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“What’s Christmas?” Lumine asked her boyfriend.
“Lumine, you… don’t know what Christmas is?” Childe confusedly responded.
“No, not really. My friends keep talking about it but I’m not really sure what it is,” she replied. He stood there in awe. How did his girlfriend not know what Christmas is?
“Do you know what a holiday is?” he questioned, hoping to the Tsaritsa she at least knew what those were.
“Well duh I’m not stupid, Childe. I’ve just never heard of it in like any of the worlds I’ve been to,” Lumine remarked.
“I’m going to ignore the fact you just said you’ve been to multiple worlds and ask about that later, but this means you’ve never celebrated it, right?” he asked.
“Well yes,” Lumine said before Childe interrupted and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Alright then I have an idea! You’re coming to my family Christmas party!” he exclaimed.
“Is that really necessary?” she groaned.
“It is in fact incredibly necessary considering you’ve never celebrated it and you haven’t met my family besides Teucer,” Childe emphasized. He was right, Lumine hadn’t met his family yet. She’d been meaning to, afterall she promised Teucer she would, but she’d been busy and hadn’t had the time to.
“Fine… but only because I owe Teucer a visit,” she sighed and removed his arm from around her shoulder.
“I think you just love spending time and still refuse to admit so you’re using Teucer as an excuse, but I’ll accept your yes,” he teased, earning an eye roll from Lumine.
“I’m going to pretend you never said that and pretend that you’re not pushing your luck,” she remarked with a scowl on her face.
“Well, looks like you’re still agreeing so I expect you to come by tomorrow, and don’t be late- it’ll make Teucer sad,” Childe announced, nudging her. She nodded in agreement.
Lumine took a deep breath before knocking on Childe’s door. She had to admit, she was nervous. She’d never met his entire family and was a bit worried they wouldn’t like her. He’d told them great things about her, but she was worried she wouldn’t be able to live up to them.
As she lifted her fist to knock, the door sprung open.
“Miss nice lady!” Teucer yelled out and jumped into her arms.
“Teucer, we’ve talked about this. Her name is Lumine, not ‘miss nice lady’” Childe reminded his little brother. “I see he’s excited to see you, the rest of the family is too,” he told Lumine and beckoned her to come in.
She stepped in and placed her coat on the rack. She’d never been to his house before, but she thought to herself how nice it was, not just because of the Fatui money, but it had a warm and accepting atmosphere.
“There she is! My wonderful daughter-in-law!” Childe’s mother called, running to hug her. Lumine shot him a glare.
“I thought you knew by now how family oriented Snezhnayan culture is,” he chuckled upon seeing her reaction.
“Daughter-in-law really? We’ve been dating for less than a month, Childe,” she muttered in a low enough voice so his mom wouldn’t hear.
“What can I say? My family loves you,” he told her with a smile. Hearing this, her annoyance soothed. She had been so worried they wouldn’t like her, only to hear they'd loved her before they even met her.
“We’re so excited to have you, my dear! Childe has told us so many wonderful things about you! I’m sorry his older siblings can’t be here today, they’re celebrating with their own families,” his mom exclaimed.
“Oh for sure! He would write to us all the time about how much he loved you and wanted to be with you! We were all so glad when he told us you accepted his confession because it meant we wouldn’t have to hear all his pining anymore!” Tonia chimed in.
“A-Alright Tonia, that's enough of that! Um… welcome home, Lumine!” he nervously laughed. Lumine smiled softly. So much for the big tough harbinger act, he was a softie deep down.
“It’s lovely here. Thank you for having me,” she told the family.
“I have an announcement to make about Lumine,” Childe declared to everyone.
“Are you guys getting married?” Anthon asked his older brother. The couple both turned bright red upon his question.
“No! Not yet! At least I think not yet! Um, Lumine has never celebrated Christmas before!” he announced, still embarrassed from his brother’s previous remarks.
“Not yet?” she whispered in his ear.
“A man can dream right?” Childe laughed and she rolled her eyes. The children immediately huddled around Lumine, bombarding her with questions.
“You’ve never written a letter to Santa?”
“You’ve never decorated a Christmas tree?”
“You’ve never built a gingerbread house?”
“No, I didn’t know trees were supposed to be decorated. No, I don’t know who Santa is. Is he another archon I haven’t heard about? And I’ve built a teapot realm if that counts,” she answered them all. They stared at her in a mixture of awe and horror. How could she know nothing about Christmas?
“Well then it’s decided, each of you will join Miss Lumine and me doing each Christmas activity you mentioned,” Childe instructed his siblings. The three cheered.
“Me first! Me first!” Teucer pleaded. Childe ruffled his hair and nodded.
“Alright Lumine, let’s write your first letter to Santa,” he commanded.
“Childe, please at least tell me who Santa is before we begin with this,” Lumine whispered in his ear.
“Santa is a mythical figure who brings kids presents on Christmas. You and Teucer are going to write him a letter with what you want this year,” he answered.
“So he’s… not real?” she further questioned. Childe stood silent for a second.
“Well… no, but you can’t tell Teucer! He still believes!” he demanded.
“Is this another one of your toy salesman ordeals, because I still really think you should drop that act,” she sighed.
“No, no! This is an actual thing! Kids all over Teyvat believe in him,” Childe informed her.
“So you’re telling me to learn more about Christmas, I’m going to write a letter to someone who doesn’t exist? This seems really pointless,” Lumine groaned.
“Oh c’mon just do it for me?” he begged. The look on her face still didn’t seem very convinced. “For Teucer?”
“Fine, fine,” she said, giving in. Childe beamed like a little kid.
“Miss Lumine! I brought my favorite markers for us to write with!” Teucer called out, running into the room with them in his hands. “What color do you want?” he asked Lumine.
She looked over at Childe for a quick second before answering, “blue.”
The two sat down at the kitchen table and Childe watched in amusement. “Miss Lumine, do you think I should ask for a fishing rod or a bow? Ajax uses both of those and I think they’re both really really cool!” Teucer asked her.
“Uh, how about the fishing rod! I think you’re still a little too young for weapons, Teucer,” she nervously laughed, then glanced at Childe. Ajax appeared to be his real name, which she’d ask him about later.
“What are you asking for?” Teucer inquired.
“I’m not really sure yet… The only thing I want, I’m not really sure Santa could give me,” she confessed with a small twinge of pain in her voice.
“That’s not true! Santa can give people whatever they want, even if it’s not material! I even asked him for you and my big brother to stay together forever!” he told Lumine. She choked on air for a second.
“Well um, in that case, I’ll ask Santa to help me find my brother,” she replied, still in shock from Teucer’s comments.
“You have a brother too? Can I meet him?” Teucer shot up with excitement. Lumine’s excitement soon faded.
“No he’s um… he’s missing right now. That’s why I need Santa to help me find him!” she said, trying her best to sound optimistic.
“Oh I’m sorry! Well, we can share my big brother! He’s a really good one, I promise!” he beamed, not appearing to grasp the gravity of Lumine’s situation, but the sentiment resided with her deeply. She turned her head to see Childe helping his mom with their dinner tonight.
“Yeah… yeah he is,” she smiled.
“So how did letter writing go?” Childe asked Lumine.
“It went well, other than your brother trying to ask Santa for a bow,” Lumine laughed.
“I think that request might’ve been my fault,” he laughed as well. Lumine nodded in response. “Anything else he asked for?”
“I convinced him to ask for a fishing rod instead, but he did ask for us to stay together forever, too,” she told Childe.
“Well, Santa has always been good about bringing the gifts we ask for in my family, so hopefully he can deliver that one too,” he reminisced, intertwining his hand with Lumine’s. She looked at him softly with adoration. His hand cupped her cheek and he began to move his lips towards hers until Tonia barged in.
“Ajax! It’s my turn with Miss Lumine now!” she demanded. He let out a sigh, frustrated that his chance to kiss his girlfriend for the first time was ruined, and turned to face his younger sister.
“Alright alright, we’re coming, Tonia,” he said, keeping Lumine’s hand in his and beginning to follow Tonia to the living room.
“What’s the point of decorating this tree? I don’t get it,” Lumine confessed.
“To make it look pretty! I want it to look as pretty as you, Miss Lumine!” Tonia replied.
“Hmmm Tonia, I’m not sure if that’s possible. My girlfriend is one of the prettiest things out there,” Childe reminded his sister.
“Oh and I’m not the prettiest thing out there?” Lumine rolled her eyes. His previous words were good enough to her, but she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease him.
“Apologies, my girlfriend is the prettiest thing out there, but I’m sure we can make the tree almost as pretty as her,” he said, bringing her closer to his side.
“Either way we’re going to make this the best looking tree we have yet! Come help me pick out ornaments!” Tonia ordered, gesturing the couple over to the box.
“This one is Ajax’s favorite!” she told Lumine, handing her a Narwhal shaped ornament with a hydro symbol on its head.
“Fitting,” she said to him and grabbed it from his sister’s hand. “Where do I put it?” she asked her.
“Anywhere on the tree!” Tonia answered. Lumine studied the tree meticulously in an attempt to figure out exactly where to place it. She’d never done this before, so wasn’t really sure how to go about it.
“How about here?” she questioned while hovering it over the spot she’d picked out on the tree. Tonia nodded and Lumine put it in place.
“Now you pick one out!” Tonia directed. Lumine’s face scrunched as she gazed into the box. There were so many options it was a bit overwhelming. Her hands fumbled around inside it before she decided on a snowglobe with Childe’s younger face inside it.
“Does this one work?” Lumine asked her, trying to hold back a laugh.
“No, that one’s embarrassing!” Childe called over.
“Hmmm I thought this was about showing me the magic of Christmas, so shouldn’t I get to decide?” she teased. He sighed and took his hand away from the position of trying to grab it. Lumine put it front and center of the tree for everyone to see, causing his face to turn red. “If I knew the way to get my hands on your embarrassing baby pictures was to come visit your family, I would’ve done it sooner,” she laughed.
“Yeah yeah, whatever. Now it’s my turn,” he told Lumine. His hands didn’t hesitate as he reached for the bright yellow star ornament sitting on top of the others. He hung it on the highest branch and turned to her to smile. “It reminds me of you, the star,” he expressed.
“And the star always goes at the top!” Tonia chimed in. After doing so, she noticed the intimate glances between her brother and his girlfriend. “I’ll… leave you two alone for now,” she insisted and bolted out the door. She’d seen her parents look at each other that way, and gross PDA always followed after.
“You do remind me of the stars, not just in a corny put you at the top of the tree way. You’re bright, warm, and light up my life,” he confessed, slowly running his hands through her hair.
“You’re such a sap,” Lumine lovingly joked.
“I thought you would’ve come to expect that by now,” Childe reminded her.
“Mmm I do expect it, but it doesn’t make it any less meaningful,” she mused, draping her arms around his neck. The two began to lean into a kiss before once again being interrupted.
“Is it my turn with Miss Lumine yet?” Anthon yelled. Lumine groaned and removed herself from Childe. As nice as it was spending time with his family, she really could’ve used some alone time with him.
“Sure thing Anthon, let's go build that gingerbread house,” she sighed, dragging Childe along with her.
“So every year we make it a competition to see who can make the biggest and best one!” Anthon explained to Lumine with a grin on his face.
“A competition? That sounds great to me,” she responded while staring Childe in the eyes.
“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re new to this,” he told her with a smirk.
“Oh I didn’t imagine you would,” she responded and bolted to the ingredients lying on the table.
“Wait,” Anthon cried out, “I still haven’t shown Miss Lumine how to do it!” The two exchanged glances and realized he was right, she really had no idea how to go about this. Anthon dragged Lumine next to him and began to show her how to build a gingerbread house. “So you’re gonna take the gingerbread,” he described while handing her two pieces, “and then you glue it to another with icing.” She grabbed the icing pipe beside her and followed his instructions.
“Need any help?” Childe laughed upon seeing her hands covered in icing and the two pieces refusing to stick together.
“No, I’m doing completely fine,” Lumine pouted.
“Why don’t we just build one together?” he suggested.
“That’s cheating! We never do teams!” Anthon whined. As she looked at how his gingerbread house was coming along, she felt defeated. A 10 year old was better at this than her. Her only hope was taking Childe up on his offer.
“How about we do teams just this once? You can do it for Miss Lumine, right?” Childe implored. Anthon gave him a childish pout and begrudgingly nodded his head. Childe grabbed the two pieces from Lumine’s grasp and began to assemble them himself.
After about 20 minutes, the gingerbread houses, or tower in Childe and Lumine’s case, were built. “No fair! The only reason yours is bigger is because you guys were on a team!” Anthon complained.
“To be fair, Childe did most of the work,” Lumine replied.
“Well with that being done, it’s time to decorate them,” Childe notified her. Since he did the majority of assembling, he let her do the majority of decorating. He stared at her in adoration as he watched the way her face scrunched up in concentration when she placed candy on it, making sure the tower wouldn’t come falling down.
“It looks better than my teapot,” she declared with a grin as she went to face him.
“That’s not saying a lot,” Childe teased. Lumine gave him a light punch on the shoulder.
“It’s not my fault Paimon messes it up! You try living with an irritating pixie!” she huffed.
“I currently live with three of them,” he reminded her, making a quick glance at his younger brother, “but you’re right it looks nice. I didn’t expect much more from you though.” Noticing his brother wasn’t paying attention to them anymore, Childe tried to make a move on Lumine once more.
“Dinner’s ready!”
Of course, he failed again.
Dinner went smoothly, and the food was exceptionally good. Childe’s mom cooked them Christmas classics alongside traditional Snezhnayan dishes. It surely was a night Lumine would forever remember. She hoped to have more of them too.
“Alright kids, it’s time for you all to go to bed now! You can’t be awake when Santa comes or you won’t get your gifts!” his mom instructed them. They yelped in agreement, terrified of the thought of not getting their gifts. “I’m going to bed now too, it was nice meeting you, Lumine,” she told her before giving her a hug goodbye.
“So what did you think about the rest of my family?” Childe asked Lumine.
“They’re lovely. Your siblings are really cute and your parents are really sweet,” she responded.
“And your first Christmas was?” he further pried.
“It was amazing. Who knew all these years I was missing out on something so fun,” she said to him while smiling.
“Well actually, there is one more Christmas tradition we didn’t go over today,” Childe informed her. Lumine looked at him in confusement as he pulled a plant out of his pocket.
“Is this like a flower you give your lovers?” she inquired, looking at the green leaves.
“It’s something even better. It’s mistletoe,” told her as he dangled it above her head.
“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Lumine replied.
“Well as the tradition goes, you have to kiss whoever you’re under it with,” he explained, causing Lumine to blush. “Looks like we’re under it together.”
“It’s more so you’re just hanging it above my head, but yes we are under it together,” she retorted.
“Then show me what you’ve learned about Christmas today,” Childe directed, looking into her golden eyes. Lumine stood there for a second, unsure what to do. They’d never kissed before, and every time they almost did, it was Childe who initiated it. She took a shaky breath and did it. She kissed him.
Childe kissed her back as hard as he could to make up for how many times they’d been interrupted today. He had to remind himself every few seconds that yes, this was real. He really was kissing the love of his life and the girl of his dreams.
“It’s a shame it can’t be Christmas everyday,” Lumine said, pulling away.
“I think it can be if we try hard enough,” he responded as he planted his lips on hers once again.