Note: I spell Anne as Anne because it's my preference to spell it the Japanese way. Any review telling me that I'm misspelling will be ignored.
This is technically a sequel to one of my previous oneshots, but you basically need to know that Ren and Anne's oldest child Akari is adopted into the family, right around the time Anne was pregnant with their first biological child, Tatsuo.
"Mama! Papa! It's snowing! It's snowing!"
Ren couldn't help but groan. Normally his younger daughter's voice was the sweetest sound in the world. But he felt exhausted.
Anne let out a soft groan, burying her face against Ren's shoulder.
"Ren, your daughter's calling for you," she mumbled out.
"At five in the morning, she's your daughter," Ren mumbled out.
"MAMA! PAPA!"
Ren let out one last groan before he grabbed onto his bouncing daughter. He hauled her into his lap so she would at least stop bouncing on his chest.
Three year old Kimiko was definitely a small ball of sunshine. Despite inheriting his dark hair and eyes, Kimi resembled Anne more out of his and Anne's two biological children.
"Okay, Sunshine, we're up," Ren said through yawns.
Anne grumbled out, "What's this 'we'?"
She then reluctantly sat up and yawned.
"You really couldn't wait a couple hours, Kimi?"
Kimi pouted, giving Anne puppy dog eyes. "But Mama, it's Christmas! We've gots things to do!"
The door creaked open and Akari poked her head in, an apologetic smile on her face.
"Sorry, Mama, Papa," their thirteen year old daughter apologized. "I had my hands full with Tatsu already."
Sometimes Ren couldn't believe that Akari was a teenager already. In this past six months, she was growing like a weed. She had shot up, surpassing both Futaba and Haru in height already. If Ren had to guess, she'd be at least as tall as Anne, if not taller. She wore her dark curly hair in a high ponytail now, tying it with a red ribbon. Soon boys would be knocking on their door, wanting to go out with Akari, and Ren was not looking forward to that day.
"It's okay, sweetie." Anne smiled, before tickling Kimi—making the little girl shriek with laughter. "We should've known that we couldn't sleep in on Christmas."
"Hey, it's not like you're not excited, Kari," Tatsuo retorted.
Tatsuo was the opposite of Kimi. He had inherited Anne's coloring, though facially wise, he resembled Ren. He was definitely a cute kid, though a bit of a… troublemaker. Futaba liked to say that he had the face of an angel, hiding as a demon.
"Presents! Presents!" Kimi chanted, bouncing up and down in Ren's lap once more.
Anne didn't grow up with the Japanese version of Christmas. Instead, her parents would spoil her with presents. When they got married, Anne suggested combining the two versions. So for Christmas Eve, Sojiro would watch the kids for Ren and Anne. But on Christmas Day, they spent the whole day together. And if they went out, they usually ended up bumping into at least one of their friends and their family.
Not the kids minded, being dropped off with Sojiro. They loved spending the day with "Grandpa" Sojiro. Anne joked that between Sojiro and Ren, their kids were doomed to be coffee addicts.
Sojiro hadn't been amused with the joke.
"Get dressed, and I'll get started with making breakfast," Ren told them. "Then afterwards, presents."
"Can't we switch it up for once?" Tatsuo whined.
"I suppose we should check if Santa did come by today…" Ren rubbed his jaw. "He might've brought coal…"
"What?!" Tatsuo's jaw dropped before he protested, "I've been good!"
Ren had to fight the urge to grin. "Good boys don't backtalk Papa."
"Fiiiine…" he grumbled out, a pout on his face.
Akari giggled before scooping up Kimiko from Ren's lap. "Come on, Kimi, I'll help you get dressed."
"You're an angel, Akari," Anne said, leaning forward to kiss Akari on the cheek.
Akari just grinned at Anne, her eyes sparkling. "I know."
Anne then huffed, shooting Ren a quick glare. "This is all your fault."
Ren simply smirked, folding his arms over his chest. "Heck yeah it is."
Akari giggled. "See you downstairs then, Mama, Papa!"
Then she nudged Tatsuo's shin with her foot.
"Come on, Tatsu. Though I'm sure that I don't have to dress you."
Tatsuo huffed. "I'm seven! I'm a big kid now!"
Akari stuck her tongue out at him. "Come talk to me when you actually have double digits in your age."
"When are you gonna stop holding that over me?!"
Akari just smiled innocently at Tatsuo. "When you turn ten, duh."
Ren couldn't help but smile at his two children's bickering. So far, Akari wasn't moody or well, rebellious. Thank God. Makoto liked to say that his time was coming, with how he acted back when they were all in high school.
But Akari was helpful and sweet, absolutely adoring her younger siblings. She was always happy to babysit them.
As the door swung close, Ren looked at his wife.
"Just another Christmas, huh?" Anne smiled sleepily.
Ren just shrugged before he leaned in to quickly kiss Anne's cheek. "I'll take it."
He could never forget their first Christmas. It should have been something special. But instead… he had made not just Anne sad, but all of his friends…
"Come on," Anne said softly, touching his arm. The look on her face told him that she sensed what he was thinking of. "Let's get up before the kids come barging in."
"Man, when did we get so domestic and boring?" Ren tried to joke in an attempt to lighten up the mood.
Anne's eyes just sparkled. "Oh trust me, Ren. Life is never boring with you around."
Ren caught her hand, planting a light kiss on the back of it.
"The sentiment is mutual," he chuckled. "Though you know, we could shower together. Gotta save water, you know."
"You're awful!" Anne playfully smacked his arm. "Uh-uh, mister. I know how you work. Now shoo. You have breakfast to make."
"Fiiiine…" Ren grumbled out before finally hauling himself out of bed.
Another Christmas tradition was for Ren to make French toast. Anne would make hot chocolate for everyone to drink while they opened the presents.
As it turned out, both Kimi and Tatsuo inherited Anne's love for sweets. (Even though while Anne was pregnant with Kimi, she simply could not abide even the smell of sweets.) And Akari loved sweets too.
"Bon appetit," Ren said in a faux French accent, laying a plate loaded with French toast on the table. At every setting there was a small dish filled with vanilla bean butter (courtesy of Haru).
"Yay!" Kimiko beamed at him. "Thanks, Papa!"
Anne just smiled, picking up a butter knife. "Here, Kimi-chan, let me put some butter on it for you."
It wasn't just so Kimiko wouldn't make a mess. Kimiko liked her butter so she had a tendency to go overboard if they let her butter her bread.
Ren watched the snowflakes drift down, almost lazily, through the window.
"It's been a while since it's snowed on Christmas, hasn't it?" he commented.
"It snowed the Christmas after Tatsu was born, if I remember right," Anne mused. "Do you remember, Akari-chan?"
Akari's expression lit up. "How could I forget? That Christmas was amazing!"
Ren just smiled slightly. He still remembered Anne pulling him aside, asking what they were going to do for Christmas that year. After all, it was the first Christmas with their two kids, as they had adopted Akari in June and Tatsuo was born in October.
But he was really glad that they had agreed to fuse the two traditions.
He could never forget the awed expression on Akari's face and her soft, "This is for me?"
"Done!" Tatsuo suddenly shouted. "Papa, Mama, can we go open presents now?!"
"I don't know, I'm still hungry." Ren blinked innocently at his son. "Surely, you can wait a few minutes, hmm?"
"Ughhh… you take forever!" Tatsuo whined, falling back against his chair with a huff. "I'm gonna die!"
"Don't be such a drama queen, Tatsu," Ren said, pointedly ignoring the giggle from his wife.
"Papa's a hypocrite," Anne said in a sing-song voice.
"And Papa is ignoring Mama," Ren said haughtily.
Tatsuo looked between Ren and Anne, before looking straight at Ren. His expression was awfully disdainful for a seven year old.
"Papa, you're so weird."
"E-Excuse me?!" Ren huffed. "Young man, just where did you learn that kind of sass?"
Anne burst into laughter. "Don't play so innocent, Ren! This is entirely your fault!"
Ren protested, "Is not!"
"Is too!" Anne stuck her tongue out at him.
"Is not!"
"Is t—"
Ren leaned forward, cutting his wife with a quick kiss.
"Gross," Tatsuo declared with all the surety of a seven-year-old.
"I dunno why you're surprised, Tatsu," Akari said calmly before popping one last bite of French toast into her mouth. "Mama and Papa are always lovey dovey."
Tatsuo made a face. "Doesn't mean I have to like this."
"Hey, it's Christmas." Ren smiled innocently. "It means that Mama and me have to celebrate how much love we're in."
"You do that every day, Papa!" Tatsuo whined.
"Presents?" Kimi begged, blinking imploringly at Ren.
Anne chuckled before standing up, scooping Kimi out of her seat.
"I suppose we have to before Nii-chan explodes out of anticipation," Anne teased.
"Mamaaaa…" Tatsuo whined. "We've had to wait forever…!"
"Seriously, I was never this dramatic," Ren said. "This is slander. Of the highest degree."
"Uh huh." Anne rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ren."
Then she passed Kimi to him, shooing him towards the living room. Ren cradled Kimi close as they headed for the living room. Ren settled himself and Kimi on the couch, giving Tatsuo a stern look. He wasn't exactly being subtle about how he crept closer and closer to the Christmas tree.
"Don't even think about it."
"But Papa!" Tatsuo whined.
"Tatsu, relax." Akari nudged him in the side. "And you love Mama's hot chocolate."
"I'd love to open presents now even more."
"Oh ye of little patience," Ren sighed. "Come on, there's gotta be something that'll entertain you for a little bit."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tatsuo sigh gustily. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. His son was so impatient. All go-go-go. He definitely took after Anne in that department.
But then he noticed the thoughtful expression on Tatsuo's face. So… he wanted to play that game, huh? Besides Tatsuo, Akari just shook her head, a amused smile tugging at her lips.
But Ren learned a long time ago that sometimes it was better to let your adversary think that they have the advantage.
So he turned his attention to his youngest child.
"So, Kimi, what do you want from Santa?"
"Pink Argus!" Kimi bounced up and down in Ren's lap.
Tatsuo inched closer to Ren. Ren pointedly focused on Kimi.
"Well, you've been a good girl, so I'm sure that Santa will have brought you a doll of her!"
Tatsuo slowly picked up a pillow from the couch. Ren kept his poker face.
"You really think so, Papa?" Kimi gasped, her dark gray eyes wide with glee.
Ren booped her on the nose. "I know so."
"YAAAAAH!"
Ren then pushed himself off from the sofa, easily dodging Tatsuo's strike, all while cradling Kimi close to his chest.
"Why, Tatsuo Amamiya…" Ren gasped. "Were you trying to start a pillow fight with me?"
Tatsuo scowled before tossing away the pillow. "Papa, how do you do that?"
"You're so obvious, Tatsu," Akari laughed, before poking his cheek. "Why do you think Papa was pointedly focusing on Kimi?"
"Can't foil you, huh, Akari?" Ren teased.
"But if you want to be a Phantom Thief like Uncle Ryuji's stories, you really gotta be more quiet," Akari continued.
"But that's no fun," Tatsuo grumbled.
"Seriously, what was all this ruckus?" Anne scolded, as she walked towards them, a tray laden with five mugs.
"Tatsu tried to smack Papa but he missed!" Kimi said. "Then Papa grabbed me and went ZOOM! It was so fun, Mama!"
"I'm sure it was," Anne sighed before setting down the tray. She passed out the mugs, keeping an eye on Kimi as she carefully passed the mug to their daughter.
Then she clapped her hands together.
"But okay, who wants to go first?"
"I think we should let Tatsu go first." Ren threw a teasing smile towards Tatsuo.
"Akari? Kimi?" Anne prompted.
"I don't mind, Mama," Akari said with a smile.
"Don't want Nii-chan to a'splode," Kimi said gravely before she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
Tatsuo pouted in response. Anne just laughed before bending down to look underneath the Christmas tree.
"Annnd here we go."
Tatsuo eagerly tore off the wrapping paper, before tossing away the lid. He gasped in delight, his eyes sparkling.
"Roller skates! Just what I wanted!"
Ren winked at Anne quickly.
"Santa's good, isn't he?"
"I can't wait to try them out!" he said happily.
"But Nii-chan would slip in the snow!" Kimi said.
"Oh." Tatsuo's face fell. "I guess that's a down side to early snow."
"We'll have fun today, though, won't we?" Akari quickly interjected. "Let's see if there's enough snow to go sledding, Tatsu!"
Tatsuo grinned at her. "That sounds great!"
Ren just smiled, watching his children exclaim over their gifts as he sipped his hot chocolate. Kimi was happily waving around her Pink Argus doll (Ren had to commission Kanji Tatsumi to make it).
Akari was more careful about opening her gift, apparently above tearing off the wrapping paper like Tatsuo did. Inside was a kit of art supplies as well as a brand new sketchpad.
Her brown eyes lit up.
"This is for me? Really?"
Anne smiled, before giving Akari a little squeeze.
"I know that Nana and Grandpa Takamaki are quite thrilled to see your interest in fashion already. And every fashion designer should have a good sketchpad!"
"And Yusuke would be more than happy to teach you," Ren added with a wink. "Because heaven knows he tried with Mama."
Anne grabbed a wadded piece of wrapping paper and threw it at Ren's head. Ren caught it without even batting an eye.
"Too easy," Ren taunted with a smirk.
Anne's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that a challenge?"
"You can't beat me," Ren sniffed.
"Oh really?" Anne's smile went from sugar to predatorial. "Kids? You're allowed to open fire on Papa."
Twin grins appeared on Akari and Tatsuo's faces. They snatched up some wadded up paper, throwing it right at Ren's face.
"Mutiny!" Ren gasped.
"Get Papa!" Kimi cheered.
"Time for an all out attack~!" Anne said with a devious grin.
It was nearly ten by the time they got outside. It seemed like every kid in Tokyo had come out to play in the snow.
Their three were no exception. Though fortunately, they weren't leaving Kimi behind.
Over the years, Ren's family often got stared at when they went on outings. Before it was side glances because of his wife and son's blond hair. But with his growing reputation, people grew… curious, he supposed.
But not today. Everyone was out here to enjoy the snow. And for that, Ren was glad.
"So… romantic winter stroll while the kids run wild?" Ren asked.
Anne snickered. "Come on, Ren. You know that's not happening."
"Can't blame a man for trying."
"We had nearly all of Christmas Eve together," Anne reminded; but she snuggled against him. "That really not enough for you?"
Ren watched her for a moment, his eyes on the melting snowflakes in her golden hair.
"Never. Not even an eternity isn't enough."
Anne's cheeks reddened. "Don't you ever tired of pulling those smooth lines?"
Ren grinned cheekily. "I will when they stop working on you."
"You're terrible, Ren!"
"What are you gonna do then?" Ren teased.
"I'll… I'll…" As usual, Anne was floundering for a retort.
Then she bent down, grabbing a handful of snow.
"Don't… you… dare…" Ren started to back away from his wife. "It's—It's assaulting a politician!"
"I'll just have to take my chances, then!" Anne called out to him, her eyes sparkling.
Ren quickly sidestepped out of the way and he took the moment to grin at Anne. "Ha! Looks like you've lost your e—"
Ren sputtered as Anne nailed him right in the face with her second snowball.
"What was that?" Anne asked sweetly.
Ren's eyes narrowed at her. "Oh, it's on!"
Ren bent down to form his own snowball. But Anne just spun on her heel and dashed away from him.
Ren chased after her, silently thanking God that his wife's hair made her all too easy to keep track of.
"Akari, watch your siblings for a bit!" he called as he breezed by his kids.
Slowly the distance between them grew shorter and shorter. He finally nailed her in the shoulder, making her stumble slightly.
That small advantage was all he needed. He tackled Anne to the ground, both of them rolling in the snow for a couple moments. But despite getting caught, Anne just grinned up at Ren.
"So… you caught me," she said coyly, batting her eyes at Ren. "What's your prize then?"
Ren smirked. "My usual prize of course."
He then bent down, capturing her lips. Anne toyed with his scarf for a moment before her fingers slipped through his hair. He couldn't help but think that he'd never get tired of kissing Anne.
Then something cold and wet hit the back of his head.
"HA! I got Papa!"
Ren rolled off of Anne to see a wide grin on Tatsuo's face. His daughters stood on opposite sides of Tatsuo. Kimi looked disappointed. Akari looked exasperated.
"Nii-chan, you cheat," Kimi said, frowning up at him as Ren helped Anne up.
"A win is a win, no matter what," Tatsuo maintained, even as he scowled at Kimi.
"Hey, hey, that's enough," Ren said with a laugh. "I have to concede defeat to Tatsuo. This round goes to him."
"Since when is this a competition?" Akari put on a hand on her hip.
"Why not make it a competition then?" Anne smiled teasingly. "Girls vs. boys?"
"We'll wipe the floor with you then," Akari taunted.
Tatsuo scowled, stamping the ground with his foot. "We'll see about that!"
"Don't wanna fight Papa and Nii-chan, though!" Kimi protested, her bottom lip quivering.
Anne scooped her up in her arms. "It's just a game, sweetie."
Then her expression turned sly.
"Though we could up the stakes a little. Winners have to make us a second round of hot cocoa back at home?"
Kimi perked up at that. "Hot cocoa?"
"So you're betraying us for hot chocolate?" Ren mock gasped, clutching at his chest. "I see how it is, Kimi."
"Afraid you'll lose, Papa?" Akari smiled innocently.
Tatsuo said adamantly, "We won't lose!"
They ended up calling a draw, so Ren and Anne agreed to make the hot chocolate while the kids played with their new toys in the living room. Ren couldn't help but smile, hearing their laughter.
Anne bumped him with her hip. "What's on your mind?"
"Just thinking… we have good kids."
Anne giggled. "Sap."
"Hey, it's Christmas!" Ren protested.
Anne giggled before she tasted the hot cocoa with a wooden spoon.
"Oh, perfect." She shut off the stove, only to startle when Ren placed a hand over her wrist.
"Hey now, how come I don't get a taste?" Ren asked.
Anne smiled coyly. "I'm not stopping you."
Ren grinned for a moment before leaning forward and kissing his wife.
She tasted deliciously of hot chocolate with just the right amount of cinnamon.
"Merry Christmas, Ren," she murmured.
Ren smiled at his wife.
"Merry Christmas, Anne."
Akari and Tatsuo are the same kids I introduced in A New Addition (which I wrote for last year's prompt Future/Family), along with the youngest Amamiya, Kimiko. I picked that name for her, because Kimi is phonetically identical to Kimmy. So English sounding nickname.
Went for a more looser interpretation this time. So a snowy Christmas for the Shuann family!