Christmas Eve 2019

Jerry watched Sarah twirling in her holly-green dress, his heart filling with both unbridled happiness he never thought possible and a worrying amount of dread.

"Look how adorable these are!" She turned around with a huge grin on her face, holding up one of the onesies she'd picked up for Kyle's twins. It read Little Christmas Miracle and was indeed very fit for the occasion.

She didn't even wait for an answer but continued to pour over the Christmas presents they'd gotten for everyone. Jerry watched her digging through the plushies, mumbling about whether it was too stereotypical to get Jenny a unicorn.

And suddenly, just like she'd gotten excited, she seemed to deflate. Jerry's heart sank, too, and the feeling of dread smothered the happiness. The sadness on her face broke her heart.

"We don't have to go, you know," he whispered.

Sarah jumped and the clouds over her face cleared. "What are you talking about? Of course we're going. If Kyle and Kay invited us and organized a whole Christmas party, we're not going to miss it." She smirked. "Especially when we're bringing all the food."

Jerry grinned back, aware that Kyle had told him it wasn't necessary. Of course it was. As brand new parents, he and Kay needed all the help they could get. But that didn't mean that having more babies in the family didn't take its toll on Sarah. She loved Sammy and loved kids in general, and the more the times passed and their relationship became deeper, Jerry knew she sometimes thought if she'd ever be able to have kids of her own. Their own. The pocket of his jeans seemed to burn.

His hand drafted to the other pocket, feeling for his cellphone. It would be so easy. Just send a text that they'll be late. Because he'd planned to do it tonight, after they returned. But it wouldn't be fair. He'd be distracted and this was a joy he wanted to share with his brothers as well.

His stomach contracted, but the nerves felt like butterflies rather than snakes. Yes, he could do this. He wouldn't even be the first. Nor the second or third. And he was sure. More certain than he'd been about anything else in his life recently.

He took his phone out and opened the group chat and sent the text he needed.

"Who are you texting?" Sarah asked, putting the presents in order.

"I just let Kyle know we'll be running a little late."

She frowned. "Why? If we pack up now, we have more than enough time to get there. You always plan everything perfectly."

"Well, true. Except for one thing."

She tilted her head, the curiosity on her face adorable. She was, as a whole, the most wonderful woman he'd ever met and he was sure that whatever happened, she'd be there for him. There was absolutely no reason not to prove that he'd always be there for her as well.

"Ria..."

"Yes?"

He'd had something else planned, really. Wine in the dim lights coming from the tiny Christmas tree, a much bigger build up, but the result would have been the same. He took her hand and pulled her against him.

She circled her arms around his neck, smiling. "What are you plotting?"

"Do you think I'm trying to be too perfect?"

"You?" She laughed. "Never!"

"Yes, you do."

"Yes, I do."

"Well, then, for something that's supposed to be perfect, I'm making it a little less perfect mainly because I'm being impatient."

She smirked at him. "You, impatient? For what?"

"For making sure that you are happy and will continue to be happy forever." Her smile only grew and it gave him the push he needed to say what he wanted. "I love you, Ria. More than I ever thought I could ever love someone. You showed me what it was like to feel happy, accepted, protected."

"Am I getting an early Christmas present or what?" Though her words were playful, her eyes shone with emotion.

"That's exactly what's happening. I want to try to do the same for you."

"But Remy, you made my life wonderful. Filled it with love, adventures and a wonderful family."

"And I want to give you more of that." 

This was it. Holding her hands tightly, he lowered to one knee. Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Sarah Colette Schmidt, will you--"

"Yes!" She pressed her lips together. "I'm so sorry, I should've let you finished."

No, she shouldn't have. Because her excitement was what made her so endearing and exactly what he needed in his life. So he just laughed it off.

"No, that's alright. You just completely trashed my anxiety. And before I start feeding yours, it's exactly what you're thinking." He took out the little velvet box holding her ring. "I did just sort of asked you to marry me."

Sarah yelped and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tighter against her. "Yes, yes, of course. I love you so much, Remy!"

He couldn't hear those words enough times. Slipping the ring on her finger felt amazing, as did holding her, kissing her and celebrating their love.

   🎄🎄🎄

As he rang the doorbell to Kyle's place, Jerry couldn't remember ever being happier in his life. The way Sarah held his hand, glowing next to him, snowflakes sparkling in her auburn hair.

"Finally, Jerry." Jimmy opened the door. "It's so unlike you to be late. And we were starving."

"Don't grill us, Jimmy," Sarah said with a laugh. "We were otherwise engaged."

The grin on Jimmy's face had Jerry's cheeks catching fire. Not that he minded the teasing, but he really hoped it wouldn't ruin Sarah's day.

"Just so you know," Jimmy said, his tone casual. "You need to sing in order to get in. Christmas songs. Unless you want to do opera or something. I hear that is also acceptable."

In regular circumstances, Jerry would have argued, asked his twin not to keep them out in the cold, mention the food they were bringing on tribute. But now, he was just too happy to care about potentially being embarrassed. So he just grinned and launched into a classic.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

Jimmy stepped back, shock and delight battling on his face. "What happened to you?"

"What's the matter? Seems like a perfectly appropriate song," he said as Sarah tried to hold on back her laughter.

"It is. It's just..." Jimmy's eyes narrowed. "What did you say you were doing?"

"Oh, we're telling everyone at once."

Jimmy moved out of the way immediately and Jerry and Sarah finally stepped inside. The house was warm and filled with holiday decorations. Wraths of holly, shimmering candles, a gingerbread house and different sized globes with snowy landscapes. The tree stood in one corner of the living room, rich and green.

Jerry closed his eyes and took in the smell of pine. He'd always loved it. Two large boxes of baubles and tinsel along with other figurines waited next to the tree.

"Where are the others?" Sarah asked because where the room sufficed in decorations, it lacked in people.

"In the nursery," Jimmy said, dropping on the crouch and watching them with that all-knowing grin. "So..."

"When are Tom and Angie landing?" Sarah asked.

"Ah, a deflection."

"And here comes a distraction," Kyle said, entering the room, Sammy wearing a reindeer overall in his arms. "Good to finally have you here."

Jerry just nodded, shocked by how much he wanted to blurt out that he and Sarah were engaged the moment he showed up. Instead, he focused on his brother's face. It still held the shine it got once his kids were born. He maybe looked a little tired, perhaps a little less energetic than usual. But his presence gave the house more warmth than decorations ever could.

"Is everyone in the nursery?" Sarah asked once Kyle put Sammy down.

She began to wobble towards the bags of decorations. Once there, she plopped down and dug her pudgy hand inside.

"You can go too, if you want," Kyle said. "And throw Sam out here. We need to put up the lights."

"What about Tom?" Jerry asked as Sarah made her way towards the nursery.

"He should be here any second now," Kyle said, picking up Sammy again before she plunged head-first in one of the decoration boxes. "Here, hold this child. You need to get used to it anyway." He held her out to Jimmy.

"I'm fine, thanks," Jimmy said with a grin, not getting off the couch.

Jerry reached out and took the little girl from Kyle. She grinned at him, reaching out to pat his face.

"Dada," she declared.

Jerry's heart instantly melted and an uncomfortable knot settled in his gut. Baby fever was apparently a real thing and Sarah wasn't the only one feeling it. It had been easy to handle with just Sammy. After Kyle and Kay had the twins, it got a little harder. Now with Jessie pregnant, it was almost impossible. And not because he wanted a family right then. But because he knew he would.

Sam came into the living room, stretching, and fortunately pulling Jerry out of his state of panicked blues.

"Hey guys. Why we're you late?"

"He's telling us all at the same time," Jimmy said before Jerry could open his mouth.

"Oh, do we have news?" Kyle asked, digging inside the boxes. "Hope it's good news."

"Oh, it is," Jimmy said with a grin.

"If you're pretending to be Jerry, it isn't working," Sam observed. "We know you're Jimmy."

Jimmy rolled his eyes, not impressed with Sam's detective skills. "We're wearing different clothes, genius."

"Yes, because that's the reason we can tell you apart," Kyle said with a laugh. "How about one of you giving me a hand?"

Jimmy didn't even stir from his place on the couch. Sam glanced at Jerry who was still holding his daughter, but he seemed to decide that helping Kyle was a better option than invoking kid privileges. It made Jerry smiled to himself.

The doorbell had them all turning their attention towards the hall. This time, Jimmy did move his butt off the couch and went to the door.

"Hey, Jimmy!" Angie said, out of breath and excited.

"Oh, no, you're not coming in without a Christmas song."

"Oh, really?" Tom asked, his tone full of dangerous daring. "Hey there, Mr. Shintuist, merry fucking Christmas..."

"Tom!" Angie said the same moment Jimmy let out a laugh and called, "Come in then, before you fill Sammy's ears with inappropriate words."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kyle muttered, pulling out the Christmas lights.

Jerry wasn't either, but it only made him smile. His family was great and he'd missed Tom and Angie who'd been away for the past days to go skiing.

"Now that the party's here, we can get on it!" Tom made his way into the living room, his arms filled with presents. He eyed the empty tree and shook his head in disdain. "Where am I supposed to put all these if there's no Christmas tree?"

"How about behind the couch until we get this done?" Jimmy asked, taking some of the boxes from him.

"Where's your kid?" Tom asked.

"That's rude, Tom," Angie said, coming next to Jerry and taking Sammy to hug her.

"Still inside the mother actually," Jessie said, making her way to them. She wore a red reindeer sweater that stretched the tiniest bit over her belly. If Jerry hadn't known she was pregnant, he wouldn't have been able to tell yet.

"Yay, more fun people!" Tom hopped over to hug her.

"I resent that," Kay said as she and Sarah joined them, holding the twins. Christine followed, watching the babies as if she wanted to take one for herself.

"Look how cute they are!" Sarah twisted so that Jerry could see that Alex was wearing the onsie they'd gotten him.

They were extremely cute. Not that Jerry had seen many babies and he was obviously biased, but his brothers did seem to produce terribly beautiful offspring.

"No, Kay, you're still fun," Tom said. "Kyle on the other hand is boring as fuck now."

"Not in front of Sammy!" Sam hissed, but it went unnoticed when Kyle threw a snow globe at Tom's head.

He caught it in midair, still grinning. "Oh, look. He can actually be interesting."

"No, you're not starting a decoration fight!" But Sam's words were ignored as Kyle picked up a ceramic gingerbread house and threw it at Tom next.

Tom tossed the snow globe back at him, but Kyle moved out of the way and it hit Sam in the chest.

"Please don't break them," Kay said, but it was half-hearted. She just moved out of the way, next to Jerry. "Great to have you here," she said with a smile.

Jerry smiled back, taking her in. She wore leggings and a large hoodie and looked tierd, but so happy.

"How are you and Kyle handling the twins?"

She threw Kyle a glance, and her smile widened. "Just fine, really. His ability to go without sleep is really helpful. Plus, your mom keeps offering to help."

"Oh, does she?" That was news, since she'd never actually offered to help Sam who had been a single parent when Sammy was really young. Technically, he still was, but now he had Christine helping him.

"Yeah. Kyle fortunately told her to leave us alone. She tends to crowd a lot."

Weird. Jerry glanced back towards his brothers who had engaged in a full on fight, tossing baubles and tinsel across the room. They were thankfully catching whatever was being thrown so the room stayed shard-free.

"Why were you late?" Kay asked, shifting Alex in her arms.

"Oh, that's something we wanted to tell everyone."

"Everyone's here," Sarah pointed out, cuddling Jenny in her arms.

She made a very good point. And it was time for the fight to stop.

"Sarah and I are getting married," he announced, not bothering to keep his voice down.

Deadly silence followed his affirmation, the Christmas battle finally ending. On Kay's other side, Sarah giggles silently.

"What?" Tom asked. "You got engaged?"

"Yes, we did." Sarah wiggled her hand out from under Jenny to show them the ring.

"Congratulations!" Jessie said hurrying over to relieve Sarah of the baby. "That's wonderful news."

"Yes it is!"

"That's so great!"

"Jerry, we're all so proud," Jimmy said, wiping away a fake tear.

"I'm not," Tom mumbled. "You're a traitor."

"Not his fault you're slow," Kyle said, nudging his shoulder.

"When's the wedding?" Kay asked.

"We haven't decided yet," Sarah answered.

They all wanted more details, if course they did. And for the first time in his life, Jerry didn't mind giving them. After everything that had happened, he felt safe with his family. Loved and accepted.

It was wonderful when they finally started decorating, moving the babies from one person to the other, Sammy wobling between their legs. He loved setting down cookies for everyone, wine and milk and fruitcake. Marshmallows by the fire.

Seeing everyone so happy, so carefree for once was amazing. And once the tree was done, the presents underneath the branches and the babies put to bed, they all settled on the couches on front of the fireplace.

So much love and peace filled that room that for the first time since they returned from Japan, Jerry was finally able to shake it off.

Yes, they were in danger, but happiness was not gone from their lives. Just looking at Kyle and Kay cuddled up together, half-asleep proved that. They'd gotten married and started a family without fear of the future. Now Jimmy and Jessie were just a few months away from their first baby as well. He and Sarah were engaged.

Normal was not out of reach. They could fight this and live.

And with the magic of Christmas, everything felt possible.

🎄🎄🎄

Merry Christmas everyone! And for those who don't cebrate, Happy Holidays! May we all find peace in the mundane and happiness in the people near and dear to us!

This is a little bonus I churned out and it's by no means perfect, but I tried. I hope it was fluffy and easy to read. Happiness is possible! ❄