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Caleb was loading up the last of the dishes into the machine. Zoe had flipped him off lovingly and left, stealing several of the beer from his fridge, to which she ignored his protests with a laugh and left anyway. His younger sisters have been there earlier in the day, it was still a few days before christmas, but he had them open up their big gifts that he wasn't not taking over to his family for official christmas. Mostly because some of these things were things that he would be keeping here, like the Razor scooters for the little ones ( He was actually surprised they even still made those ) some video games, other things. He had smaller other gifts for at the parents house, but this felt more satisfying. It's not that their parents would have disapproved of the gifts, but their enjoyment would have been ruined by immediately going into the rules of how and when the gifts could be used. They meant well but they never seemed to just let the girls enjoy a moment. It was weird because he never really imagined this being a thing for him when he was growing up, and he imagined that it was probably because he was the oldest, AND he was a boy. Both of his parents came from different cultures, but talking to their rather extensive families who lived overseas, there tended to be this trend that boys could do no wrong.

Of course he had also been a very easy child, the next youngest… had not been. Regardless, he loved them all, and it was nice to have them in his own home. The wrapping paper carnage had been cleaned up, and his rather sparse but comfortable living room had been put almost back to normal, with only his little charlie-brown style christmas tree on its little end table. He closed the dish-washer and started it, wiping his hands on a tower and tossing it back onto its little hook. His sisters had brought him silly things, like a pair of socks that had a hufflepuff coat of arms on it. Which then prompted an hour long argument about which house he was part of. They all had very different opinions, and it was entertaining to watch them lay out their reasoning. Some new wooden spoons he KNEW came from the dollar store but still warmed his heart because he wasn't allowed to use them until they came over again and baked cookies. All of the gifts were small things, the most expensive one being the socks. He really didn't expect much, honestly, they were children and their parents didn't really give them allowance. It just made the gifts all the more meaningful. He was leaning against the counter, when he noticed a little gleam coming from under the table that the tree. He tilted his head and walked over to the table, looking down at the box he pulled it from under the tree and knelt on the ground. It was a lovely wrapped gift, with beautifully matched ribbon and a a cursive tag with his name on it. And he had absolutely no idea who it was from. It was from none of his sisters, that was for sure, the best wrappers were some of the younger ones none of them could accomplish such lovely script.

He turned it over in his hands a final time before shrugging, and carefully opening it, thinking maybe there was a card tucked inside the box. It opened up to reveal an old school, very very beautiful Mortar and Pestle. No card, no note, no idea to know who it had come from. The thing was…. He had desperately wanted this exact one. But it was several hundred dollars and there was just no way he could justify the cost, nor expect his family to get it for him…. So… he hadn't even told anyone about it. What the hell? He was puzzled, and for some reason, rather unnerved, He took the mortar to the counter and set it up on its own spot, but he kept the packaging on the counter. Maybe it would come back to him where it came from.