A/N: Hi guys! This was originally meant to be a oneshot but now I'm kinda contemplating whether or not I should make it into an actual story... What do you guys think? Should I continue it or just leave it as it is? Let me know in the comments or PM, or tweet me: anistonia - Thank you for reading!
Twas The Night Before Christmas
It was Christmas Eve, and getting home late from work wasn't a great start. As I turned the key in the keyhole of our new home in Scarsdale, New York, I opened the door into the foyer where a huge Christmas tree was lit in red and gold. After turning down the job in Paris, me and Ross had decided that we wanted to expand our family so, we bought a magnificent 4 bedroom house in the suburbs. Of course the taxes were a little higher and it now took me longer to get into work but, the school system, supposedly great!
Throwing my keys onto the table we kept mail and other nick-nacks on, I slipped my black fur coat off my shoulders and hung it up on the coat rack exposing my work attire which consisted of a tight pencil skirt, a black blouse and my favourite Louboutin shoes. Walking into the empty living room, where yet another perfectly decorated tree was located, I wondered where everyone was. I elevated my arm to see my watch, staring down at it to see it was a little past 7 o'clock. Ross was most likely bathing our youngest, Sebastian. Sebastian was almost 2 years old now and our daughter Emma was 7. Christmas was our favourite time of year, they both get so excited when Christmas is inching closer and closer and now that it was here even I was getting excited. I loved seeing them both put the milk and cookies out for Santa and seeing the look on their faces when they opened their presents on Christmas morning. Pacing up the staircase, I knocked on the door of Emma's bedroom before entering.
"Hi sweetie." I said, as I glanced at her on her bed finishing the last of her homework. Emma definitely followed her fathers footsteps when it came to school but, when it came to fashion... well, that was all me.
"Hi mom." She sounded, closing her text book as she got down from her bed to greet me with a warm hug. Accepting it warmly, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Standing up back on my feet, I looked down at her frame.
"Have you eaten yet?" I asked, hearing the screeches from an excited Sebastian in the bathtub.
"No, dad said he would cook something when Sebastian is asleep." Emma said as she returned to her bed. Listening to her words, I nodded and scrapped back a blonde lock that had fallen out of place.
"Okay well, how about you go and shower and when you're done we can all open our Christmas pyjamas together downstairs." I said, a grin creeping to my lips.
"Okay!" She replied as she got everything ready for her shower routine. Every year, the 4 of us would get a new pair of pyjamas to wear Christmas morning. This year I had gotten matching ones for me and Emma and another pair of matching ones for Ross and Sebastian. That way me and Emma could look stylish in photos without having to wear a bland colour because the boys didn't like the same stuff as we did.
Letting Emma have some privacy, I strolled into the bathroom where I saw Ross playing with Sebastian in the bathtub.
"Come on, you need to get out! Mommy is gonna kill me if she gets home and you're not ready for bed!" He said, as he was trying to grab a hold of our flailing son but he was having none of it.
"It's Christmas Eve, of course I won't be mad. I'm just happy we're all together!" I chimed in as my hands were folded across my chest. As a dripping Ross, turned over his shoulder to see me, he got up slowly and approached my slender frame, snaking his arms around my waist as he greeted me with lots of kisses.
"You're home!" He said, pecking me in the lips a few times.
"I am! So let's get Christmas started!" I said, as I slipped a piece of mistletoe out of my pocket and held it above our heads. Both gazing up at it, I had a mischievous grin on my face. As he laughed, he kissed me multiple times which ended up turning into one long passionate kiss.
"Now, let's get you ready for bed!" I said as I got the towel and scooped the dripping wet toddler out of the bath.
"Kick your legs!" I said, in a high pitched tone as he kicked his legs vigorously to get the excess water off his body.
"Now, lets all go downstairs and open our pyjamas together, okay?" I said, walking past Ross as we all made our way downstairs.
Once we were all downstairs, including a squeaky clean Emma. I arranged the presents in front of everyone. Each one wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper with a gold ribbon attached with a name tag, which had a name on. I counted down from 3.
"3, 2, 1... GO!" I shouted as we all ripped into the wrapping paper revealing the pyjamas. Me and Emma got matching plaid bottoms and a red shirt that read "Santa's Fave" on. As for the boys, they got red mouse matching pyjamas.
After we all put them on, and we're cozy for the night, we head to the kitchen to prepare the snacks for Santa.
"Okay, kids." I said, reaching for the cupboard as I retrieved a plate and a glass for them to put on a tray. As Ross took the milk out of the fridge, and I got the cookies out of the pantry. I let Emma pour the milk into the glass which she did a great job of, and then little Sebastian took a Santa shaped cookie out of the bag and placed it onto the plate. Smiling at the scene in front of me, I gazed up at Ross who seemed to be doing the exact same thing as me. Sharing the special moment for a little while longer, we moved on quickly.
"Okay, Emma, do you know how many reindeers Santa has?" I asked, as I grabbed the bag of carrots we had bought especially for his reindeers. I watched Emma count with her fingers as she started mouthing names.
"9 reindeer." She said, proudly with a grin so wide it looked like she slept with a hanger in her mouth.
"That's right, Emma!" Ross sounded, as he took some carrots out of the bag and handed some to both of our kids.
"Okay, now count 9 carrots and put them in this bag." I said, opening the bag wide enough so they could throw them in. Emma nodded as she placed a carrot into the bag.
"One, two, three, four, five..." She said, placing carrots into the bag. Sebastian held the last 4 in his tiny hands almost dropping them. Emma grabbed one from his hand and placed it in the bag.
"Six..." She continued as she looked at her brother.
"Let Sebastian do the rest now, sweetheart." I said as I lowered the bag lower for him to reach.
"Seven, eight, nine!" He said in his high pitched tone. With a huge smile on my face, I handed the bag to Ross.
"Alright, now why don't you both write your names on this sticker so he knows who they're from!" I said in an excited voice as I gave them both a pen. Emma's name was written nearly, whereas Sebastian's name was scribbled without care. I had to laugh at the way he wrote, he wasn't even 2 yet and he already had better hand writing than Ross.
"Okay, let's bring this out and put it in front of the Christmas tree." I said as I picked up the tray. As each of their small hands gripped onto the side as we brought the tray out together, we set it down on the table we had in front of the tree.
"There! Now, it's time for you both to head upstairs and go to sleep otherwise Santa can't come!" Emma practically raced up the stairs as Sebastian simply stood in front of me with his arms out. Shaking my head, chuckling lightly, I picked his tiny frame up and took him to bed. I first stopped off in Emma's room to say goodnight. Bending down, I kissed her forehead, gently and wished her a good night as I lowered Sebastian down to her as he gave her a big hug. Shortly after Ross came in and did the exact same thing.
"Alright, I'm gonna get this one to sleep." I said, as I strolled out of the room.
"Goodnight, Emma." I said as I blew a kiss and turned out the light.
Tucking Sebastian into bed, I held up two soft toys in my hands.
"Now who will sleep with Sebastian tonight? Duck, or unfortunate chicken?" I asked, wiggling both in front of his eyes.
"Dead chicken." He said with an evil chuckle. "Dead chicken? Alright..." I reassured him as I began to giggle.
After reading him a story, he finally fell asleep. Turning off the lights, I kissed him gently and went downstairs. Flopping down on the couch next to Ross, he snaked his arm around my body and held me close. Kissing my temple, I reminded me that we still had a load of toys to wrap. Both shooting him, we got every single thing we had bought for the kids out and wrapped them all up nicely. Once each one was wrapped we placed them under the tree. We then moved on to stockings, filling each of their own with candy, jewellery, socks, etc. They were very lucky this year.