CHAPTER 20

Jack was lying on the bed and pretty much waiting for the moment, when the girls would come to wake him and Sue up. It was perfectly normal for one of their daughters - usually Jade, as along Michelle she was an early riser like their mother - to wake her sisters up, so they would all go to their parents to get them out of the bed as well. It was a rule, that they couldn't open the presents until everyone was up and they wanted to do it as soon as possible. It was just a matter of moments before he heard four pairs of footsteps, and in the next moment the girls stormed into the room and onto the bed, before he could stop them. He tried, knowing that Sue had a rather difficult night; she kept tossing and turning all the time, waking him in result. He quickly realised that just like with their children, a kiss or caress could help but unfortunately, only for some time. It was only around morning that her sleep became more peaceful and he really wanted her to get this rest, but he didn't manage to open his lips before Vanessa jumped onto the bed, very quickly joined by her sisters. Jack groaned, when Jade's knee pushed right into his ribs, and wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her off himself, making her squeal.

"No, Sweetie." he said, when she tried to climb back onto him, obviously seeing it as a huge fun and the girl sat on the bed, pouting.

Soon, however, she joined her sisters in their attempts to make their mom get up. Not eager to do so, Sue found herself drowned in pleas, caresses and kisses, and eventually raised herself to a sitting position. She sighed heavily, and turned to look at her family. Even though she wasn't happy that they had woken her, she really couldn't be angry at them. How could she if all - including their father - were looking at her with those puppy-eyes, making her heart swell? It was funny how they were so different from each other, yet in this moment they looked so much alike. Yes, she really had an absolutely adorable family and it was impossible to be mad at them.

"Let's go, open the presents!" exclaimed Vanessa and all four girls ran out of the room.

Jack and Sue just exchanged glances, smiling at each other before getting out of the bed and following their daughters. If they didn't, they would soon come back to pull them to the living room, where the tree was standing. Ruth and Samuel were already there and smiled, when the younger couple walked in, looking quite sleepy. They both sat heavily on the couch, and while Michelle and Emma went to divide the boxes between the respective people, Vanessa and Jade climbed onto their parents' laps.

Soon everyone had their gifts, and it was no surprise, that girls had more boxes than the adults. Luckily for them, Jack and Sue didn't have to bring the gifts in their luggage. Buying them online, they gave Jack's parents' address, so they would be sent to Wisconsin and seeing the amount - and most importantly size - of some of them, they had no doubts they would have to have them sent to D.C. There was no way they would be able to take it all to the plane in their bags.

As if because of some kind of agreement, the first thing all of them unpacked was the plush "My Little Pony" ponies. Jack, who packed the gifts on the previous evening after putting the girls to sleep, was grateful for his wife's help and knowledge about cartoons their daughters liked and, in this situation, their preferences. As each of the girls liked a different pony the most, they got four different ponies and he had no idea, which should be given to who. He was amazed that Sue remembered the names and all sort of other details, but they weren't telling her anything. He watched as they unpacked them and could only pray that he got them right.

"I got Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Vanessa, who was the first one to unpack it and showed the blue pony to her sisters.

"Pinkie Pie!" squealed Jade, grinning at her older sister and showing her the pink one.

"And I have Fluttershy!" stated Michelle, holding the gold pony up so they could see. "What about you, Emma?"

"Twilight Sparkle." beamed Emma, hugging the purple pony.

He sighed with relief, when Sue signed to him that he got them right and watched the girls open the rest of their gifts. Everyone watched how they unwrapped their boxes and every now and then they would hear one of them squeal happily. Jade was very happy to see beautiful silver earrings with heart-shaped pink crystals, and even though she was still in her pyjamas, she asked Sue to put them into her ears. Then, she unpacked a plush Flounder from "The Little Mermaid" and, in the end, a pink Furby. Vanessa, on the other hand, received a blue Furby, a plush Nala from "The Lion King" and a picture of her hockey team with dedication and autographs.

"Daddy, look!" she exclaimed, running to Jack and showing it to him.

"Wow, great!" he looked at his parents, who were smiling at her reaction.

Next it was Emma's turn. As she loved to read, Jack and Sue didn't hesitate to buy her books and this time, they chose "Anne of the Green Gables" series. Her grandparents chose a set of four 500-piece puzzles with Disney movies and an American Girl Doll.

"I want one, too!" whined Michelle upon seeing it.

The next gift, which she opened turned out to be just that, with the only difference being the dolls' appearance as Michelle's had blonde hair and Emma's black. Then she unpacked a set of five Monster High dolls, and Sue couldn't stop the giggle, when she noticed her husband's face. It was already on the last evening that he voiced how he couldn't see how the girls wanted to play with dolls, which looked like monsters and the way he looked at her, when she explained that they were in fact monsters. Now, he watched their daughter and she could see he was wondering about that again. After a moment Michelle moved on to the last gift and was very surprised to see a violin case with an instrument inside. Her old one got destroyed, when she fell down the last few stairs as she was leaving the school one day. Luckily, the girl herself only had a few bruises, but the violin was in a state, which's repair would probably cost more than a new one and since then they were renting one for her until they would buy her a new instrument. They kept forgetting and now, she finally got it from her grandparents.

They all received hugs and kisses in thanks, and their expectant gaze left no doubts that it was now their turn to unwrap their presents. Jack chuckled, when the first things he saw were new socks and boxers; Sue was always complaining about the state of those, and the fact that he never bought new ones. He also received two new shirts, one from his wife and one from his parents, a tie from his daughters and a new mp3 player so he could listen to music during running because the last one got lost.

Ruth was very happy with her jewellery box, even more when she saw a picture of her granddaughters on its lid, and Samuel with his book. But, as expected, they liked the pictures of the girls the most.

"What are you waiting for, Sunshine?" asked Jack, when he noticed that his wife's gifts were still untouched.

She tore off the paper in order to reveal a bottle of her favourite perfumes from her daughters, a set of cosmetics from her in-laws and, in the end, a wallet and a necklace from her husband. What she liked the most about it was that while quite elegant, she could also wear it casually.

"Thank you, Baby." she spoke, leaning closer and kissed him.

The girls immediately protested, and just a very short moment later Jack moved away from Sue with a chuckle; his lips didn't even manage to touch his wife's, before their daughters let out the loud 'Eww!'. It wasn't the end of the gifts, though. Ruth brought another package and handed it to Sue, although it didn't have anyone's name. When she unpacked it, she saw two sets of onesies; one of the sets was white and the other green.

"We didn't really know what colours we should choose and those two seemed neutral." explained Ruth.

"They're wonderful." smiled Sue, looking at the clothes. "Thank you."

Soon, she found herself back in the bed, trying to take at least a small nap as she was barely awake. She didn't even know why, but she really couldn't sleep well that night and it definitely felt good to lay in her husband's arms, enjoying his closeness but she couldn't doze off. Their minds kept going to all the things that their daughters received and while she was happy that they got everything, what they loved, she couldn't help feeling bad that Ruth and Samuel spent so much money on those presents. She didn't say a thing; she didn't want to make them feel like she didn't appreciate but she also knew that there would be no point in trying to convince them that they really didn't have to satisfy all their cravings to make the girls happy. She still remembered the scolding her husband received, when he mentioned it to his mother during one of the first Christmases. He heard that they rarely saw the girls and should have at least the right to spoil them as much as they wanted. One thing, what made them relieved though, was that at least their daughters weren't demanding – or they weren't yet.

"Can I join you?" sounded from the direction of the door and Jack looked up to see Emma standing in the door.

"Yes, sure. Is something wrong?" he asked, and the girl shook her head, when she got onto the bed and moved to lay down between them.

"I just want to cuddle."

It wasn't even five minutes before Jack heard another footsteps and Michelle appeared, asking the very same question. He laughed, when she joined them and he noticed Vanessa and Jade standing right behind their older sister.

"You two can come too, if you want to. No jumping, though!" he raised his voice a little, when they started to run to the bed, but obediently slowed down and got onto the bed normally.

It took them all a while, but they managed to make themselves comfortable and Sue sighed heavily, when she looked at the four girls, separating her from Jack now, but there was a hint of smile on her face. That would be the end of her peaceful while with her husband.

x

Ever since they had children, nobody really expected a calm Christmas morning. This year, however, was an exception for one of them, more precisely for Tara. Eric Smith didn't feel excited at all, even when his mother handed him a box wrapped in a blue paper with white snowflakes. He didn't think he would get anything, not after such a hurried leave, when his mom had taken only the most necessary things and a present definitely couldn't be counted as one of those. But, despite that, Tara wanted her son to have at least a little bit of the holiday and took the one, which she though he would be the happiest with.

"Thank you, Mommy." he said and started to look for the tape, which held the paper together.

Most of the people was simply tearing it off, but he was amongst those, who were patiently taking the tape off and unfolding it. His eyes widened, when he looked at a box with a figurine of the Iron Man. While a lot of boys were in love with cars, planes or other vehicles, Eric has always preferred bricks and Marvel superheroes, especially the latter. Even though Tara liked them, too, his knowledge about them and their adventures always astonished her. He remembered details, which she wouldn't even think of paying attention to. He had a whole collection of figurines – members of the Avengers and mostly the X-Men. Iron Man, however, was the only main character of the former, which she has never been able to find anywhere. It seemed that it was quite popular, because even in the Internet, it was always sold out.

Even now, she managed to get it only thanks to Sue and Emma. During one of those days, when the rest of the family was out, spending time on their extra activities, Sue decided to take her daughter to the cinema and later went shopping. It was Emma, who noticed it on the display and informed her, that it was pretty much the only one, that Eric couldn't find even though he would really want to have it as Tony Stark was one of his favourite superheroes. Sue decided to call her and Tara asked her to buy it, and remember the price, so she could give the money back. They were lucky, because soon after a man came into the shop, asking for it as he had seen it earlier and it turned out to be the very last one. She was extremely thankful and, just like she expected, her son's eyes lit up when he saw it. There was no explosion of happiness, which would be normal for other children and, under different circumstances also for him. Still, it was very good to see a smile on his face.

"Thank you so much!" he said, kissing her cheek. "I love it!"

"I'm glad you do."

She pulled him close, when he wrapped her arms around her in order to give her a hug, and sat him on her lap, kissing his forehead. When she moved back, she could see that the sad expression was back on her face. She didn't have any doubts that he was thinking about something upsetting; the way he was chewing on his bottom lip was unmistakeable.

"What is it, Baby?"

"What will happen now?" he asked, moving his gaze up to her face. "Will we have to go back home, when Aunt Sue and Uncle Jack come back?"

"I-I don't know…" she admitted after a moment of hesitation.

She had absolutely no idea what to tell him, but she definitely didn't want to lie to him. She completely didn't know what they should do after her friends return home. She was aware that she didn't really have any place to go other than her brother's home, but he lived in Chicago so it was out of question. Yet, going home to Jason wasn't a good option, either. She has never seen him as angry as he was when he realised that they were leaving the house, and the bruise on her face made her see his face and hear his voice, every time she looked into a mirror. She could be seen as a rather meek person, but there were certain things that she would never allow people to do and being hit was certainly one of those. Not to mention the way he spoke about their son, sending her a very clear message that he didn't see anything wrong in his behaviour towards Eric, and didn't think there was actually a reason why he should as he didn't even want a child. She could be forgiving, but with these words he absolutely crossed the line and she didn't see any way, that she could ever forgive him for saying them. And, as much as she really didn't want to think about it, it seemed like her only real option was getting a divorce, full custody of Eric and finding a new place for them to call home.

"I don't want to go back to Dad…" he spoke quietly, chewing on his lip once again, the way he always did when he was nervous, upset or troubled by something.

"Oh, Eric…" she sighed, wrapping her arms tighter around him and hugging him. "We won't, Baby. I don't know what we will do, but we won't go back to Dad. I promise." she said, placing a long, tender kiss on his head.

"What about our things?" he inquired, and she could only sigh in response.

Most of their belongings – clothes, Eric's toys, her jewellery, generally everything – was still back at 'home'. She was somewhat surprised herself, but she realised that it was difficult for her to think about the place like that. Yet, she knew her husband well enough to be aware, that it wouldn't be easy to get them back if he was to know that she didn't intend to come back. He didn't have to see a problem with the latter, or need those things; he simply wouldn't want to make anything easy for her, as if it would make her see her fault in the whole situation. How was she supposed to get them back, then?

She has been thinking about it for a while now, and she actually came up with a plan. She had the keys to the house, as they were attached to the car keys, so getting into the house when he would be at work didn't seem like a problem. She was certain that her friends wouldn't mind going there with her, even if only to help her pack those things into boxes and carry them out. She didn't have any doubts that she would have to take everything during just one visit; if Jason noticed even some of them gone, he would most probably change locks or do anything, what would prevent her from getting back the rest. Still, there was also a question where she would keep all of those boxes? She didn't think that there would be a very big amount of them, but she didn't even have a room to spend the night with her son, let alone store their things before she would find a place for them to move into.

"We'll think about something." she finally said, holding the boy close.