Your Princess is in Another Castle

2-2

Will heard a knock on his door and he got up, out of his bed and went over to it, when he opened it, he saw his dad standing on the other side with a smile on his face.

"Happy Christmas, son, you better get up, we're all waiting on you," he said.

"Happy Christmas, dad, sorry I didn't realise what time it was, I'll be down in a few minutes, I'll just get dressed," Will said and his father nodded. Will closed the door and shook his head, his father always loved Christmas and sure it was usually a nice day but sometimes Will couldn't help to think about others today. Especially his friend Arnold who never really got a lot and said it was more special as his family spent the day together. He liked that idea, putting more into family connection than material wealth but he pushed this out of his mind and quickly got dressed as they would be expecting him.

He walked downstairs, and he always marvelled at how they decorated the place, lots of fancy decorations and lights on the tree they got. Underneath it was four piles of presents, one for each of them. The rest of his family were already there, big smiles on their faces but he could tell that Anna's would be just as false as his own, she would rather not have to spend time with any of them but was forced to do so.

"Happy Christmas," his mom said, and she got up and gave him a hug which he returned.

"Happy Christmas, mom" Will replied.

"Now that we're all here we can make a start on these presents, why don't you start Anna," his dad said. Anna gave him a smile in returned and went over to her pile of presents and picked one up at random and started unwrapping it, it was a new dress for her to wear.

"Thanks guys, I love it," she said with a smile to her parents, Will knew she was lying and that she would probably not wear something like that just from the way she said it but his parents even chose to believe the lie or didn't hear it at all. With the first present open they all dug into their own piles off stuff. Anna got several new items of clothing and makeup, some of which she did like but most of it would find their way to her friends or a thrift shop. His dad got a few new books and a new watch from mom which was very nice, and he seemed very happy with what he received. His mom received a new cookbook, a few pieces of jewellery and a new pair of shoes, she also seemed pleased with what she got but knowing them she had chosen half the pieces she had gotten so it really wasn't a surprise. As for Will, he got a few new toys and books but the biggest present that they got him was the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES for short with a copy of Super Mario Bros and that was a total surprise to him as he hadn't asked for it.

"Thanks guys, this will be a lot of fun," he said.

"You won't be able to play it all the time as we'd like to use the TV too but we'll make sure you will get chance to play it, it's apparently all the rage and is the future of gaming" his father replied like he understood these things but probably was just repeating something he heard from the guy who sold it to him.

"I don't know about that, but it certainly will be cool to be able to play video games in my own home than having to go down to the arcade to get my fix" Will said.

"It certainly will be easier and cheaper on you, well we'll set it up for you tomorrow to see what it is like, now I want some breakfast," his dad said.

"I'll go make some pancakes," his mom said with a smile and she went to the kitchen.

"I'll go put this stuff away in my room," Anna said.

"Then you will come right back down, no hiding away from us today," his dad said.

"Of course I will, dad" Anna replied with a smile and collected her presents and hurried out of the room, she would take as long as possible to put them away, Will knew but she would return or face their fathers wrath which she didn't want to do as she had already been grounded a couple of times before and hated it.

"So, what do you think about your presents?" His dad asked.

"I like them, dad, the toys are pretty cool, and I will play with them and I'll read the books as well" Will replied.

"Good, I know you are getting a little old for toys but I picked ones for your age range and so they should offer you a challenge or educational value like that chemistry set" his dad explained.

"I'm sure they will" Will replied.

"Get one of the Lego models out now and we'll do it together," his dad said. Will picked out the car model which he thought was cool and got it out. He knew that his dad would lose interest after a while but knew he couldn't say anything. Anna came downstairs, but she didn't join in making the model as she didn't really like that kind of thing. After a few minutes reading the instructions they put a few of the pieces together. Right then, mom shouted that the pancakes were ready, and they all got up and went through to the kitchen. Mom had outdone herself as usual and there were several pancakes on the plates for each of them and a new bottle of syrup to pour over them. Will enjoyed his pancakes and it wasn't often that he got them now. Once they were finished, they helped with the pots.

They returned to the living room and he carried on making the model, as he predicted his dad turned on the TV having lost interest in the activity. He and Anna watched some Christmas movie on there whilst Will carried on with the model as he knew that he would be shouted at if he didn't. whilst they were relaxing with this, his mom was busy in the kitchen making dinner. It took him a few hours to put the car together and once he was finished, he showed his dad who barely glanced at it, he was too engrossed with the movie on the TV. Will just collected his toy and took them upstairs to hide his disdain for his dad. He then went back down and joined them watching the film.

Once the film was finished, his mom called them again saying that dinner was ready and hid dad turned off the TV and then went through to the kitchen and they followed him. On the table was Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and it looked really good, they sat down, and their mom poured them a glass of wine. They then carefully pulled their crackers so that nothing fell onto the dinner and out on their paper hats. They tucked in and Will really enjoyed the meal and they talked a little through it. Once they had finished his dad got up, got himself a beer and went back into the living room to watch more TV but Will and Anna helped their mom to do the pots. They then joined their dad watching TV for the rest of the day.