Quite a long (and hopefully sweet) one this time I think. I couldn't divide it up nicely for the next chapter so I left it all in one piece. I did check the grammar, but I've played around with the story quite a bit, so there might be a few mistakes that escaped, sorry!

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The next time I was minding Kate, I made sure I had Carlisle around. He was still nervous around her, not one hundred per cent sure how to deal with a child, but I think she was growing on him. She spent the entire day repeating everything he said, still trying to mimic his accent, and it was making both of us laugh. Carmen had told me that she had kept doing even after she went home last time, and I couldn't imagine this making it die down any. By the looks of it, we'd have a parrot on our hands for some time to come.

The park seemed like a good idea after we'd taken her out for lunch; she could run off her sugar rush, and hopefully wouldn't become irritable later in the afternoon. I headed over towards the tree I usually sat under to watch her, but Carlisle tugged on my hand, pulling me toward the playground.

"Come on the swings with me." He was already giggling, which was never a good sign.

"We're adults," I laughed, not quite willing to let myself go enough to play on a playground. I hadn't done it since before high school; climbing through the little structures always made me feel big and clumsy, and I couldn't imagine that feeling being any different now. My boyfriend was petite though, so I couldn't imagine him having any issues with it.

"Adulthood is only a social construct," he rolled his eyes. "Come."

"Carlisle-"

He wasn't taking no for an answer, grinning as he took me over to the swings, easily jumping in to one of the seats. "You know you want to," he teased me, rolling his eyes at my hesitance. "It's fun, Garrett. Please tell me you liked this as a child?"

"Well, yeah, I liked it then, but-"

"Get on the damn swing or I swear to god, I'll smother you while you sleep." He was laughing far too much for it to be vaguely threatening, and I leaned forward to kiss him lightly before getting into the seat next to him.

Pushing myself back and forth with my feet, it was kind of fun. I certainly didn't hate it. Watching how happy it made Carlisle made the experience a little sweeter as well. "You're cute," I accused, chuckling. "Do you want to go get a Christmas tree after this? We can take Kate and it might be nice?"

He frowned a little, thinking about it for a moment. "To bring inside?" he asked sceptically. "I've never understood why people feel the need to do that."

"Yeah," I nodded. "It's tradition."

"It's weird."

I watched him as he nibbled his lip; he really didn't look that happy about the idea. "Don't over think it, Carlisle, it's just a plant," I reminded him, reaching over to rub his leg. "…and I think it's a step in the right direction for your tolerance of Christmas."

"But it'll be in the house until Christmas day, right? It'll be there the whole month…"

"It's just a tree, but yeah, it will. Look, why don't we just go and visit the tree farm, and if it's the worst thing in the world, we don't have to bring one home. And you don't have to touch them." I felt like I was reasoning with a child, and I was struggling not to become patronising. I was sure he knew it too, and he was trying to be cooperative with me despite how disruptive it was for him.

He slowly agreed, shifting uncomfortably. He'd stopped his swing, visibly disturbed now. "…yeah…okay…"

"It'll be fine," I assured him, forcing myself not to grumbled. "And Kate loves it."

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Carlisle was on edge the moment he saw the sign pointing into the tree farm. My niece was babbling insanely; she's become unbearably excited the second I'd told her what we were doing. Eleazar didn't like live trees in the house, so every year they made do with a fake one; the only reason I ever bothered to put up a tree when I lived on my own was so that the kid got the joy of picking one out. It was something I'd always loved as child.

I held his hand as we walked in the gates, partly worried that he might bolt, and partly wanting to comfort him. With the other, I held onto a hyperactive child.

"Can we get a big one this year, uncle Garrett?" she asked excitedly, tugging my fingers.

"It has to fit in my car, Katie, not too big," I warned, already dreading the pine needles that were going to be everywhere for the next few weeks. They smelt wonderful though, and I took a deep breath to savour it.

My boyfriend apparently had an aversion to it, and was holding his breath as much as possible.

"Stop it," I murmured to him, shaking his hand a little. "Don't be overdramatic."

"I didn't say anything," he snapped back, instantly defensive.

"But your all tense and prickly," I pointed out, rolling my eyes as I wrapped my arm around his waist and rubbed his side.

"I'll wait in the car, then," he grumbled, trying to pull away.

I hesitated before replying, swallowing anything too harsh to avoid a repeat of the last Christmas related incident. "I want you to stay, but just say the words, Carlisle, and we'll go home," I reminded him. I let Kate loose as he nodded, keeping an eye on her as she charged down the rows. "You're not going to catch some deadly disease by breathing the air here, by the way."

"I don't like the smell of them."

"It's good," I argued. "Don't be so bias; if nothing else, its got to bring back memories." Already I was nostalgic, despite only being here for five minutes. It took a second for me to realise my mistake, and then it was too late to take it back. Thankfully, Carlisle didn't react too badly to my slip.

"That's why I don't like it; it smells like fucking rejection." He'd tried to joke about it, but it had hit too close to home and become serious, despite him forcing a laugh.

Giving up, I sighed heavily. "Do you want to go home? I'll bring Kate back later."

He shook his head quickly. "No, I promised you I'd try…I just…I really hate it…"

"I know, Carlisle," I assured him, pulling him into a tight hug and kissing the top of his head. "I'm happy you came with us."

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It took my niece forever to find one she was happy with, and then it was only because I pushed her into picking one now so my boyfriend didn't lose his shit in the middle of a forest of Christmas trees. He had absolutely had it by the time we were back in the car, at his wits end with the whole experience.

"You okay?" I asked cautiously, placing my hand on his leg as we pulled out of the carpark.

"If you make me touch a single decoration, I'm going to puke," he warned, only half kidding as he closed his fingers around mine.

"You don't have to help," I assured him.

"But you would like me to…"

"Well, yeah, preferably, of course I would, but if enough is enough, I'm not going to force you to ether."

The first real issue we ran into was getting the damn thing off of the roof of my car and up the many stair to my apartment. Thankfully, my niece had listened to my instructions and it was fairly small, but it still required two people to move it. Carlisle wanted to be as far away from it as possible, but eventually sucked it up enough to help me. He kept his distance while me and Kate set about dragging out the decorations from my closet though.

"Can I convince you to untangle lights for me?" I asked after he'd been silent for a good twenty minutes. As soon as we'd come home, he take shelter across the room from this three, his legs crossed underneath him and his hands in his lap.

Unsure, he nodded slowly and unfolded himself from the couch, taking the knotted wires from me. He kept his head down as he loosened the knots, biting his lip and keeping his concentration on the task at hand.

"Carlisle!" Kate jumped at him suddenly, shoving a bunch of baubles at him with a grin on her face. She was oblivious, but I watched his discomfort skyrocket. "Your turn!"

Frozen to the spot, he wearily looked up at the tree. He forced a smile at my niece though, taking them from her. "Okay, Katie, come on then." Sliding onto the floor, he crawled over to be beside her as she roughly slung ornaments on the tree. He was visibly uncomfortable, but carefully hooked them over the branches anyway.

I couldn't quite hear the soft banter between them – something to do with colour coding, god bless my boyfriend. Instead, I quietly got to my feet to find my phone, taking a picture of the two of them before Carlisle caught me. I figured I could blame it on wanting something to send to Carmen if he brought it up, instead of explaining that seeing him with my family made me happier than anything else.

I sat back on the couch and watched the two of them together, rubbing my face to cover my smile as he picked her up so she could reach the higher branches. I kept my mouth shut as they struggled to get the lights and tinsel on, seeming as they really should have done it first, because it was so fucking adorable to watch.

"Go get the star for the top, Katie, and then I think we're finished," he told her, laughing as he set her on her feet. Apparently, any hesitance that he'd felt toward my niece or the tree had dissolved, and I was trying to decide when he'd started calling her 'Katie'. Again, adorable.

While they were distracted, I pulled the curtains closed, waiting until they'd finished before plugging in the lights. Kate cheered, and my boyfriend recoiled before laughing and getting to his feet.

"It's pretty," he murmured to me as I stood beside him, smiling as I rubbed the small of his back.

I kissed his cheek, and he rested his head against my shoulder as we watched Kate fuss over the tree. "It's supposed to be, love."

"You sound like your mother," he teased softly, not quite rebuking me as he leaned into my side.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked, trying to gauge his anxiety level.

"…it was kinda fun…" he admitted, a little shy.

Pleased, I turned to face him, hugging him tightly. "Good." For the first time, I was starting to have hope that he might actually be able to enjoy Christmas after all.

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I knew he was happy with his new job, but it was definitely more stressful than the last one he had. He was sleepy whenever he came over, but the cuddles were nice anyway and I liked having him with me, even if he was unconscious about five minutes after he came in the door. And he was with me a lot more now, which was even better. Several times, I had the next big question caught on the tip of my tongue, but I was nervous he wouldn't want that; he always seemed content to go back to his own flat. Tonight was going to be one of those nights; he was going home to Alistair, and I was sleeping alone. Despite being still at work, I was already sulking about it.

My heart was in my throat and I felt sick the instant I saw his number on my screen. He never rang me at work. I answered in a hurry, but forced myself to take a deep breath. "Hey, Carlisle, are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing, Gar, everything's fine. I know it's last minute, but can I be with you tonight? Please? I can bring food if you want?" he asked. Something was off, but I couldn't pick what it was.

"Yeah, of course you can." I breathed a sigh of relief, but still wasn't convinced. "Are you sure everything's alright?" I wasn't supposed to see him until tomorrow night, so I wasn't sure what would have pushed him into asking to stay at four-thirty in the evening. I wasn't complaining, but it still had me on edge.

"Everything's fine," he repeated, laughing nervously. "…I'm just tired. And I miss you. And it's not a good mix; it makes me needy as hell."

"I'll see you tonight, then," I chuckled. "And don't worry about dinner, I'll sort something out."

"Love you."

"Love you too, baby," I teased.

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'Tired' didn't cover it. He practically stumbled into my hug, relaxing as I wrapped my arms around him. "Missed you," he mumbled, kissing my neck.

"I missed you too, but I didn't want to sound clingy," I admitted, leaning down to bring our lips together.

"I like clingy, then." He reached up to knot his arms around my neck, letting me tug him closer.

I laughed, and led him into my apartment. We had dinner together, and then settled down to watch movies – or I watched movies, and Carlisle tried not to fall asleep as he cuddled into my side. "You're staying with me tonight?" I asked, kissing the top of his head as I rubbed his shoulder.

"…I can't…I just wanted to see you for a bit, but I still have to finish that…" he mumbled, shaking his head and gesturing to his laptop on the table.

"You can finish it here, can't you?" I suggested, smiling at the way he melted against me.

"I'll never get anything done with you around me, Garrett…I'm really tired…" he told me with a guilty smile.

I didn't see how the two things correlated, but it didn't matter, really. "How's going home going to help, hmm? I can keep you awake," I teased, nudging him with my shoulder to prove my point.

"Because you're warm, and it's making me sleepy," he laughed, rolling his eyes at me. "And I have to get it done before work tomorrow morning." Unable to help it, he yawned. I could see the exhaustion wearing thin, and he'd be a wreck tomorrow if he tried to stay up any longer.

I slid my arms around his middle, pulling him toward me. "Can you do it in the morning? We can get up early and you can finish it then?"

He looked unsure and thought for a moment, but nodded anyway, and I tucked him against my side, kissing his cheek. "Maybe…"

Shifting in my seat, I moved so he was lying with his head in my lap, and I ran my fingers repetitively through his hair. I wasn't tired yet, but I could see he was exhausted and hoped he might doze off while we were like this. It only took a few minutes of me rubbing his arm and his back before he fell asleep.

An hour or so later, I deemed it late enough for bed. I hesitated before nudging him awake, though. If I did wake him up, I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't become anxious again, and then he wouldn't sleep.

I carefully moved under him, contemplating letting him stay where he was for the night, but he was already cold and I doubted he would be comfortable, even if I did get him a blanket. Deciding against it, I made him get up.

"Bed time," I told him as he glanced up at me.

"…What's the time?" he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"Ten o'clock. Let's go."

He took my hand as he stood up, steadying himself and squeezing my fingers. "Sorry I was useless company tonight."

"You just being here is enough," I assured him. "Do you want to get changed, or-"

"Fuck that," he laughed, running his fingers through his hair to get it off his face and already half under the blankets. "This is fine."

Rolling my eyes at him, I stripped down and got under the blankets beside him. He immediately shuffled closer to cuddle into me, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around him.

"I can't sleep without you," he admitted.

"Me neither, actually," I sighed. "Although, not having someone attached to me all night and being allowed to move my legs is a bit of a treat." It was teasing; I loved having this close to me, and he knew it.

"I did warn you I was needy before I came," he reminded me, kissing my cheek.

"Hmm…it's nice. You're like a human hot water bottle." I leaned down to bring our lips together, and leaned back into the pillows.

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"Thank you." His voice was muffled by my clothing, his head on my chest and his arms around my waist, both of us just about asleep. By his silence, I'd assumed he was already unconscious.

"For what?" I ran my hand down his back, squeezing him closer against my side.

"For making me happy." He kissed my neck, cuddling into me.

My heart cramped a little, and I rolled over to face him, keeping my arms around him. "You deserve happiness, Carlisle."

"So do you."

"You make me happy too."