May 11th 2020

Chapter 132
Their Cheers of Christmas

"Hey, Santa man!" Maya called up the stairs as she walked into the house, hurrying out of her coat and boots so she might go up the stairs and find Lucas. "The kids are all off to bed back there, you want to go back? The party's still going… Hello?" she poked her head through the bedroom door, only to be startled a moment later when Lucas set his hands at her hips. She yelped, spinning around.

"Sorry," he laughed, taking the towel from around his neck to give his face and hair a bit more drying off. "And yeah, just give me a few to get dressed up again," he indicated the other towel, around his waist before stepping around her on bare feet. "Took a while to get all that stuff to wash off," he explained. "I got it all, right?" he looked at her.

"Sit, let me see," she pointed to his desk chair.

Long before Lucas had undergone his transformation into Santa, which involved a washable coloring of his hair – on his head and on his face – from his natural tones to a more Old Man Santa white, he had awakened early that morning for a brief home session of Christmas morning with Maya and Sam. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the day would start off with power going into the hands of whoever woke up first. It suggested a scenario in which all of them would be awake at the crack of dawn, lying in bed and just… waiting.

When Maya opened her eyes, she was already aware she'd lost. For one thing, she was not being held spoon like but was in fact on her back. This was not proof exact that she'd lost, no, the proof was rather that she felt a weight, as though someone was just sort of resting halfway over her, and she knew without seeing him that this would be her fiancé, just sort of posed there, waiting for her to wake because then… he would be the first thing she saw when she woke up. And he was… Just that big old casual grin staring back at her, and a gift bow planted on his head, waiting for her to laugh, which was just what she did.

"Just what I asked for, thanks, Santa," she hummed.

"Merry Christmas," he tipped his hat.

"Merry Christmas," she laughed once more, and he leaned in for a kiss. "Are we weird?" Maya pondered.

"All day, every day," Lucas promised.

To no surprise, Sam was already up and about, working to whip up his best breakfast yet, which he soon got to sit to with Maya and Lucas, once his big sister released him from the giant hug she'd caught him in. They had then moved into the living room for a brief gift exchange, stockings only, as the rest would be happening over at the Hunter-Hart house. The best part, without a doubt, was when Sam unloaded his stocking and found an open pass, which would allow him to go and visit back in Tucson as often as schedule and desire combined, to go and see his parents, and siblings, especially the littlest one yet to be born, all on his sister's dime. Now he was the one hugging the air right out of her, much to her approval.

It was an unavoidable reality that Maya's means had shifted in the past year, thanks in no small part to her job with the theater, but even more so to her contract and the songs she'd been writing for other artists. It wasn't like she was rich all of a sudden, but compared to what her reality had once been, she might as well have been. It would have been easy to splurge on some things, but she had resisted that urge. It was a good thing she had access to someone who could help her become more aware of what she had, what she was getting, and what she might do with it in order to get things on track for the future, between Topanga Matthews and Thomas Friar. Lucas' father had been especially happy at the idea of being able to counsel his future daughter-in-law, and it had been a great afternoon shared between the two of them.

When it had come to Christmas then, she'd felt it was only right that she allowed herself one flex of this new sort of wealth. Sure, it wasn't expected or necessary for her to buy more presents for everyone, but it didn't mean she couldn't treat the people she loved and make them smile. Giving Sam the ability to go home more often… that definitely got a huge smile out of him, and maybe a few tears, too.

With the morning advancing, the trio had gotten ready to head out to Katy and Shawn's, where a quartet of eager little ones would be waiting to see what Santa brought them. As soon as they had arrived, they'd found all of them waiting at the window. MJ could just barely see over the ledge, while Nellie had Haley hoisted up as much as he could, with Gracie lending a hand.

After presents, the house become a whirlwind of preparation, between getting all the food ready, where Sam jumped in to help, getting the rest of the house set up to receive their guests, where Lucas volunteered, and lastly in getting the kids ready. Maya had taken up her Hunter siblings and seen to each one. Every year had seen this preparation routine change, as everyone would get older and more capable of getting dressed on their own, or as more of them would exist at all.

This year, Maya only really had to get Haley changed, although when MJ showed up in the smallest Hunter's room, believing himself to be Ready For Christmas, his big sister had chuckled and made him come to her so she could fix him up a bit. Meanwhile, the twins showed up in their brand new holiday dresses, which they lost no opportunity to specify had been needed on account that they'd outgrown the old ones.

With clothes all set, Maya had gotten around to fix everyone's hair. The twins were very excited because, unlike last year, Haley's hair was now long enough that all four of them girls could have the same style. They felt bad… well, mostly Gracie did, as expected… over MJ being left out of this plan, but he hardly seemed to mind. He had his bracelet, engraved with his initials, his special thing so provided by his older sisters, and he got to wear it today, and that was good enough for him. All five of them had their own special things. The girls had their lockets, even Haley, with a loopy H on the front, he had his bracelet, and that was good enough.

If anyone was just as happy to see Maya, Nellie, Gracie, and Haley holding a solid sisterly front, it was their parents. Shawn had seen them coming down the stairs, trailing after the almost two and a half-year-old who would pitch a fit if she was not allowed to go up and down on her own most of the time, and he'd gotten that misty eyed 'I'm not going to cry' face, which generally preceded a covert wiping of tears. And then when Katy had seen them, oh… all her girls… that was all the Christmas she needed, and her one precious boy coming along with his hair all neatly combed, and his star-dusted bow tie… He was the bow on top of that present…

The guests had started to arrive around eleven, the better to dig into the food that was laid out for them to take and fill their plates with, along with a few other items back in the kitchen to be kept warm. The next few hours were a mash of eating, and talking, and exchanging gifts, and playing with the kids, and music and dance… And all the while, the 'undercover Santa' was waiting on his moment to be called away on his book emergency. Maya had been fully ready to jump in and help Lucas get ready, but he had pointed out that it would make it that much more obvious if she disappeared just as he did. Plus, he kind of liked the idea of surprising her.

So, when he left, she remained as she was, joined by Riley and Rosa as they joined Nellie and Gracie and played a new board game the twins had received from Pappy Joe and Patty.

When the surprise guest had made his entrance, it was just as well that all the kids were too busy looking at him and running over to him, or they might have wondered why several of the others were barely able to contain their reactions. Between his lifelong friends, who were hanging on by a thread in not bursting out laughing, and his parents, who were seeing him take on the role for the first time when they still had so vivid memories of when he had been one of those running kids himself, and his fiancée…

Oh, Maya chronicled the whole thing, caught between finding the whole thing ridiculously adorable and trying not to laugh as she remembered the song from last night, around the campfire. It would be a bit too obvious if she went and kissed him right about then, wouldn't it?

"All gone," Maya declared, as she finished inspecting his hair. Not a speck of white was left, leaving him once again her very handsome young fiancé. "You were a big hit today," she informed him, not in so much of a hurry to leave this quiet moment with him.

"Looked that way," Lucas nodded, looking up to her from where he sat and smiling.

"I especially liked the part where MJ kept poking you in the belly. I was so sure he was on to you then," Maya laughed.

"I thought so, too," he recalled.

There was no doubt that, of all the kids who were around, MJ Hunter was most likely to recognize him despite his transformation. But by the end of it, the five-year-old was just happy to see him, and thank him for his presents. Lucas… Santa… told him he was very welcome, and he looked forward to the next year, where he hoped MJ would be just as good as he'd been this past year. MJ had promised he would be, triple cross his heart, and then he'd gone off to find Haley and Hunter.

"What about you? What was your favorite part?" Maya asked.

"Well, if I'm being honest, this one right here is climbing the ranks," he informed her, which made her snort. "Too predictable?" Lucas wondered.

"Might be, if I thought it was a bad thing," she shrugged, allowing herself – and him – one quick not-so-quick kiss before inciting him to get dressed up again so they could get back to the party. "To think, I almost made it through the whole day before thinking to say it…" Maya breathed, half distracted as she watched him dress and thought of the amount of padding she'd had to sew into that costume of his…

"Before saying…" Lucas was about to ask, looking back at her and just catching her as she looked away and pretended like she hadn't been staring. "Oh, right," he chuckled. "Well come on, say it," he nodded at her as she tried to play off the fact she knew she'd been busted.

"Last unmarried Christmas…" she finally stated, smiling broadly as he came up to her. "And me without my mistletoe…"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners