Oh,Brother! (Complete)

29: Beautiful Nightmare

The snow had settled on the ground, every inch covered in white. We had just finished adding the last decorations onto the Christmas tree, but it required one final touch.

"Can we put the star on top of the tree now" a little voice said from beside me.

"Not yet sweetie. We need to wait for daddy to come home"

"When is he coming home?" he pouted.

I smiled at his cute little pout. He always managed to get away with everything with that face. "He should be home soon. It's Christmas Eve, so he'll be working a little late tonight"

"Awww, but I really want to finish the Christmas tree"

"Soon sweetie. How about a Christmas cookie for now while we wait?"

"But aren't those for Santa?" he asked, wide eyed.

I chuckled, nothing ever did get past him "Yes, but I'm sure Santa will let you have one since you've been a good boy this year"

He laughed in delight as he toddled to the kitchen, where a plate of warm cookies awaited him.

I stretched my neck out, rubbing it as I went to sit down on the couch. All day we had been organising the house, getting ready for Christmas. It was taking its toll now. I just hoped Jason would come home soon, so he could take over the Christmas preparations.

The front door opened. Speak of the devil. Our little boy ran to the door, shouting "daddy, daddy, we put the Christmas tree up"

"Did you now? Well, I'll have to see this" Jason said, walking into the living room where I was enjoying my few moments of peace.

"Do you like it? Can we put up the star now?" he giggled, getting out of Jason's hold.

"Were you waiting for me to put up the star?"

"Yeah. You know it's a tradition" I said.

"Sorry, I totally forgot. It's been a crazy day at work but now I'm yours for the rest of the week"

"I hope so. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever" I laughed.

He came down to where I was and kissed me. "I'm sorry. I promise you will have my undivided attention for the rest of the week" he smirked. "And how is our little bun in the oven doing?" he said, kissing my expanding belly.

"She is kicking like crazy. She's ready to come out now" I groaned, rubbing my belly.

"I'm ready to see her" he said, kissing me once again.

"Daddy, let's put the star on the tree" he bounced up and down, holding the star in his hand.

"Okay, okay" Jason laughed, lifting our little boy up so he could place the star on the tree. I swear, each year his smile got wider when we put up the star. All the stress of the Christmas preparations was worth it to see his bright smile.

"I've prepared the guest room for your parents coming over tomorrow" I said to Jason.

"Oh, I completely forgot to tell you. They aren't coming tomorrow. They're going to come by the day after"

"What? Why? What happened? They were supposed to come up here like they do every year"

"They decided to spend it with Liz this year. You see, she's had her baby and they wanted to spend Christmas with her to celebrate her baby's first Christmas"