It's A Wonderful Life [IC]

[alderwitch]

Alex had been quietly insistant that Zoe spend Christmas with their family. This was of course complicated by the fact that Zoe's erstwhile parents were both still minors themselves and lived with their parents, neither of whom were aware that they had a time dislocated grandchild before Alex informed her mother.

Now, it was rare for Alex and her mother to butt heads on any matter, about as rare as Alex getting stubborn on any given issue but the conclusion was foregone the moment Alex dug her heels in and stubbornly thrust her chin up over the matter. In just under an hour, she brought her mother into enthusiastic favor of the idea, before she set to work on convincing Zoe to accept the invitation.

Christmas at the Albright house was a festive occurance. It held echoes of the traditions Zoe herself had grown up with. After the odd Christmas Eve service that Mike and Alex had attended (with a real angel, no less), it was time to pile in to visit the folks over in Hanover.

In Zoe's childhood, the manor had always been decorated with her father tempering Alex's love of festive decorations. The Albright household was much less whimsical in its holiday cheer but still cozy. The decoration of the tree on Christmas eve was filled with a good deal of laughter as Alex flew ornaments at Mike to catch as he took over the decoration of the top of the Albright tree.

The Harris family went home late on Christmas Eve, promising to return early in the morning for the traditional exchange of presents, and Alex and Zoe were shuffled off to Alex's bedroom for the night. Here, there had been no restraint of Alex's love of all things colorful and the room was more than a bit eyejarring. The trundle had been pulled out for Zoe which made the small room feel a touch cramped. Sleepovers had stopped for Alex and Mike years ago and the bed hadn't really been used since then. Still, it was as comfortable as a trundle could be and made up with soft blankets. Before either girl knew, the weak wintery sunligh was breaking through the gauzy curtains. Alex hung her head over the side of the bed, cheerfully bubbling, "Merry Christmas, sleepyhead!"