I received reviews and private messages to make a sequel to Winter With You so I thought that I would do a continuation of that story but a few years down the line.
"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! Wake up! Santa was here!" a small boy bounced on the bed of two sleeping adults. The man in the bed slowly opened his eyes and looked at the clock that was on his bedside table.
"Leo, it is seven in the morning. Can mommy and daddy sleep for a little while longer?" the man grumbled as he looked at a young boy with tan skin, dark blue eyes, and short black hair staring down at him.
"No no no no! It's Christmas!" Leo exclaimed as he pulled his father's arms, trying to get him out of bed.
"Well, if I have to get up, so does your mother." the man said as he sat up in bed.
"Do I have to?" a woman sighed as her eyes were still closed.
"Yes, mommy! Get up! I want to open presents! Rose is already awake and she wants to open presents too!" Leo said as he started to pull his mother up.
"And how do you know that? Rose can't even talk yet." the woman asked as she looked at her son with tired eyes.
"Because, I am the older brother. That's why! And she said that she wants pancakes for breakfast!" Leo explained.
"Oh did she? Last time I checked, she was still just drinking milk." the woman said as she started to stand up and placed a pink robe over her pajamas.
"I guess she wants to try something different." Leo said as he watched his parents get up from their beds.
"Well, how about you go down stairs while your mother and I get Rose and the camera." the father instructed causing Leo to run downstairs with glee.
"Flora, remind me to wear ear plugs on Christmas. For a three year old, that boy can shout." the man said as he turned to his wife and wiped his eyes.
"I wonder where he gets that from, Helia? You bring him to all of the protests." Flora giggled as she walked out of the room and down the hall to a room that had a white door with light pink flowers and a sign that said Rose.
"Hey, you always come with us and bring Rose." Helia replied. He and Flora had been married for four years and despite having children, they were the same people that they had fallen in love with. Flora was still the mild mannered tan beauty that still managed to take Helia's breath away and Helia was still the passionate man that Flora had been enamored with since college.
Flora and Helia opened the door to find a seven month old baby rolling around in her crib. Flora walked over to the cooing baby and picked her up and brought her close to her chest. Rose has soft brown curls that framed her pale skin and brought out her striking green eyes."How is my baby doing on her first Christmas?" Flora softly asked with a smile on her face. Helia walked over and Rose raised her arms towards Helia and started whimpering. Flora handed Rose over to Helia, "What a Daddy's girl." Flora sighed as Helia took Rose and stuck his tongue out to Flora, earning him a soft slap on the arm.
"Mommy, daddy! Come on! I want to open presents!" Leo's voice could be heard from downstairs, impatience being heard in his voice.
"I'll go get the camera, you bring Rose downstairs." Flora said as she and Helia walked out of Rose's room. Helia walked downstairs with Rose while Flora walked over to Helia's studio room and grabbed the camera that was positioned on the tripod. Flora looked around the room and saw photos of her and Helia with their two children, paintings that he had done in college, and incomplete pieces of work that were going to be sold at the next gallery showing.
"Mommy! Get down here!" Flora was broken from her trance when she heard Leo's command from downstairs.
"I'm coming! Hold your horses!" Flora shouted from upstairs as she walked towards the staircase. Flora held onto the bannister with one hand while the other held the professional black camera. As she descended the staircase she could see the decorated tree surrounded by presents and Leo sitting in between three piles. Two of the piles had an equal amount of presents while the third only had two presents. Flora knew these were the presents that she and Helia had gotten for each other.
Flora walked over to Helia who was sitting in a large chair as he held onto Rose and fed her a bottle. Flora smiled and handed Helia the camera and took Rose so that he would be able to take the pictures. Flora sat down with Rose and Helia adjusted the camera lense.
"Smile for Daddy, Leo!" Helia instructed as Leo beamed while sitting amongst his presents. Helia took a picture and smiled as he looked at the screen showing his son and his warm smile.
"Can I open them now?!" Leo asked as he started bouncing up and down.
"Yes, but show them to your dad so he can take a picture. Your grandparents will want to see everything that you got." Flora instructed as she rocked Rose.
"Okay okay!" Leo agreed as he grabbed the biggest present and started to unwrap it. "Wow! My own art kit! Thanks!" Leo exclaimed as he looked at his first present. Leo held it up while Helia took the first of many pictures.
Leo continued to unwrap his presents and Rose's presents as Helia took picture after picture. Soon all of the presents were unwrapped and Rose was asleep in Flora's arms. Flora stood up and laid Rose down in her baby swing as it slowly rocked back and forth. Flora turned around and looked down at Leo who was playing with his new toy trains. "So, do you still want those pancakes?" Flora asked. Leo looked up and nodded and Flora slowly walked towards the kitchen.
After the family ate their breakfast and Leo played with his presents some more, it was time to get dressed for Christmas dinner over at Stella and Brandon's house.
"Daddy, I don't want to wear this outfit. It's itchy!" Leo whined as Helia dressed him in black pants with a red knit sweater.
"I know, but grandma made this sweater for you and she would be so sad to know that you didn't wear it. I had to wear them every year growing up, imagine how itchy I was." Helia chuckled as he adjusted the sweater on Leo's fidgety body.
"Fine." Leo pouted. "Will everyone be at the party?" Leo asked.
"Yes, everyone will be there." Helia assured Leo.
"Even Uncle Riven? He gives the best presents!" Leo asked with a smile on his face.
"Yes, even Uncle Riven." Helia sighed remembering last year when Riven gave Leo a marshmallow shooter.
Soon, there was a knock on Leo's door and Flora walked in with Rose in her arms. Rose was dressed in a red dress with a red soft headband in her hair and Flora wore a strapless velvet emerald green dress that hugged her curves stopping right above her knees with silver stilettos and her hair in a fancy updo. Helia stood straight up and looked at his wife.
"Wow, look at my two girls." Helia said as he walked over to Flora and took Rose from her hands. Flora blushed and admired Leo and Helia who was wearing black pants and a white button up shirt with an emerald green tie.
"Come on, we don't want to be late. Stella will throw a fit." Flora said as she walked out of the room with Helia and the kids following right behind them.
Arriving at Stella and Brandon's house, Flora and Helia rang the doorbell and were greeted by a little boy with brown hair and hazel eyes around Leo's age answering the door. Flora looked down and smiled.
"Hello, Peter. Is your mom and dad home?" Flora asked the boy sweetly.
"Mom! Dad! Aunt Flora and Uncle Helia are here!" Peter shouted and a squeal could be heard from inside the house. Stella...
"Oh my, don't you all look lovely! Come in!" Stella exclaimed as she picked up Peter and welcomed Flora and her family inside. Stella was wearing a long sleeve gold dress that was the same length as Flora's and red heels.
"Helia! My man!" Helia was greeted by Brandon who was wearing khaki pants and a green sweater. "Is this little Rosie? I haven't seen her since she was two months old!" Brandon exclaimed as he looked at the young child in Helia's arms. "Thank God she looks like her mother." Brandon joked. Helia chuckled and walked into the living room with the rest of the family to see that other members of their friend group were here.
"Flora!" a voice was heard from the couch. Flora looked down to see a very pregnant Musa sitting next to Riven. Musa wore a loose fitting red dress that reached the floor and black flats.
"Musa, you are huge!" Flora exclaimed hugging her friend.
"Yeah, double the kids, double the size." Musa chuckled.
"You're having twins?" Flora exclaimed earning a excited nod from Musa. Flora embraced Musa into another hug knowing that Musa and Riven had been trying for years with no luck. Helia walked over to Riven and held out his hand and shook it. Riven surprised Helia when he picked up Rose from Helia's arms.
"How is Ms. Rose doing on her first Christmas?" Riven asked as he sat back down with Rose in his arms as she smiled up at Riven.
Flora smiled at Riven as he played with Rose and Rose giggled at Riven's tickles. Flora knew that as stubborn as Riven could be, he would make an excellent father. Flora and Helia heard the bell ring and another squeal from Stella as she opened the door to find Bloom, Sky, and their two children 5 year old Hunter who had blonde hair and blue eyes and 2 year old Charlie with red hair and blue eyes.
"Bloom! Sky!" Stella could be heard from the living room. "I thought that you came with Tecna and Timmy?" Stella asked as she let the family into the house.
"Yeah, they are trying to get a crying James out of the car." Sky informed the blonde woman as he walked in with Bloom. Bloom was wearing a dark blue sweater and a white skirt with blue flats and Sky was wearing the same but with white pants and black shoes.
"We're here!" Tecna shouted as she walked in through the door shortly after Bloom and Sky with Timmy and their 2 year old James who was the spitting image of Timmy, he even had little glasses that were stained from his tears. Tecna wore a spaghetti strap red dress that reached to her shins and black heels where Timmy wore a green striped sweater and white pants.
"Tecna!" Stella exclaimed as she ran to Tecna, giving her a hug.
"Hey, Stella. Where should I put the presents?" Tecna asked as she held up a bag of presents. Each couple brought presents for each of the others and their children.
"Under the tree, silly. Where else would you put presents?" Stella smiled as she walked Tecna, Timmy, and James into the living room with the tree and the other families.
"I guess that is the logical place to put them." Tecna laughed as she set the presents down with all of the other presents. "James, look who is here. Why don't you go say hi to Leo and Peter." Tecna kneeled down to James, adjusting his red tie.
"Okay!" the once sad James exclaimed as he ran over to Leo.
"What was wrong with him?" Flora asked as she walked over to Tecna and gave her a hug.
"Oh, he wanted to play more board games with Timmy but we had to come here." Tecna explained. "How I envy you." Tecna sighed.
"Why?" Flora asked with concern in her eyes.
"You are the only one with a girl. I think you should watch out before Stella takes her from you. I don't know if Peter will want to accompany Stella on shopping trips when he gets older." Tecna chuckled.
"I heard that!" Stella yelled from across the room. "You like our shopping trips, don't you Peter?" Stella asked as she kissed Peter's chubby cheeks.
"Yes, mommy." Peter replied as he pulled away from Stella to play with Leo and James.
"See?" Stella giggled as she looked up at everyone in the room. Soon there was another ring of the doorbell and Stella shot up to go answer it.
"Layla!" Stella exclaimed as she greeted Layla, Nabu, and their year old son Caleb. Caleb had brown curly hair and dark brown skin, he looked more like Layla than Nabu.
"Shhh, Caleb is asleep." Layla motioned towards the sleeping boy in her arms as she walked into the house. Layla wore a silver dress and dark green heels as Nabu wore a plum colored sweater with black pants.
"Woah, Musa! What happened to you?" Layla exclaimed as she saw a very pregnant Musa on the couch.
"Well, I am having twins at the beginning of February." Musa chuckled as she stood up to greet Layla.
"Way to go, man!" Nabu exclaimed as he gave Riven a high five. Riven was still holding a now sleeping Rose. Layla smacked Nabu on the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding Caleb.
"So, do you know the genders yet?" Tecna asked as she sat next to Timmy.
"Yes, two girls!" Musa beamed.
"Finally, more girls!" Stella exclaimed.
"You think you can handle that Riven?" Sky asked as he sat on one of the sofas with one of his arms on Bloom and a sleeping Charlie on his lap. Hunter sat next to Sky playing a game on one of his electronics.
"Of course he can, just look at him with Rose." Bloom responded indicating to the gentleness that Riven displayed while holding Rose.
"I think that I will take her before Riven runs away with her." Helia chuckled as he walked over to Riven and picked up Rose.
"Now that everyone is here," Stella announced as she stood up, "I think that we should have our brunch, then open presents, and then the kids can help make some Christmas cookies."
The rest of the group stood up, gathered their respective children and made their way to have Christmas Dinner.
After they had brunch it was time to open the presents. (A/N I am only going to describe what Helia and Flora received because it would take forever to explain what everyone got)
Helia received a high storage memory card for his camera from Stella and Brandon, a gift card to the art store from Bloom and Sky, a new camera lense from Layla and Nabu, a navy blue sweater from Musa and Riven, and an electronic picture frame presented up to fifty photos in a slideshow from Timmy and Tecna.
Flora received a gift card to Mrs. Magix from Stella and Brandon, a cookbook from Bloom and Sky, a collection of various seeds and pots from Layla and Nabu, a personalized planner from Musa and Riven, and a white noise machine for both Flora and Rose from Tecna and Timmy.
"Thank you all." Flora smiled to the others as they finished opening their presents.
"Alright, time to bake cookies!" Stella exclaimed as she took Peter and Charlie's hands as she brought them into the kitchen. Leo, Hunter, and James ran behind while Layla and Flora brought in Caleb and Rose into the kitchen. The rest of the girls and guys followed behind.
"Now, we need people on dough making duty, rolling duty, cookie cutter duty, and decorating duty. I will be in charge of the oven." Stella instructed as she threw aprons to everyone.
"Nabu, Caleb and I call dough duty!" Layla exclaimed.
"I think that we can handle the cookie cutters." Musa chimed in as she indicated to her and Riven.
"Call us Ike and Tina because we will be rolling." Bloom chuckled as she grabbed Sky's hand and a rolling pin.
"Well I think that leaves the rest of us to the decorating. We can help the kids with the decorating." Flora said as she looked at Helia, Tecna, Timmy, Brandon, and the children.
"Alright, let the baking commence!" Stella laughed and everyone to their stations.
After the baking and decorating of the cookies were made, Musa put on some Christmas music and Layla stood up and started to dance with the rest of the kids.
"Should I be jealous that my wife is dancing with so many handsome young men?" Nabu laughed as he watched Layla danced with the little boys.
"I don't know, Nabu. It looks like James is putting on some smooth moves with Layla. I wonder where he gets his moves?" Riven chuckled as he pointed to James holding onto Layla's hands.
"Mommy, come dance with me!" Peter exclaimed as he walked over to Stella and pulled her up. Stella giggled as she got to her feet and brought her to the center of the living room and danced with her.
"Everyone dance!" Musa shouted as she stood up and pulled Riven to his feet. Tecna stood up and pulled Timmy to his feet and James let go of Layla and ran over to Tecna. Brandon and Nabu got up and started to dance with their wives and children, Bloom and Sky did the same. Flora got up to dance with Leo while Helia stood on the outside of the circle and swayed with Rose in his arms.
Helia smiled as he watched his wife danced with their son and saw that she was just as radiant from the time that he saw her on the first day after transferring to Magix University . He watched as her smile still lit up a room and how her green eyes still made him weak in the knees. He looked at Leo and Rose and admired how Flora was able to give him the greatest gifts he had ever received. He thought that having Flora was the best thing to happen to him, but nothing compared to his children. They were the affirmation of their love and he woke up every day in disbelief that Flora gave him their children. He looked down at Rose and saw that she was just like her mother when she slept. Rose had the same pink lips as Flora and knew that if she opened her eyes that he would be met with the same stunning green like her mother's.
Flora looked up and smiled at Helia who was looking at their sleeping daughter. She admired the way that he would look at her with gentle eyes and love. She fell in love with Helia's passion for all things good in the world. He made her more outspoken and ready to fight for the things that she believed in. She prayed that their children would inherit that from their father. She looked down at Leo and saw him look up at her with the same blue eyes that Helia had and saw the fire in his eyes that she saw in Helia's. She thought back to the night that they had shared their first kiss. It was during the Magix Winter Walk and to think that she was so close to not asking him. Flora remembered how nervous they both were and how mad she got when Helia was treating her poorly on their "date". She then remembered the kiss under the mistletoe as the snow fell on them. She thought about the next winter walks and how on their third Winter Walk together, Helia proposed to Flora during the sleigh ride. Helia and Flora have never missed a Winter Walk since. She announced that she was pregnant with Leo during their fifth Winter Walk and remembered taking Leo on them with Helia, even when she was pregnant with Rose and throwing up after everything that she ate and drank. Flora could not believe that someone as passionate as Helia would be in love with her and her simple personality, but Helia assured her every day that he found her to be fascinating and everything that he has wanted.
Helia placed Rose down in a playpen that was in the living room and walked to Flora as I'll Be Home For Christmas started to play.
"May I dance with mommy?" Helia bent down to ask Leo. Leo nodded his head and watched as Helia grabbed Flora's hand with his and brought his other hand to her waist. Flora and Helia started to sway to the music as the other couples followed their lead. The music filled the room and the rest of the children watched as their parents along with Riven and Musa as they danced to the music.
Flora looked into Helia's eyes as they danced close together. Flora smiled as she placed her head onto Helia's chest and listened to his heart beat. Helia kissed the top of Flora's head and looked around at the children as they sat eating cookies and the other couples as they danced.
Helia saw the way that Bloom and Sky looked into each other's eyes as they smiled and swayed to the music. Stella and Brandon were dancing and whispering into each other's ears, making the other smile. Layla was smiling up at Nabu as they held each other close and danced, Tecna and Timmy were doing the same. Musa and Riven were dancing as close as they could with Musa's pregnant stomach in the way. Riven even put his hand on her abdomen and smiled at Musa. Helia noticed that Flora's head raised from his chest and he stared once again in her bright green eyes and brought his head down to hers. They leaned closer and closer until his lips met hers and they shared a kiss.
Helia never tired of Flora's lips on his and the kiss deepened and became more passionate as Helia brought his hands to the back of the base of Flora's head where it connected to her neck. Flora placed her hands on Helia's still muscular arms and deepened the kiss even further.
"Gross! Mommy and daddy are kissing!" Leo exclaimed and the rest of the children expressed their disgust at the kissing couple. Helia pulled away from Flora, both of them with blushes on their cheeks. Flora then ran over to Leo and started to kiss Leo all over his cheeks. "Mommy! Get off of me!"
"You know you love my kisses!" Flora replied in between kisses as she tickled Leo and he started to giggle. Each of the other couples went over to their kids and held them close.
"Well, we better get going. It is almost someone's bedtime." Layla announced as she looked at a dozing Caleb.
"We all better get going. Thank you, Stella and Brandon for the lovely dinner and time at your house." Bloom said as she gathered Hunter and Charlie's coats and hugged Stella.
"Please take some cookies on your way out. Neither Brandon and Peter need the sugar." Stella said as she handed couples plates of cookies.
"Thank you, I think that all of these will be gone tomorrow." Musa whispered indicating to Riven who was currently eating a cookie.
Flora said goodbye to Stella as she held Rose and cookies as Helia brought Leo and the presents out to the car. Flora gave Stella a small hug and went out to the car to place the cookies and Rose into their respective places as Helia waited in the driver's seat. Flora then opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. Helia kissed Flora's hand and then drove away from Stella's house to head home.
Once at home, Helia brought Rose upstairs and placed her into her crib as Flora brought Leo to his room and put him in his pajamas. After putting the kids to bed, Flora and Helia went downstairs to clean up the mess from the morning where they noticed the two unopened presents addressed to each other.
"Hey, Helia. I think we forgot something." Flora announced softly as she knelt down on the ground holding the two presents.
"It appears that we did." Helia smiled as he walked over to Flora and sat down beside her. Flora handed Helia his gift while she held hers.
"You open yours first." Helia instructed. Flora looked down at the small package that was wrapped in sparkly silver wrapping paper with a green satin bow. Flora slowly pulled the ribbon off the small box and delicately tore off the paper to reveal a small black box. Flora opened the box and saw a charm bracelet with a charm of a mistletoe, a boy, a girl, and a ring. Flora smiled at the bracelet and leaned forward to kiss Helia.
"Thank you, I love it!" Flora exclaimed as Helia placed the charm bracelet around Flora's slender wrist. "I hope that you will love my gift." Flora whispered as she handed Helia his gift.
Helia looked at the small box that had black wrapping paper and a silver bow. He smiled at Flora before opening his present where he was met with a small white box. He opened the box and saw nothing but green tissue paper. He looked up at Flora with a look of confusion on his face.
"Keep digging." Flora smiled. Helia took out the tissue paper and his eyes widened when he got to the bottom and all of the tissue paper was gone. Flora waited for the rest of his reaction.
Helia stared at the box and pulled out what was inside and dropped the box. He looked at Flora with his mouth wide open and smiled at her. "Really?" Helia asked in disbelief. In his hands was a positive pregnancy test.
"Yes really." Flora giggled back.
"Really?" Helia asked again as he looked back and forth from the test and Flora.
"Yes, keep up." Flora laughed. Helia then leaned forward and kissed Flora with passion and happiness.
"How far along are you?" Helia asked as he cupped Flora's face.
"Just two months. Number three is due in late July." Flora smiled as she looked into Helia's eyes who was filled with hope and joy.
"Flora, thank you." Helia whispered.
"For what?" Flora asked.
"Everything. Leo, Rose, our new baby, and your love. I love you all so much and nothing could ever replace what we have. You have made me the happiest man in the entire world. My winters are always warmer with you. I love you." Helia explained as he brought Flora close to him again to give her another kiss, ending another perfect Christmas.
I hope that you enjoyed this story. Let me know what you think! Merry Christmas Eve!