A/N: I had to do a little something for the holidays... Merry Christmas everyone! :)
HANNAH MONTANA
"PEACE ON EARTH"
"Merry Christmas, baby!" twenty two year-old Miley Ray Truscott-Stewart called out to her little girl. She held a large stuffed teddy bear out towards her daughter, who gurgled happily and reached for it. The moment the stuffed animal was in her tiny arms, the baby pulled it into a crushing embrace and eagerly started trying to devour it.
"No, Susie," the blonde-haired young woman who was holding her laughed. "You're not supposed to eat it, baby!" She tried to in vain to pull the baby away from her new toy, but little Susan would have none of it. She gave a loud, indignant cry and went back to sucking happily on the bear's fur.
"She sure takes after her mommy," Miley quipped. She looked up at the woman she loved and smiled. "You do the same thing when someone tries to come between you and something you want."
"Only when it's something really important!" Lilly insisted.
"Uh huh," Miley replied, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Like food?"
"Like you," Lilly corrected her with a smile. She placed a gently kiss on the top of the baby's head. "Or our family."
"You know something Lils?" Miley asked as she sat down on the couch beside her wife and their daughter. She looked at the glittering Christmas tree surrounded by presents and the rest of the decorations in their living room and sighed contentedly.
"All my life, I've looked forward to when I would finally be able to celebrate Christmas with my own family, and share all the great things my parents did for me when I was growing up," Miley said thoughtfully. "Now I finally can… and I'm so happy I feel like I'm gonna burst!"
"Don't do that," Lilly said teasingly. "Susie and I need you here with us." Miley looked over at her best friend and lover and smiled radiantly.
"Trust me sweetheart, I'm not goin' anywhere… everything I could ever want, I've got right here," she said softly, and she leaned over to capture Lilly's lips in a gentle kiss. Little Susan let loose with a shrill squawk of complaint.
"Uh oh, I think we were squishin' her!" Miley giggled. She gently kissed one of the baby's chubby cheeks. "Sorry bud, we'll try to be more careful!"
"Maybe another present would make it better?" Lilly suggested playfully. Miley grinned.
"I think that can be arranged," Miley replied. She slid off the couch and grabbed another present from under the tree. "You can never have too many presents on your first Christmas, after all!" She returned a few moments later with another gift for the baby, as well as something she tried to hide behind her back.
"Miles, what have you got there?" Lilly asked her with a grin and a raised eyebrow.
"Mommy gets a present too," Miley replied with a smile, and she handed Lilly a small white box decorated with a red ribbon.
"Go ahead, open it," Miley insisted. She paused for a moment. "I know we agreed not to spend much on each other this year, but I had to make an exception."
"Miles…" Lilly said warningly, worried that her wife had gone and bought her something too extravagant.
"Trust me," Miley said simply, resting her hands gently on top of Lilly's. Sighing, Lilly carefully slipped off the ribbon and slowly opened the small box. Inside was what appeared to be a small computer flash drive.
"What is it, Miles?" Lilly asked, her stomach already beginning to tingle slightly with apprehension.
"I'll show you," Miley replied. She pulled her laptop computer out from under the coffee table and flipped it open, then she carefully took the flash drive out of the box and slid it into one of the computer's USB ports.
A few moments later, pictures began to appear on the computer screen. They showed what appeared to be a large white farmhouse with a wide front porch and a rock chimney. A single second-story window gleamed cheerfully beside the chimney, surrounded by a simple slate gray roof. Fresh white snow decorated the front yard and most of the surrounding countryside… which looked oddly familiar to Lilly.
More pictures appeared showing the inside of the house, featuring wooden cupboards and countertops and shining hardwood floors. The master bedroom was almost breathtaking, especially the large walk-in shower, which easily had enough room for two people…
"Do you remember the big farmhouse we always pass by on our way to mamaw's?" Miley asked Lilly carefully. "The one we always wished we could live in someday?" Lilly just nodded, too astonished to say anything.
"Well, mamaw called me a few weeks ago and said the people who own that house were sellin' it… and she talked to them about us." Miley took a deep breath. "I bought it, Lilly… with part of the Hannah money. All we have to do is finish signin' the papers, and it's ours." She looked over at Lilly, whose jaw had dropped open.
"You always said you wanted us to move back to Crowley Corners, where I grew up, and now we can," Miley continued. "We can settle down and raise our little girl together and just be a family…" Whatever else Miley was about to say was cut off by Lilly suddenly throwing her arms around her and pulling her in for a scorching kiss.
"D-does that mean you like it?" Miley managed to get out, once she could breathe again.
"I love you, Miley Ray Truscott-Stewart… so much…" Lilly whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I can't wait for us to start our lives together back in Crowley Corners…and to raise our daughter in the same wonderful place where you grew up." Miley blinked back tears of her own.
"You sure you can handle living in a small town?" she asked playfully. Lilly smiled through her joyous tears.
"As long as you & Susie are with me, I can handle anything," Lilly answered truthfully. As if on cue, little Susan herself once again spoke up.
"What's that Susie?" Lilly asked playfully as she picked her daughter up and held her in her arms. "Momma needs her present too?" Miley couldn't help giggling; there were time Lilly was just so… Lilly. And in those moments, Miley remembered all over again why she loved the blonde tomboy so much.
"Come on Susie!" Lilly cooed. "Let's go get momma her present now!" With little Susan still in her arms, Lilly walked over to the Christmas tree and picked up a medium-sized square-ish package wrapped in metallic green paper. She handed it to Miley with a grin.
"What is it?" Miley asked innocently.
"Open it silly, and find out," Lilly said teasingly. Miley did as she was asked, and gasped softly when she revealed what was inside. It was a simple framed picture, showing a grinning Lilly with little Susan in her arms, pointing at the camera. They were sitting in what Miley recognized as her grandmother's back yard in Tennessee, surrounded by white snow. Mother and baby wore matching heavy coats and hats, and matching smiles.
"Mamaw took that for me," Lilly explained. "I thought you might it…"
"Like it?" Miley asked incredulously. "Lilly, I love it!" She pulled Lilly into another kiss, her heart swelling with love and joy.
"It's official," Miley said after a moment. "I have the most wonderful family ever!" Lilly blushed and smiled.
"Right back atacha, Miles," she said sweetly.
"Then that just leaves one more thing," Miley said softly.
"What's that?" Lilly asked. She honestly wasn't sure she could handle any more surprises like the last one. Miley grinned again and reached for her digital camera.
"It's our first Christmas together as a family," she said warmly, "and I want to remember it!" She snuggled close to Lilly, with little Susan between them, and raised the camera in front of them.
"Smile, Lils," Miley whispered.
"When I'm with you Miles, I'm always smiling," Lilly whispered back. The camera flashed… and forever captured the smiling faces of the first of many wonderful Truscott-Stewart family Christmases to come…