Eli POV.
After opening our gifts, we rushed to the kitchen and started making breakfast as another Christmas movie played in the background. We made a buffet, with eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, waffles, and fruits. It didn't take that long, since all of us were doing something.
After breakfast, we went on a scavenger hunt. Each of us had one gift hidden in the house and we had to find it. So, we fanned out all around the house to search for our gifts.
Ida was the first to find her new phone in the poolroom. Soon after that, Lorenzo found his headphones in one of the second-floor bathrooms. Antonio was the next to find his gift, which was a gift certificate to get another tattoo or remove one, which I found hilarious. Alessandro got some slippers, that looked a lot like loafers, but were really fuzzy.
Gabriele found his blue long coat in the game room after a long time of him complaining about the area being too big, to which I said, that it was their own fault for having a humongous house. I found a pair of dark green-checkered loose pants, with a black belt, that had my logo carved on it, the crescent and the skull, which, once again, almost made me cry. Diego found his box of jewelry in the music room and finally, Matteo found a customized apron in the kitchen. I know, so hilariously close.
After lunch, we decided to go volunteer at a soup kitchen downtown. It was actually my idea since I had been to a lot of those but on the other side of the line.
It must have been weird for them to see the biggest names in the technological market walking through their doors asking for hairnets. Someone took pictures of my brothers, but they just pretended, that it didn't happen and enjoyed our day together.
After a long while, we decided to see New York on Christmas as we rode through the city before going back home.
As we got home, we started preparing dinner. It was really fun, all of us being in the kitchen at the same time. We blasted Christmas music through the speakers and sang along very badly to every line we could remember.
It was a bit of chaos as we were all adjusting to working together, but towards the end, it seemed to go a bit better. Well, towards the end half of the people in the kitchen retired to the couch to watch some hallmark Christmas movie. It was the one about a hard-working big city girl going back to her hometown for Christmas, but in there she meets an old school friend, that's somehow incredibly handsome even tho he looks like every other fit white man in the world, and somehow realizes the true meaning of Christmas. You know that one?
Before dinner, I turned on the sauna. I learned that to be the number one tradition in Finland, and I learned to love going to sauna while I was there. However, the sauna we had in the house could hardly be called one after seeing the saunas in Finland. Still, it was better, than nothing, and it still got pretty fucking hot.
I told my brothers about how people in Finland take a break from the sauna to go rolling in the snow and they affectionately called every Finnish person a psychopath. I still did it, and eventually, some of my brothers joined.
After the sauna, we dressed up in our best and got down for dinner. Me and my brothers were all in black suits, but I had a red dress coat, that I bought from a flea market, so I looked a bit extra. Ida was wearing a dark red dress with pearls around her neck. She actually looked really beautiful.
We had the traditional turkey and mashed potatoes with everything you could think of on the side. Mainly because we had to have something for everyone to do in the kitchen.
It was a really warm thing when we all sat around the table chatting and eating our food, dressed like we were going to church. It was one of those moments when I felt like life could turn out fine in the end. I had my family right there bickering over some stupid gingerbread-house contest, that wasn't even a contest and happened two days earlier.
The dogs had their own Christmas feast. We gave them a bath with Diego and dressed them up with bowties. Ida made them dinner from the leftover turkey and for dessert, we gave them a treat, that they of course ate first.
Dinner consisted of four courses. The starters, main course, cheese, and dessert, and between cheese and dessert, we had a rest. We all sat in the living room with the fireplace making a low crackling sound, making sure we still knew it was there, and the tree spreading its scent around the room. We were talking about nothing, that could've ever mattered to anyone, and it felt so light and warm, that I felt like I could fly. The dogs were playing with their new toys as we tried to teach Ida how to use her new cell phone.
"I got you guys all something," Gabriele said as he returned to the room with a few bags.
He gave all of us a package and eagerly told us to open them.
My brothers all got a painting of some sort. They were all paintings of a certain picture or a memory, that Gabriele had picked out for all of them. Ida got a painting of the Chicago skyline at sunset, which made her very happy. She stared at it for a long time and then teary-eyed hugged Gabriele tight. Diego got a bunch of art supplies, that Gabriele had picked out as the best ones.
I didn't really pay attention that much to the other gifts as I was preoccupied trying not to bawl my eyes out. Gabriele had bought a wireless microphone, and a really good one at that, and customized it for me. It was white and it had a lot of little paintings on it. It had my logo in gold, surrounded by notes, butterflies, eyes, and whatever he could think of. Some of them were painted, while others were drawn with markers and some were just faint outlines, that you could only see if you looked carefully. It had two dates on it, which truly made me cry. My birthday, and the day, that I moved in with my brothers. under the date, there were seven figures, that I could make out as my brothers. One was a lot smaller than the others and one was a bit see-through.
I couldn't even say anything as I hugged Gabriele, who looked a bit scared waiting for my response.
"You like it?" he asked in the hug. I just chuckled and answered:
"I love it."
Next, I gave my gifts. I bought them, while we were in Finland, just hoping they didn't notice. They weren't anything big, since it felt wrong to use their money to buy them something, but I tried. For Alessandro, I got a bunch of different colors candles, that were handmade. I then explained to him, what the different colors meant, and how he could do candle magic with them. He chuckled a bit and thanked me. After I moved on, he still kept on turning the candles in his hands with a smile, which I took as a good sign.
For Lorenzo, I got some gaiters, that were once again handmade in Helsinki. They were very neutral colors, so I thought they'd go with his vibe, which he appreciated.
"Yeah, Eli's gifts have always been a bit of a joke," Diego laughed as I pulled out the gaiters.
"Hey, I'm dead serious," I stated with a grin I couldn't keep down.
Matteo got a handmade necklace, that I got from a stall in a market we went to. The man, who had made the jewelry and then was selling them told me, that a fox symbolized intelligence, protection, and good fortune, so I bought it for Matteo, who just happened to be the most intelligent of my brothers. Everyone but Matteo groaned and tried telling me, how wrong I was ', but I just stuck out my tongue and moved on.
Antonio got a snake ring, which was made in Oulu by a girl I knew. She always told me about how snakes were always associated with evil, and how originally they symbolized things like Change, luck, authority, and even immortality. When she told me that I immediately thought about Antonio, since we both agreed, that we were immortal until proven otherwise. That also got some backlash from my oldest brothers, but a grin from the youngest ones.
For Gabriele, I got a compass, that was, who could have guessed it, handmade. It had pictures of old-timey sea monsters and stuff on it and you could open it up to reveal a picture of his favorite sibling. that time my brothers didn't even have the energy to fight with me, they just rolled their eyes.
For Diego, I got some paints that were made from completely organic materials like plants and shit and paint brushes, that were actual twigs from trees with horsehair. Diego laughed a bit at the things I got for him, but as he looked deeper he realized, that they were actually pretty fucking great.
I wanted to get something special for Ida since she took in Diego and took care of him and put up with him, to which Diego just smacked the back of my head. I got her a care package of all the things she might need since she was living with Diego. I got her some earplugs for, when he snored, some candy, that I made, for when he was fussy or, when you needed a break. I got a bath bomb and some good red wine for relaxing after a long day of taking care of a child, some painkillers for the headaches she was going to have, a tape of his favorite movies and music to keep him preoccupied, while you drew yourself that said bath, and a pendant of a four-leaf clover, since she was going to need all the luck she could get.
by the end of my list, my brothers were all at least chuckling and Ida was full-on laughing. I couldn't say the same for Diego, but he slowly got around and laughed with everyone.
After my gifts, Diego went around the room handing out the things he had made. He had also made paintings for everyone, but they were a bit different. He had painted things he had gotten from a fleamarket and made them into his own style. His style being those oh-so-familiar splashes of color and figures that could be seen in them.
Alessandro got an old phone, Lorenzo got a mirror, that had the paint framing it, and Matteo got a ceramics pot, that looked like someone had hand made s long time ago. Antonio got a pair of old sneakers, and Gabriele got a palette, that was absolutely gorgeous. it looked like it had been just used as a palette, but when you looked at it closer, you could see all the figures and the details, that went into it, and Ida got a small box for her jewelry. Inside the box, there was a string of pearls, that Gabriele had also painted.
Then, Gabriele turned to me and fished out a packet. I once again opened it carefully and found a delicate, breathable skull mask.
"You always complain about how long it takes to do the makeup and still, you have to worry about the lights coming straight from behind, so people won't see your face. Now you can just put that on, and you'll be good to go anytime," he said with so much pride in his voice it was adorable.
"Thank you so much," I said hugging my little brother, almost letting my tears fall.
He truly was the cutest thing on this planet.
After mine and Diego's, Antonio gave everyone his gifts. He got Diego a basketball jersey since they liked to play together, Gabriele some new games for his console, Matteo some new books to fill his shelves, and Lorenzo got a pair of vintage shoes. For Alessandro he donated his one months allowance to a charity, that works for income equality, and made sure, to play it so, that the company got seen for it.
Alessandro smiled, when Antonio explained what he'd done and thanked him with praise to his business eye, which I saw hit Antonio as something bright flashed behind his eyes.
for Ida, he got a set of kitchenware, since she really loved cooking, and after that, he turned to me.
"And to you, my dear sibling, I give my bike," he said tossing the keys to me.
"What the fuck?!" I screamed as it hit me.
Antonio just shrugged and explained:
"I've got a car so I don't really use it. You like it and you certainly have use for it, so it's yours."
I hugged him tight and thanked him more than is healthy for the human body.