A/N (1): Thank you all for the great chapter ideas! You've really helped me! I will try and write this to be the best Christmas for Teddy!
Also, I have a theme song for Ted. Search up 'Undertale - His Theme' or 'Undertale - Memory' on Youtube. Those are the melodies I have chosen for Ted.
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Teddy burps a small puff of air as I gently pat him on his back. His lunch has consisted of mashed turkey and peas and a bottle of formula. Me being me, I made sure Ted had enough to eat but did not have his lunch go to waste.
"Is Teddy ready for snow play?" I baby talk to my son.
Ted giggles. Lifting him from his highchair, I wipe his mouth and hands clean.
Ana is getting ready herself before we head out for the day. Once she's ready, she'll take Ted and from me and proceed to get him in his winter clothes while I do the same.
"Okay, where's Teddy?" Ana comes from behind our bedroom door.
Oh... My... God... She is so beautiful! Navy blue jacket, light blue jeans that fit those legs perfectly, and to top it all off, a tan scarf.
Later, Grey. Later.
"What?" She asks.
I find myself stuttering. "You.. I... -uh... You..."
She raises a brow. "I hope the ends of these sentences are good."
"Trust me, Ana. No words are needed when it comes to your beauty."
My response floors her. She gazes at me, mouth open. "You know it's impolite to stare." I say, throaty, handing Teddy to her.
She chuckles and kisses my cheek. "Not when it's you."
I am left breathless. She cradles Ted and whisks off with him.
Changing into my jacket and boots, I grab my gloves, putting them on.
Ana and Teddy are waiting by the door. Ted has on a yellow colored jacket, brown snow boots and a small beanie to protect his ears from the cold.
"Are we all ready?" I ask, excited.
"I can't find Ted's gloves." Ana sounds panicked.
"Hang on. They're sure to be somewhere. Let's look. You check his room again, I'll look around his play area." She nods and places Ted down on the sofa. Ana hastily walks to Ted's room.
Checking under all of my son's toys, I'm not finding them, nor anything that looks remotely like gloves.
"Any luck, Ana!?" I shout, grabbing while peeking under blankets and pillows that we lay out for where Ted sits.
"Not yet!" She shouts back.
Under the last blanket, do I find them. "Found the gloves!"
How did they get under here? Honestly, my funny son and his ways. Some days it's his binky, others days, it's a sock.
"Thank god." Passing the gloves to Ana, she covers Ted's hands. Picking him up, she turns back to me and smiles "Now, we are ready." Opening the door, the cold air fills our lungs. Tiny flakes can be seen floating down. The sky's still blue but snow clouds remain scattered in the air. I have a feeling this will be a grand day in the snow.
Taking our first steps into the blank white canvas of snow, it creates a satisfying crunching sound with each step.
Our breaths shown by faint clouds of mist.
Ana lowers Teddy just above snow level. I wonder from Teddy's perspective what all this looks like to him. He drabbles a few words and babbles.
"This is snow, Teddy." I pick some off the ground.
I pack a small amount of snow into the shape of a ball and let Teddy hold it. "Snowball."
Ted claps the snowball but he lets it drop. It splatters and Ted tries to pick up the remaining snow. He coos out his curiosity. His eyebrows furrow together trying to figure out where the snowball went.
"You have to make another one, Teddy. Daddy can make one for you." Ana says, kissing the top of his head.
I do so. Packing another snowball, I, once again, give to Ted.
"Ted..." I laugh as he's about eat the snowball. Before it gets to his mouth, Ana swats it away. "No Ted!"
Like before, he reaches down and salvages what he can of the snowball. But Ted and his baby logic mind says it will magically appear... if you know where to look.
"What do you say to building a snowman?" Ana stands back up.
As if Ted can understand, he laughs.
"I think that was a 'Yes'." I say.
I set to work. Starting with rolling a pile of snow, that is almost as big as Teddy, that will be the base. I roll and roll until I see it is a sizeable shape. About the size of my black SUV tire will do.
Rolling it in place, I begin again with another pile of snow, making it the middle.
I look up to see Ana trying to get Ted to crawl in the snow. "Ana!" She gazes at me. "I don't think Teddy should be crawling around like that. It's cold!"
"Something could happen, Ana!" I don't know what but I won't risk Teddy getting hurt.
"Christian. The ground is barely covered. Ted will be fine." My son is on all fours but flops onto his bottom. He can't walk yet. Picking up the middle of the snowman, I position it on the larger one. Finally, the head is all that's left.
"Ana, Come." She scoops up Ted before coming to me. "What?"
Ted's gloves and knees are powered with snow. He examines his gloves and tries to shake some off. Too funny not to laugh at him. One day, my son can be the most adventurous boy on the planet, the next, he will be focused on a playing with a certain toy all day.
"We need some pebbles for the snowman." I count. Two plus five plus three is... "About 10 pebbles. I'll hold Teddy."
Ana places Ted in my arms as she goes in search of our pieces for the snowman.
"Ted. Look. The snowman." I say. He extends his arm out and begins to pat the snowman on the head. "Do you like the snowman, Teddy?"
"Smaaa." He squeals. I'm so proud right now. What have I done to deserve this beautiful child? I kiss his head. Ana returns. "I found what I could, boys. And I found two twigs for his hands." She takes half and me half of the collected pebbles and we begin placing them. I put on the second eye and Ted knocks the rock off. "He needs to see, Teddy." I chuckle while picking the 'eye' back up.
Ana uses the rest to make the buttons and the smile. "It feels like it's missing something." I say, trying to ponder what it could be.
Ted rests his hand near where the snowman's nose would be. "The nose!" Ana blurts out. Our son is a genius. "We don't have anymore rocks left." Ana scans the ground. "Oh! We are in luck. There's one right by your foot."
She bends down to pick it up and plops it right in the center of the snowman. "It stills feels...you know."
"Maybe a carrot for the nose." She adds.
"Oh no. Nuh-uh." I shake my head. "I am NOT wasting a perfectly good carrot, Ana."
"Pinecones?" Ana asks.
I snap my fingers. "There you go!" I hand Ted back to her and run to the entrance of where some trees are.
Holy shit! I lose my footing and slide while still standing on my own two feet. Only when I reach the end of the frozen do I regain my footing. Whoa! Talk about a slip up, Grey!
Getting whatever pinecone I can, I decide to quickly turn back. I am halted in my steps as a ball of slush thumps me in my chest. What the-? Another hits me. I can see Ana laughing in the distance. Oh, like that is it?
Making a ball of snow, I ensure my aim is for my wife and not Ted. I toss the ball. Ana shrieks and moves out of the way. It misses. Damn. She launches another one at me. This time I am prepared and dodge, having the ball nearly hitting my head.
Christ! My wife has good aim. She should include extra points for throwing with one hand and keeping Ted by her side.
I decide to just leg it and run back, all the while Ana continues to pelt me with snowballs. My legs, arms, chest are struck.
Ted is giggling when I return. "Was Daddy funny, Teddy Bear?" He coos, reaching for the pinecone. Our snowman is complete.
Hmm. Perhaps I should save some snow for Me and Ana's time in the Playroom... Ridiculous, Grey. You have ice... Hmm. I'll think more about that later...
"He looks perfect." Ana says.
Ted's nose and cheeks begin to pink from the cold air. "I think it's time to head back in now. Ted looks cold."
"Yes. Let's go." She holds our son tight against her and walks with me back to our house.
Inside, warm air greets us. I can feel my skin warming up as I take off my snow clothes. "Whoo. That was brisk and fun!" I shout excitedly.
Ana takes Ted's jacket and such which are patterned with snow from where he was crawling. "I wish we had a fireplace." She flops his clothing, causing a flurry of flakes to be sent floating down to the floor.
"I'll need to give Ted a warm bath." She states, taking Teddy to the bathroom.
My phone rings. Thank god, I didn't take it out with me into the snow.
Hmm... Two missed calls from Elliot. I ring him back as I hear Ana filling the tub.
"Sup, bro?" He answers.
"Yeah, you called?" I ask.
"I did. Was just about to do again then you called me. Kate wanted to know if we all could go holiday shopping together."
"Who's 'We all' ?" I make little quotations in the air.
"We, being Me, Kate, you, Ana and my little nephew."
Oh god... The crowds, too many people, so much...ugh! "Hang on." I say, covering the speaker while I inform Ana. "I suppose we can go. We can pick out some gifts early. Tell them yes." Ted splashes the water and gurgles happily, playing with his boat toys. His hair all soaped up.
"That's a yes, Lelliot." I teasingly say.
"Alright!" He shouts, loud as he was when we were kids. "How's Wednesday for you two? 11 a.m?"
"Fine. Whatever, okay."
"Bro, we gotta get you into the Christmas Spirit." He laughs.
"Bye, Lelliot." I taunt in an effort to get him to hang up. Ironically, it works.
Ana opens the door from the bathroom. Ted is wrapped in a light brown, bear-pattern, towel, his hair slightly damp from his bath. "So when are we going holiday shopping?" She questions.
"Wednesday. Noon-ish" I answer.
And it will be the longest day of my life...
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A/N (2): I know this story is supposed to be about Teddy but what do you think of me writing a chapter on a Christmas Playroom scene just for Christian and Ana? Or should that be a separate story on it's own?
Let me know...
