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“No, Hange, I’m not wrapping their presents. It’s not like they’re not expecting to be gifted socks and chocolate again this year...” Levi said, his fake annoyance obvious. In all honesty, he did love gifting socks and chocolate to the “kids”. Even though it had been more than a decade since they were last considered kids.
“Come ooon Levi! Stop pouting and enjoy our preparations! It’s not every year that we’re hosting the Christmas dinner, and I know you’re secretly enjoying this!” They said and winked at him from across the table. Levi’s expression softened at Hange’s words, instantly popping the faintest of smiles. “Alright, alright… I’ll behave. But only because you asked nicely this time.”
Hange smiled back, pleased with Levi’s response, then continued setting the china on the table and making sure the entire set up was presentable. “You know, I read so many articles and tutorials on how to art de la table, I hope I can do it some justice here! Did you know it’s advised to leave a small gift for each one of your guests? Preferably handmade gifts too. Do you think they’ll like-” “Hange!” Levi stopped them by placing a hand on their shoulder. “You’re rambling. They’ll love the dinner, it’s nicely cooked. And they’ll love the… Offerings...” He said as he glanced at the decorated pine cones dismissively. Hange used all of their art and skill to make them look like tiny Christmas trees by painting them white here and there, imitating snow, and gluing tiny colourful ornaments and a small star at the top.
“You don’t seem convinced Levi… Should I take them straight to the rubbish can?” Hange asked, as they grabbed onto two of the cones, removing them from the table. “Hange, just… Relax...” Levi had to reach for their shoulders and physically press down on them, preventing them from making any more hasty movements. “Give me those.” He demanded and carefully placed the decorations back to their assigned spots. “Listen...” He began, his finger softly touching Hange’s chin. “You’re overthinking this. Don’t. The kids better love it. Or else...” “LEVI! You can’t threaten them into having a good time!” Hange exclaimed, raising their voice. “I can’t?” One of his eyebrows was raised.
Their conversation was cut short by the bell ringing. Hange and Levi exchanged a look. “Early, aren’t they?” Asked Levi. “Yeah... I didn’t quite expect anyone to show up this early...” They walked together towards the door and opened it, surprised to find it was no other than Erwin. “I’m sorry to appear this early… And unannounced.” He said as he took a step inside, unwrapping a huge scarf from around his torso. “But this little one was making a huge fuss. I couldn’t deal with her on my own, so I brought her back to her parents”. Peeling off the final layer of the scarf, he revealed a tiny girl squirming in his embrace. “My daughter’s feisty, not fussy, Erwin!” Exclaimed Levi, extending his arms to take her in his arms. “I hope she wasn’t too much trouble Erwin… We did get so much done since last night, it wouldn’t have been possible if you hadn’t offered to babysit.” Stooping over Levi’s shoulder, they took a look at the tiny baby, softly kissing her on the forehead, then giving Levi a peck on the temple. “He gets jealous when he doesn’t get his kiss.” They explained and shut the door, preventing any more cold air from entering the room. Hange stuck their tongue out towards Levi, who’d been glaring at them about the “kiss incident”.
“Give me your coat, Erwin.” Hange asked politely as they helped him out of his garment. Levi took a sit with the girl on the couch, placing her softly on the pillows and creating a tiny border around her, consisting of some smaller pillows and her huge scarf, the one Erwin brought back. After ensuring the baby wouldn’t accidentally fall off the couch, he joined Hange and Erwin to help with the remaining preparations.
“She was just excited to be with you… I think! She really likes you Erwin!” Hange couldn’t contain their laughter as Erwin shared every detail of his (failed) attempt to have a quiet time with the baby. “She likes me? She was yelling for almost two hours straight! She’d only stop when I held her!” Erwin wasn’t really upset, his soft giggle betrayed him. This was his first time babysitting ever. As he shared the rest of the shenanigans that he and the tiny girl had been through, he and Hange had a great laugh about it. “And that’s all the proof you need Erwin! Next time, we might ask you to babysit for an entire weekend! What do you think, Levi?” Levi scoffed as he brought a basket packed with sliced bread and placed it in the centre of the table. “If Erwin agrees to not call her fussy again, I might reconsider.”
After an hour or so, the table was ready and all the house decorations were set up. The food was done cooking and the air smelled of all the tasty spices and herbs used. The atmosphere was cozy and, luckily, the baby was still enjoying herself with the smells, voices and sounds all around her and kept herself occupied by kicking her small feet in the air and cooing once in a while, whenever she wanted a little bit of a belly rub. Exhausted, Hange, Levi and Erwin took their wine glasses and bottle to the living room and took their seats on the couch. They still had some more time left before everyone arrived.
“We haven’t shared a glass of wine since… I don’t even remember! What do you think, Erwin?” Asked Hange, taking a small sip from their glass. “Ah… It must’ve been around a year... A year and a half?” “At least.” Added Levi as he swirled the liquid around in his glass. “We haven’t had many chances like this since before you found out you were pregnant, Hange. And she is already six months old.” “Time flies… Slips through our fingers like sand. I’m glad we get to spend this day together. Cheers to that?” Asked Erwin, raising his glass towards his two friends. “Cheers to that!” They said in unison.
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The house was filled with laughter when the doorbell rang for the second time. “It’s probably the kids, I’ll get it.” Levi sat up from the couch, handing the baby back to Hange, who hugged her and began making funny faces to her.
“Happy Christmas everyone!” A Jean with open arms greeted them from the doorstep. He was surrounded by Armin, Sasha and Connie who all had their hands full with vibrant gift boxes and bags filled with delicacies. “Should we sing the carols too?” Sasha exclaimed but Connie and Armin managed to stop her before she could commence her singing. “We did promise to be quiet Sasha!” Connie literally yelled towards her, failing to make his point come across. “We understand the baby is still much too young, Mr Ackerman.” Armin stepped in, attempting to rescue his friends from a good scolding session. “We’d never want to disturb the little girl’s sleep now, would we guys?” He questioned and laughed awkwardly. The rest of the group silently agreed, nodding their heads. “Why are you still calling me Mr Ackerman?” Levi asked, giving Armin’s head a soft, but audible, slap. “Didn’t you graduate like 10 years ago? I’m just Levi now!”
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“Ahh… What a beautiful day we had, right Levi?” Hange asked from their side of the bed. Their baby was peacefully sleeping between them, a relaxed expression on her face. Levi’s hand was stretched towards Hange, past the baby, barely reaching Hange’s neck and lazily caressing it. He simply nodded in agreement with Hange, feeling his eyes getting heavier and heavier. “We spent the entire morning alone together, then showered and cooked and decorated the whole house and listened to festive music and oh - I almost forgot - that we ate all those candies we bought for the dinner – how naughty of us, right? Ah, what a day!” They stretched their hand towards the ceiling, taking a big yawn before making themselves more comfortable. “And now we’re reunited with this little one!” They said placing a hand on the baby’s belly, patting it with a slow and soft movement. “I’m so grateful that Erwin babysat her but, if I’m being honest, I missed her terribly… Are you asleep already Levi? I’m still hyper!” “I can tell, Hange. You haven’t stopped for a second.” He said and smiled, placing his hand on top of theirs, still patting onto the baby. “Am I being annoying again?” A guilty smile spread across Hange’s face as they almost shied away from Levi. “If I ever thought of you as annoying, would you think I’d end up marrying you? Or having a kid with you?” “I don’t know Levi, you’ve always been the weird one of us.” “I’m the weird one?” “Well… Have you met you before?” The baby slightly moved in her sleep, making her parents abruptly put an end to their silly quarrel.
“So...” Hange kept on speaking, only much quieter this time. “Which was your favourite gift?” “That I gave or that I received?” Levi responded, his eyes closed. “That you received of course!” Hange scoffed. “You gave everyone those stripy socks anyway…” “Socks AND chocolate… Can never go wrong there!” Hange waited for his answer, reaching their hand towards him, trying to disturb the baby as little as possible. “Ah… I guess… The best holiday present is how we get to sleep together every night, like this… Just us, in our bed, in our home. It’s a lovely feeling.”
Hange was stunned at his words. “Aw, I didn’t know you could be this romantic, Levi!” “I glued paper stars on top of pine cones that we gathered at the park, you don’t give me enough credit, Hange.” “Ugh, just come here you!” They said as they did their best to reach him without unnerving the baby. As soon as Hange managed to cross the “baby border” and lay on top of Levi, they squeezed him breathless, kissing him all over his face and making him giggle, a sound as pretty as the first gust of wind in spring. “Happy Christmas, Levi!” “Happy Christmas, Hange!”