Will's POV

(...Year 2031...)

From my comfortable position on the couch I look at my beautiful eighteen year old daughter and my very handsome husband arguing about the decorations for the Christmas tree. The living room floor is covered in Christmas decorations of all sort and sizes we collected over the years, and now they start their annual heated discussion on what to use this year. I can't help but smile when I see the way they interact; serious about what they want, but with a tone of utter adoration and love for the other party. And I cannot hide my smile when I hear Arianna starting to use Sonny's weak spots in order to win this discussion.

"Dad, you know I came home from college just to spent this Christmas with you two... and the rest of the family."

"I know honey... and I am very happy you are here."

"So I think that I deserve something for that..."

Sonny's face lights up with his perfect smile and he shakes his head:

"No young lady... I am happy you are here... but I still want to use the red and green decoration and not the silver and red..."

"Oh dad... common..."

Although I cannot see Arianna's face, as her back is turned towards me, I know she is flashing her big blue eyes his way. We both know how successful that is because Sonny cannot resist them, and this time is no different. His face becomes all soft and he shakes his head in surrender:

"Unfair... just unfair..."

With a sigh he closes the box in his hands, and when he puts it in the corner, Ari hugs him close and kisses his cheek:

"I love you daddy..."

He holds her close and his brown eyes find mine and without words they tell me how happy he is to have his daughter home for the holidays. While they get started on decorating the tree, I decide to make some hot chocolate. It is already nine in the evening, and as we usually do when Ari comes home for a few days, we talk until after midnight while sitting closely together on the couch. When I walk into the living room with three mugs of hot chocolate they look happily at their tree.

"See dad, I told you this was pretty..."

"OK honey, you were right... but I still think green would have been nice too..."

"Well, I think it looks great and you two deserve some chocolate."

I put the mugs down on the table in front of the couch and moments later Ari is sitting between us putting her arms through ours. We talk about college life, Sonny's clubs, and about the novel I am writing and then suddenly she puts her head on my shoulder, saying:

"I love you two so much... I love coming home knowing that you will have planned the night off and we can just talk..."

She reaches out to hold Sonny's hand and I kiss her head:

"Honey, we love it when we have you home for a few days..."

"Especially with Christmas..."

Sonny's voice is soft and we all smile remembering the Christmases we spent together over the years.

(... Year 2013...)

"Where did you get that from..."

I can hear the dislike in his voice and his expressive brown eyes are unable to hide his feelings about the hat Ari is wearing.

"T gave it to me, a Christmas present..."

"So do we have to use it?"

I can't help but laugh while I lean over to kiss his lips. When we let go his eyes are smiling and he reaches out to grab the reindeer hat from Ari's cute little head.

"The pumpkin at Halloween was cute, this is just stupid..."

He turns around and returns moments later with a cute soft pink hat and after he put it on he says:

"See... this is cute... and the whole family will love it..."

Then he looks at me while raising his eyebrows:

"And I don't want to answer to both your grandmothers and both our mothers when they see that hideous hat on that sweet little girl... because believe me Will... they will kill us."

I get Ari ready for the family visits while Sonny fills a big bag with baby stuff we might need. After 20 minutes Ari is in her stroller and we are ready to go. But before I can move I suddenly feel two strong arms around me and two soft lips on mine. When he pulls back his smile is radiant:

"Our first family Christmas... I love it..."

I lean into his body, stealing another kiss before I answer:

"Me too... promise me something Sonny..."

"Anything..."

"Promise me that we will always spent Christmas as a family... you, me and Ari..."

"I promise."

His breath is on my lips and he seals his promise with a deep and warm kiss. My hands find their way into his hair and for a moment everything is forgotten. When we let go I see stars, and I am sure the only reason I am standing up is because he is holding me so close. It is only when Ari starts crying we realise that we were actually on our way out to have Christmas lunch with the Horton family and then Christmas dinner with the Kiriakis family. I grab the stroller and Sonny takes the bag and then, as a perfect little family, we are on our way.

(...Year 2020...)

"Daddy, I like Christmas..."

"Me too honey... the lights are pretty aren't they..."

"Yeah..."

I smile at my sweet daughter whose cheeks are red from the cold wind. The three of us are on an evening walk to show Ari the Christmas lights in town. About five minutes ago she got tired, so now she is on Sonny's shoulders, while having a firm grip on his dark hair. I see Sonny flinch slightly and I reach for Ari's little hands, asking softly:

"Can you be careful with daddy please?"

"Sorry..."

"It's OK honey..."

Sonny rubs her legs gently to let her know he is OK, and I grab Sonny's hand while we walk slowly through the streets of Salem. We both enjoy how exited she is about this evening outing. And I have to admit that I love to see her on Sonny's shoulders, as if it is her favourite place in the world. In her excitement she pulls on his hair again and I can't help but laugh. I lean a bit closer towards him and say softly:

"I see I am not the only one who likes the feel of your hair..."

He smiles, and the expression on his face tells me he loves that we love his hair. I squeeze his hand and feel how his body aligns with mine as if we are attached at the hip, while we continue our walk towards the Town Square.

"Look daddies, look..."

Ari is pointing straight ahead at the enormous Christmas tree in the middle of the Town Square. Sonny lets go of my hand to lift her from his shoulders and she runs ahead of us towards the tree. His arm slides around my waist and I use mine to wrap it around his. While we look at Ari from a few metres away, we see how an older lady smiles at her. As always she immediately starts talking, and as proud parents we listen in to the sweet conversation between the older woman and the young girl.

"It's pretty...", Ari starts the conversation.

"It sure is..."

"We also have a tree at home, but it is smaller..."

"That is nice, I'm sure it is a pretty tree..."

"Yes... my daddy... daddy Sonny did it and it is really pretty..."

The lady nods and smiles at Ari who just keep babbling:

"Daddy... my other daddy... didn't want the tree... but now he likes it too... and yesterday when I couldn't sleep I went to ask them if they could read me a story, and the whole room was dark and only the lights in the tree were on... and they were sitting on the couch watching the tree..."

"So did you watch the tree for a while?"

"I did... I sat on daddy... daddy Sonny's lap and my other daddy made me hot chocolate..."

"That must have been nice..."

"Yeah..."

"You must have nice daddies."

I feel how Sonny holds his breath and I softly pull him closer to me. His eyes are dark with emotion from the innocent conversation our daughter is having. He leans into me while I wrap him up in my arms, and kiss him softly on his cheek. Ari's voice is crystal clear when she responds:

"I do... I have the best daddies in the whole world."

Another little girl, who has been staring at the tree for a while, joins the conversation:

"So which daddy is the bestest..."

I smile because the question is so real for the young girl who asks it. I see how Ari crunches her nose slightly and says without hesitation:

"They both are the bestest..."

She looks up at the older lady and smiles:

"Bye."

"Bye honey... merry Christmas."

Her eyes follow Ari while she walks up to us. Sonny, who is still swallowing his emotions away picks her up from the ground and gives her a kiss. When the lady looks at me we both smile, while we listen to Ari's protest:

"You squeeze too tight, daddy... I can't breathe..."

(...Year 2021...)

When I wake up I look straight into deep brown eyes, and I smile sleepily:

"Morning..."

"Merry Christmas..."

His lips are on my cheek and without hesitation I roll onto my side so I can hug him close and bury my face against his naked chest. His arms immediately fold around me and I sigh contently. His fingertips softly stroke my back and I lean over a little bit more to quickly take his pink nipple into my mouth. One of his legs hooks around me and my hand travels down to rest on his ass. I squeeze slightly and feel how he presses his hips against mine. I can't help it and moan softly against his skin. When I lean backwards a bit my eyes meet his intense almost black ones. I quickly look at the alarm clock and it tells me we have plenty of time before Ari will come back from her sleep over at grammy Sami's place. I decide to not waste another minute and I raise myself up and push Sonny on his back so I can cover him completely. He just smiles and wraps his arms around my neck as if he never wants to let me go. His lips are like heaven, soft and sweet, and his tongue makes me dizzy and love drunk. We both take our time and on this Christmas morning we make love, slow and passionate. The way my body trembles under his touch, and the way he involuntarily moans softly while I kiss his skin makes my heart pound in my chest. My mind is clouded, and the only thing that seems to exist is us, together, as close as we possibly can be. My body seems to be on fire, and when we find our release I see stars and fireworks, while I try to soak in all the air I can find. After we cleaned ourselves up we cuddle close, both sleepy and utterly happy and satisfied. My hand goes through his hair and his hand is spread out on my stomach, while his head rests on my chest. I remember the first time I held him like this, after the first time we made love, and softly I remind him of this precious moment:

"Just like the first time..."

His lips find my skin in a quick kiss before he says:

"Perfect... perfect is the word."

I smile and plant a kiss in his hair.

"Sonny?"

"Hmmm..."

"Marry me..."

He doesn't move, but his answer is clear and without hesitation:

"I definitely will..."

We are both quiet, both unsure how serious the other one is. When Sonny lifts his head to look into my eyes I cannot hide the tears I try to hold back. His hand comes up to cup my cheek and after his lips softly touched mine he whispers:

"I mean it."

I nod and wrap my fingers around his wrist, enjoying the feeling of his hand against my skin:

"Me too..."

His kiss is soft and tender and when his tongue asks for further entrance I open my mouth immediately. But we suddenly let go when my phone rings and with a sigh I stretch out to see who is calling me at this early hour.

"Mum..."

"Will, honey... sorry to wake you, but little Ari is a bit homesick and she wants to come home now."

"Oh... is she OK? Did she have a good time with everyone on Christmas Eve?"

"She did, but she is awake now and just wants to go home..."

I look at Sonny who's eyes are all kinds of soft, and before I hang up all I say is:

"We are on our way."

About 45 minutes later, only at seven in the morning, we walk back into our apartment. I am holding Ari in my arms, who is now tired and leans her head on my shoulder. After she told us all about Christmas Eve with the family, she is now quiet and still in my arms. We sit down on the sofa, with Ari on my lap, while Sonny wraps his arms around the both of us. Her voice is soft when she says against my chest:

"I liked it last night at Grammy Sami's place... but I am happy to be home."

We both kiss her on her cheek and suddenly her arms are around my neck:

"Thank you for picking me up daddy..."

Then she lets go and leans over to hug Sonny:

"Thank you daddy."

And after one more group hug she decides to to bed for a little while, and I decide to get started on breakfast. I can hear their voices while Sonny tugs her in:

"Daddy...?"

"Yes honey..."

"This is the best place in the whole world."

"I love you... Sweet dreams honey..."

When he walks into the kitchen his smile is a thousand watt and while he stands still behind me I feel his arms wrap around my waist as his chin leans on my shoulder:

"Perfect way to start Christmas, making love to you, deciding to get married, and then make our little girl happy..."

I just smile and pull him close, knowing that this Christmas will be perfect.

(... Year 2027...)

The moment she comes home from school I know something is up. The expression on her face creates distance and the fire in her eyes reminds me slightly of my mother's. She grabs herself a drink from the fridge and then walks straight to her room, without giving me a chance to ask her how she is doing. I decide to let her cool of, maybe even wait until Sonny is here, so we can talk together. She stays in her room and I get started on dinner. Around seven Sonny walks in and I immediately turn around to give him a welcome kiss, which gives both of us a smile on our face.

"You're cooking for me?"

"Well, I have some fish and chips in the oven and I am making a salad, not sure if that classifies as cooking."

He laughs and kisses me softly on my lips:

"You're cute."

"Tough and strong are the words you are looking for babe..."

"No honey... definitely not..."

I shake my head and smile at him fondly, realising how happy he makes me just by being here.

"So where is Ari?"

"In her room... she seemed upset when she came home from school, but she didn't want to talk about it, so I left her alone... I think we should talk over dinner."

I see the worry in his eyes. The moment Ari is not happy, or when she is sick he gets all worried and protective, and something inside me just melts when he gets like that. He goes to get her from her room and minutes later we are having dinner. I decide to start the conversation:

"Everything OK honey?"

"Sure..."

She looks away from both of us, and the distant attitude is so different from the open and sweet person we know, so I keep going:

"School OK?"

"Sure..."

We both look at her, and suddenly Sonny reaches over to hold her chin up so she has to look at him:

"We know you... and something is wrong honey... perhaps we can talk about it?"

He big blue eyes fill with tears and I watch how Sonny stands up immediately to hug her close. He just can't stand teary blue eyes, I know that better than anyone. When she calms down a bit we sit down again, after Sonny and I pulled our chairs on each side of her so we could hold her hands while she took a big breath to get started:

"We talked about Christmas today... about it being a family holiday and all..."

I nod encouragingly and she continues:

"And Jason... one of the guys in my class suddenly said that he felt sorry for me."

Sonny and I frown and she focuses her eyes on her plate, while she whispers:

"He we can't celebrate a family holiday because we are not a real family."

She suddenly pulls her hands out of ours and runs into the bathroom, where she locks the door behind her. We look at each other and I cannot hide de pain in my eyes. He stands up and pulls me in a close hug:

"He doesn't know anything Will..."

"I know... it still hurts though..."

He pulls back and looks at me:

"Don't let that 14 year old boy take away what we have... common."

He knocks on the door of the bathroom and we hear soft sniffing on the other side. And suddenly I know what to say to get her to open the door:

"Ari honey... this is not the first time I find someone in the bathroom crying... do you know who else does that?... daddy Sonny... I found him there a few times when he was upset about things... You know... we may not be a usual family, but we are a family. And I love it when I see that you do things the way Sonny does them... because he is as much your dad as I am. And the three of us are a family because we love each other"

Sonny is chewing on his lip and I squeeze his hand as I see how he has to swallow his emotions away. Suddenly we hear the door open and moments later we see our sad little 14 year old girl standing in the door opening. He voice is very thin and quivery when she says:

"Jason doesn't know anything..."

I pull her close and stroke her hair while she sniffs against my shoulder. Then I let her go and kiss her forehead before I whisper:

"I think Sonny needs a hug too honey..."

She jumps into his arms and they hold on tightly. And I smile when I hear Sonny say:

"I love you so much honey... and I do hide in the bathroom when I am sad..."

She looks up at him and smiles:

"I'm a real daughter of my father then..."

(...Year 2031...)

We all smile from the memories of previous Christmases. Ari kisses me softly on my cheek and then turns around to kiss Sonny's cheek too. She smiles while standing up:

"I'm going to sleep... walking down memory lane makes me tired..."

She stands up and walks over to her room, and comes back almost immediately with a little present in her hand. She hands it to me and says shyly:

"It's for both of you..."

She turns around and walks back into her bedroom. I look at Sonny, who raises his eyebrows for me to open the present. Moments later I hold a frame in my hand and in it are several pictures of me, Sonny and Ari, while in the middle we read:

Some people don't believe in heroes, but they haven't met my dad's.

We just sit there for a while, realising how blessed we are to have each other and to have Ari. Sonny leans back on the couch and pulls me flush against his chest. I hold the frame while I lean my head back on his shoulder. His breath is warm against my ear while he whispers:

"She is right... you are my hero too..."

I shake my head, while my hand grips his in a tight hold:

"I cannot believe how blessed I am Sonny... I mean... we got Ari, and you stayed with me... and then I proposed and you said yes... we got married...and Ari grew up and now she's in college...I cannot believe how lucky I am..."

I turn around in his arms so I can look into his eyes:

"If I had to do my life over... I'd choose you again."

The glow from the Christmas lights in the tree give a beautiful shine to his face. While his arms hold me close as if I am the most precious thing in the world, he whispers emotionally:

"You better..."

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you all liked this little Christmas fic.