New Christmas one-shot.
Disclaimer: Don't own.
Christmas With The Bolton's
The Bolton household was usually a little crazy, but when it came to Christmas chaos ensued.
This year seemed a never-ending period of vegetables and turkey for Gabriella Bolton. Not only would she have to cook for herself, Troy and their children but also the in-laws and her mother were coming aswell. All that added up led to stress, stress and more stress!
Then there was the fact that their parents would undoubtedly spoil Bella, Lillie and Mia rotten. That was on top of all the presents she and Troy had accumulated for them over the past month. Money wasn't exactly a problem in the Bolton household, and the girls' pouts made Troy cave for absolutely anything. But Gabriella was grateful for Troy, he had recently been offered a new film role but he would have been working solidly in the lead up to Christmas and it was simply time he wanted to spend with his family.
That Saturday morning as Gabriella sat in the kitchen pondering exactly what had to be done that day, the house was in complete silence. It was 6.30am, and no one else was awake. In her hands was the list of everything that had to be done before the grandparents arrived in 2 days time.
"Baby, what are you doing?" Troy asked quietly as he padded into the kitchen.
"Just planning, you want some coffee?" She said heading towards the kettle.
"No not yet, but I do want my wife to greet me properly this morning," He smirked pulling her down onto his lap, "Kiss please," He said pouting his lips. Gabriella leant forward, closed her eyes and tenderly caressed her lips against his. Pulling back, she caught her breath and leant her forehead against his staring intently into his eyes.
"Love you," Troy whispered against her lips, pecking them again.
"Mmm…love you too," She mumbled snuggling into his chest.
"So what do you want me to do today? I'm sure Shar and Zeke could look after the girls for a while,"
"No, they should be with us at the moment. We're probably gonna be busy after the holidays so I want to spend time with them. All the food's arriving on Tuesday so I just need to clean the house for our parents and do some last minute present shopping." She said.
"Well, this morning we can all help to tidy up and then this afternoon we'll stop at the park on the way to the mall." Troy replied squeezing Gabriella against his chest. "How long do you think it'll be until Mia wakes up wanting something to eat?"
"About five minutes, I should probably prepare her bottle," Gabriella said, standing up and walking towards the fridge. "Baby, can you go see if any of the girls are up? It's past seven so they might just be getting up," She asked.
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute," He agreed heading towards the stairs. Walking past his own bedroom, he gently opened the door to Bella's. With dark coffee coloured hair, chocolate brown eyes and her tanned skin Bella looked just like her mother and completely acted like her too. She was the quietest one out of the girls and loved to snuggle up with Gabriella and read a book, but then she could be a total diva. Her closet was filled with pink clothes and pretty dresses fit for a princess and if she didn't get her way she would make it known she wasn't happy. Troy and Gabriella often worried she was a little jealous of her sisters, especially when Gabriella's attention was directed fully to Lillie or Mia.
"Bella baby?" Troy asked, drawing his oldest daughter's attention.
"Daddy," She said tiredly, lifting her arms up.
"Hey Princess," He replied, picking her and her blanket up and snuggling them into his arms. "Let's go and see if your sisters are awake," Secretly he knew that he should have let her sleep but it was quiet time with his girls that he treasured the most and the bonding with Bella would be short lived until his other angels appeared. He began to walk down the corridor to the next room knowing Lillie would be awake already.
"Daddy!" Lillie Bolton squealed excitedly once she saw Troy walk in. She was definitely the most energetic of the girls and it certainly showed in the morning. She looked just like Bella; to everyone it was pretty obvious they were sisters. Gabriella sure seemed to have a stronger gene pool than Troy. Lillie had just turned 3, 2 weeks ago. She already seemed to have escaped the terrible twos and Troy and Gabriella couldn't be more thankful. To say she was a handful would have been an understatement.
"Hey sweetie, do you want to come and see Mama?" Lillie eagerly nodded her head and raced away from her cuddly toys. "Okay, well let Daddy go and get Mia and then we can go downstairs." He said taking her hand and leading her towards the nursery. Opening the door he was surprised to find Gabriella already in there, sitting in the rocking chair feeding their 9-month-old daughter. Mia like both her sisters had dark brunette curls sitting on top of her head but the thing that was most different was her piercing blue eyes obviously from Troy.
"Mama!" Lillie raced over, jumping at her feet. "How days 'til Santa?" She asked excitedly.
"Five days!" Gabriella said holding up four fingers. "Nana and Grandma and Grandpa are coming in two days. You like that?" She asked.
"Yeah! Mama can have cakes?"
"I think Daddy can make some pancakes for us. Let's go down to the kitchen," Gabriella said standing up, "Troy, can you help Lillie down the stairs, I still think it's too little to go down by herself,"
"Sure, come on Lillie-pad, let Daddy carry you down the stairs and then we can have pancakes," He said moving Bella in his arms so make room for Lillie.
"Daddy…" Bella mumbled tiredly, having fallen asleep in Troy's arms.
"I know, Daddy's mean moving you around. When Mama comes downstairs you can cuddle with her," Troy said picking Lillie up and heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. Five minutes later Gabriella came down claiming Mia had gone back to sleep and stealing Bella from Troy's arms.
"Troy, we're going into the living room. Start making those pancakes Chef Bolton!" She exclaimed cuddling Bella into her chest.
"Mama," Bella whined as Gabriella sat down on the sofa in front of the Christmas tree. There already seemed to be stacks of presents under there, mainly for the girls.
"I know Daddy's mean baby. He's silly bringing you downstairs when you're not even awake yet. Are you excited about Santa coming to visit?" She asked gently rubbing her back. Like Troy she found it hard to have one-on-one time with her girls and she knew Bella was more sensitive than Lillie and Mia. She seemed to be permanently attached to Gabriella, but then Lillie came along and Bella seemed to develop some sort of separation anxiety. She soon accepted the fact that she couldn't always keep Gabriella to herself and started to bond with Troy more, but then Mia was born and the attention from both parents was spread out even more amongst the girls. Jealously was starting to become an issue with Bella but Gabriella and Troy liked to pretend they all got along, especially at Christmas time.
"Yeah. I've beened a good girl this year haven't I Mama so Santa will be nice," Bella said sleepily.
"I think you've been a good girl. Today shall we go and see Santa at the mall? Mama needs to find Nana a present for Christmas aswell."
"Where's Noonoo?" She asked, speaking about her special blanket.
"I think Daddy put it in the kitchen on the table," Gabriella said standing up and carrying Bella into the kitchen. Mia was now in her high chair munching on some cheerio's and Troy and Lillie were mixing the pancake batter. "When did you get Mia, baby?" She asked Troy.
"Oh, I heard her on the monitor about five minutes ago. Lillie sit down with Mama, Daddy will bring the pancakes over," Troy said placing her down in a chair next to Mia. Five minutes later, the whole family was digging into their breakfast.
Later That Day
Troy had alerted the mall they were going to that they'd arrive at about 3pm. With him being a well-established actor the paparazzi attention he and his family had received over the past year had increased considerably. Simple shopping trips now became a well thought out escapade. All 3 girls were sitting in the back of their Range Rover happily listening to the CD in the player.
The mall was the family's favourite, mainly because of the big number of toyshops for all the girls to get lost in and the fact that every year they had a very realistic Santa. As they approached the car park they were pleased to see that no paparazzi were hanging around. Troy and Gabriella got very annoyed when they were swarmed, especially when they were with the girls.
"I don't think I could cope with any paparazzi today." Gabriella muttered as Troy parked the car. He smiled and leaned across to kiss her gently.
"Lets go shopping and let the girls meet Santa. Don't let anything bring you down," He said hopping out the car and grabbing the pushchair out of the boot. Unbuckling Mia from her car seat, he gently placed her in the pushchair. She would undoubtedly fall asleep as it was around the time of her afternoon nap. Gabriella was around the other side unbuckling Bella and Lillie. Both were excited about meeting Santa.
"Are all my girls ready to go see Santa?" Troy asked as they walked around the side of the car.
"Yeah Daddy!" Lillie squealed jumping up into his arms as he knelt down to pick her up.
"Gabi, come on let's get inside. Security said they'd meet us there." Troy said beginning to push Mia. Once inside the girls insisted on seeing Santa first. Security had told them it was quite busy and that it was best they stayed with them to stop any crazed fans scaring the kids.
Gabriella smiled looking on as Bella and Lillie climbed onto Santa's lap. Mia was in her arms clinging to her shirt. Gabriella knew that she was a little scared, she was used to the familiarity of their home and not all the people surrounding them. She had given Mia her security blanket hoping it would calm her a bit. "Say bye to Santa," She heard Troy say as the girls got down. They waved shyly and then ran over to her each holding a small present.
"Mama look!" Lillie squealed holding up the present. "Santa gave it for me," She said excitedly.
"Wow, isn't that nice! Did you get one too Bella?" She asked looking at her oldest. Bella nodded in response holding her arms up wanting to be held. "Mama's holding Mia, baby. Go to Daddy," Bella turned around looking at Troy expectantly who swooped down to pick her up.
"Daddy's Bella's second choice is he? We can't have that!" He exclaimed tickling her.
"Daddy stop!" Bella giggled in his arms. Troy kissed her nose lightly and placed her on his hip.
"Let's go shopping!"
Christmas Eve
Over the past few days the Bolton house had become much busier. The grandparents had arrived two days ago, many more presents had accumulated under the tree and cards seemed to decorate every wall. The girls had gotten more and more excited as it got closer to Christmas. Everything had been prepared and Gabriella being the perfectionist she was had managed to get everything complete a day early.
Currently sat downstairs in the family room, everyone was sat watching Miracle on 34th Street. It was Gabriella's favourite Christmas movie and it had become somewhat of a tradition in the Bolton household to watch it every year. Jack, Lucille and Maria had gone out claiming they needed to buy more presents for the girls but after Troy and Gabriella had seen the stack under the tree that the grandparents had brought with them they couldn't help but be wary about how much the girls were actually getting.
Snuggled together on the couch, with the girls surrounding them, Troy and Gabriella couldn't be more content. Lillie and Mia were dozing having run out of energy.
"Mama, why do they think Santa's not real?" Bella asked.
"Cause they're silly baby. Everyone knows Santa's real. If there wasn't a Santa, how would you get any presents?" Gabriella replied pulling Bella to her chest.
"I asked Santa for a new baby," Bella said.
"W-why did you do that sweetie? Don't you like Lillie and Mia?" Troy asked joining in the conversation.
"I do but now I wanted a brother, coz I already haved two sisters," she replied.
"You know that might not happen Bella. Santa can't get everything," Troy said trying to let her down gently that she wouldn't be getting a brother any time soon.
"Have I been bad?" She started to cry into Gabriella's chest.
"No baby, of course you haven't. Mama and Daddy just think that maybe Santa's really busy getting all your other presents ready. He might not have time to get you a baby brother," Gabriella explained.
"So it's not cause I've been bad,"
"Not at all. Daddy thinks you've been the best little girl ever," Troy said.
"Can I have a drink?" Bella asked, her tears almost forgotten.
"Uh huh, lets go into the kitchen. I think Lillie and Mia have overslept a bit. They won't sleep at all tonight. Nana will probably be back soon aswell," Gabriella said standing up careful not to hurt Mia who had been lying next to her.
"Mama, I want to see Grandpa,"
"Sweetie, he'll be back any minute. Look out the window and see if his cars here," Gabriella said placing her on the ground. Running over to the window Bella just about managed to see over the ledge.
"Mama! He's here!" She squealed watching as Jack walked up the driveway to the door.
"Hello! Anyone home?" Jack called as he walked in the house closely followed by Lucille and Maria.
"We're in here Dad," Troy called standing up. Soon Jack walked through saying the girls had gone upstairs to sort out the shopping.
"Grandpa!" Bella exclaimed and rushed towards him jumping at his feet.
"Hey Princess. Where are your sisters?"
"They're sleeping," She replied pointing to the sofa where Mia and Lillie were mixed amongst the blankets.
"How about we go and see Grandma and Nana? They might make some cookies with you for Santa tonight," Jack suggested. He thought Gabriella and Troy could do with some alone time before they spent Christmas Day rushed off their feet looking after the girls. Bella nodded and Jack told Troy where they were going before leaving them to themselves.
Sighing, Gabriella looked at the mess on the coffee table and immediately began to clear it up. The girls had been eating some popcorn and it seemed to be thrown across the carpet. Troy had gone over to turn the film off, he was well aware of how tired his wife was. He wanted her to have an enjoyable Christmas, not a stressed one.
Walking towards her, he leant down and pulled her into his embrace. Placing a kiss on her forehead he heard her sigh heavily again and felt her wrap her arms around his waist. Looking over at Mia and Lillie on the couch he knew they had to be woken up otherwise they really would be up all night.
"If we wake the girls up then I'm sure our parents will look after them for a bit," he said kissing her forehead again.
"Hmm…okay, you tackle Mia. I'll wake Lillie," Gabriella smiled.
"Oh that's fair. Give me the grumpy one," He smirked, walking over to the sofa.
Gabriella swiftly followed and pulled Lillie into her arms. She stirred in her sleep and soon wearily opened her eyelids. She smiled tiredly at Gabriella, opening her eyes wider.
"Hey baby, you want to make some cookies with Nana and Grandma?" She asked quietly. Lillie nodded eagerly smiling as Gabriella carried her to the kitchen. "Here's Bolton Number 2," Gabriella said as she walked over to Maria and Lucille who were measuring out ingredients with Bella.
"You've come to help too, Lillie?" Maria asked taking her from Gabriella's arms.
"FYI, she's just woken up so she might be a little cranky…" Gabriella laughed at her mother's worried look. "I'm sure she'll be fine. It's Mia you'll have to worry about if Troy ever wakes her up. I mean for a 9-month-old she has serious moods in the morning,"
"Don't worry Gabi, I've raised Troy and I'm used to his problems in the morning…" Lucille said.
"Mom! Why did you say that?" Troy whined walking in with a drowsy Mia.
"Troy honey, you know it's true. Now, hand me that child and go whisk your wife somewhere nice," Lucille took Mia from his arms.
"Okay, see you later. Don't bake one of my kids accidentally!"
--
"So…last minute Christmas shopping Mr. Bolton, why on earth have you taken me here?" Gabriella asked as they casually strolled past some shops. Luckily there had been no paparazzi, and the street they were walking down seemed almost deserted.
"Well, there's a really cute boutique down here that I just happened to come in the other day and I wanted your opinion on some clothes," Troy smiled lacing their fingers.
"Troy Bolton, you spoil those little girls so much!"
"I can't help myself, plus this store is so cute. You'll love it." Troy smirked knowing exactly how much his wife loved shopping. Walking a little bit further, Troy soon pulled Gabriella into a quaint little shop. The windows were strewn with pink tutus and dresses.
"Oh Troy, everything's so gorgeous." Gabriella exclaimed pulling a small pink dress down off the rail.
"That's not the best thing, Kate the owner said that she's closing the shop for us for an hour so we can pick out whatever we want without being harassed. You can pick out anything you want for the girls," He smiled, laughing as she squealed in delight. "It's Bella's birthday in a month aswell, you know how much she loves all her dresses."
Looking around Gabriella found dresses after dresses that she knew the girls would love. Mia maybe wouldn't appreciate them; as much as Lillie and Bella, but she was already being trained by them that pink was the best colour in the world.
"Baby, take these," Gabriella said handing Troy a pile of dresses.
"What was that about not spoiling the girls?" Troy said laughing as Gabriella piled more clothes into his arms.
"I know I did, but they're all so pretty. Plus they're my little girls; I'm allowed to spoil them. My babies only deserve the best."
"Okay, let me go put these near the register. I'll tell Kate to start adding it all up."
Half an hour later and Gabriella was satisfied she had found everything the girls would like. Troy was paying whilst she was still admiring all the clothes in the shop. She meandered down to the small selection of necklaces and jewellery glancing casually over the colourful array. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Troy calling her over, telling her that he'd paid for everything and they could leave.
"Come on baby, the girls are probably wondering where we are," He called handing her two full shopping bags and grabbing another two himself.
"Home, sweet home," Gabriella smiled.
--
"Mama! Mama!" Lillie squealed as Gabriella walked through the door, distracting the girls as Troy rushed the bags up the stairs and into their room.
"My precious babies. Mama missed you whilst she was out," Gabriella said bending down and opening her arms, letting Bella and Lillie run towards her.
"How was the retail therapy?" Maria asked smiling at her daughter. Troy had told them all about the little boutique he had found the other day.
"Wonderful, I'm sure I'll never need to buy the girls any new clothes, ever again," She giggled giving Bella an Eskimo kiss. Bella giggled, grabbing hold of Gabriella's cheeks and resting her forehead against hers. "Where's Daddy?" Lillie asked looking around for Troy.
"Daddy's right here," Troy said walking into the family room.
"Daddy!" She ran over to him jumping into his arms.
"Lillie-pad! Are you excited for Santa?" He asked settling down with her on the couch.
"Uh huh! And…and Mama says he is coming to..tomo…"
"Tomorrow baby," Troy said.
"That's right, because tomorrow it's Christmas and Santa will have given you lots of nice presents!" Gabriella exclaimed bringing Bella over to Troy and placing her down next to him, looking over at her Mom who was keeping Mia entertained. "Mom, you can go and finish off your wrapping now if you like," Gabriella smiled taking Mia from her lap.
"Ma!" Mia said clenching handfuls of Gabriella's shirt.
Flailing her little legs around, Gabriella placed Mia on the floor and held onto her hands pulling her up. Mia giggled proud of herself for standing up. Pensively she placed one foot forward and immediately fell down on her bottom.
"Not quite there yet baby," Gabriella said standing her back up on her feet.
"Ma!" She squealed again bouncing up and down whilst Gabriella held her upright.
"Gabi, I'm going upstairs to get ready for tomorrow," Maria said smiling at her daughter. Leaving the family to themselves Maria headed up the stairs towards the guest room she was staying in.
Meanwhile downstairs, Gabriella had gotten some toys out for Mia to play with. At 9 months, her favourite activity was banging blocks together and making as much noise as possible. Placing the wooden blocks in her hand, Gabriella held them out for Mia to grasp in her hands.
"Baba!" Mia exclaimed banging the blocks together. "Baba…Baba,"
"Mia stop!" Bella almost yelled but Mia carried on oblivious to her sister's annoyance.
"Bella sweetie, Mia can play with her blocks if she wants," Troy explained trying to stop a temper tantrum.
"But they hurted my ears," Bella sobbed burying herself in the cushions around her.
"Bella you can't get upset just because of that. Mia doesn't get angry when you play with your ponies and make noise," Troy said letting Bella shed her tears. He had to let her understand that she couldn't throw a fit about things like this.
Mia had settled down on Gabriella's lap, unsure what to make of her big sister's outburst. Gabriella had given her a cuddly bear and had taken away the wooden blocks trying to calm the situation. Bella was making her way towards Gabriella looking for a cuddle but Gabriella knew she had to apologise first.
"Mama," She sobbed trying to climb onto Gabriella's lap.
"No sweetie, you have to say sorry to Mia first. She's only small and she doesn't know she's making you angry okay?" Gabriella explained.
"I…I'm…S..Sorry Mia," She managed to get out in between sobs starting to calm down.
"Good girl, maybe Mia would like it if her big sister helped her to stand up," Gabriella suggested. She moved into a kneeling position and placed Mia on her feet holding on to both of her hands. Letting go, she let Bella grab onto one of them and help Mia stand up. Tentatively placing one foot out in front again Mia giggled as she successfully managed to stay standing before eventually falling down on her bottom.
"Da!" She squealed looking at Troy who was on the sofa with Lillie.
"Wow Mia! Aren't you a clever girl?" He exclaimed pulling Mia onto his lap. She grabbed hold of his t-shirt and grasped it in her hands before beginning to chew on it. "Not Daddy's clean white t-shirt. Mama only washed that yesterday," Troy said trying to pull his t-shirt out of Mia's mouth. "Chew Daddy's finger instead," He held out his index finger chuckling as Mia pulled it into her mouth straight away.
--
Two hours later, and everyone was sat around the main kitchen table eating pizza. Gabriella and Troy had decided a pizza take out would be easy and the girls would eat it. It would save Gabriella cooking aswell and with all the festivities taking place the next day, cooking was the last thing she wanted to do. Mia was sat on Troy's lap, trying to steal pieces of his pizza and rub it all over her face, mouth and pyjamas. After dinner, the girl's would begin to calm down for the evening before finally Troy and Gabriella would eventually put them to bed.
At around 8 o'clock, Gabriella noticed Lillie's eyes closing and motioned to Troy that they had to be put to bed. "Lillie, wake up for Mama. You need to go upstairs to bed. It's sleepy time," Gabriella said gently rubbing Lillie's hair.
"Mama," Lillie moaned lifting her arms up.
"Come on baby, let's go and put you to bed. Troy bring up Mia and we'll settle her aswell, we'll come back down for Bella," Gabriella stated making her way upstairs. Mia was already asleep so it was just a case of placing her in her crib without waking her up. Troy quickly settled her down and followed Gabriella into Lillie's room.
"Night night baby. Mama will see you in the morning to see all of Santa's presents. Love you," Gabriella said leaning down to place a kiss on Lillie's forehead.
"Night Lillie-pad. Daddy loves you," Troy hushed, kissing her forehead aswell and watching as she succumbed to sleep. "Let's go get Bella, something tells me she may be a little excited," Troy chuckled grabbing Gabriella's hand and leading her downstairs.
"Bella, it's sleepy time," Troy said picking her up from the sofa where she was snuggled with his Dad.
"I don't wanna…" Bella moaned into his shoulder
"Well you have to, otherwise Santa won't come." Gabriella said pushing Troy towards the stairs again. Five minutes later, Bella was settled in her bed tucked in with Noonoo, and waiting for her bedtime story. Gabriella had snuggled down on the bed with her, trying to coax her into sleep although it was proving very difficult.
"Daddy read it…"
"Okay, okay calm down. 'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse... The stockings were hung up by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there… The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their head…" Troy began watching as Bella soon began to give up on fighting the sleep. Placing the book on her bedside table he gently leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead.
"Mama and Daddy love you," Gabriella said unwrapping Bella from her arms and tucking her blanket around her. "Night night," She finished leading Troy towards the door, turning the light off on the way out.
"Finally, peace and quiet. We should probably bring all the presents down and then we can get as much sleep as possible before a couple of very excited little girls will run into our room tomorrow at a very early," Troy said pulling Gabriella to him.
"Yeah, leave it five minutes though until the girls are definitely asleep," Gabriella smiled. "I think we should go and tell the grandparents aswell that they can bring the other half of the presents that I know they've brought with them down." She giggled. Traipsing back down the stairs they weren't surprised to see the grandparents sitting around drinking wine and eating mince pies.
"Nice to see you've actually done something since we put the girls to bed," Troy smirked plonking down on the sofa and pulling Gabriella with him.
"Yes Troy, in fact we were just discussing when we can bring the other presents down," Lucille said as she smiled the same smile as Troy.
"Guys you can't spoil them like this!" Gabriella exclaimed. "They already have so many presents from us…" She trailed off.
"But we love them so much, they're our only grandchildren Gabi. This is the first year they'll probably really appreciate their presents apart from little Mia of course. I'm sure some more wooden blocks would satisfy her," Maria explained.
"Okay, okay I give up! You can deal with them demanding absurd things in a few years, We're going to get the presents down from our secret hiding place and then we're going to bed. I'm so tired and no doubt the girls will be up early," Gabriella said. Minutes later presents were splayed out under the tree and Troy and Gabriella were settling down under their comforter.
"I'm so tired," Troy moaned pulling Gabriella towards his chest.
"Me too…" Gabriella yawned proving her point, "With the girls getting older, Christmas just gets more and more stressful each year." Finally they fell into a content sleep waiting for Christmas Day…
Christmas Day
"No Lillie…quiet," Gabriella heard in a hushed whisper the very next morning. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she opened them slowly not knowing what to expect. Glancing at the time she realised that the girls had done very well and actually slept in till 8 o'clock. Stood in the doorway were Bella and Lillie both still in their pyjamas and waiting for Gabriella or Troy to wake up. Pushing the comforter back she lifted her head off the pillow and smiled as she saw her girls running towards her.
"I think you need to wake Daddy up," She whispered to them whilst helping them climb onto the bed. "Then we can see what Santa brought for you," She smiled, watching as they both jumped on top of Troy waking him up instantly.
"Daddy! Santa came!" Lillie exclaimed.
"Wow," Troy said, still waking up properly. Sitting up slowly he chuckled as Lillie jumped up and down excitedly on the bed.
"Careful baby, we don't want to have to ask Santa for a brand new head for Lillie, do we?" Gabriella said placing a gentle hand on her back to calm her before scooping Bella into her arms.
"Can we goed and open now?" Lillie asked.
"I suppose so. Is Mia downstairs with Nana?" Troy said, picking Lillie up. Both girls nodded, both content in their parent's arms. "Okie dokie, let's go see what Santa's brought!"
Congregating in the living room, Troy – with Mia on his lap - and Gabriella settled on the sofa chuckling as Bella and Lillie rushed forward towards the tree. Gabriella and Troy had separated all their presents into three separate piles, one for each of the girls, that way it would be easier for them to know who's was who's.
"Mama, what does it say?" Bella asked as she came rushing over with a present. Pulling her onto her lap, Gabriella lifted up the gift tag and began to read it out loud. "To Bella, Merry Christmas, Love From Santa!" Gabriella exclaimed handing Bella back the present.
"Santa really gived it to me?" She asked excitedly.
"Uh huh, now why don't you open it then Santa will know if you like it or not!"
"Okay," Bella said ripping off the wrapping paper and gasping as she pulled out a brand new pink fairy princess outfit. "Santa is so nice!"
"He sure is, go get a present for Mia from her pile and bring it back so that Daddy can open it for her," Gabriella said placing Bella back on the floor. She quickly returned with a medium sized completely square presents, also from Santa.
"Daddy! Here's Mia's present. Open it for her!" She squealed excitedly.
"Okay baby," He said meticulously unfolding the neatly wrapped paper. Mia unhappy with how long her was taking quickly stole the paper out of his hands and ripped it in two before trying to stuff it in her mouth. "No sweetie, we don't eat that. Have your new present instead," He said taking the paper from her and handing her a new Monkey See Monkey Chew toy.
"Da," She grinned shaking the rattle a bit before swiftly placing it in her mouth and beginning to chew on it.
"Lillie which one do you want to open first?" Gabriella asked sitting on the floor next to her.
"I don't know Mama. Which one did Santa gived to me?" She asked patiently moving over onto Gabriella's lap. She leaned over and picked out a present from Santa that she knew Lillie would like.
"Well he gave you this one and some more but Santa told Mama that you'd like this one," She said giving it to Lillie. Tearing the paper open she squealed as she saw a brand new set of paints and paintbrushes. "Wow! Now I can painted a picture for yous,"
"That's right, Santa knew you loved painting so he bought you those. Now let's open some more. Bella sweetie, it's your turn…"
--
By 10am all presents were opened, wrapping paper was scattered across the floor and the smell of turkey was slowly diffusing through the house. A Christmas movie had been put on for the girls and they were settled amongst all their new toys whilst Lucille and Maria got on with the cooking. They had insisted that they do it much to Gabriella's dismay who was constantly trying to help them only to be told to go and relax with her family. Troy had begun to tidy up, first tackling the strewn paper mostly chewed and screwed up by Mia. She of course preferred the unwrapping process rather than the actual gift; the simplest things seemed to entertain her.
Bella had changed into her fairy princess outfit, Lillie had changed into her Princess Aurora outfit and Mia was still in her pyjamas. Gabriella knew she had to change her but she didn't want Mia to roll and crawl around on the floor in a brand new dress and then dribble all down it, of course though that was the inevitable.
"Mama's gonna go get Mia ready for today," Gabriella said fingered the new diamond pendant that hung around her neck – a very expensive gift from Troy.
"I'll do that, you just sit there and keep on looking pretty," Troy replied scooping Mia up into his arms.
"Da!" She said excitedly grabbing fistfuls of his shirt.
"No baby, you'll probably dress her in red and green. She should be wearing pink like Bella and Lillie." Gabriella tried to explain.
"I'll dress her in one of the new outfits we bought for her from the boutique. I'll be back in a minute," He said firmly taking one of Mia's new dresses off the pile Gabriella had created and disappearing up the stairs. Sighing, she sat back down on the sofa smiling as Bella and Lillie snuggled into her. Finally Troy came back down, dutifully having dressed Mia in a new pink dress from the boutique. Carrying Mia on his hip, he had hidden something behind his back.
"Troy Bolton, what on earth are you hiding from your poor old wife?" Gabriella asked grinning at him.
"Well for starters you are not poor, and certainly not old, infact you're beautiful and just to prove that's how I think of you, I want a kiss underneath the mistletoe," Troy said pulling out a sprig of mistletoe and placing Mia on the sofa next to Bella. He held it over his head and puckered his lips waiting expectantly for his kiss. Standing up, she walked suavely towards him and slid her arms around his neck.
"What Mr. Bolton wants, Mr. Bolton gets," She said mischievously before slowly leaning in and capturing his lips with her own. The mistletoe remained forgotten on the floor as Troy's arms wrapped around Gabriella's lower waist pulling her tight against his chest. Tenderly, Troy began to deepen the kiss laughing to himself about how easily Gabriella complied. Pulling apart breathlessly they stared into each other's eyes telling each other how they really felt.
"Mama!" And then the moment was gone. Broken by their daughter who in her own special way, allowed them to create new moments with each other. "I want a kismo too," Lillie said holding the mistletoe that had been left on the floor.
"You want an Eskimo kiss?" Gabriella asked picking her up and rubbing noses before both of them began to giggle at how ticklish their noses were.
"Daddy wants an Eskimo kiss aswell," Troy said pulling Lillie into his own arms.
"Me too Mama!" Bella said rushing over and jumping into Gabriella's arms, holding her face in her little hands and rubbing noses with her.
"What about Mia? We can't leave her out!" Troy exclaimed bending down slightly to pick Mia up and kissing her gently on the forehead. "My beautiful girls at Christmas," He said adoringly kissing each of them on the forehead.
"The best Christmas so far," Gabriella continued smiling lovingly at Troy.
"Cause Mia's here now!" Bella said snuggling into Gabriella.
"Finally complete. Apart from that baby boy I wanted…"
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I could have written more, but I think it already drags on a little too much. Review? Please?