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“What are you up to?”
Ryan knocked his head into a few of the lower branches of the plastic tree, a few ornaments falling to the floor. Ryan flinched and turned to look sheepishly at his husband. In the low light, his messy hair and sleepy grin was beautiful. On one side, he had Victoria on his hip her arms wrapped around his shoulders. On his other side, he had Mason’s hand, having dragged him from his slumber.
“Just… checking to see what Santa brought last night.”
At the mention of the name, Victoria and Mason’s eyes widened and there was no sleepiness left in their bodies. Victoria was nearly bouncing out of Gavin’s grip. “Santa? Santa came last night? Papa, Papa put me down!”
On Gavin’s other side, Mason had begun to tug on his arm causing the tired man to sway back and forth.
“Kids, if you want to get any of the presents that Santa brought you, you’re going to have to be good for Papa. He can’t let you go if you’re bouncing around like that.” The children stopped immediately and waited for permission from their Papa.
Gavin sighted and let go of Mason’s hand. “Go sit down… Daddy and I need to get stuff from the kitchen.” Mason obediently went and plopped down in front of the tree, wide eyes filled with excitement at the number of presents ‘Santa’ brought them. Gavin slowly let Victoria down, “You too, Victoria.” Victoria squeaked an assent and ran, stumbling, to the tree.
Ryan placed a kiss to the forehead of each child before following his shuffling husband to the kitchen. When they crossed the threshold, Gavin fell into Ryan’s arms, “Ryan… I’m so tired.”
Ryan smiled and wrapped his arms around his waist and buried his face in his hair. “I know, dear.”
They held each other in silence for a moment before whines made their way from the living room and into the kitchen. “Is it bad that I miss Christmas where it was just the two of us? Where we would wake up and hold each other close… and the rising sun would be the only light as we made love.” Gavin leaned his chin against Ryan’s chest and presented his lips.
Ryan chuckled and kissed Gavin gently, “I understand… the kids do make our Christmas mornings more… exciting.”
“I do love them, but sometimes…” Gavin sighed once more and pulled away from his husband.
“I know, Gavin, sit down and I’ll get you your tea.”
Gavin slumped down into a chair and smiled, “Thank you, love.”
-
By the time that Gavin and Ryan returned from the kitchen with their tea and coffee, their children had started up a chant demanding their presents. Ryan sat down on the couch, holding out an arm to invite Gavin to sit with him. Gavin settled in close to him, sipping his tea. “Go on, kids, you can open your presents now.” The children cheered in excitement and grabbed their presents, “One at a time! One at a time, children! Oh, never mind.”
Mason attempted to tuck as many presents under his arms as he could, before just dumping them all down, realizing that he couldn’t open them all at once. He opted to pick up the biggest present and begin tearing at the paper. Victoria was more methodical, picking up one of the presents that had her name emblazoned on it, and pulling at the tape.
Gavin and Ryan cuddled in closer together, watching as their children joyously revealed their presents. They also made note of the presents that Uncle Geoff had gotten them. They would have to thank him for trying every year to outdo every other present ‘Santa’ got their kids.
“Oh! Victoria, someone forgot one!” Gavin indicated to the small present that was hidden on the other side of the tree. He was sure that he hadn’t seen that one before. Maybe someone had given a present to Ryan last minute for the kids. Victoria crawled under the tree and grabbed the small present and turned it over in her hands. She crawled back out and delivered the gift right onto Gavin’s lap. “Why did you do that, sweetie?”
“It’s for you, Papa. See? ‘For Gavin.’ That’s your name, right?”
Gavin’s eyes widened and he put his mug down on the ground. “Yeah, it is, but…” Gavin picked up the present and looked it over. Why did he have a present, he had already gotten his gifts from his friends, and he and Ryan always agreed that they didn’t need to get each other gifts.
“Go on and open it, dear.”
Gavin scowled at Ryan, “Love, we agreed that we wouldn’t bother with giving each other presents.” Gavin pulled at the wrapping paper to reveal a small box. He eyed Ryan suspiciously as he opened the box. With a glance inside he clamped a hand over his mouth. Tears pricked at his eyes as he laid his eyes on the gorgeous ring that laid inside the box. “Ryan.”
Ryan smiled at the reaction, “Yes, dear?”
“You shouldn’t have, Ryan!”
Ryan picked up the ring box, and Gavin’s left hand. “Yes, but, dear,” Ryan pulled the wedding ring off his finger and slipped on the new band. The diamond shone on his finger, reflecting the lights from the tree. “I wasn’t able to get you a proper engagement ring, so I just wanted to get you something special now that I can afford it.” Ryan slipped his wedding ring on to stack with the new ring, finishing off his work with a kiss.
“Ryan, it’s beautiful…” Gavin gazed at the sparkling ring before taking Ryan’s face in his hands and drawing him down into a kiss. He pulled away and rested their foreheads together. “I love it. I love you. So, so much.”
Small hands placed themselves on Gavin’s knee, drawing his eyes away from the love of his life. “Yes, Victoria?”
“Can I see the ring?” Gavin nodded and brought his hand to show off the ring on his finger. Victoria’s face lit up with joy. “It looks even more beautiful than when we got it!”
“What?”
“Daddy took me and Mason to look at rings for you! We helped pick!”
Gavin looked at his family in shock, “You had accomplices!”
Ryan wrapped his arms around Gavin’s waist and pulled him back into his lap, “That I did. I didn’t know if I could trust just myself to pick something out for you.”
Gavin cuddled back into Ryan’s warmth, slinging an arm back to let his fingers card through Ryan’s hair. “I love you, Ryan.” He barely breathed as the kids began to play with their new toys.
“I love you too, Gavin.”