Disclaimer: Harvest Moon doesn't belong to me.

Author's Note: Hey! This is my gift for my Secret Santa, Thoughtless7. I hope it's okay! I went for Claire x Elli, which I was nervous about as I've never written them before. But it was actually quite fun to write. Also, apologies that it's so brief. Hopefully, you don't mind. I thought it might end up longer, but then I thought I might be rambling, so here's what I ended up with. Eep. I hope you enjoy it anyway! :)

Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy New Year!

Makeshift

Christmas Eve and snow was finally spiralling down beyond the window pane. A winter that had so far brought only frosty mornings and crisp, clear days, had at last fulfilled its promise. Naturally, this was to the delight of eight year olds, May and Stu. They galloped outside, ignorant of Elli's warnings against the bitter cold.

"Stu! Stu! You put your mittens on, okay? I don't care how 'un-cool' you think they are – "

Claire joined Elli at the farmhouse door, pushing a star-shaped Christmas cookie into her empty hand. "Oh forget it," she said smiling, watching as the children disappeared into the thickly falling snow. "They'll be okay. They'll never listen, anyway." For Claire the unusual lack of snowfall over Mineral Town this winter was more of a welcome surprise than a disappointment. She had scarcely thought of snow ball fights or ice skating or snow angels or making snow men, never mind longed for those things.

Wow. Adulthood. You didn't notice it creeping up on you, until it was too late. Was she becoming... boring?

At that moment, Stu let out a yelp of childlike glee he'd never normally admit to. May was spinning in circles, eyes skyward and her long, dark plaits whipping around her. "I know," Elli sighed, as they watched them from a distance. "I'm still stuck in full nurse-mode, sorry! I never can seem to switch off..."

That was understandable, however. For years Elli had been nursing her frail, yet resilient grandmother, Ellen. Plus, she'd been looking after her younger brother, Stu since their parents died when he was only a baby.

And Claire was beginning to see just what that must be like. For almost six weeks, on and off, little May had been staying with her on Mineral Farm. Poor kid. An absent mother and now a hospital-bound grandfather. It would've been heartless for Claire, who was both single and well-off, not to step in and help. No one quite knew what was going to happen when Barley finally... but that was too awful, Claire couldn't even imagine...

And then Elli's hand was on her shoulder and she was looking into sympathetic brown eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, 'course. It's just been, you know, a weird couple of months." She dragged her eyes away from her front yard where Stu and May were still leaping through the freshly fallen snow. Finn the beagle was busy catching snowballs in his mouth; ice exploded above his head, as Stu collapsed with laughter. "Come on," Claire said to Elli. "Mulled wine?"

"Ooh. Yes, please. And Stu! Yes, listen – inside before it gets dark, d'you hear? Both of you!"

They wandered to the kitchen. "Sorry for my, um, slap-dash decorations." Claire had purchased a tree from Gotz which was now sat in a corner of the lounge, more horizontal than vertical, such was the staggering amount of tinsel heaped upon it. Claire and Elli ducked beneath the sea of paper chains hanging from the kitchen ceiling. "May got a little carried away," she explained. "Made them while I was plaiting her hair."

"You're coping well then?" Elli accepted her mug of wine with a soft smile. A smile that made Claire's stomach swoop and tingle. In a good way.

She gulped at her own wine. "Oh, it's fine – surprisingly! Great kid. Companionable." What else was there to say? Claire couldn't imagine herself with children of her own and she wasn't the marrying type, either. Who knew how the whole mess was going to work out. But it would work out, sometime, somehow. And May would be her top priority. Heck, she'd already proved as much...

"This is lovely, Claire. Thank you." Elli was smiling that dizzying smile again. "I assume you'll be at the Inn's Christmas lunch tomorrow?"

Well, of course, she wanted to be. "I – can't really afford to be eating out this year, Elli."

"Oh. Okay." Tactful as ever, Elli didn't ask anything further. Yet she's was Claire's best friend – more than, hopefully – and this was something she needed to say.

"Look, the thing is," Claire began, "I wasn't supposed to even be in Mineral Town this Christmas."

Elli's eyes were like saucers at the mere prospect. "What? I've never been outside of the village for Christmas!" She turned pink at the revelation, perhaps thinking resident city-girl Claire would judge. That was the last thing on the farmer's mind.

"No, well, I had plane tickets booked and everything. Damn expensive, they were. But that was months ago, before Barley fell ill. I was supposed to go and see my mom and dad. I couldn't manage to get a re-fund..." Her eyes found the window again. The snow was swirling faster than ever. "We should get the kids back inside."

"There'll be next year," Elli reminded her, ignoring that for the moment. "It probably doesn't help much now, but..."

"It does. Really." Claire drained the last of her mulled wine and poured them more. Liquid courage. "Anyway, I've got this – " She struggled for the right words. " – This makeshift family! And I think you guys'll more than do." Oh God. Was she rambling?

Elli giggled, but looked pleased all the same. "It's a good job I finished my house calls before we came here. Stu insisted we come here. He was determined to see May before Christmas Day and now, by the looks of it, we'll be snowed in here." Both women fell silent again, watching the front yard. The children were cobbling together a rather lopsided snowman. May was now wearing the mittens Stu claimed to hate. They were only eight; seeing them together, though, Claire felt like he loved her already.

"We really should bring them in," she repeated, this time with even less conviction.

And Elli was clearly on the same wavelength, barely listening or worried. She grinned into her mug of mulled wine. "Snowed in, eh? How... cliché."

"So's a kiss under the mistletoe. " Claire looked up pointedly, her heart pounding furiously beneath her ribcage. Sure enough, there was sprig conveniently taped there. "May's doing," she said. "Carried away. You know. Like – like – I said - "

Claire was pressed so close to Elli that their noses were almost touching. She could count every freckle, every eyelash, and every fleck of gold in her eyes. "Clichéd, right?" Elli whispered.

"Well, so what?" Claire managed. She could smell the hot mulled wine on her breath – the mix of alcohol, spices, the cinnamon she could almost taste. "You wouldn't hear me complaining."

Muffled laughter. "Me neither."