NOTE: This chapter is eerily timed. It, and all subsequent chapters, were written before the tragedy that took Naya Rivera from us. All my love and condolences go to her family. Thank god she got her boy back on that boat. RIP Naya, you changed a lot of lives, including mine. You will be missed greatly.
Willow walked over to the corner of their hotel room, where Tara was sitting on the floor in front of a little butterfly palm tree potted plant that the concierge had let them borrow from the lobby.
On the plant, Tara had tied bows made from ribbon and had wrapped a tartan scarf around in place of tinsel. On top, Tara had made an accordion angel by folding paper in just the right shape to sit neatly atop it all.
"Wow, baby," Willow said in an awed tone, "This is amazing. I love the angel."
"I didn't have many supplies," Tara replied unsurely.
"You did GREAT," Willow insisted, "I heard of someone up in Canada who made one out of tampons once."
"Those Canadians. Necessity breeds innovation," Tara replied, moving back on her knees to stand, "Should we do it?"
Willow grinned.
"It's so much more fun being on this side of things," she said as they crept across the room in opposite directions to open the adjoining doors to the kids' rooms, "Normally they're the ones waking us up at the crack of dawn."
Silently, they opened the doors and hooked them onto the wall springs so they would stay open. Willow held her hand out with three fingers up. She put one down, then another and when the third curled into her palm, she let out an unholy screech.
"KIDS!"
Tara watched JJ jump up in bed so fast he nearly tumbled right out of it. She went in and shook the blankets on both beds.
"Boys, wake up!"
"Girls!" Willow yelled from the opposite room as she banged her fists against their mattresses, "Santa came! He found you, I told you he would!"
The girls all woke with a shock, but Lily got the message pretty quick and really did tumble out of bed — on purpose. She spun herself around until Willow started jabbing her finger toward their room.
"In there, in there, in there!"
By the time Lily realized where she needed to go, Emily was on her tail with nervous excitement playing out on her face. They skidded into Willow and Tara's room and spotted the makeshift tree and presents sitting underneath.
At this point, JJ was walking into the room in just his boxers with messy hair, rubbing his eyes.
"Damn, Santa can't wait until the sun comes up?"
"He's still on Buffalo time," Willow replied, sticking out her tongue.
JJ swung his arms up and sat on the edge of the bed.
"What kind of haul did the big bearded dude bring this year?"
"Why don't you find your present and see?" Tara replied sweetly.
She moved back to Kayden, who was lingering in the doorway unsurely.
"You too, sweetie. Santa didn't forget about you."
He looked surprised but wandered into the room over to the foot of the plant where gifts were being distributed.
"I FOUND MINE!" Lily screeched with joy, "IT'S THE BIGGEST ONE!"
It was indeed a big, long box, which Lily took great joy in tearing every bit of paper off. She looked up with shiny eyes.
"What is it, Lil?" Willow asked eagerly.
"It's a piano," Lily replied, her voice quivering with awe, "THAT I CAN PLAY WITH MY FEET!"
She started trying to rip into the piano mat box and Willow came over to help so she didn't break it.
While she was on the floor, she pushed another gift toward Emily.
"I think this is your one, sweetie."
Emily was more cautious with her unwrapping, sliding her finger under the tap and being careful not to tear any edges. When she finally got the item inside out, she wasn't sure for a moment what it was. Just a carved wooden box.
Then she opened it and the plethora of pens almost blinded her.
She gasped and ran her hand along all of them.
"So many different colors."
"Wow, that looks just like my first big girl pen set!" Willow exclaimed happily.
Emily sat back on her butt and started to take each pen out to examine.
"Boys," Tara prompted, nodding encouragingly.
JJ skipped over one box to another wearing his name and tore through the packaging. When he saw the logo on the box inside, he looked up with an arched eyebrow.
"No way are these the new Nikes," he said skeptically, "I'm going to open the box and they'll be my old ones wrapped up, right?"
"Santa wouldn't do that, doofus," Lily retorted as she impatiently waited for Willow to figure out how to open the battery compartment on her piano mat.
JJ popped open the lid and his eyes widened considerably.
"No freakin' way!"
He dropped onto the bed to pull the new sneakers on and started to strut about in just his shoes and boxers.
Tara nudged Kayden's shoulder gently.
"I think that last box is for you."
Kayden looked at her and slowly at the box sitting under the plant, the last thing there but for a very thin item that would have looked like a large envelope but for the fact that it was wrapped like all of the others.
He stepped over the rest of the kids eagerly absorbed in their own gifts and picked up the box.
He just held it for a minute.
He wasn't sure if he'd ever gotten a Christmas gift before, much less from 'Santa'.
His mother may have indulged in the festivities but he didn't remember.
His fingers trembled a bit as he took the paper off, not sure what to expect.
He saw the image on the box before he saw the words: a big chunky pair of headphones. Then he saw the words: cushioned; wireless; noise-canceling. Nice headphones, expensive headphones, headphones he had only dreamed of before.
He looked up to say 'thank you' but Tara just smiled and put a finger to her lips, discreetly pointing at the girls.
Kayden just nodded and slowly smiled as he sat on a nearby chair to take his new toy out of the box.
Willow finally got the mat working and turned the volume low so Lily wouldn't disturb any other guests in the hotel.
About three seconds later, she was already planning to write Santa a strongly worded letter.
"Lil, don't jump so hard, okay?"
Lily did try to tone it down but she was just so excited.
On the floor, Willow pivoted and grabbed the thin gift, and handed it across to her final daughter.
"Robbie," she smiled, "Last one."
Robyn eyed Willow suspiciously.
"I don't like how Santa propagates a capitalist agenda by promoting endless commercialism."
Willow did her best to keep her smile on her face.
"But the elves build all of the toys up in the North Pole, honey. It's a self-sustaining economy and ultimately philanthropic."
Robyn looked down glumly.
"I suspect they're working under slave labor."
Willow shoved the gift at Robyn.
"Just open the present."
Robyn took it and examined it warily as if a bank would jump out and start charging her interest.
She took the wrapping away and saw it was a little folder. Inside, was a certificate.
"Well?" Willow prompted pointedly, failing to suppress a grin.
Robyn smiled giddily.
"I got a polio vaccine for 500 children and pregnant women in my name."
"That's great!" Willow replied enthusiastically, "That could be a whole village worth."
Tara came up and sat by Willow on the floor.
"I think there's something else in there," she said, peering over Robyn to look in the folder.
Robyn noticed there was something tucked into the opposite side of the folder too. It was facing away from her, so she had to take it out and turn it around before she could see it.
Her whole body froze in shock, then suddenly she jumped up, holding the item a foot away from her.
"A SIGNED PICTURE OF MEGAN RAPINOE!"
Willow smiled smugly.
"I heard Santa had to use all of his FBI resources to get that."
"IT SAYS MY NAME," Robyn screeched, turning herself about in circles, "SHE WROTE MY NAME! SHE KNOWS MY NAME!"
Willow turned her head to one side.
"Strictly speaking, he might have broken the law—"
Tara squeezed Willow's thigh.
"I think Santa knows what he did was all for good."
Willow leaned in to murmur in Tara's ear.
"Tiny Jewish Santa did appreciate the visit from Mrs. Claus last night."
She kissed Tara's cheek and they shared a smile.
"Hey, do you guys want to video chat with Woofy?" Tara suggested.
It would give her a chance to gather the paper.
There were 'yeahs!' all-around at that suggestion and Willow put the call through on her phone and gave it to JJ to hold.
She walked over to Tara, who gathered her in a hug.
"You pulled it off, love."
Willow smiled bashfully.
"No biggie."
Tara pressed her lips to Willow's lips three times in a row.
"There's a lot more where that came from."
"Oh, Mrs. Claus, I see you've returned…" Willow murmured again and they laughed together before going about to clear the mess that was way too easy to get out of control in a small hotel room.
When the video chat with Woofy was over, during which both Willow and Tara promptly noticed Alice lounging in the background of Jesse's apartment in her pajamas, there was some more playing with the new toys and then down for breakfast. The chefs were doing pancakes and though they couldn't compare to Tara's, everyone had one.
After breakfast and more playing, Willow found herself bringing the whole family back down to the beach.
They really loved it there; she just kept coming back to the same word — paradise.
They'd decided to do a Secret Santa more for the excitement of buying for others than to receive more gifts and had brought everyone to an open market the day before to pick a gift for their randomly-chosen recipient. Willow couldn't think of a better place than the sandy shores for them to be able to spread out and exchange.
"Who wants to go first?" she asked as they sat in a sort-of-circle shape, each clutching a gift wrapped in various makeshift things like leaves or napkins or in JJ's case, taped-together gum wrappers.
"Me, me, me!" Lily held her hand up as far as it would go.
"Who'd you get?" Willow asked cheerily.
Lily held up her gift, wrapped in colorful napkins and two elastic bands, which was also the biggest of all of them. She bunny-hopped over to JJ and held it out for him with glee.
"Aww," JJ grinned, taking the gift as it was offered, "Thanks, kiddo."
She leaned in for a hug, then threw herself back into her spot to nervously watch JJ open his present.
The first elastic band flew off to start its new life among the shells and JJ was more careful in removing the second lest Robyn brand him a litterer. He held up a short-sleeved green and white Hawaiian shirt.
There were suitable 'oohs' and 'aahs' as JJ donned the shirt over the tank top he was wearing. He pulled the sides so it fit on his shoulders and looked down at himself and grinned.
"Damn, I really can make anything look good."
Robyn flicked his ear and he flicked her thigh back but they stopped when Tara gave them a look.
"Do you like it, JJ, do you like it!?" Lily asked with her nails almost bitten to the quick.
"Green is my color," JJ grinned across to her, "I love it, Lil, thanks."
Lily beamed and rocked back and forth happily.
"Jake, you received, so you should go next," Tara encouraged with a nod.
Jake held his small gift out and presented it to the group, slowly holding it out to each and every one of them to build the anticipation before finally dropping in front of Emily. He let the gift fall into her lap and he reached out to tickle her belly. She howled with laughter and her glasses fell clean off her face.
JJ found them in the sand, brushed them off, and slid them back over her ears.
"Merry Christmas Emmy."
"Merry Christmas, JJ," Emily replied with some color in her cheeks as all eyes were on her to unwrap her present.
She tore away the gum wrappers until she revealed what was inside; a pair of socks with pineapples on them saying 'Aloha'. Emily bit her lip to hold back her smile. She whipped off her little flip flops and pulled the socks on so she could wiggle her feet and make the pineapples 'talk'.
"Thank you JJ!" in said in delight.
JJ winked at Emily and smiled contentedly.
"The last time I saw you so interested in your feet you were five months old," Willow quipped and no one but Tara laughed, "Emmy who did you get?"
Emily walked forward on her knees shyly and dropped a tiny present at Kayden's feet before rushing back to her spot.
The present was the size of a matchbox and not even as thick. It was wrapped in a page torn from a magazine and had been carefully lined up so the colors were consistent.
Kayden slipped his finger under the piece of tape and peeled back the wrapping. Inside was a keychain with an image of a Hawaiian sunrise on one side and his name on the other.
Kayden found himself immediately choked up.
The headphones had been thoughtful and extravagant and this was cheap but thoughtful in a different way, though he guessed not the way Emily had intended. She saw a shared interest and thought of him and that was touching.
But a keychain, specifically, meant so much more, because this was the first keychain he owned that would be attached to a key for a home, not just a house.
He hoped his emotion wasn't obvious as he looked up.
"This is so great."
"I-It's like what we drawed," Emily said nervously.
"It's so cool," Kayden gushed appropriately, "Thanks, Emily. I love it."
Emily breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Kayden hooked his new keychain to his belt loop just to make sure he didn't lose it.
"Smart boy," Willow grinned and Kayden blushed.
Still blushing, he shyly handed his wrapped gift across the circle to Lily, who almost snatched his hand off to get it. It was wrapped in newspaper but Kayden had used a gold pen to decorate it and make it a bit more festive.
Lily didn't seem to even see it as she tore it off to see what was inside.
"IT'S MY FAVORITE COLOR!" Lily screeched, shaking with excitement, "ALL OF THEM!"
Inside, a rainbow puka shell necklace lay ready for Lily to tug over her head, which she promptly did. She shook her neck from side to side.
"ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?!"
"Looks great, panda!" Willow said keenly.
"Great buy," Tara complimented Kayden, sitting right beside her, "Lil, do you have something to say?"
Lily threw herself at Kayden.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Kayden smiled, pleased.
"You're welcome. Merry Christmas."
"Merry freakin' Christmas!" Lily exclaimed and started jumping up and down, sending sand in everyone's direction.
Willow got Lily settled down and Tara took the next turn since Lily had already gone. She handed her wrapped gift to Robyn in a white box.
"And it's recycled cardboard," she reassured with a wink.
Robyn beamed and even more so when she saw what was inside: a reusable water bottle with a couple of Hawaiian-themed stickers already pressed on.
"Thank you, Mom," she said, closing Tara in a hug, "My water tastes better already knowing drinking it isn't contributing to our polluted oceans."
Tara kissed the top of Robyn's head.
"Love you, bean."
Robyn smiled and produced her gift, which she tossed at Willow. Willow accepted with some side-eye but it was all gone by the time she revealed what was inside.
"Coffee!" she exclaimed happily as she read the back of the pack of locally-produced beans, "You get me. You really get me."
She put a hand on her heart and pretended to wipe away tears. Robyn rolled her eyes but accepted a side-long hug.
"Only you left Momma!"
"You must've got Mommy!" Emily exclaimed excitedly.
There was a bit of a groan between JJ and Robyn but Willow ignored and happily presented Tara with a little jewelry box. Tara gave her a bit of a pointed look because she was sure this had probably broached the $10 limit they had put on Secret Santa gifts but was pleased as punch when she opened it to see a gold Hawaiian heirloom bangle with etchings of flowers and ancient runes.
"It's gorgeous," she said, taking it out to slip up her arm, "Oh, Willow, I love it. Thank you so much."
She leaned in and they met for a kiss, for which the groaning was extended.
"Oh shut up," Willow called back playfully, "Go play in the water or something."
JJ and Robyn looked at each other and did just that, except they passed by a free volleyball net on the way and picked up a game instead. Kayden however decided he would test out the water and waded right into the ocean in his shorts and t-shirt.
On the sand, Willow watched JJ check out a couple of older women as they walked by and lowered their sunglasses to check him out too.
Willow frowned disapprovingly at the women; surely they could tell how young he was?
She looked to Tara and nodded toward him.
"Is it weird that he's never had a girlfriend?" she asked, watching how he made his pecs dance, "Considering he's…"
"Appropriately attracted to girls for his age?" Tara supplied easily.
Willow considered it and nodded.
"I was going to say 'gaga for the ladies', but sure."
"Maybe he recognizes he couldn't commit to just one girl right now," Tara suggested, stretching her legs out so she could run her toes through the sand, "I think it's admirable. I'd rather a player for a son than a cheater."
Willow frowned. She didn't want either. She forced herself to drag her eyes away. She looked at Tara and smiled.
"Or maybe he's like his Momma and is waiting for The One to show up and walk right into him."
Tara tapped Willow's nose.
"You walked into me."
Willow shrugged.
"Debatable."
"Not even a little bit," Tara smiled affectionately, "You spilled coffee all over me. Apologized profusely. Even took my dry cleaning."
Willow's eyebrows waggled.
"I was just trying to get into your pants."
Building new sandcastles feet away, Emily looked up, spade in hand.
"Why did you want to get into Mommy's pants?"
"Yeah, you wouldn't even both fit in there," Lily added with a deep sigh about how stupid adults could be.
Willow and Tara looked at each other and contained the laughter.
At the volleyball net, JJ stumbled back to try and hit the ball that Robyn sent over the net. He accidentally backed right into a girl about his age. She was half his height, with her dark blonde hair and pale skin, though it had the rustic glow of a recently acquired tan under the Hawaiian sun.
She stumbled and shot him a dirty look.
"Watch where you're going, jerk!"
JJ held his hand up.
"Whoa. Chill out…" he peered at the name embroidered in cursive on the top of her shirt, "Brittany."
The girl looked down at herself and rolled her eyes.
"Ugh. This is my mom's shirt."
JJ nodded easily.
"What do I call you then?"
"Cleo!" a woman called from the deck of the bar of the hotel.
"Ay, Mami," Cleo called back and brushed past JJ to hurry away, "Ugh."
"Merry Christmas to you too!" JJ called as he picked up the ball from the ground, but his gaze lingered.
Robyn noticed.
"You liiiiike her," she teased and opened and closed her fists in front of her face, "Heart-eyes, heart-eyes, heart-eyes!"
"As if, butt-head," JJ scoffed but he did take a sneaky look as the young woman retreated into the ball completely, "You gonna spike me or what?"
He served the ball over the net and they continued their game.
Around lunchtime, everyone went back to their rooms for a nap and when they returned back downstairs later on that afternoon, the whole outside area right down to the beach had been set up as a luau.
It seemed like there was food wherever they turned with unusual names like lomi lomi and kulolo. Waitresses in hula dress walked around carrying trays of appetizers and drinks and everyone was in fine, tropical spirits. Including Willow and Tara as they clinked their Mai Tai's with a 'cheers'.
Lily and Emily ran to a hula girl to get lessons on the hoop while Robyn went about enterprising a drinks scam by going up to the drunker people and offering to refill their drinks for no charge, tip only. She couldn't really believe she got away with it or that the bar refilled the drinks for her no problem, but hey, she wasn't going to object.
Kayden brought his sketchbook with him so he could capture the image of the hula girls and JJ was fidgety every time he saw a wave of dark blonde hair pass by.
While passing by the bar, he spotted a body that looked identical to the girl from earlier but when he went up to say hello he realized it wasn't.
"Oh, hey," he stumbled out and noticed the woman was the person that had been calling the girl earlier, whom she'd called Mami, "Um…Brittany right?"
The woman looked JJ up and down with piercing dark brown eyes.
"Brittany is my wife's name. My name is Santana. Mrs. Pierez if you're nasty. And you best not forget it."
Her drink was placed on the bar. He picked it up and handed it to her. She looked at him oddly and started to walk away.
"If you're looking for a tip," she said when she spotted JJ lingering, "Try lowlights. They'll stop your face from looking so washed out."
JJ watched her leave, blinking heavily.
It was another thirty minutes before he spotted Cleo, helping one of the staff move empty dishes into a big basin. The staff member thanked her and she nodded and moved off to sit in the sand. JJ promptly brought himself over and sat down beside her with a winning grin.
"Two moms, huh?"
Cleo arched an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You have two moms," JJ repeated, still grinning like an idiot.
"What's it to you?" Cleo asked, aggressively enough that JJ would have quickly left if he was here for nefarious reasons.
"I-I have two moms," JJ replied, blushing at having to clear his throat.
Cleo rolled her eyes.
"What, you want some kind of twinning award?"
Cleo's words sounded like she wanted him to get lost and yet he felt a pull.
"I can already tell which mom you take after," he chuckled.
Cleo cracked a smile but tried to hide it.
"I see you met my Mami."
JJ saw his in and leaned back easily.
"Any siblings?"
Cleo slowly shook her head.
"None," she answered and after considering for a moment whether she wanted to continue this, and deciding in the affirmative, she nodded at him, "You?"
JJ nodded.
"Four."
"FOUR!?" Cleo exclaimed, her legs straightening out in shock.
"One foster brother, three little sisters," JJ counted them out on his fingers.
Cleo's eyes slowly returned to a normal diameter.
"That's a lot of chicks in your household."
"And the foster brother only came around a few months ago," JJ replied with a raised brow, "I'm used to being a ladies man."
Cleo looked away and shook her head. After a second, she looked back at him. Why was his face so intriguing?
"You must be rich," she commented, "For your parents to bring you all out here."
JJ frowned slightly.
"Guess I never thought about it," he answered honestly, "Where do you live?"
"New York," Cleo answered, relaxing back again.
"City?" JJ asked and when he got a nod, he pointed a finger upward, "Upstate."
Cleo looked intrigued.
"You must be rich," JJ countered, "To live in the city and come to Hawaii for Christmas."
Cleo looked far away for a moment.
"My mom is a part-time math professor, part-time dancer. She owns her own studio. And my mami is an actress… and her own publicist."
"So she's always chasing herself?" JJ asked with a grin.
Cleo chuckled, low.
"Fighting with herself, more like. If she didn't have my mom to keep her in check she'd be so hard you could carve a monument into her. But one pinky link and she's all melted again."
JJ nodded evenly.
"You come to Hawaii a lot?"
"We alternate between here and Lesbos island," Cleo answered and leaned her head up to watch the last bit of sun disappear, "I prefer it here."
JJ's hand was skittish in the sand.
"I prefer you here too."
Cleo threw her head back and laughed.
"Does that actually ever work? Those lines?"
JJ looked a little wounded but took it on the chin.
"Truth be told, I don't use that many lines," he admitted and found words falling out of his mouth that he'd never voiced before, "My moms have been together for twenty-somethin' years and I still see them get excited when they hear each other coming in the door."
He blew out some air.
"I see girls all the time that are so gorgeous I feel blinded but I've never had someone who made me feel like I'd still be excited to see them in 20 years."
Cleo brought her knees up to her chest and looked at JJ sincerely.
"That's a lot of pressure to put on your first girlfriend. Not to mention yourself."
JJ threw one hand up and gestured it at random.
"My moms always say 'don't date someone you wouldn't bring home to us' and I guess I've been…leaning pretty heavy on that."
"Judgmental?" Cleo asked sympathetically.
"No," JJ shook his head and chuckled wryly, "Momma, a little bit. But no. I just can't deal with disappointing them."
Cleo looked at him for a long moment.
"What age are you?"
"16," JJ answered easily.
"If you can't disappoint your parents now, when can you?" Cleo asked with a small grin, "It's called living."
JJ slowly smiled in acknowledgment, then nodded at her.
"Do you disappoint your parents?"
"Regularly," Cleo nodded quickly.
JJ looked out as the hula dancers moved off and a man with sticks of fire took up the spot.
"Would they be disappointed if you watched the fire show with some dude you just met who doesn't watch where he's going?"
"Probably not," Cleo shrugged, then offered him a slow smile, "But I can lie and say we smoked crack or something."
JJ grinned and unbeknownst to either of them, their pinkies crept closer together.
As the evening went on, Willow and Tara sat on logs around a fire pit and the children slowly came to them, one by one as tiredness set in. JJ was the last to get there with a warm but contained grin prominent on his face and dropped himself onto the last space of log.
"Mom, will you sing to us?" he asked happily.
"Yeah, yeah!" Emily and Lily encouraged eagerly and Kayden nodded similarly.
Even Robyn seemed receptive, though she was also focusing on the bills she was counting in her pocket.
"Do it, baby," Willow nodded at her wife.
Tara looked bashful but wrapped her arm around Willow and smiled out at her family.
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…" she sang low, melodically, "Jack Frost nipping at your nose."
She tapped Emily's nose as she was nearest to her and Emily beamed.
"Yuletide carols being sung by a choir…" Tara continued and everyone was starting to sway slightly, "And folks dressed up like Eskimos."
"Eskimos is an offensive term," Robyn muttered but everyone ignored her.
Tara's singing drew a bit of a crowd, but she didn't feel self-conscious as she sang to the other gathering holiday-makers.
"Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright."
She reached out and stroked Emily's hair.
"Tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight."
She sang through the verses and enjoyed the rapt attention and sleepy smiles she was getting in return.
"And so I'm offering this simple phrase to kids from one to ninety-two."
She pointed to each of her children and though it was such a simple gesture, it made them all feel special.
"Although it's been said many times, many ways…"
She hummed and glanced at Willow adoringly, who gazed adoringly right back.
"Merry Christmas to you."