The kids were sitting up on their knees backward on the couch, watching their fathers wrestle a fir tree into place. Ennis brushed his hands off on his jeans. "I like plastic ones."
"You say that every year but we still haven't got one." Jack picked a stick up off the floor. "Alright, kiddos, decorate away."
With a whoop, Bobby hopped over the back of the couch and dug into a box of lights. Once they'd come around the couch, the girls tore into the box so eagerly that Bobby got knocked out of the way. Jack and Ennis stood back to watch.
"Bobby, come here," Junior ordered. "You're the only one tall enough to reach the top so you need to start the lights."
"Alright." He took the string of lights and started wrapping it around the top of the tree. Soon, the lights were finished and baubles, garland, and plastic candy canes were being strung, draped, and hooked all over the tree.
"Hey, Jack?" Jenny peeked out from behind the tree. "Can we make cookies later?"
"Yeah, sweetheart."
She grinned and vanished back behind the tree.
Junior poked at the star for the millionth time, trying to straighten it. Jack walked up behind her and put an arm around her shoulder. "Give it up, sweetheart. That thing is bound and determined to be crooked."
"It bothers me."
"It's fine. Go help your sister with cookies; I'm gonna find your father and my son."
"Bobby's upstairs. I dunno about my daddy. Maybe outside?"
"Probably."
Jack found Ennis in the most predictable of places: in the stables with the horses. "Hey, cowboy. Hiding from the baking?"
"No. 'M checking on the horses."
"Mhm, you're hiding." Jack wrapped his arms around Ennis from behind and kissed his cheek. "You coming back inside?"
Ennis made an unenthusiastic sound and kissed Jack back. "Do I have to?"
"Yes." Jack pulled away. "For one, it's too cold to stay out here for long." Ennis mumbled something about keeping warm but Jack cut him off and stole his hat. "And the kids may come looking for us."
Ennis snatched his hat back. "Alright."
The two men went back into the house to find a laughing Bobby on the floor being beaten with a pillow by Junior. Ennis was silent, apparently stunned. Jack barely kept himself from laughing. "Junior, what are you doing?"
"He called my gingerbread men deformed."
Bobby lifted his head. "They are deformed!"
Junior hit him again. Jack pulled the pillow from her hands. "Alright, alright, that's enough of that. Bobby, don't call the girls' cookies deformed, it's not nice. Junior, do not beat Bobby, that's also not nice."
Bobby and Junior both mumbled, "Yessir."
Jack and Ennis got up extra early on Christmas day to make sure they were back in the house before the kids got up.
Bobby stumbled down the stairs in his pajamas, the girls not far behind him. They all stopped dead at the sight of the tree. When they had gone to bed the night before there was nothing under the tree, now there was a small mountain of gift-wrapped boxes, most of them from Jack's mother and Ennis's sister. With gleeful shouts the kids fell upon the presents, completely ignoring their fathers leaning on the wall next to the TV.
Jack grinned and leaned into Ennis. "Told you they didn't know we'd been hiding anything."
Ennis snorted and half-smiled. "Yeah. Y'know I didn't get you anything."
"It's fine. I didn't get you anything either."
Jenny squealed with delight and held up a silky blue dress. "Jack? Did your mother make this?"
"Well, she definitely didn't buy it."
"Ennis." Bobby held up a box wrapped in snowman paper. "For you, from your sister."
Ennis tore open the box and pulled a green and blue checked shirt. "That was mighty nice a her."
"Dad, there's one for you too." Bobby handed his father another box wrapped in snowman paper. It turned out to be the same shirt in red and gray.
Ennis chuckled. "Meg is nothing if not practical."
At that moment, a foam rubber disk bounced off the wall and hit Jack in the nose. Bobby smiled sheepishly and set down the toy space gun he'd just unwrapped.
Jack took a deep breath. "Everybody get dressed and go outside. We're having a snowball fight."
Junior got to her feet to go get dressed. "Bobby, I think you'd better watch out." She giggled.
An hour later, they all tromped back inside, cold and wet. Bobby had taken several snowballs to the head—at least one from his father—and still had ice in his hair. He was a bit sour, that is, until Ennis snuck up behind Jack and shoved a fistful of snow down the back of his shirt, making him yelp and jump about ten feet in the air. That made Bobby—and Junior, Jenny, and Ennis—laugh.
A/N: This is Christmas of 1976, Bobby is 11, Junior 12, Jenny 10. This is the same AU scenario as my story Force of Nature, which is also the same scenario in which my Halloween story is set. If you liked this, please read those or any of my other stories if you haven't.
If you have anything to say or ask, put it in a review, if it's a signed review I will respond.
Happy fic-ing and happy holidays.