A/N Happy Birthday Claudia (well, early birthday). This post is dedicated to you! May tomorrow be a great day for both you and your sister.
David Atwood hadn't seen his dad in almost three weeks. He was off on some trip for work so he stayed home alone with his mom. That wasn't usually a bad thing since he loved his mom very much, but he still ached to be with his dad again. Ryan Atwood was his favorite person in the whole world, and any day when he didn't get to see his dad was a sad one to him. The fact that it had almost been three weeks completely put him in sour spirits, especially since it was Christmas Eve.
His mom had tried to make the house seem like it did last December, but she was missing a key ingredient; his dad. With his dad still gone Christmas tomorrow seemed like just another day of the year, despite all the presents under the Christmas tree. At the age of seven he loved the holiday and especially loved the presents, but when he didn't have his dad to share them with, they just weren't the same.
It was almost midnight, way too late for him to be awake, but he just couldn't sleep. His mom had said his dad was trying to be able to come home tomorrow on Christmas day, and the thought alone kept him anxious for the next day. And since he was still seven, he wanted to know if he could see Santa Claus. He'd believed in the red coated, white bearded man ever since his parents had told him about the guy when he was little, and like most kids his age he wanted to see his sleigh in the sky and Rudolph lighting the way.
He was just falling asleep at one when he heard someone shout, "Ho, ho, ho!"
He couldn't believe it. It was Santa Claus! He tip toed past his mom's room, trying not to wake her, and went to the top of the stairs. He looked over the banister and saw his mom staring at Santa Claus like she'd seen a ghost. He figured she was just as surprised to see him as her son. He was going to go downstairs when he saw his mom get up and hug Santa tightly, tears streaming down her face. "God, I've missed you," She said, her arms around Santa's neck.
Santa wrapped his arms around his mom and rested them on the lower part of her back. "I've missed you too," He said, his voice sounding oddly familiar. Maybe he'd dreamt of Santa Claus before or heard him in his sleep last year.
He stayed at the spot he was at and watched the horror of the scene in front of him unfold. His mom looked at Santa's face and said, "David's been asking about you, if you were going to come tonight. I didn't know what to tell him."
Santa's voice was low as he said, "I told you I'd come, and I meant it. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else but with you two. I love you guys…so much."
David frowned at Santa, even though the man couldn't see him. What was up with Santa? He was supposed to drop the presents and go, wasn't he? "No more leaving. I can't take it when you leave," his mom said in a whisper, but still loud enough so that David could hear her.
"You know I can't promise that. People need me in other places. We've talked about this before. I hate it, but it's part of my job," Santa said with a sad look on his face. Serves him right, David thought to himself.
"You never should've agreed to this all those years ago. Then you would've been with us all the time," his mom said, some more tears falling down her face. "If I had known how much you'd be gone, I would've told you not to take the job. I would've begged you to turn down the position." David was confused now. How long had she known Santa exactly? And how old was Santa anyways?
"Marissa, you know I need this job. It has its pluses…" Santa said with a small smile. His mom must have understood because she smiled too. "Besides, I like the people I work with. Some of them are a little weird at times, but they're really nice." David thought about the elves that Santa supposedly worked with and wondered if they knew that Santa was so close to his mom. Maybe they would tell Mrs. Claus and the problem would be over with.
His mom looked into Santa's eyes for a long time and then said, "I love you." David's mouth hung open. It was one thing for Santa to love his mom, because Santa was old and was supposed to love everyone, but his mom loving Santa? What about his dad? His dad's face flashed in his mind and he grew angry. How dare she! "So much," she added after a minute.
Santa smiled widely and said, "I love you too." He leaned in and suddenly Santa and his mom were kissing! He watched them for a minute, and then got grossed out and too angry to watch anymore, so he went back to his room. He yawned, suddenly very tired, and decided that if his dad came back in the morning, he'd tell about what his mom had been doing while his dad was away.
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Ryan Atwood sat at the kitchen table watching his wife cook breakfast. He smiled to himself as he heard her humming some Christmas carol to herself. He had missed her the past couple of weeks while he was away. He was an important architect in the company he worked for, and the position he held required him to take long business trips every couple of months. It was hard for him to do sometimes, and Marissa had made it obvious that she hated him being away for weeks at a time, but there wasn't anything he could do at this point. Besides, the job paid a lot of money that both he, Marissa, and David enjoyed to spend, so it was a worthy sacrifice. If only he didn't miss her so much…
Marissa turned around and saw him staring at her. She gave him a flirtatious smile. "See something you like?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
He grinned widely and nodded. She walked over to him, using that sexy walk that she knew turned him on, and sat on his lap. "You, Mrs. Atwood, are too sexy for your own good."
She giggled happily and said, "Well, Mr. Atwood, what are you going to do about it?"
"I'll do this…" he murmured, and then leaned in to kiss her lips. They kissed heatedly for a minute before he murmured, "Married eight years you've still got it…"
She laughed a little and said, "Shh, don't talk or else David will hear you and wake up…"
He smiled and thought that it would be awkward for his son to walk in while he was in his current aroused state. They continued to heatedly make out, their hands roaming theirs spouses' bodies when suddenly they heard, "My eyes! Help me, I've gone blind!"
Ryan groaned and Marissa pulled her lips away from him, turning so that they could see Seth and Summer staring at them with amused smirks, their own son Daniel Cohen hiding behind Seth's arm. Ryan glared at his brother and said, "My house, my kitchen, my wife."
"And I'm not saying that they aren't yours to do with whatever you please, but I will say that you have guests that would rather not see what was just about to happen…" Seth said with an annoying smirk that drove Ryan crazy.
Marissa got off of Ryan's lap and he groaned, then tried to hide his current arousal from the guests that had ruined all his fun. He sighed and Marissa went over to Summer, hugging her best friend and saying, "Merry Christmas guys."
Ryan thought of his brother and suddenly he wasn't aroused anymore. He stood and went over to Seth. "Merry Chrismukkah, Seth."
Seth's smile broadened and he said, "Yes, it is a Merry Chrismukkah indeed, Ryan, because my brother is finally back in town!"
Ryan smiled and rolled his eyes, but he was really pleased to be back in town to celebrate the holiday with them. He and Marissa had taught David to celebrate Christmas, but Seth still held onto the Chrismukkah idea. It was something they debated every year. They all gathered around the table and Marissa served each of them a large breakfast with eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and fruit. Ryan smiled at her as she handed him his plate and told her with a look that they'd finish what they started earlier in the morning that night when everyone was asleep. "Hey guys, where's my nephew?" Seth asked with a mouth full of food.
"Seth, don't talk with your mouth full," Ryan scolded, but then added, "And he's in his room sleeping."
"He's been having problems sleeping ever since Ryan left, so I figured we could let him sleep in for a while," Marissa said, added in.
Ryan nodded and then suddenly David was walking into the room. He saw Ryan and ran to his father quickly, throwing his arms around Ryan. "Daddy!"
Ryan smile and hugged his son tightly. "Hey, David. I've missed you." David suddenly pulled back and glared at Marissa. Marissa looked confused and Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Hey, don't look at your mom that way," Ryan said softly to his son.
"But she deserves it!" David said with an annoyed voice.
Marissa looked at Ryan confusedly and he shrugged. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Mommy's been cheating on you," David said, giving his mom the most penetrating glare she'd ever seen from her son.
Seth choked on his food and everyone in the room got quiet. Marissa gave her son a baffled look and said, "David, I never…"
"Yes you did! I saw you!" David practically shouted. "I saw you with Santa Claus!"
It was Ryan's turn to choke on his food now. He gave Marissa a look and she bit her lip. "And you saw this?" Ryan asked, keeping his expression blank. "With your own eyes, you have no doubt that your mom was with Santa Claus last night?"
David nodded and said, "I saw them kissing!"
Seth shot them an amused look and Ryan said firmly to Marissa, "I need to speak with you in the other room, please." Marissa stood and walked out of the room and Ryan looked down at his son. "Thank you for telling me, David. I've had suspicions about this for a while now."
David smiled happily and Summer got him a plate of food to eat for breakfast while Ryan went into the other room to speak to Marissa. When he got in there and they were out of ear shot, Marissa burst out laughing and said, "Looks like we've been caught, Santa."
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "I guess we have." He leaned in and pecked her lips really quickly before saying, "He'll look back on this someday and laugh when he finds my Santa suit in the attic."
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of her husband's arms wrapped around her body. He'd come home last night with a brand new Santa suit, and she'd been surprised to see him. She guessed that David had heard them and watched them from the second floor. Sneaky little boy.
Ryan looked up and saw a mistletoe hanging. "Look at that," he said with a broad smile. "Looks like you have to kiss me."
She looked into his eyes and teasingly asked, "Oh, so you forgive me for making out with Santa Claus?"
"If I remember correctly, that's not all you did with Santa, but yes, I do forgive you," he said with sparkling eyes. She leaned in and kissed his lips softly. He thought back to what Seth had said earlier and decided that yes, it was a very merry Christmas indeed.