"On the 7th day of December, Santa gave to me, Two Blonde Newbies, A Gingerbread treat, and a Shopping trip."

December 7th

"I'm about to board my plane, this is your last chance to back out, dear."

"You've said that five times in the last ten minuets, get on the plane and hug that adorable baby." Yuri smiled into the phone. She was walking up to the cafe and saw two blonde heads standing outside. She frowned, "I've gotta go, call me when you land."

"Okay, dear. Take care." Then the line went dead.

"What are you two just standing out here for? Do you want Jack Frost to nip at your nose?" Yuri asked as she pushed the door open. But it didn't open. She tried again and still nothing. She pushed her back against it and pushed as hard as she could. Her feet slipped on the icy walkway and she landed on her bum.

Hissing, she scurried to her feet and tried to warm her butt. Why'd I wear leggings? Huffing, she kicked it. Still nothing. Turning to the two amused bystanders, she asked while trying to catch her breath, "When did you guys get here?"

"About.." Noel looked at his watch, "an hour ago."

"And you've been standing out here? In the cold?" She looked at them incredulously. They nodded. "What are you? Made of ice? It's freezing." It was colder than yesterday and she truly questioned her leggings choice.

"Where we live, it's a lot colder." Arthur smiled at her.

Her eyebrows rose, "Where do you live?"

"The North Pole."

She stared at the two. Then shook her head, an amused smile forming on her lips, "Sure, and next you'll tell me your last name is Claus."

Arthur opened his mouth but yelped when Noel elbowed him. Arthur actually gave an attempt at a glare. It came out more like a wounded puppy, but it was a good try.

"The lock's probably frozen." Yuri looked at the door and shrugged, "We can go shopping now and hope the lock's unfrozen when we get back."

"Alright," Noel nodded, stuffing his hands in his hoodie.

"Led the way." Arthur smiled, going to stand beside her.

She nodded and stuffed her hands in her puffy jacket pockets. Each of the twins flanked her sides. She didn't know how to feel about it. The more glances girls and other people threw their way, the more Yuri's cheeks grew red. She didn't like drawing attention, and the two by her sides are a magnet for it.

"So, what's your favorite thing about Christmas?" Arthur leaned forward to look her in the eye.

She cleared her throat, avoiding the pale blue that looked like ice on his twin but like a warm fire on him. "Uh.. I'm not sure." She chewed the inside of her cheek. "I guess all the lights. Some people go all out and I get excited when they sync the lights to a radio station- there's this house on 4th street and they do it every year!" She smiled thinking about it. Then turned to Noel, he was watching her with the slightest tilt of his lips and amusement dancing in his eyes. She looked ahead again, clearing her throat once again, "You guys should go check it out."

"Maybe you could show us." Noel replied, relaxed in the cold.

Yuri's cheeks grew warm at how smoothly that came from him. Did he mean it like a guy might normally? Or did he just want her to show them? She didn't know and she wasn't going to ask.

"Maybe." They fell into silence

As they neared the only supermarket in Green Oaks, Arthur spoke again, "What does Christmas mean to you?"

Yuri raised her eyebrow at him, "What's with all the Christmas related questions? You know, most people ask simple questions, like how old are you?"

"Seventeen- but I'll be turning eighteen soon. How old are you?"

She rolled her eyes when they walked through the automatic doors. "Seventeen, eighteen soon. Not soon enough." She mumbled the last part while grabbing a cart.

She was slouched over the cart, waving to Beth as she passed her. Guess Beth traded for coffee for cleaning. She was mopping the flour as they passed. Her eyes stayed on the two beside Yuri.

"Do people look at you everywhere you go?" Yuri asked, turning down the candy aisle.

"No.. I don't think so." Arthur muttered.

"Why does it matter?" Noel raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't like being looked at?"

She scoffed crouching down to look at the sweet treats, "No, it's when everyone looks. Attention and me don't mix, we tried a relationship- it didn't work out." She deadpanned.

"Maybe you should give it another try." He crouched beside her.

"Sure," She grabbed a big bag of gummy bears, "when we can live on Mars."

The corner of his lips tilted up.

"What exactly are we here to get?" Arthur looked back and forth at all the assortment of candy.

"That, my dear Watson, is on this list." She held it out for him.

He took it and read from the top, "One gingerbread house, a new peppermint hot chocolate, fruitcake, cinnamon bundt cake, and mistletoe's?" He looked down at her.

She stood up and placed the bags of candy in the cart, shrugging at him, "Mrs. Marsh put it on the list."

"So we're getting mistletoe's and.." He looked at her to continue.

"Lights. I want white lights to hang around the front of the cafe, it'd really give it that Christmas feel." She looked at what Noel put in the cart and nodded. "Where do you think we'd find the mistletoe's?" She looked both ways when she left the aisle, trying to decide which way to go.

Noel shook his head, "We just got here a couple days ago, we haven't even been in here."

"Right." She nodded, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Wouldn't it be with ornaments and decorations?" Arthur supplied.

"Yes!" She shook a finger while turning right, "Yes it would."

They reached the decor and split up. "The amount of things that say 'Merry' is abundant." Yuri said, reading a sign that said 'Merry All The Way'.

"It is part of 'Merry Christmas'." Arthur said, reading a 'Merry Christmas' doormat.

Noel grunted, "Merry Christmas my arse."

"You know cursing in a different language is still cursing, right?" Arthur looked at his brother.

"You know being annoying is still being annoying, right?" Noel shot back.

"I'm not annoying."

"Yes, you are."

"Please, you can be way more annoying."

Noel scoffed, "I'm never annoying."

"Probably because all you do is sit and brood like a Thinker statue."

Yuri listened in, an amused smile playing across her lips. They were being childish, and she loved it. It was so much better than the silents that usually accompanied her.

"I'm taking that as a compliment- oh, I found them." Noel held up the bag of mistletoe's in his hand.

"Great! Put it in the cart and let's get these lights."

Walking out the aisle she laughed, smacking her forehead. There they were. Right in the middle of the section. She grabbed six boxes and dumped them in the cart. Looking at the two before her she spoke, "Let's hurry so we can see if the door has thawed." They nodded.

Twenty minutes later they were carrying the bags back to the cafe. As they neared, Yuri rushed ahead and tested the door. It opened with a little shove and the bell went off.

Sighing in relief, she looked over her shoulder at the two slow pokes, "It works. Now come on! We got work to do!" She walked in.

Arthur smiled, quickening his pace. He was excited for the day to start.

Noel sighed, his legs dragging. He was tired and wanted his bed.

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