In Mimi Lake, Albert opened his eyes, yawned lazily with his eyes closed, and when he turned over, he seemed to realize something and opened his eyes again. The bed next to him was empty.
He rolled over and climbed out of bed, his eyes falling on the bathroom door where the light was on and the sound of running water could be heard. He looked at the still dark window with confused eyes and muttered, "So early..."
After a while, the bathroom door was opened from the inside, and Yin Zebel, wearing a bathrobe, came out and was carefully wiping her long, smooth, fiery red hair with a towel.
"woke up?"
Yin Zebel noticed Albert getting up.
"... Why don't you get some more sleep?" Albert suppressed another yawn.
"No, it's already half past seven. It should be snowing outside."
Yin Zebeier put down the towel, walked towards Albert with a familiar scent, leaned over and kissed Albert's sleepy cheek, and said with a smile: "Merry Christmas."
Oh, I almost forgot, today is Christmas.
"Merry Christmas!"
Albert held back his yawn and was about to lie back down on the bed for another nap, but Yin Zebel reached out and pulled him back.
"What's wrong?" Albert asked puzzledly.
"Go take a shower first. I have prepared a special Christmas gift for you."
"Christmas present?"
Albert was slightly stunned. He really didn't expect that Yin Zebel would give him a Christmas gift.
After all, they are married and even have children.
It always feels a bit weird to give gifts to both parties at Christmas.
Of course, sending small gifts can indeed add some spice to the boring life of both parties.
Yin Zebel raised his eyebrows slightly, deliberately put his head close to Albert's ear, and whispered, "It seems that you forgot to prepare a gift for me?"
"Oh, honey, what gift do you want?"
"What do you think?"
Yin Zebel didn't give Albert time to react. He pulled him up from the bed and pushed him directly into the bathroom.
The door closed again.
Overlapping human figures are reflected in the transparent frosted glass.
When Albert finished his shower, changed his clothes and walked into the living room, Katrina and the house-elves were decorating the large round table with sumptuous food.
"Merry Christmas!"
Albert glanced at the Christmas tree by the fireplace, under which was piled a large amount of French snacks that he was going to give to the members of the association.
"You look tired. Did you not sleep well last night?"
Katrina placed the plate of breakfast on the small round table next to Albert, glanced sideways at Yin Zebel who was pushing a baby stroller into the living room, and asked with a smile, "Or was the exercise this morning too intense?"
“Ahem.”
Albert glanced at Katrina with a strange expression, then turned his gaze back to the Wellington beef on the plate and changed the subject, "Eating steak so early in the morning?"
It’s not that Albert hates steak, but he is used to having a light breakfast.
"Today is Christmas," Katrina said without hesitation.
"Oh, if other members of the association knew that I was enjoying delicious food at home, they would probably be upset."
Albert cut a little and tasted it. The steak actually tasted pretty good.
"Why don't you just keep it from them? Besides, haven't you already prepared Christmas presents for them?" Katrina glanced at the pile of packages under the Christmas tree and said, "And when have you ever cared about such things? You are such a hypocritical person who says one thing and means another."
"It's so sad. I'm honest." Albert took a sip of milk and said, "Your Christmas present is gone."
Katrina didn't care and obviously didn't think Albert would prepare any Christmas gifts for her.
"Yin Zebel is very satisfied with the gift I prepared for her." Albert said suddenly.
"You bastard." Katrina glared at Albert fiercely and reached out to take away the half-eaten food.
"Hehe, you're just thinking the wrong thing. You're such an impure-minded girl. You don't even have a boyfriend."
"So, you just forgot to prepare a Christmas gift for me? Dear." Yin Zebel's voice sounded in Albert's ears.
"Ahem, if you need, I can prepare another one for you, but I don't think you need it." Albert took out a pink wine bottle from his seamless stretch pocket and handed it to Katrina, "Open it and take a look. You will definitely like it."
"A bottle of wine?"
“It turns out to be youth and love.”
Yin Zebel was a little surprised because they had finished drinking the magic wine that Albert had brewed using mandrake wine last time.
"What is that?"
"The name of this bottle of wine." Yin Zebel introduced, "It is said that it is a magic potion that can delay aging."
"Magic wine that delays aging?"
Katrina looked at the bottle of wine in her hand suspiciously and asked, "Are you sure this thing is not a scam?"
"You'll have to ask Albert about this." Yin Zebeier asked curiously, "Is this the latest batch?"
"Well, sort of. This year's batch is an improved version, and the effect is better than the last batch." Albert shrugged and said, "At least it tastes good. It's a treasure that you can't buy in the outside world anyway."
"Can this thing really delay aging?"
Katrina was skeptical. If this thing could slow down aging, it would be... great, but is it really possible
"I'm not too sure. Albert makes a batch every year. The raw material is mandrake. He says it's effective only if you drink it regularly." Yin Zebel couldn't actually confirm the effects of Youth and Love, but since Albert said it was effective, she was willing to believe it.
"Just think of it as a bottle of wine."
Albert took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth, cleared the dishes on the table, looked at the condition of little Alice in the stroller, picked up Tom who was warming himself by the fire nearby, put him on his knees, used a comb to help check his hair, and listened to the McDougal sisters chatting.
"Where's Mom?"
"In the kitchen, saying he was going to give us a surprise."
The two sisters looked at each other and fell into a brief silence.
Yin Zebel temporarily left Alice in Albert's care and took Katrina to the kitchen.
"Tom, this is Alice. You have to help take care of her from now on."
Albert held Tom cat close to the stroller and let it smell Alice carefully.
"Meow!"
Tom called out lazily, rubbed Albert's feet, and then lay back on the cushion by the fireplace to continue warming himself by the fire, completely ignoring the young two-legged beast.
Mrs. MacDougal's food was not as bad as expected, it was just mediocre. The only problem was that for some reason, Yin Zebel and Katrina no longer liked sweets, so... Albert had to take on the task and get a small piece of cake as dessert.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Yin Zebel cast an apologetic look at Albert. They felt helpless about Mrs. McDougal's recent obsession with cooking.
"Actually, it's not as bad as you think." Albert comforted softly.
This is not actually a lie, because Hagrid's cooking skills are also terrible.