Title: Christmas?

Author: SneetchesToo

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Ethan/Rox

Summary: Ethan and Rox get started on their first Christmas together.

Author's Note: I may have fudged the timeline slightly and I'm sorry for that. Also, these two mushes are going to be the death of me. That is all.

—

The holidays had snuck up on Ethan. Much, much quicker than they normally did. And before he knew it it was the Thursday before Christmas.

He had never been more shocked to look at a calendar in his entire life.

What had really shocked him had been that Rox had made absolutely no mention to the upcoming holidays.

It both intrigued and worried him.

He wouldn't say that Christmas was a huge deal for him, but it was definitely something that he celebrated. At least in theory.

He had made mention of that fact to his dad that morning and he had been more than willing to suggest that they invite Rox, and Emo, over for Christmas dinner.

He had been hesitant to say anything in the way of a 'yes', but his dad had been pretty persistent.

So he had contemplated the idea and let it mull over in his brain the entire day.

And it had been driving him crazy.

Noa had been the first one to point out that he seemed distracted.

Leanne had been the last.

And when she told him to snap out of it, that dangerous twinkle in her eye, he had shaken himself back down and apologized profusely.

He had later confessed to her what was plaguing his mind and she had just laughed at him and told him he was being crazy.

She knew damn well that Rox would celebrate with him if that was what he wanted to do.

She had told him as much as he shoved the last of his pizza in his mouth and then she had made a comment about how much of a man child he was.

He had flipped her the bird before swallowing his food and thanking her for her insight.

He knew that she was on to something though, that she knew Rox well enough to know what the woman would want to do.

If she said that he should talk to Rox than he would.

He waited until he got home that evening and after showering and throwing on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt he grabbed his phone from the nightstand and sent her a text.

Dad asked me this morning if you were spending Christmas with us. And that's when I realized, I don't even know if you celebrate Christmas and I feel like the worst boyfriend ever. In reality, he should have known the answer to that question already.

You are far from the worst boyfriend ever. Her text made him smile. He was thankful that she didn't think he was a horrible person for not knowing something so simple, yet important.

Do you celebrate Christmas? He didn't know why he was crossing his fingers so hard. It really wasn't a big deal if she didn't.

Not normally. But it's just something I don't put much thought into. That told him absolutely nothing.

So you wouldn't be opposed to celebrating it? His mind was racing in a thousand different directions.

I would be willing to give it some thought. Progress, good.

So if I told you that dad wants to have you and Emo over for Christmas dinner you would be on board? He figured that throwing out there that Emo was invited too would help soften the blow.

Both of us? Although, it was kind of an odd request coming from his father.

Yeah. Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Whichever you want. Or both if you want. He would love it if she spent the entire weekend with him. Waking up next to her on Christmas morning would be the best gift he could ever receive.

Will there be a tree? He smiled at her use of the Christmas tree emoji followed by a bunch of question marks. If she wanted a tree, he'd give her the best damn tree he could find.

If you'd like a tree. He loved putting up a tree. He loved stringing the lights and hanging the ornaments. He loved everything about Christmas.

I couldn't tell you the last time I had a Christmas tree. Emo was never big on decorating. I think my parents maybe did it once or twice. When I was real young. His heart broke in two for her. He understood if her parents didn't want to celebrate, or if they weren't religious, or whatever. But he got the feeling it was something deeper than that.

We could most definitely get a tree then. I'm sure there's some ornaments in the garage somewhere. Robbie always had a tree up, no matter where he lived. He had no idea where in the garage those ornaments would be. And he certainly didn't want to go digging for them. He wondered if his dad would have a clue if there were some hidden in the house somewhere.

Can we do it this weekend? Christmas Eve was Monday night so they'd certainly need to get cracking if they were going to get everything done on time.

We'll go tomorrow after work and get a tree. They both worked until 3 tomorrow, surely they could manage to find a good Christmas tree before it got dark.

I'd like that. He felt his heart flutter in his chest. He'd like that as well.

Me too. The simple thought of spending his first Christmas with her made his heart swell. He hoped that they had many more Christmas' together, but the first one was always the best.

I'll see you in the morning? She must have been tired because that was often a clue that she was heading to bed.

Of course. He couldn't wait to see her. To kiss her and hold her in his arms. It had only been two days, but it felt like longer.

I love you. He loved it when she told him that. He was the luckiest man alive.

I love you more. And he did, he loved her more than anything in this world, and he was determined to show her that this weekend, Christmas tree and all.

—

He and Rox had headed straight to the Christmas tree place she had found online after work and he had been pleased to see the giant smile on her face when they had pulled into the lot.

He had never seen a grown woman so excited about Christmas trees in his entire life.

They had wandered through the rows for a good hour before she settled on a big, beautiful tree with full branches and a slightly wonky top.

But she said that it was perfect and that had been all he needed to hear.

He had strapped it to the roof of the Jeep and headed toward his house as she rode shot-gun, the biggest smile on her face as she let her fingers tangle with his.

He would never get over how incredibly lucky he was to have her in his life.

When they got to the house his dad was waiting for them on the front porch and he had a raised eyebrow as they exited the vehicle.

"Did you two get the biggest tree you could find?" He really didn't think the tree was all that big. Especially given that this wasn't even close to the largest tree in the lot.

"Actually, no, this was on the smaller end." He watched as Rox gave his dad a sloppy smile and he couldn't help but chuckle. She knew just what she was doing when she had picked this tree.

"Where did you go, the giant tree farm?" His dad's question was full of a soft humor and he simply rolled his eyes.

"Hey Rox was the one who looked the place up online." It reality, she had been the one to suggest getting a tree on the smaller side. She knew just what his dad would do if they pulled up with a massive tree that barely fit in the house.

"I happen to like our rather large tree." She said softly, a sly smile on her face as she eyed his dad around the green branches.

"I don't think this one box of ornaments is going to cover that." His dad nudged his foot against a box that was sitting on the porch and that's when Ethan realized that it was a box from out of the garage. He was shocked that his dad had been willing to go out there and look. The garage had been off limits to them both since Robbie had passed.

"Then we'll get some more tomorrow." He offered them both a smile as he hoisted the tree down from it's place on the roof and made his way inside. "We can leave the decorating for tomorrow night. We'll start a fire and play Christmas music."

"And act like a normal family?" His father's question caused him to roll his eyes and he imagined that Rox was probably doing the same. "How Hallmark channel of you Ethan."

"Hush it. My girl wanted a tree, she got a tree." He stopped just outside the doorway and turned toward the woman in question, offering her the softest of smiles. "My girl wants to be a cheesy, Hallmark channel family, than that's what we'll be."

"You've turned him in to a pile of mush, you know that right?" There was nothing but humor in his dad's eyes and he noticed that he didn't seem the least bit annoyed with his observation about Ethan's mushiness.

"I rather like this side of him." Rox commented softly, her eyes twinkling in the early evening light.

"It's a shame your brother isn't here." It honestly was a shame that Robbie wasn't around for all of this. "He'd never let you live this down."

"Robbie would have loved this kind of stuff." And that was true. His brother had always been one for tradition and for silly little things that made others cringe. "He was always the cheesy one."

"This is true." He pushed his way through the door then, dragging the tree into the living room as his dad and Rox trailed behind him. "Well don't take to long setting that thing up, dinner's almost ready."

"We'll be done in ten dad." He really shouldn't have been surprised that his dad was cooking dinner, again. Ever since the man had started showing up more he had also started hanging around the house more. Bringing with him, a constant source of food.

Ethan had grumbled about how annoying it was.

Rox had found it endearing.

So he hadn't bothered to tell the older man to get lost.

"Good." His dad disappeared into the kitchen then and he turned his attention toward the woman standing in the doorway.

"Wanna help me set this up?" Her eyes lit up in a way he had never seen before and he couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement.

"Yes please!" She practically ran toward him, the smile never leaving her face as she helped him set up the green monster of a tree.

He had never been so thankful for a Christmas tree in his entire life.

*Don't forget to comment.