[Fin] Home for Christmas

[BlackFireKitsune]

Taavi's happiness practically radiated off of him, and Abel couldn't help but wonder how much longer before it became actually tangible. A grin spread across his face, pleased and content, as he chuckled and came to a halt near Taavi and his father -- the latter looked just as pleased. "Hey man. Nothing really, just came to see how the tour was going," the blond said with a small shrug as he gestured to said feed barn - Daniel took the hint to lead them towards it, so Abel followed after him - and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You look like you're having fun. What d'you think so far?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Great!" Taavi replied succinctly with a wide gesture to their surroundings. "All of the pokemon are amazing, and the watering system is smart, and I've been sniffed by so many things and I helped with the Growlithe's food - they're so warm and friendly! - and now my hair is a cloud because Mareep! And Daniel was just telling me about Tabitha and Caleb's lines because I asked and, wow, breeding is so involved? Like you have to know totally different stuff than if you're a ranger and stuff, I mean trying to breed in unique patterns in a healthy way? It's great! All of the crossing and the line breeding here and there and all of the genetic tests to make sure they're healthy? So! Yeah! Great!" Daniel was so easy to talk to and didn't seem to mind when he got excited and started rambling about stuff, and there were so many Pokemon! So many!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The more Taavi went on about his afternoon, the broader Abel's grin grew -- and his father's. It was the latter that spoke up first, gesturing to his son, "Why can't you be this excited about the ranch?"

Abel chuckled and shook his head fondly, opting not to comment and instead focused on his friend. He'd known Taavi would love it here, but it was still good to know for a fact that he did love it. "I'm glad you're having so much fun. Oh," his eyebrows rose a bit and he looked to his father, "that reminds me. Dad, did you and Mom ever pick out a Growlithe for--?"

"You bet! Your mother picked her out actually, you know how she is. She's better at figuring out good temperaments for people, like with Tabitha. Alright, let's see where she's at..." Daniel squinted as he cast around for the group of Growlithe, then raised his fingers to his lips before giving a sharp whistle. And then: "Clara! C'mere girl!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh much! And ooh?" Taavi perked up even further than he already was, a little like a Growlithe in fact.

From among the crowd came a friendly bark and a young well-formed Growlithe pushed her way through the throng until she reached Daniel, where she promptly sat at heel and looked up with questioning blue eyes.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"There she is," Daniel said fondly as he stooped to hold the furry face in his hands, giving her plenty of scratches on her cheeks and around her ears. "She's friendly and well-behaved - smart as a whip, too - she'll be perfect for your friend. She already knows she's going home with you at the end of your trip, too."

Abel smiled and crouched down to hold a hand out for the fire-type. "Aren't you pretty? Thanks Dad, I think she's perfect."

"Ah, no, I can't take all the credit. Thank your mom first," he said quickly.

"Alright, I'll tell her thanks then. Hmm.." Was it just his imagination, or did she look like...? Abel squinted just a bit, his gaze roaming over her hauntingly familiar coat. "Is she related to Juliet?"

"You bet!" His father affirmed quickly, practically radiating with pride - though whether it was because of Juliet or because his son had guessed Clara's parentage, he didn't make clear - and nodded as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "She's from her most recent litter. That was your mother's idea too, I think because Juliet's got such a good temperament herself."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ahh!" Taavi brought his hands to his mouth to silence his glee. After a few moments he lowered his hands and turned to Abel with a bright grin. "For Zev? That's wonderful! Ahh! She's so great! He'll love her! Who is Juliet?" Ahhhh! If that wasn't adorable tell him what was, hu, hu? A puppy! For Christmas! Oh nooooo!

Clara barked happily and leaned into Daniel's scratches, but her eyes flickered over to Abel as she wagged her pennant of a tail. Yes, she knew exactly where she was going and she was excited! She would miss everyone here but she would see them again, and she would get to meet many new friends in Kodo and a special one who would be hers forever!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yep, for Zev," Abel affirmed with a smile. Since she didn't seem or look opposed, he reached out to scratch behind her ears. "And Juliet was my first Growlithe," he said with a wry grin, glancing up to his dad.

"Ah, yeah.." Daniel straightened up and scratched his chin for want of a moment to think. "We sent her to him as a gift, but then we had to ask for her back a while later, so we sent him Caleb instead. Juliet's the Arcanine that was running alongside the truck bef--"

A loud bark interrupted him and both he and Abel looked up to see said Arcanine bounding towards them, two small children in brightly-colored coats clinging to her and each other while they giggled madly the whole way.

"Oh, 'scuse me," Abel said as he stood up, walked a few paces away, and braced for impact.

In no time at all the large fire-type closed the distance, screeched to a halt in front of Abel, and promptly shoved him over to flop on top of him in the snow. The two little girls, both blonde with bright purple eyes, identical in looks except for the color of their coats and their hairstyles, immediately slid off the Arcanine's back and swarmed Abel with excited giggling the second Juliet lifted her head and gave them the space to do so. Lying on his back in the snow, the blond promptly wrapped an arm around each little waist and pulled them down to hug them both at the same time, his entire demeanor as bright and happy as his smile. "When did you guys get so big? You need to stop growing before you get taller than Juliet. Who will you ride around on then?"

"Um!" One said promptly, her face contorting into a thoughtful frown.

"Exactly." So saying, he flopped his arms back into the snow, grabbed some in each hand, and promptly plopped the misshapen blobs of snow onto their blonde heads as he sat upright again, eliciting squeals of protest. "Girls, this is my friend Taavi. Taavi, these're Callista and Camilla," he gestured to each in turn; both suddenly turned rather shy and quiet in response, "my sister's kids."  

[TawnyAngel]

Ahahahaha, he was really actually getting him a Growlithe! Why were they not dating and why was there nobody he could discuss this with, other than his partners who were all pretty indifferent to human romance? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Luckily there was then a distraction, and he couldn't help laughing as Abel was floored by the incoming Arcanine plus child passengers; these were the nieces then!... That Alyssa had threatened. Fuuuuuuuuck. Long may Alyssa stay dead, and all of them have nothing to do with such awful people.

When he was introduced to them Taavi dropped down onto his butt, seen as that was about the level everyone else was on. "Hi there!" he said with a little wave of his fingers. "It's really nice to meet you. You two are good riders hu?"

Clara barked and wriggled excitedly as the Arcanine plus child express arrived, and while the humans talked she trotted over to sniff happily at her mother.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Both girls fidgeted shyly for a few moments before Callista mumbled, "Hi."

"Yes." Camilla drew herself up to her full (sitting) height (still short) and put her small hands on her hips. "We are excellent riders. I'm better than Callie though."

"Are not!" It was Callista's turn to recover from her shyness, turning an imperious glare on her twin.

Camilla promptly countered this claim in kind and in full. "Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Little snowballs started flying by the time Abel grabbed both and took them down with him as he flopped backwards into the snow, eliciting squeals that tried in vain to sound indignant. "Where's your mom, is she inside?"

"Yep!" Camilla replied promptly, pushing wisps of blonde hair from her eyes.

Callista wasn't as fortunate, wiping snow off her face instead of just hair, and did her best to be more helpful than her impetuous sibling. "She's talking with Grandma in the kitchen."

"Alright, we should probably head back inside then to see her," Abel said, though as he currently had two small children on top of him, he didn't move just yet. Said small children responded in tandem with a disappointed 'awww...'

Daniel stooped over them with a chuckle. "And what about staying out with your grandpa instead while your uncle and his friend go say hello to your mother?"

"Oh!" Both girls cried out in unison again as their expressions brightened, and both scrambled off the blond to take one of Daniel's hands in theirs. Camilla added, "That sounds like lots more fun."

With a chuckle, Abel pushed himself back up to a sitting position again. Ohhh, it was so good to be back home... They were as cute as ever. Part of him wished they wouldn't ever get any bigger, that they'd stay little and adorable forever.

Juliet happily whuffed at the smaller fire-type before affectionately grooming the tuft of fur atop her head.  

[TawnyAngel]

It was impossible not to chuckle at the girls' antics, Taavi didn't even try. "Well I think you're both pretty great, and great at making snowballs too! Maybe we can have a snowball fight sometime?" Maybe tomorrow? He wasn't sure how long all of Abel's family was staying, would they be here the whole time? "But um, yeah, we should go in now I guess?" Taavi directed this to Abel and got to his feet ready to do so; he also tried to dust snow off himself but most of it had already melted, so it was lucky his pants were water resistant or he'd have a really wet butt right now.

Clara made a happy whuffing noise and returned the licking, though in her case it was around her mother's snout as she couldn't reach anywhere else.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Callista hesitated at the suggestion but Camilla jumped on it immediately, turning to look at Taavi with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Yes. We can have a snowball fight later, and we're gonna win!"

Callista frowned and peered around their grandfather to whisper doubtfully to her twin, while Daniel chuckled as he led the pair towards the barn.

The Arcanine happily nuzzled Clara's smaller face before turning to follow after Daniel and the girls.

Abel chuckled as well, pushed himself to his feet, dusted off whatever snow still clung to the now wet fabric of his pants, and stuck his hands into his coat pockets. A grin remained on his face from his nieces, and then because watching Clara interact with her mother was precious. She would be perfect; just what he'd asked his mother for in a Growlithe. Perfect, absolutely perfect. "Yeah, let's go inside." As he turned and headed towards the house he couldn't help but ask, "So how much do you love it here?" Because of course Taavi would love it here, he just didn't know how much exactly.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi grinned at Abel and held his arms out to the sides. "I love it this much!" He laughed briefly and allowed his arms to drop again, and followed up with a shrug. "Yeah, it's really great and your family is awesome; thank you for asking me to come, this is going to be the best holiday ever." They hadn't been on many when he'd been little, lack of money was a thing, but he'd always been quite happy just camping. This was just as awesome though or maybe more because there were just so many friendly pokemon! You couldn't interact with wild pokemon in the same way, not usually anyway.

As the two men headed towards the house Clara gave her mother a last lick and then trotted after them, her tail still wagging happily.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His grin broadened as he chuckled a bit. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. I mean I knew you'd love it, but it's always nice to hear that you really do." It was indeed heartening, especially with the claim it would be the best holiday ever. While Taavi might've only said that to be nice or polite, Abel couldn't help but get the impression that he'd meant it sincerely, which only made him more glad.

Joanna pressed a mug of hot cocoa into their hands before they'd even finishing coming in through the back door. "You both must be cold! Did you see the twins?"

"Yep, I already got tackled, don't worry," Abel assured her as he accepted the mug gratefully and stepped to one side to give Taavi more space, then toed his snowy shoes off into a corner where they'd be out of the way and not dirty the carpeting anywhere else in the house. With that done, he turned to the other woman in the kitchen - a slender woman whose long blonde hair was drawn up into a bun at the back of her head, her face and eyes almost identical to Joanna's, and stood just as tall as Aaron - to give her a warm, tight hug. "Good to see you again Alex."

"It's good to see you too." A few moments later they separated, and she turned to Taavi with a pleasant smile; her reserved demeanor and voice lacked the eagerness, the excitement that her mother frequently displayed, but still held just as much warmth. "You must be.. Taavi? Did I say that right? I'm Alexandra, Abel's sister. It sounds like you've met my girls already, but this," she gestured a thin hand towards the bright blueish-green and white Vaporeon sitting demurely beside her, her finned tail curled around her paws, "is Maria."  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi gave a happy little 'heh' of amusement and nodded as they stepped in through the door. "Heh, I really do! I bet these two weeks are just going to fly by!" They were for him certainly, and though he knew Abel would be missing a certain somebody they probably would for him too. Two years without seeing a family you were clearly really close to! Seeing them all again had to be amazing.

"Oh, hey Joanna, thank you!" Taavi accepted the mug with a grateful smile as he stooped to unfasten his boots, luckily he hadn't done the double bow up too tight so it was easy to get it unfastened one handed. "They're staying outside with Daniel and Juliet for a little while," Taavi offered on top of Abel's information as he straightened up again and slipped his boots off.

Woo, okay, and next new person! Alexandra seemed friendly too; not too forward but friendly. "Um, yeah that's right! It's nice to meet you both," he replied with a now faintly shy smile to human and pokemon alike; everything had gone well so far but each new person brought a chance for it to not go well if he messed up somehow.

Having followed the duo of human inside Clara trotted over to stand next to Joanna and wagged her tail curiously at Alexandra and Maria.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Would these two weeks fly by? Did he want them to..? He kind of did, but he kind of didn't. He shouldn't wish such a thing, after not having seen his family in so long, and yet...

But now here were his mother and sister, a mug of hot cocoa in his chilly hands, and it only further warmed his heart and his smile.

"You're welcome dear," Joanna replied brightly. "There's plenty more where that came from -- cocoa and tiny marshmallows."

Alex nodded, her expression remaining warm and calm, though she spared a moment or two to stoop down and give Clara a scratch behind the ear. Maria offered a polite coo of greeting to the familiar pokemon. "Ah, that sounds like them. They love spending time out in the fields, especially with Dad. So--"

"Abel, your jeans are soaked!" Joanna interrupted, her gaze locking onto the wet fabric that clung to his ankles, her expression morphing from jovial to concerned in an instant. Taavi's clothes didn't look nearly as bad; no, his looked fairly weatherproof, unlike Abel's. "You should go upstairs and change into dry clothes. And Alex, why don't you go and catch up when he's finished? Your father and I already have, but you haven't had a chance to yet, I think that would be nice."

Alex's gaze flickered between her mother, Taavi and her brother before she focused back on her mother with a slightly puzzled frown. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. Go on, it's important. And don't worry about me, I'll have Taavi keep me company," she added with a bright smile at the young man, then gestured at both her children, "go on, shoo! Go catch up!"

While her daughter's puzzled frown deepened just a tad, she shrugged and departed with her own mug of cocoa in hand and Maria trotting along at her heels. Abel's expression mirrored his sister's as he studied his mother's face, but a moment or two later he adopted a knowing smile and followed after his sister in short order.

The moment Joanna heard both two sets of footsteps ascending the stairs, she rounded on Taavi, her eyes burning with curiosity and her voice quiet and rather excited. "Tell me about this friend of his!"