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“ Luis-“
“Wwhmmphhh?”
“Are you- you’re not seriously eating the cookies, are you?”
“Whaff? Whuy??”
Leon watched Luis with faux disgust and his nose wrinkled as his partner chowed down on the dollar store Christmas cookies like he hadn’t had a meal in days; mouth covered in crumbs and eyes reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights.
“They’re gross,” Leon tried to emphasize his voice as much as possible despite his whispered tone, “and they’ve been sitting there for three hours”
“Goomf enuff fu me”
“Do they not taste like plastic though…?”
Luis brushed the crumbs off of his hands and chewed the leftover cookie with a thoughtful expression, before grinning wildly and shaking his head.
“ Nah”
“You’re a menace”
“But you love me,”
Luis strode over to where Leon was crouched on the floor and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, kneeling down to his level. Leon didn’t pay him any mind at first, until Luis leaned in with his crumb-covered lips to try and snag a kiss on the cheek; causing Leon to squeal out of shock and shove him onto his ass. The both of them had to desperately cover their mouths with each others hands to keep themselves from bursting out into laughter,
“ Luis!!!! You’re gonna- you’re gonna wake Matteo up!!”
“¡Oye!! It’s not my fault you didn’t want a kiss-“
Their squabbling went on for at least ten minutes- which meant that by the time Chris was done settling Matteo into bed and shutting the door behind him, he was already crossing his arms and huffing like a disappointed parent. Which, technically, he was.
“What the hell are you two-“
“ Ssssssssshhh!!!” Luis hissed, probably louder than Chris even spoke- with a hand covering Leon’s mouth.
“ You’ll wake up our boy!!”
“He’s asleep,”
Chris leaned against the doorframe, and as much as he tried to keep a stern expression- the humor of the situation was enough to get a small smirk tugging at his lips.
“I had to sing him a lullaby before he could even close is eyes”
“But he’s alright, no?”
“Don’t worry,” Chris smiled, “he’s fine.”
To say Matteo dealt with insomnia would be an understatement. For as long as the three of them could even remember, their little boy always had trouble sleeping- but it seemed like the older he became, the worse it got. They’d talked to dozens of psychologists, doctors, psychiatrists- but there was only so much advice and medication they could be given before the ‘help’ started being more damaging to their son than not.
Some nights were… fine- Matteo would wake up and stare at the plastic, glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling until he could fall asleep again, but other nights? Not so much.
Some nights Matteo woke up screaming. Sobbing his little eyes out and wringing his hands like there was no tomorrow. Some nights, he didn’t even tell any of his parents that he’d woken up; he’d travel to the bathroom by himself and lay on the cold ceramic floor until the trembling heat and sweat went away.
Little things helped, of course- oftentimes singing him a song or just rereading Don Quixote before he went to bed was enough. Other times he needed one of them to sleep by his side throughout the night; or he’d just crawl into their shared bed himself.
Some nights were better, others were much, much worse. And with the growing frequency of his night terrors; Leon, Luis and Chris wanted to make his 8th Christmas as magical as it could be.
Which was exactly why they were up like they were now; tinsel and fairy lights strewn across every inch of the ceiling, a stack of Christmas presents probably taller than their own kid just barely fitting underneath the tree, and a now-empty plate of cookies and milk rested just above the fireplace. It was picturesque, but they weren’t done quite yet.
“If he wakes up again, I’m happy to- ¡Dios mío!! ¿¡Que carajo Leon-?!”
Luis squealed and yanked his hand away from Leon faster than Chris could even blink, only to reveal Leon with his tongue sticking between his teeth and the biggest, most stupidest grin to ever exist plastered on his face. Luis was making what could only be described as noises of pure disgust as he wiped his hands on his jeans frantically.
“You just licked my hand!! That’s- that’s disgusting, Sancho!! no seas tan asqueroso-“
“Oh I’m disgusting?? Oh is that so??”
“¡Si!!”
“ You were the one who tried to kiss me with goddamn cookie residue all over your mo-“
“You guys argue like toddlers,”
Chris said, trying to sound stern, but it came out more like a half-hearted giggle. He strode over and grabbed the both of them by the scruffs of their necks like kittens, having to practically tear the both of them apart, much to their dismay.
“Now unless you two plan on just, like, I dunno.. arguing the entire night- we’ve got shit to do”
“Yessirrrr..”
“Whatever you say, señor..”
Chris ignored both of Luis and Leon’s protests as he stood back up to grab the leftover baby powder sitting on the bench and the lone steel-toe work boot sitting underneath; peppering the powder onto the soles as thickly as the leather would allow.
Chris then proceeded to get on his knees and press the shoe down against the carpet as firmly as he could; giving it a tiny shake before lifting the boot back up with a small, satisfied smile on his face. He repeated the same action on the other side, humming happily to himself as his partners watched on with an almost teenage-esque lovestruck expression.
It was very small, very quiet moments like these that reminded all three of them that what they’d fought so tirelessly for was worth it. Countless upon counties of hours spent away from home, being thrown across rooms, staying up late into the early hours of the morning, scraping past death by the skins of their teeth-
It was little moments like these where they could stop and remind each other who they were fighting for. Why they were fighting tooth-and-nail to make the world a safer place one less monster at a time. Even if it was just making fake Santa footprints on the carpet-
Matteo was worth it. Matteo was worth every single second of it. And he always, always would be.
————
“I think that’s it, no?”
Luis stood up with a slight groan, flicking his long hair back away from his face as he placed a hand on his aching back. Leon wasn’t far from his side; slinking an arm around his waist and helping him stand up a little straighter. Chris offered his hand to help, but Luis just gave his knuckles a kiss with a wink as a response.
“Yeah, should be,” Chris stood up himself; a twinkle in his eye as he admired his handiwork. Tinsel wrapped around the base of the tree and crawled up the pile of presents- excessive? Sure, maybe. Hard to clean up? Absolutely. But did it look like an eight-year-olds dream? 100%.
“You two did amazing,”
Leon leaned over and pressed a firm kiss against Luis’ cheek, before gently yanking Chris closer to him by the collar to do the same.
“It looks stunning. Teo will love it”
“You helped,” Luis reminded.
“I wouldn’t have been able to carry those presents myself”
“Sorry I couldn’t help..”
“You helped heaps, Chris,”
Leon rubbed his partners back in reassurance, and Luis nodded along; earning them both a soft smile.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without either of you, alright?”
“Don’t get soft on us now, Kennedy”
“Sí, you’re becoming a real sook-“
“Screw you guys,”
Leon yanked himself away from the both of them with a playful huff, almost falling onto his knees as they both desperately tried to reach out and yank him back in.
“I’m turning the lights on on this damn tree by myself without either of your guys’ help”
“Sounds like a death trap to me, Sancho”
“Yeah.. don’t, like, electrocute yourself or anything-“
The white-and-gold Christmas lights turned on with a silent shutter, setting Leon’s silhouette aglow as he crossed his arms and smirked victoriously. Only, that pride was short-lived when he saw the way Luis and Chris were looking at him.
“What?”
“Nothing”
Leon frowned, “no, seriously, what is it? Do I have something on my face or-“
Both Luis and Chris grabbed Leon by the arms and yanked him back into their embrace- peppering his cheeks with about a million-and-one kisses. And as much as Leon tried to wriggle away and complain, there was no escaping the trap they’d stuck him in.
“ Aough- come on-!! And you guys call me soft-?!”
“Sorry, mí vida,” Luis grinned boyishly, before pressing another firm kiss to his cheek.
“You’re just so hard to resist”
Chris continued to pepper kisses along the side of his face, “And you looked good in front of those Christmas lights”
Leon sighed; succumbing to his fate and letting his partners dote on him as the twinkle of the lights danced against their skin. He would be lying if he didn’t say it wasn’t awfully romantic.
“I love you both, y’know that, right?”
“Of course”
“Te amo más que la luna”
“ Show-off”
“¡Oye!!”