"Beethoven, where are you? I don't have all the time in the world to play these games." Ludwig called.

Of course, he received no answer from his scaredy cat. He scanned the room for any sign of the feline. He caught sight of his black tail swishing from under the couch. Ludwig guessed he had attempted to hide under the furniture, but he didn't fit all the way because of his round body.

"Alright, come to papa," He whispered as he pulled Beethoven from under the couch.

"No! No! You'll never take me alive!" Beethoven yowled dramatically. He attempted to wiggle out of Ludwig's arms, but he maintained his grip.

"I haven't a clue what has gotten into you, Bee. It's just a simple tooth brushing."

"Why must I go through this again?" Beethoven whined.

"Because: 1) it's for your own good and 2) Lilium wants you all spic and span for our first Christmas photos."

"And since when did you start caring about what Lilium wants? Or about the wants of anyone other than yourself, for that matter." Beethoven questioned skeptically as Ludwig gently set him down on the glass coffee table in the living room. The twins were also in the room on a blanket on the floor doing their tummy time while Roy supervised them and gave them encouraging words of support.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno....it's just some stupid photos....it's no big deal....no use in being uncooperative..."

"Right..." Beethoven replied, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing," He purred, examining his claws, "I was only thinking that perhaps Lili is important to you, which makes whatever is important to her important to you as well~"

"No...it's nothing like that..."

"Are you sure about that~?" Roy sang, "You seemed to get pretty jelly when John came over the other day~"

"Well th-that's because he's a stranger. This house is my territory, I am skeptical of all strangers who set foot within these walls."

"You even took her daughter back in time just so she could watch her favorite ballet! That's extremely out of character for you, Lud." Beethoven added.

"Well...well...well...NONE OF THAT MEANS ANYTHING! Can't I just do a thing without it having to mean anything?!" Ludwig exclaimed. Though his ruffled tone of voice and fierce denial told a different story.

"Okay....say what you want but I still kinda ship it~" Roy commented. "Don't you think so, boys? Would you want Ludwig to be your new Daddy--"

"Could everybody just, like, shut up for a few minutes? Thank you, that would be greatly appreciated."

"There is no need to deny what we all know to be true~" Beethoven teased him playfully.

"You too! Stop talking so I can brush those teeth!" Ludwig ordered, sticking the little toothbrush in his mouth before he could get another word out.

They changed into their photoshoot clothes at the studio, to make sure that nothing happened to them before it was time to get their photos taken. Lilium emerged from the dressing room in a brilliantly red off-the-dhoulder dress with a flared skirt and white ankle strap heels. She'd also fixed her short brown cinnamon hair into an up-do for the first time since Ludwig had known her. He thought the dress looked so cute, he wondered if she'd let him try it on one day if he asked.

She walked up to him and handed him a simple necklace. "Hey, could you help me put this necklace on? I've tried doing it myself but I just can't seem to get it! The little latch thingy is too small..."

Ludwig wasn't really familiar with putting necklaces on, much less on other people but he tried his best. Now that he was so close to her, he could smell the scent of the perfume she'd put on. He didn't understand why she did, no one would be able to smell her through the photo. And he preferred her natural scent much more anyway, but she didn't ask nor care what he preferred.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed when he'd finished before getting started on dressing one of the twins in their photo outfit. Lili seemed to always be going a mile a minute. Getting stuff done, caring for herself, caring for her children. He wondered when, if ever, she took breaks to settle down and breathe. As she worked, Ludwig thought for the first time that...she actually looked nice. Off-the-shoulder type dresses happened to be his favorite for they drew attention to the wearer's neck, shoulders, and clavicles. And Lili had nice, defined clavicles. She had a nice, slender neck, too. But she did not ask nor care what he thought.

He wore a deep red suit with a white shirt and black tie. Lili had searched hard to pick it out for him. Most of the red suits around that time were festive with snowflakes and santas on them, but she hated those. When she'd finally found it, she'd stated it might not look good on him because he was so "scrawny", but it would have to do. He generally didn't like suits. He found them too restraining and stiff and unnatural, it wasn't what he was used to. But he'd told himself he only had to wear it for a little while then afterwards he could bury it in the dark depths of his closet. He wondered if...maybe...she thought he might look nice too, if only a little.

Everyone had been included in the photo. Roy had even been in it too, though he made sure his ghostly figure didn't show up at first so as not to scare the poor photographer.

When the photo came back, Lili hung it up in a large wooden frame in the living room where everyone could see it. She also gave everyone copies of the photos to keep and inserted smaller copies in Adzuki, Joseph, and Jacob's baby books.

Ludwig couldn't really remember ever taking "Christmas photos" with any of the families he'd ever had, but he knew it was a thing real families did.

He guessed this meant that he was a part of a real family now.

                                                    ***

Come Christmas day, Lili decided to just take it easy. She picked up some KFC on Christmas eve so all she had to do was pop it in the microwave the next day. She did, however, spare some time to bake some festive cookies, the heavenly aroma of her creations filling the kitchen.

When they were done, she announced, "Cookies, fresh out of the oven!"

Ludwig, bored, came to see how the baked treats turned out. "Christmas trees? How original."

"Don't judge! Put this in your face hole." She commanded, shoving a piece of warm cookie into his big mouth. He chewed.

"Well?"

"...It's hot..."

"And?"

"Soft...." He moaned.

"And?"

"...Sweet. I must admit, they're pretty good. Especially for someone who hardly bakes."

She beamed. "Thanks! Everyone's going to have their own cookie to decorate later on when all the guests arrive."

"Guests?"

"Yeah, it'll just be a small get together. Emmy's coming over from next door of course, and I think she's bringing Eva as well."

"Is that Mattathias guy coming over too?" Ludwig asked, a hint of agitation in his voice.

"It's Matthias, Count Olaf." She corrected him with a snicker.

"Why are you comparing me to him?"

"Why not? You both have the weird Bozo the Clown hairstyle going on and you're both evil in your own ways. And you guys' weird bullshit amuses me. And you're both insensitive, selfish, and generally inattentive to those around you." Lili elaborated.

He didn't know she thought his hair was "weird" or that it made him look like a clown. Instinctively, he began playing with it self-consciously. At least he amused her, that had to count for something.

"Well, that wasn't a very nice thing to say." He informed her.

"Sorry, hon, but it's the truth. Anyways, no, Matthias isn't coming over. He's up in Watermelon (Liverpool) spending time with his family. He's, like, a Muslim so he doesn't really celebrate Christmas. So, no need to be jealous~"

"I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous of him?"

"Oh...I don't know...maybe because he's a fit, voluptuous man with a real job and some real muscle. And his hair is nice, too."

"In my opinion, you shouldn't be concerned with what my job is. As long as it's legal and brings home the bacon, you should be satisfied. Besides, I sure don't hear you complaining when I bring home my fat check."

"Right.....whatever you say." She chuckled.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Thinking it must be Emmy, Lili moved swiftly to open it.

"Hello!" She greeted her friend after she opened the door. They hugged and Emmy gave Lili air kisses on both cheeks.

"I certainly hope you haven't started the festivities without us!" Emmy said as she set Eva down on the wood floor. She watched her human and her human's friend walk into the living room, chatting good-naturedly as they often did.

Eva's green eyes scanned her surroundings. The layout of the house seemed to be exactly like her own, only flipped. She didn't have a clue of what Emmy expected her to do once she set her on the floor. Did she expect her to play with the other cat who's scent she was picking up? Definitely not, Miss Eva did not associate with mongrels. She sighed, already bored. But she would maintain her professional composure just in case she encountered the inhabitant. Hungry, her little legs carried her into the kitchen. There was a pretty pink food dish with a smaller water dish attached to it. The water dish even had a cool little water bottle sticking up out of it.

She sniffed at the wet food. Fancy Feast, just the kinda stuff she ate at home. Perhaps this other cat had some taste after all. As she began digging into the meal, her ears picked up a low, hissing sound. She searched the kitchen for the source, but there was none to be found.

Suddenly, a flash of black leaped off of one of the nearby dining room chairs. Instinctively, she sought refuge under the wooden dinner table. There was literally nowhere else to hide, so it would have to do.

Luckily, the object didn't give chase. "What are you doing?" The male hissed, "That's mine!"

"Is that anyway for you to treat a guest?" Eva purred, licking her dainty white paws nonchalantly. She could tell by the size of this bloke that he didn't mess around when it came to food.

"And what makes you think you're so entitled that you can intrude into my territory and feast on my meal?" He snapped back.

She fluffed up subtly. "You must not know who I am! It's quite alright, I wouldn't expect a common housepet like you to take part in feline high society." She said, looking him up and down pitifully.

"I am Eva."

He cocked his head. "...Eva?"

"Yes, the Eva." She replied, adjusting the pink beret on her head.

"Yeah....I have no clue who you are." Beethoven admitted, sniffing at her curiously.

"Really? I'm a celebrity, darling! I have my own YouTube and Instagram and I'm an established model for cat products! The humans can't get enough of me!" She bragged, striking some of the poses that her fans happened to love the most.

"Well, I don't frequent YouTube nor Instagram to watch other cats do.....whatever that is." Beethoven said, looking her up and down with an unimpressed look on his face.

She gasped indignantly. "How dare you insult me this way...you...you...mongrel!"

"Well, at least my face doesn't look like somebody smashed it with a frying pan!" He laughed.

Instinctively, she hid her face in embarrassment. Was her face really that flat? She knew Persians were known for that kind of thing, but she didn't think her face was that exaggerated. Mortified, she scampered off in search of a mirror just to make sure what the uncouth tom said wasn't true.

She returned later with newfound confidence after ensuring that her face wasn't as flat as he made it out to be. He could joke all he wanted, but at least she was somebody. And all he would ever be was a stupid, dirty, mongrel.

She watched him intently from the safety of the computer room. He wasn't doing anything, just pacing around there, puppy guarding all the food and water. As she watched, she began to admire his sleek black fur and striking orange eyes. And from there, she just barely caught a glimpse of his scrotum, the sign of an intact male. She normally exclusively preferred to associate with white cats, but she had to admit he wore his melanin-rich coat well. Perhaps, the dark coloring could even be considered as elegant as a white coat. Still, black cats--out of all cats--were the most trouble, the ones she tried to avoid most of all. They were those outside types, the ones who knew no rhyme or reason. She was white, he was black, they naturally came from two different worlds. But....she'd never had a bad boy before. She'd heard those were the ones who really liked a good rough and tumble. Even though he was beneath her, he could be of use to her. And with a heat cycle quickly approaching, she was willing to experiment.

She made sure her white fur was in order before she padded over to him, trying to appear natural. She cleared her throat, but the tom didn't say anything.

Eva shot him a flirtatious smile. "So...what do you have to do around here? I'm sure our humans are expecting us to get along..."

When he didn't respond, she continued, "Well, I was just thinking....if you're up for it...maybe we could get to know each other a little better~." She purred, tickling his black nose with her soft tail as she circled him.

"Of course, don't trick yourself into believing that this means anything. It's just a one time thing, you see. I'm only doing this because you're the only thing here capable of satisfying me at the moment." She informed him.

Beethoven shrugged. He thought this queen needed a serious attitude adjustment, but as the gentleman he was, he wasn't about to say no to a lady in need of his....assistance.

                                                ******

Meanwhile, while the cats got busy, the others gathered in the living room to prepare to open Christmas gifts. The room buzzed with excitement and anticipation as everyone wondered what they'd received and how others would react to the gifts they gave.

"So...who's going first?" Roy asked enthusiastically. Even though they'd seen Roy before, Emmy and Adzuki still weren't used to him popping up out of nowhere.

"Why don't you go first?" Ludwig retorted.

"I already told Lili not to get me anything because I don't need anything, so I'm not expecting any gifts."

"Oh. Well, I just wasn't going to get you anything anyway."

"Gee, thanks." Roy remarked, sarcastically.

"Since you're so chatty, why don't you go first, Ludwig?" Lili butted in, feigning sweetness.

"Fine, I'll go." He replied, reaching underneath the Christmas tree and grabbing the first present he could reach with his name on it. The little sticker said that it was from Lili. He was half surprised that he'd received any gifts. If he remembered correctly, this would be the first Christmas present that Kooky had ever received.

Hopefully, it's something we all like, Lewdwig commented.

I dunno, we have pretty different likes, Fritz pointed out. Whatever it is, I suppose it's the thought that counts. Lilium went out of her way to get us a gift, and we should show our gratitude.

She didn't get us a gift, whatever she got is for Kooky, Lewdwig corrected him.

"...I don't have super high hopes. Not many people know what I really like, so they don't give me gifts." He said as he dug through the tissue paper in the gift bag.

"Yeah...because that's definitely the only reason nobody gets you anything." Lilium commented.

"Yeah, it is."

"Could you just shut up and take the stuff out already?" Lili whined.

"FINE! I'm going, I'm going."

He pulled out the first thing he touched, which happened to be a black box. He couldn't help but smile as he read, "'Color Changing Cat Ear Wireless Headphones."

Lili quickly took a photo of him while he was smiling, holding his present. T'was a rare occurrence to catch him smiling with his teeth showing. Most of the time, he just gave a smirk or a closed-mouth grin.

"I've noticed you like to play a lot of video games on the computer and on your handheld consoles but you didn't have any headphones. I also know you like cats, and they have a blue light color option so you can change them ot your favorite color. And honestly, I was tired of hearing loud screaming while I'm trying to watch my shows." She laughed and the rest of the guests joined in.

Oh, but there was more! He pulled out what his fingers could feel was a cylindrical object. Upon closer inspection once out of the bag, everyone present could see it was a water bottle. The cap was black with some powder blue portions and it came with a strap for easier carrying. The bottle portion was a gradient of light blue that faded to a purplish-pink. She'd gotten that color as a joke, for she thought it looked gay. Little did she know he genuinely enjoyed the color.

One one side there were measurements of 100 to 1000ml and 4 to 36oz--for any Shrooms (Americans) who happened to buy the product--in white print. On the other side, there were lines with different times above them. Going through the lines was a water droplet that gradually emptied further down the bottle until it got to the bottom, where the user was instructed to fill the bottle once more.

"A while ago you told me those scientists told you that you needed to drink about 750 milliliters of...." Lili paused, unsure if she wanted to out him as a vampire in front of her daughter, "....red juice a day to survive. I want to make sure you're drinking as much as you need everyday so I got you this bottle with exact measurements so you can fill it up exactly. I don't want you to end up malnourished or anything again."

He cleared his throat. "Thank you....these gifts have...erm....exceeded my expectations."

"Now open mine! Open mine!" Roy exclaimed, excited to see his brother's reaction. Honestly, the anticipation of waiting to see the reactions of the people who received his gift was giving him a natural high after feeling a little down for the past few weeks. He'd always been a generous gift giver. He loved to hear the "Thank yous" and "I can't believe you remembered I liked this"s and "You know me so well"s. Money was no object. Sure, that kind of thinking had gotten him in sticky situations but he preferred to focus on the present.

He dragged Roy's present from under the tree. He tore off the wrapping paper (it wasn't the neatest but Roy had tried his best!). Unexpectedly, Ludwig screamed when he realized what the gift was, startling everyone in the room except the babies, who had drifted off to sleep.

"Go on! What is it?!" Emmy pushed.

"It's a figurine of Owen and Blue!" He exclaimed, holding the statue out for the room's occupants to see. The figurine depicted Owen posing confidently with his arms crossed and Blue standing behind him, her long tail extending far beyond the base of the statue. The base was fashioned to look like natural earthy ground. On it, was a little bronze plaque of the Jurassic World logo. Upon closer inspection, Ludwig could see that Owen and Blue were standing within a dinosaur footprint. It was so detailed that everyone familiar with the franchise could easily tell the man was modeled after Chris Pratt.

"Um...Owen and Blue? Am I supposed to know who that is?" Emmy asked, becoming uninterested.

"They're from the Jurassic World franchise, Owen's the man and Blue's the dinosaur--"

"The raptor." Ludwig corrected.

"Yeah, that. That there's the $400 1:9 statue by Chronicle Collectables. It was made years ago, so it was kind of hard to find but I managed to come through." Roy explained, flipping his pink hair proudly.

"This is amazing.....the level of artistry is top tier....they even included Owen's scar on his left forearm! This...this....is amazing! Thank you!" Ludwig exclaimed genuinely.

Roy found Ludwig's smile contagious. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. Your genuine gratitude is all the thanks I need."

As Ludwig crawled off to the corner to continue examining his new toy, Lili suggested, "Why don't you go next, Zuki?"

Adzuki searched through the gifts before finding one addressed to her. She carefully tore the paper off the small, rectangular box. She grinned with realization. "Dzee iPhone 26! And it's black! Merci beaucoup, maman!"

"Yeah, you better be grateful. That stupid thing costed, like, £1,000. That's your Christmas and New Year's gift." Lili scolded her jokingly.

"New Year's gift?" Ludwig asked, "That's a thing too?"

"No," She laughed, "Adzuki's birthday is on New Year's day. Sometimes I split her gifts up and give her some on Christmas and some on her birthday, but I only got her one thing this year. My parents actually used to do the same thing with me when I was a kid, because my birthday is the day after Christmas. Sometimes, I give her all her gifts for Christmas, like I did with you, Ludwig, because your birthday is so close to Christmas day."

"I love it!" Adzuki confirmed. She opened the box and removed the pure, deep black phone with the famous logo on the back. She began handling it with fascination.

"How about you go next, Emmy?" Lili suggested after Adzuki disappeared up stairs to fiddle with her new gift.

"Oh, you shouldn't have!" She exclaimed when Lili handed her the gift bag. After sifting through the white tissue paper, she pulled out a white T-shirt. On the shirt was a graphic that resembled an official seal, the seal reading, "Certified Cat Mom".

"You know...'cause you're a cat mom to two fur babies," Lili explained, even though it hardly needed explaining, "And since your cats both have white fur, their fur probably won't be noticeable on your shirt!"

"Thank you, Lilium. I really appreciate you thinking of me. You're the last recipient left, so why don't you open my gift next?" Emmy proposed, offering Lili the gift she'd gotten her.

She removed the wrapping paper from the soft package. They were lime green scrubs decorated with adorable chibi rams. She looked at them in silence for a second. Then she looked up, silently staring into Emmy's soul. She then began to shake her friend, squealing like a little girl about how absolutely adorable the rams were. She eventually stopped shaking Emmy long enough to embrace her in a tight hug.

"You're very welcome, Lilium. I-I'm glad you fancy them." Emmy replied, slightly ruffled.

"Open mine next!" Roy insisted, shoving his gift bag towards her.

"Okay, okay," She said as she took it into her grasp. She reached in and pulled out a small circular object.

She chuckled as she read the pink and black badge holder."I never dreamed I'd grow up to be a super cute NICU Nurse but here I am rockin' it."

"Yeah, 'cause, like, in school you were all sporty and athletic and kinda unapproachable and stuff. Nobody thought you'd never have a boyfriend or get married or have kids, much less have a job where you get paid to work with tiny babies. I dunno if it's always been your dream to be a NICU nurse, but no one else expected it." Roy told her.

"The fact that it says 'super cute' is kinda sus...." She trailed off.

"What? I may like guys but I'm not blind!" He exclaimed playfully.

"Thank you....and thank you for the badge holder, too. I haven't changed mine in the longest so now I have an excuse to change it up!"

"There's more in there too!" He informed her, pointing at the bag.

"Oh!" She said, digging further into it. She then pulled out a bottle of clear liquid. "Eucalyptus and spearmint body wash and foam bath for stress relief....." She read.

She opened the bottle top and took a whiff. "Oooo, it smells nice! Thanks!"

"You welcome~! As a working girl, you've got a lot on your plate with your job and the twins so I just think it's important to treat yourself every once in a while with a nice bubble bath or somethin'!"

"I can't remember the last time I've actually taken a bubble bath....well, like they say: there's no time like the present!"

Along with the bubble bath, there was also some essential oil mist, lotion, and a candle of the same fragrance, all of them also for stress relief.

"Ludwig, don't you have anything to give Lili as well?" Roy asked.

For the first time, he set his little statue down and crawled over to where he'd placed his gift under the tree. He handed the bag to Lili as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"I am genuinely shocked that you even took time out of your day to get me something." She teased.

"Oh just shut up and open it."

Lili obeyed, pulling another badge holder out of the bag. On the badge holder was a photo of the meme of the dog with the hat calmly sitting in his house while it was on fire, saying "This is fine." as if nothing was out of the norm. As she looked at it, she began to giggle furiously, causing an uncontrollable grin to spread across Ludwig's face.

"I got it 'cause I'm pretty sure it's hectic at work and at home sometimes, and you just push through as if everything's okay because there's no time to sit around and cry about it. So....hopefully...when you're at work and feeling upset and stressed....seeing the photo will make you happy." He explained.

"I love it!" She told him genuinely, surprised that he'd given her such a simple, yet thoughtful gift.

"There's more stuff too...."

"YASSSSSSSS." She exclaimed as she withdrew the 20.99 oz bag of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Chocolate Squares from the gift bag.

"Pe-ri-ot." She said as she slapped his thigh rhythmically. She pulled him into a hug before remembering that he didn't really like to be touched. However, he did not push her away so she continued.

"Thank you so much! Gosh, I can't believe you remembered how much I love these! I mean, like, your gifts have exceeded my expectations!"

"U-um...you're welcome. By the by, some of those squares happen to be dark chocolate rather than milk."

"Ew." She responded with disgust as she pulled away from him.

"Sorry, I don't make the rules, " He replied, not sounding sorry at all, "But we wouldn't want perfectly good confections to go to waste, so I'll be expecting my portion of the candy ASAP."

"Wow...I can't believe you're taking my gift away after you just gave it to me....well, that's it, the heartfelt moment's ruined." She said, throwing up her hands.

"Hey, there's still other gifts under there." Emmy pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. I got Matthias a gift too but he left town earlier than I thought he would so I didn't have a chance to get it to him. I'll drop by his place when he gets back." Lili explained.

"Well, what about that other one?"

"What other one?" Lili asked, carefully getting on all fours to look under the tree.

She pulled out the gift bag. "Oh, yeah, I forgot I got Beethoven some gifts too! Just a feather stick and some bonito fish flake treats. They were highly rated so I hope he likes them..."

"Who is Beethoven?" Emmy asked, looking around.

"Oh, he's my British Shorthair cat." Ludwig explained to her, "I wonder where he's gone off to, haven't seen him in a good while..."

"He? Oh no--" Emmy said, running off without any explanation.

"What's up with her?" Ludwig asked. Lili shrugged and the two of them followed her as she walked into the kitchen, calling for Eva.

The two kitties were in the kitchen, Beethoven mounted on top of Eva.

"ARGH! Look at what your mongrel is doing to my precious Eva!" Emmy exclaimed when she saw them.

"I dunno...they both look pretty chill to me. And bold of you to assume that he did this against Eva's will." Ludwig replied.

"Why isn't your cat neutered?" She spat.

"That's my business, not yours. Plus, he's an indoor cat. I don't carelessly take him to other people's houses and contribute to the problem of cat overpopulation. The better question is why isn't your cat spayed? You actually take her outdoors where males can get to her."

"Because Eva is a breeding queen, that's why! And she has a husband, so she's not supposed to mate with other males!"

"That's....not how cats work. I honestly feel bad for her. Her whole life is just having sex and getting pregnant and having babies. Must be tough."

"UGH! Don't tell me how you take care of my fur babies! Eva, come on, we're going now!" Emmy ordered.

Eva didn't respond or try to move, because Beethoven wasn't finished yet. She called her again but Eva still didn't move. Eventually, he pulled out and Eva yowled in pain as the barbs on his penis scraped at her insides. She scampered over to where her human stood to collect herself.

After cookie decorating, Emmy stayed for a little longer, chatting with Lilium with Eva securely on her lap.

"Sorry about earlier, " She apologized when Emmy was ready to leave, "I should've told you about him."

"No worries, Lilium." Emmy replied, a little tipsy and carefree after getting a few drinks in her system. "He might've not impregnated her after all."

She then leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially with a cheeky smirk, "And even if he did, depending on how the kittens look, I might still be able to sell 'em as purebred!"

"Is that...legal?" Lili questioned.

"I don't really know and I don't really care. Toodles, darling!" She exclaimed before skipping out the door.

                                            ********

A few days later on New Year's Eve, Lili had been invited to many parties and get-togethers by coworkers. However, all she really wanted to do was stay home and chill with her family rather than go out and party. So the group ordered a pizza and watched the New Year's celebrations on TV.

"She's grown a lot." Roy commented when he saw the footage the reporters had captured of Rose Quartz heading home to Buckingham Palace. 

"Do you miss her?" Lili asked. 

"Of course I do!" 

"Well, why didn't you go back to her after becoming a ghost?" 

Roy was quiet for a few moments as everyone else listened for his reply. 

"Because...if I would've gone back to her, I would've been expected to return to the throne and--call me selfish--but I wasn't about to go back to the life I've tried so hard to escape. Of course, I love Rose Quartz but she was, like, the only good thing about that life. And if I would've returned after all of her grieving and whatnot, I feel like that wouldn't have been healthy for her. She needed to learn how to get on without me. And she has. Because of my death, she was given the chance to mature and take charge of her life. With all that in mind, keeping my distance was best for both parties." 

"You don't know that." Lili replied seriously.

"Well it's too late now, isn't it? If I were to go to her now, she would know that I could've come back earlier but I didn't, which is definitely going to hurt her more than my death." 

The following day, the group celebrated Adzuki's 16th birthday with an opulently decorated red velvet cake with vanilla icing and purple butterfly cake toppers.

Eventually, January 7 rolled around and she had to return to White Lodge for the Spring Term.

Within a few days of owning his new cat ear headphones, they unexpectedly broke very easily. Ludwig went online to check out the reviews and other customers warned future buyers that the headphones were fragile and made of cheap plastic but Lili said she hadn't even read the reviews. Imbecile, Ludwig thought.

And Beethoven managed to get into his fish flake cat treats and eat all of them in one sitting. Lili was so amused she could hardly scold him.

At least she knew he enjoyed them, as she'd hoped he would.