"And we really get two whole days of Christmas?" Colton asked for the seventh time as the elevator went up to the top floor.
"Yes, two whole days," Lindsay confirmed again. "Don't question it bud."
"Just roll with it?"
"Yep, just roll with it."
He nodded and waited for the elevator to stop, rushing out when the doors opened.
"C'mon Ben, let's go see the kids!"
Ben followed him down the hall and they knocked on the door before opening it.
"Hey Messers, we're here!" Colton hollered. "I brunged presents!"
There was squealing from the rest of the kids as they all piled up in front of the door chattering excitedly about Christmas and trees and presents and ornaments. None of them had really been told about Santa Claus, and they were all too inquisitive to ever be fooled about it anyway.
"I thought you would never get here," Austin said, closing the door behind them all. "It is so not like you to be late."
"Yes well we forgot about planning for every hang up."
"What she means is there was a diaper explosion."
"What he means is I cleaned it up while he played Nintendo."
"What she means is… ah never mind, she's right."
Austin chuckled and shook her head, then took Avery from Lindsay and kissed her cheeks.
"Hey bug-a-boo. I've been missing you something crazy. Thanks for having an exploding diaper before you came to see me. It's very considerate of you."
"Yeah, we raise our kids to be ultra polite," Lindsay chuckled.
"Can we open presents now?" Isa asked jumping as high as she could to get into Austin's line of vision.
"Yeah, if you go tell daddy to get his scrawny butt out here."
"Daddy! Get your scrawny butt out here!"
"And apparently the verb "go" was lost in translation," Austin muttered as Danny came out of the other room.
"Alright, hold your horses."
Isa squealed and the kids ran to sit by the tree, bouncing up and down excitedly while their parents sat down on the couches.
"I think maybe we should wait a while before we let them open presents," Adam said.
"Yeah, like an hour or two?" Danny added, watching the kids for a melt down.
"That's probably a good idea."
"I know you two are just teasin' and I want you to know it's not funny," Colton sighed.
"Okay, okay. Go for it but only open the presents you got for each other."
They all squealed and ripped into the brightly wrapped boxes, shouting in gratitude and trying to get the toys out.
"Mama look, mama look!" Colton hollered, so excited he could barely speak. "I got this sky light thing! It makes the whole sky on my ceiling! Oh my gosh, it's just so amazing!"
They all laughed at his reaction, but he didn't seem to mind, rushing over to Adam to open the box.
"Bud why don't we leave it in the box for now so it doesn't get wrecked?"
"Okay but can we do that as soon as we get home? I wanna sleep under the stars like mama does in Montana."
"We'll try to remember."
He nodded and joined the kids again, helping Isa to read the instructions on her music memory game. Junior tried to get his walkie-talkies open while Ben concentrated on his robot and Sarah examined her charm bracelet kit. They were all excited about their gifts and after they'd begged for batteries and everything else they needed to play with them, they were pretty much occupied. Their parents sat on the couches and yawned; it had been an early morning with rambunctious kids on all their parts and they were slowly feeling the effects of that.
"Guess it's time for someone to make breakfast," Austin sighed, looking pointedly at Danny.
"Who me?"
"You lost the coin toss."
He sighed and stood up.
"C'mon cupcake, I ain't doin' this alone."
"I'll keep you from burning the place down," Adam said following him into the kitchen.
"So what are you guys doing tomorrow?" Austin asked, adjusting Avery in her arms.
"Adam says he wants Christmas to last all day long. I don't know what that means or how he's going to do that, but I'm too tired to question it. What are you guys doing?"
"Hitting the Bronx. Listening to hours of the grandmas bemoaning how we never let them see their grandchildren. Drinking my weight in wassail and possibly eggnog if it's not spiked too much."
"You're going to be so sick."
"Probably."
Lindsay smiled and yawned.
"You okay there?"
"Yeah. She wakes up a lot at night. She wants to be held all the time so she wakes up even when she's not hungry and cries until we pick her up."
"Why don't you just let her sleep in the bed with you?"
"We usually do now but we don't want to make it a habit."
"You love it."
"What?"
"Having such a cuddly baby. They boys were always content to be in their cribs or something, but you love that she wants to be held."
"Yeah, I do."
"You're exhausted though."
"I am. I'm glad Colton's on Christmas break. He helps me with her so much. He holds her when I don't have enough hands, and he'll rock her to sleep if I need to do something else. He is so good with her. It really takes a lot of pressure off of me now that Adam's back at work."
"You're proud of Colton, aren't you?"
"He was born to be a big brother. He loves it."
"I can tell," Austin said, looking over and watching Ben sitting in Colton's lap as they played with a toy.
Lindsay nodded and looked over at Avery, smiling as she woke up.
"Hey beautiful. Did we wake you up?" she asked, stroking the baby's cheeks. Avery stretched and grunted, her arms in the air and her fingers fanned out as she looked at her mama. She cooed a little and blinked several times opening and closing her mouth.
"I forgot what newborns are like," Austin sighed, running her hand over Avery's head. "I love her stick up hair."
"Me too."
"I've missed her."
"I know. I hate that we've all been so busy lately. We've missed you guys a lot."
"I think I've only held her for a couple of hours all together."
"Well you can have her all day."
"Not if she's going to cry and need to eat," Austin chuckled as Avery scrunched up her face.
"She's not hungry, she ate less than an hour ago."
"Diaper?"
"Nah, shouldn't be."
"She just needs her plug, mama," Colton said, expertly putting the binkie into his sister's mouth. "See, now she's happy again. Right baby Aves? I know what you need."
He kissed her head and went back to playing and Lindsay chuckled.
"Okay, seriously, you have the sweetest kids in the world."
"Yeah, well so do you."
"Very true."
Avery whined and spit her binkie out, kicking her legs against Austin's stomach.
"What does she want?"
"To be cuddled better."
"Better? She's particular about how she's held?"
"She wouldn't be my child if she wasn't. She wants you to pick her up. She doesn't want to just lay on your legs like that."
"Seriously?" Austin chuckled, lifting Avery up and settling her in against her chest.
"Seriously. See? Now all she needs is her plug and she'll be happy."
"I forgot what it's like to learn your baby like that."
"It's kind of fun. And frustrating when the learning curve isn't so great."
"You seem to be doing a lot better now that she's not breathing fire anymore."
"Yeah, I was worried there for a while."
"How come?"
"Thought it might never stop. Thought that she'd hate me because I couldn't make her better."
"Oh Linds."
"It was just crazy worries. We're good now. She loves her mama."
"Yeah she does. She watches you so close."
"I know. She does not like me out of her sight."
"You should crash out for a while. You look really tired."
"I am, but if I sleep now I'll screw up my schedule."
"Vicious circle."
Lindsay smiled and reached over to take her daughter's hand.
"Totally worth it."
"Okay, I gotta head to work," Adam said, bringing a glass into the kitchen and setting it next to the sink where the girls were doing the dishes.
"Already?"
"Yeah."
"Where's our daughter?" Lindsay asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"Danny's got her, she's fine. I'll see you when I get home."
He leaned down and stole a kiss then stroked her hair back and took another before leaving the apartment.
"Aww, he loves you."
"Yeah, somethin' fierce," Lindsay chuckled, drying her hands on a towel as Ben tugged on her pants.
"Mama hold Ben please."
She leaned down and picked him up, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Ben loves mama."
"Mama loves Ben."
"Happy Chris'mas."
"You sound British."
"That how 'Mione says it."
"Has daddy been letting you watch Harry Potter again?"
"The boy what lived," he confirmed.
"I am so proud of you right now."
Austin snorted and shook her head.
"Nerds."
"Excuse me, we're not nerds. Not in this situation anyway. We're geeks."
"What's the difference?"
"Nerds have to do with academics, like a math nerd or a grammar nerd. Geeks are about more superficial things, like comics and internet memes. Therefore, in the context of this conversation, we're geeks."
"I think you are a nerd of the distinction between nerd and geek."
"See, now you're catching on."
Ben giggled at their banter, then leaned back to look at Lindsay.
"Hey mama?"
"Hey Ben?"
"Accio snacks?"
"You just had breakfast."
"Okay. Hasta la vista baby."
He wiggled back down to the floor and Austin and Lindsay gave each other the same look.
"Do you ever think that your kids are even weirder than you and Adam thought they would be?"
"Yes. It's frightening."
"They're cute when they're weird."
"Yes they are. I'd better go check on the girl."
She went out to the front room and stopped in her tracks, grinning at what she saw. Danny was asleep in the recliner with Avery on his chest. She was sleeping too, and he had one hand over her back while the other held onto her feet. Sarah had snuggled up with them and had her head on Danny's shoulder and was rubbing Avery's arm and whispering to her quietly.
"Hey Austin, come here," Lindsay whispered. Austin came out of the kitchen with a quirked eyebrow, but then grinned at the trio in the chair.
"That's precious. Pictures?"
"Absolutely."
They only managed a few pictures before Sarah noticed them and smiled.
"I was just telling the baby Avery how she's my best friend. We're gonna stick together, you know?"
"Yeah, I bet you will," Lindsay chuckled, leaning down to kiss Sarah's head. "She'll be very lucky to have a best friend like you."
"We will be best friends like you and mommy. We will go have coffee a lot and we'll tell jokes that no one else thinks is funny. And someday I will have babies and she will have babies and they will be best friends too!"
"That sounds like a really good plan."
"Yep, I thinked of it on my own. We will all be a family forever and ever amen."
Lindsay smiled in agreement and Avery started to fuss, having been woken up by the talking. Danny's eyes snapped open and he glared at Lindsay when she took the baby from him.
"We were in the middle of a nap."
"I know that look on your face Daniel Messer," Austin warned with a grin. "We're not having another one."
"But look how cute and small she is!"
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"Well fine, then can I have her back?"
"I'd let you Danny, but you can't feed her."
"Too much information, Montana."
"I never said I wasn't blunt."
"Can I have her majesty back when she's done eating?"
"Absolutely if you don't mind getting puked on."
"What's a little puke between family?"
Lindsay sighed and looked over at Austin with a raised eyebrow.
"I know. You don't have to tell me."
Adam arrived home late that night, stepping inside and stomping the snow off of his shoes, then closing the door behind him. It had been a long shift and he was tired, hoping the boys would stay in bed until a decent time before jumping up and begging to open more presents. He made his way through the house, checking the doors and windows that Lindsay had probably already checked, then heading upstairs to look in on the boys. They were both sleeping soundly and he tucked the blankets closer around them, kissing them both before going up the last set of stairs.
Lindsay had left a small lamp on, and he changed his clothes by the light of it before shutting it off. He went to the cradle and looked down at Avery who was sleeping with her arms stretched up almost to the top of her head. He wanted to pick her up and hold her for a little while, but he didn't want to wake her either, so he left her alone. Carefully, he slid into bed, smiling when Lindsay moved back against him and grabbed his arm, tightening it around her waist.
"Hey love."
"Hi."
"Did they go to bed okay?"
"Yeah. I told them they had to be in bed for at least eight hours so the sooner they fell asleep the sooner they could get up."
"Crafty," he said, dropping a kiss to her temple.
"Mmm," was her only reply.
He chuckled and it sent a shiver down her spine and her eyes opened, despite how tired she was. She turned over in his arms and ran her hand over his face before leaning in to kiss him.
"I love you," he whispered softly.
"I love you too."
"I'll see you in the morning."
"No Ben, I wanna be in the middle of mama and daddy!"
"No Cole! Ben there!"
"No, it's my turn to be in the middle! 'Member you got in the middle yesterday!"
"Ben's turn," Ben whimpered, letting a tear fall and looking up at his brother.
"Oh fine."
Ben grinned and went to move between his parents, then sighed.
"Cole? Sissy there."
"Aw man! Now we gotta make it Avery's turn!"
Lindsay chuckled and opened her eyes, rescuing Avery from the bed and letting the boys both settle in between her and Adam.
"Did we stay in bed long enough mama?"
"Maybe, but let's let daddy sleep some more, he had to work late."
"I'm already awake," Adam said, not opening his eyes. "I can take a nap later."
"It's six in the morning honey."
He shrugged and sat up, rubbing his eyes and grabbing a book off of his side table.
"You guys want to read a chapter before we open presents?"
"Yeah!" they chorused happily, cuddling into the blankets while Adam cracked the book open and Lindsay found a blanket to wrap Avery in while she ate. The boys sat enraptured at the story of Matilda, Colton leaning over to try and read along. Adam read them a full chapter, then book marked it and put it back on the table.
"I wish I could have powers like Matilda," Colton sighed.
"What would you do with them?"
"I would make my own breakfast in the morning and make my dirty clothes float to the hamper."
"Spoken like a true man," Lindsay chuckled.
"Are you boys ready for presents?"
"Yep!"
"Wait!" Ben hollered, causing them all to turn and look at him. "Cole school got Trunchbull?"
"No Ben," Colton sighed. "Trunchbull is a fictional character. I learned that in school. Means she's not real. Like Darth Vader."
"Darth Vader not real!"
"Well he's not not real," Adam explained. "You know, because in the beginning, it says "A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." So really, we don't know that Darth Vader wasn't real a long long time ago. But he's not real in our world."
Ben sighed sadly and looked down at his hands.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah buddy?"
Ben looked up at him, tears filling his eyes.
"Is Yoda real?" he squeaked as he started to cry.
"Oh yeah buddy," Adam chuckled taking Ben into his arms. "Of course Yoda is real!"
He waved his hand like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Colton pointed at him, shocked.
"Ben, daddy just did a Jedi mind trick on you!"
"No, no, that was just a reflex! I was talking about the force, it just happened! Yoda's real."
Ben sighed and flopped down on the bed, burying his face in the comforter.
"Ben not know what is true."
"Hey," Adam started, lifting him up. "Look buddy, it's kind of hard to explain. Yoda is like a characterization of wisdom and goodness. So he doesn't really exist like you couldn't shake his hand, but he does exist in your mind. And that means he'll never go away."
Ben nodded in understanding and wiped his tears away.
"Ben learn force now."
"You work on that, buddy. Should we go open presents now?"
"Yep. Ben open first," he said, waving his hand.
"Honey, you really screwed the pooch on that one," Lindsay chuckled, standing up from the bed.
"I did my best!" he defended as the boys ran down the stairs. She just smiled and shook her head, following the happy shouts and squeals as the boys saw all the presents by the tree.
"Bikes, bikes! We got bikes! Mama, we got bikes!"
She chuckled and sat down on the couch, sitting Avery up in her lap so they wouldn't have any reflux problems this morning.
"Do you like them?"
"They're so cool, mama! Can we go ride them now?"
"Yeah now?"
"Maybe later today if it's not too cold. Do you want to get into your stockings?"
"Yeah! Daddy can you get them off the thingie?"
"Should we let Avery open hers first?"
"Daddy, she won't even know what it is! She's a baby."
"I know, but there's some stuff in there for her," Adam said, taking the stockings off the mantle. He handed Lindsay the pink Converse stocking and she unloaded it, pulling out binkies and cowboy boot socks and little bows for her hair.
"Well that's all good but can we open now?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
They dumped their Converse stockings on the floor, inspecting everything inside and thanking Lindsay and Adam after every item. They were up to their ankles in candy, colored pencils and Playmobil toys and barely knew what to use first.
"Why don't we have some breakfast and then we can open some more presents?"
They boys agreed and they trooped into the kitchen. Adam held Avery and helped the boys get their Playmobil's out of the boxes. Lindsay made a fast breakfast of French toast and eggs, and pretty soon they were all sitting on stools at the counter, eating and talking and teasing. Avery was falling back to sleep in her daddy's arms and Lindsay was suddenly thrown forward to next year. The boys would be a little bigger, Avery would be sitting in a high chair with syrup on her face and her red hair in barrettes and they would all be happy and laughing. She would be nostalgic for today of course, and all the years before, but at the same time would be looking ahead to all that was to come.
They unwrapped presents every few hours, making the delight of the morning stretch all the way until after dinner. The boys had stars in their eyes all day long, wondering what they were going to open next and figuring out their new toys. It took a lot out of them though, so it was early to bubble bath and early to bed. Adam had turned on music in the bathroom and Ben had put in too many bubbles, so the tub was filled to the brim as they danced around happily. Their bare feet slapped against the floor as they hopped around, limbs flailing in time with the techno music. Adam laughed and finally managed to wrangle them into the tub where they both continued to dance while he tried to balance laughing and washing their hair. He finally got them both scrubbed and rinsed and let them keep dancing around while he cleaned up the water that has splashed onto the floor.
"Hey babe," he shouted out the door as Lindsay walked by. "Can you grab some pajamas out for the boys?"
"We have Christmas pajamas for them to unwrap still."
"You didn't do that last night?"
"No, you weren't home. We didn't want you to be left out."
"I appreciate that."
"You can make it up to me later," she said, leaning down to kiss him.
"You want a back rub don't you?"
"Yes please, thank you for suggesting it."
He grinned and was about to give her a cheeky response when Ben suddenly lost his footing and slipped under the water. His feet shot up in the air then splashed down under the bubbles. Just as Adam was about to reach in and grab him he stood back up, covered in bubbles from head to toe. There was a moment of silence as he stood there and Colton continued to dance, oblivious to what had just happened.
"Buddy, you okay?"
"I want out," he said in a deep voice close to tears, trying not to open his mouth for fear of bubbles getting in.
"You want oot? Are you Canadian now?"
"I want out," he repeated. Adam chuckled and rinsed him off, then lifted him out of the tub and dried him off with a towel.
"Better? Go get in your skivvies if you think you can stay dry tonight."
He nodded and went into the bedroom while Colton finished his bath and his dancing.
Soon the boys were clean and dressed in their new pajama's, tucked into their beds and falling asleep quickly.
"Goodnight boys, we love you."
They closed the door halfway and Adam took the baby from Lindsay.
"Why don't you go take your own bubble bath and relax for a while? I'll take care of Avery, you go chill."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. You need some peace and quiet. There's bottles in the fridge so you can sit in there until the water gets cold and then fill it up again."
"Really?"
"Yes. Go."
"You're the best," she said with a smile as she hugged him. "Really. You have no idea."
"You just come to bed relaxed and smelling sweet. You've earned it."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Get scootin'."
She smiled and disappeared into the bathroom while he took Avery downstairs and sat on the couch with her.
"What do you think baby doll, should we watch the news for a bit?"
She gurgled and he ran his hand over her back, kissing the top of her head.
"What did you think about your first Christmas honey? Was it all you dreamed of? I hope it always will be. I hope I can give you everything in the world baby. You are so special to me. You're my only little girl and I can't even tell you how much I love you. I hope you always know that. I am so scared honey. I don't know if I will ever admit this to your mama or anyone else, but I am terrified of you getting older. I don't want us to fight. I don't want to make the wrong decisions for you. I don't want to ever hear you say you hate me and I don't want any doors to slam between us. I know it might happen, but I want you to know that I will always love you. No matter what. Nothing you can do and nothing I can do will ever, ever change that Averylin. I love you more than life baby doll. I will always be here for you, even when you don't think I am and even when you don't want me to be. You and your brothers and your mama are my number one priority. That will never change. You will always be safe that way. Always, always."
She tried to lift her head up to look at him and she grunted with the effort, then dropped back down to his chest. He smiled and stroked her hair, running his finger over her ear. She made a happy grunting noise and he chuckled.
"You like that just like your mama does. Sometimes I think you'll be just like her and then other times… I don't know if I want you to be. I don't know if I could deal with two of you. Just the puppy dog faces alone."
They laid on the couch for a while, watching the news while Adam commented on things and told her stories. She started fussing after a while, so he went into the kitchen and found a bottle in the fridge, then set a pot of water to boil so he could heat it up. He walked around the house, picking up little bits of wrapping paper and trying to shush her while he waited for the bottle to warm. Her face was beet red by the time they headed upstairs and he offered her the bottle at the top of the stairs.
"Is she okay?" Lindsay asked from the other side of the bathroom door.
"She's fine. Fill that tub up again."
"No, I'm done."
"Linds."
"I'm done," she repeated, pulling the plug and letting the water drain. He chuckled and took Avery up to their bedroom, sitting down in the rocking chair while she finished the bottle. He could tell she wasn't happy with it, but she took it anyway.
"She fussy?" Lindsay asked, coming into the room.
"She's fine. You want to take her while I go get ready for bed?"
"Yeah. Hey little chickabiddy. Are you going to sleep good for us tonight?"
Avery hiccupped and stretched and Lindsay smiled, snuggling her close and breathing her in.
"I love you little girl."
They locked eyes for several moments and Avery finally yawned and let herself fall asleep. Lindsay cuddled her for a while, then stood up and put her in the cradle as Adam came back and slid into bed.
"C'mere hon," he said, his voice low. She smiled and snuggled up next to him, smiling as he kissed her. His hands tangled in her hair and she let out a long contented sigh.
"You smell good. Like really, really good. Even better than normal which I didn't think was possible."
She giggled as he nuzzled her neck and grazed his lips over her ear.
"Did you put cologne on, honey?"
"No, I just naturally smell that way."
"You normally smell like Old Spice?"
"It's not Old Spice, it's Beckham!"
She just stared at him for a second and he sighed.
"That was a trap."
"And suddenly that fish guy from Star Wars pops up-"
"Admiral Ackbar! Get your facts straight. Where's the woman I married?"
"Choking under a cloud of cologne."
"I'll go wash it off."
"Don't you dare leave this bed."
He looked back at her, seeing the twinkle in her eye and he sighed, taking her in his arms again.
"You'd better know how much I love you, woman."
"I love you more."
"Not this fight again," he chuckled.
"Merry Christmas honey."
"Merry Christmas."