Author's Note: If anyone is interested, I drew a picture of the little Ereri love baby for this fanfic. You can find it here at my Tumblr: http(:)/(gothicdancer).(tumblr).com(/)post(/)68528657700

Please don't repost! Reblog it if you like it, thank you!

Eren quickly closed the front door behind him and locked it, his breath still visible as he exhaled a sigh of relief at finally being inside. A bit reluctantly, he stripped off his heavy winter coat and accessories and placed them in the nearby closet. He then pulled a light jacket from the closet, slipped it on, and started rubbing his hands together to warm them.

Levi appeared in the doorway between the hallway and the kitchen. "All done?"

Eren nodded. "Yeah, all the firewood's chopped, but, oh my god, it's cold out there. I don't remember it being this cold this early last year. Looks like winter came early."

"But there isn't even any snooooooooow!" their son whined as he sat in front of the open stove in the kitchen, where dinner was cooking. He turned away from the fire and pouted at first but then smiled. "Daddy, your nose is red."

Eren nodded and smiled a bit, too. "Yeah, I figured as much." He rubbed his slightly warmed fingers against his numb nose and walked into the kitchen. The heat from the stove immediately warmed him, and his smile widened.

A cup of hot tea appeared in front of him, and he took it in his hands, loving the warmth radiating from it and the steam rising to his still-cold nose. He looked to the side and smiled as Levi stood on his tip-toes. That was Eren's cue to bend down, and Levi placed a kiss on his lips. "Thank you for chopping the wood," the shorter murmured as he broke the kiss, only to dive back in a second later. They only stopped when they heard a giggle. When they glanced down at their son, the child turned back towards the fire, cheeks pink and eyes sparkling.

Once dinner was finished and the remnants cleaned, Eren lit the fireplace in the living room, hoping to disperse some of the heat throughout the rest of the house. His son immediately sat in front of it, determined to have the best spot for the rest of the evening. Eren chuckled a bit at this. "You get cold awfully quickly for someone born in January."

"That has nothing to do with it, idiot," Levi groaned as he sat in one of the plush armchairs with a cup of hot tea. "Besides, we had a surprisingly mild winter that year, remember?"

"I wish we could go to the sand fields," the child suddenly sighed. "It's hot there."

Levi raised a brow at him. "How do you know? We don't even know if they actually exist."

"No, they exist. And they're hot because the plants have water inside them. That's the only reason they don't die."

"Wait," Eren interrupted, "who got to go to the sand fields in your pictures?"

"Uncle Jean, Aunt Mikasa, and Guardian Angel Marco."

"Why does Horse Face get to go there!"

"I swear to god, Eren, you're the baby in this family."

"Babies don't chop firewood! And why is Mikasa with him!"

"Because Uncle Jean looks at her the same way Aunt Annie looks at Uncle Armin."

The two adults stared down at their son, glanced at each other, and then looked back at him. "You notice that stuff?" Eren asked.

The child nodded. "He looks at her whenever the Survey Corps is out training, because it's the only time they're always in the same place. Don't you guys don't see it?"

Eren shook his head and sat down next to the boy. "Enough of that, I don't like the thought of Jean ogling my sister." He visibly shivered, more out of disgust than the cold, and held his hands out to the fire to warm them.

The little family sat just like that for a few quiet minutes until Levi finished his tea. He walked into the kitchen to clean his cup when he noticed how cold it was. "Weird," he murmured as he washed the cup and set it down to dry, "we just had a fire in here, and the heat from the fire in the living room should reach." Narrowing his eyes, he headed up the stairs to the second level and immediately shivered. Both the master bedroom and the child's bedroom were freezing cold. "Eren!" he called as he came back downstairs. "Eren, check the pipe near the fireplace! None of the house is getting any heat!"

"Huh?" Eren jumped up and did as instructed, inspecting the pipes that were supposed to transfer heat from the fireplace to the rest of the house, only to find a cracked opening. Sure enough, all the heat was escaping, warming the living room but nothing else. "Aw crap," he groaned, "this sucks."

"What?"

"A part of the pipe is busted! Ugh, it's too late to fix it, too, we barely have any light."

Levi rubbed the area between his eyes as he descended the rest of the staircase. "Okay, now what? Sleeping up there would be like sleeping outside, even if we piled the rest of the blankets on top of one another."

Their son frowned. "I don't wanna sleep in the cold."

Eren narrowed his eyes in thought until they suddenly burst open with an idea. "I've got it! We'll sleep down here tonight!"

He was met with two sets of dumbfounded eyes. "Wait, what?" his husband questioned, moving his hands so he was rubbing his temples. A headache was coming on. "And where exactly do you propose we sleep? There are no beds down here."

Eren shrugged. "We could make a bed out of our mattresses and sheets."

"You're really a brat, you know that?"

"I wanna do it!" the child in the middle of all this exclaimed, thrusting his hand up and grinning excitedly. "It'll be like a sleepover party! Oh, can we do it, Papa? Please?"

Oh crap. Even with nothing but the light coming from the fireplace, Levi could still see those big, green eyes staring at him, pleading and hoping and waiting and dammit, now Eren was looking at him the same way. Levi tried to stand his ground, he really did. He tried to keep his mouth frowning and his eyes narrowed and his body stiff and rigid. There was no way he was going to let the two people he loved and adored and spoiled more than anyone else in all of humanity have a slumber party in front of the fireplace on that freezing cold night.

…Right?

"Please, Papa?"

"Fine."

"Yay!" Eren and their son cheered together, rushing past Levi and up the stairs to gather their mattresses and sheets. Levi just leaned against the wall and hoped his now very prominent headache would go away.

But he couldn't help but smile a little as he watched his husband and son rush down the stairs with the needed supplies. Eren set the mattress for the master bedroom, which was king-sized and, therefore, big enough for all three of them, in front of the fireplace and then helped the child arrange the sheets and blankets. The child had also brought his favorite stuffed toy down with him, and he immediately dove under the covers with it as soon as Eren finished. Eren grinned at him and snuggled up, wrapping his big arms around him in a hug. The little boy giggled and looked up. "Come on, Papa!"

Levi's head hit the pillow, and his headache disappeared.

Eren grinned at him. "So glad you could join us."

"Yeah, yeah, but this is only for tonight, you two understand? We're fixing the pipe first thing tomorrow morning and remaking the beds and sleeping normally tomorrow night."

The child nodded. "Yup, I understand, Papa, thank you." He scooted over and snuggled up against Levi, who couldn't help but run his finger's across the boy's pink, chubby cheeks. He smiled when he heard sweet giggles. They had become one of his favorite sounds over the past few years, along with squeaky clean windows and floors, book pages turning, and Eren moaning (although he kept that last one to himself).

The three of them lay there quietly for a little while, basking in the warmth of the lit fireplace and the comfort of being together. The snap and crackle of the fire was soothing, and Eren found himself dozing off a bit. His eyelids were starting to get heavy, but he still kept his eyes on Levi, who seemed content and adorably happy. His gray eyes had turned a gorgeous hazel against the fire's orange and yellow flames, and Eren found himself falling even deeper in love with him, for that was something he had never noticed. With enough of the right light, Levi's eyes appeared hazel.

Fascinating.

"Papa," came a little voice between them.

Levi looked down. "What is it, baby?"

"What do you want for your birthday?"

Eren perked up a little at this, as he had also been wondering what his dear husband would want on that special day. Shopping for Levi's birthday was both easy and difficult. Easy because he could buy him a Christmas and birthday present during the same shopping trip but difficult because he was a difficult person to shop for in general. What in the world did Lance Corporal Levi need? What did he even want?

He watched as Levi just smiled and pressed a kiss to their son's forehead. "The only thing I want," he murmured lovingly, "is to spend the day with my family, to cook and eat our Christmas dinner together, to play with you, and to see the joy on your face when you open your presents on Christmas morning."

Eren suddenly fell even deeper in love, not that he was complaining.

The child, however, seemed dissatisfied with the response. "But it's YOUR day, Papa. Even though it's also Christmas, it's your birthday. I wanna get you something."

Levi kissed his forehead again. "Don't worry about it, baby, but thank you."

"Besides, I don't think anything could quite top having you," Eren added with a grin.

"But I wasn't born on Christmas…"

"Meh, January's close enough."

Levi nodded. "We had bought the rocking chair about a week before Christmas anyway, so I counted that as a present. Like we told you, you would fall asleep every time we rocked you in it, so it ended up being the best present any new parents could ask for."

Eren laughed quietly. "Saved us from so many sleepless nights. Not that you cried too much anyway."

"Oh god," Levi suddenly groaned, rolling over onto his back, "if you had inherited your daddy's lungs, I don't know what I would have done. I swear, baby, you should have heard Daddy when he was a teenager, constantly yelling and screaming and throwing his 'I'M GONNA KILL THE TITAAAAAAAAAAANS' fits. He screamed more than most infants, I swear."

"I'm glad I didn't inherit Daddy's lungs."

"Me, too, baby."

"Hey!"

Both of them turned over onto their sides and grinned at Eren, who had a brow raised in skepticism, though his face quickly softened when Levi leaned over and kissed him.

When they separated, the child thought of something. "Hey, Daddy," he said, "what was the first present you ever got for Papa?"

Eren's face paled a bit, and Levi snorted, a smirk now gracing his features. He moved his arm up so his elbow was on the pillow and his head was leaning against the palm of his hand. "Go on, tell him," he urged his husband, his voice tinged with a bit of mockery.

The color returned to Eren's face twice over with his cheeks blushing pink. "It's the thought that counts, okay…"

I was seriously stumped. I had no idea what to get for Levi's birthday, and I had less than twenty-four hours left to figure it out.

The year had gone by so quickly with so many amazing things happening one after another that I didn't know how to finish it. What would be the grand finale to the year? I had turned eighteen, we had moved into our own private house together, and we had gotten married. All of that dwarfed a mere holiday, but this holiday was also Levi's birthday. More importantly, it was the first birthday we were going to celebrate as a married couple, so it had to be special. It had to be unique. It had to be memorable.

Only I didn't have a lot of money. We had spent a lot on our wedding (even though it had been small) and our house, so things were a little tight. I contemplated this as I sat at the dining room table, the contents of my wallet spilled out in front of me. I certainly had enough to buy something nice, now it was just a matter of buying the right thing.

Sighing, I put the money back into my wallet, put my winter coat on, and left the house. Levi was finishing up some last-minute work with Erwin, so chances were good he wouldn't be back until late that night. I was thankful I had some time to go out and shop, but a little ball of anxiety was starting to form in my stomach. What if I couldn't find anything? What if I got the wrong thing?

"Think, Eren, think," I muttered, burying my nose into my coat to keep it warm. What did Levi like? Clean stuff, definitely, but cleaning products as a gift seemed tasteless. Besides, Levi already had enough washcloths and buckets to fill an entire supply closet, and I didn't want to clean the house from top to bottom again since I had done that to propose to him. What else? Tea, definitely, but he was picky about it. If I went and bought the wrong kind, Levi would be unimpressed to put it politely. Books, oh yes, he liked books. Books weren't a bad idea, even though Levi could buy all the books he wanted on any given day.

I started thinking about less obvious things. Jewelry? Levi had never been one for it, the evidence in his simple wedding ring and lack of jewelry elsewhere, but maybe he had just never seen anything he liked? I figured that nice clothes could be an okay option, too, but Levi already had a few rather expensive suits in his closet. I couldn't buy anything to decorate a room in the house since he liked bare, clean spaces. Food? No, he wasn't Sasha, he…

No, food.

More specifically, drink.

Alcohol? No, he wasn't much of a drinker, and he could buy that anywhere.

There was something else.

I looked up and realized that I had walked all the way to the gate leading to the fields between Wall Maria and Wall Rose.

What I needed was only in Wall Sina. It would be expensive, yes, but it would be worth it, so I ran through the gate, waving to the Garrison soldiers as I passed, and began my quest.

Levi did indeed come home late that night, only a few minutes until midnight. He looked exhausted and annoyed and stressed out, and my anxiety was building. I was still working on his present when he came through the door, so I pressed the gas and rushed to finish it as I heard him walk into the living room, where the tree was up and decorated. He seemed distracted by it, so took the moment to finish up and-

…PERFECT!

"Levi," I gasped as I ran into the room with a cup in my hands.

He turned and raised a brow at me. "You're still up? I thought you would have gone to bed hours ago."

"I was gonna but, I swear, I was working on-"

The clock struck midnight.

I let out a relieved sigh and allowed myself to relax. "I was working on your present," I finished calmly. "Happy Birthday, Levi, and Merry Christmas."

His eyes widened and little as he shifted his gaze down towards what I had in my hands. "What is…?"

"It's hot chocolate," I explained with a giddy grin. "I wanted to get something nice for you that we've never had, and you can only buy chocolate in Wall Sina, and, even then, it's still really expensive. But, oh my god, there's a whole story. So I went past Wall Maria and headed towards Wall Rose, but then I realized that it would take me a long time without a horse, so I started running. Eventually I got tired, and that was when I realized I should have taken the boat, so I ran back towards Wall Maria and got on a boat that was about to leave. It was all good and everything until the Garrison soldiers needed help docking since, I swear, they were drunk off their asses before the holiday had even started, so I helped them dock it, which took extra time. Then I had to run through the town in Wall Rose, and I kept getting stopped. First I helped an elderly couple carry their groceries to their house, then I climbed a tree to get a woman's cat back, then I helped a store owner break up the ice around his store so people wouldn't slip on it. Then, finally, I made it to the gate and passed some more drunk Garrison soldiers, and all I could think of was Hannes, so I started crying, but I still kept running. One of the soldiers who wasn't horribly drunk noticed me and said I could borrow his horse, so I did and I rode it into Wall Sina. Finally I was there so I ran around asking people where I could find chocolate, and there was only one shop still open in the entire area, so I ran to it and bought a whole pound, and it was expensive as all hell. It was okay though because I knew it would be worth it in the end! But then I realized that the horse had somehow gotten loose so I had to call it back, and it didn't come back for some time. Finally though, I found it and rode it back to Wall Rose. I went to give it back to the soldier, but he was gone, so I rode it all the way back to Wall Maria and gave it to the Garrison soldiers there, and, surprisingly enough, they had the sense in them to shelter it for the night. So then I ran back home, shaved the chocolate, mixed it with milk and a little bit of water because I wanted you to have a cup as soon as you came home, and then you came home, and now we're here!"

Silence. Levi stared at me for what seemed like forever. I grinned at him, probably looking really stupid and far too pleased with myself, but I couldn't help it. I was proud of myself! I had gone through all sorts of trials and tribulations to get a thoughtful present for him. This was a day of celebration! More than Christmas, it was my dear husband's birthday! Was it so wrong of me to want to do something more than a little nice? I just wanted a little acknowledgment for my effort, but he just kept staring at me.

Until he sighed.

"Dumbass."

"What?"

He smiled and shook his head sympathetically. "I used to steal chocolate from vendors in Wall Sina all the time during my underground days."

I felt my entire world crash around me. Everything I had done to make the present special…no, it wasn't a special present. Levi had tasted chocolate before, so this wasn't new or interesting in the slightest. Nope, this was old news.

I had screwed up.

"Eren."

He leaned up and kissed me.

"But I never experienced anything like you did," he whispered against my lips. "All that and you were still determined to get it, huh? Because you wanted to do something nice for me. Heh, you'd suck as a thief, but you make a great husband."

"Levi…"

"I love it, you stupid brat, thank you."

He kissed me again before I could sat anything, and my heart felt light. I hadn't screwed up; I had done it! I was so happy at that moment, and I felt like maybe this whole marriage thing would work out. I felt him gently place his hands over mine, and I passed the cup to him as he settled himself. He took a little sip and smiled at me, the kind of smile that could end wars and cure any disease.

"It's delicious."

I smiled back, still a bit embarrassed. "I'm glad. I love you."

"I love you, too. Merry Christmas, Eren."

"Happy Birthday, Levi."

Between them, the child snored quietly, hugging his favorite plush toy to his chest. The fire had died down a little but still gave off enough heat to keep them warm. Eren reached out from underneath the covers, linked his fingers with Levi's, and placed their hands so they were resting on top of their son. Eren gently leaned over, careful not to wake the boy, and kissed Levi sweetly yet passionately.

"I really do love you," he whispered as he pulled away, "grumpy attitude, snarky sarcasm, cleaning obsession, and all."

"And I really love you, too," Levi whispered back, "stupid mind, excessive determination, overly healthy lungs, and all."

They settled back down and cuddled together, finally allowing their eyes to close.

"Good night, Levi."

"Good night, Eren."

And sleep took them.

Silence.

Their son's eyes opened, and he giggled quietly as he kissed his toy.

"Silly Daddy. Silly Papa."

And he finally allowed sleep to take him, too.

END