"Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Age: Thirteen Months – December
"Ho, ho, ho," Travis cried merrily, pushing his way out of the bedroom, arms laden with Christmas gifts.
"Shhhh," Wes scolded. He looked over his shoulder at the closed nursery room door and relaxed when he didn't hear anything from the other side. "You wake her up and I'll murder you where you stand."
Travis gave him his patented 'you've got to be kidding me' look.
Rolling his eyes, Wes said, "And you can put that look away right now, mister. There isn't a jury in the world that would convict me for that. Not tonight."
Travis shrugged, unconcerned with his lover's threat. It was one he heard on a daily basis the last few weeks. Kind of reminded of him of back when… nah. He was being silly. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll be quiet. But for the record, you take all the fun out of these things."
Wes pushed Travis' Santa hat back on his head, smiling. "You may be loud, but you're the cutest Santa I've ever met."
"Wanna sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas, little boy?" Travis winked in a way most unbefitting from a Santa look alike.
"Uhh, no, because that's just creepy, Trav. You want some help with those boxes?"
"Nope, got 'em. There are more in the closet still though. Want to grab an armful for me?" He squeezed past Wes and made his way to the living room where the tree was sitting.
"More? Haven't you already made two trips? Travis?"
"Oh just grab some packages, you spoil sport," he hollered at his boyfriend from under the tree. "It's her first Christmas, cut me some slack."
"I'll cut you some slack, alright," he muttered under his breath as he stomped into their shared closet. "Holy shit, Travis!"
"Hey now," Travis laughed, coming into the walk-in closet behind his lover. "Who's the one shouting now? What's the matter?"
Wes pointed at the towering pile of presents still in the closet. "What do you think? Go overboard much, Marks?"
Travis slipped his arms around Wes' waist, pulling him close against his chest. "Relax, baby. I might have bought a little too much, but she'll only be little for a minute. Besides, one of those is yours."
"Mine?" Laughing, he pulled out of Travis' embrace. "Why, gee, thanks," he teased.
"I've got something else for you, too," he hinted, dragging Wes back into the circle of his arms. "Want me to show you?"
"No," he choked out. "I saw you slip on those Santa's elf boxers this morning. Not falling for it. Now, can we get on with this? I'm exhausted and I'd really like to get to bed sometime before the real Santa arrives."
"See? You're a spoil sport."
Wes watched Travis wander down hall with the last few presents under one arm. He had to confess, his husband-to-be had done a fabulous job shopping for Violet. He'd itemized everything as they'd sorted presents. New clothes, shoes, toys, stuffed animals, even a few books and an educational game to play. Somehow, he'd hit all the bases and then some. Even though he'd gone way overboard, it was a win on all levels. He'd even hinted that he'd gotten Wes something, despite his insistence that he didn't want anything.
That was Travis for you, never listening.
He'd hesitated when it came to buying something for Travis, however. There never had been a question that he would get him something – mostly because he knew that boy never listened to a word he said - but also because how could he not? Travis had segued so easily from womanizer to one-woman-man in a few heartbeats. Wes was a fool if he thought this started only after Travis had discovered the truth – that Violet was his – because in truth, it had started long before. All that deserved a gift of some kind.
And now, he was getting two.
Opening the bottom drawer of his nightstand, Wes pulled out a small, wrapped gift. It was the only thing he'd managed to get for Travis, but he was pretty certain it would be enough. Having come from the kind of background he did, it didn't take much to make Travis happy.
"Hey, Travis," Wes stage whispered, pointing at the center of the living room. "I think she's finally had enough."
A giant grin spread across Travis' face as he located his daughter sprawled out in the middle of the floor, a pudgy arm wrapped tightly around the bright pink teddy bear one of his foster moms had given her. "She is beyond tuckered out, I think."
"Does that mean we get five minutes of peace now?" Wes patted the cushion next to him. "Come sit with me, Trav."
Travis extracted himself from the pile of boxes and wrapping paper that surrounded his feet and plopped on the couch beside Wes. He rested his head against his partner's shoulder, sighing heavily.
"Rough day, Marks?" Wes kissed his cheek, smiling contentedly.
"Yeah man, keeping up with that kid while she opens presents is hard work!" He searched for Wes' hand, gripping it warmly when he found it. "You want your present now?"
He looked down at Travis, his eyes closed, mouth turned up in a happy grin. Pure joy swelled in his chest at the sight. "Depends. Is this the same present you were offering me last night? Because if it is, I need to refuel first."
Travis' chest shook with amusement. "Naw man, even I might need a nap before that happens. I meant your actual present."
"Sure, let me up so I can go get yours." Travis heaved himself into an upright position and waited as Wes went to the bedroom to fetch his gift. "Okay, hand it over."
"Woah, look at my buttercup getting all demanding. I like it," he joked, swapping his present with the one Wes held out to him. "You go first," Travis insisted.
"No," he deflected, worried he'd lose his nerve if he had to wait for his turn.
"Nuh-uh, I insist." Travis tucked his present from Wes under his arm and waited. "You do so much for this family that you deserve to open your present first."
Defeated, he gave in. Bringing the package into his lap, he turned it over, observing it first.
"Oh for the love of all things wrapped, just open it!"
"Wow, Travis. Such anger," he joked. Wes popped open the edges of the wrapping and ripped the paper along its taped seam. "Oh, so you're one of those wrappers, eh? Paper, box, another box inside?"
"Open the box and find out," Travis deadpanned.
He opened the plain white box and found tissue paper. Not nearly as bad as another box, but still, one more damn obstacle. Pushing the lavender paper aside, what he found nestled inside took him by surprise. Wes lifted the book out of the box and turned it over in his hands, admiring the leather cover and gilt edges. Lifting his head, he met Travis' gaze head on.
"I can't believe you remembered. When did we even talk about this last? Five, six years ago?"
Travis shrugged. "Not sure, I just remember it was whenever that god-awful movie came out and we got to talking about it. What can I say? It stuck with me."
Wes shook his head, still unable to accept that he'd remembered something so offhanded from so long ago. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And you might want to go read that sometime soon, I think you need a little levity in your life right now."
"Very funny, you jerk." Wes set the collector's edition of his favorite series – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a true contradiction to his personality if he ever saw one – and turned back to Travis. "Your turn, open."
Travis watched him warily for a moment before tearing the paper off the package, revealing a sterling silver picture frame beneath. There were oval spaces for two photos, one already contained a copy of Travis' favorite picture of Violet, but the other remained empty. "Where's the other picture?"
Wes paled. Biting his lip, he smiled as best he could before blurting out what he'd been holding in for two days. "Well, that's a funny story, Travis, because, well… that one will be filled sometime in late July."
"What? We getting a dog or something? Because really, it shouldn't take even you that damn long to – oh." He cocked his head sideways and stared at his partner for a moment, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the slight puffiness to his face. The moodiness, the exhaustion, even the crankiness suddenly made sense. "OH!"
Travis shot to his feet, picture frame still in hand. "Wes, how long have you known? Why didn't you tell me? OH MY GOD." He stopped for a breath. "Does Dakota know?"
Wes laughed at that last one. "Hell no, do you think she could have kept that a secret? And for the rest, I only found out officially yesterday morning, so not long."
Travis crashed to the cushions beside Wes, pulling him tightly into his arms again, crushing him against his chest. "I've been wondering lately and keep talking myself out of it. It makes so much sense."
"Does this mean you're happy? You're not mad or…?"
"Or what?" He let Wes go a bit so he could breathe. "How on earth could I be mad about this, considering this," he waved at Wes' belly, "is what I've been hoping for since the minute I found out you were pregnant the first time."
"Really? But I was already pregnant then." Wes leaned forward for a kiss, loving the feel of Travis' mouth against his.
"Yeah, but I didn't know the baby was mine then, either. All I could think of was knocking you up again so I could claim you as mine," he admitted.
"Now you're going to have two. If you want to run screaming from the room, I suggest you do it now. Because once Baby Vi wakes up, you're stuck."
Travis pulled his husband-to-be against his chest, holding him there. "I think I might just have to pass on that, but thanks for the offer. It was so much fun watching you run to the toilet every five minutes last time, I sure don't want to miss that!"
"Have I told you lately that I hate you," Wes growled, relaxing into his lover's embrace.
"But I loooooove you, baby," Travis crooned. "And now you're mine forever and ever."
"I don't think I could have it any other way. Merry Christmas, Travis."
"Merry Christmas, my little mistletoe."
"You do know that mistletoe is poisonous, right?" It was mean, but Travis was so good at setting himself up like this.
"I promise not to lick you then," Travis agreed.
"Well, that's no fun, is it?" Wes suddenly regretted his comment.
Travis squeezed him tightly. "Like I could ever hold to that promise," he admitted, licking the side of Wes' face. "You taste too good not to."
"What do you say we put the little one to bed and take this into the other room?" He was surprised by his sudden desire to get naked seeing how tired this pregnancy was making him, but he couldn't deny he felt it building inside him.
"I'd say you've got yourself one hell of a deal, baby."
Indeed. They both did. And it was only getting sweeter by the minute. What this next year held in store for them remained to be seen, but it was going to be an exciting one. They had a wedding to plan and a baby on the way. When you add in the little terror they already claimed as their own, there wasn't anything more Wes thought either of them could ever need.
Except maybe that dog Travis mentioned…