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Claire had always loved the Christmas season. The beautiful lights, the lawn decorations up and down the neighborhood, the smell of cinnamon and pine everywhere. Her sweet tooth was easily satisfied with the seasonal flavors of gingerbread and peppermint. So yes, Claire Redfield had always loved Christmas ever since she was a kid. She loved how her parents made everything special. Even after they were gone, she could greatly appreciate the way Chris always tried his best to keep up their traditions. Then she meets Leon. The time they spent together was always amazing but holidays with him always seemed extra special. And, just when she thought Christmas couldn’t get any more magical, she became a mother. Her holidays transcended in a way she never thought possible as she watched that same wonder and awe she’d always had for this special time of year reflected on her children’s faces.
Christmas was always special to her. Over the years much has changed - her name was no longer Redfield but now Kennedy, she had made new traditions with friends and a family of her own - but Claire knew that simple fact never would. And so, Claire finds herself trying to make things as special as she can each year for her family.
She and Leon had been planning for weeks. By December third they’d already picked and decorated a Christmas tree - an adventure in and of itself considering that Connor had very specific requirements for what constituted as the perfect tree. By the tenth, she’d had gifts picked out for her brother, friends, and some of her co-workers for a while now; all that was needed was for them to be purchased. She’d had her yearly conversation with Connor about what he wanted for the holidays and had a good idea of some of the toys she thought Luna would appreciate before the month had even begun. The only person that was unaccounted for at this moment was her husband.
How Claire had managed to find what she considered the perfect gifts for everyone but the man she loved most. Leon was a simple guy, he had the most basic of basic wants and needs and, as grateful as Claire was for that - it really was one of the reasons she loved him - that was exactly her problem at the moment. She couldn’t find anything for him, not for lack of trying, and it was driving her insane. Typically it wouldn’t cause her that much stress - Leon would consider her deciding to exist in his presence a gift - but her hormones had been a little all over the place lately so things that usually didn’t get under her skin were.
So, when Leon came in from putting the kids to bed she decided that she might as well just ask him. Christmas was approaching faster and faster and she would not sacrifice the magic of the season simply because she couldn’t find the perfect gift for her husband.
She waited patiently for Leon to go through his short nightly routine of washing his face and brushing his teeth. Claire tried to continue reading a book although she paid more attention to the handsome man in the bathroom than the words on the pages in front of her. Eventually, Leon caught Clarie looking at him. The two made eye contact through the mirror and Claire felt a small shiver run down her spine at the smirk that stretched across his face. Now that she had been caught, Claire dropped the charade. Foregoing a bookmark, she placed the book on the nightstand and leaned back against the several pillows supporting her back now openly ogling her shirtless husband.
It always astounded her how Leon almost never wore a shirt to bed, even during the cold winters of Raccoon City. He claimed it was because he always overheated; the man was like a furnace. Which, Claire had to admit, was helpful to her during this wonderful albeit snowy season.
As Leon made his way towards the bed, Claire reached out her arms, fingers opening and closing in a grabbing motion so like their two and a half year old that Leon had to chuckle a bit.
Climbing into the bed, he moved to lay in Claire’s arms. Resting his head on her breast he let out a tired, contented sigh.
“Kids not go down easy?” she asked, running her hands through his hair.
Leon made a sinful sound at the welcome motion before answering,
“Well, surprisingly, Connor was all tuckered out after one story.”
Claire hummed, impressed. It usually took a bit more effort and sometimes a little bartering to get their energetic boy to bed on time.
“Luna, on the other hand,” Leon continued, “ seemed to have confused sleep time with playtime.”
“Oh,” Leon looked up at Claire’s apologetic tone. “I forgot to tell you that she had an extra long nap today. She was a little fussy this morning. I guess she must not have slept well last night.”
“Well, she’s sleeping peacefully now. Just like you should be.”
Claire rolled her eyes. Ignoring the comment, she decided to just come right out and ask her question seeing as Leon was starting to drift off to sleep, nuzzled against her side.
“Leon?”
He hummed in acknowledgment.
“What do you want for Christmas?”
“Where’s this coming from?”
“Well, I was just thinking earlier about how I have gifts for everyone. Everyone but you. So, I need to know what you want for Christmas.”
“I’m about to have three kids, what more could I want?” he places his hand on her distended belly at that, along with a kiss.
“What does that have to do with Christmas?” she couldn’t help but laugh out her response at Leon’s admittedly cute actions.
His shoulder raised in a half shrug and Claire could already tell he was on his way back to sleep.
“Leon,” She stopped running her fingers through her hair and instead pushed on his side until he moved to look at her.
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I don’t want anything except to see you, Connor, and Luna happy. And for our new little one to be just as healthy and happy as everyone else.”
Claire couldn’t help the frustration that boiled beneath her skin. She knew from experience that tears would follow soon and that only frustrated her more - the tears, of course, only came faster as a result. She couldn’t wait for this pregnancy to be over. Mainly so she could finally meet her baby but having more control over her emotions and level hormones was also a close second.
“Hey, what’s wrong, angel?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cry, it's just… I want this Christmas to be extra special because things are going to change soon with the new baby and all and I’ve tried so hard but I can’t think of anything to get you and that just makes me feel so bad because you’re my husband so you should be one of the easiest people to shop for but no it’s actually been the hardest and I -”
“Claire!” Leon interrupted her rambling.
He got up from his spot on the bed and made his way to the bathroom returning with a tissue. She took it gratefully, drying her eyes and trying her best to compose herself.
“Sorry,” she laughed out through the tears which were, gratefully, drying up.
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry if I’ve somehow made you feel like all that pressure is on you. I promise the kids always think you make the holidays special, bright, colorful, magical, and everything in between. And sure, things are about to change but only for the better. If you think about it, having another little one around this time next year will just add to what makes it so wonderful,” Leon took the tissue from her and made his way back to the bathroom to throw it away. This time when he came back, he just brought the whole box with him.
“I hate it when you’re right,” Claire said quietly, eliciting a small laugh from Leon.
She used another tissue to clean up her face again now that the tears had officially ended.
“Still,” their eye contact broke as she looked down at her lap, “ I want to get you something that you can hold in your hands and look at and think of me and how much thought I put into it and… how much I love you. Especially since I know you’ll have gotten me the best gift ever - probably something I haven’t even realized I wanted or needed yet.”
“ But Claire, when I hold our children,” the hand was now back on her abdomen “when I look at Connor and Luna, that’s exactly what I think. We made them together. There is literally nothing on this planet that exemplifies our love more than those kids.”
She reached up and placed both of her hands over his, moving it to the side slightly so he could feel their baby moving. They both smiled as the baby within her stirred and kicked right where their Daddy’s palm was.
“I know that. Really I do. And I know I’m kind of being irrational but please, could you humor me? I mean, technically speaking the reason why I'm so worked up about it is kinda half your fault.” She finally looked up at him only to nod her head towards where their hands were joined over her belly.
Her tone was light and teasing - a nice reprieve from the frustrated crying that had taken place moments before. Leon rolled his eyes playfully in response. He let out a large sigh before lying back down under the duvet and taking back up his original position from earlier. Claire’s hand automatically returned to his hair and, briefly, she thought about how he would need a haircut soon. Their son as well.
“Well,” he finally answered, “the guys down at the station keep saying I need a new wallet. It kinda is falling apart.”
“Maybe that’s because you keep so many pictures in it.”
“What can I say, my kids are cute and it would be criminal not to show them off.”
Leon sighed as Claire switched up the motion of her fingers. Instead of carding them through his hair she was now lightly scratching at his scalp.
“A wallet. I can do a wallet.”
“I bet it’ll be amazing,” Leon mumbled, quickly fading back into the quiet arms of sleep.
Claire placed a small kiss on the crown of his head before leaning to turn off the light on her nightstand. The two stayed like that for a while - Claire’s fingers in Leon’s hair as he rested his head on her chest. Eventually, she had to wake him up so she could move to a more comfortable position when her back started to protest. Claire allowed sleep to take her as well this time around, finally comfortably situated in her bed with pillows to support her on one side and her husband to cuddle with on the other.
When Christmas day finally arrived all the worrying and fretting was made worth it from the large smiles and excited squeals of joy from each of her children. Connor was happily surprised by all of his new Legos - which he had commissioned his Uncle Chris to help him build - and little Luna was more than content with her new dolls. Although all interest in her gifts had been dropped when Rebecca had helped the little girl make glittery slime. Luna seemed to be enthralled with the colors and texture - continuously sticking her small hands in the bowl only to pull them out and squeal with delight before doing it all over again.
“Daddy look!” she called out to Leon as she used both hands to stretch out her pink, glitter concoction.
Leon, who had been sitting close by just to make sure Luna wouldn’t try to put any of the slime in her mouth, smiled at how utterly enraptured his daughter was with her little science experiment.
“I see.” Luna, in fact, had his undivided attention.
“Look, Daddy!” she repeated.
“I’m looking, little moon. You did a really good job.” Leon moved closer to Luna at the table to place a kiss on the top of her head.
“Dad! Daddy, look at what Uncle Chris helped me make!”
Leon turned to see his son running around the tree with a fairly intricate plane made of Legos.
“That’s really cool buddy. You’ll have to show me how to make things that cool. The only thing I can make out of Legos is towers.” Leon said.
Connor laughed at his dad before moving back towards his Uncle Chris so they could make more figures together.
“Dad, have you seen mom? I want to show her too.”
Leon took a minute to think about his son’s question, finally coming to the realization that he hadn’t seen Claire in quite some time. Looking around he noticed that a few of the people that made up their close-knit family were missing and so he suspected that they were all probably most likely in the kitchen making the final preparations for dinner. This also meant that Claire was up on her feet instead of resting as she should be.
Making his way from the living room into the kitchen, his suspicions were validated. From his spot in the doorway, he could see Claire standing by the counter separating something from a large bowl into smaller pans - although most of what he assumed was a sugary concoction was ending up in her mouth and not in the three baking pans. He also noted that Kathy Burton was pulling something out of the oven as he rushed over to help Jill bring down plates from a high cabinet.
“Thanks, Kennedy.” She said, taking the dishes from him.
“No problem.” he turned to his wife to inquire about what she was supposed to be making,
“A chocolate cake. I know I already made the red velvet and the basic white but I don’t know, after I saw the chocolates Chirs gave Jill…” Claire trailed off, sticking another finger full of chocolate batter into her mouth.
“You had a craving.” He finished.
At this point, Claire had gotten a majority of the batter into the smaller cake pans. She crossed the small kitchen to change the temperature setting on the oven before coming back to stand by Leon. This time she maneuvered the two of them so he was standing behind her, bracketing her with his arms on either side of her on the countertop. She rested her back against his chest as she used the spatula to scoop up some of the mixture that still clung to the sides of the mixing bowl.
Instead of bringing it to her own mouth, she turned slightly over her shoulder and lifted it up to his.
“Taste,” she commanded in one simple word.
He obeyed, licking the chocolate batter and savoring the flavor on his tongue. The chocolate flavor itself was a bit stronger than he would normally indulge in but he’d be damned if he told his very pregnant wife anything short of it being the best thing he’s ever tasted.
“It’s not too much chocolate, is it? I didn’t think so but lately, my own taste buds have been a little…” Claire contemplated what word she should use before finally settling on “ off .”
“No, it’s perfect.” He smiled and hoped that his face wouldn’t betray his small lie.
The grin that spread across her face told him he was successful.
Claire placed the spatula and mixing bowl in the sink to the left before turning around completely - which took a bit of maneuvering with her stomach. She placed both of her hands on his chest before speaking,
“Come on, I’ve got a few minutes before the oven is ready for me to put the cake in and I think Jill can handle setting the table.”
Leon chanced a look towards the dining room where Jill was carefully setting wine glasses and cutlery next to each plate.
“Besides,” his attention was called back to Claire as she continued to speak, “I have another gift for you.”
“Another?” he questioned. “A week or so ago you were freaking out about not being able to find me ‘the perfect gift’ and now you’ve gotten me two?” his eyebrow raised in question.
“Well, when I was shopping for your wallet -”
“Which I love by the way.” he interrupted, “Plenty of space for pictures of the kids and this little guy.” He rubbed a spot on her belly where the baby was being particularly active - most likely because Leon had appeared.
Claire decided to ignore the implication that the baby would be a boy. Instead, she pressed on as if he hadn’t interrupted at all.
“When I was shopping for your wallet, I found something that totally reminded me of you and I couldn’t not get it. So, I just got you two gifts. I’m pretty sure I left it in the closet though.”
She moved out of his embrace and towards the closet in the front hall where they had decided to hide the kids’ gifts that year. They had to change it up for every birthday, holiday, or special occasion considering that Connor was always on the hunt for the gifts his parents would have bought him and the two weren’t ready yet for the boy to accidentally find a present with a tag from Santa before the big event on Christmas day. Nope, they'd rather keep the magic alive for the eight-year-old just a bit longer.
Claire rifled through the back of the closet for a moment before bringing out a small wrapped gift. Instead of handing it to him then and there, she made her way back into the living room where she called for Connor and Luna to come and give their Daddy his special gift.
There was no tag denoting who it was from nor a bow for embellishment but Leon considered that, since it was kind of a bonus gift, it wasn’t needed. He eyed his wife suspiciously as he opened it; the kids gathering around his legs watching him with eager eyes. Under the wrapping paper was a nondescript white box - the basic kind you buy at the store to make wrapping clothes and oddly shaped trinkets easier. Opening the box Leon moved some tissue paper to the side to see a simple picture frame.
There wasn’t a picture in it yet - Leon suspected that wasn’t really the point of the gift - but the space was large enough for him to put a decent-sized photo in it. What made his breath catch in his throat, however, was the clumsy decorations all around the frame. Splotches of glitter and paint in all colors served as the base for the frame. Doodles of trophy’s and the number one covered most of the surface area except for the bottom. Right under where the picture would sit Leon read in what was undoubtedly his son’s childish scrawl the words we love you daddy .
He couldn’t help the tears that came to his eyes. Sure, it was a little kitschy but his kids had made it for him and he absolutely adored it.
“Do you like it?”
He looked down at Connor who’d asked the question. Leon crouched so he was closer to the kids before answering,
“I love it. It’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given.” Connor seemed to beam at that.
“I help!” Luna exclaimed, intent on not being left out.
“Did you?” Leon played along for a moment.
Luna nodded her head, looking very proud of herself. Leon couldn’t help the watery laugh that bubbled up, out of his throat.
“Thank you little moon, I love it very much. And I love you two more than anything.”
Leon collected the two of his kids in his arms, squeezing them tight in a hug they eagerly returned.
“Mommy said you could put it on your desk at work. Are you?” Connor asked as they finally pulled away.
“Oh don’t worry about that kid.” Chris cut in from across the room “Not only will he put it on his desk he’ll make sure everyone sees it and that everyone knows exactly who made it for him.” Chris smirked, seemingly proud of himself.
Connor, not quite understanding the comment was meant as a jab at his father smiled even wider.
Leon ignored his brother-in-law and instead opted to address his son,
“I’m gonna put it right next to my computer so I can look at it every day while I’m working.”
“Hey Chris, I think Jill could use some help setting the table.” Claire ground out, eyeing her brother in a not so friendly way.
“Ah, where’s your Christmas spirit, Claire?” Despite his teasing tone, Chris got up and made his way towards the dining room to help his partner.
“Come on kid, wanna help?”
Connor nodded his head and followed his uncle after giving his dad another hug.
At Connor’s departure, Leon gathered Luna in his arms and stood. The little girl rested her head on his shoulder as she began to play with the tinsel that Claire had draped around his neck as a make-shift festive scarf that morning.
“So, this was your idea, huh?” he asked playfully.
“Well, I remembered what you said and I thought it would be something you’d really like.” She took the frame out of his hands and placed it back into the box to keep it safe.
“And I didn’t put a picture in because I thought we could take some new ones once the baby comes. I even left some space on the bottom to maybe add their handprint or a fingerprint just so you can say all three of your kids contributed.”
“Baby?” Luna sat up and asked, “I no baby.”
“Not you sweet girl.” Claire laughed.
“I love that idea, Claire.”
Luna started to squirm, an indication she wanted to be put down. As soon as her feet were on the ground she was off, back towards her slime and Rebecca who she made sure to tell that she was not a baby.
“Thank you, Claire. This really was one of the best gifts you’ve ever given me.”
“One of them?” she questioned, moving into his arms to give him a kiss.
When she pulled away she asked,
“So what’s the best gift I’ve ever given you then?”
“I already told you, our two perfect little angels and this little guy.”
Claire pulled back a little.
“You keep saying that but you know they could be a girl right?”
Leon couldn’t help but smile as her face scrunched up in a way that was just so Claire .
“I just have a feeling. Besides, we wouldn’t have to speculate if you would just let the doctor tell us.”
“We already have one of each. I say let this one be a surprise.”
“Ya, ya.”
Leon just smiled as he leaned in to kiss his wife once more. Soon they would be pulled apart to continue their holiday celebrations with the rest of their friends and family. But, for now, he’d just revel in the feeling of him and his wife. Well, him, his wife, and the little life they had made together - a testament of their love - as it moved around inside its mother; they could never be ignored. Leon wouldn’t have it any other way.