Hello everybody. So, it's the time for Christmas celebration, and it got me inspired for this little one shot on the Shore-Rhodes family. I hope you'll like it (tell me what you think), and I wish you all a Merry Christmas !

CHRISTMAS JOY

It was not even eight in the morning when Aaron and Emily got woken up by a bounce on their bed.

"Mommy ! Daddy ! Mommy ! Daddy ! Santa brought me presents ! Santa brought me presents !"

It took time for both Aaron and Emily to realize that their son, Enzo, was the one making all this mess. Of course, it was Christmas day, and he had been excited since decorations and lights had appeared in the streets and malls, since they had set up the Christmas tree in the living room. Every single day, Enzo was asking when Santa was coming and if he would bring all the presents he had asked for. The list was three-page long, so his parents had explained him that he would not get all of it, and it had broken his little 4-year-old heart. But then, Aaron and Emily had told him that if he was sharing, all the little kids in the world would be happy, and the thought had made Enzo smile again. He had taken off of his list half of the toys he wanted, and written them down on another list, sending it to Santa for all the boys and girls in the world.

Enzo looked genuinely relieved that Santa had brought him presents. He was not super convinced he had been a good boy during the whole year, and after his last crisis in the middle of a shopping mall, Aaron had threatened to call Santa and tell him not to come on December 25th. Enzo had gone white, sobbed a bit, and promised Daddy he would never ever make a scene again.

"Why don't you go downstairs and wake up Nona et Tito, we're coming." Aaron offered.

Aaron's parents had come all the way from Texas to D.C. for Christmas, and were sleeping in the spare bedroom. He was hoping to get a few minutes more in bed with his wife, having time to wake up properly, and he was truly happy his parents were here. Being now himself a parent, he had realized how much of a terror he could have been when he was younger.

Enzo jumped away from his parents's bed and ran away, screaming and entering his grandparents bedroom.

"Were we that crazy on Christmas day when we were kids ?" Emily asked, still groggy.

Aaron pulled his wife next to him, and put an arm around her. Her head was on his chest and he kissed her forehead.

"I don't know about you, but I sure was…" Aaron laughed a bit

"Huuum. Now I see where he gets all this energy from… Do you think the second one will be the same ?" Emily asked.

"I'm sure not. Baby number two will look just like you…" Aaron put his hand on his wife's belly.

Emily was seven months pregnant, and after having such a little trouble-maker for a first child, she really hoped they would have a calm and poised little girl.

"We should go… He's going to get your parents crazy…" Emily said, extracting herself for the bed, to her deepest regrets.

A few minutes later, Enzo was opening his presents in front of the Christmas tree, exclaiming to each and every new present. He had gotten a huge radio-controlled car among other toys, but this one had caught his attention pretty quickly. Emily was amazed at the innocence of her little boy, he was so young but still, getting already older. She knew it was one of the last Christmas for Enzo to believe in Santa, and she was already nostalgic.

Soon enough though, Emily started preparing Christmas lunch, and forgot all about being nostalgic. Her parents were coming all the way from Pennsylvania for the day, and she was happy to have them for her after the last two Christmas they had spent at her brother's house. She had so many things to do, and Maria, Aaron's mom, was thankfully helping her with everything, while Aaron and his dad, Antonio, were playing with Enzo. This was such a beautiful day, and she decided to play Christmas songs on the speakers. She was dancing around while cooking, making mashed potatoes and a pumpkin pie while the turkey was roasting in the oven. It was truly what she had always hoped for. The world could explode right here, right now, she wouldn't care, it was just her moment of happiness.

"Daddy, can we go out and play in the snow…" Enzo asked, pleading.

"Only if you put your coat, scarf and gloves on…" Aaron answered.

"Can Tito come with us, please ?"

"You'll have to convince him first. But you know, Tito doesn't like much snow, he prefers the Texas sun…"

Enzo ran all around the house to find his grandfather, screaming and calling him. When he finally found him, he spent five minutes bargaining with him, preparing his arguments and finding a way to convince him. He was already really good in politics, everybody already knew he would follow in his parents path…

So, Enzo asked his grandfather to help him with his coat, and his dad to put his winter boots on. And then, they walked to the park, three generations of men outside, together to celebrate Christmas in the snow. Enzo quickly started building a snowman, asking for help, but Aaron suddenly threw a snowball to his son.

"Daddy ! Why are you doing that ?" Enzo screamed, almost shocked that his dad would do such a thing.

"Are you too afraid you will lose ?" Aaron teased.

That's all it took for Enzo to start the snowball fight. He asked his grandfather to be on his side, and suddenly, Enzo and Antonio were fighting against Aaron. Enzo was screaming, thrilled to be on the stronger side and to be able to throw snowballs at his dad. He was hiding behind his grandfather every time Aaron was throwing a ball, but ended up covered in snow. At one point, Aaron threw a ball a little too strongly, and Enzo fell in the snow, bottom on the floor, and started laughing out loud.

In the meantime, Emily's parents arrived. They took advantage of Enzo being outside to sneak in the presents they had bought for their grandson. It was almost lunch time, and they just got time to take off their coats to find the three men of the house coming back from their snowball fight, covered in snow and shivering. Enzo ran to his grandparents, not taking the time to take off shoes or coat.

"Grandma ! Grandpa ! Did Santa bring gifts for me at your house ?" Enzo asked

"Hello to you too, sweet grandkid." Michelle answered, laughing at her grandson's excitement.

"Look under the tree…" answered Michael, the grandfather.

It took less than one second for Enzo to release his embrace around his grandparents legs and ran to the tree to see two more gifts for him.

"Mommy ! Look ! I got two more gifts from Grandma and Grandpa's Santa !" Enzo exclaimed.

"Are you sure they are for you ?" Emily answered, looking from the kitchen.

"Yes ! My name is on them !" Enzo said.

"Do you deserve them ?" Emily teased.

It made Enzo pout, and the whole family laughed at Enzo's behavior. His grandparents reassured him, and he tore the paper up, excited again. Enzo was a little bundle of nerves, jumping around and screaming as he discovered a bike in the big box.

"Mommy ! Can I try it ?" Enzo pleaded

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea to start using a bike on the snow baby…" Emily answered.

"Well, then I'll go to Texas ! Tito ! Nona ! Can I come back with you ? I want to try my bike where there is no snow !" He asked his paternal grandparents.

"Of course you can…" Antonio answered, laughing at his too smart grandkid.

Enzo finally realized he still was wearing his outside clothes, and took everything off and let them on the floor in front of the tree.

"Enzo Michael Shore !" his mother warned.

It didn't take time for Enzo to realize what he had done. His mother was calling him by his full name only when he had done something wrong. He made his little sad face and walked back to his coat, took everything in his still small hands and walked to his dad.

"Daddy, can you hang that in the closet for me please ?" Enzo asked politely.

"Since it is so nicely asked, I'm sure I can…" Aaron answered.

"Thank you Daddy !"

And Enzo was happy again. He was genuinely the happiest kid on Earth. He looked so much like his father. He was the perfect image of him. Same curls, same eyes, same smile, and especially, same temperament. Aaron too, when he was a kid, was that happy and crazy. He had been raised well, and he wanted his son to be raised the same. He had been lucky enough to have great parents, and being the oldest of three, had been soon enough taught the responsibilities of life. So Enzo was the same, happy, funny, well raised kid, and soon to be older brother to a little girl or a little boy. His parents had explained him that he would have to share, that he wouldn't be able to have his parents's whole attention anymore, just like he usually had for the moment. Truth be told, Enzo didn't really know what would happen to him, and was a bit scared to see his mom's belly grow so much. Was that thing inside his mom's belly grow even more afterwards ? Would it become bigger than him ? Enzo didn't really realize for now that he was growing too, and he was afraid of this thing changing his life forever. But his dad had reassured him, and had explained him they wouldn't love him less, they just would love him in a different way. So Enzo ran to the kitchen, monopolizing his mom's attention once more.

"Mommy ! I'm hungry now ! Dad made me run in the snow !" Enzo exclaimed.

"Well, it's perfect timing then, because everything is ready…" Emily answered.

And soon enough, the whole family gathered around the table, Enzo waiting desperately to eat. They cheered and drank to Christmas, and laughed at Enzo who was getting all the attention once more. It was the end of one hell of a year, and it was the perfect way to celebrate, knowing that so many good things were also to come.