They had Christmas eve at Thomas's apartment, for the sake of space. Naturally, like all friends do, they had to spend the holiday together. Most of them lived relatively far away from their families, and it was easiest to get together with each other rather than parting ways in order to be with their families. Plus, with the whole James-Thomas situation, nobody wanted to be with their families when neither of them could.

John was nervous to say the least. His gift was risky, to say the least. At least there was Peggy, who brought John into the kitchen, due to the fact that Alex let it slip that he knew how to make pie. It helped distract him from the knots in his stomach. 

The night couldn't have been better. They had store-bought Christmas dinner, and even more home-baked deserts, courtesy of the Schuyler sisters and John. James was, for once, in relatively good health, minus the occasional cough. Thomas's fireplace was roaring and they were all settled in the living room around the (ridiculously huge) TV. They were watching Elf after a 4-to-5 vote, with the other option being Home Alone. John noticed Angelica glancing at Peggy repeatedly throughout the movie, which then led him to notice Peggy and Hercules occasionally making eye contact and smiling. John didn't think much of it, though.

Once the movie was finished and everybody was just talking, Peggy cleared her throat, bringing the attention to herself. She looked at Hercules one more time, before taking a deep breath and talking. "So, I guess this isn't really a surprise, especially to some," she started, glaring at Lafayette. "But, I'm gay. Like, extremely gay. Like, you know Alexander? That's how gay I am," Peggy confessed. Everybody turned their heads over to Laf and Herc. Hercules gave Peggy a thumbs up, while Lafayette looked betrayed.

"Did you- were you two- what?" Lafayette's English vocabulary was failing him in this situation, as the realization dawned upon him that Peggy and Hercules were in cahoots. Luckily he had his native language to fall back on. "Je ne peux pas vous croire tous les deux, complotant contre moi comme ça. Je me sens trahis. Je viens de perdre vingt dollars parce que vous êtes deux écume de la terre. J'espère que vous êtes heureux avec vous-même." By the time he finished ranting Alexander was on the floor in hysterics, while everybody else was unsure of whether to be confused or scared.

"Could you be any more extra, Laf?" Alex asked in between laughs. The Frenchman shot him a glare, which only made Alex laugh harder.

Eventually, once everybody had settled down, they started watching Home Alone. No matter which side of the great Christmas movie debate you're on, they are both spectacular, and the whole group agreed with this philosophy. By the time the movie ended it was nearing midnight, and anybody who hadn't already passed out during the movie was heading off to one of Thomas's numerous guest bedrooms.

That is, except for John and Alexander.

"Alex, it's almost midnight, we have to go to sleep," John said. Alex shook his head stubbornly, like a child. "Why not, Alex?" John was tired, and didn't have the patience for this, if he wasn't going to get reasons.

"It's stupid," Alex answered. John sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"It doesn't matter if it's stupid, if I don't get some sort reason then I am hauling you upstairs," John said. Tired Alex could be frustrating sometimes, and tired John wasn't in the mood for it.

"Fine," Alex said. "When I was a kid, my dad and I would always stay up waiting for Santa, up until I went to college. Most of the time we just did it for laughs, but after my mom died it was some of the only time we had where we could really talk to each other. Now... now that he stopped talking to me I always kind of do it to... I dunno, remind myself of him?" Alex could feel his eyes welling up, but he ignored it. John looked at him, noticeably more patient looking.

"Do you... miss him?" John asked. Alex swallowed and nodded.

"I worry about him. I would honestly give anything to see him again," Alex said. He was crying at this point, but Alex had grown to be more comfortable crying in front of John. John hugged his boyfriend, whispering to him that everything was okay.

"Hey, you'll see your dad again someday. I know it," John whispered to Alex. "But right now, we should probably get to one of the bedrooms. We can stay up, but it'll be more comfy there, okay?" Alex nodded, slowly bringing his tears to a halt.

Alex fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, everybody in the group resolved to wake up early for a special Christmas breakfast. There were pancakes and eggs, there was sausage and bacon, there were waffles and biscuits. Everyone ate their share and then some. But the most exciting part of the gathering was coming.

Gifts.

There were various exchanges throughout the day, some of the more memorable being Hercules giving Lafayette a promise ring, Alex giving John a turtle, and James giving Thomas a letter that took him almost five minutes to read, due to the length of it. All three of these gifts sprouted tears from people nobody in the group ever expected to see cry. The most emotional, however, was yet to come.

There was one gift exchange left. Everybody had given everybody something, except for John to Alex. He made it very clear that he wanted his to be last.  Everybody looked around, seeing that no gifts were left, and wondering what exactly John's would be. John shared a slight nod with Jefferson, then stood up.

"So, this gift took quite a bit of work, so I don't have a card, or anything like that. I've been nervous about this and I really hope that you think it's a good gift. I have to go get it, though, so I'll be right back," John said. He was stuttering like crazy, and almost ran into a wall as he went to the other room. Everybody looked around at each other, specifically at Alex who was just as in the dark as everybody else.

John came walking into the room a couple seconds later, smiling widely. "Okay, so just, be ready, okay 'Lex?" Alex nodded, and internally braced himself for what was to come. John gestured to something in the hallway, tell it to come out.

A man stepped into view.

"Dad..." Alex breathed.

Long chapter because I have been awful about posting lately. Also, John is the best boyfriend imaginable and you cant convince me otherwise.