Christmas decorations everywhere. Shiny! Cheery! Bright! Purple and green were the colors this year, for no discernible reasons. Nico liked the classier kinds of decorations, with gold and silver, while Maki always went for as red and green and goofy as you could get. With lots of Santa. Normally, Nico would be oohing and ahhing, taking pictures of the holiday spectacle for Maki if they weren't out together, but not today. Today, all this artificial jollity just meant winter. And winter in Canada to boot. Nico pulled her pink scarf tighter. It wasn't the warmest scarf but it was the one Maki had knitted her back in high school. It had been slow hours away from a piano for Maki's not quite as nimble at knitting fingers, but even with all the gaps and dropped stitches, Nico felt the earnest admiration Maki twined into its rows every time she wrapped it around her. And right now that was more important than Nico's lips falling off from frostbite. Well, maybe not more important, Nico thought wryly, after all she would be home again, with Maki, in a couple of weeks but…

Nico shook her head as a particularly cold wind cut through the scarf. Why did tonight's venue have to be right in the heart of downtown Toronto, with Christmas decorations glaring, seasonal music blaring and happy couples galore? She hadn't even remembered to send Maki and Dia's presents to Japan on time. Maki's parents would make sure neither of her best girls went without, of course, but Nico couldn't stop berating herself. But she had been trying so hard not to get stuck in a loop of sadness at all the Dia and Maki moments she was missing, that the days had just slipped by.

"Dia's first Christmas and Nico can't even find time to put her present in the mail. And Maki will know hers isn't from Nico. Nico's first year on the naughty list…" Nico stomped her way down the street, stirring a little warmth into her legs. Nico had been piecing together a quilt for Maki with bits taken from all their μ's costumes. Kotori had sent her a huge box of fabric, claiming Umi was glad to free up the closet space. Working on it while travelling had helped Nico remember what she had to go home to. But if this was what being alone on a holiday felt like, they were going to have to speed up Maki's Mama's dropping off the grid plan.

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me, "I'll be home…" Nico pushed her way through the door right in front of her, not even sure what kind of store she was entering before the tears started. Coffee shop. Okay, Nico could work with that. Maybe Maki would actually be answering her phone by now. Nico clapped her mittens together as she shook herself a little to acclimate to actual warmth. At least, this store had gone for a relatively subdued decorating scheme: blue and silver and Nutcrackers...Nico smiled at the thought of taking Dia to her first ballet in a couple of years. Maki always loved the excitement of opening nights and dressing up to see a performance. Some of Nico's favorite dates had been letting her wife teach her about more classical and traditional music and entertainment options. Vivaldi had become a favorite, with his expressive changes of mood. Plus, and Nico almost twirled into a prop Nico sized Mouse King, giddily remembering how Maki's glorious amethyst eyes would glow at the sight of Nico in whatever little black dress she had chosen for each occasion. As Nico smiled at the barista, she wondered if little black dresses were inappropriate at outings with children. Nico in...matron wear...hair up in a bun...the Idol snorted as the barista frowned at her. Eli had been saying since the birth of their twins that the maternal look was sexy, but Nico was almost sure she wasn't talking about clothes.

"Sorry," Nico apologized to the young woman and gleamed, hands in her signature pose, "Nico Nico Ni. Nico got distracted. I'll take the sweetest, biggest holiday drink you have." Still a bit of shock to be a MOTHER, especially as she hadn't gotten to spend a lot of time doing the things she'd had to manage when Cotarou was a baby. Not that Nico minded handing off diaper changes, but she wondered if Dia would be more distant...Guess that's what most working parents worry about, Nico decided, having new sympathy for her mother's efforts to be aware of all of her children's interests. Nico fidgeted with her phone, hoping for a word from her wife to take her mind away from all the firsts she wouldn't be there for.

Nothing from Maki yet. But there was Rin, cheery as ever and sending a picture of baby Tora in an oversized Santa hat.

R: Maki stopped by with Tora's present before they headed to the mountains. SO CUTE (*≧▽≦) Maki also told Tora and Dia all about Santa.

Of course Maki did. Maki had bought Dia's first Santa hat the October before Dia was born and watched Miracle On 34th Street in an endless loop the week before she went into labor. Between that and Maki's pregnancy cravings for hot chocolate (oh, how Nozomi had teased about Eli being contagious) with cherry syrup and a peppermint stick, Nico was very surprised not to be nauseated by the smell of either this season. Instead, she just missed her wife, her goofy, Christmas maniac of a wife, terribly.

Nico sniffed and wiped at her eyes, smiling at the barista who'd finally finished making her drink. Reply to Rin, drink up, don't think about Maki and Dia at the Nishikino mountain cottage without her. Get back to work. Nico was a hard worker. It got her through.

Nico had sung every Christmas song that wouldn't currently make her cry, which was only three songs added to her usual sets. But the audience appreciated it. For Jingle Bells, she'd gotten them all to sing and roused downtown Toronto with merry revellers spilling into the streets in search of one horse open sleighs and drifted banks. Nico wouldn't mind being in a drifted bank of pillows with her Mrs. right now, as long as it was warmer than snow. She waved and smiled at the crew, kissed her bandleader on the cheek and kicked up her heels Rockette style with her dancers on the way back to the dressing room. Then she could loop the sadder songs and have a good cry before ordering dinner somewhere to take back to her hotel. No one sees the tears. Nico made sure of that. Always a professional, Nico took great pride in that as she opened her door with a sigh.

Before she could turn around to flick the light switch, she heard the voice she'd been dreaming about, as gorgeously smooth as ever, but hitched with a little nervousness, "She's asleep now. You really are the Number One Idol in the Universe, Nico-chan. Dia's been fussy for days. I think she sensed how much I missed you."

"MAKI!" Nico hands dropped, her eyes wide, making out a beloved silhouette in the darkness.

"Shush, Nico-chan." Maki's happy laugh made Nico feel like bounding, "I just got her settled."

Nico flipped on the lights to her makeup table, so as not to disturb the twilight mood. Maki was there, on the sofa, in Nico's dressing room, holding Dia gently in her arms, amethyst eyes so full of love and her smile mischievous, like she was in on a joke Nico hadn't heard yet, "She recognized your voice, Nico-chan. I could tell. It's her first concert." And the redhead was tearing up and Nico's heart was pounding and she couldn't hold wife and daughter tightly enough.

Nico just started babbling, as the tired leaked out, "I forgot to send your presents. You're supposed to be in the mountains. Do your parents know where you are? Rin sent a text. I don't have a crib at the hotel. I haven't showered."

Maki put an arm around Nico, guiding Nico's head to her shoulder, where she could run her fingers through the sweaty, tangled sable locks. Nico had reached out a hand to gently stroke Dia's cherub cheeks as the baby smiled in her sleep, "We missed you, Nico-chan. And we're here."

"But Rin sent that text today." Nico still couldn't believe this was happening. She was starting to suspect she'd passed out on stage and was having an extremely vivid hallucination.

Maki giggled, taking her arm back to make a nest on the couch, in her coat, for Dia, then she turned to Nico, warm hands on either side of Nico's face, "Rin and I set that up days ago."

"First years still causing me trouble." Nico muttered.

Maki raised an eyebrow, voice suddenly arch, "So now I'm trouble."

Nico pressed her forehead into Maki, "You are…" Nico's voice caught, her eyes wet, "everything. I love you so much, Maki."

"Nico-chan" Maki leaned in and kissed Nico, lips eager. After all these weeks, it was enough to send Nico swooning. Dia whined a little in her sleep and Nico chuckled. Dia had a knack for interrupting moments.

"Why aren't you with your family? At the cottage. So Dia meets Santa?" Nico prodded. But Maki's eyes never left hers, their depths lit with a fierceness Nico had only seen on a few rare, truly memorable nights.

"We have our family now, Nico-chan. And for every Christmas, I'll be wherever you and Dia are."

Nico had not realized that every day you could fall more in love with someone until it kept happening to her. But it would be hard to top the growing surge of warmth that took up her chest right now, glowing and cresting and making her want nothing more than to be alone with this beautiful, wonderful girl who'd chosen her so many years ago. So many ecstatic moments ago. And Maki's voice whispered that low, sexy, silken siren call to Nico again.

"I love you, Nico-chan." Another breathless, longed for kiss, "Merry Christmas."

A/N: I've been posting this on Tumblr, so for a holiday surprise, I thought I'd start posting them here as well. Enjoy!

Here's a short bit of angsty fluff that's as ragingly sentimental as I've ever gotten. I'm getting Casual Lunacy back on target next week, if all goes as planned, with maybe another holiday side project.

So, have a merry holiday season or a peaceful Solstice. And I hope you find the family that suits and supports you, whatever that may mean to you.

Thanks, as always, for reading. I appreciate the time you take to share my takes on the adventures of these characters : )