As cheesy as it was, Christmas was Rick's favorite holiday, and he fully believed that it actually was the most wonderful time of the year. Sure, he had plenty of reasons to not love the season. He hated the cold and whenever it snowed in Georgie, he would get called out to direct traffic and to handle the accidents from iced over roads. There was never even enough snow to make it worthwhile either, usually a light dusting on the eaves that melted away soon after the sun touched it. He and the kids, though, would make the most of it, swiping it off the fence and packing it into tight little ice balls to make a knee-high snowman, more green and red than white, but those were the festive colors, so that was okay.
From November 1st to January 2nd, Rick wrote more traffic tickets than any other time of the year. To him, it didn't matter that it was the holidays; reckless driving was the cause of Lori's death, and Rick would rather these people be pissed off at him for the holidays than having worse kinds of news about their family members.
Then, of course, there was the family drama. Always something. As Rick family got bigger and bigger to include people like the Greene's, the Rhee's, the Dixon's, the King's, the Espinosa-Chamber's, and so many others, there were more and more Christmas parties to attend, and sweets to bake, and gifts to buy (don't get him started about the malls). It could get hectic and maybe a little annoying with the over-the-top cheer, and sometimes Rick felt like he might tear out his hair just to get a decent picture for their Christmas card – but it was the softer moments of relaxation that made everything worth it.
It was in the moments where he sang along to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby as he decorated the tree with candy canes and rearranged the ornaments behind Carl and Judith. It was in the moments where he watched Negan stretch on his toes, his ridiculously tacky and borderline inappropriate Christmas sweater riding up his midriff, and place the angel topper on the tree just so. It was in the moments where Judith baked an absurd number of cookies so that she could bring some to share in all her classes. It was in the moments where he got caught under the mistletoe with his husband, still so in love him even after eight years of marriage and sixteen years together. It was in the moments where he even managed to coax Carl to help build the gingerbread house. It was in the moments where he and Negan sagged against each other on the couch, nose deep in coffee and camera phones at the ready to watch the kids tear into the meticulously wrapped and rewrapped presents. It was in the moments where they were all curled up together in the living room watching the stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas special, and when Rick would sweep his eyes across the room, he didn't see the glow of a phone screen illuminating his children's faces and he didn't catch Negan nearly dropping off to sleep.
Yes, Rick Grimes loved Christmas, because that meant no school and both his children and his husband could be home with him. And as the years went on and Carl graduated first from high school and then from college with his B.A. in computer sciences, and as Judith grew up from an angelic, albeit spoiled, princess to a typical teenager with a streak of Negan-colored punk-rock attitude, Christmas had yet to lose its charm. He could always rely on Christmas to be that time of year where his family would always come back to him.
This year, Rick was particularly excited for Christmas because it would be his first Christmas as a grandfather. Also, this would be the first time he would get to see Judith since she started her freshman year of college at the University of Richmond. When he learned that was Judith's college of choice – a liberal arts college with just enough distance that she could be adventurous – he was at first devastated to become an empty nester. Soon after that, however, Carl announced that he and Enid were expecting their second, and Rick felt like it was time. He and Negan had accepted a long time ago that they were old. These next few years would be about them as much as they would be about their grandkids.
As it is, Rick had gotten home from the station to smell the oregano, basil, and garlic that signaled Negan's famous spaghetti. "Negan," he called as he toed off his boots at the door, "are you in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I'm making a fucking rum spice cake!" Negan stopped shouting as soon as he saw Rick round the corner. "This shit is fucking hard, but you better say this is the best damn thing you've ever tasted because of how much work I put into this motherfucker."
Chuckling softly, Rick tilted his head back for a kiss, which Negan granted. It was just a brief peck, but given Negan's current concentration, Rick didn't mind. "I've never seen you struggle with a recipe before, honey. What happened?"
"Uh, I may have stubbed my toe adding the rum and well, you know, baking is a fucking science. I gotta redo the fucking proportions." Negan shot the batter a nasty glare. "I bet I'm gonna end up burning this motherfucker, too, trying to bake all the damn booze outta it. Shit."
Curious, Rick snuck a fingertip in the bowl and swiped a glob. He sucked it off his finger, eyes locked with Negan, and when he pulled his finger free with a pop he simply stated, "You know Judith and Enid can't have any of the cake now, right? It even smells like a bar." He hesitated to add that he agreed with Negan, just barely biting back the suggestion to toss the batter. Negan was never the type to give up – even on hopeless projects.
"Fuck!" As Negan went off on a rant, banging his measuring cups and accidentally spilling the flour across the kitchen island, Rick just leaned his hip against the countertop, arms crossed in front of his chest, and watched.
Negan had aged well, even taken to growing out a beard for the season. "Judith told me I should do 'No Nut November' but I'm just gonna stick to 'No Shave November'," he had winked. Rick hadn't understood what it meant – something on Twitter, but Rick himself stuck to Facebook – but he loved the beard. Negan joked about it being because now Negan was the one who got to dress up as Santa, but Rick's beard was shock of white in comparison. They were so old now, but Negan was still so handsome, even filling out a little, no longer as whippet thin as he had been. Of course, Rick would never say that to Negan's face, but he enjoyed how his husband had aged. Each time he charted the expanding horizons of Negan's body, it was the first time. Rick sighed.
Looking up from his baking disaster, Negan cocked his head. "Sorry, baby. I didn't ask how your day was." Wiping his hands on a snowflake patterned dishcloth, Negan asked, "Was it as shitty as mine? What was that sigh for?"
Shrugging, Rick moved over to the stove to check on the simmering spaghetti sauce. "It was alright, but I'm glad to be home. So, it was a good sigh."
"Yeah?" Negan wrapped his arms around Rick's middle, fiddling with the buttons of his uniform. His breath was a damp, warm puff of air against his neck when he rumbled, "You couldn't wait to come back home and fuck me, baby?" Negan's mouth trailed slopping kisses behind Rick's ear, his beard tickling against the sensitive skin.
"Negan," Rick chuckled and hunched his shoulders defensively. With a coy glance over his shoulder, Rick hummed, "Those are big words for a man on a Viagra prescription."
Immediately, Negan stepped back, annoyed. "Yeah, about that. Do not fucking share that with Carl and Judith because I will get hell for it." Briskly taking the lid off the pot and stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon, Negan brought it up to Rick's lips and offered him a taste. "So, what's really on your mind then, Rick?"
"The kids." Rick smacked his laps after tasting, nodding his appreciation and Negan smirked, proud of himself for not messing up dinner at least. "I can't wait for them to be here." Wrinkling his nose, Rick added as an afterthought, "And I wouldn't tell the kids about your Viagra."
"Hey, if you were the one on Viagra, I would definitely fucking tell them." Negan narrowly avoided Rick's swats, stepping out of reach so he could try to tackle his cake problem again. "But yeah, I'm fucking excited, too. Probably not as excited as you are, though," Negan teased, "You can't wait to see your favorite grandchild."
"Considering Enid is pregnant again, you can't keep saying that." Still, Rick smiled. "But yeah, I can't wait to see little RJ."
"You think Carl will name this one after me?" Negan finally gave up and started dumping out the unsalvageable cake batter.
"We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet." Rick started helping him, choosing to wash the measuring cups and bowls by hand than loading the dishwasher since it would be stacked full after dinner.
"Shit, that doesn't matter. Negan for a boy, and Negan for a girl. It's an uncommon name, you know," Negan boasted, elbow gently jostling Rick's ribs.
Snorting, Rick drawled, "Oh, I know. But why not Megan for a girl?"
A sudsy hand delicately wrapped its long, tapered fingers around Rick's bearded chin, pulling his mouth towards Negan's. "Mm, I can work with that," Negan purred into his mouth and then captured Rick's bottom lip between his again.
Elbow deep in lukewarm soapy water, Rick stopped thinking and just focused on the softness of Negan's mouth, how nimble his tongue was when they tasted each other. A commotion at the front door is what finally dragged them away back to reality, and they both turned towards the door just in time to see Carl and Enid struggle into view. Carl juggled a suitcase, a duffle bag, and a diaper bag while Enid precariously balanced RJ on her hip while she had her purse and the baby carrier hooked over her elbow. "Hey, Dad. Hey, Negan."
"Carl!" Immediately abandoning the dishes, Rick and Negan swooped in for their hugs and to coo over RJ. He favored Carl exactly with a perfect bowl cut of brown hair and bright blue eyes. However, even though he was named after his grandfather, he lacked any curl to his hair, and they doubted that that would ever grow in.
After they were relieved of the baby, Carl and Enid dropped off their luggage in Carl's old bedroom, setting up for their week-long visit. When they came back to the kitchen, RJ was already set up in the highchair Rick specifically bought for his own house, and Negan was making silly faces at RJ in between finishing up the dishes, starting the pasta, and throwing the garlic bread in the oven. Rick was glued to RJ, and Carl felt like he was transported back in time when he would come downstairs for a breakfast and he'd find his dad diligently spooning oatmeal into Judith's mouth as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Since he is a father now, Carl understood exactly that that was true.
"Frozen garlic bread?" Carl teased Negan, "I remember you always making it homemade."
"Yeah, but I want to spend time with my favorite grandson, so you're just gonna have to deal with Texas Toast." Pulling up a chair next to Rick at the table, Negan smiled adoringly at RJ, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after his roughly three-hour nap in the car. They were lucky he traveled so well. Car rides, no matter how brief, never failed to put him to sleep.
"I don't think you can say that anymore, Negan." Enid sat down across the table and placed her hands over her baby bump. "We're having another boy."
"That's wonderful," Rick cooed, but Negan bulldozed him over, "He's gonna be NJ, right?"
"Well, we were thinking of naming him after Enid's dad."
Negan's face dropped. "David? Eh…I'm not crazy about it. I taught a lot of little shitheads named David."
"Negan," Rick hissed in warning, but neither Carl nor Enid really took offense.
"Hey, try to cut down on the cursing, okay?" Enid said, unbothered otherwise. "But we're naming him David, and I don't think we're going to call him DJ. RJ and DJ just make it seem like they're twins, and I don't like that."
"But they are twins," Negan argued, "Haven't you two ever heard of Irish twins? Goddamn RJ was born in May. Did Carl even give you enough time to get up and piss before he knocked you up again?"
"Actually, we were planning on having another." Surprisingly, Carl only looked a little bashful. "Not this soon, but since it's a lull in election season right now, it works out best for Enid."
"Maggie keeping you on your toes?" Rick asked, lifting RJ from the highchair when he got fussy. RJ settled against Rick's chest, snuggling and gurgling.
"Yup," Enid rolled her eyes, "If she loses the senate race, she's already got a contingency plan to just skip that and go straight for the presidency. Already picked out a running mate and everything."
"Figures she couldn't be satisfied with just being governor." Rick chuckled, the movement slightly bouncing RJ, but he never even stirred.
"Did she pick Jesus as her running mate?" Negan guessed and held his hands out expectantly for his grandson. Rick passed him over, and RJ settled once again, fists balled up.
"How can you say no to Jesus?" Enid waved her hand, "Never mind that he's gay because he's not married, at least. People are still holding out hope that he's not."
"Delusions, then, not hope." Negan shook his head. "Hey, Carl, can you get up and flip the garlic bread for me?"
They talked a little more, the conversation relaxed and quiet as they waited for dinner. Once it was ready, they hesitated to eat, still waiting for Judith. "Earlier she texted me about her flight being delayed," Negan shrugged, "so we should just dig in. She'll call us when she's landed so we can go pick her up at the airport."
After dinner, they cleaned up the kitchen and Carl whisked RJ away to clean him up after wearing most of his dinner rather than eating it. Catching Enid in a moment alone, Rick gently asked, "How's motherhood been treating you, Enid?" Having known Enid as the teenaged girl he caught vaping in the parking lot more than once, Rick was still astounded every day by how much she's grown and yet, hasn't changed. For example, he never thought she'd go for politics, but all it took was one internship under Maggie when she was the Mayor of Alexandria, and Enid found her passion.
"It's been great, Rick." Enid smiled at him, and while it was a tired smile, it was one familiar to Rick from the early years of parenthood he experienced with Lori. "I'm glad Carl's job allows him to work from home, too. He's been a big help through all of this." She dug her knuckles into her lower back with a small wince, and Rick ushered her to sit down so he and Negan could finish the rest of the kitchen.
"Good thing RJ isn't a handful, huh? But who knows, David may not be either, but you'll have two babies under two." Negan thoughtfully made Enid a cup of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows before he sat down. "I still don't see how this was part of the plan. Are you sure David isn't an 'oops'?"
Wiping away her coco mustache, Enid softly explained, "No, we wanted this. Both of us grew up alone for a long time, y'know, and Carl told me that it wasn't until after Judith was born that he realized he wished he grew up with a sibling. I'm an only child, too, so we agreed that we would try to have kids close in age."
Not expecting that answer, Rick was surprised to feel tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly thumbed them away with a small sniff, but both Enid and Negan had seen them. A little gruffly, sounded choked up as well, Negan rubbed Rick's shoulder. "Easy there, Rick. You going through menopause on me?"
Huffing out a laugh, Rick knocked his knee against Negan's. "How many more do you plan on having?"
"Oh, God. Two is enough," Enid took a big gulp of her hot chocolate and set the mug down again with a thunk. "We're fine with not having a girl, before you asked. From the stories I've heard from my friends and from Maggie, boys are easy."
Rick laughed, actually finding the opposite to be true. Though, he suspected that Carl wasn't necessarily difficult, he was just an only child and he was the first born. After a large age gap, raising Judith was definitely easier with experience the second time around. "If you had had a girl, did you have a name in mind?"
Enid warmed her hands on her mug, taking her time answering. "Lori, maybe. Or a name with an 'E'. I liked Emily and Carl liked Ellie."
This time Rick was able to manage a wavering smile and he swiped at his eyes again in a preventative measure. "Alright, alright," Negan broke in, "Anyone else want a cup of hot chocolate?" Negan stroked a hand down Rick's back and then collected Enid's mug. "Refill?"
"Hey, you're making hot chocolate? I want some." Carl said, breezing back into the room. When he caught sight of his dad, he frowned. "Dad, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Carl," and Rick sincerely meant that, "I'm just happy to have you all home."
"The only one missing is your sister," Negan said as he started to prepare four mugs, "and then we'll be jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."
Laughing, Enid accepted her refilled mug and toasted it to the others. "We're going to have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny fucking Kaye."
"I guess we have our movie picked out for the night," Rick shook his head and then gratefully sighed into his mug.
Suddenly, they heard the front door unlock and swing open, and there were the familiar stomps and thuds of boots on the front doormat and then being kicked off. Without preamble, Judith shambled into the kitchen in the three layers of leather, plaid, and jean that was definitely more suitable for the winter of Virginia than Georgia. "Fellas," she beamed at them, "is it gay if my tampon brushes up against my roommate's douche nozzle in the garbage can of our bathroom?"
Grateful that he had set aside his mug of hot chocolate, Rick cocked his head curiously, already standing, but his confusion made him stop his progress. Negan, however, who spoke the same curious language as Judith, took it in stride and was the first to meet her in a big bear-hug. "Oh, angel, good to have you home." He pressed a kiss into her forehead, and then that finally spurred the others to move as they finally made their way to her.
Once she was free from the hugs, Judith took a step back and raised her chin. Her hair, which had been cut short in more of a boyish style with the sides buzzed down and the top long, flopped down into her eyes and, with a little jerk of her head, it was swept to the side again. "Daddy, Papa. You didn't answer my question earlier."
Figuring it was one of Judith's jokes, Negan answered for them. "Yeah, Jude, it sounds gay to me."
"Good. Daddy, Papa, I wanted to introduce to you my roommate Abby." Judith held out a hand to whoever had been lingering unseen in the living room and a red-haired girl in a pink Christmas sweater and overalls shambled awkwardly into her side.
"Yes, we met when you moved in, Jude, remember?" Rick smiled kindly at the girl and held out his hand. Judith hadn't told him that she was bringing a friend for the holiday, but Rick didn't mind.
"Yeah, I remember. That was when she was just my roommate, though. Daddy, Papa, Abby is my girlfriend. I'm gay."
"Fuck, I always wanted to say this!" Negan said, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hi, Gay, I'm Bisexual."
"Oh my god," Enid muttered quietly, and Rick slapped Negan's chest.
"Jude, you know we support you. Of course, we do." Rick pulled Judy in for another hug, and then he skipped the handshake and went from for the hug with Abby as well. "Welcome to our home, Abby."
After that, it was a whirlwind of activity as they helped bring their luggage in and heat up some leftovers for their dinner as they congressed around the kitchen table again. RJ had been put down for the night, so for the most part they were trying to keep their voices low. Between Negan and Judith, however, that proved to be a challenge.
"I wish you would've told us when you landed, Jude," Rick chided. "I hate that you paid for an Uber for that distance."
"I wanted to surprise you!" Judith mumbled around her mouthful of pasta noodles and she slurped them up before she continued, "Did I surprise you?"
"When you got here? Yeah. About you being gay? Well…no," Rick admitted.
"Yeah, Jude. You played softball," Carl lightheartedly jeered at her from across the table. "Not exactly subtle."
Judith faked a sneer at him. "Shut up, Carl. You're the only straight Grimes in this house so I think you should be kicked out of Christmas."
"She has a point!" Negan jumped on the bandwagon, never one to miss an opportunity to mess with Carl. "Christmas has always been about being gay."
"Well, how do you know I'm straight?" Carl blustered before he seemed to realize what he said and fell silent. Even Enid looked at him in surprise.
"Carl," Enid started, "what do you mean?"
"Remember how we ended up breaking up from sophomore year of college to senior year?"
"Yeah, totally. I ended up dating this guy named Alden for a while," Enid said casually, not all that bothered.
"Well, I dated this guy, too. Um. His name was Siddiq." Carl blushed. "We dated for a while, but then he said he was going to medical school and I wasn't, so we just. Broke up. It was fine."
"Wow," Judith leaned forward on her elbows, "how long did y'all date?"
"A while…half a year," Carl reluctantly shared. "We didn't tell anyone because he was Muslim and his family wouldn't have approved. And it was really casual. It's not like either of us ever used the l-word."
"Lesbians?" Judith serenely surmised, and Abby jabbed her with her fork.
"I…hope this doesn't bother you, Enid. I just, never told you because I thought it would be awkward talking about the other people I dated besides you." Carl took the hand of his wife of four years. "And it's not like I felt the same way with any of them than I felt with you. I always knew I was going to marry you."
"That's really sweet," Abby said shyly, and it was the first time she really spoke up without being under questioning and they all smiled at her before turning back to Carl and Enid.
"Carl, we're married. That doesn't bother me." Enid said with patience, "But you told me you dated Sophia and Lydia, but you didn't tell me about him. That's fine now, but don't feel like you can't tell me about this stuff. You can."
This time Negan was the one fighting to hold back his tears, and as he sniffled, he got up and grabbed Judith's and Abby's plates. "Aw, Papa, don't be sad. I'm not sad that Carl stole my coming out moment."
Carl scoffed and looked like he was about to retaliate when Rick chose at that moment to interrupt. "Come on, guys. It's late. Maybe we should be heading to bed. You all are probably exhausted from traveling all day."
"No way, Daddy, we can't go to bed until we've watched Christmas Vacation," Judith sharply protested.
Enid agreed with her. "Yeah, Rick, you already promised. It's tradition. We have to do it."
"It's not that late, Rick, you're just old." Negan was back to his old self again with that same shit-eating grin. "Let's watch the movie."
Seeing he was outnumbered, Rick acquiesced. "Alright."
They settled into the living room to watch the movie, often times Negan and Judith chiming in to quote along with the movie. Even though this was something they've seen over a hundred times over the years, the movie never failed to draw a laugh from all of them as they avidly watched along. Sitting on the loveseat curled next to his husband, Rick swept his eyes over the room. The glow of the TV screen as the only source of light in the room. Enid was sitting in the recliner to alleviate her swollen ankles. Carl was shackled to the couch with Judith and Abby, and though she always had one hand holding Abby's, Judith would still pester Carl gently during the movie just like old times. And as Griswold started to read The Night Before Christmas, Rick finally turned his eyes to Negan and he placed as soft, chaste kiss on his cheek. And Rick Grimes was happy.