"Daddy! Poppa!" Neal and Peter both startled awake as they turned to look at their son. They thought something was happening, so they'd both gone into defensive mode almost immediately. That was when they realized that Nicky had woken up to find his Christmas presents near a makeshift tree Neal and Peter went out to buy in the middle of the night a few nights ago. "Santa came!" he said excitedly.

Neal smiled softly at his son and Peter sighed quietly, kissing Neal's shoulder as Nicky darted over to the pile of gifts for him and the twins. "Get dressed," Peter whispered, smirking at the younger man after pecking his lips. Neal smiled wryly at Peter, reaching over the side of the bed to grab his sweatpants. Peter had his pants on the bed, so he dressed himself quickly. They kept their shirts on because it was too damn cold for that and they didn't think it was really appropriate to sleep in the nude with Peter's parents sleeping in the same room with them.

Once both men were dressed, they slid out of bed and joined their son near the couch. They decided to let Jon, Hannah, and the twins sleep as long as they could since it was still early. "Can I open my gifts?"

Peter murmured, "Maybe we should wait for grandma and grandpa to wake up."

Nicky whined and Neal chuckled. "Don't you want grandma and grandpa to see your gifts, too?"

"They can see them when they wake up because they'll be unwrapped."

Peter rolled his eyes and met Neal's gaze a moment later. "You can open one right now," Peter compromised, "as long as you promise to wait for everyone to wake up before opening the rest."

Nicky pouted and Neal raised an eyebrow, slightly amused while trying to act like he was on Peter's side. "Poppa's being very generous. If you don't want to wait…"

"Fine. I'll just wait."

Neal laughed quietly when his son acted like a little kid. He was acting the same way he'd acted as a six year old who wanted to open his presents from Santa. Neal had been particularly tired that morning, so he wasn't looking forward to the early wakeup call, but he'd gotten up after Nicky pouted and begged him to get up.

Peter leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Nicky's waist, pulling him back. Nicky giggled when Peter kissed his cheek, holding him on his lap. "Santa did a pretty good job at finding us," he said quietly. Neal really appreciated that Peter played along with him and the whole Santa thing. Nicky, as a fourteen almost fifteen year old, still believed in Santa. As much as Neal didn't want to ruin his little fantasy, he knew he'd have to break it to him eventually.

Nicky leaned back against his poppa, resting his hands over Peter's. "Did you guys get me some good stuff this year?" Peter and Neal stared at him in confusion. Nicky grinned at his dad, whispering, "I know it's been you guys all along."

"That's not—"

Nicky immediately cut Neal off by reaching over to touch his hand, telling him, "It's okay, dad." Neal's brows drew together. He kept telling himself he could let Nicky believe for another year and then it became another year and another year after that. "I've known since I was twelve."

"How?" he asked incredulously.

"Poppa." Neal's gaze flickered up to Peter's face and he glared at him. Peter looked innocent, like he hadn't the slightest idea of what Nicky was talking about. "He dropped a receipt in the hallway where you guys stashed the presents at the old apartment."

Peter flinched before Neal even had the chance to smack him. "As subtle as always," he said sarcastically. "You seriously played along for three years? Why?"

Nicky shrugged. "I know you like talking about Santa, so I wanted to make you happy, daddy." Neal stared at his son, awed. He hadn't even thought about it like that—or that Nicky would act like that because of him. "I still have all of the drawings you did for me when I was little. I kept them in one of the big sketchbooks you bought me."

"Nick…" he whispered.

"I remember you talking about Santa when I was five or six. You were always so excited leading up to Christmas and you were always really happy when I opened my presents." He took Neal's hand and held it tight. "You needed a couple more years to be a kid, too, daddy."

Neal didn't know what to say and Peter was just as speechless as he was. He ruffled Nicky's hair, keeping his eyes on his husband, wondering what he was thinking and feeling just then. "Nicolas James, you are the sweetest kid I've ever met and I'm thankful to call you mine." He leaned over and hugged his son, hugging Peter simultaneously. Peter smiled as he draped an arm over his husband's back.

Nicky knew Neal's childhood had been ripped from him in more ways than one and he assumed that Neal's Christmas beliefs had been shattered early on because that was the kind of man Vincent was and he'd been in Neal's life for a couple years prior to violating him. "You're my daddy," he said quietly. "I wanted you to have some more time to pretend Santa's real even if you knew he wasn't."

The three of them stayed close. Peter held Nicky on his lap with Nicky's back against his chest and Neal rested his head against Peter's. Peter kept an arm around Neal, rubbing his hip as they enjoyed the silence. Neal didn't realize just how sweet his son really was and that amazed as well as continued to surprise him. He was truly amazed by the fact that his baby wanted him to enjoy pretending Santa was real. Vincent told him when he was about eight years old, so he barely had any time to believe in something that would've made him happy. His mother couldn't even use the excuse that Santa was watching in order to keep him out of trouble because Vincent had ruined that the moment he'd walked into Neal's life. The very first Christmas they spent together, he'd snapped at Neal and told him to grow up, telling him right away that Santa was just a figment of his imagination.

Peter was dozing off until he heard one of the twins make a small sound. He was awake immediately and so was Neal. They would have loved to go back to sleep, but they couldn't if the twins were awake.

The sporadic crying sound Joey made eventually had Neal sighing and getting up from the couch. Nicky slid off of his poppa, sitting in Neal's spot as Peter got up to help his husband since Brie would inevitably wake up because of her brother. Peter wanted to pick Joey up and Neal didn't argue with him about that. Peter hushed Joey, holding him against his chest. "Hey, little man," he whispered. He kissed Joey's cheek and Joey reciprocated by drooling on Peter's shoulder. His little hand patted Peter's arm because he was enjoying his motor skills—finally. The boy had been lazy for the good part of his nine months and he was now beginning to show an interest in learning. He'd wanted to start walking because he saw Brie doing it, but he was crawling instead. Brie was cruising around without much help and Peter thought it was the cutest thing, watching her grab onto beds and chairs as she moved around the room.

Brie didn't want to be held, so she kicked out repeatedly until Neal set her down on the floor in front of the bed she'd been sharing with her brothers. She giggled quietly when Neal let go of her entirely and allowed her to move freely. "Wow. What a little brat this morning," he said endearingly.

Joey turned a little to watch his sister and then he began to jerk around a bit, wanting to be on the floor, too. Peter chuckled, kneeling to set him on his feet. He kept his hands on Joey's hips until Joey started to dive forward. He helped him lay on the floor and watched as Joey crawled towards Brie. That was when he realized they were heading directly for their Christmas presents. Neither of them cared whose gifts were whose. They just saw the vibrant colors of the wrapping paper and wanted to touch and rip it. "Hang on, little ones," Peter said. "We have to wait for—"

"Ah, let them go," Jon murmured from his bed. "Mom and I will be over momentarily."

Neal grinned, pressing his hands against Peter's chest. He pecked Peter's lips before taking Peter's hand, leading him over to the pile of presents. He was really excited because it was the twins' first Christmas. Nicky bounced excitedly as he waited for his fathers and siblings to get closer. Joey crawled to Nicky and allowed Nicky to pull him into his lap, bouncing excitedly when his older brother started moving presents around to set them into piles as much as he could.

Peter watched Neal get into the whole thing. It was amazing how childish Neal was at times. He was setting aside presents for the twins. They hadn't gotten very much because Neal knew they wouldn't really care about their toys and such at this age, so the gifts were for both twins rather than individually. Peter sat on the floor beside his sons, smiling softly at his husband who was still shifting presents around. He made sure he set an equal amount in front of both twins and he separated Nicky's gifts in order to keep everyone happy. The twins were already ripping the wrapping paper excitedly.

When Neal sat back, Peter pulled him close, kissing his temple. Neal stayed on his knees, draping his arm over Peter's shoulders. As expected, neither of the twins cared for their gifts. They kept ripping through the wrapping paper and even went back to the wrapping paper they'd only partially ripped just to rip it some more. Nicky, however, was taking his time. He loved what his fathers had gotten for him so far. They'd given Nicky several collectibles that Nicky asked for, earphones, an IPod, and several other little things he'd begged for since he hadn't gotten them for his birthday.

Jon and Hannah joined them at some point, watching their grandchildren open gifts. They'd combined efforts with the boys this year and it worked out well considering. They ditched their own house as quickly as they could, taking all of their essentials and things of importance. Since they'd already sent their share of gifts to Neal and Peter prior to this, they were already part of the pile the kids were opening.

Nicky went back to bed shortly thereafter, holding his collectibles against his chest. Neal was on his laptop at Peter's feet with Brie sitting beside him and Joey in Peter's lap. Peter leaned forward, stroking his husband's hair as he whispered, "What're you doing, honey?"

"Reading," he said, sounding distant. He was scanning news articles and found several that he could definitely link to Craig. His old apartment had been broken into and he felt terrible about that, but he was relieved that his older brother, little brother, June, and Mel were all safe. He didn't find anything about El and Diana's home, which was fortunate—same with Trent's.

Peter kept stroking Neal's hair until Joey leaned forward and tugged on Neal's hair. Neal made a small sound of pain, twisting to look up at his husband, thinking it was him. "I swear it was the boy," Peter said defensively. Joey giggled and bounced a little in Peter's lap. Neal grunted quietly before returning his focus to his laptop. He opened his email and had several emails forwarded directly to it from his Neal's Net email account. He'd sent out an email to all of the parents of the children he'd been helping and informed them of what was going on in the most basic of terms.

He essentially told them that, as an FBI agent, his life was at risk. Because of that, he warned them to stay away from the building until he sent out another email to confirm that it would be safe for them all to return. He'd told them that he wasn't sure how long this would last, but he added that he would take emails from the children or their parents if they felt comfortable sharing things in a private discussion with him. He advised parents to supervise their conversations because he knew a couple of the younger girls thought he was 'hot.' It didn't bother him, but he didn't want to come off as a pedophile, so he told them to keep an eye on what the kids were emailing him before they sent it.

Gay or straight, he could still be accused of pedophilia and he'd prefer to avoid that…

The first email he opened was from one of the younger girls and it was evident in the way she wrote to him. She'd written him this morning and asked him if he believed in Santa and she wanted to know if he had a good Christmas when he was seven, too. He smiled weakly and hit the reply button. "Hi, Nichole," he wrote back. "I do believe in Santa. He's one of my heroes." He put a smiley face after that and added, "I had a really good Christmas when I was seven. How has your Christmas been so far?"

He answered a few more emails from some of the other kids and a couple of parents as well before shutting his laptop, sighing as he twisted to lay his head on his husband's leg. "You okay?" he asked as he carded his fingers through Neal's hair slowly. Neal nodded silently in response. "What is it, honey?"

Brie pushed herself up using Neal's leg and stood, balancing herself using him. He smiled a little when she grinned widely at him after she stopped wobbling around. "You know I love kids," he whispered. Peter did know that and he wondered if something with their kids was bothering him. "I just responded to about ten or so emails from kids and parents at Neal's Net and I feel so emotionally drained. That really sucks."

Peter nudged Neal with his foot gently until Neal sat up. He slid down onto the floor to sit beside Neal, holding Joey against him. He stared into Neal's eyes and smiled at him. "You're a very beautiful man," he whispered, leaning over to peck Neal's lips. "You just spread yourself too thin sometimes, angel. You have your own life and your own children's lives to take into consideration. Close relationships can be just as emotionally draining as the relationship you have with the kids in your group." Neal leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Peter's as he closed his eyes. "At least you know you're making the lives of other children better, sweetheart. They're really taken by you because you know what to say to make them forget about what's happened to them. You know how to turn things around and tell them jokes that totally get their mind off of all of the bad things they've been through." He took Neal's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "You're a great role model, hon."

Neal opened his eyes and lifted his head, smiling at Peter softly. "The only reason I can do all of that is you." Peter gave him a puzzled look. "Peter, think about it. You've been here to take my pain away by making me think about other things. You joke around with me—when it's appropriate—and you've been a role model and hero in my eyes."

The older man lifted Neal's hand and kissed his knuckles. "You needed that," he whispered. "You've never deserved to suffer the way you've suffered and I'm glad I've done something to help you, baby."

"Mm. Sometimes I seriously want to smack you." Peter smiled wryly at him, knowing what Neal meant. "I've been on death's doorstep several times over the last few years and you've pulled me away from it each and every time whether I deserved it or not."

Peter actually did smack Neal—playfully. "You always deserved it," he said. Neal made a pouty face and Peter rolled his eyes. "Honey, I'm gonna kiss that pout right off your gorgeous face." Neal kept making the face, tempting Peter to do more than just kiss him.

"Boys, show a little restraint," Jon teased from the kitchenette. Neal stopped pouting and his face flushed. "Those poor babies. Always forced to listen to their fathers discuss their sex life in subtle ways."

"Jon!" Hannah said, smacking his arm.

Neal's face got even hotter and Peter ruffled his hair. "The babies are too interested in our hands, the furniture, or their own hands. I'm pretty sure they don't care about what daddy and I discuss." He grinned at Neal, knowing how much Neal despised being called 'daddy' unless the kids were talking to him or Peter was referring to him with the kids. "Oh, lighten up, beautiful," he said as he leaned over to peck Neal's cheek. "That one Christmas…"

"You don't have to remind me," Neal muttered, eliciting a snicker from his husband.

Jon looked mildly curious now. "Oh, what isn't Peter reminding you of?"

Neal tried to tell him nothing, but Peter interjected, "Some teenager was hitting on him while we were shopping for Christmas lights. The poor kid worked there and didn't realize Neal and I were together." Jon looked amused and Neal just stared at his husband, mortified by the fact that he was retelling something really embarrassing. "He asked if Neal needed anything and proceeded to rest a hand on his ass after calling him 'daddy.'" Jon burst into laughter and Neal's face became a bright shade of red as he forced himself to avoid eye contact. "Mind you, my poor baby had an erection at the time and—"

"Peter Michael!" Neal hissed.

"—so the kid thought Neal was excited by him." Neal smacked his arm roughly, glaring at him. Peter chuckled lightly. "You should've seen the look on the little bastard's face when I pried his hand away from Neal's ass."

Neal crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at his husband. "Yeah, and then you grabbed my ass in front of him."

Peter laughed lightly as Jon kept laughing. "I don't like when other people touch you," he said as he leaned over to kiss Neal's cheek. "You're my husband," he whispered, "and no one else has the right to touch you that way."

"Wow. I think that's the least embarrassing thing you've said all morning with your parents right there." Peter rolled his eyes, glancing up at his father as he came to sit on the other end of the couch. Hannah was making them a light lunch, smiling to herself after Peter's story.

The older man was in the mood to take Neal into the bathroom and have his way with him, but he could see that Neal wasn't in that same mood. Neal was a bit flustered, which was understandable considering he just embarrassed the hell out of him. "I love you."

Neal made a sound of disbelief. "Sure you do."

"I do," Peter insisted, carding his fingers through Neal's hair slowly again. He cradled the back of Neal's head, keeping his eyes on Neal's face. "I love you very much and I'm not afraid to show you that."

"Among other things, apparently."

"Honey, are you mad at me?" He was being serious now, seeing the signs that indicated that Neal was upset. Neal shrugged, pulling Brie into his lap. He didn't really think the story would upset his husband seriously. Neal was usually a pretty good sport about things like that, but Peter could see that he'd overstepped the line this time. "Hey," he whispered, sliding his hand down to caress Neal's neck. "You can tell me if I upset you. I'm sorry if I did."

Neal was quiet for a time before sighing and shaking his head. "It doesn't matter." He tried to push himself up with Brie, but Peter tugged on his shirt until he was sitting again. "Peter, it doesn't matter," he said exasperatedly.

Peter rubbed Neal's right side, meeting Neal's eyes. "It does matter," he said softly. "It's always mattered to me."

The younger man frowned for a moment. "Yeah. It bothered me." Peter nodded, knowing there was more that Neal wanted to add. "I don't like that you can joke around about people touching me inappropriately."

Peter's eyes widened. He hadn't even thought about it like that, but he should've realized how insensitive it was on his part. After being with Neal for almost six years, he should've known that would offend his husband. "Neal, I—"

"It's Christmas. I'm not going to make this a pity-party or get all angsty." He sighed heavily, staring directly at Peter. "It bothered me when that guy touched me. It wasn't funny to me."

He nodded. "Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that."

"It's fine," he said quietly. "I know why you told the story and it was funny at first." Peter gently nudged Neal's head until the younger man acquiesced and leaned just enough so that Peter could kiss his forehead. He stayed there, letting Peter apologize silently. He wasn't pissed at Peter. He just wished Peter wouldn't have chosen that moment to talk about that teenager. Any other time might've been okay, but Neal really didn't want to hear it. Christmas with his kids, husband, and parents was supposed to distract him from everything that's happened to him. It was kind of counterproductive when Peter brought up and made fun of inappropriate touches.

Brie and Joey started roaming around. Brie was walking along the couch and Joey was trying to keep up with her. It wasn't very easy to do because he hadn't been walking as much as he'd been crawling. His balance was still a little off. "Little speed demon," Peter said as he chuckled. His arm was draped over Neal's shoulder and Neal's head was on his shoulder. "I love you," he whispered, kissing Neal's hair.

"I love you, too," Neal said softly, rubbing Peter's left thigh.

Jon and Hannah were just as relaxed as the boys were. They were glad Neal wasn't tense anymore. "Neal," Peter said softly, waiting for his husband to look up at him. When he finally did, he kissed Neal gently. "I love you so much. I love having you in my life. I love going to sleep beside you, waking up to your beautiful bed-head, and I'm so thankful to have three beautiful children with you."

Neal's lips formed a small smile as his eyes began to gloss over. That always meant so much to him. He always went back to think about his past relationships when Peter said such wonderful things to him and he realized that he never had a partner like Peter. The closest anyone had come was probably Dan, but Neal was afraid to trust Dan with Nicky. He wasn't afraid of Peter and Peter had proven he was trustworthy. Unlike Keller, Peter never looked at Nicky like he was a little nuisance. Peter loved Nicky from the beginning and cared for him as his own. Since having the twins, Peter has been very helpful and supportive. With Keller, Neal was essentially on his own in raising his son. Nicky was his world and Keller didn't give a damn about his baby at the time. Because of that bastard, he'd been afraid to talk about Nicky with any man he could have a relationship with.

Peter, despite his personal lowered self-esteem, was a fantastic father. He'd struggled in the beginning, but he overcame that pretty quickly and Neal was very impressed. Hell, he'd turned the monitor off several times so Neal could get some sleep. Peter hadn't had any problem with the twins then, so Neal knew they were in good hands even if he wasn't there to help out. "I was blessed with such a wonderful husband and three amazing little ones I can call ours."

Joey tried to stand and immediately fell, crashing into a small table in the corner of the room. Neal's eyes widened and both he and Peter leapt to check on him. Brie paused in her movements, watching her brother wail. "Hey," Peter whispered when Neal picked Joey up. He stroked Joey's cheek as Neal held him close. "You're okay, little guy." Joey sobbed erratically until he finally quieted down and lifted his hand to grasp Peter's fingers, pulling on them in an attempt to bring them towards his mouth. Peter chuckled, rubbing his thumb over Joey's lips. "Daddy's the one who lets you suck on his fingers," he teased. He shared a sly smile with Neal as Neal realized what Peter wasn't saying. He snickered and leaned over to kiss Peter's cheek.

Jon rolled his eyes. Naturally, his son made something innocent very sexual.

Neal watched his youngest son nibble on his own fingers, drooling all over his little hands. It took him a moment before he caught wind of another slight inconvenience for Joey. "Oh. Somebody needs a diaper change," he said. Peter met Neal's gaze, silently asking if he could do it. Neal held Joey out to him and Joey sniveled a bit even after he laid his head on Peter's shoulder. "Brie, honey," he said softly, turning to face his daughter who giggled and grinned at him. "C'mere, princess. I'm sure you're in need of a—" He glanced at his husband. "We should give them a bath."

Peter glanced over his shoulder, shrugging. "That's fine. I know you packed the little bath seats for them." Neal nodded and carried his daughter into the bathroom. Peter joined him a moment later. He cleaned Joey up since he'd done a 'number two.' He didn't bother with putting another diaper on him because he was about to put him into the bath in a moment anyway. Brie was leaning against the ledge of the bathtub, giggling as Neal put the stopper in and ran the water. He grabbed the little seats that would support the twins in the bathtub and dropped to his knees, leaning over the bathtub to make sure they stuck to the bottom of the bathtub.

The older man was able to imagine Neal doing this as a twenty-three year old very easily. Watching Neal as a thirty-seven year old was fascinating because he knew so much more than he had when he'd been raising Nicky alone. Peter loved watching Neal because Neal had his own way of doing things and he actually learned quite a bit from his husband.

He was waiting for Neal to tell him that the water was okay before putting Joey into the water. Neal was better at gauging temperatures that would be okay for the babies, so he let Neal do that job. "All right," he said when the water was high enough and at a decent temperature. He turned to grab Brie, but she'd wandered off. "Oh, shi—Brie!" He got up quickly and darted over to the little closet he'd left open when he'd opened it to pull the bath seats out. There were several things in the closet that weren't good for the babies, so he quickly pulled her out and shut the door. "Wow, princess. We're quite the adventurous one, aren't we?"

Peter smiled as he set Joey into the bath seat. He glanced at Neal as Neal undressed Brie. She waved her hands around, effectively smacking him in the face. He sighed and chuckled. Peter leaned over and ruffled Neal's hair, murmuring, "I think she'll be just like her beautiful daddy."

Neal lifted Brie and put her into her bath seat before turning to his husband. "How do you figure that?"

"She's persistent when her mind is set," he said softly. "You're adventurous as well." It dawned on Neal then and he nodded, giving Peter a small smile while feeling extremely giddy. He has a husband who loves and appreciates him, who shares those same things with their children, and Peter made Neal feel tingly inside. "And thank God for that," he whispered, leaning over to kiss Neal's temple. "It brought you here to me."

Peter rubbed Neal's lower back, sighing contentedly as Neal laughed quietly, happily. "Even after all these years," Neal whispered, shaking his head as his eyes glistened. The older man gave him a curious look, wondering what Neal meant. He slid his hand up to the middle of Neal's back, resting it there. Neal met Peter's eyes. "You still give me butterflies."

Chuckling, Peter slid his hand further up Neal's back until he was able to caress the back of Neal's neck. "I've always been honest with you about things like this," he said softly. "You're the light of my life and you brought little rays of sunshine along with you when you came to me. I'll never forget that."

Neal reached into the bathtub to play with the babies, gently splashing water around. "You're the love of my life," Neal admitted to him. "I've only been in love a few times, but I know you're the one. You've been the one for me since before we were officially together." Peter smiled at his husband, loving how playful and loving he is—how great he is at being a father. He was making their babies giggle and they splashed water at him excitedly, bouncing around a little bit. "Nicky was my little love when it was just the two of us, and then an exceptional man came into our lives to become my hunky and extremely sexy lover."

Peter scoffed. "If one of us is sexy, it's definitely you, darling."

Neal smiled wryly at him. "Don't sell yourself short. You are a very attractive man," he whispered. "I love everything about you. Your mind is sensational, your body is exceptional, and your love is endless."

"Because I have a family who loves me," Peter said softly. "My husband and children have shaped me into the man I am right now." He stroked Neal's hair back while Neal continued to gently splash water at their babies. "I'd be nothing without my four loves."

Neal shifted back a bit to kiss his husband tenderly. "Merry Christmas," he whispered. "You've made every holiday so much fun for me and Nick."

Peter grinned. "Merry Christmas, honey." He wrapped his arms around Neal's waist, resting his forehead against Neal's hair. He loved holidays now because he had his family to celebrate them with. He has a lover to share the experience with and their children to entertain and satisfy. Christmas and birthdays were his favorite because he could celebrate the people he loves most and gift them in unique ways. He was already planning on doing something sweet for Neal's birthday in a few months—after celebrating Nicky's birthday in February and the twins' first birthday in the beginning of March.

First things first, he wanted to make the New Year special for his family.