stooped down to wrap the tinsel around the lower half of the too-big tree which he managed to fit in the house anyway after ignoring Arthur's objections, "And it's pretty too – the way it falls, the way it lands. Oh, and fun too – I can't wait to have snowball fights and make a snowman."

"Yes, well, I suppose you're right there." Arthur looked out the window at the snowflakes kissing the windowpanes, blinking at them as if baffled as to their existence, "But snow also means work. We're going to have to clear the driveway tomorrow morning."

Alfred groaned, "Don't remind me! It looks like it's going to be extra thick this year, so that means extra work."

"Not so pretty now, is it?" Arthur smirked, hanging shiny baubles here and there on the branches of the tree with utmost care, unlike Alfred who just grabbed some and hung them so carelessly that they looked like they were about to slip off their designated branches were it not for Arthur going around the tree and securing them afterwards.

"Of course it is!" Alfred grinned, "Don't be jealous of the snow – you're still the prettiest thing to me."

"Idiot, that's not what I was worried about." Arthur scoffed, but his cheeks still turned pink anyway. He delved into the box again and brought out the big, glittery star to go atop the tree, and he couldn't help but smile at it as he felt Christmas spirit washing over him. However, his frown returned as, try as he might to reach, he couldn't get the star on top of the tree, even when on tip-toe.

"Alfred, would you be a dear and get me a step-ladder or something?" he asked, "This tree really is too bloody big. I told you to get the smaller one, because I knew this w-whoa!" Arthur cried out as he was suddenly lifted off of his feet and had become level with the top of the tree.

He looked down in irritation to see Alfred holding him up by his legs, still smiling as wide as ever as he responded, "Small isn't the American way. Our tree's got to make a big impression."

Arthur rolled his eyes, but went along with using Alfred as a lift and reached out to gently place the star on top of the tree. Alfred put him back down afterwards with a grunt of effort, and then they both stood back to admire their handiwork.

"Perfect!" Alfred exclaimed, ruffling Arthur's hair in approval of the Briton's efforts, although Arthur grimaced in disapproval and tried fruitlessly to flatten down his ever-messy hair, "Now we just need to get the lights. Arthur, can you turn off the main light?"

"Your wish is my command." Arthur muttered, going to the doorway to turn off the light switch there, and then returning to stand beside Alfred, who was now holding two cables in each hand.

"Ready, Artie?" he asked, utterly giddy.

"As I'll ever be." Arthur shrugged, not seeing why they were building up turning on the Christmas tree lights so much. Honestly, it wasn't as if they were Blackpool illuminations.

Alfred pushed the two cables into each other, and not a millisecond later the tree had come to life. The bright lights made the baubles glow and the tinsel shimmer, and the glittering star cast reflections on the ceiling above. They both stood in awe for a moment, in adoration of the tree's beauty, and then Alfred could be silent no more.

"Yeah, that's the American way!"

"That's the British way too." Arthur folded his arms and shot Alfred a questioning look, "In fact, that's everyone's way. Get a tree, decorate the tree, turn the lights on, nice job, go get a cigar."

"Awh, Arthur, are you jealous of the tree now too?" Alfred laughed, wrapping an arm around the smaller man's waist, "I keep telling you, you are the most beautiful thing in this room. Except maybe for that guy. Oh, wait, no, that's you in the mirror. So, yeah, you're the most beautiful."

"Alfred, I am not jealous of inanimate objects." Arthur griped, pushing the American away, "I'm just trying to say that-."

"Hush, it's okay, Arthur." Alfred winked, placing a finger on Arthur's lips to stop him mid-sentence, "I know just how you feel. Hey, by the way, I could have sworn there was some mistletoe around here. I wonder if it's…here!" Arthur squealed with laughter as Alfred dove his hands under Arthur's armpits and tickled him there.

"A-Alfred!" Arthur struggled to shout through a fit of giggles, "Stop it!"

"I can't stop, I haven't found the mistletoe yet!" Alfred chuckled back, moving his tickling down to Arthur's tummy, "Nope, not here either."

"Alfred!" Arthur gasped, "Honestly, stop it, I'm going to-!"

"Wait, let me just check here first." Alfred grinned in delight at Arthur's laughter, moving his tickling once more to the nape of Arthur's neck, "Seriously, where could that mistletoe be."

"Alfred, stop it, seriously, before I-ah!" Arthur yelped as Alfred was then lifting him again, carrying the surprised Briton through the house strewn with ribbons and bells and tinsel and lights over his shoulder. "Put me down, lad, or you'll regret it!" Arthur barked, having had enough of bouncing about quite a few strides ago.

"As you wish!" Alfred chortled, placing Arthur back down on the floor.

"Thank you." Arthur grimaced, dusting himself off and swiping the creases out of his sweater vest, "Stop picking me up like that – I'm not a plaything, I hope you realise. And don't tickle me – I don't like it."

"Arthur," Alfred waggled his finger at the flustered man, "you can't argue under the mistletoe."

"What?" Arthur raised his brow, and then looked up and, lo and behold, there was mistletoe hanging above the archway they were stood under. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Maybe." Alfred smiled smugly, rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back, attempting to look innocent. Arthur shook his head with a low chortle, and then stopped the American's rocking by placing a hand on the back of his neck and pulling him down to the Englishman's level where he then pressed their lips together.

Alfred was a little shocked by Arthur's initiation, as he didn't much initiate anything romantic usually, but he got over it almost instantly, although still felt rather pleased about it, and kissed him back with his smile going from ear to ear.

"Stop kissing me, bastardo." Lovino huffed, pushing Antonio's lips away from him with a grimace.

"But you're so cute when you're concentrating, I just couldn't resist." Antonio whined, trying to fight against Lovino's barricade of a hand without much luck. Lovino could be strong when he wanted to be.

"Yeah, well I'm trying to concentrate on buying stuff here, so get your ass in motion and help me." Lovino gave Antonio a glare which dared him to argue, and then directed his gaze to the list in his hand, "Okay, we got presents for fratello, French bastardo, Prussian bastardo, Bella, and spiky-haired bastardo."

"Um, a lot of those guys have names you know."

"I don't care." Lovino replied, "Anyway, we still have to get gifts for potato bastardo and, fuck, you have a lot of friends. Too many, in fact, so can we cross a few names off?" Lovino got his pen out ready to do exactly that, but Antonio lunged for it and managed to take it out of Lovino's cruel grasp.

"Lovi, no!" he cried, "I can't do that to my friends! That's mean!"

"And this is mean on my wallet." Lovino replied coolly, brandishing said wallet for good measure, "Honestly, we've spent so fucking much I think we're going to be eating crumbs for Christmas dinner." With a week to go before Christmas day, Antonio and Lovino had decided to get off their lazy arses, leave the warmth of the fireplace, and actually get some shopping done. However, they hadn't really paid attention to their budget and were now suffering for it.

"Then we can eat Christmas dinner at someone else's house?" Antonio suggested, "I'm sure your brother would love to be with you on Christmas day."

"Fuck that, I'm not eating dinner with that potato bastard." Lovino scowled at the very thought of sitting at a table opposite the burly German who had somehow stolen the affections of his twin and had to suppress a shudder.

"Come on, I know you don't like your brother's choice of partner, but…but Christmas is a family time."

"I don't care." Lovino crossed his arms and continued to prowl the store for good-looking gifts, taking no notice of the Spaniard.

"So you won't spend Christmas dinner with your brother?" Antonio asked forlornly.

"No."

"So we'll be eating crumbs on Christmas day?"

"Deal with it." Lovino shrugged, checking the list again and wishing he had that damned pen because there were definitely over twenty people on the list. He turned to Antonio in hopes of demanding the pen back off of him, but was stopped short by the sight of the Spanish man with tears welling in his green eyes. "W-wait, what are you crying about?" Lovino asked in shock. The man before him was always cheery, and he had only ever seen him cry on rare occasions such as during that one sad scene in The Lion King and that time when a storm had devastated his tomato harvest.

"B-because," Antonio sniffed, wiping his watering eyes with his sleeve, "I feel so bad for Feli, who isn't going to see his beloved brother on Christmas, when I'm sure he would love that. It would surely be a great Christmas gift." Lovino looked down at his feet, thinking of his brother. He was sure Feli would like to see him at Christmas – he was all about that family meaning behind the holiday, Lovi knew that full well – but he really couldn't stand that potato bastard. "And I feel bad for Lovi and me, having to eat crumbs for Christmas dinner. And then maybe I'll have to share my crumbs with you, and then I'll have less to eat and I'll be hungry the whole day, and you know how I get when I'm hungry." Lovino frowned, definitely knowing what Antonio was like when he was hungry – a complaining, whining, whingey, moody baby – and Lovino didn't know if he wanted to put up with that on Christmas day. "And I feel sorry for all my friends who won't get presents from us, and they'll all be a present short on Christmas day and won't feel loved, and-."

"Fine!" Lovino cut Antonio short, "Fine, we'll eat Christmas dinner at my brother's with the potato bastard! We'll spend our remaining money on gifts for your insane amount of bastard friends! Fine, just stop crying, alright?! Dio mio!"

"Gracias, Lovi!" Antonio cheered, immediately halting his crying and wrapping the Italian up in a big hug, "You're the best in the whole world!"

"Yes, whatever, just get off me." Lovino growled, albeit blushing, failing at his attempts to push Antonio off as he fished in his pocket for his mobile phone, "Quiten down, I need to phone fratello and tell him about this plan."

"He'll be really happy." Antonio beamed, finally letting the Italian go but still holding onto his gloved hand, and Lovino, whether he was aware of what he was doing or not, held onto Antonio's in return.

Antonio for once waited in silence whilst Lovino placed his mobile to his ear and waited for the ringing to stop and the phone to be picked up. This usually didn't take long, as in that household Ludwig was always very uptight about answering phone calls as fast as possible in case it was his work or an emergency, and Feliciano loved the opportunity for a good chat. This time, as was normal, the phone was answered in the middle of the fourth ring.

"Hey, fratello, it's good to hear from you!" Feliciano's voice rang from the phone, "What's up? How have you been?"

"Yeah, yeah, good to hear from you too." Lovino rolled his eyes, for his fratello was always so unnecessarily energetic, but he smiled at the same time, because the familiarity of it all was so warming, "So anyway, about Christmas dinner…"

"Hey, did, you hear about Antonio and Lovino?" Gilbert asked Matthew, pausing in his present opening, "They're going to have Christmas dinner at Feli's and Lud's place."

"Hmm?" Matthew replied, followed by a long yawn, "Oh, that's nice." He wasn't quite opening his presents as enthusiastically as Gilbert was. Then again, he had been awoken very early by the Prussian, so when he had looked out of the window it had still looked like night rather than morning. However, as much as he had pleaded to stay in bed, Gilbert had been more forceful, and eventually Matthew had trudged downstairs dejectedly, still in his pyjamas, to join Gilbert at the tree. Nevertheless, he couldn't help smiling at least a little when Gil was rocking back on forth in a sitting position on the floor, eyeing up the half of the tree with presents wrapped in black and white paper which were his, and when Matthew walked into the room he had looked up with a big, toothy grin on his face and pointed at the other half of the tree which had underneath it presents wrapped in red and white paper.

"Yeah, it is." Gilbert nodded, getting back to his present opening, "And I was thinking that maybe-oh, cool, I wanted this CD! Thank you, Mattie." He leant forward and gave the tip of Matthew's nose a big kiss as an extra thank you.

"No problem." Matthew sleepily replied, rubbing his nose after the Prussian had leant away again.

"Anyway," Gilbert continued, clearing away the wrapping paper to make room for another present, "I was thinking that maybe we could go and have Christmas dinner at Feli's and Lud's too. It'd be cool to spend time with mein bruder on Christmas, right?"

"I suppose." Matthew said, pulling a gift from his brother from its wrapping paper – a framed photograph of a moose. He burst out laughing at it, because his brother could be so silly sometimes, and Gilbert, wondering what was so funny, looked at the photograph too and joined in laughing. "Oh, Al." Matthew sighed endearingly, placing the photograph to the side, "Anyway, back to what you were saying – I suppose that makes sense, but should we really join them?"

Gilbert shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Because it would be hard on Feliciano and Ludwig, that's why." Matthew frowned, reaching under the tree for another present, soft and squishy, from Arthur, "They have to make enough food for themselves, and they have to make enough for Antonio and Lovino now. And it would suck if, out of the blue, on Christmas day, they have to plan to make even more food for us two."

"But Lud's my family!" Gilbert whined, but he then stopped whining so childishly and instead paused in puzzlement as he pulled out Antonio's present – a sock puppet, "Wow, I knew he was behind on cash this year, but this is just sad."

"It's the thought that counts." Matthew chortled, "Remember to phone him up anyway and thank him for the present. In fact, we have to do this for all our gift givers, so don't throw away the name tags."

"Oh, come on, Mattie!" Gilbert whined some more, throwing the sock puppet on top of his growing present pile, "I can just go around thanking everyone on Facebook – much quicker. And if we go and eat Christmas dinner at Feli's and Lud's then I can see and thank Antonio there."

"I told you, I'm not so sure we should." Matthew exhaled, "It's far too late notice for Feliciano and Ludwig." Matthew smiled at Arthur's present to him – a red hat with a red maple leaf inside a white circle on the forehead of it; hand-knitted, knowing the Briton, and very practical, so contrasting to his brother's present. How was it that his brother's boyfriend gave him more useful gifts than his actual brother?

"Look, I'll phone and ask, and I'm sure they'll be fine with it." Gilbert insisted, opening and recoiling from Francis' gift to him: a dildo.

"No, don't do that!" Matthew protested, "Feliciano and Ludwig are both so nice, they won't be able to turn us down even if they want to and will feel obliged to cater to us."

"Psh, no they won't!" Gilbert waved off Matthew's concern with one hand, using his other hand to throw Francis' present across the room, "You'll be surprised how stubborn Lud can be when something he doesn't want to happen threatens to do just that."

"You know what? I give up." Matthew frowned, screwing up some wrapping paper and throwing it in their rubbish pile, "Do what you want, because you never listen to my advice anyway."

"Yeah, but it's more fun to listen to myself." Gilbert laughed, leaning forwards once again and kissing Matthew on the cheek, still grinning, undeterred, even when Matthew swatted his advances away, "It'll be fine, I promise." Matthew shrugged and opened a gift of some French treats from Francis whilst Gilbert went to fetch the phone.

"Gilbert and I have both gone for dinner at Feliciano and Ludwig's house and won't be back until very late at night, sorry." Arthur read out the note they had just unstuck from the porch door of the house of Matthew and Gilbert.

"That sucks!" Alfred cried, "I wanted to see my brother!"

"Well, tough." Arthur huffed, re-sticking the note to the porch door and retreating out through the front door from whence they entered, "I suppose we could just catch up on Boxing Day for a couple of drinks."

"But I wanted to see him now!" Alfred exclaimed, following Arthur out of the porch area to stand outside again, "Even Gilbert's fun enough to see."

"I'm sorry, Alfred." Arthur locked the front door of the house after Alfred using the spare key Matthew had given them in case they wanted to pop by under circumstances such as the likes they were currently under, "But cheer up, chuck! How about we go home now, hmm? We can order a Chinese take-away, or a pizza, or McDonald's, and we could eat it at home, under the blankets on the sofa, with the fireplace on, watching crap Christmas telly. What say you to that?"

Alfred stuck his tongue out at the proposal, and Arthur scowled at how difficult the American was being, "Oh, come now, don't go in a sulk just because you can't see your brother this evening. Maybe if you had phoned ahead like I told you to and said we wanted to visit them today then he would have waited around a bit longer to see us before going out. But did you phone up? No."

"Oh, come on, how could I phone up when you totally went and bought me a new X-Box game, and Matthew got me, like, a life-time's supply of Nutella to live off while gaming."

"And I'm glad you've enjoyed and appreciated your gifts, but just because it's Christmas doesn't mean we have a lack of responsibilities. In fact, I say we go straight home and fulfil a few of them, such as phoning up all the gift givers and thanking them for their gifts."

"No, anything but that!" Alfred waved his hands wildly around in decline at the idea, "I'm way too tired to phone all those people."

"Alfred," Arthur began sternly, "we're going to have to do it eventually, and if we get it all out of the way now, then-."

"No, they're probably all having dinner now anyway." Alfred harrumphed, and then he paused, deep in thought, and Arthur wondered just what he had suddenly realised.

"Alfred, what is it? What's the matter?" Alfred snapped out of it upon hearing Arthur's voice, and turned to beam at the Briton in a way which Arthur hated because it meant that the American had a plan and it was either going to be extraordinarily brilliant or extraordinarily stupid and he hoped to God it wasn't the latter.

"Dinner!" Alfred laughed, "Mattie and Gil have gone to Feli's and Lud's for dinner, right? Well then, why can't we?"

Arthur sighed in exasperation, because Alfred's plan had been the latter after all, "Because Matthew and Gil surely received an invitation, or at least phoned ahead, and we did not, so we're neither expected nor wanted there."

"Oh, come on, the more the merrier!" Alfred winked, taking Arthur's gloved hand in his own and swinging it to and fro as they began to walk to the home of the Italian and the German, "Besides, who wouldn't want my company?"

"Sometimes I doubt that I do." Arthur said, pulling a face and struggling to fight for his hand to be freed, "Honestly, Alfred, this idea is stupid – let's just go home."

"We go home all the time, Arthur! It's time to go to someone else's home."

"No it's not!" Arthur huffed, still struggling.

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!" Arthur continued to protest as they walked on and on, and he was so caught up in doing so that he didn't notice the late afternoon turning to evening, or how near they were drawing to the house of Feliciano and Ludwig, with Christmas ornaments out in their front garden, lights strung up on the trees on their property, and a cosy warm light shining through the window.

"Yes it is!" Feliciano cried at his burly, blonde German partner.

"No it isn't." Ludwig replied, arms folded in a stubborn way which showed that he was tired of this argument because he was rather confident that he was right.

"Yes it is!" Feliciano cried again, "Pasta is good with any dish!"

"Yes, pasta is good with a lot of dishes." Ludwig sighed, massaging his temple, "But not with Christmas dishes."

Feliciano seemed to be about to argue back, but before he could get a word in, the doorbell rang. "I'll get that." Ludwig announced, glad to bring an end to the disagreement, "And if I come back and find that you've added pasta to the dishes then you'd better be prepared for the consequences." Feliciano whined in dissent as Ludwig walked away, but, knowing how the German man liked to keep to his word, did not even look at the pasta on the shelf, never mind grab it and hurl it into a pan of boiling water as he so wanted to do.

Ludwig returned not a minute later with Feliciano's brother, Lovino, and his boyfriend, Antonio, following closely behind, Lovino looking unhappy, and Antonio's expression was unknown, being hidden behind the two large presents he was carrying.

"Where do I put these?" he called out from behind the boxes, sounding rather worn out.

"Ah, just in this room." Ludwig said, leading the Spaniard into one of the luxurious rooms which harboured the tree. Lovino, knowing his brother and where to find him well, ventured into the kitchen to greet him.

"Fratello!" Feliciano sang jovially, turning his attention away from the massive turkey he was pulling out of the oven.

"Dio mio!" Lovino exclaimed, "That's a large turkey, isn't it?"

"Si, but we have a lot of guests for dinner tonight." Feliciano beamed, apparently overjoyed about that fact – he was one of those people who always go around saying "the more the merrier" after all.

"Hmm? Are others joining us?" Lovino asked, cocking his head.

"Si, Luddy's brother and his boyfriend are joining us."

"Oh, great, another potato bastard." Lovino groaned, but was quickly reprimanded by his younger brother.

"Don't act like that, fratello! Gilbert is a friendly, fun guy, and I don't think he even likes potatoes that much."

"No, it's not about how much he likes potatoes that irks me…" Lovino began, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Oh, that should be them now!" Feliciano grinned at the very thought of it, but Lovino just groaned quietly to himself so that his brother wouldn't scold him again.

Ludwig returned to the kitchen shortly after the doorbell had rang, with his brother, Gilbert, his boyfriend, Matthew, and Antonio at his side, with the former both looking all around at the decorations with wonderment and a smidge of jealousy too.

Gilbert whistled as he gazed around, "You sure do go overboard with these things, Lud." The younger German frowned in return, but didn't say anything, not wanting to start any disagreements or arguments on Christmas day, especially with Feliciano there having so much fun.

"Gil, Matthew!" the younger Italian exclaimed, peering out from behind the kitchen doorframe, "You made it just in time for dinner!"

"That was the plan." Gilbert laughed, and Matthew smiled along with him, but nothing more, still feeling rather daunted by the grand house they were in, and the scary, blonde German before them, and the peppy Italian and the other irritable Italian and the carefree Spaniard he wasn't quite familiar with. Well, he guessed that this visit would be a good chance to get used to all this, so maybe it was good they had gone there after all.

Matthew continued to think this as the evening progressed, for the dinner Feliciano had prepared with the help of Ludwig was amazing, and the company, although unfamiliar, was amusing as Antonio made many moves on Lovino which only got profanities in response, and Feliciano tried to spoon-feed an embarrassed Ludwig, and Gilbert cracked many a hilariously lame joke from the Christmas crackers on offer at the table. Matthew even found himself doing what he thought he could never do under such awkward circumstances and actually enjoyed the evening.

Well, until a familiar face showed up.

The doorbell rang again that night, midway through dinner, and Feliciano, confused and curious to see who it was, went and answered it. The others weren't so bothered and were too engrossed in the meal to glance up from the table more than once, but all their ears perked up when loud voices could be heard trailing from the corridor. They all couldn't help looking up then, and who should appear around the doorway with Feliciano than…

"Alfred?" Matthew asked in disbelief, shocked and surprised, "Arthur? What are you doing here? Were you invited?"

"No." Arthur huffed, "That's why I've been telling this hooligan all the way here that we shouldn't come. We weren't invited, Alfred, so we should hardly-!"

"Hey, Mattie!" Alfred hollered, ignoring the disgruntled Briton, "We saw the note on your door and decided to come join you! Isn't that great? True brotherly love I'm showing here, man."

"Alfred," Matthew spoke in a hushed voice, worried, "is that really okay? You're inconveniencing Feliciano and Ludwig by doing this, I hope you realise."

But Feliciano cut in enthusiastically, "No way, it's great to have more people! Besides, there's lots of food left, and I'm almost full, so these two can help finish it."

"Are you sure about that, Feliciano?" Matthew asked, biting his lip, torn between wanting his brother to stop being a nuisance and wanting his brother to be able to stay with him.

"Of course!" the Italian replied, already pulling out two more chairs at the table, "Come on, guys, get stuck in before Antonio eats it all."

"Cool! Thanks, Feli!" Alfred laughed, taking the offered seat with a smile on his face which was red from the cold night air.

"My sincerest apologies for the intrusion." Arthur murmured, getting settled in next to his radiant boyfriend who had already lunged for the turkey and some Yorkshire puddings.

"Don't sweat it!" Feliciano grinned widely, "Now let's get back to eating before the food gets cold!" And eat they did. They all ate until they were full, and then ate some more after that, not leaving even a morsel of food on their plates. They ate until they complained about it and all had to sit back in their chairs, groaning, with their hands on their griping stomachs.

"I'm going to die." Alfred whimpered, looking to be on the verge of entering a coma after eating "the American way", as he had phrased it.

"That's why I told you not to eat so much, or to slow down at least." Arthur replied in annoyance, although he too had bitten off far more than he could chew.

"Al doesn't listen to that kind of advice." Matthew tried to chuckle, though he just ended up moaning, "He sees food and then all else is wiped from his mind."

"I know someone like that too." Lovino interjected, sparing a glance at the Spaniard at his side, "Then again, it's not like there's much to wipe from his mind in the first place."

"Hey, that was mean!" Antonio wailed, with a look of sincere hurt on his face, although he was immune to Lovino's harsh words after all the time spent with the feisty brunette.

"Yeah, Antonio is super cool!" Gilbert joined in, "He was one of the biggest eaters tonight! Super impressive!"

"Would you please shut up, bruder?" Ludwig asked in a less-than-polite tone of voice, "You're giving me a headache. Again."

"It's alright, Luddy, you're just tired." Feliciano smiled reassuringly at the German, patting the large man's biceps comfortingly, "We all are, so how about we unwind in the living room where there's more space to spread out our full stomachs?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Alfred said, getting up almost as soon as Feliciano suggested the idea, closely followed by Gilbert.

"Yeah, I need to lay down on a carpeted floor."

"Maybe I can take a siesta." Antonio sighed contentedly at his own proposition, and everyone else at the table murmured in approval, and there was a scraping of chairs as they all got up and moved through the house to the large living room lit by the big, dazzling Christmas tree. They all collapsed in different spots, Gilbert and Antonio on the carpet, Ludwig, Matthew, and the Italian brothers on the large sofa, and Alfred plopping himself down in the big armchair, pulling Arthur down with him into his lap without much objection from the Briton who was just too tired to do so.

"Ah, this feels great." Gilbert sighed, although he was lying in what looked like an uncomfortable face-down position.

"Doesn't it?" Antonio agreed, mimicking Gilbert's weird position, "I can definitely die happy here now. Hasta luego, Gilbert."

"Auf Wiedersehen, Antonio."

"You guys can't die yet!" Feliciano interrupted the pair's reverie, "I've just gotten a great idea as to how to liven everybody up!"

"That's impossible." Arthur breathed tiredly, nuzzling into Alfred's chest, "We're all so far-gone already."

"But my friend Roderich taught me," Feliciano continued, undeterred by the lack of enthusiasm, "that something you can always rely on to lift your spirits is…" the brunette wandered over to the grand piano in the corner of the room and played a single octave of the C major scale at an allegretto pace, with a smile playing about his tan face, "…music."

"Seriously?" Lovino replied, sceptical of his brother's idea which seemed so idiotic like all his other ones.

"He's got a point." Ludwig rubbed his chin in thought, "Music does make you feel better when you aren't feeling so good."

"See?" Feliciano cast Ludwig a brilliant smile, and then directed it at each weary individual, "In that case, how about we sing some carols? It's Christmas time after all."

At first, no one responded, except for Ludwig's nod of approval. All was silent, everyone was contemplating, nobody particularly wanted to partake in such a thing that required so much energy. But then Matthew raised his hand, with eyes that still held a look of exhaustion but were wide with an attempt at excitement.

"I'd like to try it. It would be a nice experience, to make music with everyone, and get to know you all better."

"Then if Matthew's doing it, so am I." Alfred grinned, "I've always gotta be there for my little bro."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt…much." Arthur sighed, giving-in.

"Yeah, it might be like a fiesta with this many people."

"I thought you wanted a siesta?"

"Whatever, let's just get this over with!"

"Alright then!" Feliciano exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands together, "I think we should have Ludwig on the piano. Is that okay with you, Luddy?"

"Ja, that's fine, as long as everyone else is okay with it." And everyone was, since not too many of the others could play the grand instrument, so Ludwig seated himself at the piano stool and started stretching his fingers.

"The violin makes any piano piece sound great! Who here can play violin?"

"Oh, oh," Alfred raised his hand and waved it wildly in the air, jolting Arthur about in his lap until the Englishman growled.

"You can?" Feliciano asked, his lips turning up.

"No, but Arthur can. Arthur is really good at the violin. Been practicing ever since he was this big." Alfred announced, using his index finger and thumb to demonstrate Arthur's childhood size.

"That size, huh?" Lovino mocked, staring incredulously at the small size Alfred was demonstrating which could never have been Arthur unless he was a pixie as a child or something.

"I suppose I can contribute like this." Arthur shrugged, getting off of Alfred and going to claim the fine string instrument from the cheery younger Italian, afterwards tuning the smooth wooden thing.

"How about I play guitar?" Antonio perked up suddenly after having been near-death only moments ago, everyone turning their heads to see him picking up the acoustic from the stand beside the piano.

"Oh, nice idea!" Alfred pitched in, "If there's another one, I can do a guitar duet with Antonio."

"Of course, there's one in that cupboard over there." Feliciano cheered, directing Alfred with a point of his finger and then turning to the others, "Then how about the rest of us sing along?" Matthew and Gilbert nodded happily, but Lovino scoffed and turned his head to the side, causing Feliciano's brow to crease with concern, "Can't you sing, Lovi?"

"Shut up!" Lovino yelled, blushing fiercely, "I can sing! I just don't want to!"

"And all the guitars are taken up too." Feliciano pondered with his clenched hand pressed against his chin, his eyes staring at the red carpeted floor as he thought, and then he was looking up again with the lights of the Christmas decorations reflecting in his amber orbs as revelation struck him, "I have just the thing for you!"

After some rummaging in the cupboard, it turned out that "just the thing" was a small, silver, triangular instrument.

"The triangle?" Lovino grumbled. Antonio burst out laughing from the other end of the room.

"Lovi, that's adorable!" he crooned, tears of joy welling in his eyes.

"Shut up before I make you!" Lovino snapped, snatching the instrument from his brother hastily and eyeing it with distaste.

"Okay then, so what song should we play?" Alfred asked, looking up from his guitar tuning.

"'Jingle Bells'?" Matthew put forward.

"Nah, I don't like that one." Alfred stuck his tongue out, and Matthew pouted at having his proposal dissed.

"'Good King Wenceslas'?" Ludwig asked shyly, looking down out of embarrassment and hoping his suggestion wouldn't get treated like Matthew's.

"No, that one always sent me to sleep." Alfred grimaced, using his hand as if he were pushing the idea of the song away from him.

"'Silent Night'!" Arthur beamed, starting to get into it now that he had an instrument in his grasp to awaken him, "That one's a classic."

"C'mon, Arthur, that one is so slow!" Alfred whined, earning a glare from the Englishman, "Come on, can't you guys come up with something good?"

"Why don't you come up with something then, amigo?" Antonio shrugged, strumming listlessly at his guitar.

"Fine, then how about…" Alfred trailed off, playing some legato chords as he thought, "…Arthur dances seductively as we play 'Santa Baby'?"

"No one wants to see that." Gilbert jeered.

"Bitch, I want to see that!" Alfred huffed, Arthur irritated and blushing beside him.

"Okay, then how about this?" Antonio shouted, trying to break up the argument before it began, "We sing 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas', because everyone likes it, it's not boring, and it's neither too slow nor too fast. Si?"

"For once, I agree with the idiot." Lovino said, and everyone else nodded with him.

"Alright then, 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' it is!" Feliciano nodded, "Play us in, Luddy!" Luwdig turned to the piano keys glistening ebony and ivory, stretched his fingers one last time, and began to play in moderato. Arthur joined in almost immediately after Ludwig with his violin playing long, drawn out notes, and Antonio and Alfred counted themselves in at a point of perfect cadence, plucking out a warm sound. The melody came around again after that, and thus Lovino tinged his triangle to introduce Matthew, Gilbert, Feliciano and their voices to the piece.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

"Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer!" At this point, Gilbert loudly replaced the lyric "cheer" with "beer", and was greeted by short laughs from the rest of the group.

"We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here!"

"We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

Gradually, all the instruments faded out in the order they entered until it was just Ludwig left playing a few chords which finalised the piece. Afterwards, they all cheered and clapped, patting each other on the back and laughing about how serious they had all been about it in spite of it just being a bit of fun and an unwinding session.

"Ah, now I want a figgy pudding." Alfred exhaled.

"And I want a cup of good beer!" Gilbert raised his hand, as if ordering a waiter over.

"Honestly!" Arthur and Matthew huffed in unison, and everyone else laughed along, full of cheer.

Author's notes: Just want to start this off by saying I have had an absolutely lovely Christmas. I got a PS3, complete with Skyrim and Assassin's Creed, and four books. Four! I'm set for the year in terms of entertainment, guys. But I've also had a nice time with my family, and a lovely dinner (although the turkey may have been undercooked - yay, salmonella!) I hope all your Christmases were just as lovely. Unless you don't celebrate Christmas, in which case I hope you just had a nice day.
This was a Christmas story I sent to my best bro, pie1313, and I thought to myself "whoa, 6,734 words, I might as well share that many with my great followers on fanfiction dot net", so here it is. Whoa, I wrote so much. Then again, there are four couples in this story. And maybe some of you like some couples in this but not others, in which case I apologise, because these are all just pie1313's OTPs (and mine!). I hope you enjoy it anyway, guys~
Also, sorry about some of the Italian and Spanish, I've probably missed little flicks and such that are meant to go above the i's and stuff like that. Sorry, can you please forgive me and just pretend they're there? OTL I'm sorry.
But still, do you like the way I linked them all? I thought that was clever of me. ;D Okay, I'm tooting my own horn. orz But please like it!
Anyway, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good tidings I bring to you and your kin; good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year! Ho, ho, ho! To those who have been following me for a while and reading and enjoying my writing, and to those who just peek in here and there now and then, I want to thank you all for supporting what I do. I haven't written nearly as much as I would have liked to, but luckily you're all very patient. I promise, my writing is nowhere near finished! So hang in there, and see you next year!
Critique is welcomed, comments are appreciated!
Thank you and enjoy!

Alfred (America), Arthur (England), Lovino (Romano), Antonio (Spain), Matthew (Canada), Gilbert (Prussia), Feliciano (Italy) and Ludwig (Germany) belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.

AnorexicWalrus~