All the Little Things

Chapter Eleven: Luca

Noelle is currently in her little swing, Luca tucking the blanket around her to keep her warm, despite the fire that is already roaring in the fireplace. She looks up at him, eyes half-lidded as she sucks on a pacifier that is clipped to her onesie.

Jamie had been by last night to help with Noelle, and she had slept better than she has ever before, meaning that she only woke up three times during the night, instead of just sleeping a couple times instead. He had woken up at just past six this morning, restless from the overabundance of sleep.

"Thank you for letting daddy get some sleep last night," Luca whispers, bending down to place a kiss on his daughter's forehead. She just blinks at him, letting out a tiny coo at his ministrations.

At the sound of the front door opening, Luca stands up, running a hand through his hair. It needs to be cut, he thinks, the strands long enough to fall in his face.

"Hello?" an all too familiar voice calls out.

"We're in here."

Footsteps come down the hall, and a few seconds later, Jamie appears, holding cloth bags practically overflowing with stuff.

"I can take that," Luca says, walking over to the other man. Jamie lets him take the bags, and their fingers brush. A rush of heat runs through him at the contact, and he brushes it off. It's stupid. This is far from the first time he has ever touched his best friend. Hell, they had even seen each other naked too many times to count. That's what happens when you know someone since before you could remember.

"Thanks," Jamie says, rubbing his hands together. "It's freezing out there."

"I kind of figured with the snow and everything." Luca walks over to the coffee table, depositing the bags and starting to sift through them.

"Oh no, peanut," Jamie remarks, bending down to scoop up the little baby. She snuggles right into his chest, eyes closing immediately as she is held by her favorite person. "Did you let him sleep too much? Because his sass is coming back. He was never this sassy when you were keeping him as a zombie."

"Ha ha," Luca calls over his shoulder. He digs through the bags, pulling out way too many containers, all filled to the brim with desserts. In the other bag, there are three sweaters. One of them is tiny, and when he unfolds it, he realizes that it is not a sweater at all. Instead, it is the smallest pair of overalls he has ever seen, and the material it is made of is soft to the touch. The overalls are a deep red, with a gold bow ties around the middle.

"She can wear those over that cream-colored onesie she has. The one with the gold polka dots?" Jamie comes to stand next to Luca. "She'll be the star of the show."

"And these?"

Luca sets down the overalls and picks up the two bigger sweaters.

"Those are for us. Yours is the blue one. Mine is the green."

Luca unfolds the dark blue sweater and sees that it is covered in traditional Christmas patterns, and when he looks at Jamie's he sees that it is the same.

"I knew you probably wouldn't have an outfit for your own party, so I just got one for the both of us."

"You didn't have to do that," Luca tries, but Jamie cuts him off with an eye roll.

"Oh please. You were probably going to wear that atrocious sweater that you got from Goodwill back in college."

"Hey, that's a great sweater!"

Jamie just rolls his eyes again, grabbing the baby overalls and heading out of the room. "No one needs to see you walking around wearing a sweater featuring Santa doing a keg stand for the tenth year in a row."