Laughter filled the air, it was warm in the house, children ran around, the scent of delicious food flew around the room, and there was love thick and heavy in the air.

It almost made Isaac sick.

Well, at first. But seeing how happy Hailey was, he soon learned to like it. From what he had gathered, there were three children younger than five. The oldest out of the group--who was four years old--was named Ayla. She was very entertaining and loved to laugh loudly. Then there was Peter, a three year old who liked to cry if he couldn't catch up or play with the others. And then there was Kim, although everyone called her K. She was like Ayla, although she was only a toddler. The two of them enjoyed putting on shows for everyone, 'singing' their hearts out, and if they forgot the words, they'd make them up.

Then there was the group of kids who were fourteen and up. There was Lisa, who was fourteen. She was rather quiet and enjoyed a good book. Next was Emma, who was sixteen like Hailey. She enjoyed singing, like her two little sister's Ayla and K. There was also JJ--full name Jimmy John--who was a twin to Tarry, another boy. They were identical, and were both on the wrestling team at their school. They tended to shout and horse around often, getting them into loads of trouble all the time.

Next were the adults, such as aunt Marcia and uncle Ten--like the number. They were the parents of Ayla, Emma and K. They sometimes called uncle Ten 'Double-Fives', 'Ten Dollar Bill', or 'Ten Bucks'. There was uncle Thomas and aunt Ruby, who were the parents of the twins. Lisa and Peter's parents were named aunt Debra and uncle Hershal. And of course there were two grandparents they called Grammy and Paps.

Hailey's grandparents had come earlier to help make the large meal, the smell of food being heavy in the air for a long time. Isaac's mouth wouldn't stop watering because of it. Meanwhile, after Hailey had greeted them, she and Isaac went upstairs to get ready. She made Isaac take a bath, helping him out with everything because he was so tiny. Isaac had complained about looking nice, saying that no one would've seen him anyway. Her excuse was that they may smell her instead. Isaac had to agree there; he was out of his block of deodorant, and he began to smell a bit ripe.

Once he was clean, Hailey made him put on something new she had made while she went to go get ready. It was a blue, long sleeved shirt that went under the grey vest she had made, and a pair of black pants. He felt out of place in the clothes, not used to looking 'decent' as giants put it, but he had to admit that he did look rather nice, and the clothes were very comfortable. When he was done, he called for Hailey, who came in wearing a nice, green dress with white leggings. Isaac couldn't help but smile at how pretty his sister looked.

She gently combed the fairy's hair to his left, where his part was, and put a bit of gel in it to keep it in place. She then gave him nice shoes that had belonged to a boy doll, along with white socks. He put them on while she fixed her hair and put white earrings on, doing a bit of make-up to make her eyes pop out a bit more than they already did against her red hair.

When that was over and done with--resulting in Isaac hating the shoes and kicking them and the socks off--Hailey placed him in her pocket on her hip, then left the bathroom and went downstairs. The first people to arrive knocked on the door as soon as Hailey touched the last step of the stairs, almost on cue. She answered the door, greeted by aunt Ruby and Ten Bucks, along with JJ and Tarry. The twins were already goofing off, nearly crashing into the room as they wrestled. Once they saw Hailey, they simply smiled, then continued.

"No fighting, boys!" Barked their mother, clearly agitated. I've been having to deal with you two doing this the entire car ride! Enough!"

"Sorry, mom." They said in unison, slowly getting up--as they had fallen to the floor.

Their mammy took a deep breath, then let it go and turned to the grandparents. "Hey, mom and dad."

The grandparents automatically started gushing over the family, stopping everything just to pinch the boys' cheeks, hug the parents, and remark on how tall the boys had gotten this year.

Soon, the family was all there. The youngest were putting on a show or crying. The adults were at the table merrily talking. The older kids were venturing around the house. Hailey decided to help set the food out on the island so people could choose what they wanted to eat in a buffet like manner. She also set up the menorah in a windowsill, putting a box of matches and a candle next to it. Roscoe decided to come downstairs, sauntering straight over to Hailey and meowing at her for food. After feeding the cat, the family started gathering around the small window, some of the teens elbowing each other, and paps stroke a match, picked up the candle, and lit it.

He held the candle up in his ageing hands, pulling out a small pocket bible he brought for this occasion, and began to pray. "Blessed are you, our God, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season."

He continued on with some other prayers, most of which were from the little bible, then began praying away from the scripture.

"Please bless these sweet, loving children, and bless that they will go far one day."

"Amen." Said the family.

"Please bless this delicious meal made by Noa, grammy and I."

"Amen."

He paused, before lighting the first candle on the menorah with the candle he held in his hands as he quietly prayed, "And please bless our lovely daughter, aunt, wife, and mother, who has left us this year and has entered your kingdom."

The room grew silent. "Amen." They all muttered.

After a somewhat long silence, Emma spoke up to break the ice. "Hey, let's dig in! Don't want this to get cold, do we?"

"She's right," said Hailey's dad, "Let's not wait any longer."

They headed to the kitchen, letting the oldest go first. Hailey got her plate as full as she wanted it, then sat down a ways off from the crowd. Isaac had never tasted such amazing food in his itty bitty life, and he felt like he could eat Hailey's entire plate if she would let him. He made sure to keep Hailey's pretty dress clean, trying to stay hidden as he did so. And when he thought it couldn't get any better, he was proven wrong when dessert came around. JJ and Tarry ended up having a food war, which made them lose their dessert for tonight and tomorrow, making them somehow worse. Poor Lisa was just sitting in a corner and attempting to read a decent book in peace as the two slammed into her. She got a bloody nose because JJ's foot hit her, which made the two lose all their dessert for all of Hanukkah and a week after.

The lass got blood on her book, and the stinkin' boys who seriously needed a good wack with a wooden spoon only laughed it off. Isaac didn't know why he felt so strongly about this, but he just grew angry because of it. Hailey went with Lisa to the bathroom to help her wash up, listening to her ramble about how mad she was at the two for getting her book bloody.

*〰✳〰*

It was late in the night, and the last of the guests had left the house. Hailey's dad was packing up the leftovers --there were hardly any to be honest--while Hailey left the fairy on the island to go get something and put her present away. The fairy sat down, feeling incredibly uneasy around the large man in the same room as him. Hailey's dad kinda looked like he wanted to say something, but it seemed he couldn't really put it into words.

Isaac sat on one of the tupperware, dangling his little legs off the edge. After a moment of hesitation, Isaac said, "Do you think Lisa will be alright?"

Mr. Kellermann glanced at Isaac as he put something in the fridge, then smiled. "She'll be alright, bud. Just a tiny nose bleed. The book will be stained, though..."

"Figured as much." Isaac looked at his feet. He felt really weird when he had put on shoes. Fairies don't usually wear shoes, since they can fly over stuff. Only the queen's soldiers wore shoes because they were the only ones who went outside the tree. When he wore the shoes Hailey had given him, he just hated how weird and unnatural they felt.

"Hey, question." Said the man as he came over and grabbed a few more things.

"Yeah?"

"How'd you meet Hailey?"

"We already went over this, didn't we?"

"Not that I recall."

Isaac hopped off the tupperware he sat on as the man walked over to pick it up.

"Ah, well," Isaac brushed himself off, "she found me at the wrestling arena."

He laughed. "The arena?! How on Earth did you live in the arena?"

"My home was in the vending machines."

"Oh... Clever. No wonder I got empty bags of M&M's sometimes."

"Haha, yeah, that was me." Isaac began rocking on his heels.

"Hehe... Hey, uh... This might sound a bit strange to you, but I hope you know you're safe here. And... I hope you know that you're our family, and that we'll protect you." He closed the fridge now that he had put everything away, then sat at the table next to the island.

"Uh... thank you." Isaac nodded at him. "I'm not really good with... you know."

"Right." He nodded, folding his hands.

"... This must be pretty weird for you."

"Hell yes it is." He chuckled. "I mean, a two-inch tall twelve-year-old fairy who is wingless has been hidden and taken care of by my very own daughter for who knows how long, and is being hunted by my very own used-to-be coach that is who knows where is a lot to take in, huh?"

"You're taking it pretty well, though." Admitted Isaac.

"Only on the outside." He chuckled.

Isaac nodded slowly, looking about. "I'm still getting used to the fact that I have a home, now."

"Yeah..." The man looked at the floor, then at the stairs as they heard Hailey running down the steps.

"Sorry, sorry!" Hailey exclaimed as she nearly tripped over Roscoe. "Okay, so sorry that took so long. I forgot to wrap your present. Anyway, here you go!" She placed a package covered in green wrapping paper in front of the fairy.

"Thank you, Hailey." Isaac smiled up at her, feeling excited.

"Go on! Open it, open it!" She was bubbling over the top with enthusiasm.

"Okay, okay." Isaac laughed, then sat and put the present in his lap, before tearing apart the wrapping paper. Hailey couldn't stop moving, her eyes filled with glee as Isacresenta revealed the little toy car that had been placed inside.

He gasped and started clapping like a little kid, giggling all the while. "A toy! I've never had a toy before!" He picked up the red car and started playing with it, grinning from ear to ear. It was a very small car--even for him--and he knew it was probably one of those toys you could get in that small toy-machine--that resembled a gumball machine--if you put a quarter or two in it.

"You like it?" She asked, putting her face in her hands as she rested her elbows on the top of the island.

"Yes!" Isaac hopped up and ran to her, hugging her arm as he jumped up and down, saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Hailey hugged him by picking him up and holding him to her shoulder. "I'm happy you like it."

"Like it?! I freaking adore it!" He started driving the toy on her shoulder, making a few car noises as he imagined a big, intense race against Death the Monster Truck and Red Lightning the Race Car. It was a close race. Death was using flaming axes to try to kill Red, but he was too lightning fast for that dipcrap. Stupid cheater, Isaac thought, scowling.

Isaac could hear their dad chuckle as he listened to the fairy play. Hailey laughed a bit too, smiling down at the little boy.

"Well, now I know what to get you." Laughed their dad.

"Yeah, I should get you some more toys since you like them so much." Hailey added, putting Isaac in her pocket gently.

Isaac was too busy with Death, who had grown wings and was trying to shoot bullets at Red Lightning.

*〰✳〰*

Yup! We're back, my dudes! New chapters are finally coming to my brain, and I'm done with that darn writer's block! As you can see, Isaac has a pretty big imagination XD Oh, one more thing, happy birthday, mom (JJudisch)! Okay, that's all, bye bye. :)