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It’s 12:45 at night. The door to the bedroom opens and closes, as Jack sneaks down the hallway, careful not to make a sound, for his boys were sleeping in the rooms upstairs. Dressed like Santa- the red suit and hat, black boots, even coating his beard in some temporary spray to look white (through the constant pleading from his husband, Geoff)- he carries a bag on his shoulder, the gifts inside perfect for each boy.
“Why hello Santa, I think you forgot something?”
Jack turns around just as he reaches the Christmas tree to see Geoff walking down the hallway from their bedroom, an arm hidden behind him.
“Uh…” He tries to think of what he could have forgotten: His glasses? No, he’s wearing those; His hat? Nicely placed on his head; His underwear? Well, it’s not feeling particularly breezy in that area, so the answer would be no.
Geoff moves closer and Jack follows his arm as he brings it around to hang between them, and he smiles as he figures out what the man wants. “No kiss from Mr. Claus before you leave? I’m heartbroken.” The man smirks as he tickles the man underneath his white beard.
“Well, I can fix that if you want.” He states as he closes whatever distance they had left, giving the man a long, gentle kiss on the lips.
“Daddy, why are you kissing Santa?”
The two men jump apart as they turn to face their son, his curly red hair victim to bedhead.
“Michael!” Geoff whispers, “What are you doing still up?” He pauses to give Jack a concerning look, which is returned by Jack with a sheepish face that says ‘Do your best to fix this?’ God dammit Jack, you’re better with situations like this… then turns back to face his son “And for that matter, how long have you been there?”
The boy takes a big breath, “Well, I couldn't sleep, because Santa was all I could think about, but I came down the stairs when I heard some voices talking, and saw you kissing Santa.” explaining all at once, “So daddy, why were you kissing Santa?”
Geoff looks back at Jack ‘Help me?’ he asks with his facial expressions.
It works, as Jack sighs quietly, before pointing to the mistletoe with the hand that Michael couldn't see.
“Oh!” Geoff exclaims, covering his mouth as Jack shushes him, “Don’t wake up to other boys Geoff, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get them back to sleep.” he says in his ‘Santa voice’. “Sorry Santa…” He turns back to Michael, “Anyways, Michael, have you ever heard of mistletoe?” he asks as he holds out the mistletoe for Michael to see it.
Michael shook his head, “No, what’s that?”
Geoff smiled, “Well, to make a very long story short, (because the author really wanted to explain the entire thing, but we told him no) if you ever find yourself walking under a mistletoe with another person, regardless of whether you like them or not, you have to give them a kiss. So that’s why daddy was kissing Santa, okay?”
Michael shook his head, “But what about papa? Won’t he be sad when he finds out?”
Geoff takes a moment to think, before crouching down to meet Michael’s eye level. “Well how about this: in the morning, when we’re all sitting at the table for breakfast, I tell papa all about what I did. That way, the other boys will know too. How’s that sound?”
Michael hums in thought, before yelping in surprise as he’s lifted from the ground.
“Ho ho ho, you can also tell them that you got to talk to Santa, my dear boy.” Jack says happily as he holds on to Michael.
Michael smiles as he nods his head. “That will work for me!”
Jack laughs as he carefully places his son back on the ground. “Alright, now go on back to bed, you too Geoff, I bet Jack is feeling pretty cold without his loved one beside him, don’t you?” Sneaking a wink in Geoff’s direction, he startles as he finds his waist being squeezed by Michael.
“Thank you Santa!” Michael whispers, before he hugs Geoff as well, “Good night daddy, night Santa! Merry Christmas!”
After making sure Michael didn't stop at the top of the stairs (“Michael, when someone says good night, it means that you go to your room to sleep.”), Geoff and Jack share a hug.
Jack smiles “I wasn't kidding Geoff, go to bed. You’re going to need your sleep to handle the kids tomorrow.”
As if on cue, Geoff lets out a big yawn. “Alright, alright. But I hope to see you in bed before 2. It’s cold as dicks without my human heater to warm me up.”
“So I’m only a human heater? You hurt me Geoff.”
Geoff leans in to kiss Jack once more, before pinching his butt, “You’re a cute heater with a mighty fine ass, then.” he smirks. “I love you, Merry Christmas, ‘Santa’.” He whispers as he walks down the hallway to their bedroom.
Jack laughs, “I love you too. Merry Christmas, Geoff.”