The kid doesn't have a name because I'm awful at thinking of names. It's also the first time (hopefully first of many if inspiration strikes during the new series) that I've written a child into the narrative of my story. I have absolutely no experience with children so if he seems a little over/under developed in what he can do/say, that's why.
It's been a headcanon of mine since I saw last year's Christmas special that no matter how old the kid gets, Lucy will always call him 'baby'. Which is why she does so a lot in this story.
I hope everyone has had an amazing Christmas. Here's to 2017 and series 8!
Lee and Lucy awoke to a very excited five-year-old bouncing on their bed.
"Mummy! Daddy! It's Christmas, Santa left me lots of presents!" The little boy shouted.
His bedroom was Lee's old bedroom, which meant he'd had to walk through the main area of the flat to reach his parents' room, so of course he'd had a sneaky glance at the pile of presents around the tree before he had woken them.
"That's great, baby, but it's," Lucy squinted through the darkness at the clock on the bedside table, "6 o clock. Do you want to get in bed with me and daddy for a while?"
Lee and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when their son agreed without making a fuss, climbing into bed between them and laying down.
"Good lad," Lee said, still half asleep as he threw an arm around his wife and son, hoping the little boy would be able to contain his excitement for at least another hour.
He and Lucy had been awake until 1AM wrapping last minute gifs, unable to resist spoiling their son now that he was old enough to get excited about Christmas.
They'd started the night sat side by side in front of the coffee table, a pile of festive wrapping paper and gifts in front of them, reminiscing about how their son had come into the world on Christmas Eve five years ago. They'd ended the night in bed, showing each other just how much they still loved each other, even after years of marriage and a five year old. It was safe to say they were still pretty exhausted when not ten minutes after their son had run into their room, he seemed unable to contain his excitement and spoke up in a loud whisper.
"Can we get up yet? I think Santa left me a bike."
Lee and Lucy chuckled, realising he'd probably had a good look at his gifts before coming to find them. They sat up, smiling at each other as their son jumped excitedly from the bed, delighted that he was moments away from opening his presents.
They walked into the living room, turning on the light and laughing at their son's squeal of excitement as he ran towards the Christmas tree.
His bike wasn't wrapped, adorned only with a big blue bow, and he jumped on straight away, wobbling slightly even though the training wheels were firmly screwed on.
"Careful, baby," Lucy said, walking over and stroking his hair.
Lee snapped a couple of pictures before joining them, sitting cross legged under the tree, digging around for his own presents. He was quickly joined by the excited child and Lucy laughed as she sat and watched them both tearing into their gifts. Their son resembled her physically, with his light hair and delicate features, but his mannerisms were all Lee.
"Like father, like son," She joked, catching Lee's eye and nodding to the little boy.
Lee laughed. "Aren't you going to open any of yours, Lucy? I promise there isn't a book token or a giant Toblerone in sight."
"As reassuring as that is, I've still got one more present to give to both of you," Lucy said, reaching around to the back of the tree and pulling out a gift bag that Lee was sure she must have hidden sometime during the night, because he hadn't seen it there yesterday.
She pulled two things from the bag; an envelope and a box. She handed the box to Lee, which caught the attention of their son, who looked between them both curiously.
"Come here," Lucy said, smiling as the little boy climbed into her lap. "There's something for you, too, but let daddy open his first, okay?"
He nodded and she kissed the top of his head, smiling. He was such a caring child, and he was all her and Lee, a perfect mix of them both.
Lee ripped off the wrapping paper, frowning in confusion at the plain cardboard box underneath, about the size of a small pencil case. He looked at his wife, who just nodded back at the box, indicating that he should look inside. He opened the lid, feeling around the layers of tissue paper for the object inside. After what seemed like a million minutes to Lucy, he pulled out the smooth plastic stick and held it in front of his face, squinting at the pink plus sign, trying to put two and two together in his sleep deprived mind.
Then his face broke into a disbelieving grin.
"You're…?"
She nodded. "I found out two days ago, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you then, but I thought it would be perfect to do it like this. You're not mad at me for not telling you… are you, Lee?"
He answered that question by swooping forward on his knees, pulling Lucy and their son into a crushing hug and pressing a soft kiss to her temple. The little boy giggled as his dad then pressed a kiss to the top of his head, even though he didn't have a clue what was going on.
"What's that?" He asked, reaching out and gently touching the pregnancy test still clutched in his dad's hand, as if it might grow teeth and bite him.
Lucy handed him the envelope and helped him open it. Lee smiled when he saw the front of the card, 'big brother' written in huge silver letters and Lucy's familiar handwriting inside the card, written in green, their son's favourite colour.
"Can you read this?" She asked softly, pointing to the writing in the card.
He nodded, immediately reaching out with his index finger, following the words and sounding them out in the shaky voice of a child just learning to read.
"Sur-prise you are go-ing to be a bi-g brother. Mum-my is hav-ing a baby."
He spun around in Lucy's arms as soon as he had finished reading, looking at her in awe.
"Are you excited?" She asked, hoping he would take the news well.
Both Lee and Lucy breathed out a sigh of relief when he threw his arms around her neck, completely forgetting about his bike and the rest of the presents under the tree.
"Are you excited?" She asked Lee, looking at him over their son's head, surprised when she saw him holding back tears.
He nodded, smiling and reaching out to take her hand.
"Couldn't be happier. I love you."
"I love you, too."