𝐶𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐾 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝐴𝐺𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒 [DISCONTINUED]

𝟐𝟔 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑

"𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝-ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝-ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙."

𝒩.

"𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒!"

"Merry Christmas, Klaus," Natalia laughed as she stepped aside for him to come in.

Klaus looked around the room as he entered, and, clearly not seeing what he was looking for, he turned to Natalia and questioned, "Where's Diego?"

"Still sleeping," she answered with a wave of the hand. "He always comes back home super early in the morning, so I let him have his beauty sleep."

Klaus eyed the small Christmas tree that was sitting in the corner of the living room, and he raised his eyebrows. "Really went all out on the decorations, huh?"

"Yeah, there's not enough room in here for a real Christmas tree," she sighed as she returned to the kitchen island, where she had been mixing batter for pancakes. "What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to wish my best friend and lovely brother a Merry Christmas!" Klaus said, though his tone was a little too cheery to be believable. He came to Natalia's side as she oiled a frypan and grinned. "And . . ."

"I have no money for you," she said sternly as she began to pour the batter into the pan. When Klaus pouted and folded his arms, she added, "But I do have a present."

"A present?" he gasped. "For me?"

"Yes, for you," she laughed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he pushed, his grin widening as he outstretched an arm. "Give it!"

"After breakfast."

"Fine," he huffed as he sat down at the kitchen island. He began to pluck at the blueberries that she had put in a bowl. "So, any plans for Christmas?"

"Um . . . Not really," Natalia answered as she flipped the pancakes. "I'm wrapping Vanya's present up, I'll call Allison, and Luther's on the Moon, so . . . can't do much for him."

"I wouldn't want to do anything for him, even if he was here," Klaus sniggered, causing her to roll her eyes in amusement.

"He's still your brother." It was worrying the number of times Natalia had to chide someone with this sentence.

"And dear ol' dad is still my father," he pointed out with a wrinkled nose. "Don't care much for him."

Natalia leaned against the counter, crossing her arms as she glanced at the pancakes, which seemed to be nearly finished cooking. "I guess."

Klaus gave a small hum before popping a few more blueberries in his mouth. "Anything else today?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Maybe watch a couple of movies, make cookies, drink hot chocolate? You know, classic Christmas stuff. Do you have fun plans?"

He shrugged. "Meh."

Natalia chuckled as she grabbed a plate and transferred the three fully-cooked pancakes from the pan to the dish.

While she poured more batter into the pan, she asked, "Would you like to join us for the day, then?"

"Gosh, I thought you'd never ask," he gushed as he clasped his hands together. His face soon became grim, and he released a rather dramatic sigh. "Unfortunately for you, I'll have to decline."