Chapter 117

Richie woke up early on the morning of the 24th, as per usual, trying his best not to disturb Sarah, he got up slowly and as quietly as he could.

Upon entering the living room, he found he wasn't the only one awake early this morning. Noah was sitting in the corner of the couch, knees propped up resting a paper notebook on his legs and a pen in hand. Richie joined him on the couch and looked over.

"What are you writing?" He asked, intrigued at this new development he hadn't seen before.
Noah shrugged as if it wasn't important. "Just thoughts."
"Like a diary?"
"I guess, sort of." Noah replied before he looked up. "One of the doctors at the hospital recommended it." He explained.
Richie clued in with that. "Ah, to write down your thoughts instead of dwelling on them and letting them take over your head."
Again, Noah shrugged.

Richie left it at that and grabbed the TV remote, it may be early but there was always something on TV to watch and if there wasn't he had enough options to make sure he could be entertained for a long while. The luxuries of technology.

Watching TV in the dimly lit living room almost made it feel like Christmas. The decorations he had set up with Ava and Sarah were cozying up the living room perfectly and the lights in the tree were shimmering brightly in the corner of the room.

It was almost 8am before they received some company in the living room. Richie looked up from the TV to see Caleb sit down in his comfy chair, giving him a slightly disapproving look as a tease.

"You're up early." He commented, knowing Caleb was quite similar to how he had been when he was 18, getting up before noon was a rarity back then.
"Probably just jet lagged." Caleb said, referring to the slightly over three hour flight he had taken from Vancouver on Saturday.
Richie frowned at his remark. "Vancouver is in the same time zone."
"Yeah, but I was still on a jet so I feel a little lagged."
The only response he had to that was to shake his head.

Not much later his stomach made itself known and he all too gladly wanted to feed it, passing the TV remote to Noah, he got up and headed to the kitchen. Soon everyone else would be up too and he had extra visitors to make food for so he better get started now.

As Sarah walked into the kitchen, carrying Daniel on her hip, the smell of breakfast instantly made her hungry. She could smell bacon and waffles, which didn't surprise her.

She walked over to her husband at the stove and reached in for a kiss when he noticed her.

"Good morning." She smiled at him. "Looks like you've been busy."
"I was a little hungry." He shrugged as if it was nothing.
Sarah looked at the set table and all the food on plates ready to be eaten. "A little?"
"I thought it would be unfair if I only made myself a waffle." He joked a little. "Mom would tell me off if I did that." Knowing it was true, he might be all grown up but that didn't stop his mom from parenting, especially when she was staying at his house.
Reaching for a mug from the cabinet by the coffee maker, Sarah agreed. "She probably would." She started making herself a cup of tea, ignoring the coffee that had been made.

Just like breakfast, the rest of the day was spent together as a family. Ava had gone to her mother's house for a few days but would be back the day after Christmas when they'd go on their last minute trip to Hawaii. With Ava at Heather's they had decided to skip their vacation as the family wouldn't be complete but after last week's events, Richie decided a family getaway might be a good idea after all. They'd celebrate New Year's in Hawaii instead.

Before Daniel's bedtime, Richie picked up one of the gifts under the Christmas tree for him to open.

"Are we allowed to open a gift too?" Caleb asked quickly.
"Sure." Richie answered, "If you're wanting matching jammies with Daniel." He passed the gift-wrapped gift to Daniel and sat down on the couch next to him and Sarah.
Caleb frowned at Richie's remark. "What if I did?"
"You don't."
"But what if I did?"

Sarah smiled as she watched her husband roll his eyes as he got up from the couch again. He wanted to watch Daniel unwrap his first Christmas gift but if Caleb really wanted to have matching pajamas, he'd gladly see his face too. He walked back over to the tree and looked through the gifts underneath it for the right one. He picked one up and gave Sarah a quick look, her nod affirmed it. As he went to sit down with Daniel again, he passed the gift to Caleb with a slight toss.

"Seriously? You got us matching pajamas?"
"You just said you wanted them."
"I was kidding." Caleb finally gave in.
"This way you'll match your little brother perfectly in the pictures tomorrow morning."
Caleb deadpanned, which was satisfying to Richie.

He finally got to watch Daniel open his gift with Sarah's help, soon enough all the gift wrap was on the floor and his first pair of adorable Christmas pajamas. Last year he had been so little they hadn't done all of his first Christmas milestones, wanting him to be a little older so he could have a sense of understanding as well.

Sarah helped her son into his new pajamas to get ready for bed, they'd watch a movie together and let Daniel fall asleep before taking him up to his room for the rest of the night.

Richie got up from the couch once again to retrieve the last gift for tonight from under the Christmas tree. Noah hadn't asked but Richie couldn't leave him be. He passed the gift to Noah, before sitting down once more, this time picking Daniel up and moving him into his lap.

Now, he watched the older boys unwrap their gifts, quite pleased with himself how he had been able to bug Caleb just a little knowing that was what Caleb had planned to do to him.

"This isn't that bad." Caleb said as he pulled away all the paper to reveal pajama bottoms that weren't too Christmassy.
"Noted for next year." Richie said happily.
Caleb looked up with worry. "Like in a good way or a bad way?"
Richie shrugged. "You'll see."
It didn't ease Caleb's mind. "But these aren't that embarrassing. Don't get the silly ones." He pleaded.
"Depends on if you're bad or good."
Caleb rolled his eyes and put the pants aside. "Whatever."
"I like them." Noah said, he had gotten the same pair of pajama pants as Caleb. "Thanks."

Both Sarah and Richie smiled, happy with Noah's response even though they knew Caleb was happy with his as well. Richie just couldn't help tease his oldest son, which had become part of their relationship.

On Christmas morning, he decided against his usual routine of getting up early on his own but stayed in bed, warm and cuddly with his wife, knowing she would appreciate that on Christmas day.

He held her close in his arms until he could feel her stir in them, he reached over and kissed her neck. "Good morning baby, merry Christmas." He whispered cheerfully, feeling excited for the day.
Sarah happily turned around in his arms to face him so she could reach up and kiss his lips tenderly, happy to wake up in his protective arms. "Merry Christmas." She wished him.
"Ready for a nice Christmas?" He asked, feeling even more excited to get the festivities started. He'd been waiting to see Daniel's face as he opened gifts, after that, he looked forward to a lovely Christmas dinner tonight.

They found Daniel still asleep in his room, comfortable in his bed with his stuffed animals. For him, it was still a little early and Sarah decided to let him sleep a little longer after all, neither of his brothers would be up yet.

Instead, she headed downstairs with her husband following her to the couch where they got comfortable and cuddled, enjoying a little bit of Christmas time on their own before everyone woke up and the craziness of gifts would start. Sarah was happy to have this half hour alone with her husband. She was grateful for any half hour she got to spend with him. So very grateful that she got to spend any time at all with this wonderful man that loved her as much as she loved him. Some days she still couldn't believe he was hers. Knowing her thoughts were cheesy, she couldn't help but think that the only gift she ever needed was him.

The living room was still dusk, the tree in the corner providing them with the only light. It created a lovely serenity this early in the morning.

Unfortunately it wasn't long before they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs and by the sounds of it, they were large feet.

To both of their surprise Caleb was the first one to join them in the living room, which broke their comfortable feeling of being together as Caleb turned the TV on straight away.

It wasn't long before the living room was filled with their mothers and two more sons.

"I think we can open presents now." Richie declared when he noticed Daniel entranced by the Christmas tree lights.

Not too much later it was hard to see where their living room floor was, it was covered in pieces of wrapping paper throw around carelessly. It gave Sarah the urge to find a garbage bag but she resisted it when she saw Daniel struggling with one of his gifts as he sat in his father's lap. Richie caught on soon enough and ripped a corner for him to continue with.

Watching their little boy open his Christmas presents in his adorable new Christmas pajamas was something that made them forget all the struggles of the past week. Their family was happy, that couldn't change.

Once all the gifts were opened and everyone happily enjoyed their new items, Richie heard his stomach growl, the chocolates and treats from a Christmas stocking were not satisfying his hunger. He moved Daniel over to Sarah's lap, then reached in for a kiss before standing up and heading to the kitchen to start breakfast for everyone. He'd keep it easy with a large stack of pancakes he could take back to the living room and everyone could help themselves he thought.

He paused a moment when he carried the large tray into the living room, Noah sat on the couch next to his grandma Abbey, notebook in hand but he wasn't writing now as Abbey talked to him about the gift she was holding. Caleb had taken Richie's chair again and was leafing through a biography Richie had gotten him. On the other couch, Joan sat with Daniel at her feet, playing together with a new toy he had gotten. He spotted Sarah watching him, giving her a quick smile, he walked into the room to put his tray of pancakes on the coffee table.