Wrapping paper strewn about the living room and the section beneath the tree was quite empty. James's grandparents, on his mother's side, had shown up halfway through with their own bundle of presents. Mrs. Potter and her mother had gone into the kitchen to prepare some Christmas dinner while the Mr. Potter and his father-in-law headed out to the garage for some man-time. The children had been left to gather the wrapping paper and put it in a garbage bag to be taken out later. They'd already basically finished and Sirius was picking up the last few pieces. He shoved them into the bag with a grin of triumph. "That's the last of it. I'll be right back." He tied off the bag and carried it into the kitchen where he was praised and kissed a few dozen times by overly happy older women (haha) and through the back to the little screened in porch. He set the garbage bag down in the corner with a couple of other ones and looked around. The porch was a bit chilly, but it had a perfect veiw of the bg backyard and all the falling snow at the moment, and it was a wonderful place to hang out in the summer. He gave a great sigh, admiring the shimmering trees and soft powder. They'd have to go out later.<br/><br/>Lily had curled up on the couch again, with a second cup of coffee that was more peppermint cocoa than coffee, but she did enjoy the mixing lflavors. She was admiring the tree again, amazed by the lights, but even more amazed by the bespectacled boy beneath it. Setting her coffee cup down on the table, Lily slipped off the couch and crawled through the mess of unwrapped presents and into the boy's lap when he was least expecting it. She pressed against him til he fell backward and sighed happily, lying down next to him on the floor. She curled herself round him, resting her head on his chest and an arm around his waist. She pointed upwards, at the all the lights of the tree that they would look up at from beneath. They looked so pretty this way, like little colorful stars surrounded by a sky of green. She pulled Fluttery (as she had deemed her blanket) up over them and snuggled ever closer. It was like she was trying to say 'Merry Christmas' without a word.<br/><br/>"Funny how this is what we count as man time." Grampa stated with a laugh as he saw his son in law's project and picked up some glue to help him.<br/><br/>"Well you know Sarah's always wanted a dollhouse and little girls. You know how she wanted a house full of little pittering, pattering feet, but even just James was a huge miracle to have after so many years and then we couldn't have anymore. Sirius came to visit us the first summer after Hogwarts, and it was like we'd found a second son. And he's our's now, in all of our hearts. And those girls, those poor girls. That Riley, from what the boys have told me, her parents have disowned her, and they never really wanted her in the first place, so all of this family stuff is brand new to her. The look on her face when she opened the notebook we got her, it was absolutely precious. She's such a wonderful child, hopefully she'll let us keep her. I'm pretty sure Sirius would quite agree there. It's easy to see they're smitten with eachother and just don't know it, so we'll see where that heads. And that Lily, I'm fairly certain she'll be a legal part of the family if James has anything to say about it. He's been after her since before he even knew it. Poor kid just lost her parents though, couple months or so ago. Hasn't said a word since. Sarah's become quite taken to her as much as James almost. She's a sweetheart. So, now that Sarah has her girls, I've decided this to be one of the best gifts I could get her. Even if the girls are too big to actually play with it, I'm sure they'll adore it. And it'll be nice for when we have grand children."<br/>