"I'm fine staying. Mom is having her latest boyfriend over and I do not want to hear them discuss medieval paintings over dinner." Jeremy makes me laugh.

"It does not matter. It's Christmas day and you have to be with family. Hazel and I will be staying the night at the hospital for that very reason. You are welcome to stay and have sandwiches with us, though." I tell him.

I hear him sigh, "I'd much rather do that than have to listen to two old people discuss their love life."

"Jeremy! She's your mother!" I scold him.

"Which makes it all that much worse." He groans.

I laugh at his discomfort but keep pushing, "Go be with family!"

He's silent for a second before giving in, "Fine. I'll leave in a couple of minutes. Will you be okay alone for the night?"

"Yes, we'll be fine." I reassure him and end the call.

"Please!" Hazel appears before me with her hands clasped together.

She has been begging me to let her open the presents I got her but I want to go to the hospital and have her open them there. At least Daniel will be physically present.

"Just twenty more minutes." I promise her. She pouts but nods and walks away to put out food and water for Vanessa.

I smile at her tiny retreating figure clad in a Christmas themed t-shirt and matching pajamas. I'm dressed in a sweatshirt and trousers too, ready to spend the night over at the hospital.

When Hazel returns, I help her put on her jacket then put on mine and lock the doors before getting into the car. All the helpers, butlers and drivers are off for the day so I had to make our sandwiches and look after the house all alone.

I drive us to the hospital and park the car. I hand Hazel the paper bag with food and grab the gift bags with Hazel's presents.

When we get to Daniel's room, I find Daniel alone for the first time. Usually, Martha or Jeremy were always with him but tonight it's just the three of us.

While Hazel climbs onto the bed to kiss Daniel's cheek, I set the bags down on an armchair.

"Let's have the food and open gifts." I suggest and Hazel eagerly walks over to me.

We get comfortable on the sofa with the food between us, Hazel has a bottle of water and I have a warm coffee that I grabbed from the hospital cafeteria. As we munch on sandwiches Hazel opens her presents.

She's excited to see that I got her the Barbie doll house that she had been asking for ever since it released last month.

"What's this?" She asks holding up a pink sweater in her size and another tiny one.

"Guess." I smile at her and she racks her brain before giving up.

"It's for Vanessa!" I laugh and tickle her.

"We'll match!" She excitedly squeals and I laugh at her excitement.

She opens the rest of her presents, thanking me for each one. By the time she opens her sixth and last present, we're done eating and my phone's camera roll has pictures and selfies from the entire unwrapping process.

While Hazel neatly places the gifts back in their gift bags, I gather all the paper scattered around the sofa and dispose it off. Once the sofa's clear again, I pull out my laptop and we watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas just as we have all three last Christmases with Hazel.

We're fifteen minutes into the movie when someone knocks on the room's door. My heart begins to hammer, thinking of the untimely hour and worst case scenarios run through my mind. Before I can muster the courage to answer the door, it opens to reveal Daniel's family!

"Merry Christmas!" Elana exclaims, coming into the room to hug me.

"What you all doing here?" I ask as Martha hugs me too and I watch Hazel hug her grandfather.

"We had to be with family!" Elana points out.

"Thank you so much for coming." I tell them and I'm thankful to note that they didn't invite David.

Hazel and Morgan go down to the cafeteria with Arthur to get hot chocolate for everyone. It nears midnight by the time our chatter begins to die down but Morgan and Hazel are hyper after all the sugar they ingested.

There's a pause in conversation but it's quickly filled with an unexpected voice.

"I thought you all would never stop talking."

I nearly fall out of my armchair as I jump up to face Daniel who's lying in bed with a small smile on his face.

"Daniel!" I cry out and envelope him in a crushing hug. I'm sobbing as I pull away to find Hazel standing on the other side of the bed her mouth hanging open.

"Daddy?" She whispers.

"Hey Bunny." He smiles at her as she scrambles onto the bed and throws her arms around his neck.

I'm brought back to earth by Elana's hand on my arm as Arthur and Martha join their son, both of them crying too.

I let Elana hold me, the whole idea of Daniel finally waking up is too foreign for me to accept. Then Elana fetches the doctor on duty and the entire time that he's conducting various checkups, Hazel clings to Daniel not letting go.

When the doctor leaves, Daniel asks, "What are you all doing here?"

"It's Christmas!" His mother replies, stroking his hair.

"How can I miss out a month?" Daniel sighs.

"That's a comma for you." His father reminds him making us all laugh despite the tears in everyone's eyes.

"We should let Daniel rest now." Elana suggests and the parents nod, "We're already checked into a hotel."

"But you can just go to our house." I remind them.

"Oh! Too much problem! It's all locked up and secure. We have three rooms booked, Hazel do you want to come along?" They ask her.

"I want to stay with daddy." She says, still on the bed with him.

"She's fine." I tell them and say goodbye as they leave.

When I return to the room Hazel is asleep in Daniel's half embrace and he's looking out the window at the city lights.

When I close the door, he turns to look at me. I suddenly feel light headed, this is too good to be true.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, sitting down on the other side of the bed.

"Slightly dizzy. But that is expected since I was asleep for almost a month." He smiles at me.

I nod and look down at my hands but Daniel's takes one in his, forcing me to look at him, "How have you been?"

"I'm okay. Better than I actually thought I'd be by this time." I assure him.

"How was Hazel?" He asks.

I smile at our sleeping daughter, "Shaken but wonderful."

I tell him about her PTM and he's as surprised as I was when I tell him of how she helped Ben with his problems.

When I finish he says, "Wow! I always thought she'd push everyone away given she's been the only child all this time."

"That's exactly what I have been thinking. Just that I didn't have you to discuss it with." I sigh as Daniel rubs my hand.

"I'm so sorry." He says, making me frown, "For not being here with you."

I start shaking my head, "Daniel no." And then for the first time in nearly a month I lean forward and kiss my husband. When I pull away, the look in his eyes makes my heart melt.

I have Daniel back.

He's awake!

I'm sorry if this seemed a bit abrupt but the story has been reflecting my mood for the last few days and things seem to be on the up for me and hence, I wanted the story to take a turn for the best too :)

-T

P.S. this chapter is dedicated to one of my best readers @MichelleMoon0 ,she's been amazing throughout ❤️