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It was early December when Erwin realized, oh shit, what were they gonna do for Christmas?
After the kids went to school, he sat down to finish his coffee and call the other parents.
Ymir and Bertl’s mother picked up quickly, sounding frustrated.
“Hi, Erwin, what- Ymir! I told you, go put actual clothes on! Wow, sorry, anyway, what did you need?”
He laughed, shaking his head.
“Hi, Ilse. I was wondering, are you guys doing anything for Christmas? I thought it would be nice to let all the kids come here and hang out. You’re welcome to come too, of course.”
The relief in her voice was plain.
“You’re not serious! Yes, take them! Peace and quiet is the only present I need.”
“I get you. Well, I’ll let you know when they can come over. Oh, and keep this quiet, if you would. I’d like it to be a surprise.”
“Of course, Erwin. Thank you again!”
She hung up, and he smiled, dialing Carla.
“Hello! How are you, Erwin?”
“I’m great, Carla. How about you?”
“Oh, it’s Monday. I’m alright.”
“Mm, I know the feeling. Hey, is your family doing anything important for Christmas? I thought it’d be nice to let all the kids come here and hang out. Ilse nearly threw hers at me.”
“Are you sure? I’d love it, but I know how rowdy they can get.”
“No, it’s perfectly fine. I’ll let you know more later, but if you could keep this quiet, it’d be great.”
“Sure. See you later!”
After hanging up, he checked his email, and got on with the day.
--
A few days later, he and Levi met up for a quick morning coffee. Between sips, with a faint blush on his cheeks, Erwin looked across the table at him.
“Hey, so, all my kids’ datefriends are gonna be at my house for Christmas, and I was wondering if you wanted to come and cook with me?”
Levi couldn’t help but smile.
“God, you want me around all your noisy, messy kids? Sounds.. great.”
Erwin smiled back, and the blush deepened.
“I guess it’d be more convenient for you to stay the night on Christmas Eve…”
Levi kicked him underneath the table.
“We’re grown men, if you want me to stay over, that’s fine.”
Erwin took his hand.
--
They're having dinner on Christmas Eve, and suddenly, Armin frowns.
"Damn, I forgot tomorrow is a family day."
The three others make sad noises, and Erwin looks up.
"Did I not tell you?"
He's met with bright eyes, and smiles.
"I asked their parents, and everyone's coming over."
That puts a smile on their faces, and he looks at his kids, so grateful he's able to experience this, to watch these four amazing human beings grow up and become even more incredible- oh, now he's getting teary.
--
The next day, all the kids are there, and the two men are in the kitchen. Erwin smiles at him over the veggies they’re chopping, and Levi ignores the deep contentment in his chest, dropping his gaze.
There are screams from the living room, and he sighs, putting down his knife to go make sure no one was dying.
It’s a pleasant scene, if he could mute the angry mutters and various swearing.
Erwin's children are sitting on the floor playing Mario Kart, furiously pressing buttons. Their datefriends sit on the couch above them, cheering their respective blondes on.
Levi can't tell the difference between the four NPCs and the kids' characters, but he’s pretty sure Reiner was in fourth, trying to catch up, and Annie and Armin were battling to the death for second and third place.
He’s not quite sure where Historia was, but she’s very calm, and Ymir looks smug.
He watches for a few more minutes, until they’re on the third lap.
"Who's winning?"
There’s a chorus of "Historia", most voices annoyed, but her own is full of pride.
Levi goes back around the corner, Erwin doing something different now.
"Hey, do you need any help right now? It turns out your kids and Mario Kart is really entertaining."
He turns to smile at him, stifling a laugh.
"No, I'm fine. By the way, don't play against Historia. I created a monster."
He gives him a curious look, but turns around, and takes a seat on the floor near the others.
Historia wins the game, to the displeasure of her siblings. Annie elbows her, rolling her eyes.
"I don't understand how you got so good at this."
She simply smiles, and hands her controller to Ymir.
"Their turn."
Ymir, Bertl, Eren, and Mikasa settle in, picking their characters and the course. It’s obvious from the beginning who’s good at this. Eren spins out as the race began, Ymir and Bertl don't go for the boost, and Mikasa speeds perfectly ahead.
Ymir quickly passes Bertl, throwing a red shell at him just for good measure.
He sighs, and she grins.
Eren, meanwhile, is close to the back, constantly slipping on bananas.
His angry muttering is kind of hilarious, but Armin pats his leg comfortingly.
Historia, head on Ymir's thigh, watches carefully, a small smile on her face.
The game progresses, Mikasa far ahead of the rest, but Ymir is catching up.
Using a carefully directed bomb and a boost, she shoots ahead, whooping triumphantly.
In the end, that red shell comes back to bite her.
Ymir keeps an eye on what items everyone gets, and sucks in a frantic breath at the sight of a blue shell and- FUCK, BERTL HAS IT.
“Bertl, Bertl, you love me, you love me! Don’t do it!”
He leans across Eren to look her straight in the eye, and presses the button.
Ymir has a few last seconds of glory before she gets hit, whining as her character flies into the air and slams back down. Historia wraps her arms around her leg, being as comforting as possible without climbing up next to her.
Mikasa sweeps past her, winning the game. Ymir sighs as she passes the finish line, and Historia takes her controller as they wait for the others.
“You and me, Mikasa,” she says as the results roll, mashing buttons in her impatience. She shrugs in agreement, and Annie grins up at her.
“Destroy her.”
“I’ll try.”
Ymir tells both of them to fuck off, and Historia bumps her head against her knee.
“Be nice.”
The game between Mikasa and Historia is deadly silent. Their girlfriends watch with narrowed eyes, and their siblings and friends stifle giggles.
Just watching is fucking intense.
The two switch places at every turn and corner, shells and mushroom boosts and bananas flying.
The final stretch is terrifying.
Historia’s whispering the most impressive strings of swearing Ymir’s ever heard, and Mikasa is glaring at the TV so hard they’re all afraid it’ll spontaneously combust.
No one breathes when they hit the last item boxes.
Historia gets a red shell, immediately hitting Mikasa, speeding past as she spins. Quickly crossing the line, she grins.
Mikasa shrugs again, and high fives Historia with a small smile.
“Good game.”
Eren has a brilliant idea.
“Levi, you should play Historia!”
Suddenly, there are eight pairs of bright eyes staring at him, and he understands what peer pressure is.
“Oh God, okay…”
Levi has never played Mario Kart before, but he’s pretty good. He’s a respectable distance behind Historia, until a blue shell comes into his hands.
There’s a collective gasp, and he tries to multi-task.
“What does this even do?” he asks as he releases it much too late.
Historia has backed up, as fast as possible, until Levi’s the one in first place, and the shell targets him instead, resulting in a pathetic, anguished cry. Erwin comes in hurriedly, just in time to see him start moving again.
“God dammit Levi, I told you not to play her!”
“I was peer pressured, fuck off!”
(Historia wins.)
-------
Later, after dinner, Historia and Ymir sit across from the tree, mugs of hot chocolate in hand. Historia’s cradled against Ymir, head on her shoulder, and they’re staring at the lights and ornaments, off in their own thoughts.
Ymir’s arms are so warm around her, and she lets her eyes unfocus, the glowing lights of the tree losing their shape and becoming blurry masses of color.
She’s just- she’s so happy. She spent the day with her siblings and their datefriends who are really her best friends, and Ymir.
The lights of the tree become blurry for an entirely different reason, and she presses her face into her girlfriend’s neck.
“Baby?”
Her voice is so soft, and she puts her mug down to hold her with both arms, and Historia smiles against her skin.
“I love you.”
Ymir rests her head against hers, kissing her hair.
“I love you too.”