*Holiday Festival*

[Gaby.Lily.Kaci.Eva.Cam♥]

Come, come, on and all, short and tall, to Ocean Springs annual holiday festival! December has rolled around again, and the town is bustling with holiday shoppers who are all hoping to make their children's and loved ones dreams come true. The mayor of Ocean Springs is sitting outside of town hall, dressed up as Santa Claus, entertaining the young ones with live reindeer while their parents sign up for the first ever Christmas shopping run competition! All eligible adults who sign up will be given a list of specific items to put into their cart inside of the local toy store, and whoever finds all of their listed items the quickest, gets to choose between keeping the items, or trading them in for a $1,000 shopping spree, courtesy of the toy store. Good luck shoppers!

It was only a few hours before the shopping run competition would begin and already Gaby was feeling the pressure. She had been one of the first ones to sign up, because, well she had always arrived at these town festivals early. The twins would be celebrating their fourth Christmas this year, and Collin would be celebrating his second. If Gaby was going to be able to grant all three of her children's Christmas wishes, then she would need some help. Money had been tight ever since Justin about her, and working part time at the local bakery was not doing much to make ends meet. This shopping spree had the potential to give her children a Christmas to remember. If only she was not up against so much competition...

Gaby browsed around the part of town where the festival was being held. She admired all of the wonderful decorations, as she hummed a Christmas tune to her children. As everyone in town well knew, Gaby had always gone all out for the holidays. She showed up to the event dressed up in a red, sparkling shirt and a matching black skirt. Her Santa Claus earing's hung from each ear, and a poinsettia pin decorated her purse. The twins were dressed up as well. McKenzie wore a red Santa baby set, while McKayla rocked the same look in green. Gaby had fun with Collin, and dressed him up as a reindeer this year. He adored the jingles on his antlers, but could have gone without the Santa booties.

[Farris {JR.BR.SR.PL.PL}]

"Okay, we have Natalie, she's dressed and ready." Brinley said, picking up her daughter and kissing her forehead. Natalie giggled and hugged her mom's neck. "Scout? Jude?" Brinley looked at her siblings who were finally heading out of their rooms. Scout held Molly, who was dressed quite festivly in a little red dress and red and white stockings. Brinley laughed and kissed Molly's forehead. She looked down at Natalie who was wearing a matching outfit in green. "Ready to go?" She asked. Jude nodded and walked past them. Scout rolled her eyes and started out after her brother. They had to take a few minutes to get the girls in their car seats then they were off to the party. They had been in Ocean Springs for a while now but they'd been so busy they just hadn't had a chance to really make some real friends. Brinley was going to change that if it killed her. She was so bored with sitting around the house with the kids and her brother. at least Scout got to go to school, but Brinley had done her high school stuff online and graduated the year before.

They got to the place and got out of the car. Brinley let Natalie walk by herself, making sure the girl didn't run too far off. Scout followed with Molly in her arms and Jude was in the back. "I'm going to go buy presents." He said. "I'll see you later." He went off to shop. He ended up passing a sign up sheet for a shopping run, he signed up, figuring hey, it'd be fun. Then he went off into a little store, he had a list of people to buy for and that was made up of his sisters, his nieces and his parents. One of the upsides of not having many friends yet, he didn't have to buy for more people. He was actually pretty happy at the moment, he was away from the old home where the people were always talking about them and blah blah blah, constantly going on about the babies and whatever.

Scount and Brinley walked along with the girls. "So, what are you getting Jude for Christmas?" Brinley asked. Scout shrugged. She wasn't sure, it was hard to pick presents for Jude, he either wanted expensive things or he didn't want anything. Scount looked at Molly who was chewing on her dress, Scout pulled the little red dress from her mouth and smoothed it. "No eating your dress Molly Anne." She said but she was smiling. "There's Gaby." She nodded over at the brunette with her kids.

[Gaby.Lily.Kaci.Eva.Cam♥]

As Gaby fought with Collin over the Santa booties that he was insisting to kick off his little feet, a familiar voice caught her attention. She turned around quickly and was very happy to see Brinley and Scout with little Molly, "Hey guys, long time no see!", she replied with a friendly smile, "How have you been?" she questioned. She felt slightly embarrassed by Collins actions, because as soon as she finished her greeting, the little two year old kicked his booties off, sending them flying through the air, landing on little Molly. Gaby's cheeks flushed bright red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger as she knelled down to Molly's level to ensure the little one was okay, "Oh my goodness I am so sorry Molly, are you alright?" she questioned sincerely. As she waited for Molly's answer, she looked up at Brinley and Scout, "Terrible two's, what are you gonna do, right? Heh, I'm so sorry." she explained, disappointment in her voice.

As Gaby conversed with Brinley and Scout, Kaci arrived at the festival and immediately began looking around for Jude. He seemed to be her only friend in this miserable town, and she was secretly developing a crush on him. He was cute, and he was her age, and the two of them always seemed to hang out while the adults cooed over their children. After walking around in search for him for a few minutes, it began to snow. At this point Kaci had only been wearing a light v-neck sweater, so she decided to take some shelter inside the only little store around that did not have customers blocking the entrance or exit. While inside, she spotted Jude, but decided to play it cool and let him come to her.

Meanwhile McKenzie and McKayla had spotted Molly and watched as she got hit in the head with Collin's little shoes, "uh-oh, bad Colwin" they criticized before consulting Molly. McKenzie walked right over to her, "you okway?" she asked as McKayla stayed put in her comfortable, and more importantly, warm, stroller.

[Farris {JR.BR.SR.PL.PL}]

Molly had sort of watched as the shoe came falling down at her, her eyes wide with interest, until it hit her. Then she screwed up her little face and started bawling, she fell back onto her rear and sobbed. Brinley picked her up and bounced her up and down. "Oh she's just fine, aren't you baby?" She asked in a soft voice. She kissed Molly's head and she calmed down a bit. Finally she was okay to be put back down. Brinley shrugged. "Oh it's fine, at least it wasn't hard shoes." She smiled. Scout adjusted Natalie in her arms and nodded in agreement. "If she freaked everytime Molly got hurt she'd be head by now. Mostly because Natalie has one heck of arm, don't you baby?" Scout smiled at the girl who cooed and tried to fit her fist in her mouth. Brinley just shook her head and smiled. "It's true though, She's getting signed up for softball the day she's old enough." She joked. Molly rubbed her head and made a face.

Jude looked at a few things, making faces as they weren't what he wanted. He knew what the girls liked and this wasn't it. He dropped it and started for the door stopping when he saw a girl that looked suspiciously like Kaci. She was really the only person he had talked to around here. That was because... well she was the only kind of interesting person he'd met so far in Ocean springs. It sounded mean but it was painfully true. Ocean Springs was not a town built for excitement. He shook his head, stopping when he found a little trinket that he thought Brinley would like, he picked it up and glanced at the girl again, yeah he was almost sure it was her. He paid for the thing and walked over to her. "It's rude to ignore a friend." He informed her with a smirk gracing his lips.

Molly looked at McKenzie and put her hands on her head again. "Huwrt." She said. She liked have McKenzie and McKayla to play with even if it didn't happen often. She felt like a big girl when she got to play with them. "Shoe huwrt head." She added, looking at her mom who was talking to Gaby.

[Gaby.Lily.Kaci.Eva.Cam♥]

As usual Gaby's mind had made the worst out of the situation before anyone could even respond. She knew that Molly wouldn't be hurt and that Collins shoes were made of wool, but she was still worried about her reputation as a mother around Scout and Brinley. Every time she got together with Scout and Brinley and their family, her kids would act up. At their last encounter, if Gaby recollected her memory correctly, McKenzie and McKayla had thrown a temper tantrum inside the grocery store because Gaby had refused to buy them candy bars. Now today Collin was the problem, tossing his booties at little Molly, and Gaby feared that the Rockefeller family would think of Gaby as a mother who couldn't control her own children. As these thoughts flowed through her mind, she bent down to check Molly's head, "I'm glad your alright, Collin will not do that again", she promised.

Upon standing back up, Gaby apologized to Brinley and Scout one more time before giggling about Scout's softball comment, "I'm sure she'd make a fine pitcher", Gaby added with a slight smile. She glanced over at McKenzie, who was consulting Molly about her brothers bad behavior, "when i get an ouchie my mommy kiss me and make it all bettwer.", she explained before kissing her friends head, "see i make it all bettwer for you!", she exclaimed excitedly. McKayla was beginning to get jealous about how much attention her sister was giving to Molly, so she stood up and tottled over to where they were, "hi Mollwy, me glwad your ok", she greeted, kissing Molly's head as well, "i doubley make it bettwer", she said with a giggle.

Gaby's heart was warmed as she watched her children tend to Molly, "Hmm maybe I taught them well after all", she thought to herself. She turned back to Brinley and Jude, "Oh before I forget, I was going to encourage both of you to sign up for the shopping competition. In a few hours it will begin and whoever fills their cart with the items on their list the quickest, gets to keep them. It will be a lot of fun, and I can always go for some friendly competition", she joked as she waited for their reply. The snow was beginning to come down harder now, and she was awe stricken by the wintry wonderland. The snow made the festive lights all the more magical.

Meanwhile, Kaci had been browsing the ornaments, wondering which one Gaby would like most. Kaci was not the biggest fan of just buying her sister (the one who took her in after their parents kicked her out, and has been there for her ever since) a plain old ornament. But a few weeks ago when Kaci had asked Gaby what she wanted for Christmas, Gaby had told her that she would love an ornament for their tree. So here Kaci was, picking out ornaments, waiting for Jude to notice her. She spotted an ornament with a G on it, glazed over with red and green gloss and then laced with tiny trinkets on the bottom of it in the shapes of snowflakes and reindeer. This ornament had Gaby written all over it. Just as she was about to turn around and head to the cash register, she heard a familiar voice come from behind her, a males voice. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as he playfully called her out for pretending not to see him, "Its also rude to try to give your friend a heart-attack", she rebutted (commenting on his sneaking up on her) with a small giggle, "So wheres you fam? I haven't seen you guys around since the lame Halloween party", she commented. Although she was very delighted to have him acknowledge her, she didn't want to it to show. Kaci was not sure where their friendship was heading (although she knew where she wanted it to go), so she had to play cool and get to know him more, "Are you here for the Christmas festival? Doesn't it just look like holly jolly nonsense out there?", she joked with a nudge.

[Farris {JR.BR.SR.PL.PL}]

Brinley looked down at Molly again who was happy to be getting so much attention. What a ham. She shook her head and grinned. She knew the terrible twos was close as Molly's second birthday was well on the way. Brinley was not looking forward to it at all. She felt so old, just because she was remembering back to when Molly was born. She remembered the doctor laying her little girl in her arms. It was hard to believe it was almost two whole years ago. She wasn't looking forward to Molly growing up at all. She glanced over at her sister, who was bouncing Natalie gently, she made a mental note to make a deal with Natalie to not grow up ever. Yeah, that would happen, Brinley just didn't want to watch her girls grow. She loved those little girls. It was a pretty good life even if somtimes it was hard. She looked back over at Gaby and Molly and smiled again. Molly nodded at Gaby with big eyes.

"I o-tay!" She announced after the twins kissed her head. She smiled and looked back at her mom, as if making sure she was still there. She toddled over to her and reached for the diaper bag. "Dolly!" She demanded. Brinley reached into her bag and handed over a doll that Jude had bought the little girl recently. Molly smiled happily and ran back over to McKenzie and McKayla to show them her new doll, a little water baby that was a bit big for the little girl, but she loved that doll more than anything on the planet.

"That's so sweet." Brinley commented. "We should set up a playdate or something." She nodded, She knew Molly would love that, she knew Molly got bored having no one to play with, Natalie was too young to play any of her favorite games. The sisters looked at each other thoughtfully. "I can't, too soon since I had Natalie, but what do you say Scout?" Brinley asked her sister, "I'll think about it. I'm not sure it's fair, but I'll try it."[/b][/color] She joked. She had run track back at their old home but she didn't really think that would help her at all. She handed Natalie to her sister and shook out her arms. "I'll go sign up." She smiled and headed off.

Jude smiled "Well the good news is, I've never claimed to be polite." He nodded. He shrugged when she asked about the fam. "Off raising hell or something. Actually they probably found your sister... unless they're off spending money we don't have." He rolled his eyes, his sisters were really good at creating chaos. "I'm here for them. They love all this community togethernes mumbo jumbo." He didn't really care for it. He liked Ocean Springs enough, but honestly it had to be the most boring place ever. "Though I guess the run thing could be fun... is it wrong to elbow old ladies out of the way?" He asked jokingly.