"Honey are you done? We need to leave right away?" Kevin calls into the apartment when he comes home, throwing his briefcase on the couch. He hurries into the kitchen to collect the bowls and pots with food that Scotty has prepared for their Christmas dinner at Nora's.
They had come home from their Christmas holiday only a couple of hours ago and some crises in Nora's kitchen had urged Scotty to help out with some emergency cooking, and Kevin had been sent out to buy some last minute gifts.
"Yep, I'm finished. Did you find the book to Robert?" Scotty asks, joining Kevin in the kitchen.
"What? Yeah." Kevin replies, putting a piece of a fig from the fruit bowl in his mouth. "Let's go pick up Justin and Rebecca so the happy evening can begin." Kevin says and finished the rest of the fig.
"Sweetie?" Scotty asks when Kevin is almost out of the kitchen again. Kevin stops in his tracks and looks at Scotty. "Merry Christmas." Scotty says and walks up to him and wraps his arms around Kevin. "You were passing under the mistletoe." Scotty explains and kisses his husband. "We should really go now."
****
Nora meets Scotty by the front door, taking his big bag with food, apologizing over and over again for forcing him into cooking the moment he comes home. He also, over and over, tells her it's okay, and that he only enjoyed it. Kevin mutters something less affirmative and gets nudged by Scotty.
"Finally. I thought you'd never come." Sarah greets them when she sees her baby brothers taking their coats off.
"Don't blame me, they were late." Justin says, pointing at Kevin.
"What are you, animals?" Sarah asks Kevin. "It's in the middle of the afternoon, before going to mom's." Kevin smiles mischievously and winks at her.
"Why are you lingering here, come on now, people are getting cranky from hunger." Nora ushers them into the dining room.
Kevin sneaks into the kitchen to make sure Scotty isn't working again, and finds his husband stirring something in a pot on the stove.
"Honey, let's leave that to mom." Kevin says and wraps his arms around Scotty's waist.
"I can't let it burn." Scotty says and accepts Kevin's kiss on the cheek.
They hear the happy chatter from the dining room, Saul has apparently arrived, and Nora is appointing her guest their seats. Scotty smiles and Kevin kisses his cheek again.
"Merry Christmas, sweetie." Kevin whispers and draws gently circles on his husband's back.
Scotty gives the sauce some final stirring an puts the pot on the sink. He turns around in Kevin's arms, kissing his lips when they come face to face.
"Merry Christmas." Scotty replies. "I love you." He whispers and kisses Kevin again. They are so lost in their embrace, that they don't notice when someone joins them in the kitchen.
"Can I just get the sauce? Mom wants it. And you really shouldn't do that over the food."
Kevin gives his baby brother a killing look and reluctantly lets go of Scotty. Justin collects the sauce and leaves for the dining room again.
Scotty follows him, grabbing an edgy Kevin in the hand to bring him. They enter the dining room where the whole family is gathered along with loads of food and Christmas decorations. When they step through the doorway, both Julia and Rebecca simultaneously points at them and yells "Mistletoe."
Scotty glances up and sees the green twigs with the red ribbon over them. He looks at Kevin, now more blushing than edgy. He looks shy and almost vulnerable when Scotty kisses him on the lips. The females in the room 'Aw' at the sight before letting everyone take their places. Scotty smiles at Kevin and continues into the room to sit down.
Nora feels how the warmth from her family fills the room. Kevin gets a kiss under the mistletoe, probably the first one in this house that is not from a relative. Nora almost sheds a tear and sees Saul across the table, doing the same thing. As the food on the table is transferred onto the plates at the speed of sound, she mouths 'Merry Christmas' to him and smiles.
