Hey, guys! Some of you wanted to see a little more of Max, so I decided to write a "Just Give Me a Reason" Christmas story! You didn't need to read JGMaR to understand this one-shot, but it's advisable that you do ;) Have fun!

P.S: Congratulations to Sasha Pieterse, who just got engaged to her boyfriend! :D

Emily wakes up to the sound of rattling hangers coming from the closet. Today was Christmas Eve, but she was exhausted, given that she'd worked until 2 am the night before. The only good thing was that she had a free day with Max. Her little boy was already three years old; he was growing up way too fast and Emily didn't know if she could keep up with it. Max was really curious about things all the time, which is a personality trait he may have got from Ali (not genetically, of course), who could've been just as inquisitive had she a proper upbringing. On the other hand, he seemed to have Emily's temper or, in Ali's words, Emily's good heart.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, love." Alison sat on the bed to kiss her good morning. Working on Christmas Eve wasn't something she was looking forward to, but the money she'd earn was going to be cashed in for "future projects" - or Emily's Christmas gift.

"Hum, I can't forgive you if I don't get another kiss." Emily pouted, to which Ali laughed and kissed her again. Emily hummed against her lips and rolled on top of Ali, pinning her against the body as her fingers began to fidget with the zipper of her jeans.

"Em, hum," Alison whimpered as Emily bit her pulse point, "I'm gonna be late for work."

"Can't you ditch Aria?" Emily pouted and Alison found that adorable, even though she knew it made her wife upset when she worked on the weekends or holidays, especially on Christmas.

"I really can't," Ali stated with a weak smile, "But I promise to make up for it tonight."

Her wife kissed the bridge of her nose and rolled off of her, "You'd better. I'll make breakfast for us."

Emily was almost grateful when Alison left for work. She hadn't thought yet on a gift for her wife and she knew the chances of finding something good today were close to zero. Therefore, she decided to do her home chores until she thought of something. She washed the dishes and started to think of what she could do to help Ali with the Christmas dishes when she heard a cry coming from Max's room. Her boy had just woken up. She went his bedroom to fetch him up and take him to the kitchen to prepare his milk.

"Morning, my prince. Did you sleep well?" Emily pressed a kiss to his hair and asked.

"Mama, I dreamed with Santa!" Max squealed as he told Emily about his dream, his blue eyes shining on pure delight. Contrary to what Alison had believed, Max's eyes didn't darken with time. Instead, they remained in the same shade of blue. Emily could now scream to the whole wide world that her beautiful son had the eyes of her beautiful wife, even if that was genetically impossible.

"And what did he do, sweetie?"

"He gave me the Lego blocks I wanted!" Max squealed in happiness. He's been yearning for those Lego toys since the beginning of the year and, even though he got some on his birthday, it didn't appear to be enough, not that it actually bothered her or Alison. They were quite relieved that Max didn't seem to care much for action figures and cars. "And then I grabbed his beard! It was fluffy as a cloud!"

"That was quite a dream, baby!" Emily laughed along, "Now it's time for your milk!"

Max took his first sip and then went back to his usual babbling. It was quite stimulating to have a kid as talkative as Max, "Mama, what Santa is going to give Mommy for Christmas?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to respond that Santa didn't tell her this, but Emily had another idea instead, "Actually, I've been wanting to talk to you about that, Max."

"What? Is Mommy getting coal for being a bad girl?"

"No!" Emily almost laughed at his innocence, "He didn't know what to give her, so he asked me to ask you to see if you could give him any hint."

"Hum," Max put his little hand under his chin and began to think, "I saw Mommy crying over a picture. She misses Pepe."

Emily choked on her own saliva, "D-Do you mean we should buy her a dog?"

Max took another sip of his milk pensively, "I say Santa should give Mommy a dog. She was a good girl this year. She puts me to sleep and reads for me!"

"Hum, okay," Emily considered the idea for a moment, "Max, would you be happy if Santa gave Mommy a puppy?"

"Yes! I love puppies!"

"So, let me just text Santa quickly..." She hid her phone underneath the table and pretended to text Santa Claus. Then, she made her phone vibrate and pretended to check the answer, "So, Max, Santa said he's busy with a lot of gifts and asked if we could get Mommy's puppy on his place."

"Yes!" Max beamed and slammed his hand on the table, "Come on Mama, we gotta get a puppy!"

This is the best idea ever, Emily thinks to herself.

This was the worst idea ever, Emily sighs. She and Max have been to almost every adoption center of Malibu, but couldn't find a dog that matched their necessities. First of all, not all centers were open; secondly, most puppies were gone already and, finally, the ones left didn't have what they wanted or something that could appeal to Alison. Emily was on the brink of giving up and buying a goldfish.

"C'mon, Mama, don't give up! We're gonna find a puppy for Mommy!" Max encouraged from the backseat and Emily appreciated his childish optimism for a brief second. Max was big on happy endings, just like Emily was, and that's one of the things she loves the most about her boy.

"Max, this is the last place I know. If we don't find anything here, I'll have to go to the market and buy the stuff for dinner."

"Don't worry, Mama, I'm sure we'll find the puppy here!"

"If you say so, my prince." Emily kind of shrugged, already trying to figure out ways to get this idea out of Max's head.

They headed out to the last adoption center Emily could think of while she kicked herself mentally for forgetting to buy Ali's gift earlier and for putting Max in this situation. When they arrived there, Emily noticed it was more like a shelter, but Max didn't realize that, of course, as he was stuck in his child enthusiasm as there were so many dogs around. Under Emily's sight, Max ran to the very last doghouse, which was home to a beautiful mixed-race female dog. It resembled a golden retriever in shape though it was smaller and had more fur.

"Mama, come here! I think I found the one!" Max jumped around until Emily actually saw the dog. Strangely enough, it did remind her a little of Alison.

"What can you say about this one?" Emily asked the shelter guy. As much as Max seemed in love with it already, she had to check the animal background for any aggressive traits or diseases that could affect humans. As a vet herself, Emily could tell that the dog was pretty healthy on a quick glance, but experience told her that it was always best to check.

"Her name is Aisha. She's a tranquil dog, as far as I can say. Never picked up a fight. She was found on the streets with a broken paw. It took a while to heal and she still limps now and then. Many families don't want her because of this. They want an active family dog and Aisha can't keep up with it. Such a shame, though. She's only one." The guy told and it more than pleased her. They needed a calm dog who could keep up with Max but who also would have the patience to deal with him. Aisha seemed perfect.

"Is she immunized?"

"Yes. I can get her records if you want."

"Mama, please, can we stay with her?" Max was already interacting with Aisha, patting her on the head as she licked his face on return. That was all the encouragement Emily needed.

"I'm gonna stay with her. The broken paw doesn't bother me one bit," Emily knelt by Max's side and inspected Aisha's paws, "I'm a vet, you see. I think I can fix her paw with the right treatment."

"Yay, Mama! Thanks!" Max jumped on her neck and hugged her.

"I'm gonna get the papers." The guy went to his office to fetch the papers Emily needed to sign as Emily thought of a plan. She obviously couldn't take Aisha home now because it would spoil the surprise. However, she could think of one friend with a huge backyard.

"Hey, Spence! Could you help me with one thing?" She spoke on the phone as she thought of all the things she needed to buy for Aisha: a leash, two bowls, food, a bed and a few winter clothes. She was never going to go the market in time to buy the ingredients for Ali's recipe. Alison would be furious, but it was going to be worth it in the end, Emily thought.

It was half past five when Emily and Max arrived home after dropping Aisha and her things in Spencer's backyards. They also made a plan: Spencer was going to pretend that she forgot Toby's gift and Emily would offer her a ride there Then, they'd come back with Aisha and surprise Alison. Emily also made sure that Aisha slept in a safe place tonight, preferably a place where she wouldn't get hurt by messing around with any dangerous object. As a tradition, they were all sleeping at the same place and, this year, the Fields family was playing host.

"Remember, buddy, Mommy doesn't know she's getting a dog for Christmas." Emily reminded him before she opened the door to their home.

"I don't know anything." Max swore and slid his finger along his mouth as if he was zipping his lip.

"Okay, here we go," Emily closed her eyes and prayed that Ali wasn't already waiting for her with a fridge pan in hands, ready to kill her for being late, "Ali, we're home!"

"Thank God, Em! Where were you?!" Alison was already dressed for dinner with heels, makeup and a lavender dress with a white cardigan on top, "We're, like, super late for the turkey."

"Sorry, Max and I had a Mama-Son day and we totally forgot about the groceries." Emily lied and Max nodded. She'd considered telling Ali that the supermarket was boasting with people today, but she knew Ali would argue that every Christmas was like that, so there was no excuse. Therefore, she went for another lie.

"I worked all day while you were having fun with Max at the shopping mall?!" Yes, Alison was beyond angry, "Please, Emily, have some responsibility and grow up!"

"Alison, I'm sorry, okay?" Emily didn't like arguing with her wife, much less on Christmas Eve, but she had to keep playing her part, "Once I realized that, I went straight to the mall, but it was too crowded. That's why we took so long."

"But guess who's gonna have to cook her ass alone?! That's right, me!" Alison was so mad that she didn't even realized that she used the -a word in front of her son, and the boy was smart enough to understand what she'd said. Max tried to muffle a laugh and Emily tried not to laugh too.

"Watch your mouth, your son is hearing you!"

"Fuck you, Emily!" Being patronized only made Ali more furious than before, "You think I'm a bad influence to Max, that's it?!"

Emily sensed that it was getting way out of proportion and that they were heading for a real fight. However, Max acted first.

"Mama! Mommy! Please, stop fighting!" The boy got in between them and begged with tears on his eyes. It worked; all the anger Alison had subsided when she saw Max's clouded eyes and she stopped arguing with Emily in front of him, unable of doing anything that might upset her little son.

"It's okay, my prince! Mommy didn't mean the words she said," Emily pretended with a soothing voice and Max hugged her, still shedding his fake tears on her shirt, "Now, let's get changed, big boy!" She picked up her son and he held her tight, burying his face on her shoulder, "I'll be back to help you in twenty minutes, Ali."

"I don't need that." The blonde coldly shrugged.

Emily seemingly accepted that short answer and carried Max to his bedroom so she could undress him and give him a bath.

"Did I do well, Mama?" The boy asked in curiosity.

"My God, Max, I almost believed in you!" The brunette was truly impressed with her son's acting ability. It's just another trait he got from Ali, and Emily knew she'd have to control it early on before he got out of control in his teen years, "You're a really good actor, Max! Do you wanna go to drama school when you're older?"

"It sounds fun!" Max giggled when the sprinkle hit his eyes.

Twenty exact minutes later and Emily climbed down the stairs carrying Max in his Christmas sweater with a bunch of Lego pieces in his hands. She left him on the living room and went to the kitchen to see if her wife would accept any help in the kitchen. When she arrived there, she tiptoed on her way to hug Ali from behind and press a chaste kiss on the crook of her neck. She knew Alison loved when she did that when the blonde was cooking. However, this time, she was received with an elbow on her stomach.

"Ouch, Ali! That hurts!"

"Stay away!" Ali ordered and she backed away from the kitchen, going to the living room to play with Max instead.

"Mommy is mad at you, in't she?" He asked with a real concern.

"She won't be after she gets her Christmas gift." Emily hoped.

All of their friends arrived for dinner and Emily had to play the perfect hostess while Max got distracted with Chloe Rivers, Tina Fitz, and James Cavanaugh. Alison still wasn't done with her food, so Spencer, Aria, and Caleb went there to help her in the kitchen, which made Emily bitter, while she, Ezra, Toby and Hanna controlled (or tried to control) the kids. It was obvious that the two of them had argued, but Alison wasn't making a big deal of it to her friends. Instead, she just claimed the food got late because the supermarket was overcrowded. Dinner, when ready, was a light affair like it'd been for the last few years since they decided to spend the holidays together. At eleven o'clock, they put all the kids to bed. There were three mattresses spread over Max's room and the kids would get to sleep together. Of course, the Fields boy would get to sleep on his bed, but the kids hardly cared about sleeping on an air mattress.

Alison and Emily had a guest room to offer to one of the couples and Hanna and Caleb promptly took it, leaving Spencer and Toby with the living room and Ezra and Aria with the kitchen. Once all of their guests were settled, Alison and Emily went to their own room. Ali was on her side, with her back turned to Em, pretending to read a book. Emily approached her from behind, placing a hand on her hip while planting kisses on her neck.

The blonde ignored the shivers coming up and down her body and refused her wife's advances, "Emily, stop!"

"Ali, we always do it on Christmas!" Emily pouted, getting frustrated at Ali's behavior. Okay, she'd apparently made a foolish mistake (apparently, because it was all a cover up for the big surprise), but Alison was taking it too far.

"We always do it when we're both in the mood." Alison was categorical about it. She knew that Emily loved Christmas. That's why Ali always put on more effort on her performance on the bed on this holiday because she wanted to please Emily beyond words. However, this Christmas was different. Emily didn't seem to take into account her irritation at her and she hadn't even fully apologized for being late. Alison was still a proud woman, and she wouldn't give into her wife's gentle touches tonight.

Emily rolled back on her bed, "Okay… Merry Christmas, Ali."

"Go to sleep, Emily!" Alison clicked their lampshade off and put their room in a state of darkness.

The children all woke up early on the next morning to open their Christmas gifts. Chloe got a videogame, Tina got a book, James got a figure book and Max got his beloved Lego blocks. As the kids had fun with their gifts, the adults went on to open their own presents. Naturally, the couples exchanged gifts first and Ali waited for Emily to there and give her something. She would play hard a little, but she knew that she'd eventually melt in her wife's loving arms. However, Emily didn't move to give her present. She hadn't even picked up a package yet! Had Emily actually forgotten to buy her something on Christmas? Or was the brunette just too mad to exchange presents?

"Oh shit!" Spencer hissed on the other side of the room, "I forgot your present at home, Toby!"

Toby, of course, knew about Emily's surprised and played his part, "Oh baby, how dare you?" He joked.

"I'm gonna go home to pick it up." Spencer gave the clue.

"I can drive you there, if you want," Emily knowingly suggested, "My car is easier to pull out of the driveway than yours."

Oh no, Alison wasn't going to accept it! Not only did Emily not give her gift, but she offered a ride to Spencer instead! "You can give it to Toby when you get home, Spencer." Ali snorted.

"No, I can't!" Spencer argued. She and Emily had to leave so this plan could work, "Where's the magic in that?"

Aria and Hanna eyed her suspiciously, "Never knew you were one for the Christmas magic, Spence." Hanna commented.

"Either way, let's go!" Emily just grabbed Spencer's arm and dragged her to the door.

"Wait, you're giving Spencer a ride, but you can't even give my Christmas gift?!" Ali yelled as Emily walked by with Spencer.

"I-I'll give it later, Ali, I gotta go real quick!" Emily insisted before she finally got Spencer out on the front porch. Alison went to the kitchen as they left, trying to drown her hurt and frustration with a glass of water, throwing Emily's gift on the counter somewhere.

"Ali, are you and Em okay?" Ali turned around to see that Aria and Hanna had followed her into the kitchen.

"I don't know, we had a fight yesterday," The blonde swallowed hard, "We only stopped because Max interrupted us. She tried to make things up at night, but I didn't let her. Maybe she's just retaliating."

Aria went to her and hugged her, "It's gonna be okay, Ali."

"That was quite insensitive of Em to leave without giving you a Christmas gift first," Hanna rarely took Ali's side when she fought with Emily, but now was one of those scarce opportunities, "I'm gonna slap her for it later."

Ali laughed bitterly, allowing a few tears to come out of the corner of her eyes, "To think that she'd rather drive Spencer back than give me a Christmas present. I don't think I'll get anything this Christmas."

The door burst open as Ali was crying on her friends' shoulders. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a soft and irregular breathing that didn't sound quite human. Then, a beautiful dog with golden hair appeared on the kitchen with Emily on tow.

"Go get her, Aisha." The vet softly whispered to the animal, who seemed to understand what she wanted. Good thing this was an obedient dog, she thought as she let go of her leash and Aisha bolted through the kitchen before jumping onto Alison, who was quite startled by the sight of a dog running to her. Aisha happily barked at Ali and rolled around on the floor, offering her tummy for Ali to rub. The blonde hesitantly caressed the dog's fur as it gleefully shook its tail and that simple gesture reminded her of Pepe, her old dog.

"Aisha!" Max appeared into the kitchen and jumped onto the dog. Alison was terrified at this, afraid that Aisha was going to attack her son or something, but the animal gladly accepted Max's display of affection.

"Max, don't jump on her like that." Alison saw Emily reprehend and then she saw the smirk on the brunette's lips. Spencer beside her was smirking also.

"Wait, is this some kind of surprise I don't know about?!" Hanna was confused by the sudden turn of events.

"Too slow, Hanna, too slow." Spencer shook her head in disapproval and left, making Aria and Hanna follow her too so the Fields could have some alone time.

"Emily, what is this?" Alison asked once her friends left.

The brunette walked to Aisha also and knelt beside her wife and son, "Merry Christmas, Ali!" Upon seeing Ali's confused face, she continued, "I tried to put a ribbon on her, but Aisha wouldn't let me."

"Emily..." Alison could barely contain the tears of joy sprinkling the corner of her eyes, "You gave me a dog for Christmas!" She brushed Aisha's fur a little more and the dog licked her hand in return.

"I looked for a dog through all of Malibu's adoption centers. I found Aisha on the last one we tried. Max immediately fell in love with her and she looked like a good dog. She has a limp on her paw, though," Alison unconsciously reached for Aisha's paw and caressed it with her thumb, "Which means that she's not the greatest runner, but I think I can recover her paw with some specific exercises."

"But who gave you the idea of-?"

"I saw you crying looking at Pepe, Mommy." Max revealed. "Yesterday, Mama told me that Santa didn't know what to give to you, Mommy, so I told her what I saw". Emily swallowed hard. Max had innocently put her head on a silver plate because it would be clear to Alison that she didn't have any gift planned until yesterday.

"Max, I think Jay is calling you," Emily quickly sent him away before he made her situation worse than it already was, "Sorry, it was actually a last minute gift, but I couldn't think of anything else."

She expected Ali to snap at her but, surprisingly, the blonde kissed her cheek instead, "She's perfect." Ali said, her eyes flooding with love, making Emily blush as if they were still fifteen, not two grown-up married women with a son and (now) a dog. They quietly played with Aisha's fur a little more when Ali decided to speak again, "I didn't give you my gift yet."

"It must be something unique," Emily knew of that already. Alison had a nag for giving presents, "You always give the best gifts."

"I don't think anything I could've done would've topped Aisha, "Alison commented, picking up the gift she'd left on the kitchen counter before kneeling behind Emily, tilting the brunette's head slightly and pushing her head to the side. Emily felt something cold hang down from her neck and she looked down to find the most beautiful necklace she could've ever pictured. It was made of silver with a sapphire stone decorating the tail of the mermaid charm that hang from the silver thread. Alison pressed a chaste kiss to Emily's neck and crawled back to her side, "It looks even more stunning on you."

"It's beautiful, Ali." Emily understood the charm perfectly. Alison was never one to talk much about her feelings, as she'd rather show them through actions. "Mermaid" was always Ali's nickname for her, ever since they were teens. "Mermaid" was the word that evoked all the loved Alison had for her and it took Emily's breath away every time Ali called her that way.

Ali leaned in against her side and slyly whispered, "I can't wait to see you wearing only it tonight." Emily laughed along to keep the tension and they both slowly leaned, closing the distance between their mouths. The kiss was languid and passionate, but with an underlying lust ready to explode. It was always like this after they argued, as they always found a way to fix their problems through sex after the iconic week that brought them together four years ago. Aisha began to feel ignored and headbutted Emily, making her fall on top of Ali, accidentally biting her lip. Alison groaned but chuckled once she realized what happened. Aisha began to bark.

"Sorry!"

"You are on top of me, I'm not complaining." Ali smirked and grabbed Emily by the neck, pulling her back to her lips. They were all too enrolled in their little make-out session that they didn't even hear the small footsteps heading towards the kitchen.

"Hey, Mommy, can we go walk with Ai-" Max was about to ask when he saw his two mothers kissing each other, "What is Mama doing on top of Mommy?"

Emily and Alison both froze when they heard his voice as Aisha kept on barking.

"Close your eyes, kiddo," Much to their dismay, Hanna was also by the door and covered Max's eyes with her hands, "This is not G-rated."

"We were not doing that, Hanna!"