TITLE: Noel

SUMMARY: Fifth and final story in my series after Harm, Marks, Pride, and Chances. Holiday fluff.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own, you don't sue.

Midday on Christmas Eve was extremely busy at San Diego International Airport. As Stef tried to keep track of her oldest and youngest sons while they made their way through the throngs of people, she made a mental note to ask her mother to fly in earlier next year.

"Grandma!" Jude yelled as he saw Sharon walking toward them, pulling a small rolling suitcase. She grinned widely as she hugged her grandsons.

"Hi, my babies! How are you? I swear you've grown a foot since I saw you," she told Jude.

He grinned. "No, I haven't."

"Well, fine, half a foot, then. Hi, darlin'," she told Stef as she reached to hug her, too.

"Hey, Mom. How was your flight?"

"It was fine. Where's the rest of the gang?"

"At our own version of Santa's Workshop," Stef replied. "They still had presents to finish wrapping, so they stayed home."

"Well at least I'm ahead of the curve for once," Sharon pronounced with a grin. "All of my gifts for you are already wrapped and bowed and in my luggage."

"Alright, let's head for baggage claim, then."

Back at the Adams-Foster house, the living and dining rooms did in fact look like Santa's Workshop had overflowed. There was ribbon and wrapping paper and rolls of tape everywhere. Callie, Mariana, and Jesus were each working in a separate area, having strategically placed a couple items around them to keep their siblings from seeing what they were wrapping.

"How's it going in here?" Lena asked as she came out of the kitchen with a mug of tea in her hands.

"Tell him to stop looking over here," Mariana said, giving her twin a glare.

"If you didn't want to take a chance of him seeing his present, you shouldn't have waited until Christmas Eve to get it wrapped," Lena pointed out.

Callie set three finished packages underneath the tree in the living room. "I'm done," she proclaimed and started to head for the staircase.

"Not so fast, missy," Lena told her. "Did you clean up? Mom's going to be back with Grandma any minute and this place looks like a disaster." Callie went back to put away everything she'd been using.

Moments later, the front door opened and Stef and Sharon came inside, with Jude and Brandon trailing behind carrying their grandmother's luggage. "Grandma!" Mariana and Jesus cried as they got up and went to get hugs. Callie also came over.

"Hey, guys. Wow, you certainly have been busy here, haven't you?" she commented as she saw their wrapping supplies.

Mariana noticed that Jesus was also looking over into the dining room and smacked him on the shoulder. "Cut it out! You can open it tomorrow."

"What?" he asked. "I wasn't trying to see!"

"Okay, you two," Stef cut in. "Knock it off. Brandon, Jude, can you put Grandma's bags in the living room?" They nodded. "Mari, Jesus, please finish wrapping and clean up? I know we're not having our normal big dinner tonight but I'd still like to be able to see the dining room table."

Sharon looked to her daughter in surprise as the kids all scattered and Lena went back to the kitchen. "We're not having dinner tonight?" she wondered. Christmas Eve dinner was a family tradition that they'd been doing for years.

Stef shook her head. "No. We're, um, we're going to church tonight."

Sharon raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

She rolled her eyes and led the way toward the kitchen. "Funny, Mom."

"Since when do you go to church?"

"Well, Dad suggested bringing the kids for Christmas Eve service."

The surprises kept coming. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. He's been really good lately about keeping an open mind, so we thought we'd do the same. It's also something that Callie and Jude used to do with their biological parents and it could be nice to have a new family tradition, right?"

Sharon shrugged. "Sure. I remember when we would go to Christmas Eve service when you were a little girl. You made a very cute shepherd in that Nativity pageant when you were seven."

Lena snickered. "Are there pictures of this?"

"I'm sure I've got them somewhere at my house."

"Which, luckily, is in Florida," Stef cut in. Sharon and Lena laughed.

Instead of their traditional large dinner eaten in the dining room, the family just had normal fare at the kitchen table. Afterward, they all headed upstairs to get dressed for church. All the women in the family had picked out dresses, while the boys wore dress pants, shirts, and ties.

"Don't you all clean up nice," Sharon told her grandchildren with a smile when they all came downstairs.

Jesus shrugged. "It's easier for some of us than others," he joked, striking a pose.

Jude scoffed. "Except you spent the longest in the bathroom!" Jesus playfully put him in a headlock.

They had to take both cars to get everyone to fit, but they found two parking spots close together. Frank was waiting by the front door to the church and smiled when he saw the family. "Hey, guys."

The kids all headed over to give him hugs. "Hi, Grandpa!"

"I'm so glad you all are here!"

"Us, too," Jesus assured him.

Callie hung back a bit from the rest of her siblings. No one would ever accuse her of being the most affectionate of the Adams-Foster kids. But the fact that she was by herself made it a little easier for another arrival at the church to spot her. "Hi, Callie," Trevor told his daughter as he walked up.

She smiled. "Dad, you came."

"When you guys invited me, I said I'd be here." He was doing his best to never break another promise to his children. "Where's Jude?" Callie pointed out her brother amid the other kids. Jude looked up at that moment and saw his father.

"Dad!" he cried as he ran over.

Trevor smiled as he gave his son a hug. "Hey, buddy. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

Stef and Lena watched the exchange; they'd originally been a little wary when their newest children suggested inviting their biological father to join them for the evening, but knew that they had to be the grown ups. This was just one little part of their family Christmas celebration that they had to share. Hopefully it would help the kids put more bad memories behind them and heal some old wounds.

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Inside of the church, everyone tried to work out seating arrangements. Sharon and Frank watched the kids and moms sort through who did or didn't want to sit next to who. "You remember when Stef used to be in the Nativity pageant in church?" Frank asked his ex.

"I was told earlier today that I'm not to speak of it again."

He laughed. "Could barely get her to sit still long enough to make it through rehearsal."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Remember 'Joseph' got in a wrestling match with one of the other shepherds because he accidentally hit him with his staff?"

Sharon burst out laughing. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that! And Stef was furious because it was right in the middle of her one and only line."

"Mmm. Who would have thought back then that she'd give us all of this?" The kids had finally all gotten seats and had started flipping through the hymnals to find the first song.

Sharon smiled. "Not us."

TBC...