Kaelin smiled brightly. 

"I love new friends!" she said. "The party's always new and exciting, so its a good place to meet people. Come on, Cosette, I'll introduce you to the others."

Kaelin gently took her hand and wound through the partygoers, returning to Grace and the others. 

"Cosette, this is Grace--" she indicated a girl about her own height "--her little sister, Emma--" here she indicated the youngest party member "--our friend Mel--" that was the dog "--and, and, Sir--" there she faltered, having failed to find out who the young man was, herself.

~~

"Well, I've rather successfully avoided risking death or dismemberment this year, so that's worth celebrating," Maeve said dryly. "I guess the advantage of being so far out is that there's not much of anyone or anything around. I think it sometimes drives Kaelin nuts, but I like it. Most interesting thing is I happened to find a hive, and managed to move it, so we have bees now."

The girls' eyes  grew wide at Ian's mention of sledding. "We love to go sledding with Daddy," Grace replied. "Maybe we can show you after the party."

"How do you sled on sugar?" Emma asked.

In a moment Kaelin arrived and introduced a new friend, Cosette. Grace offered Kaelin a quick hug and then both girls said "hi" to Cosette.  "Are you new here?" Grace added.

~~~

Angie smiled at Faye and Moira, then glanced over to where her girls were making new friends. "You're absolutely right. It seems like just yesterday Emma was learning to walk and talk, and now look at her."

"Yeah, pretty soon Grace will be asking for the car keys," Dan quipped.  "Nice to meet you, Moira. Is this bull with you?  He seems mighty interested in these Christmas cookies."

Posted by: @jackalopeofevul

"I don't know how much you think a beat cop makes in this podunk town, but it certainly ain't enough to cover our apartment on its own. The truth is, I do well enough for myself. But you are right about one thing; Jeff is a good man. I'm thankful to have him." 

"You should be, my dear," Delia replied. "He's a rare find."

Rare indeed.

"Cider?"

Small talk - so boring, thought the bull. He tried to signal to Moira that it was time to do something else, talk to someone else, but she ignored first his feet-stamping and then his headbutts. Just as he was deciding to use a bit more force to make his point - she couldn't ignore him if she was, emm, swept off her feet - a couple approached their group, and his nose picked up a faint smell of...was that oats? He sniffed again. I do believe it is, and perhaps some apple too?

Posted by: @stargazer

"Nice to meet you, Moira. Is this bull with you? He seems mighty interested in these Christmas cookies."

"Yes, he is." Very unfortunately, at the present moment, she added mentally. "And he does indeed seem interested," she said as she shifted to block the bull getting closer to Dan. "But he can ask if he wants one," she added quickly under her breath so that only the bull could hear.

"Is this party also a long-standing tradition for you?" Moira asked Dan and Angie.

Posted by: @wren

"Cosette, this is Grace--" she indicated a girl about her own height "--her little sister, Emma--" here she indicated the youngest party member "--our friend Mel--" that was the dog "--and, and, Sir--" there she faltered, having failed to find out who the young man was, herself.

At being indicated, Ian bowed to Kaelin and Cosette. "Ian Grayson, at your service. Mel tells me your name is Kaelin?"

Kaelin felt the heat rising in her face, but pushed it down, willing herself to smile instead of blush.

"Yessir," she said. "My apologies, it seems the excitement of the evening has made me a little scattered. We live so far from town, it's rare to get to see everyone."

Posted by: @valiantarcher

"Is this party also a long-standing tradition for you?" Moira asked Dan and Angie.

"Sure is," Dan replied.  "Been coming here since before Emma was born.  How about you?  Are you new in town? I don't recall seeing you around." 

He glanced again at the bull; while he was no stranger to animals, wild or domesticated, he still found the bull's proximity a wee bit unnerving.  "You want a cookie?" he asked the animal.  After all, Mel can talk, maybe this guy can too.

Posted by: @arin

"Badly," Ian replied, with a broad smile. "Mostly you just end up with a sticky mess. I should probably save the sugar for baking cookies."

"Cookies?"  Emma's ears perked up that.

It was as if Grace could read her sister's mind as she grabbed a couple more from the dessert table and offered one to Emma (after all, Emma was short enough that reaching the cookie tray would be a stretch for her).

Mel's tail swept back and forth at the idea of sledding. Winter sports were her favorite. Her ears pricked as Kaelin brought Cosette over, and she barked "Hello" when introduced. Mel hoped Cosette liked dogs.

Her attention was caught by Grace giving Emma a cookie, and Mel remembered that she never had actually tried any of the many kinds available. She got up on her hind legs and picked a lacy rosette off a tray of cookies, It didn't last long, but it was light and airy and left plenty of room to sample another when the opportunity arose.

Posted by: @stargazer

"How about you? Are you new in town? I don't recall seeing you around."

"This is our first holiday party here - we were just passing through and were kindly invited to attend," Moira replied. "What position do you hold in Ditto Town? Faye here," she gestured toward the woman, "said she runs the general store, which sounds like a great responsibility."

"You want a cookie?"

The bull stretched his neck out over Moira's shoulder and flicked his ears in what he hoped conveyed a fervent "Yes".

Molly was watching all the interactions going on around her with a pleased smile.  She had grabbed a mug of cider and two cookies from the table; it was hard to know which ones to choose--they all looked so good.

Now she scanned the room--who should she say hello to first, once she had checked to make sure there were no errant crumbs?  She heartily disliked trying to eat and visit, having had bad experiences in that line.  And where had Mr Waters gone?  She hoped he wasn't hiding under a table somewhere.

“Why, Mr. Waters it is, isn’t it?” Junior had just spotted the acquaintance from across the room. “I thought that was you. Why, I haven’t seen you since the shipwreck. My what a time that was, wasn’t it? But then again, they have lots of interesting times here. See look! They have a live bull here. I wonder if they’re going to be doing bull riding. This sure is a fine specimen of animal.”

Junior had turned his attention from Waters. He walked up to the bull and patted it on the back. “Yes sir, this is a fine animal.”

The bull's attention was diverted away from Dan's cookies by a tall man approaching his side.

Posted by: @risto

This sure is a fine specimen of animal.

Why, yes, I am, the bull thought. What an excellent judge of character this gentleman was.

“Yes sir, this is a fine animal.”

The words were accompanied by a slap on the back. The scoundrel! How dare he pat him like he was a calm, docile cow! The bull pranced and aimed a solid kick at the villain.

Although it wouldn’t be true that this was the first time that Junior had been kicked by a bovine, it would be true that this was the first time he’d been kicked by a bovine at a Christmas party while wearing a three-piece suit and holding a glass of punch.

The kick landed on Junior’s lower leg, sweeping it out from under him. The punch sloshed and the ice cubes flew out of the glass as Junior landed on the ground just a few feet from a heavy, prancing bull that was stamping angrily. The good news is that he was still holding onto the glass.

As the ice slid across the floor, hit the wall, and ricocheted back into the room, Junior rolled several feet across the floor away from the animal and got up to a kneeling position, shouting “Get back!” to the other party-goers. No doubt Junior intended to wrestle the creature into submission, something he had learned to do on his daddy’s ranch, but as he stood and put his left foot down, he planted it on an errant ice cube, causing his leg to slide out from under him. He soon found himself facedown on the hall floor with the sound of shattering glass a few feet in front of him.

Mr Ithamar Cadwallader Waters had come to this party prepared for every contingency, just as usual.  He clutched his oversize sports bag lovingly.  Every good investigator, of which he was a supreme example, had a set of skills suitable for any situation that could possibly arise. 

Now who was that calling to him from across the room?  Why, it was Junior Gladstone himself!  Mr Waters couldn't help feeling a little hot around the collar.  Of course he wasn't embarrassed--oh no, of course not.  A good investigator never admitted that he had made a mistake.  And it hadn't really been a mistake--just a misunderstanding, really.  All that little bother had been cleared up long ago.

Mr Waters waved a trifle nervously, and began to make his way across the room, keeping his eye out for an escape path, if one should prove necessary.  Then he heard exactly what Junior was saying, and his teeth began to chatter.  That--that--  No, it couldn't be a real live bull, surely!  Why, it must be a statue--it must!  But no! he saw its ear swivel as Junior walked up and gave it a hearty slap.

Pandemonium broke out.  Mr Waters watched in horrified amazement and admiration as Junior went sprawling on the floor.  He had never seen a fellow handle a glass with such panache and finesse after being kicked by a sizable quadruped. 

Flying ice cubes came hurtling towards Mr Waters, who had almost as much distaste for uncontained ice as he did for uncontained squirrels.  He dove under the closest table, which happened to be the white elephant gift exchange table.

Hardly daring to breathe, he scrabbled in his voluminous bag.  Surely he had a remedy for taurophobia somewhere in here!  What was this?  "Strictly for use in cases of extreme sciurophobia.  Take with caution!"  On the other side of the bottle it said, "Squirrel-B-Gone Spray." 

"That'll do!" mumbled Mr Waters, and he held down the nozzle.

Ian had not noticed the bull. In retrospect, perhaps a bit surprising, as a bull at a holiday party is not an easy thing to miss, but understandable, given that he was busy trying to make friends. This meant that the sudden noises of a bull kicking Junior Gladstone, and the following loud noises, made him jump nearly a foot in the air.

He recovered quickly, or at least, quickly enough to grab (firmly but gently) the arm of the girl nearest to him, and look for the best place to hide. The situation didn't seem too crazy at the moment, but with a large, angry bull, Ian thought it best not to take chances, especially with children around. "Under the table," he said, and pulled up the tablecloth.

----

Whenever Lauren got irritated, someone was bound to tell her to "go to her happy place". This tended to irritate her more, because Lauren didn't have a happy place. She did, however, have a calming method: she would sit somewhere, away from other people, and picture herself playing one of her favorite classical pieces. Something to drink, preferably hot, and a sweet snack could help. 

Not being particularly irritated -- Ian was just being Ian, and even if he still annoyed her sometimes, she was largely immune to getting angry over it -- and happily seated in a comfortable chair, with a nice cup of cider and the best lemon cookie she'd had in a while, Lauren was actually almost calm when the noises started.

As startled as Ian, she jumped to her feet -- she landed unevenly, stumbling with one foot and consequently spilling hot cider down the front of her blouse.

Lauren wasn't calm any more.