The next morning I woke up to the sound of Madelyn’s cries. I smiled and untangled myself from Brian’s arms and pulled my pajamas back on. I walked into her room and scooped her out of her crib. “Good morning baby girl, Merry Christmas” I cooed to her as I cuddled and kissed her head. “let’s get you fed and changed, then we’ll wake up brother to see what Santa brought you guys.” I changed her and walked back into my bedroom with a bottle. Brian was laying there awake, with a lazy smile on his face. “Merry Christmas babe” I said as I leaned over and kissed him. “Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas Princess, Santa brought you lots of gifts.” he cooed to Madi, who smiled back at him. I leaned back on the headboard and gave Madi her bottle, casually talking to Brian. “Oh shit, I guess I should take the dogs to pee. Don’t want Bruce to get all excited and pee in the living room” he chuckled and got out of bed. “I’ll wait until you come back in to wake Cam up” I said to him. “I’ll put some coffee on for you” “Okay babe, thanks” he said, kissing me and walking out the door with Bruce and Pinkly in tow. Once I finished feeding Madelyn I sat her in her swing and started the coffee, humming Christmas tunes to myself. “Brian walked back in the door and wrapped his arms around my waist, “You ready to wake up Cam?” he asked I nodded excitedly and we walked into his room. “Baby wake up, Santa came!” I exclaimed. His little eyes fluttered open and he said “What’s wrong mama?” “Nothing’s wrong baby, Santa came, he left you lots of presents.” I said as his face lit up with recognition. “Santa! Let’s go see mama!” he shouted as he jumped out of bed and raced into the living room, stopping once he reached the couch “Woooooow” he said in amazement. “Mama, can I open them?” he said, looking up at me. “of course baby, go ahead.” I smiled and grabbed my camera before I sat down and started snapping pictures of Cameron opening all his gifts. He loved everything he received, and also opened Madelyn’s gifts, since she can’t open them yet. “Okay baby, Santa left you one more gift, but you have to close your eyes real tight before you can get it.” I said, motioning Brian to bring Bruce in the room. “Okay mama, they’re tight.” he said, squeezing his eyes shut. I waited until Brian and Bruce were right in front of him, and I said “Okay, baby, open them.” he quickly opened his eyes, and looked up at Brian and said “A PUPPY! WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED!” he started jumping up and down excitedly as Brian sat Bruce on the floor in front of Cam. “What’s his name mama?” he asked, letting the dog lick all over his face. “His name is Bruce. Santa picked him out and named him just for you baby.” I said with a smile. “I love him mama, can we call Santa and thank him?” he asked sweetly. “I’ll call him for you, how about that?” “Okay mama, I’m hungry. Can we have breakfast now?” he asked. “Of course babe, you play with Bruce while I cook” I chuckled.

After breakfast Cameron and Bruce played with his toys until they both fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor. Brian picked him up and carried him to his bed while I piled his toys in the corner, telling myself to move them into his room later. “Okay” Brian started, clapping his hands together when he came back into the living room, “time for your gifts.” He dug under the tree and pulled out a small box, a bigger box, and a big square package. “Okay, open this one first” he said as he thrust the bigger box at me. I smiled at him and unwrapped the package. Inside there was a pair of comfy sweats, a Syn Gates clothing t shirt, and a gift card to Victoria’s Secret. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he said “Hey, I didn’t want to pick out your underwear for you, so I got you a gift card.” I smiled and kissed him, “Thanks babe” “You’re not done yet, open this one.” he said, sliding the big package toward me. I unwrapped it and gasped. It was a picture of Cameron and I looking and smiling at Madelyn. It was painted in black and white on a big canvas. “Brian, where did you get this picture? I’ve never seen it before.” I said in awe. “I took it one night when we were hanging out. I liked it so much I had a friend of mine put it on a canvas for you. Ok ok, last one.” he said, laying the small box in my lap. I unwrapped it and opened the box. Inside was a necklace, and on the charm was a cameo, except it was a skeleton instead of a lady. “Brian this is amazing! I love it!” I exclaimed. I jumped into his arms and hugged him tighly “thank you so much!” “You’re welcome babe” he chuckled, “your turn!” I said, grabbing the boxes out from under the tree. He loved his hat and shirts, and when he opened the picture frame he was speechless. “Where did all these pictures come from?” He asked. “Well, we took a few over at Matt and Val’s, and I got a few of you sleeping with the kids, I wanted you to have something to remind you of how much you mean to me.” I said shyly. “Thank you baby” he whispered and kissed my head. “This is the best gift I’ll get all day” he said, looking at the pictures in the frame. We gathered up all the trash and went back to bed.

After our little Christmas celebration I decided to hop in the shower, I wanted to curl my hair for Matt and Val’s party, which was only in a few hours. After I showered I blasted my hair with the dryer, and threw my hair up in hot rollers. “Whoa,” Brian said walking into the bathroom, “That’s a sexy look there B” he chuckled as I stuck my tongue out at him and kicked him out of the bathroom. I applied my makeup and got dressed. I finally took the rollers out of my hair and fluffed out the curls. I sprayed some hairspray on my hair, and perfume on my skin. I slapped on some red lipstick, put on my new necklace and a pair of black earrings, shoved my feet into my black wedge ankle boots, and I was ready. “Okay babe, I’m ready, go take a shower while I get the kids ready.” I said, giving him a kiss. I got Madi all dressed in her little Christmas dress and sweater, and put Cam in his button down, a pair of jeans, and converse. Brian came out of the bathroom, dressed in a black button down and jeans. “Lookin good Haner” I commented with a smile. We gathered all the gifts for the crew and put all the desserts in the car. I loaded up the kids and off we went to Matt and Val’s house, to celebrate Christmas with my new Avenged family.