The Greatest Time Of The Year

(formerly known as 'Christmas something')

Part Seven

So, well… you still remember this story? This is it, finally. The Grand Finale with the big Christmas Party and an overall happy ending! It took me long enough to get there and I really hope you enjoy it.

In case you don't remember most of the plot (and I can't hold that against you given the fact that I started writing this story years ago)… here's a short summary of the past events:

Chad and Ryan are in a relationship only a few of their friends know about. They spend the Christmas Holidays at the same place, both with their entire families. They have a good time with lots of secret make-out sessions until on Christmas Eve they have a fight because Ryan's ex Alex, who happens to be the son of Chad's mom's boyfriend, shows up and Chad accidentally comes out to his family. Alex leaves the scene as quickly as he's shown up, not being on the best of terms with his father Tom. With the help of Chad's baby brother Linus Ryan and Chad see reason and make up again, followed by sleeping together for the first time on Christmas Day. Sharpay wanted Ryan and Chad to sing together at the Christmas Party but then changed her mind and now it's like every other year, the Evans' twins are to perform together at the party although they didn't once rehearse their song.

And now, before the story continues, there's only this for me to say:

First of all, sorry if there are any mistakes in here, but I couldn't wait with the posting until tomorrow. I've been writing for seven hours and I had to post the result now.

And then this: A million thanks to those of you who kept reviewing and everything. Thanks for your patience and your wonderful support, I could never have finished this without you.


Sharpay sat down onto the plush couch in her suite, pulled off her stilettos and with a relieved sigh rubbed her bare feet together. Looking gorgeous all the time really was a hard job. And the things you had to put up with for it… like blisters on your heels, well...

Some things you simply had to endure.

'What I'm about to do now easily fits into the same category,' the blond girl thought to herself and dug her cell phone out of her purse as well as a scrambled piece of paper. She typed the number written down there into the phone, took off her golden ear clip, and waited for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

The male voice on the other end sounded slightly puzzled.

"We need to meet," Sharpay stated at once.

"Sharpay? How did you get my number?"

"How do you think?" the girl sighed with rolling eyes. Men could be so dense sometimes.

"Oh, right. So…," the man let out a sigh as well, "what do you want?"

"We will discuss this personally. Meet me at 'Ruby's' in half an hour." Sharpay's determined voice left no room for protests.

"Is this about Ryan?"

"Well, duh," Sharpay simply answered.

There was a slight pause at the other end before the voice finally gave in. "Okay, Sharpay. I'll try to be there as soon as I can. It may take longer than half an hour though, I'm already past…"

"You'll be there if you know what's good for you!" Sharpay stated coldly and, not waiting for a reply, cut the connection.

The blond girl stashed the cell back into her purse and, with a small sigh, slipped back into her high-heels. Then she stood up from the couch, smoothed down her skirt, and left the suite.

'Never a break for the 'Goddess of Scheming', not even on Christmas Day,' she thought while waiting for the elevator to arrive.


Ryan walked up to his twin's suite and, once more going through his thought-out apology for missing the rehearsal, knocked on the door. When there was no answer he knocked again and called: "Sharpay? Come on, let me in!"

Nothing.

Ryan tried the handle and was surprised to find the door locked.

'Where the hell is she?' he thought with a frown. Ryan had already checked out the most obvious places for her to be, leaving out the ones he knew Sharpay would never ever visit, like the indoor gym or the kid's club, and he'd asked every single one of the hotel's employees he'd met on his way if they'd seen her. But apparently nobody had seen Sharpay since lunch.

"Odd," Ryan sighed and turned around to visit his parents in their suite. Maybe their mother would know where Sharpay had gone off to.

And maybe she'd also have some advice as to how he would best avoid being flayed alive by Sharpay for missing out on practicing their performance for tonight's party.

"We could share a nice cup of hot chocolate while thinking of a way to guarantee my survival," Ryan murmured, a smile forming at the corners of his mouth at the prospect of having some alone-time with his mother. "And I long to tell her all about Chad… well, okay, maybe not all."

Some details of his' and Chad's previous activities he would certainly keep to himself, if only for the sake of not spoiling his mother's opinion of her 'Sweet Darling Boy'.


To Alyssa Danforth Christmas Day seemed to have passed in a blur and before she'd realized it, the evening had arrived and she found herself walking through the halls of the hotel with Tom and two of her kids to join everyone for the big special Christmas Party.

"Wow, mommy, look!"

Linus stopped tugging his mom forward into the dining room but stood still, gazing in awe around the festive Christmas decorations. Then he began hopping up and down again, all the while pulling on her arm to get her moving further into the room.

And Alyssa couldn't for once argue with her youngest son's excitement. The decorations were truly awesome and the Sport's Resort's management (or whoever was responsible for it) had really outdone itself.

Several highly decorated Christmas Trees adorned the walls along garlands, glitter and sparkles everywhere. The tables were covered in decked pine branches, equally sparkling but… the most wonderful item was the one tree placed to the right of the big stage at one end of the room.

It was laden with gold and red Christmas ornaments, real candles burned on nearly every branch and it was so big that the enormous gold star on top was brushing against the high ceiling. Alyssa (and everybody else) wondered how they'd gotten the tree inside at all, it didn't look like it would fit through any door.

"It's truly wonderful," she breathed and, ushering her children along, followed Tom towards their special table right in front of the stage. Vance and Derby Evans were already seated there, looking bright and sparkling, and they greeted each other warmly.

Then, with a brief nod towards the two empty chairs on either side of them, Tom asked:

"Where are the twins?"

"Well, Sharpay still isn't back from whatever ominous errand she had to run, she was very vague on the phone earlier," Derby frowned. "And Ducky… well, he's…"

"Off somewhere with Chad, of course." Alyssa finished for her, smiling and realizing for the first time today that she was truly okay with that.

"I'm just hoping they'll show up in time for the grand finale or otherwise Kitten will be disappointed." Derby stated softly. "She's used to perform the last song and, practice or not, of course she depends on Ryan to sing with her after all."

"Do you know what song they're gonna sing this year?" Tom wanted to know and that led to Derby and him exchanging tales about the twins' performances they'd witnessed over the years.

Alyssa listened to them for a while but then her mind wandered astray, thinking about Chad and Ryan and their… relationship instead.

To be completely honest, it still felt a bit strange to think of her eldest being in a relationship with the sparkling Evan's twin but… not because it was with the male half of the twins. No, her feelings had less to do with Chad being gay and more with the slightly wistful revelation that had sprung on her earlier today. The suddenly obvious fact that her son was truly no longer a child.

Without her realizing it, Chad had grown into a wonderful young man and, as much as she wished to deny it, his mother was no longer the one person in his life he needed the most.

Ryan was.

The spot that every mother secretly wished to occupy forever in her son's life, it had been taken over by Ryan Evans.

Alyssa had known as much the minute Chad had walked into her room this afternoon, a look of both worry and determination on his face, when he'd asked her if they could talk. And as much as she'd been prepared for the coming confession ("Ugh, okay… mom. I guess you already know from my dumb act last night that I'm… I'm gay.") and as quickly and genuinely as she'd tried to assure Chad of her acceptance and love no matter what…

Alyssa hadn't managed to not be overwhelmed by the look of pure happiness and… yes, love that had shone from Chad's dark eyes when he'd told her all about Ryan and how things had progressed from a surprising new-found friendship starting last summer to something so endlessly more.

Chad was truly and madly in love with the blond boy and Alyssa could only hope that Ryan was feeling the same about her son.

A soft touch on her arm startled Alyssa from her reverie and she needed a second to focus on what Tom was saying: "I think I should get this party up and running now. Be right back, honey."

Tom rose from his seat to climb the stage and take hold of the microphone. The soft background music faded out to make way for a warm welcoming applause. Alyssa noticed Tom taking a deep breath before his calm and clear voice rang out to everyone:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me welcome you all to "The Season's Sports Resort's" annual Christmas Party. I'm proud to say that in the tenth year of my… well, let me go with the term 'regime' for now… our management has truly outdone itself in making this event memorable. Decorations, dinner, show… no costs or hard manual labor were spared whatsoever to ensure that tonight's Christmas Party will indeed become the true embodiment of this year's chosen motto: The Greatest Time Of The Year."

Strong applause forced Tom to stop going on further and he took the opportunity to send a loving smile towards his girlfriend and her family.

"And now," he continued a moment later, "all there is left for me to say is this: I wish you a wonderful evening full of songs, stand-up comedy and of course a delicious buffet that is therefore now pronounced opened. Please enjoy yourselves. Thank you."

Tom made his way back to the table under polite praising and sat down again. Alyssa leaned over to give him a quick kiss and a whispered "Wonderful speech, darling!" before her gaze went back to the stage where tonight's host (Supervising Manager Geoffrey Kensington) announced the first performance while people started to round up for their shot at the huge buffet.

And so the party began.


Ryan and Chad stumbled out of the storage room they'd been occupying for the last twenty minutes, still breathless from secret activity (no matter that they didn't have to hide any longer, secret make-out sessions still held a special fascination for both).

Ryan angled his purple trilby on his sweat-damp hair and Chad tucked the hem of his black shirt back into his pants before they made their way over to the dining room and the big Christmas shindig. Right before they entered Chad took hold of Ryan's left hand, squeezed it once with affection and shared a warm smile with his lover.

"Ready?" Ryan asked gently.

"Yeah," Chad smiled back, "let's do this."

Hand in hand they walked inside to join their families.

Linus was the first one to notice the approaching couple and he beamed happily at them from under his hat. It was the hat he'd gotten from Ryan, an old-fashioned black bowler hat that the blond boy hadn't worn too much lately. It had become too small for Ryan's head anyway, so he'd had no idea why he'd brought it along in the first place. From now on it would do good purpose taming Linus' cute mop of unruly curls.

"Ah, Ryan, Chad!" Tom exclaimed when the two boys had reached the table and prepared to sit down closely side by side. "There you are!"

"Hey everybody," Chad waved around and Ryan smiled silently. When the blond boy noticed the one chair still unoccupied he turned towards his mother.

"Sharpay hasn't shown up yet?"

"No, Ducky. But she called earlier and said not to worry," Derby patted her son's hand affectionately. "She will be here soon."

"And where have you been all afternoon, Chad?" Linus suddenly asked. "You didn't even open your presents, just the one I brought you."

"Ugh, sorry, grasshopper" Chad blushed. "Ryan and I, we were just, ugh… we had to…"

"Never mind, honey," Alyssa smiled knowingly. "I think we can all guess what the two of you have been up to."

"No, what have they been up to, mommy?" Linus insisted on knowing.

"I'll tell you in about ten years," Alyssa smiled lovingly at her youngest who looked as if he wanted to complain further. But then he simply settled on pouting adoringly.

An embarrassed smile crept onto Chad's face and he was thinking of something to say to make it up to his little brother when Vance Evans suddenly changed the topic with a carelessly thrown-in: "So, who wants to be the first at the buffet?"

At once Linus' face split into a smile and he elbowed Miles in the side. And soon enough the two kids dashed off to the large buffet, followed by the adults at a much slower pace.


Nearly an hour or, on Chad's part, three rounds at the buffet later, the party was in full swing. The current performance on stage, a couple of kids presenting their version of Charles Dickens's classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three Christmas Ghosts, held everybody's rapt attention. Everybody's but Chad's, that is.

Although he'd always liked the story well enough and the kids were actually doing a brilliant job, Chad was shifting restlessly in his seat, his mind entirely elsewhere. Ryan seemed to have noticed Chad's lack of attention because soon enough he leaned closer to his boyfriend and whispered:

"Bored?"

"What?" Chad whispered back. "Oh, no. It's just… ugh, I think I ate too many oysters."

"Is your stomach bothering you?" Ryan's voice was full of sudden concern. "Do you need to…" he broke off, not sure how best to phrase it, and gestured in the direction of the restrooms instead.

Chad's eyes briefly followed Ryan's motion before his gaze settled back on the blonde's sympathetic face. "No, man. It's not my stomach that's, ugh… that's crying for attention here."

Seeing Ryan's confused look Chad leaned closer still and whispered into his ear: "They say that oysters are good for one's libido and, well… since I've never had them before I didn't know just how true that statement was, you know?"

Chad took hold of Ryan's hand and quickly pulled it under the table and onto his lap.

"Oh," Ryan exclaimed but shut up quickly again when he received irritated looks from all around. He locked his gaze to the stage again, feigning attention to the play, but gave the telltale bulge in Chad's pants a gentle squeeze.

Chad had some trouble stifling a groan but he managed and shot Ryan a pleading look instead. He didn't exactly know what he was pleading for though. For Ryan to stop whatever he was doing or… not.

"Ry," Chad groaned quietly and shifted in his seat to hide his lower body more firmly under the table. Ryan's talented fingers were tracing enticing patterns over his straining erection, every now and then wandering lower to firmly cup Chad's balls and roll them in his palm. And all the while Ryan kept his eyes on the stage, seemingly completely enraptured. Only a sly smirk playing around the corners of his mouth belied his focus on the kids' performance.

Chad would have loved to lean over and kiss the smug look from his boyfriend's lips, if it weren't for the fact that he needed all his willpower to concentrate on not shooting his load in his pants. He was fighting hard to keep his whole body from bucking up into Ryan's skilled hand but he simply knew that, if Ryan kept doing… gah, ugh that… the fight would be lost in no time. He would embarrass himself by coming in his pants, under the eyes of everyone, his family, his mom!

Chad took a shuddering breath through clenched teeth and tried to calm down. With as much willpower as he could muster he placed his own hand above Ryan's that was still working wonders in Chad's lap. And after one gentle squeeze (which nearly ruined it all, so close was he) Chad pulled their joined hands away.

Finally Ryan turned his head towards him and, smug look still in place, murmured: "Too much?"

Chad simply nodded and closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath through his nose.

"Are you okay, honey?" Alyssa suddenly addressed her eldest with a slightly amused look on her face.

"Ugh, yeah, sure," Chad quickly assured and shifted in his seat. "I just need to…"

He motioned for the restrooms and, after making sure his pants would hide his erection, swiftly stood up and walked rather stiffly to the exit.

He hurried through the door labeled 'Gents' and once inside slumped against the tiled wall, breathing harshly as if he'd just finished a rather dire basketball practice.

Seconds later the door opened and Ryan sauntered in, the smug smile from before still in place.

"Hey," he smirked casually.

"You…" Chad choked and pulled Ryan close by the front lapels of his suit, "you are impossible!" He pressed the blond boy into the wall and crushed his mouth to the smirking pink lips.

When Ryan came up for air he was still smirking proudly. "I didn't do anything, did I? It was you who pulled my hand into your lap. I simply…"

"You simply drove me insane with need and you know it!" Chad growled low in his throat. "I nearly came in my pants back there!"

"Only nearly?" Ryan's hand wandered down Chad's chest towards his belt and lower. "I guess I have to see that I properly finish the job now, don't I?"

"You bet," Chad nodded, quickly propelling them both into the first stall and locking the door. Then he once again captured Ryan's mouth in a short demanding kiss before he pulled away again and, with gentle but determined hands on Ryan's shoulders, pushed the other boy down onto his knees.

"This what you want?" Ryan grinned and nuzzled Chad's groin through the straining trousers.

"God, Ry, get on with it already or I'll come from the mere sight of you like that, on your knees, all sexy and pouting and… gah!"

Ryan had opened the trembling boy's fly and pushed the clothes out of the way. "You'd better not come in your pants, Chad. I haven't had my fill of dessert yet and this," he gave the bobbing dick a quick lick of tongue, "as you know is my favorite treat!"

Chad could only moan in reply when Ryan's hot mouth descended onto his dick and the blond boy sucked it down to the base as if it were a giant red lollypop.


An embarrassingly short amount of time later Chad slumped down onto the closed toilet seat, gasping for much needed air, while Ryan sat back on his heels in front of him, licking his lips and grinning like the cat that had just gotten the canary.

"Wow," Chad let out eventually, still a bit short of breath.

"Thanks," Ryan beamed proudly and stood up to shake some feeling back into his cramped legs. Then he looked down to his crotch and pulled a face.

"Damn," he sighed.

Chad's eyes followed his gaze and when he noticed the damp spot on Ryan's pants he chuckled incredulously. Had Ryan really just come in his pants? Without even…

"What?" Ryan pouted defensively. "I can't help it, I like sucking you off."

"You really do, man. You didn't even touch yourself, did you?" Chad grinned cheekily.

"I didn't need to. Seeing you like that, feeling you, tasting you… that's all it takes." Ryan's voice sounded hoarse.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Ryan smiled shyly and hauled Chad up from the toilet seat and into a close embrace. He leaned his head against Chad's mop of curls and breathed in deeply. "No one, apart from you, has ever made me come untouched."

Chad pulled his face far enough away to look Ryan in the eyes. "Good. Because if I get a say in this then no one, apart from me, will ever get a chance to even try."

"That's fine by me," Ryan smiled and leaned in again to underline that promise with a soft and tender kiss.


Eventually the two boys emerged from the restrooms, clothes once again neatly tucked in place (and washed clean on Ryan's part). They were about to enter the dining hall again when suddenly Sharpay came rushing up to them out of nowhere.

She grabbed hold of her brother's hand and began pulling him away, not noticing (or caring) that Chad got dragged along since he was attached to Ryan's left.

"Shar, stop it! Let me go!" Ryan tried to pull free but his sister proved once again to be the stronger party. Only when the trio had reached a deserted part of the halls she let go of her twin's hand.

Ryan was still protesting: "What are you doing? Why are we…"

And Chad, who'd stumbled along helplessly, hissed: "Get your hands off my…"

"You…" the single syllable was accompanied by the typical Ice-Princess glare, "shut up!"

Chad's mouth clapped shut immediately.

"And you," Sharpay continued with a glare in Ryan's direction, "come with me! Now!"

"What? No!" Ryan crossed his arms defiantly. "Shar, the show…"

"The show will go down in mediocrity if you don't come with me this instant, Ry! We have to get you ready for our performance!"

"Shar, we can't sing the grand finale, not after we haven't rehearsed once!" Ryan tried to reason with his sister.

"Well, and who's fault is that, Ry? We would have rehearsed this morning if you hadn't been too busy moping around for your boyfriend!"

Ryan had the grace to look a bit guilty. But still…

"Hey, we could've just as well rehearsed this afternoon if you hadn't been too busy with… whatever!" Suddenly remembering the wild chase he'd done this afternoon, with no results whatsoever, Ryan added with a frown: "By the way, where've you been all day? I was looking for you for hours!"

"I was… oh, never mind!" Sharpay waved the question away like an annoying fly but Ryan noticed her flustering anyway. "We don't have time for this now. The grand finale is coming up any time now and…"

"And it will come and go without you anywhere near the stage, Shar, if you don't tell me right now what you've been up to!"

"Urrgh, Ryan!" Sharpay cried and stomped her stiletto heel into the ground.

"Shar!" Ryan mocked her with a single raised eyebrow.

Chad looked from one twin to the other, both trying to stare the other down, arms crossed over their chests in stubborn defiance, and he had to suppress a massive grin at the display of sibling similarity. He knew from experience that neither of them would back down any time soon, and things would get seriously ugly if he didn't intervene, so… Chad acted on pure instinct when he stepped in between the twins' visual line and faced Sharpay.

"What happens if you won't perform in the grand finale?"

Sharpay tore her eyes away from her brother's to glare at Chad. "Then Travis Hawthorne will be singing the last song, the motto song! OUR song! You know Travis Hawthorne, don't you? The one who's Benny the Bouncing Beaver at the stupid kid's club? And that's not all, he's gonna accompany the song on his howling harmonica!"

"Ouch!" Chad winced and turned to Ryan with a pleading look on his face. "Ryan?"

"Benny the Bouncing Beaver?" Ryan visibly shuddered. He couldn't let that happen now, could he? "Really?"

"Really!" Sharpay nodded and waited for her brother to give in like she knew he would eventually. "Please, Ry!"

"Oh well, okay!" Ryan sighed dramatically. "I guess we can't have the Holidays end with the best Christmas Song ever sung by a stupid stuffed animal and his howling harmonica!"

"Finally you see reason," Sharpay huffed and took her twins' hand again to pull him along. Ryan had just enough time to give his boyfriend one last fleeting kiss before he got dragged away by his sister.

Chad watched them go with a fond smile on his face, then shook his head and slowly made his way back to the dining room and the party.

And just like before, when he'd entered with Ryan in tow, Chad sat down at his family's table and blushed furiously at the sight of everyone sending him a more or less knowing smile.

His mom patted his cheek and… oh God, did she have to look so pointedly at his kiss-swollen mouth? Chad was sure that he would need a while to get used to her knowing about this.

Probably until forever.


"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please?"

The host's distinguished voice broke through the general murmur of the party and seconds later the noise died down. Everybody looked up to the stage, waiting for Mr. Kensington to go on.

"This intervention will not take long but I have to inform you of the fact that, unbeknown to us, midnight has sneaked up already. And this is traditionally the moment for me to announce the last performance of tonight's very special show." The manager took a quick breath and continued.

That is, he was about to continue his speech and had already opened his mouth to do so. But before any words could come forth there was suddenly a short, skinny and very wallflower-like woman rushing up to him from behind the stage. She whispered something into the stunned man's ear, all the while gesturing rather apologetically, and vanished quickly again.

Mr. Kensington threw a look after her and then, obviously noticing something or someone at the stage's very left in the darkness, he turned towards the audience again, a pleased and somehow relieved smile spreading over his face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," his voice rang out to the waiting party guests once again, "the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. And I am more than delighted to present to you the last act of this evening. This year's motto song will be brought to you by two of the Resort's most regular and, may I add, most popular guests. Please welcome the wonderfully talented young artists, Mr. And Miss Ryan and Sharpay Evans with 'The Greatest Time Of The Year'."

As soon as the Manager had finished his speech an up-tempo music started playing from the background. He stepped aside, clapping his hands enthusiastically, and made way for the twins' elegant glide onto the stage, hand in hand and a vision in sparkly purple and black.

"Wow," Chad's admiration colored his voice but since everybody around him seemed to be equally enraptured he didn't care. Ryan (and Sharpay as well) looked truly stunning, all sashaying hips and dancing feet.

Ryan led his sister to the middle of the stage in what Chad assumed to be some sort of professional dance moves. There, with an elegant bow and a proud and happy smile, he released Sharpay's hand and stepped back to give her some room. And then Sharpay began to sing:

There's a special kind of feeling in the air
It only happens at this time of year
When everyone is filled with love and cheer
'Cause that's what matters

Ryan had come dancing closer and as soon as he'd reached his sister he took over:

Pretty paper boxes tied with bows
Walking in the sun or in the snow
We can feel the excitement growing, growing

And then both twins sang the chorus together:

It's the greatest time of year, and it's here
Help me celebrate it
With everybody here, friends so dear
Let me simply state it
Joy to the world and everyone
Lift up your hearts and feel the love
It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday
Yeah

The moves they managed to come up with while singing showed everyone that there were real professionals at work here. No doubt about that.

When the next verse began it was Ryan's turn again and to everyone's astonishment Sharpay took a few steps backwards to let her brother have all the spotlight for once.

We can get all cozy by the fire
Turn the music up a little higher
I don't think that I could ever tire
Of being together

Singing those words the blond boy's gaze locked with his boyfriend's and Chad couldn't help but feel all warm and glowy inside. No, he as well didn't think that he could ever tire of being together with this magnificent boy who was simply made for the stage.

Sharpay stepped into the spotlight and took over again:

Decorate the tree, hang mistletoe
And stand by me
It's a picture perfect moment captured
Memories that we'll have after

It's the greatest time of year, and it's here
Help me celebrate it
With everybody here, friends so dear
Let me simply state it
Joy to the world
Joy to the world
Joy to the world

The break that followed was filled by Ryan taking hold of Sharpay's smaller form, twirling her around in a whirl of colors and pure joy. Soon enough the audience jumped up and people began to dance with each other, caught in the sheer joy and Holiday Spirit these two were radiating in spades.

When the time for the chorus came once again it suddenly sounded as if every single person in the room was singing with Ryan and Sharpay.

It's the greatest time of year, and it's here
Help me celebrate it
With everybody here, friends so dear
Let me simply state it
Joy to the world and everyone
Lift up your hearts and feel the love
It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday

It's the greatest time…


The party hadn't died down for many hours after the brilliant performance of Ryan and Sharpay and especially the table occupied by the Evans', the Danforth's and Tom was happily celebrating well into the morning.

Chad's brothers were probably the only kids still about and Miles was happily occupied with playing something on his portable Playstation. The youngest Danforth had exhausted himself earlier by talking nonstop and no matter how hard he'd fought against it, eventually sleep had won the fight and he'd nodded off.

So now cute little Linus lay snuggled up on Tom's lap with his small arms tugged under the man's armpits. Alyssa had wanted to lift the small bundle off her boyfriend but every time she'd tried Linus had stirred slightly and had buried his mop of curls even more deeply under Tom's chin.

The couple's eyes had met over Linus' head, shining full of love, and from time to time they'd traded gentle smiles and small whispered words, careful not to disturb the small boy's sleep.

Ryan had watched Tom with the sleeping child on his lap for a few minutes now and he couldn't help but notice: "They're cute together."

"They truly are," a voice from behind softly agreed all of a sudden.

Recognizing the voice at once Ryan's head whipped around, dread clearly filling his eyes, and wordlessly stared at the tall form of his ex-boyfriend.

Tom's son Alex looked exactly like last night, the very picture of handsome in faded jeans and a leather jacket, dark hair tousled and sun-dried. The only difference was the look on his face. Yesterday there'd been joyfully sparkling green eyes surrounded by a sly grin and now… he looked rather apprehensive and… embarrassed?

"Alex!" Tom was the first to greet his son in a whispered voice. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd gone back to Denver."

"Yeah, well… I was on my way back but then…" the young man took a deep breath and went on: "See, I wanted to apologize for the scene I made yesterday. And for my completely stupid behavior, especially to you two."

He'd walked up to Chad and Ryan and after a slight pause addressed them. "I already knew that we were through, Ryan and… it was a stupid attempt at… I don't know. You're with Chad now and… I understand and I… well, all I ever wanted for you is the best and since that's obviously Chad, it's okay. I'm happy for you, Ry. And I'd really like for us to be okay again, maybe even friends like… before?"

"Ugh, thanks, I guess. And, well… about being friends… we'll see, okay?" Ryan managed to sound not too surprised though he probably failed miserably. But Alex apologizing, and genuinely so… that was something he'd never thought he'd see. But it felt good.

Ryan felt like a dull weight had suddenly been pulled from his stomach and a small smile found it's way onto his face. He'd hated to have to be angry with Alex for such a long time. They'd known each other for nearly ten years and had been good friends before the whole relationship-fiasco had happened. And deep down Ryan had secretly wished to somehow turn back time, he'd wished none of it had ever happened and for them to still be friends.

Maybe now they would get a chance to start over? But only if Chad would feel alright with it of course. Ryan's first and foremost concern nowadays was Chad. And if he couldn't accept Alex then…

"Just to make it clear, dude," Chad stood up and faced Alex. "By friends you mean… just friends, right? Not friends with benefits or such shit?"

"Absolutely," Alex concurred. "Just friends, like we were before… well, you know." He took a deep breath and stuck out his hand. "And Chad, I know that you probably don't like me very much right now, and that's okay, I wouldn't like me if I were you. But, I'm actually not that bad and I'm hoping for a chance to show you."

Chad silently eyed Alex for a second and then accepted the offered hand with a grin. If Ryan had been friends with him for years then the guy couldn't be all bad, could he?

Alex let out a relieved laugh and clapped Chad's shoulder once. His eyes suddenly sparkling green again he said:

"Thanks, man. You'll see, we'll get along just fine. Otherwise it'd make this whole 'becoming a family' thing kind of weird, wouldn't it?"

"Becoming a … huh? What?" Chad sputtered.

"You know, with Tom and your mom…" Alex broke off and paled visibly. "Oh God, oh damn," he swore, "you didn't know yet, did you?"

"Know what?" Chad frowned and at the same time he noticed Tom at the other side of the table had gone equally pale and stunned. And why was Sharpay of all people suddenly shaking her head in disappointment and glaring daggers at Alex? Chad plopped down onto his seat again. What the hell was going on?

Alex ignored the patented Ice-Princess-Stare in favor of rushing up to where his father sat. Tom was busy putting the awakening Linus into his mommy's arms before he stood up to face Alex.

"Dad, I'm sorry!" Alex looked genuinely worried. "I thought you'd already asked her, I thought they'd already know!"

"No," Tom pulled Alex away from the table, "they didn't know. But what I'd like to know is how you know?"

"Well, Sharpay told me this afternoon," Alex confessed. "It's what convinced me to come back to apologize to everyone right away. I'd planned on letting you all cool down a bit before I came back but… well, when she told me about your plans I knew that I wanted to be there. I wanted to have the chance to celebrate with you. Tell you how happy I am for you."

"Thanks, son," Tom smiled but then his face twisted into a frown. "Sharpay told you?" He turned towards the blond girl, "And how…?"

"Well, you shouldn't leave precious jewelry lying around so openly, Tom!" Sharpay shrugged indifferently. But then her eyes softened. "Last night, when I was babysitting the boys I had to search your rooms for Linus' security blanket. He wouldn't go to sleep without it, so I had to snoop around. I came across a certain jewelry box and… well, I just thought that if you're about to, you know, your own son should know about it, right? So I made him come back."

Chad felt like he was watching a tennis match, but one where everybody spoke in Chinese or something. What the hell were they talking about? His eyes flew from Tom to Sharpay and quickly back to Tom again. Tom who eventually seemed to have noticed that all eyes were set on him.

"Ugh," he stuttered while fighting a blush.

"Honey," Alyssa finally took charge. "Would you care to explain what all this fuss is about?"

"Sure, ugh… alright," Tom nodded and took a deep and steadying breath. Chad thought that he looked rather nervous. Fumbling around in the pocket of his suit Tom slowly walked up to Alyssa again and suddenly bent down to one knee. Chad's breath hitched in his throat and he thought he'd heard Ryan inhale quickly, too.

"My dear Alyssa," Tom's voice rang out loud and clear, all nervousness suddenly gone. "From the day of my birth nearly forty-five years ago I've been blessed with many fortunes. I grew up with parents who tried successfully to make up for the lack of money with unconditional love and support. I was enabled a solid education that gave me the opportunity to turn my hobby into a very successful business and I've never lacked money or anything else material. As you also know I was able to marry my high-school love and we were blessed with a son who has made me proud more times than I let him know."

Here Tom threw a quick smile at Alex who, just like everybody else at the table, had listened raptly. Tom cleared his throat and continued: "Alyssa, you know that my life hasn't always been roses and sunshine though. My wife was taken from me far too early and in my grief I shut out my son more than I realized until I'd alienated him from me completely. We fought constantly and I had given up hope of ever reconciling with him again until…"

Tom took hold of the stunned Alyssa's hand and squeezed it gently. "Until I met you, Alyssa. You pulled me back to life with your exuberance and joy. You made me see hope again where I'd given up. You showed me the meaning of 'a second chance' in more ways than one because you gave me back my son and you gave me back my life. Before I met you I was convinced that you could only love once but you opened my eyes to the wrongness of that. I love you, Alyssa. You're my best friend and I know that while I was blessed with so many things in my life the best of it all is you. Knowing you, loving you, that's the greatest fortune ever happened to me. And I don't want to live another second without you by my side. Alyssa Danforth, my blessing and my dearest darling friend, would you please marry me?"

You could have heard a needle drop in the stunned silence that followed Tom's declaration.

Chad watched his mom wipe away a tear with trembling fingers, only to make way for new ones flowing freely from her brown eyes and for two horribly long seconds Chad feared that maybe his mom was sad or upset.

But then Alyssa came out of her stupor and threw her arms around Tom. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, crying, gulping for breath and laughing at the same time, until finally the tears cries turned into one word over and over again:

"Yes! God, yes! Yes, yes, yes…"

And then she kissed the grinning Tom like Chad had never seen her kiss him before.

Linus, who'd barely managed to scramble off his mommy's lap before he was crushed between the kissing couple, grinned out from under the brim of his hat and shouted:

"This is the most bestest Christmas ever!"

The entire room started to laugh and then the cheers for the happy couple started to flow from all sides. Champagne was brought in quickly and soon enough everyone was lifting a flute full of sparkling drink to a toast Alex, Vance and Derby performed together.

And when Chad slumped back in his seat a short while later, exhausted from joy and equally happy and overwhelmed at the same time, he was grinning like a complete idiot but couldn't care less. He was happy.

And then there were suddenly arms wrapped around his body from behind. Strong and warm arms that held him and made his happiness double ten times when the person those arms belonged to leaned down to softly whisper into Chad's ear:

It's the greatest time of year, and it's here

Help me celebrate it

With everybody here, friends so dear

Let me simply state it

Joy to the world and everyone

Lift up your hearts and feel the love

It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday

Ryan's singing slowly faded away and then soft warm lips descended in a loving kiss onto Chad's mouth.

"Linus is right, this is the best Christmas ever!" Chad murmured contently. He closed his eyes and pulled Ryan down for another kiss, one that lasted until Linus sneaked up on them and managed to dump a prickling mistletoe onto their joined faces.


THE END

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