Here comes santa claus!

[callmeemily]

The holiday this year is so incredibly different than the last.

Last year? Raleigh was holed up in the boarding house, no one in 300 miles but her shitty boss knew her name, and she was so poor that she was eating rice, beans, and leftovers from the Seaside bakery.

This year, everything's changed. Orchard House is chugging along astoundingly well; Raleigh puts in long hours, but it's paying off. She's been able to hire somebody else to work the register, she's getting custom orders - the whole thing. She has friends. Honest to god friends, and she's got enough money that she's actually got presents for people. For a lot of people - it's a mix of cookies and things, but there's a little something for everybody piled on the table in the back corner, and one mass-text later she's humming through the bakery, music playing from the speakers, warm cider in a carafe, and everything's warm and cozy.

She looks at it, at this business that she's made with the help of this whole town, and she can't help but smile. Tonight? Spending tonight with friends and found-family? That's what this whole thing's about.

Gathering post! Raleigh will tag everyone who tags in, but feel free to tag one another, too. :) It's up to you if they have gotten a text, or just heard the music and seen the crowd. Everyone'll get something!

Comments

[davin]

Davin has just gotten out of the shower, skin still pink from scrubbing engine grease from his skin, and is in the process of dropping down onto his couch with a sigh when his phone chimes. He closes his eyes in exhaustion and looks over at it for a long minute before finally reaching over to grab it. The text is from Raleigh, and it's a mass text, but she's still inviting him over.

He takes just a moment to rest, bones heavy with exhaustion, and then heaves himself off of the sofa. It doesn't take him long to get ready and he grabs the little gift he got for her, wrapped up in a neat little box, and heads out.

He'd done the bulk of his Christmas shopping online while stuck in bed, and he'd just finished all the wrapping the night before. He was so tired that at one point he woke up on the floor with his cheek stuck to a piece of wrapping paper, but he got it done.

The bakery looks amazing and a bill jingles as Davin pushes the door open, and he doesn't even think twice before slipping behind the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee. He doesn't think she'll mind, considering how familiar he is with being behind the counter at a bakery, and he doesn't want to make her do more work.

"Hey, lamb," Davin says as he dumps a little sugar in his coffee and comes over to her, setting the small gift box down in front of her. "Merry Christmas."

[coopdetat]

Coop gets the text while he's wrapping up some paperwork at the clinic and smiles when he sees that it's an invite from Raleigh. He writes back a teasing message about how he's hurt that he isn't worth a personal invitation, stuck instead with being included as one of the masses, but adds that he'll be there as soon as he's finished up with work and is true to his word. He has gifts for her back home, but he doesn't want to stop there to get them and besides, it's not even actual Christmas yet so he figures he can just shoot give Joel or Spencer a call later to see if stopping by on the holiday will be okay. He doesn't imagine they'll say no. Plus, he wants to see the tree he'd helped them set up last week because he's only got a janky one at home since the dogs are way too fucking mischievous for their own good.

So he shows up at the bakery after a quick run to the store for a bottle of Grey Groose--he'd gone in for wine but he and Raleigh have had fun with Grey Goose before so it'd caught his eye instead--and walks into the already upbeat atmosphere in Orchard House with a wide grin. He's been burying himself in work again, just like he always does when he's avoiding reality, but this is good. This is a better kind of escape, one that he thinks he'd like to stick around for as long as he can, and he sets the Grey Goose on the countertop while he scans the room, looking for the host or another familiar face.

[starsfallen]

When Corry gets Raleigh's text, she practically jumps for the bakery. The past few days Corry has practically thrown herself into work with the Waterhouse, helping oversee the contracters to make sure they can get a break for the holidays, and doing absolutely anything she can to avoid thinking about... things. Particularly Leslie Parker and Will Cabot shaped things.

Everything in the bakery smells amazing, sweet pastry and sugar mixed with the cinnamon of cider. Corry is quite certain she wants one of everything, at least. She clearly has cause for some chocolate therapy.

But the bakery is filled with festivity and Raleigh is practically glowing and it's hard not to fall into the holiday spirit. When Corrine walks in, she picks up on Raleigh's humming and begins to sing-along before pulling her into a hug.

"Merry Christmas Raleigh."

[astra_inclinant]

Mira's a little grumpy today. She had another nightmare last night. Her portion of side dishes for tomorrow are going awry and her mother, trying to be helpful, took over, which is never what she wants out of food-making. Her presents look awful. Etta's flight is overbooked. It's a mess.

So when she gets a text, even a group one, from Raleigh inviting everyone to Orchard House, she can't help but smile a little (and feel nervous about what she got her).

When she swings by, people are already laughing inside, music is playing and the whole place smells like Christmas: nutmeg and ginger and vanilla and bright apple cider, and Mira beams. "Hey," she greets the room at large, but she's scanning already for Raleigh. "Merry Christmas!"

[meowhistory]

Lena follows her nose to a new place. Or maybe not so very new, whenever she remembers that she has been gone for years and that means that a lot of things have changed or disappeared or appeared, her hairs stand on end. How much has she missed?

Well, clearly this place. And it smells really good and Jacob is close so she can't disappear and no-one can do anything to her. Ever since turning back, she really only felt like things made out of dough and grains. No meat or fish for a long time coming, please.

But maybe this is a private party, so Lena just leans in, to the bright window, to the amazing smells.

[doublethepain]

Raleigh had mentioned the get-together at the bakery before she'd left the house this morning and though Spencer isn't always keen on being anywhere that's crowded with people, he's certainly more than happy to be here. He's more careful than usual tonight, making sure that he avoids bodily contact as he snakes through the crowd that's gathered inside because his hip still stings from the tattoo he'd gotten as part of his gift to Joel. It says the word 'Real,' a partial quote from The Velveteen Rabbit that speaks volumes about his relationship with his husband and underneath that, the date they'd gotten married. He'd gone to Siren Cove Ink to seek out Adrian Smith's services, and the process had made him a bit queasy but it's all been worth it. He doesn't plan on unveiling it until tomorrow, of course, and it's been painstakingly difficult to hide it from Joel the past few days, but Spencer's more than a little pleased with himself.

His gifts for Raleigh have remained at home, too--a gift certificate to one of the local boutiques so she can get herself more clothes that she actually likes and aren't from his dead mother's boxes in the attic, a brand new set of baking tools from Williams-Sonoma for her to use at home, and a Kindle Paperwhite pre-loaded with titles that he and Joel had thought she might like--but he's arrived with a bottle of wine, though he's not even sure they're allowed to open it for consumption here, a genuine smile, and a horrifyingly ugly Christmas sweater--at Joel's insistence--as he makes his way through the bakery, keeping his eyes open for a familiar face.

[goesdownsmooth]

It's the music that stops him.

He's on his way to meet Jemma and Joely for a coffee--Jackie's got a date with a guy who has nothing better to do on Christmas Eve, apparently, and she'd promised Jameson a dropkick to the head for that comment--but he's drawn in by the crowd at the bakery on the other side of the street. He hasn't been in there yet, there hasn't been much time because he's been busy trying to get more patients into his practice, but he has to appreciate a place that's openly catering to everyone on a night like tonight. For the people who feel like they don't have anywhere to go, Jameson's sure that a bright environment like this is very much appreciated.

He tells himself he'll peek inside for just a few minutes because if he takes any loner getting to the cafe, his sisters are sure to give him hell. Then again, maybe he'll just shoot them a text to get them to him here instead. So he steps inside, unwrapping his scarf from around his neck so it's draped only over his shoulders and looks around with a warm smile. Everyone seems happy here, it's a contagious mood, and as Jameson makes his way to the cider he spots across the room, he can't help but be grateful that he doesn't have to be at his parents' tonight. It makes a world of difference.

[remotecontrol]

This is the first holiday that Charlotte has spent away from home, from her parents, and she feels strangely homesick. It sounds crazy, when she was so ready to move out at last, so desperate to make a life of her own and to just get away, if only for a while. But on the morning of Christmas Eve, she wakes up in the apartment and it's just quiet. Back home, she would have woken to her mother shouting for her to get out of bed, or to the general downstairs bustle of her parents preparing the house for Christmas festivities. She can't deny missing that, even if she is happy here in Siren Cove. It's just different, and it hasn't really struck her until now, on this day when there is such an emphasis on being with family.

Raleigh's text is something of a godsend. It's what drags her out of bed at last, when she might have otherwise stayed in watching Christmas movies on television and moping. She doesn't want to waste the holiday, though, even if she can't spend it the way she normally would. Her parents may not be around, but she has family in Siren Cove — blood family in Joel, and found family in others, like Spencer and Raleigh. So she gets dressed and heads over to Orchard House, the gift she picked out for Raleigh tucked under her one arm.

When she gets to the bakery, she can't help smiling. It's the exact opposite of the apartment, all bright, and warm, and loud. She feels like a little bit of a doofus, grinning from ear to ear, but she can't help it. This is everything that her day was missing.

[asharpertongue]

Lara had just finished delivering the last of her gifts when she passed Orchard House and heard the music coming from inside.

There's quite a hefty crowd and the atmosphere is light and fun and Lara smiles. It's just what she needs after a long week.

Walking through the door, she's hit with a scent of baking and warm cider and she sighs as she approaches the counter. She orders a pastry and some cider and heads to a little table to enjoy the atmosphere. On the way she bumps someone accidentally.

"I'm sorry!" She says, smiling at them. "It's been a long day."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Merry Christmas!" Levi called as he entered the Orchard House. He was wearing one of those ridiculous Santa hats that along with his trench coat and a present for Raleigh. One thing he loved about Christmas time was present giving. As a telepath, he happened to be really good at gift giving and loved seeing people's face when they opened their gift.