Title: Something about Christmas
Disclaimer: Santa brought me gifts, but Cal and Ryan weren't among them, sadly. Of course the kids are still mine.
Summary: The reason the entire family was up in the attic was because they were planning on setting up the Christmas tree that Ryan and Tim had bought. Christmas decorations had to be among the stuff stored in the attic…somewhere… (CaRWash)
A/N: Right in time for Christmas! Part of my Family Portrait series.
The attic is for most people a place to dump stuff they don't use, but don't want to throw away. Some people turn it into a living- or bedroom, or use it as a fitness- or hobby room. For the Wolfe family it is a place to dump stuff they don't use, but don't want to throw away.
"Oh my God, what is this?"
Haylie pulled a straw hat out of a cardboard box she had just pulled out from under the dust. Calleigh and Ryan gave each other a meaningful look.
"Your mother wore that hat on the day our relationship went public." Ryan said, a smile on his face as he thought back of it.
"So you kept this…smelly…old…thing?" Haylie raised an eyebrow.
"Our family is way too nostalgic." Tim's voice sounded from the other side of the attic. "I've got a birthday card from…eighteen years ago. From whom is it? Oh, dad's friend Rebecca. Never mind, said too much."
"I like the hat."
Rebecca pulled it out of her sister's hands and put it on her head. Ryan lifted her and swung her around. She chuckled as he kissed her cheek.
"One day you will make boys' heads spin like crazy, just like your mom did with me."
A huge smile crept up Rebecca's face and Haylie and Tim had trouble keeping their faces straight. Calleigh covered her mouth with a hand.
"Yeah, you can laugh now, but just wait and see. This one's a maneater, mark my words."
"Oh, dad, that's not it." Tim said snickering. "It's just…you would come across so much more serious without the hat."
Ryan looked up and saw the edge of the hat. Rebecca had put it on his head without him noticing. She started laughing, and everyone followed.
"Make a fool out of your dad, you." Ryan laughed as he put Rebecca down and threw the hat to Calleigh. She put it on and winked at him.
"Why would someone wear a hat like that, anyway?" Haylie asked.
"Oh, it was the lab's annual summer party. The boys had dared me, Valera and Natalia to come wearing a silly hat, thinking that we wouldn't. So, naturally, we did." Calleigh explained. "The look on the boy's faces as we entered was priceless."
"You didn't enter with dad?" Tim asked.
"No, we were still in our 'secret' period. We were trying to be seen together as less as possible. But that was the day that we told everyone we'd been dating for six months. Those were some more priceless faces."
Ryan laughed as he kneeled next to his wife, opening a box of their own. The reason the entire family was up in the attic was because they were planning on setting up the Christmas tree that Ryan and Tim had bought. Christmas decorations had to be among the stuff stored in the attic…somewhere…
"Got it! No…no wait, this is…these are our old toys. I was wondering where my fluffy rabbit had gone." Haylie said.
"These are photo albums…baby Haylie. That's not a sight for sore eyes." Tim teased.
"Hey! Have you ever looked into a mirror?" Haylie snapped back.
"Kids, kids…please." Calleigh interfered.
"What's this, modern art?" Haylie asked, holding up some kind of black and white picture of an abstract form. "It's hideous."
Calleigh and Ryan looked at each other and burst into laughter. Haylie looked insulted.
"What? This is really not my style."
"Haylie, it's you. It's a picture of my first echo when I was pregnant with you." Calleigh said in-between fits of laughter.
Tim snorted. "What did you just say about looking into a mirror?"
Calleigh shook her head, wiping the bottom of her eyes. She and Ryan went through boxes together, but coming across things from their pasts made it harder for them to move on quickly.
"Oh, Cal, do you remember this?" Ryan asked, holding up a hideous green vase.
"God yes, the wedding gift from my aunt Lynette. Why didn't we just throw the thing away?" Calleigh said, wrinkling her nose.
"Because we were certain she would ask us where we left it one day, and everyone knows we can't tell a lie. So if we told her it was still in the house, she would've known we were lying."
Three children chuckled. "Put it back in the box, please, I think I'm going blind." Tim joked.
Ryan did as his son ordered.
"Wasn't this another wedding gift?" Calleigh said, examining a painting of what looked like a cartoon version of her and Ryan.
"Yeah, from my so-called talented artist nephew."
"Did you get any good wedding gifts?" Haylie asked.
"Yeah." Calleigh smiled. "We got the best one from ourselves." Two pairs of eyes went to Tim.
"I said good." Haylie reminded them.
Tim slapped her head. He knew his mother had been pregnant with him when she married his father. Just recently, so it wasn't a shotgun wedding, but they had been thinking about their child when they made the decision to let the wedding continue. Two months along, Calleigh was when she told Ryan 'I do'. Not far enough to show, but far enough for them to know their lives were gonna change even more drastically than they'd just signed up for.
"Any material stuff that was worth it?" Haylie continued her questioning.
"The guys from worked buckled together to buy us this house." Calleigh said, her eyes getting wet with tears just talking about it.
"A house? Good God, who poisoned their drinks?"
"We wondered the same thing." Ryan replied, wrapping his arm around Calleigh. "They knew we really wanted this house, it was big enough for us to live our life, built on a family, and the neighborhood was just perfect. But we didn't have the money."
"Was it that expensive?" Tim asked.
"Not really. To standards, it wasn't that expensive. But I was young, still paying back college loans…took me ages to finish those. And with both our salaries we had to pay for everything. Food, gas, electricity, water…and the house itself. Not to mention we had Tim on the way. We did the math and concluded that it was just not meant for us. We had already continued our search when they gave us the key at our wedding."
"And you took it?"
"At first we didn't. Your mom practically yelled at them that they were insane."
Calleigh smiled to herself and nodded slightly. She remember her tirade. How could anyone buy them a house? Something so expensive. She had expected bowls as a gift, table silver, perhaps furniture, but not an entire house. She had refused to take the key from them, so Alexx instead gave it to her weak spot: Ryan.
"You have the awesomest friends ever." Haylie concluded.
"That's not a word. But we do." Ryan agreed.
"We really do." Calleigh said softly.
Silence fell over the room as Calleigh and Ryan were sunken into thoughts and Tim and Haylie silently continued their search for Christmas decorations, letting their parents relive the moment.
A loud: "GOT THEM!" shook them out of their trances with a jump. They all looked around until they saw a pair of feet stick out from underneath a table. Laughing Tim pulled his littlest sister out and dug in to retrieve the box. She had been right, when the box was opened lots of shiny decorations greeted them from inside.
"Good job Becca!" Ryan praised. Rebecca smiled, a proud twinkle in her eyes. She spotted the Christmas angel that went on top of the tree soon enough, and grabbed it.
"Careful!" Calleigh called out. "It's an inheritance from my grandmother."
With renewed respect and care, Rebecca took a good look at it. "It's pretty." She pulled it against her and held it tightly. Calleigh smiled and lifted her as Ryan lifted the box and everyone made their way back downstairs. Calleigh carrying Rebecca, Ryan carrying the box, Haylie carrying a bunch of lights she had found and Tim carrying a chandelier that they always put in the living room with Christmas.
Soon enough the entire family sat by the fire with hot chocolate as they watched Calleigh set up the Christmas tree with silver and gold. As soon as the tree was more glitter than green, she took a step back and admired her work.
"Looks great babe." Ryan commented.
"It's missing something." Calleigh's eyes went to Rebecca, who was sitting near the fire, the Christmas angel in her hands. She looked up with big eyes and shook her head.
"I don't wanna give it."
"It's supposed to go up the tree honey." Calleigh sighed.
"I want it."
"You can't have it Becca. Now let mommy put it on top of the tree."
"But then it'll be alone."
Haylie rolled her eyes, "Becca, it's just a…" but she was silenced by her father.
"No, Becca is right. No one should be alone on Christmas. So, Becca, maybe you should put her on top so she knows she's not alone. What do you think?"
Rebecca nodded and Ryan stood up. He lifted her and put her on his neck, making her stick out above everyone all of a sudden. She waved at her mother, who waved back, now slightly amused by her daughter. A lonely Christmas angel.
Ryan brought her close to the tree. With a last: "Be careful." from her mother, Rebecca reached out and put the angel on top of the tree.
"Great job Becca." Tim said as Ryan put her back down. Rebecca crawled on his lap and Tim shook his head smiling at his little sister. Calleigh placed a couple of wrapped gifts underneath the tree and Rebecca's eyes grew wide. Tim held her tight when she tried to crawl off again.
"No, no. Those are for Christmas. And it's not Christmas yet." He said.
"Mom and dad just like to see us long for them." Haylie added in.
"Not fair." Rebecca concluded.
Calleigh and Ryan laughed. Ryan's arms encircled his wife from behind as they stood watching the tree.
"I remember our first Christmas together." He commented.
"Oh me too." She smiled. "Me too."
"It's even better with the kids around, isn't it?"
"Most definitely." She agreed.
And three pairs of eyes rolled in unison behind their backs.
A/N: Merry Christmas to all my readers!