(no subject)

[littleorphanalien]

It's not their first Christmas with Luke, but it is their first holiday season in the new house, with Michael sober, and feeling like he has a real shot of the future with another kid at some point. So, really, he's got to start getting better at the family joy and love and happiness thing, since if he gets his way, he's going to have a hell of a lot more of these soon.

The ceiling has been finished and Alex's gift is waiting in their room, which means that everything is ready for the morning, and Michael feels giddy as he sticks a Santa hat on his head, sitting up in bed and kissing Alex's temple. He suspects that Luke will be up soon enough, but he wants to give Alex fair warning, but also...

"Your elf hat is sitting on the bedside stand," he informs him. "Come and meet me in Luke's room, and I'll get coffee started with my brain."

Comments

[unendurable]

One of the most amazing things is that this isn't their first Christmas today. That's so special to Alex, that they've been together this long and have a life they're sharing together between them all.

So when he wakes up to that soft kiss, he can't help but smile. He fell asleep thinking about how good this could be and now it's morning and it's going to be perfect. He hopes.

Chuckling at that comment about the hat, leaning in to kiss Michael. "Mmmm, brain made coffee. Perfect," he teases, stealing another kiss. "Merry Christmas," he murmurs softly. "Our family Christmas."

[ithastobeseven]

Luke had every intention of being awake as soon as it was morning. It doesn't matter that he knows Santa isn't real (Christmas in a group home is a real fast way to get any doubts clarified fast by the big kids, even if school hadn't done it). He still likes to pretend, a little bit, listen for reindeer. That's just how Christmas goes: you stay up listening for reindeer and get up first thing.

But then he was awake last night trying to figure out if Santa could be real in Darrow. Like, Obi-Wan Kenobi is real. Peter Pan -- well, he's not here, thankfully as far as Luke can tell. But Neverland is a place people come from. Maybe Santa could show up here from a place Santa is real. And if he did, would he just give kids toys? Or would he be all out of place and not have a North Pole? And --

He'd been lonely for a couple minutes then, without Nell to demand answers from (or even Stevie, maybe). But Alex and Michael have been really, really good at helping him not be sad, and it's been exciting, anyway, helping them make things for each other, plus he worked really hard on his pictures for them and wrapping them up. He'd made Christmas drawings of his family back home too, and he got up for a while and wrote out an extra letter to put with it telling Mom and Dad and Steve and Shirl and Theo and Nell all about Christmas and the stuff they've been doing. He's going to send it in the Mailbox to Nowhere, even if he's not sure if it goes anywhere. He's been doing that for a little while and it feels better.

And then he'd curled up back in bed, feeling better knowing Alex and Michael would totally take him to go do that without being mad at all. At some point he'd fallen asleep, then, sleepily excited for the morning.

Now sun's streaming in the window and he rubs his eyes, yawning.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael grabs the coffee and the hat, knocking lightly on Luke's door. Sure, he's not a teenager or anything, but there's something to be said about having your own place and your own privacy. Michael's been in enough group homes to know that he doesn't want to barge in on Luke and treat him like his space doesn't matter.

It does. It means a ton to him that it does.

"You up in there, big guy?" Michael asks, voice brimming with excitement he can't really keep in. "Cuz I know that Alex and I have been up for ages, excited for this morning."

[unendurable]

He takes a moment to get his leg strapped on properly, pulling on an ufo sweater and then his elf hat.

He can smell coffee, loving the scent of it with this morning. It's all part of Christmas to him, and their Christmas is the only one he's thinking about. Luke here for almost a year, their life together for over a year since they first came to this place, through their wedding.

It's all still so amazing to him as he comes up behind Michael as he knocks on Luke's door.

[ithastobeseven]

"I'm up, come in!" Luke says, hopping down from his bed to come to the door. "I wanted to be up super super early, you should have gotten me up," he says, but he's play-pouting, not disappointed at all.

"Merry Christmas," he says, a little more shy and smiley, giving Michael a big hug with another for Alex waiting in the wings.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael grins as he opens the door, clad in his hat and bending down to wrap Luke up in a bear hug that's so tight he wants to make the breath squeeze out of him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before sending him off to Alex.

Christmas morning with a kid -- it's something he never got as a child, and living vicariously through Luke has already got him misty-eyed. "Merry Christmas, big guy," he shares. "So, Alex, what are you thinking? Coffee and breakfast, then presents? Or are we all too excited and need presents right away?"

[unendurable]

Alex feels his eyes stinging. Watching Michael hug Luke so tight, thinking about what this day must have been like for Michael in the past. How it's been for him. And yet here they are with this house and their family and it's amazing and he's not going to try.

Even if he thinks he might just cry as he hugs Luke tight. "Hey, Merry Christmas. And we just got up," he assures him. Giving Luke another squeeze and then glancing to Michael and smiling.

"Gifts first!"

[ithastobeseven]

Luke’s glad Alex said gifts first, because he was definitely going to insist on that. Though, in the Christmas spirit, he realizes, “but you guys could have coffee at the same time, too,” since that seems like it might be fairer than them having to wait. Plus Michael’s been really good at giving up a lot of things so he probably shouldn’t have to be patient to get to have other things he likes, especially on Christmas and if Luke’s not being patient about gifts.

“I’m excited for you to both see yours,” he says. “Oh! I’ve got a couple more, hold on.” He runs back to where he wrapped the pictures he drew them — using maybe a little more tape than needed and, on one, an extra stripe of wrapping paper where he cut the paper too short, but still pretty good. Saoirse and her mum had helped him find frames. He doesn’t think all his drawings are worth being framed, exactly, but he’d spent a whole lot of time on these and also, it made them easier to wrap.

He comes back with the little stack of three flat packages and a grin.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael's eyes are thick with tears, his throat closing up. He hadn't expected any of this, and he stares at Alex helplessly, a wordless cry to explain to him how they can be so lucky to get this, because he feels adrift and amazing and all of it at the same time.

"Coffee?" he croaks out, managing that with Luke out of the room.

By the time he comes back, he's only a little composed, beaming at Luke and the gifts. "Big guy, you didn't have to," he insists gently. "But we're glad you did."

[unendurable]

Alex smiles, so proud of the person that Luke is. He's so caring and giving and he truly hopes they can always protect him and give him a chance for a life that isn't touched in the ways his life is meant to be.

He's such an amazing child.

Alex hurries to the kitchen, getting down mugs so that he can pour them both fresh coffee. He comes back as Luke is coming in with the gifts. Pausing, almost forgetting to hand one of the mugs to Michael as he stares at Luke.

His eyes sting as he clutches at the handles of the mugs. "Awww, Luke," he murmurs, smiling so widely. "You are the best kid ever," he says, truly meaning that and believing it.

[ithastobeseven]

Luke blushes a little bit under all the affection, and he says, "I didn't have to, but I liked to." He grins. "You don't even know all the kids ever," he points out very logically to Alex before frowning down to figure out which ones go to who.

"This one's for you," he says, passing them out. "And this one's for you, and this one's for both of you,"

"Oh, should we sort out the presents before opening them? Or should we just...start?" At home they all kind of ran around handing them out -- he and Nell had had as much fun doing that, he thinks -- but that's partly because there were so many of them to find presents for.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael takes it, still feeling a little numb. He's put the coffee to the side, breathing out raggedly as he tries to come to terms with everything he's feeling, way more than last year, but in the best of ways. This is real and this is his family and he earned it. He'll fight and he'll die to keep it, no matter what.

"Mine's not exactly wrapped," Michael admits, glancing to Alex. "Is yours? I don't know if you decided to do it or not, but I think Luke should open his first, right?" he says, sitting down on the bed, knowing that when it comes time, he can use his powers to reveal his gift.

[unendurable]

This is everything that Alex could want, even as he scoffs at that logic. "I don't need to. I know you," he points out, as if that is logical or makes it so. He just knows he's happy and this is perfect.

"I think Luke should do his first, and then we can do ours and then we'll get the dough out and roll the cinnamon rolls."

He glances between them, holding the gift from Luke. "We could start with Michael's?"

[ithastobeseven]

"Ooh, there are cinnamon rolls too?" Probably he got told this and forgot in the excitement, but that almost makes it better.

"Okay!" Luke agrees happily, and he realizes he's just as excited to see them open the gifts he's helped with as he is to get gifts. Maybe not more excited. But just as excited. He bounces on the bed a little, turning to look up at Michael. They could have gotten him like, new socks, and he'd still be happy, but he's pretty sure between the two of them it's gonna be something awesome.

[OOC: omg coming in on this so late! Sorry, this time of year is rough and Luke is hard to write when I'm feeling down. Hopefully stretching this out is cool!]

[littleorphanalien]

"Gotta indulge my sweet tooth somehow," Michael quips, giving Luke an encouraging smile, because of course there's going to be cinnamon rolls. He gives Luke a wink, and uses his powers to close the curtains so the room is dark, nodding upwards with his chin.

"Lie back," he tells Luke, and once he's facing the right way, Michael hits the light switch that he'd just installed that controls the sub-ceiling he'd put up. Immediately, Luke's room illuminates with a galaxy scattered above, constellations and stars for him to see. "I added another ceiling while you were at school, I kind of thought maybe you were onto me at some point."

[unendurable]

It's all so beautiful, and perfect, and Alex is so excited. He loves this family so much and is utterly in love with the family he has. He knows he should maybe want to go home but the truth is, he doesn't. He doesn't want to leave this place. He misses a few but everything he wants is right here. His husband. Luke. Their life. It's all he wants.



Smiling as Michael uses his powers, loving he did it and hoping he's okay for it. And then the room lights up and it's so beautiful and utterly perfect.

"Wow," he whispers, not having seen it either before now.

(ooc: never a problem. hope things get better. *HUGS*)

[ithastobeseven]

Luke grins as the curtains slide closed, a probably easy but powerful-feeling use of his powers that reminds him that he's got to introduce Michael and Alex to Obi-Wan, if they haven't met already.

Then he flops back, looking up, and his eyes go wide as the night sky appears. "Whoa," he says. "Whoa, it's everything. That one's the big dipper, right...?" It's weird, trying to learn and remember the constellations, because there are different ones in Darrow (mostly with weird names), but he prefers the sky at home. This is definitely going to help.

"This is so great." He doesn't want to sit up yet, especially with Alex sounding like he hasn't seen it either. "I knew you were doing something," he admits. "But I didn't guess it was this at all."

"Hey," he says, pushing himself up. "Do you know where your people are from in the sky?"

[littleorphanalien]

For Michael, this moment is everything. Watching Luke's reaction to the present makes his chest tighten, but it's in the very best way, because he knows it's because Luke loves what he did for him. That matters, more than anything else, and he feels twenty feet tall.

It even makes up for the sadness he feels at Luke's question. "I have no idea where I'm from, what we're called, or anything about our history, other than the fact that we were running from a war," he admits, because Noah had given them that much.

"All that matters is that you like it. When I was your age, I'd go out stargazing, but it got real cold at night," he admits. "I figured this was better."