"Look at what Father Christmas brought you, Morgie!" Anastasia said with much excitement as her little girl ran over to the Christmas tree, looking at the long box in amazement.
"What did he get me?" She asked as she tore the wrapping paper apart, revealing what was under it. She gasped in amazement at what was before her, both hands on her cheeks to make it even more dramatic. "A bloom!" She squealed as she attempted to pry open the box.
Anastasia giggled.
"That's right, a broom."
"I can't open it!" Morgan scowled, crossing her arms with frustracion causing her father to chuckle.
"I'll open it, firefly." He said and took out his dagger to cut open the box.
"I've told you not to use that in front of Morgan, Vincent." Anastasia sighed as she held her tolddler in her arms as to protect her from the blades.
"It's not like she'll take it away from me, Ana." Vincent rolled his eyes as he took the toy broom out of it's box and handed it over to his daughter.
Morgan giggled with delight as her toy was handed to her, quickly she mounted it and put her body forward so the broom would respond to her command, just as she'd seen her father do many times in her short 4 years of life.
"I got a better gift than you, Nazaniel!" She mocked as she flew by her cousin, sticking her tongue out at him before falling to the ground, and bursting to tears.
It was now Nathaniel's turn to mock his cousin and enjoy the sweet revenge karma had offered him.
"That's what happens when you mock people, Morgan," her aunt Elizabeth said as she picked her up, "let it be a lesson for you next time."
Morgan scowled again.
"Don't touch my bloom, Noah!" She shouted as she was transfered into her mother's arms.
"What did I say about sharing?" Ana asked.
"I don't remember," Morgan crossed her arms.
"You don't?" Vincent grinned.
"Nope."
He chuckled.
"I'm going to have to make you remember then!" He proceeded to tickle his daughter whom began to shriek with laughter, filling the entire house and causing all the guests to look at her before laughing themselves and turning back to what they were doing.
"I remember, I remember!" Morgan shouted in a fit of giggles.
"Good," Vincent smile, taking his daughter into his own arms, "I won't be here to remind you forever, you know."
"Yes you will," Morgan wrapped her arms around Vincent's neck and hugged him tightly, "and so will mummy."
Vincent sighed and nodded.
"Of course," He huged his daughter back, "I have another present for you, dear."
"Really?" Morgan smiled, not expecting any more presents.
"Sure do!" He grinned before taking his daughter to the back yard, where something was hidden under a white blanket. "Go ahead, uncover it."
A little hessitant, Morgan walked over to her present and took hold of the blanket, slowly pulling it off.
"Merlin's pants!" She shouted as she fully pulled off the blanket, "daddy, you made me a house!"
"I made you a house," Vincent nodded, "your very own house, you can go there whenever you please and do whatever you want and nobody can go in without your permission!"
"We have to play tea party in here, daddy!" Morgan said as she opened the door and gasped at the brand new tea set that sat on a table. "DADDY THERE'S A TEA SET!" She shrieked and giggled, causing Vincent to laugh as he crouched to walk in.
"Daddy thinks of everything, doesn't he?" He hugged his daughter.
"Yes he does! I have the best daddy ever!" She hugged him back, "can we play tea party now?"
Vincent bit his bottom lip.
"No, firefly, daddy has to go to work now."
"But it's Christmas!" She protested, "can't you tell Nobly you'll work tomorrow?"
Vincent chuckled.
"It's Nobby, dear, and no I'm afraid daddy has to go." He took his daughter's hand and walked out of the house.
Morgan's eyes watered with disappointment.
"Well, can we p-play tomorrow, d-daddy?" She wiped her tears.
Vincent closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yes, we'll play tea party tomorrow." He half smiled at his daughter, whom's tears had stopped flowing.
Once back into the warmth of their home, Morgan darted over to Noah to tell him about her new present and to invite him over to her grand tea party. Vincent smiled at the two, who looked absolutely adorable, and so strangely alike, with their round indigo eyes that mimicked those of their mothers.
"Are you alright, Vincent?" Ana asked wrapping her arms around her husband's neck and kissing him. "You seem a little lost in your thoughts, is there anything you'd like to share with me?"
He wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and shook his head. He looked into her eyes, looking for any trace of suspicion from her but saw nothing, perhaps the ministrie's lessons were working after all because his wife hadn't confronted him about anything having to do with his future.
"No, love. I'm just a little sad I have to go to work now."
Anastasia blinked.
"Has Nobby Leach gone mad?" She let go of him, crossing her arms. "How can the minister make you go to work today of all days?"
"There's been some issues in the Department of Mysteries that I--"
"That you can't tell me about, I know." She sighed. "Fine, but please come back early tomorrow, it's boxing day you know. Can't have the elves going around with nothing after all they've done."
"I will." Vincent smiled before giving his wife a passionate kiss and walking out the door, not saying goodbye to anyone else.
---
"Where on earth could he be!?" Anastasia shouted in frustration, "every time I ask him to come early he doesn't! I'm going to have Leach's head for making him go to work!"
"Sissy, calm down!" Elizabeth shouted back, "surely he'll be here soon and you're going to feel foolish for being so upset. Give the man a chance."
"She's right you know," Cassy smirked as she sipped her coffee, "besides if anything was off, don't you think we would have had a vision of him by now?"
"You see, mom has a level head, so should you." Elizabeth advised as she washed the dishes from last night.
There was a knock on the door that made them all freeze, they looked at each other for a few seconds before Anastasia broke the connection and ran over to the door, once she opened it she was a bit alarmed to see who it was, Cornelius Fudge, a coworker of Vincent's.
"Mr. Fudge, what brings you here?" Ana asked, a bit shocked still.
"The minister has asked me to come see why Vincent never arrived to work, and why he didn't send an owl excusing himself from today's duties." He said as he walked in.
"Vincent had left to work last night, Cornelius, are you certain he never arrived?" Ana felt a bit numb, it was so unusual for Vincent to miss a day of work, and the fact that neither she, her sister or her mother had any visions was making her feel sick to her stomach.
"His office was closed, nothing was touched, we never recieved the paper work that he had to deliver early in the morning. Nobody in the ministry saw him last night." Fudge explained, "Are you alright Mrs. Alexandrov?"
Elizabeth quickly went over to her sister's side and helped her to sit down on the couch.
"Excuse my sister, Mr. Fudge, its just that we were expecting him early and he hadn't arrived here either, no owl, nothing."
"Surely as a family of seers you must know something," Fugde enquired, and his stomach sank when none of the Alexandrov women said anything. "Oh my... I'll alert the minister, there have been quite a lot of missing people lately from other branches of the ministry as well, though we're still not sure of what's been going on."
"Missing people?" Anastasia's eyes watered, "if Vincent was missing surely I would have seen something!"
"Is daddy home yet?" Morgan asked her hair all messy and still in her pjs, rubbing one of her eyes with one hand and holding her toy broom with the other, aparently having slept with it.
"No dear, go back to your room," Cassie tried to smile.
"But daddy was going to play tea with me!" Morgan protested.
"Morgan Elizabeth Alexandrov, go back to your room!" Anastasia said a little bit louder than she had intended, causing her to shout and Morgan to start crying.
"No!" She shouted before running to the backyard.
Anastasia's heart was beating fast, tears flowed.
"It's been hours since no one's heard from him, we've had no visions, it could only mean one thing."
Elizabeth shook her head.
"No, sissy, there must be another explanation for this."
"Well perhaps he's been blocking his mind, all Department of Mysteries personal must learn how to do so." Fudge sugested, "although if something indeed has happened to him I doubt he would be doing such a thing." He walked over to the fireplace and took some floo powder from his coat, "I'll be sure to alert the minister, if anything pops up you'll be the first to know," the threw the powder into the fire and said 'Ministry of Magic' before disappearing with the flames.
"I don't think he's dead," Cassie said before her daughters could say a word, "and I don't think he's been kidnapped but something is going on, I just have this feeling..."
"He had been acting a bit suspicious lately," Elizabeth took her sister's hand, "maybe he has a surprise for us? It is boxing day, you know."
"A surprise that would make him miss work? I don't think so, he promised he would come home early, he was supposed to be here six hours ago!" Anastasia got up and went over to the backyard where she stood in awe for a few seconds as she observed the playhouse. At least this was one promise Vincent had managed to keep lately. She opened the door and saw her daughter sitting with her stuffed animals at the tea table, two chairs remained empty which Ana guessed were for Noah and Vincent. "Love, please come back inside, it's awfully cold out here."
"No, daddy promised we were going to play tea party." Morgan frowned, still clutching onto her broom.
"Honey, I don't think daddy's coming home today." Ana bit her bottom lip, how was she supposed to break the news to her 4 year old?
"Why not?" Morgan's eyes began to water again.
"Well, daddy is hiding." She thought this would be a propper way to tell her daughter.
"Is he playing hide and seek?"
"Not exactly..." Ana walked inside and sat in one of the empty chairs, "but people are looking for him, it seems daddy picked a very good hiding spot."
Morgan looked into her mother's eyes and shook her head.
"Daddy's not hiding, he's..." Her broom fell to the floor and she spaced out, staring at the chair her father was meant to occupy.
"Morgan?" Anastasia said, waving her hand infront of her toddler's face but she continued to stare at the chair. It suddenly hit her that Morgan might be having her first vision, it was only comfirmed when she burst out crying, running to her mother's arms. "Baby, what did you see?!"
"Daddy's been eaten by a snake." She cried, "daddy's in the snake's belly and he's... he's..." she continued to cry unable to finish her sentence.
Anastasia took her daughter and quickly ran to the house.
"Morgan had her first vision," she said to her mother and sister, "she said Vincent's in a snake's belly."
"Surely not a literal vision," Cassie said quickly going over to her granddaughter, "we need to know what else you saw, Morgie, please."
"Daddy's has a mark by the snake, he's not coming back." She kept crying, "daddy broke his promise and went to play with his friends!"
"Quickly, sissy, owl the minister." Anastasia said as she sat down, cradling her baby girl.
"Right," Elizabeth said and ran over to the study to begin writing the letter.
Cassie stood there thinking as she looked at her granddaughter, trying to make sense of that vision. While Anastasia began to cry herself, not knowing what to do or what to think, heartbroken at the fact that her husband has left so suddenly, perhaps even abandoned them for other people. There was only one thing that made her come to her senses, Vincent didn't abandoned them, he was in danger, a snake was never a good thing to see in visions.
---
The days passed and there was still no sign of Vincent, the family grew more and more worried, some even began to think he could have died. Anastasia refused to believe this, she couldn't bear the fact that her husband might have died that night, her heart couldn't take it.
Morgan couldn't take it either, every day she spent them in the play house in tears, waiting for her father to come back and played with her just as he had promised, hoping the snake man would have let him go so he could go back to his family.
Not a day went when Morgan wouldn't ask about him, only to burst into tears to recieve the same answer.
After a few months Morgan was all out of tears and by her 5th birthday she had given up, her daddy wasn't coming back and she decided she wouldn't set foot in the house again, not until she knew about her daddy.
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