Work Text:
Authors: 
chloeas and 
dl_greenarrow
Title: A Christmas To Remember (1/1)
Rating: PG-13
Banner by geek_or_unique
Part of the Twelve Days of Chlolliesmas, a series of twelve Christmas themed one-shots.
Summary: Based on Lifeboat's verse, Oliver's first Christmas with Maddie as his daughter.
It was a very quiet morning in the Queen penthouse, when she woke up, both of her parents were probably still sleeping because she couldn't hear them in the kitchen so she got up from her bed and climbed down slowly, wearing her bunny slippers before pushing the door to her bedroom open all the way, looking around for a moment then stepping out of it. She knew it was day, because it was light out, but she didn't know what time it was.
Maddie walked to the living room, excitement spreading over her face as she saw the Christmas tree lights were still on, she looked down at the cookies plate that was by the couch and saw that some of them were gone, her heart started beating fast as she rushed around the couch, her eyes widening when they fell on the mountain of gifts that surrounded the bottom of the tree. She grinned and bounced, but didn't walk over to them, instead, she took off in the opposite direction, her slippers causing her to slip a little as she pushed the door to the other bedroom open, it was dark in there, so she made her way to the side of the bed more carefully, reaching up and searching for a hand, "mommy!" She whispered when she finally managed to wrap her fingers around her mom's.
Chloe grunted a little in her sleep, shifting slightly, "Maddie?" She asked sleepily, "what's wrong, honey?" She asked automatically.
Oliver, being the lighter sleeper of the two, sat up quickly, rubbing a hand over his face. "Maddie?" He looked over at her.
Maddie started climbing on the tall bed with difficulty, "he came!" She told them, still whispering.
Chloe relaxed a little and pulled Maddie up to the bed, smiling softly.
It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about and then he smiled. "Of course he did. He wouldn't forget you," he told her.
"But how did he come in!?" She asked, her voice finally raising a little as her mom pulled her so she was laying between both of her parents, "we don't have a fireplace."
Oliver smiled at her, then glanced at Chloe. "The balcony doors," he told her with a wink.
Chloe grinned softly and nodded, pressing a kiss to Maddie's temple as she turned to face the two of them and wrapped her arm around both Maddie and Ollie, they had stayed up for a long time the previous night to finish wrapping up gifts since Oliver had decided to buy every single item available in every store they came across when they went shopping. "He always finds people, no matter where they are, especially if they are as good as you."
Maddie grinned a little, "did he bring presents to all of us?"
He laid his head down on the pillow, covering Chloe's arm with his own. "I don't know. Do you think your mom and I were as good as you this year?"
Giggling a little, she wrapped her arms over both of theirs and nodded, "I think so!"
Oliver leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Oh, good. I like presents," he teased softly.
Chloe shifted closer to them and took a deep breath, smiling but closing her eyes again.
Maddie smiled up at her dad then looked over at her mom, frowning a little, "mommy, are you sleeping?"
"Hm," Chloe murmured, shaking her head slightly, "just resting my eyes."
"Can we go open presents!?"
Oliver smirked, reaching over and tickling Chloe's ribs lightly. "Wake up, Sleepyhead."
Maddie giggled and turned toward her mom, tickling her too.
Chloe gasped, opening her eyes and squirming a little but not really trying to get away, "I'm awake," she promised, opening both of her eyes wide.
"Do we believe her?" he asked Maddie, his voice low.
Maddie bit down on her bottom lip and looked up at him, grinning a little then shaking her head.
"Uh oh. We don't believe you," Oliver told Chloe, amusement in his eyes as he wiggled his fingers at her.
Chloe shook her head a little and pulled the covers over her head, "why would I lie to you, on Christmas." She asked, grinning.
Maddie sat up and knelt on the bed, laying over her mom, "you can't lie! Santa will take away your presents!"
Oliver chuckled, reaching out and tugging lightly at the covers, winking at Maddie. "Are we going to have to carry you out of bed?"
She helped him pull on the covers and bounced a little, shaking her head, "daddy can do it too, mommy, he's strong!"
He grinned at that, pulling the covers from Chloe's grasp with Maddie's 'help.' "Found her!"
Chloe gasped and tried to pull the covers back up, but she wrapped a hand around Maddie's shirt so she wouldn't fall off of the bed.
Maddie grinned and laid down over her, wrapping her arms around her neck, "you have to come with us now!"
"Afraid she's right," Oliver said with a grin, leaning down and kissing her softly, then kissing Maddie's cheek.
Smiling, Chloe wrapped her arms around both of them and pulled them down to her, "I suppose if I must," she told them, pressing a kiss to both of their cheeks.
"Wouldn't be worth celebrating if you weren't," he said, his voice softer as he gazed at her, wondering if she knew just how true that was.
Chloe looked at him for a moment, holding his gaze and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, "Merry Christmas," she told him, then turned to Maddie, tickling her side softly, "and Merry Christmas to you too."
Maddie laughed and squirmed, but hugged her mom tighter, "Merry Christmas," she said, giggling.
"Merry Christmas," he told both of them with a soft smile. "I'll go start some coffee." He yawned and swung his legs off and over the side of the bed.
"No!" Maddie said, grabbing his arms as she pushed herself up quickly, "presents first!"
Oliver laughed when she grabbed him. He turned so he was half facing her and picked her up as he rose to his feet. "I think your mom needs some caffeine. But why don't we start the coffee for her and then you can start on those presents?"
"It's okay," Chloe told him, sitting up and shrugging a little, "we usually eat after presents on Christmas morning," she told him, smiling softly, there were some things that he was still learning about their traditions.
"Oh." He smiled and kissed Maddie's temple. Then he gently set her down. "Better go pick one out, Kiddo."
"Okay!" She grinned brightly then vanished from the room.
"I tried doing breakfast first last year, and she sat down and took a few bites, but she was squirming on her seat the entire time, so even though she didn't complain or anything, I figured better not to torture her," Chloe told him, getting up from the bed.
He smiled softly at that. "Good point." He wrapped his arm around her and led her toward the living room.
Chloe leaned against his side and wrapped an arm around him too, lifting her head and kissing his cheek softly as they walked into the living room, "did you pick a gift?" She asked Maddie, who was now looking at the presents under the tree.
"Not yet..." she told them, attention still on the gifts.
Oliver couldn't help but grin at her wide-eyed expression. He pressed a kiss to Chloe's cheek, then moved toward the tree, picking up a medium-sized box. "How about this one?"
Maddie looked up at him and considered for a moment then shrugged a little, smiling as she walked over to him, "okay."
Grinning softly, Chloe sat down on the floor and watched the two of them, "go ahead then."
He sat down beside the tree so he could hand out presents easier, watching as Maddie plopped down between them.
Chloe leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Maddie's head, smiling as she ripped the paper open.
Her eyes widened as she ripped all the paper and looked down at the box, "mommy!" She said, looking up at her, "it's the car I wanted for my Barbie!"
Oliver grinned at her, biting his lip, his eyes bright. "Santa obviously knew how good you've been," he told her.
Chloe smiled brightly and nodded, looking down at the box, "go see what else he got you."
Maddie nodded and stood up again, looking at the boxes and picking one up, taking a moment to read the sticker, "daddy, this is yours," she told him, walking over to him and holding out the box.
He took the package from her, smiling softly at her. "Thank you, Maddie."
She grinned at him and went back to the gifts, opening one by one and giving them to her mom and dad whenever she found theirs in the pile.
It took a long time to get through all of them, and after she opened the last one, they were all covered in wrapping paper, boxes and bows. Chloe grinned softly and hugged Maddie, who had her drawing kit, out of all toys, on her lap and brushed her hair from her face, "good Christmas?" She asked.
"The best!" Maddie said excitedly, picking up one of the five kinds of yellow crayons.
Oliver's smile was soft, his eyes filled with warmth as he gazed at them. "I love you," he said quietly, to both of them.
"I love you too, daddy," Maddie told him, turning her head up to look at him.
"I love you," Chloe echoed, leaning in and kissing his cheek.
He kissed Chloe's mouth softly, reaching out and smoothing Maddie's hair back from her eyes and smiling.
"How about some breakfast?" Chloe suggested, brushing her nose against Ollie's then looking down at Maddie.
"Yeah, what sounds good?" he asked, glancing between them. "Pancakes and bacon?" he offered.
"Pancakes!" Maddie said, nodding and grinning before carefully setting her kit down and standing up.
Chloe smiled as she watched her, she couldn't help but wonder where Maddie had gotten all her gracefulness from, because it was definitely not from her. She stood up too and held her hand to Ollie.
He smiled up at her, sliding his hand into hers and standing up. "Wanna help me, Maddie?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes!" She told him, taking his other hand. "Can we have chocolate chip pancakes?"
"What do you say, Mom?" he asked, his voice light as he gave Maddie's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Absolutely," Chloe said, looking from her daughter to up to him too, identical grins on their faces.
His smile brightened even more. "Cool. You can measure the chocolate chips out for me, okay?" he told Maddie.
"Okay!" Maddie nodded, tugging on his hand, "what is mommy going to do?"
"Set the table," he told her with a wink.
"I got the hard part," Chloe smirked, squeezing his hand.
"You got the less dangerous part," he teased, grinning innocently and winking at her as they headed into the kitchen where a shiny yellow bicycle was ready and waiting. "Now who put that there?"
Maddie stilled and gasped her eyes widening as she stared at the bicycle, looking up at her mom and dad, "who is that for?"
Chloe raised her eyebrows, putting on her best surprised face and let go of Ollie's hand, "I don't know, I think it's for me, what do you think, Ollie?" She asked as she approached the bicycle. It had been painful to put it together, but Ollie had been determined, until nearly four in the morning. Chloe just hoped it wouldn't fell apart the second Maddie climbed up on it.
"I don't know, Chloe, I think it's a little too small," he told her, grinning.
Mock pouting, Chloe reached for the note that was over the seat, "let's see what it says," she told them, raising her eyebrows after a moment, "looks like Santa couldn't fit this one under the tree, but he says it's your, Maddie." She told her grinning brightly.
"Wow..." Maddie whispered, walking over to the bike and looking at it then at her mom, smiling at her, "you can borrow it if you want to mommy."
Oliver smiled softly, pride swelling up in his chest even if he had no real reason to feel it. He'd only been with them for a few months, and Chloe had certainly had more influence on Maddie than he had. Still. She was such a sweet, compassionate little girl, that he couldn't help it.
Chloe's own chest tightened a little at that and she wrapped her arms around Maddie, smiling and hugging her tightly then kissing her cheek, "how about I get one of my own and we get one for dad so we can all ride our bikes together?" She asked, looking up at Ollie even as she held Maddie to her.
"Yeah!" Maddie agreed, wrapping her arms around her mom's neck and looking over at her new bike again.
"I think that's a great plan." Oliver's voice was quiet.
After pressing another kiss to Maddie's cheek and one to her temple, Chloe let go of her and stood up, watching as she climbed on the bike immediately then smiled at Ollie and nodded slightly, it had been his idea to get her a bike and clearly, it had been a great idea.
He met Chloe's eyes and smiled, then looked down at Maddie.
It was by far, the best Christmas he'd had since he was her age.