A/N: Okay, so I've been really busy, which is why I haven't been updating. Since school went up until the 23rd and my Christmas break didn't "technically" start until the 26th (since I would've had the weekend off no matter what). Anyways, this year, I decided for Christmas, I'm going to do a sort of collage thing with a part of all the main characters' Christmas mornings. And I might try to finish the 12 days of Christmas now, since I'm not busy anymore. Merry late Christmas, or happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, or just end of December in general.
~
Locksley Manor
"Mama, Papa!" Roland exclaimed as he rushed into their bedroom. If he could get Riley out of her crib, he probably would have brought her with him to help wake Regina and Robin, since she was pretty much walking on her own now.
Robin woke up as soon as he heard the door creak open, but Regina was still fast asleep, laying on her back, but doing what she could to cuddle close to Robin with her ever growing stomach. By this point, it was obvious she was pregnant if you looked at her.
Roland went to Robin's side of the bed and shook hid dad's arm. "Papa, it's Christmas! Wake up!"
"I'm awake, my boy."
"What about Mama?"
"She needs rest. Be--"
"Because of the baby. I know. But it's Christmas!! Henry said she would be fine with waking up early today!"
Robin raised an eyebrow, not sure if he really believe Roland, but he gave in anyways. "Why don't you go see if Henry's awake and I'll wake Mama?"
Roland nodded. "Okay!" He rushed off to Henry's room while Robin turned to face his sleeping wife. "Regina," he whispered as he gently shook her. "Regina."
Regina's eyes slowly opened. "Robin...?"
"It's Christmas. The kids are going to be disappointed if you sleep in til ten again. I'll let you take a nap later if you need to."
"Wait, Christmas?"
"Yes--"
Regina sat up. "The Librarians is on tonight! Oh my gods, this is the iconic Evlynn kiss episode, Robin!"
"Milady, we have to get through all the presents before that."
"Right. Well let's go."
"I-- what?" Robin hadn't expected Regina to be ready to get up so fast. She usually took a good half hour at least to get out of bed, but this morning, she hadn't even taken time to check Instagram.
"It's Christmas!"
"You sound like Roland. Is this the baby making you overly excited, or the Librarians, or--?"
"Yes, both of those things are probably factors, but Robin, I never really got Christmas when I was little. Sure, my mother let us celebrate it because it was customary, but it wasn't a real Christmas. But now...now I have you and Henry and Roland and Riley and I actually have people who will celebrate Christmas with me. And it's no longer just Henry and I. I actually like the bigger Christmas celebrations."
"Well I hope you enjoy this Christmas. It is our first Christmas as a married couple, you know."
~
Henry, Roland, and Riley all tore open the wrapping paper on their present from Santa. Just before Christmas, the parents with shared children got together and agreed that Henry and Riley would start at the Locksleys' since they had Roland so everyone could open presents together. Then, Riley would go to Zelena and Arthur's while Henry went to Emma and Neal's.
Roland proudly held up the Lego set that Santa had brought him. "Mama, Papa, look! It's the one I wanted!" He stood up and rushed over to show them.
Henry pulled a Tenth Doctor Pop! figure from the wrapping paper and looked up at Regina and Robin, smiling. "I thought Mom was the one who got all the Pop! figures?"
Regina shrugged. "Guess Santa heard you saying you wanted some."
"Well tell Santa thank you."
Regina turned her attention to Riley, who was pulling at the wrapping paper, but not getting very far with it. Regina moved to sit on the floor next to her to help her open the present. Once the wrapping paper was off and the box was open, Riley pulled out a stuffed penguin. The black and white contrast of the fur drew her eyes towards it. She hugged it close to her and Regina smiled up at Robin.
"Looks like we chose the right animal."
"You mean Santa chose the right animal."
"Whatever floats your boat, I suppose."
~
The Golds' House
Gold closed the door quietly behind him and took off his snow-covered shoes before walking into the living room. If he was lucky, Belle would still be sleeping soundly. The hospital had released her and Rose on Christmas Eve morning, but Belle still needed a lot of rest.
Unfortunately, Belle had woken up. She was on the couch, reading a book, when Gold walked in. "Hello, dear."
Belle looked up. "Hi. I saw your note. Where'd you take her?"
"Oh, just around the town a little. I didn't want her to wake you and going outside seemed to calm her down."
"She probably just likes being carried around and seeing new things. Regina said that's how Riley, Neal Jr, and Henry all were. So, do you think she's old enough to open presents?" Belle joked.
"Yeah, probably." Gold sat down on the couch next to Belle and she snuggled closer to him. Their tree didn't have very many presents underneath it, as they'd spent the last few days in the hospital, but they didn't really need any presents. They had Rose and they had each other and that was all that really mattered.
~
The Charmings' Apartment
"Merry Christmas!!" Emma shouted as she entered the apartment. "Neal went to visit his parents, so I figured I could stop by here before Regina drops Henry off at my place. And I brought cookies."
"Cookies!" Snow exclaimed.
"Like I said, merry Christmas." Emma handed the plate of cookies to Snow, who was smiling. "Now, where's my favorite little brother?"
Snow pointed to where David was helping Neal Jr. pull out the gifts stuffed into his stocking. Emma rushed over and sat down next to him. As soon as Neal saw Emma, he seemed to forget about the stocking and reached out towards his older sister. "Emma!"
"C'mere." Emma took her brother into her arms. "Are you having a good Christmas so far?"
Neal Jr. nodded and began babbling about what all had happened that morning, though Emma could only understand bits and pieces of his (mostly jibberish) speech. But she still nodded along and did her best to hold a conversation with him.
~
The Jolly Roger
"Merry Christmas, Killy-Willy!"
Hook rolled over, still half asleep. "Don' call me tha'..."
Milah shrugged. "I don't see why I shouldn't. But come on, it's Christmas! Liam and Elsa are going to be here soon..."
Hook sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Why are you here so early? You don't even live here."
"I used to."
Hook opened his mouth, but found he couldn't argue with that, so he closed it again. He stood up and walked over to Milah. "Fine, you win. When are Liam and Elsa coming?"
"I think we've got about a half hour until they arrive, which gives me enough time to give you a tour of the holiday edition of the Jolly Roger."
"The hol-- Milah, what did you do to my ship?!"
"Decorated it for the holidays, of course. Oh look, mistletoe."
"No. This is dumb."
"It's tradition."
"Not this early in the morning!"
"Just because you're not a morning person doesn't mean you have to be so grumpy. Just at least let me show you the Christmas tree."
"Fine," Hook gave in. "But only because it's Christmas."
"I knew you had a little Christmas spirit in you, Scrooge. Now let's go!"
~
Granny's Bed & Breakfast
Ruby set a steaming cup of hot cocoa, complete with cinnamon, on the counter in front of Dorothy. "I'd make it more Christmassy by adding a candy cane, but I couldn't find any peppermint ones without red dye. Sorry," she apologized.
"Well," Dorothy pulled a candy cane from her pocket and handed it to Ruby, "I guess you get the part I can't have and I get the part you can't have. This is how couples normally share hot cocoa, right?"
"Who ever said we we normal?" Ruby asked as she opened the candy cane. "I hope you know I'm going to make the end of this pointy and turn it into a candy cane spear."
"Oh, I knew that. But you've been begging for candy canes, so I figured I'd have to give in eventually."
"Was it the puppy dog eyes?"
"Don't be ridiculous. On you, they're puppy wolf eyes. You're a werewolf, not a weredog."