David was, in a word, frantic.
Gwen watched from the couch as he bustled past, his arms full of Christmas lights that needed to be tested for dead bulbs after their year in the attic. He had tunnel vision right now, she knew, but she had to at least try to get him to calm down. "David, Max isn't gonna care how fast the decorations go up, just take it easy."
"But Gwen, but this is the first Christmas he's gonna have with us! Everything has to be perfect!" David said as he struggled to untangle the first string of lights. "I want it to have the magic it did when I was a kid!" he added with that familiar sparkle in his eye.
"Whatever you say," Gwen mumbled as she brought her mug up for another sip of coffee. She loved him more than anyone else in the world, but there were times he got carried away. This was going to be one of those times. She would have to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.
David set a brisk pace as he prepared to decorate the yard. Gwen followed him back to the attic for more lights, then to the living room for testing, followed by a trip to the garage for the ladder, and finally out to the front yard to put them up. There was a light dusting of snow from last night, which meant a risk of ice. Gwen watched David like a hawk as he set up the ladder and started to climb.
One close call later—which involved a very annoyed crow doing its best to drive David off the roof before flying off in a huff—and David was back on the ground safe and sound. Gwen helped him drape light strings on the few bushes in their front yard and wind them around the single tree that occupied it. They had just enough lights to get it done, despite leaving one string behind because they'd run out of replacement bulbs to fix it with—the lights that would go on the Christmas tree were still in their box.
It was almost noon when they went back inside, and Gwen felt ready to curl up by the fire with a good romance novel, a blanket, and a mug of hot chocolate. But first she needed to get lunch going, maybe give her phone a chance to charge while she was at it.
"Hey David, can you grab my charger? It's on my bedside table!" she called into the living room, where David was organizing the indoor Christmas decorations.
"Yep!" David replied, followed by the sound of him dashing up the stairs two steps at a time.
Gwen went to the fridge and took out the leftovers from last night, some nice Indian curry that would be just the thing to warm them up after hours outside.
"Oh no, Max says he left his lunch," David said as he came down the stairs. "We should bring it to hi—"
There was a sudden, rapid series of thumps followed by David's phone clattering across the hardwood floor, then silence.
"David?" Gwen put the curry container down and rushed out of the kitchen. "David!" She rounded the corner and found him sitting on the floor, his face pale as he looked up at her.
"I missed the step," he said, voice halting and unsteady from shock and pain as he pointed weakly at the stairs. "I think I sprained my ankle."
"Okay, just stay calm," Gwen said as she knelt beside him. "Which one?"
David tapped his left ankle, which was held out and to his side in his haphazard seated position.
Gwen moved to his other side to keep the ankle out of her way, looped David's arm over her shoulders, and started to stand. David was heavier than he looked, but they got to their feet after some strain and Gwen guided him into the living room where he could put his foot up. He limped heavily all the way there; the ankle must've been hurting very badly given David's high tolerance for pain.
"Okay," Gwen said as they reached the couch. She turned and let David slide down onto the couch, where he sat and stared blindly at the coffee table. "Let's get a look." She slid the house slipper off his foot—he'd switched out of his boots when they came inside—then rolled down his sock.
The bruising wasn't visible yet, though his ankle was definitely starting to swell on its outer side. Lessons from first aid camp came back to her as she grabbed a pillow from the couch and put it on the table for David's foot to rest on. R.I.C.E. was standard for ankle injuries: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Keeping David off his feet would undoubtedly be the hardest part once the shock wore off, and she'd probably end up taking him to Urgent Care today just to be safe.
"Stay," Gwen told him. She dashed to the kitchen and dug through the freezer for the ice packs. They were buried under the frozen veggies since they hadn't been used in so long, and she brought all of them to the surface before selecting one and going for a clean kitchen towel.
David was leaning back on the couch with his hands over his eyes when she returned to the living room. "This is a disaster," he moaned.
"We've dealt with worse shit than this at camp," Gwen chided him as she draped the towel over his ankle and settled the ice pack on it. "Hold that there, I'm getting the wrap."
Thankfully the ACE bandages were easier to find than the ice packs had been, and Gwen had the ice pack strapped securely to David's ankle in good time. She added another pillow under his foot just to be safe, then stepped back.
"Alright, I'm gonna get lunch going now," Gwen said, turning back toward the kitchen.
"Wait, Gwen! Max forgot his lunch," David said, twisting a bit awkwardly to face her and reaching toward his phone, which still lay on the floor of the hallway. "We have to take it to him."
Gwen swept David's phone up and handed it to him, then checked the time on her own phone. "Goddammit, we're gonna have to rush then."
Sure enough, Max's lunch box was on the counter that faced the living room, back in the corner where it had probably been pushed to make room for cooking breakfast and then overlooked afterward. She put its strap over her shoulder and went for her wallet and David's as well, checking to make sure that his insurance card was inside, which it was. One less thing to do on the way out.
David was waiting for her in the living room, his phone in his hands and one of the most anxious expressions she'd ever seen on his face.
"Alright, let's get going," Gwen said, helping him up off the couch. "I'm taking your sorry butt to Urgent Care once Max gets his lunch."
"Thank you, Gwen," David said weakly as he hobbled along at her side.
The lack of protest was worrying, and Gwen was glad that she'd made the decision for them as she swept the keys off the kitchen counter and took them to the garage.
Max was waiting for them near the front of the school when Gwen pulled up. David passed the lunchbox to him through the passenger-side window and waved as Max took off without so much as a thank you.
"Typical," Gwen muttered as they pulled away.
"He probably wanted as much time as possible for lunch," David said kindly. He shifted his left foot, tensing as it twinged at the movement; the pain came in waves if he held still, but it always hurt if he moved it too much. During the low points it was almost possible to ignore it if he found something to occupy himself with, though he had to admit he was scared. It wasn't just Christmas preparations that were at stake now. An ankle injury could mean a bad leg for the rest of his life if he'd done enough damage, and the thought of not being able to hike as he used to put a biting knot of anxiety in the pit of his stomach.
A hand settled on his arm, startling him; Gwen had noticed his spiraling mental state while she waited for the light.
David rested his free hand over hers, and she gave his arm a brief squeeze and withdrew as the light turned green. He turned to using his phone for as much distraction as possible, looking up options for dinner and refreshing his memory on making paper snowflakes; none of it really worked, the injury kept returning to the front of his mind with every fresh throb of pain.
"Hey, David," Gwen began. "How did you hurt it, again? Did you hear any pop or anything like that when it happened?"
"Um." David looked down at his phone again, not registering what was on the screen as he turned his attention back to the incident. "Well I was coming down the stairs, I was looking at my phone so when I got to the last step my heel caught on the edge. My foot twisted down and to the side and I felt it pop and—" David shuddered at the recollection, and the pain in his ankle seemed to get stronger. "I don't know, I don't think I heard a pop but I felt it."
"Okay, make sure you tell them that," Gwen said as they pulled up in front of the clinic.
The sidewalk was clear of ice, and Gwen was able to help David inside without incident. There was a considerable line, and once David was checked in he and Gwen settled in for the long wait.
It was almost time to pick Max up from school when David and Gwen left the Urgent Care clinic, both happy to know that nothing was broken and that it wasn't a severe sprain. The doctor had been very firm in ordering David to stay off his feet as much as possible for the next few days, even up to a week if the pain was still bad. David wasn't happy about that, but he'd take not being able to walk for a while over the possibility of permanent damage to his ankle. He'd try, anyway.
"We'll grab crutches and stuff after we get Max," Gwen said as they drove toward the school. "Let him know we're picking him up."
David composed a brief text telling Max that they would pick him up, feeling too embarrassed to tell him exactly why he and Gwen were out and about in the first place.
Max didn't notice anything amiss when he hopped into the middle row of seats and tossed his backpack to the floor, and they engaged in the usual banter about how Max's school day had been. Nothing much to report, but there was a book report that Max had yet to pick a book for, which Gwen offered to assist with when they got home—when they got there, anyway. Max started to fidget when it became clear that they were not going straight home.
"Seriously?" Max said as Gwen parked the car. "I'd ride the bus if I knew you guys were gonna pull this shit."
"It'll be quick, I just need to grab crutches and a few other things," Gwen said as she got out, turning to give the car key to David. "Be right back!" She shut the car door and hurried away, moving at just short of a jog to avoid slipping.
"Crutches?" Max wondered to himself once she was gone. "The fuck does she need—" he stopped short as the pieces came together, then unbuckled his seat belt and hopped up onto the center console to get a better look at David. "Oh my God," he said when he spotted David's bandaged ankle. "David what the fuck happened? Wait wait wait, lemme guess," Max said before David could reply, sitting back on the console. "You were putting up lights and you fell off the roof."
"No..." David replied, looking ashamed.
"Used one of those spinning chairs to put up decorations?"
"No."
"Slipped on ice while carrying a bunch of shit?" Max was grasping at straws at this point and beginning to get frustrated.
"No."
"Then what was it?"
"I was looking at my phone while I came down the stairs and I missed the bottom step," David said, turning red from embarrassment as he fiddled with a zipper on the front of his coat.
Max howled with laughter and had to catch himself before he fell off the center console. "After all the shit we did at camp, it's your phone that finally gets you?" He lost himself in another bout of laughter, small legs kicking the air in front of him.
"It's not funny," David pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"It's fuckin' hilarious," Max said as he sat forward again and caught his breath. "Guess that means Gwen has to do the lights then?" he continued, leaning casually against David's arm rest.
"I did those!" David said quickly. "Well, the outdoor ones, anyway. I don't know how many will get put up inside after what happened..."
"Eh who gives a shit," Max said with a wave of his hand. "It's not like we're gonna invite tons of people over anyway."
"I wanted to do a party or two..." David mumbled as he leaned his forehead against the window. "At least one."
"You'll get over it," Max said, rolling his eyes. "Holiday parties are overrated." He turned around and hopped back to the middle seats, where he flopped down in his usual spot and retrieved his backpack. "Now help me with this math problem, this shit's cutting into my homework time and I wanna game with Neil and Nikki tonight."
The first few days were especially difficult for David. He was reserved and quiet, very unusual for someone like him, and Gwen found herself checking on him often just to make sure nothing else was up.
David was making paper snowflakes when Gwen entered their room with cookies and hot cocoa. He looked up and gave her a brief smile, then returned his attention to his work.
"Hey, are you doing okay?" Gwen asked, figuring it would be better to cut to the chase. She took a seat on the bed just beyond David's feet and set the tray on the bedspread.
There was a long pause, and Gwen began to wonder if David had somehow missed her question when he spoke up. "I guess not..." he said quietly, his attention still on the paper snowflake.
Gwen sat back a little—she hadn't been expecting a straight answer, truth be told. "Do you... Wanna talk about it?"
David fumbled with the snowflake as he tried to open it, still unable to look her in the eye. His thumb slipped off the edge without pulling apart the layers, and he scowled as he tried again with more force—there was the rip of tearing paper, making Gwen wince with sympathy. He tossed the ruined snowflake off the bed with a sigh and let himself fall back against the pillows. "I'm disappointed," David said, his voice quiet. "Kinda scared."
Rather than prompt him again, Gwen made herself comfortable and waited for David to finish.
"I wanted to make this the best Christmas ever for Max, something really special," David said as he stared up at the ceiling. "Caroling, ice skating, decorating the tree... But now I can't even walk."
There was a creak from the floor just beyond the bedroom door. Gwen noted it but kept her attention on David. "You know Max doesn't care about any of that, David," she said gently. "He'd probably turn you down if you asked him to do any one of those things."
"I know. I just wanted to give him the opportunity." David's gaze drifted down to the bedspread. "So he knows we're there for him, and that we wanna do stuff with him."
The sound of the floor creaking as someone shifted their weight just outside the door reached Gwen's ears again, but David was still too lost in his thoughts to notice.
"Pretty sure he knows that by now," Gwen said with a small smile and an affectionate roll of her eyes.
"Yeah, but I don't want to stop telling him that." David let out a long sigh through his nose. "And I know the doctor said it wasn't a really bad sprain, but I keep worrying about it. What if I have a bad ankle for the rest of my life? What am I gonna do if I can't hike or run the camp anymore?"
"Oh I know a little thing like a bad ankle wouldn't slow you down," Gwen said with a fond chuckle. "As long as you don't injure it again while it's healing you should be fine. We've dealt with worse, haven't we?"
There was a final creak of the floor as their little eavesdropper left.
David finally met her eyes this time. "I guess so," he said, a smile finally returning to his face as he sat forward and reached for Gwen's nearest hand.
Gwen met his hand with her own, intertwining her fingers with his. "I'm telling you to stop worrying about this, okay? Your job is to get better right now, just leave the Christmas stuff to us."
"Okay," David said, looking a tad embarrassed at having to be scolded like this. He leaned in, not for a kiss, but to rest his forehead against her own. "Thanks, Gwen."
"You're welcome," Gwen replied. "Now drink your hot cocoa before it gets cold, you big goof."
"Yes ma'am," David said with a chuckle.
They enjoyed the cocoa and cookies together, and Gwen took the tray and dirty dishes with her once they were done.
Gwen caught Max fiddling with a garland on the landing as she walked toward the stairs. Well, fighting with was more accurate—he'd somehow gotten his legs entangled in it and was trying to free himself.
"Need a little help there, kiddo?" Gwen asked, just barely able to keep the amusement out of her voice and utterly failing to keep a smile off her face.
Max's head snapped up, and he fixed her with a fierce glare. "You didn't see anything," he growled, pointing at her. Then he sighed and let the arm drop. "And yeah, this fucking thing is alive, I swear to God."
"Guess we'll have to nail it down, then." Gwen set the tray on the floor and knelt beside him, working loosen the garland.
After some struggle—Gwen had to wonder just what Max did to get this tangled up—the garland came loose and Max pulled his legs free.
"Fucking finally," Max said as he got to his feet.
"So, did the garland leap out at you from one of the boxes downstairs?" Gwen asked lightly.
"No," Max said with a roll of his eyes. "You can drop the stupid joke already."
"Want some help putting it up?"
Max's mouth twisted with something between defiance and embarrassment as he stared down at the floor. "Yeah," he admitted, giving the carpet a light kick. "At least it'll go faster."
Together they looped the garland around every third baluster, allowing generous lengths to hang between them where they would catch the eye of anyone walking below.
"Well, that's enough decorating for one day," Max said, arms crossed over his chest as he stepped back to look at his handiwork. He turned without another word and walked down the hall, eventually disappearing into his room.
Gwen retrieved the tray and continued down to the kitchen, where she put the dishes in the dishwasher. She then went to the living room where the Christmas boxes still lay in disarray and picked through for a few quick decorations to put up.
As the days passed, the decorations slowly went up. David couldn't help but smile when he looked at them—to think they cared enough to do that was just plain heartwarming.
The day to pick their Christmas tree arrived, and Gwen was allowing David to move around on crutches as long as he didn't hurry. It was hard not to, his excitement for the season was coming back now that his ankle didn't hurt as much, and he wanted to miss as little as possible. Gwen had a manuscript deadline to meet, pushing their little expedition into the evening.
David paced to and fro in the kitchen while Gwen made sure they had all the rope they would need to tie the tree to the top of their SUV.
"Jesus, David. Calm down, it's just a tree," Max said as he joined David in the kitchen. "Stop moving before you trip again."
"Aw but Max, choosing a Christmas tree is so much fun! Plus the tree lot will be all lit up and pretty this time of night!"
"Okay for starters, you think everything is fun," Max said, counting off on a finger. "And second, you're not supposed to be walking a lot still, so sit your ass down until we have to go."
"Language," David said half-heartedly, but Max was right; if he hurt himself now then who knew how long it would take him to recover. David seated himself in a nearby chair, crutches held at his side as they waited for Gwen.
They didn't have to wait for long, and soon enough they were entering one of the many tree lots that had cropped up around town. The canopy above was strung with lights that bathed everything below in dazzling white, and the lot was already busy with other families selecting their trees.
David walked ahead, staring up at the lights with a big smile on his face. "Wow, it's even prettier than it was last yea—" The sentence was cut short as one of David's crutches caught on a bit of uneven ground and he began to topple forward.
"No!" Max and Gwen shouted in unison as they both lunged for him. Gwen caught him by the back of his coat while Max grabbed one of his legs, stopping him before he could fall on his face.
"Phew!" David said as they pulled him upright. His ankle was aching a bit more from the sudden jolt but otherwise fine. "That was a close one."
"No shit," Max muttered under his breath.
Gwen turned David toward her and set her hands on his shoulders. "David..." she began, her voice still tense from the scare.
"Yes, Gwen?"
"You are going to sit while we get the tree."
David's smile dropped. "But Gwen!"
"No buts, you almost broke your face just now," Gwen stated, waving a finger at him. She turned him to face a nearby bench and marched him toward it. "So you're going to sit here and we'll send pictures of tree candidates over messenger, okay?"
"But I can be careful!" David said as Gwen sat him down on the bench. "Gwen, please!"
"David," Max said, stepping next to Gwen and stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "It's just a tree, we can handle it."
"Are you sure?" David asked, though he knew the answer already.
"Decorating it is more fun anyway, you're not missing out on the main attraction," Gwen assured him.
"Okay," David said, his shoulders drooping a bit.
"One more thing." Gwen leaned in, tipping David's chin up so he could meet her eyes with one hand and bracing her free hand against her knee.
They shared a brief kiss.
Which Max did not approve of.
"Oh come on, I'm standing right here!" Max said, looking disgusted. "Nasty."
"Yeah yeah," Gwen said as she straightened. "Come on, short stuff. Let's get that tree." She strode off toward the Douglas fir section with Max hot on her heels.
The first tree picture arrived a few minutes later in the three way chat they had set up some time ago, with Gwen holding the candidate upright while Max took the picture. It was coupled with a text from Max: I told Gwen that this one's kinda barf-colored and she didn't believe me back me up David.
With a chuckle, David set his crutches across his lap and zoomed in to get a better look at the tree. While he wouldn't describe it as "barf-colored"—as Max so bluntly put it—the yellow tinge to the tree's outer needles was cause for concern. David typed out his reply: The needles look a little too yellow, have you found any others?
See? David agrees with me.
He didn't say "barf-colored", you little twerp.
It took some time—and a lot of good-natured banter between Max and Gwen which David couldn't help but grin at—but eventually they settled on their tree. Gwen parked the car outside the garage when they got home and took the tree down herself. David offered to help her put it in the stand only to have Max wave him off and order him inside.
David limped away, feeling a little stung at having to sit out on so much, and decided to make a round of hot cocoa for the three of them in the meantime. It wasn't like boiling water involved much walking, after all.
There were three mugs of hot cocoa waiting in the kitchen by the time Gwen and Max lugged the tree in through the front door, Gwen doing most of the lifting while Max helped keep the base pointing in the right direction. They put it in a corner of the living room next to the fireplace, and after turning it a few times they settled on an ideal viewing angle for it.
Gwen flopped down next to David on the couch with a relieved sigh and let her head rest against its back. "Glad that's over with," she said.
"There's cocoa in the kitchen," David said, pointing toward the kitchen.
"I'm gonna cool down first," Gwen replied with a wave of her hand.
Max had already gone to grab his cocoa by the time the two looked around. He returned with only his own mug of cocoa and climbed into the reclining chair across from them. "What now?"
"Well now we put on the lights, and then we put on the ornaments!" David replied.
"Got the lights?" Gwen asked, looking to him.
"Yep!" David reached over the arm of the couch and came back up with two coiled strings of white lights.
"Alright, home stretch." Gwen got to her feet and took the two coils of lights from David.
The tree wasn't much taller than Gwen, and she started the lights at the top and wound them around the tree, using both strings in the process. She then hooked the strings up to a switch that would allow them to be turned on and off easily, and stepped back to examine her work.
"It looks wonderful, Gwen!" David said happily, clapping his hands. "Now we just need the ornaments."
Max dragged the ornament box over to the tree and looked inside. He pulled the first shoe box of ornaments out and opened it. "Wow, no camping ornaments so far," Max said with a smirk. "That's genuinely surprising."
"Oh they're in there," Gwen said as she took out a different shoe box. "But there are plenty for me, too." She held up a quill pen ornament made of thin silvery metal.
"And we got a few for you too, Max," David said. He hauled himself to his feet and limped around the couch, using its back for support. He retrieved a lidded blue box and passed it to Max over the back of the couch. "We wanted them to be a surprise, but if you see any others you like while we're out shopping, let us know."
Max accepted the box without a word and opened it. Within he found a miniature bear paw imprint, a small pine cone fashioned to look like a bear's face, a miniature plastic honey jar, and a small felt teddy bear.
"Do you like it...?" David asked hesitantly after Max's silence drew on too long. His fingers dug into the back of the couch as he searched Max's face for any indication that he approved of the ornaments.
Max turned and started toward the tree.
Gwen passed a few hooks—shaken free from the ball they always inevitably tangled themselves into—to Max as he passed.
The first three ornaments were little problem for Max to put on the tree, but for the bear paw he was aiming for a spot too far above his height. That is, until Gwen gave him a boost. On her shoulders he was able to reach the place he wanted, and once the ornament was hung on a secure branch she put him back on the floor. Max marched back over to the recliner and hopped into it, taking a large sip of cocoa as he stared at the coffee table. "Thanks," he said, so quietly that David almost thought he'd imagined it.
David looked at Gwen, a huge grin on his face, and expression that Gwen returned.
They continued with the rest of the ornaments, Max joining in again once he'd recovered his composure. David was allowed to hang a few ornaments up, but eventually Gwen told him to take a seat again before he tripped somehow.
Pizza was ordered when they realized how late it was, and the food arrived as the last few ornaments were put on the tree.
"Told you everything would be fine if you left it to us," Gwen said, giving David a nudge with her elbow.
"Yeah, you were right." David gave her a warm smile.
"It wasn't so bad," Max added. "We should just do it like this every year."
"Minus my sprained ankle, right?" David asked.
They shared a laugh, with David's more nervous than Gwen and Max.
"Right?"
"Yes David, Jesus," Max said. "I don't wanna babysit you again. Just chill out next year and let everyone else do things, no busted ankle required."
"I thought that was obvious," Gwen added. "You don't have to do everything all the time, let us handle some too."
A/N: My Secret Santa gift to Conky-in-action/walkingaftermidnightt on Tumblr! Was inspired by Forest's wonderful Christmas Dadvid fic from last year(which coincidentally was ALSO for Conky-in-action lol) called "Green and Wanted" so please give her fic a read, it's superb!
Big thank you to the lovely folks from Discord who gave me feedback on this while I was writing it. 3 This wouldn't be as good as it is without you guys.
12/19/2018 Edit: Added some to the end.