A/N: Happy Thanksgiving y'all! I know I skipped a holiday, but I can't help it, I just had to write this! Keep up the reviews and suggestions, they're what keep me going!
"Mels, come on. You know we wait until Christmas Day to open all of our presents. You can't break tradition just because you're excited and can't wait until morning for me to open my present." Fitz explained, and Mellie just pouted. She had waited weeks for this, and she couldn't imagine waiting one more minute for him to open his present.
Her pouting set him off, and he sighed as he reluctantly took the bag from Mellie. Inside it was a onesie, and a sonogram. He took it out and looked at it, smiling when he saw the letters at the top. "Are we really?" Fitz asked, looking at his wife as he placed his hand on her baby bump.
"Yes, baby." Mellie responded, smiling and resting her hand over Fitz's. "Well now that you know the gender of our child, we should probably go to sleep...I'm sure Teddy will be in here at 7am, jumping on the bed and talking about how Santa Claus came."
Fitz chuckled, shaking his head. Knowing Teddy, it would be much earlier than that. "I'm leaning more toward 6 in the morning. You know our Teddy Bear."
"And I'm sure he'll get the twins up to come wake us up, too." Mellie shut off the lamp on her nightstand, and laid down, curling up close to Fitz. "Oh goodness. How are we going to handle all of these kids, Fitz?" She was just now realizing how tough it was really going to be. Taking care of and raising four kids under the age of four was going to be most likely the hardest thing that they had ever done. And she wasn't sure if they were ready for it.
"We'll manage, baby." He wrapped his arm around her, letting her lay her head on his chest. "I love you." Fitz whispered, running his hand through her messed up hair as she quickly fell asleep. Within minutes, she was snoring quietly, her breathing slowed. He watched her for a while before falling asleep himself.
It felt as if they hadn't been asleep 5 minutes before Teddy and the twins ran into the room and climbed up onto Mellie and Fitz's bed. "Mommaaaa!" Teddy yelled as he jumped on his mother's legs, and her head immediately shot up. "Come ons! Santa came!" He screeched, and Bellamy followed suit.
"Dadddddyyy!" The little girl squealed as she bounced on Fitz's legs. "Dada, up!" She whined as she tried her hardest to wake up her father. Ben joined in a few seconds later, pushing Fitz a few times before just giving up and resting his head on Mellie's baby bump. The second that Teddy saw that, however, the toddler pushed Ben's head, causing the little boy to scream.
"Mines momma!" Teddy yelled, watching as Mellie sighed and comforted Ben. Teddy knew that what he did was wrong, but that was his spot. Laying on Mellie's stomach was what he did, and no one else was allowed to do that. Hearing Ben scream, Fitz woke up and groaned as he pulled his daughter into his lap.
"Hi, beautiful. Merry Christmas." He whispered, kissing her cheek as he watched his wife handle their boys. Mellie had always been better at handling the boys, and Fitz had always done best with the girls, so he just let them be. Mellie had it under control.
"Shh, B, it's okay, sweet boy..." She held her youngest son close to her, softly rubbing his back. She looked over at Teddy, seeing the jealousy in his eyes, and she frowned. "Come here, little man." Mellie held out her arm for Teddy, and the toddler immediately found his way into his mother's arms. "You have to be nice to your brother, baby. I know you don't like to share momma, but you have to. You can be as close to me as you want to, as much as you want to, but you can't be mean to your brother because he wants to be near me too. And you especially can't push him, Teddy Bear. How would you feel if he pushed you?"
Teddy frowned and looked down at his feet. "Me be sads." He mumbled, refusing to look at his mother.
"And Benny is sad because you pushed him. Will you please say sorry?"
He nodded and leaned over, kissing Ben's head. "I sorry bubba." Teddy told him, watching as his little brother laid his head against Mellie's side. "He know me sorry?" He asked Mellie, and she nodded. Mellie kissed Teddy's cheek, ruffling his hair.
"Are you three ready to go open presents?" She asked, standing up and picking up her sons. Fitz gave her a look of disapproval, mainly for the fact that she was carrying the boys, but she just brushed it off. She knew that she probably shouldn't be carrying them, but they were light, so they should be fine. Mellie put on a pair of Uggs, and Fitz followed after, going out into the living room with them.
Teddy had already taken his siblings to go see all of the presents under the tree, so they weren't as shocked this time around as they were the first time. But the room was covered in wrapped boxes and fancy bags. The kids still couldn't believe their eyes. They were surprised by how many presents that Santa had left for them. Teddy and Ben both struggled to climb out of Mellie's arms, and she laughed as she set them down. She looked at Fitz, who couldn't help but smile at their children's excitement. They both loved to see their children happy, and Christmas was the perfect time to see them all happy.
Mellie and Fitz separated the presents out into six piles; one for Teddy, one for Ben, one for Bellamy, one for Karen, one for Mellie and one for Fitz. After they had all of the presents separated, they sat down on the sofa and let the kids go at it. Mellie took pictures with her iPhone, and Fitz did the same, unable to stop smiling. He pulled Mellie close to him, and as if they could read each other's minds, their smiles faltered at the exact same time.
"It never gets any easier.." Mellie whispered as she laid her head on her husband's shoulder.
Fitz nodded, kissing his wife's head. "No, you're right. It really doesn't. I try not to think about it and I try not to let it hit me immediately, but it eventually does, and it kills me. And I hate to be upset when I'm supposed to be happy and when the kids are having so much fun, but I can't help it because I miss him, Mels...I miss him so damn much."
Fitz tried his hardest not to cry, but Mellie knew that he was on the verge. She just wrapped her arm around him, holding his body close to hers. She had held in her emotions for so long that it was so easy for her to do, even though all that she wanted to do was break down and cry. She just couldn't do it in front of her children. At this point, she didn't mind crying in front of Fitz. She had done that so much recently, since their son had died. She had done that so much recently that he had given her the nickname "Cry Baby Mellie" before they had worked things out. She cringed at the thought of those days, and quickly tried to push them out of her mind before she got any more upset than she already was.
"I miss him too, Fitz...I love our babies and I love the time that we get to spend with them, and I love that we have them. But they won't even replace Jerry. The time that I spend with them and the love that I have for them will never make up for the love that I lacked for Jerry and for the time that I neglected to spend with him. And that kills me. I know I've said it before but it kills me to think that he died without knowing how much I loved him, without knowing how much he truly meant to me. I understand that I pushed him away because I was afraid that he wasn't yours, that I was afraid of what he might be...But he was always mine, no matter what. He was always my baby, and I shouldn't have pushed him away. I should've loved him no matter what, and I didn't. And that kills me each and every day..."
Fitz nodded, sighing slightly as he listened to her. "Baby..." He frowned when she stopped speaking, and glanced at the kids, who were luckily so caught up in their toys and presents, that they hadn't noticed their upset parents. "You can't change that. I hate to say that. But you can't. And you can't dwell on that. You can't dwell on what you didn't do. But you can make up for that by doing everything you can to be there for these four." He pointed at the kids before resting his hand on her belly. "And I know that I that's not going to make up for you not being there for Jerry, but you can't keep letting that eat at you. You had good reasoning. It isn't your fault. You had every right to distance yourself from him. Don't blame yourself, Mels." Fitz held her, watching as she finally broke down, as she finally buried her face in his neck, and just let it all out. He knew that she was going to blame it on hormones, and that he was going to pretend to believe her.
Bellamy noticed her parents after a few minutes, and she quietly left her half-opened present on the ground and climbed onto the couch, climbing onto her mother's lap. Mellie pulled away from Fitz when he felt a small body on her, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw her baby. The infant reached toward her mother and wiped off her tears before wrapping her arms around Mellie's neck. "Hi princess." Mellie whispered, and the little girl nuzzled her face in her mother's neck. She rubbed her daughter's back, and leaned into Fitz.
"We have some pretty sweet children." Fitz whispered as he kissed behind Mellie's earlobe. Mellie smiled and nodded, holding the little girl in her arms. "They're sweet just like their mother." He continued to kiss down her neck, knowing that that would calm Mellie down. Her breathing slowed and she relaxed into his arms, and eventually, Bella climbed off of Mellie's lap and went back to her presents.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry, Mel?" Fitz questioned as he continued to plant soft kisses on her skin.
Mellie took a deep breath, tilting her head to the side. "Because I'm turning what's supposed to be a good day into a very upsetting situation."
Fitz shook his head slightly, not moving away from his wife. "Mellie, it's okay. It's understandable. I was upset too, baby. I am upset. But it's okay. These holidays are always going to be tough for us but we can get through it. It's okay." He sucked on her skin until he heard a quiet pop. "We just have to make the best out of it."
Mellie nodded as she kept her attention on the children, who's smiles hadn't faltered since they entered the living room. Teddy immediately stopped in his tracks as he opened a box, and turned his head, looking at Mellie. "What this?" He questioned, holding up a shirt. "This no toy. Santa no know me at all." He pouted, and Mellie just laughed, shaking her head.
"Santa knows that you're a growing boy and that you need new clothes. But look at all of the toys that he got you already. And look at how many more presents you have to open. Plus, you have more presents from mommy and daddy to open later. And there's even more at Grandma and Grandpa's."
"When we going to Grandma and Grandpa's?" Teddy asked as he pulled another wrapped box into his lap.
"Tonight. After we eat dinner and open mommy and daddy's presents. We're gonna let you and bubba and sissy play with your toys for a little bit, then you guys can take a nap, then we're gonna eat dinner, open more presents, and then we'll go."
Teddy nodded, content with his mother's response as he went to rip open the paper of another present. Mellie watched him and smiled as she snuggled close to Fitz. He still hadn't removed his lips from her neck, and Mellie just shook her head. "If you keep giving me hickeys, the American people are going to have quite a lot to say."
"Let them talk. At least there won't be any doubts that our marriage is in a good place, then." He moved his hand to her hip, and down until he reached her upper thigh. "Mm, I can't wait until nap time...I'm gonna give you a bonus Christmas present."
"Oh, are you?" Mellie whispered, closing her eyes and smirking.
"Yes, baby. I definitely am." Fitz pulled Mellie onto his lap, slipping his hand into her pajama pants, rubbing her through her panties.
"Mm, oh yes, daddy..." Mellie whispered, and Fitz smirked as he heard what she had called him. He kept rubbing her clit, pressing his thumb down hard. She squirmed under him, pushing her hips up against his hand, trying to keep quiet. After a few seconds, he pulled his hand out of her pants, and watched as Mellie's face dropped, and she pouted.
"The second we put the kids down for a nap. I promise, baby. I'm gonna rock your world." He went back to kissing her neck, and Mellie watched the kids, who were now finished opening presents, and were occupied with playing with their new toys. She had no idea where they were going to put them all, considering the fact that they had tons more presents from their parents, and from Mellie's parents, but she wasn't going to worry about that now. The kids were too happy for her to worry about anything. They still had to open their own presents, but they would wait until later for that. Right now, they would just sit here and enjoy their children's happiness, and each other's company, and make the best out of their Christmas.