The winter was unusually warm. Instead of the snowfall that Claude so looked forward to every year, there was only the occasional pour of rain. Rain made it hard to get in the Christmas spirit, as such, and so Claude was sluggish and filled with gloom that morning when Sebastian had planned to decorate the house.

Claude had learned over time that Sebastian was a particular fan of Christmas. The holiday music would be playing in the house the moment he got home, he would think of any excuse he could to drink hot chocolate and snack on candy canes, and bought practically every piece of Christmas decorations he could get his hands on.

"Well you're certainly Miss Mary Sunshine this morning, aren't you?" Sebastian laughed, as he brought the Christmas tree in from the garage. Claude only grumbled in reply, earning another hearty laugh from Sebastian. As Sebastian turned back to the box with the tree in it, Claude resumed his task of draping garland in random places around the house.

"Have you talked to Rachel lately?" Sebastian asked, striking up conversation. Claude looked over his shoulder to see Sebastian fumbling to pull all of the tree parts out of the box.

"Not for the past few days," Claude admitted. "She's supposed to be going to the hospital in the next few days. She's due really soon." Claude finished arranging the garland on the fireplace and sat on the floor next to Sebastian. He proceeded to help put the tree together, carefully spreading out the fake branches. "It's weird, isn't it?" Claude asked as he worked. "Thinking that we might actually be parents by the time Christmas rolls around?' The idea made him smile.

"Shit," Sebastian sighed, adding another layer of branches to the tiered tree. "Thanks for reminding me I haven't even thought of buying our own children Christmas presents," he laughed a little. "I'm a horrible father already."

"Don't say that," Claude said, giving Sebastian a light shove. "If you forget next year, when they might actually remember Christmas, then you'll be a horrible father." He smiled, kissing the tip of Sebastian's nose. "Besides, you've still got time to go and get gifts. Christmas isn't for another week and a half, you know."

"I suppose," Sebastian sighed. "I just like to be prepared for these things." He stood, adding the last few layers to the tree. Claude followed suit, but began to spread the branches, attempting to make the tree look as realistic as possible. A comfortable silence, barring the Frank Sinatra Christmas music, of course, filled the space between them.

Despite the fact that the rain and grey morning sky filled Claude with gloom, his spirits were lifting. The dreary weather was becoming more calming and peaceful, the patter of the rain on the roof, adding to the melody of the morning. He had no reason to not be happy, he reminded himself as he unpacked the boxes of Christmas tree ornaments. As he reached in to grab the first of the ornaments, something caught his eye.

"Hey," he said, laughing. "Remember these?" he pulled out a reindeer antler headband and threw it in Sebastian's direction. Sebastian caught them, and laughed, promptly placing them on his head. "You can only wear those as long as you promise to keep everything else on, too," Claude said laughing, happy memories coming to his mind.

"Hey! I only went streaking that one time," Sebastian said, attempting to be defensive, but mostly just laughing.

"Yep," Claude said, "and got a big fat fine for public indecency. I think it's safe to assume you learned your lesson, right?" Sebastian only laughed in response.

Claude and Sebastian both turned their attention back to the tree, lacing it with beads and lights and ornaments. As the hours passed, the atmosphere of their home changed. All of the Christmas clutter made the whole house seem more cheery- and all the multicolored lights certainly made it brighter. As they carried on decorating, both Sebastian and Claude were in and out of the kitchen, cooking various Christmas treats. In the evening, they heard a knock at their door. They exchanged brief quizzical looks- Claude certainly wasn't expecting anyone.

They opened their front door, and found a beaming and heavily pregnant Francis and little Edward on their front steps.

"Can you hand that plate to Claude, sweetie?" Francis said encouragingly to Edward. Edward offered a large plate laden with Christmas cookies to Claude, the large smile on his face spreading even wider. "Edward wanted to bake cookies for the neighbors today while he was off from school," she explained. "And we hadn't stopped by to see the two of you in a while."

"Well, thank you," Claude said, beaming. It was wonderful to have kind neighbors- something he'd had a shortage of through most of his young life. "Did you make these all by yourself, Ed?" he asked, addressing the short blond boy.

"Mostly," Edward nodded proudly. "But mom wouldn't let me do the oven part."

"You know, that's perfectly alright," Claude said, comfortingly. "Sometimes Sebastian won't let me do the oven part, either. You've got to be very careful around it. But don't worry; you'll be able to do the oven part someday." Edward brightened.

"You know," Sebastian said, taking the plate of cookies from Claude, "We can actually return the favor. I'll be right back." He walked quickly into the kitchen and returned with another plate, laden with undecorated gingerbread cookies. "Claude and I made these, but we made a little more than we'll be able to eat. Would you like to decorate them?" he asked, handing the plate to Edward. The small blond boy's eyes widened with delight. "There's four of them, one for you, one for your mom, one for your dad, and one for the baby. We left 'em blank so you can decorate them."

"Oh, thank you," Francis smiled. "I'm always so horrible at gingerbread anything, but they're Alexis' favorites," She laughed, but stopped abruptly, placing a hand on the side of her large belly. "This kid's definitely a kicker," she said, laughing lightly again.

"When are you due?" Claude asked. "You look like you're going to pop any second."

"Oh, I wish," Francis laughed again. "I'm not due until late January, but if this baby is anything like Edward, I might still be waiting in February," she smiled. "What about Rachel? Isn't she due this month?"

"Yeah," Sebastian nodded. "We haven't heard from her in a while, but she's supposed to be going to the hospital here in the next few days."

"That's wonderful," Francis said, letting out a girlish squeal. "You must call me as soon as you bring the twins home! We've got to throw a shower or something! Unless, of course, you have a stash of baby supplies lying around that I don't know about," she joked with a wink.

"Well, if you hear a scream in the middle of the night, and then see our car leave the garage, you'll know around when to expect us with the twins," Claude laughed.

"I'll be listening, then," she laughed, taking Edward's hand. "We've got to run over to Agni's before it gets too dark. You two have a good night, alright?" she said, grinning over her shoulder. Claude and Sebastian both called out goodbyes and closed the front door.

"Would it be horrible to just eat these cookies for dinner?" Claude asked, shuffling back towards the kitchen. Without waiting for an answer, he took a large bite out of one of the cookies. They were sweet and still warm. He closed his eyes, letting his tongue relish in the taste.

"I'll let you get by without eating your vegetables if you'll have a Christmas movie marathon with me," Sebastian said, wagging his eyebrows up and down. Claude laughed. By "Christmas movie marathon" Sebastian meant "Let's watch 'White Christmas' and 'It's A Wonderful Life' until we fall asleep." Sebastian's Christmas traditions were always the same. Some days it was annoying, but some days, the consistency was welcomed.

"As long as you don't make me sing along," Claude laughed, before popping the rest of the cookie into his mouth.


Claude and Sebastian were snuggled on the couch, a thick red blanket draped across the two of them. Sebastian's arm was draped around Claude's waist, and by the sound of his breathing he was asleep. The later it got in the evening, the harder the rain poured. But, Claude could hardly describe it as gloomy now. He was in nothing but good spirits. He glanced at the time. It was twelve in the morning. He should probably be tired, considering he didn't get much sleep the night before, but he only felt wide awake. His eyes were glued to the black and white images flashing across the TV.

The phone rang, breaking the still of the moment. Claude sat up, utterly confused as to why anyone would be calling this early in the morning. His stirring woke Sebastian, who sat and rubbed his eyes. Sebastian paused the movie as Claude answered the phone.

"Hello?" Claude greeted hesitantly.

"Hey," Vincent's voice greeted. Usually, the boy had a smooth, calm, deep lull when he spoke, but it was clear that he was a little shaken. "It's happening," he said, bluntly.

"What?" Claude asked, his heart rate picking up. "What's happening?"

"Um, Rachel went into labor," Vincent said. He sounded as though he wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. "She's totally fine, but you guys probably want to get down here. If not for any other reason than to keep me company," he laughed nervously. Claude bolted up from his sitting position, and frantically ran to grab an umbrella and a pair of shoes. Sebastian was left sitting on the couch looking completely and utterly lost.

"Oh my God!" Claude exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Okay, um, we're on our way. We'll be there!" He hung up without waiting for a response from Vincent. Sebastian stood, and walked over to Claude, his eyes widening a little. "They're coming!" Claude said, wrapping his arms around Sebastian's neck. "The twins are coming!" He kissed Sebastian excitedly before returning to search for his shoes. Sebastian stood frozen for a moment, teetering where he stood. Then, just as suddenly as Claude, he became animated.

Within minutes, the two of them were in the hospital maternity waiting room. They were a little more drenched than they had intended on being, but an umbrella can only do so much good when you're running. Upon their arrival, they found Vincent pacing. He relaxed a little as soon as he saw Claude and Sebastian.

"How is she? How are things? Why aren't you in there?" Claude asked, bombarding the dark haired youth with questions.

"I was," Vincent began, "I was in there for the first hour or so, but I guess I was freaking out a little too much. Rachel told me to wait out here until it was over. So, I called you two."

"So she's only been in labor for a couple hours?" Claude asked. Vincent nodded. "Alright," Claude said, trying to calm his nerves down. He walked over to one of the chairs and sat. Sebastian followed suit, motioning for Vincent to join them.

"How are you?" Sebastian asked, filled with caring concern, as the boy sat down. Vincent shrugged, shakily.

"It's just… weird, you know?" he said, letting out another nervous laugh. "I mean, Rachel's having our twins," he paused for a moment. "She totally freaked me out, too. I was asleep, and all of a sudden she's screaming that we need to go to the hospital, because she's sure the babies are coming. I had no idea what to do, so I basically just ran around like an idiot. It's a miracle she's so level headed. I mean, she was crazy excited and irrational at first, but as soon as it became apparent that I was going to be of no use in the situation, she guided me through everything."

"Well, the worst part of it is over for you," Sebastian laughed. "She's here and she's safe. Now, you've just got to wait." He clapped a comforting hand on Vincent's shoulder.

The conversation between the three men was sporadic. Vincent would stand up and pace, then return to his seat, only to stand up and pace again. Sebastian was trying hard to stay awake, but kept dozing off in the uncomfortable chair. Claude was completely restless. He just sat completely still, staring at the clock and watching the minutes tick away.

At about five thirty in the morning, a smiling, but exhausted looking nurse came into the waiting room, and called for Vincent to come with her. Claude and Sebastian both gave him parting words of encouragement and congratulations as he walked away. Claude took Sebastian's hand and smiled.

"This is it," he said, squeezing Sebastian's hand.

"Claude," Sebastian said, looking at the ground. "I- I've never wanted to admit this; never in my entire life. But," he sighed. "I'm really scared. What if this whole parenting thing isn't for me? What if I'm horrible at it and our kids hate me? I don't want to screw up their entire lives."

"Hey," Claude said, soothingly, taking Sebastian's face in his hands. "Don't you ever think for one second that you have nothing to offer these children. You're going to be a great dad. I know it. Rachel knows it, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested we adopt them," Claude smiled. Sebastian's worry was sweet. It was endearing. It made him even more confident that Sebastian was ready to be a father. Admitting insecurity was difficult, but Claude was grateful that Sebastian was willing to share with him. "After all," he added, "You've had my back for all these years. You've watched out for me, and protected me. It's not going to be hard to do that for your children. And as long as you love them and protect them the way you love and protect me, they can't ask for more." Claude smiled, kissing Sebastian, who was still a little shaky. His worried expression had softened a little, and he wrapped his arms around Claude, hugging him tightly.

They separated, but laced their fingers together again. The nurse that had called Vincent away returned. She was still beaming.

"Are you two Claude and Sebastian?" She said, addressing them. Claude nodded, his heart flying up to his throat. He really couldn't believe this moment was here. "Rachel's ready for you to come and see her now." The nurse held open the doors. Claude and Sebastian stood.

"You ready?" Claude asked, breathily and obviously excited. Sebastian nodded, but Claude noted his hand was still shaky. The two of them, hand in hand, followed the nurse down the hall and walked into a small room.

Rachel was sitting upright in her bed, her golden curls still wet with sweat. She looked drained, but her glow was much more noticeable. She beamed as she saw Sebastian and Claude enter the room. In her arms, she held a small bundle. Vincent was sitting in a chair on the side of her bed. He looked just as exhausted as she, though he was beaming down at the small infant he held in his arms.

"Hey," she greeted. "Sebastian," she laughed, "Pull up a chair! You look like you're going to drop to the floor any second!" Sebastian didn't need to be told twice. He sat in the chair next to Vincent's, glancing down at the child in the boy's arms, completely speechless.

"How are you?" Claude asked, stepping closer. "Did everything go alright?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine." A small tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. "You wanna hold him?" She asked, offering the child to Claude. He reached out and gently took the child into his arms. The feeling was nothing short of miraculous. It was as though the small bundle was made to fit cradled into his arms. The little face was angelic. He smiled.

"He's so perfect," Claude said softly. "Rachel, I-" he started, but his voice failed him. "Wow," he laughed.

"How are we going to be able to tell them apart?" Sebastian asked dumbly, looking up from the bundle in his own arms. He earned a laugh from Rachel.

"They're fraternal," she said. "At least I think so. So far, that one's got Vincent's hair," she said, gesturing to the baby in Sebastian's arms. "And that one's a blonde."

"Have you thought of what to name them?" Vincent asked, finally back to his old relaxed self. Claude and Sebastian exchanged glances. They'd tossed several names around, but it was more in good fun than anything else. They hadn't really taken the whole naming business very seriously.

"We didn't think… I mean, I thought you were going to name them," Claude said. Rachel smiled.

"They're your kids," she said, laughing a little. "Of course you get to name your own kids."

There was a silence in the room. Claude was pouring through all of the names he had held inside of his brain. He knew Sebastian was doing the same. They had been thinking of naming one of them after Sebastian's dad, but looking down at the two small children, the name didn't really seem to fit. He thought of name after name after name….

"Ciel and Alois," he said, after some time. Sebastian's head snapped up, his eyes wide with shock. Neither of them had uttered those names in years. They were just phantoms of the past really. Not necessarily bad ones, they simply belonged in the past.

"…Are- are you serious?" Sebastian asked with a little laugh. Claude smiled.

"Of course I'm serious. The names fit. He looks like a Ciel," Claude said, kneeling down and kissing the small infant in Sebastian's arms. "And he looks like an Alois," he said, looking down at the baby in his own arms.

"I think those names are lovely," Rachel agreed. "What made you think of those names?"

Claude smiled. He thought back to his Sophomore year of college, back when he was nothing but a young, hopeless romantic. Suffering from unrequited love, of course. He thought life had been so hard back then, but two kids came and turned all of that upside down. Alois, his first boyfriend, walked back into his life and gave him the courage to do things he'd never dreamed of doing before- like confessing his feelings to Sebastian, for one. And Ciel… well, Ciel had left less of a good impression on Claude, but he had at least given Claude a ray of hope. Hope that maybe a relationship with Sebastian wasn't all that impossible. And it turned out, it wasn't.

"Sebastian and I kind of owe a lot to a Ciel and an Alois," he said, giving a soft smile to Sebastian. "If it weren't for them, we probably wouldn't be together. They kind of taught us that so much is possible." Sebastian smiled.

"Yeah, they did," Sebastian agreed with a grin, gently nuzzling the newborn in his arms.


A\N: Well... yay! So now things are double the fun! I'm sorry for the Christmassy-ness overload in this chapter. I just randomly got hit with excitement for the holiday, and it kinda leaked out in my writing C: So now, you basically know all of my Christmas traditions (except I don't streak while wearing reindeer antlers. That's a "Sebastian only" kinda thing... haha)! And I realize that Ciel and Alois aren't born on the same day, but I wanted them both to be born in December... because reasons (Ironically enough, I wrote this yesterday, and the 14th is actually Ciel's birthday. Of this, I wasn't aware!)

Just fair warning- there will be lots of timeskips from here on out, but I'll be sure to let you know how far ahead we're skipping when it happens C: Thanks so much to everyone who shows and continues to show support to this fic! You guys are wonderful and mean a lot to me! You'll probably be hearing a lot from me over the next few weeks, as I'm finally on my holiday break (YEE HAW)!

Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear from all of you!