Twelve Little Brothers

The First Day of Christmas

So, this is me putting everything happening on pause, and doing something for Christmas because why not. Basically, fast-forward a few months, but I will come back to where we were.

Jeonghan's POV

“Is everybody ready to go?” Appa asked, and I pulled my hat over my head.

“One second!” Hoshi called out as he ran from his bedroom and put his boots on.

“Okay, now we ready.” Appa did a head count of us all before telling us to go out in the van. I grabbed the Meanies hands and helped them into their seats before helping Jihoon into his own seat. The four of us are all in the back row, so I was able to just turn and sit down.

“Is everybody buckled?” A chorus of “yes” went around the van and Appa started it up, slowly backing down the driveway.

“Does everyone understand what we are doing?” Mixed answers filled my ears, and Appa sighed.

“I'll explain it again then. Because it is almost Christmas, we are going to get a Christmas tree to put in our living room and decorate. This means no running by the tree. Okay?” We all nodded and Appa smiled.

How are we getting this tree?

…

“Appa, where are we?” Jihoon asked, and I looked out the window only to be met with the sight of a whole bunch of Christmas trees. We may do this every year, but a lot of my younger brothers forget.

“We're at the Christmas tree farm. This is where we get our tree. However, no running or throwing snow at each other. You don't need the twin system since there aren't many people here, but we need to stay together.” We all nodded and started unbuckling our seat belts when Minseo Noona opened the door.

I helped Jihoon and the Meanies get out of their car seats before leaving the van. I watched Appa get the sled out of the trunk, and I tilted my head in confusion.

“What's the sled for?” Appa smiled and set it down in the snow.

“It's for the Meanies and Jihoon so they don't have to walk the whole way.” I nodded and Jihoon lifted his arms for me to pick him up. I sighed and helped the three year old into the back of the sled while Noona put the Meanies in.

We all stood in a group and waited for Appa to finish putting Chan in a baby pouch inside of his coat so we could start on finding the tree. I wasn't quite sure how Appa wanted to do this without Mom, but I'm sure he'll figure it out.

“Okay, so Minseo will take Americanos, Chinas, and BooSeokSoon. I will have Jeonghan, Chan, Jihoon, and the Meanies. This tree lot isn't that big, so we can probably see each other. Once both groups find the tree they like best, stand by it and we'll pick together, okay?” Everyone nodded and we started walking into the direction of the Christmas trees.

Once we reached the edge of the rows, Appa split them in half with Minseo Noona and we separated ways. Since I was with my younger brothers, I was able to spend more time looking for a tree because they were all just sitting in the sled.

“Can I walk with hyung?” Jihoon asked, and Appa eagerly nodded, completely open to the thought of less weight to carry. I helped Jihoon out of the sled and he held my hand while we walked around.

“What about that one?” I pointed to a tree that looked somewhat decent and Appa stopped. He looked up and down the rows of trees that we had been through, and then looked at the tree again.

“That's one of the better looking trees we've seen, Jeonghan. Good job.” He ruffled my hair and dropped the rope to the sled.

“You boys wait here. I'm going to see how everyone else is doing.” I nodded and Appa started walking in the direction of Noona and everyone else. I felt a tug on my sleeve and I looked down at Jihoon.

“Jeonghannie hyung, how much longer?” I peeked through the rows of trees to see Appa talking with Minseo Noona.

“I'm not sure. Are you cold?” Jihoon nodded slightly and I pulled him closer to me. Since the Meanies weren't even taking up that much of the sled, I sat down and placed Jihoonie on my lap. I pulled up his hood and wrapped my arms around him, trying to keep my younger brother as warm as possible. I'm not sure how well it was working.

I watched Mingyu and Wonwoo play with the snow around where they were sitting while waiting for Appa to come back. Which didn't take too long.

“Okay, so they found a tree. I've already seen it, so why don't you go and look at it and then they can come look at ours.” I nodded and Jihoon got up off of my lap and we walked over to where everyone was standing.

“Which one?” BooSeokSoon all pointed to the tree at the same time, and Jihoon and I walked around.

“Hyung, I like this one better. It bigger.” Jihoon said, and I nodded.

“Jihoonie and I can stand here while you go look at our tree. But this one's better.” Minseo Noona nodded and everyone walked off in the direction of the tree I found. I really did like this tree better. It just looked so much bigger.

It didn't take long for everyone to decide that the tree Minseo Noona's group had found was better. So Appa took the saw that I never saw him grab, and started to cut down the tree.

“Stop! You hurtin' the tree!” Mingyu cried from the sled, and Hansol just covered his eyes.

“The pain will be over soon.” Minghao said in a husky voice, and I looked at him confusedly. Ming just shrugged and Hansol eventually had to cover Wonwoo's eyes too. I'm pretty sure the tree doesn't feel anything though.

Once the tree was cut down, we got a cart that we forgot to get in the beginning so we could bring the tree into a building. I had to help put the tree in the cart and push it since Appa had Chan, but it wasn't that heavy. Either that or Noona was doing most of the work.

At the building, a man put our tree in a shaker, and Seungkwan and Hoshi started dancing. Eventually we were able to put the tree on top of the van and head home. Almost immediately after we started driving, my mind came to a sudden realization.

“How are we getting the tree in the house?”