''Daddy look!'' Lauren was running from tree to tree, each one was being judged. According to Lauren one tree wasn't enough. She thought that they should have a tree for every room in the house.
Sam shook his head and grabbed the hand of his three year old daughter. ''Stay with me,'' he said. He wasn't a Grinch, he really wasn't. But buying a Christmas tree and decorating the house was normally Andy's thing.
Andy was suffering from a pretty heavy virus though and she wasn't in any shape to go out. While Sam was trying to put off the whole Christmas tree debacle, Lauren was getting more impatient by the day.
She kept going on and on about last year's tree. Sam suspected that Andy put her to it. Somehow it was a little bit suspicious that Lauren couldn't remember what she ate the day before, but she did remember a tree.
Of course Sam would give into Lauren eventually. She had him wrapped around her little finger and whenever she would throw in her toothy grin, Sam would do just about anything for her.
That was how he ended up buying a Christmas tree on one of the busiest day of the year.
''This,'' Lauren said as she stopped in front of the largest tree Sam had ever seen. It probably wasn't even for sale and he had to suppress a chuckle.
''It's a bit too big,'' he told her. ''That won't fit into the living room.''
With a pout Lauren turned away from the tree again. Her sadness was short lived when she saw someone walking through the crowd. ''Santa!'' she yelled.
Before Sam knew it her little hand left his and she was running off. It was busy enough for Sam to lose track of her. The trees lined up didn't help his search for her. It felt like he was moving through a labyrinth and his heartbeat sped up a little.
Thankfully Lauren really stood out against the crowd with her little red jacket and matching hat. As soon as Sam saw her he moved towards Lauren.
She had no idea that her father was looking for her, because she was to invested in the fact that she was just a feet away from Santa.
As soon as Sam reached Lauren he leaned down to look her in the eye. He grabbed her shoulder hard enough to startle her, but not hard enough to hurt her. ''How many times do I have to tell you to stay with me?'' he asked with a raised voice. ''You can't run off like that.''
Lauren's eyes widened and filled with tears. Normally Sam wasn't the one to discipline her and she really wasn't used to him raising his voice while speaking to her. ''I saw Santa,'' she sniffed.
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. ''I know, but you always ask if you're allowed to leave so we know where you are. We need to know where you are.''
''I'm sorry.'' Lauren bowed her head and looked as if she was about to cry.
With a sigh Sam lifted Lauren into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and readjusted her hat so it covered her cold ears. ''Just stay with me, okay?''
''Okay daddy.'' Lauren laid her head on Sam's shoulder. ''Can we see Santa?''
''Of course,'' Sam replied, giving in.
Two hours later they were back at home. Lauren had sat on Santa's lap and Sam had taken a picture with his phone. He listened to his girl going on and on about what she wanted to have for Christmas. He smiled when she told Santa that her biggest wish was for her mommy to be better on Christmas day.
After leaving Santa's village they picked out a reasonable sized tree and headed back home.
Sam felt himself getting worked up as he was trying to put the lights in the tree. ''Stupid Christmas tree,'' he muttered under his breath. He couldn't believe that he wasn't able to just finish this job.
He had been face to face with the world biggest criminals, he remodeled the entire bathroom on his own, somehow he wasn't able to put the lights in the tree though.
''Can I put this in?" Lauren asked while she was going through a box with ornaments.
''Not yet,'' Sam said. ''And only that box.'' He pointed to a box with wooden ornaments. He knew his daughter and giving her glass Christmas balls wasn't a smart idea. She took after her mother like that.
Somehow he did manage to get in all the lights in. It took him quite some time, but eventually he succeeded. Sam put in all the glass balls while Lauren took her job to put in wooden ornaments really serious.
''Pretty,'' Lauren said as she took a step back to admire their work.
It wasn't as good looking as when Andy would do it, but Sam figured that it had to do for this year. Lauren's eyes sparkled when she looked at the result and Sam figured that that was more important to Andy and himself than how the tree looked.
''Come on,'' Sam told his daughter. ''Let's go see if mommy's awake.''
Lauren immediately raced upstairs and Sam followed. When he reached the bedroom he saw Andy sitting up with Lauren in her lap.
When Andy got sick Sam told Lauren to keep her distance from her. He didn't want her to get sick to. Andy told him that he was being overprotective. Lauren would probably get sick every now and then and then they would just have to deal with it. At daycare she got into contact with a lot of germs too.
Sam stayed in the doorway listening to Lauren talk about her meeting with Santa. She informed Andy that she told him exactly what she wanted. After a while Lauren switched her story to the tree and how they decorated it. She was nearly four year old and had an amazing vocabulary. Sam always teased Andy that she definitely inherited that from her.
''Hey,'' Andy said as she spotted Sam. She shot him a tired smile and ran her hand across Lauren's back. ''Lauren says that you've done an awesome job with the tree.''
''I think we did okay,'' Sam confirmed. ''You want to see it? You should try to eat something.''
''Yeah, I'll be down in a second.'' Andy got out of bed and Sam watched her as she put on a sweater and tied her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. ''Come on sweetie,'' Andy said as she held out her hand to Lauren.
Lauren eagerly took her mother's hand and tugged at it until Andy walked a little faster.
As soon as they reached the living room Lauren sat down underneath the tree. ''Look!'' she happily said. ''Very pretty tree.''
''Very pretty,'' Andy agreed. ''Good job sweetheart.''
''What about me?'' Sam teased as he stood behind his little family.
''You did a good job too. Didn't know you had it in you.'' Andy leaned back a little so she could rest against Sam's chest. She was still stupidly tired after sleeping the whole afternoon. Her entire body was aching.
''I am a man of many talents,'' Sam bragged. ''And now you two are going to relax on the couch while I go make us something to eat.''
That night Sam was just about to turn off all the lights when Lauren was in front of him. Normally she didn't climb out of bed on her own, so Sam was immediately worried. ''What are you doing out of bed?'' Sam asked.
''My tummy hurts,'' Lauren complaint. Before she got the words out she already threw up all over the floor and herself. After that she started to cry.
Sam shook his head and lifted Lauren off the ground. ''It's okay,'' he promised. ''That can happen.''
For a moment he debated what to do next. He figured that Lauren was his first priority, the mess could be dealt with later.
He carried Lauren to the bathroom and put her under the shower. She had a sour smell all over her so Sam helped her wash up. When she was clean he went into her bedroom to get a clean pair of pyjamas. He noticed that she already threw up in bed too.
With a sigh Sam took the pyjamas and helped Lauren into them. He lifted her in his arms again and carried her to their bedroom. He laid her down next to Andy and told her to go to sleep.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and told her to try and get some sleep. After that he went downstairs to deal with the mess there. When that was clean he went to Lauren's bedroom.. He quickly stripped the bed and put the dirty laundry in the washing machine.
After everything was tidied up, Sam went into their bedroom again. He quickly stripped and put on an old shirt and some sweatpants. He normally didn't wear them, but he figured that Lauren would be spending the night with them and that he would be leaving the bed on several occasions.
When he laid down Andy stirred and opened her eyes. ''Why's Lauren in our bed?'' she asked. Lauren was only allowed to sleep with them when something was up.
''I'm afraid she has your flu,'' Sam answered. ''Threw up all over herself.''
Andy laid her hand on their daughters back. ''Poor thing.''
''How are you feeling?'' Sam whispered.
''It's getting better,'' Andy answered. ''I think all the sleep really worked.''
''That's good.'' Sam laid his hand on top of Andy's as he watched her eyes flutter close again.
Two hours later Sam hadn't slept a wink yet. Andy kept coughing and Lauren kept kicking him. He was just about to lie down on the couch when Lauren sat up straight out of nowhere. She put her hand over her mouth and Sam was just in time to pull the trash bin from underneath his bedside table.
Andy woke up because of the noise and rubbed Lauren's back as she emptied her stomach. ''Tummy really hurts,'' Lauren cried out when she was done.
''I know sweetie,'' Andy comforted. She laid her head down on Lauren's forehead and shook her head. ''She has a fever too.''
''Icky taste,'' Lauren complaint.
''Come on sweetheart,'' Andy said. ''Let's go brush your teeth. That will help with the taste.''
As Andy helped Lauren, Sam cleaned the trash bin. Ten minutes later they were all back in bed together again. Lauren was in the middle of the bed with her parents on either side of her.
That night they didn't sleep much. In the morning Sam put Lauren on the couch with a bucket next to her and a DVD in the DVD player. Andy claimed that she was fine, but Sam saw through her and knew that she wasn't better yet.
That's how both his girls ended up on the couch as Sam took care of them. He hated seeing Andy and Lauren sick, but he secretly loved the fact that he could take care of them.
''The tree really is nice,'' Andy told Sam when he sat down with them for a moment. ''Thanks for doing that.''
Sam nodded and looked at the tree. ''It's nice,'' he agreed.
''Will Santa put presents under the tree?'' Lauren asked with a small voice from underneath her blanket.
''Not just yet,'' Andy answered. ''But soon. What did you ask for?''
''Crayons and a scooter and a car seat for Mimi.''
''Car seat for Mimi?'' Sam asked.
''Her doll,'' Andy told him. ''Apparently 'mama' wasn't a good name anymore.''
''Didn't know that,'' Sam chuckled. ''And what does mommy want for Christmas?''
''Just the two of you,'' Andy simply answered. ''All I need.'' She laid her head back down on Sam's chest and laced their fingers together.
Sam really couldn't agree more. He wouldn't change his life for anything.
XX
The end.