Christmas Eve.

Baishe was always a little quiet during Christmas. Quite a number of his subordinates were Christians and Fei Long always gave them a few days off. It was all right in his opinion. Every once in a while he liked to have less people surrounding him if only to feel that it was possible for him, even for a few days, to have a somewhat 'normal' life. So even when he was a Buddhist, Christmas actually was one of the holidays he enjoyed.

Fei Long sat down and picked up a book he had left unfinished a week ago and started reading leisurely on his favorite couch. A few pages into the book and he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door that flung opened without knocking in advance.

"Hello, love." Mikhail barged into the room as if it was his own house. As always he walked straight to Fei Long and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Fei Long blinked twice in surprise. Mikhail had always appeared whenever he liked and rarely gave him a warning, but that day he was so sure the Russian would never turn up.

"Shouldn't you be in Russia by now?" Fei Long asked. He thought Mikhail was going to celebrate Christmas with his family like everyone else.

"Well, I'm not." Mikhail shrugged and started looking around. "Where is Tao?"

"Good morning, Mr. Arbatov" Tao appeared from the connected room and greeted him with a smile.

"Well, then, get up. Let's go." The Russian grabbed the book from his hand and practically yanked him off the chair by his wrist enthusiastically.

"What do you mean, let's go? I am not going anywhere." Fei Long resisted and glared at his uninvited guest irritatingly.

"We're going to my place. I'm making dinner. Tao would love to experience Christmas, don't you, Tao?" He turned around and winked at the boy.

Unable to decide which was more appropriate - to take his master's side and disappointed Mr. Arbatov who had always been nice to him, or to indulge in his own desire and risk upsetting his beloved master while pleasing his guest, Tao thought for a moment, and then said reluctantly, "I would love to if Fei-sama doesn't mind." He didn't know much about anything, but he knew Mr. Arbatov always managed to get a smile out of his master, and he read somewhere that smiling was good for health. He wanted nothing more than to see Fei-sama healthy, after all.

"You see?" Mikhail smiled proudly. "You can't possibly be so heartless. Christmas is about seeing the joy on Children's faces."

It sure is, Fei Long thought. At the moment there were two children beaming at him already. He must find a way to deal with this life-threatening alliance between the two quickly or he would be made to take them both to Disneyland and take group pictures with that dreadful mouse one day.

"Oh, all right." Fei Long sighed. He decided he shouldn't take away such an opportunity in Tao's life, considering that otherwise Tao would never know how people celebrate Christmas, not that he himself had ever been a part of one for that matter. "Let me get my car."

"No need. I brought mine." Mikhail quickly interrupted. Like hell he was going to make it easy for Fei Long to cut the night short by taking his own car.

"Right, and where is Tao going to sit? You don't drive sedans." Everyone knew this of Mikhail Arbatov. 'Sedans are boring', so he always says.

"Who says I don't drive sedans?" Mikhail smirked playfully. "Come on, let's go."

Fei Long followed reluctantly. But he had to admit, it would be very interesting to see Mikhail Arbatov, for once, driving a simple and 'boring' sedan. No, not interesting, it would be ridiculously amusing and well worth the trip.

xxx

"You have got to be kidding me." Fei Long exclaimed as they stopped at a sleek silver Lamborghini with four doors. "They make these now?"

"Actually, no, not yet." Mikhail grinned proudly. "This is the Lamborghini Estoque, it's still a concept car. I've managed to get my hands on it with a little bit of persuasion."

"You didn't kill anyone, did you?" Fei Long asked with a disapproving look on his face, knowing full well what the man was capable of when he wanted something bad enough.

"Well, he didn't die." The Russian shrugged as he opened the door and stepped into the car. "I had to get it. Now we can take Tao to Disneyland, you know?"

'All right, that's it. Damn Lamborghinis.' Fei Long thought to himself. He had been right all along. That evil Russian must have been planning it for a while, though hopefully not with Tao.

"Are you all right?" Mikhail asked. "You look pale."

"Forget it. Can we go now?" Fei Long brushed him off irritatingly. If only Tao wasn't there too it would be him cooking that night - a truly Russian stroganoff, meat and all.

xxx

"I can't believe it. I have a trunk." Mikhail exclaimed in astonishment as he opened the trunk to take out the grocery. "Look at all this space." He couldn't remember when was the last time he had so much storage room in his car. "Next time I should try an SUV."

That last sentence had Fei Long going even paler. Great, the next thing he knows Mikhail probably will get himself a mini van so he could adopt more children and then buy a group pass to Disneyland just to see him suffer.

"SUVs don't become you." Fei Long said as he placed his hand on Mikhail's arm lovingly. "You look much sexier in a roadster." Two seats are the safest in his opinion.

Mikhail immediately turned around with his blue eyes sparkling brightly from hearing those words. "You think so?"

"Yes." Fei Long smiled as sweetly as he possibly could pretend. He didn't exactly lie. Mikhail driving an SUV, or worse, a mini van must seem rather weird. And he was kind of sexy in his supercars anyway.

He moved closer and put his arms around Fei Long's waist, "Hmmm but with all that extra space in the backseat, we could...OUCH! Fei, that hurts!" Mikhail yelped as Fei Long stepped heavily on his foot.

"Not in front of Tao." Fei long warned him in Russian. He knew exactly what the pervert had in mind.

"What?" Mikhail complained. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I know exactly what you were going to say, you..."

"Don't swear in front of the kid." Mikhail interrupted before he could finish his sentence, secretly thinking how wonderful it was to have Tao in this world. "Come on, Tao, will you help me carry this." He handed the boy a small bag of grocery from the trunk. Before Fei Long started putting his name on Baishe's blacklist he knew a change of subject was in order.

As frustrated as he was at the situation, he had to admit seeing Mikhail with his arms full of grocery in recycled paper bags and a big smile on his face was something very out of the ordinary and quite amusing. With all that money and power, and while he always indulged himself in spending an enormous amount of money in every possible way to overdo everything, Mikhail was never arrogant. Surprisingly, he enjoyed some domesticated and simple things as much and his privacy was untouchable. Unless they were at war, Mikhail simply did not cruise around anywhere with a trail of bodyguards regardless of how dangerous it was for someone in his position to go around unprotected. He preferred dwelling in the privacy of his penthouse more than his villa in Macau. His housekeepers were practically invisible and were flawlessly trained to be so. And since they were not always around, every once in a while Mikhail would be seen doing some emergency household chores which was something extraordinary in his opinion, since he himself never had the need to do so. But compared to the way Mikhail lived, sometimes his life almost seemed caged. Perhaps it was why he tolerated the man's persistent nature - to break down a little bit of his own walls.

"Here, I'll help." Fei Long offered and reached for a bag only to have it taken away immediately by the bigger man.

"I've got it, don't worry." Mikhail smiled.

"Don't treat me like I'm a woman." Fei Long complained and tried to yank back the bag.

"I never let my date carry stuff, man or woman." Mikhail resisted and began to walk away from the car. It wasn't exactly a lie. He just didn't mention that Fei Long was the only man he'd ever officially dated.

"I'm not your date." Fei Long protested. As far as he was concerned they weren't officially a couple or anything remotely like it.

"Which is exactly why you probably don't want be seen helping me and Tao carry grocery up to MY room like one happy family. Now, will you please open the door?" Mikhail said as he waited for his date to comply.

Fei Long cursed quietly in Russian to avoid Tao overhearing him before he gave up and opened the door for Mikhail and the boy. The Russian did have a point. He couldn't help but thought how fortunate he was that he never had to negotiate anything in business with the man since their interest had yet to run counter to each other. But the sly bastard did have a gift in getting people to do what he wanted.

When they've reached the penthouse, Tao paused for a full minute at the entrance. His eyes lit up as he forgot his manner and gasped out loud at the beautiful decoration. Fei Long looked at the boy and smiled. It had been a while since he saw that kind of expression on Tao's face. It was worth putting down his book and let himself be dragged over after all.

"You've done a great job turning the place around." Fei Long complimented as he looked around the room. It may have been a bit much for him. But he guessed it was something children would remember forever that he couldn't have thought of doing for Tao.

"The Christmas tree hasn't been done. I ran out of time." Mikhail smiled as he placed the grocery bags on the kitchen island and pointed at the big tree in the corner with its decoration still in the box next to it. "Why don't you and Tao do that while I make dinner?"

"Can we, really?" Tao asked excitedly. Fei-sama had read to him a story about Christmas celebration once and he had always wanted to decorate the tree. He couldn't help thinking how lucky he was that Mr. Arbatov didn't have time to finish it.

"Of course, Tao. I'll help." Fei Long looked at Mikhail knowingly. He had to give the Russian some credit for being so thoughtful and making sure he 'ran out of time'.

After letting his guests settled down comfortably, Mikhail started preparing dinner. Every once in a while he would glance at his two guests who busied themselves decorating the Christmas tree and smiled. To see Fei Long so relaxed made it a perfect Christmas that year. He was glad he had decided to stay and made Fei Long and Tao join him.

Moments later Fei Long had let Tao finish the tree by himself and walked over to the kitchen. "Can I help?" He felt the need to ask.

"No, you just sit there and be my inspiration." Mikhail said laughingly, pointing at the chair on the other side of the counter.

"Don't make me feel so useless." Fei Long complained.

"Ok, what do you want to do?" Mikhail dropped what he was doing and waited for the Baishe leader who he suspected had never cooked so much as an egg in his life pick a task.

"I can help you chop some vegetable over there?" He pointed at the pile of carrots and celeries on the counter. "Just show me how."

"Be my guest." Mikhail moved aside to make room and handed him a knife. "Don't cut yourself." He was actually more excited than Tao decorating the tree to see Fei Long working in the kitchen. Honestly, how many people would be so privileged?

Fei Long glared at him for the remark, and after being told how to cut each vegetable he started working with the knife with extreme precision and speed. When he looked up, Mikhail was watching with his mouth half opened.

"I thought you don't know how to cook." The master chef said in utter surprise. His eyes still staring at the knife work in disbelief.

"I don't." Fei Long grinned. "I'm just proficient with knives."

"And sexy working it too." Mikhail said as he reached over from behind with one hand and grabbed his sous chef's ass.

In a split second, Fei Long landed the knife firmly between Mikhail's fingers on the hand that was still on the table without even blinking. "I'm also extremely good with meat, mind you. And I'm not talking beef." Mikhail should know better than to be groping his ass when Tao was around, even though he was at the other side of the room.

"Hey, it's Christmas. Don't be so mean." The Russian complained and pouted as he withdrew his hand anyway. "Remind me not to argue with you in the kitchen."

"No need." Fei Long shrugged. "I always carry a knife or two."

The master chef stared at the man next to him from head to toe and licked his lips. "Now you make me want to strip you and find out where you're hiding that knife." It was true. Fei Long with a knife was making him hard.

Fei Long sighed in desperation. Whatever he did or said, Mikhail's spirit never seemed to go dim. "Do I not intimidate you at all?"

"Very much so when you're naked." The Russian winked suggestively.

"One more word and I'll start carving some meat." Fei Long warned with his knife pointed at Mikhail's face. Lucky for him that Tao was there, or the pervert probably will find a reason not to finish preparing dinner.

To his surprise, though still with a smile on his face, Mikhail miraculously agreed and worked quietly from then on. Fei Long thought it must be the magic of Christmas that made the man retreated so easily.

That night Mikhail made a sumptuous dinner laid out on beautiful table setting with red candles, silverwares, flowers, and napkins folded very professionally. While he had always known about the man's tendency to overdo things, he must compliment Mikhail's effort and result, especially when he had done it all by himself with no help and moreover, in front of his eyes. It was flattering to see him work so hard just to impress him and Tao.

At dinner Mikhail carefully explained everything about Christmas to the boy, including facts he himself didn't already know. It was a very new experience for him, having dinner with both Mikhail and Tao, but he did enjoy diner that night, and the conversation between Mikhail and the boy made him smile thinking how the man must have made a great father. Mikhail seemed to like children, and Tao warmed up to his playful and easy-going nature rather quickly.

"...And so on Christmas Eve people usually have dinner together as a family like this." Mikhail concluded.

"But we're not family," Tao asked half disappointedly,

Fei Long's face saddened a little. He didn't stop to think that it might have indirectly reminded Tao that he was an orphan. Having no family left to celebrate any event with, he above all should have known better.

Suddenly he felt Mikhail's hand reached for his under the table and squeezed it tightly while those blue eyes still looked at Tao affectionately without a glimpse of sadness in them.

"But we are your family," Mikhail said with a smile and looked at the man whose hand he was holding for confirmation, "aren't we?"

Fei Long looked into those baby blue eyes for a few seconds and saw no mockery or playfulness in them. At that moment Mikhail said it from his heart, and so did he.

"Yes, we are."

xxx

After dinner they retreated to the living room, sitting comfortably on the rug next to the tree as Mikhail urged Tao to unwrap the presents.

"A Wii!" Tao exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you so much Mr. Arbatov." He had always wanted one but didn't want to bother Fei-sama with it.

"You'll let me play with you sometimes, won't you?" Mikhail asked smilingly. Now he had a good reason to be at Baishe, not that he'd ever needed one for that matter. But Fei Long would no longer have the heart to tell him to leave. "And this is from Fei-sama." He said as he offered Tao another present.

Fei Long looked at him with curiosity. He didn't plan on anything for that night and was starting to regret it when Mikhail gave Tao a present. But it seemed the Russian had it all sorted out for him. While he was rather impressed with the man's thoughtfulness, he had to admit he was as anxious as Tao to see the content, hoping that it was something believable as a gifted picked by him.

"A book." Mikhail winked at Fei Long as Tao removed the wrapping and saw the hardcover, fully illustrated book. "How wonderful. Now Fei-sama can read to you every night."

"Thank you so much Fei-sama." Tao said with his eyes full of esteem for his beloved master. He always looked forward to hear Fei-sama read to him before going to bed. "Will you read some tonight?"

Fei Long took a glance back at the Russian and then smiled gently at Tao. "Of course, I will." It was a great pick and he was starting to feel guilty about underestimating Mikhail's knowledge of the matter. He was thinking about getting Tao a book himself.

Mikhail brought out some big cushions for them to sit more comfortably on the rug next to the beautiful Christmas tree. The room was lit only by its decorative lights and a few scented candles tastefully placed around the room. Mikhail leaned back on the cushion listening to the silky-smooth voice of the loving master reciting the beautiful words to the boy who later fell asleep on his master's lap.

Fei Long put the book down and looked at Tao adoringly. Once he had the chance to sleep on his father's lap like this, and he remembered it clearly until now how well he slept that night. There was a lump in his throat as he recalled those moments that soon disappeared when Mikhail reached over for his hand and kissed it gently as if he knew what caused his eyes to grow suddenly dim.

"I'll tug him in." Mikhail whispered as to not wake the boy and carried him off to the guest bedroom. After making sure that Tao was sleeping comfortably, he turned on the music and walked back to the tree. "Come on." He called, and, without allowing enough time for objections, pulled Fei Long up on his feet and led him out onto the balcony. Under normal circumstances he would have resisted being forced into doing something without an explanation, but that night somehow he felt rather agreeable.

The sky was clear enough for some stars to show themselves across Hong Kong's night sky. The main lights had not been turned on and the large balcony was illuminated only by the blue lights from the bottom of the outdoor plunge pool that cast the rippling reflection of the crystal clear water on their skin. Mikhail spun him around into his embrace and started dancing to the sweet melody tastefully rendered by the outdoor speakers. It was just another night in the same penthouse he'd been in countless of times, but Mikhail knew exactly how to make every moment of his life memorable. One of the most extraordinary things about Mikhail Arbatov was that he knew very well how to live, and he lived better than anyone he had ever known.

At first it felt very awkward for him to dance with a man. But the look on Mikhail's face stopped him from raising objections. It had been a great evening and he just didn't have the heart to say no. But it didn't take long for him to settle comfortably in Mikhail's embrace and allowed himself to enjoy something he would otherwise never get to experience. That night he was dancing under the stars in the company of someone who loved and treasured his existence.

"So what about my present?" Fei Long teased.

"I didn't get you any." Mikhail shrugged

"You didn't get me any." Fei Long repeated, mocking the Russian accent as if to make sure he heard it right the first time. Usually it would take some divine intervention to stop the man from giving him gifts on every special occasion ever celebrated on earth. "What are you really up to, Mikhail Arbatov?" Fei Long leaned close to him and whispered. He was so sure the man had something up his sleeves.

"No, really. I ran out of time and ideas." Mikhail confessed. "But I'm always at your service if you need me to do something more... I don't know," he paused and pulled the elegant figure closer by the waist, leaning forward to whisper in his ear, "physical?"

"I think what you've done tonight suffice." Fei Long said as he reached up and touched Mikhail's cheek adoringly. "I, on the other hand, really didn't get you anything,"

Mikhail smiled and kissed the back of his hand. "Do you really think anything can possibly make me happier than I am now?"

"You mean an all night long exhilarating sex in the pool that leaves you completely wasted in the morning isn't really necessary?" Fei Long asked and blinked at him seductively.

"You would do that for me?"

Fei Long smiled at the look on Mikhail's face that resembled Tao when he unwrapped his present that night and gave Mikhail a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Misha."