The Yashnid Household

"You said she's disappeared, right?"

"Gone. She's in Amsterdam. She's got a job."

"Oh, that's awesome!" Jake grinned. "But, hey, what are you going to do? Are you coming back to school this year? If you don't, it'll only be me, Eric and Holly."

"I'm going to school. What if the shop doesn't work out? I'll need something to fall back on. I called Honeydukes, and they're willing to wait a year to hire me."

Jake grinned. "That's great!" And then he hugged Selia.

"Thanks!" Selia said, smiling. "First Hogsmeade weekend there is, though, we're spending it as a date, okay? We'll ditch Eric and Holly cruelly in the dust."

"That's right!" Jake said with a sharp nod of his head. "I feel horrible for Holly, though.." His cheerful glow faded. "I'll really miss them- you know, Fry and Karin.."

"I do too. Fry was one of my best friends, and Karin.. Well, I feel worse for her than I do Fry. She was just about to come out of really hard times and into happiness, and she never made it there."

"Neither of them deserved to go." Jake said quietly. "But, hey, they're in a happier place, now, right?"

It was Christmas! Yay.

Selia was wandering around the house, humming Christmas tunes, putting up festive things like holly, mistletoe, wreaths, poinsettias, all the works. She had found the Yashnid's Christmas box, and was exploiting it. She even had on a santa hat.

Selia, after hanging up all the Christmas decorations she could find, went into the kitchen and got the wrapped box out of its hiding place. "Oh, Jaake.." She called, making sure the box was still perfect.

[BECAUSE HE DIED]

Jake arrived at the door. "Hey..." he groaned, and sneezed. He had caught some disgusting cold. "... Eurgh.."

And his whole family was here. His grandpa, too.

"Your.. Your grandpa's here. And your family. Maybe you shouldn't open your present here.." And maybe not while you have that cold, either. That sounds nasty. Selia thought to herself.

"Why? What did you give me? Condoms?" He was obviously joking, though.

"N-no!" Selia stammered, turning red and clutching the present tightly. "How about some brownies?" She asked, pulling some out of the fridge. "I made them earlier. Eat."

Jake grinned. "Thanks!" he said with a grin, then eyed her suspiciously. "Are they?"

"What? The brownies are what?" She asked, smiling. Selia appeared to have gotten control of her stammer.

"No, your gift! Are they really?"

"I'd rather not talk about this at the moment." Selia's eyes darted towards Jake's family. "How about you have another brownie?"

"Oh, sure!" And he seemed happy for the night.

Later on, Selia finally got him while the rest of his family was busy. "Um, Jake.. You can open your present now." She mumbled, looking away and handing it to him.

And so, he opened it.

And it was what he guessed.

Selia stood there awkwardly, staring at him, hoping to God his grandfather- or any other family member- wasn't around.

Jake stared at them for a moment before grinning mellowly. "... I feel loved."

"I'm glad to hear that." Selia said. The stammer was back, but I'm not going to bore you typing it out. "Umm.."