My alarm was the sound of my mother blaring Christmas carols through the house until I staggered down the stairs barely awake. I was unfortunately conscious enough to see her version of pajamas, which was a pairing of nearly see-through negligee and matching robe. Not what any boy really wants to see first thing on Christmas morning.

Especially not my gay ass. The other sight I got to see, however, was quite nice. Mark was in a rather tight white t-shirt and red with green plaid flannel pants. We were both ushered into the dining room for a rather large spread. I made a bee-line to the stack of French toast and piled three on my plate before anything else.

"Nice pajamas, geek boy." Mark teased me as he elbowed his way to grabbing a stack of them for himself. I stuck my tongue out at him and patted my awesome lego Batman fleece onesie. My mother came up behind me and stuck a set of reindeer ears on my head while I was chowing down. I just winced and glared in her general direction.

"Let's go open gifts after we are done here." She ordered more than suggested. I shrugged, then panicked a little internally. I hadn't gotten her anything, only Mark. I even wrapped his gift myself, with a little help from William of course. I wondered how mad she was going to be. Oh well, might as well enjoy my last meal as a free man.

"Don't worry Master Greg, I picked something from her list to give on your behalf as I always do. She will love it." I heard the same William whisper discretely to me as he filled my cup with fresh hot tea. I looked up gratefully and smiled.

"I hope you got yourself something good too." I said pertly. He laughed a bit and moved on to get Mark some more coffee.

"Of course sir. You were very generous." He replied with a twinkle in his eye. I was really starting to like that guy. I waited for my mother to be done picking at the food on her plate instead of eating it and then hopped up from the table. There was a gigantic tree set up in our front sitting room so you could see it out the window. A few large presents sat underneath.

"Why don't you go first Kelly." Mark said with a sardonic grin in my direction. His tone was pleasant though, and my mother was too excited to notice. She pawed through the gifts and grabbed the biggest one with her name on it from us. We watched as she tore it open and squealed like a piglet. It was a necklace with small red rubies, which she immediately put around her neck.

"Oh my god! Mark, it is beautiful!" She hugged him and danced around like she won the lottery. I thought it looked like she slit her throat from a distance. It suited her. I smiled to myself at the thought and watched her open her second gift, which was a matching bracelet. Apparently it was from me, and I received a quick squeeze.

"Why don't you open one of yours, Greg?" Mark said quietly. I nodded and grabbed a large box with my name on it. It was hard to get open with the frilly bows and ribbons all over it, and when I finally did I was in shock. My jaw clenched and I felt a little sick to my stomach with the heavy food I had just eaten.

"Do you like it baby?" My mother looked on expectantly. I faked a smile and nodded.

"What did you get?" Mark looked over as I pulled the case out of the box and opened it on the floor. I spun it to show him. He looked up at me in shock and glared at my mother's back as she dove under the tree for more.

"Isn't it a nice guitar?" I said in a fake cheerful voice. He sighed and nodded his head when my mother handed him a small gift. He gave her a tight smile before cracking open the paper and pulling off the ribbons.

"Wow. Kelly this is...." He was staring inside the small package with disbelief. I stood up so I could peer over the top and see. He opened the box and I caught sight of the Rolex brand on the lid if it. Holy. My mother sure knew how to butter a guy up. When he pulled it out I just about gagged at how gaudy it was though. It was platinum-toned and the sheer number of diamonds on the face of it was ridiculous. The whole front was covered in them.

"Read the back of it sweetie." She came over and leaned on his arm, playing with his hair as he took it out of the box. He tilted it into the light and read it out loud.

"If I know what love is, it is because of you." He read out. She smiled really big and bent down to kiss him. I turned away, not wanting to watch the display. It was sort of an ironic quote after all she had done to him since they had been married. A sick joke, really. She had shown him all the things love shouldn't be, and he had shown her all the things it could be.

I went over to the presents again with that sick feeling still in my stomach that I tried to hide with a smile as I picked up a gift from William and the staff. I opened it up to find a really warm and cozy looking set of winter gear. The scarf was wide and striped in green and grey, the hat and gloves matched, and they all looked like they were hand-knitted by a pro.

"Oh dear, Maria didn't do a very good job wrapping this one." My mother said as she handed over Mark's gift from me. I blushed and ducked my head a little.

"Maria was busy, so I helped Master Greg wrap that one himself." William noted with a gentle smile in my direction. I bit my lip as Mark glanced over at me. He was opening my gift and I didn't have another in front of me, so I stopped to watch his reaction nervously. His eyes got really wide in surprise as he pulled back the last bit of the paper.

"Is this... a new desk lamp? This is really great Greg!" His eyes were lit up as he turned the box over to read the features.

"What? That wasn't on your list... William, did you buy that by mistake?" My mother said inconsiderately. He looked over at me and I cleared my throat.

"Ah, no. I went... I went shopping and I noticed he needed a new one. The... the office was a bit too dark and I thought..." I stuttered a bit over my words as my mother stared at me incredulously. Mark got up and came over. I was pulled up into a hug and he ruffled my hair affectionately.

"Thank you so much. That was very thoughtful of you." He stated before going back to his seat and opening his own set of winter gear from the staff. His was royal blue and black, a very stunning combination against his colouring. It made his blond hair and bottle green eyes stand out dramatically when he laughingly threw the scarf over his shoulder and thanked William.

I pulled my hat on and got up to look at myself in the mirror. It was pretty cute and I was glad they hadn't thought to put a pompom on the end of it. I liked the way it slouched at the top as though it was too big. The grey was a light, cool tone that went with my eyes too. Mark laughed when he looked over and saw me posing in front of a mirror with my gloves on too.

My mother had opened hers to find a lovely pashmina scarf in a pink floral, which suited her colouring and style very well. Much more appropriate considering she never wore hats in the winter and all her gloves were made of dead animals. Yuck. Either way she seemed really happy with it and thanked everyone graciously for the wonderful morning.

That was their cue to be dismissed and spend the rest of the day with their own families. I sighed in relief since that also meant I could drag my things up to my own room and lounge around for the rest of the day if I wanted. My mother seemed to be fretting though as they all left. I had my arms full of the gifts as I watched her standing there, wringing her hands.

"Mark honey... did you forget to get something for Greg?" She finally asked, a little upset. He hopped up from his seat and snapped his fingers.

"Ah! Nope. I think it should be all set up now. Come on and follow me." He motioned to my mother and grabbed my hand to drag us both up the stairs. We were looking at each other a bit mystified. He took us to a room one door down from mine, a spare room that usually housed drunken guests when my mother had parties.

He flung the door open to show that it had been redecorated to be a small den. There was an art station and a desk for homework on one side. On the other side, there was a couple of small couches and my entertainment centre had been completely revamped to fill the wall. It was impressive. Shelves held my systems and games, and there were a few figures from my favourite movies.

He had spent at least as much on me as he must have on my mother's necklace, only my gift was actual space to have friends over and spend time in... in my own house. He used my favourite colours when choosing the wall colours and furniture. It was too perfect. I felt a strong pair of arms go around me and I realised I was sobbing.

"Do you like it?" He whispered close to my ear. I shivered and grabbed on tight for a hug. I nodded, speechless. My mother looked a bit concerned at my reaction but I gave her a big grin and went over to stroke the couch and flop into it comfortably.

"I love it. I really love it. It is perfect. Thank you so much, Mark." I said over my shoulder. My mother seemed relieved that I was talking again and gave Mark a kiss before leaving me to it.

"What? I'm not Daddy anymore?" He raised a brow and gave me a mischievous glance as I blushed fiercely to the tips of my ears. I stuttered incoherently as he laughed at me and came over to sit next to me. "I'm just teasing you, Greg. Relax."

"Did... uh, did you want me to call you Dad... or whatever?" I asked shyly, picking at the end of my scarf still wrapped around my neck snugly. I gulped and he looked at me seriously.

"I think I am a bit too young to be a father, but whatever makes you comfortable is fine with me." He replied honestly. I sighed in relief. Thank god.

"Okay, well if it is alright with you I think I will just keep calling you Mark." I rushed out. He smiled and ruffled my hair companionably.

"Sounds good, Greg. Now what kind of video games do you have for this set up? I may be a bit rusty, but I'd love to kick back and play for a bit." He turned to the entertainment centre and I hopped up with enthusiasm. Now this was something I was definitely all in for.