Orion was awake before he opened his eyes. For a while he lay, unmoving, refusing to believe he was awake. He hated being awake first. He was not a morning person. Given the small amount of light that filtered through his eyelids, Orion knew it was early.

Really early.

Suppressing a sigh, Orion tried to ignore the fact that now he had to pee.

Just let me go back to sleep...

Instead, beneath him, Tristan stirred. Orion's eyes popped open, and he stared up into his sleeping husband's face. Still he didn't move, hoping not to wake him. However, Tristan was now awake, too. His sleepy caramel eyes fluttered open, and he stared down at Orion. Smiling, he kissed the top of Orion's head.

"'Morning."

Orion repositioned himself, placing a soft kiss on Tristan's bare pec. He smiled up at him. "Morning."

Tristan rose an eyebrow. "A smile first thing in the morning?"

"It's Christmas," Orion replied, breaking out into an even wider grin.

Tristan threw an arm over his eyes, moaning softly. "That's right, it is, isn't it? Are the kids awake yet?"

Orion sat up in bed. The husbands were as they always were; Orion wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms and Tristan in his briefs. "I don't think so. If they are, they're being really quiet."

That reply made Tristan chuckle. "Do we have to run downstairs, make sure the tree is unadulterated?"

Orion laughed quietly. "No--I honestly don't think anyone is up yet."

Tristan sat up, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. Orion got to his feet and quickly kissed his husband. Grabbing his glasses off the nightstand, he then padded across the large room.

"What time is it even?" Tristan asked, yawning once again.

"I d'no," Orion replied over his shoulder, "but the sun isn't up yet, so it must be pretty early."

Once Orion returned from the washroom, Tristan met him halfway, sharing another kiss. Then they shifted, Tristan going to relieve himself while Orion moved to the window. The rockstar shifted aside the white curtain and took in a small gasp.

After a couple minutes, Orion heard Tristan walking back into the room. Grinning, Orion spun around, rushing over. He immediately grabbed Tristan by the wrist and dragged him over to the window.

As he was pulled along, Tristan chuckled. "What's up?"

Orion threw open the curtain, and pointed excitedly. "It snowed!"

Tristan took a step forward, peering out into the early purple morning light. In fact, it was still snowing, huge fluffy snowflakes raining down onto the serene, untouched street. When he turned back to his husband, he outright laughed. Orion stood, lips puckered as he tried not to beam, his hands in two fists at his cheeks.

"Still snowing," Tristan smirked.

"The kids. Are going. To lose. Their minds."

Tristan snaked his arms around Orion's lithe waist, pulling him close. Smiling, he pressed his forehead to Orion's. "Seems like they're not the only ones..."

Orion pulled away, rolling his eyes heavily as Tristan merely grinned. A smile then erupted on Orion's face again. "Can we wake them up? Please? Let's wake them up."

"Orion--it's six in the morning."

"So?"

"Fine," Tristan said. Orion was already sprinting to the door, causing Tristan to call after him. "But you're dealing with any meltdowns when they get tired later today!"

As Tristan got dressed for the day in Orion's large walk-in closet (half of which had been converted to hold his clothes), the Texan laughed. Down the halfway filtered the sounds of merriment. After a point he couldn't quite tell who precisely was squealing more--Orion or their kids.

"Dad!"

Jason appeared in the doorway as Tristan was finishing buttoning up his red plaid shirt. Their youngest son was nothing but smiles, his eyes as bright as any Christmas lights. The small child began to jump up and down. Tristan made his way over, rolling up his sleeves.

"It snowed!"

"I know," Tristan told him, chuckling lightly. "Daddy told me already."

Just then there was a blur of shrieking black running past the doorway. Tristan lifted his eyes in just enough time to catch Hazel's braids fly past. Moments later her thudding feet raced down the stairs.

"Hey!" Tristan yelled, scooping Jason up into his arms and walking out into the hallway. "Hazel! No running on the stairs, you're gonna kill yourself!"

The only response he got was the sounds of Thomas hollering down the hallway. Moments later Thomas appeared, dragging a yawning Amy out of her bedroom by the hand.

"Come on, come on!" Thomas was saying, jumping up and down as he dragged his aunt along.

Amy, instead of responding, merely waved her hand and continued to yawn. Another set of feet running up behind Tristan hit his ears, and he turned around just as Orion ran past, calling over his shoulder.

"Last one down is a rotten egg!"

Jason wriggled out of Tristan's arms. Tristan immediately grabbed him, not allowing him to run after Orion, Amy, and Thom, all of whom had started sprinting. Tristan followed at a normal pace. To his horror, Orion jumped on the curved banister, shouting and riding down to the ground floor like that.

"Orion!" he snapped, walking down the steps with the still-wriggling Jason. "I swear to God if any of them do that, I'm killing you."

"Oh relax--" Orion said, even as he stumbled when he hit the floor, nearly falling. He caught himself, grinning as Amy and Thomas caught up. "It's Christmas."

"Christmas doesn't stop broken necks..."

"Lighten up!" Jason chirped.

Tristan put him down as Amy snorted, immediately covering her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. Orion on the other hand couldn't contain himself, and burst out laughing. Tristan sighed.

"Gee, I wonder where he got that from, Orion..."

"Lighten up!" Amy replied, planting a mischievous peck on her brother-in-law's cheek.

Tristan ducked away and laughed, reaching out and ruffling her hair. "Merry Christmas, Aims."

Amy hugged him fiercely. "Merry Christmas."

"Come on!" Hazel was shouting, jumping up and down as she zippered her black puffy coat. She already had on her scarf, mittens, boots, and hat.

"Lets go, lets go, lets go!" Orion was saying, jumping up and down with his daughter, clapping.

Tristan moved to the closet, reaching over Thom to grab Jason's winter gear. As he dressed the impatiently wriggling child, he looked at Orion. "Aren't you forgetting something, love?"

Orion was oblivious though, holding hands with Hazel now as they jumped.

"Orion," Amy said with a laugh, slipping on her own coat. "Orion!"

Orion looked at them. "What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something, love?" Tristan repeated.

Orion looked down at himself. He still was dressed in nothing more than pajama pants. Immediately he burst into a blush that went all the way down to his chest. "O-oh. Yeah. Er, I'll meet you guys outside..."

As Orion began to walk away, Hazel tugged on his arm. "Nooooo, we'll wait!"

"Hazel," Orion said, a little impatiently and yanking his arm out of his grasp. "Don't grab at me, please. We've talked about this."

"You don't have to be constantly hanging all over Daddy," Tristan added. He was barely heard, Jason jumping up and down and screaming in excitement.

"I'll be right back, love," Orion said to his daughter, "I just have to get dressed."

"I'll wait for you," Hazel replied stubbornly, furrowing her brow in contempt. Huffing, she crossed her arms.

Orion rolled his eyes. "Fine. But if anyone wants to go outside without me, be my guest. I'll be right there."

Thomas cheered and threw open the front door. In his hurry he nearly hit Amy right in the face with it. Amy grabbed it and laughed at his oblivion as he raced outside. Tristan slipped on his coat and boots as Amy took Jason by the hand, leading him outside with his brother.

By the time Orion and Hazel made it outside, fun in the snow was already well underway. Tristan was laying down with Jason, teaching him how to make a snow angel. Amy was rolling up snow with Thomas to build a snowman. Hazel let go of Orion's hand, easily forgetting him to go join her twin and aunt. Orion laughed; he then diverted the way he was walking, seeing another person walking up to join them.

Orion threw open his arms, grinning broadly. "Merry Christmas!"

Ben grinned back, having some difficulty trudging through the deep snow. "Merry Christmas Ori!"

Amy turned, packing some snow in between her hands. She beamed, handing the clump off to Hazel, and racing over to her boyfriend. Moments before she reached him she tripped, and he caught her. They both laughed and exchanged a kiss.

"I was not expecting this," Ben commented, gesturing to the whiteness all around them.

"Yeah, wasn't it like, fifty or something here yesterday?" Amy replied.

"Something like that," Orion told her. "We've been having unusually warm weather here this year."

"Well I'm glad--"

Amy didn't get to finish her sentence. A snowball flew past her head, hitting Ben squarely in the face. Thomas roared in laughter, doubling over, clutching his stomach.

"Hey!" Orion said sharply. "Don't aim for the face!"

"It's okay Orion," Ben said, grinning evilly. He began to run at the small child. "You better run, boy!"

Thomas screamed and took off, laughing. Orion rolled his eyes, talking after Ben even though his friend clearly wasn't paying attention. "It's really not, though..."

Ben easily bested Thomas. He grabbed him around the waist, spun him around once, and then tossed him (carefully) into a pile of snow. Hazel had taken notice; she ran over, shrieking, and immediately jumped on her brother. The two tussled as Jason jumped up, running over to his siblings.

A snowball fight between everyone quickly broke out. Amy was staying out of it, hellbent on building her snowman, but Orion changed all that by nailing her in the back of the head with a snowball. He shrieked in laughter, taking off running as she chased him.

The fight continued on for about ten minutes before everyone got exhausted. The children still didn't want to go in. A compromise was made; they would work on Amy's snowman and then after that everyone would go inside. The small group ended up making three snowmen before actually going in.

"Hot chocolate!" Orion declared once everyone was in, pulling off their wet outerwear.

"Breakfast first," Tristan grumbled, pulling off his hat.

Smiling, Orion kissed him on the cheek. "Hot cocoa with breakfast, yeah?"

Tristan rolled his eyes, but the second Orion wasn't looking he smiled. It was nice seeing him so happy. Everyone headed into the kitchen. The kids sat, Orion and Ben occupying them while Amy and Tristan took care of whipping together breakfast. Orion and Ben kept whispering in a conspiratorial manner with one another, occasionally taking the time to glance at Tristan and Amy.

"Presents," Hazel said suddenly, pounding her fists on the counter. "Presents, presents, presents, presents--"

Thomas joined in, and then Jason started chanting, too.

"You guys have to wait until after breakfast," Orion said.

"Aw!" Thomas protested loudly immediately.

Hazel looked near tears. Bottom lip jutting out, she crossed her arms, glaring off into nothing. Jason actually did burst into tears.

Tristan looked over his shoulder, a wicked expression on his face. "Hey--who said you guys were good enough this year to get presents?"

"Father!" Hazel shrieked, face going bright red.

Tristan suppressed a laugh, turning back to the pan he was making bacon in.

"I got this," Amy told him, taking the pan handle out of his hands. "Go have Christmas morning with your family."

"But you're family!" Tristan balked. "We can't open presents without you!"

"Go," Amy insisted, grabbing his broad shoulders and turning him around. She gave him a playful shove. "You're about to have a riot on your hands."

"Presents?" Jason sobbed up at Tristan.

Tristan laughed, scooping up his littlest. "Yeah, lets go buddy."

Hazel and Thomas screamed in excitement, leaping off their stools and barreling into the living room. Jason, still being upset, hiccuped into Trstan's shoulder. Orion slid off his own stool, sliding his arm around Tristan's waist. "I think by the end of today I'm going to be deaf."

Tristan laughed, walking with his husband into the main room.

The tree was huge. Tristan liked white lights, while Orion loved colored. As a compromise, they had a tree that could alternate colors. Beneath the ethereal looking tree was a plethora of gifts, wrapped in white wrapping paper accented with golden swirls. A few had matching golden ribbons.

The kids dove beneath the large tree, flinging packages every which way.

"Hey, hey, careful," Orion told them, chuckling.

Tristan slipped his hand into Orion's, giving it a brief squeeze. He knew how meticulous Orion had wrapped everything and set it beneath the tree. Leading up to Christmas had been a constant struggle for Orion; at least once a day he fussed over the ornaments and lights. It was never good enough for him. There was always some bare spot, some ornament that would look better elsewhere.

Tristan was patient. He was keenly aware of the amount of stress and anxiety it caused Orion. Tristan would allow him to give into his compulsions for a little while, and then gently re-direct Orion's attention elsewhere.

Within moments, wrapping paper was everywhere and the kids were all shouting and squealing happily with their new gifts. Tristan had led Orion to the white couch. They sat next to each other, holding hands. Orion rested his head on his love's shoulder, watching his children play with glee.

After about ten minutes, Hazel broke off from her brothers and crawled back under the tree. She fished out a small gift, one she had wrapped herself in red wrapping paper. Suddenly looking shy, she walked over to her parents.

"Um," she said, looking down at the tiny package in her hands. Her face was nearly as red as the wrapping paper. "Daddy, I got this for you."

Orion lifted his head, grinning immediately. "Aw. I can open it later, once everyone is here."

"But I want you to open it now," she insisted.

"Hazel--"

Tristan leaned over, briefly whispering into Orion's ear. "Just do it--she's really excited to give it to you."

Orion smiled and held out his hand. Hazel beamed, placing it into his upturned palm; Orion opened it. It was an ornament, a plastic globe. The inside had been decorated with gold glitter, the outside bejeweled with multi-colored, stick-on gems. When Orion turned the globe over in his hand, he paused, bringing a shaking hand to his mouth.

Inside was a picture. It was from backstage at one of Orion's concerts. Tristan stood next to Orion, with Jason on his shoulders. Hazel stood next to Orion, his arm wrapped around her, while her brother stood next to Tristan, leaning against him. Everyone was grinning happily.

"I--I remember this d-day," Orion said, his voice trembling.

"Do you like it?"

When Orion looked at Hazel, a tear dropped out of his eye. He drew her into a hug immediately, burying his face into her shoulder.

"No sweetie, I love it."

"Daddy," Hazel replied with a laugh and a roll of her eyes that only Tristan saw. "Are you crying?"

Orion laughed and pulled away, discreetly wiping his eye. "N-no!"

Hazel grinned, putting her hand on her hips. "Daddy--don't lie."

Orion laughed, turning her around and giving her a gentle shove. "Go play with your brothers."

Hazel turned back around, gave Orion a peck on the cheek, and then happily joined them. Orion took a deep, shuddering breath, and got to his feet. Tristan looked up at him.

"You alright?"

"Y-yeah," Orion said, even though he clearly wasn't. He rushed away. For a moment Tristan thought about following, but he decided to give Orion some room.

Orion went into the kitchen where Ben and Amy were. Without explanation, Orion turned Amy around and hugged her fiercely, crying into her shoulder. Amy laughed in bewilderment, hugging her brother.

"Orion, woah. What's going on?"

"I love you," he muttered into her shoulder. "I love you so very much. M-Merry Christmas."

"I love you too," she replied softly, briefly running her fingers through his hair.

Orion released her and pulled Ben into a hug. Ben laughed, embracing his friend. "C'mere, ya big softy."

"I love you," Orion told him.

"Hazel gave you her present, didn't she?"

"Y-yeah."

"Tristan!" Ben called, swaying Orion on his feet. "You owe me my thirty bucks!"

"Yeah, I know," Tristan's voice called into the kitchen.

Orion pulled away, looking pissed. "You guys bet if I was gonna cry or not?!"

Ben threw his head back, cackling. Orion grinned, shoving Ben away and punching him.

"Hey!" Amy chided, "no fighting on Christmas! Out of my kitchen!"

"Your kitchen?" Orion rebutted.

Amy shoved him, hard, towards the door. "Give us ten more minutes and breakfast will be ready. Go warn the kids so there isn't a meltdown when they have to stop playing."

Orion looked over his shoulder, sticking out his tongue at her. She returned the gesture. Ben laughed at them both.

The rest of the day was spent in merriment. Breakfast was a spread of pancakes, bagels, sausage, and bacon. There was also a fruit bowl (which Tristan insisted the kids ate from). Afterwards, Jake showed up, his arms overflowing with gifts.

Mid-afternoon Tristan's parents showed up with presents. Shortly thereafter, Jake's mother, father, sister, his sister's husband, and their four children arrived (also bearing gifts) . Last to arrive was Orion's mom and brothers, bringing even more presents. Tristan and Orion took turns checking on the ham that was in the oven all day. Slowly more food was made in between the festivities, and soon the entire house smelled of a delicious feast, the windows fogged up.

Everyone had a blast. Mistletoe was in every doorway, and Orion made sure everyone abided by the rules. H'orderves were spread out in every room. Candy dishes sat in every nook. The children all tried sneaking into their stockings at various points, being shooed away by the grownups.

Once dinner hit, the alcohol was brought out. Orion stuck to sparkling grape juice, and Tristan did likewise. Afterwards, everyone corralled into the large drawing room, and the kids were allowed to open their presents and stockings. It was joyous, absolute chaos. Orion went around with a large garbage bag, gathering up the wrapping paper.

"Excuse me," Ben said once all the gifts were open. He stood up, clinking a spoon to his champagne glass. "I'd like to say a few words, please."

Orion, Jake, and Tristan all immediately grinned at one another. Ben made his way to the front of the tree, quite a task as he avoided stepping on children and toys. Once he was situated, he took a deep breath.

"Hey Amy--could you come here please?"

Amy looked around the room, shrugged, and got to her feet. Ben grinned at her, and then looked at everyone as various children were shooshed.

"I just wanted to let everyone here know how much you all mean to me," Ben said. "We've all grown into one huge family. I couldn't be happier. Well, I could be a little happier, I suppose, because I want to make one of you my actual family."

Ben took Amy's hand and got down on one knee. Amy gasped immediately, hands flying to her face. Ben pulled out a red velvet box from his back pocket, smiling up at Amy. "Amy--I'd be honored to call you my wife. Will you marry me, please?"

Amy burst into tears, waving her hands in front of her face and choking out a "yes". The room exploded into a cacophony of "aws" and "congratulations" and cheers. Once Ben and Amy were done hugging and kissing, and Ben had slipped on her engagement ring (a sapphire, sourced humanely), her crying mom pulled her into a hug. Then all her brothers piled around her and hugged her.

As John and Seth congratulated Ben, Amy punched Orion in the shoulders. She laughed, wiping more tears away. "You knew, you asshole, didn't you?"

Orion grinned at her. "Of course I did!"

"It was so hard to keep my mouth shut," Tristan gushed, laughing.

"Same!" a not entirely sober Jake added with a laugh.

"I hate you guys," Amy told them, but pulled them in for more hugs nonetheless.

The rest of the evening carried on. It wasn't until eleven did things start to slow down. Every guest room was used, and a few unexpected guests who weren't sober enough to go anywhere crashed in the basement. Once everyone was settled in, and the kids were tucked in, Orion and Tristan snuck away to their room.

After they had made love, they laid in bed. Orion was wrapped in Tristan's arms, Tristan kissing his shoulder. Unexpectedly, Orion sniffed. Tristan paused his kisses when Orion sniffed again.

"Orio? Are you alright?"

Orion sat up, but didn't offer a response. Tristan propped himself up on his elbows, looking alarmed at Orion as he wiped tears from his eyes. "Love--what's wrong?"

"Thank you," Orion whispered, eyes falling to his crossed legs as more tears spilled from them.

Tristan sat up completely, rubbing Orion's shoulder briefly. "For what? What's going on?"

"I never--I-I've always loathed Christmas." Orion sniffed and rubbed his nose, still refusing to look anywhere but his lap. "I hated Thanksgiving. I never had anything to be thankful for."

Tristan looked pained. "I thought the foster house was okay?"

"Yeah, but holidays always just reminded me I was alone when I was there," Orion replied quietly. "I-I knew m-my foster siblings were going to be adopted before me. It--it always happened. And then when I was adopted, m-my h-home life was s-so shitty--"

Tristan pulled Orion into his arms, stroking his hair. Orion completely broke down then, crying as quietly as he could into his husband's shoulder.

"Orio..."

"T-today was p-perfect. It was f-fucking p-perfect." Orion pulled away, looking at Tristan and putting his hand to his cheek. "T-thank you for giving me something I've never had. Thank you for g-giving me the family I've always wanted."

Tristan kissed Orion softly. When they separated Tristan smiled, wiping away Orion's tears and holding his face in his hands. Orion held Tristan's wrists, stroking them with his thumbs.

"Merry Christmas, Orion."

"M-Merry Christmas, Tristan. I love you."

"I love you, too."