mr summerby! (summerby) wrote in euphorialane, @ 2009-01-05 23:17:00 |
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"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." It wasn't even five am yet, but there was already a small hand tugging at the bed covers next to Cameron. "Daaaaaa, up up, it's Cwissmas!" Cameron groaned and rolled over, detaching himself reluctantly from Sam. The room was still dark, but he could make out Kyle's faint silhouette next to the bed, illuminated from behind by a nightlight out in the hallway. "What time is it?" "Time to get up! Get up get up!" "It's too early. Go back to bed and wake us up later, okay?" "NO!" Cameron winced. 'No' was one of Kyle's favourite words - but most two-almost-three year olds were like that, weren't they? "Now! Santa was here!" "Oh yeah? Well I think Santa would want you to wait until the sun comes up to wake Daddy and Sam up." He'd been imagining a nice, relaxing morning, sleeping in late, but he should have known that Kyle would have other plans. Cameron and his brother used to wake their parents up before dawn on Christmas too. "Kyyyyyle," Sam groaned. Her arms stuck out from under the blanket, her fingers flapping toward her, indicating that he come there. Her eyes were still half closed, and she licked her lips and teeth after sleep. Ugh. "Come give me a hug, you little bugger." Kyle giggled and ran over to Sam, arms open wide for a hug. If his dad didn't want to get up and start opening presents, Sam would. "Saaaaaam, it's time to get up now," he stated. "Take him back to bed so we can get more sleep," Cameron mumbled, rolling over again and snuggling up to Sam. "Just a few more minutes." "I'll get up," Sam grumbled still half-asleep. She gave Kyle a little tug, pulling him onto the bed and wrapping her arms around him. "if you give us five more minutes. You can come snuggle up with me and your da, okay?" He was squirming around, which meant he wasn't going to give in easy, but at least Sam could give him a big wet raspberry and tickled his belly. He managed to wiggle out of her arms before she could catch him and began jumping on the bed. Church jumped up and skittered off the bed in a hurry. "Kyle, you never get up this early," Sam complained groggily. "....which is why we should get up. Come on, Cam. He'll crash out a lot earlier for his nap." Cameron was already half-asleep again when Kyle began jumping on the bed, and he was jolted awake by the motion. He'd never been a morning person, although he had his morning rituals that he always did no matter what sort of mood he was in or how tired he was, but even though they'd been waking up early for a few months, he still wasn't used to it. If only Kyle had wanted to snuggle a bit. Cameron liked those early morning snuggles, just the three of them and the dogs at their feet. Christmas Day was a special occasion, though. "I'll crash a lot earlier too," he grumbled, but he threw the covers back anyway and pushed himself up out of bed. Kyle, dressed in his new festive Santa pyjamas from his maternal grandparents, jumped down from the bed before Cameron had a chance to grab him and went running off to the living room. "I'll get the coffee started," Cameron told Sam as he followed Kyle out of the bedroom. After making sure that Kyle really was asleep the night before, they'd gotten to work at putting out presents from "Santa." Cameron remembered exactly how many there were, and exactly what wrapping paper they'd used, so when he stepped into the living room to find piles of unfamiliar gifts, he paused. He rubbed his eyes a few times, wondering if he was still half-asleep and dreaming. "Uh, Sam? Looks like we had a special visitor last night," he called out, hoping that his words were disguised just enough to fool Kyle, but hesitant and confused enough to get Sam's attention. Maybe she could just go back to sleep while they were out there, but then the thought of Kyle opening his presents without her there was kind of stinging. Eventually, she threw the covers off as well, jerking a robe on to keep warm in the cold flat and padding into the front room with her hair all askew. "Oh, I'm sure we did. Kyle's been a good boy -- until this morning," Sam retorted with a snort. She plopped down in a chair near the tree and reached for one of the biscuits they'd left out for Santa. Before they'd gone to bed (but after Kyle had fallen asleep), they'd taken a few bites out of one of the biscuits so it would appear that Santa had come. However, Sam's hand went straight for the plate, no biscuits between here and there. Just crumbs. The milk was gone, too. Every last drop, actually. Trying to shake herself awake, Sam glance up at Cameron with a rather annoyed look. A look that clearly said, Who ate the biscuits? "Yeah, no coal in a stocking for him," Cameron replied, hoping Kyle didn't ask what coal was or actually think that he had gotten something boring. It took everything he had not to ask Sam if she'd been good all year, wink wink nudge nudge. Kyle was in the middle of digging through the presents, putting them in different piles even though he couldn't read the tags. Since he wasn't paying attention, Cameron was able to mouth, "not me," to Sam, shaking his head and shrugging. He thought she had eaten them, but if she hadn't, and he hadn't... then who had? "Santa must have been really hungry last night." It was the strangest thing - missing biscuits and milk, extra presents under the tree. "Did you get these?" he mouthed again, pointing at a few unfamiliar ones in the corner. "No, I thought you??" Sam frowned a little. Maybe the post came early, and the owls had been instructed to set them under the tree? Hmm. No beak marks or tears in the packaging. Maybe Knobby let someone in? Sam held up a finger, stood up, and went to the door. Leaning down, she whispered, "Did you let someone in last night or early this morning?" "No, Miss! I mean Mrs! I never let anyone in unless you ask me to or open the door." The brass knob looked extremely put out by her question. "Then where did the biscuits go and these extra presents come from?" "Why, Santa, of course!" "No, really. Knobby, come on." "I'm not quite certain what you mean by coming on. I'm a doorknob not a --" "You expect me to believe that Santa came down the chimney?" "Absolutely not. He came down the staircase from the roof." "..........Santa?" "How many times do I have to say it?" "Fat man, jolly, long white beard --" "Fluffy red outfit. Not flattering on a man his build at all, I must say." More than a little stunned and unsure, she righted herself and shuffled back to the living area. Sitting down with a great flop, she looked at Cameron, expressionless. "Knobby says it was Santa. That Santa was here." "What? The real--" Cameron cut himself off and glanced at Kyle, who was looking at them both with wide-eyes. He couldn't exactly say the real Santa, could he? But there was no Santa, just him and Sam playing a game for Kyle. It was the strangest feeling, to find himself confused and actually a bit excited - and definitely a bit uncomfortable by the thought of a strange man walking right into their flat in the middle of the night. He would have to check the wards later, make sure they were extra-secure, and he'd have to ask around, see if anyone else reported "Santa" dropping by in the middle of the night. Might as well just play along, Cameron thought, taking a seat on the floor next to Kyle. There was no sense in worrying too much over it, but he definitely wanted to take a look at the extra presents himself before letting Kyle open up any of them. "Should we see what Santa brought you?" He reached for one that he remembered wrapping himself and gave it to Kyle. "How about this one?" It didn't even take Kyle five seconds to start ripping the paper off, practically bouncing with excitement. "Where's my present, Sam?" he asked, turning his head to look back at her. "Yeah! Where's Daddy's present?" Kyle chimed in. He didn't want to be the only one opening presents. "Your da has a whole lot of presents under the tree, but there's more for you. Better get cracking, eh?" Sam reached down and took one of the boxes marked for Cameron. There were a bunch of random things (boxers, socks, a set of pyjamas, drum sticks) in boxes all around, but this one was the special one, and so she tucked it behind her. "That one has to be saved for last." Cameron's curiosity was piqued as he watched Sam try to sneak one present away. He didn't comment on it, and the only sign that he'd noticed was the smile on his face. There were all sorts of gifts of all different sizes for Kyle - stuffed animals, a wooden castle with figurines, musical instruments (from Cameron, of course), books (including a really neat magical pop-up book about dragons), clothes (which he would undoubtedly find boring, but at least he would enjoy ripping the paper off), puzzles... and a bunch of gifts that would be a surprise to all three of them. There were also gifts of all sizes for Sam (slippers, a new scarf, mittens and hat, pyjamas - which were more like lingerie than anything else, a pot of carnivorous plants for her desk), and Cameron would have to be careful about which ones she opened in front of Kyle. He did not want to explain the point of "naughty dice" to his son yet. Or ever, really. "Kyle, bring that... the red one, with penguins on it," he said, pointing to a small box with Sam's name on it, "to Sam, okay? That one's from both of us." After getting tired of opening present after present without even getting to play with them, Kyle had started playing with a set of building blocks that Santa had given him instead of opening more, but he stood up and obediently brought the gift over to Sam when Cameron asked him to. Inside was a picture frame that held four photos: one of the three of them, one of him and Kyle, one of Sam and Kyle, and one of just Kyle, making a silly face. "Merry Christmas, Sam," Kyle said, mumbling a little and not quite pronouncing it correctly. "Merry Christmas, my little pirate," Sam said, wrapping an arm around him and scooping him up into her lap. She gave him a plethora of half-kisses and half-raspberries to Kyle's delight and consternation. He giggled and tried to shove her away, and after a few seconds, she set the package down on his lap. "Wanna help me open it then?" He dove right in, ripping the paper and bows, and Sam had to snicker thinking about how her mother would have a conniption fit over that. Sam, on the other hand, thought there was no better way to open a present. She might not have been overly sentimental, but these weren't just photographs of Cameron's childhood or her own. Nope, this was their history in the making. The moving photographs told their rather silly story. "Look at you!" Sam teased, ruffling Kyle's hair affectionately. "You totally stole that face from me! Gimme back my face you!" Cam's mother would probably have a fit over the mess they were making too. She liked to delicately unwrap everything so she could reuse the paper the next year. Cameron had to admit that it was far more fun to do it the way Kyle was. He picked himself up off the floor, a small box for Sam in his hands, and sat down on the sofa next to her and Kyle. He hadn't doubted that Sam would like the gift, but seeing her expression solidified it for him; it really had been a good idea. He knew that despite her actions and attitude, Sam did appreciate some sentimental stuff. From the start, she'd opened her arms to the little boy and hadn't looked back. It was Cameron's way of saying that they were a family. She might not be Kyle's biological mother, but she still acted like a mum. "Nuh uh! It's my face!" Kyle told her, shaking his head vehemently. "You look like twins in that picture," he commented, watching the photos move. Kyle wasn't hers, but sometimes he looked like it. Kyle stopped giggling abruptly and looked at Sam with a serious expression on his face. They knew that face well: either he needed to use the potty, or he was about to say something thoughtful and surprisingly wise beyond his years. "Are you my mummy now?" Sam's smile dropped, but the expression on her face, though surprised, wasn't unhappy. It was more... cautious. She'd been too used to being able to say whatever she wanted, to get a laugh, but when there was a child involved, you had to mind things a little more. She couldn't bring herself to look at Cameron just yet, afraid of what he might think. Leaning over Kyle a little more, she whispered, "Do you want me to be?" Cameron's own face was a mirror image of Sam's: surprised, curious, a little bit nervous. He hadn't realised how aware of everything Kyle had been. The boy obviously knew that something was going on with his mother and knew that she wasn't around right now. Cameron had been careful to avoid talking about her, mainly because he didn't know how to handle it. How did you explain to a two and a half year old that his mother had disappeared and they didn't know if she was alive or dead? What really mattered was for Kyle to understand that he had a home with Cam and Sam. He didn't care what Kyle called her, but... if he wanted to call her that, and she didn't mind, he couldn't in good conscience get in the way. Slowly, Kyle nodded. "You know what that means?" Sam leaned closer to Kyle, her "deadly" fingers poised near his little chubby belly. "As mummy, I get to tickle my little boy whenever I want! Muhahaha!" But even as she was tickling him, it was clear that she was a little choked up. Her eyes were glistening a little, and she faked a struggle to hold the squealing and squirming child. When she was finished with her attack, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I love you, Kyle." "Noooooooooooooo!" Kyle squealed and burst into a fit of giggles, even before Sam's deadly tickle monster fingers reached him. He had definitely inherited his ticklishness from his father. Cameron watched, glad that it wasn't him being attacked. "I wuv you too." Affection, it seem, was never lacking in the new Summerby household. After getting used to the new flat and new people around him, Kyle's shell had opened and he'd become one of the sweetest little boys Cameron had ever known. He never hesitated to give hugs and kisses, even if he did wipe his cheek after Sam kissed his cheek. Cam's own eyes were glistening, and he looked away briefly so Sam wouldn't see it. His mother had always called him sensitive, and Cameron knew she was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it. But he hadn't realised how emotional he would become after having a child. The little things were suddenly big and important and memorable. He leaned in to kiss Sam's cheek as well, and then Kyle's. "Merry Christmas." "I wuv you too Daddy." "Aww, buddy. I love you too." |