(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1)
3. Jingle Bell Rock
Characters/Pairings: Lane/Zach
'Verse/Timeline: canon - post-series
Date: December 2008
Lane Kim used to make Christmas wishes. Mama didn't believe in magic, of course, and wouldn't hear of Lane doing so either, even when she was young enough to think that fairies and elves and shooting stars might all be real and genuinely imbued with powers. Of course, there was an argument to be made that with Christmas being a celebration of Christ's birth, then it wasn't so wrong to make wishes that God might answer. Lane only knew she was forever wising, praying, and hoping for a different life, something far removed from what she had at home.
It had never occurred to her that, in the end, she might just get the best of both worlds. Here she was, the twenty-third Christmas since her own birth, and while she was in fact in an amazing band and living life on her terms (for the most part) she also had family too. Mama Kim hadn't disowned her when the truth came out, not for long anyway, and she even learned to accept Lane's new lifestyle. She came around to the idea of Lane dating, getting married, even having children.
Zach was not the guy Lane ever pictured herself ending up with, not when she first met him, that was for sure. Now, watching him kneeling on the carpet with the twins, being the best father in the world, she couldn't imagine ever wanting anyone else, ever loving anyone quite as much as she loved him and the boys.
"Dude, come on," Zach told Steve, putting the drumstick back in his hand after he tossed it away without a care. "Don't you wanna play just like Mommy?"
"Mama!" Kwan yelled, arms raised up in the universal action for 'pick me up'.
Lane didn't hesitate in dragging him into her lap. "Hey, baby," she said, kissing the top of his head. "So, if your brother has to learn drums, I'm guessing you're going to be the guitarist, huh?" she asked him, getting only a gabbled, nonsensical reply.
It was to be expected. The kids were only twenty-one months after all. What they would or wouldn't be when they got older was very much to be determined. Lane was pretty sure she would be cool with them being musicians or being anything else they wanted to be, just so long as they were happy.
"Hey, check it out!" Zach grinned as Steve managed a vague rhythm on the mini drumkit they had bought the twins for Christmas. "He's a natural."
"Zach, I told you they were too young yet," said Lane, laughing in spite of herself. "But hey, if they want to be musical someday, that's cool, and if they don't, that's cool too. I wouldn't force them."
"You know I wouldn't either, babe," he promised. "I just thought it was a cool gift idea. Let's face it, it's not like they even know what they want yet. It's gonna be a while before they can make lists or anything."
"That's true." Lane smiled, letting Kwan go when he wanted to crawl off and play with the cardboard box from one of his gifts rather than what came from within. "But when they do know what they want for Christmas, or at all," she said then, watching Steve crawl after Kwan with real determination, "I want them to have it. I want them to be so happy, Zach. The happiest kids ever."
"Hey, they will be," he promised, coming over to sit by her and putting his arm around her shoulders. "I promise, Lane, I wouldn't have it any other way."
She was smiling as she turned to look at him then and they shared a kiss. That was when Lane Van Gerbig realised, she really had nothing left to wish for anymore, for Christmas or otherwise, because she already had everything she wanted.