Winter in the East (Closed: Nuridia and Tomia)

[Nuridia]

Aurelia smiled at that. Aurelia and John got on so well together, he was like the perfect boyfriend and she knew how she fell in love with him so fast. "Yeah, who couldn't love Asteria?" "She's an absolutely wonderful child and I don't know how anybody could dislike her." she said about her daughter. Alex and Asteria were playing hide and seek, Asteria hid while Alex counted. "Uncle Gabe, when do you think mom and dad will be back?" Aurelia asked. "Who knows, most likely at least until one of them passes out." he joked. Aurelia was a little creeped out. "Okay, gross." "Not funny anymore." the half angel told the red haired angel.

[Tomia]

John smiled and nodded. "Ya I don't know who could not love her. I'm glad she seems to like me as much as I care for her." As he watched Asteria run to hide a thought came to his mind that made him a little sad. Asteria's real parents might be out there somewhere, what if they missed her? They wouldn't be able to see what an amazing child she was. He tried to push those thoughts from his mind. It was Christmas time, and his first one with Aurelia and Asteria. He didn't want to be worrying the whole time. He then heard Gabriel's comment and gave a small grin, but saw that Aurelia looked a little bothered by it and tried to hide his expression. "Well I guess that took it a little too far. We all don't need that visual stuck in our heads."

[Nuridia]

"Sorry about that." Gabriel smiled. "Well I suppose they won't take it that far now, they have to be careful for the babies' sakes." "Well I'm gonna go to bed soon, but first I gotta mix up a whole other bottle of shampoo and put it in Michael's bathroom before he comes back from training." "Gotta run." Gabriel said, going to his room with a smile. Alex shook his head. "Same old Uncle Gabe, he's a big kid at heart." "But I guess that comes from being the youngest of five siblings." Raphael and Marie's son said.

[Tomia]

John smiled at Gabriel and nodded. "It's alright Gabriel, we all know you didn't mean to give is that mental image. Ya they'll probably be careful for the baby." He chuckled at Gabriel's comment about the shampoo. Even after what happened he was still going to carry on with his prank. "Ya your uncle's definitely a kid at heart. Even your mom almost killing him couldn't stop him from playing his prank. Well, at least your mom won't be the only one with pink hair." He said with a smile. He then turned to Aurelia. "Hey sweetie, maybe we should put Asteria to bed soon. It's getting late, and we had a pretty busy day. Do you know what rooms we'll be staying in anyway?" He asked his girlfriend.

[Nuridia]

Aurelia laughed. "I guess death isn't a good enough deterrent for somebody like Gabriel." "Yeah, I'm sure that'll make mom feel a little better about herself with somebody else having pink hair." "I know where the guest rooms are, maybe we'll be staying there." Aurelia told John, looking over at Asteria having fun. "Asteria doesn't seem tired, maybe we should let her go to bed when she's ready."

[Tomia]

John chuckled. "Ya I guess not. I'm sure Michael won't be too happy about it though. Still Gabriel seemed a lot more scared of your mom than Michael." "I don't really blame him." He half joked. He looked over himself at Asteria and saw she was having fun with her uncle, he didn't want to ruin her good time because he liked her to be happy. Besides if Aurelia thought her staying up was okay then John wasn't going to argue. He usually deferred to Aurelia hen it came to Asteria, as she ha more experience raising children. He smiled. "Alright sweetie, you're right. We're on vacation after all. We should let her stay up a little later if she wants to."

[Nuridia]

"Alex, can you put Asteria to bed when she gets tired?" Aurelia asked, kissing John before going in the bathroom to prepare for bed herself. "Sure sis." Alex said, now he and Asteria were putting a puzzle together.

[Tomia]

John smiled when Aurelia kissed him, and kissed her back, watching her walk away to the bathroom. When she was gone he turned to Alex. "Thanks Alex, we appreciate that." He told his girlfriend's brother. Eric was sitting with Salma and Sam and started to yawn. "I'm getting tired sweetie, I think I'm gonna go to bed." He said to Salma. He kissed her goodnight before going off to find Kira. "Hey Kira, I don't mean to bother you but you think you could show me where I can sleep?" He asked the angel.

[Nuridia]

Salma nodded to Eric. "Alright sweetie, goodnight." "See you in the morning." Salma kissed Eric before he left. Kira was at the kitchen table looking through a photo album. "There's Mikey at twelve." "And then there's Raphael and Marie on their wedding day." she said to herself before noticing Eric. "Oh, hello Eric." "The guest rooms should be on the second floor." the angel said simply.

[Tomia]

Eric saw that Kira was looking through a photo album when he approached her. He looked down and saw a young blond boy that he assumed to be Michael and was confined right when Kira thought out loud. Eric listened to Kira and nodded. "Okay, thank you, goodnight." He waved goodnight before heading upstairs to sleep. Sam was feeling tired herself and decided to follow Eric. She waved goodnight to Salma and headed upstairs behind Eric.

[Nuridia]

Salma waved goodnight to Sam and after a few minutes went to sleep herself. Raphael and Marie decided to stay in Egypt for that day, and Aurelia and Salma went to bed themselves. Alex and Asteria finished their game and the child was put to bed by her uncle when she got sleepy.

[Tomia]

Christmas Morning
John woke up earlier than usual that morning. Their Christmas vacation was going great. After they had brought Alex back from Heaven they had traveled across Asia. They saw a lot of incredible sights, but John was just happy to be spending time with Aurelia and Asteria. It was finally Christmas morning and John would be spending it for the first time with the people he was starting to consider as his family. He had wrapped all his gifts and they were all in his room, well expect for one. That one he would have to take a short trip to get, but he was sure it would be worth it. John showered and got dressed in a pair of jeans and red collared shirt. He decided he would go check on his parents before joining everyone else. He walked out of his hotel room and walked over to his parent's room and knocked on the door. After a few seconds his mom opened the door and smiled when she saw her son. "John, Merry Christmas." She said as she hugged her son. John and Eric weren't Christian but David was and Mary worshipped the Christian God as well as the Roman ones. John smiled and hugged his mother back. "Merry Christmas to you too mom. Merry Christmas to you Dave." He said to his step dad. David smiled at John and nodded. "You too John."
Eric woke up that Christmas morning very excited. In fact he had been excited since he learned that the would be staying in Japan for Christmas. He was very happy about that because he would be able to give Salma her gift that day. He would be able to take Salma to Himeji Castle before the ball they would be going to later that night. He really hoped Salma like his gift, it was their first Christmas together and Eric wanted it to go well. He had never really had a girlfriend before and wasn't that experienced with romance so he wanted everything to be perfect. Since it was Christmas, and he wanted to impress Salma, he decided to get dressed up. He showered and put on a pair of black dress pants and a blue buttoned down shirt. He was excited to see Salma, but wasn't sure if she'd be awake, and didn't want to wake her. He decided to wait a little while before leaving his room.

[Nuridia]

Salma woke up early that day and decided to get dressed in a navy blouse and red sleeveless dress with wedge heels. She wanted to look good for Eric, it was going to be their first Christmas together after all. She already had her gifts for him and her friends. Aurelia and Asteria got dressed and ready, Aurelia wore a blue dress with blue ribbons braided into her hair, Asteria wore a pink version of that. It was going to be her first Christmas with John and her brother in three years. Raphael and Marie got dressed as well and once the white Brandon family was ready, they stepped out. Salma's parents, the emperor and empress were still getting dressed.

[Tomia]

Once John's parents were ready the three of them left the hotel room and walked together to get breakfast in the hotel dinning hall. They figured Aurelia and her family would join them when they were ready. John was very excited to spend the day with his family and friends, especially Aurelia and Asteria. They sat down at a table and after a few minutes Sam walked down and joined them. "Hey guys, Merry Christmas. Where's Eric?" "Merry Christmas Sam." John replied. "He's probably with Salma. You know how excited he is." He said with smile.
Eric waited a little while before deciding Salma was probably up. He combed his hair in the mirror in his room and then walked out of his room and headed off to Salma's. Eric was very excited to see her, and was excited to give her his gift. He hoped she would like it, it was there first Christmas and Eric wanted it to be special. Eric reached Salma's door and knocked on it, waiting for her to answer.

[Nuridia]

Salma heard Eric knock on the door and had finished braiding her hair before opening it. She even wore light makeup, something she hardly did. Salma almost never wore makeup. "How are you sweetie, Merry Christmas." she grinned, hugging him. Aurelia and her family went downstairs to where John and his family was, waving to them at the table.

[Tomia]

Eric smiled brightly when Salma opened the door. She looked beautiful in her red dress, and Eric could tell that she had gotten dressed up for him as he he had for her. Eric noticed she was even wearing makeup which Salma didn't do a lot. That surprised Eric, but he appreciated it. When she hugged him he hugged her back. "Merry Christmas to you too princess. I'm really excited for today. It's going to be great, I just know it. We should probably head down to breakfast. I'm sure everyone's already there." He said to his girlfriend.
John saw Aurelia and her family come towards and smiled brightly. He and his parents waved back and John pulled out the chair next to him for Aurelia. When she reached them he kissed her and smiled. "Merry Christmas angel." He said to her before sitting down. He then turned to Astera and smiled. "Merry Christmas to you too Asteria, you look really pretty today." He said her. "Merry Christmas to you guys too." He said to Marie, Raphael, and his brothers. "I'm really glad to be spending it with you all."

[Nuridia]

Salma smiled at Eric. "It'll be even better knowing that I get to spend it with you." she said, kissing her boyfriend's cheek before hopping downstairs. Salma's parents headed downstairs as well. Everybody else was already there and Asteria thanked John for his compliment. Aurelia kissed John back and smiled at him. "Merry Christmas to you too sweetie." Raphael, his brothers and Marie greeted John and his family. Alex came downstairs and Aurelia and her family hugged him, as if still not believing that he was real. "Hey everybody." Alex smiled, sitting down to his breakfast. Marie kissed Raphael and he smiled against her lips, kissing her back before pulling away gently. Salma chuckled. "I bet those guys keep mistletoe all around their house." the princess smiled.

[Tomia]

Eric smiled at Salma's comment and when she kissed his cheek. "I can't wait to spend it with you either sweetie." He said to Salma. "The fact that I'm dating you is the new Christmas present I could have asked for." He told her smiling as they walked downstairs together. They arrived at the table where everyone was having breakfast. Eric sat down next to Salma and greeted everyone. John waved to Alex when he came down. "Hey Alex, Merry Christmas." Eric saw Marie and Raphael kiss and heard Salma's comment and laughed. "Ya, I'm sure this is their favorite time of year. They have an excuse to kiss whenever they want." He said smiling. He looked around the room and saw a buffet where the food was. He turned to Salma. "Hey sweetie, I'm going to go get some breakfast. You want me to get you anything?"

[Nuridia]

Salma looked up at Eric. "I'm fine honey, I'll get it myself." "But it was so sweet of you to offer." She laughed at Eric's comment about Raphael and Marie. "I'm sure it is, but I think Valentine's Day would be a little bit more of a favorite to them." Marie and Raphael looked at each other. "Merry Christmas, my love." Marie smiled. The pink in her hair had faded quite a bit since she was washing it out, but it was still noticeable. Raphael kissed her hair. "It's like cotton candy now." he smiled. "Merry Christmas to you too love." "Even better now that we have our whole family with us again." "I have a great present for you." Marie told her husband. Raphael smiled. "Oh do you now?" "What is it?" Marie wagged a finger at Raphael. "Nope, can't tell you yet." "It's a surprise." Raphael smiled and hugged Marie around her waist, gently to protect their twins inside her. "Doesn't matter, I have the best gifts in the world right here anyway." "You and the children." "Aw, that's gonna be a tough one to top." Marie smiled. "Well you guys are the best gift I ever had too, the gift that keeps on giving." Marie said back to her husband.

[Tomia]

Eric smiled at Salma's comment about Marie and Raphael. "Ya that's probably true. In sure that's definitely their favorite holiday. I can't imagine what those two are like on Valentine's Day." He listened to her response to his question. He wasn't surprised by her answer, she was always very independent and rarely ever let Eric do anything for her. He smiled at her. "It's no problem sweetie, I like doing nice things for you. I'll be right back then." He leaned down and kissed her cheek before walking off to get his breakfast.
John smiled at Marie and Raphael. Marie's pink hair had faded a good amount, but was still mostly pink. He remembered the gift Marie had made for Raphael, and figured he would definitely enjoy it. "You know even though I'm not Christian I've always liked Christmas." He said to Aurelia. "It's much better than how the Greeks and Romans celebrate the winter solstice. I can't wait to give all of you the gifts I got, especially you and Asteria."

[Nuridia]

Salma smiled when she got her breakfast and sat down, and blushed when Eric kissed her cheek. "Hey, when the babies get older they'll probably have long hair like you and Marie." Salma said to Aurelia. It was true, the half angel and her mother had very long hair that reached the tops of their thighs or longer. "Talk about long hair, when I was a kid I had very long hair." "It was in a braid all the time and nearly dragged the ground." Marie said. "Raph would often beat me at hide and seek because my hair was always sticking out." "Now having hair as thick as mine can get heavy sometimes." Marie pulled a picture out of her Waller of her as a child and showed it to the group. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/454793262341779115/

[Tomia]

Eric walked over to get his food and then want back to the table and sat down next to Salma. A he started to eat he heard Salma's comments about what the babies hair would be like. Aurelia and Marie's hair was very long. It seemed to go all the way down towards their legs. John listened to Marie's story. "Wow, now that's really long." He chuckled at the mental image of her playing hide and seek. "Ya I'm sure that couldn't of helped you at all." He looked at the picture of Marie as a child that she showed them and smiled. "You were a pretty cute little kid Marie." He told his girlfriend's mother.

[Nuridia]

"Thanks John." Marie told her daughter's boyfriend at his compliment. Michael was pissed off, his hair, instead of its usual blond was a bright pink, like Marie's had been when it was first dyed. Right now, Uriel was holding his brother's arms just so he wouldn't kill Gabriel, who was sitting next to them both with a cheeky grin on his face. "I told you I'd get you back eventually." the redhead chuckled. "Gabe, you're dead meat!" Michael growled, about to lunge for his younger brother but was being held back by Uriel. "Hey Mike, killing our brother isn't going to solve anything." "Gabe can't help how he is, and besides, Marie already nearly killed him once." Uriel tried to suppress a laugh, it was a bit funny. "Gabriel, are you scared of nothing?" Raphael laughed. "After knowing you all my whole life and having a sister in law like Marie, nope." he smiled.

[Tomia]

John smiled at Marie. "You're welcome." He looked over at Michael and had to suppress a laugh, as did Eric and Sam. Michael's hair was bright pink, undoubtably from Gabriel's prank with the hair dye. John watched Michael try to grab Gabriel but was luckily held back by Uriel. "I guess your Uncle Gabriel managed his prank after all." He said to Aurelia. "To be honest, I think that your mom was scarier." He said smiling. He laughed when Gabriel said nothing scares him. "Ya, I guess your right. I can imagine with your family you don't stay scared of much for long." He said to the angel.

[Nuridia]

Gabriel laughed at John's comment. "Yeah, I've learned quiet early on not to be scared of things." "One time, I actually tried to pull a prank on Raphael and Marie, but it was bigger than the hair dye." "I got the idea to interrupt them during...you know, and surprise them and pretend to be the cops just to scare them." "Like, surprise motherfuckers!" "And take a few pictures to embarrass him a little bit, so I was going to go in with my phone, but Raph was prepared for me." "Before I opened the door, I was trapped in a net hanging from the ceiling, like a rabbit trap." Raphael laughed. "It was a Gabe trap, serves you right." Marie's husband told his brother.