Chapter Text
Lainie and Matt woke up bright and early and saw that it was snowing. It had apparently been quite heavy during the night as everything was covered in a thick white blanket.
"Well would you look at that?" Matt grinned pulling back the curtains in their bedroom and admired how beautiful everything looked in the cold winter sun as the lightly flurried and everything remained untouched.
"Merry Christmas, dear." Lainie smiled and a loving kiss to her husband's lips.
"Merry Christmas. I think the boys will be pleased to see snow when they wake up." He smiled fondly remembering Clay at aged 5. He had been too excited to sleep, it was a wonder if he did at all that night but the next morning Matt recalled the youngster running into their room at 4am shaking them awake. Lainie had groaned in response but Matt had to explain to Clay that Santa hadn't come yet and he had to be a good boy and go back to sleep. Matt had laid down with Clay until 5 hours he wss shaken awake by his son yet again but only this tine, he raced to the window to see everything covered in snow.
"Daddy! Daddy wakes up! It 'nowed! It' nowed!" Clay would express with such excitement watching the snowflakes fall onto the window ledge.
Matt changed into black trousers and a grey, black and red warming sweater for the day before stepping in front of the mirror to comb his hair. He had agreed to give Lainie a hand at preparing a rather large spread for breakfast with it being Justin's first ever family Christmas. It was just after 7:30am and he headed downstairs to the kitchen whilst Lainie got ready. She changed into a comfy pair of skinny jeans and a cosy oversized cable knit cream jumper before putting on light make up and straightening her hair. She grabbed her favourite diamond stud earrings, the very ones Matt had gifted to her for their anniversary 2 years ago. She secured the backs in place before admiring her appearance one last time and heading downstairs to the kitchen to lend her husband a hand.
The stove was alight and covered with several pans. One which had bacon crisping, another with a homemade berry compote stewing away and one which was currently heating up so batches of chocolate chip pancakes could be prepared. Lainie was cutting up a selection of fruit and carefully decorated in a pretty pattern as she placed it onto a platter and to chill in the fridge. After an hour, one the table was filled with plates piled high with toast, pancakes and others with eggs, a fruit platter, a Christmas muffin selection Lainie had cheated on and picked up from Costco a day before and boxes of apple and orange juice plus a fresh pot of coffee that wss currently brewing.
Matt placed the steaming hot crisped bacon onto a plate and was about to head up the stairs to wake up the boys but the couple were greeted a twinkly eyed Justin who looked like an excited little kid as he entered the kitchen followed by his big brother who groaned still very sleepy.
"Merry Christmas, mom and dad!" Justin smiled going to embrace both of his parents. Lainie heart melted seeing the childlike excitement in her youngest son's eyes.
"Merry Christmas, son." Matt chimed and went to hug both Clsy and Justin pressing a kiss to their forehead.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." Lainue smiled taking Justin's face into her hands. She gently stroked his pink cheeks with the pad of her thumb before placing a loving kiss to his forehead before moving on to do the same to Clay.
"Holy shit, look at all the snow!" Justin gasped running towards the kitchen window.
"This is awesome." Justin smiled happily his heart so full. He turned around and stared at the massive spread.
"A little excessive much, huh mom?" Clay commented taking a seat at the table.
"Absolutely not." Matt replied pouring two mugs of freshly brewed coffee and handing one to his wife and one to Clay. Their elddst sat down at the table and yawned. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a sip of his coffee humming as the warm liquid ran down his throat.
"It's Justin's first family Christmas with us so your Dad and I decided to do a little something special for breakfast." Lainie explained gesturing to thd table. Justin looked down at the table admired the massive spread.
"Mom, Dad this is awesome but you guys didn't have to..." Justin began as he fiddled with the hemming on his sleeve.
"Yes we did. Today's a very special day for us as a family and we want everything to be perfect." Lainie reassured her youngest son and gently took his face into her hands brushing his baby soft cheeks with the pad of her thumb and pressed a loving kiss to his forehead.
"Now sit down and dig in before everything goes cold and then we can move this party to the living room!" Matt instructed handing the boys a plate each.
"Mom, Dad that was the best!" Justin exclaimed sitting back in his chair as he sighed content.
"Wow bro, I didn't think you'd ever stop but you did." Clay chuckled picking up the plates and placed them in the sink.
"Thank you, honey." Lainie called to him.
Once breakfast was finished, the family of 4 headed to the living room. Matt and Lainie had added a few extra touches under the tree after the boys had gone to bed including extra presents both parents had no idea about from one another.
-Flashback-
"You really went all out didn't you?" Lainie asked her husband as she watched him carefully place more presents under the tree.
"I did. For everyone. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised tomorrow". Matt replied wrapping his arms around his wife and pressed a deep loving kiss to her velvet lips.
"Matthew Jensen, you really are full of surprises huh?" Lainie smiled up at him.
"You have no idea, dear". Matt winked at her and hugged her tight causing her to chuckle into his chest.
-Flash forward-
The couple walked into the living room and saw both of their sons speechless.
"Oh my god." Justin froze overwhelmed.
"Jesus Christ. You guys went crazy!". Clay exclaimed.
"Alright, maybe we did but after the year you've both had. Your mom and I thought you both deserved it and because it's Justin's first Christmas with us so technically we had." Matt explained.
"I've never ever seen anything like this..." Justin smiled looking at the colourful and beautifully wrapped presents. Lainie smiled and ran her fingers through the short strands of Justin's hair and pressed a kiss to his temple.
"Why don't you see what's under the tree, honey?" Lainie urged him. Justin's eyes lit up and he took a seat beside the tree and picked out one of the presents with his name on it. Clay amiled seeing the excitement on his younger brother's face. It dawned on him that Justin had never had this. The excitement of Christmas was something that he had not been able to express for the past 17 years.
"Wait. I want you to open this one first, bro." Clay told him handing him a large rectangular package covered in red paper and a big gold bow. Justin noticed a handwritten label and took it into his hands.
"Read it out, kiddo. What does it say?" Matt asked.
"To Justin, Welcome to the family, bro. Love your big brother, Clay x"
"Open it up, bro." Clay encouraged him as he took a seat beside his younger brother. Matt and Lainie smiled, their hearts melting at Justin's pure excitement. Even at 17 years old, there was still a child inside that had been waiting for this day. Lainie snapped pictures of Justin opening up his first present. The sweet smile and joy amd excitement of a child's lit up his face as he tore through the paper. Justin froze and his eyes teared up. Justin unwrapped a large gold photo frame which showed the 4 of them at the family photoshoot moments after they had made Justin's adoption official. Lainie had insisted they all coordinated wearing Justin's favourite colour - royal blue. Matt had bought the boys the same tailor made suits in Black. Granted they were a little more expensive but it was worth it.
He found the boys matching blue shirts and black ties. Ckay had opted to wear a sweater over his shirt and Justin didn't. Lainie had shopped for the perfect blue dress. Something that was elegant and modest but at the same time showed off her curves. In the end, she settled for a sleeveless blue long dress that sat just above her knees which she paired with black high heels.
The dress highlighted her curves just enough to not be inappropriate. Lainie had meant to get the photo printed and framed but hadn't had time.
"Oh honey, what a beautiful gift". Lainie praised her eldest.
"I thought we could replace the one on the wall with this one?" Clay asked.
"That's a great idea, son. What do you think, kiddo?" Matt asked his youngest. The trio turned to Justin to see him holding the picture as teara of happiness ran down his cheeks.
"I love it. This i-is the be-bestest gift ev-ever." Justin sobbed. Clay sat beside his brother and wrapped an arm around him. Matt and Lainie looked at each other, blessed to be parents to such sweet sons who loved and cared for one another. The family sat together drinking hot cocoa as they all opened their presents. Clay had been fifted several bundles of clothing ranging from tops, trousers, a jacket and 2 pairs of trainers along with two of the limited edition comic books he had been talking about, aftershave, headphones, a rubiks cube, PlayStation 4 games and books which he was content with. Justin had received the same amount of clothing as Clay. His weight would fluctuate dropping drastically or gaining quickly that Lainie had bought a few different sizes in oversized tops, jumpers, trousers, 2 pairs of trainers, a grey and red varsity style basketball jacket, aftershave, the photo frame, a sketchbook with an art set, headphones, a drone, digital camera and a few board games. Justin broke down in tears several times at the thoughtfulness of his new family.
"This is just the start my sweet boy." Lainie smiled wrapping her arms around her youngest son who sobbed happy tears into her chest as she held onto him tight gently running her fingers through his hair as he held onto her. Regardless of how many timws Justin had cried that morning (4 according to Clay)
Matt and Lainie reassured him that they would always bd there to provide Justin and Clay with hugs, kisses and to wipe away his tears speaking words of comfort, reassurance and love.