testdog65 (testdog65) wrote in qaf_challenges, @ 2007-01-03 22:47:00 |
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Original poster: _alicesprings
Title: Gus' Secret Santa
Written By: asm614
Timeline: Post-513 (about 2 years)
Rating: PG
Summary: Gus begins to question whether or not Santa Claus is real...
Author's Notes: Sort of a fluffy fic... Definitely Gus-centric
more than anything.
Gus was about seven years old when he first asked Brian whether or not Santa Claus was real. He was a smart kid, even though Lindsay and Melanie both did their best to emphasize the importance of both Christmas and Hanukkah beliefs within their household.
At first, he didn't tell anyone his suspicions. It was kind of fun to believe in Santa anyway. And J.R., who was Jewish like one of his mommies, still got gifts from Santa every Christmas. He figured Santa didn't want her to feel left out when he got all of his cool toys and games ever year on Christmas morning, so he left things for her too.
But he also knew that his daddy made more money than pretty much anyone else he had ever heard of, except maybe the President, so it didn't make much sense to him that his mommies would let some strange man into their house to leave gifts that he knew Brian was perfectly capable of supplying. Except his daddy lived in Pittsburgh, and he lived in Toronto, and he thought he would have realized if a huge package of Christmas gifts arrived in the mail each year before the holidays. None of it really made sense to him.
When the hesitation in his mind became too much for him to push aside any longer, he knew there was only one thing he could really do. He was too afraid to ask his mommies. He didn't want them to get mad, and just in case Santa was real, tell him that Gus was didn't believe in him. That could lead to a very sad Christmas morning, and he didn't really want that to happen. He didn't want to ask his teacher or any of his friends at school either. He still felt like the answer could go either way, and he didn't want to look silly in front of everyone if the truth was more obvious than he realized. He thought about asking his mommies for Justin's phone number in New York, because he'd probably be honest and give him a truthful answer and not make him feel dumb, but he knew they'd want to know why he was calling, or they'd sit in the room with him while he talked to Justin. The way he saw it, there was really only one option.
One afternoon when he got home from school, both of his mommies were busy. Lindsay was in the kitchen making dinner, and Melanie was helping J.R. finish an art project she'd brought home from her Preschool. He figured this might be his only opportunity to call his daddy without any interruptions, and he really, really needed to know the answer before the curiosity ate him alive.
As quietly as he could, he tiptoed upstairs and into his mommies' bedroom, pushing the door almost closed behind him. Picking up the phone off of the nightstand, he tried to remember which one his mommy said would call his daddy's phone directly. She told him he was only allowed to use it for important things, but something as big as Santa Claus seemed pretty important to him. He knew his daddy would understand.
Thinking as hard as he could, he seemed to remember that his mom had said he had to hit number 2 and "Talk" and it would make the call. Taking a deep breath, he punched the two keys and waited as the phone rang once, twice…
"Linds, I don't really have time right now, I'm on my way to –" Brian began, and Gus noticed that his dad sounded kind of out of breath and rushed.
"Daddy, it's me!" he was quick to say, before Brian hung up the phone.
There was a pause. "Gus?"
"Yep!" It made him happy to notice how his dad's tone seemed to perk up as soon as he realized who was calling.
"Hey there, Sonny Boy. What's up?"
Gus didn't want to take up too much of his daddy's time if he really was busy, so he figured it was only fair to ask first. "Daddy, are you too busy right now?"
"Never for you, but I can only talk for a couple of minutes, okay? I have an important meeting to go to."
Gus figured he could probably make it quick. The question really only required a simple yes or no answer. "I kinda… well I want to ask you a question, Daddy. Can I?"
"May I," Brian corrected gently. "Go ahead, Sonny Boy. Whatever it is, we'll see if your old man can help."
"Daddy…" Gus stopped and took a deep breath, as he felt his heart thumping in his chest at about 100 miles a minute. "I was just wondering… about Santa…"
"What about Santa, kiddo? He'll be coming in a few days." Gus noticed that his daddy sounded a little bit confused.
"Is he really coming?" Gus asked, still a little bit afraid to ask the question directly. Suddenly he wasn't really sure if he wanted to hear the answer.
Gus could almost hear his daddy frown after he asked that question. "Why would you think otherwise, Gus? You've been being good for your mothers, haven't you?"
Gus sighed. He didn't mean to give his dad the wrong idea. "No, no, Daddy, I've been really good. Like, really, really good!" he promised. "I just…" Finally, he couldn't take it any more. "Daddy, tell me the truth. Is Santa real?"
Brian cleared his throat. "Gus…" he said at first, and Gus wasn't so sure he liked the tone in his daddy's voice. "Did someone tell you that he wasn't?"
"Well, no, but…" Gus began, not really sure how he could explain his curiosity. "Just… is he?"
Brian was silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to say, and hoping that for her sake, Lindsay hadn't put their son up to this. "Gus, Santa Claus is someone who exists as long as you want him to be there. He lives in your mind and in your heart, and you shouldn't let anyone take that away from you, no matter what they say, okay?"
Gus let his daddy's words roll around in his head for a couple of seconds. "Okay," he said finally. "But does that mean he's not a real person?"
Before Brian could answer, Gus heard someone clear her throat behind him. He turned rapidly to see his mommy standing there. Immediately, he felt his cheeks grow hot. He hoped she wasn't mad at him.
When his mommy spoke, though, her tone was soft, and she smiled. "Gus, sweetheart, why don't you go downstairs and help your mom finish setting the table with J.R.?"
Gus knew that he had to let the conversation with his daddy come to an end. "I have to go, Daddy," he informed. "Can I talk to you later?"
"Absolutely, Sonny Boy. You can call me anytime you have a question, okay?"
"Okay. I love you!" Gus exclaimed, hoping that even from hundreds of miles away, his daddy could still feel how much Gus loved him.
"I love you too, squirt. Can you put your mother on the phone, then?" Brian asked.
"Yep! Bye!" Gus, though slightly disappointed that he didn't get quite the answer he wanted, handed the receiver to Lindsay before bounding down the stairs and toward the kitchen. He had to admit he felt a little relieved, at least, that he didn't get in trouble.
***
Once she knew that Gus was out of earshot, Lindsay put the receiver to her ear. "Brian?"
"Please tell me one of you didn't tell him to ask me," was the first thing he said. "I'm not…. fuck, Linds… I'm not equipped for answering questions like those."
"Well, neither one of us knew that he was even questioning the issue, to be honest. I was just wondering why he hadn't been downstairs with us, so I came up and found him in our room. I overheard most of the conversation, from his end," she admitted. "What did you tell him?"
"I didn't know what the fuck to tell him… Santa Claus was never really a big deal in my house growing up. We got occasional presents and shit, but to Joan, it was all about rejoicing in the day of the birth of our Lord and Savior-"
Lindsay tried not to laugh at Brian's impersonation of his mother, though he did it dripping with obvious detest, and it made her feel a little bit sad for how she knew Brian's childhood had actually been.
"- We were lucky if Jack made it home from the bar in time to give us any more than black and blue marks for Christmas," Brian continued. Lindsay couldn't help but notice that now he sounded a little sad, despite his best efforts to contain it.
"You know it's not like that for Gus," she said as gently as she could. "He has three parents who love him very much, and who do whatever they can to make sure that he has everything in his life that they didn't. You're a good father to Gus, Brian. I want him to have the magic of the Christmas season, and believe in Santa for as long as he can."
"Well… Hopefully I didn't fuck things up too badly," Brian replied, and then continued on, telling Lindsay what he'd explained to Gus.
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully when he'd finished. "It's a good start, but I'm sure he still has questions. I don't think he'll believe it unless it comes from you, though. We'll have to come up with something to convince him."
"What do you propose I do, then? And make it quick. I need to be in a meeting with Leo Brown's new assistant in approximately two and a half minutes."
Lindsay thought for a moment, and then her face lit up in a smile. She knew Brian was going to hate the idea, but that he would follow through, just for his son.
***
On Christmas Eve, the doorbell rang around five o'clock in the evening, and Lindsay rushed to the door to answer it.
"You made it!" She threw her arms around the visitor who stood at the front door, holding a large garment bag and a black designer carryall bag.
"Do you know how much it costs to rent all of this shit?" Brian asked, once he released Lindsay from his free arm that wasn't holding his luggage.
Lindsay examined the garment bag more closely and giggled. "You bought the fat suit too? I never thought I'd live to see the day!"
"It's not for me," Brian said sharply, giving her a dark look, daring her to take it further. "It's for Santa."
"Well… all I can say is… I now truly believe that you would do absolutely anything for your son." She tried as hard as she could to sound sincere, because she really did mean it, but eventually, a laugh escaped. Brian attempted to look annoyed for as
long as he possibly could, but after a few seconds, even he had to smile too.
They managed to hash out a plan for that evening, and Brian left for his hotel before Melanie returned with Gus and J.R., who she had taken out with her to pick up the dessert she had ordered for Christmas dinner.
***
Gus listened to his mommies when they told him it was bedtime, even though it was Christmas Eve and he was dying to know about Santa.
Especially because it was the night that he was supposed to come, and it was his only real chance to figure out the truth.
He and J.R. diligently set a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk near the hearth of their fireplace, then went upstairs where their moms kissed them and wished them a Merry Christmas, warning them not to go downstairs in case Santa was there, and that they would all get up at six-thirty to open gifts, and not a minute earlier.
Gus knew there was no chance of Santa showing up before his mommies went to bed, and he was also smart enough to realize that if Santa were real, none of the presents would be out when they did finally come upstairs to go to sleep.
He was entirely too excited to sleep, and after listening to his moms talk in hushed tones on the floor below, he finally heard them come up the stairs and into their room. He waited until the clock showed that five minutes had passed, and he tiptoed out of his room and halfway down the stairs. The Christmas tree lights were still on in the living room, and the milk and cookies sat untouched by the fireplace. So far, so good.
Gus really wanted to stand there and wait, just in case, but in the back of his mind, he wondered if it was really true that Santa would skip his house if he was still awake, so he ran back to his room and hopped under the covers, listening for any sounds that seemed out of the ordinary.
He didn't know when he fell asleep, but eventually he couldn't make himself wait up any longer, until he heard something that forced him back into consciousness. Sleepily, he sat up in bed and tried to focus on his clock. It was still too early to get his mommies up, so he knew it wasn't them making the noise. He tried to concentrate to see if it would happen again, and then he heard it: the faintest sounds of jingle bells.
Once again, trying to be as silent as possible, he crept out of his bedroom, down the hall, and halfway down the stairs, peeking around the banister. For a moment, he forgot that he wasn't supposed to be making any sounds and gasped. The real live Santa Claus was quietly arranging presents under his tree! Gus couldn't believe that he actually caught him in person, and he hoped, hoped, hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble with his mommies and especially not with Santa.
However, Santa heard him gasp and turned slowly to look toward where Gus was standing. Gus tried to shrink himself back and hide behind the garland on the railing, but it was too late. He was caught. He choked back on a sob, thinking that Santa was going to take all of the presents and go back up the chimney, and it would be entirely his fault.
Santa didn't get up and start repacking the gifts, though. Instead, he looked directly at Gus and smiled, then pressed a finger to his lips. Afterwards, he pointed in the direction of Gus's bedroom. Gus knew what he was saying, and nodded rapidly, smiling back at the man in red. Santa nodded in response, and Gus knew that this would be their little secret. He wished he could tell somebody, because how cool was it that he had a secret with Santa Claus! But he knew he'd never tell anyone, not even his mommies. As he climbed back into bed, unable to contain the smile on his face, he just knew that this would be a Christmas he'd never ever forget.