“Santa came. Santa came.”

Jake heard the tiny voice alerting the world of the event, but he didn’t want to move from the warm bed. Or away from the body his was wrapped around.

Holding Kelly close, with her in nothing more than a thin, silky nightgown, he thought he could feel every one of her bones. Hugging with sweatshirts on added some padding to the brittleness but feeling almost skin underneath his touch reiterated how fragile the woman was, not just mentally.

It made him think of how careful he’d need to be if they ever got to the point where they did more than just sleep in bed together. He’d considered the idea many times, but the pictures he came up with were bound to be more realistic now that he knew how her body felt against his.

“Shh,” Kelly whispered as the covers were pulled down.

She shifted slowly, rolling to get out from under his arm. He assumed she was trying not to wake him up, but she hadn’t peeked to see his eyes were starting to open. The sleep cleared enough to see her pink underwear before she could get her nightgown to fall naturally as she stood.

“What’s Jake doing in your bed?” Fiona asked.

Jake’s lips turned up in anticipation of some excuse for him to spend the night. He didn’t think there was an excuse needed after they’d spent months together, so he was happy to hear Kelly tell the truth, at least part of it.

“He wanted to spend all of Christmas with us, so we thought he should stay over. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

 He’d been up until three getting the tree and everything ready for the day. It’d been a long night, especially when he was dealing with a minor case of jet lag. He hadn’t even seen the kids’ reactions yet, and he knew it was worth it. The excitement in their voices as they started pulling on Kelly’s pajamas to try to get her downstairs faster alone was worth it.

Those kids had been through hell this year, along with their aunt. They all deserved one full day of happiness, and Jake was happy he got to be a part of it.

Kelly looked back at him, worry on her face as the kids ignored all her shushing. He smiled, trying to ease her anxiety.

“Don’t worry. I’m up. I take it you little troublemakers have already been downstairs.”

Since they admitted to knowing Santa had made an appearance, the question was redundant. It was worth it, though, to see Fiona’s eyes light up even more as she dashed away from Kelly and bounced onto the bed.

“He even brought us a tree. It’s so pretty. And so big.”

She held out her arms as wide as she could, but they weren’t quite big enough to illustrate just how large the tree was. Fiona stood up and held a hand over her head.

“It’s this tall, bigger than you, and it fills up the whole front window.”

“Is it now?” he asked as he grabbed her arm as she lowered it and gently pulled her down to him. “I guess that means you were a really good girl this year.”

Fiona started giggling as he tickled her sides. When her legs started kicking, getting a little too close to sensitive parts, he stopped.

“Okay, little monster, we should probably get down there and check things out.”

Rolling to the side, he placed the girl down next to the bed. He wiggled her nose instead of kissing her forehead, like his instincts told him to. It was one thing to bestow Kelly with kisses. He wasn’t sure the kids were ready for him to show them that kind of affection.

Kelly picked Simon up, snuggling with him as he wrapped his arms around her. Jake always worried about her being able to pick him up, but her strength never ceased to amaze him.

Glad he’d decided to go with boxers and a t-shirt, instead of just the boxers, Jake threw the covers off and joined the family as Fiona led the way. Her speed made him worry that she’d fall down the stairs, but everyone managed to make it in one piece. Bringing up the caboose of the train, Jake hurried to a stop when Kelly abruptly halted her steps as soon as she hit the bottom of the stairs.

The kids weren’t meant to be the only ones surprised by the tree, and her startled gasp told Jake he’d achieved his task. The decorations that came with the tree had been okay, but it was clear they got the end of the season leftovers. They covered the tree to an extent, but it wasn’t quite magical enough.

Jake knew Kelly’s sister had to have some decorations somewhere in the house, and thankfully, a couple of boxes in the basement had been clearly marked. After he was sure Kelly was asleep, he’d snuck down to finish things up and grab the presents out of his car that he hadn’t mentioned having.

“That’s my mom’s angel,” Kelly said, looking over her shoulder to Jake.

It had been easy to notice the decorations that showed wear, and he’d made putting them on the tree a priority. He figured they’d mean something to Kelly, but he didn’t expect the tears in her eyes.

“Shh. It’s a happy day. No tears.”

Jake brushed the tears off her cheek and nudged her forward. Simon was wiggling in her arms, trying to get down. Jake was worried about the kid toppling out of her arms, so he reached over to grab him and put him on the ground. Simon was quick to run after his sister and pick up a present, shaking it in his hands.

“I can’t believe you did this. Everything,” Kelly whispered.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” he said as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips and took her hand.

Fiona had sat down in front of the piles of presents, with Simon following her, still with the present he’d picked up in his hands. Jake couldn’t remember if it was for sure his, but he hoped it was. The kid wasn’t going to give it up easily.

Jake directed Kelly to sit on the loveseat he’d managed to turn and move closer to the tree. He wanted to sit next to her, but someone needed to run the show before chaos broke out.

“Okay, let’s see what we have here.” Picking up a random box, he read the name. “Fiona, this one is for you.”

The little girl’s eyes lit up as she took the box from him. She looked at it as her smile somehow grew even bigger.

“Mommy always put all the presents for us in piles and told us to wait to open until she could take pictures. Are we doing that, or can I open this one now?”

It was the first time Jake had heard Fiona mention her mother without sadness in her eyes. The fact she was holding a present probably had a lot to do with that, but a part of him hoped that maybe her pain was finally diminishing. More than anything, he hoped that would mean she’d give her aunt a little break.

Jake looked to Kelly for directions on the present protocol. When he was little, he remembered just grabbing anything with his name on it and tearing through the wrapping paper.

Kelly jumped off the loveseat and ran to grab her phone from one of the end tables. She was back in position within seconds.

“I’ve got the camera ready, Fee, so go ahead and do it however you want,” she instructed.

Fiona didn’t have to ask twice as her small hands went to work ripping through the paper. Simon took that as a cue and did the same with his rectangular box. Jake had glanced over and made sure it was his, so he didn’t bother telling the kid to hold on.

“It’s a Baby Hatchy,” Fiona squealed, standing to do a little dance as she clutched the toy to her chest.

It was one of the gifts Kelly had gotten her, so Jake looked around the dancing to see Kelly snapping pictures. He held his right thumb up, hiding it from the excited kids, and winked. She smiled and laughed as Fiona took her act over to jump on her lap.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Fiona chanted.

Kelly looked surprised at the gratitude. Jake was a little confused himself, but he stood back and observed the moment, rather than make himself part of it.

“What are you talking about, silly? Santa got you that,” Kelly said.

Jake had seen that all the presents only said the kid’s names on them. There wasn’t any from lines, which he’d thought about adding the night before, like his parents had to his presents, but he let them be.

“No, I know you got this for me.”

Fiona held out the toy and then hugged it to her chest. Jake wasn’t hip on toys, so he didn’t understand what the big deal was, but it was clear Fiona had wanted the gift and loved the fact she’d gotten it.

“Why would you say that?” Kelly asked.

“Because, I didn’t tell Santa I wanted it. I only told you. Santa didn’t know.”

Jake chuckled at the logic, and the tricky-nature he saw in Fiona. He wondered if she’d done it on purpose, or if it had just been something she said in passing. Either way, Kelly had made her day with just the one gift.

“Well, maybe I told Santa, just to make sure he knew.”

Kelly was trying hard not to take the credit, but she deserved it. Jake had been worried how much she’d be able to get done with the kids needing her attention all the time, but she’d outdone his expectations with the amount of presents she had hidden in a closet. She had to have been picking them up for months.

Fiona leaned forward and whispered something in Kelly’s ear, causing her eyes to spring open and look down at the girl in surprise. She looked up to Jake with concern that morphed into anger, but she didn’t say anything.

“Can we open it and play with it?”

Whatever Fiona said to Kelly didn’t seem to faze her as much as it did her aunt. Her attention turned back to her toy and nothing else mattered. On the other hand, Kelly shook her head to clear whatever was going on in her head.

“Don’t you think you should check out the other presents under the tree? If you don’t hurry up and open your stuff, I’m sure Simon is going to open everything.”

“Hmm,” Fiona hummed out as she looked at her toy and then back to her little brother, who in fact had picked up another present and was shaking it in the air. “I guess I should probably see what else is under the tree. But, when I’m done, we’re going to play, right?”

She looked back to Kelly to see her nod her head in agreement, smiling warmly at the little girl. As soon as Fiona bounced off her lap, Jake raised his brow, trying to see if Kelly could give any indication what Fiona whispered. She shook her head and raised her phone to start taking more pictures.

After all the pictures of the tree the night before, Jake hoped her phone had plenty of storage space, and she’d plugged it in to charge. By the time the morning was over, he was sure thousands of pictures would be taken.

The kids were quick to make it through their piles as Jake kept handing out the boxes. Fiona screamed at almost every present, and proudly held each of them up for a picture, but none elicited the same initial reaction as whatever a Baby Hatchy was.

Simon seemed to tire out after the fifth or sixth gift and decided to play with some building blocks that he managed to open on his own. Jake thought about returning his focus but figured having more presents would keep the joy going throughout the day.

“This one says Aunt Kelly’s name on it.”

Fiona held up a rectangular box that hadn’t been under the tree before Kelly had fallen asleep. It was fun picking out presents for the kids, but he was more interested in Kelly’s reaction to the gift he’d gotten her.

“Well, you better go give it to her, so we can see what it is,” he said.

Nothing about making sure the day was perfect made him more nervous than what Kelly thought about the gift. The kids could’ve hated every present and the tree, and he wouldn’t have cared as long as Kelly liked the necklace hidden under the red wrapping paper.

She took the box when Fiona handed it to her. Instead of returning to the tree, Fiona climbed on the couch and knelt next to Kelly, waiting to see up close what was in the package.

Kelly stared at Jake, not making any moves to open the wrapping. He stared back, waiting for her to either start or say something. When she made it clear she was just fine looking at him, he shook his head.

“Fiona, I think she needs your help. Since you have so much experience opening presents, do you think you can help her out?”

Fiona nodded and took the box back. Kelly was apparently still too shocked he’d gotten her something that she didn’t react. With how much time they’d been spending together, there was no reason for her to be surprised he’d gone shopping for her. He’d waited to kiss her until the night before, but he thought he’d made it clear by showing up almost every day to hang out with Kelly and the kids that he wasn’t going anywhere.

An intake of breath took his eyes away from Kelly’s as hers too turned to look at Fiona. The little girl had not only taken the paper off, she’d opened the black velvet box underneath.

“It’s so pretty.”

She held it up, so Kelly could see it, causing her aunt to finally come out of her stupor. She grabbed the box back and looked at the gold necklace inside.

“Those are our birthstones?” she said, a question clear in her voice.

The stones weren’t big, since they were to be worn around a dainty neck, but he thought his choice for what they were, instead of just the diamonds or single gemstones that all the other necklaces he looked at had, made it even more valuable to Kelly.

“Yup, the purple stone represents Fiona, with her February birthday,” he said, smiling as the girl looked his way when he mentioned her name. “The green is for Simon, and the diamond is for you. I thought they looked pretty together, just like you guys do in real life. A happy little family.”

“I have to go make breakfast,” Kelly said, pasting a smile on her face and hopping off the couch.

She kept the box in her hand, but Jake realized he’d said something wrong to cause the quick movement. Both he and Fiona stared after Kelly as she hurried from the room. The little girl shrugged it off and decided her presents were more interesting than whatever was wrong with Kelly, but Jake couldn’t move on that quickly.

“I’m going to go help her. You got things under control in here, Fiona?”

She nodded without bothering to look up from her quest to get her Baby Hatchy out. Jake figured both kids would be occupied for at least a couple hours with all the new toys, so he didn’t worry about leaving them to their own enjoyment for a few minutes.

When he got to the kitchen, it was obvious he’d made the right move. Kelly had put the necklace down on the dark granite center island and was leaning over it. The heaves of her shoulders told him that she had finally let whatever dam she’d been holding together break open.

“Shh,” he said, moving forward to rub her back. “I was hoping for a happy reaction, not more tears. If you don’t like it, I can take it back.”

He felt like that wasn’t the issue, but he wanted to offer just in case. If she didn’t like the present, she would’ve just smiled politely and put it down next to her.

“I love it, so don’t you dare take it back,” she said as she turned around.

Her face was red and blotchy, and tears were earnestly streaming down her face. She’d only been alone for a minute, so the dam had definitely broken.

He held out his arms and wrapped them around her as she fell into his chest. He just held her for a few minutes, petting her back, trying to think of a way to calm her down.

“They can’t take them away from me.”

So much for not thinking about the lawyer and whatever suit he’d been nice enough to throw in her lap just before Christmas. Jake had thought it was an impossible request that they not think about it, but he’d hoped they’d make it a little longer.

“I won’t let them. Those kids belong to you, and I will do everything in my power to prove that to anyone who asks. You made Fiona’s day, giving her that present. Think about that instead of the other stuff.”

Kelly shook her head and pushed away so she could look up to Jake. He saw the sadness leave as the anger he saw on the couch took over.

“The only reason she knew it was from me is because her father told her last year Santa isn’t real. She’s only been talking about him and pretending because Simon isn’t five yet. Apparently, that’s when kids are supposed to grow up and know the truth.”

Jake was frozen for a second as he tried to process that idea. He’d believed in Santa until he was ten, and only stopped because he caught his dad putting the presents under the tree.

“I’m not letting those people, who raised an immoral asshole of a son, take the kids. I will take them to the edge of the world to make sure their grandparents don’t get their hands on them.”

Leaving the embrace, Kelly turned to start pulling pots and pans out. Evidently, she was serious about making breakfast. Jake wasn’t sure if he should push for more information, because something other than the Santa revelation had obviously happened to bring out the “immoral asshole” comment. Since the kids were just in the next room, he decided to wait to have the conversation until later and just help with breakfast.