It was Christmas Day, 2020 and Dr. Neil Melendez had just woken up, though he felt an empty bed next to him. He figured his wife, Dr. Audrey Lim-Melendez, was busy tending to their daughter's needs. He climbed out of bed and stumbled down the hall while he tried to wake himself up, but as soon as he heard a fit of giggles coming from Mei-Li, he was wide awake. He walked into the nursery to find Lim changing her diaper, tickling her, and cooing to her, "Do you know what day it is, Ài? It's your very first Christmas!" Lim babbled to her. Mei-Li was dressed in red and green Christmas pajamas with reindeer, snowflakes, and Christmas trees on them with a matching red bow. Lim and Melendez, on the other hand, had matching black and red checkered pajamas.

Melendez smiled, came into the room, came up behind Lim, and kissed her cheek, "Santa Claus came last night and left you some special toys, mija," Melendez cooed happily.

Mei-Li smiled with delight again as she reached up for Melendez, "Dada!"

Melendez happily lifted his daughter into his arms as Lim shook her head at him, "You've turned her into such a Daddy's Girl."

"And that's a bad thing because?" Melendez asked and smirked at her.

"Just saying, you're such a charmer," Lim smirked back at him and sauntered over to him, "But that's okay. If you weren't such a friendly guy, you wouldn't have landed the amazing wife you have."

Melendez kissed her, "Merry Christmas, Audrey."

"Merry Christmas, Neil," she answered back, "What do you say, Ài? Want to go see everything Santa brought you?"

The family went downstairs and Lim warmed a bottle for her to hold her over until they all could sit down for breakfast while Melendez was singing a few Christmas carols in Spanish to Mei-Li. This year had been a whirlwind of a year for the couple: Mei-Li had been born in March, they had gotten engaged in May, and they had married just last month, all while balancing parenthood and being Associate Chiefs of Surgery at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Lim swore she blinked and Mei-Li had turned nine months old on December 13, but she was cherishing every moment with her. Lim came into the living room with a bottle for Mei-Li and two cups of coffee for her and her husband, "Alright Ài, here you go," Lim offered Mei-Li the bottle; the infant promptly accepted it.

For Melendez, the best part about the past year had been watching Lim become a wonderful mother. This particular time of the year wasn't easy for her; the anniversary of the quarantine being December 3 often brought on stronger PTSD symptoms for Lim, but somehow, Lim had managed to power through for Mei-Li's sake. Lim had always been very in her element in both the operating room and the emergency room, so Melendez did have to admit seeing Mommy Lim had been a bit of a change (not that it was a bad one, of course). Once Mei-Li finished her bottle, Lim grabbed a burp cloth and began to pat her back, "Alright sweetheart, why don't we see what Santa brought you? How does that sound?" Mei-Li burped and laid her head on Lim's shoulder, "I'll take that as a yes," Lim smiled.

Melendez began to unwrap the presents and the first one was the Baby Einstein Discover & Play Piano they had bought for her on their honeymoon (which was perfect for Mei-Li because at this point in her development, she loved to bang on everything), the next one was the Ring Stacker, then the tea set, and lastly the cars. There were also a few board books in her stocking that featured Sesame Street characters, "Look Mei-Li, it's Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster," Melendez smiled.

"Elmo," she repeated happily.

Lim laughed, "That's right, Ài," she kissed the top of Mei-Li's head, "Now let's give Daddy his special presents from Santa," Melendez opened a few new sports shirts and the latest seasons of his favorite shows, and a new watch since his old one had gotten damaged before he handed Lim her presents. Most of them were DVDs of all of the latest Marvel movies, but Lim was thrilled with them, "Someday when you're older, I'll watch all of the Marvel superhero movies with you, baby girl!"

Melendez picked up a small box and handed it to Lim, "Don't be mad at me for getting you jewelry, but I wanted to get you something to show how much you mean to me."

Lim eyed him, "Neil, you didn't have to do that."

"I know. Open it," he said.

Lim opened the box and found a gold necklace with the Chinese character for 'love' as the pendent, "Neil, it's beautiful," she kissed his cheek, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he kissed her on the lips this time, "Well mija, lots of members of our familia will be over soon, so we better get dressed and start Christmas dinner."

Later that afternoon, Melendez's parents, Josh Lim, and Miguel, Elena, and their kids came over for dinner and Melendez had also picked up Gabi from her group home. Naturally, most of the attention went to Mei-Li (Elena and Josh loved helping her walk around the room, though she couldn't walk unassisted just yet). They all exchanged gifts with each other and had a big Christmas dinner complete with all of the staples (one thing Melendez had been shocked to find out was that Lim was actually a decent cook when she was motivated to do so). After dinner, they all gathered in the living room to watch a few Christmas movies before everyone headed back to their houses or hotels.

Later that night, Lim went upstairs to give Mei-Li a bath and start getting her ready for bed. Melendez had to work the next day, so he took the opportunity to get his clothes ready for tomorrow. While Melendez was preparing for work, Lim changed Mei-Li back into her Christmas pajamas and settled her into her arms to nurse her. The mother and daughter rocked back and forth before Lim asked, "So what did you think of your first Christmas, Little Lady? Did you like all of the gifts Santa brought you?" of course, the baby was too focused on eating to respond so Lim continued, "You know, Ài, you made this Christmas easier for me. A few years ago, before you were created for me and Daddy, I had a really rough holiday season and sometimes I still have bad memories and bad dreams about it. But this year, you gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I knew I would get to see your pretty smile and your beautiful face. You make every hard day I have worth it," Mei-Li finished nursing and Lim burped her before she grabbed one of the books they had given her, "What do you say, sweetheart? Should we read a bedtime story?" Melendez came into the nursery to the sound of his wife reading The Polar Express. He came into the room and sat down on the floor next to the glider. Lim finished the story and Melendez took Mei-Li into his arms as he sang her A La Nanita Nana to put her to sleep. Melendez put her in her crib, but Melendez and Lim couldn't help but watch Mei-Li peacefully sleep, "It's hard to believe we'll be celebrating her first birthday in a few months," Lim commented.

Melendez sighed, "I know. This year seems to be flying by."

Lim smiled and grabbed her husband's hand, leading him to their room, "There is one good thing that happened this year besides having Mei-Li," she said. She kissed him and said, "We also officially became husband and wife."

Melendez groaned, "Most definitely."

"I was thinking for your last Christmas present, I could try to recreate our wedding night," Lim gave him a mischievous grin.

Melendez leaned his forehead against Lim's and said, "You're the boss, Dr. Melendez."

"Neil," Lim warned jokingly.

Melendez rolled his eyes, but corrected himself, "Fine, Dr. Lim-Melendez," he smiled and immediately kissed her before she could say anything else.