Henrik had been disappointed that Maja hadn't agreed to allow Fredrik to come to them over Christmas, saying that they needed time to bond with the new baby once she arrived, and that she would consider their son visiting sometime in the next year. He hadn't told Roxanna about the decision, just that Maja had never gotten back with them, so he'd have to get in touch with her after the holidays. She had been a bit crestfallen with that news, but tried to take it well, helping him put together a group of gifts for Fredrik, Maja, and his father. And he supposed that she did have a point about wanting to mend fences, and keep the peace, since the family was about to be expanding.

And now, it was Christmas Eve, and he was excitedly looking forward to opening presents with his wife. Since they both wanted to keep with more Swedish traditions around the season, both had volunteered to cover Christmas Day shifts for their colleagues, allowing them to be with their families. Roxanna had shooed him into the living room, saying that she wanted to put the finishing touches on their meal while he relaxed in the living room. Rather than do that, though, he was putting the finishing touches on the cradle that he had been spending every moment he could spare to create. Thankfully, he had found an almost empty room in the basement of the hospital that allowed him to work on it without fear of Roxanna discovering what he was doing.

Somehow, he managed to affix a bow to the head of the cradle, winding the ribbon through the heart shaped holes carved into both ends. Finally satisfied with is work, he got to his feet and carried the cradle over to the tree, placing it with the other gifts they had gotten for each other. He knew that her colleagues were throwing her a small shower at the end of January, so he had tried to get things that weren't completely baby related, but it didn't help matters when everything he saw in the stores for baby girls just called out to him now. Chuckling a little, he took a seat on the sofa and picked up the book he was reading, losing himself in it as he waited for her to call him to the table.

"All right, dinner is ready!" she called out an hour later, and he shoved a bookmark in his place before getting up and making his way out to the dining room. The table looked beautiful, and he smiled to see that she had managed to make it look festive. "Merry Christmas, Henrik."

"Merry Christmas, Roxanna." He leaned over and kissed her softly before taking a seat, watching her follow suit. Her growing bump made it difficult for her to get extremely close to the table, but she looked so adorable, as if pregnancy suited her so well, and a part of him wanted to freeze this moment in time, to keep her glowing and happy, even though he knew that this was a fleeting time. "Our last Christmas without a child underfoot."

"Yeah." The smile on her lips dimmed a little, and he knew that she was thinking about Fredrik. Reaching across the table, he took hold of her hand, clasping it warmly as she said a quick prayer over their food. "Maybe, if she doesn't want to send Freddie here for Christmas, we could go to Sweden next year? I miss being there, and it would be nice to introduce our daughter to your father, even if we choose not to have him in our lives other than Christmas. I may not know why you don't want to interact with your father, but I do respect the boundaries that you want to set between us and him."

Henrik smiled as he nodded. "Perhaps one day, I'll tell you that story, but I appreciate that you trust me enough to let me keep it close to my heart. I, I haven't even spoken about it with my therapist. If we had stayed in Sunderland, I probably would have spoken about it already, since I felt like we were moving in that direction. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Henrik. When you're ready, you'll tell me." She winked at him before digging into her food, and he followed suit, finding himself suddenly ravenous. "Let's eat dessert in front of the tree."

"All right. I'll go get that, and you can go take a seat in the living room. Try not to shake any of the presents, you never know which ones are breakable." She laughed a little as she nodded, getting to her feet and leaving the room. He picked up their plates as he got to his feet, bringing them into the kitchen before cutting them each a generous slice of Christmas log cake and then making large mugs of hot chocolate, since Roxanna had already had her caffeine for the day.

By the time he'd gotten everything arranged on a tray to carry into the living room, he heard a soft cry of delight waft over the air, and his smile deepened as he went into the other room, certain that she had seen the cradle. "I made us hot chocolate, darling," he said as he set the tray on the coffee table.

"You also made us a cradle," she whispered, looking up from the present. Tears were rolling down her eyes, and she held up her hand to him. Nodding, he went to her side and leaned in to the soft caress, closing his eyes as her fingers slipped into his hair, tugging him close for a tender kiss. "Where did you find time to do this?"

"On my lunch, and when I had the day off and you were working. I made the time, because I wanted our daughter to have something made by my own two hands, and I'm not much of a tailor, to try and make her a christening gown or bedding. It's not perfect…"

"But it's made by you, and that's all that matters," she whispered before kissing him again. "Our daughter is going to be so loved."

"She is. I just hope that Freddie loves his sister as much as we love him. That's the most important thing that I want to come out of everything, that our children know that they are loved beyond words." He felt himself choking up, thinking about how his father has always treated him, knowing that he could never do that to Fredrik or this new life that would soon appear. "Speaking of our son, I saw that you had decorated a little more in his room."

"I need something to soothe me when the days when I have this frenetic energy in me. And I just want Freddie to feel welcome here when he finally gets to visit us." Henrik nodded as he kissed her a third time, feeling the warmth of the season spread out through his body as he got to his feet. "Are we going to open presents now, darling?"

"I thought that we could," he said as he picked up a gift for each of them, handing hers over before taking a seat once more and opening his gift, knowing that, despite everything they might have gotten one another, the best gift of all would be coming in another nine weeks.