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Winter in Austin was a different kind of cold. TK was used to snow and ice, all of the things that came with winter in the North. This was a different kind of cold. This cold seeped through his layers of a hoodie and coat, chilling him to the bone. He pressed a little closer to Carlos, wrapping his chilled hands around his bicep as they walked through the Christmas market set up downtown.
“Are you cold babe?” Carlos asked.
“A little,” TK admitted, breath clouding around his face as he spoke.
“I’m getting you a better jacket for Christmas. I don’t like you being cold.”
“I don’t like it either.”
“We can go home if you want. We can do this on a day that’s less cold.”
“Nope. We promised Noah we’d have a Christmas tree when we got home and I will not disappoint him.”
“He’s two, baby. I promise he won’t know the difference if we have a tree today or next week.”
“No, but I will. This is his first Christmas with us and I want it to be perfect. So let’s go get our kid a Christmas tree.”
Carlos rolled his eyes at his husband’s antics and pulled him closer as they walked. They stopped at a few of the stands along the way, browsing for gifts for Andrea and some of their friends. TK found a handmade ornament of Captain America’s shield that he knew Mateo would love and a handmade vegan candle for Owen. They bought hot chocolate from one of the stands, and even though TK said it didn’t measure up to the Reyes family recipe they both held the styrofoam cups tightly, letting the heat seep into their cold fingers.
Carlos was distracted for a while by a stand with handmade wooden children's toys and ended up buying a farm animal puzzle and a set of stacking blocks for Noah even though he had told TK two days before that he had far too many presents already.
After almost two hours of mindless browsing and the purchase of one too many presents for all of the people in their lives, they finally made it for what they came for, their tree. The lot was full of them, despite it being only a few weeks before Christmas.
“Can I help you guys?” an older gentleman approached them, a name tag that read ‘Steve’ attached to his shirt.
“We’re here for a tree,” Carlos answered.
“Perfect, that’s our specialty. How big of a tree are you looking for?”
“Our ceilings are about nine feet tall.”
“I’d recommend around an eight-foot tree, just to have a little bit of clearance between it and your ceiling. All of the eight-foot trees are on that side,” he pointed to a section to their right. “Let me know when you’ve found something and we’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you.”
They walked around the section of trees for a few minutes, ducking in between rows. The trees were enormous and TK could already imagine Noah’s little hands yanking the ornaments off the bottom branches.
“Babe, come here,” Carlos called from another row.
TK moved toward his voice until he met him in front of a tree, full and the brightest green TK had ever seen.
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect, babe.”
Twenty minutes later, the tree was loaded into the back of the truck and tied down with straps to keep it secure. TK had checked it twice, having responded to one too many Christmas tree-related accidents in the past week. (Okay it was two, but his point still stood).
It took both of them to maneuver the tree into the house, glad that Judd and Grace had taken Noah for the day. Dancing around a toddler while they attempted to get everything set up would have been a nightmare.
TK called Judd, letting him know it was safe to bring Noah back, as Carlos went to the garage to drag out the decorations.
“Daddy!” Noah squealed as Judd opened the door, waddling across the room as fast as his little legs would carry him and straight into TK’s arms.
“Hi, bubba! Did you have fun with Uncle Judd?”
Noah nodded and leaned his head against TK’s shoulder, “Papa?”
“I’m right here buddy,” Carlos answered, putting down the box of ornaments he was holding in order to kiss his son.
“He just had lunch about an hour ago,” Judd said, handing off Noah’s backpack. “He’s probably gonna be ready for a nap. He and Charlie haven’t stopped playing around all day.”
“I figured. He’s about to pass out right here,” TK chuckled. “I’m gonna go put him down for a nap.”
“Thanks for watching him today Judd,” Carlos said, walking the other man to the door.
“It’s no problem. I’ll see y’all later.”
While Noah was down for his nap, TK and Carlos began decorating. Everything they owned by way of Christmas decorations was a mix of what they’d owned before they moved in together and some things they bought for themselves along the way.
TK teared up slightly as he pulled his mom’s menorah from the box. He sat it gently on the table using a cloth to carefully swipe a bit of dust from the metal surface. Carlos abandoned his task and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“I wish she was here,” TK whispered.
“I know you do baby. But she is, in a way. She’s always here, looking out for you. And she’d be so proud of the man and father that you are Tyler.”
“It’s just hard, doing this without her. I want Jonah to have holidays with his mom and Noah to have them with his grandma.”
“Then they’re lucky to have you,” Carlos kissed his temple. “You are going to give them holidays they won’t ever forget. I promise.”
TK nodded and turned around to kiss him over his shoulder.
“Let’s finish getting this tree up before the little monster wakes up.”
They were putting the finishing touches on just as Noah’s calls for them rang out from the baby monitor. Carlos retrieved him, placing a gentle hand over his eyes and he carried him into the living room.
Seeing his face light up as he looked up at the tree almost brought them both to tears. They took about a million pictures, letting Noah explore, playing with plastic ornaments, and feeling the texture of the branches on his hands. The fun was cut short by a mild meltdown when they had to explain to Noah that the presents under the tree were his, but he couldn’t open them yet. Luckily it was solved fairly easily with a snack as Carlos began working on dinner for the three of them.
The collective puppy eyes of his husband and son convinced Carlos to allow them to eat in the living room while watching The Polar Express. Noah fell asleep again, curled up on the cushions between them, stuffed bunny tucked under his chin. They let him rest there, the movie still playing as they relaxed together.
“We should probably put him to bed,” TK whispered as the credits began to roll.
“Nah, let him sleep here for a little longer.”
Carlos ran a hand through his son’s hair, marveling at his tiny human for a little while. Every day, he couldn’t believe how lucky he and TK were that they got to be his parents.
“What are you thinking about over there?”
“How lucky we are. We have a perfect kid TK.”
“Yeah, we do.”
Eventually, they decided that their bed on the couch wasn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep. They took Noah to his bed, tucking him in with his blanket and his bunny. They stood over him for a minute, watching him in a way that would be creepy if they weren’t his parents.
“I love him.”
“Me too,” Carlos whispered.
“We’re gonna give him the best Christmas ever right?”
“Absolutely.”