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It was supposed to be a normal Christmas Eve. Laurent had sent out the invitations a few weeks earlier and invited all their friends and family over for a nice dinner evening, going out of his way to prepare everything as meticulously as always.
He had ordered white poinsettias, golden table cards, surely emptied the Christmas decoration shop on Fifth Avenue and made the bank account yawn when all the bookings crashed in. Of course he had sent Damen out to cut a perfect Christmas tree that left just an inch of space to the ceiling once the Christmas star was settled on its top. Theo had helped them decorate - at least to the extent a two year old toddler could put Christmas balls on a tree - and it was lightning the hall with its blue, gold and white.
They had adopted Theo two years ago when Laurent had seen him on one of his charity visits to an orphanage and now both of them couldn’t imagine a life without him.
As mentioned previously, it was supposed to be a normal Christmas Eve and it could have easily turned into one, if it wasn’t for the sneezes and wheezes and groans echoing through the house from the living room.
“Baaaabe.”
Laurent pulled off his baking gloves after he had set down the tray with cookies onto the countertop and strode over to the living room with an eye roll. Damen was wrapped into a pile of blankets, his head propped onto all available cushions, Theo’s head next to him barely visible. All of Laurent’s anger faded.
“Oh Damen, are we feeling a bit better,” Laurent cooed, not letting his exhaustion slip into his voice. Damen coughed exaggeratedly.
“No, I want another cup of broth, I’m so hungry. And a warm milk with honey, babe.” Damen gave him his best puppy eyes, making a no impossible. When Laurent looked at Theo, his nose all red from all the sneezing and wiping, he bowed down and stroke his cheek. “And you, Theo, milk like daddy or tea?”
“Milk,” he said with his high, scratchy voice, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand right when Damen did the same. Sure, this evening was going to be a horror, but could he complain when he was so lucky to have something like this after all these years.
“Sure, mon chou.” He turned on his heel and went straight into the kitchen, quickly heating some milk with honey and a huge bowl of broth for Damen while stuffing the turkey and putting it into the oven. Right when he was about to add some cookies to the tray, Damen trotted into the kitchen, two blankets wrapped around his shoulder and panda slippers on his feet.
“Hey babe,” he croaked out, sniffing while nibbling on a cookie “they are delicious.”
“Damen, haven’t I told you to stay on the sofa? Now I can disinfect the whole kitchen again, you walking germ factory. Out with you!”
“But I missed you,” Damen pouted, shooting Laurent a glance with his brown eyes.
“You just saw me a few minutes ago, silly,” Laurent chuckled and strode over to Damen, wrapping the blankets a bit tighter around his broad shoulders before he got on his toes to plaster Damen’s cheek with a kiss. “If you don’t go back to the sofa, I’ll drink your milk and broth myself.”
“That’s unfair,” Damen whispered, wrapping Laurent into his blanket and slightly lifting him up to press a kiss onto his forehead. “I’ll go, just for you.”
“Better it is.” He couldn’t hide a smile when Damen turned around.
Laurent followed Damen back into the living room and handed out broth and milk, feeling like some paramedic in a sick bay.
The next three hours consisted of preparing more food, shooing Damen out of the kitchen whenever he sneaked back to pick on some food or simply get a kiss, a quick shower and setting the table in the dining room, before the bell rang.
Laurent greeted Nicaise, Damen’s parents - being incredibly happy to have Damen’s mother around who could finally take care of the overdimensional cry baby in the living room - Nik, Pallas and Lazar.
Of course, Damen insisted to climb out of the blanket pile from time to time to protest that he and Theo got banned to the sofa but was contented when Laurent brought him several trays with food he had prepared all day. Laurent wouldn’t say that he was happy when all guests except for Nicaise and Nik had left, but he couldn’t deny it either.
When the mess in the kitchen was cleaned up, Laurent sank into an armchair by the sofa, completely exhausted, his hair even slightly mussed.
“Don’t you dare and ever get sick again before Christmas.”
“It wasn’t even my fault,” Damen protested, looking at Theo who was sleeping by his side. “It was Theo’s.”
“Don’t you dare to blame our son. It’s not his fault that those busy parents can’t take care of their sick children before risking others’.”
Damen stuck an arm out from under the pile which Laurent grabbed and stroked absentmindedly until he could hear a familiar snore from the sofa. He tried to read a bit but the letters just kept dancing in front of his eyes so he gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep, Damen’s hand wrapped into his in his lap.
~~~~~~
Laurent woke up to the smell of fresh hot chocolate and pancakes, being wrapped into a blanket on the sofa. He strode into the hall where all the presents were placed beneath the tree. In the kitchen, Damen was pouring some batter into a pan, Theo sitting next to him on the countertop, gobbling some raspberries.
“Good morning, babe,” Damen chanted when he spotted Laurent in the doorframe, beaming like the typical ray of sun he was. “I made pancakes and hot chocolate and Theo - well Theo ate raspberries.”
Laurent couldn’t suppress the laugh that bubbled out of his throat at the sight of Theo stuffing raspberries into his tiny mouth. “Great job, Theo. The competence of your father, it seems.”
“Hey, I was diligent.”
“Sure,” Laurent muttered when he pulled Damen into a kiss, quickly recoiling when Damen sneezed.
After breakfast, Theo was allowed to unwrap all his gifts - a car, books, a hobbyhorse and several other toys Laurent had found and approved of. Laurent surprised Damen with a new motorcycle helmet and football tickets and Damen Laurent with two tickets for a nice weekend trip to a spa.
They spent the rest of the day in their pajamas, playing with Theo and building a snowman in the garden, eating leftovers and watching silly Christmas movies before Theo fell asleep in Laurent’s lap.
When the young boy was in his bed, Damen wrapped his arms around Laurent’s waist, tugging him into a warm hug.
“I have another present for you,” he whispered into Laurent’s ear, pulling him into the hall where one other gift was waiting under the tree. Damen gave it to Laurent and blushed slightly when he started unwrapping it.
It was a picture album with several pictures Damen had taken with his polaroid throughout their relationship: when they had gone on their fifteenth date and kissed for the first time, when they had bought the house, of their wedding day and when they had gotten Theo - all beautiful memories Laurent had been able to share with Damen.
The last page said We Love You in a scrawly script, indicating that Damen had held the pen with Theo’s hand when he wrote it down. A tear rolled down his cheek when he pulled Damen into a deep kiss and in this moment he knew that no matter how often Damen would be a walking germ factory on Christmas Eve, he’d never change it for anything else the world had to offer.