Lee Donghae was never this overwhelmed his entire life.

                Sure, life had its fair share of crazy things that it liked to throw at him but everything he was seeing and experiencing at the moment was of a different magnitude… and it all started when one Jessica Jung managed to coax him and Sooyoung into celebrating Christmas on the other side of the globe.

                He had half the mind to be thankful that the California native and Heechul had insisted on flying into Sicily two weeks before Christmas. The last thing he wanted was to be jetlagged and overwhelmed all at the same time. Apparently, the two had befriended an Italian couple during their first trip to the country and they became very good friends, going as far as to extend an invitation for Christmas for the two and whomever they wanted to come with them.

                With Krystal in California with Key for Christmas, Jessica’s best friend became the apparent next choice for the trip and that basically explained why Donghae was Sicily, standing in the dining room of some couple he just met when they arrived; an unreadable expression on his face. Elena and Salvatore Moretti had just basically picked them up from the airport and welcomed them to their home before they informed their visitors that they were leaving for the holidays and that they had the house all to themselves.

                If that wasn’t crazy enough, Jessica and Sooyoung had insisted on celebrating the Italian way. ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ the two reminded them. That was until Heechul reminded them that they were in Sicily so the sentence was altered to ‘when in Sicily, do as the Sicilians do.’

                After much researching, the four discovered that the Italian way happened to be called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The revelation alone had three of them doubling over in laughter while Donghae stared wide eyed at the screen, anticipating the inevitable teasing that came with his name.

                Heechul had stopped laughing soon after when they read more about the Christmas tradition, which was really about serving seven fish dishes historically or seven seafood dishes at present for Christmas dinner. Jessica had immediately turned to him and, with a dangerous smile on her face, held her hand out. Heechul had grumbled on and on as he handed a wad of cash and the two girls were off right away to go to the market.

“Aren’t you guys done yet?” Heechul hollered as his stomach grumbled yet again. “I’m starving here!”

“Hold your horses, geeze.” Jessica yelled back from the kitchen. “Things like this take time.”

“I still can’t believe we have this house all to ourselves and so much food.” Donghae shook his head in disbelief. “This is crazy.”

“That isn’t crazy. What’s crazy is that I’m starving.” Heechul snorted.

“You are like a woman. Do you know that?” Sooyoung arched an eyebrow as she emerged from the kitchen with dish in hand. “Stop complaining. Food’s here.”

                Donghae and Heechul could only watch with hanging jaws as the girls set out the seven seafood dishes on the table – insalata de mare, stuffed calamari in tomato sauce, deep fried scallops, linguine with crab sauce, deep fried shrimp, baked cod and stuffed-baked lobsters. Desserts were laid out after comprised of Panettone, Struffoli, Mont Blanc and Caggionetti.

“How did you manage to get all these done?” Heechul asked as he grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge.

“It’s called teamwork.” At Sooyoung’s arched eyebrow, she changed her sentence. “Well, it’s more of Sooyoung did most of the cooking while I did the mixing and tasting.”

“You are awesome.” Donghae grinned at Sooyoung, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

“Here, have a drink.” Heechul handed her a bottle of beer. “You deserve it after cooking so much.”

Sooyoung shook her head. “No, thank you, oppa.”

“Baby, it’s okay if you do.” Donghae rested his chin on her shoulder. “It’s Christmas anyway.”

“Choi Sooyoung’s refusing alcohol?” Jessica gasped. “Is the world ending?”

 “No.” She shook her head. “I’m just pregnant.”

“WHAT?!”

“Twins, too. Did I mention that?”

Prompt: Italy

"The dinner traditionally consists of seafood, with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, followed by typical Italian Christmas sweets, such as pandoro, panettone, torrone, panforte, struffoli, caggionetti, Monte Bianco or others, depending on the regional cuisine." - from Wikipedia

"Today, it (Feast of the Seven Fishes) is a feast that typically conists of seven different seafood dishes." - from Wikipedia

Happy Holidays to all Shadows out there!