Singing

Brian watched Justin from the doorway to the living room. There were a lot of people in the large room, their whole extended family actually, but he kept his focus on Justin. The blond man was sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by children and leading them in a loud and happy version of 'Jingle Bell Rock' that was playing from on the home entertainment system. Only half the kids knew the words, but even the smallest ones were happily singing along.

Justin was holding little baby Sarah's hands as she stood on wobbly legs in front of him, laughing and bobbing up and down in a little weird dance that made Brian have to put his mug of mulled wine in front of his mouth to hide a grin. He searched out Gus, who was sitting by Justin, looking the perfect mix of a boy in his early teens that both wanted to play with the other kids and at the same time look cool and 'grown up'. Every time Justin looked at the boy, Gus would smile widely and move another inch closer. Finally, he was close enough for Justin to reach out and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Gus only fought him for show.

Little Sarah had sat down again, too unstable to be able to stand for long on her own without anyone steadying her.

She searched the faces in the room, and when she saw him, lit up. She crawled over to the couch, grabbing hold of it and hauling herself to her feet. Brian saw the slightly darker spots on the knees of her white tights and grimaced at the thought of having to buy her yet another new pair. Those were never really washable, no matter what the label said.

Oh well, at least the red Christmas dress that had cost him a fucking kidney was still whole and clean.

"God, look at her. She's so precious." Michael chuckled, appearing next to him and also looking down at Sarah with a smile. He flipped on the handy cam and spoke to Sarah:

"Say hi to the camera, honey. Hi!" Michael waved dumbly, and Brian rolled his eyes. Then, when he looked back at Sarah, he saw that she'd let go of the couch and was balancing precariously on her tiny feet.

Brian slowly crouched down and called on her attention:

"Sarah, hey, Sarah?"

She looked at him, and he held out his arms:

"Come to daddy, Sarah."

He'd just taught himself to not cringe (visibly) every time he or someone else called him that. As long as no one said it to him in the middle of a crowd, they were all fine.

She looked at him, wobbled a little.

Then, she lifted a tiny leg and placed down the foot just half an inch or so in front of the other.

Yes.

"Justin." He said softly, and Justin turned around. The room was suddenly silent, expect for Mikey who was clutching the handy cam tightly, documenting what was happening:

"Oh my god."

Sarah looked around at the sudden lack of voices talking and laughing, and Brian called on her again:

"Sarah? Come to daddy, Sarah."

She looked at him, and shifted the other foot. Then she laughed, delighted at what she was doing.

She smiled and encouraged her on, and another few steps followed until she wobbled and fell. By then she was close enough for him to catch her and scoop her into her arms, and as the room exploded with noise he spun her around in the air in that way that always made her squeal in delight, and kissed the top of her head:

"Good job, tiny girl, good job!"

Justin collided with them, praising Sarah and lifting her from his arms. She giggled as he peppered her with kisses.

"Oh my fucking god, she's walking! And at eight months too! I told you she would turn out a fucking genius!" Debbie cried as she bowled people over to get to Justin and the baby girl, all tears and proud smiles.

"I totally got it on video!" Michael beamed, replaying the moment on the cam.

Brian felt a tug at his pant leg and when he looked down, found four-year-old Cooper looking up at him with big, Sunshine-blue eyes. He was wearing that look he always got when Gus or Sarah got attention and praise. The kind of 'hey, don't forget me' look that made everyone's heart break every time and even coaxed Brian over to his softer side.

He picked him up and smiled at him:

"Hey, did you see that? Your sis is walking!"

Cooper nodded, and then said quietly:

"I can walk too, daddy."

"That you most definitely can!" Brian smiled and then lowered his voice conspiratorially:

"Wanna celebrate and sneak a cookie from the Jar grandma Debbie brought? Our little secret?"

The boy was his father's spitting image. Of course the offer of cookies would not go unaccepted.

Cooper smiled and nodded, wrapping his arms around his neck and allowing him to carry him to the kitchen.