Seven

Fireplace

Setting "Peace & Joy" Universe – Christmas 2014

Sitting in a chair in front of the crackling fire, his six-month-old daughter sleeping against his chest, Rick Rodgers closed his eyes and reviewed the day in is mind; it had been a very good Christmas.

He and his wife, Kate, had been awakened before dawn by Ella's cries, but that was to be expected since she never liked to sleep past six. The family, who had been busy at their Christmas tree selling stand for the entire month, would have liked to sleep in a bit on Christmas, but Rick would never complain about spending time with his children. He'd retrieved Ella from her crib and brought her to Kate to nurse, and then snuggled together with them while Ella ate her breakfast.

Just as he was beginning to doze off, their three year old son Ethan called out for his parents as he was evidently ready to get up and see what Santa brought him. The family of four then descended the stairs into the foyer and walked down the hall to the main living area, which had been decorated for Christmas for weeks, but now had presents stuffed beneath their nine-foot Fraser fir (after four years in the Christmas tree business, Rick had finally learned to tell the difference in the types of trees).

Ethan had immediately wanted to begin tearing into all the presents—not only his own—but his parents managed to hold him at bay while they made coffee and insisted he eat a few bites of cereal before he became too distracted with all his new toys. When the present opening commenced, Ella was happy to sit in her father's lap and play with the bits of paper Ethan handed her while Kate helped her son get into the more difficult to open gifts. He was soon playing with toy cars and dump trucks—his favorite—while the husband and wife had a more low-key gift swap.

After lunch, they were joined by Kate's father, aunt, and uncle. Rick's mother was once again in a traveling Christmas show, and she would be visiting them after the new year. The Beckett-Rodgers group then opened more presents before sitting down to enjoy a meal together. Though the general routine was not terribly different than the prior year, it felt even more magical for Rick because that year they had two children not just one.

When his first child, Alexis, died unexpectedly, Rick wasn't sure he'd ever find happiness again, let alone happiness with a wife and children. Then, as it tends to do, time healed his wounds, and as he was on the mend, he had the fortune of finding Kate. Or, rather, she was delivered to him by a force he believed to be fate. Over just a few short weeks they fell in love, and he found pure happiness again. Then, with the birth of their son, that joy expanded, and with the addition Ella…well, he hadn't known such bliss existed.

Rick loved being a father and husband. While Kate worked four full days a week doing accounting and office work at her father's mill, he stayed home with the kids, planning activities for both learning and fun. He wrote while they napped, or on the days Kate wasn't working and she spent time with the children, but he far preferred spending time with his family. He had always loved spending time with his children, but knowing how it felt to lose a child made him even more focused on making memories with them.

The tired dad had almost dozed off in his chair when the footsteps of his wife entering the room roused him. He looked over at her, smiled, and asked, "Ethan fall asleep?" she had been putting him to bed for the prior forty-five minutes, which was more than double the normal amount of time it took to do so.

"Finally. I think he would play with his toys all night if we let him." She walked over to where he sat, tiled her head down so that she could see Ella's smushed face, smiled, and then stroked her hand down Rick's arm.

Rick grabbed her hand, brought it to his lips, kissed her knuckle, then hummed, "I did that once."

"Did what?"

"Played with my toys all night after Christmas."

She let out a little laugh. "Did you really?"

"Yep. I was about seven. My mother and her then fiancé had friends over on Christmas Eve and were having a grand old time. To con me into going to bed very early, she let me open two gifts and then I was brought a few small things by the party goers. So then I 'went to bed,'" he said using air quotes for emphasis, "but in reality just kept playing with my new toys until…probably two or three in the morning when I finally passed out."

"Wow," she commented, shaking her head slightly. "Well we are not letting our son do that."

Chuckling, he said, "No, no I'm certainly not advocating for it."

She sighed and sat down on the arm of the chair. She slid an arm around his shoulders, and he put his around her waist as they cuddled together in a slightly awkward way so as not to disturb Ella. "It is kind of crazy how different our childhoods were," she said.

"True, but they made us who we are. And…we're not permanently tethered to them. We can choose how to raise our own family."

"I think we're doing a pretty okay job of that."

He gave her waist a playful squeeze. "Yeah, pretty okay," he echoed, despite the fact that he found their lives to be extraordinary and far and above the best relationship he had ever been in.

When Ella snuffled and moved her pudgy fist, Kate studied her face for several seconds, but when she didn't wake, she sighed and said, "Thank goodness she's still out."

"Mm."

"You should try to put her down soon."

He hummed and skimmed his fingers down Ella's spine. "In a little bit." Rick had to admit to being a total sucker for his youngest. He would have done absolutely anything for her—and knew that he would for the rest of her life. That particular week had been a challenging one. Ella had received her most recent round of vaccinations from the pediatrician and developed a fever that lasted two days. While this was in the realm of normal for a vaccination reaction, it made her fussy and her parents worried, so Rick decided to let her sleep on his chest as long as she needed. Especially since it was Christmas.

Kate hummed and feathered her fingers through his hair saying, "In case I don't say it enough: you're such a good father, Rick."

He smiled up at her. "Thank you. I love it. You know I love it. It's…a gift I'd never taken for granted."

"I know."

"Hey," he said to her softly, not wanting the compliment to go unreciprocated. "You're an amazing mom."

"Thank you." She leaned down and kissed him sweetly before brushing her thumb against his chin and saying, "I hope you had a good Christmas, Rick."

His smile never wavering he responded, "I did; it was the best."

A/N This is the last of the stand-alone fics. The next 5 link together to form a new AU ficlet